Pie

Ah, the pie chart.

I get Dr. Minkoff's newsletter every month. He is an accomplished triathlete and respected proponent of all things health and fitness. His big message is in the arena of protein supplements and branch chain amino-acids. He has some very fast clients. His newsletter this month contained the Triathlon pie-chart graph at left. In it he divides the slices of the pie into six tasty servings:

TRAINING

RECOVERY

NUTRITION

WELLNESS

MENTAL

RACING

All leading to the thrice emphasized outer crusting called performance. My only qualm with this chart is that it assumes that those seeking its sweetness of performance live in areas that are suitable for equal portions of training and racing. I don't have to tell you that for those of us carving out meager livings in the GREAT Pacific Northwest, this is a major challenge. Unless of course you like arctic swimming, dog sledding or running in the frozen rain.

Or, unless you have access to a CompuTrainer Multi-Rider set up and can then race to your hearts delight. Because that is what it is - a delight to your heart. Dialing it up AND KEEPING IT UP. While this not exclusive to racing it is extremely difficult in training. You know this. I see examples of it every day in the House of Mirth®. I ask for 85% and I get 50. I ask for a sprint and I get a 'just-a hint". I plead for a one song TIME TRIAL and we usually get to about the instrumental refrain before the accumulative negative effects of mental fatigue creates cacophonous discord and a sudden loss of focus. From there it pretty much goes straight to you-know-where in a you-know-what. You are then left to the misery of slugging it out. Let me say this please: I KNOW IT'S HARD. THAT IS EXACTLY WHY WE DO IT. Getting through this builds strength (as well as character). It is the input of effort that creates the output of power. You subsist on a steady diet of high-intensity training, you'll race with power as desert.

Isn't that why we race? To test our methodology and dedication? To see what we are capable of doing? To match the joy of motion with the thrill of competition? To mingle with that elusive combination of mind, body and spirit? To experience the input of effort as it manifests the output of speed, or optimum health and fitness?

Make no mistake, I LOVE the heat of battle, running side-by side with someone faster, riding with someone stronger, outlasting someone twenty years younger, but even with a non-competition clause, I would still push to jump higher, reach the next level, experiment with other healthy life style combinations.

Input and Output. Diet and Exercise. Effort and Reward. Training and Racing. Eat what makes you healthy and do what tastes like your favorite pie.

Make mine a la mode, please.

Welcome to your Mind

Mind Games. Today's focus. Assuming that you have a few free moments to spend on this fascinating subject, it can be a pivotal point on your physical fitness timeline. Everything starts here. From the minute we decide that we want to achieve a goal, pursue something, improve ourselves our simply fill our bucket with experience, the mind plays a central role. You know that and the very fact that you know that further illustrates the point.

Like our physical selves, it can also be strengthened and improved. By practice. By appreciation and respect and by diligence. Here are a few inspiring sites for primers:

Cycling tips.com "Welcome to your Mind".

In-the-saddle.com Using CT for fit (a smart thing to do)

Bicycle.net talks about the mind and cycling success

And the vidz:

Ultimate Sports Psychology: Running

Three Keys to Performance

Why Train the Brain?

Best NIKE add ever

Lance on preparation

Our minds can play tricks on us. Our minds can be our own worst enemies. Listen. Acknowledge. Respond. And most importantly……

keep going.

TRP

Six time Ironman Champion Mark Allen, is quoted in Matt Fitzgerald's Iron War, as saying, "At Ironman, to do well takes either supreme confidence or calm." He further elaborates by suggesting that rival Dave Scott won six times because of the former and he, via the latter.

Which got me to thinkin'. (The astute VBA will immediately recognize a trend here). What's the difference? And why did Dave prosper with confidence when Mark ran with cruise-control calm? I think it is an interesting psychological study in personal characteristics and personality types. Or what I am now, for the sake of rhetorical comparison, calling your Training and Racing Personality, or TRP.

It is easy with other sports. A smash-mouth football team, the never-say-die-come-from-behind cardiac kids local nine, or the run and gun five. It is also very obvious in tennis and golf. Think of how a players personality became his or her game. Does Roger Federer hit? Can Tiger nail a fairway wood? Does Chrissie Wellington seem to be enjoying herself as she sets record after record? Was Ali The Greatest?

If you answered YES to all those questions, you win. However that is not the win I reference. I mean YOUR win. How do you use your personality strengths to foster or advance your game? At what point do your character flaws (I will assume you have at least one) interfere, diminish or hurt your performance?

Are you, much like Mr. Allen, persistent enough to lose before you win as part of the process? Can you maintain your focus through hardship or defeat? Can you stay strong when facing yet another setback? Under what conditions will you quit?

These traits, habits or tendencies can be changed as we have created the perfect training facility to practice them. Our training and testing. The search for balance. If you are always Ms Happy, maybe it's time you showed some fang. Maybe your obsessive-compulsive tendencies are in need of some long steady distance. Perhaps it is simply the fear of knowing that keeps your power Jekyll a sub-maximal Hyde.

I think I understand Mark's implication. Dave was a hard-ass to his cool-breezier. They were about as opposite as a cheetah is to a barracuda. They took different paths to the same place. But I think that eventually confidence IS calm. They are the same, only manifested that day, uniquely by two outstanding examples of TRP, training and racing personality. It is what makes it fun. It adds emotion. To what do you relate? How does that play? Every time I get into a racing dogfight, where my advisory is keenly aware of my presence and the gamesmanship taking place, I am electrified. That is it. That moment. The 'who am I and who are you?' about to be determined.

Dave's courage and dedication to practice played well against Mark's shamanistic and steadfast resolve. Dave was calm in HIS own way as much as Mark was confident in HIS.

We can learn a lot from watching others, especially when they are the best in the world at what they do, doing what we would like to someday emulate. My take is this: Seeking the balance necessary to come within 170 minutes of Mark's time in winning the 1989 Ironman, aka Iron War, (8:09:15) is going to take BOTH confidence and calm. The Allen shaman must pull back the reins to keep from charging too fast, too soon, AND the Scott warrior must press vigilantly onward, despite pain, suffering or environmental conditions. My race TRP needs to be a Allen-Scott blend.

Every day is a step in that direction. Which suits my personality fine.

Pics: Dave and Mark on the Queen K. Ali and Sonny Liston (on the canvas).

VBA PSA 1.3

Vast Blogging Audience Public Service Announcement 1.3

Just found these sweet-smokin'-hot-groove zone-cadence mashers at RealCyclist.com for only $87. No tax and free shipping.

If you are interested in getting to the pointy top, as you should be, and want to get there with as high a degree of elegant style and fashion as possible, these dogs will add some flash and dash, some bling for your over the top fling.

You can thank me when we get there.

The Pointy Top

Josh and I did a pyramid build set this morning. Alternating seated and standing, starting at a RPE of 4 for one minute each. One minute seated followed by one minute standing. After each set we spun out, seated at 125 RPM for one minute and then increased BOTH the RPE value and duration value by one and one, respectively. Here is why it worked: The increasing resistance coupled with the extended durations forced muscular and cardio adaptation as we remained focused and dedicated to the protocol. The centrifugal high cadence spins recycled lactate acid and allowed a break for water and air. It was a nice change of pace and I was surprised at how efficient we were during the drill plus how energized I was on the way home. Here, then, is The Energizer protocol:

Five minute warm up & stretch

1 min @ RPE 4 seated

1 min @ RPE 4 standing

1 min low resistance-high cadence recovery

2 min @ RPE 5 seated

2 min @ RPE 5 standing

1 min low resistance-high cadence recovery

3 min @ RPE 6 seated

3 min @ RPE 6 standing

1 min low resistance-high cadence recovery

4 min @ RPE 7 seated

4 min @ RPE 7 standing

1 min low resistance-high cadence recovery

5 min @ RPE 8 seated

5 min @ RPE 8 standing

1 min low resistance-high cadence recovery

6 min @ RPE 9 seated

6 min @ RPE 9 standing

1 min low resistance-high cadence recovery

3 min @ RPE 10 seated

3 min @ RPE 10 standing

1 min low resistance-high cadence recovery

We did a five minute cool down and stretch and went our post-workout merry ways.

Much the same way we slugged out the Old one-two on Monday, working on dealing with accumulated fatigue, this drill forces adaptation of the total system during execution. There are no breaks. You're out of timeouts and the downhills are all at 125 plus rpm. Think for a minute what this mirrors in real life? A concentrated and focused effort at optimal output terminated only upon successful completion of assignment, perhaps? Whoa! Nice. Real life applications. The interval. By all means, try this at home or in the office!

Work>Rest>Effort>Composure>Expand>Manage>Build>Maintain

As we have discussed many times, there are three ways considered to be your best bet when seeking change. Are we are all seeking change, RIGHT? They are:

CHANGE THE FREQUENCY (number of times per day or week)

CHANGE THE INTENSITY (go harder)

CHANGE THE DURATION (go longer)

To share with you (and that is always my goal) the effects of all this quasi-scientific training and testing mumbo-jumbo, this week represents a first for this lab rat. The big cheese is shooting for 20 hours of training, something never before attempted. The breakdown is a little skewed, but looks like this:

Biking (spinning): 12 - 60 min class sessions, one five hour lsd.

Running: 2 - 5 mile recovery runs, one lsd

Swimming: ZERO

Keys to success: Quality recovery time. 80oz water daily, stretching and, perhaps most important, positive mental execution. As soon as accumulated fatigue, suffering and or pain overwhelm the clarity of visualization of the goal, a decision will be necessary.

Go or no-go? There is no middle ground. Either do or don't. Keep at it or quit. Endure or fail. Grow or shrink. Flourish or perish.

Every day is like this. Climbing the pyramid. It has a pointy top for a reason.

The Old 1-2

We are outta here. Off and running. The canon has sounded, water is frothy. You had better know something about self defense and be able to subject your (righteous) will over any bad guys standing between you and accomplishment of mission. The primary objective being that goal you wrote down yesterday, published and are now one day closer to. But shit happens, right? These are difficult times, the economy remains in suck mode, people are getting desperate, gas is as expensive as food. When push comes to shove, you want, need actually, to be able to respond to challenge. To do the right thing. Fight or flight? You need to be able to respond automatically when necessary, not stop and think about your motivation, your stance, your cover, your story or your will. Thinking will do you no good when it is time to act. You just gotta do. You have thought about it enough, made your choice and now you move.

That is exactly the reason why we evoked the old 1-2 this morning (along with the fact that it is 1-2-12). We worked for 60 minutes on dealing with fatigue. Accumulative fatigue. There are two parts to dealing with AF, part one is the mental part. You, me, your partner, your rival, your mailman, the hairdresser's dog and everyone at the grocery store knows that it hurts and you're tired. That you would rather be in a hot tub sipping Cristal. BUT YOU AREN'T. You are pushing past pain in order to teach your mind the power of adaptation. Endurance. Focus. Managing the mayhem. A stronger body starts in your head.

Part two is the obvious muscular adaptation. The longer we go the stronger we get. The harder we make it indoors the better our rides or races out will be. You slap those two together like a foot-long aerobic sandwich, and you have one tasty treat!

A couple of announcements also: We are putting together our master game plan for the year. This is all-inclusive, containing races, events, business trips, birthdays, black out days, rides, swims, or anything else that this group could benefit from. It is already pretty full. If you have an idea, an event we should consider, a big training day workout, or anything else of relative value, please speak up now so we don't end up doing everything on August 15.

And lastly: Bob and I are going to ride all 112 miles of the Ironman Canada course on Sunday morning in the HoM. I have searched high and lo for a suitable sign-up calendar software add-on but have failed to advance the ball, so we are testing the FaceBook Group feature called CompuTrainer Multi-Rider @ BAC. I started a group and created a page to accommodate scheduling and communication. Please give it a look and see what you think. You can add yourself as a friend and get started immediately (and at no additional charge!)

That is it for today folks.

We have hit the ground in hostile territory well behind enemy lines. Time for the old 1-2. Let's move out.

The VIZ drill

I want it now. This very instant. I have waited long enough. Time is fleeting. Life is short and the clock is running.

We have been talking about goals as lead-in to this spectacular first day of 2012. One of the common themes that is present on (almost) every 'how-to' list as sure-fire way to accomplish any goal is that of taking baby steps in the direction of said (stated and shared) goal. Why baby steps? Why can't I have the whole enchilada right flipping now, like I can have everything else?

Couple of reasons.

You have to earn it. Anything of value has effort, hardship, challenge and a right of passage involved. You need to learn, practice and refine. You need to grow. You need to change and experience. You need to fail, fall, stumble, trip, hurt, cry and question. You need to think about quitting. You need to be laying on the canvas floor in a pool of plasma wondering why those around you are all saying 'stay down', but your soul is shouting 'get up'. You need to find, call out and face your demons.

All of that takes time. Only wizards, saints and Chuck Norris can do it all in one day. (Norris by noon).

Making those baby steps the most important ones you can take. Each one has its own special significance, its reason, its purpose; The baby step of speed, the baby step of power, the baby step of endurance, the baby step of suffering and the baby step of balance. They are like boy scout badges, martial arts belts or gold records, one at a time, in relentless pursuit, quest in vision. Greg Braden talks about it here. Psychology Today augments and here is an affirmation piece. All good.

One can easily fall prey to the charms of society (pie chart one) or stay vigilant on the path with heart (chart two). One technique we can use to stay focused during those sometimes frustrating moments of doubt, our weaker selves at gossip about the validity of the dream, is to bring the 'then' into the 'now' and visualize the future us in the present. Dial in the crisp focus of what we want to become, see the victory, taste the success, smell the reward and touch the deep satisfaction of accomplishment. Now. Try it.

Stop reading. Close your eyes. See you at the moment of your victory. What do you hear? That applause is for you. What do you smell? That is the by-product of your physical power aligned with energy and light. How do you feel? Fulfilled, alive, One?

The level of your satisfaction at the moment of accomplishment is in direct relationship to the degree of difficulty during the process. When we question our choices, doubt our abilities to achieve, sustain or finish, use this powerful visualization drill while taking those baby steps.

You get there by taking one after the other. You want it now? See it and make it so.

Day one: Take the first step.

Graphs: The pie chart of the many, and the pie chart of the few. (You must decide which one is for you!)