Well, it's been a crazy couple of months, and so I figured it was time for a global (and personal) update to the blog :) Things have changed dramatically, and generally for the better :))
The latest news is that Alli and I are no longer together. It was with a heavy heart that I saw her leave my life as a partner, and leave Calgary for Edmonton, but our relationship has transitioned to that of business partners (as well as great friends) and I am happy to announce that she is joining me in my quest to offer a superior bootcamp experience to the residents of Edmonton. She is starting two Survivor Bootcamp classes on June 4 in Edmonton... one at 6 AM and another at 6 PM. If you know of anyone that is interested in joining up, have them take a look at the schedule found at survivorbootcamp.com - loads of outdoor fun and fitness to be enjoyed over four weeks. So much fun that most of our participants come back for a second round.
I have been busy at work with the identical venture in Calgary - I am now offering two identical classes in downtown Calgary - again, 6 AM and 6 PM five days a week. You can find more information about my classes at survivorbootcamp.com - I am currently doing this part time, while IT is still filling my days... not too much new to report on that end :)
I just wanted to throw this update out there, in case any of you were not aware of the major changes in my life as of late... it's been rough, but I feel that things are really looking up :)
Thank you to everyone for your support... hope to see you out at the races soon!!
Clinton
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Power meters... all hype, but buy one if you want ;)
Stumbled on this one today...
http://www.trifuel.com/training/bike/power-meters-hype-or-hyper-effective
Wow... what a lot of hype!
I have been sucked into this trap before, and have even considered spending a bunch of money to monitoring my power (ok, I HAVE been sucked into this - I own two electronic trainers, both of which support power).
Having now observed a group of elite athletes at work, and seeing not one of them interested in power, during a race or training, I can safely say that this technology is more hype than anything else... so I can now add it to the pile of everything else that I have experienced - including heart rate monitors, swim training tools and whatever other junk I am forgetting about ;)
So why the hype?
As best I can gather, it helps justify most of these coach's existence. Without a power meter, and a bunch of complicated power-focused workouts, they would be out of a job. Ditto for the heart rate - more justification for their crazy complicated workouts.
But, the pundits will say "it works for me!!"
Of course it does, you are training, and training well... most of your workouts are focused and you are putting in the miles and hours. Why wouldn't you improve? You just don't need all that junk hardware.
It's even been proven that HRM's aren't worth a penny when it comes to accuracy when related to exercise effort (Borg RPE is accurate, HR is not - go figure, YOU actually know how hard you are working, better than the HRM).
Yeah... argue if you wish... but I present you the facts - 20 of the best triathletes on earth, one week, no heart rate monitors, no power meters... just hard work, sweat, and smart coaching... from the heart. Awesome stuff. Just awesome!!
http://www.trifuel.com/training/bike/power-meters-hype-or-hyper-effective
Wow... what a lot of hype!
I have been sucked into this trap before, and have even considered spending a bunch of money to monitoring my power (ok, I HAVE been sucked into this - I own two electronic trainers, both of which support power).
Having now observed a group of elite athletes at work, and seeing not one of them interested in power, during a race or training, I can safely say that this technology is more hype than anything else... so I can now add it to the pile of everything else that I have experienced - including heart rate monitors, swim training tools and whatever other junk I am forgetting about ;)
So why the hype?
As best I can gather, it helps justify most of these coach's existence. Without a power meter, and a bunch of complicated power-focused workouts, they would be out of a job. Ditto for the heart rate - more justification for their crazy complicated workouts.
But, the pundits will say "it works for me!!"
Of course it does, you are training, and training well... most of your workouts are focused and you are putting in the miles and hours. Why wouldn't you improve? You just don't need all that junk hardware.
It's even been proven that HRM's aren't worth a penny when it comes to accuracy when related to exercise effort (Borg RPE is accurate, HR is not - go figure, YOU actually know how hard you are working, better than the HRM).
Yeah... argue if you wish... but I present you the facts - 20 of the best triathletes on earth, one week, no heart rate monitors, no power meters... just hard work, sweat, and smart coaching... from the heart. Awesome stuff. Just awesome!!
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Some days...
Just go well.
I don't know what clicked today, but it was a good day... so good that when I wanted to stop at 3k in the pool, I kept it up - figured "I can do this to 3,500" and for some reason, I just kept it going after that, and finished it all up with 4,000 even (or so - I cannot count... so I would say it was 4,000m +/- 300m ;)
Which raises a very important point - when I have ABSOLUTELY nothing else to think about when in the pool, how is it that I cannot keep it straight in my head how far it is I have gone?
Probably because I am busy thinking about 100 other things... like a device that would make counting laps easier... something I could strap to my finger that I could "click" every 100m or so... kindof like the Axe guys on TV. Meh... Marc tells me that focus is preferable... all I can say is that I am working on it.
That all said, I had a discussion with a fellow triathlete today (Katie) about this very thing... training long leaves us a lot of time for reflection, which can be good or bad (I have been experiencing both as of late).
This period of reflection is an awesome time to come up with... life plans/goals, recipes, theories, and well... just about anything that you can think about. On one hand it's good (since when is thinking bad) but it's a bit of a curse too - like when I cannot remember, for the life of me, how many lengths I have done.
Ah well... enough of that ramble.
At "lunch" I did 5x1000m intervals, with a bit of jogging, for a nice 40minute run. Next week I will pull it all the way up to the prescribed 6x1000m on 3:45 (I did have the time right, just not the number of intervals ;)
As a sidenote, my left calf is still annoying me, but it will wait until I can see Adam on Friday... wheee.
Until my next post, I hope all is well out there... hit me back with some comments, let me know that you are alive!
ciao
I don't know what clicked today, but it was a good day... so good that when I wanted to stop at 3k in the pool, I kept it up - figured "I can do this to 3,500" and for some reason, I just kept it going after that, and finished it all up with 4,000 even (or so - I cannot count... so I would say it was 4,000m +/- 300m ;)
Which raises a very important point - when I have ABSOLUTELY nothing else to think about when in the pool, how is it that I cannot keep it straight in my head how far it is I have gone?
Probably because I am busy thinking about 100 other things... like a device that would make counting laps easier... something I could strap to my finger that I could "click" every 100m or so... kindof like the Axe guys on TV. Meh... Marc tells me that focus is preferable... all I can say is that I am working on it.
That all said, I had a discussion with a fellow triathlete today (Katie) about this very thing... training long leaves us a lot of time for reflection, which can be good or bad (I have been experiencing both as of late).
This period of reflection is an awesome time to come up with... life plans/goals, recipes, theories, and well... just about anything that you can think about. On one hand it's good (since when is thinking bad) but it's a bit of a curse too - like when I cannot remember, for the life of me, how many lengths I have done.
Ah well... enough of that ramble.
At "lunch" I did 5x1000m intervals, with a bit of jogging, for a nice 40minute run. Next week I will pull it all the way up to the prescribed 6x1000m on 3:45 (I did have the time right, just not the number of intervals ;)
As a sidenote, my left calf is still annoying me, but it will wait until I can see Adam on Friday... wheee.
Until my next post, I hope all is well out there... hit me back with some comments, let me know that you are alive!
ciao
Monday, May 07, 2007
The weekend...
Well, Saturday saw me run in the Banff Calgary relay race, which was awesome. I started leg five and our team was in 50th place and by the time I finished, we were in 27th place. I must say, there's something to be said about starting towards the back of the pack... passing was fun :)) Leg five was ten miles, so it wasn't long, but it hurt. For some reason my left calf was bugging me, and my right heel has been nagging at me again as of late, and I figured it would all work itself out by the end. It really didn't, but the tailwind helped keep me fast :)) Our team placed 18/87 - which is a new record for them :D
Oh yeah... our team name was the Bantrel Bobcats... fun!
Sunday was Sunday. There was no wind early in the morning, and the sun was out, it was perfect weather for a ride.... but instead I vegged it. Everything was still too sore for me to contemplate doing much more than riding... and then riding fell off my list of priorities somehow :(
Today was better... did my two classes, got on the bike, and did a little bit of a speed run (these were meant to be two separate sessions, but lunch didn't work out today). Tomorrow is going to be a better day, I can feel it!
And thanks for the response to my last post Anonymous... food for thought - you are right :))
Oh yeah... our team name was the Bantrel Bobcats... fun!
Sunday was Sunday. There was no wind early in the morning, and the sun was out, it was perfect weather for a ride.... but instead I vegged it. Everything was still too sore for me to contemplate doing much more than riding... and then riding fell off my list of priorities somehow :(
Today was better... did my two classes, got on the bike, and did a little bit of a speed run (these were meant to be two separate sessions, but lunch didn't work out today). Tomorrow is going to be a better day, I can feel it!
And thanks for the response to my last post Anonymous... food for thought - you are right :))
Friday, May 04, 2007
The quantity obsession...
This is my random thought post of the day... it seems that we, as a society, are obsessed with more, not better. And this is sort of a "more at all costs" endeavor.
Not cool.
I began thinking about it today, as I passed a dentist's office in downtown Calgary. There was a sign that said something to the effect of... "Children smile 400 times a day on average, Women smile 70 times a day on average, Men smile 8 times a day."
Now... I think the point of the sign is obvious, but it got me to thinking... one GRAND smile should be worth more than one insincere smile, but how does one measure the quality of the smile. And what about the length? Surely if I start smiling in the morning when I get out of bed, and don't stop until I fall asleep, that smile must be worth more than 100 small smiles, no?
Now... perhaps I am beating the point to death, but we seem to get sucked into this notion that more is better, when clearly this is seldom the case. We are consumed by the idea that we should have "more for less" and that this is good. Hence Walmart is the leading retailer on the planet... ayeee.
I feel that I have been sucked into this in past, and it scares me a bit, because I like to think that less is more (I once heard that "Les is more" but that was about something entirely different ;) Teehee... I do believe in moderation, and possibly even scarcity... when you have too much, you don't know what it's like to have nothing... and there's nothing left to dream about.
That ring true? Anyone still reading?
Well... for those still obsessed with quantity, I got 2,000m in tonight at the pool. Was supposed to be 2,900 - but I cut it short in the name of quality ;)
Have a great Friday everyone! over/out.
Not cool.
I began thinking about it today, as I passed a dentist's office in downtown Calgary. There was a sign that said something to the effect of... "Children smile 400 times a day on average, Women smile 70 times a day on average, Men smile 8 times a day."
Now... I think the point of the sign is obvious, but it got me to thinking... one GRAND smile should be worth more than one insincere smile, but how does one measure the quality of the smile. And what about the length? Surely if I start smiling in the morning when I get out of bed, and don't stop until I fall asleep, that smile must be worth more than 100 small smiles, no?
Now... perhaps I am beating the point to death, but we seem to get sucked into this notion that more is better, when clearly this is seldom the case. We are consumed by the idea that we should have "more for less" and that this is good. Hence Walmart is the leading retailer on the planet... ayeee.
I feel that I have been sucked into this in past, and it scares me a bit, because I like to think that less is more (I once heard that "Les is more" but that was about something entirely different ;) Teehee... I do believe in moderation, and possibly even scarcity... when you have too much, you don't know what it's like to have nothing... and there's nothing left to dream about.
That ring true? Anyone still reading?
Well... for those still obsessed with quantity, I got 2,000m in tonight at the pool. Was supposed to be 2,900 - but I cut it short in the name of quality ;)
Have a great Friday everyone! over/out.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Time flies...
I probably have another post that was entitled something similar, but I couldn't come up with anything more original at this hour :)
I could go on and on about what things have gone on since I last posted, but it's long, and involved, and I will save it for a day that I have more time.
For now... let's talk a bit about training.
I have been on and off the wagon more times than I can count, and now is the time to be gettin' back on. I am roughly six weeks out from my first "in season" race - this one in BC... so no time to mess around at all ;)
I am trying a few new things, today I ran just over four miles in my more or less bare feet... this is something that I have been working on all along, but Marc made a suggestion recently that sealed the deal... so I am in. I ran indoors today, however, because the rain/sleet/snow was too much to endure, given my entire lack of clothing for this sort of weather (it was nice out this morning - that's my excuse ;)
Tonight is a solid swim, intervals. The run went well... let's see how the swim goes.
Oh yeah... for those that haven't heard - I have started up my own business in Calgary - you can find out a bit more at survivorbootcamp.com - this adds another two hours of work to my day from Monday through Wednesday, but it's worth it... AWESOME stuff!!
More to follow... and soon (tomorrow).
Love you all!!
Clinton
I could go on and on about what things have gone on since I last posted, but it's long, and involved, and I will save it for a day that I have more time.
For now... let's talk a bit about training.
I have been on and off the wagon more times than I can count, and now is the time to be gettin' back on. I am roughly six weeks out from my first "in season" race - this one in BC... so no time to mess around at all ;)
I am trying a few new things, today I ran just over four miles in my more or less bare feet... this is something that I have been working on all along, but Marc made a suggestion recently that sealed the deal... so I am in. I ran indoors today, however, because the rain/sleet/snow was too much to endure, given my entire lack of clothing for this sort of weather (it was nice out this morning - that's my excuse ;)
Tonight is a solid swim, intervals. The run went well... let's see how the swim goes.
Oh yeah... for those that haven't heard - I have started up my own business in Calgary - you can find out a bit more at survivorbootcamp.com - this adds another two hours of work to my day from Monday through Wednesday, but it's worth it... AWESOME stuff!!
More to follow... and soon (tomorrow).
Love you all!!
Clinton
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