Welcome to off-season 2007

I was so happy to cross the finish line Saturday. Not because I has set the world on fire with some blistering pace, or had broken through some fantastic distance barrier. I just wanted the competetive season to be over. Burn out.

All in all, it was a good race. I felt strong in the water, held a decent pace on the bike (especially considering some of the monster hills on the course), and had a good run. No podium finish, but 5/17 in my competitive age group, and 18/145 overall. During the bike leg, toward the end, I realized I still had to run and was filled with dread. I had noticed the burn out building over the last few weeks, but it really peaked at that moment. Much like Paul noted recently, I've been having trouble gathering enough motivation to train like I need to be. I just wanted the season to be over.

I know I'm not alone when it comes to these end-of-season sentiments and attitude. While some people can keep charging on at a constant pace, year in and year out, I think it's a function of truly maximizing your training and ability, along with cycles of peaking, that drive an athlete to desire - almost require - a break in the intensity. Surely many elite athletes also attribute an off season to injury prevention, be it soft and connective tissues due to altering the training focus, or joints and bones due to recovering focus and intensity and reducing complacency at the limits of performance.

So, I have done nothing since Saturday's race until today. I will probably ease into some training this week, but it will be low-key. My plan at this point is to:

• Rest tired muscles, connective tissue, and brain cells
• Get/keep moving with some aerobic benefit
• Hit the gym hard to build up some muscle mass in key areas, for about a month
• Begin base mileage and aerobic capacity building
• Chart my reentry to next season's training cycle

For the last step, I will need to decide on next year's race schedule. For sure, I will be more selective than this year. I also intend to include a greater variety of events, such as more running events and a couple of purely cycling events. I think that there's a different dynamic to competing in the single event races that will help me achieve and keep an edge in multi sport. I hope to break through some barriers that I'm sure exist, wherein I'm holding some of "it" back for the next leg of the race.

There are also some exciting things brewing for next year that I will share with you guys as soon as I'm able to. For sure, it's going to be an awesome season and I will realize a hope/dream that I had toward fall of last year, around the time that cycling was forever infused with my life and running was becoming a personal challenge.

But before all of that, it's going to be a great fall and winter with my family and friends, tons of good food, and reflection on my first of many years training hard and competing in triathlons. The good people I've met and relationships I've formed this season have opened my eyes, and the community that came together to help and support me when I tested physics was incredible, as were all the well wishes, thoughts, and prayers from you awesome folks. Thanks for listening to me, laughing with me, helping me, educating me, and entertaining me. Don't go getting slack on any of it, though! ;-)

Okay, enough of the sappy stuff.

You call that recovery?

So, at some point in the run on Saturday my calves decided to seize up, probably at different times. Today my left calf (the one I didn't notice) has been aching, and I've been trying to rub it. I attempted to roll it, but OUCH!!!! At lunch the plan was to swim. *harumph*

Run: 4.28 miles in 29:35 @ 6:55/mile

Yeah, uh, I forgot my swim stuff. Didn't realize it until I had parked at the gym, either. So, I went home (not enough time to go back to work and get swim bag, and return to gym) so I could get a run in. Remember, I already knew my calf hurt. But the run wasn't so bad, and my time improved about :35 over the last time I ran this. I felt better, and the breathing is way improved! I'll cover the Cordyceps thing when I have a bit more data to display.

Anyway, I go back to work and the calf tightens up a bit. I rub it, stretch it, and try to move around a bit. The end of the day rolls around, and I go get Grace, then shoot home. I ask Mendy if she wants to go for a family walk, and she just isn't up to it. (Doc diagnosed ear and sinus infections...ouch!) So, what better to do for recovery and with a tight/sore calf? Yep, go for a bike ride.

20.83 miles in 1:03:10 @ 19.70mph avg

I honestly was restraining myself. More than I wanted to. But that drive inside me kept sneaking up and grabbing my legs, pumping them harder. At the turn around, somewhere around 31:20, I decided I was going to shoot for a negative split on the return. I didn't quite make it, but had fun trying. And again, I was trying not to go too close to lactate threshold. Additionally, my rear cassette (newly switched out) was coming loose, and rattling. Not sure if that affected me to any credible degree, but it was annoying.

My friggen calf is tight now! I'll definitely swim tomorrow at lunch. After work? Well, that's any one's guess!! *Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha* I may do either a short run, or a longer (than recent: 6-7 mile) run. Until then, it's...

I godda boe my node

As is happens all too often, our little germ incubator brought a nice little end-of-summer head cold that Mendy and I are now enjoying. I slept like crap last night, and felt like dookie all day, so I skipped today's workout. Oh well, rest is important too. It does make me feel bad, though, that Grace may have been suffering a sore throat and the throbbing head we are, but couldn't articulate it and simply soldiered on, or worse got in trouble for being cranky. I'm glad she's getting to the point where she can begin letting us know what's going on, but all this talk of school starting is troubling. Maybe not quite so bad, since Grace does go to daycare all day, which we call school. But something about that threshold of *real* school.

So, I'll keep it brief on the exercise, as not to bore you fine folks. Nothing too exciting anyway. Last Thursday I did my normal 4.28 mile loop in 31:46 for a 7:25/mile pace. A couple of bike rides between, and Monday I repeated the run, this time in 31:05 for a 7:16/mile pace. Yesterday I again did the loop after a Tuesday ride. This run felt difficult and labored, with shortness of breath, an awkward gait, and a general sense of slowness. My time was 30:30 for a 7:08/mile pace. Wow! Clearly I need to work the kinks out of my style/stride, but the pace is really improving rapidly. I do need a couple of long bike rides before I start doing hill repeats and intervals to get back on form there. Maybe this weekend.

To the shortness of breath issue: prior to the wreck I had been taking Cordyceps, a supplement derived from Himalayan mushroom, and one of the primary ingredients of a supplement product called Optygen. There was a perceived benefit from this supplement, such that I felt like shallower breaths were all that was necessary, and deeper breaths were very deep. I felt an increased efficiency in my oxygen handling. Since the wreck, I have taken none, and I feel like I have elastic bands around my chest when I'm running or riding hard. Coincidence? I don't know, but I stopped by the Vitamin Shoppe tonight and picked up three bottles (along with some vitamin E for my scars) to get back on track. Anyone else ever try either Optygen or simply Cordyceps? I will surely report back as I load back up on them and keep training. I'm hopeful it will help a lot, and a lot of elite athletes swear by it.

Anyway, sorry for my very poor blogging habits lately. I'm still frustrated, and have pretty much given up on completing the Half Ironman this year, in 3 weeks. That leaves me a race I could do this weekend (not likely), a sprint in a couple of weeks, and a race on the 14th. I can do both the second and third, but the timing of all this is rough since normal uninjured people have been ramping up for the HIM, while I tested and proved the laws of physics with my face and body.

Oh, on a wound note: All bandages are off!!! The cut on my lip is healing well, with only minor internal swelling. I tried to get rid of what appeared to be a pimple on it yesterday, but it turns out to have been a 1/8 inch wooden splinter. It popped right out without incident or pain. Yay! And as I mentioned, I am putting vitamin E oil on the affected areas which I hope will help them heal completely.

To those racing, have a good weekend! From Marcy's blog, I recognized Michelle and Paul. Go get 'em, folks!! And good training (and living) to the rest of us. :-)

Sweet, sweet redemption!

I'd like to thank you all for suffering through my "boo hoo" yesterday. The encouragement and reminders of the reality of recovery help me. I'm happy about a lot of things, but just so discouraged about my cycling performance. I felt like I had erased 9 months of training in a couple of weeks. But something Wes said stuck with me over the last 24 hours:
"we expect you to recover with the same drive, grit, and determination it took you to get there"

I realized that I hadn't got to this point by being mamby pamby, taking the easy road, and short cutting myself. I had gritted my teeth through the tough training, wallowed in the successes, and pushed myself hard...harder than I ever had in my life. Added to that, I feel bad about whining when others are having much more real and significant problems and obstacles in their life (Lori and recently Robin, for example), overcoming them with grace and dignity. I felt pretty stupid and selfish, to be honest.

So, today I decided to run at lunch to see how I'm doing. Nothing spectacular; just my 2.4 mile loop I use for time trial, brick runs, and taper week burner (short super high intensity) runs. My PR for this is 15:00 @ 6:16/mile (July 2nd) and the last time I ran it was July 31st in 15:44 @ 6:34/mile.

Today: 2.4 miles in 15:55 @ 6:38/mile

No wait, 2.4 miles in 15:55 @ 6:38/mile!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy cow, I'm freakin happy! I started thinking about my focus, intensity, and the drive that burned inside me up to August 7th. I found it, and I plan on holding on to it and riding it for all it's worth.

And to me, it's worth a lot! I guess I define myself by my physical capabilities and accomplishments, especially through adversity. I'm not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, and I have the artistic capacity of a lawn jockey. What I enjoy is being outside and pushing myself to the limit. I wish I could accurately express how much it drives me, but I guess you can pick up on it by my reactions and moods recently. So this success has made my day. I'm not back to where I was before, but I will be soon. The cautious and smart approach may say to take it easy, but easy isn't in my blood.

How ya like me now, dawgs? ;-)

How far I've fallen

After my difficult trainer ride on Wednesday, I decided to take Friday off for some mental rest and a bike ride. I made the decision Thursday to end the pain killers, just sick of being high all the time and having to plan my travel schedule around freakin pills. So, I slowly awoke Friday morning, got Grace ready for "school" (what we call daycare, to prepare her for actual school), and then got some calories and water in me for a ride. I realized I wasn't 100% prepared, as I would have been for a big ride or a race, but I wasn't planning on setting any world speed records either.

I set off on the bike, and immediately noticed the difficulty level in getting up to speed and maintaining it. It had been 2.5 weeks since I had been on the road, after all. What was I expecting? Surely it would take a couple of miles for my legs to open up and start turning the gears with some sense of purpose. It took some time, but eventually I was able to push up into the low 20's for an average speed. I decided to ride through the corner that very well could have been the end of life as I had known it before August 7th. I wanted to go relatively quickly through it, but some firefighters (from the engine company that responded to my call, coincidentally) were testing out a fire hydrant, spraying water across the corner. I slowed to go through, not recognizing either of the heroes, and continued on up the long grade from that corner.

It was at this point that I really noticed my fatigue. Not being able to carry speed through the s-turn, I had to rebuild on the climb. But my legs were flat and my breathing labored. I just couldn't turn the pedals over. My average speed quickly dropped, and my plans to stop briefly at the bike shop and ride an additional 15-20 miles completely dissolved. All I wanted to do was end this ride. I was so disappointed. At CarolinaTriathlon, Jamie and Sideshow were happily surprised to see me out on the bike again, and we talked about various cycling and triathlon stuff. Jamie was trying to talk himself into racing the next morning at a local tri (which he wound up winning outright, I hear), and I was wishing I could even race. I went straight home after that, happy to have been able to ride, thankful that I was alive and had full body function, relieved at how rapidly I was healing, but completely dejected at how much fitness I had lost.

23.51 miles in 1:17:01 @ 18.32 mph avg

The rest of the day went well; Grace and I had some fun and played. Grandma called and offered to watch Grace over night on Saturday, which was a very pleasant surprise. I probably didn't make the most of it, but it was nice to relax and not watch any Dora or Little Einsteins. Sunday at church was great, and lots of people wanted to hear what happened while commending me on healing so rapidly. I felt good about life and really wanted to get back out on the bike and try to redeem myself for the weeks off. My legs did feel a bit sore, though.

The bike shorts slid on a bit reluctantly, with the sinking feeling that I may again be disappointed in my ride. Still, I was determined to do it. I took off and immediately struggled to maintain speed. I noted at key points that I was 2-3mph slower than I had been before. At about 7 miles into the ride I just wanted to quit. I could imagine pulling off the road, throwing my bike into the field, and having a big old tear-filled pity party. I contemplated officially ending my race season. Then I got a flat. What? Oh come on!!! Talk about kicking a guy when he's down! I changed it, at no blistering pace, while reflecting on how I felt. A nice older gent stopped to see if I needed a hand, but I was all set. Man, I felt low. Lower than when I was sitting on the sofa, drifting in and out of sleep, unsure of the extent of my injuries and their long term effects. Lower than when I saw the results of the Greenville Tri, and realized I probably would have placed 4th in my age group. Just emotionally wiped out.

I got the new tube in, flipped the bike back over (it's easier for me to change a flat with the bike upside-down), and decided I would turn around a couple of miles up the road and head home. I pulled a U-turn in a golf course parking lot, and headed back. Huge, ominous storm clouds were closing in, so I actually couldn't dilly-dally. I pushed hard on the way back, but just couldn't seem to get things going. My rear derailleur was out of adjustment and frustrating me, so I stopped a couple of times to adjust it. I made it home with only a few drops of rain on me, but completely dripping of sweat. And it wasn't that hot out: just the effort level to maintain such a dismal performance:

18.33 miles in 1:00:25 @ 18.20 mph avg

Yep, shorter than the previous ride, and slower. I gotta say, my happy tanks are pretty low when it comes to my current fitness. It feels like everything I've busted my butt for over the last grueling year of training is gone, and I'm almost starting over. I can't even imagine how difficult a run will be at this point. I'm kinda down about all of this. Freakin sucks! I was thinking of running at lunch, but perhaps I'll just get on the trainer tonight, or even skip a day to recover. Sorry to take Marcy's place as Debbie Downer on you guys. I'm told I will bounce back fast, given my base fitness level. We'll see, I guess.

Poor Joe

What kind of horrid affliction must he have had to be nicknamed "Cottoneye Joe"? I did a search on WebMD, and it didn't turn up anything. I just can't imagine going through life with something in/on my eyes that resembles cotton so much that I am referred to by it. But, nobody seems to know where he came from or where he went, so at least he didn't freak people out too much with it. I kinda worry about him, though; there's a good chance he offed himself. Please remember Joe.

See, this is the kind of crap that is in my mind when I'm not out there pushing it. I did hop on the trainer yesterday, and it was tough. I kept the resistance at low, similar to riding a flat road I suppose, and rode it for 30 minutes. The last couple of minutes were cool down. I almost threw up when I got off the bike, which may have been the medication. Anyway:

10.01 miles in 27m 50s @ 21.58 miles/hr

Today I tried to go without any pain killers, and could notice the pain very early on. But, I'm happy to report that the wounds are getting much smaller and healing very well. I may get on the trainer tomorrow or even an honest-to-goodness bicycle ride on the real road! No foolin! I took vacation, so it will be a good chance. Later, dudes...

A new triathlete is born and get-well "bakies"

Congrats to Mendy on her first (of many?) triathlon!!! She did great, and without significant preparation and training, had some awesome times. I was very jealous of her, and really itched to do the race myself, but was happy to be able to cheer her on. Grace was a trooper, too, with a very early wake up call and a long morning in the heat. Despite that, she cheered and clapped, and stayed in a very good mood! Scott and Robin, and later Daniel (Mendy's brother) and mom-in-law were there to help cheer and enjoy the day, too. Thanks for dedicating a very early morning to come out and help Mendy!

It was weird being on the other side of things. I saw people that I would have been racing with/against, and it fueled my desire to heal and get back out there. The guy closest to me in points and recent results came in 4th in our age group. Since I have been just slightly faster than him lately, that would have been me most likely. THAT sucks!

A bunch of friends did really well: Jamie came in 3rd overall (2nd Elite male), Chris coming in 8th overall (4th Elite male), Pam placing 2nd in her age group, Hal placing 3rd in his, Clay at 20th overall (8th Elite male), Olivier, Eric, and Scott (Pam's husband) doing very well in their ultra-competitive age groups with some smokin' fast times. I'm jealous of the great race you guys had! I don't know how, but I have got to get it in gear and race the SC HIM!!

Before the race, Chris had mentioned he had something for me, referencing a previous comment I made. After the race, as I talked with friends and inquired of their races, I got a chance to speak with the G-Man. Though not finishing as well as perhaps he had hoped, he was ever-positive describing the finish as no worse than he expected or trained for. And then, the most awesome surprise: His lovely wife Janis had stayed up really really late and labored intensively over a hot stove to hand-craft the most delicious "bakies" as a get-well gift for me. Chris said normally she is an extremely healthful cook, but he insisted on full "nutrition" content for these: brown sugar, real butter, etc. Holy cow, I'm glad you all are too far away to taste them, or there wouldn't be nearly enough for me! The heaving bag of well over a dozen call to me every time I walk near. Chris, please thank your wonderful wife for the bakies! She rocks!!

Recovery is still going well. I'm getting angry that I can't get on the bike yet, and may strap the bike to the trainer in the next few days for some exercise. My leg, right forearm, left shoulder and elbow are still bandaged, but healing rapidly. The leg still hurts, though. My nose is filling in nicely, and I may not have that much scarring besides the uneven area between my top "lip" and nose. Yes, Mendy, I realize I don't actually have a top lip, but just imagine where it should have been to picture where I'm referring to.

I'm flat out tired of this stoned feeling, though. I would have made a horrible pot head, it seems. Or maybe it's just because it's a low intensity sensation, persisting now for 2 weeks, that it's more annoying than pleasurable. Whatever, I am just ready for it to be done. I feel like absolutely tearing up the road on my bike...just as long as there are no turns. :-)

Recovery, in many ways

Man, I felt like a bag full of hammered poop yesterday. All day. Grace woke us up way too early, and I was a touch dehydrated. I barely choked down a (WAY overpriced) steak at a nearby steakhouse for Mommie's day, and then Grace and I were able to enjoy a nap after a quick visit to the store. A bit better, but I think Mendy's suggestion of Mellow Mushroom pizza (and BPD alongside) were the ticket to recovery. Ah, better. But, still not great.

This morning was Black Monday at work. 70+ people got their lay-off notice, 50+ got absorbed into the outsource agreement we are almost 1/2 way into with EDS, about 40 got assigned to our operating companies, and maybe 50 of us (from my level up to senior exec) are retained into the Shared Services organization. Not sure if that had any bearing, but I felt like poo and had a nervous stomach/GI tract today. Oh well, I guess weight loss is good, right? Hydration must happen!

The weather was prime for a post-work ride, so I make plans. Didn't map anything out, but had an idea. I had hoped for a 35+ mile ride, but wound up with a 21+ mile ride. Not a bad distance TT, but I wasn't hammering, and could had held this average pace for much longer. Drat! Oh well, I wound up doing 21.73 miles in 1h 43s, for a 21.47mph average in a hilly route. Not bad, I guess. No aero wheels (Bonty Race Lites) and a non-aero helmet (Giro Transfer), on my tri bike. I'm loving my new 53/42 crank with 175mm arms! These are gonna kick so much booty on the flatter courses coming up.

Tomorrow is gonna be track work, I believe. I may do my old high school track workout of in-and-outs: 800m warm up, 100-100-100-100 sprint/recover intervals, 200-200 sprint/recover intervals, 300-100 sprint/walk interval, and 400 sprint, with a cool down. Man, that always kicked my butt! Maybe I'll do it twice, 'cause I'm an over-driven doofus. :-)

Later.