Mayday's IronBlog

17 1/2 more hours of training to report.  3300 meters in the pool, 109 miles on the bike and 38 miles of running.  Grand totals come to 115 hours, 55 minutes:  an even 45000 yards in the pool, 798 miles on the bike, and 216 miles on the run.

Last weekend I participated in the annual MS 150 charity ride with Team Disney.  Also there were Mike, Steve, Sara (Steve's WIFE), and Jason made an appearance though it seems he's not quite ready to get back in the saddle yet.  I raised a bit over $400 for the fight against MS, and a good weekend was had by all.

This week and next I'm focusing on ramping up for the SOMA long course race out in Tempe.  Mike, Steve, and I are all doing the race, and I think Jason, Kristy, and Sara will be tagging along.  Our hosts for the weekend will be Tom and Shanlee - looking forward to getting back out there in November for a training camp on the IMAZ course.  Shanlee conducts a wonderful blog of her own, availible at http://www.amazingzipperedwoman.com .  Check it out.

So...14 weeks down, 25 to go.  Never thought that I'd be involved in a training program or race this long.  I also never thought that I'd run a half marathon - but that event has just become just another Wednesday night long run.  I'm actually thinking about this upcoming half IM as short - only 1.2 miles in the water, 56 miles on the bike, and the aforementioned half-marathon 13.1 mile run.  IM training really skews perception.

Got some photos from the MS ride.  The bike position needs work - Trainer Brian and I are working on the core strength and flexibility needed to get lower, and the diet program to remove the rest of that gut:

Thanks to Photocrazy for the pic, and TaiGraphx for the custom wheel decals.  I think I just need to flip that stem.  And, I'll have an aero helmet for the race.

I've been reading more and more blogs lately - they're becoming harder and harder to avoid.  A trend I'd like to address is 'the blog as fact,' and it's one I'm having a bit of a hard time with.  Without getting too Roland Barthes on the subject, here is my problem.

You see, to me, visiting a blog is a bit like going to church - you visit; you're presented with information, which usually you have to take on faith since it's not cited; and you're presented with an opinion on said information.  It's generally up to the reader to figure out whether or not the information on which the opinion is based is meritorious, and then whether or not the opinion is well founded.  Most blogs then have some sort of place where you can comment after having digested the essay.  Some, but not all, of these types of blogs have a disclaimer in small print somewhere that everything which is presented is the author's opinion, and he makes no claims to the verifiability of which is posted therein.

Here's where I think it gets messy.  There are quite a few blogs out there that are written in the style that, on face value anyway, the articles look like real news, or real fact.  To add on to the troubles, these blogs attract a dedicated following, ready to second anything posted on the blog as fact (to continue the church analogy, these folks are the choir to which the blogger is proverbailly preaching).  So, leave a comment questioning the merit of a particular post, and wham! you're nailed to the cross in the forum by the dedicated readers who are outraged you dare question the posts of their leader.

I think if you're the author of this sort of a blog that's presenting this sort of infotainment, you have an ethical reponsibility to do away with the disclaimer, cite what's fact, and label opinions as such.  The newspaper has an editorial/opinion page, and so should your blog, for the sake of your readers.

So, what to do?  I guess you just leave the kool-aid drinkers to be misinformed and take a pass on the Internet infighting.  Mostly, this is a warning to anyone who might come across this blog to take everything you read on the Internet with a grain of salt.  Since this blog is mostly just a reflective journal for me, and not directly intended for a live studio audience, I haven't really felt a need to cite anything.  I will cite anything I feel I need to, though, and hopefully you can take me at my word that I'm actually performing the races and training that I post about here.  Chances are, if you've come across this site, you already know me and have passed judgement on whether or not I'm trustworthy.  If you don't know me, well fell free to leave a comment and tell me I'm full of it.  There aren't a whole lot of faithful readers around here to tell you you're wrong.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was beginning to track all my meals in order to get a handle on my daily nutritional intake.  I have been doing it religiously since that time, and let me tell you, it did not paint a pretty picture of what's been going into my mouth.

Not enough calories, too many calories at night, coupled with not enough calories in the morning, not enough carbs, and too much fat, oh my.

I now have a personal trainer and nutritionist on the payroll.

The first thing we've done is to come up with a nutritional plan.  We sat and figured out how many calories I burn per average day.  After figuring in exercise and daily maintenance requirements, that number came to 3400.  Then, we figured out how much of a caloie deficit I'd need to run in order to safely take off the pounds I need to get ready for IMAZ.  We decided on trying to consume around 2900 calories a day, which using the math that says 3500 calories equal a pound, I would be taking off about a pound a week, more or less.  Then, he threw me a curveball - with the amount of endurance exercise I'm doing, I should be consuming a mix of about 75% carbs, 15-20% protein, and the balance fat (a 'normal' distribution would be 60-20-20).  Since carbs have about half the energy density of fat (4 calories per gram of carbs or protein, as opposed to 9 for fat), and I had been eating 20-30% fat before, I feel like I'm eating waaaay too much.  And I'm always full.  But I'm losing pounds like they're going out of style (admittedly, extra pounds went out of style sometime around the renaissance).

I'm also trying to target my intake to two or three specific periods: 1) the morning.  a big breakfast (or two) along with a morning wokout is , well, a huge boost for your metabolism; 2) carbs before workouts to keep working muscles happy; and 3) carbs/protein after workouts to make tired muscles happy enough to work out well the next day.

So far, I've been really happy with this addition to the team.  He also regularly kicks my ass in the gym with various stretching and core work.  We the '300' workout yesterday (named after the movie with the ridiculously ripped actors who played the Spartan army at the battle of Thermopylae): 10 mile run followed by an ab workout that left me unable to sit up at the end.  I literally had to roll off the bench and get up from all fours.

Good stuff.

Back into the swing of long, slow volume this week.  8:25 total trianing time: 5600 meters in the pool, 74 miles on the bike, and 14 miles of running.

That brings the grand total for the last twelve weeks to 98 hours 25 minutes of training: 41,700 meters in the pool (that's a full marathon: 26+ miles!), 689 miles riding, and 178 miles running. 

Two weeks to go until the yearly MS ride.  I'm doing the century again this year, so that will be 150 miles in two days, hopefully with some running thrown in.  I was hoping to have afew longer days on the bike by now, but things are busier than usual.

SOMA is looking more and more like a realisty for the last weekend in October.  This 1/2 iron distance race takes place on the same ground as IMAZ, so it's very appealing in a dry-run sense.  After SOMA, it will be time for training camp as school lets out and I'm a free man.

Other scheduled events include a week of on-course training in November (I'll be crashing at Kristy's aunt and uncle, Tom and Shanlee's place), the OC Marathon after the new year, and perhaps something else before the Big Race.

Days like yesterday make me glad that my school schedule allows me to have extended time off during autumn and winter here in southern california.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and I had already taken the day off so Steve and I could go see Dave Matthews at the Hollywood Bowl, so I used the morning to tackle one of my favorite bike routes - the Palos Verdes 'washboard.'

If I want to ride in the mountains, I generally go up to the Angeles Crest Highway, and if I want to ride flatland, I head for PCH or any one of the river trails that extend inland.  But for rolling hills and moderate climbing, you can't beat the Palos Verdes peninsula.  There's a 22 mile loop that winds around the perimeter of the peninsula, offering both challenging riding and spectacular views.  I stopped to snap the above photo with my phone near the tip of the peninsula looking north - you can see Redondo and Hermosa Beach, extending north across the bay into Manhattan Beach and all the way across to Malibu.  On an exceptionally clear day you can also see the channel islands.

So after two nice laps around the washboard and an equally nice nap, I picked up Steve and we headed up to the Hollywood Bowl for the DMB show.  It was amazing - only my second time seeing them (as opposed to "fifty-something" for Steve) but it was heads and shoulders above the first show I saw with Kristy in Chula Vista a few years ago.  Their new music is so versatile: it can be backed up by strings, brass, banjo, electric guitar (all were used last night, with heavier emphasis on the banjo and electric guitar) and sounds great any which way.  The extended jams between Dave and the guest banjo player last night were worth the price of admission on their own.  And, as a bonus, they played my favorite song of theirs, Everyday (#41).  If only every day were like this one!