Swim season over, back to workouts

I'm looking forward to having some time to work out. The knee is feeling better, so I'm going to do a track workout tomorrow. Did a bike workout tonight (inside) and put out 144 watts over 40 minutes. Now if I can just find out what I used to do...

Three Sport Day

The doctor cleared me to run (just on the treadmill) yesterday! I made it a goal to run today. Pretty funny. Day started at the pool, because my son wanted to go swimming. After we came back and had lunch, I cleared out the garage, dug out the treadmill, and plugged it in.

I honestly didn't know how it was going to go. I "ran" one mile in 19:10. I thought my knee was pretty tired at that point, so I stopped. Long way to go.

Then I realized I could make it a three sport day, so I went upstairs and rode a bit.

It feels so good to be back in the swing of things. It's been so long.

Progress and measurement

Well, yesterday was good news and new news for my recovery. I actually spiked out a 140 rpm on the recumbent bicycle they have at the PT place. That's faster than I have ever spun a crankshaft. The new news was that they measured my quads and calves. I've lost an inch and a half of muscle around my right quad, which they say extrapolates to about 25 weeks before my legs 'even out' -- almost 6 months.

It is a very humbling experience.

I think I'm wired to always be looking at the area that needs improvement. Friends who see me occasionally say that I'm doing much better, that I'm moving around better and that I look "normal." Those are nice comments to have, because they remind me of the progress I am making.

MS150 recap

Okay - I know the ride was almost a month ago, but there have been some intervening activities you will find out about as I go.

My MS150 ride this year was good, but it beat me up a little more than last year - I think there were two reasons. One, was that there was an unusual headwind blowing about 20 mph for nearly the whole course. The other was that I didn't do nearly as many rides during the week this year as last year, so I ended up with just a little less stamina than I had the last time around.

But, unlike last time, I was well-prepared in the food department and I packed appropriately for the weather (which was cold at night and in the morning).

The thing that probably concerned me the most was the number of cyclists who met the pavement unintentionally. I saw 6 or 7 cyclists on the road - and believe me, it wasn't intentional. I think maybe the MS150 is just too big for it's own good, or the people just are trained enough to be safe out there.

LaGrange was good. I got out a bit to see the rest of the fairgrounds and the town this year. I slept really well Saturday night in my 25 degree rated sleeping bag.

I can say I was truly annoyed by the music selection on Saturday morning (I could see a college fight song or two -- but OVER and OVER and OVER?). It was as if they had only two CDs.

I set a new personal speed record of 41 mph going downhill on the hill right before the State Park. I had to brake for someone on the way down (which I must say irritated me, but I'd rather be safe than sorry).

Of course, the best bit of the ride again was the State Park. I shifted early and didn't drop my chain, although I did misgear an early hill and had to clip out. The rest of it was just joyous, as I tried to maintain my speed through the hills, with some success.

After the ride was over, I was ready to do another one - but I was set to go on vacation.

Wondrous Bike Ride

A few weeks ago, I had one of those runs that makes you feel glad that you are alive. Yesterday, I had one of those bike rides. The weather was perfect - the weather was just a little cold, foggy and overcast, but the roads were mostly dry and not slick. No wind.

I joined forces with some people from my team and we started out easy with the large group. As the ride strung out, someone went by and I hopped on his wheel. Two others hopped on as well and we cruised until we hit the first turn a few miles down. The pack broke up a bit and the road narrowed, but we still made good time and were able to reform. As we descended a long hill, some challenges presented themselves - wooden bridges and road debris, but we skirted those and I suddenly found myself drafting off my teammate, making very good time. I took a turn and we pulled into the back of another paceline. I was content to sit there, but my teammate pulled out and I went with him. I had noticed by now that I was pretty much the fastest one out there going downhill (my weight was good for something). On stretches that were mostly downhill, I would take a pull. We jumped out again, and he pulled, then I pulled and we skipped the first rest stop. My heart rate was really sky high at this point, but I gamely jumped on the wheel to keep the draft going uphill. We saw another paceline and I thought "refuge." So I took the front for a strong pull, then he did (with me struggling) and we finally pulled in the back. I was nearly cooked, 16 miles in, but I thought I might be able to recover. And I did, for a bit. The paceline held together pretty well for another 10 miles or so, but when we turned, I had a bit of crosswind and knew I was in trouble. I finally cracked a mile short of the 2nd aid station, where everyone stopped. At this point, my teammate and I pulled out our maps and said, "Wow - we've covered a serious amount of pavement." It was just 3 1/2 miles to the turn for the longest route. Time off the bike always restores me, so we hopped on pretty quickly and fell into a pattern of "sharing duties." I'd go hard on stretches that were mostly downhill, he'd drag me up sections that were mostly uphill and give some rest on the downhills, too.

Long story short, we traded off that way through the rest of the ride, well matched and flying. Toward the end, I was hurting a lot and standing up on some uphill sections to keep pace, but we pulled into the parking lot with a 19.7 mph average. It was by no means a "long ride" (more like 3 1/2 hours of intervals for me), but it was an immensely satisfying ride with just two weeks to go to the MS150.

Workouts working

I've had some pretty good workouts lately. I'm feeling faster, but I'm not really checking my times.

I had two strong Saturday long rides on my bicycle in preparation for the MS150.
I did several tempo workouts, and the night before last even played soccer afterward in a little neighborhood pick up game. I miss soccer.

On the celiac front - I asked if there was a "gluten-free" option for a carbo-loading dinner for the training series. I know there isn't, but it makes me feel better for asking.

I'm losing weight, but oh so slowly. The other day, I weighed in at 4.8 pounds under my starting weight. Then my wife said, "You still have your keys in your pocket?" Well - yes - that's how I weigh in. I guess life is different for people with purses. (I didn't tell her I was also carrying my cell phone and wallet.)

Work and home have been busy.

Two days a week

I'm working out two days a week with a little stretching here and there - Wednesdays with the tri team at Bicycle World and Fitness and Saturdays with the training series. I'll just see how that goes. I've felt like adding some more cycling in-between, so I'm sure that's a good indicator that I'm getting over my workout burnout.

I've decided I'm going to start losing weight, too. I'm not sure how yet (or how much of that I want on my blog).

Set Celiac Awareness Race Date - Swam yesterday

On the Celiac Awareness front - I reserved Bear Creek for October 25 for the Celiac Awareness Run, so I can start that whole ball rolling again... On a separate note, I was reading an article in a GIG newsletter. The doctor was saying that he encourages his fully healed, asymptomatic patients to think of themselves as "Celiacs, but not having Celiac disease." I think that encapsulates things nicely, so I'll start using that convention going forward.

I must be starting to get the hang of the whole "off season" thing. Last weekend I drove SAG for the bicycle training series I'm taking, and yesterday I swam, which felt pretty good, too. I haven't run in weeks - After a steady diet of workouts for about a year and a half. I'd forgotten how much fun taking some time off can be.

I haven't decided when to start back up with 3 times a week, but I guess my body will let me know when I can't stand not running anymore.

Motivation, anyone?

Well - after the marathon, I usually go through a quick period of "post marathon blues" where it just seems a little harder to get up in the morning, get motivated, etc. Every year, I seem to think I'm going to plan my workouts for after the marathon, and every year, it seems I don't.

This year was a little bit better because my kids are so active now I really can't go into a shell for a week or two - they have too much stuff planned. So I think that's good.

Plus - the MS 150 training rides have started. I joined a local team and the ConocoPhillips training series. I promptly made my first dumb mistake in the ride. No - not that we rolled when it was about 40 degrees out - but that I thought the ride would take two hours when it really took three. I ate just one banana at the pit stop and then couldn't figure why my legs were so tired for the last bit. Live and learn.

Bike fit = 20%+ more watts!

I know it's been a while since my last post. Work has been busy. Today I went for a bike fitting at the local bike shop. The fitter takes a look at your form and then mucks around with your seat, handlebars, stem, etc to get you more "aero" and more powerful.

To make a long story short, I went through the process and even in the store I noticed I had more power. So I went home and put the bike in the computrainer and did my ride. My heart wasn't working any harder, but I was putting out more watts - over 20% more power. I knew my fit was bad, but I didn't think it was that bad. I'm a believer. I think I'll make my next goal to put out more watts than my weight in pounds for an hour aerobic ride.

In other fun news, my back tire is showing the tread, which means I've finally worn out a tire before I ruined/punctured the tire.

Also - the other day I used a CO2 cartridge to repair a flat, and I thought my tire had reflatted, but the guys at the shop told me that CO2 just leaks out like that. Who knew? You're just supposed to empty the tire when you get home and refill it. Hmm. Learn something new every day.

The Blog lives!

Now that the superbusy-ness of the race has died down, I'm back to my workout. Tonight was an hour on the bicycle. I have to say that my toenail and riding don't mix well, and it's making me think about my options for the triathlon I'm doing this Sunday. It's short enough so that I'm thinking about biking in my running shoes. You see, I've cut half the toebox off one of my old painting shoes - and it works pretty good. Does anyone have any thoughts on the bicycle/running shoe tradeoff (improves transition time, but you are slower on the bike?)

MS 150 ride was fun

What a crazy two weeks this has been. Work was busier than usual, and then I had "getting the race going" issues. Finally, there was all the logistics of pulling together my food (oh yes, and cycling equipment) for the ride. All of this consumed an insane amount of time in the two weeks prior to the ride this past weekend, and I found myself skipping a workout here and there and still going to bed way later than usual or desired.

I over packed for my food needs (I had packed a whole cooler for the weekend). I probably over - worried it as well. About a week before the ride, I discovered that my magic weight loss shakes were probably cross-contaminated with wheat (made on a line in the same room as another powder that contained wheat). I've reverted to "safe" foods, but it messed up my food schedule/plan. Overall, I probably spent as much time pulling my logistics act together as I did actually riding, which always seems like a silly allocation of time to me.

The bicycling went well. I was trained up and ready to roll. The first day I did a good amount of riding behind (never in front of) some "Cat 2" riders. Although I was well over my target heart rate and lost my sunglasses trying to keep up, I did manage to hang until the slight hills before the first lunch break. I figured it would be good training to "ride tired" for the last half. I over ate, thinking "lunch" meant noon. It wasn't even 10 yet, so I felt very full for the remainder of the ride. I pulled into LaGrange after 6 hours and 100+ miles (with significant drafting and a strong tailwind), so I think I need to be in better shape by September if this Ironman is going to be successful (with cushion and confidence). Good thing I have another five months to train.

To see what the start of the marathon might feel like, I went out for a 5k run after changing into running shorts. I needed to start slower out of 'transition,' but the rest of the run went well. Why my teammates called me "nuts" I have no idea...

The ride had been very crowded for the most part, but the next day I had a taste of what the Ironman biking portion might be like. We went through a park with some hills and a wider road where it thinned out. I frequently found myself on my lowest chainring, but never 'beat' by the terrain. I did drop my chain twice, which was very annoying and greasy. I mostly flew through it, being passed by relatively few riders and maintaining some momentum from hill to hill. It was the best part of the ride by far.

Last night was the first time I felt like exercising since Sunday. I was wicked-tired (post-ride listlessness and work, again), so I went to bed early and got 8+ hours sleep. I feel pretty good today.

Race directing = time

Every night I've been thinking, "Oh - I should write in my blog." For some people, blogging is a way of life. For me, it comes behind just about everything else. Until I feel guilty that I haven't blogged in nine days.

I'm not sure what people mean by the "Ironman Lifestyle." It must mean something like - I have endless time to go do workouts and adjust this and consider that. What it's meaning to me is that "I settle for less than perfect - frequently"

I just went and printed 1000 copies of the race application for distribution around the Houston area. I figure we can print more or put things in the race packet if we get more sponsors later. It takes a lot of time to run these things down, so I'm trying to be as efficient as possible.

There's a meeting tomorrow for the volunteer group at the Katy Outback restaurant at 5pm. Please come out if you are interested in volunteering.

I did the Brookwood ride in Brookshire. I told my wife I wasn't go to do it unless I woke up in time to get there. My eyes snapped open right on schedule. There was a stiff wind today (flags straight out), and I rode with my group, basically cutting the wind all day. We finally turned for home and had the wind at our backs with about 7 miles to go. I was late so I just lit it up for the last bit. It felt great and turned out to be a great workout.

The week is looking up...

I just got back from my talk to the running group at the Y. I was told I was not boring, so that makes me feel better. I didn't tell them I had moved my workout to the afternoon, but I talked about safety, the perils of over training, how to stick with it and the like.

I've had a string of early morning conference calls followed by late night questions, so I've really worked a lot already this week. I even had to skip last night's swim workout.

That's good news, because today I finally received the insurance waiver for the Celiac Awareness Run/Walk I'll be holding in Bear Creek on May 19th. I'm sure I've missed a bunch of advertising deadlines, but I am looking forward to putting it together. Now if I could just finish my taxes...

There's nothing really noteworthy about the workouts, they all seem to go pretty well. I've discovered that lubing my chain every third ride or so works wonders for the clattering. I'm sold on that.

Extra Long ride Saturday, paying today

I'm doing the MS 150, which I hear is actually closer to 180 miles, so I've been adding in some biking mileage where it makes sense, like on a weekend ride. Nobody from my team for the ride (Team Trinity) wanted to go the 70 miles on offer. I did, and it went by pretty quick. One of the training things is that I really don't want to draft off of others, because they penalize you in the race if you do so. Of course, people on the ride just love it when they can get sucked along for "free." And I don't mind if it's not a race.

Of course, a bunch of people looked at the calendar and said, "Oooh - I haven't gotten in my long rides yet." I saw so many newbies out there, we could have used twice as many ride marshals. The police coverage at intersections was pretty good. I think I did 75 total.

My Tivo did pick up that episode of the celiac segment on The View. There's a big old weather warning on it, but what do you do?

The Y wants me to come talk to the new running group. I've been doing it so long, I wonder if I can make it simple anymore. At least I get to mention Celiac in passing.

Speaking of the Y, I did my first "real" swim workout there tonight with warm up, drills, and sets. Let's just say there's more work to be done.

The brutal thing was then I came home and did the hour run on my treadmill. I usually try to have an action/adventure movie in, but I ended up watching the last half of the Shawshank Redemption. There are some real slow spots in that movie. And I looked down at the timer a lot. I finished 45 minutes ago, and I think I'm tired enough to beat the two hour rule to bed.

Sometimes I want to live in a bubble

There's a new survey out for those who want to chime in on the proposed FDA ruling. I took it, in the interest of adding my voice to that of the crowd. I wasn't happy with it, because it didn't ask about my habits now, and then how they would change under the proposed ruling. Personally, I think I'll buy less prepackaged food and more "pure" foods if they go with the ruling as it is, which is probably the opposite of what the manufacturers want. It's been a tough week (having traveled), so at times like these sometimes I feel as if I'd rather be in a bubble.

But then I wouldn't have sat next to a GI surgeon on the plane today, so I keep plowing ahead.

Some quick tie-ups. The "dangerous" ride director sent out an email that, while not quite an apology, did give the impression that 1) He got an earful 2) the hurt riders would live and 3) they won't be doing that route again.

I went to the Risotteria in NY for dinner. It was good, and it turns out that it's pretty close to the subway line. They said lots of people have been having trouble getting Redbridge up there. Kinda makes me feel guilty to have a sixpack in the fridge...

The Hilton where I stayed made it up to me with a GF breakfast this morning. It would be better to have GF processes in place, but I'll take it.

Workout round up: I did the two workouts Wednesday and my workout when I got home. I'm pretty bushed.

Most dangerous organized ride ever

For a lot of reasons, I am pretty safety conscious when I am out riding my bike. I never ride without a helmet, and I try to be as safe on the road as possible. Yesterday's ride up in Kingwood was perhaps the worst-chosen route I have ever ridden.

On these organized rides, one occasionally expects to see poorly-controlled traffic, loose dogs, a route on the feeder road, no shoulders, loose gravel, unmarked potholes, construction and aggressive traffic. One does not expect to see these things all on the same ride. It wasn't just me. Several riders around me were quite upset.

When we were starting, one truck ignored an officer in the intersection and took out two bike riders. One went over the hood, and the second went through a driver-side window. Although I didn't see the accident itself, I know this because I saw the aftermath, and a rider who finished next to me saw the whole thing. Upon hearing this, another rider commented, "My friend turned down the role of safety marshall because he disagreed with the route." For five of the last seven miles, we had ridden together through feeder road construction that put cars (that wanted to go 50 to accelerate to the freeway), construction equipment, and bicycles in the same gravel-strewn lanes. This was a so-called "recommended ride" for the MS 150. I (lamely) joked that the reason it was a "recommended ride" was so that everyone would get very serious about safety very early in the season. I rarely toss out my prerace plan, but yesterday I did in the name of self-preservation. I rode up much faster than I wanted to, just so that I could hang on to a pace line that was moving through the bad area quickly. It was so bad, at the end of the ride I literally thanked God for returning me to my family safely and asked him to look after all the people who probably got hurt that day.

It was pretty cold and a little windy, too. It was about 35° Fahrenheit at the start of the ride and at the end it was 42°. I had systematically packed everything but my tights, but it turns out I really didn't need them with the four layers I had on top and wind stopper mitts. Not that I wanted to, but I found out that your toes can be cold for hours without getting frostbite.

On course, FDA, DNA Testing

I am settling into my new workout schedule fairly well. Yesterday, I had a good brick work out consisting of 30 minutes on the bike followed by a 15 minute run. It was harder than I usually go for those types of workouts, so I guess my body's going to learn something. Today was an easy spin at 100 plus revolutions per minute and a swim. It's getting easier to spin quicker and more fluidly, so that's a bonus. For the swimming part, I took my kids up to the YMCA. I vowed I was going to swim 500 m today, which is a little bit farther than Tuesday, but not so far that I would overly stress my rib area. It worked out pretty well and the kids enjoyed playing in the warm end.

On the celiac front, I received the nicest e-mail newsletter from the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, and I thought there were two interesting things in there. First, there was the best explanation I had ever seen on DNA testing for Celiac. The second thing I saw was the instructions for submitting public comment on the FDA's proposal.

Yesterday, Iwent out and bought some more of that Redbridge beer. I talked to the manager at the liquor store and he said they're going to order more because it sells pretty quickly. Maybe their example will encourage more food companies to come out with truly gluten-free products.

Good Celiac PR + working out

I had a meeting with the group putting on the Austin Celiac Awareness race and someone said I was "famous." Evidently, I showed up in her Google tracker as a "runner story" for the Houston Marathon. It just makes me think again how small is the US Celiac world. It's good PR for Celiac Awareness, for sure!

This past week I needed a lot of medical attention, the sum of which is, "We can't tell you if you broke a rib or not." OK. Helpful. I can feel myself getting stronger, so either the rib is broken and it's no big deal, or it's not and it's no big deal. So I won't do anything risky, but I am doing my workouts.

Saturday (yesterday) was one of those days that just doesn't go right. I was helping my wife and told her I was going to lay down for a minute, and three hours later she was reminding me to take the boy to his Discovery Imagination meeting. I needed the sleep, but it was prime workout time.

Because I had family commitments, I decided to double up the workouts today. Now, before anyone goes nuts on me for over training, tomorrow's a rest day, so back off. It only totaled up to 90 minutes, anyway.

Mmmmm... Beer

The big news that hasn't made the blog yet is the introduction of Redbridge beer. It's a beer a Celiac can drink. In celebration of the nationally-issued product from the same folks that bring you Budweiser, I had my first post-marathon beer ever this year. It was good, and I couldn't tell you if it hurt or helped my recovery. Somebody needs to tell Anheuser-Busch that their "restaurant locator" needs to give at least one result, even if it's 50 miles away. I put my zip code in and it gave me no results. It might hurts sales, (but the word on the street is that the specialty liquor stores are selling out anyway.)

Today was the fourth day this week I've been in a medical office, and no, I don't work in one. I still don't have my lab results, so in true "what you don't know can't hurt you" mode, I've been exercising while waiting. I had a good ride. I think it may be the first time I was actually able to spin 100 rpms on the bicycle. The rib is feeling better today, so I must either be doing something right, or at least not making things worse. It doesn't feel good enough to go swimming yet, however.