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Lifting heavy things…

19 Jun
Leg day...so painful, but worth it!

Leg day…so painful, but worth it!

There are a lot of people who think that runners and triathletes shouldn’t lift weights. That it will be counterproductive and actually hurt your aerobic performance, because you want to be as light as possible and avoid “bulking up”. However, that idea is slowly dying off, with trainers and atheletes alike agreeing that sport-specific strength training is actually necessary to get faster and improve endurance.

Articles at TriFuel, Beginner Triathlete, and USAT all show support for this mindset change. This is one of my favorite sections of the USAT article:

…strength training is one of the most beneficial and efficient ways for triathletes, especially age group triathletes, to supplement their training and get the most out of the work they are putting in.

I’ve personally gotten my butt back in the gym a lot lately; I started lifting seriously again mid-April of this year…and I’ve already seen some major improvements in endurance and speed. Typically I lift at lunch Monday through Wednesday, with the breakdown looking like this:
Monday: chest, triceps, back, biceps
Tuesday: quads and calves, abs
Wednesday: shoulders, abs

weight_stack

Setting up for some rear deltoid work…

All sets are 3×10, with some super sets or drop sets, depending on the day. I go as heavy as I can tolerate for all three sets, usually taking the last set to failure. While my goal is endurance, I’m also focusing on overall strength. You see, I turn 40 this year, and one of the things I want to head-off is arthritis and bone density issues. The heavier the weights you move around, the stronger your bones and the skeletal muscles will be. The long-term benefits go way beyond my current triathlon ambitions.

As I mentioned, the gains I’m seeing are huge (no pun intended). Simply from an aesthetics standpoint, I’ve added a lot of definition and size to my muscles, which I’m happy with (and, honestly, super-skinny triathletes look sickly to me). I got a huge compliment on my shoulders yesterday from a trainer I know well: “Dude, your shoulders are getting huge!” Now, “huge” for me means you can see the muscles…I’m not Arnold ;) .

The other benefit is my endurance and speed. I’m getting into the mid-7:00 pacing when on training runs, and my bike time are improving as well (Sunday I took a minute off a previous PR for a 22 mile course I ride). Swimming has also gotten easier, and I feel less winded when I finish my pool work.

Physiologically, we’re all different…what works for me might not work for someone else. But if you can, I highly recommend strength training (even body weight exercises, like chair dips) to help your multisport performance.

How often do you lift weights?

Keep moving!!

 
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Posted by on June 19, 2013 in Training

 

Race Report: Midsummer Night’s Run 10K

15 Jun

I did the 5K version of this race in 2011, and set (for my training level at the time) a respectable time. I registered this year short-notice on a whim; the proceeds all go to the high school track & field programs, so it’s definitely worth doing. This was my first time doing the 10K, and I figured I’d give it a whirl.

I got to the race about an hour early…this is a bad habit of mine, but I’m so paranoid about parking and making sure I’m there well before the start that I can’t help it. Anyway, arrived at about 5:30pm and went to pickup my packet and shirt. Got all that sorted and then headed back to the truck to wait. Listened to some motivational tunes (i.e. heavy metal) until about 6:15pm, then changed into my race kit.

Meandered over to the starting area at about 6:20pm and stretched a bit; watched others do the same. We didn’t actually get called to the starting line until 6:29pm or so; the race was slated to start at 6:30pm. The RD gave a rundown of the course and everyone took their places. Gun time was 6:34pm.

Started out pretty easy, since I knew I had some hills ahead of me (didn’t realize quite how many hills, unfortunately). Passed a few people, and had one lady stay right with me for about a mile before I pushed head. Hit the first WTF hill at mile two (which I expected) and passed the lady who would eventually come in first female overall (that felt really good in retrospect). Had a little break until mile three, then the second WTF hill reared its ugly head around a corner.

Hills...how I loathe thee...

Hills…how I loathe thee…

This particular nastiness went from approximately 373′ to 545′ in the space of 1/2 of a mile. My pace dropped quite a bit (9:11 average for that mile as you can see from the chart below), but I kept moving…never stopped, never walked. Focused on my breathing and bringing that under control. Started the descent into the “rolling hills” the RD mentioned before the start. Got to the bottom of the big hill at 3.75 and had to do another small climb to get back to the main course. Turned right on Crescent Valley Drive and really got down to business.

Still an 8:09 average!!

Still an 8:09 average!!

Had another slight rise at about 4.75, but I already had a lot of momentum (mentally and physically), so blasted through that.  I was passing 5K runners and walkers at this point, and used it as an opportunity to give words of encouragement to them (as a couple of the 10K runners had done for me as they passed me).

Got to the part where the 5Kers got to turn left and head to the finish line…we had to keep going (ugh!) around the first loop again. I dropped the hammer and lengthened my stride, hoping to finish strong. This is where it gets ugly, and I’m going to rant for a second: I rounded the second-to-last corner onto Highland Drive and saw a lady in front of me who I know for a fact had never passed me (I counted every single person who did, because I was hoping to catch some of them) and had not started ahead of me. I was mad…seething, in fact. I muttered “What the ****???” under my breath, and ran past her like she was standing still. This particular “participant” had apparently cut the course somewhere to get where she was; I guess she wanted to say she’d completed a 10K in under an hour or something…who knows what motivates these types of people. Regardless, it’s cheating and it’s despicable.

I turned left on the school frontage road and gave it everything I had left; cleared the last .20 miles in 1:26.4. Cleared the finish line, stopped my watch and promptly downed my Espresso Love Gu packet.

Overall: 50:29

Lessons Learned
Now for the “tough love” section of this report!

What went right
1. My gear. As usual, my gear is dialed. ’nuff said.
2. My nutrition. Took a Gu packet with me, didn’t need it until after the race.
3. My training. Barring the need for more hill training (see below for my comments on hills), I’m getting fast (for me, anyway. If this route had been flat, I’d have definitely killed it.

What went wrong
Lots of hills. I freaking hate hills. I don’t think they like me much, either…

What I can do about it
I need to train on hilly routes more. I’m going to try and make at least one of my weekly runs either a trail run or choose a road route that has some good steep climbs and descents.

All in all, a great race; I’ll definitely do it next year. No results online yet, but I’m hoping for a good placing my age group…I’ll update this post when I have that info. Other than the cheater (and no, I didn’t report her, because that tends to turn into a he-said-she-said debate and I didn’t want to bother the RD with something trivial (in the grand scheme of things)…the “runner” has to have the knowledge that she cheated on her conscience forever). Happy with my time, super happy with my 10K PR. :)

Update 06/18/2013: Results are finally up: I came in 3rd in my age group, 17th over all (out of 57). If I’d been in the 40-49 group, I’d have still come in 3rd. I’ll take it! :)

Keep moving!!

 
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Posted by on June 15, 2013 in Race Report

 

Continuing to amaze myself…

12 Jun

I’m a data junkie; anyone who reads this blog knows that. One of the things I love about data is, to me, it’s tangible…yes, that’s almost an oxymoron, considering all electronic data is virtual. But there’s some relevance there, too. Anyone who works in IT knows this…data is “real”.

So I took a look last night at my training data for the year so far, and was really surprised. Then I did a comparison to the past two years and was even more surprised. You know the old saying “Time flies when you’re having fun”? Well, apparently I’ve been having a lot of fun. :)

2011:
2011 summary

2012:
2012 summary

2013 (as of yesterday evening):
2013-06-11 summary

Those images are from Strava and a summary of all my GPS-related activities (i.e. biking and running only)

So far in 2013 (according to Garmin Connect) I have swum 9.63 miles (10+ hours), biked (road and MTB) 382.06 miles, run 275.54 miles, and spent over 12 hours in the gym.

By comparison, in 2012 I swam only for just over an hour (I wasn’t tracking distance at the time), biked 590.09 miles, ran 314.61 miles, and recorded 0 hours in the gym (I’m sure I went a couple times, I just never recorded it).

In 2011 (this will make you laugh), I didn’t swim at all, biked 238.95 miles, ran 104.98 miles and didn’t hit the gym at all.

Now, to be fair to myself, I started training in earnest in 2011, and I really only started hitting the pool in late 2012, so it makes sense that these numbers would increase. But dang! :) It’s really motivating to see how much more I’m training and how much further I’m going each year. One of my goals for 2013 is to run 1000 miles total…I think I can do it, or come darn close!

What are your goals this year?

Keep moving!!

 
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Posted by on June 12, 2013 in Training

 

Keeping up appearances…

07 Jun

There are a lot of opinions in the triathlon world about whether men should shave their chest, armpits, legs, arms, back, face, etc. If you do a search on Slowtwitch.com, you find hundreds of threads on the subject. There are pretty much four schools of thought on the subject:
1. Men who think shaving make them more “aero”
2. Men who think shaving makes them look stupid (I’m in this group)
3. Women who find hairy men attractive and “real”
4. Women who like men hairless and “aero”

There’s an aspect of vanity here; and almost zero science to back up the “aero” claim. If you’re an Olympic swimmer, I can see it making a difference…all they have between them and the water is their racing Speedo and their skin. Triathletes, by and large, wear wetsuits when we swim open-water, due to the generally colder-than-hell temperatures in our chosen venues (case in point: I’ll be wearing a full-sleeved wetsuit during XTERRA Portland in August…it’s a mountain lake, after all).

There’s also a lot of peer pressure for male triathletes to shave various parts of their anatomy. There’s the old “everyone’s doing it” argument that we’ve all heard at some point in our lives for something. There’s the “aero” argument (as noted above). There’s the “easier to clean road rash” argument (which I’ll give a little credence to, based on a few personal experiences). And there’s the “my wife/girlfriend thinks it’s sexy” argument…immediately countered by the “my wife threatened to kill/maim/beat me if I did it again” argument (probably the most compelling for not shaving).

I’ve considered it myself in the past; I’m frankly pretty hairy (though thankfully I have no hair on my back…dodged the genetic bullet on that one). I have a five o’clock shadow (when I shave my beard) by noon. But what stops me is not only my wife’s “are you out of your mind?” looks when I bring it up, but the fact that no one outside of triathlon (or competitive swimming) circles would understand. Think about it: the last time you saw a guy with shaved legs and you weren’t at a race, what was your first thought? Right, exactly: weirdo.

My hair-hero is Faris Al-Sultan…he doesn’t shave his chest, armpits or face (he shaves his legs, but I’ll forgive him for that), and yet he’s a professional triathlete who consistently in the top 10 of the pros at Kona (#5 in 2012 with a time of 8:28:33, #10 in 2011, #10 in 2010…you get the idea). I could shave every inch of my body and never come close to his times.

So I’ve resolved to not give in to peer pressure and the “because everyone’s doing it” or “you’re not a real triathlete unless you shave” argument. I’ve grown my beard out, though I keep it short (really, dragging a razor blade across your face (or any other part of your body) is not a natural act). I make no apologies for my hairy chest, six-pack, and legs. I keep my hair military-short, because it’s cooler (and it’s thin enough that when it’s too long I look like a dork). All in all, I’m happy with the way I look…and could really care less if anyone things I’m less of a “real” triathlete for it. I’m out there, I’m training and racing…how I look doing it isn’t nearly as important as just doing it.

Guys: have you ever felt pressured to shave?

Ladies: what do you think of guys that shave?

Keep moving!!

 
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Posted by on June 7, 2013 in Random

 

Diet and training while on holiday…

05 Jun

You might have noticed no blog activity and very little Twittering from me this past week; I have a good excuse: I was on vacation. :) We took a much-needed and well-deserved week off from work to go on a little road trip to Reno, Nevada. Do a little sightseeing, play some games, not read work email, that sort of thing. I was also convinced that I was going to eat well and keep up my training. Yeah, you can stop laughing now… ;)

One of the dangers of Reno, and places like it, is the dinner buffet (dum dum dum!!). This monstrous creation is a tribute to bad eating…only about 5% of the food there is what you could call “clean”, and all that comes for the salad and fruit bar (which is approximately 1/10 the size of the other pieces of the buffet). And any willpower you may have dissolves in the face of all this caloric decadence (or at least mine did). You’re surrounded by pizza, pasta, dozens of meats, sauces, fried foods, rich deserts…the list goes on.

Pizza, ravioli, rosemary potatoes...

Pizza, ravioli, rosemary potatoes…

The desire for a salad and water quickly was overcome by all this tasty yet horribly bad for me food. I gave in, just as Pinocchio did on the island for misfit boys…I filled my plate twice, and then had desert (and a couple of 16oz glasses of Coke as well). And it was all awesome.

Now, some people might question how I can give in to this sort of decadence and still hope to be a successful triathlete. Simple: I do this once or twice a year, and that’s it. Plus…well, I’m never going to be Craig Alexander and win at Kona, so a little fun now and then won’t kill me.

That being said…I’ll be eating salads again for lunch all week. ;)

How do you cope with eating while travelling?

Keep moving!!

 
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Posted by on June 5, 2013 in Diet, Training, Travel

 

Featured on the Withings blog!

04 Jun

So I sent in a testimonial to Withings a couple weeks ago, when they asked for submissions via Twitter for people who not only used their products, but also those who used their partnered apps (in my case this was the LoseIt! app). Well, I got a popup on my phone this morning that Withings not only featured my testimonial in their blog, but their tweet had a direct quote from my submission! :)

You can read the full article here (there are two other people featured…awesome for them!), and here’s my snippet:

I started my fitness journey in January 2011, but didn’t get my scale until December that year. I started using the LoseIt app just before I got rid of my FitBit, about April 2012 or so. One of the reasons I chose it was the Withings integration.

The interface is easy to use and intuitive, and the barcode scanner makes adding new foods simple.

The Withings tie-in is really great, because you can set goals within the app: when you weigh yourself, the app syncs with the Withings site data and adjusts your calorie requirements automatically. This has been great for making sure that I’m on track and not exceeding my calories for any given day.

Thanks again for offering such an awesome suite of products; really looking forward to the Activity Monitor coming out soon! :)

John Bergquist, Philomath (OR), USA.

Keep moving!!

 
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Posted by on June 4, 2013 in Article

 

Being happy with what you have…

04 Jun

I got my MTBR newsletter yesterday, and there was a link to an awesome article titled Be Happy with What You Have; the premise of the article is a mountain biker who refuses to get a new bike, because his continues to perform (despite being old and what some would call “antiquated”). It’s a very thought-provoking, well-written article…I highly recommend you read it, if you have a second.

Of course, it got me thinking about my own bikes and gear and the things I’ve decided I “need” in order to be more competitive in triathlon. I currently own two bikes: a 2010 Trek 1.1 Alpha and a 2011 Specialized Rockhopper. Prior to getting the Trek in May 2011 and the Rockhopper in October 2012, I had only one bike, a 1993 Specialized Hard Rock (I still have the brochure). I loved that bike…and I couldn’t kill it, no matter how hard I tried. I replaced the chain several times (who doesn’t over the span of 18 years?), the rear cassette, brakeset, all the cables, and went through several pairs of tires. The frame stayed rock solid (no pun intended) and crack-free, despite the horrid conditions I stored it in during the early years of its life. It survived six years of college; I commuted on it for a couple of years (including one particularly nasty Oregon winter); I raced one XC and one tri on it; it’d been taken apart a dozen times; put up with my own uneducated maintenance attempts. As the years passed, the advent of suspensions, disc brakes and fancy components all made my bike look “old school”. In fact, at the 2011 Mudslinger XC race I got a shout out for being the only fully-rigid bike to cross the finish line (or start, for that matter). All in all, a fantastic bike; one I was happy to call my friend (if you don’t get it, you’re not much of a cyclist). :)

Me and the old Hard Rock at Beaver Freezer 2011

Me and the old Hard Rock at Beaver Freezer 2011

Then we move on to my latest obsession: the Specialized Shiv Elite Apex. An entry-level TT bike, this is Specialized’s base offering in the TT realm. I’d become convinced that I needed a TT bike in order to be successful at triathlon over the next few years. Now, remember that I’ve only completed two duathlons and one tri at this point…and one of those dus was on my Rockhopper. Delusions of grandeur…

So after yesterday’s article I started thinking about what I need from a tri-ready bike: it needs to be comfortable and it needs to be fast. Well, my Trek is very comfortable, and is about to get moreso…getting a bike fit done on Friday. And it’s pretty fast…or as fast as I can make it go right now, and that’s all on me, not the bike. So I don’t need a new bike, as beautiful as the Shiv is. I took it one step further last night, too: I priced out the components if I wanted to upgrade my current bike. I could replace the entire drivetrain on my Trek with an SRAM Apex drivetrain for about $650…almost 1/3 the cost of a base Shiv. Add new aerobars and handlebars and brakes, and I’m still in the sub-$800 range. And if I got the Shiv I’d have to get new wheels anyway (they ship it with a $150 1900g wheelset…WTF?), so there’s more. So the “entry level” $1500 bike becomes easily $3000 (or more) very quickly. No thanks…I’d rather see my blue beast in T1 knowing that I have some awesome components on it and that we can do anything we attempt together.

I also started thinking about mountain bikes. I love my Rockhopper…it’s comfortable, strong and rides like a dream. I don’t need a full-suspension rig at all to compete at the level I’m at, or for years to come for that matter. If I start standing on the podium of multiple XTERRA races for my age group, then I might consider an upgrade. Until then, this beautiful steed will do me just fine.

The same applies to my Garmin devices, my GoPro camera, my Oakley sunglasses…you get the point. I have some really great gear…and I’ve also fudged it a little (mah bucket is a perfect example). My gear is perfectly dialed in for me and where I’m at with my training. It works, and it doesn’t let me down. I think more of us in sport need to realize that we can do just as well with what we have, rather than believing the hype and falling into the trap of “needing” the newest stuff (advertised as “fastest” or “coolest” or “performance enhancing”). So…buy a second-hand wetsuit, upgrade your current bike, help someone out on the Slowtwitch classifieds if you need an update. Just don’t lose sight of what we’re doing: we’re training and we’re racing. It’s all about how we push our bodies…the gear is secondary. And no shiny new bike is going to make you faster without that hard training.

Do you ever feel the pull to get new gear “just because”?

Keep moving!!

 
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Posted by on June 4, 2013 in Bike, Gear, Random

 
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