Newbies of the world, unite!

This is interesting. I will admit that in my first year I did not nearly enough training (one swim, a couple easy rides and over-run-trained for my first marathon - gave myself a good ole IT band problem and started "tapering" seven weeks out from the marathon). Note to anyone: when planning to run a marathon, generally the last "long run" should be longer than fifteen miles. In the words of my coach/friend/cheering section at the time, "the shorter the long run, the longer the pain." Too true, my friends, too true.



News

My response to this (originally posted at the Running Room)is relisted here.

The whole attraction, of course, is that it's NOT easy. 30 000 people (give or take) from 6 billion (that would be 6 000 000 000!!) is one half of one tenth of one tenth of one tenth of one percent (or is that one more tenth?! ). Whatever the actual number, I don't think everyone's doing it.

There are no guarantees, just as in life. That's why people plunk down $2 on the Super 7 every week, or sit down to watch the Maple Leafs every weekend (there are especially no guarantees there ). That's why we all roll out of bed in the dead of morning, to hit the road, running or riding (or running or riding to the pool) in pitch blackness - because we can. Because we want to. Because we need to find out - because there's no guarantee what will happen next.

I think the author's main issue in the article is not with those who come unprepared to races, but those who come unprepared and unwilling to abide by or accept the race rules, i.e. cutoffs, etc. Paying an enormous entry fee does not buy anyone the right to override decisions made by qualified (officials) with regard to the racer's safety on the course or personal health and well-being.

I don't see an issue with beginners - weren't we all beginners once? I suffered (badly) in my first sprint tri (note to self: one swim and one ride is NOT enough preparation. If there had been a "dark" cut-off in that race (which started at 7:00 a.m.) I might have been in trouble. Nor do I see an issue with back-of-packers. There are only about fifty people in any race over 1000 people that have a shot of winning in any division and let's face it, the rest of us B.O.P.ers (I count myself proudly in that group) are the ones that keep paying the bills, to the race organizers and equipment suppliers by virtue of our sheer numbers, by buying the shoes, and suits and wheels and bikes and gels and bars....you get the idea.

Am I going to win any time soon? Probably not, not in terms of hardware or anything like that. But, I am going to keep winning the battle with myself. I am going to get smarter, fitter and more educated about what works and what doesn't. Technology aside, I'm not sure if I'm going to get more "aero" or not (as I age, possibly more buoyant, though ) I am going to keep redefining not what is humanly possible, but what is "Aaron-ly possible".

So, next time out, I am going to welcome the inevitable butterflies in my stomach. I am going to nod "hello" to the usual faces I see in the usual races, whether I know who they are or not. I am going to stare out at the water before the start and wonder once again, "what was I thinking?" I am going to thank as many volunteers as I can, and I am finally going to be happy that I've come from where I was (106th of 124 in that first race, by the way) to where I am now.

Peace.


My end comments on this: I've been in this sport for three years. I am constantly learning new things, new ways to do things, and just as often new ways to not do things. I'm still a newbie in the sport, and I welcome in more and more newbies - hey, the more the merrier. I just wish I could get to the registration lines ahead of more of them.

AP

Soar like an anvil, the evil of snowplows...

Well, this week, I finally took the plunge, and got back in the water on Tuesday morning. I'm sure you're all thinking it looked just like that (above). Actually, it felt more like:

Less smooth, graceful flight and more fighting to stay alive and not get run over. The plan was for a nice easy 2000m swim or so. I don't think I had that in me. HR was spiking all over the place, and I think I finally "pulled the plug" at about 1250m. Got some work to do, but that's okay. This is the run focus part of the programme. I'm hoping to ease back into the swimming, but this just makes it clear that I can't put it off too much longer.

So today, I think, might just be the official end of the outdoor bike season. Held off 'til snowfall last year, and I was actually riding on New Year's Day outside last year (although I guess technically that was this year). Now, it doesn't look like it's going to go quite that far, not after today.

While we're on the topic of snow, let me take a moment to direct a rant at a certain group of people. Those people for whom a special corner of you-know-where should be reserved, along with the people who sneak eleven items through the "eight items or less" express lane, or those who snack on peanuts without paying for them at the bulk food store, or those who wheelsuck at the back of the draft pack without ever taking a turn to carry the load at the front (especially those who draft in non-draft-legal events). Yes, you guessed it - I'm talking about snowplow drivers - specifically snowplow drivers who wait until you've shoveled forty-five minutes worth of heavy, back-breaking, wet snow out of the driveway, then steamroll on an unwavering path down your street, scraping the asphalt bare, down to the black, then leaving a two-foot high glacial deposit and barrier at the end of the driveway that only an army vehicle could traverse. Vengeance will one day be mine, buddy. The circle of life will rotate and one day karma will dictate that a blizzard of snow will descend upon your driveway, on the one day in July when your plow is "in the shop" for buffing and polishing. Be warned.

I've taken the first steps to starting up the run club at work - my current working plan is to start up at the "learn to run" level, with the objective being a 5- or 10-K road race sometime around the time of the Mississauga Marathon. However, the interest level of the group will dictate whether those options are reasonable. I'm thinking that there may be some "guest speakers" among the group who, maybe for the price of a pair of socks, or some pancakes :o) would be willing to speak to the group. We'll see how far this goes.

I've gotten three runs in this week so far, with a ten-miler on the board for today(!!) Ran home last night from my son's hockey game - a good, winding six-mile path. I'm hoping to not drive myself insane on the treadmill tonight - too wet out to go that long outside. Stay tuned.

ap

Swimophobia? Not!

You see, this is why I haven't gotten back in the water (pool, freshwater or otherwise - bathtubs excepted) since August. My stroke looks like this!


YouTube - Grant Hackett Front Crawl Technique

Yeah, whatever. I wish. Check out the stretch and the "glide". Also, check out the fact that by the second half of the video, nobody else is in the frame. Shazam! He is just crushing and cruising - doesn't even look like he's working hard...

Working up the run frequency - the goal for next week is five runs. Now that it appears as though outdoor bike season might be dead ...sigh... I'm going to focus on the run in the dead winter months. Managed to get in three good ones this week (including a solid hill session yesterday) and meant to get out for the fourth, a long-ish run today, but with the Santa Claus parade (in Streetsville) and the usual weekend stuff, along with buying my first pair of non-athletic shoes in probably three years, the day just got away. Today is exactly 14 weeks away from the 2008 Chilly Half - still plenty of time .... hee, hee.

Random thoughts (weekend smorgasbord)

No real unifying topic this weekend - more like channel surfing of the brain....

No pancakes this weekend - heard there might have been 15cm of snow in the Orangeville area this weekend - wonder how the cross-country, 25km trail run went?

Thought the CFL was supposed to be a run 'n gun league, full of offence? The Argos have offence, all right...as in, they're offensive to watch. Talk about "letting the air out of the ball" - if you can only score one touchdown per game in this league, you don't deserve to win.

Big cheer out to my nephew "K-gun", after spending most of last week at THSC - little dude is home and chillin' - hopefully his parents are exhaling again...

Xmas decorations are out already....nothing like getting a month-and-a-half head-start. Really now, is that necessary? My own "house rule" is nothing before December 1 - everybody gets wired enough with radio stations playing nothing but carols and the stores and malls filling up without constant stimulation at home...

My son went back out on the ice for his first hockey practice and first time on skates, in a month. He broke his left arm at school (fell off the playground) - now he's got the complete set. He fell off the monkey bars at home a year ago, and broke the right arm. He even refers to himself as an accident waiting to happen. On the bright side, he made it through the practice with no incident. Woo-hoo!

Inspired by a previous post from Cliff, I'm considering starting a run club, or maybe a "learn to run club" at the office. I know there's interest - a couple of people have mentioned it. I think they're assuming that since I'm the resident "fitness expert" (only IronMan on site) I would be good at it. This is probably a topic for a future post, but I'm giving it some thought. I am the black sheep of my family - the only non-teacher. My father, mother, brother, sister, brother-in-law and sister-in-law are all teachers (to say nothing of the aunts and uncles I've no doubt forgotten).

Gonna enter the IronMan World Championships lottery this year - why not? For those who don't know, it's in Kona, Hawaii, in October. I've got as much a chance of winning that lottery, or any other lottery as I do of seeing the Leafs parade the Cup down Yonge St. before I die. I remember telling my wife once, years ago, that I'd be taking my son out of school the day that the Stanley Cup parade was scheduled. She agreed - she must have known, even then. Maybe it'll be the parade to take my grandchildren to.

Season is coming together

The schedules are starting to come out, so next season is starting to come together. The Chilly Half (a tradition) is March 2. Then there's a big gap to Peterborough on July 6 and Ironman Muskoka 70.3 September 14. Those are the first events filled in to the calendar. I'm also interested in the Ride to Conquer Cancer, a 2-day, 200km ride over the weekend of June 22.




I need to work on my run endurance, definitely. I want to go sub-1:30 at the Chilly Half, which would be at least a five-minute improvement over my current record. I'd like to also run another marathon next year, but can't really decide whether to put one into the schedule early (Mississauga, in May) or late (PEC, or Toronto, both in October). Maybe in a non-full Ironman year, earlier is an okay option. Another reason that later is probably not better is my wife's plan for January 2009 - the Goofy challenge, as in "you have to be goofy to attempt this".



Later!

Canoeing in the snow, run plan, swim plan

Okay, so that's a slight exaggeration...but not by much. The famous "team building exercise" earlier this week involved canoeing on a tiny lake on the edge of Algonquin Park, in November. It was 3 degrees, the wind was howling and raining sideways. So the facilitator asks, "how many of you have had some experience in a canoe before?" There were ten of us, and two of us put up our hands. He immediately starts to reassess his plan - caught between the need to go with the plan that he's already made public ("we're going to take out the canoes today!) and the need to bring ten people back alive. And it really did snow the next day.

So, I'm working on the run plan - actually, just trying to get a level of consistency from which I can maybe squeeze out some more speed (any speed at all would be good). I'd like to get up to four runs a week, with one of them being an hour or longer at this time. The first "check-in" on the run progress will be the Chilly Half in March.

The swim plan is still really a work in progress. Having an awful time getting myself out of the house and into a pool in the morning, in the dark at this time of year. Self-motivation is tough in the morning, although I did drag myself out for a run this morning. I swam one night a week last year with the local masters' , but couldn't get back in with them this year - they filled up too fast. It's especially tough to get out in the morning without waking up the kids. My wife's usual price for swimming at 5:30 a.m. is one XL Timmie's. Small price to pay, that's for sure. Maybe tomorrow morning I'll hit the pool.....

As for the bike plan, it's been raining and snowing for the past three days here. The bike is on the trainer in the basement :o(. Not ready to give up on the roads for this year yet, but the weather is not playing fair.

AP

No ride, heading up north, laying out the training plan

Had big plans to ride this weekend, which unfortunately fell through. There's some bug in circulation around here - it's hit both kids and my wife, and it also took out Darren, the sometime riding partner. Tried to make up for it on the trainer on Saturday, but it's just not the same. I just can't get into riding inside, not yet, not even with good DVD selection (I went through five seasons of the Sopranos last spring in training for IMLP).

And what about the US men's marathon trials this weekend? I've heard about "weekend warriors" dropping dead when they get in over their head, but the elites? 28 year-old Ryan Shay walked off the course, five miles and 30 minutes into the race, and collapsed. Cause is as yet unknown, but suspected to be heart-related. I'm not sure what that means for the rest of us - I do know it's probably not enough to get me to stop.

Out of the office for the next couple of days - heading up north for some winter "team building". We're going up to a park on the edge of Algonquin Park, in Northern Ontario. Weather, although not always reliable, is calling for rain both days with chances of snow. Otherwise, I'm looking forward to this. I think this could be interesting.

As for the training this year: the A priority race is Muskoka 70.3 - that's ten months away. I'm hoping to build through the year to be able to: a) not overtrain and burn out, and b) hit a finishing time of 4:30 in Muskoka. My PB at the 70.3 distance is 5:26, at Peterborough in 2006. Might as well have an ambitious target. Working backward, I need a stronger run. The stronger run only comes from not over-fatiguing on the bike (which in turn means a stronger bike). The bike comes from not flaming out in the swim by going out too hard. Lot of work ahead, through the winter and spring. Details to follow - I'm working through "The Triathlete's Training Bible" by Joe Friel, which so far is excellent - I recommend it.

Park weather report to follow - if I make it back. Like they say, if a bear shows up, you only have to outrun one other person. I've seen the guys in my office. I'm not worried.