Yoga

I was gently reminded this morning of a glaring omission to yesterdays recap of February's 'no beer' test. Seems I forgot to add the inclusion of Yoga to the results summary. And so I sit in child's pose, corrected. Although I am not entirely convinced that two weeks (four sessions) are the main contributor to the weight loss, this practice always illustrates to me the beauty of balance. Or more precisely, the importance of the extremes. You know the ones:

Hard~Easy
Fast~Slow
High~Low
Long~Short
Work~Rest
Aware~Asleep
Expanding~Constricting
Yes~No

For every high intensity, max out, grind your teeth or scream hill repeat, we need the opposite calm, restorative, healing, still and quiet refresh. The morning sun knows this and gladly gives way to the moon after a day of light. Opposites. Extremes. Poles. A one or a zero. Apex and antapex, altitude and azimuth. Winning doesn't taste as sweet without first losing a little.

Our neuromuscular high-cadence spinning provides a valuable mind-body connection to allow, with time and practice, the addition of torque in the form of power to the pedals. Once this speed concept is mastered, adding the musculature of resistance (or gears) creates a complex and dynamic combination, riding inside or out. It's the opposite nature of these two that meet in the middle to forge the alchemy of power. Fast AND strong.

Equals powerful. As a result of the focus and practice of the extremes. Yoga provides this. The yin to our yang, the inner to our outer and the calm to our tempest. The Samurai knew this. The Ninja knew. The Yogis knew. Lance, Macca, Chrissy, The Tarahumara know.

Or, as ABC could have scripted it, 'Yoga allows us the thrill of victory by tasting the agony of defeat.'

Stretch well, breathe deep, relax, let go. We'll go hard tomorrow, guaranteed.

Pix: Sunset in Hawaii is OK by me, as is a December full moon over the Olympics.

Beer?

Not a moment too soon. Spring is thirteen days off. YESSSS. Sunshine, warmth, the garden, local produce, commuting by bike, no more hauling firewood in the dark and damp, races, BEER!

Alright, because I recognize that so much is riding on this analysis, here are the February 'no beer' test numbers. We started February at 163 lbs, and between 9-11% body fat. Resting HR has been steady at 44. My second CompuTrainer TT showed a 5.5% increase in speed. All my credit cards show zero balance and I might even be able to pay both property tax installments at once. Gas is at 3.70/gal and Guinness is on-sale at Safeway for $1.74/can. And results?

Five more in the loss column. This morning (after class) we were at 158. Bad news if you like beer. Since we started this one-man testing protocol in December (no bread) we have now dropped a total of ten pounds, and increased P2K (power to kilogram) almost 6%. That is the good news. How it plays out in the racing arena will soon be discovered. And I am suspecting good news there as well. Like in Mercer Island in two weeks for a half-mary. One more ramp week and we start the taper.

Some variables during this long, sometimes painful self-abnegation period include; The switch to red wine, inclusion of twice weekly chiropractic adjustments, massage and the vigilant ramp up in run training, including strength, speed and distance. The switch to wine and addition of meditation has kept the stress demons at bay, and Lord knows I get plenty of creative challenge, thereby completing the BIG THREE triad of working mind, body and spirit through diet, exercise and stress management. Everything else is a bonus.

The balance of this combination feels great. I think it was a worthwhile test and I am ready to get outside and mix it up. The sun is shinning and the skies are blue. I wanna bike hard and run fast with you.

Then we can have a beer.

Pix: Kelly Williamson wins Branson 70.3, demonstating what a high P2K ratio can do. Cheers, Kelly, great work.

Just Run

Ten things that crept into my mind as I ran 13.1 miles this morning:

1) Why did I bring sunglasses and not a fleece stocking cap?
2) Why didn't I stash a water bottle at the half-way point?
3) Why do these people have to drive so fast?
4) Did I really need that last glass of Cline Zinfandel last night?
5) Will it ever be warm enough to run in a singlet again?
6) If you think that you are ready for a fast Half-Ironman, you are delusional.
7) There is virtue in vigilance, just keep running.
8) What if everything we know is wrong?
9) The gym sign said, "Seven days without exercise makes one weak".
10) Pizza and Guinness is gonna taste GREAT tonight.

Next time I'll bring the ipod, easier to listen to someone else philosophize.

Pic: No one to run with today except for my bunny wabbit.

A Pair of Dimes

Invited to attend and film Junior's rehearsal recital yesterday, I was again reminded of how we can become slaves to habit. You know, the same stuff over and over and over. And not always because it's best. It's simply habitual.

Nobody wants to be fat. But we chronically move limbs from plate to palate without thinking. Nobody dreams of dying from lung cancer, but I witnessed many folks in doorways and portals puffing away in Seattle on Wednesday. You know when 'they' say that one glass of red wine a day is healthful? Well, by this calculation, I might be the healthiest person in the Evergreen State. One last topic: Politics. Oil, defense contracts, lobbyists, pork, slime, big pharma, the military/industrial, fear, church/state, entitlements, subsidies, the very law under which we cower. All in need of major reform. Change. More of it, lot's of it and keep it comin'. Otherwise the chronic, habitual, addictive, stagnant and ignorant become 'normal'. It's the 'Cosi fan Tutti' defense. How can it be slimy when everybody is doing it?

Sound familiar? Are we already there? Have we dummied down as far as this stink hole will allow?

So we talk about the paradigm of change. The radical need to escape the quo of status. Somehow and in some way. Big change now. Of what can we assume immediate ownership? In that radical category are two:

Your thoughts, and in turn,
Your actions.

That's an awfully short list. Very here and right freaking now.

Should be easy. I will think differently and behave differently, acting the part I script for my leading (perfect, saintly, heroic and fearless) character. Here is what that looked like over the last 24 hours:

I filmed Junior's recital and came away inspired by the innocence of youth. THERE IS HOPE. Dime one.

Developed an all new (and exciting) 90 minute spin protocol that upped the work load and augmented the recovery period. I loaded up the iPhone with 30 three-minute songs and we rode HARD to one, using the BIG FOUR drills (speed, leg strength, core strength, explosive power), and then rested for the entirely of the next song. The results were interesting. It was hard. It was hard to spin easy and recover for three minutes instead of our usual ten seconds. Was there value? Yes. Did it accomplish what I intended? Not quite. Will we do it again? Yes. Dime two.

Change the paradigm and you change the story, change the story and you stand a chance of changing the results. A pair of dimes for some change. Ready or not, here we go. Teach the kids to sing and then spin for all your worth. Twenty cents is a good start.

Pix: Three grades at Wilkes School sing for a grateful (albeit related) audience. Ole in Lillehammer demos the CT as we watch off road footage shot less than a day earlier. Thoughts and actions in play.

More balance

We spend a LOT of time training. That's the good news. The better (or happier) news comes when we see an empirical reward for our efforts. That can be in the form of a faster CompuTrainer Time Trial, a snappy 5K in the local benefit, or losing ten pounds as prescribed by your PCP. Time well spent. Cause and effect. Response to the dosage. Improvement, gain, reward. And continued motivation to persevere.

All good. The bad news can creep up like a shadow if we lose awareness or vigilance. Too much of a good thing can be just as harmful as not enough. We hang the label called balance around the neck of this critical concept. As a PSA, here is a reminder of the formula:

Work. Work hard. Work REAL hard. Relax, Recover. Repeat.

Compliment that with a diet rich with fruits and vegetables, start to wean yourself from primary carbs to primary protein, no processed grains, no artificials, no synthetics, no GMOs, and lots of water.

Manage stress. (massage, meditation, more sleep, green tea, walks in nature, Mozart, touch, sauna).

And you're on to something. Something big. Something important. Crucial. YOU. New and improved. Official size and weight. Optimized. Turbo-charged. Green.

Following is an excellent article (excerpt) from Bicycling magazine about one way to dramatically improve your power on the bike. I especially appreciate the authors final paragraph nod, bolded below, to those "unplugged". We'll soon give it a try in the HoM.


Find Your T-Max 
1. Determine Your Peak Power Output. Using a power-measuring device from PowerTap, Polar, SRM or CompuTrainer, begin riding at 100 watts. Increase power by 30 watts every minute until you reach exhaustion. Laursen deemed test subjects fully exhausted when they could not keep their cadence above 60 rpm. You can use that benchmark, but let's be honest, you'll know when you're done. The number of watts you produce just before collapsing is your peak power output, or PPO.

2. Find Your T-Max. Rest for a day or two. Again using a power meter, ride at your PPO until you can no longer sustain that level of output. The amount of time you can hold your PPO is your T-Max. For most of us, that's between four and six minutes.

3. Calculate Your Ultimate Interval. Multiply your T-Max time by 0.6. This is the work phase of your interval. Double the work phase to set your recovery time between efforts.

4. Try It Out. The original study prescribed eight hard efforts. But if you'd rather avoid losing your lunch, start with two or three intervals. Do two sessions a week, with at least two days of rest or other easy riding between. Add one interval to each set every week until you achieve five or six intervals per workout. Build up to eight if you can.


If You Can't Measure Power Though the results likely won't be as dramatic as with a power-based T-Max Interval, Laursen says unplugged cyclists can reap some of the benefits by performing 2:30-minute intervals at 95 to 100 percent of max heart rate (the point at which you cannot speak), followed by recovery to 60 percent of max, or until you can speak in full sentences. Do two to six sets twice a week, with at least two days of spinning or rest between.

Pix: My visit to the dentist Wednesday allowed a walk through the always entertaining Pike Place Market. The metaphor is an apt one: Balance with good food (blood oranges) and rest (on the dentist's chair waiting for jaw to numb) and then get back out there and GO HARD.

Return of Fun 101 Bike Tour

OK, folks it's that time of year. Thoughts start to wander to the out-of-doors and all that entails in the GPNW. Like riding. And running. And, well, we'll discuss swimming in a few months. But for today, here is the big news:
WE ARE PLANING ANOTHER AROUND THE PENINSULA BIKE TRIP!!!

Here are the basics: (Monday) May 2 - (Friday) May 6.
Total miles: 365
Avg day miles: 72
Day 1: Bainbridge Island to Port Angeles (76) Super 8 Motel
Day 2: PA to Forks (67) Forks Inn
Day 3: Forks to Lake Quinault Lodge (64)
Day 4: LQL to Shelton: (89) Shelton Inn.
Day 5: Shelton to Bainbridge (66)

The beautiful thing about this trip, other than it being in our backyard, the magnificence of the scenery and the ease to conduct, is the cost. Even with the "luxury" of a soft, warm and cozy bed every night, a SAG vehicle at your beck and call, and 365 miles of pretty decent middle-of-the-week roads, total cost, per person, will be less than $400. The only 'issue' is that we call it self supported, meaning that there is no support team other than ourselves. Each participant must take a day of driving the support rig as part of the team effort. You can split it up and do two halves if you like but this way we get to ride, ride lots and ride lots pretty dang economically.

Which of course saves money for beer.

To date we have two riders and one vehicle (which I understand went into the shop this morning). So if you are interested, please let us know via the 'post a comment' feature below and away we go. I have done this ride three times and I can't wait to get back out there. It is flat out a blast.

Oh, and I am required to say by the rules of advertising 101 that you must hurry because space is limited. There.

Pix: From my Fun 101 Adventure tour days. "Sure I'll carry your spare parts". The fireplace at the Lake Quinault Lodge. Hurricane Ridge.

Integration of Practice

Integrating Life and Practice

Doing this is an art form. We practice lots. Relentlessly. Yoga, spinning, running, breathing. We know that the more focus we can bring to the practice, the greater the value. I was reminded of this concept several times throughout the day yesterday, even suspecting that somewhere, somehow somebody would surely share an insiders 'wink'. YOU KNOW.

Water. Got it flowin' again after 90 days without. I was amazed at how much I use (waste). I had been brushing teeth (those that remain) with less than a cup, but yesterday, with the mere turn of a lever, the cold, clear water rushed from nozzle to drain as if over the floodgates at Chief Joe Dam. I shut it off with alarm. Same with shaving. No need to stink up the joint with water waste numbers from the commode. I walked away thinking that hauling 5 gallons at a time from our community well less than 200 yards from my door for three months, probably saved some of this precious liquid. Maybe there is a pilot whale, blue-fin tuna or steelhead out there still swimming because of this lesson of conservation practice. I hope.

Drumming. Drummers are odd. We all know that. Try to separate your arms and legs in doing different things with each. Drummers practice separation to integrate upon demand. They isolate snare (time), bass (beat), tom-tom (color) cymbal (meter) crash (accent) and floor-tom (texture) to create a feel. A feel with which others can relate. Via accompanying instruments, voice or dance. I watched a doc (Modern Drummer 2005) on drumming last night, and ogled at the skills and talents of Ian Pace, JoJo Mayer, Keith Carlock, Jason Bittner, to name a few. The doc is available on Netflix, Integration of practice. Be it a paradiddle grove or a triplet flam.

After our morning spin, fixing the water, cruising a 5K at sunset, cooking dinner with a working sink and watching the video I headed upstairs ready for some rest. I reopened my current read, Living Deeply, The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life, published by the Institute of Noetic Sciences, and picked up where I left off, page 136.

Integrating Life and Practice.

The first factor is the desire to change and the conviction that practice will result in your transformation. The second factor is effort. The third factor is vigilance. Add concentration, the consistent integrity of consciousness. Next is right understanding, an accurate understanding of reality. The author Pa Auk Sayadaw a Burmese Buddhist monk, then summarizes, "once you have even a couple of these qualities you are sure to progress on the path. You will be able to shift short-term gains into long-term benefits in life." He finishes the chapter with this, "No matter what practice or tradition you engage in, you can make a conscious choice to use these tools to make your life and transformative journey one and the same - because of course, they are!

Big wink.

Photo is of the calm, cool water of the North shore of Lake Tahoe.