Well, crap

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Will

Last week, Tuesday, I went on a wee 6 mile run. My left knee felt a little funny after the first mile, but that happens sometimes and isn’t ever a big deal (it usually just means I wasn’t wholly warmed up or that I slept funny or something). By the end of the run, though, it was definitely feeling unhappy. Within minutes of having stopped, the surrounding musculature was seizing up in a way that indicated some pretty severe joint damage.

“Well, crap” I said.

By the time I left for work I was sporting a really bad limp and my chances of beating last year’s time at the Seattle Marathon (next week) were swiftly advancing from “slim” to “none.” My knee was painless when standing or sitting, but walking hurt like crazy, and going down stairs even more so. I spent the whole day dreading any activities that required me to move from my desk.

I was feeling much better Wednesday, but any time I walked more than a block the limp would return. Thursday and Friday saw more progress, and by Saturday I was limp free and felt it was time to test things out.  I suited up and took it nice and easy, but by .75 miles I was already starting to hurt and turned around. The last downhill caused my knee to toss up some warning flares of pain, but didn’t lock up. So, progress, but not enough.

Next week’s marathon is out, and because it’s run but jerks, there’s no refunds or rollovers to next year, so there’s $125 out the window. I wouldn’t mind so much if that money was going to charity, but that probably isn’t the case.

Moving on… I’ve booked a flight to Miami for the marathon there at the end of January. I haven’t actually registered for the race, yet, though, and I may not until I see a PT and figure what the heck I did to my knee and how long it’ll take to heal. Worst case scenario is 5 days on the beach, which is a pretty darn good worst case.

I’m sure that, whatever is wrong, I’ll heal in time for full Ironman training in the spring. Speaking of which, I’m now at 30% of my charity raising goal. If you have a few bucks laying around or could skip that afternoon latte, I’d appreciate your support.

Click here to lend your support to: Will vs. Alzheimer

Posted in Injury, Run, Training | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Race Report: Beer Mile

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Will

Gettin’ Slushy Beer Mile, Seattle, WA – 10/26/2011

Last week I raced in a “Beer Mile“, in which you chug a can of beer and run a lap around a track, 4 times.  That is to say:

chug, run
chug, run
chug, run
chug, run
finish!

I had a damn good time and I learned a lot. I think I’ll definitely be able to place better next year. Lessons learned:

  • Throat freeze. I don’t ever get ‘brain freeze’ because my esophagus freaks out first. I bought some Budweiser that I was letting warm up to prevent this issue, but on the way there I realized the buds were wide-mouthed, which is against the rules, so I ended up with cold rainier to chug. Doh.
  • It’s not the liquid, it’s the carbonation. You have to be able to belch the bubbles out, lest they get to bouncing and decide to come out more violently. I did pretty well here.
  • I need to practice sprinting off the line. It took way too long to get up to a good speed, and I think I could have gone much faster, especially if I’d warmed up more before the race.

The guy that won beat me by two minutes. In fact, he finished while I was still chugging my 4th beer. So, I’ve got a lot of ground to make up, but I think I can do it. This was my first time, and I was super pleased just to beat 10 minutes.

Post-race celebrations and libations took place at College Inn Pub, where I had half a plate of nachos and a veggie grinder, which I think tasted pretty good, but by that point things were getting a little fuzzy. I’d just run a whole mile, after all.

Results:

total: 9:52

placed: 6/14 overall.

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Choose

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Will

Every now and then I’ll see some old dude with a cane or a lady with a walker, slowly making their way along the sidewalk, hunched over and clearly in pain. I wonder how they got to that point, and if it was preventable.

Time is harsh, sure, and genetics play their part, but there’s also something to be said about the choices you make when you’re still able to do so. It was terrifying to watch my grandfather’s mind and body betray him as he slowly succumbed to dementia, and ultimately, death. After that, I decided that I wanted to die happy, coherent, active, and super old.

I just realized I don’t really know much about my grandfather’s diet (why would I?). I know he liked a good steak, and he had a pretty standard retiree’s belly, but he wasn’t obese. He’d have a beer now and then, when I was 4 or so we’d go to McDonald’s once a week. He’d go on walks for exercise, and worked at H&R Block during tax season to keep his mind sharp (worked for a while, I guess). He also smoked from the age of 12 until… his 30s? Not sure.

In any case, I smoked for a decade, and ate garbage for much longer than that. I lost myself in narcotics for a year. I also still have a penchant for drinking excessively when not in a serious training phase. These all count against me, and who knows what’s lurking in my genes, but I’ll do what I can with a plant-based diet and an excessive amount of fitness. Then maybe, just maybe, come 2077 I’ll be as awesome as this guy:

This is what I choose.

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Race Report: Portland Marathon

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Will

Portland Marathon, Portland, OR – 10/9/2011

A couple months ago I noticed the Portland marathon was happening the day after my birthday. I decided that, instead of my usual birthday plan of getting hammered and staggering home around dawn, I would run a marathon. This would be only my second marathon, but I was far better prepared and in much better shape than last year. This would also be my first race as a (mostly) vegan. So, lots going on!

Continue reading →

Posted in Mistakes, Race Reports, Vegan | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Race Report: Grand Columbian Half Iron

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Will

Grand Columbian Super Triathlon, Grand Coulee, WA – 9/17/2011

The race was under new ownership this year (Trifreaks), so I was interested to see how it compared to last year. Other than a lack of details about the two transition bag system they use there, they did fine.

Continue reading →

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1 week, no meat

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Will

It’s now been a week since I last had any meat. So far, so good! It is definitely an adjustment, though.

For the first time in my life, I bonked on a run. Even with a massive bowl of oatmeal in the morning and lots of fruit and veggies throughout the day, I clearly wasn’t getting enough calories. Just a couple miles into a run Thursday, I suddenly felt a little sick and very, very tired. I had to fight the urge to lay down on the sidewalk and take a nap. I ended up just walking all the way home. Annoying, but informative.

Throughout the week I’ve been thinking of various food favorites that I can’t have as a vegan. Pizza, sushi, cheese, biscuits & gravy, eggs benedict… ugh. So depressing. I’d better have abs by the spring or someone’s going to pay.

At dinner Friday night, I ordered sweet potato fries. They arrived with a selection of dipping sauces, which I immediately stuck a fry into and then stopped. The sauces were all pretty obviously cream based. DAMMIT. Ketchup it is, then. My veggie burger had cheese on it, which I removed, and more of the dipping sauce on the bun, which I scraped off. I’ll have to try to remember to specify “no cheese or sauce” when ordering veggie burgers.

Although I’ll keep it vegan at home, I think I’ll loosen the restriction to just vegetarian when out on the town, as necessary. Otherwise I’m sure I’d soon find myself somewhere where I can’t eat anything on the menu!

Posted in Nutrition, Run, Vegan | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Real men eat plants

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Will

I changed my eating habits a couple years ago. I went from eating lots of ‘hungry man’ microwave dinners, mac-n-cheese, hot dogs, and other assorted, heavily processed and salt-and-sugar laden products to a fairly simply diet that consisted mainly of pasta, chicken, and any of a variety of somewhat healthy pasta sauces. This evolved to include tomatoes as my main vegetable, plus apples, bananas and almonds for snacking. I would also occasionally have a salad. This is a pretty gross over-simplification, but the point is this: I felt better. I lost weight and I had more energy. I was a happier, more confident version of myself. Now it looks like it may be time to change things up yet again.

I’ve been reading a lot of articles lately about how much energy is required to produce the meat that I eat, as opposed to vegetables (it takes 10x as many fossil fuels to produce 1 calorie of meat). I’ve also been looking at my diet and realizing how it’s lacking in greens and other vegetables that aren’t tomatoes. These factors, combined with my passion for triathlon, led me to purchase Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life, by Brendan Brazier.

I’ve been playing with some of the recipes in the past couple weeks, and I have to say, YUMMMMMMMM!!!! There is certainly a bit of a cost hurdle, as you suddenly need a variety of herbs and oils you’ve never used, or possibly heard of before. If you just get a little each week, though, it hurts a bit less. In any case, the first third of the book makes a great case for vegan living, and the author isn’t some pasty anemic hippy, he’s a professional Ironman triathlete. One of the principal things I’ve learned is that plants contain protein. What? No way. Really?

 

Really.

I was thinking I would just incorporate some of the vegan recipes into my diet, but not go full vegan. I mean, meat is dang tasty, and good for you in moderation, right? Wrong. I just watched Forks over Knives (via Netflix), and I’m blown away. The evidence is overwhelming that meat and dairy products are bad for you. We’ve been told for decades by the USDA that we need meat for protein and milk for calcium, but it’s a lie. The studies clearly show that any society that boosts its consumption of meat and dairy also sees an explosion in cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, etc, etc.

My favorite part of the movie involved the son of one of the featured doctors, who was a professional triathlete himself for a decade (as a vegan, no less), and then decided to become a firefighter, in Austin, TX. When one of the other firefighters discovered he had a 330+ cholesterol count, the whole firehouse went vegan to help him get healthy. The segment ended with a shot of the triathlete/firefighter going up the firepole using only his hands, chanting “real men eat plants, real men eat plants.” He wasn’t even winded when he reached the top.

So, let’s review. I can:

  • improve my athletic performance and overall health
  • lose weight
  • live a longer, happier life
  • hit the evil mega-corporate agri-business regime where it hurts (the pocket book)

… all while using 1/10th of the fossil fuels?

Yeah, alright. That sounds pretty OK to me. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Click here to lend your support to: Will vs. Ironman and Alzheimer

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How to make a good salad

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Will

A while back I decided to eat try eating a big salad for breakfast (I still do occasionally, but now they’re more of a lunchtime thing). I then wrote up some directions for how to make such a salad, which Matt has now made some art for:

Here’s the directions the above was based on:

  1. Buy a big-ass salad spinner
  2. Buy fixin’s: romaine lettuce (2 small heads or 1 biggin), dressing (something good and good for you, not just full of fat and salt. Newman’s light italian is excellent), tomatoes and/or sesame seeds and/or flax seeds and/or croutons and/or carrots and/or celery and/or spinach and/or shredded cheese (mozz or parm or whatever)
  3. Put 6 eggs in a pot with water and put it on the stove on high.  What’s it gets good and boily, turn it down a notch and leave it alone for a while.
  4. Rip the butt off the lettuce and run each leaf under the faucet to rinse it off.  Set the wet leaves on a plate or something, or just on the counter if you’re really lazy.
  5. Grasp a small handful of leaves and twist 1-inch pieces off the end, dropping the segments into the spinner.  Repeat until you have a bunch of wet lettuce chunks in your spinner.
  6. Spin.
  7. Now spin the spinner.
  8. Remove the spinner’s basket from the clear bowl and dump the greenish water from the bowl into a nearby plant or onto the neighbor’s dog.
  9. Dump the lettuce into the bowl.
  10. Slice and dice your fixin’s as needed and add them to the bowl (but not the croutons or cheese, lest they get soggy/slimy).
  11. Cover the bowl with saran and stick it in the fridge.
  12. Have the eggs been boiling for 10 minutes or so?  Probably.  Put’m in a bowl and stick’m in the fridge.
  13. BREAKFAST: put a big-ass handful of salad in a bowl, add dressing and croutons and/or cheese, and add one of the eggs (peel it under a running faucet for extra points)
  14. Be awesome.
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New Header, my birthday, and Ironman CDA

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Will

New header image up above there, courtesy of my artist friend Matt Empson. Thanks, Matt!

Also, it’s my birthday next month, but I don’t want presents. All I want is for you to help me fight Alzheimer’s while motivating me to train for and complete Ironman CDA, which I am now officially signed up for! Yikes!

Click here to lend your support to: Will vs. Ironman and Alzheimer

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Race Report: Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Will

Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens, Lake Stevens, WA – 8/14/2011

This was my first “Ironman” branded event, and holy cow was it ever huge! There were 3-4 times as many participants as any other event I’ve done, and the organization of it all definitely felt a bit crisper than other events.

The bike corral was huge, and kind of in three different sections across one continuous area. My spot happened to be near the swim exit. This was good in that I didn’t far to go after exiting the water, but bad in that it meant I had the other two sections to get through with my bike. This picture is from the day before, with the red arrow pointing at my bike. The next day it was just a bit more packed.

I again drank several bottles of Gatorade and loads of water the day before the race, while checking in and racking my bike in the corral. At home, I put my bike bottles full of Cytomax in the freezer, staged my gear by the door, and went to bed super early, as I had to get up at 3am. Ugh!

I’d vacillated quite a bit in my head as to whether I should try for parking near the event or take the shuttle from the nearby high school. I ended up trying to parking, and scored a great spot just a couple blocks away!

At the park, the air was alive with the excitement and nerves of 1K+ athletes getting ready to kick some ass. Somehow my parents infiltrated the corral to say hi and good luck and whatnot, then I walked them over to the swim start area. They decided that since they wouldn’t be able to see me start the swim anyway (it was an open water start, at the end of a long dock), and couldn’t hover near where my bike was, they would stake out a spot near the exit from the corral to catch me as I started the bike leg. That’s my dad behind me. Except where noted, the pics are by the official race photographers, who I think did an excellent job.

Getting back to the start, though, the pros were first up at 6:30am. In all these events, there’s always big speakers blasting peppy music. As the final countdown started they were playing AC/DC’s For Those About to Rock, and they timed the countdown so it was “for those about to rock… BANG” and the pros were off.  Then the age group waves got going in 3 minute intervals (18-21 year old men, then women, then 22-25 year old men, etc).

I did my usual slow start to let the competitive sorts get ahead and thus reduce the risk of getting kicked in the face. Then I meandered over to the outer edge of the remaining group and found my rhythm. I had a lot of trouble staying in a straight line for some reason, but still finished the swim in about 44 minutes. No PR there, but still just fine for me.

As I set out on the bike, I discovered that my bottles were still quite frozen, such that it was hard to get any fluid out. The first bottle slowly melted over the first hour, just barely quickly enough to keep me hydrated.

Since this was a local race for me, I’d been able to do a couple practice runs on the course before race day. The planned 1 loop course (which I’d decided I didn’t like) had to be scrapped 2 weeks before the race due to road construction, and they went back to the 2 loop course from last year. This meant a crapton of rolling hills followed by a super fast flat section, then several steep, long climbs. I liked the 2 loop course a LOT more.

It was weird getting passed on the uphill bits by groups of people on disc wheels, as they make this odd whirring noise with each downstroke. On the flats and downhills they were past you before you realized you were hearing anything. And getting passed by the pros was simply terrifying, as they’re going so fast that you can look behind you, see nothing, and a couple seconds later FOOOOM, and they’re gone.

I checked my average speed after the first loop and was shocked to see 17mph. Woah! I was flying! My second loop was a little slower, but I still beat my Chelan time by 20 minutes.

About a mile into the run my abs betrayed me and started cramping up. This has been a recurring problem for me that I’m still trying to figure out, but I think is most likely just due to me never doing any sit-ups… because I hate them. It might also be a problem in my nutrition plan on the bike, wherein I still have too much undigested gel/perpetuem/cytomax left in my gut. In any case, it meant that I had to alternate between walking until my abs loosened up, then running for a bit, then walking again, and so forth. It was especially frustrating because my legs were full of energy and my mind was sharp and clear, and I was ready to KICK ASS… but couldn’t.

  

As I was starting my second lap of the run, and I slowed again due to my gut, I ended up walking next to a gal who was suffering from the same malady. As she recovered and set off ahead of me, I noticed the age mark on her calf: 61. Dammit. I tried to keep up with her but she was going much faster than my gut would allow.

In the last few miles of the run, my gut finally relaxed enough that I was able to put on more speed. A half mile out, I spotted the 61-year-old ahead of me, and decided I was going to catch her. My mom took this great shot of me right as I started my sprint finish:

I just barely caught up to her right before the line, just as the announcer was going into a big congratulations for the 61-year-old grandma finishing and the crowd roared for her (and rightly so). I felt like a bit of a dick, but dammit, I wanted to beat her… and so I did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all it was a great race in a gorgeous area that, though very near my home town, I’d never been too. That’s definitely one of the things I’m loving about all this triathloning: the places it takes me to.

Results:

swim: 44:20 / bike: 3:24:42 / run: 2:26:44

(distances: 1.2 / 56 / 13.1 miles)

total: 6:43:07

placed: 96/106 in my division, 794/1005 overall.

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