I'll take training any day..

Some people train to race, I don't, I train because I like training. I'll take training over racing any day. Racing hurts, training is Zen.

I remember hearing a podcast interview with ex-professional triathlete Ken Glah and he talked about how much he liked training. Ken's a 60 plus Ironman event finisher. He said, if you do Ironman's, "you better like training".

Ain't that the truth. What Ken said really resonated with me to this day, I always have felt the same way, I love training.

Since the NYC Marathon, I took one day rest and then got right back into regular training. I missed it. I've now trained 11 days straight since then and it feels great to get back into a daily training routine. As strange as this may sound, the thing I don't like about racing is the tapering and recovery phases.

When I have to stop training, it throws my routine out of whack. I start to feel a little disoriented. Then once the race is over I take some more time off for recovery. Before I know it, if I include the pre and post race time off, my routine has been disrupted for 2-3 weeks.

They say it takes 21 days to create a new habit and I guess it works both ways, in 21 days you can also break a good habit.

It's those 2-3 weeks of pre and post non-training time off that can screw you up. You start to get used not actively training. At first it's all justified on tapering or recovery, but it's also a gateway to making excuses to not get back into the regular training groove.

This is especially true if your big goal was to finish an Ironman distance race and you did it. Most first time Ironman don't have a post-Ironman plan.

For most of us that do an Ironman race, we often romanticize about how wonderful it's going to be to take some guilt-free time off from training and eating healthy. If anyone asks, we can justifiably say, "hey, this is my off season, I'm entitled, now pass me that donut, and f#ck off".

Many, if not most people, stop training altogether after an Ironman, which is one slippery slope. Unfortunately, being crowned an Ironman doesn't give you a never get fat pass. Although I really wish it did.

I was at the YMCA today and did a swim and weights. In only 6 weeks, I've got a bigger midsection than I can remember having in at least 3.5 years, the mirror doesn't lie. And when I was doing lunges, I could see this little paunch. That paunch, combined with hairy legs was disgusting me. If I was to look at it in a positive light, at least I can see my Kegerator investment.

The upside to my current training is I no longer feel weak. I had my best swim in a long time, which doesn't make sense, it was only my third swim since Kona. Today, most of my 100's were in the 1:32 - 1:36 per 100 meters. Weight lifting is a different story, I'm using lower weight and really focusing on long slow reps, two seconds on the contraction and four seconds on the release.

At the pool there was a couple of woman swimming a couple lanes over. One started a conversation by yelling over at me "Hey, Mr. Ironman!!!". I wonder which of the 6 logo's on my person or within a 10 foot radius of my person gave away that I was an Ironman.

She did a sprint this year and was planing on doing an Olympic next year and maybe even a half Ironman one day. She was asking me questions like "so what Ironman did you do this year". It's a great feeling when you can reply, "I did China, St. George, Lake Placid and Kona, AND a couple of half Ironman's".

Her eyes opened wide like saucers and she was in awe. Of course the next question was, "do you have a family?" It was one of those stupid questions I get all the time, where people think that if you do Ironman training your family relationship is going to suffer.

Actually, now that I think about it, next time I get that question I'm going to answer it as follows.

"Damn straight it's tough on the family, I'm on my third wife and both my kids have run away from home twice and my son quit school in grade 6. Then my 12 year old daughter got pregnant and I didn't want a newborn around the house scratching my bike or screwing with my triathlon gear, so I took the coat hanger out of the closet and gave her an abortion. It wasn't an easy thing to do, she's a fighter. The downside of training all the time is it keeps me away from the home and I don't get to beat on them as much as I'd like to. I've rarely asked them if they like triathlons, but like I tell them often, if you want me to be your father and you want a roof over your head and food in your mouth, you better shut the F#ck up and clean my bike without scratching it and not say anything negative about my triathlon training. Heck, it's not easy on me mentally either, look I'm a man wearing earrings for gods sake".

Instead, I told her I have a family and it's not a problem and in fact I also like to party and tonight I'll probably get to bed at 4 am and I have a 10:30 am bike ride scheduled for tomorrow. She then said, "wow, I don't know how you do it, I'm normally in bed by 8 pm".

I don't want to make it sound like she was a jerk, she wasn't. She was actually quite pleasant and I enjoyed talking with her and her friend. I always find it inspiring to watch people who are older in age and new to triathlon training like real athletes. I feed off their energy, enthusiasm and optimism and even though I was in the middle of a set, I'll always spend the time talking and encouraging.

At least I weighed in at 188.2 lbs today, which is .8 lbs less than yesterday. Again, as I look at my 3 Ironman tattoos on my body in the mirror, I realize I have NO advantage to keeping weight off or stay in shape anymore than any non-Ironman. Life isn't fair.

In fact, it may be tougher for me because my body is so efficient at burning and storing calories. If I don't train, I get fat sooner than the average person.

The best part of my day was looking at my training log and seeing that virtually everyday this month I've done something. It's not high mileage, but it's constant training. I've learnt that consistency is more effective than cramming or binging. The same goes for dieting.

Things are starting to feel back to normal. I have no big races I'm preparing for and I'm back to a steady daily training routine. I no longer feel like I'm free falling. I now need to use my Ironman focus to get down to 180 lbs.

As I was leaving the Y, I was thinking that if doing an Ironman gave you a life, or even a 1-year pass to stay in superior shape and never gain weight, everyone would be doing them. It's just not fair.

I actually think there's a downside to being an Ironman and then get out of shape and gain weight. The downside is that you know how good it feels to be in the Top 1% of the world shape and then to lose it makes it even a bigger loss than those that have never experienced it.

SPECIAL FAVOUR REQUIRED: I have a long time friend that is really down on his luck and is trying to reinvent himself. He has started a blog to get the ball rolling. I'm his only follower. It doesn't look good if some of his potential clients only see one follower. If you have a moment can you follow my buddy Dougs blog it's at http://theweeklysalesbeast.blogspot.com/

Thanks in advance. (I also want to hear him tell me how successful his blog has taken off when I speak to him on Monday and he doesn't know why).

Tempo Swim - 48:34 / 2100 meters
Weights Adp 2 - 45:00

Video of the day is John Proc, Rodney Buike and Kevin Neumann. Unfortunately Matty-O and Simon were not at the rink that day.