One Year Ago

    One year ago today I was having one of the most epic days of my life. By this point, I had toiled for about 14 hours, was finished with as much of the Epic 250K as I was able, and was heading for Laughing Planet and a Che Gueverra vegan burrito. It was a fantastic day, and at that point I felt I had done my best. That feeling of success faded a bit over time, now I wish I had pushed myself harder so I could have managed a finishing time. It was my first Iron distance, and my first DNF. That has been a tough pill to swallow, I won't lie.
    Today, all through the day I had little flashbacks: "I was just getting out of the water, and feeling the effects of hypothermia..." or "I was an hour into the bike leg and finally warm enough to shed a layer..." or "Woo Hoo! Bananas! Fuck Yeah!" It was a great adventure. One of the best days of my life. And I so wanted to get a second chance at it. I know I have whined about this for months, most of this year, actually. I had nearly convinced myself, back in February or so, that I couldn't afford to do the race this year. Then, I convinced myself that if I paid the entry fee I would figure out a way to afford it by the time race day arrived. Instead, the event disappeared, to the dismay of many besides myself. I am still sad about it, really.
    I wonder how much of today's melancholy is regret at not finishing in time last year, not getting a second chance this year, having my whole season fubar-ed by a knee injury, or just that the days are getting shorter and winter is breathing down my neck. It could just be Seasonal Affected Disorder raising its gloomy, ugly head. I do have my normal symptoms: short temper, an underlying restlessness, the desire to do little more than eat carbs and sleep, a sense of urgency to get things "buttoned down for winter," and that all too familiar sense of dread. On the other hand, it could just be fatigue.
    Whatever the cause, I am struggling with my own attitude. Struggling to keep my fitness on track. Last year, on this day, I was at my absolute peak of fitness. Today, one year later, I know I would struggle to do an Olympic distance tri. Okay, I know I could do a half-Iron, if I pushed myself, and maybe without much more difficulty than I had doing that distance 2 years ago. But g'damn it, that isn't good enough. I need to get my brain squared away. I miss the rigorous training regiment.
    Yeah, yeah, yeah, I have been maniacally busy lately. And busy doing ridiculously hard physical labor. I am trying to look at it as a form of CrossFit style training. I mean c'mon, lifting concrete block, carrying it a distance, lifting it onto a truck bed, climbing into the bed to stack it, then reversing the process to unload the truck is a helluva workout when it is 50+ cinder blocks, not to mention countless armloads of brick. And multiply that by 4 loads in a week. It is a good workout program. But I miss the focused training, I really do. I need to get my life a little more normalized so I can get back on track, literally and figuratively.
    Until then, oatmeal for dinner (okay, with pumpkin seeds, rice protein, and my home-grown/dried raisins), and vast amounts of herbal tea will be allowed. For the time being anyway. Soon though, training resumes soon.

A Different Level of Training

    I've been a little self critical this week for my lack of serious training sessions. As I was climbing the 16' extension ladder up the side of my house for the bazzilionth time this evening, after 2 weeks of scraping, sanding, scraping some more, priming, and caulking I thought back over the last seven days:
    Saturday, after a full day of work, I did a tough endurance swim of descending sets. Then got home, ate a quick, protein packed meal and worked on the house painting until dark. Sunday morning, I was debating a cycling and leg workout, or getting right to work on the house painting, when my pager went off. I spent nearly 6 hours on a structure fire, hauling hose, climbing ladders, raking debris, chucking burnt wood, with only a few quick breaks for water and granola bars. The barn was a total loss, but we saved the house, the trees, and the chickens. I admit, I was a bit tired after that, and had previous plans to deliver a pair of kittens so the rest of the day was shot. Monday I got right to work on the house and spent 8+ hours scraping, sanding, climbing up and down a ladder, and lifting and moving the ladder. Paint scraping is an amazing upper body and core workout. Tuesday I worked all day, hit the pool for a tough strength building swim, home for a quick meal and a cup of coffee, then painted until sundown. Wednesday, my body rebelled and laid me low with a stomach bug; I slept 28 out of 36 hours. Thursday, feeling under the gun to get caught up on painting the house, I worked pretty solid with more scraping (there has been a damned lot of scraping), sanding, painting, and climbing up and down the damned ladder to the peak of the house. Today, I got home from work, had a cup of coffee, some hummus and crackers, and some fresh fruit, then back out onto the ladder to paint the primer onto the peak. Multiple trips up and down the ladder. Again, painting until sundown.
    The epiphany, as I was climbing the ladder was this: Essentially, I participated in an endurance event Sunday. Anyone who says that firefighting is not an endurance event has not shagged hose for hours, then raked through wet, burned debris hunting for possible hotspots, and finally rolling up and loading all the hoses and gear. You get worn out on the fire grounds, then return to the station and spend another 30-60 minutes washing hose and restoring the rigs. Rolling and hauling 2-1/2" hose when you're already tired takes on a certain air of jocularity, when you feel so damned feeble. Honestly though, what I do is nothing compared to full time firefighters that work in areas with high rise buildings. I can't imagine the fitness level it takes to haul a house bundle up flight after flight, in full gear, with SCBA. It boggles the mind. What I realized, on the ladder this evening, was that I had expended more energy than if I had run a marathon, but without the advantage of a taper, pre-race carb load, or calorie dense race morning breakfast. And, I did not let myself have a recovery week. Instead, my body decided to get sick to force me to get caught up on rest.
    I can be too hard on myself at times. True, I am not training to anywhere near the level that I was last summer. But I am expending energy in different arenas, such as house painting and construction, not to mention the occasional emergency call. I have been riding my own ass because my weight is up 4 pounds from my race day weight last summer. 4 pounds... that is nothing.  Nothing. I could lose that in a few weeks of just eating fewer chocolate chips at night. But I choose to not cut myself too much slack because it is all too easy to fall into slovenly habits, regain weight, lose conditioning, skip a workout or two or three.
    But this week, I deserved a bit of rest that I didn't really allow myself. Partly because I am running out of dry weather and the house has to get painted. But largely because it is not easy for me to allow myself to take it easy. I want to push myself. I enjoy the challenges I put in front of myself. Besides, if I don't push me, who will? Endurance swim tomorrow after work, by the way, then more painting.
 

First Run in Too Long

    Went on my first run since the race on July 4th. I've been itching to get out and run, but have been waiting until I had at least a week pain free with my knee. Happy to report that there was no knee pain, just my usual aches and pains. Running is not and never will be a pain free endeavor for me, but it is the price I pay to train for triathlon. I got to run in my new Newton running shoes. They are reported to be the best shoes for the "age group athlete" aka those of us past our youth and prime. All the testimonials from older athletes sing the praises of it being the shoe that lets them run with minimal knee, hip, and ankle pain. Time will tell. But, as for yesterday, they seemed to do the trick. They are a zero rise shoe, with a fairly rigid sole. Not the ultra-fluffy, squishy, over padded running shoe that most would think would be the key to pain free running. I like a thin, firm sole that keeps me connected to the ground. Much as I like my own soul to be firm, solid, and well grounded. The Newtons encourage more of a mid-sole strike for me, which I think will be better for me than my natural inclination to a forefoot strike. I think these will be gentler on my calves and Achille's.   The run itself was brief, maybe a mile and a half. My legs and lungs felt good, though I know my endurance is gone. I had planned on running a flat, easy road, but circumstances had me out in Sherwood, near the hospital, with time on my hands. I ran a couple of laps around the hospital, and the road is mostly rolling hills. It did let me test my muscles a bit, and it felt good. I resisted a set of hill repeats on what would have been the perfect little incline. I was behaving myself, running easy, listening to my body. I wanted to run more, was even thinking of running back to the car and getting out my new trail shoes and giving them a spin, but I reined myself in. I finished with plenty of stretching, three sets of standing high knees, a set of split squats, and more stretching. Yes, last night my left foot and ankle hurt like hell, to the point that I wrapped it for a while and took Aleve before bed. But that is an ongoing issue that has little to do with my run, and more to do with standing on a concrete floor all day at work.
    Funny thing, as I was running, and feeling remorse over my lost endurance, I realized that I could run a 5K with minimal discomfort. I could run a 10K, but know I would feel gassed after. That in and of itself tells me that my body is still in better condition than it was 3-1/2 years ago, when a 5K was out of the question. The endurance will return. I remind myself that I am taking the long view. I want to be back to ultra-endurance, long course triathlon next year. I will complete my I.M. distance, I want the 140.6 sticker on my window. So for now, I will rebuild slowly, steadily, carefully, and not neglect my strength training. Okay, not that I ever really neglect my strength training, but when my endurance training increases to a billion hours a week, it is tough to fit in other workouts. For now though: easy runs to regain my legs, increase my cycling time, swim 3 times a week, strength training, and reintroduce some plyometrics. This will take me into winter in good shape, and from there on, it is a matter of staying injury free until the I.M. Anvil at Hagg Lake next July. That will be my A Race in 2016, and I just might try for the half-Iron in September. Just have to stay strong and injury free. Just. Wish me luck.