1000 miles 199 days hemp recovery

Today I logged my 1000th mile of training since Dec 1st. This has easily been my most productive off season ever.
The USAT Club challenge has been very motivational. The Triathlon national governing body pits local tri clubs from across the country in a virtual training competition. Every mile logged is added to your clubs total. Individual stats are kept as well. The CTC is holding tight to 6th place nationally. Our club has fewer members participating than most of the other clubs, so realistically we are really putting up big numbers in Cleveberg. My personal numbers have ranked up around 16th-30th place out of close to 800 total participants.
I am not fast, but I love to train. this is a competition I can be competitive within.
One Michigan athlete was named the top woman's 50-54 age group triathlete by Inside Triathlon. She is number 2 or 3 right now in the club challenge. It is amazing to see the amount of work the top amateurs put in.

A few of us CTC folks including bloggers Jodi and Jen are logging very similar miles, so it really is a fun way of seeing what your club mates are doing. For Mr. Solo, it gives me company while I spend so much time alone. The same is true of this blogging action. Thanks to all who read, comment and keep up your own blogs regularly. Vital training partners. Crazy world we live in. I like it!.
As my miles increase so does the wear and tear on my shoes and body. I have had pain in my upper right leg. One of the first things I do when I experience pain is to inspect my shoes.
Flat....My Airs are flat, the souls are worn. these shoes are not suitable for running any longer.
As soon as I get paid next week, it is off to Second Sole. East side store. Jeff knows what I need and finds the best deal for me. He knows that I prefer last years model and that I am a neutral runner. Both with foot strike and with make allegiances. I don't care for Brooks or Saucony. Aside from that I don't care who makes the shoe.
I know what I am looking for.
An issue with the heavy training and new diet has arisen. I feel I am not recovering as well as I could be. I get a lot of protein, however my needs are not getting met to aid recovery from workouts.
After a little research I have decided on hemp seed protein powder. All natural, soy, dairy, and wheat free, taste great in a smoothie. It is rich in Iron, EFA s, Omega 3s, protein. It is as well suited for humans as salmon is. Good stuff. Still vegan, and legal. Ironman Canada winner Jasper Blake uses it.
I figured, lets give it a try.
Still to early to know, but so far so good....

A co workers asked me today,"when is that England thing, Are you scared?"
That England thing is in 199 days. I am not scared, I believe in my training.
I am some what anxious to race. I am adding the chili bowl 5k to the old calendar.
Stay warm...Peace.

Go on at a steady pace

"I want to say to my sisters and my brothers

Keep the faith

When the storm flies and the wind blows

Go on at a steady pace" -Charles Johnson

The snow, it has finally arrived. January in Cleveland means cold air shooting down out of Canada. The warm water of Lake Erie following a very pleasant 1st month of winter means the lake effect conditions are perfect for a real pounding.
This life long Clevelander welcomes its arrival. The commute home from the pool sucked, but then I was leaving the YMCA at 9 yrs old and walking home with frozen hair that wreaked of Cl.
I had a humus bagel and a cup of Jo, checked the Cavs score. This team is so inconsistent, reminds me of the '06 tribe. So much promise. Pull the trigger Mr. Ferry. The trade I would go after is Gary Patten to teach Daniel Gibson the art of the point.Give them Sasha and E. Snow. I mean it, Get rid of Snow.
Really that was all just a cheap pun. Eric Snow is a local, he gives back, and seems like a real decent fella. I like him. But I would make the trade, cause Gibson is the future. You got prepare for what is ahead. So enough of this distraction and back to my Ironman training.
I can really procrastinate if I put my mind to it. My ability to manipulate myself is amazing. However, today the plan is a 1+ hr run. Nothing past 1:30. I am training for the Cleveland Marathon. I am only racing the 1/2. But I am training for the full. So until late February all long stuff is below 2:00 duration.
I have a pair of some old Nike Gortex snow running shoes. I rarely wear them. The weather has to downright suck. Today counted in the suck category. 2ply coolmax socks. running shorts, tights, wind pants. Up top I have a Patagonia base with zipper, a light fleece top, and a wind and rain jacket. Sunglasses with a light tint lens so I could keep my eyes wide open, a fleece hat, and 2 pairs of gloves. I put it all on and head down to the street, press play on my minidisc player, and begin to run. I am comfortable. I love the point in a work out when you decide that this is gonna work out.
I headed into Forest Hills Park.
Forest Hills was John D. Rockefeller's old haunt. The park is big, and stretches into two cities. I am able to spend a lot of time on trails and away from traffic. The downside to this park is the poverty that surrounds it. Really, poverty is always a downside. The contrasts to the enormous wealth that had been acquired by the man who had once called this land his home is disturbing to me.
The snow has left only faint silhouettes that surround me in black and white. The trail is covered with fresh fallen snow.
The only encounter with other people I had was at the top of the hill as a bunch were out sledding. JDR had his house at the hilltop. It burned down after he left for NY. I can't find the hint of a foundation. so it is hard to picture. Anyhow, the view is one of the best in Cleveland, and the run down the hill is fun. No sled for me, and I stayed on my feet.
I stayed out for 1:23 and ran 6.59 miles. Those were some tough miles.
Thai food for dinner.
1 hr on the bike. Family Guy is not my favorite show, However, Stewie dancing with Gene Kelly was great.
And that is Sunday in January in Cleveland Ohio. I did what I had planned.
"When the storm flies and the wind blows

Go on at a steady pace".

By the way, congrats to E-speed on the 50k PR. Unbelievable.

Bike upgrade!

My race bike is a 2001 Giant OCR 2. I bought it on July25th of 2001. I had the bike on layaway for 2 months before getting to take it home for a ride.
We rode our first race together on Aug. 29th at the Ashtabula Sprint Triathalon.(Not a mis spell, that is how the event spells our sports name)
I have done a fair share of races on this bike including two 1/2 Iron distances. The bike has been very reliable and held up its end of the deal.
Its frame is aluminum and very light. The components are cheap sora parts. The fork is chrome-ole. The bike was never a problem, but I always promised the full make over. I figured for Ironman it deserved better.

I began after the season ended by doing a section a month
Step 1 was the drive train. I went with 105 components. 53/39 and 25/12 rings. Solid, race worthy, and more in line with my budget.
Next came the wheels. Shimano R550s. 16/24 bladed spokes Got em on eBay from the Bike Authority. Another great deal.
My next move was the front end and brakes. The choice of bar and brake style was made after winning an auction on the specialized bullhorns bars and carbon tektro 5.0 brake levers.
The profile carbon strike aero bars and dura ace bar end shifters were end of season close out prices. The brakes were eBay again.
I chose a Thomson set back seat post and flipped it forward to a better aero position.
The fork is carbon fiber and feels about two pounds lighter than the old fork.
The saddle(San Marco trigel and peddles(Look Keo) had been picked up during the season.

The frame and headset are the only original parts.
Taking the time in building my bike back up has been a lot of fun. Every thing on the bike was chosen and installed by me. I know this bike inside and out.
It is not my first bike. It is not the best bike. It is not an expensive bike or the latest model.

My Little Giant is just my bike. Same frame, all new parts. Built with love, and built to last.

Come on and let the good times roll...

Come Together

Things are moving along fairly well right now.

My swimming is really improving. I have reached the 3500 yard mark. I had instruction from Steve. The stroke is still inconsistent and needs my full attention, but the stroke count is down. Endurance is not an issue any longer. I look forward to the pool workout as much as I look forward to running.

The bike is coming along. Last winter I could barely put together 1/2 an hr of trainer work without becoming bored. The workouts I did were infrequent. Rebuilding in spring was slow. This off season I have spent 800+ miles in my living room. I am renting Little Miss Sunshine next week. Lots of movies
The bike has officially been converted into the bike I hope to have for race day. I will post photos soon. I got the fork from Nashbar yesterday. I can't wait to get her out on the road. Only thing left is to keep building up the engine. That's me.

Running is fun! I took two days off in a row from my beloved run. Saturday I was a little stiff but fairly healthy. Today I went long.1:50 mixed surface running with 2/3rds being technical trail running. I ran in road shoes, so it was a bit slippery. Great work out. The snow was so pretty.

The diet is very right on for me. This is the easiest diet I have actively and mindfully maintained. The only craving I have is pizza. The other night at the CTC post holiday party. The Collisters ordered pizza. The aroma of the cheese reached out to me as if it were a cartoon....I resisted its beckoning.
I need to go to Dewey’s soon and get one of these cheese less pizzas. That will be a fun evening.
Whoever I go with will say, “what toppings do you like?"
I will respond, "Anything except meat and cheese is good with me".
They will say, "Ummm....how 'bout we get half with some freaking cheese you damn hippy?!"

I have a gig on February 9th. This will be my birthday gig. It's how I like to celebrate. With music.
The Lovett/Hiatt/Ely/Clarke show was great. The show was close to sold out. So many old friends from the folk music community were there. I got distracted while leaving and lost my group....whoops....John Hiatt is such a good songwriter.

Everything is coming together.

Ode to Joy

First off, I have been adding things to the side bar so I can share the boring details of my workouts. I don't get to detailed beyond distance, duration, and random thoughts.
I also found code for a countdown timer. It is set to IMUK.
Last but not least I have added a link to my music sight. Music is a central part of my life and I feel the need to remain connected to my music.
Ironman has my attention right now and I have no regrets about that. Music is playing 2nd fiddle right now and at times I do regret that.
Music has always been my driving force. I chose choir over swim team in high school. I have devoted 20 years to music. I remain first and foremost a musician.
Just like triathlon, every few years I need to step back from music. I don't stop playing, but I don't "PRACTICE". I don't gig often. And when I listen I don't listen like a recording engineer.
During these times I just try to enjoy music. It is very refreshing. When I come back to the professional music world my ears are fresh and excited. My goals become clear. I have fun again.
Last week music showed some blips on my radar:
1. I was offered a new mandolin that I have committed to buying.
2. I was asked to appear in some songwriter circles at local libraries. These are great gigs, they pay well. they happen during the day. I am one of 4 songwriters performing. It is an honor to be asked..and so on.

The job I am hoping for, running an inter-generational media center out of an East Cleveland Charter school is starting to come together...please keep the fingers crossed for me and this job...I get the feeling the position was created for me.

Rob Reddy and I went to the Barking spider to listen to some music on Sat. We plan to try to do this more often.

Two of my favorite songwriters, Lyle Lovette and John Hiatt along with 2 others are doing a songwriters circle at the state theatre next Sat. Tix are $10 bucks...I will not miss this. Still looking for folks to join me. It's gonna be good.

And finally, an anonymous CTC member offered a single ticket to the Cleveland Orchestra performing Beethoven's 9th Symphony. I took the offer, put on my fancy duds and walked down to severance this past Thursday to take in a celebration of the brotherhood of mankind.
The ninth is so powerful culminating into the well known Ode to Joy finale.
I was so excited for this concert and feel so lucky to have stumbled upon this ticket.
It was so nice to hear the orchestra, not as an audio student/intern, but as a music lover.
It was so nice to step away from work and training for an evening.
It was so nice to return to work and training.
I love music....Gotta go, this here mandolin needs playin',

Have you ever heard of Scuzzlebutt

I love southpark. It is so wrong. I almost feel guilty for laughing at this show. The writers push the humour as far as they can, and yet they keep producing the show. The fine line of acceptable humour becomes an enormous grey area.The show is very well thought out. Every joke has meaning in the context of the story.

I first watched southpark while training for my first marathon. My Marathon training sorta worked like southpark. I kind of think the marathon is wrong. I feel a certain guilt for wanting to run one. You always try to push your training as far as you can, while be able to continue training. The grey area between training and injury or heavy training and overtraining is extremely vague. Every work out is well thought out and has to have meaning in the context of the plan and goal race.

Last week on the tails of three hard weeks culminating into the ten day CTC VTC(Cleveland Tri Club virtual training camp). I felt like I had taken it to far. . That I might be facing the consequences of the heavy pace I was maintaining. I had a little chest cold, I was very tired, and I was having trouble sleeping.
Had I hit the dreaded overtraining point?.

Tuesday I took a day off. No training. Beginning Wednesday I began a build with light workouts.
The cold took a few days to shake. But I think I am OK.
I did a tough brick today and felt energized. I could feel the strength gain from the heavy weeks.
Some how, I survive to train another day. A little stronger and a little bit wiser.
The best part of southpark is how they always seem to learn something.

Hey, I learned something today.
Rest and recovery really are an important part of training.

Oh yeah, I also learned that Scuzzlebutt is real.

What are they thinking? I will never do that!

Every year a bunch of weirdo's usher in the new year by jumping into the lake on January 1st. I remember this ritual happening as long as I have been aware. It is useally the same common sense that makes people think that doing an Ironman is a good idea.

Today I joined the party and became one of those weirdo's. 12 hours into 2007, 40 plus members of CTC charged into Lake Erie and took the plunge.

We have had a warm winter and the water was in the mid 40's. Not really that cold. We didn't exactly have to break holes in the ice. However it was cold enough.

The photo above is borrowed/stolen from Jens blog . The photo is Allen, Jodi and I bundled up on the beach following the swim. Monica Robbins and a camera man from channel 3 covered it.

My overall thoughts on the Polar Bear swim: Like every thing in triathlon, jumping in was easier then the build up in my head, and the real pain and discomfort didn't set in until I was deeply entrenched.

Would I do it again? Yes.

The rest of the new year was great. I saw many friends today both at the beach and at Tim Smith's "Hair of the Dog" party. Both CTC and Cleveland Peace Action made the news.

Peace action was reading the names of the US soldiers killed in Iraq to mark the 3000th death. I pray that this is not a sign of things to come this year. Hopefully some positive progress evolves in the war. I don't know what the best direction for our nations involvement will be. I can only hope that our elections have put the right people in control of making the decisions that will both stabilize the region and allow our armed forces to come home safely.

Last night a few CTCers partied at Jodi's. It was a good time. It was defiantly the right place for me to be this year. Ushering in 2007(the year of my first attempt at Ironman) with fellow IM rookie Jodi, Allen who finished his first IM in Wisconsin this year, and Elizabeth the club ultra marathoner was really nice.

This morning while Jodi, Elizabeth, and I were jogging prior to the swim, Zac and Nichole came came by to witness our silly behavior at the beach.

I am so lucky to have the support and friendship of so many good people. My faith in people is strong once again.

I always learn so much about myself and the world around me during heavy training periods. I think this answers the question "Why am I doing this?".

Finishing a race is just the moment that we pause to reflect on every thing that we have gained through out our training. If it was about the medals that hang from my tool rack than I would never have gotton this far.

Thank you to all of my friends and family. Have a wonderful New Year.

May we all know Peace inside and out in every moment.

May all of our journeys bring the rewards that mine has already brought to me.