OMG I RAN

In the snow.  With the dog.  Back to the foggy glasses cold face world of winter running.  Both feet hurt, the right knee, the left lung.  Zeke even seemed a little older, less enthusiastic, yet we soldiered on around the park.  I secretly do enjoy winter running, being bundled against the elements.  No one runs particularly fast in the winter.  It's more of a maintenance plan, the effort, the act of not sitting on the couch, facing the cold, the slick spots on the asphalt, and iced puddles, mud, wind.  I like it.  I didn't run 15 miles or anything, as the nuance of winter running fades fast,  but for 2.5 miles it's not so bad.    

change it up

Had to change the name of the old Ironman blog.  You should really be actively training for an Ironman distance triathlon to write a blog named "Ironman".  I did get my latest edition of TRIATHLON magazine.  Wellington won Kona again.  Amazing - a prodigy in our midst.  She's from England.  The guy that won this year is Australian. Craig Alexander I think?  I stood next to him once at Escape from Alcatraz.  He was shorter than I thought. Good for them.  Committed. 

Release the Craken!

I went to the good old YMCA recently - a few days ago - Jorgenson, the nice one.  Wealthy folks.  Nice cars.  Good looking kids.  Little piece of what I consider Carmel, Indiana right here in Fort Wayne.

I did my normal thing - forgot my towel - so I just meandered on out to the water in my mid-length Speedo, with nothing but goggles in my hand.  I wear what I would consider an 'old man' Speedo that goes half way down your leg.  I stood on the deck and did my normal stretching, arm spins, placed my goggles, grabbed a kick board, and jumped in.  I hate entering water.  I jump up and down a few times to adjust to the temp and then hit it.  Maybe it was when I jumped in?  Anyway, I swam a few lengths freestyle, then turned to do backstroke.  It was just like any other day.  The women's aquatic Zumba class was jumping around, the lanes had people gasping for air, novicely.  I was in my element.  Free.  Free as a bird! Free as a........it was then in all my freedom that I noticed the lifeguard was standing at the end of the lane.  And I thought he made some kind of gesture for me to stop, but I couldn't be sure due to my complete blindness. So I swam back, expecting to be told that they needed to shift the lane lines over or something.  I was happy.  Comfortable.  At peace with myself.  Swimming.  I approached the side of the pool and the life guard leaned down, closely, directly to my face and said in a firm yet panicked tone: "DO YOU REALIZE YOUR SUIT IS COMPLETELY SPLIT UP THE BACK!"   

A little piece of me died that second.  The pool was a stage and I was the only actor standing nude before the entire audience.  I don't know what color I turned, but I felt flushed.  All I could do was smile and say "Uh, no.  I didn't know that.  Can you please bring me a towel?".  It felt like an eternity waiting in that pool, buttocks firmly placed against the wall, waiting for anything to cover up and escape.  Finally he returned.  I wrapped tight. And headed for the door - only momentarily pausing to smile and wave to the older women in the hot tub giving me the thumbs-up sign.

I tell my kids about embarrassing moments. Try to teach them a bit of life and it's short comings. Examples of things that happened to me when I was a kid.  Like when my Mom hemmed my pants for a party with masking tape and the most popular girl in the school pointed out that the tape was failing, miserably, in front of a large crowd.  That was pretty bad.  I thought those moments were done.  Finished.  But life just keeps coming at you....all of it!

11.11.11

I've thought a lot about this day for many, many years.  When I was a kid I promised a friend of mine that we would meet again in Indianapolis on November 11, 2011 at 11:11:11 at a hill we used to be cycling repeats on.  The 79th Street bridge east of Indianapolis is not a very exciting place to fulfill some life -long, mid-life check-up, so I flew to California and stood facing the Pacific ocean high above the water, watching the waves smash into Dume Point in Malibu. 

Not many people have friends that hold 25 year old commitments.  Particularly between men.  We went to the Ynez Valley wine country afterward, known for the movie Sideways (see it if you haven't) and drank Pinot Noir's for a few days.  I've never had to defend my heterosexual nature so frequently.

What's next?  Forty is behind me, well I'm in it anyway.  And the whole world is in front of me.  There is only one thing I can answer definitively: swim.   

40

It's nearly here.  The end.  God, what happened - as only you know.  How did the time go by so fast? Particularly the last few years.  I was just 33 yesterday. Oh well. It's coming, and with it comes the justification I've realized pondering my life that I should buy myself something nice.  Although every time I get something nice it usually gets either stolen, broken by the kids, chewed up by the dog, or I inadvertently destroy it myself within a matter of days.  Nonetheless I've been dreaming of a new bike.  A road bike.  A very light, state-of-the-art, technological beauty, all wrapped in carbon fiber and other exotic lightweight metals.  Oh brother, I'm such a sucker for bikes.  The Cervelo R3 has caught my eye.  I mean really, how often do you see seat stays that thin in a frame?  And such a tight bottom bracket?

OK.  I'll stop. It is kind of a sexy two wheeled machine though.  Too bad I barely ride anymore. There is that fact.  Maybe some new wheels though will do the trick.  Snap me out of it.  Like a good old fashioned mid-life crisis without the Corvette.  Or in my case it would be a BMW I suppose. Too cliche for me...the buying a nice car thing.  And expensive.  But buying a nice bike that you rarely ride that sits in the basemenet most of time does have its rewards.  I still occasionally have some passenger in a car yell out to me, in sweet ego building words, "you're going 34 miles an hour!" on a straight away while hammering out an all out sprint. But, there is the kids college to consider.  Surely a nice Cervelo R3 will appreciate over the years? Why, I may just pass it down to the boys in my golden years, or put it in the Will. I need to start thinking about these things as my young thirties are soon to pass.

did it

CrossFit:  a set of Power Cleans and then HSPU.  Power Cleans consist of grabbing an olympic bar and heaving it up, getting under neath it, just below your shoulders.  HSPU's are hand-stand push-ups.  Come on.  Who can do hand-stand pull ups?  I wimped out and did some modified version with a box, upside-down, too dumb looking to even write it out.  Had some weird twitching muscle spasm in my clavical all the way home. 

I swam this morning.  Not a great workout  - but a workout nonetheless.  Nice mix of IM, free, and kicking. 

redirect to center

Water.  I'm going to starting drinking water in addition to coffee and alcohol.

Exercise.  I'm going to turn off Nova. And the Nightly Business Report on PBS. I might even get my aged self up and out of bed in the wee hours of the morning and move again soon.  Too bad the cold is coming. I am starting to long for the water again. That will always be within me - the need to swim.  I can drop it at times, even get kind of tired of it - but it comes back like an old friend; we don't even skip a beat

I went to Dubai recently. Interesting place.  Tall buildings.  Sandy. Hot.  Speeding taxis.  Pictures of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and John Wayne at the bar where the Americans drank.  I worked out one morning at the hotel fitness room and could hear the call to prayers echoing over the city.  I liked it - good to experience other culture.  I was trying to kip my pull-ups to the rhythm of the Arabic broadcast.  To 'kip' is to swing and attempt to use your body weight to throw yourself up to the bar - a CrossFit thing.  I'm horrible at it.  Good for nothing at pull-ups.  The prayers didn't help me much either. 

The worlds tallest building is in Dubai.  It's a pretty thing, shiny, a true architectural feat I'm sure. But there is something missing - I'm not sure what. I have these two really tall oak trees in my front yard that were planted once precisely on either side of the sidewalk leading to my front door. They drop an enormous amount of acorns every other year. And I spend countless hours toiling away cleaning up after them, as if they're my children.  Their beauty is exceedingly better than that building in the sand.

Oh yeah, my blog.

This blog is dead.  Have you noticed?  It's author is defunct. Unrecognizable from his former self.  I think running did it.  Just couldn't overcome my dislike of running.  I dropped out of Ironman Wisconsin.  Just couldn't pull myself together enough this year to train the required distances.  Everything in your life needs to be pretty stable and well rooted to pull off Ironman.  It's a big physical and mental accomplishment, and if you're screwed up in other ways you should forget it. 

My Achilles tendon forgot it.  The left one is throbbing now as I write, CrossFit victim #2.  Jumping roping did it in - attempting to do a series of double unders where you do just that - jump and swing the rope around twice, double under.  I wake every morning with a stiff Achilles that hurts until about noon.  Victim #1 was my lower back, thrown out during a workout  called Helen.  Helen is running, pull-ups, and kettle bell swings.  I can't recall how many kettle bell swings I did, but I know it was with the 50lb bell and couldn't bend over the next day.  Or the next, and so worth for over a month now.  I like CrossFit, the works out are intense, but they can and do really hurt you. 

2011.  What a year.  Like a depressing movie.  Can't wait for 2012, hopefully the clouds will break. 

I'm impressed by people that enjoy cooking.

Cooking is such a gift, isn't it?  People that really enjoy cooking are usually pretty cool.  They know which foods work together, how to prepare meat, vegetables, what seasonings go good with this or that.  They experiment, and are successful at the effort.  That's so nice.  They smile while they cook, perhaps enjoy some wine, listen to music.  It's good to cook. 

My children asked me for a snack last night.  After the third request I realized they had not had dinner, their mother was out, and I was 'on' for dinner.  Oops.   The first thing I did was to pour myself another glass of wine to begin the exploration of  the kitchen.  Liam wanted to help of course, as he is a natural cook.  We debated the merits of a few entrees then settled in on my normal culinary expression:  macaroni and cheese.  To enhance this quality dining we choose hot dogs to be sliced and added to the processed cheese mix and cardboard fresh macaroni.  I gingerly placed the franks on a small plate waiting for the water to boil then caught a few minutes of something on the television with the boys. Then it happened - as I return to the kitchen I happened upon a very guilty looking dog, one empty clean white plate, and three missing hotdogs.

Zeke,  the Menace,  slithered sheepishly low to the ground.  It's at these times - caught red handed - that I can pronounce the word 'NO' in my deepest longest dog-tone and get the best guilt-stricken body language out of him.  I followed that up with a great big 'BAD DOG' then sent him to the back yard to contemplate his shameful actions. 

Liam loved it.  He laughed and smiled his cute kid smile then we went about cutting the remaining hotdogs for our exemplary dinner.

Muncie 70.3 Ironman

I should have skipped it.  Should have just stayed home, watered my yard, drank beer, maybe hit a Crossfit class, but instead I packed up my bike and all the other necessary gear and drove down to Muncie for a half-Ironman distance triathlon yesterday (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 run). 

This was the third time I've competed in this event.  I had a fairly decent swim, strong bike, and a horrible run. 

It was a race I'll not soon forget.  Lots of lessons learned - like 'don't forget your socks', 'don't forget all your toiletries, including your contact lenses and have to swim blind ', and lastly 'if you are going to do a half-Ironman distance triathlon you should train for the run'.  As I walked vast stretches of the run coarse in pain from my under-trained ligaments I thought how supportive I was being for my fellow triathlete's as they ran past me.  I imagined them thinking "At least I'm not walking", "look at that poor guy", "I trained therefore I'm running - that poor soul didn't train and he's walking".  General thoughts like that kept my spirits up - I found solace in the psychological benefit I was giving others.   The mile marker signs became like an oassis in the dessert.  The sun was baking my mind and body, but one must carry on. Muncie turned into the Sahara for me. It was a mental test more than anything, because my body was still at home sitting on the couch flipping channels.

I finished.  And then I found a shady spot to sit for a moment.  After a while I picked myself up and starting walking to transition to get my bike and head for home.  I passed the medical tent and saw all the people getting IV's, their blood pressure checked, some dude was being brought in from the course on a stretcher fresh out of the ambulance.  They didn't train much either I guess.

Finn's big moment

I have two children.  They are both perfect of course in everyway.  Ages ten  and eight are beautiful years.  Not to slight Liam in the least (the eldest) I have to get in writing what I'm seeing with Finn in the last two weeks.  Finlay being his official first name.  A good Irish lad. 

The boys signed up for Little League again this year.  I never played baseball when I was a kid.  Mainly due to the contact a throw from my father once made to my forehead.  I was just never that good at sports involving a ball.  So when my kids wanted baseball a few years ago I was a little reluctant.  Even baseball guys in high-school and college were are kind of full of themselves...keep in mind this is spoken from a timid swimmers perspective so what does that matter?  Little league is a commitment.  Lots of games that take forever, lots of practices in the cold and wind and then later the burning sun.  It's a parenting test at times after working all day then immediately running to the ball diamond, skipping your workout, eating a hot-dog from a concession stand and getting home at 9:00pm.  Then homework and baths no less.  This year it all paid off.

I could go into a tremendous thrilling build-up of how Finn's championship game last week got to the point where he was the last batter at the plate in extra innings, behind by one run, with two outs on the board and two little leaguers on base but I would have to write all morning.  There were a few miracles on the field that tied the game in one inning from a five run deficit.  Kevin Costner could have been in the stands for all I know.  I found myself high-fiving parents in the stands I hadn't really talked to all season that inning.

So, there we were, one run down.  The championship game about to be lost, two outs. And Finn was up at bat.  I've never followed baseball.  Never throught about how tight the situation can get until it struck me as I watched my little boy walk out to the plate (I should qualify that  - he is my little boy - but stands nearly 12 inches taller than all the other little boys on the team). I noticed that everyone was yelling to Finn.  Coaches and parents alike with all sorts of heart felt advice.  I just wanted to whisper in his ear to block it all out, be calm, and hit that ball as hard as you can.  But I could tell by the look on his face that he could feel the pressure.  All season long he had been the best hitter, or one of the best, and he had become expected to hit.  I thought how devastating the rest of the afternoon could be after these pitches or how grand life could be with this triumphant children memory safely in mind forever. He always watches the first pitch, they call it a ball if you don't swing at the 8 year old level. Next he swung with all his might, a beautiful swing, but a strike. Next pitch he did it again, strike. "Oh God", I thought "please don't swing again"...so I got off the bleachers and yelled to him from the fence to watch another ball come in like all the other screaming voices.  Next, ball.  So there he stood with two strikes, two balls, two outs, and two men on base. 

There are pure moments of joy in life.  Finn Brooks killed the ball that came his way on his third swing. Sent it far into the left field...then he ran like an angel all the way around the bases for an in-field home run winning the game by two runs.  It was a beautiful thing.  I was so happy for him, and proud.  He stood grinning from ear-to-ear with trophy in-hand saying 'Thank you' to all the congratulations.  My good little boy.

Cross-Fit

I'm doing it. Making the big move to CrossFit.  I joined a CF gym last night and went through my first introductory session. 

...written last week.  I've been through a few CrossFit sessions now.  It's good.  Difficult.  I don't think I've ever been so sore.  They had me do lunges with a bar over head,  up and down the street outside the gym one day.  And between each lunging set of death I had to do something called a half-moon: grabbing a medicine ball from your side on the ground and placing it overhead on the other side of your body, repeat.  Everything is timed, the workouts are in a group setting, with a lead training shouting out encouragement.  I dig it.  I'm losing interest in triathlon - in the time required to accomplish an Ironman anyway.  I'm thinking that Wisconsin may not happen this year.  It's almost July and I haven't been running.  Or cycling really much.  Sometimes the best laid plans just sort of fall apart in ruins before your very eyes.  Life is complicated beyond the scope of this blog to put things lightly.  So - on to other interest.  I want to become good at CrossFit.  Ironman is not done forever - I just kind of killed this season of training. 

I picked up my bike today in Indy.  It made it to San Fran and back safe and sound. Now that I've slammed triathlon I should point out that I'm doing the Muncie half-ironman in a few weeks.  With little training.  I'm not expected anything special at that race.  It's a great course though  - Muncie, IN is flat.  Flat in many ways. 

Escape from Alcatraz: in summary.

The boat trip out to Alcatraz was probably the best part. 2,000 people in wetsuits cramped into the Belle of SF parked just off shore of The Rock and then in about 4 minutes time we were all in the water. I didn't even think of the cold as I was navigating the many bodies. I got slammed a few times, squeezed between two swimmers, and hit in the head by an errant stroke. Good times. In a wetsuit those hits just feel like little bumps. I wore ear plugs for the first time and must say I think they helped. I felt completely sealed from the water other than hands, feet, and face. Caused a weird internal effect on my breathing...I could only hear myself. I realized I have a slight 'grunt' when swimming, similar to a tennis player hitting the ball, mine rather with every pull.  None the less Serena Williams came to mind and we finished out the swim.  The Bay's current is incredible. I had a perfect sight on the finish buoys but over shot them slightly....taken by the current. And once you miss your target there is no going back, you can't beat the water. I was out in 28 minutes and on my bike.

The bike was beautiful, and hilly. We rode out to the Pacific coast which I had not seen. The Golden Gate bridge is truly a gorgeous structure. It seems to fit nicely in with nature as you look at it from the Pacific view rather than from the bay. That coast is pure. I got to see one of the pros on the bike, Andy Potts, whom I read about occasionally in Triathlete. He was killing the bike, he cornered a 90 degree turn at the bottom of a steep descent so fast I thought he was going to lose control. It was also a beautiful sight. Saw him later on the run also sprinting down hill, poor knees. He won the event fairly easily.

The run was grueling. It was more like a hike, a running hike up and down steep sandy cliffs, and wooden plank steps built into the earth, narrow, with sharp over grown weeds snagging at your skin. There was even a tunnel that we had to run through that was so low we had to duck down. It was some kind of aqueduct. If only I was a criminal.  I now know how to bust out of Alcatraz. Only about two miles of the eight were 'normal' running.

I finished 305 out of 2,000. Not so bad for the little training I put in. And best of all I got the T-shirt!  Not to mention the memory I'll keep with me for the rest of my days.

Escape from Alcatraz

Alcatraz. The name itself is somewhat intimidating. To swim from Alcatraz? I thought that was impossible? As a swimmer and after standing on shore looking at that island I don't think so. At least not in a wetsuit. It's not that far.

I should say that I am typing this entry on an iPad. Expect considerably more typos.

My time so far has been good here. It's cold. I wish the air temp was warmer. The water was calm this morning, with very little wind...but that is deceiving. The Bay is like a river, always moving. I finally got my bike from Sports Basement....a great shop on the West side of town. I rode through San Francisco for the first time and loved it. Cycling gives you so much freedom. Well compared to walking anyway. Cruising through SF is not for the faint of heart though. You should be an experienced city cyclist to really push it. I'm not...but my youth in Indianapolis pushing traffic at ever opportunity has given me some confidence.

Triathlon trip like this involve a lot of hotel room time surrounded by gear. My bike rest against the second double bed. My water bottles liter the faux granite bathroom sink. Lyca this or that strewned about....planned for Sunday. Wetsuit. Goggles. Race belt. Timing chip belt. Visor. Jersey. Bike shoes. Running shoes. Socks. Towel. CO2. Helmet. Sunglasses. And body glide!

Once you've done an Ironman all else seems secondary. Not to sound braggish. I'm horribly out of shape. I have a layer of 'chub' as my kids say. All over. You wouldn't see it...but I know I'm not as fit as I can be. This will be an interesting non-fit benchmark. I'm still planning to push the swim pretty hard, if for nothing else just to get out of the cold pool. I hate cold water.

pause

Sometimes in life everything pauses. 

Ready to hit play again.  An end to the drama and just good old fashioned sweat and pain sound a whole lot better.   I'm six days out from the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon.  Good golly time goes fast.  I'm horribly under prepared for the event.  It will still be fun and very challenging I'm sure to put in the effort.  I shipped my bike via TriBike Transport (so far so good with them.  I'll know more if my bike goes missing or is damaged!). I fly out on Thursday.  My last swim is tonight.  Jorgenson Y with the women doing Zumba likely.  Ugh. 

So...Hi.  I'm going to start putting in some consistancy again, and hopefully writing will keep me in the game.

can't

write yet.  Still exercising. 

My exercising dilemma

I'm flat.  My motivation to workout escapes me. 

So what?  Is it wrong to sign up for an Ironman and then never show up?  YES.  Limited number of spots.  God, I need to start running.  My new wetsuit arrived a few days ago.  Had to send the first one back - a little too tight.  I'm now the proud owner of an Orca full body wetsuit.  It feels thin when I have it on.  I wanted the perception of thickness and warmth for this Alcatraz thing coming up June 5.  I've been getting emails from the event organizers, with comments like "the sharks stay below the surface of the water in the Bay, and they only grow to be about 4 feet long".  That's nice.  Thank goodness.  Sharks greater than 4' long might scare me.  What about the old ones?  The ones that are a little senile?  Near death?  Crazy like a bee in the fall, hovering near a trash can full of partially empty pop cans, eager for sugar.  What is to stop some overgrown near death shark from going to the surface?  Just to check out those things flailing against the substance? 

The other statement was "when you dive in the water your system is going to be shocked".  I hate those brief seconds when I turn off the hot shower and have to reach for the towel.  I absolutely hate jumping into the YMCA pool due to the temperatures  - even with all the little babies and kids heating it up so naturally.  More chlorine please.  I've heard that urine is sterile though, right?  Still I think of it as I swim lap after lap, remembering my youth.  So apparently the San Francisco Bay is really cold.  It's only a mile and 1/2 swim....hopefully out of the water in about 30 minutes depending on how well I read the current and the waves. And the curious octogenarian sharks.

I've allowed myself to break out of the routine.  I've been consistant with my personal trainer, three times per week, but I have not been hitting many two per day workouts, or cycling, or running, or swimming.  I've been doing a fair amount of sitting.  Soon it will come over me again - the drive.

Update

Thursday: March 17th, swam 3,000.  Hooked up with some guys at Summit Middle school pool.  Very nice.

Friday: March 18th, a day I'll never forget. In AM did upper body workout, later in the day ran 8 miles.

Saturday:  Indianapolis, rode 20 miles.  Almost killed by Carmel driver in a round-a-bout.  They don't look for cyclist in those things. 

Sunday: Fort Wayne, Jorgenson Y, swam in a pool filled with kids, got hit by rubber ball twice - 1,500 yards

Monday: Bike 25 miles, nice ride. Saw a live skunk walking along the side of the road interestingly. Surprised is wasn't a rat.

Tuesday AM: weights.  Upper body.  After the workout, when I thought we were done, he said, "OK, now I want you to do as many push-ups as you can until you can't do them anymore". 

Bench Press

It's all I can do to type.  This morning was upper body day with my trainer.  The name of the place is Absolute Results.  I'm becoming a believer. 

Being the fish out of water that I am in a gym full of weights,  I was a bit trepidus when we approached the formidable looking bench press.  My former football player trainer smiled and said, "we're going to see what you're made of now".  This is week three, and there I was finally looking up at a cold iron bar and 45lb plates on each side.  The bar came down and only slightly crushed my chest before I heaved it back to starting position on rep one.  Repetition two was good, and three, actually all the way to ten.  I'm a good meat-head after all.

We did it all today.  As we approached the bench  for the final round he had me do some odd move at the end where you lower the bar to your chest as slowly as possible, then push it up fast. Repeat four times....then jump down on the ground and do as many push-ups as you can until complete fatigue.  I felt physically sick at that point, but it was kind of nice to finally collapse on the floor.  It was over.          

diversity in the water

I took the swimming diversity tour at the meet I swam in this weekend.  Did the 100's of each stroke.  I've always been impressed with swimmers that could do anything - and I tried to develop myself into an all around swimmer when I was in college.  I did well, better than I hoped. Placed in the overall first position in each stroke.  Managed to hold off a few twenty year olds' after all.  I think my strength training over the last few months has served me well in the water, particularly with fly.  

Fly - .59
Back - .58
Breast - 1.08
Free - 53.02  (almost a .52)

These times aren't so bad for a guy turning 40 this year I suppose,  but I see that I'm getting slower.  Like an old gray Labrador.   Master's swimming is great - it's no different than any level of swimming.  Everyone wants to win.  I was as nervous as ever prior to the first race; feeling as if I was expected to win, some remnant of long ago mental imagery. 

Yesterday I ran 6 miles.  This morning I rode 25 miles on my trainer.

From head to toe

well, not really.  My toes are fine.  But I'm sore every where else.  It's a good feeling to actually use your muscles.  I rode my trainer last night for 20 miles on squat jump tired legs.  I felt pretty good actually - did some big gear work out of saddle.  I can feel the last several days though when I shrug my shoulders.  Every time I hear the word shrug I think of Atlas Shrugged.  One of my old favorites. 

This weekend I'm planning to swim in a Masters swim meet, walk-on deal.  Probably hit all distance events - 400IM, 500FR, 200FR,  but I kind of want to slack up and just do the 100's.  Recovery time is so much faster.  We shall see.  And, I don't want to be beat by some 20 year old kid either (I say full of myself).  I know that day is coming...but not this Saturday hopefully.   I'll be depressed all weekend if I lose the 500 freestyle. 

Jump Squats - Burpies - Riding in the Rain

Monday PM: I had a good run.  Finally.  Monday night I hit the park, which has dried slightly, and did 5 miles - 3 miles of it were miles for time with 15 bootcamp style Burpies at the end of each mile, then rest, then repeat. I was spent running back home.  Burpies, or Daisy's as my wife prefers to call them are a good all around test of fitness. 

Tuesday AM: - trainer, upper body workout.  I told him I wanted to look like Brad Pitt in the movie Fight Club.    "You're going to need to start putting in some more time",  he said.  I was so sore at the end of the workout I couldn't put my arms above my head with 8lb weights.  Loved it. 

Tuesday PM:  it was warm enough to ride and I went for it - even though the skies looked a little rainy.  Sure enough at mile 10 it started to rain.  It was grey out, about 5:45pm, I'd forgotten to put my little blinking light on the back of my bike.  I was wearing all black, starting to feel stupid.  I turned and headed for home, and lived to write about it. 

Wed AM:  Trainer.  Leg workout.  We did this really fun thing called wide-leg squat jumps, then narrow-leg jumps, then lunges, then jumped up and down on a big wooden box two feet in the air, and then did it all again a few times and threw some other stuff in and now I can barely walk to the fax machine.  But really, how many faxes do you send these days? 

Robins and Cummings "In Just"

I ran this weekend, 6 miles on Saturday.  The world was like an E.E. Cummings poem.  It was mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.  In my efforts to circumvent the flooded river I ran deep into the public golf course which looked deceptively dry in spots, until running in it.  The earth was like a sponge.  A cold deep sponge.  I trod along in the pursuit of health, rather enjoying the cold wet feet for a change. 

The fowl were quite happy as well and out in numbers.  Parts of the park were covered in new vast lakes only a few inches deep.  There were geese and mallards, and plump robins splashing about.  Come to think of it - I saw some type of hawk standing on the ground, fearlessly, with another flailing bird underneath it caught in the talons as I ran to the flooded park.  Who needs an iPod when you have action like this before your very eyes? It's a wild kingdom out there. I did not see anyone else at the park.  Just birds. 

Sunday I put in a good swim at Jorgenson.  Had my own lane so I did some butterfly.  My workout consisted of 200 free, 200 kick, 200 IM, 200 Back.  Then 4 x 50 kick Fly, then 4x25 all out of each stroke, better described as a 400 IM with 5-10 seconds rest between each length.  Not a lot of quantity, but super quality.  Heart rate was pushing 180 at completion.  There's nothing like high intensity interval work.  I felt sick for an hour.

Biceps

Things are about to change in my life:  I'm working on my biceps.  My relationship with my triceps has just grown so ordinary.  They're great during the finish phase of the freestyle in the pool, but biceps, biceps are the true demonstration of masculinity, aren't they?  I have a friend with Popeye biceps.  Mine have always been sort of soft and elongated, regardless the quantity of curls completed.  No more my friends. 

I hired a personal trainer. 

That's right.  I'll be drinking raw eggs soon.  Just mail ordered my first batch of anabolic steroids.  Soon I'll be talk'n kinda tuff and diff'rent, with grunts and high-pitched profanity mostly.  Within days likely to be cat-calling women on the street uncontrollably.  I really don't know where I'm headed.  But, I think where ever the destination my biceps are going to be stronger.  Balboa like. 

So, yeah, I'm real optimistic right now, and enthusiastic, after only my second workout.  The guy is good.  He doesn't seem to care about perceived pain - actually the things that hurt the most he kept taking me back to do them again, repeatedly.  That is exactly what I'm paying for:  pain.  None of this has anything to do with Ironman.  This may actually slow me down - don't know.

I ran yesterday (4 miles) and then rode my trainer at night...a speed set, 30 minutes.  Wednesday I swam.  Super quick workout at Jorgenson.  The pool was obnoxiously packed.  Lifted weights with the trainer on Tuesday and today.  Still - out of shape though.

Spin/Swim

I rode my trainer last night in the basement, about 60 minutes.  Maybe 18 miles.  Modest workout.  Forced myself up this morning and went to the Y downtown and swam.  My pool is growing in popularity with the local triathlete crowd.  There were three of them there, with big developed shoulders, but poor flip turn skills. They were trying though.  I swam 1,500 yards.  Did some 4x50  free style sprint at the end to push my heart a little.  All seemed well.

Running.  I need to start thinking positively about running again.  Happy thoughts.  I ran a few times last week and had a tight calf for a few days - the old left calf problem I've been dealing with for years really.  I probably need to go to physical therapy and have them scrape it out.  Ever done that?  I had my IT band scraped a few years ago - fibrous band that runs down your leg from the outside of your hip to knee, probably one of the most common running  problems. Other than plantar fasciitis.    Anyway - it's horrible.  I can still remember my nice young physical therapist talking about something she made for dinner the night before as she scraped something similar to a large plastic spatula deep into my inflamed tendon.   The pain is worth it though - the break down of tissue is replaced with healthy tissue, or so I think.  The moral of the story: keep active.  I had to go through all that stuff because when I got serious about exercise again I'd been sedentary for too long.   

Nerf bullets.

Ran 6.5 on Friday.  Swam 2,100 yards yesterday.  Ran 3 today. 

It was sleeting and raining for the run....little ice drops were hitting my face pretty hard, felt very similar to my kids hitting me with Nerf bullets on the nose.  Recently I had company from England over to our house, a business guest, and we played with the kids one afternoon.  I pulled out our arsenal of Nerf guns and the Brit was amazed. Somehow over the years I've managed to collect some high-powered shooters; we have a box full of orange and yellow plastic.  It did look kind of ridiculous as loaded up.  We were armed to the teeth for our rendition of the Revolutionary War.    Americans and their guns extends all the way to Nerf. 

Anyway, not many people at the park this AM.

500 Free

I had twenty minutes of free time yesterday so I put in a quick swim between work and home.  Did a 500 yard (20 lengths) freestyle in 5:45....not too bad.  Thought I would die near the end, my arms were a little weak, but my turns felt good.  Probably the planks I've been doing and squats.  A flip turn is really a deep knee squat performed laterally underwater. 

Three little girls were leaping from the side of the pool toward my lane forcing waves into my stroke,  and there was a fairly plump woman with tattoos that looked out of place on her body in a little swim suit next to me.  Those were my only distractions. 

2 glasses of wine and my trainer

Had a work meeting yesterday off site that required me to drink two nice glasses of Cabernet late in the afternoon.  Oh business.

Got home, quick drink of water and then I rode my trainer.  Positioned the fan to my liking, readied  the remote to the television, and filled my water bottle.  Cleared the data from my Cateye cyclometer and got down to real business.  This is how the Italians and French train right?  Have a glass of wine, do some cycling, Viva le Spin.  I rode about 60 minutes, put in some sustained 5 minute threshold efforts, then finished with a descending set consisting of 5 minutes, 4, 3, 2,1 minutes all out, with a few minutes rest between each effort.  My younger son came and laid on the floor to watch the last few intervals.  I could barely talk, dripping wet, max heart rate, just killing it focusing on perfect cadence.  I think kids like to see their Dad, their 'old Dad' train and push it like that, and hear the sound of the trainer and click of the gears drown out the television.  I told him the contraption was my "hurt locker".

I haven't been fishing in years.

I can see from my office the snow melting.  The drift that nearly blocked my view of the parking lot and the large beige Whitley Country water tower is slowly subsiding. It's a pretty view at times.  I look west from my spreadsheets and occasionally catch the most beautiful orange and red skies pouring down on the steel structure full of water.  Kind of makes me long for cycling on the road again.

I've been riding my trainer twice a week, putting in about 20 miles each time, doing lots of interval work.  It's boring and painful. 

I had a very nice swim yesterday morning - 3,000 yards (120 lengths).   Mostly all freestyle on a good clip.  It felt great to push to exhaustion.  I haven't been in the water much.  Nor have I been running.  What kind of an exercising blog is this?  It's becoming my fall from exercising glory; my will to rise in the morning and go exercise has been lost for months. 

On a brighter front, kind of, the book I've been reading is really starting to pick up.  I'm reading Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls.  I don't know whom the bells are going to toll for yet.  But I'm guessing Robert will play a part in it.  He and Maria fell in love.  I hope they make it - but I fear when they blow up that bridge all may be lost.  Love.  I woke up this morning and thought "I wonder what's going on in my book?"  Reading is fantastic at times.  Sort of like fishing.  There's usually horribly long dull parts, but then sometimes you actually catch fish and it's thrilling.  When I was a kid I read Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, about the French Revolution.  Read the whole thing.  Cried at the end.  It was one of the most painful and greatest books I've ever read.  Like a week long fishing trip without a bite until the last day.

Roller-Coaster.

Can't write. 

Exercising though. 

dark cold snow ice run, with the dog

I pulled it together this morning, layered up, and went running outside.  5:45am.  Zeke, the dog, was looking at me breathing heavily twisting his head from side-to-side the way he does when he knows something fun could be about to occur so I took him with me.  He's getting better.  Perhaps the 'no-squirrel' environment helped.  He ran pretty steady by my side - just occasionally stopping abruptly to smell certain spots in the snow. 

Yesterday, Wednesday I got up at 4:55am and went to the Y.  Swam 2 grand then went upstairs to run on a little tiny indoor track with high banking in the corners.  14 laps = 1 mile.  The engineers shouldn't have built this 'opportunity' to run indoors.  I was good for 14 laps, I think  - I couldn't even keep track of how many times I ran around in a circle.  I kept thinking of Zeke chasing his tail the whole time for some reason.  After that I hit the weight room for just a minute or so.  One of the usuals from the pool that bobs up-and-down for an hour everyday was up there and asked me if I'd swam that morning.  You just can't beat the downtown central branch YMCA camaraderie.  We're like a team.   

Weights - Cycling

I put in a nice weight workout tonight full of dips and pull-ups, squats, curls, up-right rows, shoulder press and bench press.  Topped it off with a few planks.  Planks are the most miserable exercise ever imagined.  Holding the plank position is a real quick indicator of your core fitness.  My core it a little flabby and pliable right now. 

After weights I packed up my bike and hit the Tuesday night spin session at Summit.  It was a grueling ordeal.  We did ten 4-minute strength sets with 2-minutes rest between each.  Strength on a trainer means pushing nearly your highest gear....big ring in the front and little guy in the back.  It burns, and then burns more.  Like doing a wall sit for 40 minutes.  I think I may have enlarged sweat glands. Seriously.  I was like a running faucet, slammed two big water bottles during the workout, looked like I'd been standing outside in the rain and everyone else just had a little perspiration on their brow.  To be fair, I was trying to hurt myself tonight on that bike; really break the tissues down and burn some carbon. It worked, I still feel a little sick.

Yesterday I swam 2,000 yards in the morning.  I can't even remember all the details, but it was a good workout.  Put in a good kicking set.  Kicking is something I skip normally, but I shouldn't.  The flutter kick works magic on your hip flexors.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to rise early, scrape the windows of the car, and drive to the treadmill waiting patiently for my arrival.

What about running?

I was in Florida last week on a business trip and I didn't even run.  Lifted weight one morning and put in about 1,000 yards total in the pool.  I hit the spin session this morning at Summit.  I need to get back to running.  Cold snowy weather is not much of a motivator.  Nor is a treadmill. 

Sold my wheel set!  And the aero helmet.  I thought eBay would be a pain and hastle, but so far everything sells. I'm thinking of putting my Bridgestone MB-2 up for sale.  I never ride the thing.  It's in mint condition.  It should be ridden. It's hard not to covet that bike though.  They just don't make them like that anymore. I'll surely regret it, just as I still regret selling my Basso roadbike in college for money to buy a bass guitar.  That was dumb.  But of all the possible regrets that one could acquire in life that one is fairly harmless. 

I'm hoping to find my motivation soon and start dedicating myself to fitness.  I have been fairly consistent with weights, but not much else. 

Free Willy

I've been successfully acquiring cash by selling various triathlon/cycling items on eBay.  I need to come up with some money to buy a long sleeve wetsuit for Alcatraz.  One of the leading brands of wetsuits is called Orca.  I own a sleeveless Blue-Seventy that worked OK other the 'burn' it would leave on my neck every time I used it (soon to be sold to the highest bidder).  I think it was a bit small, but wetsuits rub your skin off after an hour of swimming.  So, Orca.  Seems appropriate.  I hope to God I don't run into an Orca Killer Whale drifting along in the San Francisco bay somewhere.  I don't even want to see a minnow.  Actually the sight of anything when swimming in the ocean makes my heart about burst.  A plastic bottle or something can touch your hand and lead to a panic attack.  I did an open water swim in college once from Fort Lauderdale with a few hundred swimmers and we were engulfed in a sea of jelly fish.  What have I done? I'm not cut out for this.  We shall see.  Come June 5th I'm actually hoping to push that swim pretty hard and be in the top of the guys out of the water. 

If you need a nice pair of gently used Rolf Prima Vigor wheels feel free to throw out your bid on eBay!  Good luck!  Or, maybe you need one of those goofy looking aero helmets?  The ones that save you 40 seconds over a 40km time trial?  Huh?  My Giro is going up for sale soon.

exercising and art

When I'm not in the mood to run I paint.  I haven't been running much.  I hit my trainer in the basement and pushed it super hard for 5 x 3 min sustained max effort with 2 min rest in between on the bike.  Short and sweet.    I hit the pool today also and did a sprint set, 2 x100, 4 x 50, 4 x 25 all out free style after my warm-up.  Staggered out of the place dizzy with noodle arms. 

One of my latest distractions above.  Looks kind of like Van Gogh huh? 

I've changed this one a little - this was a few weeks ago and I'm still working on the flowers, the stem, and the vase.  Yes, there is a vase down there somewhere in the blue.  This is a Uglow take off.  I went to Hyde Brothers books today and bought two nice books about Cezanne.  I'm digging still life's lately. 

I did this one a couple months ago, not such a great picture - kind of far away - but a pear none the less:

More to come.  I tend to paint it up during the winter months, and then completely stop once spring and good weather returns.  So, I have to get it in while my creativity is present.

Group Spin and Swim

I drove to Summit City Bikes, local shop, in the biggest snow storm of the year last night.

There I  hooked my bike up to a stationary trainer along with about ten other guys,  and we pedalled in front of a TV playing a DVD of other people pedalling and grimacing on their bikes.  After sixty minutes or so the pain finally ended.  The  title of the DVD was Maximum Threshold Training.  You know that's going to hurt, and it did. 

I swam today, briefly...1,750, so one mile.  Two strange things happened.  First, during a backstroke set I was having very lucid visions while under water dolphin kicking off the wall (this is when you are underwater, looking through the water to the ceiling).  My new goggles have really opened things up for me.  I felt more comfortable in the underwater world, seeing clearly all the bubbles blast past me near the surface of the water, than the world outside of the water. The water was calm, there was no one in the pool, so as I rose to the surface I could see, geometrically,  the plane of the waters surface.  It was so smooth I didn't want to break it for a breath.   Creepy huh?  I was exaggerating this experience by kicking like a dolphin nearly the length of the pool upside down, underwater.  Endorphins maybe?  Possibly, because the other strange thing that happened on the next set was that I got a cramp. I can't remember a time when I've gotten a cramp swimming.  It was bad enough that I decided to get out and call it a day.  One bad cramp spoiled my swimming 'trip'. 

new goggles

Bought new swimming equipment yesterday. $84 on new goggles, and two swimming suits (? Geez, I know, crazy).   It's amazing what a new pair of scratch free goggles does for you in the water.  Especially as blind as I am.   Everything still looked totally fuzzy and indescribable, but goodness, so much brighter. 

AM workout  = 800 warm up (200 free, 100 free kick, 100 fly kick, 200 back, 100 back kick, 100 breast kick), then 4 x 200 each stroke of 50 swim, kick, drill, swim - then Free ladder set of 50-100-150-100-50.  For a nice pretty 2,050 yards. 

Ran 5.5 miles yesterday.  Beautiful snowy, bright sun run.  Had some pain in my right knee so I switched things up a few times.  Ran high knees backwards, ran side-stepping like a soccer player, etc.  It actually worked...broke the monotony I guess. 

Last week my wife was out of town on business.  I was 'on' with the boys for everything required of two kids ages 9 and 7.   Didn't get too many workouts in needless to say.  Lifted weights in the basement a few times.  Got a babysitter one night so I could hit the Y to lift.  I don't mean to brag but I'm starting to look a little like Lou Ferrigno.   I think I'm to the point where I  may name my biceps - something modest,  like "Lighting" and "Thunder" (as I saw in some movie once).   Mine are really more along the lines of "Light" and "Drizzle" playing off the weather theme.  But I'm working on it.  My quads are going to be "Oak" and "Sequoia" before it's all over...I did squats tonight until I felt faint right after work at the YMCA.  Bring it!

Day 1. 37 week program

Consistancy is the key to Ironman.  Workout 6 days per week. Balance your efforts between the three disciplines, hang out with swimmers and cyclyist and runners.  Today I socialized with the cycling crowd.  Always an interesting group.  All about performance.  I do find it interesting, adults that form into teams....they wear team colors, talk team tactics, don't really like the guys on the other team.   I've never been one for team sports.  I'm still mostly unattached when it comes to the cycling thing - but it's nice to train with 'em.   About 15 people showed for a New Years day ride....cold.  25 miles.  We did a sprint down a gravel road for some reason I'm not sure.  Riding on gravel does develop your handling skills I suppose.  I got dropped from the leaders near the end and spent several miles solo between a group farther back trying to catch me, and the guys leading which I was putting all my heart and soul into chasing down...but couldn't do it today.  I haven't been on my bike in weeks and I could feel the burn.  My legs were like cold wind burned noodles when we finally reached the car.  I had the bright idea of cutting the index finger of my gloves off, just a little tiny bit, because they're too small.  That extra room felt great in the kitchen before I left, but not so good in 30 degree weather traveling on a bike at 25 miles per hour.  I needed a balaclava also - my face was frozen in no time.  Oh the perils of winter cycling.  It's not for the timid.   

So today marks the beginning of a dedicated training program.  I don't even really have a program to follow yet.  I found a few online that cost several hundred dollars which I don't want to afford.  I need to buy a new wet-suit, get tickets to San Francisco and figure out how to ship my bike there for Alcatraz.  That stuff cost some good money. 

One bit of advice should you ever choice to do Ironman/triathlon....write all your workouts down.  Keep cumulative track of the effort. Build on each week.  Writing it down doesn't let you cheat.  Or, better said it's clear when your cheating.  I cheat on running all the time - but not to my training log.  Write it down.