Author: Scott (Page 20 of 80)

How To Set Yourself Up For a Bad Run – Really Bad

September 16, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

I had a bad long run yesterday–one of those really bad ones that only seem to happen two or three times a year. If you’ve never had one, consider yourself lucky.

Bad runs are a lot like those really good runs you get every now and then, only different. The difference is that everything that makes your good run so great doesn’t happen in a bad run. You probably could have figured that out on your own, but I felt the need to drive the point home.

Because I spent much of the rest of the day trying to stay off my feet and doing nothing, I had time to reflect and figure out what happened. From what I can tell, these re the most important elements in creating a really bad run for yourself–useful if you want to be prepared for every situation on race day.

Eat like crap the night before. I’ve been eating so good for so long that my body is now sensitive to what used to be normal food for me. We went out on Saturday night and, being the hogs we are, encouraged each other to eat stuff we wouldn’t feed the kids since they weren’t there. “Don’t need dessert–I’ll fill up on bread, thanks. On second thought..bring the bread pudding.”
Don’t sleep enough. This one is tricky. Sometimes six hours is enough to squeak by on, but in this case it wasn’t. A key indicator is that I wanted to go to bed a couple of hours earlier than I did, but it wasn’t in the cards.
Start tired. Not sleepy tired, but tired-tired. I did a bike ride the day before…not a super tough ride, although there was a on-the-edge-of-LT 40k time trial in there. The problem is that I did it in the afternoon and not the morning, so I only had 12 hours to recover. This ride also contributed to the feeding choices at dinner, since we left right after the ride to eat.
Get smashed the night before. Didn’t do this one, but I thought I’d throw it in there because it’s a sure-fire way to mess up your run.
Leave the house 30 minutes late. Yeah, I felt like dookie for most of the run, but the heat wasn’t doing many any favors at all at the finish. Replacing those last 30 minutes with some relatively cool weather at the beginning of the run would have helped.

One of my neighbors was finishing up his bike ride as I was finishing and was nice enough to give me what was left in one of his water bottles. He made the comment, “You look like you’re cooked. It feels so hot out here, but it’s only 87.” Right. 87 isn’t nearly as bad with a 20 mph wind in your face and some sweat evaporation taking place. I’d have pushed him off that bike if he hadn’t just given me water.

Daily Reading List — September 12th

September 12, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

Top 10 Pro Wrestlers’ Quotes in History – As the years go by, this one moves up on my list, "Space Mountain may be the oldest ride in the park, but it's still got the longest line. Woooo!"

Paleo Pumpkin Bars Recipe – I may substitute cacao nibs for the chocolate chips.

Adrenaline-Pumping Photos From Some of the World’s Biggest Thrill-Seekers – Sick. HT @zentriathlon

Five ways to avoid the personal online ghetto – …and his mama cried. HT @jfloyd.

Daily Reading List — September 11th

September 11, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

Ten amazing why-didn’t-I-think-of-that organization solutions – Looking for organization ideas? Here are some dang good 'uns.

Of Men and Manhood: A Virile Collection of Quotes – I almost…almost…wish I had at least one son so I could do something about this. It would be nice for my girls to grow up in a world with more manly men around. Maybe those of us with daughters should start a club dedicated to masulinifying (is that a word? It should be) as many as we can.

Ben Tameifuna and Jamie Mackintosh banned for old school rucking – The business side of the boots kept the game safe and moving along at one point in time. When you knew you had skin in the game, literally, for killing the play, you thought twice about it.

Warms my heart to see a guy get what he deserves. Counting down the days to uncontested scrums.

Banned from Theme Parks – Going down a water slide head first at Whitewater Atlanta may get you escorted out. That's what my, um, friend told me.

To my daughter’s high school programming teacher – With three daughters myself, I'd just like to say, "Visual Basic?! Seriously?!"

Gaming Triathlon Training

September 11, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

There’s nothing like having another competitive person push, pull, and drag you to the next level of performance.

I’m a big fan of playing games during training when I’m coaching sports like rugby and baseball. Games are a great way to avoid monotony during training sessions–drills are boring and standing in line to do drills is even more boring. Games also keep the intensity of a training session higher because, unlike a drill, you can actually compete and win. Games also help create an artificial pressure.

I’m not sure why I never even tried to come up with anything for Triathlon training. Maybe it’s because I only have myself to worry about, and the monotony doesn’t bother me very much…dunno. But it’s not quite as easy to dream up endurance training games as it is in ball-related sports.

But I came up with a couple anyway–both depend on a partner.

Swimming

Neighbor Ben and I were talking last week about how much benefit we’ve gotten from swimming open water only. It’s way more exciting that swimming in a pool, even if the danger is mostly perceived, and there’s so much more to deal with–sighting, chop, currents, no walls, etc. Then last week, he T-boned me during our swim and had a head-on collision with another lady. We were laughing about it the other night, but then realized we may be onto something.

What if we went out and played Open Water Tag? It would work something like this…

Both players swim out to the middle of a body of water as a warmup–say 500m or so. Player One then goes under water and holds his breath for 30 seconds. While this is happening, Player 2 swims away in any direction. At the end of the 30 seconds, Player 1 comes up and finds (sighting–key skill) Player 2 and sprints (key skill) towards him to “tag” him. Player 2 can swim anywhere he wants to avoid the tag, changing direction (key skill) at any time. However, Player 2 has to swim head-up (strength/sighting) the entire time he’s being chased.

Running

This is another tag-type game–Interval Tag. After warming up, both players do something somewhat strenuous to take a little mustard out of both–something like 20 burpees. Player 1 then runs away on a pre-determined course while Player 2 rests for 30-45 seconds. Of course, Player 1 will be going at a jog after the burpees.

After his rest, Player 2 chases down player 1 and tags him as soon as he can. Once the tag has been made Player 1 (the original chaser) continues along the course. Remember, he just did an interval, so this will most likely be a recovery jog. At the same time, he’s going to want to put as much distance as he can between himself and Player 2.

Meanwhile, Player 2 (who was just tagged) stops to do some type of exercise like pushups/squats/plank. He should be pretty well rested at this point, but he’ll also have some urgency to finish the assigned exercises and get on with the next chase.

Cycling

If you want to play a cycling game, that’s easy. Sign up for Trainerroad. It’s downright addictive in the way it gets into your head and drives you to match the prescribed power output.

Afraid To Read A Book – Ignorance Is Bliss

September 10, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

I just finished Willpower last night. I had a choice between reading and riding the bike, and I just couldn’t seem to find the fortitude to climb onto the trainer.

Ironic?

Not really. My willpower had been depleted over the past couple of days through some really tough workouts and carrying kids around EPCOT on my shoulders. One of the things I learned from “Willpower” was that it’s not an infinite resource. It gets worn down just like any other muscle, and physical strenuation (is that a word? It should be.) is one of the things that can wear it down. The key for me is to develop some preventive strategies to avoid bad food choices when I’m running low on willpower.

That brings me to my next read, which I started immediately after finishing “Willpower”.

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health

Uh-oh. Two chapters in, and I don’t want to read this book. I’ve already gained enough information from it that I’m now afraid to eat anything with gluten at all. Actually, that’s not a huge problem most of the time, but when my willpower is low there isn’t much better to fix it than a chocolate croissant.

I’m not reading to try to get some miracle weight reduction, although 5 more pounds off would make me a little faster. I’m more interested in the long-term health implications. You know…finding out how I can live forever, or close to it.

Those are Amazon links–click through if you want to buy those books (or anything else). I promise to use it to pay for hosting fees and race entries. Maybe a bike trainer.

Daily Reading List — September 6th

September 6, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

The student loan bubble is starting to burst – HT @instapundit People will still be able to take equity loans against their homes to pay for their kids' college, right? Assumption is that they have equity. #creditbad

Why The Perfect Nap Makes For The Perfect Workday – I was once asked in a job interview about the single thing I'd change about every job I've ever had. I instantly replied, "I'd implement a post-lunch nap."

Whatever helps you get work done effectively.

$10,000 bike disappears from Ottawa event – Worse than keying Vincent Vega's car.

Key West may impose $50 fine for vomiting in cab – Adjust your travel plans accordingly. I think I'm out regardless of whether or not this passes.

Daily Reading List — August 29th

August 29, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

It Will Now Be Illegal To Toss A Cigarette Butt In Chicago – If you’re willing to litter your own body like this, of course you don’t mind littering anywhere else.

Be More Yogic – Inspiring Yoga Videos | Practice Whenever, Wherever – I know what someone is getting as a surprise. If she read my blog/Twitter, it wouldn’t be a surprise.

Mantra Power – Who here has a racing mantra? I have a few–very personal things I keep to myself, but they work.

Kids, go to college or you’ll die alone in misery – College isn’t for everyone. Skipping college isn’t for everyone either. Dropping out of HS isn’t for everyone either.

Pancakes, however, are for everyone. As long as there is a gluten free option.

Dear Shop Owners, Managers, and Clerks

August 28, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

At some point, we may march a frightened looking small child into your store. They will proceed to hand you an item worth less than $1 and tell you that they recently removed this item from your store without paying you for it.

There’s a reason we brought them back.

There’s a reason they hand the item to you instead of just returning it to its proper place and walking out.

There’s a reason we’re having them tell you what they did.

Please don’t talk to them in a little kid voice and thank them for their honesty. Please don’t smile and tell them it’s no problem.

Helps us out a little here.

Scare them. Make them cry.

Take them into your office, sit them in a chair, and lock the door behind you before you give them a stern lecture about how bad stealing is. Ask them how old they are, then tell them that the only reason you aren’t calling the police is that your store rules say you can’t call the police on kids until they are 1 year older than whatever they say. Let them know that you are going to be looking out for them, and that the next time they come into the store you will be watching them closely.

Make this a memorable event that will live in their brain forever. Make such an impression on them that we don’t ever have to do this again. Go ahead and scare the siblings while you’re at it if you can.

Make sure they will know exactly what to do when they grow up and their kids take something.

Thanks Dad.

And thank you to whoever was managing our local Handy City hardware store in the early 80s.

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Daily Reading List — August 26th

August 26, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

A letter to our online readers from our publisher – I've really missed Billie's comments for a long time. This is the final nail in that Cherokeep's coffin. 🙁

Pizza delivery man shoots, kills attempted robbery suspect – I had a friend back in the day who was robbed and shot while delivering pizza. Thankfully, he made a full recovery, but it was a long hard road. This outcome would have preferable to me. Word to the 321.

ZenTri Podcast 536 – What is Zen? – If you only listen to one podcast today about how Eastern philosophy can influence your training, make sure this is the one.

And…even if you aren't a triathlete but you'd to hear some plain talk ideas on how to get a little more clarity in general, you may dig this episode.

4 Reasons To Love Your Work – I'm batting .750 here. I'll take it. That part where you "actually like meetings" is a tall order.

One and Done with Galloway

August 26, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

I met up with the MOL team yesterday for a long run. We ran Galloway-style with four minutes of running and one minute of walking, and it was great to get out with those fine people and enjoy a ~~crisp~~ ~~cool~~ Florida morning by the water. This was the first time I’d ever tried the run/walk method, and yesterday’s run was not about pace or distance. All I wanted out of it was time on the feet in Zone 2.

Like Johnny Paycheck said, “We was having us one of them real good times.”

But I did get to reflect a little on the experience after a nap, and here’s what I came away with:

Scheduled and timed walks remove the single thing I love most about running, and I will never ever (never say that) do it again on purpose.

Before I get started, I’m not going to bash the Galloway running method.

Well, actually I am, but not across the board. I think Jeff Galloway deserves a ton of credit for coming up with a manageable plan to complete distance events–one that has actually worked for countless people. What other method has empowered so many people who thought they’d never do a 13.1 or a 26.2 to go out and achieve it?

But, just like every other training method, this one isn’t for everyone. And I suppose I’m one of those people it doesn’t really work for. I’ll go a step further…if you told me that the only way I could train for and complete my next race was by the Galloway method, I think I’d choose watching TV and getting fat instead. Well, actually I’d just keep training and never do another race. I like to train more than race anyway.

Even if you could guarantee me a PR, I still wouldn’t opt for run/walk.

What’s to dislike? For me, it’s the seemingly constant interruption of what you’re doing to do something else. I could see where this is a plus if you don’t really like running. It’s a great mental trick to think, “I only have to run for 4 minutes, then I get to walk again.”

But I actually like running. I don’t want to stop. In fact, my favorite thing about running is running myself drunk. I like running far enough that my mind wanders onto all kinds of other things and it feels like my body is taking steps on auto-pilot–separated completely from what my mind is doing. There’s no way to achieve this kind of groove if you’re constantly having to stop because your watch says so.

Again–just my experience. Your mileage may vary.

And if this method works for you, by all means, keep it up!

Racing Is Just Like Getting Drunk

August 23, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

I was talking to Neighbor Ben last night about racing. And racing. And racing. He’d just finished a run, and I’d just finished a bike ride, and there was only one beer each involved in this conversation. One of the themes that kept rising to the surface is that some people like to train more than they like to race, and other people like to race more than they like to train.

Neighbor Ben likes to race.

I know this because he said, “I like to race.”

I like to train.

I know this because I train a lot, and I hardly ever race.

I know there are lots of factors involved, even if I can’t exactly put my finger on all of them. I won’t lie–one big factor is that racing, especially triathlon racing, is expensive. A local race we were talking about doing last night is $100. This is for a no-frills Olympic distance race. Hard to justify that when a new low-end pair of bike shoes cost the same amount, but I still haven’t forked over money for them, even though I probably should have done that a couple of years ago.

Racing is also more time consuming. As soon as your training day becomes a race day you are committed to showing up early to set up your transition area and sticking around for results. That means either dragging the family along or spending time away from them. And that’s just if you’re racing locally. Racing can also involve travel.

Yet another reason I try to avoid racing for the most part is a character flaw I have. I seem to always find a way to rationalize taking way too much time off after a race. That’s not good.

But mostly, I just enjoy the training more in general. Maybe it’s just my personality makeup. I’ve always liked practice. I was the same way with rugby. I don’t think I’d go so far as to say I liked practice more than games there, but I really did enjoy going to practice. With triathlon, I think I’m in it for the training and lifestyle more than the racing.

For me, racing is like getting drunk. It’s fun and all, but not something I want to do more than a few times a year (if that).

So in the case of our proposed Olympic distance race. It’s tempting, mostly because of the peer pressure being exerted by I-Love-To-Race-Neighbor-Ben, but it doesn’t sound nearly as interesting to me as swimming across the Indian River just for fun.

I know some people line things up as “A” races, “B” races, “C” races…whatever. That’s great if it works for them, but I don’t think it works for me. I may not enjoy racing as much as I enjoy training, but when I am racing, I’m racing. I can’t imagine a situation where I slap down money to enter a race and then “just train through it.”

Diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks I guess. But it’s good for me to think long and hard about who I am before throwing down entry fees in $100 increments.

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Daily Reading List — August 21st

August 21, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

Mall Becoming Cheaper Than Amazon – And the consumer wins again!

The problem with the mall is that I have to go to the mall. Triple B (Bed, Bath, Beyond) is like a SkyMall you can walk through.

John R. Mathers 2 Mile Cross River Swim – This is tentatively scheduled for September 15 this year, and I can't wait. I really like the John Mathers story Rob gives us in this post. That there was a real man.

The Internet: We’re Doing It Wrong – By wrong, I thought they meant we just spend too much time on it. Turns out, that's not what they meant at all.

Preventing Swamp Crotch – Blue Gold Bond powder is definitely the most manly choice. Baby's butt paste is highly recommended though.

Daily Reading List — August 15th

August 15, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

Should Non-Celiac Endurance Athletes Go Gluten-Free? – I'm realizing that diet is the hardest piece of the endurance puzzle to figure out. Race-time nutrition isn't the concern for me as much as every day living.

Solved? Not Exactly. – "Welcome to the next level. Now run like Hell."

Macca’s Musings: The Soul Of Triathlon – A great read. How cool would it be to look up and see Macca racking his bike next to yours? I wonder if he made the podium. 🙂

The 25-Hour Work Week, And Other Radical Ideas For Better Employee Productivity | Fast Company | Business + Innovation – Not saying this would work for everyone, but it works for me. Start with two assumptions: 1) I'm a responsible adult who can effectively manage my time to get the work done 2) I take pride in my work and actually want to do a good job. The result is someone who feels valued and that they can make a difference where they are. People like that don't go looking for some other place to be.

On Training Plans and Coaches

August 15, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

I’m getting ready to gear up for another heavy period of training, and I’ve got plans coming out my ears. The interesting thing is that I’m going to be going from a relatively short (Olympic distance) triathlon to a marathon about 10 weeks later. How do you plan for that? I really liked training on feel for the spring, and I’ve let that carry over into the summer.

What I like most about training on feel is the feedback loop that doesn’t exist in a training plan. When I’m tired, I rest. When I know I have more, I give it. Scheduled plans don’t account for this, and it can get you (or at least me) all out of whack.

Or course, the logical solution is a coach. But that’s pricey…doesn’t fit into my budget.

I’ve noticed something about the way people choose coaches that’s seems a little strange to me. I see a lot of posts containing comments about the great results their coaches have posted–not for their clients, but for themselves. I’m sure a fast athlete has a ton of insight and knowledge that can help the average age-grouper improve, but I think I’d choose a coach based on the results they’ve achieved for their clients.

Daily Reading List — August 6th

August 6, 2013 / Scott / 0 Comments

Monotasking Is The New Multitasking – In other words, turn off email and Twitter and only check them on a schedule.

The Case for Replacing Family Dinners with Family Breakfasts – We do both. Plus lunch too on lots of days. Then there's the afternoon communal green smoothie. Studies would predict that my kids will all win Nobel prizes. Me…not so sure about that. 🙂

How To Tap Into Fat For Your Fuel – Working the program, taking a lot of trust. I bought a case of Gu a couple of weeks ago and haven't touched it yet.

Working From Home? Boss May Be Peeking Over Your Shoulder – Shoutout to @simplysql. 🙂

Gettin’ After It!