Nuthing Going On

Not much is going on.  My calf issue is still nagging despite seeing Kevin (chiropractor) last Tuesday where he absolutely tortured my legs.  I thought I'd be ok so like a moron on Thursday I ran 15 km.  I'm not sure why I did that but within 5 km my calf begin to tighten up and was pretty much sore for the rest of the run.  Kevin said running faster would effect my calf and I sort of forgot that as it was super windy that day with wind gusts up to 40 km\hr and when I was running with the wind I was running around a 4:30 km\min pace.  Oddly enough, my calf began to ache after that pace....duh.  At least it was warm enough to wear shorts but the temperature dropped by the time I finished.

Friday's swim was pretty much uneventful as I just did some laps and then 10 x 50 @ 50 seconds with 10 seconds rest.  Swimming is definitely boring.  The pool in Stouffville is really nice but just too warm.  I'm always sweating by the time I get dressed which I always find odd.....sweating after swimming.

I decided to skip Saturday's two hour run as my calf was still sore and I'm not sure why I have a two hour run one week before the race.  So much for tapering.  Instead I decided to do strength training on both upper and lower body but concentrating on my legs.  Needless to say, both my legs are sore.  I wanted to ride outside on Sunday morning but headed up bailing as I was a little hung over from Saturday night Halloween party.  Well it wasn't so much as being hung over but rather very sleep deprived as we got home at 12:30 am and Vanessa was sick and crying for most of the night.  I wonder how long I'll be able to ride outside as it is way colder than last year at this time.  Last year I rode until the last week in November but even with my new riding jacket I might not be able to last that long this year.  Today's high was four degrees.

For this week's workout, I'll ride tomorrow morning inside, swim Tuesday, run for about 45 minutes on Wednesday to test the calf.  I think I should be ok as I will be running at a slower pace.  Which leads to the next problem of what to do with the kids for the race.  I was hoping Paul would be able to watch them but he might be tied up so its either dropping them off at my parents on the way to the race at 6:30 am and pick them up around noon, or I don't run and watch them for two and a half hours.

No word on the bike as coach is in Florida racing IMFL and will be back in two weeks and Scobie is jetting off to Vegas for some 10 hours of pain at Silverman.

Ironman Access Program

WOW!!

Today World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) launches an exclusive athlete membership program called Ironman Access. In addition to other member benefits, the program will offer advance registration for Ironman events worldwide before entries open to the general public. Membership into Ironman Access is on a first-come, first-served basis and will close once it reaches capacity.

To register for Ironman Access, click here.

Advance race registration for Ironman Access members will open one week prior to the event’s general entry registration date.  Athletes are required to pay the general entry fee to the selected event.  Early registration for Ironman Access members for the 2011 Ironman Florida will open on Monday, Nov. 1; athletes interested in registering for this event as an Ironman Access member must join the program by 11:59 p.m. PDT on Sunday, Oct. 31, to be eligible.

Members may choose to register early for one or more of the following 2011 and 2012 Ironman races

The annual membership fee is $1,000 USD.

Access Membership Program Benefits:
• Exclusive advance registration to Ironman events
• Two VIP passes per registered event
• One-year subscription to LAVA Magazine
• 2011 Ironman Lottery entry plus second chance in the Ironman Lottery program
• 2010 Ford Ironman World Championship NBC broadcast DVD
• 20 percent discounts on Ironman partner products at shopironman.com and on-site event retail stores
• Official membership ID card
The above benefits are valid for one year starting from activation date

So for only $1,000 US I have the privilege of being first in line to fork out $565 for an Ironman race AND I get two VIP passes!!!!  Sweet.  Capitalism doesn't get much better than this......

I'm not quite sure I'd agree with everything in this article (ie spending $22,000 per year) but triathlon is the new golf.

---

October 22, 2010

Triathletes, 40-Somethings, Going for Youth

By ANN MARIE GARDNER

HE was 39 and thought he was in decent shape. But when Eric Goodman, an information technologist from Stamford, Conn., tried to run a mile on a treadmill, he could barely make it without feeling as if he were coughing up a lung.

If Mr. Goodman were younger, he might have joined a gym or played soccer, as he did in college. Instead he started doing triathlons. In a year, he lost 17 pounds and added 6 pounds of muscle, and is now able to run one mile in 6 minutes 30 seconds. He says he feels like a 20-year-old again.

“I’m not looking for my fountain of youth, but I am trying to stay as young as I can for as long I can,” said Mr. Goodman, now 40. “I didn’t realize how bad of shape I was in.”

Mr. Goodman is part of a generation of athletic, type-A men who are entering middle age and trying to hold on to their youth through triathlons — a race that combines swimming, biking and running. The sport has exploded by 51 percent since 2007, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, and men in their 40s are one of the fastest growing segments in the sport, accounting for one-third of the 1.2 million triathletes.

The phenomenon is not restricted to Americans. In London, there’s even a term for triathletes pushing middle age: Mamils, which stands for middle-aged men in Lycra.

Skip Gilbert, former executive director of USA Triathlon, the sport’s governing body, said he believes the craze started when the triathlon became part of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Before then, "the perception was that triathlon was only for Ironmen,” he said, referring to the longest and toughest category of triathlons, which involves swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running a 26.2-mile marathon.

“But shorter Olympic distance races at the Games gave more athletes a way to embrace the sport,” Mr. Gilbert said. What used to take 15 hours with Ironman competitions can now be done in as few as 3 hours in an Olympic distance race. A sprint triathlon, the shortest type, typically involves a half-mile swim, a 13-mile bike ride and a 3-mile run. “The sport gained momentum almost instantly,” he said.

In 2000, there were 50 USA Triathlon clubs. Now there are 831 throughout the country. In 2000, there were 229 USA Triathlon-certified coaches; now there are 1,800, according to USA Triathlon.

Some of the growth in the sport comes from aging long-distance runners, who switched over because of injuries, according to Dr. Michael J. Neely, the medical director at NY Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy, based in Manhattan. The shock on joints associated with running gets worse with age.

“Triathlons are much better for the body than long-distance running,” Dr. Neely said. “With triathlons, when you are injured running, you can still swim and bike.”

Ken Katz, 40, a doctor in Pittsburgh, had been running since high school and participated in one marathon and several half-marathons. But he stopped 10 years ago when he developed what he called “knee woes.”

“I got banged up and decided to diversify into triathlons, where you have the combination of the other sports to take a little of that pressure off specific injuries,” he said.

Soon, Dr. Katz was investing in bikes, traveling to races and hiring a coach.

That’s not to mention all the accessories and lifestyle brands that now cater to him and other triathletes. They can now buy TriSwim’s shampoo to remove chlorine, and sports drinks like Hammer Nutrition Heed, which is sold on Web sites like One Tri. There are aerodynamic helmets and sunglasses made for triathlons, as well as wet suits and tri-specific running sneakers made by K-Swiss, Asics, Zoots and Newton.

At Placid Planet, a bicycle and triathlon shop in Lake Placid, N.Y., the new must-have accessories are Zipp wheels and compression tights. “Zipp wheels are an aerodynamic carbon wheel that increase speed by reducing drag on the wheel,” said Kenny Boettger, the owner. Compression tights and socks, he said, help athletes recirculate oxygen and blood. “This is the big thing right now and it works,” he said.

There are also magazines like Lava, which began publishing in August and offers testosterone-fueled articles and profiles that appeal to men who dream about being Ironmen. With page after page of Lycra, equipment reviews and training tips, the magazine is geared for “hardcore triathletes who want to get right inside the fiery molten center of triathlon,” according to its mission statement.

Lava’s macho-man mantra is simple. “Forty is the new 20,” said John Duke, who publishes the monthly magazine in San Diego. “And in triathletes, 40 isn’t old. The median age of the sport is 41.”

Good thing, too, since triathlons don’t come cheap. “Forty-somethings are also the ones who can afford the sport,” said Scott Berlinger, the head coach of Full Throttle, a 120-man triathlon team that is based out of the Chelsea Piers in Manhattan. “I tell my athletes everything costs $100 — shoes, helmets, glasses — and the big purchase is your bike.”

A bicycle — the tri-world equivalent of the red sports car — can cost anywhere from several hundred dollars to more than $10,000. After the bike and the chiropractor bills, the biggest item is individual coaching, which can easily run $100 an hour.

“Triathletes are a discerning group of alpha consumers, with $175,000 average salaries,” said Erik Vervloet, vice president for sports marketing at K-Swiss, which jumped into the tri-market three years ago. “The average Ironman spends $22,000 a year on the sport.”

The high price is an issue, particularly for spouses. “I still argue with the wife about the costs,” said Mr. Goodman, the triathlete from Stamford. His gear includes a $5,000 Cervelo bicycle, a $3,000 Pinarello bicycle, Xterra Vector Pro2 wet suits, Izumi Tri Fly 111 bike shoes and a Lazer Tardiz helmet.

But his wife, Amy, eventually came around. “At first it was a bit hard for me to swallow,” said Ms. Goodman, 32, who is attending graduate school in the field of public health, “but when I saw that the bike wasn’t going to hang on the wall, I thought, in terms of self-indulgences, this is one of the best things he could be doing.”

“Hopefully that will pay off in terms of medical bills we are not paying for down the road,” she added.

Triathlons have other benefits, too. Triathletes often get a confidence boost. “He definitely appreciates the changes in his body,” Ms. Goodman said. “He looks different and he has transformed his profile, his posture.”

Mr. Goodman agreed, though his main concern now isn’t how he looks in the mirror, but making sure that he isn’t “chick-ed” at the next race — slang for being beaten by a woman.

“I’m not going to sit around and say I’m getting old,” he said. “I’m going to find a way to beat this.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: October 23, 2010

An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the location of the 2000 Olympic Games, where the triathlon made its debut. They occured in Sydney, not Atlanta.

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That's Mister Pace Bunny

Today's run was 1:45 minutes but instead of running at my normal pace, I tried to run at Tammy's perceived pace of 6:00 min\km.  It was harder than I thought it would be as I would be running in zone 2 as opposed to zone 3 which meant going slower.  Also I was fairly sore from Thursday's leg workout and the first couple of steps were painful but once I got moving it wasn't so bad.  All in all, according to my Polar I ran 17.12 at a pace of 6:09 min/km but according to google maps, I ran 16.3 km at a pace of 6:27 min/km.  A big difference!  I really need to reset my pedometer.

However, just as I was finishing the run, I started to feel my right calf seize up in the exact same spot as last week.  I'm not sure how much further I've could have continued, but this could be a problem.  Its not a sore as last week but I think I need to contact Kevin this week otherwise, I could end up walking or worse......DNFing.

Owww You're Hurting Me

My calf was still a little sore so I thought a massage was in order even though I've blasted through my insurance coverage many months ago. I highly recommend Rishi at http://www.therapysource.ca/ .   He absolutely kills me every single time but its well worth it.  I've found that the "usual" massage just doesn't cut it anymore.  The difference is that Rishi offers Osteopathy which goes beyond the usual massage.  He tends  to be a little "rough" but I think its worth it even if I usually beg for mercy at some point.

What is Osteopathy?

Osteopathy is a patient-centred treatment that focuses on the body's innate ability to heal itself. It is an approach to the human body based on the interrelated anatomy and physiology of the body's systems.
Osteopathy uses a manual therapy that is based on a highly developed sense of touch to stimulate the body's natural self-regulating and self-healing capabilities, by locating and correcting the root cause of the disorder.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes Osteopathy as a distinct manual therapy that differs from other health care professions.
Manual Osteopathy is based on 4 basic principles:

Each structure in the body supports the body's functions. If a structure is damaged, out of place or otherwise not working properly, the body will not function at its best.
The natural flow of the body's fluids - lymphatic, vascular, and neurological - must be preserved and maintained.
The human body is the sum of its parts. Its physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and cognitive systems don't work independently, they work in harmony.
When the body has no restrictions, it has the inherent ability to heal itself.

Osteopathy recognizes that a person is an integrated whole. When all the body's components are in balance, a person is complete and can achieve optimal health.

One thing I've noticed is that physiotherapy, massage therapy and chiropractic are all merging together where each "specialist" now offer similar treatment.

Rishi did point out how weak my glutes were and I've been noticing on my longer runs (ie past 1.5 hours) my right butt seems dead and unresponsive.  This has been a chronic problem ever since I've been running over the last ten years as many different therapists have pointed out and I've constantly ignored but since I started racing triathlons I've actually been doing something about it....sort of.  This is where the strength training is suppose to help (when I ever do it) because what happens is that my glutes get overworked and eventually shut down.  The other muscles, like my hamstring, IT band all begin to work harder to try and compensate and that's where things get out of whack.  That's how I know when my knee starts to hurt, I need to work on my butt exercise and so on Thursday morning I decided to start back up with the strength training.  I got back to the basics and did lunges, wall squats, calf raises, abs etc and right now (Friday night), its pretty safe to say I had a good work out because my ass is killing me every time I get up and sit down!


Tomorrow's run of 1:45 should be interesting if not painful however instead of running at my prescribed zone 3 which would be about 5:15 min\km pace, I'll try to run at 6:00 min\km which would be more at Tammy's pace, I hope.
  

Happy Birthday Rebecca

Today is my daughter's seventh birthday.  Its hard to believe she seven already.  It just seems like yesterday that she was born. 

In fact, I was supposed to run the Toronto Half Marathon on Sunday October 19th and while I knew Rebecca was supposed to be born on the 20th, I thought what are the chances of her coming due the day of the race?  First born kids are always late right?  So I trained for three months and was supposed to run with Tammy's manager.  Well wouldn't you know it, Sunday morning at 4 am, Tammy's water broke.  We went over to North York General where we found the placed packed with expected mothers.  I think I counted over 20 women waiting to have their babies.  After hanging out there for a couple of hours, the hospital sent us home so we went to the corner of Yonge and Sheppard at 7:30 am and parked our car.  The race started at 8 am so "technically" I could have made the start but that probably wouldn't have gone down too well.  We watched the people race by and even saw Tammy's manager running.  He put two and two together and figured out why I didn't show up. 

We stayed at home until noon and then headed back to the hospital where we waited and waited and waited.  In fact by Monday the next morning, Tammy still hadn't wasn't ready and when were doctor saw her, he asked "what are you still doing pregnant?"  And so after 31 hours of labour and one missed race, Rebecca was born .

Today was my first run since Saturday's painful and sudden ending.  I had skipped Monday's run and so today I took it easy but still ran 1:15.  I felt a slight twinge in my calf and some general aches and pains in my right knee but otherwise it was ok. 

The coach called last night and we talked a bit about my new bike.  Originally he told me that I should move to a tri-bike to increase my speed and run as they are much more aerodynamic.  Last week he offered to sell (unload?) his road bike to me.  He sort of flipped flopped and now I'm not sure what to buy.  He mentioned he has purchased 15 bikes and I should come up and take a look at some of them.  Next week he's getting another 30 bikes and we can go over what the best suited for me.  He will have both road and tri bikes.  With that many bikes, his garage will be full, although he does have a four car garage with only one very dusty and unused Porsche 911.

It seems he's moving into more retail side of this sport.

Oh yea, Tammy wants a bike too...............

Uh-Oh

Coach called me a couple of days ago and the conversation went something like this:

Coach:  How are you feeling?  Any injuries or anything?
Me:  Nope, I'm ok
Coach:  Wow, this is the longest you've been injury free (ten months)
Me:  Gee thanks

So this morning, I'm on my long run (all 1:30 hours) and I've been running for 1:27 when I feel this incredibly sharp pain in my lower calf.  Its so painful, I can't take another step.  I've never had an injury in that spot before but after a couple of minutes the pain subsides and I limp home.  WTF???  Where did this injury come from?  Probably because I haven't been doing any strength training.  Unbelievable!!!  Better call Kevin

The coach also had another reason for calling.  He is selling his Jamis road bike which he built this summer and offered it to me.  Apparently another athlete put a $400 deposit on the bike but lost his job and couldn't buy it so coach kept his deposit (nice) and offered to apply it to lower my price.  I'm leaning towards getting a tri-bike so I'm not sure why he's offering me another road bike although it is significantly better than my current road bike.  I emailed four other triathletes (between them they've completed 14 ironmans) for their opinion and all replied go for the tri-bike especially seeing that I plan to do an ironman (or two, or three, or....)

Now the problem is that I have no idea about bikes and when I walk into a bike store, I feel like I have "CHUMP" stamped on my forehead so Scobie offered to check out some bike stores after he gets back from Silverman http://www.silvermannv.com/ in November.  This is probably one of the toughest ironman course in North America and home to the 2011 ITU Long Course World Championship.  I asked Scobie what I could get for about $500 and he said something pink with streamers from the handlebar.

Sweet.  Now where can I put my water bottle holders?

More to come on the hunt for a new bike to which I swore I would never upgrade

  

Thunderstruck meets the Hawaiian Ironman

Check out this great ACDC tune at the Hawaiian Ironman in 2009. Check out the voice of Ironman Mike Riley (cap backwards) as he gees up the crowd to this classic rock anthem. See Chrissie Wellington handing out a few lucky finishers their lei. 


Note the time on the race clock and how many people are at the finish line

Brrr

Ok, maybe it wasn't such a great idea to go running just wearing a T-shirt and shorts.  The temperature was a "balmy" 11 degrees but I forgot about the 20 km/hr wind.  I waited until the sun came up (around 7:15 am).   I figured I'd warm up but never really did.

It was the usual ho-hum run for 1:15 at zone 3 which worked out to be about 14.5 km but I struggled at the end.  I felt a twinge of a headache and bloated as I weighted the heaviest since beginning of January 2010.  I swear it has nothing to do with the four beers I had last night.

Tammy was talking to the coach the other day about her schedule and he mentioned Lake Placid.  I haven't really discussed LP with her as I'm not sure what to do for next year.

Typically as y'all know, that most Ironman events sell out very fast and LP is one of the more popular races.  In order to gain an entry spot most people go down to the race to register for next year's race.  If you volunteer to help the race, you get priority for registration.  So the coach rents a four bedroom house and then in turns sub-rents out to other athletics racing LP and he wanted me to take a room.  The plan is to ride the course, volunteer/watch the race and then sign up the next day.  However, as I mentioned in a  previous blog, the volunteers do get priority but they have to line up overnight to register.  I'm not sure if I really want to stand in line all night long as once upon a time ago I did that for concerts.  So does it really make sense to go down to Lake Placid when I could just try to sign up online and if that doesn't work sign up via the Community Foundation spot which costs about $1,100 US.  Feel free to voice your opinion.

I think the other thing that concerned Tammy was that we're talking about doing an Ironman in 2012 and its only October 2010.  That means two more summers of training.  I think she favors doing an Ironman next year but I pointed out that Jake will be five years old and there is a massive difference between a three year old verses a five year old.  A five year old is much more independent and doesn't need the constant attention that a three year needs (demands).  Also as another bonus, Rebecca will be almost nine years old (yikes) and can help out much more.  Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Ditching

Today I'm actually ditching my bike workout.  I very rarely skip workouts (unless due to injury) but I was up late last night (wow-10:30 pm) as we went downtown Toronto to watch the move Wall Street:  Money Never Sleeps.  It was a private screening by one of the companies I deal with (sort of) and Tammy had mentioned she wanted to see it, so one baby sitter later we went out.  I've had mixed feelings about this movie as the reviews haven't been very good.  The original movie is a classic and this one tries too hard to copy it.  Also the story line of the 2008/09 stock market crash is tiresome after living through it.

I don't feel all that great this morning as I have a slight headache and feel very tired.  In fact yesterday morning, as I was driving into work, I was so tired I pulled into an empty Costco parking lot and had a 10 minute snooze. I think I feel a cold coming on and my body aches so why push through an almost meaningless bike workout?

That said, I'm going golfing this morning at Angus Glen and its suppose to pour for most of the day but seeing that its a free round how can I turn this down?  There's mental toughness - golfing in the pouring rain while sick.


A salute to all those who are lucky enough to be heading to Kona for this weekend's race



Bryan Payne is already there getting ready for his return appearance 22 years later.
http://trainingpayne.blogspot.com

I entered the Kona Lottery Draw after some constant badgering. Two hundred lucky athletics throughout the world will have a chance to race against the world's best in Hawaii .  I'd be embarrassed if I won.  I'd probably be the guy staggering across the finish line at 11:59:59 pm

Why Don't You Get Out Of Your Car Tough Guy?

I got my new training schedule and wondered why coach has me do so many tempo runs.  I'm supposed to be pacing Tammy for the Hamilton half marathon but she can't run at my pace so why I am pushing it so hard?  Its hard to dial down the training as I always feel I should be doing more.  Thursday's run was for one hour and I actually ran at my prescribed zone.  I ran about 11.5 km for a nice pace of 5:09 min/km assuming my watch is somewhat correct.  Trouble was I was totally starving all day and I ate a ton of food and yup you guessed it, I gained weight the next day.  Its amazing how much faster I run when I run at my prescribe heart rate.  Go figure.

I went swimming Friday morning and had a mediocre 45 minute swim.  I really need to get back to swimming with the Masters.  I wanted to ride with Peter A Saturday morning so I moved my Saturday run to Friday afternoon.  I came home early from work and headed out in the windy afternoon.  I ran for about 14.5 km in  one hour and 15 minutes.  Not bad but my right knee was a little achy.

Tammy went running for 1:45 minutes Saturday morning which was her longest run ever.  She covered about 14.5 km.....hey that's what I ran yesterday.  After she came back, I went riding with Peter A.  I've must have been tired from yesterday's run as I was struggling to keep up.  I bought a new winter riding jacket at D'Ornellas on Friday as the temperature is beginning to get cool in the mornings and I look down right stupid riding with my running jacket that's at least one size too big.  I bought it about 20 pounds ago.  Tammy expressed her displeasure as soon as she saw it not because it cost $140 (half price) but because it was red.  Somehow she thinks I look like a clown with a red jacket, yellow helmet, and a blue bike.  At least it matches my sunglasses

Keeping it simple, we just rode up Kennedy to Davis Drive and then headed over to Mccowan and headed south.  We actually went longer than I anticipated (over two hours) but it was ok.  I was a little too warm in my new jacket as I only wore a T-shirt underneath.  We were on Mccowan Road near home when a some jackass in a SUV honked his horn just as he was beside me.  I nearly crashed and my first instinct was to chase him down.  Traffic was fairly heavy but he was weaving in and out of the lanes.  I don't know if he was honking at me but I was really pissed.  Common sense prevailed and I let him take off but he got stuck at the lights at Mccowan and 16th Ave.  I was turning left and he was a couple of cars behind me.  Looking over I got his eye and gave him a dirty look and then gave him the finger.  He looked surprised and rolled down his window and we exchanged greetings.  I yelled at him to get out of his car as I find most people think they're pretty tough when they're sitting in a car.  In hind sight, if he did get out of his car, I would have gladly challenged him in the middle of the road but getting into a fight wearing bike shoes probably wouldn't have been a good idea as I wouldn't have been able to stand at all.  He took off as the light changed yelling at me and I had to resist the urge to chase him down Mccowan and bash his window in.

Now would that be road rage or bike rage?