When your married for many years you come to realize as a husband, its not your house. Oh, it may be your home and you may pay the mortgage but your space is in the garage or the desk with all the bills on it. The rest of the house is all for the wife and kids.
Now, dont tell anyone but I have secretly been using the guest bathroom to store my morning training clothes. After years of using pen lights and tiptoeing through the master bedroom looking for the right shoes or pants, I just put it all in the guest bathroom and then do everything in there. Mistress Carol even mentioned that I am quieter in the morning.
My new phone booth is complete with towel racks for drying out sweaty clothes, hooks for hanging camelbacks and head lamps, it even has an accountablity mirror so I can see how little progress I have made in muscle tone (okay I promised myself I would stop putting myself down). Hey it even comes with a multi-purpose seat!
So what do you use as your phone booth ala Superman's changing place?
Or what is the most unique way you stash your gear around the house based on either having lots of space or having none? (for example-I once stored dining room chairs by hanging them from the ceiling in the storage room)
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Can you dream big?
Yesterday I wrote about thanking your support team, those special people who do things for us athletes that we take for granted. Today's post is bringing the dream inside you alive.
Yesterday I was talking to a trainer at my gym who is getting back into running. She said she is only jogging right now and we started a conversation about my recent races and training, like running up 'A' Mountain on the ASU campus. Another person in the group asked, "What's the difference between running and jogging, I mean do you just run full out all the time or slow down at all?" I responded from an old advertisement I remembered from a magazine, "The only difference between a runner and jogger is a blank entry form."
It got a few laughs but in thinking about the whole conversation later I realized that really the difference between a jogger and a runner (or triathlete) is being dedicated to the dream. Pastor Tommy Barnett says, "If someone holds onto a dream for five years it will become a reality, but most can't hold onto a dream for five minutes."
My point is not that it takes five years to train for a race but it can take a year, or several months and several thousand minutes of training. It always, no matter what, comes down to having an iron will. Many people would like to do a half ironman or run a marathon or just run a 5k, yet with all the desire and dreaming that goes into that thought it is gone by the next time their offered dessert or a night out with the gang, or simply given the mental task of getting out of a warm bed an hour early.
So I want all of you reading this to think about your dream 'thing' for a minute, that 'thing' that more than anything you want to do. Now ask yourself these two questions;
1. Is it bigger than you? Us puny humans love to put constraints on our abiilties, if your goal or dream is bigger than you, it comes from God and he wanted us to be the biggest dreamers of them all. We just like to muck it up with pyscho-babble and victimization. When its big, it takes all your effort plus some of His to accomplish.
2. Can you let it go? Dreams are illusive, they can get away from you and thats when doubter's begin to eat away at your resolve. Conversely, when you start to become successful in your dream (losing weight but eat salads instead of burgers, making more money but work more hours), your success changes you and you rise up from those around you. The doubter's will try to pull you back, looking for ways to pull you down. The herd mentality is afraid of success because success is not common, this is the point where people mock you or tempt you. If you can hold on to that dream and keep it in your focus than you will overcome the obstacles and reach your dream. If you can't shake the fact that you missed a training session and have to make it up before you go to bed or double up the next day, you can't let it go.
Someone else said that, if you can do something for 21 days it will become a habit, for good or bad. Good advise. Cutting out bad food, increasing your training in small increments, getting support from your family (buy in from your spouse, honestly if you need buy in from someone you date, you need to think better of yourself) and maybe a coach or trainer and before you know it your hooked into your 'Dream Matrix.' My terminology thank you very much, for being plugged into your new reality, not the false world of Common Man Syndrome.
Do you think you have a dream bigger than yourself? Are you commited to it, regardless of friends you lose or obstacle you confront? Of the changes that you create in yourself? Are you prepared to be successful? Do you get? Now go do it!
Yesterday I was talking to a trainer at my gym who is getting back into running. She said she is only jogging right now and we started a conversation about my recent races and training, like running up 'A' Mountain on the ASU campus. Another person in the group asked, "What's the difference between running and jogging, I mean do you just run full out all the time or slow down at all?" I responded from an old advertisement I remembered from a magazine, "The only difference between a runner and jogger is a blank entry form."
It got a few laughs but in thinking about the whole conversation later I realized that really the difference between a jogger and a runner (or triathlete) is being dedicated to the dream. Pastor Tommy Barnett says, "If someone holds onto a dream for five years it will become a reality, but most can't hold onto a dream for five minutes."
My point is not that it takes five years to train for a race but it can take a year, or several months and several thousand minutes of training. It always, no matter what, comes down to having an iron will. Many people would like to do a half ironman or run a marathon or just run a 5k, yet with all the desire and dreaming that goes into that thought it is gone by the next time their offered dessert or a night out with the gang, or simply given the mental task of getting out of a warm bed an hour early.
So I want all of you reading this to think about your dream 'thing' for a minute, that 'thing' that more than anything you want to do. Now ask yourself these two questions;
1. Is it bigger than you? Us puny humans love to put constraints on our abiilties, if your goal or dream is bigger than you, it comes from God and he wanted us to be the biggest dreamers of them all. We just like to muck it up with pyscho-babble and victimization. When its big, it takes all your effort plus some of His to accomplish.
2. Can you let it go? Dreams are illusive, they can get away from you and thats when doubter's begin to eat away at your resolve. Conversely, when you start to become successful in your dream (losing weight but eat salads instead of burgers, making more money but work more hours), your success changes you and you rise up from those around you. The doubter's will try to pull you back, looking for ways to pull you down. The herd mentality is afraid of success because success is not common, this is the point where people mock you or tempt you. If you can hold on to that dream and keep it in your focus than you will overcome the obstacles and reach your dream. If you can't shake the fact that you missed a training session and have to make it up before you go to bed or double up the next day, you can't let it go.
Someone else said that, if you can do something for 21 days it will become a habit, for good or bad. Good advise. Cutting out bad food, increasing your training in small increments, getting support from your family (buy in from your spouse, honestly if you need buy in from someone you date, you need to think better of yourself) and maybe a coach or trainer and before you know it your hooked into your 'Dream Matrix.' My terminology thank you very much, for being plugged into your new reality, not the false world of Common Man Syndrome.
Do you think you have a dream bigger than yourself? Are you commited to it, regardless of friends you lose or obstacle you confront? Of the changes that you create in yourself? Are you prepared to be successful? Do you get? Now go do it!
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Blood Doping
There has been much conversation regarding the use of blood doping drugs and hormones in the media, but what and how does this stuff work. Here is a quick review.
From slate.msn.com,
From whyfiles.com:
The newest product is HGH, or Human growth hormone which increase Testosterone. It is also difficult to test for this drug not because because of technology but cost. The machines and labor to conduct this type of test are, believe it or not, cost prohibitive to organizations using the lowest bidder medical group.
The benefits of using HGH or more easily testable anabolic steroids is high especially in long sesson sports, like football and baseball. Players will not only recieve tremendous gains in strength and speed but more importantly, in some cases, endurance. Elevated levels of Testosterone speed muscle tissue repair and recovery. It is taxing for a baseball player, for example, to maintain a .280 batting average and play 162+ games a year. The body gets beaten up and broken down, the ability to recover faster than the average player is tremendous when better play equals better pay and endorsements.
Say what you will about its uses and abuses but now you know your stuff.
From slate.msn.com,
"Blood doping" refers to any illicit method of boosting an athlete's red blood-cell supply in advance of competition. The typical adult male's hematocrit—the percentage of his blood that is composed of red blood cells—hovers around 45. Since red blood cells carry oxygen through the bloodstream, increasing the number of them allows an athlete's blood to deliver oxygen to muscles more efficiently, reducing fatigue and giving the athlete an edge. Endurance athletes often train at high altitude for precisely this reason. The lower air pressure and diminished atmospheric oxygen at altitude spur the body to generate extra red blood cells, and can bump the hematocrit up two or three (non-illicit) percentage points.As technology advanced the archaic method of removing and storing large amounts of your own blood gave way to EPO's.
From whyfiles.com:
EPO is a genetically-engineered version of a natural hormone made by the kidney that stimulates bone marrow to make red blood cells. synthetic EPO is sold as a rescue medicine for treating anemia in end-stage kidney disease, when production of EPO declines..Because red blood cells carry oxygen to the muscles, and because bikers (runners and triathletes: added by blogger) need a huge amount of oxygen during their arduous sport, raising the number of red blood cells can -- theoretically -- improve performance.. Since EPO is a naturally occurring hormone, testing for it would detect anyone, not very helpful for identifying doped athletes. Unable to measure EPO itself, the mandarins of international cycling at Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) rely on a surrogate test that measures the density of cells in the blood. Blood, as you'll recall, is composed of cells -- mainly red, but also white -- and serum and other liquids that help the cells flow. A study from the 1980s, before synthetic EPO, showed that bike racers' blood averaged a cellular content of 43 percent, so the UCI decreed that anybody with a level above 50 percent would be disqualified for taking EPO.The use of blood doping or EPO's is for short term success, its affects last for a very short period of time.
The newest product is HGH, or Human growth hormone which increase Testosterone. It is also difficult to test for this drug not because because of technology but cost. The machines and labor to conduct this type of test are, believe it or not, cost prohibitive to organizations using the lowest bidder medical group.
The benefits of using HGH or more easily testable anabolic steroids is high especially in long sesson sports, like football and baseball. Players will not only recieve tremendous gains in strength and speed but more importantly, in some cases, endurance. Elevated levels of Testosterone speed muscle tissue repair and recovery. It is taxing for a baseball player, for example, to maintain a .280 batting average and play 162+ games a year. The body gets beaten up and broken down, the ability to recover faster than the average player is tremendous when better play equals better pay and endorsements.
Say what you will about its uses and abuses but now you know your stuff.
An army of one?
To be an attached (read: dating, engaged, married, parent) athlete in a solidary sport, say pick any part of a triathlon, a certain amount of 'me-centeredness' creeps in. This must be constantly put in check because the very act of training for any such event has cosmic reaches with everyone you put your trust in.
For all the early mornings and late nights, for all the long runs or longer rides, for all the wet towels and especially for all the gear that accumulates, there is an athlete who thinks their in control but their really not.
Think of the brutal facts. Early morning or late night training involve perhaps a differing sleep pattern than the rest of the house. Long training sessions on weekends are juggled between naps, meals, shopping, you name it. Buying new shorts or shoes or dare say bike takes careful coordination with household financing. The new and ever increasing sprains and strains reverberate in your movement around your house and interaction with your kids, if you have them.
The link in all your training comes down to your support structure. It is so easy to dictate your plans to your 'other' but think about what happens to them. You have regaled them with your wildest dream of competing in an upcoming race and maybe even they have picked up on your enthusiasm and thumbed through your latest magazine left on the couch. Yet it is generally them that get stuck with the wet bag so to speak. They watch the kids solo, or skip the get together with friends so you can get in those neccesary 30 miles on the bike. Those comments about the extra amount of laundry this week, is not just small talk and generally their laundry job satisfaction level does not stay high because just when they think there is no more, they find that plastic bag over there that has the wet clothes from three days ago.
So as you sit at your computer right now or later today as you day dream your perfect workout coming up, take a few moments to recognize who is your close support structure, husband, wife, child, parent, roommate, then call or speak to them and thank them for allowing you to persue your dreams and that you appreciate all the help they give you.
For all the early mornings and late nights, for all the long runs or longer rides, for all the wet towels and especially for all the gear that accumulates, there is an athlete who thinks their in control but their really not.
Think of the brutal facts. Early morning or late night training involve perhaps a differing sleep pattern than the rest of the house. Long training sessions on weekends are juggled between naps, meals, shopping, you name it. Buying new shorts or shoes or dare say bike takes careful coordination with household financing. The new and ever increasing sprains and strains reverberate in your movement around your house and interaction with your kids, if you have them.
The link in all your training comes down to your support structure. It is so easy to dictate your plans to your 'other' but think about what happens to them. You have regaled them with your wildest dream of competing in an upcoming race and maybe even they have picked up on your enthusiasm and thumbed through your latest magazine left on the couch. Yet it is generally them that get stuck with the wet bag so to speak. They watch the kids solo, or skip the get together with friends so you can get in those neccesary 30 miles on the bike. Those comments about the extra amount of laundry this week, is not just small talk and generally their laundry job satisfaction level does not stay high because just when they think there is no more, they find that plastic bag over there that has the wet clothes from three days ago.
So as you sit at your computer right now or later today as you day dream your perfect workout coming up, take a few moments to recognize who is your close support structure, husband, wife, child, parent, roommate, then call or speak to them and thank them for allowing you to persue your dreams and that you appreciate all the help they give you.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Redemption strikes back
The redemption run yesterday up 'A' Mountain on the ASU campus has left me with a very odd tightness this morning. My upper glutes almost up at my lower back on each side are T-I-G-H-T. Not like I blew out my back mind you, just like a major cramp or tightness. Not used to this one and will keep you updated on my ability to manuever from sitting to standing without falling.
No sleep till Brooklynn...well almost
Tri-Geek Dreams touched on this breakthrough this morning. While I don't think it will get the attention of say Roger Bannister breaking the 4 minute mile, this is worth noting.
Pam Reed is the first person to break the three hundred mile run mark without sleep. She is a native of Tucson and has raced the Badwater Ultra-Marathon several times, winning it with a new womens record in 2002 and taking it again in 2003. At the 2004 Boston Marathon, Pam started early, ran the course backwards in 3:36 than turned around and turned in a 3:30 negative split running with the packs. At the 2004 Badwater she ran well but lost the overall to Dean Karnazes.
Pam Reed finishes 300 miles.
Last weekend I just finished reading Ultra-Marathon Man by Dean Karnazes. It is a great book about his longest runs. Also how he trains while juggling a family and without letting little things like thirty hour runs interfere with work and family. Dean has been the face of ultramarathons for a few years now with his compulsive late night runs and his flare to race. For example; he enters a 100 mile race by running to the race and timing it for the start gun. Even if you don't want to read the whole book the first chapter alone on his late night pizza run is hilarious. He is not only the ultra runner of the year for 2004, but one of GQ's sexiest men alive for the same year. He has great crossover appeal. Below is a picture of Dean in a heat suit, running Badwater. He found that by running on the white stripes he would not melt his shoes, one pair per hour from the heat.
Congratulations to Pam, she is a native of Tucson. She is a regular feature in local magazines. She has been a silent but powerful runner in the ultra marathon community. Silent only in the fact that she would rather run for the joy of running than to win a race distance that she is so supernaturally suited for. I have never met her but know that she likes to take her time in deciding to race but also makes quick decisions when she is confident in herself and has family support. She dosen't play them out in public.
Pam Reed is the first person to break the three hundred mile run mark without sleep. She is a native of Tucson and has raced the Badwater Ultra-Marathon several times, winning it with a new womens record in 2002 and taking it again in 2003. At the 2004 Boston Marathon, Pam started early, ran the course backwards in 3:36 than turned around and turned in a 3:30 negative split running with the packs. At the 2004 Badwater she ran well but lost the overall to Dean Karnazes.
Pam Reed finishes 300 miles.
Last weekend I just finished reading Ultra-Marathon Man by Dean Karnazes. It is a great book about his longest runs. Also how he trains while juggling a family and without letting little things like thirty hour runs interfere with work and family. Dean has been the face of ultramarathons for a few years now with his compulsive late night runs and his flare to race. For example; he enters a 100 mile race by running to the race and timing it for the start gun. Even if you don't want to read the whole book the first chapter alone on his late night pizza run is hilarious. He is not only the ultra runner of the year for 2004, but one of GQ's sexiest men alive for the same year. He has great crossover appeal. Below is a picture of Dean in a heat suit, running Badwater. He found that by running on the white stripes he would not melt his shoes, one pair per hour from the heat.
Congratulations to Pam, she is a native of Tucson. She is a regular feature in local magazines. She has been a silent but powerful runner in the ultra marathon community. Silent only in the fact that she would rather run for the joy of running than to win a race distance that she is so supernaturally suited for. I have never met her but know that she likes to take her time in deciding to race but also makes quick decisions when she is confident in herself and has family support. She dosen't play them out in public.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Monday Redemption run
Well, I still wasn't feeling much better by lunch and compounded my day by leaving some files at home. At least I had my gym bag! So I decided to beat myself for the over-comsumption on Easter and bag an hour run.
The picture below is from the mid point of my purification. Its 'A' Mountain on the campus of Arizona State University, or officially the Hayden Butte. It rises 400 feet in a very short distance, a third of a mile at most. It is so steep that I actually had to lean back coming down least I pick up too much speed and barrel into a cactus or hit a rock. I did not stop except for those instances where it was impossible or hazardous to run and scramble.
In true fashion, I swallowed a bug minutes into the run and gagged the rest of the time on it. Then a guy lights up a smoke coming down the mountain and I had to get past him as soon as possible but was stuck on the single track at the top and it took way too long, like 45 seconds of second-hand.
The picture below is from the mid point of my purification. Its 'A' Mountain on the campus of Arizona State University, or officially the Hayden Butte. It rises 400 feet in a very short distance, a third of a mile at most. It is so steep that I actually had to lean back coming down least I pick up too much speed and barrel into a cactus or hit a rock. I did not stop except for those instances where it was impossible or hazardous to run and scramble.
In true fashion, I swallowed a bug minutes into the run and gagged the rest of the time on it. Then a guy lights up a smoke coming down the mountain and I had to get past him as soon as possible but was stuck on the single track at the top and it took way too long, like 45 seconds of second-hand.
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