This is the first (really second, but first thought provoking) post that is not also posted on the Third Coast Tri blog too. I've been listening to a few text books while running lately and I found a very thought provoking article. I've taken this article, copied it and edited it to fit my thoughts a little bit more. I'll give credit to the author at the end. I know if I mention the original text's author, some may not continue to read it. So...

[Someone] asked me whether I could present the essence of my philosophy while standing on one foot. I did as follows:

Metaphysics - Objective Reality
Epistemology - Reason
Ethics - Self-interest
Politics - Capitalism

If you want this translated into simple language, it would read: 1. “Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed” or “Wishing won’t make it so.” 2. “You can’t eat your cake and have it, too.” 3. “Man is an end in himself.” 4. “Give me liberty or give me death.”

If you held these concepts with total consistency, as the base of your convictions, you would have a full philosophical system to guide the course of your life. But to hold them with total consistency—to understand, to define, to prove and to apply them—requires volumes of thought. Which is why philosophy cannot be discussed while standing on one foot—nor while standing on two feet on both sides of every fence. This last is the predominant philosophical position today, particularly in the field of politics.

My philosophy, Objectivism, holds that:

Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man’s feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.
Reason (the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man’s senses) is man’s only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival.
Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.
The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The government acts only as a policeman that protects man’s rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be (but, historically, has not yet been) a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church.

That above text was written by Ayn Rand back in 1962. I edited out her lead-in and text she added in a later reprint of it.

Personally, I find these thoughts very interesting and very much thought provoking. Ms. Rand had some interesting life experiences and some really good ideas. She also was a militant atheist. So, you really can't hang onto every one of her words. Oh, and her fictional characters are beyond fantastic.

How would those, if they would at all, words change in todays information age? Socialized medicine, elections and politics, and what about the current economic conditions? Talk amonst yourselves.

Taking It Easy

So, a little background.  I've been seriously training for a half-ironman distance triathlon for the last 22 weeks.  For those of you a little slow on the math side that is five and a half months.  I started in earnest on January 18, 2010.  I picked a plan from a book that I thought was appropriate and pretty much stuck too it.  "Pretty much" means that I did almost all the bike and run workouts and a solid two-thirds of the swim workouts.  You see, I am a decent swimmer and am often not motivated to stare at the black line at the bottom of the pool any more than necessary.

 

Yeah, yeah.  What about taking it easy.  Well, the plan called for a half-taper week followed by a full taper week the week of the race.  I have to admit that I was leery of the taper from the start.  I put it in my calendar with an sense of unease for sure.  During my last few "work weeks" in training I was doing between thirteen and fourteen hours of training a week.  The half taper week had about eight hours and the full taper had a little over five hours scheduled.

 

Blah, blah.  Gez man, get to the point or at least a point.  OK.  During the half taper week I blogged that I had ants in my pants.  My wife will claim that the ants are always there, but that is a whole other discussion.  Let's agree that there were considerably more ants than normal.  Shall we?  During the full taper, the ants took over.  Sure, it was kind of nice to have a bunch of spare time.  Heck, I even slept past 5:30am a couple of times.  A forty-five minute run is easy to fit in.  Putting the bike on the trainer, setting up the TV, etc. takes just about as long as a twenty minute bike ride does.  Let's not even get into the fact that the same laundry is created with out said laundry creating the sweat puddle on the basement floor.  We all know that your physical condition can be tracked by the sweat stain on your basement floor.  Don't we?

 

But, there are a few things (in retrospect) I noticed.  Because my training level went way down by food and fluid consumption did too.

 

I usually take a little cooler filled with fruit and yogurt along with a water bottle filled with Gatorade/Cytomax/EFS/Rehydrate (I do tend to mix and match until about 2 weeks before a race.  Then I switch to whatever will be used for the race).  I also always have a Sam's Club size box of fig newtons and bag of raisin in my vehicle where ever I go (There is also a stash of Hammer gels and Cliff Bars too in case a little pick-up is needed during the lunch workout).  I sip the Gatorade before my noon workout and then fill the bottle with water afterwards.  At the end of the day, I am eating my last piece of fruit as I drive home while sipping what would usually be the second or third water bottle refill.  But, for the last two weeks, I got home and had to empty out my little cooler and dump out the water bottle.  I also didn't even have raisins or fig newtons in my truck.  The funny part about this is that I did not notice their absence.

 

A quick side note here.  I very rarely eat when I am not hungry.  Somehow, either through the way I was raised or through good luck, I just don't have the desire (I did not say ability.  Put a pan of fresh brownies in front of me and keep your fingers clear.  I think Julie does this to me just to mess with me) to eat when my body is not requiring nourishment.

 

Anyway, for a week and a half I was eating to fuel my taper training volume.  I have every reason to believe that amount of food I ate for a solid ten days was not enough to fuel a half-ironman race effort.  I also have to take the responsibility for not noticing what I was, in this case, not eating or drinking.  I should have taken notice when Julie asked me on race day morning, "You're not going to eat anything?"

 

The verdict: Chris does not taper well.  I should have kept the training time closer to what I had been doing for the better part of the year and just toned down the intensity.  I should have also really kept track of my diet and fluid intake better.

 

Now, finally dear reader, to the taking it easy part.  "Easy" is a relative term.  Like training data (which is still mine and should not matter one iota to you), rest and recuperation is an individual thing.  The body is a very interesting machine.  Training input matched with rest is required to promote increased fitness (Note I used the word fitness rather than health.  More on that in the future).  I guess all the preceding words are leading up the fact that my idea of taking it easy might just be an easy two hour bike ride or one hour run done with a stopwatch running.  I do like my chair in the family room, I just don't like being in it too much.

 

We will see.  Like most things in this world, there is no instruction manual.

A Walk Along the Beach, Some Wind in My Hair, and a Stroll Through the Woods

"Boy, am I glad that is over."

 

That is exactly what I said as I crossed the finish line at the High Cliff Half-Iron Triathlon this past Saturday.  Now, as you may be aware I do enjoy a certain amount of physical discomfort every now and again.  I also do not give up or break too easily.  That course on Saturday crushed me!  So, here is my race report with a few musings added for seasoning.

 

Not only was this a race weekend, but it was a get away for the Boss and me too.  The kids were being corralled by Great Grandma, Grandma, and Grandpa (that made it a fair fight from the adult perspective) and we had a hotel room at the Hilton (shameless plug) for two whole, adult only, nights.  Saturday was race day.  The Wife was doing the sprint and I the half.  After that, we had nothing else planned.

 

Saturday morning came around and off to racing we went.  The day was beautiful as long as you were no where near Lake Winnebago.  Unfortunately, the race course on, around, and through the High Cliff State Park is right on (and in for the swim) Lake Winnebago.  The wind was blowing.  Not like a knock in your house of straw or wood, but like a valiant attempt at your brick house.  I said to myself, "Self, everyone else has to deal with same elements."  I responded, "Self, you are not very convincing.  And, I believe you are only trying to make yourself feel better."  At that point I stopped talking to myself because I believe that talking to yourself is OK, but it is bad to start getting answers.

 

Anyhow, the swim started with a 200m walk through the shallows of Lake Winnebago.  Every time I started to swim (and scraping my hairy knuckles on the sandy bottom of the lake) I would run into someone from a previous wave walking.  It was beyond frustrating.  The water was quite choppy (OK they were some pretty big waves), but I was digging it.  For whatever reason the conditions suited me.  The course was set up in a rough rectangle, and after the first turn buoy the walkers were forced to float and/or swim.  They became easier to avoid either because they sank to the bottom (I heard no reports of this) or because I was swimming faster than them.  By the second turn buoy, the currents had reeked havoc on the field.  Most were being pushed into shore and way off course.  I picked a nice straight line, accounted for the current and started swimming.  I really felt all alone for a good ten unites or so.  I kind of fell into a rhythm with the waves where my breathing was perfectly timed with my body just about cresting a wave.  I was actually having fun.  I was also passing a lot of colorful swim caps.  I had started behind three hundred others, so the water had a bunch of dots of color bouncing around upon it.  Rounding the last buoy (the third one if you didn't catch the whole rectangle thing before), I was forced to swim a little off course.  Apparently, one of the course marking buoys had popped loose and floated about four hundred feet north.  I was sighting on this one for a few minutes before I noted that it was pounding itself on the rocks of the nearby peninsula.  Course corrected and then I was able to walk the last hundred meters into shore.  As I am sure you are all astute readers, I can assume that you will have noticed that the water was very shallow near shore and made for a lot of water walking.

 

Up the hill, into T1, off with the wetsuit, and onto the bike.  Julie and I had ridden the "big hill" (you know, the one up the cliff in High Cliff) the night before.  I knew it was a little less than half a mile long and steep enough to warrant the use of my small chainring.  I got to the top, didn't get passed by anyone, but passed plenty.  Once the course got out of the park, I very quickly understood why people have invested so much money in building all those windmills around the area.  It is freak'n windy around those parts.  Sure, I saw and felt the waves in the water.  It never occurred to me the wind making those waves would be the same wind on the bike course.  It was mostly a cross wind, but when it wasn't, brother it was not.  I had a fantastic hydration/calorie plan.  Drink first bottle by aide station one, check.  Aide station one was not there.  There were boxes (I assume filled with delicious orange and green Gatorade), but nothing else.  So, sip off bottle two I did until aide station number two.  Got back on plan at station two feeling OK that I did not do any permanent damage to myself.  Aide station two would get me through to aide station three.  But, three never came.  There was a drop zone.  I could have gotten rid of all my empty containers, but not get any full ones.  "Yikes," I believe I may have said (I assume that kids may read this some day).  So let me explain something for those of you who may not understand.  Approximately 10 ounces of Gatorade is not enough to get you through approximately an hour on a harder than your average bear bicycle ride.  At about mile fifty, I got my first cramp.  A little light spinning and some on bike stretching made it go away.  Five minutes later it was back.  First it was just in my left quad.  Then both quads.  Then my right calf.  I could continue, but that would be a waste of 1's and 0's.  I was never so happy to get off my bike and into T2.

 

I walked through T2.  I'm not kidding anyone.  I was cramping like a mo-fo (sorry kids).  Put on the socks (yes I was actually wearing socks), shoes and race number.  More importantly, I grabbed four electrolyte pills, two cups of water, and one cup of Gatorade and off to the run I went.  Well, to say run is just plain wrong.  I was jogging and I was walking.  I walked up the cliff hill stopping twice to stretch out my still cramping quads.  The run was not fun.  It was actually un-fun.  The course itself is mostly through the woods and I am sure it could allow for some great communing with nature and a lot of self introspection.  I saw none of that.  I was just living between vibrations on my Garmin 310XT telling me the next 1/13th of the run was completed and the not so well (to my very addled body) spaced out aide stations.  I even started to think about the Hammer Nutrition guys handing out the electrolyte tabs as the pusher men.  I really could not wait to see those guys.  By mile 9, or so, I actually started to feel OK.  I'm guessing that my electrolyte balance was back into normal ranges.  Now, I'm not saying I was good.  I'm just saying that by this time I was not as bad as I was on miles one through about six.  Without too much more drama, the run and the race ended.

 

5:02:something is not a bad result.  But, it is not as good as I think I could have done either.  This race will have to be filed under "Learning Experience".

 

Let me add that I have never had cramps like that in my life.  With all the silly training and the regular activity I have in my life, I've never cramped like I did on Saturday.  Some eating and drinking experiments will need to be conducted.

 

Some things I have learned:

 

1.  What you eat the days before a race matters.  Duh.

2.  Your training before a race should not taper too much.  A twenty minute ride is not worth doing and only creates laundry.

3.  Tapering your training tapers your eating and drinking which goes to number one above.  I felt fine, but while training I tend to "crave" fluids and calories.  I should have been eating more and drinking more during my tapered training.

4.  Aide stations should not be completely relied upon.  I know they are manned by volunteers, etc., etc.  I planned on getting about 300 more calories and a bunch more electrolytes on the bike course.  Three more gels and some little pills would have fit in my pockets without much issue.  My minimalist side has a problem with this, but those cramps hurt (like a mo-fo(sorry again)).

5.  High Cliff has a high cliff.  Running down it does not make up for walking up it.

 

As for the rest of the weekend, let me say this:

 

We arrived home to find that the kids had not duct taped grandma and grandpa in the corner.  Nor had they started cannibalizing each other or any of the dogs.  Julie and I had a fantastic time to ourselves.  I'm not so sure we even stayed awake until 9pm on Saturday night.

 

Although this race report comes across negative, the weekend was excellent.  The race was good (not being able to race would be the worst), the people were all great, and no one got hurt.

 

 

The First Blog Post

Well, I signed up for this blogging thing a while ago and didn't do anything with it.  Then my bicycle racing team started a blog and I, well, sort of enjoyed writing for it.  I also got a bunch of really good responses.  So, here I sit typing.

The other blog is heavily geared towards the whole bike racing / triathlon crowd.  I have thrown a bunch of "real life" stuff into it.  And, quite honestly, it has been the real life stuff that has gotten the most (note I don't say the best) reaction.

I guess I'll use this as a place to put the stuff that really would not be relevant to the Emery's Third Coast Tri (shameless plug) blog.

So for now, some stuff will be a repost or edited post of stuff put up on that blog.  Once I get going, I expect they will have only a little bit to do with each other.

Thanks for reading and don't be afraid to e-mail me or comment here.  I can always just delete them.