Almost four years later

As I was reminded earlier, today marks the 2 year anniversary of the start of this blog.  There were a few comments on Facebook and so it got me thinking about the journey, how it started, where I am now and everything in between.
My day certainly didn't start put that way, instead I was thinking about the people in Brussels that got blown to pieces by a couple of jerkoffs, and then how I was going to crisscross the grid today taking care of the new business.  So as I was catching up on the daily vlog [sadly I'm addicted] and getting caffeinated I got to thinking about this whole thing.  It was still with me after I returned so I decided to go ahead and catch up with the blog.
What got to me today isn't that I started the blog 2 years ago, but rather that it had already almost been 2 years since I started the journey at that point.  4 years.  What was it like 4 years ago? Which iPhone was coming out? Did we even talk cloud computing yet? Did I still have hair back then?
The point is that I made a HUGE change in the way I looked at my overall health and after all this time it stuck.
This is me about 5 hours ago:

Now I'll be the first one to admit that I am not in as good a shape as I was for my triathlons, but that was a different time and a different focus.  I didn't know I would even do them when I started, that came quite a bit later.  It certainly sharpened the focus, and I did have the time to do it [and it took a LOT of time] so it just happened.  I still remember my sunrise runs, the colors over the snow-capped mountains of the Olympic Peninsula, the warmth of the sunshine coming over the hills and bathing me with just pure energy. It was actually quite weird after the events were done to even keep going.  It was like I reached the goal and "now what?". But I did.  I probably ran more in Moses Lake than anything else, only because it was more accessible.  I biked a bit in the spring time, but mostly I ran.  After we moved back to Portland last summer [yes I probably could have put that in the blog, but most of you know that by now] I started biking again, finding some nice paved trails and of course the velodrome less than a mile away [If you don't know what one looks like Google Alpenrose velodrome Portland and check it out].  I can't wait for dry weather so I can go again!
Sure our diet isn't as strict as it once was, but I still have the same routine of breakfast bars with smoothie and the ginormous salad for lunch. Dinner is still open, we just don't exclusively pick from the Eat to Live recipes. And sure we go get froyo [frosorbet for me] more often than we should.  And yes sometimes I just have to have some cheese with that great wine. And sometimes the salad stays an extra day or two in the fridge.  And damn you Costco for making your chicken so delicious. And don't get me started Laughing Planet.
But I don't give in, I never will.  I made those changes for all the right reasons and that's why it has worked.  I see how my actions have influenced Tristan, how he is somehow able to manage his appetite.  Think about that for a moment.  He has a disorder that keeps him from ever feeling full [among other things].  But because he saw me work so hard, he works even harder to keep himself in check.
When I indulge, I am [sometimes painfully] reminded of the consequences.  I start to get sick easier, I have no energy, I'm just blah. So I make a few corrections and I can feel the difference in just a few days.  I don't really have to think about it, I can just do it.  And that's really the main takeaway here, I already won a long time ago, I just didn't know it. Of course I have to stay vigilant, one because I know how slippery the slope is and two because as I'm getting older it doesn't get any easier.  But I won, those changes were made permanent. And that's pretty cool.
So that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.  I don't know what our future holds but it will be exciting.  I have a new business which is both exciting and scary.  I do think that the third time's a charm so look out!

Thank you for reading.
O

The new normal

Well friends, the dust seems to have settled a bit after the wild wild summer we had.  The moving boxes have all but disappeared, most everything has been placed, the school year has started, the job is steadying...In other words our lives are going back to normal.  However, the new normal is quite different, and that is what I want to discuss a bit today.
The biggest change has been my employment, as in being employed.  My daily schedule has to be a lot more managed.  For starters, I get up early.  I mean early early, like 4:30 am.  I get there before my guys and leave after they do, adding about 45 minutes to my 10 hour days. Yes we work 4 days/week [with a few Fridays here and there in the summers for good measure]. So on most days I get home a shade before 5:00 pm.  I may not have an event to train for [at the moment], but I made the commitment to stay active and fit no matter what. I run or elliptical during the week, around 40-50 minutes and shift my longer drills for the week-end.  I envision doing more indoor activities as the days get shorter, and I hear the High School pool is set to re-open very soon after renovations for evening  public lap-swim sessions.  My legs will be happy for that! I'm also planning on getting a bike trainer so I have variety. The seasons also dictate what I'm able to do.  I have been doing more running during the week now that temperatures are no longer ridiculous...
The new logistics of my workdays have also challenged my eating, after all there are only so many hours in the day...However, much like my fitness and activity, my commitment to healthy eating has not wavered. We have had to plan a lot more because there is no Costco in town, the nearest one in Wenatchee is about an hour away. We still have the same basic plan, whereby breakfast and lunch are always the same [bar & smoothie for breakfast, ginormous salad for lunch] and dinner varies. We have reduced the size of the salad somewhat, making 3 salads when we used to make 2 with the same amount of stuff.  We haven't noticed any changes in hunger, and it has the added benefits of reducing our cost a little AND affording us the luxury of not having to make them each and every day.  It really helps the precious post dinner / pre-bed time we get after Tristan goes to sleep and it is just the 2 of us. We found a big enough insulated lunch carrier and so I lug my heap of food to work every day...I swear I have at least one person every day that comments on either my smoothie or my salad.  I think most people aren't as blown away by the size of the salad as much as the fact that I have it every day.
We are also having to adjust to our new surroundings, especially how dry it is around here.  It's a desert climate, and you can pretty much count on it NOT raining, which for us is a huge change. There is also much to do outdoors.  We had a taste of it after we rented a kayak a while back and went to the lake [not Moses Lake, there are better ones nearby] and we can't wait for next spring to start going again! Coupled with 3-day week-ends, there is a real potential for some serious fun!
So that's about it in a nutshell.  The new normal still has all the same components, they are just adjusted a little bit. In the end the most important thing is that it works!

Until next time,

Oliver P.

Post race #2 [and then some]

After my first triathlon back on June 22nd, I had exactly 3 weeks to get ready for the next one, the Olympic distance event in Ocean Shores. 3 weeks to recover and basically get ready for twice the distance. I did plan it that way from the start, in essence using the sprint distance event as part of my training for the 'main event'. What I didn't plan for, however, was the madness that insued...I was going to explain a bit later, but I might as well do it now: in the weeks leading up to the competitions, I got a job that required us to move. There is more to the story, but I will leave it at that for now. The kicker was the starting date: July 14th. Yes, 2 days after the Olympic event. So during the 3 weeks I had to train, I also had to plan for a move, arrange logistics for 3 people, 2 cats, finish a bunch of house work, rent the house and about a thousand other details. In other words, it was crazy!
Ok so on to the report.
If the first event was about getting the 'first time' out of way, it also showed me that even though I trained more than adequately, I didn't quite have enough intensity about it. So I decided to go all out (after a couple of rest days of course) until it was time. Given how things were shaping up with the move and everything, it worked out nicely; whenever I had some time I would go for an hour or so and work really hard. I ran in much hotter weather than before, took longer bike rides and swam in the lake exclusively. I felt my fitness was there, I just needed to bring some toughness.
Fast forward to the morning of the event. The weather was grey and somewhat chilly, I thought that would work in my advantage for the longer effort. I got to the transition area early, got my stuff all set up, feeling good. The air was cool but the water felt great. As the time grew closer, I didn't feel nervous like last time. I just wanted to go. Pre-race briefing, a few more minutes then it was time. Right away I fell in my rhythm: breath, 2 strokes, breath, 1 stroke, sight. I did have a little trouble with my goggles fogging up a bit and the lack of color contrast (due to the misty foggy weather it was all grey), but it was minor. I found the ramp, got out of the water and checked the time: right on pace, sweet. Liza was right there, somehow she spotted me on the water! I got to the changing area, chatted for a few seconds, feeling great. Time to ride!

Ocean Shores is pretty much all flat. I thought that would be just fine for the run (though I would have to run on the beach, more on that coming up), but it did present some potential issues. For one, all flat means there is no downhill sections to coast, the effort is pretty well constant. I took that in account during training, especially in my spin classes (stationary bike) leading up to the event, basically pedaling like a mofo for an hour straight. Another issue is that if there is any sort of wind, it could get interesting...I guess it'd be like having a hilly course I suppose. With all that in mind, I set off on my trusty Roo. I had my water, my homemade goo (which I had tried plenty of times in training and found to be just awesome) and 26 miles in front of me.

The first few minutes served to center me, you know to clear my mind. Everything was great, especially as I suddenly realized that the foggy misty weather hadn't lifted: that meant little to no wind. I honestly can't remember too much about the ride other than thinking to just keep grinding. I would pick a rider in front of me and reel him or her in. Sure I got passed, but I passed quite a few people too. Every few miles I would take a sip and then just grind. My mind did wander at the end and I started to think about how I finished the goo a while back and I still had to run. I felt hungry and a bit weak and by the time I got off the bike I was rattled. As I changed into my running gear I was still agitated, right up to when I started running. I told myself to leave it behind and just run. Besides, the way  my legs felt after this long-ass ride instantly took my mind off whatever my stomach was trying to say. Much like after the swim, the first mile or so worked to square me up. The first 1.5 miles were on the streets, the next 3 on the beach and the last 1.5 back on the streets. I was plugging along just fine, reeling people in until I got to the beach. There, because of the very foggy misty weather, I couldn't see the turnaround. I did have a few tense moments but then I thought "wait, you're already beyond a quarter of the way, only about 40 more minutes all day".

I started to pick off runners that were pretty far and reeling them in. I remember this young gal in particular, I saw her before the turnaround but she had already got there and was running towards me. I figured it was lofty, but she was going down! And so I got to the halfway, told myself "only about 25 minutes to go, that's it, one 5k run all day".  By the time I got back on the streets, I felt stronger and stronger. By then, I only had 1.5 miles to go, and I had all but caught up to the gal. I finally overtook her with a little less than a mile to go. I knew I was going to be tired but at that moment I knew I had done it. I looked at my watch and realized I was going to be under 3 hours! I came around the corner to the finish line, heard my name and saw my friends. I can hardly describe the feeling. I had done it.

The end of the race was really the start of the crazy summer for us.  As I mentioned earlier, I started my job in Moses Lake 2 days after the event, we lived in a furnished apartment until last week-end [8/17] and I finally got our computers back up yesterday!  But it is done now, we are settled in our new home [a rental for now, we aren't committing to anything for at least 1 year], school starts on Wednesday and I am slowly finding my groove at work.  I did have to cancel the 3rd triathlon last week-end, it was just too much to have to drive 350+ miles round trip in the middle of it all, we just wanted to take breather and work on unpacking our things [that had just got delivered a few days earlier].  I miss seeing my friends on the Island, especially those who I trained with this spring [Elise, Nick] but I will make up for it next summer, I promise!

So there it is and there you have it! I set out on this crazy journey a little over a year ago and I DID IT!!! So what now you ask? Well, that's a very good question...First, I plan to celebrate my 42nd Birthday on Tuesday.  After that, it's wide open, though I have some ideas already.....

Until next time, 

Oliver P.

Post-race report

Well friends I did it! I swam, biked and ran for the first time in competition!
As I described in my last post, I was pretty nervous about it and it got worse with each passing day.  On top of it I was taking it easy the last week, so I felt like a caged animal not being able to release the pent up energy.  Needless to say I didn't get a whole lot of sleep on Saturday...Oddly, though, I woke up feeling rested.  Still nervous a little, but ready. We got there in plenty of time [of course] so I got my stuff all set up in the transition area.  At that point I was still feeling good.

Shortly after, it was time for the race briefing.  Nothing new there from what I read on the event website, except that there's a bunch of people around me this time....Started to feel the butterflies. So I went to check the water temperature, 71F so no wetsuit. I felt it would be one more thing to deal with trying to get the thing off.  Turned out to be a good decision.  Ok so after that it's go time. I'm focused now, and butterflies are out in full force.

8:00, off we go! It's actually me on the left edge of the picture at the bottom of the group [Great job Liza for getting me in there]

If I didn't [obviously] know I was in water, I could have sworn it was quicksand. I think the adrenaline and the nerves got to me.  I couldn't find my rhythm, I couldn't get the breaths right...I felt like I was swimming backwards. But I didn't panic, I knew it was a quick swim [1/2 mile], so I just went into grinding mode. I started to calm down a bit, and more when I got in sight of the shore.  I knew to expect to feel out of sorts after the swim.  I had practiced. But this was, as Emerill says, another notch! As I ran out of the water, I saw Liza shortly after she took the picture.  I had only 2 words: "Oh Shit"

She later said that she was really concerned as I really looked out of sorts.
Get to the transition, put on the bike shirt and shoes, grab a drink, put on helmet, grab the bike, all good, go go go. That's all I thought. I heard Liza encouraging me.  Her voice, like a beacon. So nice to hear. Go go go.
I knew the first part of the bike course would give me a chance to center. Nothing too steep, nice and straight. A couple of miles into it, I was good.  I had a good cadence, I felt good.  As the course got off the main road and into a loop around a small lake, the hills came.  I drove the course on Saturday, so I knew what was coming.  It was tough, lots of short, steep hills.  Up and down, shift the front, shift the back, again, again. Out of the saddle, back down, again. Again. I only made one mistake: I thought I was in first gear but I was still in second on the steepest hill. No biggie, I still made it, just realized at the top and laughed it off.  Back on the main road, only about 5 or so miles to go.  People passed me, I passed people.  I felt good about that, not just being passed.  Saw the leaders, man are they fast! Gave them a shout out.  Back at the park, I felt good still.  Focused.  16 miles, Not tired.  2 down, 1 to go.

Park the bike, take off the helmet, sit, take bike shoes off, socks, running shoes, take off shirt, running shirt, grab a drink, another, look around, here they are, smile, say something silly, go go go. Off to the 5K.

I really should have walked the run course on Saturday.  I swear it was the Grandpa special: uphill both ways! First mile I didn't feel anything.  I knew I wouldn't, so I just had to keep going until it came.  And it did. After about a mile, I started to get into it.  Lots of hills, up, down, up, up. But I felt good. Bring it.  Caught glimpses of the people on their way back, a smile, a nod, maybe a high five [yes I know]. On the way back, Feeling better even. I started to pick up the pace a little bit.  Now I could hear the PA system at the finish line.  Now I could see the finish line.  Wait that's my name he's saying.  I was there.  I did it.  Big smile at that moment, and Liza caught it.

Yes the dude passed me right at the end.  I heard him catch up to me, but he was too fast.  Next time, friend.
So I stepped on the blue timing mat and looked at the clock.

So that's it.  It was over.  In the end I came in 89th overall, 8th in the 40-44 age group.  Total time 1:41:13. swim time: 17:16, bike time: 52:24, run time 26:59. The swim was about 2 minutes slower than my regular pace. The bike time was better than normal by a little bit and the run time was way faster than normal, almost 30 seconds a mile faster! So now I know what to expect.  I'm so happy to have done it.  Almost one year of training.  I did it.
I love my family for cheering me on, I heard them and it really really helped!
So on to Ocean Shores in 3 weeks.  It'll be even more fun, a bigger challenge.  BRING IT!
Until next time,
Oliver P.

Nervous

According to the information at the bottom right corner of this here screen, my first triathlon is in 11 days.  I've been a little on edge the last few days for many reasons [many indeed], but this morning it came to me: I'm nervous about the triathlon! I've been working my ass off for almost a year now, working my way up to it.  [for the record I have about 2 months' worth of spinning and all my early swims that aren't shown, as well as the mileage being all screwed-up since my app stopped recording spinning miles. Don't get me wrong, I really like Runtastic, they just changed the interface]

I've swam many times before sunrise, after sunset and everything in between.  I even swan in the lake to make sure that my phobias [and there are a couple at play here] are in check.  I've biked when I could, went to spinning class the rest of the time.  I've run in the dark, in the cold, in the rain and also in perfect weather [like today]. I've done quite a few bike-runs, hell I even did all 3 [at the distance of my first event] just to  make sure.  I've been mindful [to say the least] about my diet, made sure to eat the right kind of foods to fuel my effort.  I've even dabbled with making my own food for the race [not for this event but for the next one in July, the longest one where I will need to eat on the bike or else] with great success. I'm pretty sure I'm ready.  I'm finishing up the hard training Saturday [after 14 days in a row] and then next week I'll take it easy.  Maybe a few swims in the lake to get that out-of-breath feeling due to the wetsuit to subside, possibly a light run and a don't-listen-to-the-instructor-and-just-ride spin class.  I'm not done training after the first race, I'm just ready.  I'M READY! I'll be sure to update for my first post-race, quite possibly the first one ever.
Until next time,
Oliver P.

The Away Game

We've all been there.  Be it for business, pleasure or anything in between, there are times when we have to go.  It could be a short week-end getaway, a week-long conference or even a temporary assignment.  Anyway you slice it, the routine is gone.  How do you stay on track?
It just so happens that we just spent the last 2 week-ends away from home.  As an added bonus I didn't even get back into town until Tuesday this week.  Overall, though, I did pretty well.  I managed to keep my meals within the 90/10 rule and I got all but 1 workout done.  So let me review the steps I took to make the 2 week-ends away successful.
Scheduling: It may seem a bit OCD, but since I am training pretty hard for my first triathlon only a month away I wanted to make sure to miss as few workouts as possible.  In this case [and for both week-ends], I decided up front to forget about swimming and biking and just run while I was away.
Internet search: We went to a couple of different locations, one familiar and one not so much [or at all even].  So we fired up Google and looked to see what the new place would have to offer, see what our options were. In this case, we saw that there would be at least some options for food, so we decided to pack up the breakfast bars and the smoothies and fend for the rest.  On the activity side, we saw there was a great network of activity trails so I knew I could get a run in for sure.  We also checked the forecast to pack the appropriate gear.
Travelling: Fortunately, we didn't travel very far so we were able to have breakfast and lunch at home, leaving only dinner there. The return trips were a bit trickier, but both week-ends we had the breakfast covered and found that those chopped salads at Subway work just fine.  I also grabbed some fruit and a package of rice crackers to fill-in the blanks if needed.
Once there: The first week-end was pretty easy.  It was just an overnighter so we found a great Thai place for dinner with excellent veggie bowls and whatnot, and at the end of the day I went for my run right around sunset.  Of course I could have picked a better route [more well lit actually] but it was great. The second week-end was a longer excursion, but we know our way around Portland! We took our breakfasts for the duration [it did take a bit of work to get it all together but a small cooler is all we needed to take with us] .  Sweet Tomatoes is great for a gynormous-like experience, and that's probably what I would recommend [or any other good salad-bar] if one was going to a decent size city.  For smaller towns or faraway places it's a bit more of a challenge...I remember last year I went to Chihuahua Mexico for a week [work], and let me just say that I came home a bit hungry...But again researching as much as possible will help.  I got to run on Saturday morning early so the rest of the day wasn't going to be disrupted, it worked out nicely. I did have to extend my trip and go back to Moses Lake on Monday, so I packed 2 running outfits and planned for Monday evening.  I got there and made sure to get some fruit and lots of water [dry as hell there] and did it.  In hindsight I could have waited a bit longer until it cooled off, it wasn't the best run but I take it as a learning experience. But it did the trick, kept me on schedule.
The takeaway: These 2 week-ends really turned out well.  First we had a great time, discovering a new place and also visiting friends and family.  Second I was able to keep on track and so I didn't have to stress about anything.  We had a plan.  So I had to scratch Tuesday's workout, so what?  I knew I was going to spend some time in traffic coming home [fucking Seattle traffic, it never fails] so I ended up stopping by Costco for our weekly run, it killed a bit of time and got me out of the car!
So there you have it.  A little bit of planning went a long ways.  We ate well, I got to run, we had a blast, what more could we ask for?
Until next time,
Oliver P.

Fitness and Exercise

I'd like to offer a different point of view regarding the importance of fitness and exercise.
As I discussed in an earlier post, good Health embodies aspects of physical, mental and social well-being.
Undoubtedly, it is very important to put in the right kind of fuel in the 'machine', however it is equally as important to take the 'machine' for a good spin every day to keep the motor in good shape [by the way I semi-apologize for the car-type references, I know a lot about them and I can relate to a lot of body processes as a result].
Of all the muscles in our body, there is one that really, really is important.  The motor.  You know which one I speak of:

Yes the heart. It is a lot of things, but first and foremost it is a muscle.  The cool part, I think, is that not only does it pump blood to the entire body, but it also pumps blood to itself.  Anyway as a muscle, it needs to be exercised and kept in tip-top shape.  Eat well, great.  Do what you like, awesome.  Reduce your stress, go for it.  Be a good, well-liked person, super.  All those are great, but your heart needs one more component to be happy, and that is exercise.  So let's talk about exercise, shall we?
Before I get into more specific details, I would like to back track a bit and put this line of thoughts into context.  As I started to make changes, I knew that exercising was going to have to play a big role, so I read up on it.  I really wasn't sure what I would like to do, so I started by swimming.  I was heavy, just quit smoking so I figured it was probably the best way to get moving without stressing my body or doing too much.  Right around the same time, I knew a couple of coworkers that ran marathons so it got me thinking about doing more than just swimming.  I wasn't a runner, as I was made to do it as a kid [thank you French education system], but I thought maybe when I got a little bit smaller I could give it a try.  Of course, if I was going to do that I might as well get on the bike too.  And so the challenge started to take shape: why not do all 3? And so I decided to read a little bit about triathlons, what the deal is, how to train, what to expect, those sorts of things.  I found one author particularly interesting, Brendan Brazier, a world-class Canadian triathlete and ultra marathoner [not to be confused with Brendan Fraser, also Canadian but not involved in endurance sports, that I know of anyway :)], who since his competitive days has [among other things] advocated for better health through better nutrition, particularly by ways of a vegan diet.  He also has a little something to say about training for endurance sports, specifically about the heart.  His point of view, albeit simplified a bit, is what I would like to share.
It really struck a chord in me and it goes something like this: Training too hard will degrade your performance.  Furthermore, the additional energy required to complete a task, when done improperly or too much, is very costly as it could be used on the back side to do it longer.
It is nothing more than a statement of the law of diminishing returns, that is at some point, whatever effort going into a task will no longer provide any benefit or even make it worse.  Mr. Brazier talks in length about the topic in his book and how he tailored his training to focus on quality and not quantity.  It is especially important for endurance sports, where energy management is paramount.  Here is how this thinking applies to the heart.
The average resting hear rate is about 72 bpm [beats per minute].  Below is a chart showing the spread based on age and fitness level [for men. women's looks just the same, just a few beats difference]:

Let's take 2 people in the 36-45 age group, one in the below average category with a resting rate of 78 and one in the excellent category with a resting rate of 60.  Here are my assumptions:                                          

- 8 hr sleep at resting rate
- 60 bpm individual exercises for 1 hr around 145 bpm average, rest of the time [15 hrs] spent at around mid to high 70s on average
- 78 bpm individual does not exercise, rest of time [16 hrs] spent at around mid to high 90s on average
- The difference between the 2 'rest of the time' rates is explained like this: the healthy heart will not beat as fast during the regular daily events compared to the less healthy heart. It may have a spike here and there, but it will recover faster and stay lower throughout the day.
Graphically, it looks something like this:

With a little arithmetic, it looks like this:
- 60 bpm individual: [60*60*8]+[145*60]+[78*60*15]= 107700 Beats per 24 Hrs
- 78 bpm individual: [78*60*8]+[98*60*16]= 131520 Beats per 24 Hrs
Let's think about this for a moment.
That's about 22% more heart beats for the below average individual.  For that 'cost', he has nothing to show for, day in and day out his health and fitness level will not change.  Not only that, but in 5 days his heart will have beaten twice the number of beats compared to the other individual. Twice.  5 days.
The other individual has worked out pretty hard each of those 5 days, he has something to show for: each day his health and fitness levels improve.  During the hour of hard work, he will gradually cover more ground, or go faster.  I'm not going to qualify those numbers any more.  For me, twice the beats in 5 days is enough to get my ass moving.  It may not be medically proven but in terms of energy used to do the same task [living our lives for 5 days], I'll take half the heart beats. There has to be a tally somewhere, and it seems to me it's one to keep low.
Now I realize that it isn't always feasible to workout 1 Hour each day.  That said, I bet 30 minutes can be done easily, and the result will be the same: a great improvement in heart and overall health.  And that's the point, a small payment for a large return.
Don't just take my word for it, check out the links, read up on the stuff.
Until next time,

Oliver P.