Under the weather

It's been quite the start to 2014. Mother Nature has aided and hindered my training for the first two weeks.

The temperatures have plummeted to all time lows and work, as a result, has a been quite dynamic. This has led to a distinctive lengthening of the work day, shortening of the training opportunities and even less time for recovery from the sessions. Stress levels of this unwelcome start to the new year has also played havoc with my body's ability to rebound.

Seemingly unrelated, mother nature has led, as perhaps with many amateur athletes, to a certain amount of over-training, or as is more appropriate, under recovering. It's been preached on here many times, the importance of emphasizing recovery. However, it is often very enlightening to experience how hard it is to practice what you preach. Yet again I have found myself run down and excessively. It's easy to think that only running an hour, or strength training for an hour or spinning for an hour is not the fatiguing. What has been fatiguing is the intensity practiced during those sessions, experimenting with different style of workouts that can be incorporated in to the upcoming training season. However, by doing so, a continued high intensity 60 minute session following a long work day, will lead to under-recovery. Becoming caught up in the fun of experimenting with these new found hour workouts is easily blinding to such a result.

Yet, as the story of David and Goliath has taught many generations of school children, the weakness of a situation can easily become a strength. Having taken three days in a row off - one dedicated to sleep. One to ensure I recovered and an additional day for good measure – the body has bounced back as it invariably does, allowing me to enter the final phase prior to beginning training well rested and somewhat fatigue free. Additionally, it has also reaffirmed my commitment to Dr Maffetone's method of training for endurance. You must train within yourself if you are to arrive wel rested and race ready. That requires a disciplined approach to controlling your impulses and not always reacting to your peers when training. As I seem to read more and more these days, in numerous articles in activity related glossy print, recovery is key, whether you are a pro or amateur. It's senseless gaining that extra yard and then arrive at the race injured or fatigued. It's been occurring for decades. It is frequently sympathized with that so and so didn't make it because they are injured, but perhaps a more appropriate statement would be “why is so and so injured and not able to start?” Injuries frequently occur as a result of the athlete ignoring their bodies and pushing beyond their daily limits. “Daily” because to often each day's limits will very greatly. We are naturally driven to train for ultimate performance, however a time for that attitude is race day, to push the limits. Training is to ensure that you arrive at that on that day ready to perform to that extreme. It isn't to try to discover that ability everyday, although when training with Napoleon, or any of the other reprobates that are nice enough to keep me company during the season, it can be hard to resist the pull of the competitive drive.

This blog serves the purpose to enable experience based learning. There is a popular phrase in my profession that can be well used here. We hope that our bag full of luck doesn't run out before our bag full of experience is filled. As we age, that bag of luck becomes lighter and lighter and we must dive in to the bag of experience to ensure we call on the bag of luck less and less.

Good luck to us all!

Twerk, Hash and Selfie

The New Year is upon us. Many people have spent this last year making new words and working towards 2014 in order to create even more ridiculous words. I may have spent 2013 taking many "selfies" in order to chronicle my training, but luckily I have not used the word in earnest.

Even thought twerking could be a good core workout, I feel that most of the time, be it by myself or with witnesses, I would simply create animosity if attempted. That only leaves hashtag, which ultimately means something completely different a few decades ago. However, now we find ourselves, me included, held in the vice grip of trends that need to be perpetuated with a hastag. No longer are we getting high from a hashtag, simply being social.

That said, none of this pertains to 2014 and the quest for the third Ironman. An iron distance race is tough, just by itself. Throw in altitude and summer sun and it will be exponentially more challenging. However, these kind of conditions bring out the community spirit within the triathlon world. Allow me to tell you a story.

Not a million weeks ago, I had a passenger board one of the flights I was working wearing a Ironman Lake Tahoe finisher jacket. When I see this type of finisher jacket I often take the time to converse and share stories. When I see one from Lake Tahoe an effort is particularly made. The unique thing about this gentleman was his extreme stutter. This provided a little awkwardness as I tried to chat about his extreme experience that was said to be had by many during that race and he struggled to describe what he went through. However, the eagerness I held to hear the story, made me hold passengers up so I could block the aisle and listen to the man. The experience, as simple as this story may appear, did not end there. My co-worker teased me as she said the gentleman had asked for a piece of paper and pen to write some words down. She ribbed me that he was writing an ironman love letter. What he in fact did was probably exactly that. Having heard about my quest for Ironman Boulder, my co-iron triathlete, who lived in Boulder took the time to note down the key ingredients of mistakes not to make in August. What a generous thing to take the time to complete for a complete stranger.

This is something that is particularly endearing about the triathlon community. There certainly are some numpties out there, but much of the time we find a lot of positives out there. Triathletes such as this man really keep my inspiration and motivation to continue putting my body through these experiences. If I can pass on this kind of inspiration to anyone else, as this man has done for me, then it makes it that much more worthwhile. 

Training begins, in earnest, February 16th. Hopefully this year, with a little motivation from a virtual coach. Another year of "firsts" await, preferably without any new words frivolously added to the Oxford Dictionary. 

Good luck to us all!

Challenge and Opportunity

Quite often, the wonders of the lives we lead present us with challenges. On initial reflection those challenges seem burdensome and inconvenient to our daily lives. However, more often than not, those challenges, seemingly a blockage in the road, end up developing in to the opportunity we didn't know was available. I don't believe it is for us to see this opportunity coming, like a train with it's headlamps blaring towards us. It is more like the plunge down a kamikaze slide blindfolded. You have a feeling of what awaits you, but you just can't see it yet.

Take for example my recent trip to Florida. Presented with a continuing and enduring challenge from a government agency that is so full of bureaucracy that I personally believe that hidden in their charter somewhere is a statement that "we shall be as bureaucratic as possible so as to infuriate anyone who deals with us", I was presented with this week's challenge of travelling to Florida to have a nice English gentlemen invigilate that I do indeed speak excellent English.To have two entire days consumed by 20 minutes of testing seems like a pretty unwelcome challenge to me. I began the challenge grumbling away, with snow falling around me. I grumbled all 3 hours of flight down to Florida. And then I stepped off the plane! It had gone from 1F to 70F in 3 hours and all of a sudden, as I shed the wool coat of 1F and embraced the shirt sleeves of 70F. All of a sudden this challenge was paying a more positive note. An opportunity was knocking. Enter stage left a Mustang Convertible.

I had never driven or ridden in the classic automobile. All of a sudden an opportunity to rent the powerful machine was on offer. I hesitated only momentarily, with my hand on the handle of a nondescript rental vehicle, I was pulled away and crossed the rental area and climbed into the Mustang. Top down, wind in the worryingly greying hair line and the sun beaming down, I was on the road. All of a sudden this annoying challenge was taking on a new set of spots.

A trip to Florida in December can only be embraced with an outdoor run. My hotel was positioned in such a location that to run to the Atlantic shoreline would be a 9 mile round trip. A new challenge, but one that was immediately converted to an opportunity. I love a good run in the sun. 9 miles later, via the town of Indiatlantic, all of a sudden, the burden of the trip was long gone and opportunities were being searched for, like a dog hunting for a rabbit. As is typical when I am in a strange town, I hunted for the local hippie hangout. Duly found, a coffee and veggie sandwich were in order for some recovery.

The next morning, the opportunities kept coming. A new meeting with an intriguing Englishman and a very nice drive down, really confirmed this trip as a great opportunity, albeit an unexpected and unwelcome costly one.

The run was simply fantastic, minus an unwelcome "porta-jon" stop. The perfect temperature. Slightly windy. However, more importantly, it was confirmed that all the strength training has paid off and continues to. The legs never felt like giving up and the next morning did not provide any concern. 9 miles for the first time in two months. A good result.

Good luck to us all!

Swimming with the tide

Inspired by my brother's increasing swim activity and his entry in to a masters program, I felt it was my turn. The trouble with always being the fastest swimmer out of your training group is that you fall under a grossly misrepresented impression that you are a great swimmer. Don't worry, a quick trip to a masters swim session will cure that quickly.

The past two weeks have been spent having a couple of morning swim sessions with a masters group in my local area. As we become increasingly winter like, as the snow is meant to begin to fall and the frigid wind sending you hurrying back inside for another layer, swimming becomes an appealing endeavor. Biking limited appeal on the inside of the house. Running continues strong, even with those chilly temps. However, it is swimming that can achieve the greatest leaps forward. Traditionally, we would gather at the local pool, chat long enough to put off getting in the frigid water, jump in and swim back and forth for an hour, often interrupting each length for a good catchup on what has happened to Justin Bieber this week! However, this year I was steered in the direction a local swim group. The immediate upgrade came when I entered their water for the first time and discovered music under the water. Winner! However, reality came crashing down when the coach pulled me aside to point out that I was indeed, wait for it, crossing over! Perhaps, the worst words a "swimmer" wants to hear. Once I had composed my fragile demeanor, I proceeded to attempt my new instructed technique. Who knew, it worked! I wasn't exactly flying down the pool at new speeds, but fatigue was longer to set in and my neck did was not as sore the next day. Break through!

The next session proved even more impacting. If you ever have a misbehaving child, this training method in the pool should do the trick in correcting any behavioral problems. Step 1, tether swimmer to one end of pool. Step 2, tell swimmer to attempt to swim to the other end of the pool. Step 3, swimmer will discover that the elastic cord is not in fact fully long enough and requires stretching. Step 4, induce stretching by swimming as hard as you can without adding vomit to the pool. Step 5, reach other end of pool and don't let go! Step 6, swim the other way, without the initial expectation that it will feel like you are superhuman, or being dragged by a speed boat. Entirely a new experience.

Next up, some more winter training.

Good luck to us all!

Glutes, Hamstrings and Posture

As I sit in yet another of the world's airports, preparing to sit in a posture destroying seat, I reflect on the last week's work. Since the cold end to the racing season, I have wondered what has caused all the aches and pains and lopsided form.

More time, without pressure to complete a specific workout, has permitted my time to be spent on cross training and working out for the sake of it. During these workouts, I have taken notice of the subtle lopsided-ness of my form, whether biking, running or in the gym. Research began. Not the rigid type of research you might find in a university library, but the modern type. The online type.

I Googled around and found a reference to those of us who sit for the majority of the day and the way this contributes to a gradual weakening of the hammstrings and glutes, further leading to poorer and poorer posture. This peaked my attention, as I too have found this developing in my body. A gradual hunching over, as if you are shrugging your shoulders at a question. I decided this needed to be worked on over the off season. More strength training was needed. I was to focus on the adbuctors, hamstrings and glutes. Two strength training sessions a week, combined with a focus on running and working with a Virtual Power meter to expose my imperfect and distinctly one sided biking technique, provided a much needed focus on improving my form and subsequent efficiency over the winter. This will continue throughout the off season (aka The Dreaming Season) in order to arrive in February very much ready for my third and hopefully last (at least for a little while) Ironman training season.

The side effects? Sore, worked out glutes and lower back, followed by 10 hours of sitting on an aircraft. Yet, my form and posture will benefit exponentially. What a combo!

Good luck to us all!

Blinnk and you missed it.

There's is always a joke in Minnesota that we have one of the shortest Autumn's. Lulled in to a false sense of security, the temperature drops slowly, like the slow rickety climg to the top of the roller-coaster, only to creep of the top and suddenly shock you in to winter. During our one week of leaves changing and temperatures at the autumn range - the range where you are no longer prefusely sweating, but instead, just right. What I call "Grandma Joan" temperature. 75 degrees fahrenheit, plus or minus zero degree - I managed to enjoy some very enjoyable runs. 

I had a fantastic morning run around Canada's capital city. The day was genarlly wet and miserable. The type of weather the Americans call a "movie day". The type that the English call "standard April day". However, the morning was fantastic autumn running weather, as you can see from the pictures. I was fortunate enough to take in all the sights of the city, matched with the fantastic colours of the season.    

Then the weekend arrived and autumn was complete. Arriving back in to Minneapolis, I found myself completely inapproriately dressed. Fortunately, my wamrly clad wife was on hand to scrape me up at the airport. I quickly descended to the basement to dig out my long running leggings and vest. Morning runs were going to be a frosty affair, with your breath the first sign that you were awake. 

The second sign it was truly changing, was the first sweaty and humid basement ride. Back to the monotony of staring at a movie, trying to forget that you sre inside riding a bike, literally on the road to nowhere. However, the season shall be improved by the accompaniment of other in my tiny basement living room, along with good ole Trainerroad. My saving software, that guides me through this sweaty indoor season, with new workouts and the ability to ride with others now. My wife will be thrilled at the prospect of multiple sweaty riders in the basement, grunting away as they attempt to reach the targets. What more can a girl wish for??

The final nail in Summer's coffin was the first indoor swim. Back to the pool I went. Meeting Napoleon and then unceremoniously getting the boot from the pool by the old peoples aqua class. However, not before I got to experiment with my gadgets. The TomTom watch was excellent, with the accompanying  music in my underwater MP3 player doing just the trick. It drowns out the ranting strike talk from frenchie. jk.

This evening, hopefully Traverse City will provide an apprioate late autumn run. The type where you find yourself just that little bit underdressed and shiver through your first few miles, trying to run faster to warm up before the end of the run. Traverse is a great city to run through, the biting wind off the lake reminding you that you are indeed in northern Michigan!

Good luck to us all! 

Swings and roundabouts

Swings and roundabouts

It's been a busy few weeks. Not busy like a bee trying to pollenate as many sprouting flowers as possible. Busy like a jumbled children's play pen, full of plastic balls with no end in sight. Every time one thing is completed, another is behind the next door to replace it.

That said, this is typically the time of year that I try to complete everything I missed last summer. My wife has taken over the busy schedule with school and work, whilst training has backed off considerably. A backing off on the energy output similar to a tree's leaves turning a shade of yellow, bowing out for the winter. A part of the beautiful and colourful Minnesota autumn that I enjoy the most. Short, picturesque runs through the parkways and around the calm, cooling water of the lakes. In particular, one of my favourite events of the year, Twin Cities Marathon weekend. Sunday comprises of the marathon and 10 mile races. This year was the turn of the 10 mile, having completed the colour filled marathon last year. As is the norm, a gentle run was unlikely to be the result, with Napoleon also competing. As is also the norm, he snuck ahead of me to finish an agressive 1hr 15min 10 mile, with me closing in a mere 3 minutes behind the Frenchman. Although, thanks to our never ending competitive spirit, my pace was upped considerably and my PR was matched at the end of the day. My proudest moment of the weekend, however, came with my wife finishing off the 10miles, with very little training, in a mere 1hr40mins. Not stopping once along the way, A great achievement!

The coming winter months will bring the passing of the leaves to the street gutter and the first snow of winter. Better fuel up the snow blower! What shall also begin will be the sweaty basement rides and chilly runs through and around the snow filled lakes. Something that should help with distracting me from the frost developing on my eye brows will be my new gadgets. I do like a good gagdet! The first addition of the autumn was my new TomTom Multisport watch. So far it's still in it's infancy, but the first impressions are really positive. My poor old Garmin 405 was showing the signs of age, clocking my HR at 252 at speeds of 200mph. A sign that my Hammer nutrition as working really well or a change was needed, and Tomtom stepped in with the best and most intriguing deal. Next up, are the Jabra bluetooth sport headset, currently awaiting me when I land in MSP in 3 hours. Looking forward to taking them out for a test run tonight. Hopefully I can persuade Mrs P to come along for the casual trot under the falling leaves.

In addition to all this fun and relaxing, we hope to add cross country skies and snow shoes to our list of goodies. Minnesota has a fantastic culture of winter sports and it would be a fantastic cross training experience if could get everything together before the first big storm of the year. Looking forward to changing the landscape a little with skiing and my other cross training in Rowsculpt. Same class I had taken part in during last year's off season, hoping to strengthen up the old body before next year's iron season begins and I start staring down the barrel at Boulder.

Good luck to us all