"Top Ten Ways You Can Tell You're Obsessed"

10)  You have 4 pairs of active running shoes, and 3 new pairs in the closet. Well ok...four!

9)    You hand wash your running socks, and keep them in a separate drawer.

8)   You have 2 pairs of prescription sunglasses, and 5 pairs of corrective goggles.

7)   You wear your heart rate monitor while having sex.

6)  You weigh everything....yourself, your shoes, your bike tools, and your food.

5)   Taking a day off of training is more painful than getting fired from your job.

4)  You identify the days of the week by type of workout rather than monday, tuesday etc.

3)  You consider 10 hours of sleep a short night, and may need to supplement with a nap.

2)   When some one asks your age you say 55 to 59.

.....and the number one way you can tell that you're obsessed...

1)   You shave your pubic hair to reduce excess weight!

Love
Peter

"Feels Like Failure"

My workout today was a total bust.  I never even made it through the second of my six repeats before my body gave out.  It's a disheartening feeling.  This is the same workout that I couldn't handle a week ago either.  I guess I got kind of used to pleasant surprises but it seems that they've run out.  I made the best I could out of it by making sure that I at least taxed my legs to the extreme and left it at that. I'm sure I'm gonna get over it, but for now it just feels like failure.

I hope that I can get a bit of a run in tomorrow and if so I'll feel better.  Not that the run itself is so important but I need to know that my feet are on the mend so that I can get back to my long runs.  I only have time for perhaps 3 more as the race is only 4 weeks away.

And along with all that whining I have a nice little story for all you Dutchmen out there.  I watch very little television but the one show I enjoy when I happen to catch it is "How It's Made".  Yesterday one of the topics was doughnuts.  Much to my surprise they credited dutch immigrants with bringing the recipe to North America in the form of something they called oily balls.....and it all came back to me.  Ollie ballen!!!  They were simply balls of dough dumped in boiling oil and then coated with sugar. We didn't have them very often but I can still smell them today.  According to the TV show someone figured out that the balls of dough cooked a little better if you pushed the centre out of them first, and ever since then we've had the doughnut!

And maybe that's my problem....too many doughnuts!!....or maybe not enough??

Love
Peter

"Keep Your Eyes On The Prize"

I came out of the weekend race a little sorer than I would like to have been.  Both feet have a bit of a problem and while I'm pretty sure I'll work them out, my attempt at a jog yesterday, while it initially felt good  quickly flared both problems back up.  That has given me pause to reflect on the next phase of my training.

The two things I'm focusing on in the short term are the marathon on April 28th, and the last 4 1/2 weeks of my bike program.  Unfortunately they both culminate at the same time leaving me in a bit of a quandary.  To compound that I am worried that with the vastly increased intensity of the bike workouts I will struggle to effectively complete the 4 hard sessions per week.

After much deliberation, and consideration of a bunch of different options I reminded myself of the long term goal.  With that in mind I have decided to put everything on an 8 day schedule.  The marathon notwithstanding, I think it makes much more sense.  It eliminates the need to do back to back, bike workouts and I think that one extra day may be just what I need.  Also if I don't think about the timing of the marathon it allows me the luxury of taking an extra rest day if I need it by simply pushing the whole schedule out a day.  There are a couple of things I don't like about it, not the least of which is that it will mean I will have to swim on the weekend at times.  I  find that a bit stressful because of the added activity in the pool.  And as I mentioned a couple of times it drives the end of the bike program perilously close to marathon day.

But like I say.  The marathon is just for the fun of it or at least not more than a hard training day.  As much as I find it difficult I will choose to accept whatever that day brings me.

On the training front, I am glad to tell you that the sore feet problem does not affect my riding.  I rode long on Tuesday, although a bit slower than usual, and today I did my tempo ride.  I was satisfied with my 60 minutes at 203 watts....not too shabby, and not too painful.  The next 2 workouts will be a major test however.  If I can do them, than I believe I can complete the rest of the program.  I'll let you know.

Oh, and one last thing I forgot to tell you about.    My average heart rate for the 30k race was 136!!!  Put that in your pipe and smoke it!!

...and after all, this is war...

"In war there is no prize for runner-up."---Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Love
Peter

"No Fear!"

I think one of the most wonderful things about the country I am blessed to live in, is that I can wear whatever socks I want and the biggest fear associated with choosing these, would perhaps be one of some minor mis-interpretation. That's not the case in many parts of our world!!

And besides, I've been misunderstood all my life so I'm good with that.

I just discovered the socks yesterday and I was delighted to add them to my colorful theme for the day.

Not very co-ordinated I know but that's just one more area where I lack any expertise.

Where I do not lack expertise, and as a matter of fact I am exceptionally good at it, is in race pacing.

My 10 km split times were 49:21, 48:08, 48:39.  While that may not seem exactly perfect, it indeed is damn close, based on the course.  The first 10K to relax, the next 10 to cruise cause it remains flat, and the last 10 to bear down because it is by far the toughest part due to the hills.

The real evidence is in my 15 km splits which were 1:13:21 and 1:12:44.  A slight negative split which is considered almost impossible on this course.

But the best part of the day was just feeling great throughout, and knowing that my honey was waiting for me at the end.  As always, thanks babe for your never ending support.

Final results put me in with a gun time of 2:26:52 and a chip time of 2:26:08.  The difference is simply the time it takes you to get to the start line from the moment the gun goes off.

I also finished 32nd in my age group out of 347, and 904th over all out of 6848.

I am a bit sore in a few places so I think I may deserve tomorrow off as well.  I will decide in the morning.

One thing that continues to amaze me is the continued growth of female participants in the sport.  When I first started doing this stuff  a typical ratio of men to women was 2-1.  Today there were just 100 more men than women!  It just goes to prove that as time wears on, that the amount of women with fuck all else to do is quickly catching up to men!!

...I like this one...

"A man who is not afraid is not aggressive, a man who has no sense of fear of any kind is really a free, a peaceful man."---Jiddu Krishnamurti

Love
Peter

"Living Dangerously"

Funny thing.....  On Sunday I will be running a demanding 30 km race in Hamilton.  I'm not in the least nervous about it.  In contrast, today I was scheduled for a training ride in my own basement and I've been anxious about it since yesterday.  My anxiety was not unfounded.  Based on my incomplete Wednesday workout at the new levels, I knew today was going to be a brute.  It was!

I took about an hour to get changed into my workout clothes and then did some stretching and light calisthenics all in order to procrastinate the pain.  Once I got on the bike my 15 minute warm up turned into 30 minutes, with the intent of further delaying the inevitable.  I did several little tests during the warm up to see what 227 watts felt like, and I can tell you it did not feel good.  I had little confidence that I would complete the session per the program.

As a matter of fact I spent the warm up time mentally adjusting my schedule for the next 5 weeks on the basis that I clearly needed to back off a little.  I felt dangerously over trained, and as much as you can take some pride in the tenacity it takes to keep pounding away after your body has given up, it also doesn't make any sense.  In fact it is quite counterproductive.

The challenge is finding the sweet spot between giving in to the pain, and over training.  I think that today I went right to the upper limit, if not beyond. Of course you figured out by now that I did the entire workout. Somehow!!  Perhaps there exists somewhere in my past a tougher session than the one I had today, but if so I can't remember it.  The mental battle was incredible.  It is tougher even than the actual test sessions because in that case you're simply doing all you can and that's it, whereas in the case of a targeted workout like today you are trying to achieve a specific goal, and anything less would be considered failure.

So that's how I talked my way through the first 20 minute session, but by the end I felt so depleted that to do it all over again seemed incomprehensible.  Fortunately after my 10 minute rest I felt a bit better and I managed to coach myself through the second half, minute by excruciating minute.  I wish I had the writing skill to be able to express how it felt.  I would suggest that you imagine some kind of extreme pain, like when you hit yourself in the knee cap with a hammer.  Then imagine that you can stop the pain simply by deciding to stop, but instead you choose not to make that decision.  That perhaps gives you a sense of the mental battle.

Anyway I feel pretty good right now and will keep my feet up for the next day and a half and see what Sunday at the races brings.  I suspect I'm still going to be feeling the effects of today but so be it.  I am committed to enjoying the race and if I end up taking a few walking breaks I can probably live with that.  The bike sessions continue to be my focus for now.

I am so committed to this program, and the more I educate myself the more I get excited about it.  I have known for years that extreme exertion levels while running always took my heart rate higher than similar levels riding, and wondered why that was so.  Recently I formulated my own amateur opinion that it was a good thing that my heart rate was starting to creep up while riding.  That may seem contradictory as normally you would think that hard training would be intended to bring your rate down.   But I think I got it right.  You need to gain sport specific, muscular strength and endurance, in order to take advantage of your well conditioned cardiovascular system.  Today I found a great article to support my theory, and perhaps some of you may be interested.  Find it here.

Have a peaceful weekend.  I look forward to mine for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is seeing my little sister on Sunday.  Around The Bay is a semi regular part of Brett's race circuit and as such Teresa and Roo will be our only fans.  The beauty of this race is the indoor finish at Copps Coliseum which allows spectators to stay warm and dry.   Talk to you after the race.

...and on living dangerously...

"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds."---Edward Abbey

Love
Peter

"No Miracles Today"

I gave it what I had but it just wasn't gonna happen.  I should have worn my heart rate monitor just for the fun if it, but even without it I know I took it to the edge.  After 3 intervals I was all done.  When I started the 4th I did what I always do, and that's to start out by building a bit of a bank.  This time I couldn't even get it over the required 251 to start.  I quickly decided to take a longer rest and try again, but to no avail.  No matter how hard I stomped on the gas pedal I went nowhere.  I conceded the 4th interval to 200 watts, and then survived the 5th and 6th at the same level.

That leaves me with a decision; the choices being to decrease the intensity to make sure I can complete the workout at a constant pace, or to keep blasting away and try to gradually increase the number of reps I can get in.  Most experts will tell you that you need to determine an intensity that you can hold throughout the session rather than one that is too tough that you can't maintain.

I think that Fridays workout will probably hold the answer for me.  I am scheduled for 2 long intervals of 20 minutes at 227 watts. To put that into perspective that's the same wattage as I needed to hold for my 6 minute intervals just a week ago!  I'm gonna give it a shot and if it goes kind of half okay I will stay with the current schedule.  If it feels impossible I will re-evaluate accordingly.

The one thing I have to remember is that this program is designed as a cyclists improvement plan, not a triathletes, and as such does not consider all the rest of the stuff I do.  I feel quite good about what I have accomplished to date so I'm doing my best to subdue the wee little bit of disappointment I feel.  I am happy with my effort,  just not happy with the result.  Or rather I should say I'm not "satisfied" with the result.  I think there's a subtle different there.

"Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure."---Thomas Edison

Love

Peter

"I Got 2 Things To Say"

1)  Thanks Cathy for your prayers.  It feels a bit better today!!  I guess I must have my mind open.

2) I have no idea how I'm gonna do my workout tomorrow.  Since I like to think in possibility I'm not gonna say it can't be done, I just don't know how??  My previous short interval session was 6 repeats at 227 watts with 3 minutes of rest between.  I just barely managed those.  Tomorrow I'm supposed to do the same thing at 251 watts!

I'll let you know what happens.

Love
Peter

"Trying to Relax"

And not doing too well at it.  Here's my latest crisis.  About 10 days ago I smashed the side of my foot into the leg of the weight bench downstairs.   Despite our 'shoes always' in the weight room rule, I happened to be without just because I had taken my cycling shoes off to run upstairs for something  It was one of those things that hurts like hell at the time but that you don't think much more of afterwards cause it just goes away.  Except this didn't.  It still hurt the next day and slowly but surely has continued to get worse.  It is still not at the point where it limits my training but I'm not sure how it's gonna get better unless I back off.  I can't back off damn it!  Somebody pray for me.

Although I did take the easy bike ride option today.  I knew the minute I hopped on that it was the only reasonable choice.  That also means that tomorrow is swim and weights only, which hopefully is enough of a respite for my poor foot.  Then I will do my first tough rides at the new levels on Wednesday and Friday with an easy run sandwiched in between on Thursday.  Saturday will be another joyous day of rest.  Sunday of course ..... game on!

"It is necessary to relax your muscles when you can. Relaxing your brain is fatal."---Stirling Moss

Love
Peter

"Change Of Plan"

Yah I know!  Again??

Actually I'm not even sure yet but I will decide in the morning.  With the race coming up next Sunday the plan was to skip the next 2 normal workouts(easy bike tomorrow, and recovery day Tuesday) and move everything up 2 days in order to have a day or 2 off prior to the race.  I still like that strategy, but quite frankly I'm not sure if it's do-able.  I'm not worried about the race itself, since the worst that could happen is that I go slow, but rather about moving too quickly into the next phase of my bike training.  With the exceptional test results of yesterday now entered into the calculations, the upcoming workouts are that much tougher again.  As I look at tomorrows requirement it just seems too much the day after my long run.  The other option would be to leave everything alone until the next scheduled long ride which I would then push out to the following week.  Then I would simply extend the entire bike program by a few days.   That would mean that my long workouts would move to midweek which I'm not sure I'm fond of.  It would however work out reasonably well for my marathon at the end of April.

I also have to remind myself that the swimming pool is calling me.  I avoided the place all of last week because of the March break madness that takes place there, but now I need to get a little more serious.  Missing the pool also means I skipped my weights.  I've been so bad I may have to go to confession!!

"Bless me father for the last I went to the swimming pool was over a week ago."  Too bad that 3 Our Fathers and 3 Hail Marys couldn't  make me a better swimmer!   I'd be off to the confessional first thing in the morning.

Like I said, I will decide tomorrow (no, not about confession idiot!) and not until I'm actually on the bike.  I will do a proper warm up and give the tough workout a shot.  I will know quickly whether it is a mistake or not, and if so, move into the easier workout.  I think the bigger mistake right now would be to go to hard rather than vice-versa.  As much as I am elated with the progress I have made I am now motivated to squeeze out a bit more over the last 5 week section of the program.  Wish me luck!

And to your question John, I have spent an average of 7 hours  per week on my bike over the last 15 weeks.  It seemed like a whole lot more for some reason.  I think the learning here is that it's about quality, as opposed to quantity.  Like I told Roo after I got off the trainer yesterday, it's not about the program, and it's not about the trainer.  It's about how hard you work.  The program and the machine are simply the tools and the motivator to get you to truly bust your ass!!  While I know I still have to put the miles in to build my endurance, that's only one element.

Love
Peter

"Tim Hortons and the Catholic Church"

What do these 2 organizations have in common?  Lots of things if you think about it.  First off they both have figureheads that met a violent death.  While most of you know what happened to Jesus, you may not know that Timmy was driving his exotic sports car down the QEW at 160 kms/hr when he hit a concrete wall.  Shit!

Another feature they share is their dependence on effective marketing.  While Tim's has roll up the rim and timbits, the catholics have the promises of the confessional and the body of christ!!  Whoa....that's weird!

And I'm sure I can think of a lot more but to cut to the chase I'll tell you the biggest single aspect that they share and that's this.  When you're inside either of them they somehow seem to make some kind of sense.  It's only once you break their cycle of brainwashing and get the hell out can you see how bizarre the whole deal really is.

Of course you're wondering what triggered this lunatic thought.  Well  I was at the mall in London and had to cut through the line at Timmy's to be able to make it down the hallway.  I counted them, and there were 29 people in the freakin line waiting patiently to get their cup of tasteless swamp water.  I was reminded of the thousands of people standing in St Peters square waiting for Pope Frank to be announced as the next guy in charge of protecting our children............

Or maybe I'm just pissed that I didn't get the call eh?

Actually I don't think so.   I'm beyond caring about donuts and communion wafers.   Ask me rather, why I was at the mall in the first place.  I was there to get myself a reward for my bike test results today.  I gotta tell you I was so scared going into it but one more time I was surprised.  Here's all my test scores.

Initial        172
Week 5     181
Week 10   210
Week 15   232

That's a 35 peercent increase in power over 15 weeks!!!  I can tell you that I'm on a bit of a high.  Oh, by the way.  I got myself a nice new long sleeve shirt for the race next weekend.  Life is good!

Long run day tomorrow.  I think it will be easier without the usual saturday long ride.

Love
Peter

"I Have A Plan!"

I think!

It's pretty aggressive but after all you only live once.  The challenge if you recall was to keep the bike program on track, while somehow squeezing in a very demanding 30 km race.

My intention at this point is to skip the first workout immediately subsequent to this Saturday's test, and move the rest of that weeks schedule up by a day.  That would mean that I will do my long ride on the Friday before the Sunday race instead of Saturday.  In the normal course of events that plan would still be considered insane by most people, but what the hell! I ain't gonna win the race!.

I'm pretty sure even with that plan I will feel more energetic than I do right now.  I believe that every single muscle fibre in my body from my waist on down is totally and completely depleted.  Today's "easy" ride was 1:45 total with the functional part being 75 minutes at 174 watts.

The more I get into this and look back at my first test ride, the more I think that perhaps I simply didn't really give it my all??  It just seems inconceivable that all I had for that 30 mins was 172 watts completely rested, when I compare it to today's effort, the day after a taxing long run??

Of course I want to believe I'm that much stronger but I choose to remain a little bit sceptical.  I hate nasty surprises.  Being the father of 4 boys has given me enough of those to last a lifetime.

"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."---E.B. White

Love
Peter

"A Little Tougher, A Little Slower"

But not any less pleased.  I sucked every ounce of effort out of this aging body for the last 4 weeks, and now it's time to regroup and refresh a bit.  After tomorrow's bike ride the rest of the week will be recovery workouts only, in preparation for my next test ride come Saturday.

I got started at a reasonable time this morning motivated by the glorious sunshine.  Unfortunately this also meant that I had only 16 hours between two hard workouts. Regardless, at about 10 kms  I had that run forever kind of feeling. By about 20 kms it had dissipated a bit, and by 25 it was only a distant memory.  Nevertheless I hung on and managed my 30k in 2:42.  I am a bit sore, a bit tired, but a lot content.

"My crown is called content, a crown that seldom kings enjoy."---William Shakespeare

Love
Peter

"Saturday!"

I really struggled mentally today.  Part of the problem I think was a late start, as the morning was taken up by my grandsons first ever All-Star game appearance.  But ask me if there was anything that could have stopped me from going to that?  Regardless, by the time I got back from the game and had some lunch it was after 1 pm.  Getting on my bike I realized that I was gonna spend the entire afternoon there.  That my friends is a bit intimidating!

I know I've been living on the edge so after about 45 minutes I gave myself permission to ride for an hour and call it a day.  After an hour I gave myself permission to do half the ride and call it a day.  After  1 1/2 hours I gave myself permission to do the entire ride but not to hold myself accountable to the power requirement.

But somehow the time just kept ticking away and before I knew it I gave myself permission to do the entire ride at the prescribed wattage, and nothing less.  Thank god for the third Lord of The Rings movie which distracted me just enough to get through the tough spots, and I actually started to pick up as the ride wore one.  The program called for 195 minutes at 158 watts plus the warmup/cooldown.  I ended up averaging 169 watts!!   Remember my first test ride 14 weeks ago?  Thirty (30) minutes on fresh legs at 172 watts.  I'm having trouble grasping it??

So I'm quite proud of myself while at the same time I question the sanity of this stuff.  Spending a beautiful early spring afternoon beating myself to death in the basement, does perhaps indicate just a wee bit of eccentricity does it not?

But you know what?  That's who I am.  I know that I'm actually relatively intelligent and if my intense stubbornness is also a factor in my decision making so be it.  I have always believed there was a stronger cyclist inside me and I want to find out if that's really the case.  I am starting to believe that the only thing that really held me back was a lack of understanding.  Time will tell eh.

So that brings me to a bit of a crossroads, and a decision making point.  After one more hard ride on Monday I am supposed to back off for a few days and then do my next test ride a week from today.  That's all well and good but the real problem comes the following week when I need to pick it up again.  It's a problem because at the end of that week I have to run the 30K race in Hamilton.  I want to have a decent race to make up for the disaster of last year when I was in the middle of my hyperbaric treatments, but a good race would require a few more easy days.  I could just push the whole bike program out a week but that leaves me with an even bigger problem 5 weeks later when I'm supposed to run the Waterloo marathon.  Hmmm.....I'm thinking about it.

That's it for today.  I'm gonna try for another 30 km run  tomorrow and I no longer know what to think about that.  Right now I would tell you no freakin way, but I've said that before.  One thing I promise myself.  No matter how it turns out, I will be content.

And I conclude my ramblings by asking a favor of you once you finish reading this.  Get up off your butt, find someone you love, and give them a kiss on the cheek.  When they look at you funny and ask you what that was for, tell them it's just because.  Or I suppose you could tell them it's from Saint Peter!!  Your choice!!

Love

Peter

"Piece of Cake"

Six repetitions of six minutes at 227 watts, with 3 minutes recovery between each.  No problem!  The sweet part is that for some reason I knew it was gonna go well.  Remember I told you I wasn't scared.  That's been the highest intensity workout to date, and while I still won't call it easy, the outcome was never in doubt.
Life is good!

Love
Peter

"Happiness Is"

A glass of milk, a cookie and a banana just before bed!

I know it seems lame but I truly get a little shiver of appreciation just anticipating the moment.

I had a nice easy day which included a 2 km swim in my wetsuit, and a half hour in the weight room.   I love tuesdays!  Tomorrow is my tough bike day but I ain't scared!!

Love
Peter

"Call me Saint Peter!"

Unbelievable!  And this is no false modesty.  I am honestly and humbly surprised.  I ran my 30 kms without any significant difficulty.  I wss not very fast but as long as I'm running, speed is irrelevant.  I averaged a nice steady 5:21/km,  and the real miracle is that my heart rate never went over 140!  I truly don't know what to make of it.  I have chosen simply to accept it as a good thing, but not to analyze it too much.  

The bottom line however is that since yesterday I pronounced it a potential miracle, at least for today you can call me Saint Peter.  Further to that, and to avoid any confusion with that other guy, please think of me as Saint Peter of Saint Thomas!!

Game on!!

Saint Peter of Saint Thomas

"Going For Sainthood"

I have a very slim chance to be the only guy to make sainthood before making Pope!!  I say slim because I'm pretty sure you need to perform a miracle before you can get canonized.  Speaking of which, where the hell did that word come from?  It sounds like something pretty violent really. There's a few people I'd like to canonize!  Actually making sainthood may not be that great a gig anyway, because I think you need to be dead first!

But alas, I'm going  for the miracle anyway, and then they can consider it after I'm gone.

Tomorrow is long run day and unusually for me I'm not really looking forward to it.  The weather looks kind of uncertain, except that the lack of sunshine seems pretty definite.  Weather aside however, if I manage to get any kind of decent run in tomorrow it will indeed be a freakin miracle after today's bike ride.

Three and a half hours total! That includes 15 mins warmup, and 15 cooldown.  The main set was 3 hours at 163 watts.  If I compare that to my original test ride of 30 mins at 172 I'm quite proud of my effort, but it was very, very tough.  To pedal continuously for that period of time while under the constant  pressure of the power meter is tough mentally  The legs are feeling the burn, but it's the brain that wants to quit.

We'll see what tomorrow brings but I really have my expectations in check.  Sainthood may just have to wait for another day. Besides, I don't trust their decision making. My mother has been dead for several years already, and I'm still waiting for her "canonization"??

And just to prove I'm not prejudiced, here are 3 quotes from the same saint.  I think I like this guy

"If God can work through me, he can work through anyone."

"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words."

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

---St Francis of Assisi

Love
Peter