Fantasy Camp

Why Ironman?

"Because marathons have been ruined by people who think it’s fine to walk. Because life is too easy and Everest is too far away" Elizabeth Weil

Like many people, I've always wanted to do Ironman. Not an Ironman, though; just the Ironman. You know, the big one in Kona. The World Championships. But, as a middle-of-the-pack guy, my chance of qualifying for Kona is about as likely as me dunking in the NBA championships. So, I dream, I watch TV coverage, and I keep doing my little sprints and olympics. Life is good.

Oh yeah - and I enter the Ironman Lottery.

And I win.

So, the guy who has never done a tri longer than an Olympic; has run one marathon 15 years ago; last rode a century bike ride during Clinton's presidency (the FIRST term), and who times his OWS with a tide table, is going to Kona.

I equate this to going to Fantasy Camp - you know, where you pay big bucks to go pretend you're a big league ball player, or you drive a race car for a living.

While this has been public knowledge for a while, until I had a lot of logistics in place and I did my validation race (Providence 70.3 a few weeks back), I didn't want to say much. With this all being in place, I'm going to invite everyone along for the ride. For the next 75 days (holy crap - less than 11 weeks!), I'll be keeping everyone updated on my training, my progress, and my general freaking-out. Maybe daily, maybe every-other day, maybe just a few lines. But we are going to have some fun!



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With Adversity Comes - Great Results?

Back in February and March, I had a few kicks-in-the-teeth with my bike.  First was a local indoor time trial, where I was the Lantern Rouge in my heat - by several minutes.  I could blame it on my first time doing an ITT, but whatever the reason, it was a very poor performance.

A few days later, I went out on my road bike and had one of my best rides ever.  Great effort, great MPH average.  Where did THAT come from?

Then a few weeks later, I did a lactate threshold test on the bike.  I had one done last year by the same person, and had great hopes for this year. 

So much for hopes.

My wattage only went up by about 5% from last year - although I should point out, my weight went down by about 10% from last year, so my watts/kg was a huge improvement.

And then I went out a few days alter, and had an even better bike ride han that stellar one after the ITT.

Not sure what happened, or why after these disappointing performances I had great efforts.  But my bike performance has definitely improved since the ITT, and keeps getting better.

Even if I do get lost on my rides.

"I may be lost, but I'm making great time!"

New Treatment for Obesity

This headline (from many sources) this week struck me:

"FDA Panel Backs Approval for Obesity Pill"

Umm.....

The best treatment for obesity is not FDA approved; it's available without a prescription; and it costs you nothing.

IT'S DIET AND EXERICSE, PEOPLE!

Weight loss is actually simple - you can even boil it down to an easy formula:

Calorie Intake < Calorie Expenditure

That's it.  Burn more than you take in.  Sure, a bunch of different ways to do it - exercise more, eat less, eat cleanly, cut out carbs/fats/protein/sweets/milk/soda/you get the idea.  Most people would never need a pill if they just followed the equation above.

But as a friend pointed out, that takes effort and self control; american consumers will never go for it.

40 is the new....Championship Age?

A few (20+) years ago, I remember listening to Jimmy Buffett sing about how he was an over 40 victim of fate - and 40 seemed like it was so far away.

Now I'm 40, and it seems really young!

And look at a few recent examples of how young 40-ish can be:

--  The last 2 guys to win Kona - Macca and Crowie -  were the oldest ever to win (38+).
--  Lance Armstrong takes second in Panama 70.3 at 40 after 20 years away from triathlon.
--  And it's not just the blokes:  Dara Torres won 3 silvers in swimming at 41, and is talking about going back to the olympics in 2012 - at 45 - and Janet Evans at 40 is booked in the Olympic Trials this summer.

And just so you think it's only about 40 - this guy decided at 100 he was going to do something fun - like set a record in cycling http://nyti.ms/xI9jmm

Gives hope for those of us who used to think that 40 was old...

Australia, mate!

Just got back from a few weeks Down Under - going back to where I lived for 3.5 years. It still amazes me how clean the capital cities (Sydney, Adelaide) are. In Sydney, it seemed like there were a lot more bike lanes then when I was last there 7 years ago, and a lot of commuters using them. In Adelaide (where I lived), the cycling culture seems to have really picked up. People of all shapes and sizes, some cruising, some hard core; more bike shops than I recall, too. I wonder if this is an effect of the Tour Down Under becoming more prominent on the Pro Tour.

While I didn't get a chance to bike, I did some running and swimming in; tried to find a tri or running race to jump into, but no luck.

Oh well - I guess sometimes a vacation can be just for fun...


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Australia, Mate!

Just got back from a few weeks Down Under - going back to where I lived for 3.5 years.  It still amazes me how clean the capital cities (Sydney, Adelaide) are.  In Sydney, it seemed like there were a lot more bike lanes then when I was last there 7 years ago, and a lot of commuters using them.  In Adelaide (where I lived), the cycling culture seems to have really picked up.  People of all shapes and sizes, some cruising, some hard core; more bike shops than I recall, too.  I wonder if this is an effect of the Tour Down Under becoming more prominent on the Pro Tour.

While I didn't get a chance to bike, I did some running and swimming in; tried to find a tri or running race to jump into, but no luck.

Oh well - I guess sometimes a vacation can be just for fun...

Feeling Dry?

Like many, I picked up what I'll politely call the stomach bug that's been going around.  One of the joys of working in the ER is I'm exposed to all kinds of yuckiness; despite copious Purell and soap, I do occasionally 'take my work home'.

Gruesome details:  Projectile vomiting for about 5 minutes.

After that, I noticed my heart was POUNDING.  I felt very tachycardic; when I checked, my heart rate was between 90-100.  I laughed to myself - my fast is some other peoples' normal - but it led me to two thoughts.

1.  When you're in decent shape (read: middle of the pack) and your resting heart rate is low 50's, 90 feels miserable when you're sitting there.

2.  I must be borderline dehydrated at any given time.  This isn't good. 

While I try to keep up on my fluids, and I do pretty well before a race, my day-to-day hydration must be suspect.  5 minutes of hurling should not throw me into a dehydration that 2 liters of IV fluid couldn't fix.  I had mutliple signs of dehydration - heart rate, sucken eyes, pale - the diagnosis wasn't in question to anyone who saw me.  How is this affecting my performance and - more importantly - my health?  I've often said that good hydration will fix a lot of bad habits, but what if I'm dehydrated WITH those bad habits?

It really opened my eyes.  Despite attempts to stay hydrated, it stands there with training, rest and nutrition as something I need to keep track of as I am obviously falling behind.  So I'll ask:  how's your hydration?

Off to the water cooler...