09/27/07: Stress

Actually, a better title for this post would be Staying out of Stress, but then it wouldn't have captured your attention as much....

I see a lot of people around me constantly stressed, especially at work....They're like hamters on a treadmill, always running around getting their to-do lists done, feeling like they're taking care of things for everyone but themselves, and going nowhere, FAST. The harder they run, the more stressed they get, and the less they move.

Fortunately I was introduced to a fantastic time management system a few years back (actually it's a life management system), and I've had VERY little stress in my life since I started using it....this does have a tie-in to triathlon, so indulge me for a bit.....Triathlon is a great model for approaching "real life."

First, a couple of models for looking at how we spend our time.

The first is called time targets, and there are four of them, based on a combination of importance and urgency:

1. Distraction: Not important and not urgent. Escape time: watching tv, surfing the internet, reading the latest celebrity trainwrecks.....Feel like you have to spend time here? It's mainly a result of spending too much time time in delusion and demand and not enough time in the zone (keep reading)

2. Delusion: Not important, but urgent. Drain on fulfillment...why stress about something urgent if it's not important? Comes from poor planning - mainly became urgent because it wasn't taken care of upstream - A lot of people I work with LIVE here.....in the end, is it really that urgent?

3. Demand: Important and urgent. Firefighting = STRESS...some things just can't be helped sometimes......Great questions to ask: Is it really as important and urgent as I'm making it? Could I (or someone else) have planned for this better up front so that it it wouldn't be urgent now? Poor planning on your part doesn't constitute and emergency on my part, nor does it ensure compliance....enough said.....

4. THE ZONE: Important and NOT urgent = fulfillment - not stressful since it's not urgent. Eg. Planning/brainstorming, exercising, reading and learning, time with those important to us BEFORE they're begging for our attention

One more quick model and I'll get to my point (yes, there is a point to all of this). We can focus our time and energy in a few different areas:

1. Things we can control
2. Things we can't control, but can influence
3. Things we can't control or influence

Now to my point: training for an ironman creates lots of time in the zone and keeps me focused on things I can control.....

For most of us, perception is everything when it comes to training, since we're doing this for fun. Last time I checked I wasn't a professional athlete (that would take speed and athletic talent, both of which I'm lacking).

Even though I occasionally complain about "having" to go on a 5-6 hour bike ride, or 3 hour run, or any time I "have to" go to the pool, it's a choice. And it's a choice that has long term consequences.

Fortunately they're really good and positive consequences.....long term health benefits, consistent and focused effort, doing things even when I don't necessarily feel like doing them, determination, meeting lots of other athletes, both locally and through my blog...

All of these things are most definitely important and not urgent. IM training gives me somewhere between 10-20 hours every week in the zone. It's time for me. Training is most definitely important, yet certainly not very urgent.

As a side benefit, training forces all of us doing this crazy sport to focus on what's in our control, like it or not. Can't control (or even influence) the weather, getting a flat tire, whether I feel good or bad in a particular day (like last Saturday)....What I can control is my focus: I'm doing this because I choose to and enjoy the challenge....I can control my pace and intensity....I can control my nutrition both before, during, and after a workout.....and I can control how many different options I create for myself when life doesn't cooperate (indoor pool, spin class, training early in the morning or late at night)....

I was watching the Biggest Loser this morning while on the bike trainer (thank god for TIVO), and was laughing when a few of the people were bitching about how they didn't like running, and didn't like the food, and didn't like getting up early, blah blah blah....Finally the trainer told them to shut up and do it anyway....Because in the end, when somethings important, the excuses go out the window and you find a way to get it done.....

I guess my point here is that triathlon training is a fantastic model for life in general:

1. Take time for you for things that are important and not urgent...with a bit of planning and taking care of things upstream, a LOT of urgency can be avoided entirely....

2. Focus on things that you can control. If you can't control it, or at least influence it, skip it and find another way....

3. Speaking of, it it's important, find a way to get it done.....

Now that I'm done philosphizing, workouts have been good this week so far. Tuesday morning was 1.25 hours on the trainer, "enjoying" one of Coach Troy's Spinnervals DVDs(sadistic bastard), and Tuesday night was 3k in the pool.

Last night was this week's long run. 17 miles in 2:45, for a pace of 9:42 / mile. It was my first really good run in a while. I went easy for just about the whole run, keeping my hr at the top of zone 1 (145 ish), just jogging along. To work on building some good muscular endurance (and mental endurance), I threw in a hard 10 minute interval every 30 minutes, getting my hr up to the top of zone 2/bottom of zone 3 (165ish). The last interval was definitely a bit of a challenge, since I had already run over 15 miles at that point, which means I got a BIG payoff from sucking it up and running through the pain of that one.

Needless to say I DID NOT want to get up at 5:30 this morning for another hour on the bike trainer...as always, I felt MUCH better after the workout than I did before it....makes getting up early at least a bit more manageable....and besides, it was time well spent in the zone....

Live with purpose....Enjoy the adventure

09/25/07: The week in review

Another big week gone by....

The plan was for 14.75 hours

Actual ended up at 13.84, just under an hour short

Swimming:
Plan 4.5 hours
Actual 4.2 hours, 5.25 miles

Great workouts with the group. The TI clinic definitely helped me with timing, balance, my recovery, and relaxing. I'm easily swimming 2' 100's now, which is still extremely slow by comparison to a half decent swimmer, but is major progress for me nonetheless.

My plan was to swim ~4000 yds on Sunday, but the pool closed a 1/2 hour earlier than I thought, so I was only able to get in 3100, missing my swimming goal by 20 minutes for the week. Bad planning on my part.

Running:
Plan 4 hours
Actual 3.33 hours, 19.15 miles

The good news: I hit my key workout...the bad news....not a great running week....I forgot to bring my running shoes with me to the pool on Tuesday, so instead of my usual Tuesday bridges run, I had to settle for 30 minutes on the treadmill....which I HATE (although not quite as bad as the bike trainer).

Unfortunately the combination of bad thai food and chlorine on Thursday night left my stomach in complete knots, and I ended up skipping my hour run that night. I would have thought that my legs would have felt great for Saturday morning's long run...not so much....

I started my 2.5 hour run Sat morning at around 8 to beat the heat and the expected rain. For whatever reason my legs felt like lead weights the whole time, and my heart rate was in zone 3 for almost all of the run, a bit higher than I'd like it. Some days "it's" there, some days not...Saturday was a not.....

My legs being so tired on Saturday definitely left me concerned about my long ride on Sunday....

Cycling
Plan 6.25 hours
Actual 6.31 hours, 113.77 miles

I went just over the distance of the race...YAY...in a couple more weeks, I get to go all 112 in a day instead of a week.....

For Sunday's long ride I joined in for the Swampman, a local fundraiser for the YMCA. I jumped in with some friends and others I knew from the local velobrew cycling group, most of whom were planning on doing 70.

Since most of the details are in Sunday's post already, I won't re-hash the ride here. Suffice it to say I went too hard for the 1st 50, although at least was able to draft for the first part by doing so.

The next 35 miles was a good workout at a relatively easy pace, similar to what I'll need to do in the race. I kept my heart rate at the top of zone 1/bottom of zone 2, and spun easily at a cadence of 90-95. Every ten miles or so, I got of the bike just for a minute or two to stretch.

The last 5 miles was the mental workout of the day, since I got back to my car at 4:45 and had another 15 minutes of riding to go.....

The 20 minute run afterwards was reasonable, and was more about being used to running on tired legs (especially after Saturday's 2.5 hour run) than actual fitness. I'd be lying if I didn't mention the thought of running a marathon after a 112 mile ride (and 2.4 mile swim) is a bit intimidating right now....I just have to trust my training and upcoming taper...I know I'll be ready when the gun goes off....

This week is a monster 16.25 hours. Lori & I are going to Naples to see her Mom this weekend, so as an added bonus I'll get a change of scenery and get to ride with a different group for my long ride....

Live with purpose....Enjoy the adventure....

09/24/07: A 91.76 deposit into my IM account

As I'm writing this on Monday, I am ever so grateful today is a day off.....I'm wiped after this weekends workouts. Before I get to the workouts, thanks for all of you recent comments....I definitely appreciate them......

Saturday afternoon I headed to the pool, planning on getting in 4,000ish yds. The pool closed a bit earlier than I thought, and the workout became 3100 (1.76 miles):

30x100 on 2'15"

100 cd

Sometimes simple works.....

Sunday was my long ride, planned for 5 hours. I did the Swampman, knowing that my legs would be dead after Saturday's run, and that lots of drafting would be a much welcomed help.

I knew I had to go around 90 miles to get in a 5 hour ride, and the 70 mile and 100 mile groups started off together. For the first 30 miles or so I was in a pretty good sized group, moving along relatively effortlesly at 22 mph or so. When we got to the 70 mile turnoff, only 4 of us kept going....22 in a big group is pretty easy....22 with only 4 of us was a bit more of a struggle....I stayed with the other three until we hit a rest stop at around 50 miles, where we joined up with a few more people.

Leaving the rest stop, the group was going 22+ mph straigt into the wind, and my heart rate started to skyrocket...there was no way I was keeping up that pace into the wind for another 50 miles, so I dropped off the back and hung out on my aero bars for the next couple of hours.

I knew I was going too hard the first 50, and now I was paying for it. I intentionally took it VERY easy coming back, hopefully simulating the kind of riding I'll need to do on Nov 3. I was spinning in a very easy gear, keeping my HR at the top of zone 1 and bottom of zone 2. Not sure about speed, as my computer went bye bye for the rest of the ride...no biggie, since speed is nothing more than a function of cadence and effort (as measured by heart rate).

Nutrition seemed to be working well...every 10 miles or so I stopped for a minute or two to stretch, have a gel, and then continued. Fortunately the course offered me a shortcut back to the start, so I could keep my ride to my planned 5 hours; unfortunately, I got another lesson in mental toughness for the second day in a row.

I got back to the start with 15 minutes to go yet again....As bad as I wanted off the bike, a 5 hour ride is a 5 hour ride, so I turned around and kept going. Total ride time was 5:03 and just a hair over 90 miles.

Since I commited to always running after my long rides, I put my bike back in my car, sipped on some water, and put on my running shoes. I ran for 20 minutes, running for 9, walking for 1, getting in just over 2 miles.

All in all a good weekend of workouts....Stay tuned for the week in review.....

09/22/07: Swim, a lSd run, and Focus

Thursdays swim went ok, although the unfotunate combination of bad thai food and chlorine didn't go over so well....

Got in 2850 yds

wu: 200 swim, 100 kick, 50 pull

4x100 on 2'15"

4x25 sprint

16x25 kick on 45" (on stomach odds, on side evens)

3x200 (kick 100 swim 100)

8x50 descend 1-4 and 5-8 on 30" ri

3x200 descend

cd: 50

My stomach was a total and complete mess, so I skipped the hour run afterwards

This morning was a lSd run (long SLOW distance), and it was SLOW. For whatever reason my legs felt like lead weight, and I could just never get going; plus, my heart rate was much higher than usual, in zone three for almost the entire run...except for when it was in zone 4 for the last 1/2 hour or so.

I ran the first hour straight through, and did last 1 1/2 hours using a 9/1 (run 9, walk 1). Even with the 9/1 strategy, I continously wanted to stop and walk. That's the part where the workout shifted to mental training more than physical.

To keep my focus on positives instead of negatives (have you seen the secret?) I started continously asking myself "How can I enjoy this run even more right now?" Although I can't quite say I ever got to the point of enjoying today's long run, constantly asking that question at least kept me from focusing on the suffering....

The other thing that kept me going every time I wanted to stop and walk (which was a lot) was asking myself if I was going to be in more pain if I kept running....since the answer was no, I kept running.

Just to make the mental workout complete, I got back to my car with 165 minutes to go, and REALLY wanted to stop....after all, 2:15 is close to 2:30, right? DING...No, but thank you for playing....I kept going for the remainder, even though my HR skyrocketed to the top of zone 4 for the last 10 minutes or so....which is interesting, since my pace had slowed to 11 something minutes per mile....some days it's there, some it's not....this was a definite NOT....

Overall I got in 13.98 miles in 2:30, for a 10:44 average...not horrible, although considerable slower than usual.

Time for a quick (or maybe not so quick) nap before doing 4k in the pool.

Live with purpose....Enjoy the adventure....

09/20/07: Training Hours

Saw this on Slowtwitch and found it entertaining:

"When people post about their training hours for a given week, I'm assuming that most people, like me, count only the actual hours of the activity....So, here's a sample training week scenario that describes why the significant others tend to feel that we spend more time training than *we* feel like we've spent...

Note: The hours below are fictitious, and any similarity to the training of any actual person are strictly unintentional

Option 1: *** this is the way the athlete sees it ***
Day 1:
1 hour run

Day 2:
1 hour swim
1 hour bike ride

Day 3:
1.5 hour run
1 hour swim

Day 4:
1.5 hour bike ride

Day 6:
1.5 hours of swimming

Day 7:
5.5 hours for long bike/run brick

TOTAL: 14 hours (that's not so bad, beats sitting around watching TV, right?)
***************************************************************************************
Option 2: *** this is the way the significant other sees it ***
Day 1:
1 hour run
PLUS:
30 minutes of finding running shorts/shirt/shoes, stretching, getting IPOD, etc.
30 minutes of walking around a sweaty mess talking mumbo-jumbo about 2x5:00 fartleks

Day 2:
1 hour swim
1 hour bike ride
PLUS:
1 hour driving to/from the pool and changing/showering while there (more if you do hot tub or steam room)
30 minutes of finding bike helmet/shoes/shirt/sweatband..., stretching, pumping bike tires
30 minutes of walking around a sweaty mess talking about the crazy driver that cut you off

Day 3:
1.5 hour run
1 hour swim
PLUS:
30 minutes of finding running shorts/shirt/shoes, stretching, getting IPOD, etc.
30 minutes of walking around a sweaty mess talking about how hard the training is
1 hour driving to/from pool and changing/showering

Day 4:
1.5 hour bike ride
PLUS:
30 minutes of finding bike helmet/shoes/shirt/sweatband..., stretching, pumping bike tires
30 minutes of walking around a sweaty mess talking about how many watts you were pushing

Day 6:
1.5 hours of swimming
PLUS:
1 hour driving to/from the pool and changing/showering

Day 7:
5.5 hours for long bike/run brick
PLUS:
1 hour of finding/preparing all of your bike and run gear, stretching, lubing...
2 hours laying around dead tired, complaining about what a tough workout week it was while simultaneously mentioning that next week you have to "pick it up"

TOTAL: 23 hours (hmmm....)

PS: This does not count time spent PLANNING your training schedule, races, nutrition...; SHOPPING for new wheels, tires, helmets, shorts, pedals...; or TALKING about all the above til they hope to never hear about anything having to do with swimming, biking, or running ever again. "

Thanks for putting up with my addiction Lori :)

09/20/07: The Last Push

With IM FL only 44 days away, I'm down the the last, and largest, training block before my much anticipated taper begins. The next three weeks have training hours of 14.75, 16.25 and 17.75.....

This week started out with the usual group swim, at 3300 yds:

WU: 200 swim; 50 kick

2x500

broken 500 (sets are all out) 50, 10" rest; 50, 20" rest; 100, 30" rest; 100, 1' rest; 200 (11:19-2' = 9:19)

6x50 kick: 2 easy, 1 hard, on 1'20"

50 easy

400 8'30"
1' rest
2x200 on 4'30"
1'rest
4x100 on 2'15"

With the rainy weather continuing, running the bridges after swimming was out of the question, so I hit the treadmill for a 1/2 hour.

I did some interval work, increasing perceived exertion every minute by changing the pace, elevation, or both. The set looked something like:

5 minute warmup

5x:

RPE 6 1 minute
RPE 7 1 minute
RPE 8 1 minute
RPE 9 1 minute

5 minute cool down

Last night was 1.25 on the bike. I had absolutely no desire to be on my trainer, so I headed to Ballys for a spin class. The last time I did a spin class a few months back I was pretty much anaerobic the entire time, or at least I would have been had I kept up with what they were trying to do.

A few months later I did all of the silly out of the seat stuff, and was pleasantly surprised to see my HR stay around 145-155, which is exactly where I keep it during my real rides. Bally's did a great job with the spin bikes, putting comuters on them that give cadence and distance, as well as being polar compatible, giving me heart rate the whole time; all the numbers I need for riding indoors or out. Thanks Ballys!!

Since the spin class was only 45 minutes, I got on my rollers for a 1/2 hour when I got home. My balance is definitely improving the more time I spend on them; in fact, I was brave enough to get out of the doorway and put the roller in the living room in between two dining room chairs....next up - trying to ride aero on them.....

Tonights another group swim and hour run, before the weekend of another century ride at the Swampman, a long swim of 4k'ish, and a 2.5 hour run.

Live with purpose....Enjoy the adventure....

09/17/07: Thur - Sun Update

Thursday was another 3100 yds with the masters group - more anerobic sets:

wu: 200 x swim, kick, pull

8x100 all out on 2:30 (fastest 1:30; most 1:45 - 1:48)

6x50 kick all out on 1:15

50 easy

6x100 all out on 2:30 (fastest 1:40; most 1:45 - 1:50)

50 easy

5x50 kick all out on 1:15

50 easy

4x100 all out on 2:30 (1:45 - 1:52)

On Friday I did a short, relatively easy 45 brick: 30 minutes on the bike and a 15 minute run. I took Saturday off, since it was a recovery week and I was doing a 1/2 on Sunday.

The 1/2 was a dozen or so of us, and fortunately was really more of a long workout than it was a race. Why fortunately? Keep reading...

We met at 6:45 on Landrum, set our drinks on a table, and set-up our cars as T-2 (Bike to run). Once everyone was set, we rode three or so miles over to the beach, where a couple of people had very nicely volunteered to watch our bikes while we swam. We walked ~1.2 miles up the beach and it was time for the day to begin.

The ocean was MUCH more choppy than I would have liked, but what are you gonna do.....We started swimming, and I felt like a cork in a washing machine. I spent quite a bit of time fighting against the water, before finally remembering one of the biggest lessons from the TI clinic: RELAX. Once I was able to relax my arms a bit, swimming got much easier. I'm not sure if I got much faster, but either way, I made it back to Mickler's Landing where we started in about 50 minutes, which is a really good swim time for me. (Speaking of swimming...stay tuned.....I promise to blog about the TO clinic in the next couple of days....lots of good stuff to share)

Out of the water I didn't feel the least bit tired, and my heart rate was exceptionally low when I got on the bike. YAY. It was time for 6 8 1/2 mile loops on the bike, including Jacksonville's version of hills...The Palm Valley Bridge. In the middle of each lap we had an over and back on the bridge, totalling 2700 feet of climbing according to my Garmin. Between the bridge climbs and the wind that kicked up, my bike average was just over 16 mph.

My nutrition on the bike worked great. Instead of swallowing salt tablets every hour, I gave Nuun a shot yesterday, after reading about it on a couple of peoples' blogs. Tasted great and seemed to work really well. I'm definitely going to stick with it. As usual, I alternated sipping water (this time with the nuun in it) and Perpetuam every 10 minutes, and had a gel every 45 minutes. The time on the bike seemed to go by reasonable quickly, although the wind on the last couple of laps became a bit cruel. The total bike mileage came in at just over 54 miles, a bit short of a true 1/2 IM distance of 56...like I said, this was really more of a long training day than a race....

Once off the bike, time to run a 1/2 marathon, or at least that was the plan. The run was an out and back, over the same bridge that we rode over. The way down wasn't too bad, although I started getting really hot from being in the sun so long, even though I was drinking so much water. I was running a mile at a time, then taking a minute to walk, which I what I plan to do in the IM - walk the aid stations.....Once I got to the bridge I walked up it, ran down the other side, and did the same in reverse coming back over.

Once I came back over the bridge the combination of being out in the sun all day without shade and all of the climbing, which I'm definitely not used to, did me in. On the way back I was jogging 4 minutes and walking one, just trying to get back to where we started. I had planned the day as a 6 hour workout, and looking at my watch realized that if I had done a 2nd loop I would have been closer to 7-7:15.

While I certainly could have done a second lap, especially if it was a race, I knew if I did it was going to take me several days to recover from the extra exertion in that heat, so I called it quits after the first 6.5 mile lap. I decided to lose the battle and win the war so to speak.

Although I'm a little bummed that I didn't go the entire 1/2 IM distance, I'm pretty sure that I made the right decision to call it quits after a really good, long brick workout, instead of senselessly beating the hell out of myself.The last thing I needed coming off of a recovery week was to feel totally exhausted for several days, especially since this coming week is a 14.75 hour week.


Speaking of...just three more hard weeks of training, then it's taper time....YEAH BABY....

Stay tuned, next up is the TI clinic report and the week in review.....