Everything is done and set for tomorrow morning. Will be heading down to the start line in about 13 hours - race starts in a little less than 15 hours... both of us are a bit nervous, but that will be far behind us once that gun goes off in the morning.
Everything is clear in our heads now - just the blood sweat and tears left (mostly sweat ;)
Thanks again to everyone for your support leading up to the race - be sure to keep an eye out on the ironmanlive website for our progress as we go.
Race starts at 7:00 AM local or 2:00 PM Mountain. If you live elsewhere, check this link for your local start time.
Post-race report to follow!!
Clinton and Alli
Friday, March 31, 2006
The day of reckoning approaches...
Well, it's Friday night (and the post that follows took a very long time to get up).
Did the carb load dinner and listened to all sorts... from the 18 year old who is doing his first Ironman on Sunday (just decided it would be cool to do) to the 71 year old man who will be completing his eleventh Ironman... some crazy and inspiring stories.
Lisa Bentley got up and gave us a chat about her brush with a burst appendix in Kona... what an incredible story. I don't know how she lasted as long as she did (and she was more than willing to finish the race).
Anyways... much inspiration, two more sleeps...
Hope all is well back in Canada!!
G'nite for Friday!!
Did the carb load dinner and listened to all sorts... from the 18 year old who is doing his first Ironman on Sunday (just decided it would be cool to do) to the 71 year old man who will be completing his eleventh Ironman... some crazy and inspiring stories.
Lisa Bentley got up and gave us a chat about her brush with a burst appendix in Kona... what an incredible story. I don't know how she lasted as long as she did (and she was more than willing to finish the race).
Anyways... much inspiration, two more sleeps...
Hope all is well back in Canada!!
G'nite for Friday!!
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Hello from Port Macquarie
Hello everyone, it has been a while since I posted – a fact that I can attribute to our almost non-stop travel up the coast (bouncing from town to town) and infrequent access to the internet. We have now landed in Port Macqaurie, home of Ironman Australia and have settled into our campervan site. We have a neat little home here…
So, to bring everyone up to speed, I will skip most of the travel up to the past weekend and give you the goods from there…
On Sunday we went for a ride on the coast, near a small town named Ottsford. Rode off into one of Australia’s many national parks. The ride was great - nice ups and downs, and a little bit of flat in there for good measure. The road was windy and narrow, and as I rode along, I got to thinking again about motorists – I had slagged them in a previous post, but I failed to really speak to the good drivers, of which there are more than plenty. So I had decided early on in the ride that this was what my next post was to be about.
While driving that winding, and often slow road, many motorists (including motorcyclists) would wait patiently behind you until there was a decent flat/open stretch to pass. This is something that we, as cyclists appreciate. Nothing is worse than someone ramming past you on a blind corner, in a rush. In fact, I don’t know if we had a single bad motorist pass us on that ride (at least I certainly did not see one).
After a little more than an hour into the ride (it was a super-easy ride) I stopped to wait for Alli. From where I was stopped, I could see Sydney in the distance. Where I pulled over, I found a dollar coin on the side of the road… I took this to be a sign of good luck. I picked that dollar up, put it into my back jersey pocket and when Alli came up, we turned around for the second part of the journey.
I began to enjoy the ride back… easy on the hills up, hard on the way back down… the bends were a lot of fun (akin to driving a sports car in the mountains – though these were hardly mountainous roads ;) I took a particularly long steep and windy stretch hard, enjoying the curves – gaining speed as I went… and had a motorcycle right behind me doing the same (could hear him, but wasn’t looking back). As I came around the final tight turn of that descent, I was going somewhere around 50-60 km/h – and as I hit that turn, I realized I was pulling it too wide. With a car oncoming, and a motorcycle behind me, I lost my nerve and flinched. I do not even know what happened, but I went down. I missed the car in the far lane and the guy on the motorcycle behind me went down and bumped me from behind (this was an inconsequential “tap” after he had nearly come to a complete stop. I stopped very effectively with my body (and bike unfortunately).
Once I had come to a complete stop, I remember dragging my bike with one foot still attached to a pedal to the far side of the road… like a wounded animal.
Now if I had thought the motorists were good up to this point, you really should have seen the show after I crashed. The fellow on the Ducati behind me was unconcerned about anything but my well-being. This, despite the fact that he had just gotten his motorcycle back from being repaired… and the damage to his motorcycle was not pretty.
The next to stop was a couple in an SUV who helped the guy move his motorcycle off the road (I was in a bit of a state of shock still, and couldn’t quite grasp the fact that he could not easily lift the bike on his own). Once they got his bike off the road, we assessed the damage (no pun intended). I really cannot get a good view of my own ass, save for in the mirror (which was not readily available) so I had to take their word for it when they said it looked pretty bad. It certainly did smart – and my Speedo tri shorts were never to be the same again…
Alli came along, and it was sort of funny – she didn’t even realize what had gone on at first from the other side of the road things looked well – though she could not quite understand why everyone had decided to accumulate right on the bend at the bottom of a relatively steep decline. She was pretty upset when she saw the damage (probably more upset than me).
We exchanged details, and the couple that had stopped in the SUV were extremely generous in offering my bleeding butt a ride back to our van… and then subsequently offered us a place to stay. Did I mention that these people were FANTASTIC?? Wow… such super people. The guy on the bike… his attitude was “don’t worry about the bike, that’s what insurance is for – I am just glad you are all right.” Hmm… could I have had a better guy following me? And I have made no mention of his torn pants and scraped knee (though seemingly inconsequential to my injuries, they were incurred as a result of my poor judgment on that hill/corner).
Once I got back to the van, I surveyed the damage and pulled out the first aid kit. Cleaned off the two worn knuckles (ouch) and put band-aids on where possible.
Then I remembered my lucky dollar – checked in my back pocket, and it was still there.
Now, for the uninitiated, you might not have noticed, but despite all the damage done it was still a very lucky day. The damage done to bike and rider are insignificant to death, and I cheated death that day. If that car had been a couple seconds later, or had there been another car behind the first, I would have been in serious trouble. Ditto for the guy on the motorcycle – he very well could have ridden right overtop of me, and that would not have been a pretty picture.
Ah well – went down to the local lifesaving club and had the lifeguards check and clean my wounds (well, Alli did most of the cleaning actually, and they covered up the damage for me).
The bike had certainly seen better days – I shaved a significant amount of carbon from the front handlebars, but I think it will hold together. A few other scapes, and somehow scratched up the fork a bit, but I think all is well there as far as structural integrity goes.
All of this just seven days out from the race – this was a hard pill to swallow, but training came to a literal screeching halt after that. On Tuesday I visited a doctor’s office in Shoal Bay, where they promptly (minus the two hour wait in the lobby to get in) cleaned my butt up, patched it up, fired a tetanus shot into my left arm (ouch) and sent me on my way with a prescription for antibiotics to save me from any infection that might crop up.
Things have been sore, but by yesterday (Wednesday here) things have almost returned to good working order. My butt still hurts to sit on, and I am constantly aware of the missing skin, but it is not that big of a deal. Diversity in training is what I call that.
So… that was Sunday, and today is Friday. Just a few short days until race day. You should see this place – triathletes everywhere. At around 6:30 I woke up and went to the washroom, and an older fellow – probably mid sixties was coming out of the “amenities building” wearing dark blue spandex running tights and long white socks over top. Not something you would traditionally see at a caravan park (or at least not something that I would expect to see here when Ironman was not on).
I think I mentioned it in a previous post, but not too sure – the local tourist bureau started up an “adopt an athlete program” where businesses or individuals/families could adopt an out of town athlete to cheer on come Sunday (after all, most out of the athletes competing will be from out of town – out of 1,500 people competing, 24 countries are represented, and there are only 11 locals doing the Ironman – needless to say, those 11 locals will be well represented in the crowd).
Anyhow, I was lucky enough to get adopted by the local visitors center. The visitors center is staffed by a bunch of fantastic ladies, who were all very pleased to learn that they were sponsoring a “professional triathlete”. Oops… now who told them that?? I had to correct them, or else they would only serve to be disappointed, especially with my recent run-in with the road… well, that AND the very competitive nature of Ironman here in Australia. These Aussies are plain nuts… or at least their times have been incredible in years past.
The town has literally come alive with Ironman athletes… the caravan park is nearly full and it is mid-week. I am sure that the net impact on this small town will be substantial… probably the largest single even in the entire year. What is fascinating to watch, however, is the varying craziness of these athletes. It is clearly the time to slow down, yet on an easy jog that Alli and I did last night, this guy goes wizzing past us like he was on the way to a fire… but there is a lot of assuming going on here, so I will stop ;)
Final note – some of you are interested in watching our progress this weekend, and so I though I would share with you how to follow our progress – or at least how I believe that you will be able to follow our progress. You can go to http://www.ironmanlive.com on race day and look for a link to Ironman Australia (it should be pretty big and/or obvious on the day). Once you get the option to track an athlete, you will be able to search us out. Should you require our bib numbers they are: Alli – 318 and I am 1492. I do not think that those are subject to any change, but we don’t have our bibs yet.
Alli has not had much of a chance to access the internet either, and has not posted a blog entry for a while, but she will be on that shortly. Until then, she says HELLO to everyone that might be reading!
Until the next post, from Port Macquarie… Clinton and Alli
So, to bring everyone up to speed, I will skip most of the travel up to the past weekend and give you the goods from there…
On Sunday we went for a ride on the coast, near a small town named Ottsford. Rode off into one of Australia’s many national parks. The ride was great - nice ups and downs, and a little bit of flat in there for good measure. The road was windy and narrow, and as I rode along, I got to thinking again about motorists – I had slagged them in a previous post, but I failed to really speak to the good drivers, of which there are more than plenty. So I had decided early on in the ride that this was what my next post was to be about.
While driving that winding, and often slow road, many motorists (including motorcyclists) would wait patiently behind you until there was a decent flat/open stretch to pass. This is something that we, as cyclists appreciate. Nothing is worse than someone ramming past you on a blind corner, in a rush. In fact, I don’t know if we had a single bad motorist pass us on that ride (at least I certainly did not see one).
After a little more than an hour into the ride (it was a super-easy ride) I stopped to wait for Alli. From where I was stopped, I could see Sydney in the distance. Where I pulled over, I found a dollar coin on the side of the road… I took this to be a sign of good luck. I picked that dollar up, put it into my back jersey pocket and when Alli came up, we turned around for the second part of the journey.
I began to enjoy the ride back… easy on the hills up, hard on the way back down… the bends were a lot of fun (akin to driving a sports car in the mountains – though these were hardly mountainous roads ;) I took a particularly long steep and windy stretch hard, enjoying the curves – gaining speed as I went… and had a motorcycle right behind me doing the same (could hear him, but wasn’t looking back). As I came around the final tight turn of that descent, I was going somewhere around 50-60 km/h – and as I hit that turn, I realized I was pulling it too wide. With a car oncoming, and a motorcycle behind me, I lost my nerve and flinched. I do not even know what happened, but I went down. I missed the car in the far lane and the guy on the motorcycle behind me went down and bumped me from behind (this was an inconsequential “tap” after he had nearly come to a complete stop. I stopped very effectively with my body (and bike unfortunately).
Once I had come to a complete stop, I remember dragging my bike with one foot still attached to a pedal to the far side of the road… like a wounded animal.
Now if I had thought the motorists were good up to this point, you really should have seen the show after I crashed. The fellow on the Ducati behind me was unconcerned about anything but my well-being. This, despite the fact that he had just gotten his motorcycle back from being repaired… and the damage to his motorcycle was not pretty.
The next to stop was a couple in an SUV who helped the guy move his motorcycle off the road (I was in a bit of a state of shock still, and couldn’t quite grasp the fact that he could not easily lift the bike on his own). Once they got his bike off the road, we assessed the damage (no pun intended). I really cannot get a good view of my own ass, save for in the mirror (which was not readily available) so I had to take their word for it when they said it looked pretty bad. It certainly did smart – and my Speedo tri shorts were never to be the same again…
Alli came along, and it was sort of funny – she didn’t even realize what had gone on at first from the other side of the road things looked well – though she could not quite understand why everyone had decided to accumulate right on the bend at the bottom of a relatively steep decline. She was pretty upset when she saw the damage (probably more upset than me).
We exchanged details, and the couple that had stopped in the SUV were extremely generous in offering my bleeding butt a ride back to our van… and then subsequently offered us a place to stay. Did I mention that these people were FANTASTIC?? Wow… such super people. The guy on the bike… his attitude was “don’t worry about the bike, that’s what insurance is for – I am just glad you are all right.” Hmm… could I have had a better guy following me? And I have made no mention of his torn pants and scraped knee (though seemingly inconsequential to my injuries, they were incurred as a result of my poor judgment on that hill/corner).
Once I got back to the van, I surveyed the damage and pulled out the first aid kit. Cleaned off the two worn knuckles (ouch) and put band-aids on where possible.
Then I remembered my lucky dollar – checked in my back pocket, and it was still there.
Now, for the uninitiated, you might not have noticed, but despite all the damage done it was still a very lucky day. The damage done to bike and rider are insignificant to death, and I cheated death that day. If that car had been a couple seconds later, or had there been another car behind the first, I would have been in serious trouble. Ditto for the guy on the motorcycle – he very well could have ridden right overtop of me, and that would not have been a pretty picture.
Ah well – went down to the local lifesaving club and had the lifeguards check and clean my wounds (well, Alli did most of the cleaning actually, and they covered up the damage for me).
The bike had certainly seen better days – I shaved a significant amount of carbon from the front handlebars, but I think it will hold together. A few other scapes, and somehow scratched up the fork a bit, but I think all is well there as far as structural integrity goes.
All of this just seven days out from the race – this was a hard pill to swallow, but training came to a literal screeching halt after that. On Tuesday I visited a doctor’s office in Shoal Bay, where they promptly (minus the two hour wait in the lobby to get in) cleaned my butt up, patched it up, fired a tetanus shot into my left arm (ouch) and sent me on my way with a prescription for antibiotics to save me from any infection that might crop up.
Things have been sore, but by yesterday (Wednesday here) things have almost returned to good working order. My butt still hurts to sit on, and I am constantly aware of the missing skin, but it is not that big of a deal. Diversity in training is what I call that.
So… that was Sunday, and today is Friday. Just a few short days until race day. You should see this place – triathletes everywhere. At around 6:30 I woke up and went to the washroom, and an older fellow – probably mid sixties was coming out of the “amenities building” wearing dark blue spandex running tights and long white socks over top. Not something you would traditionally see at a caravan park (or at least not something that I would expect to see here when Ironman was not on).
I think I mentioned it in a previous post, but not too sure – the local tourist bureau started up an “adopt an athlete program” where businesses or individuals/families could adopt an out of town athlete to cheer on come Sunday (after all, most out of the athletes competing will be from out of town – out of 1,500 people competing, 24 countries are represented, and there are only 11 locals doing the Ironman – needless to say, those 11 locals will be well represented in the crowd).
Anyhow, I was lucky enough to get adopted by the local visitors center. The visitors center is staffed by a bunch of fantastic ladies, who were all very pleased to learn that they were sponsoring a “professional triathlete”. Oops… now who told them that?? I had to correct them, or else they would only serve to be disappointed, especially with my recent run-in with the road… well, that AND the very competitive nature of Ironman here in Australia. These Aussies are plain nuts… or at least their times have been incredible in years past.
The town has literally come alive with Ironman athletes… the caravan park is nearly full and it is mid-week. I am sure that the net impact on this small town will be substantial… probably the largest single even in the entire year. What is fascinating to watch, however, is the varying craziness of these athletes. It is clearly the time to slow down, yet on an easy jog that Alli and I did last night, this guy goes wizzing past us like he was on the way to a fire… but there is a lot of assuming going on here, so I will stop ;)
Final note – some of you are interested in watching our progress this weekend, and so I though I would share with you how to follow our progress – or at least how I believe that you will be able to follow our progress. You can go to http://www.ironmanlive.com on race day and look for a link to Ironman Australia (it should be pretty big and/or obvious on the day). Once you get the option to track an athlete, you will be able to search us out. Should you require our bib numbers they are: Alli – 318 and I am 1492. I do not think that those are subject to any change, but we don’t have our bibs yet.
Alli has not had much of a chance to access the internet either, and has not posted a blog entry for a while, but she will be on that shortly. Until then, she says HELLO to everyone that might be reading!
Until the next post, from Port Macquarie… Clinton and Alli
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Hello from Canberra...
Just a quick note to say hello from Canberra. We are making our way slowly up the coast, enjoying a few of the sights and experiences :)
Training continues, albeit in taper mode... slowly winding down to almost nothing. Today is a day off, then back on again tomorrow.
All is well (and sunny) here.
Hope everyone is well, more as we find time and access.
Clinton and Alli
Training continues, albeit in taper mode... slowly winding down to almost nothing. Today is a day off, then back on again tomorrow.
All is well (and sunny) here.
Hope everyone is well, more as we find time and access.
Clinton and Alli
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
No news is good news :)
Just a very quick note... on the clock here, and time is nearly up!
We are headed up the coast towards the race venue - have moved about 1,000km since we left last Thursday. Currently in a small city called Batemans Bay. Nice little town.
Tomorrow we will be heading into Canberra for a day or two. Canberra is the capital of Australia, and home of the Australian Institute of Sport (Alli is really keen on visiting the AIS so we will be making a stop there).
More soon... maybe even a few pictures at our next stop!!
Oh yeah - we are nowhere near that cyclone, so fear thee not - it is considerably North of us.
Miss you all... more soon!
Clinton & Alli
We are headed up the coast towards the race venue - have moved about 1,000km since we left last Thursday. Currently in a small city called Batemans Bay. Nice little town.
Tomorrow we will be heading into Canberra for a day or two. Canberra is the capital of Australia, and home of the Australian Institute of Sport (Alli is really keen on visiting the AIS so we will be making a stop there).
More soon... maybe even a few pictures at our next stop!!
Oh yeah - we are nowhere near that cyclone, so fear thee not - it is considerably North of us.
Miss you all... more soon!
Clinton & Alli
Monday, March 06, 2006
Fat - the good, the bad and the ugly
Now, we all know that midsection fat is ugly... but that's not what I'm talking about here :)
I ran across an interesting article on ironmanlive.com about fat in the diet. This is an often misunderstood item - over the years many people have been misled about the role of fat in the diet.
This article is not quite complete, but it is good reference... so take a peek.
A bit common sense, but so is eating (in my humble opinion :)
Bottom line - don't forget the fat!!!
I ran across an interesting article on ironmanlive.com about fat in the diet. This is an often misunderstood item - over the years many people have been misled about the role of fat in the diet.
This article is not quite complete, but it is good reference... so take a peek.
A bit common sense, but so is eating (in my humble opinion :)
Bottom line - don't forget the fat!!!
Karma.
We got into a discussion the other day about karma, and Alli and I got to talking about it further (nevermind the fact that my sister mentions the word daily it seems).
The reason that the conversation started was a discussion about why a child, perhaps only just barely born, might end up with a terminal illness. The thought was that perhaps that child was affected by "bad karma".
I tried to discuss karma with Alli then realized that I was well and truly in over my head. It seems that karma is largely misunderstood and incorrectly used by the western world... in that most of us don't even believe in past or future lives, so karma is largely not relevant.
I found a good explanation of karma, for those that are interested, here.
Seems that our interpretation of 'bad karma' is a bit misled.
What does this have to do with Ironman or my adventure? Read it and decide for yourself, essentially everything :)
The reason that the conversation started was a discussion about why a child, perhaps only just barely born, might end up with a terminal illness. The thought was that perhaps that child was affected by "bad karma".
I tried to discuss karma with Alli then realized that I was well and truly in over my head. It seems that karma is largely misunderstood and incorrectly used by the western world... in that most of us don't even believe in past or future lives, so karma is largely not relevant.
I found a good explanation of karma, for those that are interested, here.
Seems that our interpretation of 'bad karma' is a bit misled.
What does this have to do with Ironman or my adventure? Read it and decide for yourself, essentially everything :)
Sunday, March 05, 2006
A truly inspiring video...
The news is full of all sorts of, well, bad news. It sometimes takes a bit of sifting to find a real gem in the news.
So I figured I would save you all some time searching, and let you have a peek at this video.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!
So I figured I would save you all some time searching, and let you have a peek at this video.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Roadkill report...
So, time to focus on the training for a minute :)
Yesterday we got out nice and early for our long ride - ok, it wasn't so early at all. Alli was up like clockwork at 7:00, and probably ready to go by 8:00 easily, but it took me until after 9:00 to be rolling out the door (referring back to my Polar heart rate monitor, I left at 9:19 AM - Alli got the 10-15 minute headstart on me.
Anyhow, we cycled out to Phillip Island again - if for no other reason than there is a sum total of about five traffic lights the entire way. Beat that with a stick will ya :) The ride out was good, with a very light headwind - which I was looking forward to returning with at my backside.
By the time that we arrived at Phillip Island (85km - 2:45, average speed 30.7 km/h) the temperature approached or possibly exceeded 40 degrees Celsius. I decided after a short break that an ice cold Coke was in order, so we stopped by the store and I bought a 1.5L bottle of Coke (couldn't help it, the 600ml bottle was only a dollar less - it's all about the value ;) Alli and I shared the bottle, meaning that I drank about 1.3L and she drank about 200ml. Teehee... actually, thought it would be too much, and that I would need to stop for a pee five minutes out, but it turned out NOT to be the case.
The ride back began with a vicious headwind - what? Where did my tailwind go? Dammit anyways... the coke kicked in about 15 minutes into the ride, and I was very glad that I drank as much of it as I had. Frankly, I was extremely unimpressed with my hot Ultima (like gatorade, but less garbage) and almost boiling water (note to self - take tea bags next time to make tea in water bottles ;)
Well, despite headwinds most of the way, I kept things on pace, and made it back to the 7-11 with 30 minutes to spare, and so I decided it was time for another treat... this time a Slurpee was in order. I had it half downed by the time that Alli caught up with me (actually wasn't that long at all - I was a thirsty bugger :)
Here was the summary of the food and drink consumption for those interested:
2L plus of Ultima
over 2L of water
1L of staminade
1L of coke at turnaround (paid extra for ice cold coke, full sugar ;)
800ml of slurpee at 7-11 30 minutes from home, before run
Around 8 thermolyte caplets
Misc foodstuffs
Total ride time was 5:40 and total distance was roughly 171km followed by a brief 30 minute run... drank my entire bottle on the run, then litres and litres of water thereafter. Seems that I came up a bit short, despite having drank so much (or seemingly so much) on the bike.
As far as roadkill goes (doesn't seem right using it as a title then not mentioning it :) saw one fox, many birds, a couple of snakes (including one alive) and one dead roo in the ditch (nasty smelly in the heat, ewwww).
So begins my Sunday morning. We are four weeks out from raceday, so it's crunch time now.
Less than two weeks until we depart, and test my driving skills once again (I haven't driven anything, save for a bike, for the last four or more months).
More to follow :)
Yesterday we got out nice and early for our long ride - ok, it wasn't so early at all. Alli was up like clockwork at 7:00, and probably ready to go by 8:00 easily, but it took me until after 9:00 to be rolling out the door (referring back to my Polar heart rate monitor, I left at 9:19 AM - Alli got the 10-15 minute headstart on me.
Anyhow, we cycled out to Phillip Island again - if for no other reason than there is a sum total of about five traffic lights the entire way. Beat that with a stick will ya :) The ride out was good, with a very light headwind - which I was looking forward to returning with at my backside.
By the time that we arrived at Phillip Island (85km - 2:45, average speed 30.7 km/h) the temperature approached or possibly exceeded 40 degrees Celsius. I decided after a short break that an ice cold Coke was in order, so we stopped by the store and I bought a 1.5L bottle of Coke (couldn't help it, the 600ml bottle was only a dollar less - it's all about the value ;) Alli and I shared the bottle, meaning that I drank about 1.3L and she drank about 200ml. Teehee... actually, thought it would be too much, and that I would need to stop for a pee five minutes out, but it turned out NOT to be the case.
The ride back began with a vicious headwind - what? Where did my tailwind go? Dammit anyways... the coke kicked in about 15 minutes into the ride, and I was very glad that I drank as much of it as I had. Frankly, I was extremely unimpressed with my hot Ultima (like gatorade, but less garbage) and almost boiling water (note to self - take tea bags next time to make tea in water bottles ;)
Well, despite headwinds most of the way, I kept things on pace, and made it back to the 7-11 with 30 minutes to spare, and so I decided it was time for another treat... this time a Slurpee was in order. I had it half downed by the time that Alli caught up with me (actually wasn't that long at all - I was a thirsty bugger :)
Here was the summary of the food and drink consumption for those interested:
2L plus of Ultima
over 2L of water
1L of staminade
1L of coke at turnaround (paid extra for ice cold coke, full sugar ;)
800ml of slurpee at 7-11 30 minutes from home, before run
Around 8 thermolyte caplets
Misc foodstuffs
Total ride time was 5:40 and total distance was roughly 171km followed by a brief 30 minute run... drank my entire bottle on the run, then litres and litres of water thereafter. Seems that I came up a bit short, despite having drank so much (or seemingly so much) on the bike.
As far as roadkill goes (doesn't seem right using it as a title then not mentioning it :) saw one fox, many birds, a couple of snakes (including one alive) and one dead roo in the ditch (nasty smelly in the heat, ewwww).
So begins my Sunday morning. We are four weeks out from raceday, so it's crunch time now.
Less than two weeks until we depart, and test my driving skills once again (I haven't driven anything, save for a bike, for the last four or more months).
More to follow :)
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Funny (but true) story...
I forgot about this, but it deserves its own entry anyways.
Alli was chatting with a triathlete the other day, and he quite seriously asked her about wind trainers (for those that aren't quite initiated - these are the devices that we setup in our livingroom to turn our $4,000 road bikes into stationary bikes ;)
He says... "I once heard of a guy from Canada that rode for SIX HOURS STRAIGHT on his wind trainer - could this be true?"
It's funny, but unless you live in a climate where it snows, and gets to be a solid 40 degrees below zero, you would never fathom training that long indoors... in fact, this fellow has only used an indoor trainer a couple of times in his entire life.
Yeah... life is funny.
Alli was chatting with a triathlete the other day, and he quite seriously asked her about wind trainers (for those that aren't quite initiated - these are the devices that we setup in our livingroom to turn our $4,000 road bikes into stationary bikes ;)
He says... "I once heard of a guy from Canada that rode for SIX HOURS STRAIGHT on his wind trainer - could this be true?"
It's funny, but unless you live in a climate where it snows, and gets to be a solid 40 degrees below zero, you would never fathom training that long indoors... in fact, this fellow has only used an indoor trainer a couple of times in his entire life.
Yeah... life is funny.
Along the way...
I called this blog "The Journey to Ironman" and a journey it is... if I look beyond this sidetrip, life is a journey and my friend Bob reminded me of this the other day:
You can win or lose a race, or do better or worse than you wanted or expected; the real value lies in the things you learn along the way, the people you meet and friends you make. They will be the ones remembering you, not your time in a triathlon.
How true.
If you are reading this, you are part of my journey, and very likely a part of my life somehow. Some of you know me, others may not, but let me say this... welcome to the journey, and thank you for being a part of it!!
On training - yesterday was a bittersweet day.
First things first - rode my crap bike to the pool, and the rear tire (or tyre as they call it here) blew out yet again. I had tried to repair the tire the day before, but it seems that while I did an OK job on the tube, the tire just couldn't be salvaged. So this meant a long walk to the bike shop, then a bunch of messing around to fix things up (no quick release on this baby). The guys at the bike store were somewhat amazed that I could actually change my own tire. Little do they know that I blow a tube every other week on average on my road bike ;) With that out of the way... I rode on to the pool.
I got into the pool yesterday morning, and my shoulder has been bugging me again. Thursday's workout is 15 by 200m of pull, with hand paddles on 20s rest. After the first two 200's I figured it wasn't going to happen, was ready to "throw in the towel" for the workout, but instead I dropped the paddles and carried on. It was a good workout, made it through all 3900m of the workout then got out to do my long run for the day.
So... my left ankle has been bothering me for about a week now, and yesterday was no exception. The Thursday long run is two hours easy these days, should be no problem... but between the ankle, the heat, and my lack of water after one hour, I bailed on the run at 1:25. I do not know what the temperature was, but we were running at about 2:00 and I figure it was pushing 40 degrees in the heat, so it wasn't easy (but no-one said it would be easy ;) It certainly was a two-bottle kindof day out there though, and I only had one... and nowhere to fill it up partway. Ah well. At least one more long run to go before we start to taper.
Yes, this old man might just be starting to fall apart, with just FOUR weeks to go ;)
And speaking of tapering, we have a plan!!
Our taper starts on March 16 - two days off. On the 16th we will be picking up a campervan and will begin our journey northward to Sydney, then onto Port Macquarie, where the Ironman will be held. We will be carrying out the balance of our training as we move northward, and then come to rest in Port Macquarie... well, come to rest is an exageration, as we will be tapering things off right up to raceday.
Suffice it to say - the day following Ironman will be our "day of rest".
Following Ironman, we will squeeze a month's worth of touring into one week, then pack our belongings, and head for the airport. Departure date is April 10.
Anyone with bets on spring conditions for when we return? We really want to hit the road running when we get back :)
Ok, that's my update for today... more to come!
You can win or lose a race, or do better or worse than you wanted or expected; the real value lies in the things you learn along the way, the people you meet and friends you make. They will be the ones remembering you, not your time in a triathlon.
How true.
If you are reading this, you are part of my journey, and very likely a part of my life somehow. Some of you know me, others may not, but let me say this... welcome to the journey, and thank you for being a part of it!!
On training - yesterday was a bittersweet day.
First things first - rode my crap bike to the pool, and the rear tire (or tyre as they call it here) blew out yet again. I had tried to repair the tire the day before, but it seems that while I did an OK job on the tube, the tire just couldn't be salvaged. So this meant a long walk to the bike shop, then a bunch of messing around to fix things up (no quick release on this baby). The guys at the bike store were somewhat amazed that I could actually change my own tire. Little do they know that I blow a tube every other week on average on my road bike ;) With that out of the way... I rode on to the pool.
I got into the pool yesterday morning, and my shoulder has been bugging me again. Thursday's workout is 15 by 200m of pull, with hand paddles on 20s rest. After the first two 200's I figured it wasn't going to happen, was ready to "throw in the towel" for the workout, but instead I dropped the paddles and carried on. It was a good workout, made it through all 3900m of the workout then got out to do my long run for the day.
So... my left ankle has been bothering me for about a week now, and yesterday was no exception. The Thursday long run is two hours easy these days, should be no problem... but between the ankle, the heat, and my lack of water after one hour, I bailed on the run at 1:25. I do not know what the temperature was, but we were running at about 2:00 and I figure it was pushing 40 degrees in the heat, so it wasn't easy (but no-one said it would be easy ;) It certainly was a two-bottle kindof day out there though, and I only had one... and nowhere to fill it up partway. Ah well. At least one more long run to go before we start to taper.
Yes, this old man might just be starting to fall apart, with just FOUR weeks to go ;)
And speaking of tapering, we have a plan!!
Our taper starts on March 16 - two days off. On the 16th we will be picking up a campervan and will begin our journey northward to Sydney, then onto Port Macquarie, where the Ironman will be held. We will be carrying out the balance of our training as we move northward, and then come to rest in Port Macquarie... well, come to rest is an exageration, as we will be tapering things off right up to raceday.
Suffice it to say - the day following Ironman will be our "day of rest".
Following Ironman, we will squeeze a month's worth of touring into one week, then pack our belongings, and head for the airport. Departure date is April 10.
Anyone with bets on spring conditions for when we return? We really want to hit the road running when we get back :)
Ok, that's my update for today... more to come!
Monday, February 27, 2006
Carpe Diem
I received the following note by email, and thought it worthy of sharing with everyone out there (thanks to Todd for reminding me to put it up here). It furthers my message from yesterday about not living in the past... takes it a step further into living for the here and now. Take a read through it... you may have already read it once or twice, but maybe you need the reminder!
And before you do... the following is not gospel (for instance, I do not see why eating in has to be less an event than eating out, but that's a North American ritual - in order to celebrate or socialize, we almost have to go out for dinner :) Either way, read on... and take the message to heart!
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?
I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain." And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because [North] Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!
We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit."
When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.
My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you.
Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you?" Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi"?
When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away.... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
"Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance!"
And before you do... the following is not gospel (for instance, I do not see why eating in has to be less an event than eating out, but that's a North American ritual - in order to celebrate or socialize, we almost have to go out for dinner :) Either way, read on... and take the message to heart!
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?
I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain." And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because [North] Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!
We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit."
When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.
My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you.
Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you?" Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi"?
When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away.... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
"Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance!"
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Living in the past...
I was talking today with Todd about this, thought it was a relevant way to start the post :)
Living in the past does not help us move forward, hence it is something that should be avoided if at all possible... this applies especially to us with our past training and racing "mistakes" but this philosphy should be applied to all aspects of life. Regrets are a thing of the past and should be abandoned.
Now I need to take a little of my own advice... and will start by sparing you a pathetic apology about the delay in posting this :)
Alli has been as busy as a bee working on some courses, and has tied up the computer... unfortunately using my sister's computer isn't an option, so I have been without regular access for a week.
With that excuse out of the way, I will continue....
Things here are good, but the time is ticking away - I cannot believe that raceday is just five weeks away, and our taper is set to being in just three weeks!! Wow... who would believe that time would move so quickly?
Something neat for Ironman Australia - they have an "adopt an athlete" program where individuals, businesses or groups can adopt an athlete, and cheer them on during the race (among other things). It sounds like a really neat program, and we are looking forward to finding out more about it shortly.
We are currently working out a plan to move North towards Sydney, and specifically Port MacQuarie where the race will take place. We will probably spend a couple of weeks up in the area, then venture a bit further north after the race - the precise itinerary is still to be worked out (we are open to suggestions, so if you have any, let me know :)
And final thought for the moment... I have downloaded the competitor list for Ironman Australia, and it looks like the age group field is roughly 1535 large, Alli's age group consists of her and eight others. My age group (of course) consists of me and roughly 300 other men. Hmm... seems the place to be is M30-34 if you are looking for competition - though I certainly am NOT complaining, as it could be worse :)
Of interest, the oldest registered competitor is a fellow that comes from the area that we are training in, and he's 71 years old! Keep an eye out for Brian Lynch.
That's about it for me for now... more to come!
Living in the past does not help us move forward, hence it is something that should be avoided if at all possible... this applies especially to us with our past training and racing "mistakes" but this philosphy should be applied to all aspects of life. Regrets are a thing of the past and should be abandoned.
Now I need to take a little of my own advice... and will start by sparing you a pathetic apology about the delay in posting this :)
Alli has been as busy as a bee working on some courses, and has tied up the computer... unfortunately using my sister's computer isn't an option, so I have been without regular access for a week.
With that excuse out of the way, I will continue....
Things here are good, but the time is ticking away - I cannot believe that raceday is just five weeks away, and our taper is set to being in just three weeks!! Wow... who would believe that time would move so quickly?
Something neat for Ironman Australia - they have an "adopt an athlete" program where individuals, businesses or groups can adopt an athlete, and cheer them on during the race (among other things). It sounds like a really neat program, and we are looking forward to finding out more about it shortly.
We are currently working out a plan to move North towards Sydney, and specifically Port MacQuarie where the race will take place. We will probably spend a couple of weeks up in the area, then venture a bit further north after the race - the precise itinerary is still to be worked out (we are open to suggestions, so if you have any, let me know :)
And final thought for the moment... I have downloaded the competitor list for Ironman Australia, and it looks like the age group field is roughly 1535 large, Alli's age group consists of her and eight others. My age group (of course) consists of me and roughly 300 other men. Hmm... seems the place to be is M30-34 if you are looking for competition - though I certainly am NOT complaining, as it could be worse :)
Of interest, the oldest registered competitor is a fellow that comes from the area that we are training in, and he's 71 years old! Keep an eye out for Brian Lynch.
That's about it for me for now... more to come!
Monday, February 20, 2006
Race Results...
Sorry for the delay in getting this out, but we were gone for the weekend, then went out to watch the penguin parade yesterday (more on this in my next post).
So... the swim went well on Saturday, and due to a relatively small field of participants, I was able to place first in my age category. I didn't get a gold, as they had run out of gold medals by the time that they got to me, but they assure me that it will be in the mail shortly :) Anyways - summary there was 1.2km swim in 16:45 according to my watch. Average HR was 147, which is sufficiently high for a swim - roughly 89% of my estimated maximum HR in the swim. Worth noting - the high point for heart rate in the swim is always when I stand up to run into the finish line (hit 171 when I glanced down at the finish). Otherwise in the swim, my max HR was 157, near my estimated maximum of 164 BPM. Too many numbers, I know, but it's worth saying for those that might be interested :) Swimming does not get your HR up like running - basically the more vertical your body, and the larger the muscles used (i.e. legs) the higher your heart rate goes. My max heart rates for the three disciplines (estimated) are as follows:
184 - run
174 - bike
164 - swim
Heart rate is not a precise science, but I have found it to be a relatively decent show of effort in my case during racing. The only times that I ever hit my max HR (or near max) is at the finish line of a running race. Never part-way through (this would be detrimental).
What I could spot from the swim was a "lax bit" in the middle, where I wasn't giving it my all. This is pretty consistent with my running races as well - hard effort to start and finish, with a middle bit that's a bit slower than it should be. Will work that kink out eventually :)
So... the following day we did a half Ironman distance race (well, as I said before, ALMOST half an Ironman - actual distances were 2km swim, 80km bike and a 20km run. Finished the race upright in 4:34:50 according to my watch. This was roughly where I expected to finish, though my run was a bit of a dud - should have been a bit faster. I expected to do the run in about 1:30 but instead finished it in about 1:44 - this was due largely to my inability to eat properly (yet again) on the bike.
For some reason, I decided it would be a good idea to cut my powerbars up and place them in my bento box for ease of eating. What I failed to realize is that the many pieces would become one overnight.
Rule number one for everyone out there considering racing in ANY sort of event is to only do in the race that which you have done in training. Training is just that - practice for raceday, so deviation from training on raceday is a BAD idea. How funny it is when I do not follow my own advice.
Either way, the result was respectable, though there is sufficient room for improvement. I feel good, and am looking forward to what training I have left before Ironman Australia... where I will eat properly throughout the race, so that I can run that marathon like I can!!
The truly interesting part about the race was the sheer competitiveness of it - I placed well into the middle of the pack on Sunday, with what I would consider a respectable result. I would expect that a similar result would have netted me a much more respectable placing back home, but time will tell (Great White North in July will be the true test).
You can catch Alli's race commentary in her blog, but I thought I would throw this in - she placed second in her age category, so a medal will be on its way to her shortly. Be sure to send her your congratulations!
I will leave with that... more to come on the penguins.
If you are interested in further analysing the results, look here.
So... the swim went well on Saturday, and due to a relatively small field of participants, I was able to place first in my age category. I didn't get a gold, as they had run out of gold medals by the time that they got to me, but they assure me that it will be in the mail shortly :) Anyways - summary there was 1.2km swim in 16:45 according to my watch. Average HR was 147, which is sufficiently high for a swim - roughly 89% of my estimated maximum HR in the swim. Worth noting - the high point for heart rate in the swim is always when I stand up to run into the finish line (hit 171 when I glanced down at the finish). Otherwise in the swim, my max HR was 157, near my estimated maximum of 164 BPM. Too many numbers, I know, but it's worth saying for those that might be interested :) Swimming does not get your HR up like running - basically the more vertical your body, and the larger the muscles used (i.e. legs) the higher your heart rate goes. My max heart rates for the three disciplines (estimated) are as follows:
184 - run
174 - bike
164 - swim
Heart rate is not a precise science, but I have found it to be a relatively decent show of effort in my case during racing. The only times that I ever hit my max HR (or near max) is at the finish line of a running race. Never part-way through (this would be detrimental).
What I could spot from the swim was a "lax bit" in the middle, where I wasn't giving it my all. This is pretty consistent with my running races as well - hard effort to start and finish, with a middle bit that's a bit slower than it should be. Will work that kink out eventually :)
So... the following day we did a half Ironman distance race (well, as I said before, ALMOST half an Ironman - actual distances were 2km swim, 80km bike and a 20km run. Finished the race upright in 4:34:50 according to my watch. This was roughly where I expected to finish, though my run was a bit of a dud - should have been a bit faster. I expected to do the run in about 1:30 but instead finished it in about 1:44 - this was due largely to my inability to eat properly (yet again) on the bike.
For some reason, I decided it would be a good idea to cut my powerbars up and place them in my bento box for ease of eating. What I failed to realize is that the many pieces would become one overnight.
Rule number one for everyone out there considering racing in ANY sort of event is to only do in the race that which you have done in training. Training is just that - practice for raceday, so deviation from training on raceday is a BAD idea. How funny it is when I do not follow my own advice.
Either way, the result was respectable, though there is sufficient room for improvement. I feel good, and am looking forward to what training I have left before Ironman Australia... where I will eat properly throughout the race, so that I can run that marathon like I can!!
The truly interesting part about the race was the sheer competitiveness of it - I placed well into the middle of the pack on Sunday, with what I would consider a respectable result. I would expect that a similar result would have netted me a much more respectable placing back home, but time will tell (Great White North in July will be the true test).
You can catch Alli's race commentary in her blog, but I thought I would throw this in - she placed second in her age category, so a medal will be on its way to her shortly. Be sure to send her your congratulations!
I will leave with that... more to come on the penguins.
If you are interested in further analysing the results, look here.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Sponsor Update
Well, both Alli and I have some exciting news - we have both been offered sponsorship from a company based out of Japan that goes by the name of Amino Vital.
There is a lot to be said about this, but they have a great lineup of products, all of which can apparently now be purchased from GNC stores (I haven't been to a GNC for a while, so I have not been able to confirm this - and their product is not readily available in Australia unfortunately :)
What this means for us is a supply of the Amino Vital supplement line, sponsor clothing, and depending on how we work things out, possibly a little cash in the bank!
Our sponsorship officially starts on April 1 (day before Ironman Australia) but we won't be seeing any of the goods before then, so you will hear more about this one once we return to Canada!
Just thought I would share the exciting news!!
There is a lot to be said about this, but they have a great lineup of products, all of which can apparently now be purchased from GNC stores (I haven't been to a GNC for a while, so I have not been able to confirm this - and their product is not readily available in Australia unfortunately :)
What this means for us is a supply of the Amino Vital supplement line, sponsor clothing, and depending on how we work things out, possibly a little cash in the bank!
Our sponsorship officially starts on April 1 (day before Ironman Australia) but we won't be seeing any of the goods before then, so you will hear more about this one once we return to Canada!
Just thought I would share the exciting news!!
Day-tight Compartments
So I got to thinking the other day (way too much time for that it seems) and I thought waaaaay back to a Dale Carnegie course that I took back in my days at Spartan Controls.
In his book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, Dale Carnegie talks about living your life in day-tight compartments. Without the book to quote, and with only my poor memory, you will have to deal with my understanding of the concept... and remember, I learned about this a long time ago.
(worth noting - we also discussed many memory improvement techniques - some set in, others did not, apparently ;)
Anyways - all of us have trouble with day-tight compartments, and until recently I had forgotten all about this. The idea here is that there is no sense in carrying forward the bad experience from yesterday into today, or to start worrying about something that you have to do in the morning before you go to sleep at night. More or less - worry about one day at a time, and once it's done, it's over - forget about it (well, still learn from our mistakes, but do not let them haunt you for days/weeks/years/decades to come - there is no point).
It has been my experience that athletes tend to carry a lot of "yesterday's negativity" with them on through eternity. I could have done this different, or should have done that. As I discussed previously in my "measuring performance" rant, you will see that this is a bad idea.
Lamenting over past performances will do you little good going forward. Yes, we can learn from our mistakes, but again - lamenting over them is pointless.
There is a lot more to this topic, in fact so much more that one (including Carnegie) could write a book :) If you are interested in improving your life, buy his book, read through it, and apply his common sense principles to your life where applicable.
The kick that I get out of Carnegie's principles on living life is that he wrote them a very long time ago - and for the most part, nearly all of them are applicable today... that in and of itself is impressive :) I think we could all stand to learn a thing or two from his writings...
In his book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, Dale Carnegie talks about living your life in day-tight compartments. Without the book to quote, and with only my poor memory, you will have to deal with my understanding of the concept... and remember, I learned about this a long time ago.
(worth noting - we also discussed many memory improvement techniques - some set in, others did not, apparently ;)
Anyways - all of us have trouble with day-tight compartments, and until recently I had forgotten all about this. The idea here is that there is no sense in carrying forward the bad experience from yesterday into today, or to start worrying about something that you have to do in the morning before you go to sleep at night. More or less - worry about one day at a time, and once it's done, it's over - forget about it (well, still learn from our mistakes, but do not let them haunt you for days/weeks/years/decades to come - there is no point).
It has been my experience that athletes tend to carry a lot of "yesterday's negativity" with them on through eternity. I could have done this different, or should have done that. As I discussed previously in my "measuring performance" rant, you will see that this is a bad idea.
Lamenting over past performances will do you little good going forward. Yes, we can learn from our mistakes, but again - lamenting over them is pointless.
There is a lot more to this topic, in fact so much more that one (including Carnegie) could write a book :) If you are interested in improving your life, buy his book, read through it, and apply his common sense principles to your life where applicable.
The kick that I get out of Carnegie's principles on living life is that he wrote them a very long time ago - and for the most part, nearly all of them are applicable today... that in and of itself is impressive :) I think we could all stand to learn a thing or two from his writings...
Race this weekend...
Well, Alli and I will be taking the train out of Melbourne come Friday morning, to a quaint little place called Torquay. It's a bit of a surfing town, with all the surf shops, surfers and waves :)
We are not, however, heading out there to surf, or to shop... but heading out for a bit of a race weekend in the middle of training (so don't expect any great results from this weekend :)
We are doing two races - first a little open water swim to start things off at the Bluff to Beach open water swim. A nice 1.2km open water swim to start things off on Saturday morning - around 11:00. It seems that the starting field is quite small (currently only 34 folks entered in the race, but things could change in the next few days). If things stay that small, they may only have a single wave start... but time will tell on that one. I plan on heading out for my long ride Saturday morning, then heading to the beach for this little swim (not quite the right order, but beggars cannot be choosers - and I have to fit all my training in on the weekend, despite the big race).
Come Sunday, we will be lining up to do a half ironman called the Surf Coast Triathlon. It will be an exciting day, as it is also the Victorian long course qualifier. The distances in this race will be roughly half of the full Ironman, which is now just six weeks away!! Precise distances are 2km swim, 80km bike, and a 20km run (so everything but the swim is a bit short - which is fine by me ;)
We are excited to get things rolling this early in the season - the race should be a good one.
And like I said - six weeks remaining to Ironman Australia!!
We are not, however, heading out there to surf, or to shop... but heading out for a bit of a race weekend in the middle of training (so don't expect any great results from this weekend :)
We are doing two races - first a little open water swim to start things off at the Bluff to Beach open water swim. A nice 1.2km open water swim to start things off on Saturday morning - around 11:00. It seems that the starting field is quite small (currently only 34 folks entered in the race, but things could change in the next few days). If things stay that small, they may only have a single wave start... but time will tell on that one. I plan on heading out for my long ride Saturday morning, then heading to the beach for this little swim (not quite the right order, but beggars cannot be choosers - and I have to fit all my training in on the weekend, despite the big race).
Come Sunday, we will be lining up to do a half ironman called the Surf Coast Triathlon. It will be an exciting day, as it is also the Victorian long course qualifier. The distances in this race will be roughly half of the full Ironman, which is now just six weeks away!! Precise distances are 2km swim, 80km bike, and a 20km run (so everything but the swim is a bit short - which is fine by me ;)
We are excited to get things rolling this early in the season - the race should be a good one.
And like I said - six weeks remaining to Ironman Australia!!
Beckie and Sara capture silver
CBC Edmonton - Scott, Renner capture silver
Well, I missed watching it, but I got the news first thing this morning... what a great day for Beckie and Sara.
Just think if there was no broken pole... well, back to that article on measuring performance :)
Yippeeee...
Well, I missed watching it, but I got the news first thing this morning... what a great day for Beckie and Sara.
Just think if there was no broken pole... well, back to that article on measuring performance :)
Yippeeee...
Monday, February 13, 2006
Dancing naked...
Hey!!
Nobody has given me any GOOD comments about living down below. Where's the "dancing naked in the moonlight" or just "dancing naked"??
Someone has got to have something good... help me live by giving me a little material to work with (well, me and a few of my faithful readers ;)
Go on... post a comment!!
Nobody has given me any GOOD comments about living down below. Where's the "dancing naked in the moonlight" or just "dancing naked"??
Someone has got to have something good... help me live by giving me a little material to work with (well, me and a few of my faithful readers ;)
Go on... post a comment!!
Measuring performance...
I think it's been far too long since I posted anything, so here goes nothing :)
While I live in near luxury here, we do not have cable television and was not afforded the luxury of watching Beckie compete last night. From what I can gather, she did very well and should be proud of her accomplishment... sixth place in the world. Let me see - the approximate population of the world is somewhere around 6.5 billion people - so that makes her a faster skier than basically everyone on the planet. Worth a medal, surely, but I guess not in that race.
Athletics is a difficult endeavor - when you break it down, there is a lot to consider... namely, how do you judge your performance? This seemingly simple problem does not have a simple resolution... a race is simply a snapshot of a moment in time. You have control over some of the conditions leading up to the race, but you are largely out of control of most of the factors affecting the outcome.
So, one must ask themselves - how do we measure ourselves?
The obvious first answer is to judge based on placing. This is a flawed measure of performance, if for no other reason than you cannot control whom you are racing against. Obviously in the case of me versus a world champion triathlete, I would lose, so winning is hardly a reasonable measure. Beyond this, if you are all world champions, there are many other factors that come into play - including health and wellness, mental condition, weather, the alignment of the moon, and so on. The list goes on, and it really boils down to the day - is it the perfect day, or not quite so perfect? If it's not perfect for you, it may well be perfect for the next guy. Should you be content with your performance? Probably so, but we just never are...
Flawed method number two is to judge based on time - otherwise referred to as a personal best (PB) or personal record (PR). Now, the first problem with judging your performance on time alone is that there are no two courses alike, and even if you race on the same course, no two days are the same (see above). Thus, even time is only a rough guauge of performance on a given day. Course variances, including terrain, and ill-measurement are just a couple of examples that can go wrong with comparing two similar distance races. This is a better method than placing, but hardly perfect.
So, how should one reflect on a day of competition? While everyone else is expecting medals, placings, PR's or world records, our focus as athletes should be on feel. Not heart rates, not finish times or placings, but how did we FEEL that race went.
We all know the difference between a "good race" and a "crappy race" are, and if we fight a good battle to the end, we know it. If we came up short in the other areas - so what? We left what we had on the road, and that's truly what matters. I think that this is one of the most important things that I can pass to athletes and non-athletes alike - measuring performance in life cannot be accomplished in classrooms, on exams, with a ruler, a scale or in something as simple as a race.
I am of the opinion that true performance cannot be measured. Not in watts, speed, time, distance or otherwise. Nadda.
We, as individuals, know what we are capable of, and we know - deep down inside - whether we put it all in or not, and subsequently know that we gave it all, or only a little bit.
A little insight from my friend:
So, there it is... if you have put your heart and soul into someting, you come out the other end a champion. Beckie is a true champion, and will always be a champion - in my heart and her own.
She knows that she has put it all in - the rest is all just noise.
Beckie collecting her gold medal in Vancouver, two years late.
While I live in near luxury here, we do not have cable television and was not afforded the luxury of watching Beckie compete last night. From what I can gather, she did very well and should be proud of her accomplishment... sixth place in the world. Let me see - the approximate population of the world is somewhere around 6.5 billion people - so that makes her a faster skier than basically everyone on the planet. Worth a medal, surely, but I guess not in that race.
Athletics is a difficult endeavor - when you break it down, there is a lot to consider... namely, how do you judge your performance? This seemingly simple problem does not have a simple resolution... a race is simply a snapshot of a moment in time. You have control over some of the conditions leading up to the race, but you are largely out of control of most of the factors affecting the outcome.
So, one must ask themselves - how do we measure ourselves?
The obvious first answer is to judge based on placing. This is a flawed measure of performance, if for no other reason than you cannot control whom you are racing against. Obviously in the case of me versus a world champion triathlete, I would lose, so winning is hardly a reasonable measure. Beyond this, if you are all world champions, there are many other factors that come into play - including health and wellness, mental condition, weather, the alignment of the moon, and so on. The list goes on, and it really boils down to the day - is it the perfect day, or not quite so perfect? If it's not perfect for you, it may well be perfect for the next guy. Should you be content with your performance? Probably so, but we just never are...
Flawed method number two is to judge based on time - otherwise referred to as a personal best (PB) or personal record (PR). Now, the first problem with judging your performance on time alone is that there are no two courses alike, and even if you race on the same course, no two days are the same (see above). Thus, even time is only a rough guauge of performance on a given day. Course variances, including terrain, and ill-measurement are just a couple of examples that can go wrong with comparing two similar distance races. This is a better method than placing, but hardly perfect.
So, how should one reflect on a day of competition? While everyone else is expecting medals, placings, PR's or world records, our focus as athletes should be on feel. Not heart rates, not finish times or placings, but how did we FEEL that race went.
We all know the difference between a "good race" and a "crappy race" are, and if we fight a good battle to the end, we know it. If we came up short in the other areas - so what? We left what we had on the road, and that's truly what matters. I think that this is one of the most important things that I can pass to athletes and non-athletes alike - measuring performance in life cannot be accomplished in classrooms, on exams, with a ruler, a scale or in something as simple as a race.
I am of the opinion that true performance cannot be measured. Not in watts, speed, time, distance or otherwise. Nadda.
We, as individuals, know what we are capable of, and we know - deep down inside - whether we put it all in or not, and subsequently know that we gave it all, or only a little bit.
A little insight from my friend:
“When you take on a goal and put your heart and soul into doing everything it takes to accomplish that goal, that is excellence.” Beckie Scott
So, there it is... if you have put your heart and soul into someting, you come out the other end a champion. Beckie is a true champion, and will always be a champion - in my heart and her own.
She knows that she has put it all in - the rest is all just noise.
Beckie collecting her gold medal in Vancouver, two years late.
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