Triathlon Lessons

This past weekend I competed in a Time Trial that was part of a local Omnium bike race. As multi-sport athletes, we sometimes dabble in single sport competitions.  These individual swim, bike or run races usually serve as great training sessions generating lots of max effort data for our coaches to parse through, but we also enjoy the simple thrill of "knowing I don't have to run after this bike!"  They are generally humbling too as we multi-sport 'generalists' go up against 'specialists.'

Me and Mr. Burl before the Time Trial - yes, he still had stitches in his lip from last weekend!

Following the TT, another participant commented that I should consider joining a cycling team versus triathlon.  It was a fantastic compliment, but I responded that I was more fit and healthy because of the three disciplines.  I benefit mentally and physically by splitting my energy among three sports.

The following day, I was struggling through the end of a tough run in humid 90-degree conditions.  Only fifty minutes, the workout LOOKED rather tame on paper, but after about thirty-five minutes of actually running, I was suppressing the urge to faint and/or throw up.  Odds were good for either outcome.  Somewhere in that last set of intervals I asked myself again, "Really, why do I do this? Why do I run?"

As the oxygen flow returned to my brain during the cool down, I remembered why.  Simple self-achievement - accomplishing goals I never thought possible, running 'fast' being chief among them.  And I thought about how each triathlon discipline teaches something valuable, for that self-achievement or just getting by in life.  Here's what I came up with:

Swimming teaches the importance of good technique, balance and focus.

Cycling teaches how to suffer, and how to stay in control inside your head when you really, really want out!

Running teaches sacrifice, and that it really doesn't hurt that much more to dig really deep.

Transitions teach the values of planning and simplicity.

And besides the sport itself, I am fortunate to have family, friends, teammates, clubmates and coaches that remind me daily of the importance of praise, gratitude and love.  May your sport(s) of choice also be so generous with life lessons!

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law joining us for their very FIRST triathlon recently.  So proud!

Progress Report: 30 Burpees

If any of you have been playing along at home, you might be wondering, "so, how did it go?" What was the result of completing 30 Burpees for 30 Days?  Today would be 33 days since the challenge was issued.

I'm very excited to announce... [drumroll]...

That I still have nine more days to finish.  *sigh*

Truth be told, it's been 30 Burpees for 21 Days that's actually taken 32 Days to accomplish.

For various reasons that can only be summed up as "LIFE," the journey has been extended.  Throw in some holidays, long work days, extra work days, and other strength workouts that made an additional 30 burpees superfluous or downright impossible (jello triceps, anyone?), it's taking longer than originally anticipated.

Sometimes I missed just one day and got back on track, but there were a couple three and four day burpee-less stretches.

Oh well.

Really?  Oh well?

Don't confuse my acceptance as nonchalance.  I'm sure that doing the exercise every day for thirty consecutive days would have crazy awesome benefits.  However, doing the exercise for 21 out of 32 day days has had a noticeable impact.  I didn't just give up after missing a few sessions.

I am stronger.  I can actually do push-ups again!  From my toes and not my knees.  Not many, but they are getting a little bit easier, and my form is better.  Not great, but better.

Whereas the first burpee session took over eight sweating, groaning, huffing and puffing minutes, it now takes about four sweating, groaning, huffing and puffing minutes.  Sidebar: Burly took on the challenge too, and he knocks it out daily in two minutes.  Men.

My body composition is shifting and I'm starting to shed some weight.  There's a little less torso insulation, and sustainably two pounds are gone since mid-December.  Of course, as mentioned earlier, I've been doing other strength activities regularly, like squats and split lunge jumps, but the regular Burpee challenge is keeping it going with a steady load of swim-bike-run.

Hopefully in nine days, I can blog about achieving this goal.  Heck, while I'm being so honest today, it will probably be in ten or twelve days!

As with most things in life, it doesn't always go as planned.  Achieving some goals takes longer than desired.  The ability to simultaneously persevere, yet enjoy the journey, I believe, is what adds layers of richness to life.  The perspectives, the stories, the pictures, the jokes... they can't be enjoyed while running straight to the goal, but rather in those moments of delay, whether deliberate or circumstantial.

Perhaps I'm just fabricating an elaborate excuse as to why I didn't just "git her done."  Or perhaps, I'm just living life.

And, for the record, burpees still suck.  See you in nine ten twelve days or so.

2013: Another Level!

Inspired by my friends, teammates and fellow bloggers, I spent the morning reviewing 2013.  Pouring through the +Garmin data, +TrainingPeaks records, race reports and my very own "Race Numbers" spreadsheet (yes, still an engineer at heart) was pretty cool.  Lots of things to be happy about regarding the 2013 multisport season.

The best way I can sum it up... I took it to another level in 2013!  I trained less, yet accomplished more.

On 03 February, I completed my first coached workout.  Hiring a coach was a smart choice: I dedicate a lot of personal resources to my tri life and have non-tri priorities too, so letting a professional take over this part of my life was wise.  My +Carmichael Training Systems coach gets IT.  My workouts are tough, but there's not junk volume, no training for the sake of training!  And the results came.  The data proves it:

2012: 383 training hours and 3844 miles = 3 Age Group Podiums
2013: 261 hours and 2850 miles = 3 Overall Podiums (1-1st, 2-2nd) and 2 Age Group Podiums

July 2013:  2nd AG, Sprint distance, Music City Triathlon, Nashville, TN.

Race-wise, in 2012 I completed 7 triathlons including a 70.3, and in 2013, 7 triathlons and 2 duathlons, also including one 70.3.  Each season included a half marathon, a 2-mile open water swim, and few 5K or 10K races.  I even tried cyclocross in 2013!

2013 was a year of PRs for both pace (70.3, Olympic, 10K, half marathon) and distance (longest bike ride completed).  Sprints are hard to compare due to varying distances but I was just plain faster in 2013.  I rewarded myself with a new aero bike helmet after holding a 20.0 mph average in an Olympic distance race mid-season, and repeated it two more times!

The highlight of 2013 racing was participation in the USAT Age Group Nationals in August.  It was a wonderful event in Milwaukee, and I'm thrilled that I already earned the chance to return in 2014.

My awesome parents joined us in Milwaukee...

And they also supported the June 70.3 effort in Syracuse, along with my brother, sister-in-law and dear friend Frosty.

Racing with family and friends cheering is unparalleled.  I think they had as much fun as us.  Oh, and when I say "us" and "we," I'm referring to me and Burly, my favorite training partner!

Capping off the year was nomination to the most excellent Team Rev3!

I'm humbled and excited to be one of more than 60 amateur athletes representing a wonderful event company +REV3 Triathlon (REV3TRI).  2014 should be a fantastic year with them!

2013 also included several non-triathlon changes, including a new job and new house, so navigating the training and racing was not without its challenges.

I'm so very fortunate to have a strong support network of family, friends, coach, RockyTop MultiSport club mates, Provision teammates, Rev3 teammates, new sponsors and Burly.  Thank you.

As much as I enjoyed the next level that was 2013, I simply hope that sharing my activities inspired others to go out and live each day fully.  May 2014 bring more fun and inspiration.

It's time to get ready for a bike workout and get a glimpse of the next level.  Cheers!

Beware the Testimonial

I've been bothered lately by some lackluster training sessions, particularly on the bike.  I usually feel strong and powerful, able to hold the prescribed power targets.  The sessions are not easy, but doable.  Up until the past few weeks, and now, it's agonizing.  I'm dealing with fatigue or sickness or low self-esteem or who-knows-what?

Okay, so I don't think it's boredom, even though it is indoor trainer season...

I digress.

The point is, when one's performance starts to suffer, one looks for reasons (as proposed above) as well as solutions.  Right now, I'm that one.  Perhaps my diet is to blame?  Right along with indoor trainer sessions, the winter holidays bring an abundance of refined sugar and alcoholic distractions.  It's not a crazy hypothesis.

And then I read a blog by another [wonderful] age-group triathlete who's pursuing a new diet with great results.  The whole blog is a fantastic testimonial for the diet program. Weight loss!  Better sleep!  More energy!  Spouse had great results too!!  Join us!!!

Yes, of course, I want some too!!!

I start researching the dietary paradigm, googling and skimming, considering how to go about it.

But then I stop, recalling my master's degree in, of all things, nutrition.  And not for the obvious coincidence of subject matter, but for what writing and defending a thesis taught me.  All research data has context, created by the experimental conditions used to gather said data.  This context is often designed and presented to allow the data to be meaningful and significant in other, usually very similar, conditions.  A careful and important layering and reinforcement of data spawns, building scientific facts that are the foundation of our world understanding.  I don't know if there's a term that describes this relatively global context that 'good' experimental data has, but it's key to how humans have built credible scientific knowledge for centuries.

Which brings me back to the blog testimony that got me started.  What is the one very thing a testimonial lacks?

Global context.

Now, a testimonial does have context.  It's a very personal and singular context.  In fact, without it, a testimonial sounds like any random marketing slogan.

In this case, I stepped back and considered the testimonial's singular context and started to compare my own.  How similar or different were our bodies, lives, training, our 'experimental conditions'?  To summarize, there were too many differences and unknowns to assume her solution would be as successful for what ails me.

I'm not saying this Blogger's diet is worthless or that her testimonial is just an empty marketing slogan.  In fact, I'm quite sure that the diet has worked well for her and the testimonial is her own important data.  I just can't translate it to my situation.  The diet may have even some merit for me, but I'd prefer to seek out data via Pubmed or some of my old textbooks to get a better idea.

So, beware the testimonial.  Consider it a marketing tool, and let it get your attention.  Just consider its value in the appropriate context.

Prescription: 30 Burpees

30 burpees really can cure what ails you!  Yes, burpees.  Those infernal middle school gym exercises?  Yes, those.  "Squat thrusts" as we called them, through gritted 8-year-old teeth.  And we HATED them.

After a blissful [I-didn't-know-I-even-missed-you] 30-year absence from my life, burpees returned.  Via an email from Coach Max.

"...I want to challenge you outside the usual triathlete box. You two strike me as the adventuresome type and may be up for this. This challenge is not for entertainment. It's real. ... It's simple; 30 burpees for 30 days."

You might imagine the subsequent incredulous snorts and chuckles from me and Burly, as I read this aloud.  We often joke about whether Coach Max might just be trying to kill us.  He's pretty deliberate with our workouts, and this was no laughing matter.

"What say you? Are you in? Here's a charming meat head demo. Form is everything."

Burly ignored the taunt.  Smart guy.  Me?  Not so much; I took the bait.

"That's like... 900 burpees."

Undaunted, Coach Max embraced my skeptical 'enthusiasm' with his reply.

"It is a indeed a big deal. Go for it! Go for it now."

That was two days ago.  Monday was my rest day, so, umm, no starting then.  And Tuesday was a tough run, with planks and push-ups mixed in, so, umm, clearly no starting then.  Anyone else smell a pattern?

Today, however, I actually took the challenge.  I don't know why today.  Work was, let's just say, less than rewarding, and my return commute was filled with a downward spiral of loathesome career reflection.  Once at the house, it took the prompting of a few Facebook 'motivations' to get me into workout clothes.  

My calendar called for four rounds of mountain climbers and air squats.  Did I mention Coach Max steals Cross Fit ideas to 'challenge' me with?  In full disclosure, I did ask for more strength training this off-season.  He doesn't disappoint.

Once the mountain climbing and air squatting was through, I took a few minutes to procrastinate/play with The Yellow Cat.  Then I got started on those first 30 burpees.  

And they were the ugliest, saddest, fattest, formless, heaving burpees ever attempted!  Utterly ridiculous.  It took me over eight minutes to finish.  Really.  Holy crap, that was hard!

But, I did all 30.

And I'll do them again tomorrow.

Yup.  I will.

WTH?  Why?

Because when I finally knocked out #29 and #30, I laid on the floor and started laughing.  I felt beaten and humbled, and it was GREAT!  All that self-defeating nonsense from work that clouded my ride home was gone.  Nowhere to be found!  Every one of those burpees absolutely sucked, and the sum of it was exactly what I needed to set my head straight.

Got my feet up the wall to enjoy my favorite yoga recovery and laughed some more while The Yellow Cat came over to congratulate me and steal more attention!

870 burpees to go.  Let's see if 30 burpees can cure Thursday too!

Triathlete, meet Cyclocross

A Race Report, of sorts

A well-known inspirational quote challenges us to do something everyday that scares us.  Today it was Cyclocross.

No, Cyclocross, or CX, is not inherently scary at all.  Just some Euro-style off-road bicycle racing on a beautiful day at a local municipal park.  For me, the 'scary' was riding a strange bike, clipping MTB pedals, clambering over strange terrain and negotiating obstacles.

Obstacles?  We triathletes don't do no stinking obstacles!  Other than random seaweed beds or a dropped bottle at the exchange, triathlon is blissfully obstacle-free.  Nope, not CX.  There were hills and drops and jumps and a sand volleyball court to cross twice each lap, to name a few.

So, this little venture into the unknown was a wee scary.  Especially after watching some You Tube videos pre-race.  What have I gotten into?

To be precise, I got myself into the first annual Turkey Cross in Loudon, TN.

Here's my cautious start - that's me in the back, FRCC orange logos and red sleeves.

Then the adrenaline kicked in.

Then the hypoxia.

And all the scary was gone.

Replaced by a wheezing, gasping, red-lined pile of flesh, grinning when I could summon the oxygen, as captured here.  (And what lovely weather we had!)

Honestly, it was FUN.  Once I got the hang of the course and the obstacles, and all that pesky dismounting and mounting (mental note: add to "Skills to Improve in 2014" list), I liked it.  I liked the challenge.  I liked learning new things.  I liked the event atmosphere.  I liked the supporters and hecklers alike (my beau Mr. Burl fits both categories).  And, we all really liked the fresh pommes frites with homemade dijonnaise, compliments of Southern Cycling!

I liked it enough to seriously consider selling my mountain bike for a CX bike.  Which, truth be told, I'm not in love with that beast anyway - heavy, unwieldy thing that it is.

Fact is, short-course Triathlon is my primary goal these days.  And that 37+ minutes to complete three loops of CX scariness was some of the best anaerobic training (average HR = 176 bpm) and bike handling that money can buy.  I sense a nice synergy here... perhaps the 2014 season will have a CX after-party?

Wait a minute.  This is a race report!  How did I do?

I finished!  Three whole loops!  The CX Cat 4 Ladies that won did four loops (I got lapped by the winner at the end).  And I was not last.  8th out of 9!

And huge THANKS to Rebekah for talking me into this! And loaning the bike!!  Much appreciation for Burly, Scott, Allison, Sharon, Jimmy and Gregg for the on-site cheers and jeers!

What scary thing did you do today?

Last Minute Thanksgiving

Just sitting down post-Thanksgiving dinner.  My wonderful mate is washing the last batch of pans and knives and I'm watching the final credits for "Love Actually" roll off the TV screen.  The yellow cat Jethro is crashed on the sofa next to me.  Aaaaahhhh.  It's been a good day.

We kicked the day off with a chilly (25 degF) 10k foot race; both my husband and I set PRs for the distance. *GRIN* Pleasant surprise, rewarded by a little Cracker Barrel breakfast.  No, really, it was little - they now have a breakfast menu of dishes under 500 calories.  YAY!

I didn't plan to cook a Thanksgiving meal. I bought a turkey this week due to my employer giving us each a $15 coupon toward said turkey. I figured I'd cook it Sunday and freeze most. That grocery trip also served to restock some pantry items, but none of the 'fixins' others loaded into their buggies...

As fate would have it, we didn't really want another restaurant meal today and had no alternate plans.  Around noon, I wandered into the kitchen to see if we had options better than eggs over toast (I knew we had four slices of bread left!)

A little digging around, four cookbooks, a few internet searches, and a few more thoughtful substitutions and compromises, a menu sprang to life. And into our bellies!

Long story short, the pantry, refrigerator and freezer, despite appearing spartan, yielded all the goods for a wonderful meal: Turkey (brined 4 hours, spatchcocked and roasted in less than 2 hours), giblet gravy, herbed bread stuffing, baked sweet potatoes, sauteed kale with sweet onion & garlic, whole wheat potato rolls, Trader Joe's potatoes & mushrooms with haricots verts, and pumpkin pie with a homemade whole wheat pie crust.  Nom nom nom.  Two satiated smiles!

Why didn't we photograph that lovely food porn?!

Needless to say, gonna need a restock.  I managed to use up all of the remaining white flour, the last lone stick of butter, olive oil, celery, bread, stock, and orange juice, to name a few things.

I guess the moral of the story is that we are usually more blessed than we might keep in our present thought.  I figured another trip to the grocery was necessary, but once I got to looking, I realized we had everything we needed.  Compromise was essential to make it work, and it took some ingenuity to pull it off (umm, there's mango juice in the pie crust).

I initially failed to appreciate the abundance already at my disposal.  Luckily, no one eating here had unyielding expectations of what the holiday meal should be!

The rest of our lives can similarly lack joy and meaning if we don't appreciate that which we already have.  Our culture advertises limitless conveniences to purchase the "full" feeling, but it never seems to deliver.

My thanksgiving delivered today, and I am truly thankful for the abundance shared in our home.  I won't be searching for happiness at a Black Friday sale tomorrow; good chance I'll find that joy amongst the people [and things] already present in my life.

This doesn't mean I won't seek new experiences and new relationships.  Rather, I will know that those new things are meant to enhance that which I already - thankfully - have available.

May you be similarly blessed!  Happy Thanksgiving!