Iron Pol

What's that they say about the road to hell?

Last week was a pretty tough week, but I did manage to get some solid training completed, and I feel pretty good about the numbers.  Since posting my "accountability" picture a week ago, here is how things shake out:

1500 yd swim and 5K run on Wednesday
One yard mowed on Thursday (I called it 30 minutes walking)
80 mile bike on Saturday
Another yard mowed on Sunday (You're welcome, Dad)
10 mile run, this morning

Not perfect, but that discussion leaves out the time spent cleaning out my basement which suffered some water damage on Wednesday, courtesy of some odd circumstances involving two inches of rain in an hour, overflowing gutters, and water running down a wall.

Tuesday and Thursday will be swims, with another run and bike on Wednesday.  Saturday will be the last big workout prior to attempting my self-supported Ironman on September 5th.  I'll try to tackle a 5000 yard swim followed by about 110 miles on the bike and a short run-off.

Somewhere along the line I have to use some new tools at my disposal to create a new header for the site and use some real tools to finish stripping and refinishing a bookcase.  Just for giggles, I'll use my spare time to learn a new song on the guitar.  After all, if you're going to do it, why not overdo it.

It's a good thing this is a blog and not a business letter.  Because I'm about to break a key rule and cover several topics in one post.  If you get lost, don't worry.  I promise to try and be less erratic on the next post.  Of course, note the political way in which I put that.  "Try and be less erratic."

Okay, first to the promised photo and training details.  The photo at the left is about as embarrassing a picture as I'm willing to post.  This is where I'm at, now.  I've gained about 20 pounds, thrown the 34" pants into the closet, and hope I don't have to break the 38" pants back out.  In a word, I failed to get the calorie intake under control when I had to back off on training.  So, it's time to ramp the training up while getting the diet back where it should be.

The good news is that my fitness remains high.  Since taking a month off after laying my bike down, I've managed an 82-mile bike and a 2.5 mile swim.  Neither was as easy as perhaps I'd like them to be, but both were completed with relatively few issues.  (Getting lost doesn't count, as it was on the bike.  If I get lost in the pool, I'll let you know.)

Training time should be easier to come by in the coming weeks.  The youth in the Brigade Triathlon Club completed their first race on Sunday, August 8th.  All three were first time triathletes, and all provided one or more surprises during the day.  We were concerned they might never get into the water as there was thunder and lightning as close as 35 minutes before the start, but a short delay under clearing skies allowed them to race.

With the race completed, the time dedicated to coaching will now go to training.

Finally, I once again witnessed the strong sense of community that thrives in triathletes.  I only wish those who look on endurance athletes as a disruption to their schedule could have been at the park.

Shortly after all three of the kids showed up, I heard an announcement that the race staff needed a helmet for a racer who had forgotten his.  With three kids racing, I had every possible piece of gear with me, including two helmets that weren't needed.  I ran over to the announcer and handed the guy my helmet, only asking that he drop it off at the finish when he was done.  I didn't worry about his name or bib number.  To be honest, I didn't even think about it.

After the race, I was heading to my car when I remembered the helmet.  I stopped by the announcer at the finish line, and there it was.  I picked it up and a handmade envelope fell out of it.  Inside was $5 and a note thanking me for the use of the helmet.  It was signed, "The happy triathlete."  He asked that I grab myself a drink by way of thanks.

It was fitting, as I was getting hungry by that time.  I picked up some pretzels and a Gatorade and had a bit left over.  It worked out pretty well.

Driving home, I thought about it.  Imagine a community where someone can reasonably expect that a request for gear will be answered.  Imagine a community where people hearing such a request will actively try to help.  And imagine a community where people are so truly grateful for that help that they go out of their way to express their thanks.

That's the way I see the triathlon community.  Countless times I've witness people assist others in ways big and small.  It's great to watch.  And it's great to be part of it.

Okay, it feels like I'm stuck in the mud.  Instead of moving forward, I'm sliding backward.  So, it's accountability time.  Here's how that's going to work.

Tomorrow, I will post a horribly embarrassing "in between" picture.  Why "in between" you ask?  Well, it's not really a "before" picture because that would have been years ago, and I haven't slid THAT far back.  But it's definitely not the "after" picture.  If anything, my pictures from Ironman Louisville would have been the after picture.

Those with weak stomachs and those with a desire to keep their eyeballs might want to avoid looking at the picture.

Once the "in between" picture is posted, I will start posting honest to goodness training goals and updates.  I will also continue to embarrass myself once a week with additional "in-between" pictures.  I will do what it takes to get back into the shape I want to be in, and properly document the journey, this time.

And somewhere along the line, I'm going to find the means to enter another Ironman.  Just don't tell my wife.

Last year, I was awful quiet because I wasn't training and I didn't have anything major in the works.  This year, I've been buried and awfully busy with training and all things triathlon.

The most obvious outward sign of the increased training is that I find myself absolutely wore out a great deal of the time, in a good way.  I spent so long working on the house and doing other things that late nights became all too common.  Now, I'm getting back to where I'd really like to be asleep by about 8:30 or 9:00.  When I find myself in bed earlier than all the old geezers I know, I'll know I'm completely back on track.

I've been VERY busy with the Boys' and Girls' Brigade.  There will be a bit of a break as the winter program ends and we shift to the summer schedule.  The great news is that our Youth Tri Club is on track to crush all previous years.  With four being the most participants we've had in the past, we currently have 43 7-12th graders who have expressed an interest in training for and completing a triathlon this year, two in the olympic distance event.  And at least one who indicated he can't swim.

If half of them show up, I'll be in trouble in a good way.  Luckily, a half-dozen adult leaders and coaches have offered their help.  I'll need it.

In addition, I have a new "kit" from the Fox Cities Triathlon Club.  Chad has participated in triathlon in the past, and has his sight set on completing the half-iron distance race in June.  As always, it's exciting to share my experiences and help another person reach their training goal.  And with him racing the half, there's a much greater chance I'll see him somewhere on the race course.  Probably when he blows by me.

So, I continue to focus on my training, and continue to neglect my blog.  I guess that's better than keeping the blog updated daily while letting my training tank.

I'm still around, and I'm still going.

BTW, the mIronman self-supported race is still in the works.  We've identified the swim course, and continue to discuss the bike and run routes.  Tri Fox support has been incredible, and it looks like we'll have a handful of competitors.

After two sick kids wiped out several days of training, I hit the track for a mid-week sort of long run this morning.  After pounding out a quick (slow) 10K, I decided to do a bit of strength training in the form of plyometrics.

Now, I'm well aware of the benefits of plyometrics.  And I want those benefits.  But does it have to be so painful?  Really, I did four laps, totalling just under a half-mile.  Each lap consisted of two sets of 20 steps of plyometrics.  The first four sets were deep knee lunges.  The second four sets were bounding.

Now, I can barely walk.  Honestly.  What is that all about?

The worst part was the final sets of the deep knee lunges.  It became a lesson in pushing myself past the "WHY-O-WHY am I doing this?  Certainly a 10K run is enough!"

Of course, that's what I find myself saying every time I work on strength training.  I really have to stop reading the articles that tout the benefits of strength training and call out those who try to logic their way out of doing it.

Then I could go about my training, happily ignoring strength training.

But Noooooo.  I love to read.  Even old Triathlete Magazine articles.  So, I do the plyometrics and wonder why.

I so better see benefits when I run the marathon in May.

If there's anything I'm worse at then swimming, it's doing math while swimming.  Apparently I leave my accounting skills at the door to the pool.

I was undecided about this morning's workout as I was in the pool both Sunday and Monday.  While I wasn't concerned about three days in the pool in a row, I didn't have a workout in my head.  I sat on the pool deck trying to decide what might motivate me and decided to do 400s.

After a quick 200 yard warmup, I started with 8x50 fast.  Well, fast for me.  I then threw in 400 easy (which will become a factor, later).  After the 400 easy, I did 4x100 with the first and last 25 easy and the middle 50 all out.  Somewhere around there, I started forgetting what I'd already done, as well as the total distance.  I did 2x200 to recover from all of the fast 50s, then tried to figure out of I was at 1200 or 1400.  I calculated it must be 1400, so pushed myself to do 600 yards to finish.  I did 400 easy, then cooled down with a final 200 yards to round out the 2000 yard session.

I was a put demoralized with my total time of 1:01 in the pool.  Even accounting for rest intervals, that's a bit slower than I'd like to see after my recent form and pace focus.

Of course, if your math during reading is any better than my math in the pool, you will have already found my math to be a bit fuzzy.  Five 400 yard sets plus 400 warm up and cool down doesn't equal 2000 yards.  Yeah, it was that easy 400 I did between the 50s and the 100s that I completely forgot about.  So, the point at which I pushed myself to finish out with 600 total yards SHOULD HAVE been the point where I said, "Gee, now is a great time to cool down."

Still, an extra 400 yards means I am much happier with my time.

First, allow me apologize to anyone who had a heart attack after seeing two posts in the same week.  I really don't want any of the three of you to come to harm.

Today's workout was reminiscent of the final showdown in "The Princess Bride."  That's where Westley (or, if you prefer, the Dread Pirate Roberts) challenges Prince Humperdinck to a duel "to the pain."  Though there was no swordplay, and not much of a duel, the "to the pain" part was in play.

My focus for the past several weeks has been improving my pace, mostly through workouts consisting primarily of 100s.  Today, I decided to do sets of 100 yards on 2:20 seconds until failing to stay under two minutes for two consecutive sets.  My tenth set was 2:01, but I managed to get back under that on the next set, guaranteeing at least another couple hundred yards.  In the end, I managed 1400 yards before finishing.

With that under my belt, it's probably time to think about a 1000 yard time trial to benchmark things.  It's probably also time to think about more drill sets to help improve my form.  After all, there's a race season just around the corner.

And this year, I won't be wiping myself out in the first race.  There's a self-supported Ironman to be completed in September.

The past few weeks have been dedicated to getting back into the swing of things, training wise.  Brilliant idea, trying to jump start training over the holidays.  Does anyone care to guess if I hit all my workouts?

There was, however, a positive side.  The high-tech (cheap) body fat scale says (guesses) my weight today is the same 186 it was before the holidays.  If I can make it through Christmas and New Year without significant gains, I'll call it good.  Of course, the scale could just be lying to me.  I wouldn't put it past it.

I've been working on base runs and swims.  In the pool, my main goal has been to remember that I DO know how to swim.  Some of the people who swim with me might disagree.  And they might be right.

Up until today, I've stayed in my lane.  I tend to take the "Medium" lane, as I am somewhere above "trying to avoid drowning" and well below "Flipper."  Most workouts have focused on 100 yard repeats, typically 10 sets.  Pace?  Let's not talk about that.

Today, I hit the pool for a short workout after a 5K run.  After all, I didn't want to overdo the running thing.  So, I headed to the pool and checked things out.  Water aerobics day, and you know they HAVE to take up one of the swim lanes.  Of the two left, I had to pick between uber-slow and hella fast.  The two in the slow lane were on seriously different paces, so I ruled that out.  That left Ms. Speedy Dolphin and the guy sucking up her wake.

I jumped in with them.  After all, I was only looking at maybe 500 yards.  They wouldn't pass me too many times in that distance.

Turns out they were doing 100s with 10 second rest intervals.  Well, 10 seconds for the guy.  Ms. Speedy Dolphin got more like 20-30 seconds.  So, I jumped in with them.  Who needs rest intervals?

I did the first 100 no problem.  In fact, it was awesome.  I swam something like 1:44.  I know that's nothing amazing for all you fish out there, perhaps even a bit pokey.  But for us 2+/100 swimmers, that's pretty fast.

The second 100 was a bit more annoying.  It was even faster (1:42), but I noticed water squishing through my ear plug.  Yes, it squished.  It's my ear and I say it squished.  After the set, I attempted to get a better seal, though I should have known better.  It's always been pointless to try.

The next 100 was more like 50.  Okay, it was exactly 50, but in a pretty good time of 50 seconds (shut up, that's fast).  Buttttttt, and it was a huge butt, my ear plug was completely useless and I had water gleefully leaking into my inner ear.  Really.  I heard it going "Wheeeee!" as it went through the holes in my ear drum.

I hopped out of the pool, ran into the locker room, tried (in vain) to get water OUT of my ear, and popped in a new ear plug.  I took the pack with me, just in case.

I jumped back into the rotation at a convenient point, and banged out four more 100s, all under 1:45.  Then, they switched to 50s.  Since I had already done 650 yards of a planned 500 yard cool down, I decided to only do two 50s with them, just to see how it went.  The first was great.  The second?  Let's not talk about it.

Needless to say, I decided that was a good time to stop, so I went to the hot tub.  NOBODY laps me in a hot tub.

I was a bit dejected when I got out of the pool, as I somehow deleted the swim set from my watch.  I was REALLY dejected when I got to work and realized that I had somehow deleted both the swim set AND my run set.  I remembered the time for the swim.  The run?  I just guessed.  It felt fast, so I went with a bit slower than my last 5K run on the track.

But who cares about the run?  I managed to hang with the dolphins without drowning or dying.  That's gotta count for something.

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.