Every now and then I do something really dumb. Â In the past two weeks I outdid myself.
I bought a pair of Vibram Bikila LS shoes to give the old barefoot running thing a try. I knew you were supposed to start out slow and give your body a chance to adapt, but I underestimated what “slow” meant, and did 4.5 miles on my trial run (on a Wednesday).
DUMB DUMB DUMB.
10 weeks to go until my first half-iron triathlon. Â Yikes! Â What drives me to train 9 times a week, saying no to social activities and foods I would otherwise happily engage in? Â Well…
I admit it, I’m addicted to training.  It took me quite a while to get to this point.  When I started running again two years ago, I had to force myself out the door each time.  As I improved, though, and I was able to sustain a faster pace over longer sessions, I started to finally feel the “runner’s high” I’d heard of.  Knowing that feeling is waiting for me out there definitely helps, and it’s sort of like practicing being happy, which I find carries over into my non-training life (that is, I’m usually in a good mood).
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New crazy goal for next year (maybe): Leadman Epic 250.
5K swim / 223K bike / 22K run
aka
3.1mi  / 138.6mi  / 13.7mi
I just have to get my half-iron completion time under 6:15 to qualify.
Oh, is that all?
crazy bastard…
It’s taken me a long time to form good eating habits. Â Just a couple years ago my dinner would alternate between microwave dinners and mac-n-cheese (sometime with hot dogs thrown in). Â It was quick, simple, and I didn’t have to think about it or plan ahead or read directions or anything. Â Change is hard, but here’s some tips:
The second page of this article lays out some math to calculate your Half-iron time goal based on a past Olympic distance performance. Â So, based on my results at The Grand Columbian, I should be shooting for:
swim: 42:16
bike: 3:30:30
run: 2:29:24
total: 6:42:10
I’m on a 16 week training plan by Matt Fitzgerald that I took out of Triathlete magazine last year, and held onto until now. Â Here’s a sample week:
rest day!
When I’m running along my neighborhood sidewalks, I’ll sometimes be approaching someone from behind who is taking up a great deal of the available space. My calls of “excuse me!” are often ignored, or at least not reacted to swiftly enough to let me past without slowing down.
A while back I realized that there’s a gut reaction to the sound of footsteps approaching from behind: a quick head spin to see who/what is attacking. Â So I play on that and let my heel drag on the pavement, making that distinctive ‘chuff’ sound. Â Assuming they don’t have their headphones set to 11, they’ll immediately react, see me approaching, and step aside.
I can then smile and thank them as I fly past.
Back before I knew anything about anything, I would set out for a run in the morning on an empty stomach, thinking that my body would be forced to use my fat stores for fuel. Â Although it is possible to train the body to do this, it’s more complicated than simply not eating. Â All I was really doing was setting myself up for a disappointing workout.
Now I know that by fueling up before I train, I can push myself harder, forcing my body to adapt more, which means more strength, speed, etc. Â Usually this means half a low-sodium turkey sandwich with honey mustard, at least a half hour before I train:
That works for weights, the bike, and swimming. Â Running with a sandwich in me usually causes a side-ache, though, so instead I’ll have a banana. Â Before really long sessions I’ll have a bowl of pasta with chicken, a full 2 hours prior to setting out.
You have to experiment to find what works for you.
Back in the fall last year, I ripped a half-iron training plan out of Triathlete magazine. Â It’s a 16 week plan by Matt Fitzgerald (which I’m starting this week, actually). Â I wanted to start serious training again some time in January, so that meant finding a half-iron to do in May, preferably one I could drive to. Â These criteria led me to find the Auburn Triathlon, in Auburn, CA, dubbed the “world’s toughest half”. Â Sounds like fun to me!
I went to Whistler with a bunch of friends last weekend, and tried out snowshoeing for the first time.  It turns out that I love it!  You get a great workout while stomping around in the snow without the risk of horrendous knee injury that comes with skiing and snowboarding.  Plus, it’s a lot cheaper.  Before you go, though, make sure you read up on Non-Avalanche Related Snow Immersion Death!
You’ll need some shoes and some poles, and probably also a camera, so you can take awesome pictures:
