Second Nature

It eventually becomes second nature.  Four days off the bike after Wildflower and I'm back in the saddle.   I had a PR race on the bike, 2 hrs 54 min averaging 19.20 mph on a hilly course.  5 days after and Thursday's 56 mile ride felt good.   The level of fitness I have today is exactly where my training journey begins.  The baseline at Wildflower has been set and its now time to double down on fitness for Ironman Lake Tahoe's 112 mile ride.  

After Thursdays 56 mile ride, on Friday I did my 12 mile long run from the water tower to the Rocky loop and back.  It was a hilly and very hot run, just as hard as the run at Wildflower.  To me, this represents the hard work and harsh elements I'll need to consistently check in on to eventually adapt.  Running fast on fresh legs, on flat roads, in cool conditions is exactly the type of training I don't want to get used to as Tahoe will be hilly, hot, at elevation and on fatigue legs off the bike.  These elements will require a completely different approach to run training if I'm actually going to run that entire marathon at my goal pace instead of going out hard and blowing up.  By throwing in these variables now during my consistent long run build up, they will become part of what I do.  I'll adapt over time and not let these factors impact my performance come Tahoe.  

What is second nature?  Its simple.  Be consistent.  How you feel on your long run/ride is how you will feel on race day.  If you want to ride fast on race day ride fast in training.  If you want to run fast on race day run fast in training.  If you want to run hills on race day then run hills in training.  If you want to know how your body performs in heat run in heat.  It's going to be my hat trick because I am doing the work on each of these variables now as homework to execute the familiar come race day.

My goal for the base phase is to accomplish these two workouts (long ride day followed by long run day) consistently once a week and adjust the difficulty by going longer and longer each time I go.  It will be like groundhog day with more miles thrown in each time this routine repeats.  I actually prefer using Exiter as my starting point as the course from Visalia is not race course similar enough and I need to start in the foothills and incorporate as much hilly and hot race like conditions as I can.     

I also had some flex time, instead of doing this on a Saturday and Sunday, I took care of this after work on a Thursday and Friday.  By doing so, I'm making room in my families schedule for Jamie to work the Wipeout race on Saturday and of course Mothers day on Sunday.  

In summary, this workout is going to be my groundhog day as I throw down more volume and repeat it week over week until I reach 100 mile ride and 20 mile run feeling just as comfortable as this weeks 56 and 12 just did.   

I'm also looking for feedback.  Given I'm spending 2/7 days a week on what I just described, how would you spend the other 5?  

Base of Blue Ridge

18 weeks out to Wildflower

January 5th kicks off the first big ride of the season, 18 weeks out to Wildflower.
Dry Creek to Mountain House and then descend 245.
Its a solid 3 hour 50 mile ride with 4K feet of climbing.
Ride Dry Creek Loop by joshua.hickey at Garmin Connect - Splits

Goals

We live in an instant gratification society. Easy credit, diets, social networks, fast food, etc. As 2013 approaches I'm thinking about goals because by nature, a goal focus delays instant gratification for something bigger. You must be patient to reach any goal. The larger the goal, the more patience you need. Goals require consistent hard work ethic. It doesn't happen overnight, it will take time, so create new positive habits, make it who you are as a person and endure the journey.

Limitless

Every man has a journey that defines them as a person.

It all started when I meet my good friend Justin for lunch.  It was one of those lunch meetings where you get excited about an idea put on the table.  However, the pitch was not about business ROI but rater self improvement ROI.  What type of goal setting do you think about individually or with friends for self improvement?  I’ve signed up for races before to go big with friends and create a plan to work toward a race date.  But this one was different.  Similar to training for a race but the event itself runs right past the finish line.  Something bigger.  The platform, life is limitless and the paradigm shift getting past your limitations imposed by outside circumstances or by yourself.  

The idea was to go on a long journey to find purpose.  On our computer we pulled up Visalia on the map and looked at stepping outside our home and going on a journey, a 300 mile run with the purpose to inspire others that life is limitless.  I got pretty excited to go beyond the boundary of that circle you draw around your neighborhood as you plot an everyday run and to open my eyes to how much bigger that could be. I looked at the possibility of leaving my door and going 300 miles away on my own two feet.  What route would you take if you had the ability to step outside your door and discover the backyard you can access on foot is bigger than you ever imagined?

The Route selected was: 

Visalia, Porterville, Oildale, Tehachapi, Mojave, Lancaster, Palmdale, Angles Forest, Glendale, LA, Santa Monica.

For five days my world was pared down to just running.  Running from my own hometown traveling by foot on the shoulder banks of the road into the horizon as far as the eye can see.  A pilgrimage from the landscapes of the valley to the desert through the forest from city to sea.  Along the way as we settled into our pace for 16 hour days the 300 mile journey shaped us.  Running is a journey inward and in subtle ways we traversed both land and thoughts.  I may not be the fastest but Gods blessed me with endurance and putting your talent to work builds enduring character.  No doubt, in a society driven by luxury and modern day convenience choosing the discomfort of running let alone ultra running is weird.  But now is the time in my life when 'I can' do this.  My health is my wealth.  When my doctor cleared me to run after my Pnemothorax surgery last March I became a runner again and through my actions I joined the LIMITLESS journey to inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more.  Running has its highs and its lows and you do the best you can, where you are, with what you have, now.  You work at it with all your heart and reach past your limits with a positive attitude. That's my LIMITLESS story, now go out there and make your own life awesome!

When the present is not weighted down, immersion in the moment is where creation lives. The entire trip was planned out with a crew so all we had to do was run. Its amazing what happens once all of your basic needs are meet and your free to explore your abilities and strive for further development.

Some people simply refuse to accept limits or listen to conventional wisdom. Instead of merely existing in status quo, they have the courage to change it. Their drive takes them beyond the ordinary, and their sense of purpose propels them far beyond the boundaries of reason.

Altering view of ones self. Justin and Ira are physically exhausted by the number of miles run compounded by lack of sleep so they look within both mentally and spiritually to find that source to move past their physical limitations.

We limit our own self development if we are distracted by societies perceived deficiency. Think about what a runner faces from societies perception of being self centered or a non conformist. Alleviate that tension that comes into play from re-acting to society by being devoted to your own actions and driven by one's authentic self. This is an inner hold on self. Its a

lessened awareness of other people and their demands in order to pursue the path to finding one’s true identity. Its an active process of becoming the person you were meant to be, not what society wants you to be.

This song takes me right back to the whole experience:

Time Without Consequence, Alexi Murdoch

http://youtu.be/zUH9YnBD4NM

Ultra running the Mineral King loop in the Sequoia Natl Park

The Mineral King Loop 50K is located in the Sequoia National Park.  From the 99 take Mineral King Road about 3 miles outside of 3-Rivers.  The trail head elevation is 7,800 feet and climbs to Sawtooth pass 11,600 feet.

No Go Ironman CA 2012

Loosing my breath on a Yokohl Ride

Surgery

Post Surgery

On Saturday 24th I was out on a short fast Yokohl Valley ride with Eric Blane, we are both tapering for IM CA next weekend. We meet at 8 am at the Water Tower in Exiter and the air was 'cold and dry' but the sun was out so I took off my vest and was wearing my ViTri tri suit, the same one I plan to use next weekend. As we set off up Rocky Hill, we had a cold headwind so I was looking forward to the climb to get warm. Riding through Yokohl we held a fast race like pace but something was off. Every time I pulled, I felt more fatigue than my usual at par on rides with Eric. So we were both riding fast, the air was cold and my breathing was way off. I was taking short breaths and my hand fell asleep so I sat up & shook out the tingles. I felt my chest grow tight so I let out a cough to open up my lungs. After the out and back, chasing Eric home I was holding on to his pace gasping for air up to the point when the muscles in my back, chest and biceps started to spasm from lack of oxygen. I pulled over to the side of the road and shook out my muscles which were twitching. Getting back on my bike, I still could not catch my breath even at a snails pace home. I pulled over yet again puzzled. Eric looped back and agreed to head back solo and pick me up. I was home by 11 and took my kids to the gym for their kids club class. While in kids club, I foam rolled the muscles that were having the spasm and found relief. No underlying issue's there, maybe just cramps from lack of oxygen. But what continued was my chest tightness, chest pain, wheezing or a clicking and a prolonged shortness of breath & fatigue. The ability to breath was interfering with my regular day so I went to the doctor. I talked to my doctor about what ever this is being triggered on my bike ride. I also observed last week it rained and the week prior I was in the bay area so my usual Yokohl Valley ride was suspect for a change in conditions, possibly Asthma. The contrast between the warm air in the lungs and the cold inhaled air could have triggered the asthma attack. The doctor diagnosed me with Exercise-Induced Asthma and prescribed medications for Singular and a beta2-agonist bronchodilator inhaler. That night when Jamie got home from attending a funeral I was laying in bed and she could literally hear my breathing and the severity of my airway obstruction was not going away so she told me people can die from a severe asthma attack so we went to the emergency room to measure my oxygen intake. It was low, 1/3 of a normal person so the issue was still there but I had just enough to sleep on (and settle some of Jamie's nerves) and see the doc in the morning. So it's now Sunday morning and my airway obstruction is not better. My lungs are not functioning normal for breathing and my chest/lungs still feels tight & inflamed. I am now wondering if its asthma plus a respiratory tract infection. So I went back to the doctor for more evaluation. This time I do a spirometry test and can only breathe out 200 vs 600 expected on the test. I also had an eximetry test on the fingertip and the ogygen in the bloodstream is low. I scheduled a test for Monday for a chest x-ray to rule out other conditions with similar symptoms to asthma. Immediately after returning home from the x-ray I received a follow up call from the doctor with instructions to toss all asthma medication and go directly to the emergency room as the x-ray indicates a collapsed lung and I will require surgery today. A collapsed lung occurs when air escapes from the lung and fills up the space outside of the lung, inside the chest. This buildup of air puts pressure on the lung, so it cannot expand as much as it normally does when you take a breath. It may be caused by a gunshot or knife wound to the chest, rib fracture, or in some cases, a collapsed lung occurs without any cause. This is called a spontaneous pneumothorax. A small area in the lung that is filled with air, called a bleb, can rupture, sending air into the space around the lung. Thin people are more likely to have a collapsed lung. My doctor used a needle to pull the extra air out from around the lung so it can expand more fully and I was allowed to go home.

Surf City 2012

On February 5, 2012 I ran the Surf City Marathon at Huntington Beach with a time of 3:28:38. Signing up for this early season race was my winter training incentive to think about running under these warm blue skies with 70 degree sunshine. I'm also using this ocean run to train for similar beach conditions at my A race, IMCA just 55 days out. Not being an A race, I continued training right up to this event and went out for 18 miles with elevation last weekend. Somewhere along the way, I lost track of treating this as a training race and got caught up with the BQ pace just to see what it feels like. You'll never know what your capable of unless you push your limits and learn from your mistakes. Here is play by play for each mile:

Mile 1 - 3 start along the PCH (7:05, 6:58, 6:54) & I'm running with Matt Stoval running his BQ pace, not my pace.

Mile 4 - 6 is windy through Huntington Beach Central Park (7:16, 6:44, 7:15) so at the 6 mile mark our average is 7:02, going out too fast.

Mile 7 - 12 continues out along the PCH to the turn around point (7:18, 7:27, 7:31, 7:06, 7:20, 7:38) holding the avg of 7:14

Mile 13 - 16 continues back along the PCH to the turn around point (7:15, 7:21, 7:49, 7:55) & on this stretch the 3:10 pace group drops me and I'm dealing with a wicked oncoming stitch in my side.

Mile 17 - 20 continues out along the PCH to the turn around point (8:39, 8:33, 9:00, 9:13) and I'm at my runners low dealing with that wicked cramp. I execute my ultra pace which is something I can revert to all day because of my ultra's, its just a slow marathon pace which I did not want to resort to.

Mile 21 - 26.2 (9:16, 9:05, 9:23, 8:23, 8:56, 9:06 last .2 kick 7:41) with an avg 7:57 for the day.

I actually had my runners high at mile 24 when I was picked up by the 3:25 pacer who I followed mindlessly. Running behind the pacer I made a resolution to myself for more pace work. I was beat up and in tunnel vision finishing this final stretch. The sun was beating down and the single narrow trail was lined with pedestrians and traffic both ways. Following the pacer, I was mentally being pulled behind him. I distinctly recall a drum performance on the side of the trail and the beat of the drum matched the pace of heels I was barely holding on to in front of me. That is the trance, the enlightening moment why I do these events. I will be in search of that moment in my training as I embark on more pace work in the months leading up to my A race. Consistently holding my own pace is where I need to train.