Critical Points

I was thinking yesterday, while swimming my 20 X 200 in the pool, about critical points during my 40 minute time trial on the bike this past weekend. The goal of most of my time trials is to stay within a pre-determined wattage zone and specific cadence. Speed, distance and heart rate are ignored...always.

In staying in a specific watt zone, it can be misinterpreted to mean, "as long as my final wattage is in my zone, I'm ok". This is not always the case. For myself, the primary goal of Saturday's TT was to be about 315 watts for 40 minutes. Not only to average this, but to stay as close as possible to the mean. As far as time trialing most effectively goes, it's not just about the final average of 315, its how close I can stay to that number without huge shifts either way. If I average say, 313 for 35 minutes of the 40, then push to 360 (Z6) for the final 5 minutes and blow my legs up to get my average to 315, then I've defeated the purpose of the time trial. Sure, "drifting" into low zone 5, say 325, 10 watts higher will not break me toward the end. But, hammering the final portion leads to a breakdown in the metabolic equilibrium you've established during the time trial and pushing your systems to an extreme at the end defeats the purpose.

So, I typically look down at my wattage at various points during my TT. One is as I enter a hill initially, I'll see the watts spike up to 50 above my average. Another is immediately at the bottom of a hill as the road straightens out, another spike of about 50. This subtle change in terrain on a race course, if not payed attention to, will lead to short duration massive spikes in wattage that push the equilibrium into a non-sustainable state.

A third is when passing. In triathlon, yes, passing has to be on the quicker side with the limited time of 15 seconds allowed without penalty. I notice when I pass, I easily get my front wheel beyond the other riders' front wheel in 15 seconds once I break the plane of 3 bike lengths. I dont have to do this in 5 seconds. Just cruising along and increasing my watts by 10 will get me easily past. Without paying attention, commonly my watts will jump more than 50 just to pass.

A fourth is cornering and turning around. I purposely do time trials out and back for this reason some of the time. This reassures me that the drop in your average watts you see when turning around (very common in races) does not have to be "made up" in the next 1 minute. For instance, in a 20 minute TT I did last tuesday, I turned around on the road and went back at about half way. My watt goal was 330 average for 20 minute TT. I was 330 on the button at the turnaround. After turning and heading back, my wattage dropped to 327. Yes, surging to 375 watts for 1 minute would likely get my average back to 330 quickly, but again, this causes a disruption in the metabolic equilibrium I've established. So, I have learned (actually a few years back) that you can easily get your wattage back to average off a turn around and near stop during a race. It doesnt require spiking 50 watts over a minute, but rather 5-10 watts higher over 5 minutes.

These critical points above are not obvious. It requires a subtle easing up on the effort through these points, and thus your power curve becomes nearly straight on the axis during the interval.

Lastly, the "I've got balls" factor. In one recent time trial with a couple of athletes, the goal was low Z4 average wattage for 40 minutes. I purposely passed them at 25 minutes putting myself 10 watts into zone 5, and sustaining this for 15 minutes. This increased my speed by 2 mph and after 15 minutes should have easily had a 45 second lead on them at the end. Instead, one was 10 sec. back and the other about 20. So, I know it was impossible for them to have stayed in zone 4, despite their claims that they had. A similar phenomenon occurs when there are a group of guys training for similar race coming up. And thirdly, this occurs if for some reason someone falls off pace due to transient problem, then tries to "get back to the group" quickly. All these scenarios are centered around a common factor. The athlete is not confident in his/her ability. This lack of "athletic self esteem" is the primary factor that leads us to over training, peaking too early, and racing not to our potential. I have said this oh, 20 times over the past 3 years to those I train with. Nobody remembers your workouts, they remember your race. How is it possible that I TT 305 watts at over 24 miles and hour at ITU, for 75 miles, and 23 mph at 265 watts for a 112 mile TT in an IM, and yet finish way behind a group of people who are 20-30 minutes back in a race. It's simple. I am typically ready for most races through proper training, and a constant control over my real-time training stress, as well as patience and foresight that what I am doing is right.
As an athlete, if you dont have the self confidence to know that how you're performing in a workout compared to others is irrelevant when it comes to racing, then it's your limiter. Think about this next time you dont accomplish your goal.

All these "critical points" lead to unnecessary wattage spikes which take us away from equilibrium, and take us out of "the zone" when preparing for a key event, as well as during that key event. Unfortunately, you can coach and coach and coach, over and over again. Some athletes just cant make the behavior adjustment necessary. These athletes are the one's that train for a 9:45 Ironman, yet go 10:30-11 hours on race day. Myself personally, I have been coached most of my adult life in one discipline or another, and have learned to maintain control most times, and learned how to approach my maximum without exceeding it in workouts. Of course I am talking about generalizations in controlled rides, runs, and swims with structured intervals. Not those quick fun moments in a workout when we race to a sign or hammer a hill or 2. These short fun hard efforts will not make or break you in a race because they are very short compared to the total workout, and are never done during a structured interval or TT. So, when I race, I can go to my maximum and in alot of cases, exceed my maximum. How is it that racing at 43 age, and competing in triathlon for nearly 6 years that I can set personal bests in the Sprint, Olympic, Half, and Full Ironman distances just over this past year?

Do you get aggravated when someone passes you on a TT in a workout and feel you have to "go with them" or you're "not good enough"?

Do you allow someone to pass you on an uphill during a workout? especially a girl?

As a women, do you feel like you have to "keep up with the boys" in order to feel strong or feel like a competitive athlete?

Do you feel like you nearly fall off the bike after many workouts because you've hammered until you cant even stand on the pedals? Do you finish those final intervals or final few miles of your long run like you're racing for the olympic gold?

Do you nearly always finish the last 25% of a swim interval session slower than the first 25%? Are your warm up and cool downs in running and swimming near your goal race pace? Is your warm up and cool down on the bike at or near IM wattage?

Do you feel disspointed in your race performance, time and time again, and cant seem to approach your personal best in any event, yet, you're blowing away people clearly faster than yourself in workouts?

Coping with these things and learning to keep even a small amount of control can result in significant gains on race day. If you cant figure this out, I cant help you.

RACE NUTRITION

I cant tell you how good it feels to have run 16 minutes today pain free.
Cycling went well this week, 170 miles with intervals on 3 rides and a 6100 ft ascent long ride on Saturday.
Swimming is coming along, 11,000 last week.

This is a summary of the use of the 3 limiting agents in endurance exercise.
Sugar (maltodextrin)
Salt
Water

Period. Everything else is pretty much marketing gimick.

The method I use to mix maltodextrin into my bottles for IM and HIM racing. You need a measuring cup and a gram scale. The mix is a pure maltodextrin, no others sweeeteners, no taste, and no salts. I add these to the solutions.

CYCLING

1) use a measuring cup to fill your water bottle, to record how much
volume your bottle holds. Lets assume its a 28 ounce bottle, like the large
bottles at Athletes Lounge.

For men 160 lbs or more:
Use measuring cup and put in 5.5 oz water into your water bottle. Mark
the water line with a black marker. Continue this up the bottle so in
a 28 oz bottle, you will have 5 "doses", each marked so you
know exactly how much you're drinking on the bike.

For men/women 125-160 lbs:

For women 100-125 lbs: You can mark off 6 lines on your water bottle. If you are using a 24 oz water bottle, thats a line mark on the bottle for every 4 oz. If you are using a large 28 oz athletes lounge bottle, mark off every 4 3/4 ounces and that should give you about 6 portions on the 28 oz bottle.
Same as above

ADDING THE MALTODEXTRIN

For Men more than 160 lbs:
Add 140 grams maltodextrin to your water bottle. This now gives you 28 grams for
each of Five "doses" or Five 5.5 ounce portions.

For Men OR Women 125-160 lbs:
Add 125 grams to your water bottle. This now gives you 25 grams for
each of Five "doses"

For Women 110-125 lbs:
Add 120 grams to your water bottle. This now gives you 20 grams for
each of Six "doses".

For Women less than 110 lbs:
Add 108 grams to your water bottle. This now gives you 18 grams for
Each of Six “doses”

For Men more than 160 lbs, 84 grams per hour
For Men 130-160 lbs, 75 grams per hour
For women 110-125 lbs , 60 grams per hour
For women less than 110 lbs, 54 grams per hour.

These are rough estimates but very accurate. You can add a few grams
per dose as you can tolerate, but I would start with the above
recommendations first. Taking more than you need does [b]NOT[/b] translate to
better performance. In fact, its not an absorption issue from the
bowel in most cases...its the limitation in our muscle's ability to
process the glucose once its in the blood stream.

SALTS
The best salt capsule out there is Lava Salts, which they sell at Athletes Lounge. Simply break open the capsule and pour the contents into your water bottle and mix it up with the maltodextrin and water.
For a 28 ounce water bottle:
Men more than160 lbs add 1.5 to 2 lava salt capsules
Men 125-160 lbs add 1.5 lave salt caps
Women 110-125 lbs add 1 lava salt cap
Women less than 110 lbs add 3/4 lava salt cap, esp if you're using a 24 oz water bottle.

Sorry, you dont need stuff in your salt capsule like calcium, vitamin B6, licorice extract, ginko, and all the other crap that increases the osmolality of your solution and thus DECREASES the absorption of your primary energy source, glucose.

It is best to stay on 20 minute cycle when racing or training. Mostly, when I am training, I dont start my drink until 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes into my ride. Why? Because I am simulating an Ironman. In an ironman, I typically get out of water in just under an hour, then I start my nutrition 20 minutes into the bike. Never take nutrition within 20 minutes onto the bike or water within 10 minutes as there is a high risk of getting abdominal cramp or side stitch. Let your body get accustomed to the dramatic change in breathing and body position before drinking anything.

For flavor, if you add a flavoring agent that contains sugars of any
kind, you have to account for this in your total sugar intake per
hour. So when you weigh out your maltodextrin, also add in any other
grams of other sugars. If you are putting in 120 grams to your water
bottle, and you add 10 grams of gatorade powder to flavor, then you
will adjust your maltodextrin to 110 grams. If you want a total of 140 grams of sugar, which includes flavoring and maltodextrin, put in 130 grams of malto, then 10 grams of flavoring agent.

FLAVORING:
The 2 major options for flavor that are the best in my opinion are: Keep in mind, its best to have a little flavoring, just enough to taste, not strong. The stronger the flavor, the more pronounced it seems to become late in the race when you are tired or its hot, etc. Just a touch of flavoring is all you need. Bland is good.

1) Crystal light: This is essentially calorie free, and only a very small amt is needed to flavor the bottle, like 1/8 teaspoon. Added advantage is that nutrasweet
increases the rate at which the fluid empties from the stomach, which
increases its rate of absorption. Sucrose, Dextrose, Fructose do not
have this property. If trying crystal light, you dont really need to lower your total amount of maltodextrin in your bottle. If you are supposed to add 140 grams to your bottle, then do that, and add in 1/8 teaspoon crystal light.

2) Powerade Powder. They sell this at the grocery store by the gatorade, etc. Gatorade endurance formula powder is an alternative but the sugar combinations in the powerade are a bit better. These flavorings are composed primarily of sucrose/dextrose. These are fine to add to your nutrition bottle in about a 10 gram amount to the entire bottle for a bit of flavor. I use powerade myself, as there is some evidence that some of these sugars do absorb by different receptors than maltodextrin (glucose) but more slowly. So, maltodextrin form of glucose is the fastest and you want the vast majority of your nutritional calories from this. Use the flavoring just as a small portion of secondary calories, mainly for flavor.

RUNNING

Decreasing the amount of grams per 20 minute dose interval or total calories per hour is an important difference in running compared to cycling. Cycling allows for higher intake of carbohydrate mostly related to the lower heart rate, and more available blood to the GI tract. Running, even sub threshold and late in exercise results in shunting of blood to the extremities, and thus less total blood pool is available for digestion. A typical term called "running ileus" has been experienced by many after long runs. Abdominal cramping after long runs due to the lack of blood in the bowel and eating a meal too soon after a long run leads to cramping and poor digestion. So, keeping this in mind, you have to decrease the carbohydrates in your running flasks during training and racing.

Decreasing the amount of maltodextrin by 3-5 grams every 20 minutes is typically fine.
You cant take as much water of course because we dont carry 28 ounce water bottles when running. I find 8 ounce flasks work best if you dont want to have to take extra water and time your nutrition cycle with the aid station to intake additional water.

For male more than 160 pounds
23 grams maltodextrin in 4 ounces. So, 46 grams total in 8 ounce flask.
If this works without bowel distress, increase to 25 grams per 4 ounce dose or
50 grams per 8 ounce flask. I would not go more than this, as when it comes to
running, more doesnt mean "better".

male 125-160 pounds:
20 grams maltodextrin in 4 ounces or 40 grams per 8 ounce flask.
If works fine on long run, can increase to 23 grams per 4 oz, or 46 g per 8 oz flask

female 110-125 pounds:
17 grams maltodextrin in 4 oz or 34 grams per 8 oz flask.
If this works, can go to 20 grams malto in 4 oz or 40 grams per 8 oz flask

female less than 110 pounds:
15 grams maltodextrin in 4 oz or 30 grams per 8 oz flask. You can get away with 15 grams in 3 onces of water if you use a 6 oz flask but 15 grams is about the limit you want to add to 3 ounces of water to absorb efficiently.

SALTS:
Male more than 160 lb add 3/4 - 1 lava salt capsule to each 8 oz flask
Male 125-160 lb add 3/4 lava salt cap in each 8 oz flask
Female 110-125 lb add 3/4 lava salt cap in each 8 oz flask
Female less than 110 lb add 1/2 lava salt cap in each 8 oz or 6 oz flask

FLAVORING:
If using Crystal light, just a small amount, about 1/16th teaspoon will suffice. Your preferred flavor.
If using Powerade or Gatorade powder, I suggest 3 grams per 8 ounce flask. This is enough to add a bit of flavor. As on the bike, you need to account for the glucose in Poweraid and Gatorade when adding. So, if you are supposed to add 40 grams total maltodextrin to an 8 oz flask, only add 37 grams of maltodextrin, then the 3 grams of additional sugar using the Powerade.

WATER INTAKE: ("normal conditions")
Male more than 160 lbs
28-32 ounces of water per hour. So in taking 3 of your 5.5 ounce doses of nutrition, you have to take an extra 14-16 ounces of water per hour or so. Therefore, you need to take in additional water as you bike through aid stations. You dont need as much water running, and as a general rule, under "normal" conditions, cut by 30% to avoid "sloshing" of water in the gut. These things absorb more slowly when running when compared to the bike so you have to account for this. When moving to the run, take in 20-24 ounces of water per hour so if you take in 12 ounces of nutrition on the run, you have to take in another 10-12 ounces of water. So, take a drink at EACH aid station on the run. Smaller frequent drinks are better than downing an entire 8 ounce cup. If of course a very hot day, you have to adjust and force as much water in as you can handle, even with a drink of gatorade every 3rd mile or so to get some additional salts.

Male 125-160 pounds. Very similar to above, just drop the total water per hour intake to around 24-24 ounces per hour (water at aid stations plus the water in your nutrition).

Females: About 20-24 ounces water per hour. This is total of water at aid stations as well as nutrition.

If you take too much water on the bike? You'll pee. Thats ok. Just dont get off of the bike to do it if you're going for a PR, Kona, or Podium slot.
If you take too much water on the run? You'll likely feel a bit bloated. Just back off a bit, even skip a water dose or 2 while running and let what you took in absorb. Its very important to stick with the nutrition plan at all costs. So, dont let taking too much water in result in you skipping a nutrition dose interval.

SUMMARY
Once you do this 2-3 times in workouts, it will become second nature
to you and mixing it up is very easy. If you dont practice your
proper nutrition during your workouts, then you get to your race and
decide to then start marking your bottles, figuring out your salt
intake..etc...then you are setting yourself up for disaster.

Cardinal rule is race how you train, esp when it comes to proper
nutrition.

Knowing how many carbs is enough can be tricky. But, a simple rule is
if you take your carbs every 20 minutes on a ride, and you dont feel
famished or overwhelmingly hungry...you're getting enough carbs.

-Dave Ciaverella

Tis the Season....to overtrain

This past Saturday's group ride went well, considering I averaged 10 watts above my Ironman PR wattage at 280 (PR 270). So, for 62 mile ride I averaged a wattage that was only 15-20 less than my Half Ironman races, when I am in peak form.

Yup, tis the season to be over-training.

I wont be riding with the group anymore. I'll say, sure I worked a few hills, and it's tempting, but for the most part I stayed behind and my high average watts were mainly with riding off the back of the group, barely keeping up.

I threw in a 30 minute TT on Sauvie Island after the first 30 minutes and was very happy with the sustained 323 watts at 65 cadence. BUT, the remainder of the ride should have been down at the bottom of Zone 2 wattage, so my average for the ride should have been mid to high zone 2, about 50 watts below my IM wattage. I will have to be stronger and next group I hook up with, I'll have to just peel off and ride on my own. Nothing against those I ride with, but should I be working so hard to hang onto the back?

This part of the year, March, is so classic to see the over training emerge. Warm days are more frequent, and we're getting outside after long winter of spinning and riding in bad weather. We are more fit than we realize, and when we finally get out there, we want...uhhh..need, to "prove" we've done our work. We've had a great off season and are in the best shape of our lives, so we have to prove it to those we ride and run with.

Yeah, it sounds ridiculous but its true for many athletes out there. Its OK to push too hard and play around. Its OK to push the limits here and there, and compete in workouts. The most important thing to remember is appropriate rest and allow yourself to recovery. I could have ridden yesterday, but I didnt. I felt "good". That doesnt matter. Objectively, I try to see myself through the eyes of another coach watching me. What would THAT coach do if his athlete road 62 miles at near half ironman race watts....hmmm...He'd likely have that athlete rest the next day at the minimum. Well, at least I know I would. In fact, I'd have my athlete take 2 days off the legs. One full day off and maybe a swim on day 2. Then resume on day 3.
So, this is what I did. I took yesterday Sunday off. Man I wanted to spin though. But, I didnt.

This is the most difficult aspect of preparing for an Ironman, Half Ironman, or Marathon. Knowing when to rest. Understanding what recovery pace is. This is one of the primary contributions a coach can make for an athlete. Look, any of us can go out and hammer workouts, especially when we are in shape. In fact, the relative speed at which we bike or run is irrelevant. Its how we feel inside. If a 10 min per mile marathon split is your Ironman pace for the past 2-3 races....maybe you shouldnt be running your 16 miler at 9 min pace. If your PR bike power is 205 for an Ironman, uhhhh, maybe you shouldnt be averaging 270 for 65 mile rides.

Jackie Joyner Kersee, 7 Olympic medals over 4 consecutive Olympics if I remember correctly, said in an interview back in 1996. Nobody thought she could come back 16 years after her Silver in 1984, then 2 Golds in 1988. The interviewer after the long jump competition asked, "Jackie, what made the difference for you, what has your new coach done"...something along those lines. Jackie replied, "he's taught me how to rest". I'll never forget hearing that as I had just set my personal marathon best at Mens Nationals that year, at the age of 32, 8 years after my first marathon, and that season logging less miles in my prep than in the prior 2 years consecutively.

Look,
I cant get into your head. I cant be there with a rope pulling you back...although I have been known to grab onto Ann's shirt from behind during her runs, and pull on it, and tell her to slow the hell down. On the other hand, when it's time to run fast such as in super threshold work, I've barked at her to push harder, harder, harder. ANYONE can go out and run or bike as hard as they can until they bonk, and feel good that they pushed themselves to the max. But I tell you what's harder...?Knowing you can push much harder but don't. Approaching your threshold without going over....Pushing hard when you're supposed to is easy, its very easy to know what "as hard as I can" feels like. However, its difficult to know what "easy" feels like, and what "recovery" feels like. If you're out there running or cycling and you have to ask yourself, "hmmm, am I going easy enough?" You probably arent, so slow down a bit more.

Learn this. Be honest with yourself. You'll succeed or you wont. Odds are, it will be your own fault. If you fail knowing you did all you could do? Keep your head up high, you gave it your best and have nothing to regret. Then, go back and make small adjustments to improve.

The final word?
Nobody cares how you train, nobody remembers that hammer fest hill ride last March when you go for that Kona slot in June, July, or August. If you train like you're going to put together a 5:10 bike split, or run a 3:20 marathon split, then bike a 5:40 and run 4 hours guess what? THAT'S what will be remembered. You'll remember your races, not your workouts.

Workout to race, dont race the workout.

-ciav

Some words on weight

So, how do you make 60x50 in the pool exciting? Well, you cant. Throwing in the use of an Ankle Band without a pull buoy from 20-30 and again at 40-50 tends to help, as you spend the majority of your time surviving and not drowning, especially with a 5 second rest interval.

My shoulders held up with this set, so probably ready to slowly increase my mileage in the pool. I will stay away from hand paddles for at least the next month. Good old fashioned push-ups in the mornings, not over-doing it, but just a few...seemed to really help the shoulder pain I've been having.

Regarding my diet over a couple days on my last post. You must remember on these days my workout loads were light. I will eat oats, rice-egg whites, etc when I need to, on intensity days and volume days. I have received more than 5 emails regarding athletes wishing to drop weight and you have to be very careful. I am attempting to get down to the weight I carried last summer for training, and my racing weight in May will be held for only about 2 weeks, then again in June. So, my 18 pound weight gain over October-December is just coming off. I am not trying to perform some miracle of weight loss. I have gone down very light in the past (148 at one point) considering I race strong at 158-160. Well, below 158 I can see the power losses and feel weak. There is a breaking point that is definitive. If you go below that, you stand a high risk of chalking up another bad race.

Cyclic eating in relation to your workout load is not something that comes easy and over-night. I have learned this over the past 18 years of being coached and in training. It takes self research, education, and most importantly a will to succeed. Now, its not all horrible. I binge, especially if going to a Trailblazers game, or out drinking with friends. But, for the most part, adherence to a relatively bland diet, and fairly limited to foods that offer me benefit is the key. Yes, and I dont love food, and food is not love for me. I eat to live. I dont live to eat. These two are important to distinguish. I eat a variety for breakfast during the week, but still very limited. My morning feedings are composed of 1 or 2 of about 6 items. Apple, Grapefruit, Whole Oat Oatmeal, Egg whites, rice, skim milk. Cup of coffee always. Now, the combination of these depends on my prior days' workout and/or the workout coming up that day. Yesterday, I only had a swim. So, 1 apple for breakfast, salad with mixed vegies and a few black beans and 3 oz chicken breast and no dressing for lunch. Protein bar in the afternoon. Today,
I have a relatively moderate ride, so 2 yogurts and 1 apple in the morning. If I had a big workout last night or a big workout to come today, likely would have been egg-whites and rice combination for breakfast.

The bottom line is taking in slightly less than you burn. Thats it. The recent major study that came out last week discusses this. They looked at multiple combinations of fat to carb to protein ratios and in ALL combinations, there was NO difference in degree of weight loss with various combination of calorie sources. So much for Adkins, L.A., SouthBeach and all the other diets out there.
The bottom line? Consume less calories then you burn and you will lose weight. There is a caviat to this and thats if you morphologically change your frame. If you put on more muscle you will gain weight. Of course, lean body mass increases and lean body mass is more important than just being "light". Too much body mass and of course you tip the scale the other direction and will hinder your performance. Keep it balanced. Eat higher percentage of carbs after long or intense workouts, keep protein at least 1 gram per kilogram body weight as a minimum while training, and always replace some calories immediately after a big workout with 3:1 Carb to protein ratio recovery drink (no not a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich) containing at least 1 gram carbs per kg body weight with proper protein ratio. So for me, I will take 75 grams carbs + 25 grams protein as a drink, within 10 minutes of long or intense workouts. These are calories you should never sacrifice. Keep total fat intake below 50 grams. Be a little hungry during the day, but after a big workout, eat and recover. Bad idea to try to intentionally lose weight on the days of 4+ hour workouts or during big training weeks. This is when recovery and building takes priority. Once you get within 2 weeks of a key race, stabilize your weight where its at and do not try to lose weight too close to your race. Treat yourself here and there and dont feel guilty about it.

Man, take a look at the pic of myself in 1996 on the right, and a pic from 2007 on the left. The 1996 race I was a lean 152 pounds, after tanking in a couple of races in the prior season when I raced at 148 pounds. As you can see, triathlon has changed me and thus the extra 8 pounds of muscle gained with all my cross training. Weights are minimal for me, a 6 week cycle once per season in Jan-Feb, then its all specific to my sport. Regardless, my 160 pound race frame today is far different than that of 10 years ago when I was a runner. Yes, you can change and adapt to better yourself for you sport. It takes time, patience, and sacrifice.

Wow, a slow start

So,
I decided to register for Orlando 70.3 and Boise 70.3 this year. I dont know what it's like to not have an Ironman on the schedule as I've done at least 2 per year since 2004. Regardless, I feel my age now at 43. Nagging calf injury has prevented a proper run build as I have only run on 5 occasions in the past month. Went out for 9 easy on Sunday and it blew up again at mile 6, and thus walked in the last 3 miles.

I gave it some rest yesterday and stayed off the bike Sunday after the run. Still tight and in some spasm but I am hopeful to run short tomorrow, wed.

The swimming has gone slow with a left Deltoid strain which has bothered me since January. I am able to swim though, so happy about that, but it takes 15 min in the hot tub before and after each swim, massage, and electo-stim which I've been doing at home in the evenings.

The cylcing has gone, uhhh, average to say the least. The calf prevents giant gear work but I have been doing some climbs in my 54/23 and I have been relatively happy with my flat terrain time trialing of recent. Going into Tour of California last week, I was able to post up 208 miles in 5 days of rides, so not too bad. This is mostly because of the lack of running, so I've been incorporating a couple of extra short rides.

The weight is slowly coming off, considering I'm not really running. I weighed in at 178 lbs in January and down to 167 as of Monday this week. So, about 10 more pounds to go. I suspect I will see a change in speed on the bike as I maintain power with less weight here over the next 10 weeks. Losing weight is never easy, but it's part of the toughness that goes into this sport. Here's an example of yesterday for instance, which is a typical weekday.

Breakfast: 1 small cup yogurt, coffee
Mid morning: 1 apple
Lunch: 1 6oz bowl of chicken/rice soup, 2 small containers skim milk
Mid afternoon: Cliff Protein bar
Swim 3000
Dinner: 6oz steak, brussel sprouts, potatoes, 1 beer.
Bedtime: 4 hershey's kisses and a beer.

Today:
Breakfast: 4 eggwhites, med. coffee
Mid morning: Nothing
Lunch: Bowl soup, 1 apple, skim milk
Afternoon: cliff protein bar
Dinner: Plan is chicken breast, vegi, rice
Bedtime snack, I dont know, something small.

Yeah, I go out to breakfast, to dinner, and eat enough when having fun

So, someone asked me the other day, "dont you get hungry?" I replied "of course", I am hungry nearly all the time. So, I thought, you know...who sais we have to feel entirely full and satisfied all the time. I dont know, maybe that's a systemic problem in this country. People feel they have to feel "satisfied" all the time. This is the credit generation, soon to be moving to the cash generation, so I suppose we deserve what we get. Driving around last Christmas in Ohio, seeing run down nearly slum condition housing, with 50" flat screen televisions throughout their windows...no not once, but several houses and I made comments on this as we were driving. This is just sad. People just dont want to work for anything worthwhile anymore, entitlement and this feeling that we deserve things...what ever happened to lay-away. We want everything now....I dont get it. This generation is in for a rude awakening when the 4 trillion in total spending over the past year and over next year comes back to haunt us. Trust me, there is no bail out by the wealthy and if you think so, you need a bit of self-education. Even with the proposed 8% tax increase and elimination of the home interest deduction, which is virtually the only deduction on those incomes over 200k, we will generate a whopping 90 billion...and thats a generous estimate. So we bring the troops home...another 100 billion per year...are we getting close to the 4 Trillion spending yet? Yes it's sad...and its from the top down. We as a society count on debt, we live for debt and sustaining our perceived standard of living, of which most of us havent worked for. That's ok, we are Americans..we are entitled.

Dont get me wrong, I personally dont know anyone like this. We are triathletes...we are ironman athletes. We dont expect anyone to pick us up and carry us when things get difficult. That's the nature of the athlete. Unfortunately, we make up less than 1% of the poplulation. I am all in when it comes to helping others out, especially in a crisis. But helping someone up if they stumble is far different than carrying them.

Ok, I was getting onto a rant, sorry. The point is, yes, I feel hungry alot. I am not starving, or I'd eat. I just have a low grade hunger that seems to be there most of the day until dinner. That's ok. You get used to it. You get accustomed to the feeling that you arent completely fulfilled, and dont need to be. Its about some self-sacrifice, for the greater goal.

So, my 3k swim yesterday was simple
30 X 100 on 20 seconds rest. This is painful. Once you get to 20, at my maximum mental fatigue and desire to quit and just warm down a 1000...5 more, that's enough, I'll cool down and pull 500. No, instead I decided to drop the rest to 10 seconds, keeping the pace the same for the final 5. You have got to find ways to increase your tolerance to fatigue. I dont mean go out and overtrain, but approaching the limit mentally in a workout, ensuing fatigue in an insidious method, ever so slowly approaching that limit.
What's harder, 6 X 500, 30 X 100 or 60 X 50. They are all the same arent they? Well, I've done them all on numerous occasions and the 60 X 50 is the most difficult. Its all in the mind. Acceptance that what seems overwhelming by numbers is not only possible, but probable. On race day, conditions, or health of the athlete may make the goal seem only conceivable, when in fact, it may be probable.