Major accomplishments along the way...

Today's post is a little philosophical, actually it's a lot philosophical. I'm going to start by saying, finishing an Ironman is a major accomplishment. For us that train for it, it is definitely the end goal. But what I've come to realize is that on any particular training day, you can achieve and experience great things along the way.

For instance, yesterday was a major accomplishment and a new experience for me. I did a 6:40 / 183.5 km bike ride, in February, in -17 C weather. I had never done that before and some would say it was an epic moment. (I've come to love the word Epic, it's got a great positive ring to it and is a great substitute for the words "crazy thing to do"). It was also a new experience. I've never trained in the winter for an Ironman. I was experiencing a whole host of new sensations.

I distinctly remember riding down a stretch of road that I rode during my Summer Ironman training sessions. Same road, same distance, different time of year, different experience. I remembered how it felt in the Summer and now I know how it feels in the winter. It was something unknown to me the day before, and in one day, unexpectedly, it's something I'll not soon forget.

It doesn't end there. There is those fast or long sessions in the pool, or on the bike, or on the run. Or biking and running through adversity. Maybe it's super windy or raining or snowing or freezing or unbearably hot. Maybe it's riding your longest inside on a trainer or running your longest or fastest on a dread-mill.

Or maybe you set a training PR, the longest distance in a sport, the most distance for a day, week, weekend or month, or the fastest swim, bike or run. Or the most weight lifted. Or you could have achieved your lowest weight or body fat ever. Maybe it's your earliest session, your latest session.

I still remember doing a run at 3 am when I was 19 years old. I guess I could still beat it, if I ran at 3:30 am. (Although I'm not sure where latest ends and earliest begins. I guess it's based on whether you went to bed yet or not). I remember doing many long training sessions after a heavy night of partying and very little sleep and the smell of booze coming out of my pores. Just ask John Barclay. Although, those are not records I intentionally want to beat. (Actually this non drinking and training for an Ironman is much easier and very civilized).

Whatever it is, it's always a moving target and there is so many little or big wins along the way. There is always a mountain to climb and a record to be set or broke. It doesn't have to come down to race day only. As a matter of fact, I think some of the accomplishments you make during training can be near as significant as finishing an Ironman. It could be argued that if you did a full Ironman all by yourself in training, that it is more of an accomplishment than finishing an Ironman with all the support and energy of the event.

As you can see, my point is that you need to stop and "smell the accomplishment and new experience flowers along the way". It's like marriage. The wedding is the big day, but how many great days did you have up until that point. I could have used the "child birth" analogy, that the birth of a child is a big day, and I'm sure we would ALL agree that there was a LOT of fun preparing for that moment. I regress.

For those that have done an Ironman, I'm sure they'll still remember specific moments in training that were breakthrough accomplishments for them. They may even remember something odd like the heat of the Sun that day or the smell of the air during that special training session.

For someone like me, who has very poor long term memory, those moments seem to stay with me and I'd even say are moments that become part of my character. More so than even finishing the Ironman. And the amazing part is those moments come when you least expect them.

Today's picture is of the stretch of road I was referring to and is now emotionally seared in my memory. Heck, I even have the picture to remind me. The strange part about that picture is the only reason I took it was because a family of deer started to cross the road and I pulled out my camera. By the time I pressed the button they were gone, but as chance would have it, I unintentionally got a picture of a special experience in time.

On the training front, I did a 3 hour run today. I did it on a route I've never done before. One big circle. I mapped it out on "Map my Run" before I left. It started windy and cold and then warmed up and the wind died down. It was -14 C with windchill. Before I left the house, I put Vaseline on my face. After yesterday's ride I noticed my eyes looked swollen from the squinting and the cold wind hitting my face. I figured the Vaseline would help protect my skin.

I was expecting to run slow, especially since I was going to walk for 30 seconds after every 10 minutes of running. Which I did, it's easier on the legs. I was shocked when I finished 35 km at a 5:06 pace. If I was able to maintain that pace for another 7 km, I would have run a marathon in 3:35:11. Incredible, especially for a low heart rate effort. It was another small win.

I also ended up dropping 9 lbs of water weight during today's run. When I got home I drank nothing but pints of water and apple juice. I rarely drink apple juice, but on the run started craving apple juice. Apple juice in a tall glass with lots of ice. Boy was it good.

Long run - 3:00:08 / 35.32 km / 21.95 miles / 5:06 kph pace / 2347 ft climbing

Lance is training in Kon-a, I'm training in Col-da...

Last night I decided that I was doing all or part of today's long ride outdoors, regardless of the temperature. The only thing that was going to hold me back was sleet or snow.

To prepare, I went to MEC last night and picked up a new pair of wool socks and a flashing light for the back of my jersey. It was a replacement for the one I lost on my last ride. All night I was looking at the weather channel and it looked like today was going to be around - 11C. I've never ridden in any minus double digits before.

I woke up at 9 am, ate and bundled up to ride, which included chemical hand and toe warmers. It was -17 C with windchill. I wasn't sure how the day was going to unfold. I was scheduled for a 6:40 ride and I wasn't sure how much I was going to do outdoors and how much I'd do indoors. After last week's long "trainer hell" session, I wanted to ride outside as long as I could.

My plan was to ride a 1 hour loop that would go past my house. This would give me a chance to stop to drink and eat. Once I got started, the cold and 27 kph wind was not as bad as I expected. A one hour loop, turned into a three hour loop.

I did the first loop and the timing to stop at my house was perfect. I needed water and food. Bad. I did have a water bottle with me on the bike, but the spout and most of the water inside froze. When I tried to open it, by hitting it on the ground, the top shattered into pieces. The upside was that the top was off and I was able to drink some of the water that wasn't yet ice.

When I got home, I unbundled and as strange as this sounds, none of my clothes were wet from sweat. My hands and feet were cold, but I was bone dry. I had some soup, hot chocolate, bread and peanut butter, boiled eggs and water. Once I finished, rather than ride inside, I decided to go for it and do another loop outside. I bundled up, put on new toe and hand warmers and off I went.

Speed wise, my ride sucked. Right from the moment I left the house I could hardly push my legs hard enough to get my heart rate up. At times, I was riding at 28 kph and my heart rate was 110 bpm. The second loop, my heart rate was higher, but not by much. I figured it rose more from digesting than riding.

I had to have a talk with myself early in the ride. I told myself "not to be discouraged. Training for an Ironman over the winter is a big experiment. Do the best you can and let the chips fall where they may". My concern is my bike speed, it's so slow compared to my normal summer long rides.

In order for me to qualify in Kona, my plan was to have a "monster" bike ride. Biking is my strength. With all the indoor riding, I don't know if having a "monster" bike ride is possible. I'm finding that indoor riding speeds don't compare equally to outdoor riding speeds.

The other thought I had was "this is F@#King crazy!". Not from riding outside in -17 c weather, but from putting so much pressure on myself to race fast. I love training. I prefer training over racing. If I wasn't trying to qualify for Kona, I wouldn't care about my training bike speed. I'd just try to enjoy the ride. Which is what I eventually did, after I accepted the mantra, "let the chips fall where they may".

The second loop was fairly uneventful. Over the course of the ride, I had a couple of squirrels, and a family of deer, cross my path. I also saw the biggest, most beautiful horse I've ever seen. For the second loop, I put chocolate milk in my water bottle and unscrewed the top to drink it. For a while it didn't freeze and then half way through the ride it froze and I had nothing to drink. I was fading a little, but I also brought a couple of "Dad's Oatmeal Cookies". They didn't freeze and did the trick.

For the last 40 minutes, I rode in the dark and with no Sunshine it was even colder. I had two pairs of gloves on and my fingers were still freezing. They felt like they were getting frost bite on the tips. I finished at the perfect time, 5 minutes later and I wouldn't have been able to use my fingers to push the garage code pad to open the door.

I hope that my nose is okay. It was dripping the entire day and I had to keep wiping it with my glove, which is not very soft. I hope it's not chaffed. Last time I chaffed my nose, I was a kid in Winnipeg, probably after playing 12 hours of street hockey.

When I got off the bike and into the house, I was frozen. Seriously. I stretched and had a hot, hot bath. I didn't even have the cold water running at the end of the bath filling. Normally, it would be like a hot tub. I'd be sweating and it would be unbearable. Not this time. It took over 20 minutes for me to start to warm up. Even now, an hour later, my fingers still feel frost bitten and I haven't broken a sweat.

In closing, I have to make one important and insightful comment. "LONG OUTDOOR RIDES IN -17 C WEATHER, IS STILL MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE THAN LONG INDOOR RIDES ON A TRAINER". Period. (Even if you lose a finger or two from frostbite).

Rather than stop the outdoor ride early, and do the last 40 minutes indoors, I kept thinking back to last weekend, and how mentally exhausted I felt, and decided to finish the ride in the dark and cold. Today's picture was taken just as I finished and before I tried to open the garage door. Burrrr....

Long Ride - 6:40:12 / 183.51 km (113.78 miles) / 27.51 kph / 118 avg hr

Moment of truth...

Another good day of integrating work and training. All I had on the training schedule was a swimming speed work session.

After yesterday's ultra slow swim session, I was a little nervous that I might have lost my swimming mojo. I was wondering if all the gains I made over the past 2 years was gone? Good swimming is about technique, like a golf swing. It's something you constantly have to work on or you can lose it.

It didn't take long into the swim that I realized I hadn't lost it and yesterday was just an off day. My swimming speed had returned. Yes! All my 100's were between 1:34 - 1:38. I also had my fastest 50 ever at 40 seconds. About 28 minutes into the swim I wanted to quit. I was telling myself that "I swam yesterday and really didn't need to swim today. I just swam today to see if I had my speed back and I do, so why keep going?"

I ended up taking a deep breath and decided to just one more set, and see how I felt after. The speed was so good, it motivated me to continue. Before I knew it, another 50 minutes had passed. I was so glad I kept going. It was my best muscle pounding swim workout ever. On one set of 50 meters, I went so hard, my chest, arm, and shoulder areas were maxed out. On the hurt scale, it was just under "almost injuring myself".

On the China front, by chance, I found out that the direct flight I'm booked on from Hong Kong to Haikou was cancelled. In it's place, they put me on a two stop, 12 hour adventure. My original direct flight from Hong Kong to Hakiou was only an hour. This one's eleven. My flight from Canada is only 15 hours.

The only reason I found out was because I was calling to see if I could change my flights. I decided I'd like to stay a little longer and sight see. I might as well, Alice and the kids are going to be in Palm Springs that week. No use me coming home and just hanging around the house for a week all by myself, when I could be sight seeing and drinking beer all by myself.

The direct flight being cancelled was actually a stroke of luck. The travel agent told me that because they cancelled it, I was able to get a full refund and with that refund I could book a flight with another airline. That would allow me to vacation in Shanghai for a few days. The best part is that it has a much shorter connection time to Haikou and the tickets are even $200 less.

The travel saga doesn't end there. John Barclay was on the same flights as me and his agent is saying he can't get a full refund and change to a new airline like me. He was on the phone with them for 4 hours today. He even called my travel agent and she let him listen in on a call with her and Cathay Pacific and Cathy Pacific confirming they will give a full refund on my ticket.

Cathy Pacific is telling John's agent that he can't get a full refund. It's not allowed by policy. It doesn't make sense, we have the same flights and tickets and I can get a refund but he can't. Sound's like a "suck and blow at the same time" policy. John'a agent is insisting that I can't get a refund either.

John then told me to go ahead and cancel my tickets, get the refund and re-book. Once that happens, he's going to use that as leverage to get his changed. It will be a "you did it for my buddy and he has the exact same tickets. Why are you not doing it for me?".

To be continued...

Speed swim - 1:18:52 / 3500 meters

Amazing video of what's possible.

Starting over...

If ever I was going to pick the perfect day, one that incorporates training and work, today was the day.

It started with a coffee at my kitchen table, checking and returning emails. Then after I had my truck tire repaired (it was punctured by a screw), I did my swim and was at work by 10 am. I put in 3 SOLID hours of head down work and then about 1:20 I went to the Y to do weights. When I got back I put in another 1.5 hours and went to the track for my speed workout. I wanted to finish it in daylight. When I returned, I updated the blog, ate, and will probably do a hour or so of work tonight.

That is what a perfectly balanced day looks like to me. Almost 3 hours of training and 6 hours of real work hours. Not government or large institution work hours; where a 7 hour day is really only 2 - 3 hours of real work.

I was telling Alice that this would be the perfect lifestyle for me. I love the idea of intermixing work and training. I like it much more than doing training before or after regular working hours.

Today I had the worst swim in at least 2.5 years. A week and a half ago I was consistently doing 1:40 - 1:43's and today I was struggling to keep it under 2:00. It freaked me out. I wasn't sure if it was because I lost my technique or because I had no energy. I think it was the energy. I felt weak in the water.

I was going to swim longer but decided it would just be a waste of time. It would be garbage meters. I all could manage was a warm up effort for the entire swim, I couldn't go any faster. I figured it was best that I do 3000 meters and come back tomorrow and see if I feel better.

I'm sure it must be my body. Late this afternoon, when I did my running speed work session it was hard to go as fast as I normally do. I was surprised to see my heart rate hit the 170 bpm mark. That rarely happens. Then it went to 185 bpm, which NEVER happens. I'm not sure if it was accurate or the heart rate monitor was screwing up.

In any event it was a good day. I got three sessions done and mentally felt strong. I'm wondering if the performance decline has anything to do with weight loss? It seems in the last two weeks my body has finally decided to lose weight, even though I'm still eating the same volume of food.

Oh, one other thing. I took Colleen's (EME) advice and went commando during my speed work. My underwear chaffed my butt on Sunday's long run. Her suggestion worked perfectly. Thanks.

Swim - 1:05:54 / 3000 meters

Weights - 50 minutes

Speed Run - 58:28 / 12.64 km / 4:37 pace / hr avg 144 bpm

180.8 lbs

Routine, please...

So far this week, training has been anything but routine. It's been a perfect storm and I'm glad the storm has ended.

For the first three days of this week, I've been slammed in important client proposal meetings and haven't even had time to eat lunch. From morning until quitting time, it's been one meeting after another and has required all my focus and attention.

I was hoping to get to the pool at lunch time today, but couldn't swing it. My parents were leaving and Alice and I went for lunch with them before they had to leave for the airport. I adjusted my plan and decided to swim tonight after my speed bike session.

Everything was going according to plan. I did my bike speed work session and it hurt good. I did a couple of 12 minute intervals and sustained a minimum of 333 watts for the entire time. I have no idea if that is good or not. And for 4 x 2 minutes. with a 15 second rest, I sustained 383 watts. Before I got on the bike, my right knee felt better, although my left knee was still sore. I decided to ride anyway. I just couldn't stand the thought of not riding tonight.

In actual fact, I was more concerned with my butt. On Sunday's long run, I wore the wrong underwear and it chaffed the lower part of my butt. I just noticed it yesterday when I put on my running tights. It is really annoying and tender. I was worried that it would get worse on the bike because the affected area is in direct contact with the seat. I ended up putting on some extra padded shorts and went for it.

After I finished, I took off to the pool. On the way I stopped at a gas station to fill up my tire. My low tire pressure light was on. When I saw the tire, it was LOW. Only 10 psi and it should be a minimum 40 psi. As I filled it, I could tell it was a still leaking and was concerned about it getting flat and having to change it on the side of the highway or in the YMCA parking lot.

At that moment, I decided to postpone the swim until tomorrow. My new plan is to get the tire fixed first thing in the morning and then go directly to the Y before work. It's really unfortunate, because I was really looking forward to swimming in the cool water tonight. I was mentally feeling strong.

Yesterday my new H20 Audio Waterproof headphone system arrived. I returned my SwiMP3 headset and bought the H20 system and a iPod shuffle. The shuffle fits in the H2O case. Unfortunately the shuffle hasn't arrived yet, I think it should arrive tomorrow. I can hardly wait to try this one. A couple of benefits I see in the H2O is that the iPod shuffle will last 24 hours between charges and it's an Apple product that works directly with my iTunes.

Speed Bike - 1:16:41 / 38.73 km / 30.3 kph / 131 avg hr - max 157 bpm

182.8 lbs

Better save than sorry...

Very short blog post today. Maybe my shortest ever.

I was scheduled to do a moderate run, got dressed, put the heart rate monitor on, and at the last moment decided to cancel the workout.

My knees are still sore and throbbing from last weekends long sessions. I can feel my pulse without even touching them. The only time I've felt this sensation before is after a hard half or full marathon.

Tonight's training session was only of medium importance and I decided not to risk it. I'd rather rest them another day so they're strong for this weeks speed work and long sessions. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's pool session. Hopefully the cool water helps the healing.

Good news is that I weighted in at 180 lbs this morning. My lowest in months. I've now lost 5.2 lbs and I'm feeling confident my weight will be under 173 lbs before China. I have 6 weeks of training left until China. In reality, there's really only 4 weeks of heavy training left, as the last two weeks is a tapering program.

My number one goal right now is to make it through the next four weeks injury free. One other benefit of not training tonight, is I get to hang out with the family and watch "American Idol".

Recovery Rest Day

180 lbs / 21.4 % bmi

Starting the month off strong...

I had a busy day at work today. There was no way I could get out for lunch to do my weight training session. It was probably just as well because my knees were sore from this past weekends long bike and run and doing a power leg session may have done harm.

Before I looked at today's training schedule, I had my fingers crossed that it was going to be a sub 3 hour moderate ride. I was hoping all my longer moderate rides would happen in Los Angeles. No such luck. Today's ride was scheduled to be 3 hours 40 minutes. My longest moderate ride of the year so far.

When I got home, I realized that I needed to get on the bike by 6 pm in order to finish at a reasonable hour. Alice wasn't home, she was out with my mom and the kids and there was no dinner ready. I wasn't looking forward to tonight's session, I was still tired from this past weekends training.

With no dinner ready, I made the mistake of having a piece of apple pie and ice cream that was left over from yesterday's dinner. Then I had a piece of cherry pie and ice cream. And then some more. Basically I had about 5 pieces of pie with ice cream for dinner. The upside was it motivated me to get on my bike and burn it off.

I got on my bike at 6 pm and the family went out to Boston Pizza for dinner. My bike ride was mentally fine and physically tough. It was a moderate ride so I didn't have to push it, but I intuitively knew that this was one of the most important rides I'd have in preparation for China.

I pushed my muscles gently and for the last 25 minutes they were pushing back. That last 25 minutes is what you dream for, it's where all the gains are made. Your legs are sore and you push through the fatigue and by doing so, the muscles gets stronger. It was a great way to start the week.

On the LA front, I registered for all the races. I also found out that my Uncle Neil is going to be in Palm Springs while I'm there and I'm going to stay with him and my Aunt Gloria at their condo. Which is awesome. Free rent and good company. It sure beats sitting around watching TV in a hotel room all by yourself.

Mod Ride - 3:40:17 / 109.44 km / 29.8 kph / 122 avg hr

182.2 lbs / 21.7 % bmi