The Kindzia Blog

Computrainer Nightmare - May 30, 2008

I finally purchased a Computrainer.  Along with it I purchased a new Dell computer that has Microsoft Vista installed.  Let's just say that the installation is a complete nightmare complete with instructions that include, "Do this at your own risk" or "Contact Sewell for support since we don't support other hardware required..."  Basically Computrainer needs a Serial to USB adaptor and it's a complete mess.

This makes installation a total nightmare.  I'm now down to requiring bringing in an independent computer consultant to figure this all out.  What a big disappointment.  The instruction manual on this topic BLOWS.

So, I'm a bit frustrated at Computrainer right now.  What a joke.  I can't imagine how they expect normal people to install the drivers?  In addition, they didn't even include the drivers set up disks in the package. 

If anybody is good with computers out there, call me.  I'm in need of some serious assistance.

By The Numbers

• 31 - Days of being injured or sick in 2008 (1/29, 1/30, 1/31 deep fatigue, sore, chills, fever, headache, cough, 2/16-2/23, 2/27-2/28, 3/24 bad plantar fasciitis)  Started "no running" the day after Easter Sunday 3/23.  Back to running April 13.
• 119 - Days in a row of consistent training 
• 3 - Days missed of training at least 30 minutes in 2008 (goose-eggs in 2008)
• 85 - Days remaining until Ironman Canada

Balancing Mental Training and Physical Recovery - May 29, 2008

For those that have tackled an endurance event, whether that be a running event such as a marathon or an ultra, or a triathlon such as an Ironman, you know how important it is to be strong mentally during the event.  Once the training is done, the challenge late in the race is as much mental as it is physical.

Late in the race (or sometimes much earlier ;) the body and muscles start to fatigue, cramp and give out.  It's at this point that the mind starts to struggle and turns to negative thoughts or self-preservation.  To prepare for this requires training the mind just as much as training ourselves physically.

How do you train the mind to get stronger?  Well, usually by practicing mental skills while becoming fatigued in training.  As we feel tired, weak, and pain, we practice pushing ourselves to stay motivated, confident, intense, focused and to block out the pain.  The better we do at this, the better we perform physically.  The "mind runs the body."

But that leaves us in a paradox during training.  During an Ironman build, the athlete gets very sore, tired, fatigued and often might even feel legitimate pain.  There are gains to be made by pushing through this pain and discomfort when we have our minds overpower our bodies.  However, pushing ourselves too much past legitimate physical limits greatly increases the risk of over-training and injury.

I'm struggling with this delicate balance right now.  On one hand, I want to push harder and harder and get mentally and physically stronger.  On the other hand, I'm getting tired, sore and fatigued.  Today I had to decide.  Do I push through the prescribed workout and blitz myself yet again.  Or, do I pull up and rest/recover.  I chose to pull up and take it easy prior to the weekend of training that is coming my way.

The process of improvement requires progressive overload while allowing the body to rest and recover in between.  If we never rest and recover, we never rebuild ourselves to be, "better, faster, stronger."  So when is that point where we need to mentally push ourselves through our past barriers versus when is it smarter to ease up and get some recovery?

I wish I had the magic answer each and everyday.  Right now I'm sort of learning my body better as Matt tends to force recovery on me when I sometimes feel like I could do more.  Other times I am strongly desiring recovery and he's pushing me to "GO GO GO!" (damn bastard).

As you are probably aware, there is no easy answer.  It's just all part of the big and complex puzzle of endurance performance.

By The Numbers

• 31 - Days of being injured or sick in 2008 (1/29, 1/30, 1/31 deep fatigue, sore, chills, fever, headache, cough, 2/16-2/23, 2/27-2/28, 3/24 bad plantar fasciitis)  Started "no running" the day after Easter Sunday 3/23.  Back to running April 13.
• 118 - Days in a row of consistent training 
• 3 - Days missed of training at least 30 minutes in 2008 (goose-eggs in 2008)
• 86 - Days remaining until Ironman Canada

Feeling Good (Yesterday) - March 28, 2008

The Maestro Matt Russ sent me an email late this morning having read my TrainingPeaks comments that I posted regarding my morning run.  The comments that I made to go along with the data were along the lines of, "Aerobically I was fine.  Muscularly I struggled.  Heavy legs and hung on for life once I got past 9 miles."

He responded by telling me what I was already trying to tell myself throughout the finishing portions of the run, "It's hard to have a great workout the day after a great workout."  You are simply too tired to perform at your best on back to back days.  It wasn't that yesterday's session was super long or super intense.  But Matt pointed out that I was only 1 watt shy of breaking my CP90 record (I had no idea - shame on me...I had two more watts in me, I know I did).

Cranking away at 225 watts for 90 minutes straight was a nice session for me.  Apparently my legs thought so too when they went on vacation this morning while I was trying to knock out a long run of at least a half-mary (half marathon - 13.1 miles).  I got through 9 miles feeling ok.  But at that point, the form really started falling apart and I just slogged through it.  Sometimes you have runs where you just love being outside and feel like you could run forever.  Today wasn't one of those days.

But, 14.2 miles and a smoothie later and I was done for the day and headed off for work.  Not every workout could be "winners."  Sometimes the best thing to do is just do the work and take what you could get.

Streaking Challenge

We had just a bit of a delay in getting the numbers in with the Memorial Day holiday this week.  But below are the updated stats.

Download streaking_challenge_may_24_08.pdf

By The Numbers

• 31 - Days of being injured or sick in 2008 (1/29, 1/30, 1/31 deep fatigue, sore, chills, fever, headache, cough, 2/16-2/23, 2/27-2/28, 3/24 bad plantar fasciitis)  Started "no running" the day after Easter Sunday 3/23.  Back to running April 13.
• 117 - Days in a row of consistent training 
• 3 - Days missed of training at least 30 minutes in 2008 (goose-eggs in 2008)
• 87 - Days remaining until Ironman Canada

Simple Grind - May 27, 2008

The two highlights of the day were a mid-day lunch with Gerry Halphen and and evening Grind session at the Sport Factory.

I started doing fairly regular lunches with Gerry over the past few months.  Triathlon usually pops up at some point during the conversation but it certainly isn't the focal point of the meetings.  We seem to spend a good amount of time on things like life values, goals, dreams, philosophy, and yielding to the norm (that probably should read "unyielding to the norm" as both Gerry and I are pretty set in our value systems and don't yield much to the norms of society.)

Today was also time well spent.  Spending time around a guy like Gerry is sort of like putting your tongue on a 9 volt battery as a kid.  It's not enough electrical current to stop the heart but it gives you just enough zing to let you know there's some electricity in the area.  Gerry is down to about 4 weeks until Ironman Coeur d'Alene.  I've trained a bit with him since last fall and we usually line up next to one another at the Grind sessions.  He's a guy that has paid the price, trained really hard and has now aligned all the factors necessary to have a very special race.  He is physically a machine, his heart is in the right place, he's emotionally balanced and mentally focused and prepared for what it takes.  It's going to be fun to see him reach his goals.  I'm convinced if he executes a smart race, Kona will be in his future.  I can't think of anybody that I know that deserves it more.  The guy has been at it for years.

The evening Grind was nothing fancy.  Matt wrote in my training plan a quick note that read - "Regardless of what is going on in class, keep it aerobic."  So I got on the bike a little early and warmed up.  Right as 7:00pm rolled around I already had 15 minutes of spinning under my belt and then just nailed some solid zone 2 for 1 hour and 30 minutes while varying the cadence from a low of 55 to a high of 95.  Average heart rate ended up being 132 beats while my power was 225 watts - YAHTZEE, those are keeper numbers for me.  I'm not in that 250+ watt zone like Gerry is or other elite age-groupers but I'm getting pretty close to pushing some decent watts.

Tomorrow is my long run day and I'll be knocking out a half mary in the morning prior to work.  I'll start slow and increase intensity throughout and hope to end at the high range of my endurance zone.

By The Numbers

• 31 - Days of being injured or sick in 2008 (1/29, 1/30, 1/31 deep fatigue, sore, chills, fever, headache, cough, 2/16-2/23, 2/27-2/28, 3/24 bad plantar fasciitis)  Started "no running" the day after Easter Sunday 3/23.  Back to running April 13.
• 116 - Days in a row of consistent training 
• 3 - Days missed of training at least 30 minutes in 2008 (goose-eggs in 2008)
• 88 - Days remaining until Ironman Canada

Variety - May 26, 2008

I was tempted to pile on some extra mileage and volume while I had the day off.  But I didn't sleep that well as a result of some significant fatigue from the previous two days of training.  So I decided to do a day with a little variety.

I started out with a little "swinging" out back.

Then I moved to the front and did some more time with the weight off the legs in the gazebo...

Then it was time to rest the legs in the flower garden next to the bird bath...

I then wanted some additional variety so I headed out back next to the fountain...

I ended up the long weekend with two tired legs and four tired kids as we headed back to Atlanta.

When I got back I did a 50 minute power walk on the hills around the neighborhood to get the blood flowing and to keep the legs loose.

Tomorrow it's back in the routine with a swim in the morning with the Grind in the evening.

By The Numbers

• 31 - Days of being injured or sick in 2008 (1/29, 1/30, 1/31 deep fatigue, sore, chills, fever, headache, cough, 2/16-2/23, 2/27-2/28, 3/24 bad plantar fasciitis)  Started "no running" the day after Easter Sunday 3/23.  Back to running April 13.
• 115 - Days in a row of consistent training 
• 3 - Days missed of training at least 30 minutes in 2008 (goose-eggs in 2008)
• 89 - Days remaining until Ironman Canada

The Courage To Be Happy - May 26, 2008

Dreaming is one thing but reality is another.  There's times where I have to work extra hard to make my dreams a reality.  But as we are all aware, "going for it" and following our dreams comes with a lot of road blocks, obstacles, fears, and hesitations.  Our concerns (and often logic) overcome our emotions.

Emotionally, we all want to be happy.  But what is happiness anyway?  And it's also so fleeting.  One minute we could be happy and then next minute we are angry at the cashier for moving too slow at the grocery store.

One area of unhappiness for many people is their employment situation.  How many people are truly "happy" or "fulfilled" at work?  I don't think the majority are.  And even those with great jobs and opportunities still find themselves unhappy on random occasions and asking themselves, "What the heck am I doing this for?"

But to pursue happiness means change and with change comes unknown variables and factors.  What could go wrong?  What might happen if we don't have a good plan?  What if we fail?  So before we even begin pursuing our dreams and goals we start talking ourselves out of it.  Here we are unhappy, but rather than changing things we end up convincing ourselves to stay put (where it is safe).

We often find out (the hard way) that things we thought were safe are far from safe.  How many times did people stay put at their crappy job only to be laid off or downsized down the road?  On many occasions, they might end up saying, "Getting laid off was the best thing that ever happened to me.  I hated that job."  Maybe we just need a swift kick in the butt to move ourselves forward?

But rather than waiting for someone else to give us a swift kick in the butt, what if we had the courage to be happy and move ahead, full steam ahead, on our goals and dreams?  Life is full of unknowns but if we aren't happy with something, then it becomes a "known."  If we know something isn't making us happy (and thus unhappy) then we need to find the courage to do something about it and make a change.  The reasons for convincing ourselves to stay put are endless, but so will our unhappiness if we never change.

The Courage To Be Happy - May 26, 2008

Dreaming is one thing but reality is another.  There's times where I have to work extra hard to make my dreams a reality.  But as we are all aware, "going for it" and following our dreams comes with a lot of road blocks, obstacles, fears, and hesitations.  Our concerns (and often logic) overcome our emotions.

Emotionally, we all want to be happy.  But what is happiness anyway?  And it's also so fleeting.  One minute we could be happy and then next minute we are angry at the cashier for moving too slow at the grocery store.

One area of unhappiness for many people is their employment situation.  How many people are truly "happy" or "fulfilled" at work?  I don't think the majority are.  And even those with great jobs and opportunities still find themselves unhappy on random occasions and asking themselves, "What the heck am I doing this for?"

But to pursue happiness means change and with change comes unknown variables and factors.  What could go wrong?  What might happen if we don't have a good plan?  What if we fail?  So before we even begin pursuing our dreams and goals we start talking ourselves out of it.  Here we are unhappy, but rather than changing things we end up convincing ourselves to stay put (where it is safe).

We often find out (the hard way) that things we thought were safe are far from safe.  How many times did people stay put at their crappy job only to be laid off or downsized down the road?  On many occasions, they might end up saying, "Getting laid off was the best thing that ever happened to me.  I hated that job."  Maybe we just need a swift kick in the butt to move ourselves forward?

But rather than waiting for someone else to give us a swift kick in the butt, what if we had the courage to be happy and move ahead, full steam ahead, on our goals and dreams?  Life is full of unknowns but if we aren't happy with something, then it becomes a "known."  If we know something isn't making us happy (and thus unhappy) then we need to find the courage to do something about it and make a change.  The reasons for convincing ourselves to stay put are endless, but so will our unhappiness if we never change.

The Courage To Be Happy - May 26, 2008

Dreaming is one thing but reality is another.  There's times where I have to work extra hard to make my dreams a reality.  But as we are all aware, "going for it" and following our dreams comes with a lot of road blocks, obstacles, fears, and hesitations.  Our concerns (and often logic) overcome our emotions.

Emotionally, we all want to be happy.  But what is happiness anyway?  And it's also so fleeting.  One minute we could be happy and then next minute we are angry at the cashier for moving too slow at the grocery store.

One area of unhappiness for many people is their employment situation.  How many people are truly "happy" or "fulfilled" at work?  I don't think the majority are.  And even those with great jobs and opportunities still find themselves unhappy on random occasions and asking themselves, "What the heck am I doing this for?"

But to pursue happiness means change and with change comes unknown variables and factors.  What could go wrong?  What might happen if we don't have a good plan?  What if we fail?  So before we even begin pursuing our dreams and goals we start talking ourselves out of it.  Here we are unhappy, but rather than changing things we end up convincing ourselves to stay put (where it is safe).

We often find out (the hard way) that things we thought were safe are far from safe.  How many times did people stay put at their crappy job only to be laid off or downsized down the road?  On many occasions, they might end up saying, "Getting laid off was the best thing that ever happened to me.  I hated that job."  Maybe we just need a swift kick in the butt to move ourselves forward?

But rather than waiting for someone else to give us a swift kick in the butt, what if we had the courage to be happy and move ahead, full steam ahead, on our goals and dreams?  Life is full of unknowns but if we aren't happy with something, then it becomes a "known."  If we know something isn't making us happy (and thus unhappy) then we need to find the courage to do something about it and make a change.  The reasons for convincing ourselves to stay put are endless, but so will our unhappiness if we never change.

The Spirit of Roan - May 25, 2008

Yesterday included a bit too much adventure.  Today, I woke up anxious for adventure.  About 25 miles to the west of Spruce Pine, North Carolina lies a very special place located on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina.  The special place is called Roan Mountain.  It's the sort of place that you don't get to by accident.  You can only get here by intention.  It's not on a route between any two major attractions.  To the locals, it's as sacred as the Taj Mahal is to the locals of another country, another culture, and a different kind of religion.  Where as many are called to the Taj Mahal for their reasons, I was called to Roan for my own reasons.  This journey was to be more of a personal celebration and spiritual experience than it was to be an entry in my training log book.  I don't know if I'll ever return to Roan, but that doesn't concern me.  I've captured the experience that will stay with me for my remaining years in my lifetime.

To understand Roan is to understand the spirit of the region.  There is no better example of the spirit of Roan than Cornelious Rex Peake.  For those who truly understand Roan, Cornelious Rex Peake "is" Roan.  Those that conquer Roan are rewarded with the history of Cornelious Rex Peake.  His story is told at the top of the mountain, where his spirit will live long past my lifetime.

- "A special man who loved God, his country, it's fellow men and this land; a legacy from his forefathers.  Born in the valley below April 3, 1887, buried near his birthplace, March 23, 1964.  Because of his love of nature, his lone and close association with this mountain, no one was better versed on the Roan and it's people."

And so I set off to visit Cornelious...

My journey began in the Pisgah-Cherokee National Forest at 5,500 feet, just over a mile high at Carvers Gap.  The path to Roan allows the adventure seeker to enjoy a part of the Applachian Trail that runs nearby.  I had no plan to continue to Maine but rather an opportunity to enjoy a short stretch that allowed me to accept Roan and all it's glory.

The journey started with a steep incline up.  I wasn't hiking today, but rather laced up the shoes.  Matt had me down for a 10 miler on a flat soft surface which I assumed would be just under an hour and a half.  I don't think this counted as flat terrain today?

Once you finish the first steep section you come around the corner and proceed to a steep incline that continues upward...

Eventually you get a little decline to let the heart rate recover and the quads to stop shaking and then you get something new to experience, like another steep incline :)

Ahhhhh, who doesn't like a good old fashioned plateau at 6,000 feet?

Imagine that, here comes another section of steep incline!  I can see the top!

The trail in certain sections gets quite rocky and narrow.  In steep sections, it's just not possible to run but rather "climb" your way to higher elevation.  Here I'm making my way through the natural rhododendrons.  Towards the top of the mountain, the path narrows to barely shoulder width between the large and plentiful rhododendron plants which should be in full bloom within about 3 weeks.  This is something typical of the path, "another steep section..."

I'm still not at the top but I'm VERY close.  I think all the steep inclines are behind me at this point.  There's well over 100 mountain tops that exceed 4,000 feet in this region.  I'm over 6,200 feet at this point.

Shortly after this picture at the peak, I sat down and stared into the abyss.  Somewhere out there, a few hundred miles away is a place called Atlanta that has a lot of people, a lot of cars, a ton of traffic, plenty of smog, an abundance of stress, and is a living burial ground for empty souls.

I had my visit with Cornelious Rex Peake.  There wasn't much small talk.  It didn't include any idle chit-chat.  I acknowledged him and he acknowledged me.  And then I left him to his quite home to enjoy a Sunday afternoon of serenity without me.  They buried Cornelious Rex Peake on the Roan in 1964.  But I can attest he's still alive and well.

By The Numbers

• 31 - Days of being injured or sick in 2008 (1/29, 1/30, 1/31 deep fatigue, sore, chills, fever, headache, cough, 2/16-2/23, 2/27-2/28, 3/24 bad plantar fasciitis)  Started "no running" the day after Easter Sunday 3/23.  Back to running April 13.
• 114 - Days in a row of consistent training 
• 3 - Days missed of training at least 30 minutes in 2008 (goose-eggs in 2008)
• 90 - Days remaining until Ironman Canada

Atlanta Reprieve - May 25, 2008

It's Memorial Day weekend and with the long weekend, I had a chance to jump ship from Atlanta and headed up to North Carolina to do some training and enjoy the fresh mountain air.  As much as a big city like Atlanta represents job opportunity and financial abundance, there is the other side of a big city that tends to wear me down.  Deep down, I'm a country boy pretending to live like a city slicker.  So when an opportunity arises to escape the city, I take full advantage of it.

How often do we take a break from the grind of our work lives?  How often do we re-charge the batteries.  Interestingly as much as I like traveling, I really love routine (especially my routine).  I gain a lot of comfort in repeating consistent habits and behaviors.  Removing myself from my daily routine allows me a chance to step away from my daily habits which often provides me an opportunity to obtain a new perspective on the same life (which is my own).

It's been a great weekend so far.  We've had a few adventures already; some planned and some not planned.  For a recap of my vacation from Atlanta, here's a link to my Ironman blog which captures the essence of my experience today (and yesterday's entry).

http://atickettokona.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/05/the-spirit-of-r.html