"The Law of Diminishing Returns"

If you're not familiar with this it basically means that you can keep adding an ingredient to a process or system and it will add value up to a certain point only.  Then the returns will be diminished, and if you continue to add the ingredient it may even start to go backwards.

That's where I may be at with my cycling program.  I made good progress for the first 12 weeks but now I am barely hanging on.  I think I'll survive til the next test session in 2 1/2 weeks, but it's hard for me to conceive of much more improvement beyond that.  We shall see, but today's workout was beyond belief!  I had 6, six minute intervals to do at 225 watts, and half way through the fourth I gave it up.  My average was actually down to 212 with about 2 minutes left when I decided to make one last effort.  I managed to drag that interval back up and then somehow finished the last 2 as well.  I did take an extra 30 seconds rest after the 4th and 5th, but I accept that wee bit of a cheat.

We shall see....

And for the smile of the day.  I got an e-mail  from the Ironman people advising me that the deadline for submitting my name for the Hawaii Ironman lottery was drawing close.  I have always known that they allocate a certain amount of spots to be filled via lottery, but I have never considered putting my name in.  When I got the e-mail I said what the hell, and proceeded to submit all my info.  Then I got to step 6......where they want your credit card number!!!!!   Yup!  They want 40 bucks just to have a chance at the 100 available spots, and apparently they usually have about 10,000 applications.  You don't get your 40 bucks back, and if you are one of the lucky ones it simply means that you are then allowed to pay your $775 entry fee.  I kept my $40!!

Oh, and I signed up for the Waterloo marathon on April 28th.  Old John's doing the half and so you better be out there cheering him on.  I will provide the details later.

Love
Peter

"Surprised"

And more than a little pleased I must admit.

Thursday I whined about being tired.
Friday I did a very tough bike workout, the main set being 2 long intervals of 20 mins each, at 200 watts, with only 5 mins between the two.
Yesterday I rode for a total of 3:15 with the main set being 2:45 at 161 watts.

I was totally whipped last night and while I was a little bit better this morning I did not hold out much hope for my long run.

I have always been of the school of thought that you can not gain running fitness from riding, no matter how much you ride.  It just ain't the same, the main difference being that when you ride, you can coast, where as in running, coasting means walking.

But I wonder if the rules all change when you start doing your riding on a trainer?  As in running, when riding on a trainer, if you stop, you stop!!

I'm actually excited about the possibilities because even though I wouldn't say that I felt vigorous today, I was never in any trouble.  A bit slow of course, but steady all the way through the 30 kms, with the second half faster than the first.

In the bigger picture it is making me reconsider my previous Ironman approach of getting my run in order first, and then worrying about the bike as summer came along.

I have been debating whether to do the Waterloo Marathon in April because of doubt I would be able to get enough long runs in, due mainly to the vastly increased workload of the bike program.  Now it occurs to me that it will be a great opportunity to run an experiment.  Is it possible to run a reasonable marathon (42.2kms) with no training runs longer than 30 kms, but with the added element of lots of longer bike rides?

Since I was taught in high school that there is no such thing as a failed experiment I think I'm gonna give it a try.  The worst thing that could happen is that I end up exhausted at some Mennonite farmhouse.  As long as I don't need a blood transfusion I know those people will take good care of me.

And as for an update on my second career ( the Popehood) I must tell you that I am reconsidering my intentions to run.  From some of the reading I've been doing recently it appears that some of the people in the organization may be homosexual.  Let me tell you that I was shocked to hear this ugly rumour and I struggle between wanting the job so I can clean the place up, and wanting to wash my hands of the whole sordid mess.  Imagine!  Gays in the priesthood!!!

And if by any chance I offend anyone with my irreverence regarding organized religion...too bad!  I still love ya!

Love
Peter

"Roo Says It's Ok"

Which is the ultimate blessing of course, but I'm not so sure Roo knows everything.

See the thing is, that I am terribly tired all the time, and when I do have some energy I apply it to eating.

I don't remember being this way in previous endeavours, but I also acknowledge that these bike workouts are probably harder than anything I've ever done before.

Whether it justifies the current level of fatigue and hunger I'm not sure.

The good thing is that I'm not gaining and weight but I'm not losing it either, and I would desperately love to get rid of the last 10-15 pounds of baggage that I still carry.

That probably ain't ever gonna happen mind you so maybe I should just come to terms with it.

I think that maybe cabin fever is a factor as well as the workouts.  There's just something tiring about February that can only be fixed by sunshine and warm weather.

Last year I was out on my bike by the end of March so lets hope that happens this year as well.  If so I will immediately move my long ride to the roads.

I tried out a new toy today.  Can you guess what it is?

Yah, if you can, then you're a lot smarter than me.  I had never heard of the thing until I read about it in my swimming book.  Inside the yellow tube is a large ball bearing.  When you strap the contraption to your back the ball bearing is supposed to roll back and forth with your body roll.  Through some magic of acoustic amplification you are supposed to hear the ball hit the end of the tube, and as such it will tell you that you are rolling far enough.

Alas, my swimming is so splashy and loud, and my hearing so so lousy, that I can't hear the freakin thing.  Bye bye $50!!  Actually I will try it one more time with my wetsuit, and if I don't have success I will loan it to my buddy to give it a try....he hears much better than me.

And that's all for today folks.  I think I'm gonna go to Tim Hortons to get a few donuts to eat in bed!!

Love

Peter

"But So It Continues"

Today's workout was a 1% step up from  the one that I got "close" to completing last week! Somehow I squeaked it in this time.  Needless to say I'm pretty pleased about it.  I can tell you however that there was absolutely no gas left in the tank.  Which I guess is the way it's supposed to be?  The Wednesday routine is the toughest one of the week and the only one where it seems I can't quite get ahead just a little bit.  It occurs to me that I need to listen to the warnings they give you not to go too hard on any day, even if you feel good.  Stick to the program!

I never reported it but yesterday I had a real nice wetsuit swim.  As I continue to work on my drills I have not done any amount of continuous swimming, and I was getting a bit nervous about it.  I had no problem doing the 2 kms in a leisurely 37 minutes.  There should be no excuse for doing an Ironman swim at any slower pace.  That would work out to about 1:12.  Previous races resulted in swim times of 1:23 and 1:18.  I need this extra little gain because of one peculiarity that Mont Tremblant has --- a half kilometer run from the waters edge to the transition area.

So it's been a good couple of days, topped off this morning by an exhilarating little DRE at the doctors office.  If you don't know what that is I ain't gonna tell you.  You'll have to look it up.  I can tell you I did it because of my own cancer history, and my dads demise from prostrate cancer.  And If you still haven't figured it out my final hint is that it involves rubber gloves and plenty of lubricant!!  I also had a PSA test done and I am glad to report that everything is good, good!

And while we're on the topic, a brief public service announcement directed at all of my male siblings.  You all need to have a DRE once in a while!  Your genetics call for it!!  I ain't just being anal....

Love
Peter

"This Can't Continue"

Feeling very sore and tired today.  I chose not to go to the pool for my regular monday swim and instead went to the movies with Roo and the kids.  It was a silly animation thing but I just love watching those things in 3D regardless of the content.  How they do that is really amazing.

After the movie I was still quite sore so it was with some trepidation that I hopped on my bike.

One more time I was surprised!  After a warmup I rode for 60 minutes at an average of 187 watts!!  I felt fine and could have gone harder if there was a reason to do so.  As it is I went harder than the plan, and they warn against going too much over.  I was supposed to average 174.

To put it in perspective my initial test ride some 11 weeks ago was 30 minutes at 172 watts!!

Easy day tomorrow.  Oh, and massage day!!  Woohoo!!  Oh no wait....that hurts too...shit!

"Man is always more than he can know of himself; consequently, his accomplishments, time and again, will come as a surprise to him."---Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Love
Peter

"Twenty-One"

That's a good number.  Despite fact that the real crappy weather didn't materialize til later in the day, it was quite cold, and the wind was nasty.  And despite some glorious sunshine I decided pretty early on that an abbreviated session would be the call for the day.

I did however feel pretty damn good and managed a brisk half marathon in 1:45, good for just under 5 min kms.  I am totally happy with that effort.

Tonite I'm tired though.  Running in the cold just knocks your socks off.  All I had energy left for was to sign up for the Detroit marathon in October. I know that seems awful early but the price continues to climb as the year goes on, so I just chose to get it done.  It's gonna be a special race for me as it will be the 20th anniversary of my first ever marathon.  This may make you laugh, but I'm gonna try to beat my 1993 time.  I think I can do it!!

On the flip side I have still not decided if I will enter the Waterloo marathon in April.  Old John is apparently gonna do the half there so I may just settle for that.  Nah....probably not....  Unlike Detroit I don't have to worry about it selling out so I can procrastinate that decision for a few weeks yet.  I may in fact wait til after the 30k Bay Race which is 5 weeks from today.

And lastly....tomorrow is the 18th.  Exactly 6 months til D-day, and I think I'm on track.

....and this one sounds a bit cocky but I like it so too bad...

“Today I will run what you will not so that tomorrow I will run what you cannot.” ---Anon

Love

Peter

"Still Waiting"

I don't understand it.  The Vatican hasn't called.  I'm worried that someone has let slip that I'm not celibate, and now they've excluded me from the running. If I find out who told I'm gonna be pissed.  After all, we all know that in the Catholic church it's not about what sins you may have committed, it's about how well you keep them secret!!  Damn!  I hope I'm wrong.

Meanwhile I guess I'll just stay busy and hope that the call is just delayed.  I really, really want to be Pope.  Maybe they will acknowledge my work ethic and overlook that other stuff.  I know I've been working my butt off on my bike.

Speaking of which I now have a problem.  You will recall that after my first session at the new levels I was a bit overwhelmed, and considered dialing it back a bit based on the next session.  Unfortunately the next session went well, as did my long ride today.  When I say they went well, I don't mean they were easy.  They were hard as hell, and I was whipped after each of them, and yet I performed them up to the standard.  Based on those results I have no excuse to "dial it back".

For today's ride (3 hours) I watched a movie, and although that my seem a bit cheap, without some distraction 3 hours staring at the training monitor is a long freakin time!

I wish also to give you a little health update.  I am suddenly very optimistic about my calf muscle problem.  I found a new massage therapist (or Roo found her for me) and she is fabulous.  Strong hands, mean as hell, and after just 2 sessions with her I sense significant improvement.  That's the good news.  On the other side of the coin I felt some old familiar twinges in my left knee today.  It is clearly from the intensified cycling, and I will have to watch it very carefully.  i think I may need to start doing some light lower body weight training to keep everything in balance.  That's the good thing about the feeling being familiar.  Even though it was years ago, I still remember what I did to fix it them.

So that's it.  Long run day tomorrow but the weather report looks very shaky.  I have promised myself that I will shorten it without guilt if indeed the cold, wind, and snow plays out the way the predict.  You never know though.  Unlike the Pope the meteorologists are not infallible.

By the way, have you made the connection?  The main reason I want to be Pope is so that I can always be right.  Even Roo would have to listen to me then.....maybe even Cory!!

Love
Peter

"Close!"

But you know what they say?  Close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades!!

Today I entered a whole new world of pain, and the worst of it is that it is self inflicted pain.  As I mentioned last week my recent terrific bike test result generated a new set of workout parameters, and quite frankly I don't know if I can maintain them.  The heart of today's workout was 6 repeats of 6 minutes duration, at 221 watts, with 3 minutes of recovery between each interval.   By the 5th one my legs were dead and I ended up at 211 watts.  Somehow I plowed my way through the last one, managing to get it back up to the required 221!  So 5 out of 6 constitutes 'close' I guess.

My next scheduled session is on Thursday and is supposed to be two 20 minute intervals at 200 watts.  I'm gonna do my best with it, but if I can't maintain I will dial the whole thing back a bit.  I acknowledge that my test ride was quite exceptional and I'm pretty sure that if I entered a lower number I would still be on track and then some.  I'll let you know how Thursday goes.

You know by now that I don't like to do anything that can remotely be considered quitting, but after all, if the Pope can quit, who am I to make myself out as better than him??

Speaking of the Popehood, I'm thinking of running for the job.  Do you think I have the qualifications?  After all the job can't be that hard.  I'm pretty sure that if you ask any of my siblings they would assure you that I can learn to be a pretentious, hypocritical, delusional old fart without even making much effort!!  I suppose my only draw back may be that I would request the truth out of a few more people than the last 266 have done.  I suppose that if they made me the Pope it would probably be the end of the line.  They would surely disband the job after I was done.  That may be fitting I suppose since the first Pope was apparently a Peter as well....I think....the nuns told me that so it may well be a lie.

And my favorite of all 266 Popes before me....Pope Hilarius (461-468)

Love
Peter

"Painters Tape"

God forgive me when I whine!

I try not to, but once in a while it gets the better of me.  This morning started out that way

It was damn cold when I got up, thirteen below zero, and I was scheduled for my long run.  The cold in itself doesn't bother me that much because I can prepare for it, but I also knew that it was gonna warm up considerably, and quickly, once the day wore on.  I was anxious to get going but I knew that if I dressed for the current temperature I ran the risk of getting seriously over heated as the temp climbed.  With this in mind I actually took my wife's advice, (she thinks I should whine less too) and decided to drive to London first to do some errands.

It was this same cold weather that motivated me to pick up a hitchhiker at the edge of town.  Once he dragged his way into the car and thanked me profusely I got  my first good look at the guy.  He was probably close to my age, wore a scruffy beard, and had dirty long hair sticking out from under his hat. He was dressed in several layers of thrift store rags, and I'm pretty sure that the horn rimmed glasses he was wearing were the very same pair that I lost when I was fifteen.  When he spoke it was impossible not to notice that the few teeth he had were all busted up and rotten.  Despite his bundle of clothes he was obviously frozen stiff.  This was doubly obvious once he started to thaw out....that's when he started to smell.  Aside from the rather sad physical state of the man, he also seemed to be a little mind addled.  Well actually more than a little.  Perhaps as a result of mental illness, or long term substance abuse, it occurred to me

He was headed to downtown London and I told him that I was only going to the south end so he would have to get another ride from there.  I realized quickly that hitchhiking through town wouldn't work very well and suggested as much to him.  He said, no problem he could take the bus.  I asked him how much that would cost, totally expecting that his response would be one of asking for money.  His actual response..."Three dollars, I have that much"...

Throughout the ride he was totally polite but not overly talkative.  When we arrived at the drop off point for the bus I suggested that I could just drive him the rest of the way, since it wasn't really that far. He once again expressed his gratitude and agreed to my offer only on the condition that it wasn't gonna "inconvenience" me too much.  It took him about 5 seconds to get that long word out.

We arrived downtown where he once again offered his thanks, wished me a good rest of the day, and climbed out of the car.  I watched him briefly as I drove away.  His first stop was a garbage can!!

All of this extra driving may have saved him 3 bucks, but it took 20 minutes out of my day.  Fortunately when I arrived at my destination (Costco), they hadn't run out of the mattress toppers that I wanted for the bed in my motor home!

What does all this have to do with painters tape you may ask?  Simple.  The right arm of his 40 year old glasses was held on with a filthy, sticky glob of what I am sure was once green painters tape!

God forgive me when I whine!

After my tough bike test yesterday my effort was a bit rough for the last half hour.  Never the less I survived the 30 kms without a walk.

God forgive me when I whine!

(30 km run, 2:40)

Love
Peter

"Not Dead Yet!"

You know how I can tell?  Cause I'm typing.  And although they say that your fingernails keep growing after you're dead I'm pretty sure they don't type by themselves.

I also know I'm not dead because I wore my heart rate monitor during my bike test today, and it showed a reading every time I checked.

I also know I'm not dead because of the results of the test.  I'm not 100% sure what to make of it yet, and as such I was very reluctant to actually enter the result into my program sheet.  Whatever result you enter on test days, automatically establishes the intensity of the workouts for the next 5 weeks.

I could cheat and enter a different number but the nuns always told me that I would only be cheating myself, so I finally entered it as achieved.

But there in lies the problem.  If I can refresh your memory my first test resulted in a CP30 score of 172.  Then 5 weeks later I had increased it to a whopping 181.  Today, at the end of week 10, I was pretty confident I could achieve 190.

As I usually do I tried to get a good start and I was initially over 200 hundred but slipping slowly back.  I was worried that I had started out too quickly but I was hanging in at 203 for a while so I just kept plugging away....then suddenly it was at 204....205...206...207!  Holy shit!

I finished my 30 minute test at an average of 210 watts, an average cadence of 95, and an average heart rate of 146. Un-freakin.believable!!!

But like I said, this now becomes  a problem.  The workouts for the next 5 weeks just got a whole lot harder.  Let's see how it goes eh.

Long run tomorrow.  God and my right leg willing.

Love
Peter

"Life Goes On"

Life seems to go in fits and starts.  Sometimes it ticks away seemingly endless.  Then occasionally it spurts ahead about 10 years and you're left feeling dazed.  I think because I fight the good fight to keep my body in shape it tends to generate a sense of invincibility.  Keep the muscles strong, and the blood pumping, and the veins clear,  and you're bound to live forever!  Right?

Wrong!  Ageing is inevitable.  While the veins are indeed clear and the major muscles relatively strong there are a myriad of other components that are simply wearing out.  Things like tendons, and glands, and sphincters, and joints, and of course the all important nerves.  And while you may be able to make a case for some specific methods  to slow down this deterioration, I suggest to you that most of them are contentious at best, and that none of them will stop it entirely!

And the curve is different for everyone because on top of the lifestyle factor,  there is the unchangeable genetic factor. If your DNA calls for hair loss, that's probably what's gonna happen.  The funny thing is that I was always pretty attached to my hair which genetically I'm gonna get to keep, but recently I have begun thinking I may be prepared to trade if off for a few other things.


Yesterday I went to the doctor and I found myself having a senior citizen kind of discussion with him. And it was right as I was leaving his office walking across the parking lot  that the 10 year spurt happened.

But it needn't have happened at all if I was paying attention.  For the last few years when people who didn't know me would ask if I was retired my immediate reaction was usually that they must think I'm independently wealthy to be retired at such a young age.  It's only recently that it  occurred to me that maybe they ask the question because I look old enough to be retired.  As soon as it dawned on me I knew it for the truth.

So now that I've lost 10 years in a single day I need to get over it, and get on with it, and I will.  I need about another half day to wallow and then I'll get back to the program.  And I guess the best way to start may be to consider the idea that for the last 10 years I have been living the life of a much younger man.

On the training front this is an easy week. All my bike workouts have been totally casual, in preparation for Saturdays test routine.  I hope to hit at least 190 watts average for my 30 min test.  I swam 1500 metres in my wetsuit this morning and while it wasn't fast it was effortless.  That's a good thing.  I continue to hang in with my running and next Tuesday I start massage therapy for my injured calf.  (professional help!!!!)  If that doesn't work he wants me to try some new voodoo he just learned about, where they apply extreme pressure to the affected area of the muscle and then release it suddenly.  Since that sounds a lot like pain I'm gonna give massage a good long try first.

Life goes on......

Love
Peter

"Long Run"

I was very nervous going into my run today which is not usual for me.  I generally look forward to it, even the day before.  I think of my long run as my mental housekeeping workout.  Because it is pain and stress free for the first hour or so I really value the sense of solitude I achieve.  That gets a little harder after a couple of hours but by that time I am usually so into it that it don't matter no more.

Today I was stressed because of my calf muscle and I totally expected to be in trouble soon after heading out.  My last run on Thursday lasted only about 6 kms before the leg cramped.  But I worked hard since then to nurse it into some kind of manageable condition and I didn't feel the first serious twinge until about 9 kms.   But I tried to relax and eventually it softened up a bit allowing me to continue.  To make a long story short despite several more scary moments I never really cramped bad and I finished my 30 kms.  So that's a good thing but I know it ain't over yet.  I am way too vulnerable. I will continue to work on it but I also think that maybe I need a little professional help.  I'll keep you posted.

30 kms, 2:40

Love
Peter

"Long Ride"

While I'm generally enjoying the bike workouts I can't claim to like the saturday long ride very much.  Today was 2:15 plus 15 minute warmup as well as cool down.  That's 2:45 of continuos pedalling since  there is no rest on the trainer. I figure it was close to 15,000 pedal revolutions.

2:15 ride at 142 watts average

Love
Peter

"Hmmm..."

I hope it's not some grand illusion, and I hope I'm not doing something wrong?

I'm referring to my computrainer training which just continues improving in leaps and bounds.  Every time I set out to do one of the workouts I am initially intimidated, but almost every time I exceed the numbers comfortably.  Today was no exemption.

Here are a few numbers.

My original test ride was done almost 9 weeks ago on fresh legs, and for the 30 minute duration  I achieved an average power output of 172 watts.

My second test 4 weeks ago resulted in a 181 average, again for 30 minutes. Also, as before, I rested in preparation.

Today the schedule called for a 50 minute tempo ride at 163 watts.  I had already swam this morning and did weights, and then spent the afternoon replacing the plumbing in our bathroom.  When I finally got on the bike it was after 4 o'clock, generally not my favorite time of day to work out.

I did the 50  minute workout at 187 watts!!!  And felt good throughout!!  And remember this was a regualar workout with no rest days in advance.

Hmmm...

Love
Peter