Cultural Wonderings and a Cow

Well, first I must give kudos to Diane. I do think she takes too much stuff, but she is the best co-pilot a travelor could have!




We are back from vacation. Way too many miles but it was fun. We first went to southern Missourri to visit Diane's old boss, Pastor Chad and his family.

Then in was on to Arkansas to visit my dad and step-mom. Got to see my half-brother (and my niece and nephew who we had not met before). The fireflys were out so my niece Allison and I caught some and spread the glow guts on our shirts and faces. Diane and the girls were grossed out.


My parents divorced before I was one and I lived most of my life with my mom. In fifth grade I went to live with my dad in Arkansas. I grew up near downtown Denver and going to live in the country where the closet town had a population of 210 was a really big culture shock (understatement). Some of our neighbors had to actually draw water from the well by hand and take it inside in a bicket. Some had outhouses! I was in shock! Here is a photo of the house we lived in in 1967.



We finished up our trip in Oklahoma visiting Andy and his family. He is the pastor of a small church in a small town. A nicer guy you'll never meet! We went to visit his church and in the bible study, the teacher said "and please add Billy Bob to your prayer list cuz we was run over by a cow this afternoon and is really sore". I just about bust out laughing!!!!


I went off my diet, everyone wanted to take us out. I feel bloated and heavy. I'm back on. I really was happy to get back in my own bed too!

Monday I'm into the ortho surgeon as my left hip started bothering me when I was wearing the walking cast, and it has kept getting worse. My hip doesn't hurt when I walk, but sitting hurts. Sleeping on my left side hurts. Standing up and sitting down hurts. I'm not sure what is going on with it. I have developed Morton's Nueroma on my right foot (same one that was injured). On the bright side, my back is much better than it has been in years and my ankle is really getting better.

I'm picking up a HR monitor Saturday and a indoor trainer (riding also doesn't seem to bother my hip). I've read your blogs trying to catch up and hope ya'll have a great weekend trainin' and all that stuff! Hee Haw!

My Celebrity Look-alikes

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself. If only I really did look like Dean and Kurt! Shoot!

Women!

I know this will may upset some of you ladies, and that is not my intention, I just need to vent! I love women, I really do adore and admire women. Some of my best friends are women!

But what is it with packing for vacations? Arrrrrgggghhh! Diane and the girls have been packing for 2 and 1/2 days for a 5 day trip. There is so much crap we almost have to take a second car! We have enough food to feed 5 hungry triatheletes for a freaking week! I have one smal bag of clothes and a small one for CDs, IPOD, map, etc. They have more stuff for their hair than I do total, straighteners, blow dryers, clips, bands, curling irons, on and on and on it goes. AHHHHH!

I am going insane, my heart rate is elevated, I'm very TENSE! I don't know if it will all fit in the car!

Okay, the meds will take effect soon, and all will be copacetic

One Year Anniversary!

One year ago today I started blogging my journey to fitness. I have changed a couple race goals from that first post, but I have kept going, through injuries, sometimes self-doubt and sometimes whining. But, always with a lot of support from you bloggers! (and a lot of great advice!). I am really looking forward to the second year!

I went to the tri clinic yesterday and really enjoyed it. There were approximatley 30 in the audience and 25 or so were gearing up for their first triathlon. There were two kids about 12 or 13 and a lady about 50 or so, and everything in between. The speakers were great and they covered basic bike maintenance, mental preparation, transitions, strength and conditioning, and nutrition. The goody bag we came home with was very good!

Steve checked out my bike and thinks I should stay on it for at least till summer and look at the situation again when I have dropped a bunch of weight and see how I'm liking it after some serious riding. I will be changing out the handle bars and adding pedals with clip ons (If I can find 14 EEEE bike shoes!). You know what they say about men with big hands and big feet . . . . . . big gloves and big shoes :-)

As for my weight, I had gone back up to 405 over the winter and not being able to walk. I'm now back down to 396 since I went back up to 3000-3500 cals per day. I keep having to fight the urge to cut my calories, it's such a mental thing. I have also now been 11 days without bread and one year, two months, and 18 days without pizza!

Thursday evening I meet with Pete for our first coaching meeting, I am excited! He, Kathy, and Steve really now there stuff, have a lot of great success personally in triathlon, and have that same success coaching.

Hope you all have a really great week!

Big News and Other Sundry Items!

The really big news is that I have a new Triathlon coach! Pete Alfino from Mile High Multisport! I am very excited! I will also pick up my indoor trainer next Saturday and am ready to get riding on a consistent basis, because someday I will track down and overtake Myles and Bigun (well, for a few seconds maybe!!).

Before you go further, please check out Vincent, a truly inspirational guy! Then check out his 100k challenge here.

Here is my steed, The Black Beast. Pete's cycle guru Coach Steve is going to look it and me over after the clinic.


Here is my new bumper sticker I designed (artwork not original):



















Pete sent me an interesting article and here is part one (for your mental tri preparation):

Toolbox: Marketing Yourself

by Josh Horowitz

We love it at the same time as we despise it. Marketing and advertising has been honed into an incredibly precise science through both trial and error along with psychological studies into what makes us tick. So if it can make us develop an all-consuming desire for a lava lamp or a pet rock,
why not use it to our advantage and adapt marketing ideas to make us better cyclists? (or triathletes)

Psychology of Influence
I recently read an older but interesting book called "The Psychology of Influence" by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. It was written as a guide to circumventing the psychological tactics that so called "compliance professionals" employ. These are the techniques used to sell us extended warranties on a new toaster or undercoating on a new car. As I read, I began to suspect that most readers instead use it as a handbook to increase their own business skills, people skills and even success with romantic prospects.

As I got further into the book, I realized there might be another use. Theoretically we could use these techniques on ourselves to cultivate
compliance in our own malleable mind. In this month's Tool Box I will explore compliance techniques, how they affect the daily life of a cyclist and how we can turn them around to help us set goals and achieve them.

The underlying theory behind Cialdini's hypothesis is that the world has become too complicated for any individual to gain a solid understanding of every circumstance they might encounter. In order to cope, we have developed certain automated responses to these situations that will work to our benefit most, but not all, of the time.

For instance, you are shopping for a coach. (Since I'm a coach, this is an area I know something about...) Knowing nothing about your choices, you assume that the most expensive one is also the best. It's an easy shortcut for deciphering what we don't fully understand, nor have the time or
energy, to thoroughly research. Most times this strategy will lead to a correct conclusion; however there are exceptions to the rule and people who will take advantage of these automated inclinations. (Note to self: raise my coaching rates).


1. Consistency Principle
The Case Study:
The Chinese benefited from unprecedented success in brain washing their P.O.W's during the Korean War. The prisoner would first be asked to perform a seemingly innocent task such as copying onto paper a written pro-communism declaration. Then they would hold a contest where prisoners would compete to write the best essay on why communism is better than democracy. A small prize such as a couple of cigarettes would be given to the winner. The prisoners reasoned that since they didn't actually believe what they were writing, the essay couldn't possibly do harm. The final step was to have the prisoner read their essay out loud to their fellow prisoners.

The Science:
Psychologists studied this case and found that humans are powerfully inclined to be consistent with things they had previously thought or said, even when they know they were wrong. We have been conditioned to think poorly of people (including ourselves) when they go back on their word
or are hypocritical. They found that this pre-programmed consistency bug is more powerful when written down, and even more powerful when stated in a public forum. This consistency doesn't just exist in what we say, but also in our actions. As a cyclist, you might start out as a slow climber
and, subsequently, come to identify yourself as a slow climber. Subconsciously you will do everything you can to make sure that your performance stays consistent with that image. Hence, to reshape your self-perception of your climbing talents, positive affirmations are key.

Apply it to Cycling:
Most cyclists, at one time or another, have been told that writing down their goals at the beginning of the season will massively increase their chances of success. Writing goals is a great step, but here's another recommendation to help you take your goal-setting to the next level:
write your goals in an e-mail and send it to every single person you know. The urge to remain consistent in the minds of your friends and peers far outweighs the need to stay consistent in our own minds or even the urge to turn off the alarm clock and sleep another hour.
(Note to Self: Hold essay contest. Subject - Liquid Fitness is the greatest coaching service ever. Post winner's essay on Pez.)

I did this last year, I committed via e-mail my interntion of doing my first triathlon and sent it to may wife, friends, and co-workers!

Tommorrow is the clinic and more swimming and stationary bike. Enjoy the weather and train hard!

Today

Blue skies, warm weather, man it was nice today! Swam 1500 yds this morning (100 warm up, 300, 300, 12 X 25 yd sprints, 300, 100 doggie drill, then 100 easy), then 30 minutes on the stationary bike. My daughter Kelly and I went for a bike ride this afternoon, very nice!

Next Sunday I am going to a Triathlon 101 Clinic put on by Mile High Multisport. Topics will be Mental Preparation, Nutrition, Strength and Conditioning, Basic Bike Maintenance, and Transitions. A co-worker who has signed up for her first triathlon this summer, is also going. If you are local and need more details, drop me an e-mail.

I have decided to stay with my mountain bike for now, I may upgrade to a better one later this summer (maybe).

Hope you have a really great week and train hard!

I'm pooped, confused, but abstinent!

Friday night I went for my weight training workout and was just not feeling the strength to lift weights. So Jess and I went for a walk. We walked 45 minutes and I made it a mile. That is the furthest I have walked since the beginning of December. Little old ladies with walkers would have blown me off the road! My heart rate was up to 130, but my ankle and foot felt good.

Had a swim lesson today and made some small corrections in my technique. I will also be adding more sprint sets, etc to my workouts. I know I can swim 1.2 miles, I have done it a couple of times but it was slow and "liesurely". I need to pick up the pace and do it a little faster. I'd really like to do it in no more than an hour instead of the 1 hour 20 minutes it takes me now. Good thing I have 6 months left to get ready.

I am confused about my bike situation. I have a mountain bike that gets me around. It is sturdy and in good shape. I go look at road bikes and they are soooo skinny with skinny little wheels/tires! I just imagine myself breaking them. Do I just stay on my bike till I get thinner? Do I try and get a road bike before then? (Today I am at 402, up from 389 in September). I WILL be down to the high 290's or so by Redman! Which leads me to . . .

"The Dragon"! What is "the dragon"? It is my desire to overeat or medicate with food. Some would call it a food addiction. I think eating addiciton is more appropriate. It is deeply ingrained. It bites me all the time, and honestly, there are times when I choose to let it have its way. Here is the analogy I use: drug addicts, alcoholics, etc can lock their dragon away and do not have to let it out. Food/eating addicts have to let it out and take it for a walk three times a day (or more). I can take it out for a walk with just a leash where it can turn on me and bite, or I can have a stiff rod on it to control it and keep it at bay. In the past when I lost my weight and was sane with my eating, I weighed and measured my food, knew exactly what I was going to eat and stuck with the plan. I was also working on me, the inside. When I quit being successful with my weight loss in the past, it was because I chose to quit - I wanted to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and how much I wanted. So honesty is also part of the "rod" to keep the addicitive eating at bay. I have just completed day three of abstaining from overating and am looking forward to continuing it. I have added one food to the banned food list - bread! My favorite binge food, the food I could live on, the food I use to shovel vast amounts of high fat or sugary substances into my mouth. It has joined pizza as being a food I no longer indulge in.

Thanks for listening.

Faux Pas

So I’m sitting at the kitchen table with my wife Diane this morning, and I wanted to share with her my upcoming tri shopping. I have previously explained the indoor trainer and she can grasp the need for that. Today I was explaining to her that I am going to get an inexpensive road bike to hook up to the trainer so I can keep my mountain bike free for outside rides (don’t want to have to hookup and unhook the bike when I want to ride outside on th spur of the moment!). I was looking at Wal-Mart and they had a couple road bikes under $200, just something to get me through when I need to ride indoors. She thought I was nuts! She said to go to Goodwill and get one, can you believe that? I then looked at her as if she was nuts. Then, and this may have been a faux pas, I told her $180 was cheap because when I get my “real bike” this summer the wheel upgrade alone will run $500 + and the total will be between $2,000 and $3,000. She thinks I have lost it. I’m sure glad I didn’t mention the wetsuit, hydration system, bike shoes, supplements, coaching, swim lessons, hotels, travel, bike tune-up, shorts, anti-chafe ointment, new bike jersey, heart rate monitor, bike computer, . . . . . .

The Weekend and Videos

Feels like I'm back in the saddle again. Had 2 great weight training workouts this week and had a killer workout this morning - swam 100 yds drills, then 1200 yds non-stop in 35 minutes (except for those darn turn-arounds at the end of the pool), then 100 yds drills. That's my longest yardage non-stop without breaks so far. My birthday is coming up . . . Endless Pool . . hint, hint. Then it was 30 minutes on the stationary bike doing intervals. I'm tuckered out. My cardio fitness has gone down a long way in the past three months do to my ankle/foot. But I have to remember where I was a year ago, when I couldn't even walk out my front door to my car in the driveway with out being out of breath! I also couldn't swim two lengths of the pool without being seasick! I feel a tinge of optimism :-)

Tommorrow I will be back in the pool where I will do a few sprints and mainly working on my left-side breathing. My ankle and shoulder are getting better. I have declared March "Rehab Month" as I still have 4 weeks of PT to go. March will be swimming, biking, and weight training. Hopefully by April I will be walking for exercise (I go for a follow up with the Dr on April 9th)

Here is some video to inspire you (tears will be coming):
Ironman
Sara R.
Julie Moss
The Hoyts

Time to get serious!

It is only 205 days until Redman and so I am getting serious, starting last night. Great back, triceps, and core workout with Jess. This morning I only swam 1000 yds, but it was a day for learning to bilateral breathe. Started out with my snorkle for 50 yds anchor drill and 50 yds finger tip drag drill. Then off with the snorkle (I like that word), then 900 yds of practicing breathing on my left side. Mostly swam one arm drill "down" and left-side only "back". Now I'm no rocket scientist, and I don't consider myself dumb, but Dr Wendy had to explain some very basic things to me last night. She had said "but a series of easy 50's catch-up breathing wrong side down . . . " So I'm thinking, well, my left side is the side I can't breathe on and when I breathe on my right side, my wrong side is down. So how is that going to help? Uh, wrong side "down" means down to the other end! Duh! I did get a little better but still have a way to go, but it will come.

A great post for people my size was put out by Bigun yesterday (Feb 28). My ankle has come along way this week and the PT said he almost had me back on the treadmill (for a short and easy walk) but I'm not quite there, almost. Trying to be conservative, I am figuring March is still a month of rehab on the ankle and shoulder (which is responding very quickly). My walking goals: end of April - 1 mile, end of May - 2 miles, end of June - 3 miles, end of July - 5 miles, end of August - 7 miles, and the end of September - 9 miles. If I can have a decent swim of an hour and a good bike of 4 hours, 1/2 hour transition (don't laugh, I have a lot to do), then that leaves me 11.5 hours to walk the 13 miles. If I can do 9, then another 4 should be doable in the extra time. I wold like to finish under 10 hours, but the main goal is to finish.

I have also found a wetsuit manufacturer who assures me if I get down to around my goal, they will get me in a wetsuit! Cool!

And no, I won't be swimming the TriGlennwood with a snorkle! (Wes will kick my butt!)