Team McAlister

Today’s plan was for a long-ish ride at a pace that would be on the edge for me.  The route is very similar to the last 2 rides – only a little longer.  As always I was testing out myself and my gear.  Cyclemeter was almost dead on with iSport today….go figure.

Here’s the skinny: iSport shows 35.9 miles, avg speed 16.3 mph, top speed 46.7 mph, 2629 calories. Cyclemeter shows 35.78 miles, avg speed 16.16 mph, top speed 47.45 mph, calories 3727.  Close enough for Cyclemeter to get a passing grade today.  Even better, Cyclemeter appears to have mapped the route correctly.

Check out the ride:  http://j.mp/9eF0uO

By the time, I hit the last climb on River Mountain Rd, my legs were toast.  I was hungry.  In short, that was perfect for the next part of the day – shaking on the Vibraflex.  I went straight to LRAC to jump on it for 2x 2 minutes at 26Hz.  Man, that feels good!  Vibraflex seems to be a recovery miracle!  No knee pain!  Better flexibility!  No sore muscles! YAY!

Tags: bicycle, cyclemeter, cycling, injuries, iphone, Vibraflex 550

I wanted to test some stuff today – me, Cyclemeter, and the Vibraflex 550.  I planned a ride that was pretty much the same route as yesterday, only instead of being flat it has 3 major climbs that are right on the path.  The idea being of course that it would test Cyclemeter to see it performed on a similar, but slightly different route while giving me more pop than yesterday’s route.  The climbs come in Mile 2, Mile 11 and Mile 21.

Now, I gave Cyclemeter some pretty good props yesterday and Colin is a fanboy.  I even hit ‘em on Twitter and they gave me a nice response.  I thought today’s route would be simple, but not so.  Not sure why, but it had me climb straight up the side of a hill and then sort of scramble around up top.  And I really just don’t trust the stats yet.  My iSport had me at 1:28 and change.  So did Cyclemeter.  But that’s just a stopwatch function.  Big whoop!  Cyclemeter had the ride at 22.77 miles and iSport at 21.8 miles.  Cyclemeter shows a top speed of 66mph and iSport has it at 45mph (much more likely).  The mph intervals posted on the server map just don’t look right.  Some of them look ok, but others don’t and I can’t explain why.  That 34.5 mph in Mile 2 isn’t possible for me at that point in that ride.

Map accuracy is maybe 80% (very unscientific estimate) on today’s route.  I don’t know enough about any of this to know why it’s inaccurate.  Probably something to do with GPS sensitivity and hillsides, and sunspots, and climate change.

But the ride was fun and felt great, even if it did have 3 relatively nasty climbs in a short time.  That was good though because I then stopped at the LRAC to jump on the Vibraflex 550.  It’s hyped as a sort of super-dee-dooper exercise machine that’s supposed to boost testosterone and HGH while chewing up Cortisol and flushing lactic acid out of your muscles.  I’ve used it a few times in the last couple of weeks and it does help loosen up your muscles.

I wanted to see what it would do for achy, dead, stiff legs after a brisk ride.  I’m told that marathoners and triathletes love it.  So, I did 2x 2-minute sets at 26 Hz, which is what was recommended for me.  I must say that my legs felt super afterwards and I think that thing may become a regular part of my stretching and flexibility routine.  Pretty impressive.

Tomorrow is a day off the bike and back to jumping rope, running, and weight stuff.

Tags: cyclemeter, cycling, iphone, triathlon, Vibraflex 550

Today is Kathy’s birthday (no, I’m not telling)….this is a simple, fun, flat ride just to enjoy the sunshine and the fact that sometimes you get to play hooky from the office on a nice Monday.

After my last rant about Cyclemeter letting me down on its initial trial ride, I must say that today, it was perfect.  The link below is instructive for some of Cyclemeter’s capabilities.  Mostly remember that this was on a Monday, people.  That’s right!  While you were at the office, I was on my bike. hehehehe

http://j.mp/bplS5j

Just finished my first run with Cyclemeter. It seems to have been pretty accurate, or at least it’s as accurate as Fitnio ever was. That’s all I really have to go on. Looking at the map of my run, it looks like the GPS doesn’t “check in” as often as maybe it should—I promise I wasn’t zig-zagging down the middle of Polk Street. But all in all, I’d say it compares favorably to any other tracking app I’ve used.

The tweeting feature might be what seals the deal for me. Knowing that it’s sending a link to Facebook makes me feel like I’m really accountable for turning in a good run. It might even make me run more often, if I feel like people might start wondering why I haven’t run lately. Is that a little narcissistic and/or self-obsessed of me to say? Probably. I don’t care though (because I’m awesome).

My running has improved a little, in spite of me not really staying on top of my training. My outdoor runs are a mile longer now but averaging the same speed. That’s pretty encouraging, and in combination with the beautiful weather, Daylight Savings Time, and Cyclemeter, I might even start running more than once a week. Of course, we’ll see about that when the time comes to run on a weekday after work.

Tags: cyclemeter, equipment, iphone, running

Getting old sucks!  And, having creaky, cranky joints sucks!  When you have both, it really sucks!  Back in September when I was in San Francisco hanging out with Colin and Schuyler, the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in my right knee started bugging me so badly that I could hardly walk.  I attributed this new-found pain to the also new running shoes and insoles that had been recently custom-fitted and carefully chosen to prevent injury.  Right….

The pain was nearly debilitating at times.  This “injury” had all the concomitant features – swelling, stiffness, loss of movement.  I could cycle about as much as I wanted without too many ill-effects, but running, swimming, walking were all crossed off my list of activities.  By December, when I couldn’t get over it, I plunged into despair and started considering giving up on the triathlon goal to settle for something more in line with what the elderly do, like a Scrabble tournament.

Sometimes though you just stumble into stuff.  Actually, if experience is any sort of guide, I usually just stumble into stuff.  First, I discovered that unclipping from my bike pedal in a certain way aggravated the problem.  Stopped doing that immediately.  Big help!  Second, I got an app for the iPhone called Muscle Trigger Points.  Massage therapists and physical therapists have taught me a thing or two about how body parts are connected and how a tight muscle here causes a pain over there.  A daily part of any and all of my not-really-routine exercise is to stretch and try to work on tight muscles.  That seems to be ultra-important as I age.

Anyway, about two weeks ago as I was going through my nightly stretching/massage program, I hit a spot in the Vastus Medialis (one of the muscles in the quadraceps group) that literally turned off the pain in the MCL.  It was like flipping a switch. No pain.  Zero.  I almost jumped up and took off running right then and there. Well, not really.

Next day – no pain.  So then, added some activities like jumping rope.  No pain – at least until I had jumped so much that lots of other stuff was hurting also.  Started the massage, hit the spot in Vastus Medialis and Bang!  no pain!  So that’s been going for several days now.

I’m now ready to begin the running conditioning process again.  Yay!  We’ll see if this MCL pain is something that can really be conquered.

More in due course….

Tags: iphone, knee pain, massage, MCL, running, triathlon

I bit on the fan-boy hook that Colin dropped in the water as far as the Cyclemeter app for iPhone is concerned.  It all started when I saw his Facebook post on Wednesday and followed his ride mile-by-mile while he was on it.  Very impressive stuff.  Later in the day, we started talking about the app and I dutifully visited the App Store, read the hype, and plunked down my $4.99.  I read all about how it works and even touted some of the features to Colin.

Today’s beautiful clear skies, 70 degree temps, and mostly calm winds were a siren song for cyclists and I peeled out of the office about 3:30 to try out my new wonder app.  I like to test stuff out in controlled situations so that I have some basis for comparison purposes.  Like Colin, I’ve tried several iPhone cycling apps and have found them mostly unsatisfactory for one reason or another.  So far, I’ve ditched Fitnio, Bikenik, MotionX GPS, and iMapMyRide.  None of those impressed me as much as my basic Garmin Edge.  I know, a Garmin is really not a basic product and the apps are a fraction of the Garmin’s price.  The Garmin died on me after a couple of years though and I wasn’t ready to ante up another big batch of dollars for another one.

So the search for a good cycling app and a mounting bracket has been on for some time now.  In the meantime, I discovered the virtues of power training and after careful research purchased an iSport power meter.  As power meters go, it is value priced at $199 or so.  Other models top out somewhere around $800 or so, but even then they compare favorably to other power meters that can easily run between $1200 and $2000!  I’m not going to attempt to defend the accuracy of the iSport as that isn’t really the subject of this post.  The iSport is fine for me because it is CONSISTENT, which is the most important quality for me.

I took off on a base ride of 15 miles that is essentially 3x on a 5-mile loop.  I ride this loop so often that I can almost do it in my sleep.  I’ve literally ridden it dozens of times, often for the purpose of testing a piece of equipment.

Here’s the skinny on the Cyclemeter: Top Speed= 63 mph; Distance=7.5 miles; Average Speed=7.5 mph; Elapsed Time=47.52 minutes.  The iSport produced: Top Speed=36 mph; Distance=15 miles; Average Speed= 18 mph; Elapsed Time=49.12 minutes.

Guess which one I believe?  I rode this same exact ride 2 days ago in 52 minutes at an average speed of 17.3 mph (in a mad wind).  Both rides track with what I expect on this particular ride.

The Cyclemeter only picked up half the ride on the GPS.  Now, when I started I had poor GPS signal, but I hoped it would pick up and correct early in the ride.  I also had the “Remote Control” feature turned on and although it appears to work well, I’m not sure I used it properly at the outset.  The Cyclemeter kicked in some music that I really didn’t want, so I need to figure that out.  I also had turned off the Wi-Fi on the iPhone, so only 3G was working.  I did that in an attempt to conserve battery, but it may have had adversely affected Cyclemeter.

The result is that my initial ride was less than I had hoped for after seeing what Colin did.  However, it was only one experimental ride.  I’ll continue to use it and compare it to my iSport especially with different settings.  It’s too early to consider Cyclemeter a fail by a long shot, but it isn’t an automatic pass either.

Tags: cyclemeter, cycling, iphone, iSport, power training

Not a real update, just wanted to share this post from over at Cycling Tips. Pics so good they’ll make you want to go out and climb all day:

10 Coolest Roads to Ride

In my last post I briefly touched upon a slight problem with Fitnio. Specifically, it wouldn’t upload my ride. Well, after that happened on three or four more rides, Fitnio decided it wouldn’t even open at all. It would just crash, every single time I tried to use it. I reinstalled it, restored my phone, and cursed it up and down, but nothing would fix it. Not even the most creative curses I could muster. So you know what, Fitnio? You’re out. You suck and I never liked you much anyway.

I hereby declare Cyclemeter to be The New Hotness. I used it for the first time today, and it… it just… you guys, it is a dream. I won’t devote space here to listing its features, suffice to say that it does everything they say, and it does it well. If you check my Twitter you’ll see that it can tweet when you start and finish your ride. HOW COOL IS THAT?! It even uses less battery power than Fitnio. You hear that, Fitnio? You suck so hard.

The one flaw I saw was that it clocked my first couple of miles at around 79 mph, which isn’t entirely accurate. 7.9 mph would be closer. I’ll give it a pass though, because when I started out it warned me that the GPS signal was weak. Fortunately it allows the user to change any stats it records, so I scrubbed my amazing but untrue top speed from the record.

Oh and by the way, riding’s going well… Missed a couple of weeks because of jury duty, equipment failure, and weather (I will NOT ride in the rain, I don’t care if that makes me a wuss). But today was great, the weather is steadily improving, and I won’t have jury duty again for at least a year. Expect to see some more frequent rides tweeted, thanks Cyclemeter!

Tags: cyclemeter, equipment, fitnio, iphone

I rode to work. I RODE my BIKE to WORK . For some reason, after I used 70% of my iPhone battery to track the ride, Fitnio decided not to record it. But it was right around 45 miles, and took just over three hours. Pretty slow, but I’m happy with it since I haven’t done a real ride (or even been on a bike, really) since the summer. For anyone interested, here’s the link to the route. It says 42.5 miles, but instead of the Foster City route we took a bike path that added about two miles. Aside from being freezing cold until the sun came up, and completely worn out at the end, it was extremely pleasant.

I plan on doing this once a week for a month or two, and then moving up to at least twice weekly.

I am completely exhausted, so that’s all I’m writing.

Tags: bike, cycling, san francisco

Hey, remember last week when I said I was going to update every Sunday? Is anyone surprised that I didn’t stick to that even for just a week? No? Me either.

Anyway, I would have updated if there was anything to update about. The weather here has been horrendous. I’ve never seen it rain so hard for so long. When it’s like that, I can’t even make myself walk the block and a half to the gym. Gym clothes are just not suitable for cold, rainy weather.

The good news is we’ve gotten a little break in the rain, and tomorrow I’ll be riding my bike to work! That’s 42.5 miles from San Francisco to Mountain View. I have my Orbea, my Orbea has new pedals, I have a riding buddy, and I’m ready to do this. Wish me luck!

We’re supposed to get more rain over the weekend and next week but I promise I’ll take full advantage of every day that it doesn’t rain, so that I’ll have something to write about here.

But January’s as good a time as any to get this thing rolling again, I suppose. I’ve come up with a few blog-related goals that I hope will make training (and writing about training) a little more interesting, or at least more consistent!

1. I’m going to tweet about all my runs and rides. You guys will know if I’m slacking off. This could get really boring after a while, so we’ll just play it by ear.

2. I’m going to update this blog at least once a week. On Sundays I’ll post a summary of the week and how I’m coming along. Hopefully posting on a weekly schedule will keep this blog on my radar and influence me to post more often.

3. This is pretty hypocritical, at least for now, but I’m going to hassle everyone else to post more often too. Schuyler starts swimming soon, and I don’t know about you guys but I think he needs to write about it on the Internet.

4. More pictures! I got an awesome pocket-sized camera for Christmas and I want to put it to good use.

I don’t have any specific training related goals just yet, but I’ve laid out some vague ones. Once I work out the details I’ll start tracking my progress, but for now I’m just looking forward to riding my bike to Mountain View a couple of times a week!

If you like guitar music, this is a fun, fast-paced 1 hour playlist.  I usually listen to this while on my rollers riding at a cadence of 85-105 and gearing of 50/15-14-13-12.  It affords plenty of opportunities for sprinting as well as lighter, more relaxed spinning.

Deed I Do Chet Atkins & Les Paul  Chester & Lester

I’ll See You In My Dreams Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden  Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]

Vivaldi: Concerto In G For 2 Mandolins, RV 532 – 1. Allegro Various Artists  Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos

Limehouse Blues / Mystery Pacific Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden   Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]

Vivaldi: Trio Sonata In C, RV 82 – 3. Allegro Various Artists   Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos

Vivaldi: Mandolin Concerto In C, RV 425 – 1. Allegro Various Artists   Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos

Sheik Of Araby Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel & Herb Ellis   Great Guitars At The Winery

Vivaldi: L’Estro Armonico, Op. 3 – Concerto #10  In B Minor, RV 580 – 3. Larghetto Various Artists   Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos

Vivaldi: Lute Concerto In D, RV 93 – 1. Allegro Various Artists   Vivaldi: Guitar Concertos

The Talk Of The Town Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel & Herb Ellis     Great Guitars At The Winery

There’ll Be Some Changes Made Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden   Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]

Sweet Georgia Brown Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden  Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]

Air Mail Special Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel & Herb Ellis   Great Guitars At The Winery

Caravan Chet Atkins & Les Paul   Chester & Lester

Caravan (Alternate Version) Chet Atkins & Les Paul   Chester & Lester

Avalon Chet Atkins & Les Paul   Chester & Lester

Lover Come Back to Me Chet Atkins & Les Paul   Chester & Lester

The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise Chet Atkins & Les Paul   Chester & Lester

I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles Dick Hyman Group & Howard Alden   Sweet and Lowdown (Music from the Motion Picture) [Instrumental]

WOW!  I just realized that it’s been weeks since the last update, although Twitter has been a pretty active place for me.  Some good news on the training front – lots of good sessions – especially hill repeats and pace rides on the rollers.  Those two types of rides plus some on-the-road intervals are building good power.

In addition, there are no injuries and the gimpy MCL in my right knee is nearly recovered enough to start running again….maybe by the first of the year.  No significant damage from over eating at Thanksgiving.  Maybe the early morning, pre-lunch ride helped.

Not much else to add here, except thanks to those of you who are following us, encouraging us, coaching us, advising us, and cheering for us.  I’m dreaming of  organizing a Lance Armstrong Foundation Livestrong event for Arkansas as well as building a team to ride in the Cape Argus event in Cape Town (both in 2011) as precursors to our 2013 IM Tri.

This year, I promised myself that I would be better about riding in cool/cold conditions.  I have lots of gear to make it bearable.  My riding buddy for today has zero cool weather kit, though.  So, we punted on the morning ride.  How cool is it?  50 degrees, 12 mph N wind, 90% humidity.  For those of you keeping score at home, that’s a wind chill of about 35 degrees. In my book, that’s beyond cool (especially at the speeds I ride…..rofl, right).

Anyhow, we will ride and it will be fine.

I noticed that Colin said that running sucks.  I heard confirmation from the Amen Corner on that one!  I’m nursing a very slight MCL strain on the right knee.  Nothing to worry with, really.  It’s an old injury from teen age years.  It does nag from time to time, however, and takes care.  Of course, it only hurts when I stand, walk, or run.  Cycling is no issue at all.  :-)  So, the usual formula of R.I.C.E. helps.

There are now 3 out of the 4 of us sporting VFFs.  If you like going barefooted (and, hey, we’re from Arkansas, so what did you expect?  lol), you ought to try them.  I’m not sure the benefits outweigh the raised eyebrows of casual observers (not to mention the outright laughter of friends and acquaintances), but it’s pretty close.

Excepting the minor MCL issue, my running continues to improve (which I am sure is a result of abandoning running shoes).  Weight loss is coming along nicely.

btw, if you don’t know about ITBS, you need to check it out.  That’s Iliotibial Band Syndrome, and it is the main culprit in LOTS of knee pain.  Read and heed!

Alright, I haven’t had a lot to write about training wise in what… six months? So I’m just going to take a few minutes to fill in our loyal readers on my boring routine and lack of progress.

Actually I have made a little progress, I suppose. I can run a solid five miles in about 45 minutes now, although I don’t that often because it sucks. Have I mentioned before that running sucks? I don’t remember. Anyway, running sucks, you guys. But I am getting better and it sucks less than it ever has before!

I’m making solid headway in the weight-loss department, too. I’m only seven pounds away from my long-term goal of 185. Turns out having a job where you’re on your feet all day, and there’s free coffee, can really slim a guy down.

Guys, Vibram Five Fingers. These are the Best Shoes (capitalization necessary). I run in them, I work in them, I wear them around the apartment and forget I even have shoes on… And my feet feel amazing. My legs are in the best shape of my life and I feel like my balance and agility have increased 100%. My feet never get tired, even after standing for 7+ hours. The only downsides are that I initially got some wicked blisters from running in them, and the smell. Taking them off is like getting punched in the face by a guy whose job it is to give bulls prostate exams, and I’m not someone who usually has a foot odor problem. But it’s worth it.

Apparently this has become my personal training blog.  I know the other guys are doing stuff, but we’re gonna have to talk about why there aren’t posts.

Today was another Chamber of Commerce day in Little Rock.  Days like this cry for a ride.  So, I gave in and hit the road about 4:30 or so.

 I did a different routine today to spruce things up some.  The neighborhood here has a nice bike lane on the main street and some good little climbs.  I planned out a loop that had good climbs to help build power and rode it completely 4 times with a hilly 3 miles home to finish.  1 hour 23 minutes.  Not sure how many miles, but the climbing was worth it.

It’s been a couple of days since the last post, but I wanted to jot down a few random thoughts.

The weather here has been northern California-like and almost unbelievably fine.  Never an August in Arkansas like this in my life that I can remember.  Temps below 90 F, low humidity, clear skies.  None of that summer haze or those temperature inversions that hit here in late summer.

Eating has become the main focus of my training program.  I’ve experimented enough now to realize how important pre- and post-workout nutrition are.  (Are those 2 things?)

Stretching is super important after any workout.  Period.  Why don’t we pay more attention to it?

It’s very cool when you improve cycling power!  :-)

If your bike shifting feels funky, and making a little adjustment in the back doesn’t fix it, get to the shop!  You may have a frayed cable in your shifter.  Replacing a frayed cable before it breaks off in the shifter can save having to replace the entire shifter. (UGH!)  I was experiencing the symptoms of maladjustment in the back and couldn’t get a good reset at home.  The worn cable that they replaced (just in the nick of time) was the ugly culprit.  Do you have a good mechanic?  Better either have one or be one.  My guys could be the TdF crew for any team out there!  Thanks fellas!

Have I mentioned that running sucks?

that the goal is achievable.  Although there are still countless hours of training ahead, set backs, injuries, plateaus, and lows to be overcome, I am convinced that a complete Ironman length tri is possible.  I pretty regularly complete sprint lengths in training at various intensities.  The running is coming along, even if very slowly.  My cycling is in an improvement zone that amazes me right now.  (I am NOT looking forward to the next plateau in cycling.)  My swimming conditioning is improving steadily, as are the kick and stroke techniques.

This is an interesting evolution for me.  While still not absolutely certain that I’ll ever complete the event, I am beginning to to develop a clear vision of what is possible.  That may be a function of reading extensively about triathlons and triathletes; perhaps, of timing and testing myself during training.  Whatever is helping create the confidence, the fact that the progress is there contributes to the cycle.

Yesterday’s logistics led me into a run with a ride to follow.  As running goes, it was a banner day so far.  I did a bit over 3 miles while following the “run 30 seconds, walk 30 seconds” regimen.  The good news is that the running seemed easier, there was no immediate pain after the run, and even today there was no lingering pain.  WOW!  However, I didn’t manage to get the ride in.  :-(

So, I went out today to get a quick ride before the predicted T-storm moved in.  The ride was good and strong even though I had to stop short of the plan due to heavy lightening.  Kathy came along and insisted that I get in the car.

No swimming since Saturday because of this massive allergy to chlorine (at least I guess that’s what it is).  In spite of taking allergy medicine, I have very itchy, watery eyes, and sneezing etc.  Nothing new; been dealing with it for years, but 2 days out of 7 in the pool (and for no more than about 35 – 40 minutes) seems to be all I can stand.  I need a swimming treadmill!

only 52 to go!  As of yesterday, I’ve lost 8 pounds!  Down from 265 to 257.  That leaves a mere 52 lbs. to hit the target 205 lbs. The workout program and proper diet are working.  A few years ago, when I started cycling, my weight was 282 lbs.  It went down very quickly (maybe too much so) to about 230.  During the last 18 months though it crept back up to 265.  To have a chance of completing an Ironman length tri, a bunch of that has to go.

I know this is repetitive…sorry.  To see this progress is very pleasing though.

Today I swam 1 mile.  That’s the farthest I’ve swum in years and it took 44 minutes.  Back in the day, I could swim 2 miles in a bit under an hour. Many pounds and many years ago.  Then, my planned 2 hour ride became a 1 hour affair due to continuing mechanical issues on the machine.  

So a priest walked into a bar…..oops! wrong story….I walked in to the bike shop and told Kevin what was going on and he just said, “I can fix that.  I know what it is.”  About 10 minutes later I was test riding it and it was whisper quiet!  Thanks, Kev!  He IS The Man! (Tech note: toxic sweat messes up carbon fiber components.  It makes them bond to each other in ways that are probably Biblically forbidden; and, requires them to be forcibly separated, cleaned, and re-assembled in a way that will preserve their dignity, assure their performance, and keep them separate but equal.

Last week, Jett and I were talking and I said something about needing to swim the 2.4 mi in about 1:15, ride the 112 mi in about 5 -ish, and run the 26.2 in something like 4:30.  Target time of 10:45 to 11:00.  All of that seemed reasonable to me.  Then I started researching what sorts of times guys in my future age bracket  (60-64) turn in.  I almost predicted a top end performance in my chat with Jett!  That kind of time would qualify me for Kona in 2009! (We’ll see what 2013 has in store for us.)

2013 and those times are still a very long way off, but I feel confident about the swim and cycle times.  Once again, it’s the running that presents the biggest challenge.

Training can be pretty hard, right?  There should be some balance between plain old hard work and fun in a training regimen.  That balance does not mean though that pain and pleasure will necessarily coexist in any given workout.  Often, pleasure comes after the pain in the form of a sense of accomplishment.  Or a cold drink. Or maybe just the absence of pain.  All pain is not equal, either.

For me, swimming does not involve pain at all.  I’m not fast enough or good enough to get into a place of pain in swimming.  Maybe I just take the build up of conditioning in swimming so slowly that I’m avoiding pain.  I do get my heart rate up and make my breathing elevated during intervals and such.  But there’s not “real” pain.

Cycling can be another story.  I can, and do, create some pain on some training days.  The climb up RMR in my big ring, for example.  Some interval training is very tough.  All of that pain is predictable and manageable; desired and pursued; expected and enjoyed.

BUT running SUCKS!  At least for me, running must be what my personal hell will be.  Every step, every second, every minute, every thing about that discipline is miserable.  If I can conquer this issue, I will reach the tri goal.  Although it may not work, the only idea I have for conquering running is to keep at it.  Old-fashioned persistence in the only idea I have for dealing with the pain.  Well, persistence and a plan that a good coach set up to help.  If literally taking it one step at a time will work, then I have a chance.

Yesterday, I continued on the Hal Higdon program for runners over 40 and today I can honestly say that I’m encouraged, for a change.  So many factors figure into conditioning that I don’t know exactly what to credit for this feeling.  More strength; weight loss; better diet; anti-oxidants; anti-inflammatories; better overall conditioning?  All of the above?  Regardless, yesterday I managed to finish the workout exactly on Higdon’s plan and last night and today feel okay.  No swollen joints.  No lingering pain or discomfort.

So, I’m ready for today’s 1 mile swim and 2 hour bike ride.  :-)

I’m trying to really focus on some training.  Eat right.  Workout consistently.  Cross train.  You know the drill, right?  So, yesterday was time for my regular Mon/Wed tri training routine.  I swim at lunch time.  Then, go for a ride and run after work.  The swim ended up being an intervals session.  600 yards total.  Warm-up and cool down of 100 yards each with 8×50 on 45 sec in between with 15 sec rest.  Not awesome, but I was feeling it – lack of good oatmeal breakfast hitting me?  Anyway, then the afterwork ride was also an interval session 3x 6 minutes at just under threshold with 6 minute recovery.  Just for good measure at the end of the workout I decided to ride up 1 of my fav climbs – River Mountain Road.  It’s about 1 mile end-to-end (flat at both ends though) with an average gradient of 7%  - call it 3/4 mile of actual climbing.  Now, I remember clearly the first time I even made it up to the top; and, more clearly how miserably I failed in attempts to climb it before that initial success.  This is a routine climb for everyone around here and something that many of us do on hill repeat days.

For some reason yesterday I decided to climb it in my big ring (50), or at least to try to climb it.  I decided early on that I would just bail out rather than down shift and mark the spot where I stopped.  I was completely surprised as I kept going and going, until I finally thought, “Hey!  I’m gonna make this!”  I definitely alternated between wanting to puke and thinking I might have a heart attack.  And, I actually PASSED one guy that I consider a pretty good cyclist and athlete!  I don’t know if it was the endorphins or what, but I immediately felt super strong and powerful for having done that climb.  I was feeling very tired after those workouts and am in recovery mode today, but I’m stoked for the next session also.

Yes, it’s been a long time since this thing was updated.  Motivation has been hard to come by.  Too much heat?  Too much work?  Too much humidity?  Too much weight?  Too much junk food?  Too many excuses?  Probably.  The dream is still alive though.  Seeing it may be a little difficult, but it makes appearances from time to time.  I find that getting external sources of inspiration and motivation are much more necessary sometimes than others.

Anyway, I’ve been working on that motivation thing.  Hitting some group rides to find company on the road.  Remembering that sometimes a nice social ride is just the ticket.  Racing around isn’t always necessary.  Getting some good music to help push you along is also good….just gotta be safe with the earbuds and the traffic!  Also, varying the training routine AND (big news) getting back to eating properly for energy during training, recovery from training, and to begin to shake some of this weight.

Just for the record, when I started cycling 3 years ago (and some 9000 miles), I tipped the scales at a svelte 282 lbs (128 k or 21 stone).  Got that down to 229 lbs. and was in pretty good shape – BMI etc – until The Wreck.  Long story short.  The Wreck took me out for long enough that 25 lbs jumped right back on.  Even though I got back into fair riding condition, the weight didn’t come off (poor eating, anyone?) and for good measure I went ahead and added 10 more pounds.  So, now my friendly scales insist on showing me around 264 or so.  Say it ain’t so!

Suffice to say that everything is out of whack at 260 lbs.  Low motivation.  Ill-fitting clothes.  Loss of confidence, hair, teeth, nails.  (Just kidding.)  Seriously, though with that much weight all sense of focus on training and the pain that goes with it are right out the door.  When someone talks about a downward spiral in their behavior, I know exactly what they mean.

It is with a renewed sense of mission that I am taking charge again.  Making a training plan.  Sticking to it.  Making an eating plan. Sticking to it. Taking one step at a time (is this anything like a 12 step program?) on the road to putting together a serious attempt at this triathlon goal.  I figure that for the tri to be achievable, that I must be much, much lighter.  Must have a different body composition.  I don’t think being below 200 lbs is truly practical.  Afterall, that is college track scholarship territory for me.  There was a time in my early 30′s when I did weigh about 205-207, depending on how much ice cream I ate in a week.  I’m thinking that 205-210 is a good place to be, even though it still places me in the clydesdale category.

As of today, I am on Day 2 of a better eating regimen.  More fruits, veggies, lean protein etc.  No choco chips, Oreos, powdered doughnuts, Famous Amos, etc.  More water.  Less coffee.  Fewer bagels.  More oatmeal.  Fewer chips.  More red peppers.  Fewer Cokes.  Ouch!  And the amazing thing?  I swam a half yesterday, cycled for 1.5 hours (with 4 big climbs), and ran for 30 minutes and today I feel great!  I ate correctly yesterday (especially post-workout); importantly, I have eaten correctly today.  Now, I am ready to do some spinning just to loosen up and shake out my legs a little bit.

I’m back!

Tags: cycling, running, swimming, triathlon, weight

The good news is that I’ve been training more than it may look like on this blog.  The bad news is that I haven’t been doing nearly enough training or writing.  

Have been getting in some quality rides, but not much else.  Even so, the riding has not been adequate.  However, I went out today and had a nice, albeit short ride….1 hour…and a nice little 30 minutes on foot…mostly walking, but a little bit of easy running.  

I’ve decided to get serious about food…and to forego all riding events this season to develop my running and swimming.