Triathlon Training Frenzy

Monday And An 80 Mile Solo Time Trial

2011-09-12T20:15:00.004-05:00

So my workout (my only workout today) was a solo effort 80 mile time trial. The actual point of today's effort was to get comfortable being on my tri bike in aero position for extended periods and to start working on my nutrition. I use custom and mostly natural foods during my Ironman races and need to know how somethings work (or don't) prior to race day.

And actually aside from the taste of what I prepared last night, my nutrition worked well. I had no bloating issues and was adequately fueled for an effort that took just over 4 hours to complete 82 miles. Physically I was good until about mile 60 as far as being comfortable in aero position. But to be honest, my comfort level had more to do with it being about 103 degrees outside than any shoulder/back/neck stuff from the ride.

The food/fuel I used was new. I tried a liquid fuel based on coconut water, spirulina powder, salt, dates, sesame seeds, chia, almond butter and two scoops of Perpetuem from Hammer Nutrition. The calories for a single 24oz bottle winds up being around 750 highly nutrient dense calories. This blend is a bit different from what I used last year in Arizona but the overall calorie and nutrient make up is similar. Out on the bike for over 4 hours, and with about a bottle and a half of this blend taken in I was never hungry. The cool thing is with liquid, yet nutrient dense nutrition, I don't get the sense of emptiness that can come from some of the commercial products. I also don't experience the dramatic drop in energy that I get when I eat solid food like bars on the bike. As we get closer to Arizona I'll play with the mixture to see if I can get the taste more to my liking because it can be a bit off putting to drink stuff that tastes nasty when it is also hot.

For my fluids I used some new stuff I saw at the store. When I travel it can be hard to find good coconut water (not to mention expensive). I don't drink gatorade or any of the common electrolyte drinks if I can help it. This year I'm experimenting with dried coconut water. It comes in a powder and thus is easy to travel with. The only negative I can see is that it doesn't seem to have the same nutrient makeup and so isn't as calorically dense as regular coconut water. But since I have a good nutrient balance in my liquid fuel I didn't notice any issues even while riding in 100 degree heat for an extended period of time.

All in all, I'm happy with today's effort and the feedback I got.

Great Breakdown Of HR & Power On TJ Tollakson's IMLP Win

2011-08-01T18:12:00.002-05:00

Here is a great read if you are interested in TJ's pacing strategy for IM Lake Placid.

Fierce Twist Interval - Yoga for Triathletes

2011-07-25T00:33:00.004-05:00

So this is a yoga interval that is designed to build strength in the legs while relieving tension in trouble spots like the low back and piriformis. This is a pretty intense interval so modify where needed by using a yoga block. One time through is plenty, but if you feel motivated you can go for two passes. Enjoy.

Yoga Interval For Triathletes, Cyclists And Runners

2011-07-11T00:04:00.004-05:00

Here is a short yoga video (or yoga interval) I shot for triathletes, cyclist and runners. The cool part is it really works the psoas, quads, hamstrings, and glutes. It is meant to be a restorative interval but it can also be used to strengthen the legs in a balanced way. And the best part is it only takes about 5 or 6 minutes to go through 2 or 3 times. Although in truth this simple interval is pretty challenging so one time through may be plenty. Restorative, strengthening yoga in 6 minutes or less? How's that for effective time management?

Iron Brother's Sprint Tri Day 2

2011-07-10T20:38:00.003-05:00

Ouch. That is what my body was saying during the second race on day 2. Make that "OUCH!" So the swim seemed better than yesterday and my time was a good 30 seconds faster. I had no major issues on the swim, the water was still a bit choppy but I think it was a little cooler than yesterday so instead of swimming and fretting over how hot aka miserable I was I was able to concentrate on more important things like realizing my muscles weren't enjoying being asked to race again so soon. But that was about the worst of the swim. I was just wishing I'd slept in.

The bike on the other hand was another story. It was way windier today out on the bridge than yesterday especially on the section a couple of miles back into the park. And my legs hurt from the first turn of the pedals out of transition and continued to scream for the entire ride. The only reprieve I allowed them was at the turnarounds. After the first lap I seriously considered getting off my bike and waiting about 25 minutes and going back into transition but I didn't. My heart rate was right where it should have been and aside from the soreness from the day before, I was riding well. With this in mind I pushed the second loop harder and negative split by about 45 seconds and came into T2 in 6th place in my age group.

Out of T2, I really felt my effort on the bike and was sure I was running a lot slower than yesterday. And that may have been the case, but I think I found my stride opening up a bit sooner and clicked my way up from 6th place into 4th in my age group with an overall pace of about 8:20. I'm sort of amazed by that since I had to go to the bathroom again (which took 49 seconds) and because I know my first mile had to be somewhere north of 11 min. I practically walked out of transition.

All in all, I think it was a good solid weekend of training. Both races where within 5 seconds of each other in terms of overall time so I feel I had a solid effort both days.

Iron Brother's Sprint Tri Day 1

2011-07-09T15:49:00.003-05:00

Let's just say my preparation for this race consisted of 3 swims and 5 bike rides in the last 3 weeks. This was not intentional. I had a stomach virus that had me off of all training for 10 days. But still, it doesn't bode well for a weekend of 2 back to back sprint tri races.

Let's also say I mis-read the race info about packet pickup and missed it when I got to town on Friday evening by going to the wrong location. I have no excuse for this. I looked at the instructions 3 times and mis-read them each time. I had to call and ask an exception to be able to pick up my packet race morning. This is in an Ironhead race is a big "NO, NO."

Then two minutes before the transition closed I realized I'd left my swim cap in the car and had to sprint back to the parking lot barefoot to get it. Swim cap in hand I then sprint barefoot to the swim start just in time to get into the water with my wave.

In retrospect, I think I was trying to make things hard on myself so that if things did not go well, I'd have a ton of excuses.

I'm not usually this forgetful or negligent. But even acknowledging all this I have to report I had an awesome race. My swim while not fast by any means, really high winds made the water very choppy. But I was able to sight and hold my line very well and have a strong swim in challenging conditions. The last couple of times I've done this race the swim has destroyed me. I've gotten sick at about 100 meters in, I've had problems sighting, I've gotten a mouthful of gasoline, and I've come out of the water completely exhausted barely able to stumble into transition. Like Dory and Finding Nemo, I just kept swimming and then ran into transition and got on the bike.

On the bike I took some time to get my legs under me and drink some fluid. The course is relatively flat with only a couple of very short hills. One is as you leave the park and go out onto a bridge and ride about 4 miles out to the next hill which takes you up to the turnaround. The cross wind wasn't too bad going out to the turn but coming back it was brutal. But to my surprise I was actually riding really strong. I caught and passed a lot of folks in my age group and swim wave and never saw them again. One the way out I was riding with a very high cadence to use my aerobic capacity and warm up my legs. I went into the big ring for about half of my trip back to the park on the way back and then when the winds picked up went back to aerobic, high cadence riding. On my way back out for my second and final loop I went back into the big ring and pushed it a bit but I wasn't suffering at all. I was well under aerobic threshold at about 147 bpm. After the turn I dropped the gearing again but kept the pace high. Even on the way back the highest my heart rate got was 149 and so I was really pleased. My legs weren't burning and there where no signs of cramps so the only issue I would face on the run was the fact that I needed to go to the bathroom.

I got back into transition with about a 54:00 bike split for the 19 mile course and I was really happy with that. I racked the bike and knew there was no way I could wait the entire 5k to wait on the bathroom so I ran off course after about 400m and went to the public bathroom. I split my watch when I went in and came out and it took exactly 1:01. I'm fairly confident my run pace for the first mile was "SLOW". Even without the pit stop. But after the first mile I realized my legs weren't tired no matter how hot it was out on the course (and it was hot, probably about 90 degrees at this point.) Did I mention on my way up to DFW my car thermometer read 113 degrees? It is freaking hot up here even in the morning. Anyway, I started running faster and faster with each passing moment and wound up running about a 25:00 5k complete with bathroom break. I'm happy with that as it is probably my fastest 5k split in a tri since I started racing again 4 years ago. I also wound up finishing 5th in my age group, I think my bike split helped a bit there. So now we'll just see what I have in my tank for tomorrow. Hopefully, I won't forget anything...

Running Notes

2011-07-06T23:07:00.001-05:00

So I've been running. A lot of running. More running than I've done in years past. I think it is paying off. Even after about 10 days off due to a stomach virus. So I finally managed to run an 8:45 pace at MAF. Believe me this is no small feat given the fact the average temperature here in Austin has been over 100 degrees for the last 3 weeks. Even when I've gotten up to go to the track in the morning at 6:30 it has been over 80 degrees and 80 percent humidity. This is not ideal weather to attempt running with a low heart rate. It has actually been so hot that the buttons I use to turn on my treadmill have stopped working due to the console warping.

So since my treadmill wasn't working properly and the track was too hot, I've been doing a lot of running on the trails. Primarily a place called the Hill of Life and the Riverrun Trail. And the stairs off of Town Lake. Oddly these workouts have actually made me look forward to running more. And as a result I've run. A lot.

I wish I could say this was planned. You know call it a running "specific" block in my training but honestly it wasn't. So now I'm left to admit my cycling which is normally my default workout has been almost non existant. And my swimming? Well let's just say I've done that even less than I've cycled. I say all that to say this. I'm about to race this weekend. 2 sprint Tris in 2 days. We will just have to see how this goes. At least this time I've been running enough to know no matter how bad the swim and the bike might be, I might be in for two of my best triathlon runs in years.

Hump Day Reflections

2011-06-08T21:20:00.005-05:00

So this is what I did on Monday. Over 6 miles of up and down this flight of stairs. All at MAF. Things to realize before you decide to try something like this. 1. This will take about an hour. 2. If you are doing this correctly, even MAF does not make this work easy. 3. If you are doing this correctly, walking down the stairs is way harder than running up them. 4. Walking down the stairs isn't really much of a recovery (This should be obvious from #3 but in case it isn't I'll just point this out for the record). 5. On an 80 degree morning, after about 20 minutes of this, there was steam coming off my shoulders so you should expect this too. And 6. Running up and down stairs like these 60 times in a row felt almost like the end of an ironman -- I know my whole body was shaking when I finished and this wasn't the first time I'd done this workout. The first time I was nauseous for the rest of the day afterward so I'll call shaking a step in the right direction.

At any rate after that was a Threshold Power workout on the trainer. Needless to say my legs were useless to me after that. But I want to start doing workouts that really challenge me to the point of fatigue while staying completely aerobic. This session definitely filled the bill in that regard.

On Tuesday I did a 2 hour recovery bike. I averaged about 19 mph and my heart rate average was about 128. The last 10 min of the ride was tough because my legs were still toast from Monday. Then I went and did a drill focused swim to further recover from Monday.

Today was an hour twenty minute bike in the morning and a 50 min run in the afternoon. I really struggled with the heat on this run. My legs were still tired but the heat today was brutal. I was on the trail at about 5:30 and it was still around 100 degrees here. In the shade. Oh well now I'm off to bed so I can get to the track first thing in the morning tomorrow. Cheers!

This Is Why We Do It...

2011-05-30T00:10:00.003-05:00

I think the video speaks for itself. This is exactly what I needed to see.

Last Week Was A Whole Lot Of MAF

2011-05-03T15:25:00.003-05:00

So I MAF'd all week. Aside from my two runs on the track and 3 other runs around town, I also spent over 5 hours on the bike and 4 hours in the pool. I think I got in just under 16 hours of total training in which is pretty solid. The encouraging thing I'd like to highlight is the improvement I'm seeing on the track. A few posts ago, I said I started this year running at 9:45 pace per mile at a 152 bpm heart rate. My last 3 visits to the track over the past 2 weeks have been a 9:24 ppm/151bpm, 9:17 ppm/149bpm, and a 9:13ppm/148bpm average over 5 miles.

I started this week off with a 5 mile run at an average heart rate of 138bmp, a 3000 meter swim workout that was primarily long sets with different stroke technique emphasis. I finished off the day with an hour of yoga. Feels good to start getting fit again.

Back In The Saddle

2011-04-27T23:13:00.000-05:00

So I've been back to serious training. This week I got in almost 8 hours on the bike, about 3 hours running and 5 hours swimming. In addition to this I've done my daily yoga and strength training routine. And while my training has gotten more consistent over the past month, what I feel has been the real key to this uptick in training has been my effort to keep my diet optimal. By preparing my food on the weekends while I work I have been able to keep my nutrition and hydration consistent which has paid huge dividends in recovery.

I'll get around to detailing my workouts a bit later. But for now I'll just share some pics from my rides this week.

Saturday = Track Day, Sunday A Bike Ride

2011-03-14T01:28:00.001-05:00

So I'm trying to get back into the routine of a weekly MAF run. Last year I did quite a few of these in the winter and the spring on the track so that I could tell whether or not I was getting "aerobically" fitter. Primarily, I used to do this work on Wednesday so I could go with a group and have people to look at while I ran. This year I decided to man up and do them on my own. Technically, Ironman is just you and the crap going on inside your head so this year, the "training wheels" are coming off. I'm just gonna have to get used to the company of my own thoughts so I switched the workout to Saturday.

I also use these workouts to learn even pacing for my runs during races. Because of spending so much time on the track, I know what different paces "feel" like and have a better sense of how fast I'm moving on race courses. But the thing about doing these early season MAF sessions is they are so frustrating for me because I know I'm built for speed. I love sprinting. And left to my own devices I'd do a "WHOLE" lot of interval work. But that would not get me where I want to go. So for now I get to run around the track working at keeping my heart rate down and my laps as consistent as possible. I think I expend more mental energy than anything else on days like yesterday.

Anyway, so I went back to the track and ran 3 miles at precisely 9:45 min per mile pace and an average heart rate of 152. The workout would have been 6 miles but I was pressed for time because I had to get back to work. I used part of my lunch to go water a friends plant and pick up her mail. But like I said I just needed to get back into the routine of doing the workout. Looking back at logs for this time last year I was running between 10:35 min per mile and 10:15 min per mile pace at about the same heart rate. A couple of differences however do stick out. First yesterday it was over 80 degrees while I was running. The workouts last year were all in the mid 60's to low 70's. The other difference is I'm about 8 pounds heavier than I was last year. That tells me even though it was hot and I'm heavier right now than I was all of last year, I'm still more efficient at running than I was a year ago.

Some of the weight is muscle. I've been working out doing a bunch of functional strength work and swimming a lot more. But some of it is just water. I've decided to see what happens if I can stay better hydrated this year. Honestly, I think I just feel better. But I'll write more on that later.

So Sunday I just did an easy recovery ride on the bike. Mostly I looked at houses. But hey, I was out there turning my legs over and enjoying the impromptu power session the wind provided. Other than that I got my food ready for next week. I think it is going to be epic for training between Day Light Saving Time and warmer weather, I can't wait!

A Few Thoughts On Overtraining

2011-03-07T00:12:00.004-06:00

"Better to stop short than fill to the brim. Over sharpen the edge and the blade will soon blunt... Retire when work is done. This is the way of Heaven." from the Tao Te Ching

Giving your best. It is the easiest thing in the world to do sometimes. Especially when you are exited and committed. And you have a goal with a firm deadline. You go all out. You give it everything you have. No one expects anything less from you. "You"expect nothing less from you. It is with this mindset that you have come to accomplish many things in life. So it is no surprise you enter the training for triathlon with this mindset as well.

As much as I applaud this mindset, I am also keenly aware of how it can also negatively affect your performance and ultimately undermine your experience of the sport of triathlon. I know this because of my own personal journey down the backside of the "More training is better and harder training is better still" mountain and into a crevice that left me unable to train or race for 5 years.

The key thing to consider is while the workouts you plan and complete are important, what is of equal importance if not more so, is the quality of the recovery you allow between the workouts. Perhaps you've seen the equation Stress + Rest = Performance? Simply put, the quality of the stress (or workout) and the quality of your rest (or recovery) is what adds up to your performance on race day. It is the combination of these two things that determine your improved fitness and adaptation to future workloads.

It was during my time away from triathlon that I came to fully appreciate the wisdom of the words that precede this post. What follows next are five principles I've used to embody the sentiment they convey in my actual daily training.

1. Strive to be honest about your current fitness level and accept where you are. At the beginning of any training block take time to assess as honestly as possible where you are in terms of your fitness. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. All you need is a known distance and a way to track time. A local track and a sports watch will do. A heart rate monitor, if available can add finer detail to the assessment. Test during weeks where you have lowered both volume and intensity to allow for a true assessment. By returning to do the same test regularly, you remove the guesswork from your training. How you perform on your tests can tell you lot and help guide your future choices with regard to the duration, frequency and intensity, and even the sequence of workouts.

2. Learn to be patient with your training. Many athletes will move on to the next phase in their training because of what it says on a calendar, or because it is what someone they know, or someone they've read about is doing in an attempt to rush improvement. What you should ask yourself based on your tests is, "Did you make the gain?" The answer to this question is what should determine whether or not you are ready to move on to more exotic and demanding types of training. Remember, improved fitness isn't always linear. It is important to keep in mind your training, your diet, the quality and quantity of your rest, and your body all work synergistically to create a gradual adaptation to increasing volume and intensity. It is this systematic consistency of workout stimuli, recovery and diet, which leads to improved fitness and race results.

3. As a general rule, workouts should leave you feeling satisfied and even refreshed. You may not want to repeat what you did, but try to leave your workouts knowing you could repeat the effort if necessary. One way to achieve this is to find other ways to gain speed or endurance without continually pushing your body to its limits. Work on refining your technique in the three disciplines and improving endurance, functional strength and range of motion, prior to working solely on generating speed. Consider speed training as you would sugary dessert -- something to be indulged in sparingly if at all. The truth of the matter is if you become adept at refining your technique, and developing your endurance while gaining functional strength and maintaining range of motion, you will get faster without killing yourself to do it.

4. Listen to your body. There will be times when your body will subtly ask you to rest. Learn to listen to it. By learning to recognize your body's unique signals and honoring them immediately, you won't find yourself in the situation where gentle hints have become firm, painful ultimatums. The hints can be as simple as difficulty sleeping or feeling the need to stay in bed a bit longer than normal after the alarm has gone off. Dreading or postponing workouts is another common but subtle indication that your body may not be ready for more training. Other more common symptoms include moodiness, loss of appetite, lethargy, slow healing wounds, onset of colds or coughs, increased allergic reactions, elevated or prolonged muscle soreness and stiffness, elevated resting heart rate. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, take a day off.

5. Learn to trust yourself and your plan. Map out a plan and stick to it. Map out a plan and be flexible. I know this sounds contradictory but it isn't. Try to develop a routine and stick with it. Have a reason for each workout. The more focused and purposeful you can be in developing your training plan, the easier it is to stick with it and see the rewards from what you have set in motion. But you need to be flexible because there is always the larger aspect of your life outside of triathlon that also needs to be attended to. When your life outside of triathlon interferes with your training, and it will, you will need to be able to adapt. The simplest advise I can give, is if something comes up that needs attending to that will keep you from doing your workout on the day it is scheduled, then skip that workout. Forget about it. It is gone. Move on to the next workout, or repeat the one before it. Whatever you do, do not attempt to "make up" or "double up" workouts or training blocks to stay on or get back on track. Take it from me, it doesn't work.

Your overall goal should be to enjoy your training. Your training should enhance your life through improved, health, fitness, greater self-esteem and self-awareness. At the center of each and every workout, every decision, and any training program, is you. Always remember this because ultimately triathlon is one of life's the demonstrable activities where you can truly experience and reap the benefits of a "less is more" approach.

Train well!

Monday And Tuesday In Review

2011-03-01T20:41:00.002-06:00

Let's just say a couple of things are starting to occur to me. First, I have a lot of time to bring my body into shape for the races I'm planning on doing this year. I think I want to try for 2 70.3 races this year and 2 Olympic distance races in addition to Ironman Arizona.

I may do some other stuff like time trials and 10k's for fun but for the most part I'm still working at becoming fit. I've decided to work on my overall endurance, strength and range of motion for this first part of the year. I'm not doing much in the way of speed at all unless you count my rides with the super cyclists, Jason and Du Shun - and even there it isn't as much as trying to go fast as it is trying not to get left behind.

Anyway, I think I have a handle on how much work I can comfortably do in a day at this point and how to schedule it with the necessary food and recovery to make it all work out. But that isn't what the purpose of this post is about. This post is simply about what I've been doing for the last few days.

Yesterday I went out for my morning run and changed my mind. Not about the running, mind you but about the route and ultimately the duration. The run went from 30 minutes in my neighborhood to over 30 minutes down to Town Lake and on to the water stop under the foot bridge and back home. The whole run ended up being slightly over 90 min and pretty much about 10 miles. I haven't run more than 30 minutes since Thanksgiving. But I felt good the whole way so my pace and heart rate were right in line.

I think the thing about this run is I was pushing through some personal boundaries. For the last couple of years I've been hesitant about doing long runs too early. But I've relied on so little running in the past in my preparation that I've probably been underprepared for Ironman. I want to address that this year. So not only am I running more frequently as I did last year with multiple runs per day, I am also going to do more middle to long distance runs early so that my runs later in the year can focus on quality and not durability.

After the run I came home and ate and got ready for my bike. Again here is where I was pushing boundaries. Instead of mapping out a longish ride, I decide I wanted to be more consistent with my cycling this year. Last year I was lucky to get in 2 quality rides a week. This year I want that number to be closer to 4. So again I took a look at what I was doing. I did a lot with a little last year increasing wattage, speed and efficiency on the bike to the point of riding well on very little training. I want to take what I learned not to just "do" more work, but to do more quality work within a certain amount of time. So while I'll be on the bike more frequently, I doubt my time on the bike will increase substantially. To that end I want to keep my rides in the 45 minute to 2 hour range and leave it at that. Yesterdays ride clocked in at 1 hour 45 minutes. Perfect. I got home and it was time to eat again.

This morning was more of the same albeit with shorter durations. 30 minute run on the treadmill before breakfast, then 90 minute bike ride after lunch and a nap. As I give more thought to what I want to accomplish physically, I'll post more details. Until then, "Train well!"

Solid Effort = Great Day

2011-01-31T21:52:00.002-06:00

Today was a good day. The weather was amazing and I put in a solid effort starting with an easy 35 min run this morning. This run felt good and my heart rate was pretty steady between 135 on flats and 145 on hills. It was pretty cloudy and cool enough for me to wear a long sleeve tech shirt and still be comfortable.

After a quick breakfast of fruit porridge, raisins and flax, I took a short nap before heading out for my ride. By this time the sun was out and the temps were in the mid 70's. The ride was also done at an easy pace for an hour just to get the legs turning over and working on using my core to drive my pedal stroke.

The key workout for my day was in the afternoon which consisted of an hour running the hills on the Scenic loop here in Austin. I felt strong here and had no problem maintaining a healthy pace and keeping things interesting although on one of the larger ascents my heart rate hit 160 just as I crested. Other than that it was 150 or less for most of the hour meaning I got the benefit of the strength work hills can bestow without loosing any aerobic efficiency to pull it off.

I've decided this year I am going to add more hill training into my routine as I work primarily on strength for 2011.

Made It

2011-01-26T22:35:00.002-06:00

Today I rode with Jason. The other super cyclist I know. In the past month I've ridden at least once a week with either Du Shun (the original super cyclist) or Jason. Technically these guys are so strong I just try to keep them in sight. The only thing I have going for me is whatever endurance comes from doing Ironman because at this point I haven't even really started to put in any real concerted training. But things are looking up. Today I didn't get dropped though I broke all my normal MAF rules to make it happen. Technically I got as high as 163bpm which is still aerobic for me but JUST BARELY. So I was still talking and wasn't breathing hard. But I could feel the effort when it got that high.

2:45 on the bike. Solid effort. Didn't get dropped. Wasn't destroyed. All in all a good day. 2011 might just be shaping up after all.

The Day Begins Here

2011-01-25T16:30:00.001-06:00

So I started my day with breakfast which consisted of fruit porridge and green coconut water. This is the first time I've eaten the porridge before. The taste was amazing for such a simple and satisfying dish.

To make it all you need is an apple, a pear, and a banana. Cut and seed the pear and the apple. Place the pear into a blender first and blend until chunky. Add the banana and blend again. Finally add the apple, some vanilla, cinnamon, and a scoop of protein powder. Top with flax seed and raisins. Makes about two servings.

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Today Was Nothing Special

2011-01-19T20:22:00.002-06:00

Today wasn't anything special. I swam with the crew at T3 at 11:45 this morning. Some days I really feel like rocking my swim workouts but today I really felt as if I was barely surviving the sets. Especially the sets where I am forced to use swim aids. So many other people speed up when given paddles and pull buoys but unfortunately I am not one of them. I don't even really speed up when I put on fins. I've thought a lot about this as I've been lapped in the pool and have come to the conclusion that these aids really through off my feel of the water. I think they also throw off my body position and rotation and just make the whole swimming motion unfamiliar.

Case in point today's swim workout was largely aided. And I largely struggled. I got lapped in every set. Until the aids came off and we had to do a straight 800m. Of course I went last in the lane because everyone had been passing me all practice. Except for this one set. On this single set I caught the two swimmers ahead of me even though they each started at 10 second intervals. Take away. At least I don't totally suck at swimming. I just suck at swimming with swim aids.

At any rate, after swimming I fueled up on lunch which consisted of some vegan chili and my daily serving of spirulina and chlorella. At 3:00 I went for a 7 to 8 mile run. I'm not sure why but my heart rate was a bit up today prior to the run. It was also a bit high for the pace I was holding as well so I'm going to get to bed early tonight and see if more rest addresses it. If not I'll watch my diet in the coming days more closely.

Nothing Like Starting Out With A Clean Slate

2010-12-29T18:11:00.004-06:00

So here I am at the beginning of my training again. And dare I say, hopefully a more committed schedule of everything from writing in this blog, to my strength and yoga work, as well as a more focused nutrition strategy. This winter after IMAZ, I decided I wanted to deal with making my body as healthy as possible prior to getting back into months of serious training. To that end I decided to do a couple of cleanses.

I'm no stranger to clearing things out. For the past couple of years I've done at least one liver/gallbladder flush and at least one kidney cleanse. But this time I'm also going to work on clearing out my intestines and then progressing on to the other two cleanses. The reason for this is simple. If I can clear out all of the crap in my system that these organs deal with then they will function better and I will be a healthier human being. From the perspective of this blog, what this means to me as a triathlete, by clearing out and improving the function of these bodily systems, my body will be able to handle the by products of training (read waste products).

We start with the digestive system because this is where it all begins. If your digestion is less than optimal, then everything goes south from there. For starters it is estimated that as much as 60% of your immune function resides in your gut function, and as endurance athletes we all know what that means. If your digestion is less than optimal, then your immune system function suffers. This means the potential for infection or allergy is heightened and the potential for unscheduled downtime is greater.

The other thing is if the digestion is affected and sub par then the liver and kidneys have to work harder to do their jobs. So once the digestion is supported then I'll turn my attention to the other two organs. So while this is going on my workouts are quite gentle, but frequent. Today there were two runs and two swims. The first was 30-35 min The second one was 15 min on the treadmill. The first swim was with T3 and about 90 min. The second one was 30 min of drills.

IMAZ Race Report And Looking Forward

2010-12-24T15:56:00.001-06:00

I'm not really sure what to say about this race. The picture above is pretty representative of my day. I'm not in the picture, but I know how these folks felt. I spent my whole day wondering where the heck I was and what I was doing there. I suppose my finish time of 15:01 could be a source of disappointment. I was shooting for something in the range of 12:30 - 13:30 based on my estimated level of fitness going into the race. But this is triathlon and things happen. And a race is so much more than the sum distance of each of its events. And that is what keeps us going back for more. At least that is what keeps me going back anyway.

What I think I'll take away from this race is the fact that I overcame a whole new level of negative thinking plaguing me throughout the day. I've been doing tri's, running and cycling events for a long time and I don't think I've ever experienced anywhere near the volume and duration of negative thinking going on in my head as I moved through IMAZ.

It started with the swim. I was prepared for the cold water. The water is always cold in IMAZ. What I was not prepared for was not being able to sight or rely on swimmers who could sight in order to move around the course. I'm not lying when I say I only saw about 4 buoy's on the entire course and that I resigned myself pretty early on to just swim from bridge to bridge and back again in my own personal approximation of 2.4 miles.

But I made it out of the water about 12 minutes slower than last year. Seeing that probably started the negative thinking but there were some positive take aways:

1. Less overall fatigue coming out of the water
2. No hamstrings destroyed from swimming with massive cramping like last year
3. I felt stronger in the water and felt like I was moving further per stroke (next year we will focus on swimming in a straight line)

Out on the bike were where my inner demons really began to take hold. It was windy. Really, really windy. And it was cold. And even though I'd just used the bathroom my bladder was full. Again. So aside from the wind, I would need to stop about ever 15 to 20 minutes or so to empty it for the entire first loop of the bike. And when I wasn't going to the bathroom, there was always the wind.

At the end of the first loop, my bladder calmed down and I put in a solid bit of riding, I was catching and passing everyone that I'd been losing time to during the first loop and this was fun. I wasn't tired and even though I wasn't enjoying the wind I didn't seem to be slowing me down too much. Then the water bottle cages behind my seat fell off. This had 2/3 of my nutrition so I went back to pick it up and search for the pieces to put it back together. I found them and rode holding everything to the next aid station where I got a set of hex wrenches from one of the volunteers and put the cages back together.

Somewhere at the beginning of my third loop, I put the seat cages came apart again from a different bolt. This time I was not near an aid station and had to ride for a few miles before I spotted a couple of cyclists watching the race and asked them for the necessary tools, which thankfully they had but it was slow going putting the mount back together this time because some parts were bent. But I was able to rig everything together and get going once again.

Because my nutrition was good and in the right amounts I was feeling stronger and stronger on the ride and I was actually picking up the pace even though at times I was riding through rain, hail and even at one point, a sandstorm. Then at mile 104, I had a flat. Somewhere with all of the trouble with my bottle cages I'd lost my spare and tools so I had to wait for a repair vehicle to assist me. After they changed the tire we were unable to inflate it because I no longer had a valve extender. So I sat for what seemed like for ever until a guy with the exact same wheel set as mine came along and loaned us his.

Tire inflated, I road the last 8 miles into transition and seriously considered quitting. Physically I was fine but psychologically I was spent and frustrated. My time goal was now completely out of reach. I wanted to hand my chip and number to the nearest volunteer and go bath and go to bed. As I sat in the changing tent, for some reason I remembered that my grandfather had never seen me race. For some reason this got me moving with the thought of "Lets just see how this goes..."

One the run I made sure to stay aerobic and take in nutrition and hydrate. I also followed my overall plan of not having any water during the day and drinking only electrolyte drinks. I didn't break any land speed records but I was able to run most of the marathon except for a few time where I had a bit of IT band pain or got some coke. The IT band pain really didn't start up until about mile 25 so at that point I walked a bit to loosen the leg then jogged the last 300 meters or so across the finish. Technically without the mechanicals, I would have finished in range of my goal time but given the day I was having, I'm surprised I kept racing at all. I have lots build on for next season. And I now know that I'm pretty mentally tough. Plus my nutrition was perfect both in execution and nutritional make up. I was never hungry the whole day and I didn't cramp at all. That alone was worth finding out.

Longish Day

2010-10-27T23:44:00.002-05:00

Today was a big day. I wish I could have done more but there are limits when balancing recovery and continued training. My day went like this 2 hours running. 1 hour of power intervals on the bike. 1.25 hours swimming. This and lots of food and hydration. Tomorrow is an easy 3 hour bike ride before work but now its time to call it a day.

Longhorn70.3 Race Report

2010-10-19T22:02:00.004-05:00

I'm not sure why I like this picture a friend took of me at Longhorn, but I do. Perhaps because it represents how I felt during the race, clear on my reasons for being there, but just a bit out of focus.

I had quite a bit go right last weekend but I also had some things go wrong. First and foremost what went really right. I really want to thank Chef Dina Knight for assisting me with my race prep, nutrition and post race recovery. For a race where I ate nothing but raw natural food and drank absolutely no water, I must say I'm stunned. When Dina said, "Remember, NO WATER today!" To say I was skeptical would be an understatement. But her reasoning was sound. Water, she said, would throw off the nutrient electrolyte balance in my system and hinder performance. Okay, I was sold. Nothing to do but go out and test that theory in the field during a Half IM. I have to admit, I think it worked.

This was the first race I can remember not having to deal with at least the "threat" of a muscle cramp. I was also not thirsty all day. This isn't to say I didn't drink. On the bike I had coconut water. On the run when I ran out of that, I had gatorade.

My swim felt effortless and I came out of the water about 30 seconds ahead of what I'd done last year. My transition was also faster which I chalked up to being less taxed on the swim. I've been going to a stroke clinic so I'm gonna place the credit for the effortless swim there. Thanks Coach Maurice over at T3!

Heading out of T1 I noticed my I'd dropped my chain. I'm not sure how long I took getting it back on but that and a bathroom break at about mile 20 were the only things that really slowed me down. I had a goal to keep my heart rate aerobic on the bike, so I let most of the steep climbs come to me versus attack them. I kept a steady cadence and managed to cruise through about 5 miles every 14:30 during the first half of the bike. The back half is a bit more challenging coming back into the wind and some gradually climbs but I was still moving at about 15min for every 5 miles while keeping my heart rate around 148.

At the time I thought that was pretty good, but in retrospect I perhaps should have kept my heart rate on the bike at about 145. The second half of the bike was definitely more challenging than the first and around mile 50 I was feeling some fatigue in my legs even though I was maintaining the same pace without too much extra effort.

Out of T2 my legs felt tired but they were turning over and my stride seemed normal. I have to attribute coming off the bike with any turnover at all to the work I've done on my running form with yoga and to Chef Dina's nutrition plan. This has to be the first time I've ever raced with a completely full tummy.

The first half of the 13.1 mile run went "OK" but somewhere around mile eight I really started to struggle and my legs just felt toasted. I was having problems with my left shoe which was causing me to alter my running form. This in turn was punishing my left IT band. I kept stopping to deal with the shoe and finally decided to take it easy on the off road sections and walk a bit on those rather than risk a more serious injury.

After the off road stuff was done on the second loop, I focused on my form and foot placement and jogged the rest of the way in. All in all it was a solid effort. I had a great swim and bike and my nutrition and hydration seemed in line. My aerobic fitness is continuing to progress and I have a load of information to process and take into Arizona and next season.

Training Day 10/13/10

2010-10-13T11:29:00.004-05:00

I feel as though I've lived this year in a series of fits and starts. I've learned a lot but I can't say I've ever gone so long without completing a race. Or at least that is the way it feels to me right now. I'd be lying if I couldn't, or didn't admit a big part of me wants to skip the rest of this season and just train to get ready for next year. But that's the way of things I suppose. We have goals or set intentions and life happens and we do the best we can. At least that's the way I'm going to look at it.

This weekend I'm doing the Longhorn 70.3 race in Austin. In some respects I feel completely under prepared for this race. The odd thing about this is I've been training consistently but with all of the changes I've made to my diet and lifestyle this year my confidence is all over the map. So far I've just decided to look at the bright side. And the bright side is I know my endurance is improving daily. I've been running consistently. And I'm leaner than I've been in years. My diet is good so I'm just gonna take those things and call my overall year a win.

Today, I had a pretty light training load. I slept in until almost 9am, got up and made a vanilla, avocado smoothie for breakfast (about 800 calories that took me the better part of an hour to finish off) then did some household chores. At about noon I took a nap. My first workout was at 3pm which was a tempo workout on the bike. This was 60 minutes and the effort was there whether I wanted it or not. It was pretty windy out and I worked with a larger gear than I would normally push under those conditions.

When the wind was at my back, I tried to spin out of my biggest gear to work my cadence. All in all the effort was solid. I could have done more but stuck with an hour and went home and had my first dinner before my swimming workout.

Dinner consisted of marinated mushrooms, lentil mash, mushroom gravy, some stuffing, and green tea. About 450 calories.

Swimming was about 90 minutes with swimming interspersed with a healthy dose of drill work mainly consisting of sculling and catch up drills with a bit of balance stuff thrown in for good measure.

After that was a snack along with my second dinner which was basically identical to the first dinner before my swim but the snack added an additional 150 calories. My total caloric intake for the day was about 2300. My calories expended during exercise were about 2000

An Interesting Take On Running Form

2010-09-18T22:27:00.004-05:00

I'm pretty tired so I'll post some observations about this later. But for now this is a good reference for running form and economy.

Thanks to Brett over at Zentri for finding and posting this.

Monday - New Workout Template

2010-08-23T21:09:00.001-05:00

So, by nature I'm sort of curious. To that I end a week or so ago I decided to change the structure of my training to see what gains could be had with more frequency of training with more structured recovery and nutrition spaced in between. To be honest, I'm going to make this up as I go along and so the potential for a huge, miserable failure is quite possible. But I believe that failure can provide valuable insights on the path toward success so I'm going to try this out and see how it goes. Basically I want to see how much I can train in a day if I eat and recover in between the sessions. Today there were 4 workouts. 2 swims (1 in a wetsuit in open water), 1 run and 1 bike session. Each workout was done at a comfortable pace though as I get used to it I will intersperse some intensity in the mix. After each workout I ate then took a nap or rested on the couch and watched a video. I also did a bit of yoga after the run to keep myself loose. The last swim is more of a restorative easy continuous 1500 meters after about 1000 meters of drills.

Here is some of the food I had today:

1st Breakfast Vanilla Spirulina Milkshake:

2nd Breakfast, Coconut Chia Pudding:

Training To Eat, Eating To Train

2010-08-16T08:59:00.009-05:00

So this year I've been training smarter. And I've focused most of my attention though on some days or weeks it has seemed, all of my attention, on diet and recovery. This year I wanted to see how far I could take my fitness gains if I worked my training from the other side of the equation. Instead of breaking my body down and allowing it to recover, I decided to build my body up physically and nutritionally first then exploit this heightened "wellness" to then train harder and longer.

I know that some athletes have started to make the connection that food is fuel, but I've been trying to take my food beyond that. I've been using my food as fuel, as a restorative , and as medicine. To that end I put my beliefs and money where my mouth was this year and began working with raw/vegan food chef Dina Knight.

At first all I was looking for was someone to help me up the quality of my meals when my time became more constrained like on the days I have to travel 35 miles to the office to work. I figured if I could just have someone help me prepare a few meals on those 2 or 3 days, the rest of my week would take care of itself. I wanted to stop eating "whatever I had time for" on those days and eat as purposefully as I was when I was off. For me what sealed the deal was Chef Dina's knowledge of nutrition honed during her own personal wellness journey, her work with people attempting to lose weight in a healthy balanced fashion, and her philosophy of making the food as nutritious as possible and then making it tast delicious.

I have to admit, even though I've been a vegetarian for years, I really didn't know what I'd be getting myself into. I had my habits of eating just like everyone else. And I while I had been exposed to raw foods in the past and had several books on the subject in the house, I'd sort of dismissed the raw diet even in spots as impractical for an athlete.

What I can say now, after having eating this way for the past 6 weeks is taste is always going to be king when it comes to food and what we choose to put in our mouths. And if that food is also nourishing, cleansing and healing along with tasting amazing then that is when change in not only practical but easy. The food I've been eating has been the best food I've ever tasted anywhere. And it comes from my own kitchen with very simple ingredients. It is so easy to leave things at the store or drive by a restaurant now because I have more nutritious and better tasting food at home.

The pictures in this post are to give you an idea of what I've been feasting on. I'll make an effort to post some of the recipes as I've decided to post this stuff weekly after my work with Chef Dina. Train well!

Race Report Jack's Generic Tri, Austin TX

2010-08-02T09:32:00.003-05:00

So yesterday was the annual Jack's Generic Triathlon. I must say this has to be one of the best run big (in terms of the number of participants) little (in terms of distance 500m open water swim, 13.8 mi bike, 3 mi run) around. I think the reason I like Jack's is it reminds me of all the reasons I started doing tri's in the first place - fun, swag, camaraderie, and food. The course is well done, there is ready aid everywhere, and the course is challenging even though it isn't long which means it is as good a race for beginners as it is for seasoned athletes. All of this is probably because this is truly a race done by athletes for athletes and its back to basics formula works.

At any rate, I was using Jack's Generic as sort of a systems/equipment check. I wanted to get back on the the tri bike and see how it felt to fire on all cylinders. And I was using a new tri top and short combo that I bought last year but thought I was still just a bit too big for (everything seems to fit perfectly now ;) ). I was also interested to see if my new diet would have a noticeable impact while my body was experiencing the stresses of racing.

What I can say I noticed right off the bat, when I woke up is I felt really relaxed and all of the body tension from the prior week's training seemed to have dissipated. I really didn't feel the need to stretch or create some blood flow to jump start things which is a completely new sensation for me on race morning.

On my way to the race, at about 5:45 AM, the freeway was completely shut down and all traffic was diverted onto the feeder. This didn't look too good but as luck would have it I made all the right choices and was back on my way in pretty short order. I got to the race site a bit later than I would have liked and most of the rack space in my age group was taken but I was able to squeeze my bike in thanks to a kind soul who made some space for me.

I quickly got my stuff arranged and then went down to try out the water. The water was a touch warm considering all the rain we've had here lately but it was also not as smelly as I've remembered it being in the past. I got a good idea of the layout of the buoys and then got ready for my wave.

As I mentioned earlier, this has to be one of the most relaxed pre race mornings I've ever had. The sense of ease in my body was amazing. In fact if I was going to freak out about something it would have been how much at ease I was feeling. I mean there was a lot to I could find to be nervous about. My running though, happening again was way behind schedule due to the dislocated bone in my foot. And the first 3 week block of speed work on the track hadn't happened at all. Work responsibilities had ruined two weeks of training in the pool and on the bike making it possible to only do the bare minimum of work on a single sport per day. Then of course there is the normal apprehension that closely follows a period like that. And I had recently decided to experiment with my diet even more than normal by taking classes from Raw/Vegan Chef Dina Knight. Lower than normal training volume, recent injury, overtime work obligations, and experimenting with a completely new diet all should have added up to a catastrophic racing failure. So there was a lot to be nervous about, but here I was pre race and I was completely at ease.

The swim was pretty uneventful. I was never at all distressed and I came out of the water pretty much in the middle of my wave. Had I pushed the issue I could have finished sooner but I was working on my stroke mechanics and trying out racing using bilateral breathing for the first time ever. I know, I know... Next offseason, I'll start working on flip turns too.

At any rate, I think I had a fairly speedy transition as a result of not being spent on the swim. But the first mile or so on the bike was a bit sketchy and this is where my first small bit of doubt set in. I was feeling some fatigue in my legs and wondered if perhaps my training for the week was going to catch up with me? I had done a couple of sessions of power intervals and a time trial early on in the week. But after a couple of relaxed breaths, my legs loosened up and I settled into a nice cadence. I checked my heart rate monitor and it read 152 - a bit high but way below aerobic threshold so I decided not to fret. My legs felt great and I just started to feel stronger and stronger. The first miles where a blur and I passed about 8 guys in my age group, most as if they were standing still.

Somewhere between mile four and five, I caught one guy in my age group and we battled back and forth. I realized I was a much better climber than he so, I began to really work the inclines. At this point my heart rate had dropped to about 147 and the distress I'd felt at the beginning of the bike was nothing but a distant memory. So I pushed several climbs in a row and lost my shadow around mile 8.

I was still flying, coming up out of a valley and into the last series of hills before the mad downhill sprint to transition when I felt the instability in my rear wheel. Crap! As I rode past a guy in one of the prior waves, I asked him to check my back tire. Yep, he confirms that it's flat. Basically that ended my race. I wasn't able to change the tire because I was running my racing wheels and hadn't brought a tube with a long enough stem.

A couple of days later, looking over the results I saw that at the time of my flat I was in 3rd place in my age group and about 12 minutes up on time from the prior year. I'm pretty happy with that. I felt I was having a good race. And I was enjoying myself. I think the strategy of paying more attention to my diet and recovery this year is paying off.

Can Food Make You Fitter?

2010-07-09T12:51:00.006-05:00

So I've finally been able to start running and have done 2 runs in the last 3 days over 30 minutes without foot pain. Basically while seeing my acupuncturist for some help sleeping, I was able to get some help with the last bit of swelling/trauma in my foot from the dislocation in Boulder. 3 weeks off of running doesn't appear to have hurt me at all. Today's run of close to an hour could have gone longer if I'd eaten more. But hey, I'll take what I got. I'll run again tomorrow after my bike ride and swim to finish out the day.

Recently, I renewed my commitment to eat more nutrient dense food. And while I ate relatively well during the week when I was off work, my choices on the weekends while working weren't always the best due to time constraints and energy levels. I think I did a great job last year making changes that made me a stronger and more capable athlete with the eating pattern I used in the 8 weeks leading up to Ironman Arizona. And while I still adhere to those eating principles now, I have wondered what would happen if I went even further? What if I took better care with my meals during my work week? What if I added more variety and nutrient density? What if I gave up things that probably weren't serving my overall goal to become fitter? And could food make me fitter?

Well to find out I hired a personal chef. A vegan/raw personal chef who would not only assist me with making food for me to eat during my work week (Friday through Sunday), but would also show me how make this type of food for myself. Honestly, I had no idea what I was getting into. But as it turned out, this is one of those things you sometimes do with only the vaguest of notions yet becomes something more than you could have ever dreamed.

To put it simply, I have never felt stronger or healthier in my life. Last year when I changed my diet and started my eating pattern in the weeks before Ironman, that change did more for me in 2 weeks than 9 months of training. It was huge. More lean muscle, less fatigue, faster recovery, you name it. But this, change goes beyond even that. The food I have been eating is delicious, and filling, and good for me. It seems both restorative and supportive at the same time. I have more energy and I feel stronger. I know this week I was lifting more weight easily in my workout and running and cycling have felt effortless.

I certainly can't speak for everyone, but in my experience paying attention to my diet is paying a lot higher rate of return than killing myself with volume and intensity. Who knew?

Wednesday Is Fuel Day

2010-07-08T01:11:00.001-05:00

So there was no training today. Well that's not entirely true. I spent the afternoon and early evening "training" with vegan/raw food chef Dina Knight. She is working with me to optimize my nutrition while simultaneously reducing my food preparation time. No small feat. But she managed to help me organize my kitchen and show me how to make these tasty raw fajitas.

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Monday - Power Intervals And Progress

2010-07-05T21:43:00.006-05:00

So now that I'm back from Colorado the real training begins. For the most part I've really just been tooling around running and riding and swimming without too much stress placed on the body except for the normal amount of stress that comes with the accumulation of increased volume over time. And I have to say I'm pretty happy with the results I've created from my decision to train in this manner. This is the first season I can remember where I've managed to stay healthy and motivated and so I'm actually looking forward to racing later this year.

Well almost healthy. I did step on a rock while I was in Boulder when I was wearing my Vibrams and managed to dislocate a "new" bone in my foot. My only real issue with this was I was in Boulder and didn't have access to my "magical" chiropractor to put it back in. The guy I saw in Boulder, while well meaning, couldn't tell if the foot had a dislocated bone or stress fracture. But at least he didn't charge me for the "sort of" diagnosis.

The difficult part for me was I managed to find said rock on my first day in town so I didn't get to run for the rest of the week and had to limp around town for the next 7 days. But it didn't stop me from riding. ;) So the blessing in disguise was probably that I spent a lot more time on the bike than I had planned and as a result also spent a lot more time in bed with my foot elevated to keep swelling to a minimum when I wasn't out riding. A total win on both counts.

All of this gets me to the title of this post. Today I start my more focused block of training which on the bike means power intervals on the trainer and longer steady state rides outdoors. This also means it is time for some testing to get the appropriate training intensities. Because I do the same stuff from year to year and keep decent enough notes, I was pretty happy to discover an improvement over last years work of about 25 watts. This is average power and so is a sustained power improvement. I am also about 7 pounds lighter than I was at this time last year which means not only am I able to work harder, I do not need to move as much body weight while I'm working. On top of the lighter body weight, and 25 additional watts, I also recorded a lower heart rate by about 3 bpm. Again all good news.

I still have a long way to go but starting my season out prior to the focused work which tends to produce the most noticeable gains in power threshold and fitness is pretty exciting. So my work for today had me doing a two part work out. The first section was an hour with a 30 min block of power interval work at high cadence (over 100 rpms sustaining prescribed wattage for 5 minute sets). The second block was an hour recovery ride keeping heart rate below 145.

Both blocks went well and I feel good going into tomorrow's workouts. The foot is feeling much better after getting the bone put back in place this weekend. But I'm giving it a couple of days to let the swelling and trauma resolve after it had been out for almost 2 weeks. But like I said, it gave me time to really focus on my cycling so I'm not too upset about not running.

Sunday - Denver Century

2010-06-20T18:44:00.001-05:00

5000 feet of climbing in the first 50 miles. 1700 calories burned in the first 20 miles. Fred, you are no longer in Texas.

This was hands down the toughest 100 mile ride I've ever done. But I have to say the work I've done so far on technique and at MAF is paying off.

Now when I get back home I'll begin my first round of testing to move into a more race structured bit of training.

Happy Father's Day everyone!

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Boulder and Saturday

2010-06-19T23:17:00.001-05:00

Got out for a ride of around 40ish miles. Felt good the whole way. Tomorrow is a 100 mile effort. Not my first, but my first at altitude.

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Wednesday Is "Gain" Day

2010-06-02T20:29:00.006-05:00

Awhile back I was at Jack and Adams talking to Zane Castro about training. He was telling me about some conversations he was sharing with some coaches in the sport. Basically what I walked away from our conversation with where these four words:

"Did you make the gain?"

The work I do on Wednesday has been relatively the same for the past 2 and 1/2 months. I get up and ride my bike then I hang out at the house taking it easy getting ready to go to the track and test my MAF. I told myself this year if there was one workout I was going show up for week in and week out it would be my MAF test at the track. And I must say I've done a pretty good job of this only missing when the weather wouldn't allow going outside.

But today I got started late and even though the day started out cloudy, it was sunny and a full on 93 degrees about half way through my workout on the bike. I needed/wanted 2 hours which is about 3 laps and some piddling around on my modified South Mopac loop. I modify the loop so I can add milage, stay out of traffic, and climb more.

The break down of the loops looked like this:

First Loop - 35:00.4 Ave HR 120 Max HR 135
Second Loop - 35:07.8 Ave HR 124 Max HR 137
Third Loop - 31:57 Ave HR 124 Max HR 135

So after the third loop I just rode around and cooled down. But I have no idea where that third lap came from. And I sat at a signal light for a bit during it. Long enough, I might add for me to roll up onto the sidewalk and push the crossing button. I thought it was some sort of fluke. Then I went to the track.

I won't belabor this, but the same thing happened on the track. Now I will freely admit the temperature dropped while I was on the track from 94 degrees down to about 74 while I was running, but even so I started doing these workouts in February (when the average temperature was consistently in the 50's) and the fastest I could run then at a HR less than 150 was a 10:35 pace which is about 2:39 per 400. Today my slowest lap (while it was still over 90 degrees was a 2:25. My fastest lap today was my last at 2:09 (it was very windy by the way as the front that ended my workout at 3 miles was coming in fast) and my pace for the workout was a 9:13. Average HR 148.

But the thing is that last lap, even with wind was so like the last loop on the bike earlier. It was soooo easy, like I was just going with it and I wasn't putting in any effort at all. For me, as I write about it now, the gain isn't as much in the numbers as it is in the sense of ease needed to produce them. That is where the gain is. It reminds me of the feeling I had last October when I could literally "feel" body say "I can do and Ironman now." But this time the feeling is coming in June. How cool is that???

At any rate the point of making the gain and realizing you have made it is knowing when to shift training focus so that progress remains steady and does not plateau. So now I may rethink my training for the next several weeks to introduce new stimuli. Things appear to be shaping up nicely.

Tuesday

2010-06-01T23:06:00.002-05:00

Today was another solid day of training. I think I'm finally getting into a groove now that I've resolved my mysterious fatigue from a couple of weeks ago. Nothing really special to report. A 1 hour 20 min run with an embedded 15 min vertical stair running set. The protocol was to simply run up and down two flights of stairs until my heart rate reached my MAF threshold of 145 bpm. The last time I did this workout with a 30 minute pre run, I was only able to stay under 145 for about 7 minutes so, I'm happy with the results.

My second workout of the day was a 1 hour 20 minute bike also with a MAF emphasis. What I am noticing is how my cycling is speeding up and my technique is becoming more and more effortless.

This brings up the reason I've focused so heavily on training slowly and deliberately this year. While I was on the bike today I watched a guy fly by me in aero position pushing a much bigger gear than I was using but when the road started to incline, he stopped pulling away and I pulled closer. I experience this a lot. My effort never changes, my heart rate stays steady and yet I gain ground on people who fly by me otherwise. I have noticed I also can gain ground or pull closer in a headwind.

The thing is most training programs focus a great deal of time and energy directing athletes on ways to increase and maintain effort. And I don't deny there is a place for this in training. What I don't understand is why in most cases it precedes developing efficiency - both muscular and aerobic. And this is what I was seeing as I rode uphill into the wind and gained on my timetrialing friend.

A funny thing happens when you ride and run slow. If you can get past how slowly you are moving, you can notice just what is necessary to move you as quickly as possible, what muscles are needed to contract and which ones you must relax. You learn how to use free momentum. You learn how to just feel speed and separate it from effort. And in the world of triathlon, this is a good thing.

Train well.

Thursday And Friday

2010-05-22T08:50:00.002-05:00

So my focus for Thursday and Friday is primarily strength.

This Thursday was 90 min upper body and core workout that started with a 20 - 30 min light jog to warm up (about 10 - 11 min pace, HR in the 125-135 range). Then the fun began. I did 2 rounds of variations of pushup and pullup sets averaging about 20 pushups and 10 pullups for each variation. Along with this there were several jump rope sets interspersed throughout while I waited on my shoulders and arms to recover. All of the pullups were assisted because I had done a full pullup routine and added some dips for good measure on Wednesday after my track workout.

I trained strength again on Friday focusing on my legs. But my work, while including needed movements for the quads and hamstrings to insure both strength and balance, also incorporates movements to open and support the joints and the knees and ankles. This meant along with squats, leg extensions and curls, step ups, lunges (in varying directions) there were also circular movements, taken from yoga, martial arts, and Tai Chi.

This work has been instrumental I believe in restoring my speed and strength as well as resolving a knee issue I've lived with on the bike for over 10 years. I can't wait to see how this plays out in my cycling and running this year but for now I'm content knowing that I'm feeling better and training consistently and well.

After my leg work I went for an easy swim focused on a single rotation drill and kicking. All in all just a pretty good day.

Wednesday - Post Recovery

2010-05-19T21:49:00.004-05:00

So today was my first day back after a 3 day unscheduled hiatus from training. I'm not really sure what to make of what happened. So for 3 days, I was just tired. sleeping 12 hours a day tired and that is not including the 2 hour naps. As far as I could tell I wasn't fighting off an infection. My heart rate was pretty normal. And to be honest, I wasn't "tired". But I was abnormally sleepy.

My mantra from when I was working over night is to never train when I'm sleepy. That's how I got to 3 days off. I would wake up after 8 hours of sleep and still be yawing. So I'd have breakfast then go take about an hour nap. I'd work on some video projects for a couple of hours, then I'd be ready for nap number 2. 3 days of this was killing me. But in the scheme of things we'll see how this plays out for my training.

Wednesday is my normal day to go to the track and check the results of my MAF (maximum aerobic function) work. Things looked pretty good for the first mile but I think the heat and the wind were a bit much for me and my heart rate started to climb out of the zone for the test. I think this is where discipline comes in. I could have held on to the pace I normally am able to run out of pride but I want this work to pay off long term so, I sucked it up and slowed way down to get my heart rate back down. The cool thing is I didn't have to walk to do it. So if there is a moral victory to be had anywhere, I'd say that would be it.

I also rode my bike this morning but only for about 45 minutes in attempting to keep my first day back moderate while sticking to the training pattern I like to follow on Wednesdays.

After the track MAF, I went down to the shore and did some pullups. I think about 60 total. And I did a few sets of dips. So tomorrow I'll lighten up on the pullups and enhance the core work during my strength training. I'll do a 20 minute run to warm up for the strength work.

And I suppose I'll get to bed now. I'm sleepy again. Peace and train well!

Monday and Tuesday

2010-05-04T20:07:00.004-05:00

Well both days were pretty much the same. And then again, pretty much not. I finally sat down and wrote out a training schedule. I know. I know. I know.

I always do much better by putting down a set schedule in writing. But for some reason, I seem to need some sort of dire threat each year to make me actually sit down and do it. And it didn't even take long. 5 minutes tops.

But now I have training "appointments" and I don't ever miss those unless I'm tired or sleepy. If you need my help with something or want to talk during these blocks of time I'm not available. And if they are in my calendar, I show up, do the work and go home. Case closed.

What I think is a mystery for most athletes is what exactly to do with these blocks of time and how many of them to schedule. Personally I like to think long term, which conversely makes much of the type of training to do moot.

In a nutshell my goal for the last several years was to change my body composition. Now that my average weight is between 146 and 148 pounds off season (previously it was 155 - 160), I can turn my attention to the overall process of building the engine necessary to actually train for an Ironman. So my only goal this year is creating the aerobic engine combined with the structural integrity in musculature, tendons and joints to be able to "train" properly for an Ironman distance race. Once I have the body and the aerobic and physiological structure in place, combined with proper nutrition and training, then I can think about "racing" an Ironman.

This is definitely not how most people approach their training, though reading that paragraph they might like to say they do. The reason I say this is because in order to take the approach I'm advocating, you give up a lot of short term accolades such as age group victories during the early years or just beating your buddies to the next stop sign in a sprint. But I'm cool with that.

Last week at the track I was talking to a guy in his late fifties who was telling me he didn't do Maximum Aerobic Function work because it forced him to run too slowly. He didn't feel like he was getting a workout and thus couldn't see the benefit. His fastest recent 10k was about 40 minutes and some change. All winter I've watched this guy lap me on the track as he runs his 400 meter intervals at close to 6 minute pace. He does his weekend long runs at a "slow 7:30 minute per mile pace, closing the session at about 7 minute pace. He does this year round. I don't even have to ask him if he's getting any faster.

At any rate, I on the other hand am getting faster and more efficient at running slowly. My MAF pace is almost a full minute per mile faster than when I started. And this is what makes what I actually do with my training appointments so easy. I train either at, as I do on the track, or below, as I do elsewhere, MAF. The only variable is the time spent. Easy.

So yesterday was an hour on the bike, this time on the stationary trainer maintaining easy cadence. The goal here is technique. I've been working on my connection to my feet in both cycling and running as a way to maximize power with less effort. And this is one of the unseen benefits of training at lower intensities. You are able to make real connection to the movement you are carrying out so that when you do speed up you can keep that connection and thus efficiency. Higher power output at lower effort = better end results.

After the bike there was an hour run. This was also easy. During the middle of the run I went "vertical" for 15 minutes and hit some stairs. Again the challenge here is to attack the stairs efficiently so that my heart rate stays low and I keep moving. No easy feet but I'm getting better at it. When I started these vertical runs I could only do about 7 minutes before my heart rate forced me to stop between ascents. Now I'm up to 15 minutes.

Today was the same except the bike and the run were 90 minutes a piece. This time the run was just on a flat road and the bike was outdoors. I had some trouble with my heart rate on the run because I didn't space the workouts apart do to some personal commitments and thus didn't properly hydrate but I was still aerobic. Tomorrow is more of the same and back on the track again. I start my swim cycle with strength work on Thursday. Train Well everyone!

First Failure, Then Progress

2010-04-28T21:53:00.003-05:00

I didn't write a blog post last week. At first it was because I was busy. But that was only the first two days of the week. The plan was to write a post on Wednesday because I had two workouts scheduled and figured out of the two of them I'd have something interesting to write about. And I did. I just didn't write anything because by Wednesday evening, I was pissed off.

Last week's bike ride went fine. In fact I'd say I was really happy about it because I could feel a bit of speed creeping into my legs even though I'm still riding very easily. The ride was around 2 hours and when I was done I didn't feel as though I'd ridden at all. That was in the morning, which even though I got a bit of a late start was still relatively cool temperature wise. In retrospect my late start on the bike would be the beginning of my undoing training wise for the day.

It just so happened, that I was out of some of my key food items that day and really needed to go to the store. Because of this I didn't eat properly before my ride and after my ride (which started and ended late) I had to go shop for things to eat. The only stores that carry some of the things I use, were across town.

By the time I shopped, ate and took a very short nap, it was time for my track MAF workout in the afternoon. When I got to the track this is where things just went completely south. My heart rate, while still aerobic, was nowhere near my MAF zone even walking. I was so frustrated, I wound up bagging the MAF test and running a single 600m interval in 1:53 with a max HR of 186, then thinking better of it ran stairs, stopping and walking when my HR crested 153. Needless to say it was frustrating because every week prior to this I had seen improvement in my speed at MAF and now I was basically reduced to walking.

I think this is why so many athletes avoid this type of training or don't stick with it very long if they do try it. It is humiliating to run so slow, then find out it isn't slow "enough."

So I left the track pretty upset even though the 600 meter split was nothing to sneeze about, I was comfortable throughout the 400m and accelerated through the line during the entire last 200m. I could have gone much faster. But that has never been my problem. So I wasn't thinking about that. I was thinking about the MAF test I flunked. And I was pissed off so, no blog posts until I calmed down.

It was Sunday when I decided I needed to do some things differently. For starters get all my food ready so I didn't need to shop. Then get to bed so I could get up early enough for my morning ride and get back in time to eat and nap. Then go to the track. This week was a complete reversal from the week before. I dropped 10 seconds per mile from my last MAF and 1bpm in average heart rate.

Needless to say I'm happy again, and blogging can continue.

Yoga, Stretching, and Athletes

2010-04-27T11:12:00.003-05:00

So when you think of yoga, you might normally think of people with stick figure bodies who are able to take themselves into shapes that would injure a pretzel. Or quite possibly you think it would be great to be more flexible, that the additional flexibility may help prevent injury and improve both training and recovery. And you could have come to the conclusion that incorporating yoga into your training routine would be way to accomplish that. Quite honestly though, aside from the extreme, bendy postures, you may not see much difference between yoga and some of the more common stretches you've seen or read about. As a triathlete I know I didn't until I'd done yoga for a few weeks. That's when I got a taste of just how deep the rabbit hole that is yoga really goes. Let me explain.

The most notable difference between yoga and simple static stretches is the sequencing. Most good yoga classes follow a well thought out progression moving the body deeper and deeper into similar but more challenging positions. In fact many of the common poses you may be familiar with such as Downward Dog, Crow Pose, or even a simple Forward Fold are actually "preparations" for deeper yoga poses. The same is also true of many static stretches many of us have come to know and use regularly. Most common stretches are variations or simplified Yoga poses. Often what is going on in these variations or modifications is the pose is made more accessible by taking several dimensional components out of it so that they become available for someone new to using their bodies in an unfamiliar way. Static stretches (and most weight machines) often remove the coordinated muscle recruitment that relates to stability. The removal of this component, while making the stretch simple, has the undesirable side affect of doing less to actually strengthen the body.

One pose which illustrates this clearly is Uttanasana or Standing Forward Fold. When commonly presented, even in yoga classes, this posture is usually referred to as a mere hamstring stretch. And to see it performed it is easy to get that impression. If you were to merely fold forward without any direction, you would notice the pull at the back of your legs as you attempt to bring your chest in toward your thighs. But there is much more going on in this forward fold than meets the eye or a casual experience. For the fold to happen properly the hips are engaged as a hinge allowing the torso to move forward as the hips shift back. The spine extends out from the tailbone through the top of the head. As the torso is brought closer to the thighs, the thighs will have an inward rotation creating space for the chest. To deepen and hold the fold, the core must be engaged. This entire process allows the hamstrings to "release". Not stretch, "release".

This act of consciously "releasing" muscles is a distinction that gets lost in discussions of yoga versus static stretching routines. In this instance the difference between a forward fold stretch and Uttanasana is Uttanasana is in reality a handstand preparation where more and more weight is removed from the legs and feet and placed into the palms until the hips are directly over the shoulders and the legs are lifted from the floor. You can watch this same process outside a yoga studio in Olympic platform divers as they move into handstands prior to an inverted dive. The purpose isn't to stretch the hamstrings but to gain the ability to release them at will.

Downward Dog works in much the same way, encouraging access through the core, releasing the hamstrings, and preparing the body for the forward folds, handstands, and "floats" to seated positions and arm balances. These are all complex, coordinated movements, much like swimming so the connection is obvious, but mastering these movements can also greatly impact running and cycling by improving strength, range of motion, and economy.

A regular yoga practice can restore the coordinated function to many of the common stretches you already know about and to the other complex muscular activities you engage in. And it will aid tremendously in your recovery between workouts. One of the primary reasons for triathletes to get massages and take ice baths is to increase blood flow and fight inflammation after tough workouts. Think of yoga as an internal massage and an inflammation fighter too. By gaining coordinated muscular access, you recruit muscles more efficiently to perform all tasks from walking up a flight of stairs to riding 112 miles on a bike.

Monday

2010-04-12T20:32:00.003-05:00

Busy day today. Just training but some good stuff. I'm getting stronger and I know my patience is paying off. I'm really listening to my body and just going for technique, strength and endurance. And enjoying the process along the way. I keep getting these little signs my fitness is improving and that's cool.

Today was a simple 1 hour bike ride. Nothing special just spinning easy with a friend while chatting. But she tends to like to get as much bang for her buck as possible and rides primarily in her big ring. I was able to keep up without much effort even spinning in a small gear all the while keeping my heart rate lower than 130.

Then it was back to the house for some food and out for a 1 hour walk with a friend. I decided after Arizona last year I was going to "train" walking so I walked for an hour, then ran for 10 minutes. After that it was back home for some more food and take care of the cats.

After that, I went for a 30 minute easy run as a warm up prior to my strength work. The run was easy in both intent and actuality. My heart rate stayed low throughout and I actually was able to see my form has improved due to my focus on the feet this year.

Yoga For Triathletes Getting (and Staying) Aero on the Bike Part 2

2010-04-07T21:29:00.004-05:00

Aside from talking to folks in my yoga classes about getting and staying aero on the bike, I've been spending a lot of time watching triathlon bike footage on the internet. This has really helped me in my thinking about what it takes to have and comfortably maintain good aero positioning on the bike.

Some components of the position are:

a strong and stable core.

open hips.

Length in the hamstrings.

Open shoulders.

Space in the front body/hip flexors.

This next pose we will explore in this series is a bang for your buck pose if ever there was one. The traditional pose is an forearm balance called Pincha Mayurasana. But we don't need to come into the full expression of that pose for our purposes. As is the case with most yoga poses, sometimes the preparatory pose is more beneficial (read challenging) in developing the attributes of strength, muscular integration and access we are looking for than the actual full expression of the pose itself.

Pincha Mayurasana is no exception. If you've been following along through the last couple of posts in this series we can move easily from Bakasana or Crow Pose into Pincha Mayurasana prep. Of course you can do all of this work as stand alone poses or you can put them together during a strength workout or a stretching routine to augment other work.

From Crow Pose, you would bring the feet back to the floor and come back into the original squat we started out in. From here you would come to your hands and knees with the palms under the shoulders. Then lower the elbows to the ground keeping the forearms parallel to one another. You want to make sure you keep the forearms from rotating inward to one another. They should rest flat on the floor extending out in a straight line from the elbows. Keeping this alignment will be important as we come into Pincha Mayurasana prep as the alignment is what promotes the shoulder opening we are working toward. If you have tight shoulders perfectly parallel forearms might not be possible but you want to keep the arms as close to this ideal as comfortably possible.

Once you have your forearms situated, you will keep your gaze up between your hands as you raise your hips toward the ceiling straightening your legs. At this point you will walk the feet in a few inches. The head will naturally drop but keep the eyes forward looking in between the hands. You want to use your forearms and engage them from the hands all the way back into the elbows. This will create the lift as you engage the core to facilitate the posture.

Try to hold this pose anywhere from 5 to 8 breaths. Come out of it by bending the knees and lowering back to the ground. You will want to repeat this posture 3 to 5 times. As you get better and your shoulders, hips and hamstrings open up and your core gets stronger, you can add more challenge/intensity by raising a leg in the air.

Ultimately, as you gain strength and your body opens, you will be able to use the raised leg to bring the hips over the shoulders. At this point the full expression of the pose can be explored. But if all you want to do is be more comfortable on the bike, what I've shown you here will be more than adequate for your training.

Ultimately, as you gain strength and your body opens, you will be able to use the raised leg to bring the hips over the shoulders. At this point the full expression of the pose can be explored. But if all you want to do is be more comfortable on the bike, what I've shown you here will be more than adequate for your training. If you are finding keeping your arms parallel is an issue, then you could try using a yoga block. Most men may need two due to the width of their shoulders. If a yoga block isn't available I've used books if I could find one the correct width. The thing to keep in mind is just try to keep the arms a little straighter than they would be if you let them do what they wanted. In time you should see improvement both in the practice and in your position on the bike.

Sunday And Monday

2010-04-05T23:12:00.002-05:00

Sunday I was up before 5am so I went for a swim. This must have been exactly what I needed because now I'm officially adding it back into my training. Not that it was ever really "out" of my training, but If I was going to bail on a workout, swimming would be first, cycling would be second, and running would be a distant third. I think the cold has something to do with it. And because warmer temperatures seem to be here to stay in Austin, Texas, I think I'm in the water to stay.

The swim went well and I've gone back to my efforts at being efficient in the water. (As if I'd ever left them). But I am starting to think more along the lines of is a workout just a workout? Or sort of like are all calories created equal? I'm really feeling not. If I told people what my longest swim from last year was, they'd probably either laugh at me or just not believe me. Especially if they found out that was the kind of volume I went into a 2.4 mile swim with. But that's the point. I'm wondering if all the volume with out real purpose isn't defeating all efforts at getting better?

I mean, I get it. Volume is really easy. It looks cool in the log book. And it gets a lot attention at parties. But I'm starting to wonder if there are some caveats? Like I would never say not to do any distance in training for events like the Ironman. But I am starting to consider trying to find out what ENOUGH is and doing no more than that.

The reason I say this is because there was a point last year in my training where I could almost feel my body say, "You can do this all day". And I think I could have listened to that more closely. If I had I might have actually trained less but more specifically from that point on. I would have put my money in the sharpening basket versus obsessing over more and more volume.

But live and learn. Which is why I'm swimming now instead of obsessing about it in January and February when I really didn't feel like doing it. And why I'm starting to get out on the bike more consistently. Soon I'll be up to running every day and that will be nice.

So Today I biked and swam. Both were short sessions. The bike was just 45 min of maintaining consistent pressure on the pedals so that the shift from one leg to the other was uninterrupted. The swim was 30 min working on my left arm pull which isn't as efficient as my right. I will say a 30 min swim is a big deal for me. Especially at this point in the year. Last year about this time I was all about 15 and 20 min swims and "worked" my way up to 30 min much later in the season. Who knows at this rate I may actually stay in the water for an hour this year. But only if the work is of good quality.

Thursday And Friday

2010-04-02T22:44:00.003-05:00

Thursday was a day off. I don't normally take days "off" when I'm training as much as let my body decide when and how long to rest. This was a day off. I wrote it down before hand, wasn't particularly tired, and just took it.

Friday on the other hand is my normal strength day focusing on the legs. But because last week I maxed out all of my sets, I took today easy and dropped the weight back down to prior levels. The weight I did today was still heavier than what I was doing last season, so I'm seeing progress. While I am using weight now, I will switch to more body weight leg work in the future as I start to focus on my triathlon training. The reason for this is I am using the weight now to monitor progress as I work on balancing out the difference in strength between my right and left legs.

In my case what I've come to learn is that this disparity was actually caused by instability in my left knee. So just as flexibility can be influenced by mobility in the joints so can strength and muscular balance. To that end I've been doing a slew of new movements to improve things.

What I didn't expect was the comment from my Rolfer when she saw me this week, "Your feet look a million times better!"

Coming from a Rolfer that is a "functional movement" junky who is obsessed with feet, this was high praise. All I know is it is easier to run faster and I'm just happy about that.

After my leg work, it was time to swim and start focusing on dialing in my technique for the upcoming season. I felt really good in the water and have been toying with the idea of having a single drill be the sole focus of my workout for the day. Today's swim was about 30min but focusing only on extending my arm out in front of me as I floated was more challenging as it sounds. After a few lengths of this, I was pooped but I managed a good solid half hour in the water. When I moved back into freestyle after the drills, I felt strong and balanced. I think the next drill I work on is the catch underwater.

Tuesday And Wednesday

2010-03-31T22:04:00.002-05:00

Nothing really spectacular. Just some quality work. Tuesday was an easy 90 minute bike. I decided not to run because of time constraints and I usually like to do an imbedded "vertical" set in the middle of my hour long Tuesday run. But do to my unexpected quality 5k session in the midst of Monday's run I decided to call it a day after cycling.

Wednesday was supposed to be a MAF run on the track, but I got a call from my buddy DuShun asking if I wanted to go ride. Up to this point all of my rides have been at heart rates below 135bpm and averaging about 124bpm for most sessions. DuShun, the most gifted cyclist I have ever seen anywhere with a max heart rate somewhere near 220 at 43 is not someone to ride with if you intend on watching your heart rate.

So I was tempted to leave my monitor at home. What I wound up doing instead was wearing it and ignoring the numbers that flashed across my screen.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised. I wound up keeping pace with him on all but the steepest climbs and was able to bridge back up to him easily on the flats. This tells me my strength training is paying off. What I have lost is the efficient, high cadence that can allow me to climb at a pace that can match his. I don't know if I'll ever have the power he can generate, but with better endurance, strength and technique riding with him won't destroy me.

This ride sort of reminded of Monday's run because I pushed harder than even I expected (DuShun had called promising an easy ride in order to allow his sore knee to recover). But I was able to both hang on and push the pace dealing out my share of punishment too. I lost the final sprint, but I didn't go down without a fight. It's shaping up to be a great 2010 already. Train well!

Getting Back On Track

2010-03-29T18:46:00.002-05:00

So today was Monday and after another weekend where my job stole precious time I could have used for training or recovery or various other things I "could" have been doing, my buddy Celeste sent me an email at 8 this morning and asked if I wanted to go for a run.

Of course I said, "Yeah!"

She was doing a 9:30 AM yoga class and I typically do a class at the same studio at noon so, we decided to meet at 11. This could have been the perfect compromise except we ran out a little further than normal and thus had to really turn on the jets to make it back in time for my class. But here's the thing. After running leisurely for about 40 min, I was able to crank out an 18:30ish 5k in order to get to class before the door was locked. And while this wasn't a what I would consider a hilly route, it certainly wasn't flat either. Especially not the last 1000m or so, which was all up hill.

While I am lightyears from where I want to be fitness wise, I am starting to see things fall into place. All of my "Ironman-itis'" appear to have resolved themselves. The groin pull is almost nonexistent, the stuff with my feet from all of last year is completely gone, and the strength in both of my legs is balanced. What I felt today while I was running to make the yoga class was a strength in my legs I was sure belonged solely to my younger, 35 year old self. I was barely breathing and my legs had no intention of stopping until I was ready. Jeez that felt good.

The rest of the day after yoga was an easy 30 min spin on the trainer and some upper body functional strength work. Tomorrow will be more running, a longer ride and some easy swimming. Feels great to be back!

Endurance Yoga - Getting and Staying Aero on the Bike Part 1: Bakasana (Crow Pose)

2010-03-05T19:21:00.003-06:00

Recently, I was asked by one of my students if there was anything they could do to help them get ready for staying in aero position on the bike for long races like 70.3 and the Ironman distance. I smiled and told him, "Yes."

I don't think he knew what he was asking for when he asked if we could spend a couple of classes working on being comfortable for long periods of time in aero position. Last month I wrote about a pose called Malasana, or Garland Pose, which is essentially a deep squat. At any rate, we were using Malasana in order to both open the hips and experience a greater connection to our feet which can be useful in running for moving with greater ease (especially after a hard bike leg) and generating more power resulting from greater range of motion.

Like many yoga poses Malasana can be a preparation for or a segue into other more challenging but very useful poses. And as it turns out it can also be a great beginning to an exploration of getting and staying aero on the bike. So what we are going to do over the next few posts is move from Malasana into a few more poses that can be added in sequence to promote the necessary bodily transformations that can make long bike legs less difficult from a positioning standpoint which in turn, ultimately, can lead to more efficient runs.

The next pose we explore in our sequence of aerodynamic building yoga poses is a pose called Bakasana or Crow Pose. The reason this pose is so important in our quest for aerodynamics is that it can promote the necessary core integration we need to support our torso out on the aerobars. Although in yoga Bakasana is an arm balance and when you first see it you might think it is a pose for strengthening the arms. Nothing could be further from the truth. By and large arm balances in yoga are core cultivators. And for our purpose of getting aero and being comfortable on the bike, Bakasana can train us to properly engage our core to provide the "lift" we need to comfortably maintain a flat back.

To come into Bakasana, we start in Malasana - a deep squat with our heels together. Place your palms on the floor out in front of you about a foot and a half away from your feet. You want your knees up even with your triceps. Shift your body forward bringing your weight fully onto your hands. Bending your elbows keep shifting more and more of your weight into your hands while keeping head up and your gaze on the floor in front of you. With your body centered over the palms, try bringing one foot off the ground. Engaging your core by bringing your navel in and up toward the spine as though you are lifting and filling the area near the kidneys with air. It is this internal movement that provides the lift in the hips and keeps the knees high up on the triceps. Technically for our purposes, you could stop at this point and work the pose by alternating between lifting your right and left feet off the ground and bringing them up toward your hips. Trust me 3 to 5 reps with each foot is a workout.

If you are comfortable with balancing on your hands and have no problem with the pose while one foot is on the ground, then try taking both feet off the ground at the same time. Again, be sure to keep your head up with your gaze out in front of you and in between your hands. If you have open hips and can get the sense of lift through your core you may find you are able to get quite a bit of height in the pose. If so try holding the pose for about 6 to 8 unhurried breaths before bringing our feet back to the ground.

If for some reason the arm balance doesn't work for you, say balance is an issue, or you have weak wrists, you can still reap the benefits of the pose by taking the balance aspect out of it and practicing Bakasana on your back. In fact almost all yoga arm balances can be practiced while on your back allowing you to strengthen the core as you work your way up toward practicing the actual arm balance.

Coming into Bakasana on your back is very similar to practicing it upright. Start with your heels together and your knees apart. Your back will be flat against the ground. First you will rotate your pelvis up toward the ceiling which will cause your knees to rotate toward your shoulders. Now, as if you were doing crunches, bring your shoulders off the floor and move the torso up toward your knees. Hook your elbows on the insides of your knees and draw your navel down and in toward your spine. This will assist in deepening the fold. Hold the position for anywhere from 4 to 8 breaths, then relax. Repeat the movement 3 to 5 times.

Working Bakasana regularly, aside from being a neat trick you can show your Tri-minded friends, will give you the core awareness and integrity that we will need for the next pose in our aero building sequence. There aren't to many issues with practicing Bakasana other than wrist issues and fear of falling so if you have any reservations, try the version where you explore the pose on your back for a while. I actually find that version more difficult. Until next time, train well....

Know Thy Body

2010-02-22T07:11:00.003-06:00

The subtitle for this post "could be" Triathlon Taoism 101. Last week I was getting ready to go to the track with the Wed night RunTex group. I teach a short yoga class after this workout which is in retrospect the only reason I should have been there.

Aside from teaching the yoga class, I like doing this group simply because it forces me to go to the track at least once a week. I think I was on the track maybe 3 times all last year. But there was a reason for that. I wasn't running for most of it so there was no need to be on the track. At any rate that isn't the point of this post. The point is as I was standing in the store before the warm up jog up to the School for the Deaf where the workout is held, I look at my heart rate monitor and it is reading 98bpm! I walk 20 or so feet to the bathroom and come back its 121! It should be like 55~60bpm at this time of day if I'm standing around. Crap!

I'm pretty annoyed by this because there can only be 3 reasons for it. I'm nervous - I've had this happen before races and it usually goes away when the gun goes off. I'm panicked (see nervous, but on a scale of 1 - 10 a 10) and that has only happened once with my standing heart rate coming in at about 140, so not applicable here. Or I'm fighting off an infection of some sort. Its probably the latter because I've been helping a sick friend lately or I've been exposed to something at work (also highly likely) or both. Crap!

Normally something like this would not bother me much. I'd just go home and rest. If I'm going to come down with something (which pretty much NEVER happens anyway) I'd rather it be this time of year when I'm not racing than later when I am. The only reason it is bothering me now is because I want to find out what pace I can run at MAF. I've been waiting for the last 3 weeks to do this test and the weather has been uncooperative serving up large doses of rain and cold. So I was there, the track was there, the weather was cooperating, I had my HR monitor. Resting HR? 98bmp! Crap!

So what did I do? I go to the track and do the test anyway. Why? Because I wasn't going to be running hard and I would get data for when my system was understress. I also went because I want that to be a weekly test and I wanted it to become a habit. And I think on a deeper level, it was sort of the sense that I needed to accept where my fitness was at that moment, so I could start learning to accept it at any given moment. The funny thing was, after warming up, and struggling through the first mile keeping my heart rate under MAF (I had to walk quite a bit the first mile), the second and third mile got progressively faster and I wound up averaging 10:35 pace at a 144 HR for 3 miles. That really surprised me because, to be honest, that is about what I expected without the jacked up resting HR. And granted if I throw out the first mile and only focus on the last 2, my pace drops considerably to get me that overall average at the end. But my heart rate sticks right at 144 even though I was running faster.

I'm more familiar with that type of response on the bike because I've been more consistent in training this way while riding. One of the things I've noticed over time, which is why I've been able to ride at lower heart rates without becoming overly concerned about losing fitness, is for me slower movements seem to lead to the discovery of more efficient movement patterns. And aside from the changes that happen chemically in the body allowing for more efficient fuel usage, discovering these efficient patterns of movement can also be beneficial. I think this is what happened on the track. I certainly didn't speed (this term is relative) up because I was running "harder." So I think I'm going to explore this more as I run more this year.

The rest of the week I rested swimming a bit and doing a couple of yoga classes. I was sleepy all week and took that as a sign that I indeed was fighting off something. I kept my training minimal and slept as much as possible, going to bed as early as 8pm some nights. I think sleeping more and my diet kept whatever it was from developing into something nasty. My friend had a fever for almost 10 days.

Oh yeah, the Taoist theme for this post could be:

"Deal with it before it happens

Set things in order before there is confusion..."

Monday, Tuesday

2010-02-09T21:47:00.004-06:00

So I've got the new website up and functioning. You can check it out here. Right now its basically a reorganization of this blog. But that will change as I start to shift my emphasis in what I write. But for now its just a matter of organizing things. I feel like I'm moving in to a new house. But the good thing is now that the site is up, I can get back to the matter at hand and that is simply training. I've gone back to doing my strength work. I'm pretty consistant about working out my lower body but I tend to stop working the upper body except for my core as racing season approaches. This is largely because I find I'm not as flexible which negatively impacts my swimming. But I'm not racing now so that excuse is baseless.

I like to do my upper body strength training on Monday because its the beginning of the week and I like to get it out of the way first thing. Probably because I don't like it. And because it hurts. And if there is anything I will find an excuse not to do it is this workout. The session isn't very complex, it just hurts is all. So here's what I did:

2 x 30 sec max rep push ups
2 x 30 sec max rep pull ups
2 x 30 sec max rep mil push ups
2 x 30 sec max rep rev grip chin ups
2 x 30 sec max rep decline push ups
2 x 30 sec max rep close grip pull ups
2 x 30 sec max rep diamond push ups
2 x 30 sec max rep towel pull ups
2 x max rep divebomber
2 x 30 sec max rep isometric chest press

Then I went to an hour and a half all levels yoga class. The class just so happened to be pretty core intensive and included a lot of standing poses which really emphasize leg strength and balance. Later that day did an indoor MAF ride for half an hour which included two sets of single leg drills.

Today, I ran for an hour with an average heart rate of 140. I've been training at completely MAF (maximum aerobic function) for the last couple of weeks. A lot of folks discount this type of training or don't stick with it for very long, but I've seen the results and am willing to do it. Then I came home and got on the trainer for 40 min also at MAF with an average heart rate of 127. That was today's work. Gonna swim and run tomorrow.

Yoga For Triathletes - Malasana

2010-02-01T12:40:00.008-06:00

One of the popular workouts these days for athletes of all disciplines is the "Core" workout. This type of work goes far beyond the 6 pack ab craze that came before it. There is a great benefit to be had in all endurance activities by strengthening the core. But once we've done the work and strengthened our core, our next question should become, "How can we access that strength and put it to work for us?"

To be honest, that question, the one about gaining "access" is a far deeper rabbit hole than a single post about a single pose can cover. That's because it is one thing to "tighten your core " or "keep it tight" (something that is commonly said when referring to the gross muscles comprising the mid section during activity), but accessing strength through the core to produce a desired muscular response while running, cycling, or swimming is something else. Understanding this, my goal is to simply get you started thinking about this concept of "gaining access" to the core and integrating it into the other movements that comprise your sport of choice.

To start us on our way to gaining access to the core, we need more access to our feet. And our feet need to gain a sense of being firmly engaged into the ground. Said another way we want to have a sensation of what it is like to have our feet "planted" (as in deeply rooted) into the ground. And for that we are going to explore a pose called Malasana or Garland Pose.

Essentially Garland pose is a deep squat. If you've travelled, especially in countries like India and throughout Asia, you will notice people sitting low to the ground, squatting deeply. This has several benefits, one of which is an opening of the hips. Another benefit of the pose is the opening of the ankles which can allow for a better connection to the ground by engaging through the feet for balance.

Malasana Variation where the feet are separated and point out 45 degrees

To come into the variation of Malasana that is most accessible, we start with our feet a bit wider than hip distance apart (the toes should be pointing forward but can be rotated out to about 45 degrees to facilitate lowering into the pose if needed). Then with the arms extended out straight in front of you for balance, lower your body bending at the knees. The torso should remain upright as the hips drop below the knees. If you hadn't started with the toes rotated out at 45 degrees initially it may become necessary to rotate them out as your hips move closer to the floor. You may need to widen your stance as well once you get your hips closer to being level with your ankles. You want to hold this position for about 8 even breaths if you can. If you can't don't sweat it, hold it as long as is comfortable. You should be able to stay in the pose for longer and longer periods of time if you work the pose consistently.

Now for some housekeeping. These are some things you want to keep in mind. Throughout this movement the spine should be kept long even though the torso can have a tendency to tilt forward. You can get and keep more length in the spine once in the squat by bringing your hands together in prayer position and using the connection of the elbows to the shins for a bit of leverage to articulate the pelvis by bringing the navel in to the spine. It is possible that as you lower down even after rotating your toes out to 45 degrees and widening your stance, you cannot come into the full squat without your heels leaving the ground. If this is happening you can still work in the pose by placing a rolled up blanket or towel under the heels and then lowering down onto that. While this will change the sensation of grounding somewhat, it does not diminish the effectiveness of the pose.

A rolled up towel or blanket can be used as a wedge if the heels don't reach the ground.

If you still find it difficult to maintain your balance in Malasana, another option is to practice it inside a doorway. I use this when I want to experience the squat with my feet and shins together holding on to the door frame as I lower my hips to my heels. This allows me to get a sense of the opening in my ankles and hips necessary to access this movement now while I wait for my body to allow me to do it without assistance. To come out of the pose simply ground into the feet and straighten the legs or bring your palms to the floor and come to all fours. Lastly use good judgement when doing this pose. Save the pose for strength days at the gym or lower intensity training days. Because of the deep squat, if you have knee or ankle issues Malasana is not recommended.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

2010-01-28T08:21:00.003-06:00

To say I've been busy would be an understatement. Lately I've been working to move this blog, or at least certain parts of it to its own domain. That way I'll have more control over how it looks and hopefully create a more easily navigated site. So I've been setting all of that up. Currently I plan to leave this blog up primarily for those folks still looking for P90x reviews but the new site will focus more specifically on endurance athletes and performance related information. I'll keep you posted as this process progresses.

Man where did the week go? It's a good thing I wrote things down or there would be nothing to post. At any rate I've been working my way back into a routine. At this time of year I attend to things like strength, flexibility and endurance. I also focus a ton on technique. So, except were technique gets difficult, the majority of my work is deeply aerobic. To make sure it stayed that way, I had a brief email conversation with runner/blogger Lucho. We talked about MAF (Maximum Aerobic Function) specifically where it pertains to swimming intensity at this point in my training cycle.

Somewhere I'd read that swimming was a sport where intensity could be high year round (don't ask me where - I don't remember). But after reading a bit more about MAF, I came to the conclusion that this could not be right so, I checked with Lucho who is a big proponent of MAF and his results speak volumes as to the soundness of the protocol. As a result of our conversation my swim plans for the next few months have changed. I will be training in the pool the way I did last year which was something on the order of 90% drill 10% swim until about 8 weeks out from my goal race. I had planned to join a masters swim group this winter, and I still may to break up the monotony of the drill work. I just won't make interval swimming a steady diet in training until much later this year.

So here's what I've been up to this week. Monday was a 75 min bike ride and 90 min of yoga. Tue was a 1 hour run followed by a 45 min walk, then a 60 min bike ride followed by a 30 min drill swim session. Wednesday was a 2 hour run then 30 min of yoga. Nothing fancy but I'm feeling more and more like an athlete again.

Wednesday Rest Day; Tuesday Vertical Running and Bike

2010-01-20T20:46:00.004-06:00

Today, I did nothing. Not because anything was wrong. I wanted to start to solidify my training for the season. I find it hard to "plan" and train at the same time. So I decided to just plan today.

Yesterday, I got vertical and ran up and down a flight and a half of stairs for about half an hour. Then I rode my bike for about 45 min. The key is to keep these efforts strictly aerobic, deeply aerobic if possible. On the bike I can tell my ability to govern this low intensity effort is coming back. I was able to ride at about 4 beats per minute lower than I was on Monday. I find to do this type of work, I really need to turn my focus inward. Typically, I've used an Ipod to facilitate this type of riding, but the last few times I've worked on just working with my own breath.

I think this has some benefit because I was able to discover, for example, that I've been riding with a slight amount of tension in my lower left leg and foot. So I spent most of the ride working out a strategy to counteract this and learn to relax the leg. I can only imagine the amount of tension I hold in the leg when I'm racing. But that is one of the lessor known benefits of training at low heart rate. You can actually feel what is going on in your body. So I found if I just concentrate on my big toe and the one next to it, my whole left leg relaxes. Again it is the whole thing about connecting through the feet.

As for the vertical running (basically up and down a flight of stairs for almost 30 minutes) that is going to take some work to get my heart rate to stay under aerobic threshold. But all it means is that instead of a continuous set like I did on Tuesday, I'll just do intervals until I get within 10 beats of AT and then walk until it comes down. That way I get to keep doing a workout I find more beneficial for my running overall than straight distance as well as work at burning fat as a fuel source.

Monday

2010-01-18T14:44:00.003-06:00

So this morning I ran again. I ran for about 1 hour. Things started off slowly but I went to a yoga intensive this weekend and my body feels like it belongs to someone else. I'm not really sore but I'm aware that things have shifted and may not work the way they did on Friday.

I haven't gotten back into my full routine and strength work has been noticeably absent from my training recently. Largely because I knew how intense the yoga workshop would be physically. At any rate my run went better than I expected. Most of the aches and pains and "complaints" my body gave me last week while running have disappeared.

The run was over varied terrain, rocks and mud, some grass (on the golf course), some asphalt and a bit of concrete. There was a good bit of climbing as there were a few hills on this route, both off road and on. While I was out, I was thinking about all the things I've been learning over the past year about foot strike, running from my core and brining the ground up to meet my feet. This is probably the first run I can remember feeling so good. It was just fun to move. And I was running without my heart rate monitor speeding up and slowing down as I liked.

I was thinking of replacing my old Polar with a Garmin this year, but I may take my training tools in the same direction I've been taking my running shoes and run/train more by feel this year. I'm not a hundred percent on this yet but I am seriously considering it. I'll write more about this and my reasoning later. For now just want to go make some juice and maybe a bike ride before teaching yoga tonight.

Triathlete Day Two - Wednesday

2010-01-13T22:33:00.004-06:00

So, I finally got the urge to run again. Not just mess around in the gym in the VFF's. No I actually went running yesterday and today. I think I'm on a roll here. I really didn't feel like running at all after Arizona. I went for a walk a couple of times down at Town Lake and hadn't the slightest hint of competitiveness or envy as folks ran past me.

The thing for me is if I start dreaming about something, then its time to do it. In fact that's how I got into Tri's in the first place. I started dreaming about swimming. In this case when the dreams didn't fully peak my interest, I started noticing runners while driving. When that didn't work someone sent me an email with a comped entry into the 3M Half marathon. Finally, my true running sidekick sent me a text, "Start running or else!"

She's the person who got me to start running last year. If she says run, I run because running with her when I'm in shape is pleasant. When I'm not it can be a disaster. For me. Plus she could always find someone else to run with... Who else could I call in a moment's notice to go do a 10 or 15 miler? Uh, not many folks.

So yesterday I ran for a bit over an hour. Today was 30 min. We'll see how I feel about running tomorrow. But I've been swimming and cycling in small increments. Mostly up to now I've been focusing on restoring my body to some semblance of balance. I think everything's back to normal for the most part. I'm starting to feel a bit of fire in my psyche to get back into the fray. We'll see.

Thursday and Friday - Oh and Happy New Year Everyone!

2010-01-02T09:08:00.003-06:00

Believe it or not there was actual training on both days. I was supposed to go to a New Year's Eve party and was sort of on my way there when I noticed Lifetime Fitness was open. One of these days I'll have to rave about how much I like Lifetime but that isn't the point of this post. Anyway, Lifetime was between me and the party.

I never made it to the party.

I stopped in and started shooting baskets in my VFF's. I have to say my running mechanics have improved tremendously since I started playing basketball in the VFF's. When I decided to use them in this way, I was thinking of the fastest way to retrain myself to run more efficiently. The problem with simply running the way I've done for the past several years is even with paying close attention to things like leg turnover, foot strike and the like, the monotony of running primarily in the same manner with very little variation in speed and effort has a detrimental effect over the long term. I was pretty good at the beginning of 2009 with varying my run workouts, which like my swim work was more heavily technique based relying largely on plyometric, stair and hill work. I found I could handle hour long workouts in this fashion gaining endurance without the monotony of long slow distance running for fitness. Next week I'll start back up with that type of training again. At any rate, I'm happy with the way I chose to start my year versus how it could have started.

Wednesday and Tuesday

2009-12-31T08:49:00.002-06:00

So I'm easing into some semblance, albeit a very light one, of a training routine. Typically I'm more of a time than a distance person anyway so seeing myself doing a couple of 30 min workouts a day for the next few weeks shouldn't be a problem as I gently move from no training, to unstructured training, to short structured workouts.

Tuesday I played basketball for 30 min in the Vibram 5 Fingers. Or VFF for short. I can really tell my stride is smoothing out. But here are a couple of other interesting things I've noticed. I've been wearing these for a little over a month. Mostly I've worn them to work and any other time I've needed to leave the house. I've also taught my yoga classes at the bike shop in them (think concrete floors in the winter). What I've noticed is my jump shot has gotten way better both in accuracy and in elevation. Meaning I not only shoot better, but I jump higher too. I think it has to do with balance and better connection through my feet in the VFF's. One of the things my rolfer (a structural integration body worker) likes to talk about is how often the body is thrown out of alignment because of poor connection through the feet. She says having the feet "firmly" connected deeply affects both our sense of balance and our ability to generate force and power in our movements. After running around in the VFF's for a month I'm starting to see what she means.

After my antics on the basketball court, I swam for 30 min. This was pretty simple following a pattern I used for most of the year last year for my drill workouts. 50m drill, 100m fist swim, 100m swim. The majority of this swim focused on my body rotation and getting the sense of generating force with my core.

Wednesday was an easy (at least it should have been easy) 45 min bike at the Veloway. This time I actually went out on to the South Mopac loop. You'd think I'd have gotten my competitive nature satiated from last year. But no, that was obviously not the case. During this time of year I really focus on two things, keeping my heart rate deeply aerobic 120-130bpm and my pedal stroke. Apparently the combination of having not been on the bike much and not wearing my monitor and the loss of fitness that goes along with not doing anything for a month, my idea of what "feels" easy and about 125 bpm is actually about 140 bpm now. That and the fact I was riding along with a couple of other guys. Still aerobic mind you, just not deeply aerobic. But I think that is to be expected. I've learned it takes a great deal of patience and discipline to train at heart rates like that. It is especially difficult after a layoff. So we'll see how things progress.

I am glad to see my hamstring issues appear to be healing well. I'm using a combination of yoga, Tai Chi and strength work. So far so good. Oh well got to get a move on. The day's getting away from me.

New Beginnings And Vibram 5 Finger Shoes

2009-12-28T21:02:00.002-06:00

So I started training again. Nothing too intense. Just a 30 min swim and a 30 min bike. At least I think it was 30 min. I didn't wear my heart rate monitor so I just sort of looked at my watch and went from there.

I find it interesting how much more you feel after a break in routine. Not bad stuff mind you, but how much more aware I am of what's going on in my body and how it is working. It's as if I've been asleep, or perhaps numbed, to the finer sensations of movement. And that's probably the most overlooked reasons for taking a break. Aside from recovery of energy levels and tissue restoration, taking time off allows you to get back to the point where you can actually feel what you are doing.

To that end I've decided to change the shoes I train in to something more "useful." Right before Ironman Arizona, I got a pair of Vibram 5 Finger shoes (if you can call them that). They look more like foot "gloves" to be honest. At any rate I've been wearing them non stop since I got home from Arizona. This seems to be a natural progression for me. I've been wearing and training in the Nike Free 3.0's for about 2 years now after wearing the Nike Free 5.0 for a couple of years before that. I haven't spent much time in anything else. But while walking in the Vibrams for hours a day was not an issue, running in them took some getting used to. Even as flexible and low profile as the Nike Free 3.0's are, the Vibrams are in another universe altogether when it comes to running shoes.

To get used to running in them for longer and longer periods of time, I've decided to spend some time in the gym playing basketball in them. This has given me the ability to learn how to wear them under some pretty varied conditions requiring both speed and coordination while allowing me to retrain my feet and body to run properly at multiple intensities. Plus it is just plain fun learning how to take off and land without breaking my feet. I figure after a month of this running for 20 to 30 minutes will be a snap. I'll keep you posted and write a decent review after I've had them for a bit. All I know is the Vibrams are going to be my training shoe of choice. I'll use the Nike Free 3.0's to race in.

Adaptation - A 2009 Training Review

2009-12-23T15:46:00.002-06:00

In the past on this blog I've been more forthcoming about my training and getting back into shape than I have been lately. Recently I've asked myself why this changed. After the examining the full spectrum of reasons, ranging from the change in my work schedule from nights to days, or from the obligations that come from training, teaching yoga, leading bootcamps and trying to work full time at a "real" job, I think I finally have gotten to the core of the issue. In the time leading up to my first Ironman at Ironman Arizona, my doubts of whether or not I'd even make it to the start of the race seemed to grow exponentially. And I have good reason to have felt that way. Traditionally, I've been injury prone. And I've tended to allow other things, professional and personal, come between me and my triathlon related goals.

Not to say that hasn't been the case this year as well. But for some reason this year things have changed. I mean I still had to deal with things like a dislocated cuboid bone in my left foot, nerve damage and a dislocated bone in my other foot, flair ups of achilles tendonosis in both legs, knee issues, IT band, shoulder, calf pulls, and lower back stuff. I've also had issues with work, on call scheduling, work related training and meetings outside of my normal hours and personal issues that at times seemed insurmountable. And lets not forget my first race this season where I almost puked in the water, and found myself both nauseous and disoriented in the middle of a lake. Or what about all of the stuff that has happened with my equipment this year (see my other posts)? We can also add the juicer I managed to "burn out" a few weeks out from Arizona to that list too. Really, my list of mishaps does seem endless. Needless to say, all of these things created some major anxiety throughout the months leading up to the ironman. That is until I began seeing the gains in my training that appeared to come from my decision to "drink" a good deal of my daily nutrition.

In retrospect, I probably needed my head examined for even buying that plane ticket to Arizona. Especially given what happened at Longhorn 70.3. And man, given what I experienced in the last couple of weeks of training prior to race day, I not only had my doubts about completing that first Ironman, but a healthy dose of pure, simple fear as well. My respect for the people who have completed an Ironman anywhere in any time has gone way, way up. No matter how fit you are 140.6 miles is still a monumental distance to cover.

So here's the thing. This is why I still went to race in Arizona. In spite of getting sick and then having someone aggravate my right knee again by digging their thumbs the same spot that had been hit with the bike pump at the Longhorn 70.3 in the four weeks leading up to the race - this year, in spite of everything I've experienced I've had more fun than I can ever recall. Even when I was racing before and was younger and much faster. Its funny. Leading up to the half Ironman, I was doing workouts my younger self would have crawled home in a heap of sweat and quivering muscles and not come back for more for at least a week. And here was getting up and doing it all over again the next day. And that gets me to the real point of this post.

Adaptation.

Even with all of the set backs I encountered this year I started to see the results of adaptation taking place. Before I got sick, I had some really good results in my training leading up to this point. I was looking over my wattage output from my trainer power intervals for the season and prior to the Longhorn 70.3 I was averaging 25 watts more than I was at the start of the season. During a 100 mile solo effort on rolling hills my average heart rate was 134 on a very, very windy day. Whereas earlier this year my average HR on a 20 mile "flat" time trial was 158 at the same speed.

On the run I saw my ability to cover more and more ground at better speeds with lower heart rates too. The week prior to the 70.3 I ran 16 miles after two hard hours on the bike with an average heart rate of 143 at an 8:05 per mile pace. But the main thing was I was having no problem running two or three days in a row at that point. That really amazed me.

When all of this Ironman business started, I had to give some serious thought as to how best to create the most favorable conditions for my success at trying to cover this distance. But beyond covering the distance the ultimate goal was to create a body with a level of fitness capable in 3 years to be able to "race" at that distance. For me that is going "wire to wire" from each event to the next with a constant but sustainable effort. And I know this is what we most often think of when the word "Adaptation" comes to mind in terms of our triathlon related work. And granted, I think from the results my body and its capacity to handle training and racing stresses has changed for the better. But like most terms we use in the sport (or life for that matter), like "core," or "economy," "adaptation" can have a much more profound side if we take the time to examine it not just in terms of bodily response to training stimuli, but also how it relates to the larger context of our lives.

So as my year comes to a close and my training pendulum has swung decidedly to the recovery side of things, I have time to ponder what do I feel my most important adaptation for 2009 was? The thing is I don't believe my physical adaptation was the most important change that took place over the course of the year. Sure being fitter and healthier were great but for me I think the most important adaptation came when I learned to trust listening to my own body in spite of the lofty goals I had set.

In yoga there is a term known as "ahimsa" which can be translated loosely to mean "doing no harm" or "practicing non violence." So often in sport, accomplishments are pursued to the exclusion of things like harmony and joy. We can tend to overemphasize the outcome and push our bodies and ourselves further than is necessary or wise even with a long held goal clearly in sight. We can get caught up in, I don't know, the moment, our own self doubt, what have you and lose sight of ourselves. In the past, I was a repeated offender and I know it. That's why I couldn't race for 5 years prior to starting this blog. What I learned in the interim with the help of my yoga practice is this type of behavior can be considered an act of self inflicted violence. By demanding more than the body is ready or capable of delivering at any particular moment, we are doing harm both to ourselves and the goals we so strongly desire to reach be it a long coveted yoga pose or a place on the podium in a race. Understanding this delicate balance between our goals and desires and our well being can be a hard thing to master in any of life's arenas, but in triathlon the consequences of not understanding this balance can be both swift and painful. Remembering there is just as much value in the journey as the destination really changed my perspective and allowed me to enjoy my season whether I was racing as fast as I could or just out enjoying the scenery. Personally, this is where I found myself truly adapting this year. I found myself coming more into a space where I readily accepted where I was at any moment in any race or training session and let that be that. And because of it I'm healthier and happier. I accomplished all of my goals for the season and for the first time that I can remember I wasn't injured at the end of it.

How I Eat Now & Why

2009-12-09T14:21:00.005-06:00

So lately, I've had a few people asking about my diet. Aside from the weight loss perspective, which is way overrated, most of the people asking are the ones who've noticed the benefits I've enjoyed from it. Personally I look at how I eat as less of a "diet" and more of a "pattern of eating" that allows me to do what I like doing which is to work out "A LOT". But aside from allowing me to workout more frequently and with higher intensities, there are other benefits too.

These are some I've noticed:

Lower resting heart rate
More restful sleep in less time
More lean muscle/strength and flexibility
Healthier skin/hair
More energy
Better concentration
Better moods
Faster recovery

I started using this pattern of eating about 8 weeks before Ironman Arizona with the intent of reverting to a more conventional style of eating once the race was over. The changes I noticed in 2 weeks were so staggering, I decided to keep eating the same way after the race. I think the reason for the change was I had a sense that I was short on training time and my body wasn't ready for the physical challenge of an Ironman. Because I felt I couldn't "work out" enough, I had to figure out a way to create the necessary transformation in the time I had left. It occurred to me if I could pack my body with as many nutrients as I could leading up to the race, then at least my body had a chance to be "nutritionally" ready even if it wasn't physically up to the task. But after 2 weeks I was so much stronger, more flexible and visibly fitter, I knew I was on to something. So the eating "pattern" is pretty simple. I start the day with food in liquid form (fresh juices of fruits and veggies) moving from juice to smoothies. Snack on nuts and seeds. As the day progresses fruits and salad are eaten depending on appetite. Eat what I want for dinner.

Now some details.

The juices are from seasonal fruits and vegetables, particularly leafy greens like kale, collards, spinach, and chard. But also there are things like carrots, broccoli, asparagus and parsley. I also always include beets because they promote healthy liver function which aids in systemic detoxification. The fruits used can vary according to personal taste and seasonal availability, but they also add volume to the total juice yield. I like to use grapes, oranges, blueberries, grapefruit, pineapple and watermelon. The goal is to make the juices as nutrient dense as possible creating a liquid food that is high in quality but low in calories. I drink about 24 to 32oz of juice like this daily and this is typically "first and second" breakfast. I don't worry too much about calories but from past experience 8oz of juice is probably about 150 calories which is enough for me to start my day mildly satiated for a couple of hours before drinking more juice. It also allows for a morning workout not impeded by feeling stuffed and sluggish. But more importantly if you were to take the term "Break Fast" literally, you would start eating after a fast, even one lasting 10 or so hours, moderately allowing your system a chance to "warm" up to heavier digestive work later on.

Once the liquid food is done, then I'll make a smoothie. There are some similarities between the juice and the smoothie in terms of what goes into making it but as a base I start with a blend of coconut water and coconut milk. The coconut water provides a good supply of electrolytes while the coconut milk adds some base nutrients and needed fat. From there frozen fruits and veggies are added again. One difference from smoothies you may by around town is I add lots of leafy greens (usually frozen, but not always) to this. Typically as it is easier to juice the stalks of the greens in the juicer, so I save the leaves for the smoothies. Aside from fruits and veggies and I few things I don't or can't juice, I add goji berries, stevia (if I need something a little sweeter), a blend of hemp, rice, and pea proteins, powdered chlorella, E3 Live (a green algae superfood), chia seeds, flax seed, pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts and dates.

Interestingly the combination of vegetable proteins from the greens and the hemp, rice and pea protein powder seems to work better for me in building muscle than when I used a single source like hemp or soy alone. Also there is some new research on pea protein that suggests it aids in efficient kidney function. Better kidney function = healthier system overall. Again think detoxification.

Basically, if its good for me or has a purpose nutritionally its either in the juice or the smoothie. If I won't eat it cooked or raw but is healthy, its probably in either the juice or the smoothie where I can disguise the taste enough to drink it. Between the juice and the smoothie, I get more than enough servings of fruits and veggies and a whole slew of things I probably should eat but couldn't get enough of if I was eating solid food all day. And that's the reason I started eating this way. From everything I've read, we don't get enough quality nutrition in the typical American diet to support optimal health hence widespread issues our society faces with obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

Also by drinking juice and smoothies, I save my system the trouble of having to break down a bunch of solid food and nutrients are available in greater amounts more quickly. Its a question of time and energy. Energy I'm now not using to break down food is energy that is saved for other things like working out, recovery, or just reading a book. Less energy and time spent digesting food is more energy and time to do other stuff that is more important to me. If I save an hour this way, that's an hour I could be working out or recovering from working out. The solid food I eat at the end of my day, a few hours before bed, provides fiber and gives me the sensation fullness. It lets me eat normally and socially and keeps me from feeling as though I'm depriving myself of the foods I enjoy. I still eat things I like, just not all day long. Also by eating this meal last and before bed, my body has all night to digest the food while I'm asleep thus eliminating the feeling of drowsiness I used to feel when I ate solid food all day.

Ironman Arizona Race Report

2009-11-30T16:18:00.001-06:00

So on the plane to Phoenix, I asked myself a question.

"Why are you going to Arizona?"

Given my complete lack of training for the past month, this seemed like a good question to ask. Between illness and injury my training since Longhorn 70.3 was nonexistent, leaving me feeling unprepared and hugely uncertain. Long runs in the prior 4 weeks, 0. Long bikes in the past 4 weeks, 0. Longest straight swim, 1500. It was as if my season ended in October and I forgot to tell myself. So I wasn't even close to being in top form.

The question hung in my head until about mid-flight.

"Why are you going to Arizona?"

Then an answer came and it surprised me.

"You are going to Arizona to get stronger."

Prior to my race I wasn't sure what that meant but at various points during the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run things were definitely clearer.

For an Ironman newbie like me, the Arizona swim is visually and logistically daunting. The out and back 2.4 mile course followed a gently curving shoreline. In the days before the race I walked across the Scottsdale Street bridge several times and each time I thought, "Dude. That's far." But it wasn't just swimming almost to the edge of the horizon and back that had me worried. Arizona would be my first MASS swim start ever. I don't know how many of you have ever done a swim with 2000 other participants all starting at the same time, but as an Ironman virgin, this was just added another challenge for me to face. Looking at starts from prior years on YouTube, the Arizona swim looked more like a massive death match held in a washing machine than a triathlon. Also Arizona has a "wading" start. You are already in the water when the cannon goes off. The thing about this is you are in the water for a full 15 minutes prior to this. Race morning water temps were about 62 degrees.

I hadn't raced (or trained for that matter) in temps that cold, but opted to go with a silicone cap under my race cap. This turned out to be a good move for me keeping my head comfortable for the whole swim. I lined up in the back determined to stay out of as much of the frenzy as possible and thinking I could have an easier time sighting buoys. The only flaw in this strategy is that it failed to take into account my swimming has actually gotten a bit better. About half way to the turn around, I had caught a good deal of the age groupers and while not quite the melee I'll assume present at the race start I then had to contend with navigating around people while staying on course. On the way back, someone kept slapping at my feet which triggered cramps in both calfs. Later another errant arm would slap my left hamstring causing another cramp there as well. I came out of the water with cramps in both legs but had a solid swim effort where I managed to maintain a solid pace for me the entire way. Even with the cramping in the water I was able to hobble into the changing tent and then get out on the bike.

The bike was a three loop course and unfortunately the cramps from the swim would force me to change my ride plan. While the right leg warmed up after the first turn around on the bike course at about mile 18, the left calf and hamstring stayed tight and sore the entire 112 miles. And for some reason both knees became sore during the bike. My guess is because of the trauma to my hamstrings my quads were overcompensating putting stress on my knees. I kept having to get off the bike at every other aid station to massage my hamstrings and calf and give my knees a break. At this point I decide to look at the bike leg as a 112 bike tour and not stress over it. I managed to cover all 112 miles this way but I figured if I was going to finish the whole race this was a way to give me the best chance at completing the course. From this point on all time goals were forgotten.

Once back in transition from the bike, I was pleasantly surprised to find I could actually run, though I could still feel the twinge in my left calf and hamstring. I ran the first two miles like I was running a 5k, looked at my heart rate and forced myself to slow down and walk through the aid stations. This worked well until about mile 13 when the tightness in my calf grew from the size of a pebble to the size of a fist. I stopped to work it out and ran 5 more miles when my legs just completely gave out. The walk from mile 18 to the finish was long and painful. And I was resolved to walking up to the line but somehow found the strength to trot across.

In retrospect, it all seems surreal. I was strong in places I didn't expect, making decisions that got me through a very, very long day. But I was also patient and surprised when I wasn't strong at all like the second loop of the run where I had no sense of time having been completely out of gas at the end of the first loop. But somehow I managed to run the second loop at a steady pace. In the closing moments, I had to marvel at the fact I was still moving even though the day hadn't played out as I'd planned - shoot my whole year didn't play out as planned - I was there and I actually completed an Ironman. Still processing that one...

I came to Arizona to get stronger.

But the strength I found wasn't at all in the places I expected.

The real strength I found was from all of the energy from everyone I came into contact with throughout the day. I really got a sense that no one does a race like that without some help. Help from family, friends, training partners, doctors, massage therapists, race volunteers (over 3000 for Arizona, almost 1.5 per triathlete - all of whom were absolutely amazing), spectators, and other athletes. And I think that's why I like tri's so much. It is the sense of community I feel when I race or train. No matter what your goals are or why you race, everyone is really pulling for you to meet or exceed them. And that's pretty cool.

The Day Before Ironman Arizona

2009-11-21T14:07:00.003-06:00

Usually the, "What the hell was I thinking?" creeps into my mind somewhere toward the end of a race I'm feeling underprepared for. This time, it has been my constant companion since boarding a plane for Arizona. Ok so, I know nerves are normal. And that's when you have prepared. But in my case, the last couple of weeks - heck, the last couple of months the fact that I boarded a plane and even showed up in Tempe in the first place has me really questioning my sanity.

So here's what happened in the last two weeks. For a week I was "couldn't crawl out of bed if I wanted to sick." Yep. Sick. I never get sick. Ever. But there I was in bed without the energy for much besides sleeping which I did averaging about 12-14 hours per day. If that wasn't enough, prior to that I burned out my juicer. When 75% of your daily nutrition comes from one machine and it goes down, your life is affected in a big way. Then finally, once I had a new juicer and had gotten over what ever bug had me down, I went in for a final massage a week before I was scheduled to leave for Tempe. I almost skipped this appointment because, I wasn't really having any physical issues that "needed" addressing for the race. Mind you there are always things you "can" work on if you are a symmetry freak like me and so there was that one thing that I could get looked at with my right IT band. To make a long story short, the massage antagonized the same spot on my knee that the bicycle pump at Longhorn 70.3 had smacked. So great. Now I can't walk, or tie my shoes, or bend my right leg and thus from that point on there was no more cycling or running. Not that there'd been a lot anyway because of being sick.

But. I got on the plane anyway. The human body is really an odd creation. When I tell you that I woke up Thursday morning and couldn't walk down a flight of stairs without pain, I would not be lying. I also would not be lying if I also said that on the flight from Austin to Phoenix, I could almost feel my knee healing. I got off the plane in Arizona without a hint of the prior pain or stiffness. A miracle.

Anyway, so here I am on the eve of my first Ironman. Nervous, doesn't seem to cover what I'm feeling. But what I do know is that no matter what happens out there, I'm going to keep moving forward. See you all on the other side. ;)

Longhorn 70.3 Race Report

2009-10-28T14:37:00.001-05:00

The picture to the left probably defined my day at the Austin Longhorn 70.3 race this last Sunday. The right cleat broke right outside T1.

I took a couple of days to think about my experience during the race before writing about it in detail. Long story short I wanted a time about 1:00 to 1:15 (one hour to one hour 15 min) faster than the one I finished with. But in retrospect, I suppose the moral of this race is sometimes we get what we want, and sometimes we get what we need. I needed to feel comfortable swimming in a wetsuit. I needed to test using all liquid nutrition versus a combination of both. And what I really needed was a very long workout.

And, partially because of the cleats I got all of these things. I found out I was actually pretty comfortable swimming in a wetsuit for the first time. I found I'm not suited for using all liquid nutrition and so will go with a combination of solid and liquid nutrition from now on. And I got a very long workout under race-like conditions. Honestly, this was what I'd been telling myself and some friends in the weeks leading up to the race. I just wanted to work on my pacing for my first Ironman.

But, hey I'm human. And I possess that same "curiosity" most athletes have about testing limits and seeing how fast they can go - especially on race day. So when I woke up all thoughts of pacing and long workouts faded. And that's why some prayers are answered and others aren't.

So as I rode to the swim start on the bus, an errant bike pump hit me in my right knee. Within the few minutes it took to go from the parking lot to the swim start my knee was swollen and sore. Needless to say, I had serious reservations about running or cycling at that point. But I knew I could still swim so, I put on my wetsuit and thought perhaps the cold water would bring a bit of the swelling down. It didn't, but it got me in the water.

My swim plan was to take it easy and get used to the wetsuit out to the first turn, then if I felt good I'd open it up a bit. The first turn seemed to take forever to reach, but I was comfortable and my stroke felt good. After the turn I put in a bit more effort and wound up catching some of the folks that had passed me. I would swim with this pack until we all got back to shore.

Out of the water, my knee was still stiff and a bit painful but I decided to see how it felt on the bike before bagging the race. Once on the bike I found I had the added challenge of a broken cleat (hence the picture at the start of this blog) also on the right leg. At this point my first thought was, "Hey I had a great swim, I'm cool with stopping right here." But as I looked at my cleat a very wise and thoughtful race volunteer said, "Hey man, you can ride with one leg." So off I went on a 56 mile bike ride with a swollen knee and a busted cleat - only able to clip in to the pedals with my left leg. While it seemed like a doable thing at the time, I cannot tell you what a real pain in the ass that decision turned out to be - literally. Needless to say low back and piriformis pain would be my constant companions for the next 56 agonizing miles. Things got a little better when I decided to ride less from efficiency and a high cadence and more into strength with larger gearing. This was the only way to keep the right foot from slipping off the platform so often.

The ride is also where I determined I would not be using all liquid nutrition for the Ironman. No matter how much fuel I consumed, I was still hungry. I don't ride well when I'm distracted by a growling stomach. I had about 800 calories on the bike which should have been sufficient, but looking at what was in my solid nutrition versus the liquid nutrition I tried for this event, the difference was pretty clear. It isn't just calories, but what those calories are made up of that matters. Lesson learned.

By the time I reached T2, I was hungry, sore, more fatigued than normal for a 50ish mile ride, and still sporting a swollen knee. The cramps in my left leg started right before mile 1. I surmised this was happening because the leg did most of the work on the bike. But I could have been imagining it. So the run became "run only as far and as fast as you can without cramping". By about mile 7 or so things seemed to have stabilized and I wound up running more and only walking when I went through aid stations.

I must say, I've never done a race quite like that either in distance, format, or in the number of minor challenges I experienced. But I can say, I did have a good time even with all of the stuff that was going on. I was never in any physical distress that was unbearable. And I found really like triathlons no matter what place on the course I find myself in. I got the long day I needed and now know a pace I can sustain for quite a while even on a bum leg or with a broken bike cleat. I'd say that's information worth having, especially if you can enjoy yourself while you gather it. Train well.

Long Horn 70.3 Race Report Prequel

2009-10-26T00:18:00.005-05:00

I did this today. I'll write more about my race and post pics tomorrow. Right now I just want to say, the best part of the race for me was the swim. If you know me, then you'll understand exactly the kind of day I had and why I "Almost" called it a day right after getting out of the water. I do want to thank the race organizers and all the volunteers, the course and the support was amazing. Well done. Now I need some sleep.

Book Review: The Thrive Diet

2009-10-18T09:40:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I read The Thrive Diet by Brendan Brazier. It took me all of 3 hours. Not to say I read fast. The time spent reading just flew by because so much of what the book talks about, I've believed for some time. I just wasn't implementing it all. So for the last 2 weeks I've been applying what I learned from the book and implementing what I already knew and have to say I'm hooked. At first I only committed to eat this way until after IMAZ. But as I write this blog I realize I'm probably going to eat this way from now on. Bottom line is not only do I feel better, but my training has gotten better as well.

The book in a nutshell is Brazier's contribution to the nutrition side of training, racing and recovery. Normally when I read books about nutrition, especially about training related nutrition, I come away more than a little disappointed. Having been a vegetarian for more than 20 years, I get a little disturbed with what I consider largely as misinformation about athletes choosing a completely vegetable based diet. Unfortunately, it is its vegetable based nature that is probably why Brazier's book isn't discussed and considered as a serious option for optimal eating, training, and racing more.

Brazier takes time to explain that eating in the majority of North American culture is not for function but other emotional and social reasons. This is why the typical diet is one of excess in quantity and lacking in actual nutrition. He points out that eating less is an option when the body has the proper nutrition to fuel its activity and recovery. Brazier explains a lower caloric intake is actually beneficial to an endurance athlete in particular because when higher nutrient sources are used in easily digestible forms, the body has more energy available for recovery and performance. It is his opinion that it is because of improper nutrition that people find themselves craving things like sugar and fat in excess which then throws the body out of balance. Over time the accumulated stresses of training and racing loads along with suboptimal eating patterns combine to set up a vicious cycle of poor eating, impaired or interrupted training and recovery, and a lower overall quality of life that many simply call burn out. Prolonged, the state of imbalance caused by faulty eating and the resultant stresses sets up a cycle leading to illness, premature aging and increased body fat. The accumulated stresses Brazier links to poor eating become more and more noticeable to the athlete as they begin limit the ability to train consistently and recover adequately. Though personally I find his tendency to lump the myriad of consequences of poor eating under the singular umbrella he refers to as "stress," I found his knowledge on the subject of nutrition and its effects on health and athletic recovery very sound.

Essentially Brazier looks at food as fuel, some fuels burning cleaner and more efficiently in the body than others and thus take less energy to digest fully while creating less waste, or in Braziers language, stress in the body. He is careful to state that training and racing are also forms of stress placed on the body noting that some stresses are beneficial for growth and development. What Brazier attempts to do with the Thrive Diet is to have our food support that growth by taking the wasteful and stressful aspects food can have on our bodies out of the equation of nutrition and performance. This in his words leads to not only a stronger, leaner body capable of racing better, but a person who is healthier and happier overall and more likely to reach and experience their true potential.

While the Thrive Diet in practice is not complex, it is vegan and largely raw, and it does run counter to what most Americans would consider a balanced meal. And overall it is probably lower in calories. But after following just a couple of the guidelines in the diet closely for the last couple of weeks a few things stand out.

The cover of Brazier's book claims by following this way of eating you will be leaner (have a lower body fat percentage), while increasing lean muscle mass, sleep more restfully, experience increased energy, and have a stronger immune system. From my experience over the last few weeks, I can honestly say Brazier's claims have all been on the mark. I have lost about 5 pounds and definitely look more muscular. But what is most amazing to me has been the recovery time I've seen. Workouts that would have left me using the railing in my house to get up and down the stairs for about 24 hours because my legs were so trashed are now a thing of the past. I am also getting by on far less sleep and still feeling rested. Daily runs are also looking more and more possible which would be a huge boost to my future overall fitness I'm sure. And all I'm doing is adhering more strongly to the notion that the more nutrients in my diet the better. I'm drinking several glasses of organic fruit and vegetable juice a day along with a protein smoothie. I have also lowered the consumption of Soy where possible. I have found I need to be more conscious of the quality and amount of beneficial fat in my diet and I'm looking into sources to include this. But to say I've seen a dramatic transformation in just 3 weeks would be an understatement. If you are serious about your triathlon performance, and just the overall quality of you experience of your life in general, I highly suggest you give Thrive a look.

My Week So Far

2009-10-14T21:07:00.003-05:00

So I'm back on the bike and running more, with a few swims thrown in for good measure. Monday was a 90 minute run followed by a 1 hour bike and a 30 min drill swim. The swim was more for recovery and to cool off while loosening up. In the midst of these workouts was a yoga class. Tuesday was another yoga class followed by 2 hour tempo ride at race pace.

I'm starting to see some gains in strength on the bike. Its about time. I can't tell you wattage because I don't ride with electronics except a HR monitor (though I am thinking about getting a Garmin for next season) but I do know I am pushing bigger gears without blowing up and my average time on the loop has been steadily going down at the same HR/effort. As a disclaimer, I do use wattage during workouts on the trainer with the Tacx but I don't know how reliable that is. The way I see it is if the numbers go up as I get better, that's all that matters really.

Anyway, today was a 60 minute run @ 8:00 per mile pace followed by a 90 minute recovery ride (HR ceiling of 135). Tomorrow is the beginning of the week's swim focused work with a 4k workout followed by a 60 minute recovery run. Let's see how that goes.

Ironman World Championships - You can watch it live here

2009-10-10T10:16:00.003-05:00

Universal Sports Rocks!

Some Things Are Getting Back On Track

2009-09-30T16:18:00.002-05:00

And some other things aren't. So first up is my tri bike. You know, I've always thought my guardian angel pulled double shifts or something but now I'm certain of it. Basically, because of rain, shifting personal commitments, and a general aversion to my tri bike these last couple of weeks, I stayed off the bike. Good thing too. Apparently, the fork the tri shop loaned me hadn't been put on properly (it was missing a part which could have caused yet another accident). I'd take my guardian angel out for a drink but I need her alert and on her toes it would seem. A heart felt "thank you", will have to do.

My training this week has been good. Almost inspiring. I'm feeling like something has shifted in the water and I'm getting in touch with my power points there. I probably haven't talked about "power points" all that much in my prior posts. And not the program that sucks the life out of any meeting in corporate America (at least in my opinion it does). No, I'm talking about those points in physical movement that have the most potential to propel you forward with the greatest amount of speed and the least amount of effort.

I began thinking about "power points" a couple of years ago when I was riding after recovering from a pulled hamstring. Because of the injury and my desire to restore base fitness, I opted to ride VERY slowly. Rides of 2-3 hours on a looped course with a heart rate maximum of 130. Typically on these rides my average heart rate was about 120 cresting 128 only on the loop's sole hill. But by riding that slowly for sooooo long, I became aware of points in my pedal stroke where even with a low heart rate ceiling, I was able to generate more speed without incurring a perceptible physical cost. So now I spend a great deal of time maximizing my use of these "points" in my pedal stroke on each ride.

At any rate, I began to wonder if I could find similar power points in my running and swimming. Running was pretty easy to find but swimming had proven elusive. Then I began to swim more and more with fist gloves and slow down my stroke cycle to focus on where and how to apply force to the water. That's when I found it (or them). So now with the same perceived effort in the water I've lopped about 50 seconds off my 1000m swim time.

I'm also seeing some really promising results from doing some fine tuning of my diet. My recovery from hard/long workouts has been shorter and I have more energy throughout the day. Huge, huge, huge. I'll write more about this soon.

At any rate today was a fairly good one training wise starting with a 90 minute tempo run at 8:00 pace with an average HR of 150. I didn't feel all that hot when I started out and wasn't sure I'd run that long or maintain that pace but toward the end I started using some of the techniques I've learned from practicing yoga and ran more from my core than my legs.

After soaking my legs in Barton Springs for 15 minutes and a smoothie, I was out on the tri bike for a 2:00 hour tempo ride. This was also comfortable. I got to try my new racing wheels out and maintained a pace of 20mph with a heart rate average of 145.

Tomorrow, I'll swim and do some yoga. Its a recovery day!

Murphy's Law

2009-09-08T20:39:00.007-05:00

Some things appear to be harder to move away from than others. And one would have to wonder what the deeper message is. So, first we'll go with the positives. Yesterday was Labor Day and I was supposed to be racing but my procrastination may have saved me some serious pain. Fortunately it turns out the race filled up before I could sign up for it so instead of having this happen during the bike leg of an olympic distance triathlon, I was about 20 minutes from home at an empty intersection waiting on a light to change.

Honestly, I'm not really sure what I should feel at this point other than thankful. And basically the pictures say everything that needs to be said -- except for the fact that I have an awesome friend in Gioconda who says she still wants to ride with me after having to take a cab back from my first bike malfunction a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately this time the only damage done this morning was her ride got cut short. The first time she missed teaching a yoga class (if you are in Austin and want to give yoga a try, I highly recommend Gioconda especially if you ride a bike). I think I'm going to take a couple of days off and ponder a few things while I get my bikes fixed and my head back in order.

If you missed the other malfunctions I've experienced here is a visual list for you.

The tri bike.

The busted derailluer clamp on the road bike

The busted racing goggles

The rusted brake cable from the tri bike

The busted fistglove

What We Have Here...

2009-08-30T12:35:00.003-05:00

Is yet another equipment failure. If you saw my last post, you'll know what I'm talking about. This time out, it was my front derailleur clamp that broke. And I was fortunate. 1) I was watching this happen so I stopped pedaling before doing even more damage, and 2) I had stopped pedaling so I didn't lose control of the bike when the chain seized.

And I suppose I can count myself lucky that I was on my road bike at the time and this was a recovery week so the ride was only supposed to be 2 hours (it wound up being 1:15).

The repairs will probably take about 2 weeks because the hanger is probably still under warranty. But we have to ship it to them so they can look at it before sending out a replacement. I don't know why we can't just send photos? This is 2009. But whatever.

So for the rest of the week it has been back on my tri bike on the trainer. Not a bad thing really. I'm considering training up to about 80 percent of my weekly milage on the trainer versus on the roads. What this will mean is that I will have more of an opportunity to focus on growing stronger under more controlled conditions.

I've been putting in more work in the pool this week as well and turning my attention to doing long sets for endurance as well as a bit more pace based work in the medium length sets. All in all I'm feeling pretty good with my strength and fitness right now. As for the bike and the other malfunctions, I guess its just all part of the process.

And Sometimes Things Go Wrong

2009-08-19T07:19:00.004-05:00

I find it amazing how committed to training you can get when there is an Ironman staring you in the face. Images of athletes reduced to crawling to the finish come to mind quite easily. Once I rode with a woman training for her first Ironman who said her only goal was to "Finish upright and unassisted." I like that goal. It is succinct and to the point. So as I've realized my first Ironman is around the corner, I've come to terms with a day long event filled with some suffering. What I haven't come to terms with is the idea of crawling to the finish so, I've been more focused on my training than ever.

As I've become more diligent and showed up for my key workouts, I've been more aware of the need to plan ahead in case of some sort of "gotcha." When I did tech support for my friends' computers as I quoted them a price for the work, I always gave them this disclaimer, "This is how much it will be to fix your computer as long as there isn't a 'gotcha' -- and there is always a 'gotcha'."

I'm going to have to keep this in mind as I get closer and closer to my race. The picture above shows just a couple of things I've had to deal with in the last few weeks. All equipment failures. First is the broken pair of googles. This happened 2/3 of the way through the main set on my key swim workout during the week. The interesting thing is these goggles are brand new. They are my racing goggles. So before this swim I'd only worn them twice, in the two races I've done this year. Ironically my training goggles are 3 years old and I had just ordered their replacements. I was only swimming in the racing goggles in the interim until my new pair arrived. I guess I should consider myself fortunate because if I hadn't used them, the next time I had them on would have been an olympic distance tri in the middle of a lake.

Behind the swim goggles, is the former rear brake cable for my tri bike. It is totally rusted. So the story here is I was getting ready to go to do a practice ride with some new equipment I had just bought the day before a time trial. Took the bike out to the Veloway, got it set up and "look ma, no brakes..." That weekend I was racing. Fortunately, I was able to get ALL the cables on the bike replaced because they were all rusted through. Oh yeah and had to get new cable housing too. Apparently according to my mechanic, the cabling was cheap and had oxidized because of the humidity. He was surprised that my bike had been built with it. As was I. But again, I was saved from racing without brakes or faulty goggles because of some seemingly random decision.

The last item is a Fistglove. I use this to further isolate the hand from the nervous system while swimming to learn the proper use of the rest of the arm. It broke in the beginning of the workout. Not a big deal, I just took it off and swam with my fists the rest of the practice. But given everything else, it was just one more thing to go wrong and, with the wrong mindset, could have wound up being an excuse not to train. And that's the point of this post I suppose. We all have things get in the way of our training. Sometimes they are show stoppers and other times they are just merely tests of our resolve. Doesn't matter in the end I suppose as long as you have a clearly stated goal and keep moving for it. Mine is to finish my first Ironman "Upright and unassisted."

P90X And Triathlon

2009-08-15T10:39:00.005-05:00

I get a large number of visits on this blog daily because of my experiences with the P90X work out program. And a few of these are from triathletes who are considering whether or not the program can help them with reach their multisport goals. I've tried to be as detailed as possible about my take on P90X and its benefits. For someone who doesn't have a lot of time and wants a strength program that is varied and well structured, I'd say it is well worth the investment of about $130 to $300 to assemble all the necessary equipment. If you want to know what I think about P90X then read the weekly posts. Sure you can look at the end result, but that won't give you the information you need about what it was like trying to do the program and maintain some semblance of triathlon specific work. That, in a nutshell, was hard. Very hard.

But here's the thing. What I found doing P90X, and I'd wager you'd find this doing any coherent, focused functional strength program, is my endurance increased along with my strength. Translation, I was able to work longer, at a faster rate, more efficiently when it was all said and done. Did I look like the folks on TV? Nope. But honestly, I really didn't care about that. What I got from doing P90X for 90 days was a faster return to the level of fitness I enjoyed prior to my 5 year hiatus.

I've had quite a bit of time to consider to effects of P90X on Triathlon training having almost 2 years since I did my first workout pass. First I will say I do believe it is possible to do both P90X and Tri training. I've said that all along. But what I've also said is there are caveats. The main one being the results you are looking for from the program. If those results are more on the appearance side, then I'd definitely tone down the tri specific work until I "looked" the way I wanted.

On the other hand if you wanted to use P90X as a basis for enhancing tri performance, then I think with some modification to the routine it could be done with great success for all distances.

Why do I say this? I say this because many athletes tend to overlook the importance of basic strength in triathlon and focus an overly large amount of time on endurance. And when I speak of strength I'm talking about a concept beyond lifting weights in the gym a couple of hours a week in the midst of swimming, biking and running throughout the week. When I speak of strength, I'm speaking about things like range of motion, connective tissue, power, balance, coordination, muscular access, and muscular endurance.

The more I consider the way time is or can be spent preparing for Triathlon of any distance, the more I feel that each of the three sports are techniques to be learned and mastered, and the results you see on race day are from the successful integration and application of full bodied strength and technique work. P90X can certainly assist in creating that. You simply need to know when, where, and how to apply it in the scheme of your other tri specific training.

When It Rains... We Still Train!

2009-08-11T18:47:00.004-05:00

Actually, it has been raining a bit more lately in Austin giving us a welcome break from the seasonally early and hot weather. I for one am quite thankful for this. Rain doesn't really affect my training much. I ride or run indoors and use the time for either more specificity in my workouts or get my testing done to actually "plan" my workouts. A win, win really.

This week I got to the track to get some testing done so I could try to dial in my running a bit more. For the most part all of my running so far this year has been unstructured. Some of this was by design, some of it wasn't. At any rate I went to the track. The thing about going to the track was I thought I was getting faster. How I felt in my last race pointed to this but courses and conditions can easily change. The only way to really know how fast you are running in my opinion is to go to the track. That's what they are made for. And that's probably why I hadn't stepped on one in over a year. But I digress.

The workout was simple. Warm up with some plyometric work, then get things going with 8 400 meter intervals. Next would be the 1 mile time trial that I would be basing my steady state work on for the next block of training. This would be capped off with a 1.5 mile run to a flight of stairs. At the stairs there would be 15 min solid of stair running followed by a 1.5 mile "jog" back to the track for a 1 mile barefoot cooldown. The whole workout was slated for about an hour and 30 minutes. I clocked in at about 1:27 (1 hour 27 min).

The intervals went well and looked like this:

1:21 HR 156

1:21 HR 158

1:23 HR 160

1:19 HR 162

1:17 HR 164

1:16 HR 166

The mile TT was done in 6:22.9 with splits of:

1:35 HR 155

1:36 HR 160

1:36 HR 163

1:35 HR 163

For some reason (basically my endurance sucks) I've always found intervals much easier than steady state work. But that's why we train weaknesses. And why I’m going to work on this now. But I also find this type of work gives me a more fine tuned sense of pace which helps when it comes to measuring out efforts for longer distances. What I will do is take the time of 6:23 and add 1:15 to it and this will be my threshold for steady state track work for the next 3 weeks until my next test. Each mile of the workout will be done at between 7:28 to 7:30 pace per mile. This means each lap on the track will be done at about 1:52 per 403m. My goal here isn’t to get “faster”. It is to build endurance for longer events maintaining an even, efficient pace. I’ll start out with 3miles and work up from there eventually getting up to 10 miles on the track or 40 laps. I’ll know I’m doing what I’ve planned when each 400m lap is almost identical. And that is both the beauty and the challenge in this type of work but over time my body should run this pace no matter what and for as long as necessary if properly fueled.

Race Report - August 2, 2009

2009-08-02T16:42:00.005-05:00

This weekend I did Jack's Generic Triathlon in Austin, Tx. This is one of the best small venue races I can think of. Okay, so technically you will probably hear tell about the swim that takes place in a "pond" about the size of someone's backyard. But aside from that, personally I feel Jack's does all of the little things right. There are a gazillion volunteers who all know what's going on and are ready to help. The food and drink post race are abundant. The course is well marked and everything starts on time. I've done this race twice and it ranks up there as one of my all time favorites.

So about my race. Well, first off I feel much better writing this race report than the last one. But I suppose any race result would have been better than what happened my last time out. If you haven't read about it and want to see a post about my worst race experience ever, look here.

Ironically, I wasn't sure race morning I would participate. I had spent most of my time between the last race and this one trying to figure out what went wrong on my first outing. To be honest, I got a lot of theories about what could have happened but nothing concrete. So I was left with a huge sense of uncertainty about my training methods, my body, and at some points my decision to race again in the first place. Also leading up to this race I didn't feel I had put in adequate training between seeking an array of medical opinions, to just feeling off, and meeting work and social obligations. Add to this my fear of a repeat episode in the water where there would be nausea, dizziness, and sudden unexplained muscle fatigue, you can understand why I was not overly anxious to race.

In a way this was just like starting something for the first time again. I had to just put one foot in front of the other, get out of the house and see what happened. Because I didn't know what to expect in the water, I babied the swim, and sighted minimally, rounding the course by feel. About half way through, I knew I was okay and was able to relax. One positive sign was I was never concerned about where aid was in the water. As I said in the beginning, if there is a knock on this race, it has to be the "pond" it takes place in. Because the water area is so small and there are ski ramps in it that funnel swimmers together on the long straight sections, unless you are a very, very fast swimmer, you really never find clear water. Basically swimming in this pond feels like one big swimmer's mosh pit. Aside from that, though my swim was slow it went well and I was comfortable the entire time.

Once on the bike, I got up the first climb right out of transition and then settled in. This section of the bike is mostly flat or downhill and seemed wind aided. Again because my swim was not stellar, I had the enjoyable sensation of passing people the entire ride. My pace, I felt was good but not blistering and I could tell this was because I hadn't been riding as consistently since my last outing. Though overall I felt better on the bike than I had a few weeks earlier, I didn't have the leg turnover I like and I found myself easing up a bit on the climbs. I will note, after the first 1/4 of the course, the going got much more difficult. There are several good long gradual ascents and the wind was either a headwind or frontal crosswind the rest of the way. So not your standard "flatish" timetrial bike.

With about 2 miles to go, my bladder started to complain. Depending on how you look at signals like that you can either be happy you got the urge before the run, or you can wish you got the urge about half way through the run to help you push a little toward the finish. Unfortunately for me I got mine on the bike and it was a strong one. I don't like to run uncomfortably for long periods of time because it is distracting so, I transitioned and headed out onto the run course which fortunately passed right in front of the Porta Potties, I ducked in and took care of things and ducked out. So here's the thing. That quick stop, somewhere between 30 and 45 seconds by my estimate slowed my run time average by 10 to 15 seconds per mile. I'd never thought of it that way until I was calculating it out on the run in my head. But at least now I was comfortable. Surprisingly it felt really good on the run, I wasn't pushing things but I knew my pace was solid because it felt good and I caught and passed quite a few guys in my age group. The run course at Jack's Generic is a straight out and back affair. The going out being a bit tougher due to the gradual climb for a mile and a half. Coming back of course is a bit easier so my goal was to keep it steady going out and open my stride a bit coming back in. This seemed to work well and my legs didn't feel bad at all and my heart rate stayed low (relatively speaking) going out and coming back. I think the highest I saw it was 160, the average was 154. This was probably the best feedback I think I've gotten this year because that's the lowest heart rate I've ever had in any race. My pace, adjusted for the pit stop wound up being about a 7:30 mile. Last year on the same course I ran an 8:00 mile pace with an average HR of 172. So this was progress. I crossed the finish line feeling as though I put in a solid effort but like I could have kept going like that all day. I'm happy with that because the day is coming soon when I'll have to be able to keep that up all day.

I wound up finishing 9th in my AG which had almost 60 guys in it. This was an improvement from last year where I finished 13 in the AG out of about 35 guys. So I'll take that.

Getting Back To Normal

2009-07-22T21:59:00.003-05:00

Wherever that is...

At any rate I started this week the way I like to start all my training weeks and that is with functional strength work.

Lately I've been reading Chuckie V's blog and actively trying to incorporate some of his ideas where I can. Sadly strength work is not one of the things I used (took, borrowed, stole). But to be fair, and I'm perfectly happy to admit this, the posts I've seen where he talks about strength training for triathletes say I'm not old enough to worry about it yet. I can live with that.

But that did start me thinking more and more about the different ideas people can have about strength; how to develop it and how to apply it properly. As a committed experiment of one, the best thing I have to add is that I feel endurance athletes need to rethink the entire concept of strength training altogether. I will acknowledge, lately I've been seeing more and more people expand their definition and experience of strength work by using programs like CrossFit, P90x, pilates, or Boot Camp style workouts to get more from their bodies. I honestly believe this is a good thing as we move from the traditional "bodybuilding centric" paradigm and begin to incorporate more functional bodyweight and balance movements into the mix.

And that's why I left the yoga and functional strength work in my schedule after reading ideas from Chuckie V, Gordo and a few others. I think I've settled on a pattern of work and recovery that takes advantage of the available free time in my schedule and allows from some quality work on the days that I am working my normal job. The reason I've taken the time to sit down and do this (again) is I felt I still wasn't making the most of my time. Even though I've seen some real gains in my training, my body composition continues to improve and move more into the lean muscle side of things, I was still struggling to fit in key workouts in each sport. Some of this can be rectified by using a single word much more often, "No," if you were wondering.

So this weeks work so far was something like this. Monday 1 hour of functional strength work: about 150 pushups, 50 pullups, 30 single leg squats per leg, 20 min of jump rope, 10 min running stairs and 15 min of core burning work(I'm still on fire, moving from sitting to standing is difficult). There was also a 30 min easy run. Tuesday was 2 hours cycling and 1 hour swim with Tabata intervals in each workout thrown in for good measure. Wednesday was 1:30 cycling and trips to get rolfed and some acupuncture. I decided to do some housekeeping and post this blog otherwise there would have been a swim as well. Like I said the schedule is a work in progress. As am I.

Race Report - July 12 2009

2009-07-13T09:45:00.005-05:00

This isn't a blog I'm looking forward to writing. It isn't easy facing up to expectations and goals after a lot of hard effort and you miss the mark so completely.

In the grand scheme of things 10 minutes (this is about how far off I was from my projected time based on my training coming into the race) really isn't a large chunk of time. It is about as long as it takes to run into a tri store and pick up a couple of GUs and some lace locks.

This weekend I was in the Iron Brother's Super Sprint Tri in Grand Prairie. Because my season will go into late November this year I started my racing later so, this was my first race of 2009. The race is short which means I can train normally and get a feel for some of the new equipment and bike adjustments I've made since last year.

The picture here to the left is probably the best moment I had the entire morning. From the time I got into the water and started swimming, I just felt off. Things were manageable until I rounded the first buoy but shortly after that is when things just went from feeling off to being dizzy and nauseous. I had no idea what was going on. And I really began to struggle. Not to the point of panic mind you, but I was incredibly uncomfortable. Needless to say a simple 400 meter swim became a test of patience and survival. And given the way I was feeling I was pretty sure, I was done for the day once I reached the boat ramp.

So, after some backstroke, breaststroke, and a chat with one of the guys in a canoe as I treaded water who informed me the water temp was almost 90 degrees (probably not the cause of the nausea, but certainly not helping my situation any) I finally emerged from the water dizzy, probably overheated, but in one piece. Oh yeah, max heart rate in the swim, 211 (This is not a typo).

I took my time getting to the bike. In the transition area as I cooled off a little, I took the attitude of "Let's just see how this goes..." How it went was I suffered. I've been working on my cycling a lot in the off season and this was one area where I really wanted to see some improvement. But I still felt like crap so I settled into a gear and a cadence I could stand and just went at it. The good thing about a crappy swim is you spend all of your time on the bike passing people. This can make you feel a little better even if you still want to puke.

After the turn around, things got a little tougher because the slight cross wind became more of a frontal assault. But I was happy with my effort. A glance at my heart rate monitor was encouraging, I was spinning a larger gear than I had the year before and my heart rate was 154. Last year I had an average heart rate on that course of 158 and I was feeling great and it wasn't windy. I wasn't moving fast, but I wasn't floundering like I had in the water.

Coming into transition, I was fully committed to ending my day with the bike ride, but somehow found shoes on my feet and WALKED out of transition. I think I ran about 10 steps before stopping with a cramp under my right arch. "That's it," I thought. "I'm having one of the worst races ever and I'm not about to get injured because of my own stupidity." So I proceeded to walk and would have walked the rest of the run had it not been for a "guardian angel" on the course who ran by me saying "I've been on your feet all race, don't stop now!"

So I started running with her. Her pace wasn't uncomfortable so, for the first time all day I wasn't struggling, though I still was dealing with the nausea. But my foot wasn't cramping and that was a relief. She was having a hard time with her breathing and began to slow so, I slowed down to stay with her and talked to her about focusing on her footsteps instead of her breathing. Each time she slowed, I slowed as well. Finally her husband came and ran with her just before the mile marker and I felt he could run the rest of the way with her.

I think I went through the 1 mile point at about 10:50 given the walking I'd been doing. At this point I decided my legs felt great even though the rest of me didn't and if I kept running like that I'd have to run for longer than I wanted so, I let my legs take over. My second mile was a 6:55.

Given the day I was having and the expectations I had going into the race, I think I would have rather forgotten the whole thing. But one of the reasons I race is to learn things about myself I would otherwise not discover such as how I respond when things aren't going my way. This race was one of those days where I had to come face to face with my expectations and the reality of my capacity at the moment not meeting. I think this is what allows me to improve not only in a sport I love, but also in other areas of my life.

The moment of truth came for me not as I crossed the finish line, but when I started writing this blog and I began to realize some of the experiences I was struggling with from my day actually offered me the very information I sought anyway. As I said, racing for me is a quest for information about who it is I am and what I am capable of even when things don't go as planned. What I learned as I sat down to write was so small as to almost go totally unnoticed. Basically what I wanted to know yesterday was if my training was working. So this is what I found out. I ran a sub 7 min mile. I haven't run one of those in a tri since I started doing them again 2 years ago. And I was sick. I had a bike split that was 5 sec faster than the year before under much more distressing conditions, both internally and externally. And my heart rate average was 5 bps lower than last year... As for the swim, well until the nausea hit I just might have at least equaled last year's time and the water temp that day was no where near 90 degrees. Oh and even with all the nausea, I never did cover the course or any race volunteers with my pre race meal. And for that, I'm so very thankful...

Deconstructing An Injury - My 10 Years With Achilles Tendonitis

2009-06-16T18:32:00.003-05:00

As athletes, there is nothing worse than the stabbing pain of an injury we know deep down when it hits won't be gone the next morning. But when it comes to the Achilles tendon, morning is when the pain is usually at its worst making it difficult to walk. I should know. On and off for almost 10 years I, trained and raced with what I thought and was told were bouts of Achilles tendonitis. For the record it was actually tendonosis, but I didn't understand that until much later.

For the first half of my running life, where I raced 5k's and 10k's almost every weekend, I was never injured from running. If you include the running I did for high school and college basketball, I ran for about 15 years injury free. This all changed when I was 32 when I went into a running store in Dallas and on the advice of their "shoe guru," I switched from the shoes I'd trained and raced in for several years to a more stable and straight lasted trainer. He also got me to switch from the snug fitting size 9.5 I'd always worn to a size 10.5 noting I was destined to lose some toenails if I ever tried to run a 1/2 marathon or longer race. At the time my longest runs were around 12 miles. From the entries in some old logs, I found it was somewhere between 3 and 4 weeks after switching shoes I felt that first twinge of pain just above the heel.

For the first few years after that I wasn't inconvenienced more than a couple of weeks out of the year. I'd feel the pain in my right Achilles tendon, stop running for about 3 or 4 days then go back to my routine. This all changed when I started training for triathlons. My actual running frequency decreased from 5 days per week to 3 or 4 days but the time I spent working out overall with the addition of two other sports went up. When this happened the frequency and duration of the pain went up as well.

By 2002, which was the last year I raced triathlons before taking a 5-year break, I was reduced to running twice per week with pain in both tendons. During racing season I normally did one speed session and one distance session. The pain was manageable and my racing didn't suffer too much as long as I kept the distance below 10 miles. But by the end of the racing season I spent about a month rehabilitating for the next year. My rehab typically involved rest, ice, therapeutic magnets, and acupuncture.

I found some limited relief in the earlier years I struggled with this injury using primarily ice and rest. But as time passed, I found ice became less and less effective. This is when I turned to acupuncture and magnets. As I found icing less and less helpful, I also started to do more research and learned the difference between tendonitis and tendonosis. I believe the reason icing can be a less effective protocol is where the distinction between tendonitis and tendonosis comes in. Tendonitis is marked by the presence of inflammation. Where there is inflammation, icing can be very helpful. But in the case of tendonosis, there is tissue degeneration taking place. In this case icing may only be beneficial in longer and longer durations (multiple hours versus a few minutes). Probably because the area becomes so cold the body naturally responds by sending more blood to the area to warm things back up. And increasing blood flow to the affected area is necessary for healing to occur. Possibly this is why super long icing durations may work better than shorter ones. But because inflammation isn't present and hours long ice baths can present both time and logistical challenges to busy people, I have used something as simple as aiming a strong jet in a hot tub at the affected area. Other options are to get regular cross frictions or to attach spot magnets to the tendon during sleep.

As time went on and I tried more of the treatments I found out about, I realized I was only treating the symptoms and not addressing the cause. I didn't stop racing or running during my 5 year hiatus because of Achilles problems. I had other life and health issues that led to the decision. It was in dealing with my overall health at this juncture in my life that I came to look at injuries and illness more fully with regard to the role they play in life. In a nutshell from my experiences I began to look at injuries and illnesses not as obstacles or setbacks placed in my way by a body that was not cooperating with my goals, but as my body's way of communicating to me what was truly necessary to maintain optimal health and well being. I discovered my body had a language of its own, complete with its own intelligence, and if I could learn to understand it and listen to the knowledge it conveyed I'd be the better for it.

Again, from looking at past logs, I became aware of some patterns. One was I could run as much as I wanted in the winter without pain. This was long or short, fast or slow. So, neither distance nor speed seemed a problem. I also noticed my more severe flair ups tended to come in mid July and give me trouble through October, clearing up by November. This information led me to two conclusions. One was that my hydration was deficient during the summer and that my diet was also off not providing high quality essential nutrients. In short, during the summer I ate like crap and I wasn't drinking enough water. From this perspective I became aware that when I was placing the highest demands on my body was the exact point I was paying the least attention to how I fueled and hydrated.

The hydration piece was simple to correct. Drink more clean water. Not sports drinks, but water (sports drinks have their place in training, but nothing can replace the cleansing properties of clean water). I’ve learned to pay particular attention to my water intake during the summer when I was naturally going to be more challenged to hydrate properly because of heat and increased training loads. Diet wasn't as obvious, but I made some basic assumptions just by thinking about the same challenges that were making hydration difficult. The first thing I began to notice was as my training and racing increased during the summer months the quality of my food actually started to go down. Both the increase in training and the travel associated with racing often made it harder for me to source, prepare, and eat high quality nutrient dense meals. Added to the issue of diminishing food quality was the natural occurrence of my food quantity increasing due to the greater caloric requirements necessary to support my increased activity and intensity during the season.

After I looked at the general quality of my diet (basically where I was getting my food from and what it generally consisted of) I decided to get some help in finding out whether or not I had any food sensitivities or allergies. After a couple of tests, I found I was indeed eating some things that I was either sensitive or allergic to. I took this step as a precaution after cleaning up my diet and moving it to more nutrient dense foods because even after I stopped racing, I found I still struggled with my Achilles tendons. Basically during the time I wasn’t racing, when I wasn't running at all, I was still dealing with Achilles tendon pain in both legs as bad or worse than when I was running actively.

As I said, the Achilles injury most runners face is of a degenerative nature. What this means is their tissue is somehow degrading. During exercise we basically damage our muscle tissue to a small degree, but the process of adaptation to our training stimuli repairs this damage and we come back stronger than we were previously. With the Achilles tendon this was not happening. Some of this can be attributed to the lower blood flow in the region. But for the condition to get chronic it has to be more than that or the other rehabilitative protocols would work more effectively and provide a long lasting benefit. Apparently in chronic cases the accumulated damage from training somehow goes unchecked and grows into a long-term injury.

I did some research and found that people with digestive problems or who had food allergies and or sensitivities often had higher incidences of Achilles tendon issues. This could have something to do with the body's nutrient balance, toxicity level, and/or its alkalinity. One or all of these things together could hinder the body’s overall ability to repair itself. The quality of rest may also come into play as well. When I started racing again, I began to monitor my intake of certain foods and increased the level of leafy green veggies in my diet dramatically. Based on the testing I had done, I now avoid foods that are members of the nightshade family such as eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes and I limit my intake of vinegar and alcohol, which also seems to help. But your trigger foods, if you have them, may differ. Since I began to pay particular attention to my food intake (actively addressing things such as body alkalinity, food sensitivity, proper hydration) and aggressively guarding my sleep time, I have been able to run pain free.

The last issue to address was the fit and type of shoes I was running in. Over the years, I had sized my shoes up to allow for extra room in the toe box. Because of this my shoes then stopped fitting well in the heel. I've discovered for me, a snug fitting heel is an essential component to keeping my Achilles problems at bay. I also noticed from years of selling running shoes myself that people who trained and raced in flats or the most minimal shoes tended to be injured less. This is why in addition to sizing my shoes back down to the size 9.5 I originally ran in, I started using only racing flats or the most flexible lightweight trainers for my training and racing. To prepare for the switch to wearing these types of shoes exclusively, I spent a great deal of time walking, up to 10 miles several times a week, to strengthen my feet and lower legs. I also incorporated standing and balance poses from yoga to speed up the process and aid in recovery. It is my personal belief the reason people who trained and raced in flats weren't injured was because they had developed stronger feet and lower legs -- not because they were gifted.

In the end I think finding the proper nutrient balance, amount of rest, and hydration protocol may yield more long term benefits simply because there would be less chance of one or all of them inhibiting your body's normal healing response to training and thus less chance of becoming injured in the first place. However once an injury occurs, paying close attention to these things and addressing them can speed recovery. Then all that is left to deal with are any structural (muscular or skeletal) imbalances and any equipment fit issues that may have also contributed to the injury.

Tuesday

2009-06-09T22:40:00.002-05:00

Its all just training now. That's really the only thing that's been going on. That and work. I'm taking the strength I've spent the last year building and applying it. Longer runs over varied terrain. (Read hilly). Power based cycling. And longer swims with intervals. Today was boot camp and a power/steady state focused cycling workout. Boot camp was doable but the cycling was pure hell. Made to the end of the workout, but barely. Just one more week and I can think "recovery."

Long Long Days

2009-06-02T21:44:00.002-05:00

So to say I'm tired is an understatement. Between work and consistent training I'm pooped. Yesterday was a Power Interval focused ride on the trainer. Today was a technique focused swim. Tomorrow is back on the bike and perhaps a run if I can get some sleep tonight. I'm happy with the results I'm seeing so far. I could become a huge fan of strength training if it didn't hurt so dang much. Oh well, did I mention I'm working some insane hours for the next week. 11 days in a row. 12 hours days. I hate my job is all I'll say at this point. So if I bail on one of the workouts tomorrow, you'll understand. Right? So much for my stream of conscious attempt at blog post. I'm off to bed. Peace!

Wednesday and Tuesday, Whew! Is It Sunday Yet?

2009-05-21T04:19:00.002-05:00

So, here it is in a nutshell. Some really good training sessions. I'm seeing some gains on the bike. Running is still an issue, but not sure what to do. Not running is not helping. And running isn't making things worse and pain is, well, here and there. Literally. So what does that mean? As far as running goes, I ran back to back days Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday's 45 minute run was flat and at an average HR of 135. So it was easy and I talked the entire run. That was followed up by a 3 hour bike ride. Average HR was 124. Going out was a breeze. Coming home into the wind, well that was a little more taxing. HR hit 130, I think. I also managed a 20 minute time trial in the middle of the ride for good measure. Great day to be out on the bike. Truly it was.

So Wednesday began with boot camp where I focused on legs, plyo, and some yogic style core work. Then came the 2 hour nap, followed up with an appointment to see the acupuncturist. The day ended with a very hilly 1 hour run where I found out just how strong my legs were.

Did I mention there were 1 arm pullups this week? Yep. Somewhere along the way I figured out I can do one arm pullups... Sweet!

Tuesday

2009-05-12T21:33:00.003-05:00

Well it was hot. About 88 degrees, though it felt like 90. But I got in a 45 min run which was quite hilly. I think for the first 20 or so minutes I was really suffering. I'm not quite sure why but I really wasn't enjoying what I was doing at all. But this was definitely one of those days that running with someone helped a lot. I was able to focus more on our conversation which thankfully was less about the heat and the hills and more about things we had experienced in college. The fun stuff primarily. But at some point after the last "insanely" steep climb I started feeling much better.

Earlier today I did my normal yoga class at Dharma with Sanieh. This class was all fire and strength and I really needed a nap after it was done. Apparently I needed a 2 hour nap. That's why the morning run I planned didn't happen. And it is also why I skipped the bike ride too. I wonder if the intensity of the yoga class didn't have something to do with how I felt on the afternoon run. The class was really strength based which probably challenged my muscles more than I needed. Also I was very thirsty from the time we started. And I was conscious of my hydration both today and yesterday, but I think the intensity of the yoga class may have compromised my hydration too. Oh well I'll have to look into that. Tomorrow I'll focus on the bike and get in a swim. I think I've done enough for today.

Monday

2009-05-11T22:41:00.002-05:00

No Miles today. Just Boot camp with a kick butt pushup/pullup and accessible core workout for 60 minutes. With a bit of jump rope and stairs for good measure. I'm feeling stronger and more confident. I topped the day of with yoga. Tomorrow is looking like a 2 run 1 bike sort of day. We'll see how that goes with a yoga class thrown in for good measure...

And The Right Running Shoe For Me Is?

2009-04-25T13:56:00.004-05:00

Probably the ones I was born with.

For the most part running is easy. I know some of you may feel otherwise but go with me for a moment here. Lately I've been online looking for some new running shoes. As I looked at various shoes, checking tread, last shape and the position of flex grooves, it occurred to me why I was so comfortable picking a shoe without having tried it on. I also realized I am in a unique position to comment on the subject of picking a shoe because for almost 9 years I worked selling running shoes at RunTex here in Austin, Texas. During that time I got to observe a lot of feet, shoes, and people running.

By nature I've always been an observant person and typically I've been known to notice things that others might not. As I was looking at shoes online, something that had occurred to me during my time at the store came back to me. While I worked at the store after dealing with perhaps thousands of runners of all ages and abilities, a certain pattern emerged. Over time I started noticing the runners who ran only in racing flats, or the most minimal shoes for all of their runs, be they long or short, fast or slow, were typically the runners who were injured the least. Because of this, even though I probably wasn't consciously aware of it at the time, I did more of my runs during triathlon season in my racing flats as well, only running in trainers during the winter when I tended to run longer and slower.

This past Christmas, I was given a new book on running by Matt Fitgerald, Brain Training for Runners. In it he says,

"...But what is certain is that shoes make most of us run unnaturally..."

Much of what he concludes about running shoes and their effect on running mechanics comes from research he has done in his career as a runner and fitness writer/expert. I came to many of the same conclusions from observations made while working at RunTex and, oddly, by closely following the NBA via fantasy basketball for a number of years. One of the intriguing features of fantasy basketball at the time was the inclusion for many years of the Injured Reserve Listings. Because of this I took note of the steady increase in the number of cases of Plantar Fasciitis suffered by NBA players. While growing up, and playing in elementary school, high school and college, I never came across one athlete with the condition. So I suspect the problem is twofold. One issue is the society's movement toward a more sedentary lifestyle as a whole where walking was less and less common. The other problem is the shoes we wear. Between the endorsements athletes get for wearing a particular shoe versus a shoe that is made specifically to move in the same manner as their feet, and the industry's reliance on more and more shoe "gimmicks" to sell their products, many, many feet have suffered. Even those of highly conditioned athletes.

For a more detailed explanation and description of how deep the rabbit hole goes check out this April 25, 2009 article from the UK, The painful truth about trainers: Are running shoes a waste of money? Also if you haven't seen this article about how humans evolved as runners which was a huge factor in determining our survival as a species check out Born to Run from a 2006 issue of Discover Magazine.

After reading Matt's book, the Discover Magazine article, and the UK article, and incorporating my own observations and experience, my thoughts on selecting my next running shoe boils down to keeping these 5 things in mind as I buy:

1) The shoe should fit snugly. Common wisdom is for a thumbs width at the end due to the swelling of the foot during long distances. The reason typically sighted for this was the loss of toenails. But the length the shoe can be shorter if the height in the toebox is adequate and/or the materials the shoe is made of are selected carefully. The most notable observation on the recommended additional length is that it tends to destroy the integrity between your foot and the shoe. What I mean by this is extra space tends to be the cause of slippage in the heel, improper placement of the arch and thus arch support, and fore foot slippage where the whole foot tends to slide down to the front of the shoe.

2) The shoe should resemble the foot it is going on. There is a place for shoe shaping in this world, but the shapes of the feet and the shoe should resemble one another. If the last (or mold around which the shoe is designed) is straight anatomically then the foot going into it should be as well. That being said what makes a straight foot is not just the absence of an arch but the relationship between the heel and the big toe and the angle of variance. More often running shoes are sold based on what they prevent the foot from "doing" (many times based on a set of assumptions relating to the presence or absence of an arch) and not how the foot actually works. A shoe shaped like the foot it is on is one that is more likely to "move" in conjunction with the foot it is on. This is really what you want.

3) The foot should be considered in relation to the rest of the body in any gait analysis, and by association, so should the shoe. Basically, "the hip bone is connected to the thigh bone and the thigh bone is connected to the.." You get the picture. Your body is a collection of lines and angles and these are all acted upon by the forces movement places on them. It is absurd to think that "pronation" or "supination" are defined by a single articulation of the foot. Nor can they be addressed by a shoe without considering that shoes affect on the body structure as a whole. Nature has given us these marvelously complex yet functional things called feet and unfortunately most of the shoes we wear do not allow them to function as intended. By comparison, even the most technologically advanced shoe is woefully inferior. Think the counting blocks you used in kindergarten versus the computers used to trade securities on the global monetary exchanges or a Cray supercomputer. Try looking shoes that allow your feet to work as they were designed which is in conjunction with the rest of your body and stay away from the ones that promise keep you from doing something.

4) Price does not always follow function. Unfortunately the most expensive shoes are typically the most rigid and the least "foot-like." Basically, the more companies seem to put into a shoe the less it acts like one. Shoes like the top line Nike Shox which can retail for around $115.00 or the Adidas 1 at $250.00 (the one with the microprocessor that is supposed to "think" for you) aren't really designed to work in conjunction with your foot. Look at it this way. Most top end running shoes provide most of their cushioning/technology in the heel in the form of extra cushioning, stabilizer bands, or heel counters. Try this. Run in the shoes you think you want. Then run barefoot. Basically one thing will become pretty clear as soon as you run barefoot. You won't be running heel to toe. You can't. At least you can't for very long. Your foot isn't designed for you to run that way at all. So all the technology most companies put into the heel of their shoes is being wasted. Mostly it just amounts to added weight making the shoe about as useful as a vintage high heel pump (I'm being a bit sarcastic, but you get the idea). So if you can't run the same way in the shoe as you would run barefoot, keep looking until you find a shoe that allows you to.

5) My Tai Chi Sifu said "American shoes make feet stupid." I didn't know what he meant until I had spent a lot of time walking and running barefoot. From the experience I learned the foot is an incredibly complex sensing organ designed to "find" the proper alignment on contact, going from soft and flexible to rigid in stable in an instant. Healthy, intelligent feet always strike neutral from my experience and observation. But by buying into the massive amount of marketing hype and selecting shoes that actually impair our feet's sensing ability, we have effectively blindfolded our feet and tied them behind our "backs." It is no wonder we see so many injured runners. Ironically we are more prone to believe our injuries are the result of our own poor biomechanics or ambitious training and racing goals thanks to effective marketing of shoe companies than the very shoes we are spending all this money on. Instead of throwing money at the problem, we should spend more time cultivating actual foot awareness, strength and intelligence.

Tuesday Is In The Book

2009-04-21T22:13:00.004-05:00

Not much to report here. Had a solid day of training. No classes today so this was all about me. I will say yoga was intense. There aren't many times these days in a yoga class that I "cry uncle" because the intensity is unbearable. But today I was singing it and I just flat out quit more than a few times. It was very humbling. But that is part of learning to listen to your body and know your limits.

The entire class focused on Garudasana or Eagle Pose. As much as I'd like to say there are benefits to this pose for triathletes, I'd have to say any such benefit found in the pose is subtle at best. Eagle pose has you wind your legs like a twisting vine by taking the front thigh over the back leg and hooking your foot around your calf. Then you squat on the standing leg and balance as the arms are entwined in a similar fashion. A couple of poses with this as a focus and my shoulders start to scream. A whole class like this and I'm in some serious pain/distress. And as much as I love yoga, I am a triathlete through and through so, I have no problem watching a class pass me by in order to protect my body by keeping my larger objective in mind.

After yoga I had lunch with some friends, took a nap and then went to ride my bike. Tuesdays are usually a steady state ride focusing on maintaining consistent power. Today's ride lasted for two hours. I am seeing some gains in fitness from this ride since I changed the route to include a gradual climb that lasts from 7 to 9 minutes depending on gearing and the wind. Over the course of the ride I averaged an even 20mph with a max HR of 150 and an average HR of 135.

Monday, Monday, Monday

2009-04-21T04:13:00.003-05:00

So the best thing I can say about Monday is that it finally came and I made it through the weekend without incident. In the last couple of weeks, I took on an additional yoga class and have been consistent in my own training except for running due to the foot issues.

But that changed today. First up was the boot camp I lead. Because I was still recovering a bit and there was a fitness assessment on the schedule for the workout, I only did about 50% of the work. But 50% was plenty.

After the assessment was done, we got down to work. Here's what we did.

Swing Kicks x2 1min each
Pogo Stick x2 30sec each
Running Stairs (2 flights) 5min total
4 x 50m sprints with drill recovery
15 min core work

The fitness assessment included wall squats, bicep curls, pushups, shoulder press, and core work.

After this I ran for 45 min. I still have a bit of pain in my foot but a visit to my Naturopath led to some clarity as to why I still feel the pain even though the bone in my foot is properly positioned now. She and my acupuncturist will be working on this to address the underlying cause of the dislocation. I'll probably write more on that later. Anyway it just feels good to get a clearer understanding of what is going on and have a plan to get it addressed. Not running as much as I'd like is starting to piss me off. But I have to admit my strength gains are probably due to the extra time I've been given because of it. ;)

I ended the day teaching yoga.

3 Seconds And 12 Watts Later

2009-04-17T10:15:00.000-05:00

This week was a test week. I was to get a baseline on all three sports, swimming, cycling and running. But because of my foot and the previously dislocated bone in it (there is still a bit of inflamation, but other than that no real pain to speak of) I skipped the run test and opted to add a 30 second pushup test in its place. Just for kicks. 62 perfect pushups in 30 seconds. Not bad. But there was definitely some pain involved in the exercise. But now that I've done it I think I'll do this test as well when I test again next month. I may see if I can work up to a 60 second pushup test. Who knows? I think the pushup results are encouraging though I must admit at the time I wasn't sure what they would mean for my other test this week.

The swim and bike results were encouraging as well. About 12 watts on the bike up from last year's test in November and 3 seconds per 100m faster in the swim. I think I'm seeing this because of the change in focus in my training. I've decided to devote more of my time working on strength. One reason for this is I didn't have that much to begin with. The other is because I'm not getting any younger.

By focusing on strength and muscular endurance type work to transform my body into one that can handle more work loads in my training, and keeping the triathlon specific work focused on technique, I'm allowing my body the time it needs to become more powerful and proficient at the same time without the accumulated stress of weeks of endurance based training. So first I will adapt myself to the loads, then I will adapt to carrying sports specific loads. One of the things I observed was as I became fitter in my prior racing, I also seemed to become weaker physically. Some of this was probably my scattershot approach to nutrition back then. But some of that was probably also due to the nature of the stresses that come along with racing.

I think the most encouraging thing I am taking away from this week's tests is on the bike I am now able to ride in the big chainring. Last year, I had to acknowledge that I didn't posses the strength or fitness to race effectively using larger gears. Now even though I am lighter, I had no issue with holding a big gear in either my time trial test or the test I conducted on the trainer a few days later. In fact I was riding the majority of the time trial in either a 53x12 or 53x13. No way I could have pulled that off last year.

I think there are a couple of reason that account for the early season progress I'm both seeing and feeling. The largest component has to be rest. I am making a concerted effort to place rest front and center in my training schedule. Basically what this amounts to is in addition to the "no working out sleepy" rule there is now a 9:30pm curfew. I brought this rule back with me from Colorado after I spent some time on my friend's back porch watching the sun and moon rise and set for a few days. It occurred to me that nature operated quite well within the parameters of these movements and I should probably follow her very obvious example in my own life. More than any other single workout, gadget, or supplement I've ever tried this single change by far has had the most immediate and verifiable impact.

I also have to acknowledge the huge benefit I am now enjoying by employing both functional bodyweight training, yoga, and accessible core work into my weekly routine. I owe so much of the power and endurance I have to this I can't begin to express. The thing is I haven't really begun my endurance training yet but because of the workouts I've put together I know I am now starting from a position of strength versus ground zero. I can train harder and recover faster. And I still have a full time job.

Monday AM Boot Camp/PM Yoga

2009-04-06T21:02:00.000-05:00

The day started with Boot Camp and ended with me teaching my Monday Yoga for Athletes class at Professional Cycle Works. I almost didn't make it to the class because of the 50 or so mile drive out to Liberty Hill to see my Chiropractor to have the dislocated bone in my foot worked on in the middle of my day. But the drive was totally worth it. The pain was down to about a 5 -- which is manageable. But I was still leery of running on the foot so I thought it was best to visit him one more time before giving it a try. Good thing I did. Turns out the bone was still a little out of its socket and needed to be put in a touch more. Now I don't really feel pain at all in the foot when using it. Just to be safe, I'm going to wait about a week on the running. And even though I cut it pretty close, I still made it back for yoga.

This morning's boot camp was intense. I focused the class on upper body strength and endurance work. Everything integrated the core. Here is what we did:

1. Standard pushups 30 seconds
2. Standard pullups (with bands or on bar) bands for 1min on bar for 30 seconds
3. Wide pushups 30 seconds
4. Wide grip pullups 1min or 30 seconds
5. Military pushups 30 seconds
6. Chin ups 1min or 30 seconds
7. V pushup 30 seconds
8. Overhand chin ups 30 seconds or 1 min depending on bar or band usage.

Then we did intervals in the parking garage combined with stairs and repeated the above strength workout for good measure. Not too bad for 60 minutes of work.

Yoga was focused on lower leg stability, so there were quite a few lunges and balance poses which we held for a bit. Things are looking up. Can't wait to try and run next week.

Not Much To Say Except...

2009-03-30T20:27:00.003-05:00

So there isn't really much to say. I have a dislocated bone in my foot. I know why I have it. Not because of shoes, or overtraining. I have it because I've been working on detoxing my body and had some structural deep tissue work done at around the same time. Basically, toxins and cause tendons to weaken and in this instance because of gravity and some integration work done on my feet at about the same time, I didn't let everything shake out before going back to my normal routine. So until the bone gets taken care of I won't be running. I had it worked on last week and got it partially back in place, but I still have pain. On a scale of 1 to 10 it is a 9. 10 being I'd want to shoot myself to put myself out of my misery.

But this is giving me time to finally sit down and write out a schedule for my workouts. Minus running of course. The running is on the schedule, I just won't be doing it. Funny how I can find time to put this on paper now. I think what has happened is I have a better handle on my external commitments. Probably because I've moved some things around and let others go completely. Now I'll work on the actual build in volume and intensity. I should have the whole year planned out by Wednesday. Honestly I feel much better knowing what I will be doing each day versus just "winging" it like I have since my work schedule changed in November.

Monday - Strength Work Ace Style

2009-03-24T20:01:00.003-05:00

So yesterday was Boot Camp at Hill Country Fitness. I lead these so, technically I don't have to actually do the workouts. But in an effort to maximize my time I do participate. This makes sure I get some much needed strength work and cross training in without having to go to the gym. ;)

Here's what we did.

1) Start out with 50 Hindu Squats - These are good for loosing up the joints and warming the body up in a hurry while also building endurance.
2) about a 2 min trot over to the Town Square in the Galleria.
3) 1 min of Shuffle Squat Touch - A low side shuffle to the right in basketball stance, squat down touch the ground, then repeat other direction
4) 30 seconds Jump switch squat - Wide legged stance, squat down touch the ground in front of the front foot, then jump, turn, squat and touch ground behind you with the opposite hand.
5) 30 seconds Revolved Warrior lunge pulse. (30 seconds each leg) So Warrior II with the back heel up (technically Anjaneyasana or high lunge) but you bring the arm opposite the lunging knee to the front and pulse into the bent front leg. Core, balance, endurance and strength just like we like it.
6) Repeat exercises 2 through 5.
7) Trot over to the parking garage ( about 2 min) then 5 min of running up and down 2 flights of stairs. ( I "float" these meaning I skip 2 steps and explode off my toes the instant they come into contact with the stairs)
8) 1 min incline pushups
9) 1 min dips
10) 1 min modified Hindu Pushups (Dive Bombers)
11) Repeat 8-11
12) 1 min Towel slides for core ( stand on a towel with palms flat on the floor, slide the towel back to a plank position, slide the towel forward to a standing forward fold.
13) 1 min Cross leg Crossover Sit up - on your back legs out straight in a V right hand behind the head left arm points up to the ceiling. Taking the left hand straight up is if you are being pulled up, hinging at your waist come up to a seated position, legs still in the V shape. Once you are in the seated position, take the left hand over and touch the right foot, recline, switch the hand/arm position and repeat.
14) 1 min In/Out - seated on the floor, palms at your sides, knees bent feet hover just above the floor. Move the legs out, then back in toward the chest.
15) Repeat 12-14
16) Cool down.

Later, I taught a yoga class. Needless to say I was tired. The plan was to ride in between the Boot Camp and Yoga but life got in the way. The winds were too high and it was threatening rain. Plus I had an acupuncture appointment to go to. I'll try to squeeze the ride in next week. As it stands I was pretty tired at the end of the day so I'll count it as a strength day in my log.

Yoga For Triathletes - Uttanasana

2009-03-23T14:39:00.002-05:00

Uttanasana, or standing forward fold, is an asana that is good for all athletes. The pose is benificial because it releases the muscles of the low back and the hamstrings. Notice I said "releases," not stretch.

When I started thinking about what poses could benefit us as athletes, Uttanasana was one that I didn't immediately include in my list. The reason for this wasn't because it was too simple, or too well known, (all you do is bend over, who couldn't do that?). What came to mind as I thought about Uttanasana, or standing forward fold, was the risk of an athlete injuring his or herself in this pose far outweighed the benefits to be had from using it. But then I read something on Lucho's blog in the comments that caused me to rethink things.

Basically, this boiled down to two things. First, Lucho (Sorry, can't locate his original post) cautioned athletes about stretching, and yoga in particular, citing the potential for injury. And second was Lucho's saying he could put his palms on the floor without feeling any pull in his hamstrings at all. Personally, I completely agree with both of these positions. But I have a couple of caveats to add. After having practiced yoga for over 5 years, I've discovered there is actually no stretching of muscles going on in an "informed" practice whatsoever. Yoga demands the development of coordinated muscle activity. As such, a pose like Uttanasana is as much a core cultivator as it is a hamstring release. And it is that ability to learn to consciously let go of the hamstrings that allows this asana to bestow its benefits on those who chose to explore it more fully.

In life we spend a great deal of time accumulating things for a variety of reasons. Tension and the illusion of control are among these. The standing forward fold, while a good pose for releasing accumulated stress and tension in the body, also provides a framework to allow us to experience the process of releasing our unconscious hold on the hamstrings which in turn usually results in a tight lower back. Instead of "stretching" the hamstrings, what we are learning to do in this position, is to mindfully release them. By releasing the hamstrings consciously, we deepen the fold and our experience of it, but we also gain access to more direct control of the working muscles in our bodies.

This is the process I feel we go through as we progress as people and as athletes. Each workout provides us with more and more insight into the inner workings of our own bodies and how they respond to various training loads, meals/fueling, and rest patterns. In the forward fold there is a point in the body, especially when the folds are new and your limits seem set in stone, where as you reach your limit, you begin to hold on for dear life. You lock certain muscles in place so that you don't break, lose your depth or fall over. If you don't take stock of where you are at this point to see exactly what is going on, how you are using the muscles in such a manner as to actually build a very substantial (albeit mental) wall between you and your goal of moving your nose closer to your shins, you will have reached the limit of expression in the forward fold for you. But if you are able to stand at your edge, breathe, observe, and take stock as to where you are holding on, you will in time begin to notice some of the muscles you have been using in your "fight to maintain" your current depth are actually the same muscles holding you back from a deeper expression in the fold. It is when you realize this, you can begin to consciously release these muscles one by one. It is at the very point you decide to let go of these muscles that have been useful in keeping you at your current edge, you discover you can move deeper and express more fully in the pose.

The same can be said of any other aspect of our lives. Once we realize our own perceptions -- fears really -- are the only thing between us the realization of our dreams, we are then capable of remarkable things. In yoga, the act of folding forward is a physical "bowing in" to and an acknowledgement of the self.

To come into Uttanasana poperly stand with the feet together, hands on the hips. Bend forward at the hips, using them as a hinge, versus bending at the waist which strains the lower back. Bending at the hips your pelvis should articulate backwards slightly and as you fold forward there should be a small inner rotation of the upper thighs. This rotation will create space for the torso. Once you feel any pull in the back of the hamstrings, this is as far as you should fold. Explore this point either with your arms folded over head, hands cupping the elbows, or hands at the shins, or fingertips or palms on the floor. In time as you explore your individual edge, you can work on relaxing and releasing the hamstrings consciously. By focusing on the role of the core muscles once you have released the hamstrings, you will be able to find a deeper fold.

You can find a picture and more details on the pose here.

So Here's What Happened Today...

2009-03-13T08:56:00.002-05:00

Nothing. Unless you count my taking a picture of this bench. Sort of cool, I think. My goal is to sit on it next time and watch the ducks. After running ;)

I planned to work out but my friend's jewelry show/exhibit started today and she was nervous. So I stayed put, sat by her side and sent vibes of encouragement. Basically why I came to Colorado in the first place. I'm cool with that. Tomorrow, however will be a different story. I'm going swimming.

Today's Running And Thoughts About The Boulder Running Company

2009-03-12T14:46:00.008-05:00

So the idea for today's run was 30 minutes easy. Of course easy is relative when you are dealing with becoming used to how your body responds in a new environment. It has been 9 years since I was in Boulder last or at altitude unless you count the 30 feet needed to travel from the street to the second story in my home in Austin. The run wasn't what I'd call brutal unless 28 degree temperatures and 5000 feet elevation is new to you.

Being from Austin, I'll consider it new.

It was the oddest sensation. My legs felt like they were actually stronger than normal. But my heart and lungs were another story altogether. I couldn't get my breathing in line. I wasn't hyper-ventilating, but I felt off. This was manageable. My heart rate was another story, however. It was just flat out high. It has been high since I got here. About 5 to 8 beats. I'm not sure this is altitude related and I know I wasn't sick when I left. But it could be the fact the heat runs constantly, which isn't the case at home, and sleeping somewhere conditioned air is blowing over you the entire night. I'm going to try this again tomorrow and maybe I'll fair better.

I'm not usually one to dismiss a retailer and perhaps the fault here is mine. My expectations in a city with a community like Boulder's may just be too high. I'm not going to belabor this but I was very disappointed with my experience at the Boulder Running Company store located on Pearl Street. So here's what happened. I walk into the store and find some socks. The socks I brought from Austin were not working too well at keeping my toes warm. I asked the salesperson about the socks I was looking at and he could not tell me anything about them other than what he read to me from the packaging. He did say he didn't think I would need the pair in my hand because he thought they were for people who ran a lot... Ouch! Apparently I don't look like I run a lot. Even though I'm wearing a pair of Nike Free's.

It gets better. So once at the counter I ask the price of the Polar Foot Pod (the device you attach to your shoe to tell you how fast you run - a pretty fancy pedometer that syncs with the Polar watches). He hands me the Polar Foot Pod after scanning it for the price and then proceeds to tell me that while these Suunto monitors are good Garmin's are the next wave in technology. Ok, I'll admit he may have been right about the Garmin but what was that about Suunto? I was asking about Polar Foot Pods, the register that gave him the price was displaying Polar, I'm wearing a Polar wrist watch... You get the picture. Needless to say I left the store vowing never to come back (I wouldn't want that guy trying to sell me shoes) and to find out where the true runners in Boulder get their stuff.

In Boulder For The Week...

2009-03-11T00:43:00.003-05:00

So I'm in beautiful Boulder Colorado for the week. Even the 18 degree temps when my plane landed this morning in Denver wasn't enough to keep me from being exited. I'm gonna start tomorrow off with a run. We'll see how things progress from there. Maybe I can find a yoga class somewhere. Any suggestions?

These Legs Will Carry Me Far

2009-02-27T22:06:00.008-06:00

The run was supposed to be 6. But it turned into 10. I wanted to see the other side of the lake. Truth be told I wasn't even feeling like 10 when this all started. "Just 6." My mind kept saying as I moved along the trail. "Maybe even 4. 4 is good too. And very even. Plus less than 6." My mind speaks in simple sentences while running to conserve energy I've found. But then I started the first fartlek and everything changed.

Things normally change for me when I can feel the sense of speed in my legs. Plus I had on the Nike 3.0's. I love these shoes. My feet love these shoes. Ever since I took a flyer and decided to try them I've experienced a rejuvenation in my running. I think it is because there is nothing in these shoes to keep me from running the way I was meant to run. And so it was with that first fartlek, up on my stride, powering through the back side, gobbling up ground left and right, right and left. It was great.

That's when it happened. The single, clear thought crept into my mind and changed the duration and tenor of my workout. "Let's run to the dam!" Before I knew it my legs were complying. But a part of me was concerned. Now I was running 10 miles and not 6. I was still fartleking my way around the lake so there were bouts of intensity interspersed with a few decent hills. Of course I had taken Riverside east which meant running UP to I-35. And of course that sweet hill just past Joe's was right in the middle of one of the up tempo intervals. Great. But the view was worth it.

I've always thought the trail east of I-35 was the more attractive part of Town Lake. But not many folks run there so, when you are on that side, it is as though you have a personal audience with the lake and your own breath. Soul time really. When I raced before, I timed my runs around the lake so that the sun would begin to set or rise as I crossed the bridge giving me just enough time to make it back to my car before dark. Yesterday, I was just lucky. I don't think I will ever tire of seeing the sunlight reflected by the water sparkling like diamonds floating on glass.

Yoga and Strength - Yoga For Triathletes

2009-02-23T11:17:00.001-06:00

So when you think of yoga, you normally think of people with stick figure bodies who are able to take themselves into shapes that would injure a pretzel. Or you think it would be great to be more flexible and you think of yoga as a way to accomplish this. You may not see much difference in yoga and some of the stretches you've seen or read about. I know I didn't until I'd done yoga for a few weeks. I'll say it for the record. Yoga can be much more challenging than any other physical activity I've ever done.

One of the most notable differences between yoga and simple static stretches is the sequencing. Most good yoga classes follow a well thought out progression which moves the body deeper and deeper into similar but more challenging positions. In fact many of the common poses you may be familiar with such as Downward Dog, Crow Pose, or even a simple Forward Fold are actually "preparations" for deeper yoga poses. The same is also true of many static stretches people come to know and use regularly. These stretches are variations or simplified Yoga poses. Often what is going on in these variations is the pose is modified by taking several dimensional components out of it so that it becomes more accessible for someone new to using their bodies in an unfamiliar way. Static stretches (and most weight machines) often remove the coordinated muscle recruitment that relates to stability. The removal of these components, while making the stretch simple, has the undesirable side affect of doing less to actually strengthen the body. This is a very important distinction.

It is this distinction that has started me to look more closely into defining strength as it applies to what we wish to do with and get from our bodies. This is especially true for people who are requiring their bodies perform specific and highly specialized tasks. With this in mind, manifested strength for a powerlifter is going to appear very different from manifested strength for a dancer or the manifested strength for a runner. But what is similar is all of these athletes share the need for training movements that allow them greater access to integrated and coordinated muscle recruitment which will provide a more economical yet powerful response to performance related stimuli.

Recently I've spent some time watching a local core conditioning class. One of the things I noticed was how similar many of the exercises were to Yoga poses you would find in a movement based or Vinyasa class. However there was one subtle difference. When focusing only on the core as the class did there was very little, if any integration taking place involving the rest of the body as it related to the core. A simple example of this was the use of Plank Pose in the core class. While the class used several versions of Plank, they were all static which largely isolates the core from other muscles in the body by simply creating the tension necessary to remain in a flat plane. You will see Plank used a lot in Yoga classes as well. But with one difference. The pose is rarely held for long periods in static form. The Plank Pose is a transition into other dynamic movements. One such movement is to simply bring a knee up to the chest and hold it there. This movement engages the core in an active manner useful to runners and cyclists. In Yoga the movement teaches the recruitment necessary to move from Downward Dog to a Lunge (or Runner's Pose) by bringing the body forward into Plank, while hovering the knee, and "placing" the foot in between the hands. Experienced Yogis are able to perform this movement silently but if you find yourself in a Yoga class listen when this move is performed and you may be amazed at how much noise is created by people dropping their feet to the floor by simply moving into a lunge.

This all brings me to a quote one of my favorite yoga teachers here in Austin, Sanieh (she is pictured at the top of this post), said in her class once, "We aren't just strong, we are Yoga strong." Her classes reflect this deep understanding of the importance of integrating strength with balance, coordination, and awareness. What she meant with her observation was that while yogis may not possess bulging muscles, they do possess a body awareness and muscular intelligence that allows them to perform incredible acts like handstands, countless arm balances, or the ability to simply walk up a flight of stairs without being heard. It isn't that Yoga is the best or only way to achieve strength. But what Yoga does do is provide a framework for someone to discover hidden strength that can be found within the body by learning to look at an integrative, dynamic training program versus a static one.

Some Days You Zero

2009-02-19T22:26:00.004-06:00

In keeping with my promise to do more this year with less, I took today off. Not because of yesterdays 45 min bike ride. Nope, in fact I almost skipped that ride. And what's more I really was hurting. But it was 80 degrees yesterday. 80. I. Had. To. Ride. So I capped the ride at 45 minutes and called it a day. The deal was in the morning I paid a visit to my Chiropractor to let him take a look at my right foot. I had been feeling some pain in it at the beginning of my runs and was sure I had some bones that were out of socket/alignment. Nothing that would stop me from running but it was making the beginnings of my runs hard which meant it was easier to talk myself out of running when nothing was really wrong with me. Turns out I was right and a single tug and I knew I was good to go.

As is usual, along with the normal 30 - 45 min chat about what I was up to with my training, Doc finds a leg length discrepancy and some stuff with my neck and before I know it I'm in for the "full" treatment. Well when this happens, I need to be aware that the body I walked out of the office with is not the body I walked in the office with. Because of this I like to give myself a day or so to get used to the new "equipment" before pushing any limits. I know this now. Unfortunately this is a lesson I had to learn the hard way.

But it was 80 degrees yesterday. So I rode for 45 min. Then I went and had an acupuncture appointment. Between the acupuncture and the adjustment, even a 45 min bike ride was a bit much. Hence I took today off. Tomorrow will be a nice early morning swim. This weekend will be some running and cycling. But right now I'm heading to the sack. So until the real training begins, Peace.

Monday Is Just That

2009-02-16T21:33:00.004-06:00

I didn't work out yesterday, instead deciding to honor my body and let it rest. This morning I wanted to get up and run then ride, then go to acupuncture, and end my day by teaching yoga. Well at least I got up. I was up by 9 AM. Then I went back to bed and didn't get up again until after noon sometime when the phone rang.

This meant I had to adjust my plans. So I canceled my acupuncture appointment and went for a run. I'm really liking running lately and I'm learning a great deal about my body and how it is affected by what I'm eating. For instance I'm noticing I recover much faster from the soreness that can accumulate from daily or hard runs if I have more leafy green vegetables in my diet. I don't know why that is but over the holidays I noticed a great deal of soreness from running that went away when I stopped eating holiday food and went back to my normal diet which includes lots of fresh juices and salads which are full of leafy green veggies.

Ever since I discovered this I've been more willing to run and push some limits knowing my body would recover from the physical demands of running more frequently and faster. Today started out fairly easy with about a 10 min warmup which then ramped up in intensity for two steady state 7 min sets with a moderate 5 min recovery in between. I had planned 3 of the 7 min sets but because of my late start, I had to cut it short. But I felt awesome for the whole run and finished with a lot left in the tank.

What I have been really working on is some of the same stuff I use in my Yoga practice and that is looking at the activity of running as a system of ideal muscle recruitment. So just like in Yoga poses when you come to your limits and you have to find a way to explore that edge and come to terms with it, I have been looking at my running in much the same way which is why I find I am not doing as much Long Slow Distance as I have in the past. Now I'm doing parts of my runs at easy to moderate pace and adding some speed where I can stay as relaxed and as efficient as possible. The whole time I am engaged in the act of finding spots of tension and relaxing while attempting to keep my speed as high as possible. This has added a whole new dimension to the process of my running and so far keeps each workout fresh. I plan on keeping this up for the next 6 weeks until I move into mid March when I want to start some track work.

The other workout for the days was a bike ride on the trainer. It wasn't supposed to be a trainer day, but given my "late" start, I had to just put some time on the bike when and where I could. This is one area of my training that I am going to have to spend a great deal of time addressing this year. So I think this week I will just work at getting time on the saddle in while I start to design a plan to address the black hole that has become my cycling ability. I think I'm going to start with addressing the obvious loss of leg strength. That should yield some gains in running speed as well, so I think the time will be worth it. As for the endurance side of the equation I'm going to have to make long bike rides a priority. I'm hoping once I get used to working during the day this will be less and less of an issue and I'll find both the time and energy to make it happen.

Today, It Begins...

2009-02-15T22:08:00.004-06:00

Today marks a new beginning. But in truth every day marks such a start. And if you want to take the analogy further so to does each moment. I've started tracking my calories again. Not because I'd gained weight but because I want to be more focused on my training and racing this year than I was last year. It isn't that I didn't take my training seriously but more that my capacity to train specifically was limited by things like my weight, my health, and my obligations outside of triathlon. One of the things I've been looking at is my habit of focusing on projects and people that are not within the sphere of my interests. This is my polite way of calling these things something other than "time stealers."

But that doesn't really matter. What does matter is that I begin to burn the following equation into my brain for the rest of the year.

Time Stealers = Opportunity Thieves = Life Wreckers

I began to consider why it was that I hadn't accomplished more of my goals and I had to look at where I was spending my time and energy. Even now with all that I've learned, I still find myself falling short of my actual goals. And I have no one to blame for this but myself. To be honest, there was no real reason I stopped counting my calories in the first place. The only thing I can come up with is I let friends and family and my own short sightedness sort of take my focus away what I wanted to accomplish with that process in the first place.

So here I am, not any heavier, thank goodness. But I am finding my energy levels are waning and my desire to train isn't quite where it was. The only reason I have for this is I am again eating more food and my energy levels are lower because I now have to digest it. So I've started the calorie counting again. And my promise to myself is to do this until the season ends this year for me in November.

Today's workout I was a no show. On Sunday I want to at least get in a long easy swim. But I was sleepy all day. And one of my new rules is no working out while I'm sleepy. But I was productive. I modified my caloric intake targets to follow my actual activity levels. So no activity can mean I eat less, while higher activity means I get to eat a little more. This way as I progress throughout the season I can fine tune what I need to eat based on what I'm actually doing. No more guessing. And no more losing focus. Tomorrow, I'll start out with a run around the lake followed by a bike ride. The middle of my day will consist of a nap an acupuncture session, and teaching my yoga class. I'm serious this time. No more messing around helping other people chase their dreams. This is the start of a new chapter, and a new fitter, stronger me. And today it begins...