Runner's High

"No, I saw you at the end of your run. That did not look like fun". Mike's direct quote when I asked him last night whether he wanted to join me on my morning run. Mike lives at the end of my running route (in fact - I cut through his yard to get to his neighborhood) - and I use his driveway as the start and finish line. And I guess I looked pretty worn out when I came in yesterday.

Ever since youth I had made myself believe I was "Not a runner". My body simply wasn't build for it. And I took this belief into my 4th living decade before I challenged it seriously. I remember the day lively - I was in the hospital-bed watching TV, and waiting on the results of a bone marrow full body scan. I felt scared, and pretty miserable in general, after I had been taken in with 103 degree fever a few hours ago.

 In the previous weeks I had neglected pneumonia in such a serious fashion - that I was under a serious antibiotics regime - that were given to me throughout the day intravenously via a semi-permanent hookup line in my left arm. That Saturday morning I grew instantly allergic to one of the antibiotics. I did not know this at the time - but this was the reason for the fever, and feeling so sick.

So while I was waiting for the results, I was watching the live coverage of the 2012 Houston Marathon that day. And what I witnessed was a whole lotta runners that had bodies - to put it mildly - far less "build for running" than my frame. Finishing it - no less. So that's is when I made myself the promise: "If I get out of this unscarred - I am running that marathon next year".

The cancer tests proved negative, the antibiotics were changed, and three months later I found myself completely healed without any evidence of the emboli in my lung earlier that year that caused all the ruckus. It was time to make good on a promise. And so on 2013 I ran (and finished) the very, very rainy Houston Marathon in 4:45.

But - back to Yesterday's run and the typical way a workout run progresses for me. Before I start, I have to fight a ton of resistance to get going. The night before, I am looking forward to the run, but on the morning itself, there is NONE of this motivation left. There are mornings that I am running around in my running gear, but find excuses not to go run that morning. We call that a "dress exercise" in our household now. If I make it out (which means there is not a slightest, foggiest change it will rain in the next 2 hours, the moon is rightly aligned, and the dogs all gave me a nod of approval), I start at Mike & Cae's driveway.

The first 2 minutes of running are just pure torture. I run without any food intake - because I want my body to learn how to burn fat for energy (Ketosis). My body does not know this, and is just signaling everything it can to my brain saying "We are NOT up for this - we have nothing to burn for energy - please turn around immediately and eat something".  Fortunately, this really only last 2 minutes, and after that we enter the state of "For Free".

 Before I really knew what it was, I kind of described it as "That period of time I can run 'For Free'". It seems as if during this time, I do not get very fatigued, and I can just complete my running motion without finding it very hard to be motivated. When training, this period gets longer and longer. At the peak of my marathon training, the 'for free' period lasted up to 70 minutes. Again, even then - the first 2 minutes are always hard.

Somewhere at the end of this "For Free" period - I enter "Running High". I am starting to get tired, and I can no longer do multiple - parallel multitasks in my brain anymore. It feels like my brain becomes a single serial processor - only room for one problem at a time.  By accident, I found that instead of focusing on running - I discovered I can focus on a specific problem I face at work, with computer programming, with web design, with marketing strategy, etc, etc. And this single focus allows me to somehow see angles and perspectives of the problem that I had missed before.

Esther (my better half) has witnessed this first hand at the end of a run - after completion I am just chock-full of ideas on several specific issues - it is as if the idea-bucket runneth over.

But it does not always come. Or perhaps I just need to be in better shape first before I experience this again. Because yesterday the 'For Free' period lasted 17 minutes, and the total run was almost 40. Teaching your body to 'Find a way' to keep running fast if you are tired is hard, and that must have been easy to deduct from my facial expression and body language when I arrived back at Mike's driveway.

I know there are some thoughts that especially training for the run part of the ironman does not have to be about speed (because on the final day you will not run that fast - it being the last leg) - but I always race against myself and somewhere along the run I feel the competitive need to see if today is a day that I can set a personal record on the distance I am about to run.

Dang, I am competitive. At least in my mind.

Researching Ironman Training

"That's the nerd way to train for an Ironman" my son exclaimed, when I unwrapped my "the Triathlete's Training Bible" on Fathers day.

Most free training plans that I ran into online, generally span a time frame of 16 weeks to 6 months, with a minimum required fitness (being able to run 60-90 minutes, bike a few hours) before starting the plan. Since I had exactly 12 months before race day, I figured the purpose of the first six months was to reach the minimum required fitness, and then to pick the plan that seemed to fit the best 6 months out. 

Before I started, I thought my training would be mostly running.  That's how I trained for the marathon, and since this was the last leg of the ironman, I figured this would be the most difficult. Comparing the various training plans in the first day casually, I noticed all were heavily focused on swimming and biking in stead.  Researching on various forums, I found the answer: if the primary focus is on creating endurance, you can accomplish improving endurance practicing any of the three disciplines. And it's safer to do long workouts on a bike or in the water, because these are less injury-prone. 

But the most obvious clue that I needed to get smarter about my training came two or three weeks after I started. When I came home enthusiastic from swimming and proclaimed: I am going to do this every day, I saw a look on the face of my better half alarming me of fast dwindling support for such a regime.  I recognized the look of other spouses, who wander where their medals are after the completion of the ironman, for supporting the endeavor for months by picking up the pace on all errands and activities around the house that are missed by the rigorous training regime. 

The point of this is to be real smart with training.  Make every one count. And that is why the first present on Father's Day was this training bible.  The idea is to find answers like: what kind of interval training? What heart rate zones should I be training in? How should I measure progress? What nutrition regime should I follow? 

When looking for which book I should get, I found that many, many books have been written on the subject. What made this book stand out, is that it also gets referred to in other books' review, it's almost as if this book is the widely recognized reference yard-stick, on which to measure other reading materials. I figure I start with this one, and supplement with additional as deemed necessary. 

As of writing this post, I'm about halfway into the book. I think if your ironman goal is just to make it in before the 17 hour mark (the official cut off for becoming an "ironman") then this book may contain a lot of additional information that can be distracting). The truth is, I'm not sure yet what I will set as my goal. And all the theory in the first chapters is enough of a driver currently to peak my interest in finding out "what might be possible". 

My first purchase - swim equipment

Just to enter the race costs $650. Well, really $728 after accounting for an obligatory " one day USAT membership", a hefty $40 processing fee and taxes.

That was $728 more than we budgeted a week ago, so it's accurate to say that the mood in our household was less than enthusiastic to spend even more money on this new endeavor.

Fortunately, research is mostly free, and fathers day was just a few weeks away for major purchases, so the first step was simply to get started and assess my current state of fitness.

The most unknown factor was swimming. So to my aid I called my friend David who I learned via a Throwback Thursday Facebook post, managed to win swimming medals when he was in college.  Although this was more than two decades ago, I reasoned his technique would be solid, and he would be able to 'fine tune and hone' my already pretty much fabulous swimming technique. After all, I had swimming lessons as a kid, right?

David was eager to cooperate. 20 years of Texas diet had not been kind to him, and although he purchased a three year membership at the gym, his motivation to go in consistently was - well - difficult to say the least. This could be his ticket to lose the 100 lbs (!) he gained since college.

Armed with a 2 week free trial membership, I meet David at the LA fitness. Eagerly I start my first lap, as David stands on the side of the pool to watch my current form.

After the first lap, he offers to race against me. "Are you serious" is my first thought; David is shorter than me, older than me, and for sure "not as aqua dynamically shaped" as me. Seriously, he has 100 lbs on me. And -as I mentioned before - I already have great technique, right?

He smoked my ass. With the proverbial "two fingers in his nose and a cigarette in his mouth" while racing. The first round. The second one. And again. Every time. The entire hour.

He gave me many pointers during the session, which will be topic of a future post on swimming technique. But the one thing that was to be an imminent purchase was goggles and a swim cap.  So off to the wallies world that afternoon.  This is the result of my first purchase:

Is my head too big for this swim cap? (Careful: this question is the man version of "Does my butt look big in these pants".) This is ridiculous. Walmart caps suck

Obviously, this was not going to work - so a trip to Luke's Locker was to resolve this first hurdle. This time I tried the speedo cap on in the store before I brought it home.  Still tight (I guess I just have a big nugget) - but doable.  Also purchased some better goggles and got sucked into buying new running socks. Man, $50 gets spent quick, doesn't it?

Welcome

Oh no - Not another attempt to stave off a Mid-Life crisis ...

Afraid so. 

This is a blog that will chronicle the struggles and victories (if any) in training my 6'5'' frame going the full 140.6 miles on May 16, 2015 in the official Texas Ironman in the Woodlands, Texas. 

My credentials are a finisher Medal in the 2013 full Marathon of Houston in 4:45.  No small feat for sure, and definitely one of my largest physical accomplishments.  But after the (rigorous) training in 2012 i find myself back on the familiar spot in my living room - the couch - when I open the Houston chronicle on May 18 and look in envy at the front-page article detailing the heroics of triathletes in the 2014 edition of the Texas Ironman. 

What follows is a cunning mix of promises, bribery and over-selling towards my better half to gain support for spending $650 on an entry (no refunds)  to a race I currently am in no shape or form capable of completing on the very day of our wedding anniversary. 

As the name of this blog implies, I succeed in my ploy and on May 18, the ticket is purchased.  Point of no return passed.  Better get in shape now. 

The main reason I started this blog is to function as a proof for other enthusiasts that you can go from couch to ironman in 12 months. Because every 'expert' on the subject, from internet to established book writers to your local shoe salesman at Luke's Locker is ready to unload a healthy dose of skepticism on your plans as you try to make them part of your conviction. 

So here I go. Feel free to tag along. 

RJ. Future Ironman.