Less is More?

Given the demands on my time these days, I was intrigued by a recent Runners World article on marathon training. The kicker is that the longest run is 16 miles. 16 miles? Yeah, 16 miles. Ok, seems a bit on the light side but the basic idea is that instead of doing lots of long slow distance, you do more tempo, marathon pace, and speed work.

One of the things I've struggled with is trying to carve out massive time blocks for the weekends. By the time the weekend comes, the wife is cooked and needs a break. Trying to get up at 3 AM for a 20 mile run took way too much of a toll last year.

So, I'm going to give this new plan a go as I gear up for the Flying Pig in May. We'll see how it goes!

Back in the Saddle

Has it really been since May 2007 that I last posted? Boy, did I slip out of the current.

I'm not sure what really happened. Why I went from prolific posting to radio silence for nearly 3 years. Initially I became distracted. My new Mac account promised flexibility and a perception of convenience. For a while I maintained the trilikemike site, but then let it go. As anyone has ridden in a fast pace group knows, once you make the decision to let go, it's very difficult to re-engage.

Many things have happened in the last 3 years. A new baby (born May 25, 2009) and another on the way (due 2/3/2011). I've changed jobs within Motorola - to one that is much more demanding and stressful, but offers far better breadth and affords much better experience.

Triathlon has to some extent taken a back seat in my life. I still train. I'm not able to race as often as I'd like. I can no longer afford the long training hours on weekends, so I'm limited to shorter distances. I've been injured more, due to a combination of age and inconsistencies in my training. I struggle with motivation, and discipline - at least in my "sporting" life.

So there it is. With that said, enough with the whining excuses and complete lack of discipline. Time to resharpen the blade and get back in the saddle.

New Digs

I've moved! My new blogsite can be found at:

http://www.trilikemike.com/.

Going forward I'll no longer be posting on this website - see the new site for my continuing adventures!

Closing Shop

Hey! I'm still alive! I haven't been posting lately because I'm in the process of closing up shop here in blogspot and moving to a different blog hosting service. Why?

Last week I went Mac. Once you go Mac you'll never go back. I agonized over this decision for about a month. Bottom line is that I just got sick and tired of spending time at home trying to keep my Windoze computers running - I was the IT guy at home as well as work. The whole "It just works" mantra from the Apple crowd was appealing. I'm a believer now. I've also discovered .Mac which allows me a lot more ease and flexibility in what I can publish - I can finally easily share photos, run and bike routes, create adhoc websites, etc. I'm in the process of transferring my blog contents over to the new site. Once I'm fully setup I'll post the link to the new digs here.

BTW - competed in the Memphis in May tri this past weekend. Trip report will be up on the new site when I'm done (hopefully over the weekend). Short story - awesome course and race, great day, and a new Olympic distance PR for me - 2:16.

The Bonfire

The past few weeks have been a mixed bag for me. During many of my workouts my energy level has been low and I've felt sluggish. My form is solid but some of my workouts have been a huge struggle to complete. Getting out of bed in the morning to workout has been tough. My mental guard has come down as well. Now I realize that that came first and the rest followed.....

A few nights ago I had a dream. Dennis was sitting comfortably on a lawn chair in front of a fire roasting marshmallows and looking content. For those who don't know Dennis, he's my left side shoulder angel. The dark one. The fire was high, the flames prolific. A huge raging bonfire blazing brightly and belching noxious foul smelling fumes. The odd thing was that it gave off no heat. It seemed only to consume, not produce.

A long way off in the distance there was another much smaller fire. It sputtered and sparked like a flame drowning in wax at the bottom of a candle. After a bit I realized that it wasn't off in the distance after all. It was actually the same distance away as the other bonfire. It was just small and weak in comparison.

I looked back at Dennis' fire and noticed him occasionally reaching down and throwing in crumpled bits of paper. There were piles of them scattered around. A few blew around my ankles and I bent to read them. "I'm not going to be able to finish." "I can't do this anymore - what's the point?" "I'm getting to old for this." "You're going to injure yourself and end up in a chair for the rest of your life."

I thought back to my recent workouts. These and scores more like them were the very thoughts that drifted through my head during the hardest moments. These thoughts were feeding the bonfire of negativity.

I look from the bonfire to the other fire. A match in comparison to the raging inferno next to it. "I should feel this way - my training plan is supposed to be tough." A little scrap of paper materializes and drifts into the little fire. The little fire sputters as it consumes the paper and then grows a little brighter. I feel a little stronger. "I can do this. I will do this." The little flame is definitely getting brighter now. I can feel it's warmth begin to creep in.

Dennis' marshmallow falls off his stick. He curses and looks up at me. He shrugs, gets up, and drifts back into the dark corners he loves so well.

The raging bonfire begins to falter. Fewer scraps of paper feed it now. In time it will be reduced to a smoldering pile. It will never really go out - it will lay smoldering, waiting to be fed again by scraps of negativity.

I intend to keep it starved.

Targets

So there I was, minding my own business, swimming leisurely laps in the little pool when Mountain Dave and Athena plunked in to the swim lanes next to me. They both patiently waited until I pushed off the wall and then shot out after me. After four laps they were still tracking me on either side. I started getting the feeling that I'd been marked. I kicked up the pace.

Athena cracked after a few more laps and took a lap off to recover. After that lap though she launched after me and tried to match the pace. She could match it for about four laps and then had to take a lap off. One down, one to go.

Meanwhile Mountain Dave, whose form was beginning to crack by now, continued tracking me. This continued for another 1K before I finally began to shake him loose. He's a persistent guy though and never gave up. I finished up my 2K straight set with him only a 1/2 lap back.

In between spinning and running I saw him in the locker room and commented on his vastly improved swimming form. He looked up, smiled, and in a frank voice said "My goal this year is to beat you." He's hired a trainer. He has a plan which he follows religiously. And his main goal this year is to beat me. How sweet is that?

Much to my surprise I seem to have become some sort of measure by which some judge themselves. At last year's Ironman Wisconsin a friend of mine crushed my finishing time from the previous year. Later he said the one thing that kept running through his head on that extremely difficult day was that he had to beat me. I find this quite surprising because it's not like I'm freaky-fast. It's not like I've ever finished higher than the top 25% in any race I've competed in.

And maybe that's why. Maybe I'm close enough that people want to close the gap. Kind of like in a road race or group ride where you see the lead group ahead. It inspires you to put your head down and work a little harder to latch on.

So bring it on. Chase me down, catch me, match me, and then blow me out of the water. If making me your target makes you better then come and get me. When you succeed I will be genuinely happy for you. And when you do pass me know that I in turn will be coming after you.

Weakness

Since I was the only parent who showed up at my son's first lacrosse practice with my own lacrosse stick the coach promptly recruited me as an assistant coach.

I glanced around at the three boys awaiting assignments for the next drill. "Ok, you're the attacker, you're the midfielder, and you're the defender." Two of the boys trotted off to begin the drill. The boy I had just designated as the defender hanged back and looked up sheepishly from under his helmet. "Hey coach, I'm really not good at defense." "That's why your defense for this drill" I replied.

This particular boy has a great shot, is fast, and catches the ball well. He's a good attacker once he has the ball. He's right though. He's not good at defense. He's not good at finding and passing to the open man. He's not good at getting out of a jam. In a nutshell he's not balanced.

When I first came to triathlon I was a cyclist. My running was mediochre and my swimming was, well, I just plain sucked at swimming. For triathlon I was totally overspecialized. Totally unbalanced. In order to get balanced I had to work hard on my weaknesses. By making my biggest weakness (swimming) my top training priority I was able to balance things out. Yes, the cycling has definitely suffered, but if I look at my comparative splits for events I typically fall around the top 25% for swim, bike, and run. I'm more balanced and enjoy the sport that much more.

He struggled through the drill. The next go I put him on attack. The next two after that I put him back on defense. He frowned each time I put him on defense but he improved and I let him know it. "By working on your weaknesses you'll become stronger. You'll become a better overall player." He nodded, he got it. Mission accomplished. The seriousness of the moment was suddenly broken when another boy piped up "That's that parental wisdom stuff isn't it?" and the whole group cracked up.

A serious message chased by a dose of humor. Now that's balance.