Feb21-27

S: 26,100 yds
B: 10h 13min
R: 6h 14min

Total: 23h 19min

Big-ish volume week this week, courtesy of President's Day last Monday. Of course there was plenty of intensity as well and as a result I was doing everything I could to get enough sleep and make it to the next workout. I was making it through OK until a mile to go on run #2 on Sunday when I totally bit the dust. Wiped out. Took a dive. Needless to say it was pretty embarrassing but thankfully there were no witnesses.  But even if someone had seen it, I'm sure she wouldve been impressed with my incredibly graceful roll which prevented any serious damage.  So after a quick body assessment, I realized everything was functioning properly and, other than a couple of dirty limbs, I was no worse for the wear.  Seeing how this once again demonstrates my severe lack of coordination, it was just another affirmation that I picked the right sport.

Team Timex, Year V

As I mentioned in the previous post, last weekend was Team Timex camp up in New Jersey. This was my 5th camp, and once again it provided an awesome opportunity to hang out with old friends and meet some new ones. Every year I feel more and more humbled to be a part of such an amazing group of individuals.  Sure, a lot are athletically talented, but they are also all motivated, successful people in all aspects of life and that seemed even more prevalent this year. From investment bankers to chemists to lawyers to people with multiple advanced degrees, this team has it all. Oh, there are a few multiple IM winners in there, too. So huge props to Team Manager Tristan Brown, the man behind the scenes who somehow managed to top himself again by fielding another incredibly stellar team. 

For more thorough coverage of the weekend, head on over to the Team Timex Blog where you'll find Dave's roundup of the media coverage, as well as Barry's, Cassie's, and Brian's accounts of the weekend.

If you only check out one link, though, I'd highly recommend this video courtesy of LAVA Magazine:
"Video: Reunion Tour—The Original Triathlon Team Celebrates a Decade"

Some quotes from the video which really sum up with this team is all about:

"If it works for the athletes and we can create an environment that works for them, it will work for Timex and it will work for our other sponsors." -Tom Schuler, The Man

"What we really look for is someone who likes racing, who races a lot, and is successful. But also someone who is really into the community of triathlon... If you're on the Timex Team, you're someone that most people like; you're not somebody who is a punk just doing triathlon. " -Tristan Brown, Team Manager

"I think it proves, after 10 years, that this is a great platform." -Keith Meyer, Timex

Feb14-20

S: 30,200 yds
B: 2h
R: 4h 38min

Total: 14h 35min

Recovery from Mercedes combined with the trip to New Jersey for camp conspired to make the week fairly light in terms of overall hours. However, I did get in a few pretty high quality workouts towards the end of the week, even at camp.

Unlike last year, this year we had pool access so at 5:45AM on both Friday and Saturday we all piled into vans and were shuttled to a local HS pool. After fairly quickly self-sorting into lanes, we instinctively started circle swimming. 500ish yds later, the Lane 1 All-stars of Superman (aka Tim Hola), Laura Tingle, Gwen Jorgensen, Jessica Broderick, and myself, stopped in order to discuss what the heck we were going to do, as "just swimming" for an hour wouldve gotten pretty old, pretty quickly. I half jokingly suggested we "just do 30x100" but to my surprise, everyone in the lane was game. So since it was my suggestion, I had the privilege of leading. We agreed on 5 on 1:15, 5 on 1:20, 4 on 1:15, 4 on 1:20, etc. It was a great set and before I knew it, the set was done and I was proud to have kept Superman off my feet.


Because we still had some time left, we then proceeded to knock out some fly at the insistence of Ms. Tingle. As you can see by checking the link above, there is a reason why I stick to free....

I usually swim by myself so it was a lot of fun to get in a quality training session with some quality athletes. Additionally, I was a bit surprised at how quickly we agreed upon the workout and got right to work. Needless to say, triathletes can be known for rigid, meticulous training plans but this didnt seem to be a problem with our group. Although we probably only had a little over an hour in the water, we managed to decide on a workout and get in around 4500 yds. Nothing like getting in and getting the work done!

I've got another confession to make...

In the words of the Fighters of Foo, I've got another confession to make: I like pop music. This shouldnt imply that I like all pop music, as I could certainly do without ever hearing Rihanna or Britney Spears again. But recently I haven't been able to get enough of a couple of undoubtedly overly poppy pop stars: Katy Perry and Ke$ha.

Of course this isn't a recent occurrence, as a former race report indicates, but just an affirmation, or perhaps a realization, of how epically awesome Katy and Ke$ha are. Say what you want, but you know they're like crack AND YOU JUST CANT GET ENOUGH. As if the addictive melodies and up-tempo rhythm isn't was't sufficient, many of the songs' lyrics are simply brilliant.

From "Ur So Gay", by KP:
You don’t eat meat
And drive electrical cars
You’re so indie rock it’s almost an art
You need SPF 45 just to stay alive

You’re so gay and you don’t even like boys
No you don’t even like
No you don’t even like
No you don’t even like boys

And from "Grow A Pear", by Ke$ha:

I'm not trying to be rude or crude
I just wanted one thing from you
And you got confused
You should know oh-oh-oh-oh,
That I la ah-ah-ah-ah-ove
You a law ah-ah-ah-aht
But I just can't date a dude with a vag

When we fell in love, you made my heart drop
Then you had me thinking 'bout you nonstop
But you cry 'bout this and whine about that
When you grow a pear, you can call me back
Yeah, I think you're hot, I think you're alright
But you're acting like a chick all the time
You were cool and now you're not just like that
When you grow a pear, you can call me back

Most importantly, though, both are admirable due to the hurdles they had to overcome to achieve success. KP grew up in a incredibly conservative Christian home and learned to love music at an early age while signing in the church choir. She knew she was talented and knew she wanted to pursue a music career, so at the age of 15 she got her GED and recorded her first album. At 17 she moved to LA and recorded another album, which also failed to garner much success. After continuing to write songs she finally found a record company and in 2008 at the age of 23 she released "I Kissed a Girl" and, well, the rest is history. She certainly could've given up along the way, but she had a goal and remained focused on it until she attained success.

Ke$ha came from even more modest beginnings as her mom relied on welfare and food stamps to get by. She too knew she wanted to be a musician from a very young age as she would write songs with her mom after coming home from school. Also, like Katy, she got her GED early to focus on her music career, despite the fact that she scored a 1500 on her SAT. Finally, Ke$ha made a guest appearance on one of the best Planet Money podcasts ever, which earns her HUGE bonus points!

So yes, this is a confession of an addict. Correspondingly, this is also a justification for liking something which has a negative connotation, for no good reason. You know you like KP and Ke$ha, so here is your excuse to admit it. They are both incredibly driven individuals who worked hard for their successes. How is that something to be ashamed of?

Feb7-13

S: 26,000 yds

B: 4h 35min

R: 5h 11min

Total: 16h 37min

Overall it was a good week of training, capped by a decent race, the Mercedes Half Marathon, in Birmingham on Sunday. I ran 1:13:25, on the rolling course, good for 13th place in what was a pretty decent field.

I started out with a pretty big pack, which started to string out after about 4 miles, at which point I was running back and forth with one other guy. He eventually fell off and I focused my sights on two guys up the road. Around mile 9 I finally started reeling them in, passing first around mile 10.5 and the second a bit after 11. Then, a bit after 12 mile mark, the guy I passed at 10.5 came back on me and pulled away up the hill which makes up the majority of the last half mile. I attempted to sprint, but it was to no avail. Although I was hoping to go a bit faster, the time was about what I realistically thought I could run given the recent lack of fast training due to the leg issue. And while the result wasn't stellar, it was great to get in a hard effort and do a bit of racing.

Increase the Awesome

Jan31-Feb4

S: 26,200 yds

B: 8h

R: 6h 40min

Total: 21h 34min

Not much new here, just putting in the work and trying to get enough sleep. And trying to stay warm, which was a struggle when my HVAC went out.

With my hamstring issue finally subsiding a bit I actually got in a couple of decent running workouts. One was in 20mph winds on the Rocket City Marathon course while the other included loops in Grissom HS's parking lot, but both were loads of fun! The real test, of course, will be the Mercedes Half Marathon this weekend. I'm not sure that I'm in PR shape but should be ready for a decent showing. Really though, I'm just looking forward to getting out and racing a bit, as it will be a nice contrast to trainer intervals in the basement and solo run workouts in the dark.

Jan24-30

S: 31,700 yds

B: 8h 45min

R: 5h 27min

Total: 22h 33min

This past week was a bit of a drag. My hamstrings were really, really tight on Monday, so much so that I had trouble doing any sort of running at all Monday evening. I finally started to return to a form of normalcy by the end of the week, but that was only after struggling through a slow threshold workout on Wednesday and skipping fast running on Friday altogether. The strange (and frustrating) thing is I have no idea what the cause was. It seems to have subsided, though, so hopefully I can get in a couple of decent workouts this week before Mercedes comes at the end of next.

On the bright side, we had a really nice (read: warm) weekend which made for an enjoyable but hard (5 climbs) long ride on Saturday.

Jan17-23

S: 20,200 yds

B: 8h 18min

R: 6h 42min

Total: 20h 19min

Ouch. After a month or so of getting back into the swing of things, the hard work starts now. Or, to be more precise, started at the beginning of last week. Making the week less fun was the ridiculously cold weather which continues to persist. The result? I really didnt want to get up this morning. But then Katy Perry came on my clock radio and I was out of bed and ready for another week. Happy Monday!

QOTD

"So that is the basic plan. Nothing fancy. Just a lot of hard work and convincing yourself by matching things that you've done before that you're as fast as you've ever been, and you're stronger than you've ever been because you're doing more work, more volume." -Alberto Salazar

I'm pretty sure AS has been a QOTD recipient before, but he deserves it again. It can be easy to get caught up in the newest training fad, but really training does not need to be that complicated. Just put in the work, and see the results. This doesnt mean it is easy, of course, but it does mean success can be had with relatively simple methods.

The quote came from an interview with Kara Goucher and her coach, AS. The interview focuses on Kara's return to competition after having a baby, and what some of her goals are for the upcoming season. Meanwhile, AS tells how he plans to bring her back and get her ready for the Boston Marathon.

Jan10-16

S: 26,500 yds

B: 9h 25min

R: 4h 58min

Total: 21h 21min

Snow! Yes, snow pretty much dictated last week. Huntsville got 6-8" of snow last Sunday night, causing business closures Monday and Tuesday and school closures for the entire week. This made exercising outdoors a chore, so thankfully it was a pretty chill week on the training front. Well, chill on every front, really! Thankfully the temperature did warm a bit by the weekend, so I was able to get out in the balmy low 40s weather on Saturday for a very solid ride with DV. It was weird still seeing snow on the ground almost a week later but great to get outside for a bit (or a while... OK a long while).

This week, I fear, the real fun begins...

The Man

I was going to pick a QOTD from this article, but then I realized I couldnt decide on just one.

Slowtwitch.com finally got around to interviewing Coach Paulo so if you havent read it yet take a couple of minutes and check it out. I say "finally" because although Paulo hasnt published any books or coached hoards of age groupers, he does know his stuff and is well respected by a number of other top level athletes and coaches. Additionally, he is such a derisive yet influential voice on ST's Triathlon forum that I am sure a number of posters looked forward to this slightly more personal interview. So for those looking to glean some advice from the "evil genius," check it out.

Jan3-9

S: 28,700 yds

B: 6h 49min

R: 6h

Total: 20h 22min

Another easyish week in the books. Well, except for Saturday when I, for some reason, thought it would be a good idea to go on a 4h ride with my cycling friends. Now there are plenty of cyclists who go on "base" rides in the winter and they largely useless, as they are way to easy to illicit any significant physiological adaptations. However, when the cyclists in question are few (3) and all have powermeters, there is no screwing around. This is great, until its your turn to pull into a headwind after 3h in the saddle.

Anyway, although I'm sure my feet, which lost feeling, beg to differ, it was nice to get outside for a few hours over the weekend as I've been stuck inside due to Snowmaggedon 2011. Sunday night the heavens opened up and I now have ~6" of snow in my yard and cant really get anywhere. I thought this was the South??

QOTD

"How many of the top Kenyan runners have sons or daughters who are excelling at running?" asks Pitsiladis. "Almost none. Why? Because their father or mother becomes a world champion, has incredible resources, and the child never has to run to school again."

Yannis Pitsiladis is a biologist at the University of Glasgow who collects the DNA of champions, both sprint and endurance athletes, in an attempt to determine if there are genes which are necessary for success in certain sports. David Epstein quotes him in this great article on SI.com which attempts to shed some light on the age-old "nature vs nurture" debate.

All in all the article is very thorough and well worth the read. Epstein presents both sides of the argument, showing that indeed both nature AND nurture are critical for success. In the end, though, he postulates that perhaps the most important gene is the one that makes an individual push herself to work hard. Either way, there is plenty of evidence to back both sides; either you have the ability to improve, or you are destined to a predetermined fate. I guess that leaves it up to you, then, to determine which you would like want to believe!

Dec27-Jan2

S: 27,300 yds

B: 9h 11min

R: 6h 7min

Total: 22h 29min

Happy New Year! Pretty crazy, eh?

The holiday weekend meant I was able to spend a little extra time on the bike, so I took advantage of the nice weather on Friday and got out for a few hours with Timo. Saturday and Sunday, however, were not so nice, and I was reminded how much bicycling in the winter can, and often does, royally suck. The ride in the partial rain on Saturday wasnt too bad, as it was still up in the low 50s. The on Sunday, OTOH, was awful as my shoes were still wet, the temps were in the mid-30s, and the wind was unbearably strong. Upon finally arriving home, I was thankful all of my toes were still working.

And now, on to 2011. Time to figure out which races to do and try to get an idea of what the year will look like.