the perfect age - and proving it (again)

Somewhere along the way, I picked up the following quote -

“The perfect age is somewhere between old enough to know better and too young to care.”

I have been “that perfect age” for probably 20 years now. Maybe longer.

I don’t have enough time to tell you how many times I have thought to myself, “This is a bad idea, Kevin”, but went ahead and did it any way.

Beer has been involved in many of these instances.

But there are a lot of non-alcohol-induced instance of stupidity in my life as well. And no, I am not a stupid person. Quite the contrary. But I do have a habit of tackling projects that leave most people (including the occasional ER doctor) shaking their heads and asking “Why?”

So me agreeing what was supposed to be a 7+ hour training day in 100 degree weather shouldn’t have surprised anyone.

Yes, I knew that training in 100+ temps wasn’t good for me, but I really didn’t care. Nor did I complain (that much). I was just going to force myself to take it nice and easy…not push myself.

So here is how it went.

Swimming = easy, except for the choppy water and a few unplanned gulps of lake water. I like swimming. I could swim all day. But stopped after my hour was up.

Biking = steady. It was windy. It was hilly. Oh, did I mention it was 100+ outside. How hot was it really? My bike thermometer topped out at 115 on my last loop. We only did 40 miles, down from the 60 scheduled b/c of the heat. I was slower than I wanted to be (14.8 mph average – my race-day goal will be 16 mph) and was the last one to finish the bike portion. That didn’t bother me. I covered the distance. I wasn’t pushing myself and I was focusing on hydration, nutrition, and keeping from over-exerting myself in the heat. My goal was to get off the bikes feeling strong. It worked.

Running = slow. It was pushing 1:00 PM when I transitioned from bike to run. The sun was beating down on me. Conditions weren’t friendly. But I was feeling fine. No nausea. No wobbly legs. I wasn’t lacking energy. I was just moving slow. Run down the hills. Walk up. I was finishing up my first 2-mile loop and it was becoming evident that no one else was planning to do another loop (we were supposed to do 6 miles, down from the 16 scheduled). Part of me really wanted to keep going. I had the legs, the energy.

Really, I was averaging just under 14 minute miles for my first loop.

I could keep that up all day.

But didn’t. Like everyone else, I stopped after 2 miles.

And enjoyed one of the best tasting ice-cold peaches I have ever eaten.

Mmmmmm.

Fresh peaches are my favorite.

Excessive heat warning

I was a little worried when I saw KC was once again under an excessive heat warning until Tuesday afternoon, especially since I am scheduled for a 1 hour swim, 60 mile bike ride and 16 mile run starting at 9:30 tomorrow - probably not finishing until 4:30-5:30. But after reading the warning (below) a little closer, I realized I had nothing to worry about.

"..EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 12 PM SUNDAY TO 10 PM CDT TUESDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PLEASANT HILL HAS ISSUED AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 12 PM SUNDAY TO 10 PM CDT TUESDAY.

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY IS EXPECTED TO RESULT IN HEAT INDICES EXCEEDING 105 DEGREES FOR AT LEAST 3 HOURS...FOR THREE OR MORE CONSECUTIVE DAYS. BE SURE TO DRINK PLENTY OF WATER...STAY IN AN AIR CONDITIONED ROOM...STAY OUT OF THE SUN...AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS.

THE ELDERLY AND PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC ILLNESSES ARE THE FIRST TO SUFFER FROM THE EXCESSIVE HEAT. BE SURE TO PERIODICALLY CHECK ON THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE MOST AT RISK. HEAT EXHAUSTION...OR IN EXTREME CASES HEAT STROKE...MAY RESULT FROM PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THIS DANGEROUS WEATHER. AVOID ANY STRENUOUS OUTDOOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES... PARTICULARLY DURING THE HOTTEST AFTERNOON HOURS."

Anyone that knows me knows I never reach "strenuous" levels during training. And my training group has taken the appropriate precautions. Hydrating, plenty of cold water, salt tablets, Perpetum, etc. I am confident that training will go just fine. Slow, but fine.

And best of all, I once again get to train in long-sleeved shirts.

That plain sucks.

Conservation of Energy

No, this has nothing to do with a race plan for the triathlon.

It's 5:00 PM Thurs and I am still sitting here at work (I never, ever work past 4:30) because, well, I have an easy 3 mile run on my schedule and am then playing volleyball.

On these days, I would usually go home, play with the dog for a little while, check my mail, maybe pay a bill, start a load of laundry, get a little house cleaning in (well, maybe not that). But you get the picture. I would have an hour or so to kill around the house and then begin my workout.

But the trails I want to run on tonight are between work and the volleyball courts (about 5 miles from work). But to drive home, have my hour to relax, and then drive back out this way would be a 30-40 mile round trip, in trafic.

My car gets ~20 miles per gallon. Gas is $3.00 per gallon.

It comes down to this.

Is it worth $5.00-6.00 for an hour at home abs 45 minutes in traffit when I can get a little extra work done and not feel rushed. Probably not.

Then I go to cnn.com where the headline story is about Exxon making a profit of $1,318 PER SECOND in the 2nd quarter of 2006.

Now don't get me wrong, I am all for capitalism. If Americans are foolish enough to pay $3.00 per gallon and not change their habits, then hell, if I were the Exxon execs, I would push prices up even more.

But fortunately, my parents didn't raise a fool.

I know perfectly well that my hard earned cash needs to go to help the little guys struggling to compete against the corportate giants. So tonight, I am going to take that $6.00 that won't go to big oil, and buy a couple of Bud Lights at volleyball.

After all, Anheiser-Busch only made $638 million last quarter.

Cheers!

Crap!

Wait!

Actually, I won't be buying beer because Koach Karl told me I wasn't allowed to drink any more beer until the triathlon. So I will be dropping that cash on a couple bottles of Dasani water and contribute to Coca-cola's pocketbooks ($1.8 billon dollars in Q2)

Oh, screw it.

Where is the hose. That water is just as good.

And cheap!

Maybe I will just put that $6.00 in the bank.

And use it to help my bottom line.

But it was only two miles...

or technically, 3250 yards - or something like that. We really don't know how far it was because no one knows how far it is around the buoys, but I was told one trip around was about 250 yards - so I really swam 1.8 miles. But they really don't know the actual distance as I have also heard one loop is 300 meters.

Regardless, I did 13 laps.

I think I am going to give myself a major WOOT for the effort.

And I don't ever give myself props.

OK, I lied. Every now and then I may give myself a public pat on the back. But, seriously, when I do that, it is almost always sarcastic.

But not today.

Swimming 2 miles AND getting out of the water feeling great. Swimming 3 or even 4 more laps to get up to the 2.4 necessary miles wouldn't have been a problem.

Again, WOOT.

I felt so good, I thought about going against the training schedule and doing a quick couple miles around the Shawnee Mission Park b/c I felt that solid.

(And no Kim, Koach Karl didn't schedule have a swim-bike brick on my schedule, but I am smart enough not to try and sneak one in under his nose).

Anyway, I get out the bike, and jump on. I take the first turn and almost wipe out.

What the heck?

Sure enough, the back tire is flat as a pancake.

Damnit.

It was totally a sign.

Some how, some way, I am convinced Koach Karl put a hole in my tire. I was trying to sneak a brick into my schedule when there wasn't one scheduled. And KK, or at least his spirit, was bound and determined to keep me from doing that brick.

It worked.

I get my back tire changed and decided to call it a day.

And I have to find out how KK got to my bike.

Another "Rest Day" Failure

So I failed to honor yet another rest day.

Crap.

But it is nothing new.

But I was doing really good “resting” yesterday morning, watching the British Open from the comforts of my ugly brown, but too comfortable to get rid of, recliner until my phone rang.

Evidently, a tennis match was in my future.

So I wound up playing a pretty intense (frustrating) tennis match that lasted almost 2 hours.

Now I have been able to win a lot of arguments based on subtle technicalities and skewed logic, but I still can’t come up with a way to convince anyone that this activity should be considered “rest”.

Suggestions?

Anyone?

And while you’re at it, I need a justification for kickball to be considered “rest” as well.

That’s right. I said KICKBALL.

I am now playing kickball on Sunday nights. Our first game was last night and I now am convinced that I wasted way too many years playing softball. Kickball is superior on so many levels. I may never swing at another softball the rest of my life.

You don’t believe me?

Seriously, the fact that I can get someone out by hurling a large rubber ball at them is reason enough that kickball is better than softball (no head shots, though – sigh).

So, in addition to tennis on my rest day, I played kickball – equating to a total of about three hours of high cardio activity.

But I did take a nap yesterday, so I technically rested.

hmmmm.

I wonder if that logic will fly?

if you can't stand the heat...

I can't really explain it.

It doesn't make any sense.

Yesterday was the hottest day in KC in three years.

And I wanted to run in it. I wanted to run in the heat really bad.

It wasn't that I had to run (although I did have 3 miles of training to knock out), it was that I wanted to.

So I did. I started just after 6 PM and ran almost 4 miles. The heat was unbearable. It was awesome.

I didn't run fast. My first mile was 10:20, the middle two were in the 11:20 - 11:30 range and the last mile was closer to 12:00. Slow. I know. But that didn't matter because I was out there.

I was running.

And it felt great.

Liver lessons of the day

I am attending a 2 day seminar titled "Best Practices and Technologies for the Study of Xenobiotics", although a better name for it would be "Presentations that Kevin doesn't understand". In a nutshell, it is a conference on the best ways to study drug metabolism by the liver. And every now and then I pick up an important piece of information that I feel I should pass on to you.

Yesterday, part of a presentation talked about how a combination of certain drugs taken in conjunction with the birth control pill can render the pill ineffective and lead to unwanted kids running and screaming and pooping all ove the place. Interesting science. One of these days I will post the mechanisms of how this works so you, too, can be mesmerized.

Today, I am going to learn some more useful informating as the talks today focus on DILI, also known as Drug-Induced Liver Injury. Two of the talks focus on liver damage by Acetaminophin (Tylenol) taken in conjunction with copious amounts of EtOH (alcohol).

Just a friendly reminder, don't take Tylenol when you drink, take Aleve or Aspirin. Your liver will appreciate the thoughtfulness.

A recipe for disaster

Northern Delight Century Ride Disaster Recipe
100 miles on a bike
Hills
106 degrees Farenheit
1 long sleeve shirt
2 new clipless pedals

My recipe for disaster this morning as I tackeled the Northern Delight Century Ride today in northwestern Missouri. 100 miles on the bike shouldn't have been much of a problem except.....

Hills: To many to count. Every ride should have a hill or two simply to mix up the terrain. This was all hills. It went pretty much like this: Pedal-downshift-pedal-downshift-pedal-downshift-crap, I can't downshift and more-mash-mash-mash-upshift-pedal-upshift-pedal-upshift-pedal-coast (repeat ~597 times).
Seriously, there was not a level section on the course. It sucked. Big time.

But hills alone would have been fine.

106 degrees Farenheight: It was 78 when we started the ride at 6:20 AM. By 9:00, my bike thermometer was already pushing 90. It hit 100 for the first time at a SAG station about 50 miles into the ride. It stayed above 100 for the remainder of the ride, peaking out at 112, but averaged 106 while the bike was moving for the last 1/2 of the ride. Really, it was that hot if not hotter.

Even with the heat and hills, I had plenty of energy and wasn't overheating as the ride went on.

1 long sleeve shirt: I got an e-mail from Koach Karl Friday night telling me to wear a long-sleeve dry fit shirt for the ride because it would be cooler than wearing a tank top. And while I openly questioned the logic (which makes sense), I did wear the long sleeve shirt for the ride. Everyone in my training group did. But no one else.

And while I have nothing to compare it to, I will say that the long sleeve shirt did its job and kept me cool.

2 Clipless Pedals: Attention all new riders, clipless pedals are great. They really make riding easier b/c they use different muscle groups to pull up the pedal.

They're great.

And once you get used to using those muscles, I am sure they do wonderful things.

ButI had only done one test ride w/ the new pedals prior to the century ride. Probably not the smartest thing to do.

Especially since I was riding in 100+ degree weather

On hills.

My inner thigh muscles started cramping 68 miles into the ride. I made it about 5 more miles in agonizing pain before stopping on the side of the road. While stopped, a SAG vehicle drove by.

So I contemplated getting in. If I chose to ride on and continued having problems, what would I do, call 911.

"Help me. I am about to die of heat stroke" "where are you, sir" "I am not quite sure my exact location, but if you start searching all the roads in a triangle from Liberty to St Joseph to the Iowa border, you should find me."

I got into the SAG vehicle.

But before I did, I rode 73 miles in miserable heat on hills in just under 5 hours.

This may be the worst-named ride in the country. Absolutely nothing delightful about it.

Going clipless

Finally made the switch to clipless pedals today.

Still a little confused why they are called "clipless" when your shoes are clipped to the pedal. Must be a biker thing.

But I am taking the bike out for a spin tomorrow with the new accessories.

Can't wait for the first time I stop w/o unclipping and wipe out.

Or the second time.

Or the third time.

Or the fourth time...

JUST LET ME SLEEP!!!!

Don’t know why.

Don’t care why.

I just wanted to sleep.

That was me about 12:15 this morning. I couldn’t fall asleep. And I tried everything. I tried laying on my side. I tried laying on my back. I tried laying on my stomach. I kicked the dog out of the bed so I could sprawl out. I covered myself with sheets. I laid on top of the sheets. I even propped my feet half way up the wall.

Nothing.

That has to be one of the most irritating things in the world.

Being too tired to fall asleep. It doesn’t make sense. If I am that tired. I should have been out the second my head hit the pillow.

Of course, I was also dehydrated. Starting at 6:00 last night I ran 3.5 miles and followed up immediately with 2.5 hours of pretty intense sand volleyball. It was hot and humid. I sweat a lot.

Anyone know if dehydration causes sleep deprivation?

And then, when I finally start dozing off.

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

My pager was going off. I was being offered a liver.

Crap. Where is my phone. Where is a pen and some paper so I can get the information. Crap, this pen doesn’t work. Let me find one that does.

The liver turned out to have a serious case of EtOH induced hepatitis and had little enzyme activity so I turned it down.

It’s now 1:00 AM and I am still trying to get to sleep.

ARRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!

At some point, I finally fall asleep.

Got up at 4:15 this morning to get a quick 1.5 mile swim in before work.

But I did sleep a little.

It’s going to be a long day.

Just another bike ride

Yesterday, I sat at work dreading my 30 mile bike ride. Dreading it because I never felt like I had the energy to complete it. I was fatigued. Legs were a little wobbly. My blood sugar was probably a little low. I knew I hadn’t consumed enough calories going into the ride.

But it was on my schedule and I had to get it in.

So I arrive at Heritage Park with no expectations. I get ready to mix my Heed (energy drink). I figured I could make it extra strong – throw in an extra scoop or two of the powder and that would get me through the ride.

Only the Heed container was missing the scoop.

Crap!

So I just started pouring the Heed into the water, trying to guess what would equal 4 heaping scoops. I take a couple swigs of this not-quite-dissolved mixture and push off.

The first part of the ride was up a long, sloping hill. I thought I was going to die. I mean it really sucked.

But once I turned onto 175th street, things started getting better

And better.

I definitely felt the Heed kick in. My energy level is much improved.

I started enjoying myself. And even took a few minutes to notice my surroundings. Especially those ominous looking clouds building to the north. A few sprinkles start to fall on me.

I thought out loud, “This could really suck”. I still have 8 miles left to ride. If it starts to storm, I am pretty much screwed.

I pick up the speed, just a little – with the slight tailwind, I was now moving along at 19-22 mph.

The last 8 miles flew by.

I get back to my car, the sky thankfully still just spitting sprinkles.

I look at the bike computer, a little shocked. I averaged 16.7 mph for the 30.6 miles. Impressed only because of how weak I felt at the start of the ride.

On the drive home, I encountered rain and flooded streets just 3 miles from where I was riding. Sometimes you just get lucky.

Today, I get to run three miles. And nothing else. What am I going to do with myself with all that free time (and if anyone says mow that yard of yours that hasn’t been mowed in weeks, I may have to ban them from ever making comments again – although yes, that is probably what I should do).

Measuring up

So one of the things I got with my new gym membership was 5 appointments with a personal trainer. Going into it, I had the "yea whatever" attitude. My training schedule for the next two and a half months is completely focused on the triathlon (including my weight training routine). So I was pretty much convinced I was going to be wasting my time.

Boy was I wrong.

I had my first appointment today and learned a lot. Some things I already knew, but now I have numbers to go with my gut instincts. Part of the process was measring height, weight, neck, chest, shoulders, etc and finally a couple of skin fold tests to calculate bmi - something I have never experienced until today.

Unfortunately, none of the three skin fold tests took into account my legs, which are all muscle. So my BMI results are primarily from my arms and midsection. Yikes. I was a little nervous.

But surprisingly enough, even without taking into account my extremely strong, mucle-packed legs, my BMI was only 27.9. Yes, it is higher than it should be. But normal range is 18.5-24.9. I am only 16 pounds away from a BMI of 22. This is definitely an incetive to continue the diet (which had been slacking a little lately) and, more importantly, a reason to re-instate my pre-marathon soda ban that was lifted after the SD marathon.

Why did they have to make Dr Pepper taste so good? Why damnit? Why.

sigh...at least it will be nice to track my progress over the next several months.

I also learned how to use medicine balls to "treat" myself to a deep-tissue massage. Let's just say I had a dentist appointment this morning and I think that the deep tissue massage is on the same level as getting your teeth cleaned...A necessary evil. Working out those knots in the calves/I-T band/hip flexors/glutes/hamstrings can really be painful.

But my legs do feel better tonight!

65 miles across east Kansas

Today, I biked 65 miles across east Kansas in a ride put on by the Lawrence Bike Club called "The Lizard Under the Skillet". The ride named because it is usually hot in East Kansas the second weekend in July.

Well, I learned several things about my riding ability and the state in which I now call home.

First, I now know I can ride my bike 65 miles and follow it up by a 2+ mile run at an 11ish minute mile pace. Not too bad. But I do need to tack on another 47 miles to the bike ride and run 24 more miles to complete the triathlon. Oh, and swim a couple of miles, too.

But I am in training, damnit. And I am told that as long as I follow the training schedule, Ironman won't be a problem. It won't be easy, but it will be doable.

But enough about me. Let's talk about Kansas.

1. For all of you that have never been to Kansas, I want to erase any perception that it is flat. In fact, there are some good-sized hills in east Kansas. That is the only way I can explain topping my bike out at 42.6 mph on a downhill slope. The climb up sucked, but that is the price you pay for the adreline rush on the other side.

2. Kansas animals are smarter than Missouri animals. I would say they are more evolved, but evolution is a myth in Kansas. I make this claim based on the number of roadkill that I had to ride around today and compare that to the number of carcasses I pass per mile when riding in Missouri. Either the animals are smarter or the Missouri drivers less compassionate and actually aim for the animals on the East side of the state line. While the latter is probably the real reason, I want to give my MO friends (those killers of poor, inocent possum, snakes, frogs, birds, raccoons, etc) the benefit of the doubt.

3. "The Lizard Under the Skillet" was a poor name for the ride this year. The weather was perfect for a ride. It was cloudy and 70 at the start and it even sprikled on us towards the end of the ride. Nothing like I was expecting for a ride in east Kansas in July.

My final time for the 65 miles was 4:00:02 for the ride and around 22 minutes for the 2 mile run. I still have to work on my calorie intake during the ride as I was feeling a little woozy when all was said and done. But that is just another part of training and I have still have 10 weeks to work it all out.

a mock triathlon

I celebrated the fourth by doing my first mock triathlon. It wasn’t anything challenging – a 30 minute swim, 10 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run. But I did get a taste of what triathlon had to offer.

And loved it.

Swimming: Open water swimming is a lot different than swimming in the pool. I realized my split-personality stroke was extremely dependent on that little line in the bottom of the pool to keep me swimming in the right direction. Take that line away and, well, I seem to have a tendency to swim left. But other than that little inability to swim in a straight line issue, open-water swimming was a breeze. It is much more enjoyable than swimming in a pool because I didn’t have to turn every 25-50 M. Our swim on Tuesday was just under a mile – I would have loved to have been able to swim longer.

sidenote: I put on a tri-specific wetsuit on Saturday in my first open-water swim and all I can say is wow. I never thought a little layer of snug, skin-tight rubber would make such a difference in my buoyancy. Staying afloat in that thing was a breeze. And I glided through the water like never before. Wetsuit clearly has its advantages. I ordered mine yesterday.

Biking: Our 10 mile bike ride took around 35 minutes to complete. It was a somewhat hilly course with little to no wind. But when you are used to riding 30-40 miles, 10 miles is more like a warm-up than anything else. I will have a better impression of biking in about 10 days after completing a 65 mile ride Sunday and a 100 mile bike ride (with a lot of hills) a week from Sunday.

Running: Finally, a good run. Three miles in just over 30 minutes. Honestly, I have been struggling with the running since San Diego. It is definitely a mental thing and not physical. I have been so worried about my ability to swim and bike that running has suffered.

But then again, I know I can run the 26.2 miles.

Granted, I have never run that far after swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112, but running 26.2 miles is running 26.2 miles. Right? I remember having similar concerns about running a marathon the day after doing a half marathon (Goofy Challenge) and set PRs for both distances that weekend. Maybe I will set another marathon PR during Ironman.

Yes, it is safe to say that I had a great first date with triathlon. Of course, my first dates always go well. It’s those follow-up dates that get me.