De über life

We have set ourselves free!  This done by selling our car – to live the car free life style. No more the guilt over our heads of supporting oil based wars. Done the stress of gas prices, maintenance, insurance, taxes, repairs (blown head gasket was the twist of the dagger).  Un-conforming to the modern made American dream that “you NEED to have a car” – in order to get a job, get food, find a significant other.  This dream creating the illusion of ownership when the reality is most people don’t own their cars, the bank does.

This car did have many great stories of adventures with us, but also did carry a scarlet letter on it when originally purchased.  Bessy had a job where you drive together to locations far off to work.  In order to climb the corporate ladder, you recruit people on a team you want to grow – somewhat of a pyramid scheme gig.  These people, who don’t make much, somehow need transport.

So the mental drive to grow the company programs in your head – led to the decision to buy a four seat car.  Originally Roger wanted a smart car, fuel and space efficient two seater.  Eventually Bessy did find better job.  So somewhat of a lesson learned here, be wary of centering your life around a particular job (such as this car purchase).  We still kept the car, but as its known a car is a money pit, and the repairs it needed where beyond the value worth of keeping it as usage is so low.

Fortunately, we were exposed to the car free life living two years in bike / train friendly Holland.  When we first moved there yes I (Roger) was shocked at the deprogramming needed to free myself from the car centric and materialistic lifestyle.  I was in the deep – driving since 16, getting into the car scene when the Fast and Furious movies came out.  I worked myself up to a twin turbo dodge stealth – a top gun car at its time.

It was my daily driver, and that was a fatal error when I was building the power up.  Eventually it gave out with the large turbos I added.  I put my heart and soul into it, yet it was a time to learn to let go.  Still living in Connecticut, a car was needed thanks to the infrastructure.  So I am not totally going to hate on cars, because I probably would have never met Bessy!

No regrets, of the former life.  If anything it makes me appreciate where I am.  This also makes me excited for this new life, as we are on a verge of change thanks to technology – Uber/Lyft being so cheap in urban areas.  The transition phase is occurring with cars to be automated / driverless.  It is good to be ahead in the emerging trends.

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Alaska(Woah)Man: The Race

Photo by Eric Wynn

Jessica is an experienced ultra-triathlete (2016 UltraMan Florida winner, multiple time Ironman finisher, Escape from Alcatraz with NO WETSUIT finisher, marathoner, etc). Jessica is a member of Triathlon Club of San Diego, known for her strong swimming background and busy schedule as a married General Surgeon.  She invited me to join her in the inaugural AlaskaMan Extreme Triathlon as her support volunteer which is mandatory for the swim/bike aid and trail run pacer. My initial reaction… “Wait, you’re asking ME?? Why, how hard is this??”

2017 OVERALL EVENT STATISTICS

Total Registered: 307
Did Not Start (DNS): 108 (35%)
Started: 198 (65%)
Did Not Finish (DNF): 41 (20% of those that started)
Finished: 157 (80% of those that started)
Avg Male Finisher Age: 44    Avg Female Finisher Age: 39

MY RACE SUMMARY VIDEO MONTAGE (coming soon)

“Amphibian” 4th of July Double

Coronado Island is the home of the Amphibious military base with a variety of terrain and water for the soldiers to train in.  The 4th of July in Coronado, CA creates a unique setting to swim in the ocean and run on the flat scenic roads all before the parade at 11am.  Since parking is limited those interested in the “double race” park in residential areas or at Central Beach, and bike over to the run. [Note: Living just a casual 20 mile bike ride away through the SouthBay Bikeway, we left our car at home altogether.]

Will you join me?

Whatever you feel you do not like or are interested in, is based on past experiences of personal trauma, rumors, apathy, laziness, or other excuses. Meeting someone new is a way to restart memories about yourself and approaching certain ideas with a new perspective.  More important than WHAT the activity that your boyfriend/girlfriend/friend wants to do really just means, would you PREFER his/her company?

If the Friend Asks: Do I want to do XYZ outside?

My Instinctive Answer: No, not really, definitely not. I want to sit on the couch all day, binge watch everything, eat fried chicken & Zebra cakes!

What the Friend is REALLY saying: Will you join me? Will you support me in this goal to improve my character? If you believe in me, I will believe in myself.

What my answer is REALLY saying: What I feel is more important than what you feel, I’d be perfectly happy if I don’t see you for the entire day.

Injuryman

While it may be prevented to extents with diet, strength training, etc, Injury in Sport is inevitable.  I started a pure focus on triathlon after I couldn’t power lift anymore.  I was dead-lifting near 3 times my body weight daily… then one day my neighbor decides to talk to me in the middle of the lift. *POP*.  Blown disc. I recovered and tried to work my way back up to my previous abilities, but re-injured myself. It was my passion, the mental part of not being able to continue hurt the most… So I had to divert my energy to other endeavors.  Still on this new path, I did obtain other injuries.  They will happen, its just how you deal with them that matters:

new year, new AG for SDIT

Union Tribune – San Diego captured me at the finish line at SDIT

San Diego International Triathlon is my marker race for the year. Last year I hit my goal of sub 40 in the 10k. The triathlon season this year is a new AG;  A fresh start. I don’t aim for AG rank, but it does make a difference with wave starts (more people in your way).

For the swim and bike, my times were fairly close to last year.  I thought about going with no wetsuit (for a first here) as it was warm earlier in the week. Things did cool down though, so back to the suit.  For the bike, a new ftp of 295w in this race (vs 253 last year)  even though I lost 4lb (illnesses beginning of year). I haven’t done much specific bike training (but my work is a bike messenger). Too bad watt numbers (ego numbers) don’t show up on the results board for bike split!

Even though my watts are up, my run pace is slower 6:38 vs last years 6:26 on the 10k run. It was a longer run this year at 6.44 miles, but I knew I didn’t have what it took based on last year to maintain former paces anyways.  They took out the carnitas snack shack go around, so I thought the course would be a perfect 6.2, and I can save my energy for death hell sprint to the finish. Albiet I saw mile mark 6, it was a long ways away from the finish, suffering ensued from there. If I knew this I would have gone sans wetsuit!  I wanted my paces to evenly split which I did this year.  This race lets me reflect on the past year, and on forward.  My run game is down a bit… so I’m not sure at this moment as running daily is my passion.

Toilet: Friend or Foe?

How you view your toilet relationship can either make or break your day.

Through trial and many errors I’ve corrected the most annoying causes of slow and/or just unprepared runs. Although it can be discouraging to see patterns, take responsibility and plan ahead to prevent them, but it’s possible! One of the most important has been the topic that most people, especially females, don’t talk about: Toilet time. Runners have to embrace the relationship with the toilet because it directly sits between you and your exercise goals. Until the bathroom obstacles are ironed out, it will really be frustrating to get any type of run done – regardless of time of day.

The reason people drink coffee before a run, isn’t only for the caffeine.. it’s to speedup the bowel movements. Someone asked me recently, how many times I stop to use the bathroom during the marathon. I chuckled because, ZERO! I do not stop DURING the marathon to use the bathroom because in training I know how many times it takes me to be able to run 20 miles with no bathroom… and I wake-up with enough time to calmly handle that before my activity.

When Roger started running back in 2008, he’d take toilet paper with him & as a semi-supportive non-interested girlfriend at the time, I thought it was the grossest thing to even think about.  Now that I have gotten into cycling as well, I know that toilet paper is essential part of a training toolkit to: Clean your hands if your chain falls, tissue for your nose, bathroom in the bushes, or clean up blood if you crash.

When I roll out of bed and start my run with zero preparation, it takes exactly 2 miles to need to poop.  If I drink water and wake up 15 mins before, then the Mile 2 bathroom pit stop is clear. By adding at least a 15 minute of warm-up activity before your workout begins, you’ll be able to cross off any remaining toilet issues from a 1-hour session.  Another alternative to coffee induced bowels is to just drink a glass of water when you wake up, and wait. I love not using the bathroom during a run MORE than sleep, it’s worth it.

Pre-Run Dinner

Of course the morning bathroom status depends on the meals the previous day. In training, I also learn what to eat and what not to eat during peak training season when running on consecutive mornings. I notice when I skip meals, or eat junk instead of a balanced nutritious meal, it makes me irregular which changes my body’s performance limitations and how my body feels in general.

What’s your number?

In my run today, I went before leaving home then I drank a coffee, which wasn’t early enough before my run to be able to process the consequences. As a result, I ended up having to go multiple times during the run… and each time I continued running I went faster, felt lighter, felt more agile. The body doesn’t care WHEN the bowels happen, it just cares if it happens.  All you do is get up early, much earlier, and go as many times as your body needs to BEFORE the run.

Based on today’s test and the last few years, I think I have a chart lined up:

• Low fiber meals & Irregular bowels during the week: 10+ minute miles
• 1 daily bowel: 9 minute miles
• 1 bowel before the run: 8 minute mile
• 2 bowels before the run: 7 minute mile
• 3-4 bowels before the run: 6 or lower minute mile
• 5+ bowels is diarrhea and you shouldn’t run or go into a pool for 14 days.

The toilet relationship can be peaceful, as long as you respect it’s boundaries. Do not ignore that the toilet is part of the RUN session.  You must live out the consequences of waking up last minute or eating poorly the night before, by being forced to make nature your bathroom wherever it feels like.  You can conquer this, you can control this.  Respect the toilet time & rules, and in turn, you’ll have light, agile and faster run efforts.