Man these last two weeks have been tough.
The long biking and running sessions over the many weeks has left me a bit burned out for training. My coach has reassured me that my fitness is more than adequate to cross the finish line, but I can’t help but wonder if I left anything out, or did I do enough miles, etc. etc.
Just get me to the race dang it!
The exceptionally rainy winter in Northern California has really made training a bear. I would much rather be outside than indoors training, but the unpredictable rain clouds has meant many long indoor sessions.
I am not sure I would train through a winter for an early spring event again.
But my coach has given some really good insight into long sessions indoors. He does not believe in 3, 4, 5 or 6 hour rides on the bike trainer, which I have done (rode 100 miles one day in my garage, going fast, going nowhere!). Although the short sessions never can truly replace the long sessions outdoors, there seem to be lots of fitness benefits that can be gained from focused interval workouts indoors of much shorter duration than I thought. This would also have the added benefit of reducing the risk of burnout, as the endless monotony of long indoors sessions wears on the brain and the desire to get back on the trainer or treadmill and do it yet again.
I will put this to the test on Saturday March 5. 1.5 weeks to go!

“Gonna Fly Now…Gonna Fly Now….”
Yesterday, I ran a triple brick as part of my Ironman training. Basically, I ran almost a half ironman yesterday! Just thinking about that is amazing in the fact that I struggled to finish Vineman Half Ironman last year in a tad less than 6 hours. And now I run a half ironman just for a workout. Wow.
But let me tell you – towards the end of that mega workout I was losing steam. I was trying out my coach’s energy deprivation technique to help manage the craving for handouts along a race. Trying to adapt my body to being less dependent on carbo gels is tough. When you eat too much on an Ironman, you inevitably puke it out somewhere in the middle of the run – something I’d like to avoid. So anything to help it adapt to storing more energy, burning what’s stored inside, and to stop stuffing face at every aid station. Since I was just starting this adaptation, I think it drained my legs a little prematurely as I spaced out my gel intake.
So I start humming the Rocky theme, “Gonna Fly now” and it perks me up.
“It’s the…Eye of the Tiger, it’s the cream of the fight…”
I never run with music. I tried it once with my iPod, and it ended up skipping so I stopped that. Also, I don’t like being distracted out there. It can be dangerous! I’ve hit potholes and almost turned my ankle while daydreaming, or my form becomes really messy. I love to practice my focus on perfect running form and economy and thus, my concentration needs to be total.
In this month’s Runner’s World magazine (March 2005), there is an article about running with music. It extols the benefits of music and running, and how it can improve your running and/or make it less monotonous. I say, more power to you if you can do it. Whatever works.
For me, I enjoy the silence and focus of running as I arrow in on perfect running….Except when I start powering down…
Then I start humming Rocky movie music. “Gonna Fly Now” and “Eye of the Tiger” are my favorites. I continue to focus on my form, ignore the energy drained legs, and get pumped up from those songs. I envision Rocky Balboa in his quest to get himself out of the ghettos and nobody-life, and to win against all odds against his boxing opponents who of course come trained with 100X more resources than he does. I see myself during some of the more inspirational moments in the movies, the runs up the steps with the kids following behind, the snow running and working out in frozen conditions in Rocky IV… I force my legs to move faster despite them screaming, “stop Dave stop”.
Music doesn’t work for me, but Rocky does, especially when I most need it.

…it’s the only sound I hear as I move through the water, my head completely submerged, cutting serenely like a needle through butter, my heartbeat climbing higher and higher. I force my body to rotate back and forth faster, which makes my arms stroke at a higher rate and press against the water harder. I feel a burn in my arms and shoulders as my breath quickens and I try to maintain my already high pace. In response to my coach yelling at the begining of the lap “Dave, swim faster…PUSH”, I ignore the discomfort in my lungs, the oxygen quickly draining from my system. My mind starts telling me to back off, but I quell the thought viciously as I quickly survey my condition and determine that it is only discomfort I feel and not a flame out. I calm down and relax more, which lowers my heart rate and I stroke even faster, striving for the end of the lap…or in my mind’s eye, the finish line….
Beat..beat..beat..beat…
Countdown to Ironman: 5.5 weeks….

For a triathlete, being sick really sucks.
We have a race coming up and we can’t get out there to train. How will we know if we will be at our best if we don’t stick to the training plan and not miss a single workout?
So I managed to catch this cold/allergy thing that’s floating around. Great. No training until it blows over. And yes, I know that with me hacking up phlegm it’s probably not a good idea to workout, breathe heavily, and suck back into my lungs all that phlegm.
Ick. Makes me sick just thinking about it. Guess I’ll watch TV instead.

About a year before I started racing triathlons in May 2002 (with Team in Training), triathlon racing was already on the upswing especially in the Bay Area.
Why did this happen? My thought was that there were so many people out of work post-internet bubble and when you get a whole bunch of competitive, motivated people with nothing to do, you need to funnel that energy somewhere. At least, they picked something healthy to do like triathlons, versus drinking or partying all day and night. And then, once your friends start doing it, you naturally want to do whatever your friends are doing.
So here’s the kicker. Why do people really train triathlons? Probably the most ridiculous reason I found where some of these women who were only hanging out with the tri-clubs to get a boyfriend.
OK so finding a mate ain’t the easiest thing to do. At least a triathlon racing boyfriend or girlfriend would have an awesome bod so that’s cool. Not many fat people racing that’s for sure! But it also reminds me of so many instances that I’ve seen in the past where people used to work out intensely while they were single. This was an attempt to make themselves as attractive physically as possible so that the opposite sex would like what they saw. As soon as they met someone, the working out slacked off and stopped completely when marriage hit.
Shouldn’t we workout for the betterment of ourselves and to keep and lead healthy lifestyles? In satisfying externalities like “my girlfriend will leave me if I’m fat” is not a good way to go. In fact, driving a lot of your life by what other people think isn’t necessarily that healthy. You’ll always be trying to please someone else when the only person you should be pleasing is yourself. Driving by internal evaluation means you have a consistent person to please and that’s yourself. Trying to please others all the time is a moving target and might not be the best thing in the world for you.
So why do I race triathlons? I’d like to say I have tons of women jupming on me but I’m afraid that hasn’t happened yet… Actually, I train and race because:
1. It keeps me sane. I’ve been through a lot of things in my personal and professional life in recent years. The exercise, focus, and achievement has kept me motivated and not depressed. It is the one area of my life where I have been consistently growing and improving over the last few years.
2. It keeps me healthy. I used to lift weights but never seemed to be able to get those last pounds off. Training for Ironman basically wicked off the last bits of fat off my body like nothing else. Although, now I am a skinny little runt!
3. It keeps me learning. Swimming, biking, and running were more technical than I thought. There are so many details to each of these three disciplines that revamping and learning new actions has been a real joy. I love learning and definitely as I improve in each of these 3 areas, I feel that I am changing and growing as an individual.
These 3 reasons keep me training – I intend for it to become a lifelong pursuit…