Dumb training mistakes... the importance of fuel...

I keep making mistakes with the most basic of things when it comes to training… This entire weekend is a great example of how little I put in to use the small bits of training knowledge I have learned over the year. Maybe it’s that I suffer from that horrible affliction known as “middle-aged-guy-forgets-he’s-not-18-anymore-itis” (look it up, it affects most men over the age of 30). But although I have read the basics of training and will even talk to that knowledge in any number of circles, I don’t always practice them myself… simply put… sometimes, I’m just dumb.

I went for a moderate ride yesterday. Short distance of an out and back route of an hour and a half. First half of the ride is uphill, which means having to grind it out… which honestly, I’m not very good at. I chose a spinning gear and went to work trying to keep up with my training partner who made the ride seem easy. After about 45 minutes we finally hit the steepest portion of the ride to where our turnaround would be… he made it first and I slowly followed, but he looked fresh and I looked like a wet rooster that was just de-feathered. I had to unclip and climb off the bike to get my bearings… light seemed to fade in and out momentarily… I was getting light-headed… I started losing feeling in my extremities… I was done. I knew my mistake… I underestimated the ride and over estimated my fitness… I didn’t fuel before leaving the house which is maybe the rookiest of all rookie mistakes to make. Luckily I was smart enough to bring electrolyte gel and water. I downed both… and after spending a few moments laying on the bike path I felt my energy level come back… I was ready to ride again… mistake behind me.

So, I woke up this morning swearing I wouldn’t make the same mistake again. I gave myself plenty of time to eat and stretch before heading out to run 18 miles. In fact, I gave myself so much time the sun was shining pretty brightly and it felt unusually warm. But, I had to get in 18 miles today so I headed out with 2 electrolyte gels and 2, 12 oz bottles of water strapped to my fuel belt. I ran from Lake Forest up Irvine Blvd thru the city of Irvine to the city of Tustin… the heat wasn’t horrible, but I found myself needing the water… I was thirsty and by mile 12 I was out of water… Another dumb rookie mistake. I didn’t drink enough water the day before and had nothing more than a glass of water during breakfast… I was thirsty and I had 6 more miles to run and it was getting warmer. I had no choice but to gut it out and finish my run… by mile 16.5 I started feeling the cramps in my left calve… my body stopped sweating and the salt on my skin was dry… I was dehydrated for sure and my body was letting me know it was not happy with me. I finished my run though… but I felt even dumber…

Maybe I needed this weekend… maybe it will sharpen me for the upcoming LA marathon and my training leading up to the OC Tri… Maybe? If anyone sees a guy laying on the side of a trail somewhere with the stink of utter stupidity… please slap him…

First Tri Experience

There are certain moments in life that are beyond words… the moment you fall in love… your wedding day… the birth of your children… your first triathlon. Okay, maybe doing your first Tri isn’t on the usual list, but I’ve got to say… there was something wonderfully satisfying and moving about completing my first Tri. Although my performance was not entirely memorable, the day was. From walking in circles in search of the transition area, to making the attempt to set up our transition areas, to the terrible calve cramps I suffered most of the day, it still ended up being better than I had anticipated. I expected to like it… but I didn’t think I’d love it this much.

Although excited, I thought I’d spare you from too many details… so here are some photos;

My transition area... note the Bed Bath Beyond bag that I know all of the pros use in their transition area... Sweet!

My wonderfully supportive family that braved the cold to cheer me on...

 

I love my wife...



Brad and I at the start of the run (reverse Tri)...



Me during my run... don't I just look fast? (don't answer that)



Bike leg of the race as I began passing people... that was until the cramps started coming on...

Not the most flattering photo, but note the right calve... yes, I was in pain... but I finished...

Despite the physical pain, my first Tri experience was awesome! I'm already planning number two... new obsession? Maybe... life style? Definitely...

Saturday morning

I’m awake at 5:55am… my body no longer allows me to sleep in. My eyes open at the slight glimmer of sunlight… And as the night melts into morning, I lay awake thinking of what I have to do… and it usually involves running or biking… although recently it’s been all running. Training for my first marathon has put me into heavy mileage. Last week was a 20 mile Saturday… today, I get to step back to a 12 mile day… but I’m still toying with possibly doing 22 miles… So I lay awake thinking about things like this… my obsessions… my swim technique… maintaining my bike… deciding on what running shoes to wear… This is a typical Saturday morning.

So, now I’m up with a bottle of Gatorade, a glass of water, vitamins, oatmeal and a banana. I’m dressed for my long run… decided to make it a 12 mile day as the thought of doing 22 in rainy conditions sounds much less appealing than doing 12. I’m eating my oatmeal and downing my banana… trying to get this down an hour before I head out the door. Today is a neighborhood run… no Backbay or Huntington Beach run… no, I’ll be going this run alone. I’ve filled up my Fuel Belt with water and have a single pack of electrolyte gel for mile 7. I’m set… just need to wait that hour for my food to settle, otherwise cramps or some other gastrointestinal issue… so I wait and write.

I choose this over sleeping in… I choose the early morning hours because the family isn’t up yet, so the hours I’m gone are not missed so much. I don’t fit in my training anymore… this has become the norm. My wife no longer asks if I’ll be running or biking… she expects it. It’s no longer a question of whether or not I’ll be out with the early morning sun… she just needs to know when my sweaty, hurting, beat up, exhausted and happy butt will be home again… and yes, I always return home happy and smiling… after all, there is nothing like starting your day exceeding your own expectations.

Friendly Competition

“The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running.”

I read that somewhere and thought it poignant and meaningful… in fact, I thought it was pretty motivating. It says something about determination and perseverance… about keeping up the good fight… about running until you feel like you can’t go on and then going another mile… and another… and another. It says in its wholly practical way that being the Turtle is fine and that the Rabbit is irrelevant to the Turtles resolve and success. I buy all of that… I love the sentiment behind it… but sometimes, being the rabbit seems like so much more fun.

A few of my running partners/friends ran in the annual H.B. Surf City Half Marathon this past Super Bowl Sunday. Although most of them were pretty confident going into the weekend, I naively thought the 1:58:13 I posted just a few weeks earlier was respectable enough and would remain respectable for months to come. After all, just a few weeks ago all but two of us were still training for our elusive sub 2hour time. But little did I know that the 1:58 I posted was soon to be nothing more than average in this circle of friends… in fact, I now consider it close to pedestrian given the times that were posted a few days ago…

The fastest time was posted by a half marathon virgin, 1:52:04, who by the way is built like a Kenyan... lean with long limbs. Second fastest time was posted by my closest rival. Although friends, because we started our running adventure together and soon to be Triathlon adventure, we consider ourselves friendly competitors… he posted a 1:52:23, a full 8 minutes from his previous best… insane! (Envy setting in… see Rabbit reference above.) Number three on the “buddy podium” finished at 1:55:48 and earned a few extra bragging rights due to his bum knee. All three of them made my time look more “steady-turtle” like than the “swift-rabbit” like runner I thought I was. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still happy with my time and with beating my own personal record… but honestly, a little of the shine has come off that imaginary trophy. It seems a little ordinary now and less than spectacular. Maybe that’s normal… after all, with endurance events it’s not always just about finishing… sometimes it’s also about beating the other guy(s)… sometimes for nothing more than bragging rights, but heck… having those rights can feel pretty damn good...

In the end, I know it’s okay. I can still look positively at my experiences as a whole and know I’m not only doing something good for my body, but for my own emotional well being… and maybe a little for my spiritual well being too. And in looking at my times, I can see I’m getting faster with every run. Competitive nature? Maybe a little… but I’m still sincerely happy for those guys… kind of proud of them actually… for the work they put in. It’s to be admired… they simply raised the bar… the gauntlet has been thrown… a new measure of speed and endurance has been set in our world… and for me that means having to train that much harder… I know that’s what really gets me. The faster they get, the faster I have to get… but I guess the rabbit wouldn’t be the rabbit without the turtle… or is that the other way around? No matter… Turtle or Rabbit… it all comes down to me… I’ll keep going. Hopefully that’s the only thing I have in common with the Turtle in the end.

Vacation

I’m going on vacation this weekend… 7 day cruise with the family… and all I can think is, “How am I going to get my workouts in?” This can’t be normal. The fact that the only thing I really wanted to know about the cruise was whether or not they had a running track on board and how long it was (1/3 mile by the way) is a sure sign I may be becoming a little obsessed about all of this running, swimming, biking stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I look forward to all of the family activities and the moments spent building lasting memories… blah, blah, blah… but really, I just need to figure out a way to get good run miles in and maybe a couple of swim drills… the family stuff will happen no matter what… but my miles won’t unless I make the time. So despite the endless buffets of everything delicious, I’ll still be in training mode… vacation or not… Just need to make certain I work time in every morning... afterall, vacation is no excuse.

By the way, why does anyone think it’s a good idea to require a black suit or tux for dinner on a cruise? How is that appealing in any way to anyone on vacation?

Rest week...

I’ve been feeling a little sick… slightly under the weather. I blame my wife and kids who all managed to bring home a hack and sniffle. I held out a few days, but I think I’m done for… I’ve got it… whatever “it” is… no swim this week… no bike training session… I don’t suspect I’ll get a run in either. I’m sunk this week. My body is enjoying the rest I’m certain, because there’s not a single ache or sore muscle… but mentally, I’m in panic mode. I feel restless… anxious… and a little worried that whatever gains I had made in the past few weeks are gone by now. The speed I thought I had in the pool… gone… the extra fire in my legs during the run, squashed… the extra layer of fat cells coursing through my body probably found a place to settle down and rest… I’m certain of it. In fact, I think I feel some settling just above my belt line… Yes, I’m a mental wreck. I feel my arteries hardening and my fat cells increasing with every letter I type… That’s how I feel anyways…

Honestly, I know none of this is actually happening. In fact, every book I read on fitness tells me that rest is critical, especially after any strenuous activity… so why do I feel so crappy? Well… I know this is all completely normal. I’ve read that anyways… apparently, when you’re so used to training and being active, that any unexpected time off can cause some form of depression… maybe this is true… maybe the anxiety I feel is me feeling like I will lose my fitness… maybe. I guess it could also be the cough and sore throat that’s making me feel less than 100%… Heck, who am I kidding… it’s probably that bag of fries I ate earlier…

Yes… we all make bad choices on occasion… but this week is now officially rest week and I wanted something salty and fried… terrible mistake because I think my body is rejecting it… Unfortunately, I’ll have to work this off sometime this weekend… The punishment to fit the crime? I think a 17 mile run is calling my name… that is, if I’m rested enough…

Setting a new PR

I did it! I set a new PR (personal record) this past weekend… 1:58:15… So why do I feel a slight sting of disappointment? Why do I have such mixed feelings about it? After all, I hit a long standing goal that just a few weeks ago seemed so difficult to achieve… Why do I feel a little let down?

Since entering half marathons so many months ago, I’ve targeted time goals for every race I’ve entered. Even for my first, although most people tell you the goal should be to merely finish… I set a goal to run it in less than 2:15… which I did, 2:11! For my second race my goal was to break 2 hours, which I didn't come all that close to.... finished that one in 2:07. I cut myself some slack though as I underestimated the hills in San Francisco. Okay, my focus was on race number three, Long Beach. I trained well for race number three. Despite a minor injury in a local 5K, I still felt like this was my chance… I thought for certain I would break the 2 hour barrier…I ran with determination and spirit... but that only lasted until mile 10... I finished in 2:00:13… 13 seconds too slow! Utter disappointment… Race number four I threw out the window… horrible finish time of 2:04, but I gave myself an out because I ran this race one week after running my “almost sub-2 hour” race day and PR at the time.

This was the weekend for me... this weekend’s race was supposed to be it for me… the run that would set the bar for my goals and finally put me in a respectable category of a “sort-a-fast” runner. I used everything I had learned from my “almost sub-2 hour” race to train for this one. Lessons like, using the port-o-potties before the race not during or taking energy gels at mile 5 and 10, instead of just at mile 6 so I don’t die on mile 12… I trained smart… I ate well for this event… I did everything right… The result? I did it! I broke that elusive 2 hour barrier. But this is not what I thought I would feel life after hitting this mile stone number. Don’t get me wrong, I felt great when I crossed the finish line… but that was it… I felt good… too good. I may have left way too much in the tank… I may have held back too much. So now that raises the question for me… could I have done better?

Depite my mixed emotions, most of me feels pretty good about it. In fact, in thinking about it now, I feel pretty good… running 13.1 miles in 1 hour 58 minutes and 15 seconds is something to feel good about… I guess my expectations of how I would feel or the experience itself seemed far more glorious in my head… There was no dramatic music… no applause… I just ran… but I guess it fitting. I run for myself… my competition is really against myself… and for now, I can say I won… I beat the younger, slower me… heck, a few months from now I'll be beating the younger slower me again... well, I can hope and plan anyways...