Trying to get back to a new sense of normal...

I'm glad I cut my China trip short and got home earlier than planned. It was the right thing to do. I'm tired during the day and by 10 pm I'm exhausted.

It's a little boring with the family away for spring break. Last night I decided to go to a movie, there's only so much Internet porn you can look at. I'm just kidding!!! There's unlimited amounts.

I've been back for 4 days now and I'm still not feeling 100% physically. I think it's the lingering effects of jet lag and/or the food poisoning and dehydration.

During the three easy training sessions I've done since I've returned, I only feel about 60%. Today's run was a good example, for the first 30 minutes I was feeling okay with the heart rate in the 120 bpm's. then I lost a little bit of core energy, but not enough to get me to walk. My heart rate then shot up to the 140's for the last third, which was at a slower pace. Obviously a sign I'm far from recovered..

I'm also see it in my weight and BMI fluctuations. Which I find perplexing:

Day I left to China - 181.8 lbs / 20.5 % BMI

Night Returned - 181.2 lbs / 16.9% BMI

Post Day 1 - 179 lbs / 17.5% BMI

Post Day 3 - 176 lbs / 21.0% BMI

Today - 177.4 / 20.9% BMI (And that's even after salty movie popcorn).

I think I'm going to settle out between 175 - 177 lbs with a 20.5% BMI. The upside is the less weight, the easier it will be to climb the hills of Ironman St. George. For IMSG, I'd love to get down to 170 lbs.

I've been in contact with Mark Allen, my coach. Before I took the "plunge" and registered for IMSG, I asked his advice, "Did he see a problem if I did it"? He saw no problem and even said, "Why waste the fitness". He then put together a shortened custom program for me.

The first two weeks of the program, I'm doing half the mileage I normally do and at a very easy pace. It'll give my body a bit of a break. By the end of next week I'm going to let Mark know how I feel, and if need be, he'll adjust my workouts accordingly and we'll keep it easy. If I feel back to normal, it's full steam ahead. Which is fine by me, a week or so of less training gives more time for the weather warm up. I'm NOT doing any indoor long rides in preparation for IMSG, they'll all be outdoors.

I know there is a lot of good coaches out there, but for me, I'm drinking the "Mark Allen Online Kool-Aid". With my personality, I need to know I'm dealing with someone with street credibility, and other than Dave Scott, I can't think of any two coaches that have done a better job at "talking the talk and walking the walk".

Prior to my comeback, coaching was foreign to me. Now it seems everyone has a coach and it definitely shows in the improved age group results versus twenty years ago. The first year of my comeback I had no coach, I didn't need one. I just trained and raced almost every weekend in order to get fit and lose weight.

In my second year, I knew I needed help if I was going to improve and purchased the book "Triathlon Training Bible" by Joe Friel. My plan was to read up, learn and self-coach. Joe's book was excellent in helping me understanding the science behind training and had many exercises and worksheets to help me create a custom program.

I read the book and started to use the supplied materials to create my program. Then my head started hurting. I'm a sales type, not an engineering type. There was just so much data to take into account. It was like solving a puzzle and I wasn't sure if I was doing it right. I had a pencil and I was constantly filling in the sheets and erasing.

I quickly learnt I needed to hire a coach. It was a "slam dunk" decision, I just wanted to train, I didn't want to have worry if my plan was going to work. In my mind I only had two choices, "Mark Allen" or "Dave Scott", the pioneering Champions of triathlon. They both fit my criteria of having "street cred".

I've always felt a kinship with "Dave Scott" just from pictures of his "focused look", "aggressive personality", "awkward running style" and "he too had a moustache". He even looked directly into my eyes from the stage when I did Kona in 1988 and I took that as a positive sign. I had a lot of "respect" for Mark, but Dave was "the man".

Over time that changed. I'd met Mark through one of his "Sport and Spirit" weekend workshops in Santa Cruz. Then I did a 10-day Alaska workshop lead by Brant Secunda with Mark assisting. I got to know a little bit about Mark from an observational level.

In all my dealing with Mark and in reading his articles or listening to him on podcasts, his personality is consistent. I found him, calm, sincere, humble, caring, gentle, focused, knowledgeable and having a private inner wisdom. For an icon of the sport, you'd never know it. I'd be surprised if Mark even mentions his past accomplishment to the average person he meets on the street.

When I first met Mark, it was not long after his triathlon career ended. I remember looking at him at one of the seminars as he spoke and thinking, "This guy was the best in the sport, his sponsor used to be Nike and was even in one of their commercials. He was on the cover of Outside magazine with the headline "the fittest man on the planet", and is now he's having to start from ground zero and find ways to make a new living for himself and his family. I didn't think it was fair".

I was also surprised to see, that at least outwardly, Mark was moving on, he wasn't feeling sorry for himself. He wasn't living in the past, sitting around the table, as the center of attention, telling old "war stories". Any triathlon questions Mark would get were answered briefly and concisely. He's definitely not the type of guy that you "wind up and let go".

In the process of getting to know Mark, he moved up one notch. No disrespect to Dave, I still think he's "the man". Mark is more than one of the greatest triathletes of all time, in my estimation he's one of life's true role models. Even his website reflects his personality; no frills, with no more on it than there has to be, very simple and he isn't an overly aggressive marketer.

He'll place some ads here and there to get people to the site and then "let the list of coaching results" speak for them self. There is lots of 1,2,3 place finishers in races around the world and a lot of age group Kona qualifiers each year. Word of mouth then carries his message. For example, through my race result improvements; Hans, Carlos and Davis signed up with MAO.

I also think Marks coaching philosophy is simple. In today's environment, with all the scientific measuring tools and gadgets, many new theories and coaching approaches have evolved. Which only makes sense. But, and this is a big BUT, the times that Mark and Dave set in the 80's are better than what most pro triathletes set today.

What makes it even more impressive is the fact that they were riding on much heavier bikes, no aerobars, aero-helmets, non-clipless pedals, changed clothing in the transition tents, and had to experiment with training and race day nutrition. Back then, albeit the course was slightly different, both ran sub 2:40 marathons. The records will show 2:42's, but in the old days, they included the transition time in the run times. I'm not sure if any professional of today has ever run under a 2:40 Ironman marathon, on any course.

I've spoken to a couple of people about this, one a professional triathlete with less than stellar results who is full of boastful advice, the other a bike shop expert. They'll ask who coaches me, call it old school, and then proceed to tell me how modern approaches are better than Mark Allen's. I ask, "then why did the old school guys have better Ironman times than most pro's post today?" In both cases, the answer retorted back was, "better drugs back then!".

Let's assume, for a moment, that drugs are a part of triathlon. I'm not saying they are, this is just for argument's sake.

Using cycling as a comparison, because it's widely accepted that drugs are involved due to many athletes testing positive. How come the average Tour du France cycling speed is faster now than twenty years ago? Especially if the drugs were better back then? Would it not make sense that if triathletes also use drugs, today's times should be better now than twenty years ago. Heck, the level of testing in the triathlon world is much less than the cycling world and not getting caught should be easier.

So what's my point? My point is that new school training programs are not necessarily better than old school training programs just because they are working in conjunction with modern and sophisticated measurement technology. I often think that some feel old school training is to "simple" to be effective.

There is also something to be said for having a coach "that has been there". One that has a deeper level of empathy and understanding of what the athlete goes through.

For example, I wasn't able to finish Ironman China due to a medical issue, which can happen to the best of us. For over 7 years, Mark went to Kona and didn't win; DNF'ing or having "bad luck" troubles like flats or stomach issues, injuries that even prevented him from racing, or just mentally not being strong enough to win. He knows in his "soul" how disappointment feels and what's required to conquer ones demons. I'm sure that helped him to develop much of his "inner wisdom". He didn't get the nickname, "the grip", by accident.

Like I said earlier "I've drank the Mark Allen Kool-Aid". Can you tell yet?

What comforts me about my decision to do IMSG is that I have the full support and guidance of someone I respect and trust. Someone who has been there. He knows how my disappointment feels. I'm also comforted to know that I'm not going to have to doubt my preparation. This is the first time that I've really needed direct one on one support from Mark. He has intuitively already took his level of involvement in my preparation up a notch.

Currently I have a new "mantra" that I play over and over in my mind. It's just for IMSG. I'm not going to share it at this time. My experience is that by telling others, it can "delude" its power. But I will share it after IMSG.

I will say I now believe that having "misfortune" in China was the best thing that ever happened to me. It is starting to take me to a new place I've never been before, I feel it. It's a new adventure and I'm going to let it evolve naturally and grow from it. I'm not going set any (BHAG) goals for IMSG, other than to show up healthy and finish.

The picture of the day is me at 20 years old (you can see from yesterday picture at 18 years, I lost about 50lbs). The background behind the photo, is we sold our lawn care business, got rid of our apartment and I decided to spend the winter in Florida living out of our Westphalia Van. We decided to come back after two or three weeks, we underestimated how much money we'd need.

On the way home, our luck worsened. While it was raining, we got a flat tire on a highway in Georgia. I stopped on the side of the road. Before I fixed it, I sat in thought. I was sombre and soulfully depressed. We were heading back, my tail between my legs. We had nothing to come back to; no place to live, no job and no money. I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. And now I had a flat tire to deal with.

Then Alice got my attention and captured that moment with the camera. Since then, it's become my favourite picture of all time. It perfectly captured how I felt.

The reason I posted it today, was because that was the moment in time that a new journey began. I had no idea of where it was going to take me. This moment in time, may or may not be as life changing, the spirit of it feels similar. Although I'm not nearly as soulfully depressed, I am sombre. I could only wish it is as life changing as the one that started on the side of the road in Georgia. Time will tell.

Long Run - 1:15:13 / 14.15 km / 5:19 pace / 136 avg hr

177.4 / 20.9% BMI