A Great Adbenture

Mighty Mo is always asking if we can go on an Adbenture, (you know how well 4 year olds can pronounce), which is usually walking over the bridge in our backyard and chasing or being chased by dinosaurs, throwing rocks at the wall or looking at woodpeckers hammering away at palm trees. These end with, "Daddy, (sigh) that was a great adbenture."

It's important for Mistress and I to get Mo outdoors and off the tv. When we were younger there was no fear of predators or irrational drivers or deviants looking for mischief. We could play in the woods or down the street and just had to be home before it was too dark to ride the bike home or get lost on a path.

I know this sounds terribly stupid but I like to take Mo to Sports Authority and REI so he can play on/in the prop tents, kayaks, pedal boats and with all the sports gear and fishing poles. Its just easier when its so hot outside for little fella's.

Saturday we are going to the zoo but not see animals. We are going to rent a family bike, (pedalers sit side by side and two kids can sit in a high seat behind them), a sun boat for the lake surrounding the island of gibbons and lastly ride the trolley that takes people on tours of the entire zoo.

A kid like love

Yesterdays lunch was sitting in my gut all afternoon making me nauseas. Then Coach Nick, I swear was trying to drown me in the endless pool. Between the food and the water I was heading to the track with trepidation. There was a moment about half way through where I dropped from my fast pace to my IM "just keep moving gait" when Glen showed up. It gave me some time to get some water and get my GI distress under control.

Our resident speedy, Todd, kept spying the high school football team doing 40's for time a few feet away, listening to the constant shouts of "5.0, 5.32..." Coming from the coach. Todd began reminiscing his own high school youth, he is 42 years old and he said he could go under 5 seconds, so I challenged him to ask the coach for a split while I did my bleachers. He walked up to the coach, who must have been the same age and as I trotted down the stairs I watched him sprint down the track.

"4.90" Said the coach.

I gave him a whoop and yelled down, "You just beat most of the teams speed and your three times older!"

It made me think about how fortunate we are to be in the shape we are in. Here I am running bleachers while my pal runs a 40 yard dash for time with a bunch of kids looking on that could be our sons.

As we finished up our workout and the sun was going down, the three of us sat and joked and joshed. It felt good to feel like a kid again and as we eventually walked to our cars I realized every time I sit with my team mates and talk about the training or racing we just did together,
I feel like a kid.

Weighty matters

I have mentioned that many of my peers I work with are in the middle of a body change contest. I am not for a few reasons; I won this the last time, I am not horribly out of shape, I don't need a kick start for a season of change since I just started my off-season.

However it is hard to not listen to people state they've lost ten, fifteen, twenty pounds already and not feel that competitive Type A kick in.

I did not go through all the circumference and body fat testing but my scale has been the same pretty much all month. Down a couple pounds, wow-wee. But I have noticed that all the strength and interval work has started to put some more muscle back on my body and my upgraded nutrition is helping cut the body fat. Even though the scale don't lie, my abs are getting leaner and my arms more defined. The weights not coming off but the stuff that matters is.

I have said it before, that LSD training and/or Ironman training is not conducive to weight loss or body fat reduction and should not be used as such. There is weight loss through the higher volume of training but the toll on the body's recovery and repair process counterbalances any long term increase in metabolism speed and fat loss.

To quote one of my favorite columnists, John Bingham, "Waddle On"

Your Past, Your Future, Your Present

Inside each of us is a hero.

I speak not of those who survive tragedy or malady. I do not pretend that the only prerequisite is sacrifice or notoriety. Inside of yourself is a hero who escapes selfishness and radiates graciousness, generosity, assistance and kindness when it is least expected.

Inside each of us is a hero who goes unnoticed because we are immune to the limelight. We pretend we expect praise and admiration and recompense for our righteousness but the reality is we do the good things and fight the good fight and resist the base nature of humanity because we hold our true heart above all else.

Inside each of us is a hero who holds doors open and smiles at unknowns not because its civil but because our heart tells us its the right thing to do. We are heroes because we expect more from ourselves than we read in the paper and see on the news. We are not the least common denominator that pans to our demographic on network television.

Inside each of us is a hero who marries their perfect friend and raises good children who contribute to society and makes you proud. You, the hero, who balances work with family always aware that on the lips of every child the word for God is Mother.

Inside each of us is hero that could hold the cockpit door closed from those who would do their worst and would watch for evil breed in youth amongst our own. We hold ourselves to a level of accountability that is above the pretense of Hollywood excess and designer wears.

Inside each of us is a hero who we don't think exists. You are not a policeman or fireman or soldier. You are not Canadian, Mexican, Asian or American. You are the unknown. You are the highlight to someones deary day, you are the complementer when one is not needed. You are the faceless body in the ether that catches someones physical or mental corpus before they fall to their doom. You are the enabler of consistency who through thought and action helped another reach their goal. There is no thanks for the hero, only personal satisfaction.

Inside each of us, inside of you, is a hero who you don't think exists. You are the example to your your spouse, children, co-workers, neighbors and community. Do what you do and do it well. Consider your heart and your actions and listen to the voice that commands action.

Inside of each of us is a hero.

Bushed

I'm telling ya, when I was afflicted with the infirmity of Common Man Syndrome I could attribute my tiredness to staying up late due season finales. Or playing video games. But this year, this week, I say 'Nay, nay, nay'.

Lately I am just exhausted from all the speed work, interval training and cross training I have been doing. It physically feels like I am in the last phase of IM training but my training hours are much less. I have also changed my nutrition a bit, cutting back on processed foods, and its making me a bit tired as I my body repairs itself.

I can tell that the 'off-session' stuff is doing good for me as my weight is not dropping much but my body is leaning out as I have seen it do in the past. It means my body is putting back on the muscle it lost in all that LSD stuff.

I took yesterday off to recover and today have a 8-10 mile run planned. I may ditch it for the 3 hour Pirate of the Caribbean coming out today. I can make up the run on Sunday if I do.

Decisions. Decisions.

Jello and Juggling

Jello. No not the wiggly, jiggly stuff that people think must be eaten with half rotten fruit embedded in it; no I am thinking specifically about my legs. I have punished myself the last three days. Last night was a charge up Camelback mountain with John and Todd, (both first timers, good job pals) and this is after doing a coached swim bricked bleachers and track work the day before and a hard ride up the IMAZ course the day before that.

Today WAS to be a open swim then another bike hill intervals but a last minute meeting is holding me back. This might be a good thing. If possible I am going to try to hit the pool for a 30 minute set if not no big deal.

Juggling. Last weekend I bequeathed my time at the lake with the team to Mistress. It was her first real open water swim in years and of course she stayed on the feet of the fastest swimmer in our group, Jeff. This just goes to show that people who begin swimming as children through college have a tremendous advantage in the water over people like me.

This has prompted her to investigate a popular masters swim group. On Friday she will be in the water at 0530 for a 90 minute swim, her first organized swim practice in 11 years.

Why do I think I have finally awoken a monster?

A bad race

Last weekend there was a big triathlon here in town which I did not do. It had a sprint and Oly distance and lots of waves sending people off. So many waves that it took an hour to get everyone going and there was only around 1,000 people involved.

This caused problems with people treading in the water to start and those coming in from their completed swim. I remember that from last year, we all entered and exited the water on the same staircase. I also heard that even though it was well into the 90's there was only water on the run course, no Gatorade or gels. That makes a long 10k run. The finish line was not very interesting and in a bad location.

Its hard to always blame the race directors for this stuff and I admire their pluck for putting on a race, I can only imagine the stress but this was not the first year of this race.

What has been your worst race experience that was not self-inflicted?