stairs?

The legs are pretty sore today...make that very sore. I feel like my calves are permanently flexed and my quads are pretty trashed - best trashing I remember since Corpus and the infamous leg press "rep-off" with Ty and Dave. I'll be better by tomorrow, though, no worries...

Got the Core I circuit in this morning - felt great. I've got six small circuits mapped out...one for each morning, outside of Sunday, which I may end up doing some yoga on anyways.

I really like Mitch's idea on training - fun days and race prep days. Fun days to stay interested, excited, committed, may or may not be integral training. Race prep days for serious, determined, disciplined workouts. I don't know if I have the patience (that may not be the right word) to hit big workouts without a direct focus, but it is an interesting concept.

Personal excellence...this is a long piece from gordo's blog about personal excellence that echoes in my life...

"One of my greatest lessons of athletics is that we have no idea of our highest potential. Specifically, we have NO clue what we can achieve over a five, ten or twenty year time horizon.

Some personal examples...

Eighteen months after I started training for triathlons, I qualified for Hawaii at the Half Vineman (July 2000). That FAR exceeded my 1998 perception of my highest athletic potential.

Three years after qualifying at Vineman, I ran 2:49 off the bike at IMC, posting the fastest run split on the day, finishing third and passing a future World Champion in the last 10K. That FAR exceeded my 2000 perception of my highest athletic potential.

In 2004, I ran 2:46 off the bike and finished in 8:29 -- the guy that won that day posted one of the fastest winning times in the history of the event -- I was 107 seconds behind him on a day where I had a flat tire. That FAR exceed my wildest perception of my highest athletic potential.

So, my experience is that aiming for our highest potential will ALWAYS sell ourselves short, because we sell ourselves short. Our limited perception of what we can achieve is our single greatest obstacle.

What to do?

Rather than trying to "achieve" -- what I do is focus on personal excellence in areas of my life that provide me with satisfaction, support and meaning.

Personal excellence is about how I handle the little things. Some examples:

Monica -- experience love, hold hands, kindness
Winning an Ironman -- live sober, train regularly, limit travel, wake up early
Swimming -- breathe second stroke off the wall, three stroke breathing, push straight back, hip over
Cycling -- smooth circles, hold position, commit to cadence
Running -- ribs down, toe through, thumbs up, spine long
Nutrition -- real food, slower eating, frequent meals, internal healing
Personal Finance -- cover overheads, always save
Personal Investing -- preserve capital, trustworthy partners

Now all that sounds pretty simple but, I assure you that it is FAR from easy. In fact, to achieve success requires the support of many people and these people will very quickly see through hoax-commitment to excellence.

When I feel pain, it is most often due to knowing that I am not measuring up in terms of the simple things required for personal excellence. Real pain comes from knowing that we are not measuring up to our highest potential....and that explains a lot of angst in the world."

My own personal excellence, my own little things to focus on...

Adrienne - encouragement, love, companionship
Spiritual truth - read the Word, pray, meditate, search for truth, good, and beauty in every situation
Winning the IM World Championship - train consistently (AM especially), recover appropriately (nutrition, sleep, stress)
Swimming - long powerful strokes, relaxed breathing, like a shark
Cycling - good power, pacing, stay aero
Running - comfortably fast, land on the ball, like a gazelle
Nutrition - eat real foods, i.e. (once again, from gordo's blog):

" ***Other than sleep, no long periods without food -- I find that I do best with something every three to four hours.

***Eating the least processed, highest quality foods available to me -- that means wild and/or organic "real" food. "Real Food" is food that comes without an ingredients list -- an apple, a steak, a carrot, a bag of quinoa...

***Protein with every meal and readily accessed protein during all long training sessions. We need to minimize the catabolic effects of endurance training.

***Complete elimination of hydrogenated oils and trans fats.

***Reduction of refined sugar and processed carbohydrates.

***Take the majority of my intake in the form of lean protein, fruits, veggies, unrefined carbs and good fats."

and, Finance - give, save, enjoy

race recap

Sun 4.29.07
6:30 am
OKC Half Marathon
1:22:45, 6:19/mile, avg hr 175
Great race!
Started off a little too far back, boxed in and such, ended up with a ~6:35 first mile, but then was able to get on a guy's shoulder and move through the crowd pretty quickly. Dropped a "fast group" with a 5:50 on mile 4 and then held on strong to outkick a guy at the finish line. I certainly felt the "dead spot" where it seems a little too fast and you start asking yourself too many questions, but I was able to rebound nicely during the last 3 miles. I was passed once after mile 9 and couldn't catch him - he definitely negative split. I was taking in a sip of something at most of the aid stations, usually just whatever somebody handed me. All in all, a great race!

The drive home was the epitome of what I want my life to be...drive home from a great race with my beautiful wife, call my coach who encourages me on what I can do and instruct me on the plan for this week, get home to our perfect apartment with our little family (Caesar included).

Adie ran a 5:05:02 in the marathon on limited training - her farthest long run was only 16 and she didn't run much in the last 5 weeks other than a strong week with 4, 6, 8, and 16 two weeks before the race. She ran strong through 17, then had to slow down through 19, then run/walked it all the way in. I'm so proud of her!

What a great weekend!

so much for the daily review

Wed 4.25.07
1 pm
20' easy run on tread - gi problems
movement prep

Thurs 4.26.07
6pm
35' easy run
avg ~140-145 bpm
coulter to 9th to soncy to blvd
wanted to go more, but turned around on 9th and decided to follow mcgalliard's instructions - he knows what he's doing, I need to sell out to it...

Fri 4.27.07
6pm
1500 easy swim
avg ~1:45/100m
easy long strokes in a crowded pool
I'm ready to swim outside!!!!

tues 4.24.07

easy spin on the trainer at the dac...

60'
avg hr: 160
seated 5', 1' standing:1' seated for 5'
felt good to get things flushed out
didn't drink enough water, should've got 20oz down, but only washed down 15 or so...

I need to start drinking Gatorade during every workout - every 5' on the bike, every mile or ~6'30" on the run. If not Gatorade, then taking in gel and water on the run...

I am feeling much better today...I'm starting to think that a large part of the problem on Sunday was going out way too hard...I mean, seriously, avging over 160bpm on the first bike loop, what was I thinking? I plan on getting in the lake more in the wetsuit and finding that intensity, too...McGalliard also wants to change the training to go at a lower intensity for a longer duration some and then still knock out some higher intensity lower duration work as well...

Let's get back into some good hard training...

race recap

Playtri Festival
April 22, 2007

DNF

In short, I had a great mini-taper, might've done too much work towards the end of the week (went 2 hours on thursday, 1 hr 20' on friday, swim and run on saturday, race sunday), but was very confident going into the race.

Didn't sleep much on Fri or Sat night, drove on Sat, ate good, felt good. Sun morning felt very lean, wasn't hungry (nerves?), barely sipped some coffee instead of the usual 2 cups. Good warmup, felt loose, didn't get to warm up in the water.

In the race, strong swim - 31' and change, took a bad angle going out, kicked once or twice and took on some water once that I remember clearly. Buoys were hardly visible (yellow buoys while swimming into the sun is not a great combination).

I need to scout the swim portion of the course better.

Exited the water, had trouble getting out of the wetsuit, even with strippers.

I need to practive t1 transition out of the wetsuit more.

Practically sprinting up the ramp, I suddenly felt like I was going to vomit. I nearly stopped to vomit into the bushes beside the transition area. I ended up walking it in to my bike where I stayed hunched over for a minute until I got my wits. Noticed my heart rate was at 167 while hunched over - where'd that come from?

Felt good getting into the bike, but in hindsight (and somewhat knowingly during the race), I went out too hard. HR was above 160 for most of the first lap before settling down. Took in nutrition as planned for the first 2 hrs or so. Began falling apart toward the middle of the third lap. Gluteus medius was cramping some and just ran out of power. Nausea kept me from taking in as much as I should've or thought I was.

Wasn't feeling good coming into t2, didn't even try leaving my shoes on the bike. It honestly didn't even cross my mind until too late and I didn't feel I was in that big of a hurry in the first place. T2 was slow simply because I wasn't excited about going to run.

On the run, everything began cramping by the time I exited the transition area. Not like bent over dying cramping, but certainly not working correctly cramping. I knew something (or everything) wasn't right. I remember having the thought "I might not be able to finish" - something I've never thought before, nor will I ever let my mind conceive again. I don't remember much more of the run - I know I stopped somewhere else out there for a while. I remember being extremely dizzy and nauseated.

I ended up cashing in after the first lap of the run. I remember not being able to see well, everything kept spinning, and I just didn't feel normal. Adie said the paramedic tried to take care of me and then eventually I was taken over to a lounge chair where they put cold towels on me. I remember feeling better at some point after that when the trees and clouds stopped spinning around above me.

I spoke with McGalliard about it yesterday and this afternoon and it looks like we're going to make some changes to the program. I'll get those on tomorrow, but the bed is calling tonight.