Not the result I was hoping for

Story to follow. General grumpiness. Extreme poison ivy exposure (no rash - yet). Will try again some other time.

Fritz

Girding my loins

(for my future son, "girding" means to "armor ones self", and by implication "to prepare", and "loins" isn't a dirty word. Stop giggling and get a haircut!)

It's been a busy few hours getting ready for the race. Because the event is in Lake Nockamixon, PA, which is about 2 hours north, and I want to be in place by 8 for registration and to get a primo parking place (which is used as a transition area, so the closer the better!), I am staying in a hotel tonight so that I don't have to be awake at 430 in the morning. That means I have been gathering all of my crap together, getting things to the car, knowing that it's all likely to get rearranged tonight and tomorrow morning, and generally doing what I (in more meditative moments) call: The Ritual of Immaculate Gear.

Basically this involves spreading everything out on the floor, making sure that it works, oiling here and washing there, ensuring correct and logical operation, then casually dropping items into bags from which I will never be able to find them when I need them. Perfectly logical, no?

When I had it all laid out, I decided to take a few cell phone pics to share with you, my (few and rare) visitors; and possibly with you too, my unborn child (who needs to learn to aim better in the bathroom - ask your mother!).

In any case, the race is three main events and a few "team challenges" mixed in to keep the field spread out. Since I'm racing solo, I don't know what the challenges will mean to me. Teams are randomly assigned the order of their events after a scramble at the start so these can come in any order:

5 miles of trail running: competitors get a map with mandatory check points and optional check points. They have to get their race passport stamped at all of the mandatory spots, optional spots are time and/or points bonuses. There's no fixed route, the team decides where to go and how to get there within the boundaries of the competition area.

My chosen tools:

10 miles of mountain biking: similar to the running stage but with bikes.

 

My noble, but not yet race blooded, steed. It's also still unnamed, and that can't be good luck, so tonight I'll work that out.

 

Sundry riding gear:

 

5 miles of paddling: soloists get to use a sit-on-top kayak while teams use 3 person canoes. Same basic plan of collecting checkpoints, but with the added challenge of finding them on shore (or islands, or whatever) and paddling to them. This is the event that worries me since I haven't ever competitively paddled, and the last time I did anything other than a short noodle in the Potomac was in the boy scouts during the Reagan Administration.

 

Rented for the occasion:

 

Other stuff, used to make the day more comfortable, sooth aches and pains, and generally keep over-the-counter pharma in business:

Here's an inventory of what's in this pic (sponsors, please apply via email... no, really, please speak up this stuff adds up!)

• Tecnu: a soap specially formulated to clean off poison ivy oils
• Edurolytes and SportLegs: Salts and such to help fend off cramps and "the burn"
• AccelGel: My preferred gel. These have a touch of protein and a bit of caffeine mixed into the "raspberry snot" making them marginally more tolerable than others for me.
• Hydropel: foot treatment to help prevent blisters.
• Two pairs of sunglasses: eye protection is mandatory gear during the race, having a spare pair in the car can't hurt.
• A Casio MudMan watch: my preferred non-GPS sports watch. Cheap, functional, white (so it's visible if dropped among dark things... like leave, or mud, or the souls of Republicans). Did I mention cheap?
• Some pens: a pen or pencil is also mandatory gear on the course. Why? I dunno, a compass isn't required on this race, so I have no idea how this is useful. Perhaps for signing autographs after my triumphant finish?
• A cooler: no potable water is available in or near the transition area, so we have to supply our own water refills, I'll also stock a some snacks and such.

Additionally I'll have my civi clothes and set of post-event clean clothes, and some basecamp gear in case of technical issues. It's a lot of stuff!

 

This is a "sprint" event (basically anything less than 12 hours) and is expected to be complete-able within 6 hours.  Elite teams will probably finish in 4. Me? I hope to split the difference.

 

That's all the news that's fit to blog, I'll letcha know what happened at the race soon!

 

Fritz

 

The hay is already in the barn

I had been thinking of writing a post about workout scheduling, intensity cycling, and so forth but, I didn't. Instead, I've been working out, flopping on the couch, and occasionally working for my employer. Consider this a warning shot about silences to follow.

My first race of the season, the Savage Adventure Race, is coming up on Sunday and I've been trying to max then taper. It's been a mixed bag -  weather and technical issues fiddled with my riding plans on Sunday and strength training was a bust due to overall exhaustion, however I'm treating the week as an overall success. I suspect that I pushed my self too hard over the last couple of weeks leaving me a bit over-trained. Note to self: write that intensity cycling post, then follow the plan! This week is all about prep and maintenance: doing my normal workout routine but at a low intensity, stretching, and basically keeping my head in the game.

A common goof is to train all the way up to the competition, however that's burning energy that could be better used in the race. I heard a coach once say that "the hay is in the barn", meaning don't try to pack more in at the last minute. Therefore, it's better to cruise this week and show up at the starting line fresh (or fresh-ish, it does require a very early wake up on Sunday).

My foot is still bugging me, I think I may have bruised the ball pretty deeply, but I've been able to walk, run, and ride on it so as long as I'm not running on really pointy rocks, I should be OK.

It's too late to put it off, it's nearly time to do this thing!

Light workouts this week, keeping the joints moving

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/m7s5q1Nkhzw

With the race this weekend I am focusing on keeping my energy level up and my joints from getting stiff.

Ride to the bike shop... and home again

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/sYYzcpd8Ioc

I had planned on a longer ride this past Sunday, but instead rode my new MTB back to the shop since I was having some trouble with the tires. I'd had a flat and the bead was fighting me when I tried to replace the tube. So I rode up to the shop (5mi on the road), hung out, then got a master class in working on 29er tires. Did I mention that it was about 45F and raining? No? Well I have now.

Essentially this ride stunk, but mostly because of the weather not the shop, and 10mi is 10mi, right?

A Saturday morning run... complete with getting lost and bushwhacking!

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/kPkDvX1sSgM

Notice the scramble at about 40 minutes for 20 minutes or so. Yeah, we got lost in the woods. Jim and I had decided to use a lesser used trail, and suffered for it. Anyway, still a good workout.

F

It's still a workout if you get tired, right?

Endomondo Cross training Workout: was out cross training - in 28m:05s using Endomondo.

I actually cut this workout short since I was lagging.  This was a strength day, aka "weights", but I was just aching when I started. Woos-ish? Perhaps.

F

Today's morning run went rather well...

Running with my neighbor, Jim, is good for my pace. Even with an achy left foot (from Saturday's run) it was nice to get out and do it.

Endomondo Running Workout: was out running 3.89 miles in 42m:41s using Endomondo.

Now I can chill this evening.

F

Run in the morning, rain in the afternoon = workout karma!

Subject says it all!

F

Morning upper body and abs

Endomondo Cross training Workout: was out cross training - in 32m:52s using Endomondo

Should I have gone longer? Probably. But this wasn't a bad way to start the day.

circuit    4   

• pushup manmaker    10@15
• elastic row    50
• medball shoulders    10.1
• banana cannonball    15
• kb windmill    10@16.

Gear, gear, gear, gear... ooh, sweet sweet gear

As this blog is in its infancy and I am laying a foundation for the extended silences and benign neglect to come in the (probably near) future, I should continue my "stuff I think is important" theme. Last time I wrote about tools that are useful for assessing and tracking your training and performance. This time it's about more personal, practical, matters: gear.

The very word makes me happy. The clockwork of it. The well greasedness of it. Gear, like its homonymous analogue, makes things go 'round, mesh together, and transfer energy from point A to point B (where B is usually some form of gravity defiance). To torture this metaphor further: sporting gear can be made of hardened steel or pot metal; can mesh smoothly and silently or grind and throw sparks; and can make the same amount of effort produce results or whir away fruitlessly. Yes, Fair Reader, gear is a many splendor'd thing and yet also fraught with peril.

With so many things to chose from, it's easy to get spoiled by choice and make poor decisions. No amount of well meaning advice will change this. Take heart, it happens to us all. But COME ON just look at it all! Things that are shiny, clanky, light (or heavy), high- (or low-) tech. Things that make goofing off more than just a walk - or run or ride or paddle - in the woods (which isn't a bad thing all by itself). Things that, rightly or wrongly, raise your expectations of yourself. Things that are part of being au courant as an outdoors person. Things that are relentlessly hocked by advertisers and their puppets in the sporting press. In short: lovely lovely gear!

I have, on more than one occasion, been swept into flights of nostalgia upon opening my climbing pack or kit-crate and smelling the distinctive funk of sweat, rock dust, and aluminum 'biner residue. Boom! Right back to Zion. Snort! High up on Magical Chrome Plated Semi-Automatic Enema Syringe in Estes Park. Whiff! Somewhere along the Jamul time trial near San Diego. Oh yeah, I love me some gear.

Safety tip: do not intentionally smell my running, riding, or climbing shoes. *That* funk is a less joyful amalgam of flop sweat, micro fauna, sewage, unicorn tears, and leprechaun farts. It's been known to bring grown men to tears and cause children to flee.

When push comes to shove, for mere mortals, performance is still mostly in the muscles not in the gizmos, a fact that is brought home to many of us as we are humbled on the course, the route, the trail, or the track by some potbellied fred dressed like Forrest Gump in played out everything but still chugging along. It's also worth noting that new gear is almost always lighter, better integrated, and just plain newer (which for some textiles, such as rope or shoes, is justification in and of itself), but that's not necessarily a reason to trash something else that still works.

Am I gear whore? Of course not; a whore gets paid, contrariwise I pay (dearly). Therefore, I am a gear john.

Perfect weather for a ride on a Sunday... less perfect for a flat.

Today I went for 20 miles on purpose, rather than because of navigational errors. I was also working on riding the "new tire whiskers" off of my bike's new shoes. Note that I lost about 20 minutes at the end of my ride changing the tube in my rear wheel which pinch-flatted about a mile from home, and, being new tires with un-stretched, wire beads fought back ferociously.

Endomondo Mountain biking Workout: was out mountain biking 20.50 miles in 2h:46m:03s using Endomondo.

Endomondo Running Workout

A moderate out-n-back with my neighbor, Jim.  This was a good run, except that I stepped on something pointy which resulted in a large bruise, and its attendant swelling, in the middle of the ball of my left foot. Note to self: real trails are not covered in grey gravel. 

Endomondo Running Workout: was out running 5.01 miles in 52m:47s using Endomondo.

Riding home from the Bike Shop!

I had planned on a longer ride on Thursday, but instead was chewing the fat at the bike shop, followed by a casual buzz home on the roads.

Endomondo Mountain biking Workout: was out mountain biking 5.34 miles in 20m:01s using Endomondo.

Credit where credit is due

I am not the first guy to blog about being a bigger guy participating in endurance sports. One blog that I follow is on the Runners World site and is written by the very erudite Ted Spiker: The Big Guy Blog.

Ted is a runner who has also done a Tough Mudder.  Ted has sons.  Ted talks to fitness/health notables about fitness/health issues. Ted gets paid for this stuff (note to self, investigate the filthy lucre options ASAP!).

So, if he's already doing this, and probably doing it better than me, what's the point? The very question flies in the face of the blogging universe! I can't take it seriously.

Good on you, Ted.

Endomondo Cross training Workout

Endomondo Cross training Workout: was out cross training - in 38m:56s using Endomondo.

4/11/2012           
    circuit    5   
        pushup arm up    10
        bw squats    40
        med ball shoulders    10,10,5
        two hammer tire beating    lots
        elastic row    40
    abs        

Tools of the trade

If this blog is going to focus on athletic endeavors, and it is, and I'm going to blather on about how I feel, felt, or expect to feel as a result of a given activity, and I am, then I should introduce the gizmos and doodads that I plan to use to track my training. This way we can all say, "Oooh, that stretch of Widow Maker Hill where your pulse spiked to 185bpm but you maintained your 10 min mile pace must have been epic!" Or something.

At this point perhaps I should consider activating the "monetize" feature in Google Blogger so that ads related to the dingbats I discuss can be lovingly advertised alongside my super wicked word usements.  Fear not, Fair Reader, I shall spare you this bit of overt lucre grasping - for now.

Now: on with the show!

In this post the focus is on tools that anyone can use to take a snapshot of their current state of being and track changes in their performance (and corpus) over time.

A heart rate monitor
Perhaps the greatest insight for any athlete is knowing whether they are working out hard enough for long enough to do any good. An heart rate monitor (HRM) is the most direct way to track this for yourself, and these days you can get HRMs that can download data to a computer so that you can see how your pulse changed over the course of a workout.


To use an HRM you need to work out a few numbers.  There's a wealth of info on the net about determining your max, target, and anaerobic threshold heart rate values. Most will arrive at similar numbers using methods of various degrees of scientific merit and rigor. The easiest shorthand I've found for adult men is:

     target = 180 - age
     max = whenever you start to puke

Another popular version is:

     max = 220 - age
     target = max * 65%

In either case, you need to experiment and observe yourself while working out. I find that I am doing pretty well when my BPM is between 140-160 but if it gets up to 170 I really start gasping (and risk setting off an asthma attack). My numbers are well predicted by the formulae above, but there are aerobic mutants like Lance Armstrong (or Eddie Merckx, for the oldsters) who can maintain performance at his VO2max, i.e. at the edge of his body's ability to supply oxygen to cells, for extended periods of time. He's not normal. Us normal people should stay at or around our target heart rates.

I use a Garmin Forerunner 210 as my HRM which records my training data in a way that can be downloaded to a computer. You can also get bluetooth HRM straps that work with software running on a smart phone or tablet, which is pretty convenient!

Body Fat Scale
These scales know things about most people that they'd rather keep private! If you're already athletic, regardless of your real or perceived level of "fatness", get one of the models with an "athlete" mode which helps to compensate for higher lean body mass and bone density. I've a "Tanita BC-549" which can show weight, %body fat, level of hydration, BMI, and a number of other data I don't bother paying attention to.

I don't generally track my weight (a straight line is an uninformative graph) but I do weigh myself regularly and notice both my absolute weight and the percent body fat. These can vary a lot even within a single day, which is why the advice is to weigh yourself at the same time every day. Before or after your morning shower is the easiest, but, because you're probably somewhat dehydrated first thing in the morning, your weight may read low and %BF may appear high. Try not to dwell on the numbers as much as their trend ("down" for most of us) and their relationship to one another.

A GPS tracking tool
If you work out outside (run, ride, paddle, walk, golf... kite ski, anything!), associating where you were with how hard you were working provides incredible insight into what works for you and what works you over. My Garmin watch logs GPS data and watches by Timex, Suunto, Motorola, and others provide a similar functionality.

It's worth noting that GPS has problems in heavily covered areas (like deep canyons or cities with high buildings) and it's notoriously poor at representing accurate altitude (vs. position on the globe) but generally you'll get enough info to be useful. Again, as long as the data is consistent within and between workouts, it can be totally bunk vs. "reality".  Here's a trace of time + HRM + Speed + Altitude from a recent ride:

Looking at this I can see that on downhill and on flats I went fast and had a heart rate at or below 150, on climbs my heart rate went up and speed down, etc. I can also see when I stopped, including the extended pause at about the 1 hour mark because one of the guys on the ride had a mechanical problem.

As mentioned in the HRM section, smart phones can serve this purpose, too! Many apps that integrate with bluetooth heart rate monitors also use the phone's built in GPS to track workouts and their data plan to upload directly to a tracking site.

An application that collects your data and lets you do some analysis
Now that you can gather your statistics, you need to track them in some way so that you can a) prove to yourself that you've been training and b) observe whether your training is going in the right direction (more miles per week, more weight hoisted, etc.). It's also critical to track your output so you know when to back off and let your body recover.

It used to be that a spreadsheet and calendar were the tools of choice, but in these internetified days, there are lots of tools (many free!) to track this info:

• Endomondo: my personal choice, device neutral including a smartphone app, nice interface
• Garmin Connect: free for Garmin owners and is well integrated with the PC software
• MapMyRun
• RunKeeper

I like Endomondo, but any tool that you like and that lets you review what you've done will serve this role. Here's an example: 

 

Conclusion

There we go. At this point you have more data at your fingertips than generations of Olympic athletes before you. You can make some objective judgements about your body, your athletic performance, and whether your routes make smiley faces or other patterns when viewed from above. Joy!

Next big post, I'll write a few thoughts in clothing, shoes, and other things not requiring batteries.

First morning run of the season

Endomondo Running Workout: was out running 3.66 miles in 37m:35s using Endomondo.

About Me

The last post was about the blog, this one will be about me. If this shocks you, then you haven't read many blogs. I'm not feeling too "writerish" today but can do the cheater's version: LISTS!

• Male
• Caucasian(euro-mutt)
• Hair: short and brown, though it's been long and brown at times
• Eyes: brown
• Age: 40, 41 in less than a month
• Height: 6' tall
• Weight: 200lbs give or take a few
• Marital status: Married w/ fetus (not "to fetus" which would be wrong. And gross.)
• Other characteristics: Bunk knees, sore back, asthma, allergies

Personal Likes:

• Silly movies, documentaries, films with subtitles, ambiguous endings, the oeuvres of Whit Stillman and Jean-Pierre Jeunet
• Pop, jazz, rock, country, bluegrass - basically any music that is good. You can keep your bad music, I want none of it!
• Books - pretty much anything but I do have a regrettable fondness for zombie fiction and the works of Robert Heinlein
• An assortment of television shows and other sundry entertainments
• Red wine and most food other than lima beans and liver
• The sound of a high cylinder count engine headed for the red line and/or a twin cylinder motorcycle burbling happily 

Personal Dislikes:

• People who don't signal lane changes
• People who drive slower than, but tantalizingly close to, the speed limit on roads without passing zones
• People who text and drive, text and walk, or text and converse
• Strawberry ice cream
• Pale lager beers (most mass market,American and Norwegian beers qualify as "blech!" (or "aesj" in Norsk))
• Clothes hangers. Why? Dunno.

Sporting history

• Youth... not much organized, but this was during the era when schools still had both gym and recess so I did kid stuff.
• Age 10ish: Soccer. I got pneumonia during this season which may have been the cause of my later asthma.
• Elementary school: Tae Kwon Do (Jhoon Rhee, "Nobody boddas me!")
• Junior and Senior High: some cycling but mostly just doing "stuff"
• 1989-1992: USC Road Bicycling club/team. I was never in podium contention but did occasionally get used for strategic moves like chasing "primes" ("pr-EEEM-z") which are mid-race points bonuses, and great ways to get riders to blow out early!
• Mid-1990s: Introduced to rock climbing and mountain biking by (girl) friends in LA
• 2000 Crashed my MTB (and took a look at my kneecap) in the South Platte region of Colorado
• Assorted riding and climbing and hiking and skiing and stuff until...
• 2010 Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder
• 2011 Rebel Race, Tough Mudder, and Tough Mudder
• 2012 I have registered for the GOALS ARA Savage adventure race

OK, now you, dear reader, and Google, and, by extension, the world know more than enough about me. I shall sign off and prepare for a planned early AM run tomorrow.

Sunday Mountain BIking... a minor adventure

I had planned on a 10mi or so ride on Sunday, but got more than I bargained for.  I rode my bike from home to Brandywine Park with the intention of riding the fire/farm roads then a return; however, I got lost along the way and wound up riding nearly twice my intended distance. Compound this with toting barges and lifting bales in the later afternoon garden-a-thon, and today was a welcome rest day.

The front half of the ride, after which my Garmin's batteries died:
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/jDnkYwTIY8E

The return trip tracked by the Endomondo application on my cell phone (without a heart rate monitor)
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/rOLYfd0LzY8

Endomondo Running Workout

Hum... it seems I can post my workouts to the blog. Let's give it a try.

Endomondo Running Workout: was out running 3.31 miles in 40m:59s using Endomondo.

Firsties!

First post!

Well, the content summary does a pretty good job of summarizing the intent of this blog. It's essentially a craven cry for attention in an uncaring world. That said, I hope that I have a few interesting things to say about how a former "middle of the pack" collegiate bicycle racer who became a strongly moderate rock climber and mountain biker, and is now, while facing his 40s, a job, and imminent fatherhood, trying to get involved in Adventure Racing (run, MTB, paddle, etc.) and might have some insights either for others in my position, or perhaps for my kid to discover using FutureGoogle(tm) when he's old enough to care.

Before I go too far on this blog I should say one thing: Body Mass Index (BMI) is terrible for assessing individual body composition. It's a research tool for assessing large populations, such as "high BMI individuals are at greater risk for developing type-2 diabetes". It's not very good at assessing whether YOU (or I) are specifically at higher risk for type-2 diabetes. The problem is that your weight is a combination of many elements: body fat, lean tissue, hydration, the squishy bits, the boney bits, and whatever you recently ate. Change any of these thing and your BMI will change. For example, somebody unlucky enough to be born with thicker bones will always have a higher BMI than somebody of similar height and body fat percentage.

Insurance companies, gyms, and generic fitness types love BMI because it's easy to calculate and makes it easy to scare otherwise healthy (if not fit) folks about how they are over weight or obese.

For the record my current BMI is 27.5, which is officially "overweight".

Body fat percentage is a much better metric, and according to my Tanita scale I am at 9-11% body fat (depending on level of hydration), which, according to most charts I can find on Google, is well within the "Athletic" end of the spectrum for a 40 year-old man.

So: an overweight athlete.  Hence the blog's title.

OK, I'm off of my soap box now.

Anyway, I'm training for a 6 hour adventure race in late April, probably a couple of local shorter events over the summer (the fetus becomes an infant some time in July), and another longer race or two in the fall. If one of those races happens to be a Tough Mudder: you've been warned.