"Hope I die before I get old." So goes a line from The Who's "My Generation." I thought of this immediately after reading this article.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-20/men-over-40-should-think-twice-before-running-triathlons.html
I am a MAMIL. What is this? "Middle-aged man in lycra." Apparently, I'm exercising too hard for my own good. If you read the article, the recommendation is to run no more than 7 miles/hour and no more than 20 miles/week if I know what's good for me. This is according to a study that was put out by Ochsner as cited in the article. Well, that's not exactly what the study says, and I'm going to need to look at the original study. What it appears the study says is that once you exceed 5-7 miles/hour, 20 miles/week, or more than 5 days/week, you don't decrease your risk of mortality any lower. So, if you are doing more than that, you are exercising for more than the health benefits. Well, what do you know? It has long been known that exercising more or harder doesn't necessarily make you any healthier. That's why for overall health benefits, brisk walking is as effective, for the most part, as running. But I don't swim, bike, and run entirely for health benefits. I do them, because I (okay, now is when I admit it) truly enjoy racing triathlons. My training, while it helps with my health, is designed to get me to the finish line as fast as I can during a race. When I'm training, especially training hard, I can't say that I'm enjoying the moment. But I do savor how I feel and definitely like the feeling of accomplishment after my workout has been completed.
Tracy says that I'm addicted to exercise. I definitely feel better when I've had a chance to exercise during the day. And I plan to keep exercising for the rest of my life, much longer than I will be a MAMIL. If you have to choose an addiction, exercise ain't the worst one to have. And Tracy's fine with my exercise addiction. If I exhaust myself, I'm a lot less likely to get into trouble. And she's also fine with my spending money on bikes and such, because it's a reasonably healthy way to spend money.
So, clearly I don't agree with the article. I guess I'm a bit frustrated that drivel like this continue to get published. And I'm equally frustrated that I wasted 5-10 minutes of life reading it. So, if you did click on the link and read the article, I'm sorry for wasting 5-10 minutes of your life as well.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
Two years, one plate, and nine screws ago
Last Saturday was the 2 year anniversary of the start of "The Summer of My Discontent," or "The Summer of the Chair of Healing." For the last 15+ years, the first of the Fort Lewis Triple Threat Triathlons took place on the day before Father's Day. And on that morning, it would rain. It didn't matter if the weather was beautiful for the 2 weeks leading up to the race; come Saturday morning, it would rain. And two years ago, it was the same. It was actually a hard rain, one that had me thinking about DNS'ing. But, I decided to go ahead a race, and crashed, fracturing my clavicle. Since then, it has been a slow road back, and I still don't have anywhere near the fitness I had going into that race and for years previous. Whether it's my age (either chronological or endurance sport or both) or change in life priorities, coming back from that injury has not happened the way I expected.
This year, Fort Lewis (now JBLM) change the format of their Triathlon series. There would be no June race, so of course, last Saturday was bright, sunny, and warm. After a busy morning, David and I got out on a bike ride. Without Photoshopping in Mount Rainier, here's a snapshot of what I saw out on the back range:
I wouldn't change anything that has happened to me over the years. Well, except for maybe that Saturday morning two years ago...
This year, Fort Lewis (now JBLM) change the format of their Triathlon series. There would be no June race, so of course, last Saturday was bright, sunny, and warm. After a busy morning, David and I got out on a bike ride. Without Photoshopping in Mount Rainier, here's a snapshot of what I saw out on the back range:
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Start of a new season... and I'm not ready! (Warning: this is long)
Every winter, I have great plans to really get my fitness in order, so I can have a great triathlon season. This year, I didn't make plans. It is a busy time for the family, and I don't have a burning need to do a particular race this year. Couple that with the fact that we're planning on a family vacation at the end of the summer and the end result is that I've been slacking on my training.
My hope was that I would be able to swim consistently with David's swim team, and that would help my swim fitness. Well, that didn't work for a variety of reasons. Since I no longer have a membership to the Y, and Keeler Gym remains closed to everyone, I haven't been lifting very often. And with every weekend being busy and raining, I didn't get out on my bike much. And now the season has started and I've already paid the price.
Last weekend, David and I traveled to Moses Lake for a sprint triathlon. The weather forecast was for a sunny and warm day, and we were both happy with that. As I loaded up the van, David's breath smelled like a cough drop, and I asked him if he was sick. He mentioned that he had a bit of a sore throat. We headed off on I-5 to Highway 18, and the first sign that it might be a long trip was reader board on I-5 that mentioned a roll-over semi accident on I-90E past Snoqualmie Pass that closed the road completely. Uh-oh. The prediction was that it would be several hours before anyone got through. As we exited onto Highway 18, there was a traffic jam. I switched over to the news on the radio and got confirmation that I-90 was bad, but no real reason why 18 was snarled. As we inched past the Auburn exits, traffic opened up, and there was no obvious reason for the slowdown. We reached North Bend in good time, and stopped at Subway. At that point, we decided to eat in the restaurant, since it didn't make much sense to be in a hurry. After about 30 minutes, we headed back onto I-90 and had smooth sailing until Exit 52. There, we saw the traffic stopped, and people walking on the road. Rats! Still closed. Meanwhile, I noticed that David was pretty congested, and he started hunting around in the console for some decongestants. He ended up popping a couple after he found them. After about 90 minutes, we started moving, barely. It took another 30 minutes or so to get to Exit 54, and by that time, it was 10:00 PM and dark. Finally, we started to move, and made it to Moses Lake around 11:45 PM. I learned that I don't like driving in the dark anymore. So, instead of an easy drive to Moses Lake, planning to arrive at a comfortable 6:30, it was around Midnight by the time we got checked in and unloaded all the gear. Well, at least the race started at 10:00 AM, so we could sleep in.
At 6:30 AM, Tracy called. Double rats! She innocently said that she expected we would have been up and getting ready (she didn't realize that Moses Lake started at 10:00 AM, which is why it's one of my new favorite races). We got up shortly after that and wandered down to breakfast. David was feeling better, with only a bit of congestion and no sore throat.
At the race site, we went to pick up our registration packets and met up with Bryan Brosious. We were happy to see him, and he was happy to see us. We exchanged pleasantries and then went to get our transition areas ready.
I decided to warm up just by running, foregoing my usual bike trainer warm up. Truth be told, I was lazy and didn't want to bring an extra wheel. However, my running warm up is always a bit on the short side; I just don't get motivated enough when I'm running.
The race went off as expected. The water was a good deal warmer than last year, and I was comfortable while I was swimming; well, except for the first 150 yards or so. When I looked at the results, I was 11th out of the water in my wave. Why is it, then, that I got so beaten up at the start? I started in the second row, and was getting beat up until the buoy, and then, even after the buoy, there were people jostling me. Seems to me that if people would just seed themselves where they should be instead of expecting to set a PB, the swim would be a lot less chaotic and painful for us all. But, anyway, I digress.
When I got out of the water and headed to transition, I saw that David and his bike were already gone. I had told him that I expected him to be about 1:30 faster than me in the swim. I ended passing only a handful of people. I saw Bryan coming back towards me at around 4.5 miles. He was alone in front. And then I saw David. He was sailing along in 2nd place! I made the turn, and headed back with a tailwind. I finally caught David at mile 10; he was in 3rd place by then, having been passed. We ended up in transition together, and, as I turned around looking for the transition out in my hypoxic daze, yelling, "Which way?!" he helped his Dad out, and pointed me in the correct direction. His comment was, "I'm dead." Given how sick he was the day before, and how hard he went in the swim and bike, that was understandable. Leaving transition in 2nd place (3rd place guy was stuck, cramping in transition), I felt dead, too. I was going as hard as I could, but it wasn't very fast. I was rapidly passed by Josh Fitchitt, and knew that there was no way I was going to catch him. For the remainder of the race, I was in damage control mode, looking behind to make sure nobody could catch me and take me off of the podium. Bryan and I passed each other at a little past the 1 mile mark, and he looked strong. I saw David on my way back, and he was working hard, too. I finished in 3rd place overall, feeling happy, but hot and tired, a good 7 minutes in back of Bryan. David finished in 10th, 5 minutes behind me, and 10 minutes faster than he raced last year.
I have a ways to go to feel good about my fitness. Right now, I'm fighting a cold, which David gave to me. I guess spending 12+ hours in close proximity to my sick son did it.
What did I learn? Apparently, I'm faster in the water this year, but my swim fitness is poor. My time was virtually the same this year as it was last, but I got tired in the water. My bike time was 1 minute faster, but the conditions were a lot better. And I have different wheels, which may have been faster, although I'm not sure about this. And, despite feeling much worse, my run time was only 26 seconds slower, which could easily have been due to the heat.
What else did I learn? It takes me nearly twice as long to get things ready as it did when I worried only about myself; prepping David's bike and mine and then reconfiguring it out of race mode is double the work. Here are our race setups:
My hope was that I would be able to swim consistently with David's swim team, and that would help my swim fitness. Well, that didn't work for a variety of reasons. Since I no longer have a membership to the Y, and Keeler Gym remains closed to everyone, I haven't been lifting very often. And with every weekend being busy and raining, I didn't get out on my bike much. And now the season has started and I've already paid the price.
Last weekend, David and I traveled to Moses Lake for a sprint triathlon. The weather forecast was for a sunny and warm day, and we were both happy with that. As I loaded up the van, David's breath smelled like a cough drop, and I asked him if he was sick. He mentioned that he had a bit of a sore throat. We headed off on I-5 to Highway 18, and the first sign that it might be a long trip was reader board on I-5 that mentioned a roll-over semi accident on I-90E past Snoqualmie Pass that closed the road completely. Uh-oh. The prediction was that it would be several hours before anyone got through. As we exited onto Highway 18, there was a traffic jam. I switched over to the news on the radio and got confirmation that I-90 was bad, but no real reason why 18 was snarled. As we inched past the Auburn exits, traffic opened up, and there was no obvious reason for the slowdown. We reached North Bend in good time, and stopped at Subway. At that point, we decided to eat in the restaurant, since it didn't make much sense to be in a hurry. After about 30 minutes, we headed back onto I-90 and had smooth sailing until Exit 52. There, we saw the traffic stopped, and people walking on the road. Rats! Still closed. Meanwhile, I noticed that David was pretty congested, and he started hunting around in the console for some decongestants. He ended up popping a couple after he found them. After about 90 minutes, we started moving, barely. It took another 30 minutes or so to get to Exit 54, and by that time, it was 10:00 PM and dark. Finally, we started to move, and made it to Moses Lake around 11:45 PM. I learned that I don't like driving in the dark anymore. So, instead of an easy drive to Moses Lake, planning to arrive at a comfortable 6:30, it was around Midnight by the time we got checked in and unloaded all the gear. Well, at least the race started at 10:00 AM, so we could sleep in.
At 6:30 AM, Tracy called. Double rats! She innocently said that she expected we would have been up and getting ready (she didn't realize that Moses Lake started at 10:00 AM, which is why it's one of my new favorite races). We got up shortly after that and wandered down to breakfast. David was feeling better, with only a bit of congestion and no sore throat.
At the race site, we went to pick up our registration packets and met up with Bryan Brosious. We were happy to see him, and he was happy to see us. We exchanged pleasantries and then went to get our transition areas ready.
I decided to warm up just by running, foregoing my usual bike trainer warm up. Truth be told, I was lazy and didn't want to bring an extra wheel. However, my running warm up is always a bit on the short side; I just don't get motivated enough when I'm running.
The race went off as expected. The water was a good deal warmer than last year, and I was comfortable while I was swimming; well, except for the first 150 yards or so. When I looked at the results, I was 11th out of the water in my wave. Why is it, then, that I got so beaten up at the start? I started in the second row, and was getting beat up until the buoy, and then, even after the buoy, there were people jostling me. Seems to me that if people would just seed themselves where they should be instead of expecting to set a PB, the swim would be a lot less chaotic and painful for us all. But, anyway, I digress.
When I got out of the water and headed to transition, I saw that David and his bike were already gone. I had told him that I expected him to be about 1:30 faster than me in the swim. I ended passing only a handful of people. I saw Bryan coming back towards me at around 4.5 miles. He was alone in front. And then I saw David. He was sailing along in 2nd place! I made the turn, and headed back with a tailwind. I finally caught David at mile 10; he was in 3rd place by then, having been passed. We ended up in transition together, and, as I turned around looking for the transition out in my hypoxic daze, yelling, "Which way?!" he helped his Dad out, and pointed me in the correct direction. His comment was, "I'm dead." Given how sick he was the day before, and how hard he went in the swim and bike, that was understandable. Leaving transition in 2nd place (3rd place guy was stuck, cramping in transition), I felt dead, too. I was going as hard as I could, but it wasn't very fast. I was rapidly passed by Josh Fitchitt, and knew that there was no way I was going to catch him. For the remainder of the race, I was in damage control mode, looking behind to make sure nobody could catch me and take me off of the podium. Bryan and I passed each other at a little past the 1 mile mark, and he looked strong. I saw David on my way back, and he was working hard, too. I finished in 3rd place overall, feeling happy, but hot and tired, a good 7 minutes in back of Bryan. David finished in 10th, 5 minutes behind me, and 10 minutes faster than he raced last year.
I have a ways to go to feel good about my fitness. Right now, I'm fighting a cold, which David gave to me. I guess spending 12+ hours in close proximity to my sick son did it.
What did I learn? Apparently, I'm faster in the water this year, but my swim fitness is poor. My time was virtually the same this year as it was last, but I got tired in the water. My bike time was 1 minute faster, but the conditions were a lot better. And I have different wheels, which may have been faster, although I'm not sure about this. And, despite feeling much worse, my run time was only 26 seconds slower, which could easily have been due to the heat.
What else did I learn? It takes me nearly twice as long to get things ready as it did when I worried only about myself; prepping David's bike and mine and then reconfiguring it out of race mode is double the work. Here are our race setups:
 |
My P3 with Zipp 404's
The podium shot from Moses Lake:
 |
Thursday, May 23, 2013
All shoes are created equal... but some are more equal than others
I ran in a new pair of shoes yesterday. I have been running in the Newton Terra Momentums and the Saucony Kinvaras. Whenever I run in the Newtons, the runs are a bit more "sloggy." Or put another way, I always feel lighter and bouncier in the Kinvaras. This has been surprising, since all of my other Newtons have felt bouncy. And since I've given them a good 200 miles to see if they changed (and they didn't), I thought it might be the shoes. Spring, being what it is, I decided to break out a new pair of shoes, the Newton Distance S (below).
They are NOS, as the deal between the Army Triathlon Club and Newton changed last year, so I decided to stock up while I could. As soon as I started running in them, I knew that
the difference was in the shoes. These Newtons have the same bouncy feel that I previously had experienced. I ended up doing some tempo work and was pleasantly surprised that 6:30 pace didn't feel all that bad. It's funny, though; since the technology was similar, I thought that the Terra Momentums would feel the same as the Motions that I had previously used. But they were definitely not the same.
In a similar way, I ran in Saucony Mirages 2 years ago. They are similar to the Kinvaras, but made to be a bit more stable. I had the same dead feel in the Mirages as I do in the Terras. The Kinvaras are much more lively. Moral of the story: even if shoes are supposed to be very similar, there can be light-years difference in the feel. I haven't decided whether I'll just shelve the Terras for awhile, but I'm tempted.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Bicycle, bicycle, I want to ride my bicycle
Yesterday was a treat. 85 and sunny in May here in the Pacific Northwest. I had originally planned to swim after work. However, since I spent all weekend at the pool, first announcing a swim meet, and then watching a water polo tournament, and it was the nicest weather weekend of the year, I felt that I needed to get outside. So, I raced hom from work, took my tri bike off the trainer, pumped up the tires, and headed out to enjoy the warm sunshine.
While it was just a short ride, I felt better than I have in a long time on the bike. It certainly wasn't my fitness, because I have not been riding enough. And it certainly wasn't my saddle, because I'm still working on finding the right one (perhaps more on that later). But, the heat and the warm wind did wonders for my outlook. I'm not sure if it is because I first started riding in Arizona, or whether it is just because my body feels better in the heat, or whether it's just nice to be out in the sun. All that I know is that, short though it was, yesterday's ride was the best of the year.
Now, I just need to get into better shape!
While it was just a short ride, I felt better than I have in a long time on the bike. It certainly wasn't my fitness, because I have not been riding enough. And it certainly wasn't my saddle, because I'm still working on finding the right one (perhaps more on that later). But, the heat and the warm wind did wonders for my outlook. I'm not sure if it is because I first started riding in Arizona, or whether it is just because my body feels better in the heat, or whether it's just nice to be out in the sun. All that I know is that, short though it was, yesterday's ride was the best of the year.
Now, I just need to get into better shape!
Friday, April 19, 2013
Who is this Catty Wampus guy and what did he do to my hip?
Recently, I've been seeing a chiropractor for my left hip. What happened? Well, it goes back to my fall during the Turkey Trot. Since then, after initially taking a week off from running due to hip pain, I have noticed that my left hip flexor tightens up after running at around 5 miles. There is also some compensatory tightness in my left low back that occurs at the same time. Finally, I decided to get some work done on it, because it wasn't getting better. Dr. Adamson confirmed that my hip flexors were all messed up, even mentioning that it felt as if I had torn some muscle tissue. I haven't been running well since that time, so it would make sense that I'm trying to compensate for injury.
The funniest thing is that my left leg feels "tight" after I run, as if it is jammed up and would feel better if someone yanked on it. Well, guess what? At my last visit, Dr. Adamson said, "You know, I think the muscles are causing you to have a leg length discrepancy; here, I'm going to distract your leg," grabbed my leg and, yes, yanked. And you know what? It felt better. I started laughing.
Yesterday, I ran 6.5 miles without significant pain, although I could feel my hip tightening up a bit at 4 miles. The good part is that, as I kept running, it seemed to let up a bit and I finished my run without pain or tightness. Looks like progress is being made.
I'm hoping that, if my left hip improves, I'll be able to feel better while running, and maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to run another marathon.
The funniest thing is that my left leg feels "tight" after I run, as if it is jammed up and would feel better if someone yanked on it. Well, guess what? At my last visit, Dr. Adamson said, "You know, I think the muscles are causing you to have a leg length discrepancy; here, I'm going to distract your leg," grabbed my leg and, yes, yanked. And you know what? It felt better. I started laughing.
Yesterday, I ran 6.5 miles without significant pain, although I could feel my hip tightening up a bit at 4 miles. The good part is that, as I kept running, it seemed to let up a bit and I finished my run without pain or tightness. Looks like progress is being made.
I'm hoping that, if my left hip improves, I'll be able to feel better while running, and maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to run another marathon.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
A wolf in goose's clothing or playing chicken with a goose
It's springtime... the time when sentient beings find it important to procreate. Why? Well, having progeny ensures that the species will survive. This survival mentality can make parents and prospective parents very cranky. And I ran into one of those a couple of days ago.
I have tried to get back into my routine of running at Noon. I have found that doing this ensures that I get at least one workout in during the day. Too often, if I delay my run until later, "something" will come up. It may be a meeting that I didn't remember, or it may be an errand that I need to do, but delaying my run usually leads to not running at all. At the very least, if I've got to wait until later, running after work before I head home works reasonably well. The limiting factor with my Noon runs has been my clinic schedule; if I have a busy morning or a Noon meeting, the run can't happen at that time. But, if I make sure I get my work done, I can head out for a run that provides, among other things, stress management.
On Tuesday, I headed out the door for my run, planning to circle the lagoon before heading out to the Log Center. As I headed down the path, there was a goose in the middle of path just standing there. I planned to run by and didn't give it another thought... until it started running towards me. Now, this was a bit unusual, as most birds run or fly away when you head towards them. Not this one. It dipped its head, hissed and ran at me with its beak open as if it was going to bite me. Sheesh! I've had dogs chase me while running, and, in most cases, if you don't back down and run at the dog, it will turn tail and run away. This goose was not going to back down. I don't know what was funnier: seeing a goose that reminded me of the AFLAC duck on steroids charging me, or the idea that a goose could scare me back into the building. I eventually headed back out, careful to avoid the goose by taking the stairs up to the main path.
On a more serious note, I was shocked and mesmerized by the events and coverage of the Boston Marathon on Monday. Watching the coverage, I had flashbacks of my previous Boston races, finishing down Boylston Street. The images were particularly disturbing to me, as I could recall the explosion locations exactly in my mind. And I kept watching, hoping that, similar to watching the twin towers fall and the Lady Diana car crash, it was a nightmare and wasn't real. Even though the rational part of my mind knew that this was real, somehow, the innocent part of my brain didn't want to believe that something like this could happen. My heart and thoughts go out to all of those who were affected by the events of Monday.
I have tried to get back into my routine of running at Noon. I have found that doing this ensures that I get at least one workout in during the day. Too often, if I delay my run until later, "something" will come up. It may be a meeting that I didn't remember, or it may be an errand that I need to do, but delaying my run usually leads to not running at all. At the very least, if I've got to wait until later, running after work before I head home works reasonably well. The limiting factor with my Noon runs has been my clinic schedule; if I have a busy morning or a Noon meeting, the run can't happen at that time. But, if I make sure I get my work done, I can head out for a run that provides, among other things, stress management.
On Tuesday, I headed out the door for my run, planning to circle the lagoon before heading out to the Log Center. As I headed down the path, there was a goose in the middle of path just standing there. I planned to run by and didn't give it another thought... until it started running towards me. Now, this was a bit unusual, as most birds run or fly away when you head towards them. Not this one. It dipped its head, hissed and ran at me with its beak open as if it was going to bite me. Sheesh! I've had dogs chase me while running, and, in most cases, if you don't back down and run at the dog, it will turn tail and run away. This goose was not going to back down. I don't know what was funnier: seeing a goose that reminded me of the AFLAC duck on steroids charging me, or the idea that a goose could scare me back into the building. I eventually headed back out, careful to avoid the goose by taking the stairs up to the main path.
On a more serious note, I was shocked and mesmerized by the events and coverage of the Boston Marathon on Monday. Watching the coverage, I had flashbacks of my previous Boston races, finishing down Boylston Street. The images were particularly disturbing to me, as I could recall the explosion locations exactly in my mind. And I kept watching, hoping that, similar to watching the twin towers fall and the Lady Diana car crash, it was a nightmare and wasn't real. Even though the rational part of my mind knew that this was real, somehow, the innocent part of my brain didn't want to believe that something like this could happen. My heart and thoughts go out to all of those who were affected by the events of Monday.
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