"Checking In"

It's been a rough week mentally.  One filled with questions and uncertainty.  I suddenly feel old and tired.  On Monday Roo and I took Kylie to the park for her bike riding lesson and it was me that learned a  lesson.  Yup!  When they're gonna fall you just have to let them fall!!  Unfortunately the thought of her elbows hitting the cement spurned me into action and I convinced myself I could catch her.  Half way to the ground I got tangled up with the bike as well and I had to make a decision whether to land on Kylie or land on my head.  I hit the concrete sidewalk so hard I thought I may never recover.  Kylie was fine, and as I thought about the whole sequence later I considered the possibility that at 57 years old I shouldn't be trying that kind of trick.  I also mashed my knuckles and bruised my left knee.

So after that auspicious start to the week,  despite reasonable workout results for the rest of the week,  I am only now starting to get my head back on straight (literally and figuratively). Hopefully my long ride tomorrow will bring my confidence level back up to where it needs to be at this point.  The bad news is that I will be doing it on my old bike as my Argon is still in the shop.  The holdup is simply a matter of the BS required in getting Shimano to own up to the warranty.  They don't trust the bike shop and insist of doing their own test of the faulty equipment.  I truly ain't too stressed over it, and in fact am grateful that I have a backup.

I think I have my routine for the rest of the program pretty well figured out.  It looks something like this.

Sunday-------trail run(easy)
Monday------swim, weights, hill run
Tuesday------swim, hard basement bike, transition run
Wednesday--long run/walk (4 min/1 min)
Thursday-----swim, weights, easy ride
Friday---------long swim
Saturday------Long ride, transition run

That's the plan but I will also try hard to listen to my body, and adjust accordingly.  Although it looks quite full I think it's generally do-able. Other than Friday my swims will be no more than 1500 metres.  The one basement ride will alternate between various workouts I used during my bike program.  Weight workouts will be limited to upper body only, and not take more than 20 minutes to complete.   Even my weekly hill run will be done at a reasonable intensity as I only want to simulate race day speed.  While just over half of the Tremblant run course is flat as a pancake the rest of it is rolling hills, including thr last 5 kms!!  The most important workouts from here on in are the long ride/transition runs, and with Friday and  Sunday being easy days, I will try to give it my all on Saturday.  If weather dictates I will also have the option of switching Sat and Sunday.  I don't mind running in the rain but wet riding just sucks, and it's more  dangerous.

So there you have my update.  Hang with me through this rough patch.  I'm pretty sure it will get better again as soon as I remember why I'm doing this??  I tried to buy my optimism back and while it helped a little bit temporarily we wll know that true resolve comes from inside.  Never the less here are the toys I spent Roo's money on.

While I didn't really need these I was never really enamoured with my red ones and these just soooo match my bike.  While they are not "triathlon" specific shoes, the advantages far outweigh the 4 extra seconds it takes to get them on.  To start with they are a whopping 120 grams (4.5 ozs) lighter than the old ones, and secondly they have this really cool thing called Boa lacing.  Those little dials that you see allow you to make very minute, on the fly adjustments, to either tighten or loosen the fit as desired.  On a long ride this is gonna be precious.  I think I'm gonna loose another second getting them off!!

And while I didn't really need this either, Old John and Grampa Brett both have one, and while that wasn't my motivation you know I gotta keep up!!   It's a GPS watch which will tell you in real time just about anything you may want to know, except for why your children are the way they are.  Each one of those 4 quadrants is programmable to a myriad of data. One of it's many great features is that it has a run/walk function which you can program to whatever you want, and set alerts accordingly,  But the number one motivator for me.....it vibrates....  Thanks to my old friend the chemo doc, I no longer hear my wrist watch unless it is pressed tightly to my ear.  I tried it out on my long run this past Wednesday and it was flawless.

And on my training today I had a decent 3000 metre swim despite the 60, ten year olds that were at the pool.  They all stayed out of my lane!  

Oh and Kylie now rides like a pro!!  Thanks to Roos advice I am now an expert.   I bet we can teach any kid to ride in 2, one hour sessions.

"Mental toughness is to physical as four is to one."---Bobby Knight

....and this one doesn't match but I really liked it...

"Men should not try to over strain their goodness more than any other faculty, bodily or mental."---Samuel Butler

Love

Peter

"Testing My Resolve"

I'm never going back to Woodstock.  Last year I had bike problems, this year I had a bike nightmare!  Unfortunately it was bad enough that I never even got to the start line.  My high tech machinery failed me, and I was powerless to do anything about it.  It goes into the shop tomorrow morning.  I think for me the worst part was not so much the problem itself but rather the horrible loss of control.  I have always prided myself on being able to fix anything and everything on my bike, but alas, just like what happened with cars, the technology outgrew me.

Only twelve weeks til race day and I feel way behind.  Hopefully it's just a feeling rather than a reality because if there's one thing I know for sure, it's that if indeed I am behind, it's too late to catch up now.

I was proud of myself today in that I hung around as cheerleader for Old John who performed exceptionally well......he used my 20 year old bike.  If it broke I could have fixed it for him.  I think this will get you his results.  I'm proud of you John.

My neice Samantha also completed the Give-It-A-Tri....way to go Sammie, and friend Dave Hudson did his first ever triathlon.  It was such a pleasure to witness their pride.  Here are those results.

Onwards and upwards!!

Love
Peter

"I Feel LIke A Leafs Fan"

Confused, disoriented, and just plain bummed.  Don't tell me you ain't!

This is how it happened.  You did better than expected by making the playoffs which felt pretty good, but at the same time you knew you had no chance of beating the bruins.  That's why half way through the third period of game seven you were starting to get delusions of grandeur.  I know you were letting yourself think Stanley Cup!!  That's the only reason it initially hurt so bad when the whole world came crashing down over a period of 30 minutes.

It was the same with me and my bike program.  Success was so surprising such that 3/4 of the way through I had improved my scores by 35%, way beyond the goal of 20% I had originally set.  That got me dreaming of crazy stuff like 50% improvement! Today over a period of 30 minutes (my final test ride) it all came crashing down.  Because of my delusions I probably started out too hard and despite holding on to an average of 150 half way through I was already out of gas.  I finished at 137 watts which means the second half I averaged only 124.  I'm a bit disappointed.

However if I were a Leafs fan (heaven help me) and I were to look back at the beginning of the season and imagined taking the Bruins to overtime in game seven, I would have been delighted.

That's the way I need to look at my program.  If you told me that I would make a 38% improvement when I set out I would not have believed it possible.  I hope the improvement is enough to get me a 5:30 Ironman bike time, and theoretically that should now be possible.  My previous times were 6:09 and 5:53.  Remember that  power gains are not proportionate to speed. To give you an idea of how steep the curve is, it takes twice as much power to ride 40 kms/hr as 30 kms/hr!!

So I'm trying to stay positive about it all, despite an overall feeling of lethargy.  I seem to have caught a bit of a bug and I'm also battling a sore foot and a very sore calf muscle.  It may even impact my little race on Sunday, in that I'm not sure I can  run without doing damage.  I have not run for a week and don't plan on doing so until the race.  We will see what happens.

"Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed."---Jonathan Swift

Love
Peter

"Hard/Easy"

Make the hard days hard, and the easy days easy!   I'm still trying to learn this lesson.  Your body does not get any stronger from working out, but rather from the recovery after working out.  If you don't allow for this recovery, not just are you missing out on the benefits of the hard session, it may actually be counterproductive as your body will break down as opposed to building up.  It's the primary reason that Lance and all his buddies use drugs, so that they can recover quicker.

Like I say I'm still working on this.  I have a tendency to try to hurry things up by putting 2 or 3 tough sessions together on successive days.  You can get away with it to some degree by cross-training but cycling and running are too related to be able to string them together too often.  Today was an easy day but it was sorely needed.  The previous 3 days were hard bike, long run and long bike.  Recall also that my Tuesday hard bike was only 48 hours after an even tougher ride.  I think I was fortunate that on Wednesday I had to stop my run at 19 kms because of a cramp in my calf.  That probably saved me from an even  bigger mistake.

So it was a swim only day and even that I did at a leisurely pace.  I swam 2500 metres in 52 minutes which although it's a bit slow even for me I'm totally good with.  It's nice to know at this point that I'm practically ready for the swim and I won't put a lot more effort into it beyond  stretching out one longer session each week, building up top the 4000 metre mark.

Tomorrow is the last official workout of my indoor bike program which also gives me reason to take a few more easy days in preparation for my final test ride next Tuesday.  Then it's hammer time again with a brief interruption for a little triathlon in Woodstock next weekend.  I'm really looking forward to that event as Old John, young Samantha and I think even Grampa Kyle will be joining me.  Should be a hoot!

"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid."---Ben Franklin

Love
Peter

"Wooden Shoes"

Wooden shoes!  Wooden head!  Wouldn't listen!

In my opinion generalizations made around ones heritage are rarely valid .  However I choose to embrace the idea that as a Dutchman I am somehow more stubborn than the average person.  Of course that attitude gets me in as much trouble as it has generated success.

Today was one such result.  My plan was to wait 72 hours between my last two interval bike workouts like the experts strongly suggest, but I decided one more time that I knew better.  I had a sneaking suspicion that it would cost me and sure enough it was a battle today. As delighted as I was with my Sunday ride I wasn't quite recovered .  Regardless I completed the first 20 minute session without too much trouble but the recovery period seemed more like one minute than five.  By the 15 minute point of the second one I was pretty well done and my average power started to slip below the prescribed 232 watts.  With 2 minutes left I was down to 226, but somehow I found a bit of a reserve and got it back to 330 by the end.  Close enough!  As anal as I am I would have liked to have completed it to the letter but it truly is irrelevant.  I had a good strong workout and that's all that matters.

Mind you I'm a bit whipped right now!

Tomorrow I will try a long run followed by a long ride Thursday if I still feel okay.  Both of those may be bad ideas but I guess I'll find out!

"Stubborn people get themselves in a lot of trouble, but they also get things done."---Anna Paquin

Love
Peter

"Inspired"

For the last 2 months Roo has been preparing them.  This was D-Day!

It makes me feel good all over.  Today our grandchildren ran their first ever 5 km race.  Despite wind and snow they both did better than they expected.  Colby finished in 37:30 and Kylie in 40:21.  They were paced by Roo who as I mentioned has coached them all the way.  I'm very proud of all 3 of them.  The talk after the race was all about the next one.  Very gratifying.

Then we went for burgers and ice cream!!  Woohoo!!

Of course when we got back home I still had a workout to do myself, and I sure as heck didn't feel like it.  I did not sleep well last night, and my basement phobia was in full bloom.  Combine that with a late start because of the race, and it wasn't without some trepidation that I trudged downstairs.  But the smiles on the faces of my grandchildren got me started and things worked out extremely well again.  Today was short interval day and called for 6 reps of 6 minutes at 251, on 2 minutes rest.  I'm delighted to say they weren't that hard, and in actual fact I pushed the last one to 279!!  Wow!!

That was the first workout of the last week of my bike program, and I intend on finishing strong.  That means 3 more tough ones, with the next session (long intervals) being the tipping point.  I will wait for 3 days like the program suggests before I tackle it.

I had no intention of doing the final 30 minute test since it doesn't in itself add any thing, and it would mean a few days rest to be able to do it properly...who needs rest?  But I think I'm gonna fit it in.  I really want to know the final outcome.  I'll decide over the next week and let you know.

That's it for today folks.  Happy Mothers day to my wife Claudette, my daughter Miguette, Roos mom Jean, all my sisters, all of Roos sisters, and all the rest of you mothers!  You are all very special to me, and I know you continue to work hard to live up to the standard set by you know who.

I miss you so much Mom.  I cried a little just now.

Love
Peter

"Afraid of the Basement"

I don't know if there's a name for fear of the basement but this morning I surely had it.  I was scheduled for 70 mins at 197 watts, and while it is probably the easiest of my workouts it's still a long time at a very intense level.  The anticipation itself can be frightening.  Fortunately my fears were unfounded.  While I had no intention of doing so I rode quite a bit harder than the plan.   I simply felt strong.  Half way through I was riding quite comfortably, and I never ran out of gas. The final score was 70 minutes at 221 watts!!!  It was exhilarating riding the last minute at 300 watts!
And while I still have some days where my confidence is low, overall I think I must be a better rider than I was last year.  I will be a fair bit disappointed if this doesn't prove to be the case.  Time will tell.

"Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. I think it's in my basement... let me go upstairs and check."---M C Escher

Love
Peter

"A Different Kind of Tired"

There are certain things you just can't get by riding in the basement.  Like sunburn and transport trucks, like grit in your eyes and bugs in your ears, like rain and thunder and lightning, etc etc.  But the most important thing that's available outside that you can't get inside is what I call my "farmers tired".  Somehow all of those things of nature (minus the fuckin trucks), give you an all over feel good kind of tired.  The kind of tired that seems to say, "you earned your dinner"

Today I rode to Ingersol and back which worked out pretty good since Ingersol is about 60 kms from here, or more importantly approximately a 2 hour ride.  It was my first serious outdoor attempt.  This time around my long rides are gonna be based exclusively on time rather than distance, and furthermore I'm gonna do them at an easier pace. Coincidentally my 4 hours turned into 120 kms and then I followed it up with a 4 km run/walk with my new 4/1 strategy.  It all felt very, very good.  I still have no idea however if I've actually gotten any faster on my bike, and I may not know until race day.  That's the problem when you're always, always tired.

So that's it for today.  I'm gonna have one more cookie and maybe an ice cream, and go to bed.  I got another big day tomorrow, fixing a huge section of fence that my friend the farmer took out with his 40 foot cultivator!!  I wonder if he's feeling tired?  Sitting in his air conditioned 300 HP tractor I bet not!  Mind you, he was still out there when I came in at 9 pm!!

“He that would look with contempt on the pursuits of the farmer, is not worthy the name of a man”---Henry Ward Beecher

Love

Peter

"An Experiment"

Yesterday I did my long interval bike workout and unfortunately 2 mins before the end of the first interval the screen saver on my computer screwed up my program.  I decided to move right into the rest break with the intent of adding the extra 2 minutes to the second session.  Upon restart, I quickly decided that two 18 minute intervals would do quite nicely instead of the called for 20 minutes.  I had to push very hard to even get to 18 minutes again but I'm okay with that.  I need to be kind to myself occasionally.  Of course 5 minutes into my cool down I felt guilty enough to go back and do the missing 4 minutes!

Anyway it was a tough ride, which eventually led to today's experiment.  I wanted to get a long run in, but was worried that it would be too much.  So I did a 4min/1min run-walk thing for the entire 30 kms.  I've experimented with run-walk before but never for a long session like this.  Aside from the fear of overdoing it I had another motivation for the experiment.  I'm pretty sure I want to tackle the Ironman marathon with a run-walk strategy form the start rather than when I no longer have a choice.  My hope is to run under four hours and so I need to find the formula that gets me to a 5:40/km pace.   I thought 4/1 would do it, but in actual fact I was a fair bit faster than that finishing with a 5:27 average.   It was quite gratifying.  I'm still not sure of the final plan but that gives me something to go on at least.

"It's not an experiment if you know it's going to work."---Jeff Bezos

Love
Peter

"Treason!"

I have been very careful all week not to repeat the error I made after the bay race of pushing too hard, too soon.  I took Monday and Tuesday off completely, then on wednesday I swam, did my weights and went for a short ride, my first trip outside.  Thursday I went for a little longer ride of 30 kms with a little jog/walk afterwards.  By that time I was starting to feel pretty good, but in the interest of caution I decided that Friday would be one more complete day of rest.  At least if you call planting 200 seedlings by hand a day of rest.

So I was quite proud of my resolve and had confidence that I was quite ready to get back at it 100%, starting with a renewed effort to  I fully intended to complete the last 2 tough weeks of my bike program  Unfortunately when I woke up this morning I just didn't seem to have any energy.  It seems that either the tree planting had taken more out of me than I thought, or I still wasn't completely recovered from the marathon.

I made a deal with myself.  I would go downstairs and give it the old college try.  If I couldn't pull it off I would give up the rest of the program and get on with my training outside.  After all, summer appears to have finally arrived so who wants to sit on their bike in the basement?

And you know how these deals with your self generally work eh?  They usually become self fulfilling prophecies.  By the time I got on the bike I was pretty well resolved to the outside option.  What's the old expression?  "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."

But guess what?

I was victimized.  My mind wanted to start riding outside but my treasonous body chose to be ready for this workout after all!!  I knew almost immediately that I had a chance, despite the fact that It would be the first time I had success at this level.  I tried it once previously, before the marathon, to no avail.  Six, six minute intervals at 151 watts, with only 2 mins rest between.  The other good news is that it's the highest level in the program so maybe I can complete it yet???  Oh, and the last interval I pushed at the end and finished up at 260 watts!!  Woohoo!!

As the day wore on however an ugly suspicion started to creep into my mind.  Perhaps I had not done the setup correctly resulting in skewed data?  The more I thought about it the more the bad feeling gnawed at me.  Just before supper I couldn't stand it any longer and got back on the bike.  I warmed up the system like I normally do, and then double and triple checked  the parameters.  Then I rode for a minute just to see if it felt the same....and guess what.  My legs were of course tired from the workout but I knew right away that I could throw my doubts out the window.  I rode that minute even harder than this morning!!

So all is well.  I am resigned to at least 5 more indoor workouts, thanks to my traitorous body.  Weather will determine the remaining 2 long rides, since I can't imagine sitting in my basement for for 4 hours rides if summer is indeed here.

Game on!!

“If you want to change the world, just change yourself. The world needs traitors.”---Bauvard

Love
Peter