Iron Pol

For anyone who hasn't checked, they DO still have water in the pool at the local YMCA.  I checked, this morning.  It's been so long since I did a swim workout there was the distinct possibility the water had all evaporated.

No.  Really.  It's been that long.

My last swim was the 1.2 miles of the High Cliff Half-Ironman.  In June.  Seriously.

I decided if I was going to keep calling myself a triathlete, I should probably start doing some swimming.  It might also be time to pull the bike down off the ceiling of the garage and throw it on the trainer.  To be fair, I have ridden since the half-Ironman.  Honestly.

There are some out there who take a bit of time off, say 14-16 months, after a race before they get back in the pool.  After an extended break, they get back in the pool and find their pace has slowed by a few seconds, all the way back to 1:30-1:35 per 100 yards.  Getting back into the pool is like getting back onto a bike.  No big deal.

For me, getting back into the pool is more like falling off the bike.  I can do it, but it's not pretty.

Today was little different.  I kept it easy and only did 1500 yards, including 500 yards of fin drills focused on improving my core rotation.  I figure if I'm essentially starting over, now might be a good time to work on bilateral breathing.

I'm sure I'll be feeling the results of the workout tomorrow.  Or tonight.  Or after lunch.  Okay, I'm feeling it, now, and will surely hate myself later.  Or now.

It's okay, though.  My body survived the first winter learning to swim, and I'm way ahead of THAT particular disaster.  January is when I will dig out the training plan I used for Ironman (from the awesome Coach Mike Ricci).  Coach Mike routinely pointed out that I'm a runner and I can hold my own on the bike.  My weakness is the swim, so that's what he focused on when putting together the training plan.

Well, little has changed.  Even undertrained I can put down 50 miles in a single run.  The bike will fall into place once I decide to get back on it.  But the swim...

Brutal.

So, for the next several months, that's what I'll be working on improving.  And when spring gets here, I'll work on it some more.  I'll continue to work on it during the summer.  And, hopefully, when September gets here, I'll be ready to swim 2.4 miles as part of mIronman, my self-supported 140.6 mile event.

Stick around.  Once again, there is the very real possibility I'll drown myself between now and April.

It seems everything has been going in fits and starts, lately.  Training has been on again, off again as I deal with schedules, weather, colds, and holiday demands.  Blogging has been following the same pattern.

Two things come to mind.  First, I just need to get serious about everything.  Second, I need something major to keep me focused.  Having an Ironman on the horizon is probably the best thing that could happen, but that's pretty much out for the next year.  For 2010, mIronman will have to cover that for me.

For the near term, training for the Green Bay Marathon will start January 9.  That will give me something concrete to work toward, and something to blog about, as well.

I'll also be thinking about a 50-miler in 2010.  That will most likely be the Fall 50, so I can keep the training going in the right direction, next year.  I won't be throwing a ultra distance race into May like I did, last year.  That was a mistake that plagued me all year.  I'll follow a known successful plan of marathon, half-iron distance triathlon, iron distance triathlon, then ultra marathon.

And 2010 will see me putting focus back on keeping everyone up to date through the blog.  2009 will just have to go down as "The Year That Wasn't Quite..."

You can call me the Iron Courier.  Delivery under three (hours) or it's free.  Some background and details, perhaps?

Much like other days of the week, Sundays at our house have a bit of a routine.  One key part of that routine involves my kids asking to go to their grandpa's house after church.  I typically tell them to ask their grandfather.  He typically tells them to check with their dad.  Yes, it's a vicious circle.  It makes them laugh.

Yesterday was all boys.  My daughter went to church with my wife, leaving three generations of males from the Pol family to fend for themselves.  Of course, my son wanted to go for lunch at grandpa's.

It worked out well as it gave him the opportunity to read a story to grandpa as part of homework.  We ate lunch, watched the first half of the Packer game, and, according to my dad, did all the other things men can't do in mixed company (mostly associated with bodily functions, you know how guys can be).

At half-time, we hurried out the door so we could get home before the second half started.  And, of course, left my son's homework packet sitting on my dad's table.  He noticed it and called, just as I was pulling into the driveway at my house.

And, also of course, it needed to be turned in, today.  That left me with the challenge of juggling the rest of the Packer game, a 12-mile training run, dinner, and returning to my dad's house to get the folder.

Enter MapMyRun.  While watching the second half of the game, I mapped out the route I would take to my dad's house, if I were running.  Nine miles, one way.  A bit much when the plan called for a 12-miler.

Of course, that doesn't consider either the Ironman or the insanity factor.  As the Packer game wound down, I changed into my running gear and headed out the door.  I told my wife I'd be back in three hours, or the delivery would be free.

Eighteen miles (about four of which were not much fun) and 2:50 later, I walked back in the door, a sweaty pack on my back.  Thank goodness for the plastic sleeves they use to send the books/signature sheets home.

Iron Courier Service.  You call, we deliver.  And who needs the bike?

With the economy and events of the past year, planning races for next year is becoming a challenge.  Though luckier than many, the economy has stretched our family budget pretty tight.  I made it through the year with my job, but made several adjustments to my payroll deductions due to cuts at work.  They stopped all matching contributions to our 401(k), so I upped what I was contributing.  Which meant less take home pay.

Then, we had the Great Bathroom Fiasco of 2009.  With tile walls collapsing faster than Wall Street, we spent far more than planned on repairs.  Add the skylight to that, and we blew the budget.  Obviously, that will have an impact on race spending in the coming year.

That poses quite a dilemma.  How do I race without spending tons of money.  Two thoughts come to mind.  First, I can try to bandit a bunch of races.  I'm not fond of that approach for a couple reasons.  It doesn't really work for triathlons.  And I really only feel okay with it when I'm pacing a first time marathoner in a race I didn't plan on running.

My second thought is to be my own race director for the season.  I do plan on running the Green Bay Marathon in May.  That will be a PR attempt.  After that, I'm thinking I'll put together my own events.

The pinnacle of that will be a self-supported Iron distance triathlon.  In the past, I've considered trying to do an indoor Ironman at the YMCA, the Y-ronman.  Now, I'm thinking of the mIronman (say "My Ironman" really fast).  I can do the swim in Lake Winnebago (point to point), bike around the lake (and then some) to my house, and take off on a 26.2 mile loop, ending back at the house (or somewhere cooler).

And if I'm running the event, myself, is there something to be said for "rounding" the distances, and doing a 3-mile swim, 150 mile bike, and 50K run?  Crazy?  Double tough?  Idiotic?

After that, I'm thinking about how to put together a solo 50-miler or 100K.

Is it bad when every song you hear on the oldies station during a 20 minute drive is from your time in high school?  That happened to, um, a friend.

Oh yeah, I managed to get out running the last two days.  I'm still fighting the tail end of that upper respiratory infection, but the worst is over, and I'm not dealing with constant coughing.

Another week has gone by, and the training volume remains at essentially zero.  I'm fighting off the remnants of the upper respiratory infection that's been plaguing everyone in the family except my wife, who might have dodged this bullet.  Fortunately, if my son is the gauge, I should be getting to the end of this, as he has been cough free for about a week, now.

The last two nights have been interesting as I've woke up from a dead sleep as my body attempts to cough my lungs up.  With two small kids in the house, it's not uncommon for coughing to wake me up.  It's just not usually ME doing the coughing.  I'll take it as a good sign, though, as it is hopefully a sign that my body is clearing the crud and I'm on the road to recovery.

The down time has given me time to reflect on some things, and I've come to the conclusion that I need another Ironman.  I don't know where and I don't know how, but I need to get myself into another full distance triathlon.

I think it has something to do with the motivation of the unknown.  I know I can run a marathon.  I know I can complete a half-Ironman.  I know I can run 50 miles in one shot.

There are two things that are unknowns.  How I would perform in a second Ironman and my ability to complete a 100 mile ultramarathon.  And I kind of promised my wife that I wouldn't tackle a 100-miler.

For the next six months, pursuit of a marathon PR in May will provide the stress needed for growth.  After that...???

For now, though, I need to get some new lungs.  The pair I have are all coughed out.  Then, I need to get back on the road, again.   Again.

There are few things that will get me to take a break from training or racing.  I've raced with pulled muscles, high fevers, and sinus infections.  I've trained through pelvic torsion, ruptured eardrums, and other, more typical, maladies.

Recently, I found that a complete bathroom remodel was sufficient to totally derail training.  Last week, I was excited to get back into training.  And this week...

The beginnings of an upper respiratory infection.  Because I refuse to accept the potential that it's the flu.  Regardless, lung related issues are one thing through which I'm unable to train.  Little things like pulmonary doctors ready to skewer me if I hurt myself.  So, whether it's a simple chest cold, a more severe infection, or the full blown H1N1 flu (remember, it's NOT the swine flu, it's H1N1, so don't call it swine flu), I'm taking a few more days off.  Given the progression of my son's infection, it could be another week.  He's been coughing for about 10 days, and getting better, now.

Each morning I wake up and consider going for a run.  Fifteen years ago, I would have found myself laying in bed trying to find a reason NOT to run.  Now, I find myself unable to get back to sleep thinking, "Really, just a short run.  That won't be THAT bad."  And then, I have to roll over and admit that the rattling cough in the lungs is the one thing that I'm not allowed to "run through."

Damn doctors.

For those still reading my posts (all three of us) who were unable to access the site recently, the host sent a note detailing the events surrounding a concentrated Denial of Service attack that occurred over the past week.

They even provided a spiffy 50% off coupon for services by way of "making up" for the situation.

There are two remarkable things, there.  First, that a simply blog hosting site would be victim of such a concerted effort.  Perhaps I need to do hit more of the sites they host.  I might be missing something.  And second, that they would provide a discount coupon for the ridiculous acts of an outside party.  Unfortunately, such attacks are just part of life in the Internet world.  (Should we thank Al Gore?)

Weebly has apparently spent a great deal of time and money to improve their infrastructure and ability to handle such attacks in the future.  Given their handling of the situation, it's only fair to recommend them for anyone looking for somewhere to set up a blog.

Getting back into the training thing, I'm pleased to note that my aerobic capacity hasn't suffered TOO badly.  After an easy seven mile run at 9:40 pace, I did three miles at 9 min/mile without having to break anything.  It's a far cry from 3:40 marathon pace, but not bad for being off six, er eight, okay, nearly 10 weeks.

There, is, however, a noticeable price I am having to pay.  My legs have forgotten how indestructible they are supposed to be.  After two easy runs, 10 miles total, I was feeling it in my legs.  Perhaps not to the extent experienced after my first marathon, but still...

These are the legs that do back to back 30 mile runs on a weekend.   These are the legs that did 50 miles under 10 hours.  These are iron legs.

Apparently, I need to bust out some rust remover.

Months ago, the FTC began investigations into advertising on blogs.  The early investigation has led to a rather strange outcome.  Originally intended to examine the use of viral media in advertising, the investigation has led to recent news that the FTC will be requiring bloggers to provide full disclosure regarding any freebies they receive and then help promote.

I must have missed a boat, somewhere.  The blogs I read disclose just about everything.  They talk about the companies that sent them free stuff.  They talk about what they received, their thoughts on the product, and whether they would suggest it to other people.  Then, they talk about having received the stuff, some more.  Apparently, there is a super-secret blog cabal of people hiding the fact that they receive products for testing and marketing.

I've always been of the mind that if someone asks me to check something out, or provides me with some product because they like what I've done, I should help them out, too.  One good example is the Swim Smooth instructional video.  I posted a You Tube video from the producer, and he noticed the traffic coming from my site.  To help me better understand his teaching methods, he sent me the full video.  I've used it for years, and benefited greatly from it.  So, I keep a link to their site on my Training Partners page.  Hopefully, others have seen the value of the program and purchased it.

In the interest of "full disclosure," let me say that every single link on that page is to some company that has benefited my endurance career in a positive and worthwhile manner.  Sometimes, that benefit has a very limited cash value.  In others, the product or service was of much greater value.

But the "worth" of their assistance goes far beyond dollar values.  That's what the FTC may have missed.

I'm waiting to see more details of the FTC guidelines.  Perhaps the entire situation has no bearing on my blog.  Perhaps the fines they are discussing are only for serious violations involving significant dollar values and no disclosure.  Perhaps I'm overreacting.

As I said, I must be missing something, somewhere.  Are there bloggers out there making a living off "freebies" and hiding those associations from the world?  Are there people promoting items they are unwilling to identify as freebies?

I just have to wonder if the FTC might have better things to occupy their time.  Maybe not.