Crutches

While swimming today I noticed one of the "regulars" was also there. We chatted for a bit and he commented on how long I typically swim. He complained about his lack of swimming fitness and the fact that he'd been coming for months and hasn't been improving. Without his "accessories" he can only go 50 yds before he has to stop.

In the three or so months I've seen him there I've never seen him swimming without his accessories. He wears flippers, flipper-gloves, a swimmers snorkel, and a pull buoy for almost all his swims.

When they come off, he struggles. So he uses them all the time. I'm gifted with a keen sense of the obvious. The ensuing conversation went something like this:

Me: "Dude - you gotta dump the crutches."
Him: "Huh?"
Me: "All the accessories - flippers, pull buoy, snorkel. Gotta dump those if you want be better without them."
Him: "Yeah. I don't feel strong enough with out them though."
Me: "And you never will unless you dump them."

After that I enlightened him a bit on balance and form and gave him some basic drills to work on.

Don't get me wrong - each of these crutches have their place. It was by using the pull buouy that I discovered that the power in the stroke comes from your upper body and not by kicking. Once I discovered this my swimming changed from exhausting torture to something I really look forward to. Had I not used this crutch I probably would have ended up a Duathlete (not that there's anything wrong with that!) or a couch potato.

The problem isn't in using the crutches - the problem comes when we begin to rely on them. When we begin to believe that we can't do without them. The more we rely on them to correct flaws in our form (or our lives), the harder it is to walk away from them. The trick is to know when use crosses over to abuse. My personal rule when using crutches is this - if by using a crutch I'm no longer making progress towards the point where I can do without them, then it's time to stop using them and try a different approach. As long as the crutch is being used as a tool you're good. Once it's truly a crutch, it's time to dump it. You may take a few steps backwards, but eventually you will come out ahead.

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Workout Summary

3240 yd (1 hr) continuous swim - moderate to easy.

Ever have one of those swims where you felt you could continue going forever? Yeah baby! Love those! Today was one of those days. I found myself wishing I had gotten up earlier so that I could swim more.

Bad Habits

I think it started with the blistering heat we've had a few weeks ago. The kids started spending more time inside. Specifically, more time inside watching television. They now are beginning to organize their activities around particular television shows. Not the good educational shows - Nova, Nature, Discovery Channel, History Channel. No, they're hooked on the stupid mindless cartoons and teeny-bop sitcoms that channels like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon are pushing these days.

I didn't really notice it until I was working from home yesterday. I knew the kids were home, and when I went upstairs a couple of times it struck me how quiet things were. Quiet? Our house hasn't been quiet since my son was born. Even less so since my daughter arrived. What the heck?

I went upstairs and saw my daughter laying in bed watching cartoons. My son was in the spare bedroom. He was playing cards (he's recently become fascinated with Poker) but also watching TV. I realized that not only are they watching more (too much) TV, but they're also getting more antisocial. They each go to separate rooms since they can't agree on a program to watch. They're more agitated because their attention is unfocused and splintered. This is a bad path.

In my training I've learned constantly evaluate how my routines are going. Too much? Too hard? Too little? Am I getting any benefits from the effort? Why am I suddenly getting injured? In response to each of these questions little adjustments are made and then reevaluated later. Failure to do this periodically can keep you on a path that yields diminishing returns for your efforts. It places you on a wasting path, instead of a strengthening, building path.

So there will be changes. They'll each get to pick two shows - one in the morning and one in the evening. Exceptions will be made for programs that are educational. After dinner we'll spend time doing active things indoors or out depending on the weather. We'll do things that everyone can participate in, not things that exclude one or the other. Most importantly we'll make it fun. Because if it isn't fun, the strengthening path can quickly become the wasting path.

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Workout Summary

1440 yd swim - form

17 mile bike - Z3/Z4 boundary, form focus

5 mile run - Z3/Z4 boundary, form focus

30 minutes core/circuit

Now that we're past the equinox it's staying darker longer in the mornings. Today the sun was just beginning to come up as I got on my bike, so I might not be able to do the outside rides for very much longer - too bad as I've really enjoyed them and I think they've helped me considerably this year.

Still tired (big surprise) so I dropped my workouts down a notch and focused on form. Improvised a bit on the bike route to keep things interesting. On the run I had good turnover and felt pretty smooth. Will be shooting for a 15 or 16 mile run this weekend to start my ramp up to 20 by the beginning of September.

Had to cut my swimming a bit because I realized 10 minutes after I left home that I had forgotten my bike shoes and had to go back. Long swim tomorrow should compensate for that though.

In a somewhat radical shift I'm going to cut back on stretching, at least after my bricks. I think that it's actually causing some of the minor injuries (pulled muscles and tendons) that I've experienced over the summer. I'll still do some stretching later on the day but I'm going to be a lot more careful right after workouts.

Exorcism

Preseason hockey clinics started last night for my son. Much to my surprise he was terrified about the whole thing. Trembling lips and verge of tears terrified. After several attempts he couldn't explain to me why he was so afraid. It's so frustrating for kids - they feel emotions but lack the vocabulary or the comprehension to explain them. The why eludes them. It's especially frustrating for my son who sees his inability to articulate his feelings as another imperfection. It's tough to be perfect - he still hasn't figured out that it's ok to not be perfect.

But I knew the reason. The why doesn't elude me so easily as it does my son. We've been down this path before. It's a beast he should know very well by now as he's had to confront it several times. Performance anxiety. The beast that undermines. An especially subtle and wicked beast. A beast that once confronted, shape shifts and comes at you again. And again.

I hate this beast with all my heart and soul. I hate it more because it has my son who still can't quite figure out how to grapple with it. How to recognize and trivialize it. As a child he still hasn't yet developed the weapons required to exorcise his demons. One day he'll understand why I won't let him run away and hide. He'll understand that by exercising this demon he'll also exorcise his demon. He'll know that we're building his arsenal. If he doesn't learn this the beast will dominate every decision he'll make for the rest of his life. He'll relinquish control to fear instead of self.

I've posted on this topic before - it's a recurring theme in all of our lives and the lesson to be learned from it remains the same. Be prepared to exercise your fears or be prepared to be exercised by them. God gave you free will - the biggest weapon in your arsenal. Use it to choose to confront the beast and become the driver, because if you don't you'll become the passenger. The ride is much better when you're the driver.

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Workout Summary

1800 yd swim - mixed tempo and form (morning)

15 mile bike - mixed tempo and easy (morning)

5 mile run - tempo (morning)

30 minutes core/circuit/stretching

22 mile bike - long intervals (afternoon)

3.6 mile - Z4/Z5 (afternoon)

Legs are still feeling pretty heavy from the Dairyland Dare, but was able to slog my way through while maintaining decent form. I've decided to cut down my bike mileage a bit to make more room in the mornings for running - the NY marathon is now under three months a way so I need to shift focus a bit. Went ahead and did a double today - will continue doing that for a while as it seems to be working well for me.

Dairyland Dare Trip Report

Catch-up
First a quick catch-up since I've been slacking on postings. After Steelhead my family and I went up to Muskegon to spend the day at Michigan's Adventure - a kid oriented amusement park with a great assortment of rides as well as a great water park. Afterwards we took the Lake Express high speed ferry over to Milwaukee (costly but worth it in order to avoid the hellish ride through the Indiana/Chicago perpetual construction-zone corridor of death) and then headed for home. Overall it was a fun trip and a great way to slip in a Triathlon while still spending quality time with the family.

After arriving back home I decided to take the remainder of the week off to rest up for the Dairyland Dare - a new "challenge" ride that I was totally unprepared for. Slacked on posting because I was totally swamped at work and home. From the Matchbox Twenty song - I wish the real world would just stop hassling me. Ahh, the delicate balance of priorities....

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Dairyland Dare Trip Report
It was redemption time. After the miserable showing at the Horribly Hilly Hundreds in June it was time to return to the scene of the crime and give it another go. Pre-ride my game plan was to at least do the 200K route, and then based on how I was feeling decide whether or not to the 266K route. Given the fact that I haven't had a ride over 100 miles since June due to my focus on Muncie and Steelhead I knew I was going to be in for a challenge.

The Dairyland Dare is a new challenge ride this year for those who didn't suffer quite enough during the Horribly Hilly Hundreds. There are four options for the ride - 100K, 200K, 266K, and for the truly sick and twisted - 300K. I signed up for the 266K but knew going into this weekend that that was unlikely since I haven't done a lot of distance training.

Arrived at the Pine Ridge Motel in Dodgeville late Friday afternoon after three hour drive and hooked up with Pa and Luddie who had left an hour and a half ahead of me. After riding down to get our packets (and getting lost along the way) we headed to the Pizza Hut for dinner. The Pizza Hut sign had another sign just below it that proclaimed that this Pizza Hut was an "Italian Bistro". I guessed that meant pasta so we went for it. It was indeed pasta and it was surprisingly good. We were off to a good start.

Saturday morning it was up at 6 and on our way by 7. The ride start was uneventful and I was quickly dropped by Pa and Luddie on the first rollers coming out of the start. In contrast to the Horribly Hilly Hundreds and the past couple of weeks, the weather was very cooperative - high 70's, low humidity, and clear skies. Outstanding.

The course(s) for this event were absolutely fantastic from a scenery standpoint. I've often told my wife that if we were to ever move anywhere in the Midwest that it would be to the Madison area - it is absolutely beautiful up there. I had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery because I was so pathetically slow on the climbs. Even my forerunner thought I was standing still which screwed up my mileage stats a little bit.

The beauty of the landscape was in stark contrast to the sheer brutality of the course. This course has some of the steepest most grueling climbs I've ever done on a bike. There were times on some of the climbs where I thought my quads would stop firing because they were so burnt. There were also times where I was literally doing track stands because I was going so slow. My cadence was reduced to a push-pause-push-pause grind up the steeper climbs.

Overall it was a good hard ride with only a couple of hitches. The organizers allowed a special needs bag to be dropped and one of the rest stops. Pa and I decided to drop some Perpeteum into a bag and have it waiting for us at the Pleasant View rest stop - about 80 miles into the ride. Unfortunately we both missed the rest stop (I thought it was just a water stop and not the official rest stop when I went by) so we had to back track tacking on another 4 to 6 miles to the trip. A few of the roads had some "surprise" gravel patches on the downhills which took a few folks out of the ride. Fortunately I saw the patches in time and didn't freak out so I escaped unscathed. There were also a couple of poorly marked turns which got quite a few riders lost. In the end I finished the 200K route - not quite the 266K I'd signed up for but great considering the lack of big mileage rides since June. Overall though the organizers did a great job - I think this ride will be very successful in the future.

At the end of the ride I was totally, utterly, spent. After collapsing in a heap and not moving for a good 10 minutes I got up and had a burrito and felt a bit better. A quick shower (Pa brought along his Sunshower portable camping shower - a must have for rides and tri's) and we hopped into cars and headed down to New Glarus for a proper dinner at the Glarner Stube - home of the largest urinal in the Midwest. There I proceeded to consume at least as many calories as I burned by eating wiener schnitzel (veal cutlets breaded and fried in butter) and ruesti (a kind of hashbrown pie with cheese filling), as well as a pint of Squirrel Nut (local beer). A perfect ending to a tough day.

Steelhead Trip Report

The short version: Another PR - 5:10!

The really long version:

Prerace
After a grueling three hour drive through Chicago we arrived at our hotel just outside of St. Joseph, MI and got checked in. Transition opened at two so we repacked the family and headed down to get a feel for things and get checked in.

The Triathlon was staged from Jean Klock park a small lake front park with a fantastic beach for the kids. My wife and kids headed down to check out the beach while I browsed a bit at the expo and headed over to get my packet. After getting my packet and body markings I ran into a few folks from the health club as well as a couple people from my Triple T race earlier this summer. Triple T folks get around - each race I've been at I've seen at least one. Afterwards I racked my bike and then headed to the beach to find my family.

Hung out down at the beach for a while with the kids and then pried them away (they weren't very pleased) to head back to the hotel for a quick change and then dinner.

Dinner was arranged by Habeela at an awesome Italian restaurant called Santinellos that was just five minutes away from our hotel. Shelley and family, E-Speed and a couple of friends, DJGoldnboy and his wife, and Habeela and her Mom were present. It was great to meet everyone. Everyone was very nice and very excited about the coming race. My kids were a bit antisocial and cranky (they were banking on more beach time and McDonald's for dinner) but what's a parent to do.

After dinner headed back to the room, premade my coffee, stuck in some earplugs and drifted off to sleep in record time - it had been a long day of traveling back and forth so we were all pretty wiped.

Race Morning
Up at 4:30, fully caffeinated by 4:45. Mixed my Perpeteum bottles and roused the family. They were all quite pleased at getting up so early - especially the kids. Knowing they were headed back to the beach helped encourage them a little. Got them fed, packed into the van, and then we were off.

Last year this Triathlon had around 800 participants. This year there were 2000, so there was a bit of growing pain. Parking was a bit of a nightmare as they routed us through an industrial park about a mile away from the start. The idea was that we'd be bussed to the start. After waiting for about 10 minutes with a mob of people (kids and wife very pleased by this time) we were told by a volunteer that we'd have to walk to the other side of the industrial park to get a bus. Glorious.

Finally got a bus and got to transition. Said goodbye's to the family as they headed down to the beach. Their mood improved the closer they got to the beach. Good thing.

Set up my transition area and then wandered over to the porta-potty's and the water coolers to top off my bottles before catching yet another bus to the race start - the pier marking the entrance to the St. Joseph river. While in transition I ran into Habeela and E-Speed and friends, as well as my buddy The Mountain who I did Triple T with earlier this summer and one of my spin instructors from the club. We chatted a bit and then headed for the bus.

On arrival we regrouped and finished getting our wetsuits on. I wandered down to the water to check the temps (very nice) and to rinse my goggles before heading up to the pier with my wave.

The getting to the start point part was the most stressful part of the day. Once I got there and got ready to begin my usual race-calm descended. I get a little jittery and nervous prior to a race but once things begin I slip very quickly into my zone. The fact that my plan for race day was to focus on fun first also helped keep my mind in the right place.

The Swim
For the swim start you lined up with your wave-mates and jumped off the pier. The drop into the water was a good 6-8 feet and you had to wait for the person in front of you to pop up before you could jump, otherwise you'd probably land on top of them. By this time I was totally calm and pumped - an odd combination, sort of like a spring coiled and ready to go. The countdown came, the horn sounded, and I launched.

I hit the water and quickly sank down, and then popped up like a cork. Cool! Got myself oriented and started swimming. I kept my mind focused on pulling from my back instead of my arms and was for the most part successful. About 15 minutes into the swim I started picking up people from the wave ahead of me. I was also passing quite a few folks from my wave so I knew the swim was going pretty well. About mid way through though my goggles started fogging badly. I thought about stopping and rinsing them out but was afraid I'd get hit in the face by a swell and wash out my contacts so I carried on. It got to the point where I was sighting through a dime sized clear spot in my goggles. Fortunately I'm a pretty straight swimmer so though it was a pain not to see clearly it didn't really hurt me and I didn't get spun up about it.

As I reached the beach I took off the goggles and swim cap and started running up the beach into the crowd of supporters gathered at the waters edge. I looked up and there was my family - very cool! I gave my daughter a quick wet hug and then ran up the hill and into transition.

The Bike
Got out onto the bike course and found my rhythm immediately - very good sign. I slipped into cruise control and started picking off riders one by one. The weather was perfect, the road surface was awesome, and the scenery was beautiful.

Things were going perfect until mile 15. At mile 15 I got a front row seat to the worse crash I've ever seen. A woman had just passed me and I dropped back the required four bike lengths to avoid a drafting penalty. She pulled to the right a little too much and her front tire went off the side of the road. She tried to compensate by turning back into the road but her tire slipped and her bike shot to the left right in front of me - very similar to my crash a few weeks ago, except this time it was her and not me crashing. Her attempts at regaining control of the bike only seemed to make things worse. As her back wheel lifted she flew off the front of the bike. I'll never forget her scream as she went down hard. She rolled for a good ten feet before stopping. Her bike continued for a few more feet before sliding to a stop. Fortunately her and the bike went down to the left of me and I avoided the crash. I turned and a few people had stopped to help out. I saw the intersection ahead had a volunteer so I continued and let the volunteer know that someone had crashed. I never found out her number so I don't know if she finished. I don't think so though.

The rest of the bike was fortunately much less eventful. I had my computer set to show me splits every 10 miles and each split was a bit under 30 minutes - perfect pacing. I ran through my nutrition according to my plan as well and felt great. With about 10 miles to go The Mountain caught up with me. He was tackling the hills in big gears and grinding his way up so I encouraged him to go with little gears and spin. By the second hill he got my point and was cruising away from me. I was tempted to pursue but instead stuck to my plan.

I hit transition and glanced down at my computer - right around 2:30 - good news from a pacing standpoint. After that though I totally botched the transition. This was my worst T2 ever - clocking in at above 4 minutes. The problem was I didn't think through the mechanics before I entered so my mind was all over the place. First I started without my race belt and gel pack. Then I started without my watch. Third time was a charm and I finally successfully escaped the confines of T2.

The Run
legs: Umm, hello?
mind: Yes?
legs: Whatcha doin?
mind: (slightly annoyed) Running.
legs: Yeah. About that. Umm, aren't we going a bit fast?
mind: No. Anything else I can help you with? I'm a little busy.
legs: Uh, guess not.
mind: Great. Mind out.
legs: Yeah. You can say that again....

My prerace plan was to focus on form if I felt bad, and go fast if I felt good. I felt good. Instead of starting at a 10 minute pace and splitting down I started at an 8:30 pace and kept that for the whole 1/2 marathon. Normally I wouldn't do this but I felt really, really good. I had good form and rhythm and felt very calm and smooth.

The great thing about this run is that there are a few out and back legs so you get to see and cheer on other athletes as they go by. As I saw people from the health club and the blogger group we'd cheer each other on. That made the whole run that much more fun and gave me something to focus on other than counting my steps. The positive energy you pass comes back immediately and I milked every bit of it. The run was a mixture of shady neighborhoods, unshaded roads, and industrial park areas. There were plenty of aid stations along the way and this time I avoided filling up my running shoes with water!

By mile 12 my legs were getting smoked. I could feel the energy ebb. I could also see the final hill and turnaround down to the finish line so that got me through. I shot down the finish line and saw my family perched on the side of a hill adjacent to the finish line. I looked up and saw the clock. 5:35. My wave left 24 minutes after the clock started. I knew then that I had a new PR. With a huge smile I crossed the line and reunited with my family.

After hydrating I met my family down by the beach and soaked in the water for a while. The perfect ending to a fantastic day.

Steelhead Preview

After a blistering hot week what better way to welcome in a "cold front" then doing another Triathlon! This weekend I'll be doing the Whirlpool Steelhead 1/2 Ironman in Benton Harbor Michigan. This will be the first 70.3 series race for me - not sure what that means exactly but I will in a few days.

There are two bonuses for this trip as well to add to the overall fun factor.

The first bonus is that my family (wife and kids) will be accompanying me for this one. It's not often the whole family is able to make it to one of my events and it always lifts me up when they do. Right after the Tri we're going to drive up the coast to Muskegon for the night, spend the following day at Michigan's Adventure (water/amusement park), and then the next morning we'll take the ferry across lake Michigan to Milwaukee. In Milwaukee we'll spend the day at the zoo and then head for home.

The second bonus is that Habeela has organized a dinner for several other bloggers and friends on Friday night. It wil be a lot of fun to meet the people behind many of the blogs I've been spending so much time reading. Then we'll get to support each other through the race the following day. As Stu would say - "Wickedly Cool!"

So this one's shaping up to be a fun time - and that's what I'm focusing on. No PRs, no stressing, just having fun. If I feel good I'll go fast. If I don't I'll focus on form and enjoy the scenery. Either way, I'm having fun on this one.

Overall my plan of attack will be identical to my Muncie Endurathon plan, though I think I was a bit optimistic about negative splitting the run down to 8's. Instead I'll try to shoot for 9 to 8:30's. I'll also try to avoid pouring a whole cup of water into my shoe this time.

How

One thing I've learned through miles and miles of training is that the how part is just as important as the what part. Screw up the how part and the what part will not get you to the where part. I should really spend less time in shallow water.

In the spirit of how I focused on form for my workouts today. Since this is a taper week I should be cutting volume but keeping intensity high, but frankly I'm still a bit burnt from last week's workouts. Interestingly enough this turns out to be the perfect time to focus on form. It's when you begin to tire that your form begins to break down. Indeed, loss of form is usually the first indicator that you're tiring. Ironically when you're tiring is exactly when you need your form to be at it's best. Good form leads to efficiency and allows you to conserve energy. Bad form leads to inefficiency which results in wasted energy which leads - well you get the picture.

A side benefit of focusing on form is that it also helps keep your mind off the fact that you're getting tired. Giving your mind something to focus lessens the chance that it will get up to mischief and start spinning up negative thoughts. An unfocused mind is a dangerous opponent.

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Workout Summary

2160 yd continuous swim - LSD with form focus

18 mile bike - tempo with form focus

3.25 mile run - tempo with form focus

30 minutes circuit/core/stretching

Bring it On

Bring it on. This phrase went through my mind several times during this weekend's workouts. Bring it on I thought as the black bird on my run route screeched a warning and dove for my head. Bring it on I thought as the heat index rose above 100 degrees on both days during my bike and my run. Bring it on I thought as a dog launched itself from the porch in a blur of fangs and feet.

Bring it on I thought in answer to every bit of adversity that popped up this weekend. Do what you will but you had better be ready with your A game. Because that's what I'm bringing to the table and if you want to dance you better come prepared. Because if you don't I will wipe you from my brow and watch you evaporate on the pavement. I will smile as I do this. If I crumble and fall rest assured that I will be back and I will be stronger because of it. So bring it on.

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Workout Summary

25 mile bike - race pace (Thursday night)

3.5 mile tempo run (Thursday night)

10 mile run - LSD with a Z5 push during the last 2 miles (Saturday)

50 mile bike - LSD/tempo (Sunday)

Weekly Summary
This was a tough week. For both Tuesday and Thursday I did double bricks - one in the morning (S/B/R) and one in the evening (B/R only). All workouts went well both energy wise and form wise. Definitely felt the second brick on Thursday as my legs were a bit jiggly during the run and I wasn't up front during the club ride nearly as much as I usually am.

The long run on Saturday was a hot one. I ended up starting a bit later than I wanted and didn't get started until around 10:30 by which time the heat index was pushing passed 100. Fortunately I remember to bring some cash and stopped 1/2 way to replenish with Gatorade and water. The last couple of miles I was feeling good so I pushed hard. Upon arriving at home I went straight through the family room, out onto the deck, and into the pool. I think I saw steam rising as I entered.

Sunday was another hot one. My bike ride was a spontaneous route that took in parts of the ABD club route, Fox River, Fermilab, and Winfield. Once again, upon arriving at home it was straight into the pool for a good soak.

Looking forward to tapering down for the race next weekend.

Nuggets

It began in a civilized manner. Four groups of kids sitting together according to their t-shirt colors - green, blue, yellow, and red. They were all quiet and attentive - unusual for kids at this age. One at a time each child was called up to receive their trophies and then sat back down with their team. Very organized. Very unusual. The coaches told the kids to hand off the trophies to their parents and then come back. My daughter came running back with a huge smile on her face. "Look Daddy - my first trophy!" she beamed. She was so happy and proud of herself. After a couple of years of sitting through most of her brother's trophy and award presentations it was finally her turn to step into the spot light. It's moments like these that make all the trials and tribulations of parenting absolutely worth it. She handed off her trophy, grabbed her weapon of choice, and then rejoined her team. Weapon?

The coaches laid out the ground rules and then promptly struck first with two large buckets of water. Chaos erupted while all the kids shouldered their squirt guns and let the water fly. The contrast was amazing. Kind of like when you tell a well trained dog to sit, then walk away and wait. The dog quivers in anticipation. All focus is on you. Then when you say come they launch like the space shuttle. They don't stop until they run straight into you. This is what it was like. Team vs. team, coaches vs. kids, girls vs. boys, it became impossible to keep track of the sides. Some of the squirt guns were nearly as big as the kids who were wielding them. They all had a blast. My daughter returned from the fray soaking from head to toe.

When she looks back on this she won't remember how many frustrating swings it took to finally hit the ball. She won't remember how many times the ball dribbled past her when she tried to catch it. She won't remember putting up with the dorky little boys who teased her (though not too much since she was better than most of them). She won't remember standing in 90 degree heat waiting for something to happen. What she will remember is knocking the ball out of the infield nearly every time she was up to bat. She'll remember the time she smacked a line drive that knocked the coach on his butt. She'll remember the feeling of accomplishment as she showed us her first trophy. She'll remember the reckless abandon of the water fight. She'll remember how much fun she had with this whole experience. It's those memories that will keep her going.

When I look back on the Triathlons I've done I remember some of the pain and suffering, but it doesn't have as much of an affect on me as the really good moments. My first real good swim. Crossing the finishing line at my first Triathlon. Seeing my family and getting a hug from my daughter mid-way through the run during Ironman Wisconsin. The time, effort, and pain spent preparing for these events far exceeds the time actually spent doing them. The really good memories are a smaller fraction of time still. Yet it's those few precious nuggets that stand out and make it all worth it. It's those memories and the anticipation of many many more that keep me going.

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Workout Summary

30 mile bike - intervals and hills (Tuesday night)

3.5 mile easy run (Tuesday night)

1260 yd swim - intervals

23 mile bike - tempo

4.25 mile run - 1/2 at Z3/Z4, 1/2 at Z4/Z5 boundaries

20 minutes circuit/core/stretching

Man this is a hard week! After the brick workout on Tuesday morning I decided to do throw in another brick in the evening by doing the Tuesday night club ride and a run off the bike afterwards. My absolute saint of a wife also agreed to let me ride again tonight - so it will be a repeat of Tuesday. After pushing hard tonight I'll scale back and begin tapering for Steelhead next week.

Legs today were a bit sluggish and tight (duh!) but everything is still feeling pretty solid. Actually the last couple of weeks have been the best I've felt all summer - peaking rocks!

Will probably "try" to go easy during the club ride tonight and follow up with an easy run. "Try" in quotes because it turns out that in a previous life I was a greyhound and there's a lot of rabbits in this group. The urge to chase is far too overwhelming for me. Oh well - I have good self control in most other aspects of my life so a little indulgence is in order.

BTW - for those keeping score it's official - I'm on the list for IM USA 2007.

Polarity

So, I think I made it in. I have a receipt from active.com and got sent an Ironman number (used apparently to track my progress (or lack thereof) around the course). Ironman USA still hasn't published the official list (c'mon guys!) but all indications are that I made it in. 90 minutes. That's how long it took this race to sell out this year. Good thing I got in as soon as registration opened (2 minutes after it opened to be precise).

It's funny how plunking down something like an Ironman on the calendar alters the focus of everything. Before I had a collection of events with more or less random orientations. The collection is now fully polarized - each event is just another step to the Ironman. Each new event I consider for 2007 will be considered not because it sounds like fun, or presents a particular challenge. Each event will be picked solely on the basis of whether or not it's a necessary step towards Ironman.

Up until now my focus was solely on this year's events however now I find myself not caring as much about the remaining events on my calendar. Ok, I'm still totally excited about the NY marathon. But my few remaining 1/2's and mega-sadistic bike rides just don't seem as important anymore. That's not quite right. I suppose they just don't hold as much relevance now. The 800lb gorilla has just entered the room. All attention goes there.

It's so cool to be on this path again.

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Workout Summary

2160 yd continuous swim - 10 laps easy, 10 laps out hard easy back.

23 mile bike - tempo

4.25 mile run - tempo

30 minutes core/circuit/stretching

Injuries are still under control which is a good thing. The only one that remains is my adductor. If I could learn to stop playing soccer with my kids it might heal. Doesn't seem to affect my run or bike much though - just walking - weird. My run was really fast again today - averaging just under eight minute miles. Must be reaping some benefits from the longer weekend LSD runs. Now that my mileage is ramping up beyond 1/2 marathon levels the 4 mile runs during my brick workouts are beginning to feel like a walk in the park. Too bad I can't hold 8's on my LSD runs!

IM Decision Time

Negotiations were completed late the other night. My final decision was made during my LSD run today. This year's race is tomorrow which I'll be watching over Ironman Live to get a feel for what I'll be in for. The day after registration will open. I'll be ready and waiting with credit card in hand. Cable modem don't fail me now.

The 2nd Ironman for me will be Ironman USA in Lake Placid next year, assuming I get registered before it fills. At this point I'm planning to do a 1/2 sometime in June as a pre-IM tuneup. I had thought about doing TTT again but I got a bit of push back when I threw that out during negotiations. I'll also probably do a 4-5 day training trip around mid May - probably after Mother's day to get some experience with the course and the area. This definitely helped me out for IM Wisconsin so I'm going to try that approach again.

366 days to go.

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Workout Summary

16.5 mile LSD run - 2:30

Decided to run long today instead of ride because we're going to a party tonight and my inlaws have the kids for the weekend. Quality time with my wife is definitely worth skipping a workout. I took the same trail route that I did a few weeks ago and ran it at about the same rate and effort. The good news is that I had no injury troubles, though my legs are a little smoked at the moment as they should be.

Damage Control

Things that happen in the blink of an eye rarely turn out good. Such was the case last night during the club ride.

The group had slowed up to make sure everyone got across an intersection and was beginning to pick up steam again. I was on the right side of the road and turned to see if everyone was through yet. My bike drifted further to the right and hit a small pothole. My front wheel popped out of the pothole at a sharp angle. My hand slipped from the handlebar as the bike jumped abruptly to the left. Fortunately for me there was someone next to me. This was not fortunate for the someone next to me. As my bike leaped to the left I hit him which brought me back into an upright position and I was able to regain control of my bike. He on the other hand went down hard.

I quickly stopped and went back to see if he was ok, immediately taking the blame for the accident and apologizing profusely along the way. He was a bit dazed and had a bit of road rash on his elbow, but the bike was ok and no one else was affected. Since he was wearing sunglasses I couldn't tell if the guy accepted my apology or not. He ended up turning back instead of continuing the ride. I felt horrible about the whole thing. I pride myself in being smooth and stable during pack rides, and now I had just reinforced the stereotype that most roadies have a triathletes - we have no bike handling skills.

For the remainder of the ride the group was a bit twitchy and I'm sure people were extra cautious as they rode near me. I felt bad about this but didn't get caught up in it - I can control my thoughts and reactions but not theirs, and I refuse to worry about what I can't control. I did what was supposed to do in light of the situation - I took responsibility and did what I could to make sure that the guy was ok and that he knew that I was sorry. He may be ok with it - knowing that accidents happen and that I hadn't done it on purpose. On the other hand he may think I'm just another tri-jerk with no bike handling skills who shouldn't be riding in a pack. Regardless, I have no control over what he will think and I won't let that stop me from riding with the group. If I let that influence me I will have lost control of more than just my bike, I will have lost control of the only thing that I truly do have control over - myself.

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Workout Summary

28 mile bike ride - fast! (yesterday)

4.5 mile run - fast! (yesterday)

2100 yd swim - fast!

The club rides are usually fast and I stay up with lead group most of the time so that's expected. During the run after the bike I felt stronger and faster than usual - clocking a 7:30 pace for most of the runs which is about 1:30 faster than what I've been running at.

Had to get into work early again so I trimmed my planned 3K swim down to 2K, but pushed a bit harder than normal and did it in 1/2 hour.

Tour de Hood

My son was waiting for me as I walked through the door after work. "Hi Dad - wanna go for a bike ride?" He's sitting on the couch. He already has his one cycling jersey on - a kid sized Primal jersey with a cool graphic of a shark.

I look at my wife who rolls her eyes and continues working on dinner. "Uh, you know bud, it's really hot outside - like Africa hot." At that moment the weather report comes on the TV - heat index is 109. I look at my son. He is unphased by this. Weather conditions mean nothing to him. He plays like a goldfish eats. "Uh, let's see how things are after dinner." Mistake. I didn't say no so for him there's an implied yes. Too late I realize the mistake. My wife smiles and shakes her head - she's with my daughter on this one - we're crazy.

Yes we are. We ended up having a great 4 mile bike ride. Not bad for an 8 year old in temperatures that felt like a 109. There was a small hill (ok, I'm from Illinois so a hill for us is a speed bump for most folks) along our route and when he saw it he smiled and turned for it. It suddenly occured to me that this was his master plan all along.

As we rode towards it he glanced over his shoulder and said "water". Sort of like a surgeon says "scalpel". Suddenly I was the domestique ferrying water to the team leader for the final assault to the top of the mountain. He confidently took the water bottle from my hands, took a couple of swigs, and gave it back. I half expected him to throw it to the side. I slowed down to let him go first. He stood up on his pedals and began a strong, stable, rhythmic climb to the top. I've never seen him do this before. To my knowledge he's never seen me do it. Where the heck does he get this stuff?

He's dead serious. In his mind he's going for the stage win. He checks back on the competition and then with a final frenzied sprint coasts over the top of the mountain. He straightens out his jersery and then smiles for the cameras. He's just won a stage in the Tour de Hood. I'm glad I was there to be a part of it. Sometimes it's good to be the crazy parent.

My daughter was waiting for me as I walked throught the door after the ride. "Hi Dad - wanna go swimming?" She's sitting on the couch. She already has her swimsuit on. She's trying to be deadpan but can't resist cracking up.

My kids rock.

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Workout Summary

1800 yard swim - tempo

23 mile bike - one loop at tempo one loop easy

4 mile run - tempo

Holy crap was it humid this morning. The weatherman claimed that a cold front pushed through and the humidity would be lower. Perhaps at 3:00 PM but not at 5:30 AM apparently. The Rooster figured out the difference between AM and PM on his alarm clock and made it in this morning. The irony of the Rooster over sleeping continues to crack me up.

Muncie Endurathon Race Report

The short version: New PR!!!! 5:21!!!!

The long version:

Saturday was the 27th running of the Muncie Endurathon - the longest running 1/2 in the country according to the organizers. Overall this is a very well organized race with a fast bike course and a slightly hilly run course.

The drive down as usual sucked. Traffic through Chicago sucks. It sucks a lot. It's even worse when there's construction. There is a ton of construction going on. Once through Chicago things went well until I hit Indianapolis at rush hour. Overall it took about 5 1/2 hours to get down.

Once in town I headed to the convention center to pick up my race packet. The expo had great prices on tri suits (1/2 off of a $110 DeSoto suit) so picked one up. Signs posted at the packet pickup area showed that the lake temperature was 82 so no wetsuits allowed. Oh heck why not - it's already going to be humid and in the 90's, why not make it worse by also making it my first wetsuit-less triathlon swim? Oh well - it is what it is. There was an all you can eat pasta dinner at the expo so I took advantage of it and then sat through the mandatory pre-race meeting.

After the meeting I found my hotel and got checked in. Read a bit and tried to get to sleep. I kept trying until about 12:30 when I think I finally did get to sleep. It was one of those "fast" sleeps where it feels like you've only blinked and suddenly the alarm is going off. Great - hot, humid, no wetsuit, and no sleep. I should have brought a hammer so I could hit myself in the head a few times as well. A full cup of espresso and a couple of breakfast cookies had me up and ready to go in no time. Got on my stuff, mixed up my bottles, packed up, checked out, and headed to the reservoir.

After setting up my stuff in transition I hung out and chatted with my rack mates. Most of them had done this race in the past and really enjoyed it - a good sign. The racks were preassigned which I like - it avoids people getting pissed off by someone squeezing in at the last second. I scanned around for landmarks so that I'd be able to find my bike in transition, then grabbed my stuff and headed down to the lake.

I was in the 7th wave so I had a 35 minute wait. They called my wave and I headed down to the water. 82 degrees was very refreshing actually so my apprehensions about the lack of a wetsuit were reduced a bit. I routinely do 2K swims during my mid week workouts so I wasn't too concerned at that point. I lined up towards the back to avoid the washing machine and waited for the go.

It came and I went. The swim was clockwise which suited me well as I breath on the right side. In addition to having large yellow turn buoys for sighting, each turn buoy also had a large sailboat next to it. Excellent idea - it made sighting a breeze. The lake was fairly murky and I didn't find any feet to camp on so slipped into my own rhythm focusing on swimming downhill and pulling from my back - a lot easier out of a wetsuit as it turned out. About 2/3 of the way through I started passing people from the earlier waves, though I didn't pass many people from my wave. As I climbed out of the water I felt my timing chip slip off my ankle. I stopped and grabbed it and ran up the hill to transition. Fortunately the darn thing didn't drop in the middle of my swim!

T1 without a wetsuit and with my shoes clipped to the bike was by in a flash. I didn't bother with socks for the bike - just grabbed my helmet, sunglasses, then stuffed my back pocket with my endurolytes and I was on my way. I definitely need to work on getting into my shoes when they're clipped in. It took me the first mile to get my foot into the shoe. After that things smoothed out and I settled in to the bike.

The bike course is relatively flat with a few false flats here and there. After a couple of miles you turn on to a bike path which you stay on for about 10 or so miles. After that you go out and back on a very smoothly paved county highway. At the 1:40 mark I saw the first place guy going by. After that a few more trickled by and then there was a steady stream of age groupers from the earlier waves. I stuck to my plan of hitting the feed bottle every half hour and refilling my handlebar water bottle at every aid station. There were four (I think) stations along the way and all of the volunteers were very good at the "hot handoffs". The only complaint I have (and one I'll send as feedback to the organizers) came at the turnaround. There was an aid station at the turnaround and I decided to grab a Gatorade at that point. I twisted the top and tried to take a drink - nothing. They hadn't to take off the protective covering under the cap - though I'm guessing they weren't told to do so so I couldn't fault the volunteers too much. In any case I chucked the bottle as I didn't want to attempt to get it off while riding.

During the entire bike ride I maintained a 21ish MPH pace at a 148 heart rate. I did feel like pushing a bit harder but kept it reigned in to avoid blowing up on the run, which had me pretty worried. I also stretched my back every 15 minutes or so.

In T2 I got my socks and shoes on, grabbed my run feed bottle, and headed out on the run course. Thankfully, there was no back pain off the bike - a very good sign. For some stupid reason I emptied my back pocket during T2 and didn't put my salt tabs back when I stuffed my run feed bottle in. Fortunately they had salt tabs at the rest stops though. The run is a moderately hilly out and back over a country road with just a little bit of shade. Aid stations were placed every 1-2 miles and stocked with gels, salt tabs, water, Gatorade, ice, and freezing cold towels. About three miles into the run the first place guy cruised by.

I settled into a 11 MPM pace and immediately got passed by a 25 year old who blazed by like a gazelle. I settled into the run and focused on sticking to my plan of walking the aid stations, hitting the feed bottle, taking salt tabs, and dousing myself in cold water. Normally I'm not very good at sticking to my plan during the run but I knew if I didn't this time it would not go well. I also had a gel at each aid station as well. Overall the plan paid off because I felt good through the entire run - I had a good rhythm going and only walked through the aid stations. The only problem I had was being a little over-zealous when dumping water over my head. A bunch of water got into my left shoe and for 8 miles I got to listen to squish-thud-squish-thud-squish-thud as I ran.

In order to keep focused and keep my heart rate under control I used counting - a tip I picked up from reading other race reports. I counted the number of steps I take during each breath (four) and I also counted each breath. When the breath count got to eight I'd restart. This kept me focused on my run rhythm and also forced me to control my pace to keep my heart rate and breathing under control. During the last five miles I upped the count to three steps per breath for a couple of miles and then two steps per breath as I brought myself down to an 8:30 pace. I'll definitely continue to use this technique as it seemed to work very well for me.

With three miles to go I picked up my pace and passed the 25 year old who blew by me on the hill. She was walking by this point. With two miles to go a spectator called out "Wow - you look great! Are you on a relay?" Wow did that make me feel great! I chugged up the final hill and rocketed down the finishing shoot.

All said this was a great experience. Due to various concerns I spent a lot more time than I usually do in prerace planning. By staying focused and sticking to my prerace plan I was able to avoid a total melt down during a tough and hot day - and I was able to bag a new PR in the process. Now that's a good weekend!

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Workout Summary

2K openwater swim (0:39:45)

T1 (0:02:08)

56 mile bike (2:39 - 21 MPH avg.)

T2 (0:02:18)

13.1 mile run (1:58 - 09:02 MPM avg.)

Muncie Endurathon Preview

Gearing up for the 2nd (actually 5th if you count the Triple T events individually) Triathlon of the season this weekend - the Muncie Endurathon.

Went through my last workouts before the race today and felt pretty good. No sign of the needling little injuries that have been plaguing me of late. Hopefully that holds true on Saturday.

Aside from my injuries the biggest thing that has me leading up to this event concerned is the heat - though current forecasts have it at 90+ degrees with high humidity. For me this translates to a suffer-fest on the run.

The plan:

• Prerace: Up at 5:30 for a full cup of espresso and a couple Cliff Bars. Apply body glide and suntan lotion. Mix up the feed bottles and check out of the hotel.
  
• T0: Rack the bike and open the bag - gotta love simplicity here! Get a chip and find a place to chill.
  
• Swim: Go at tempo and avoid the heart rate spike during the mass swim. Stay out of harms way! Find a pair of feet to camp on.
  
• T1: Get out of wetsuit and spend a bit of time stretching back.
  
• Bike: Will be going with the tri bike for this one. Though I haven't practiced it I'm going to try leaving the shoes on the bike and starting out that way to see if I can get T1 times down. Due to the heat I'll plan on having a handlebar mounted hydration system full of water as well as a feed bottle mixed at 900 calories of Perpeteum with a little Endurolyte added to the mix to keep the salts high. Hit the bottle at 1/2 hour intervals. Keep heart rate at the Z3/Z4 boundary. Focus on staying smooth and stretching my back often. Last hits of hydration at about 1/2 hour before T2 to avoid bloating and stomach slosh. At that time pop a couple of Advils.
  
• T2: Try keeping the shoes on the bike. Spend some time stretching out the back before starting off on the run.
  
• Run: Attempt to keep heart rate at the Z3/Z4 boundary - though I'm not sure how successful I'll be given the heat stress. At most mid Z4 will be ok. If necessary walk to get the heart rate down - at least during the first 9 miles. After that release the hounds. Start out at 11-10 minute pace and negative split down to 8's if all seems good. Another feed bottle (gel flask) with Perpeteum mixed at 300 calories for the run. Hit it at every aid station and follow it with water. Will also be bringing Endurolytes in an empty M&M container - pop one or two at each aid station with water. Walk the aid stations. Frequently pour water over head to bring down core heat.
  

So that's the plan. Assuming all goes well I should finish somewhere between 5:30 - 6 hours, probably closer to 6 given heat.

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Workout Summary

1080 yd easy swim.

18 mile bike - tempo

3 mile run - easy

30 minutes core/circuit/stretching

For the swim I focused on "silent running" - being very smooth and making as little noise as possible. Pushed a bit on the bike because it just felt good. The Rooster over slept today so it was a solo ride. Ran into him on my way back as he was going out for his first loop. During the run I forced myself to stay below Z4, though I felt I could go harder - a good sign!

Originally I was planning on skipping any circuit work this week but I went ahead and did one quick circuit on the cable machines. Something about circuit/weight training leaves me feeling more energized after my brick workouts. I read somewhere that it helps to flush the lactic acid and also spikes the endorphins so there you go.

Anticipation

Today the Rooster asked if I was ready for my race this weekend. I replied that I'm not really that spun up about it. But the more I thought about my reply the more I realized that actually I am.

Lately I've been getting hit with all of these needling little injuries. Pulled calf, sore adductor, pulled glutes, and a nagging back pain. Fear that one of these injuries is going to break through and take me out of the race is what has me spun up. It's the anticipation of pending failure - the potential for a DNF - that looms in my mind. None of these injuries is bad enough to sideline me, but focusing on them has magnified their potential for harm in my mind. And the mind can be a formidable foe when it works against you.

And yet if this was a training weekend I wouldn't be spun up at all. I'd do what I usually do if I've got a minor injury - go out and see how things felt. If things felt bad I'd simply cut the workout short and start thinking about adjustments to my routine needed to get things back to good. The other thing I'd do is warm up carefully and focus on form. If things felt good after a solid warmup I'd push a bit and then reevaluate.

So that's going to be my plan - go easy, warm up well, and focus on good form. If things feel bad I'll DNF. If things feel good I'll finish. I'll resist the temptation to push hard because I know I'm not at 100%, however I'm not going to let anticipatory fear of a potential DNF derail me here. It is what it is, and I'll make the best of what I get.

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Workout Summary

2160 yd swim - easy

25 mile bike - easy

5 mile run - easy

My legs seem to be dropping a bit on my swim - going to have to focus on that a bit. I think I may be worrying about my back so I'm tensing up a bit and under-rotating. Aside from that though the distance is still comfortable and the rest of my stroke mechanics seem solid.

I was tempted to do a spin class today as it was raining when I headed out to pull my bike out of the car after my swim. Since the Rooster joined me again today I decided to tough it out and ride in the rain. I reasoned that a rainy day outside is better than a spin class with Coldplay any day. I think I made the right choice.

Run off the bike was again fine. I played a bit of soccer with my son over the weekend and I aggravated my adductor injury a bit but it didn't bother my form so I ran through it. No sign of my calf injury so I think I have that one licked. My back was tense again during the run but not overly so so I spent a bit more time stretching my back muscles afterwards. Will have to be careful in T2 since that's where I'll likely experience the most back aggravation. I'll probably spend a little more time in T2 stretching and loosening my back muscles before setting off on the run.

Twilight Zone

Quite a few years back there was a movie production of the Twilight Zone. One of the short stories was about a guy on an airplane who was terrified of flying. Shortly after takeoff the airplane encountered a horrendous thunder storm. The guy was already freaked out and then he looked out the window. Perched on the wing of the plane was this gargoyle like creature. The gargoyle looked at him as lightning flashed, barred his teeth, and began ripping the housing away from the engine of the plane. This sent the paranoid guy into a full blown shrieking fit and he was subsequently restrained by the other passengers. In the end the plane broke into the sunlight and landed safely.

I was thinking about this as I ran today - carefully monitoring my calf injury for signs of trouble. I could picture a little version of the gargoyle perched on the edge of my calf, waiting for the sky to darken before tearing my calf to shreds and ending the rest of my season. Dennis popped up hoping for a front row seat to my ultimate demise. The nameless one was a no show. He usually doesn't show up until the key moment of weakness. That's when he swoops in and kicks me back onto the correct course. Fortunately he wasn't needed today. The morning stayed sunny and warm - no signs of dark clouds and thunder. My calf was much less tight then Tuesday's run so it looks like my "push if it doesn't break form" approach paid off. At the end of the run I broke into pure sunlight and landed safely.

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Workout Summary

2160 yd continuous swim - 45 minutes - tempo

24ish mile bike ride - tempo

5 mile run - LSD

Now that I have the proper lane distance my swim times make a lot more sense!

Today's ride was the first one this year on my tri-bike. Up until now I'd been riding the road bike and mountain bike only. As an added bonus The Rooster joined me for the swim and bike legs. He's gearing up for Ironman Wisconsin this fall and thought my sadistic early morning brick workouts were just the ticket to get his training in order. We rode a new route I plotted last night through residential streets around the health club. The tri-bike felt great and it was definitely fun sharing the road with a training partner for a change. Once his calf injury gets under control he'll be doing runs with me as well.

The run off the bike felt good. Form was on, rhythm was on, and none of the injuries flared up. Perserverence wins again.

Country Inspiration

It's surprising how sometimes inspiration can hit you out when you least expect it. A couple of weeks ago I was updating my music collection and decided to add some new country songs to the line up. I should point out here that my music of choice tends to be heavy metal (Evanescence, Drowning Pool, Staind, Breaking Benjamin, etc.), but being a musician I also tend to be very musically diverse. My iPod sports a wide range of music including contemporary Christian, classical, jazz, reggae, country, alternative, and lots of metal.

Today I had the country playlist playing for background music while I was working when the following lyrics reached out and grabbed me (the band is Rascal Flatts):

Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend, till you break
Cause its all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad you get strong
Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you Stand, Then you stand

Great stuff from a bunch of "Good 'ol boys" - here's to musical diversity!

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Workout Summary (Yesterday)

2000yd continuous swim at tempo

26 mile bike ride - tempo

4.5 mile run - easy - LSD

Bad news on the swim front - all this time I thought the pool I was swimming in was a 20 yd pool. Turns out that it's only 18. Guess I need to bump up my lap count a bit. There's also a 25 yd lap pool next to the 18 yd leisure pool but it's a good five degrees colder and I'm a wimp when it comes to dipping into the cold first thing in the morning.

Had some trouble coming off the bike and starting the run. As soon as I started running I had shooting back pains. I stopped and stretched a little bit and that seemed to help. After a couple of blocks my back was fine. At about the 3 mile mark my heel started bugging me again. My general rule of thumb is that if it's shooting or sharp pain, or if it causes me to break form then I stop. This was neither so I ran through it and spent some extra time stretching after the run. So far so good but I will baby it over the next couple of runs. For now all runs will be LSD - no tempo or interval work.

Will wait until next week to make the call on the Muncie Endurathon. If it's still really bugging me I'll either scratch or go and do the swim and bike.

Only Time for Summaries

Busy day today - no time for the usual ramblings. I'm sure you'll get over it....

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Workout Summary

16 mile run - 2:30 - Z3

Weekly Summary
Overall workouts this week went well. In the past it's been difficult for me to add a midweek run but it seemed to go ok - at least for this week. Also was able to get out for the club bike ride on Thursday evening. I expected to be slow since my Thursday morning workouts were a bit flat energy wise but ended up feeling pretty good.

Long bike this weekend was a challenge, but it was also quite fun. Rather than sticking with my planned three-loop local route I decided to "wing it" and picked roads that took me into the wind. That way I could cash in for the ride home. I ended up at Fermilabs in Batavia. Unfortunately I misjudged and didn't have enough water - or money on me. Fortunately for me I found a water pump behind a tennis course at the little village they maintain inside the campus. Note to self - double check and make sure you bring money idiot. How long have I been doing this?

Long run today was also good - an out and back along the prairie path. For the first time in a few weeks I went out with my iPod but avoided my cadence based playlists and let my legs do what they wanted. Time passes a lot quicker with the distraction. Finally snuck out yesterday and got some new shoes which also helped contribute to a good run.

Going to have to watch injuries a little more closely during the coming week. My long run aggravated my heel injury a bit though the groin injury seems to be under control.

Adversity

Today I had one of those character building rides. Lots of wind, lots of heat, lots of suffering. The perfect training ride. It's training rides like these that train the mind to deal with adversity.

Anyone can have fun flying down the road with the wind at their back. It's an entirely different game when a strong wind is in your face. At first it's frustrating - you're slow, you're tired, and you're struggling to keep control of your bike in the cross winds. For me the frustration evaporates when I recognize it as an opportunity to work on efficiency. Wind has a great way of showing you where your aerodynamics are messed up. If you're a bit off you'll pay a heavy price. By making adjustments you'll dial in your efficiency which will impact your ability to endure.

As with most of the mental aspects of training for Triathlon, this translates well into the "real world". It's all good when things are going your way. When things are not it's easy to just wallow in frustration and self pity/loathing. It's easy to beat yourself up and start a negative think spiral. When this happens let the adversity you are struggling with illuminate where the problem is. With that knowledge in hand work out how to tune yourself to become more efficient in the face of the problem. It is hard. It takes work and perseverance. It takes change. It's all worth it.

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Workout Summary

3200 yd continuous swim - 1hr(yesterday)

82 mile bike - 4:38 - Z3