"Odds And Ends"

I noticed that for an animal that's supposed to be clever there are a lot of dead raccoons on the road!

I learned from the swim guy today that I have tons of opportunity....I am horrible!

I have a new pair of cycling shoes that are heat moldable.  You're supposed to put them in the oven at 150 degrees Fahrenheit.  My oven refuses to go below 170!!

I find it hard to do my weights or write my blog after 9 pm, and yet I invariably leave it til then.

I never know when to use commas.

To have grandchildren is to truly know the meaning of the expression; to love someone more than life itself.

Having nice things is nice....but they bring their own kinds of problems.

I have even less of an idea as to when to use semi colons.

I'm starting to learn what happens to your sphincters as you age, especially the one around your urethra.  But it makes me wonder.  Since it's a muscle can you exercise it and make it stronger?  Cory?

My bike is in the kitchen....but only because there's not enough room in the bedroom

I like ice cream.

There are not enough hours in the day to do the things I want to do....and what a great feeling that is!

I have decided on a second career.  There is a place in Guelph called the Winterborne Bicycle Institute.  In partnership with Conostoga College they offer an intensive 11 day course in professional bike mechanics.  I have already made inquiries and intend on taking the course asap after Ironman.  Oh, and I'll need a place to stay someone.

On most days I eat 4 bananas.

I love my sister Elly and think of her often.

Religion still scares me!  A few of the comments I have read today in response to this Bill 13 thing are just beyond my imagination.  The power of organized religion to brainwash otherwise logical people is to me  astounding.  I guess I have to remember that I once was afraid of going to Hell because of the very same thing.

I feel like the most blessed person in the whole world.  The universe truly is conspiring in my favour.

Claudette's  Mindfulness in the Mountains backpacking session has been confirmed, so we can now finalize our western Canada trip.  Woohoo!!  It's gonna be the voyage of  lifetime.

(run intervals, 7 X 600 metres, swim lesson, weights)


"Blessed are they who have nothing to say and who cannot be persuaded to say it."---James Lowell

Love 

Peter

"Ten Thousand Words"

(leg weights, ride 37 kms, run 4 kms)

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."---Robert Frost

Love
Peter

"Another Good Day"

Any day that I learned something is a good day and today I learned 2 things.

But first off, my run.  Perhaps you recall that last week I settled for a very painful, very ugly 15 kms.  I am now an advocate of the recovery week philosophy that all the experts preach.  Why I need to learn these things the hard way I don't know, other than perhaps because I'm a Rooyakkers.  Anyway it clearly has made a difference as I feel right back on track.  Other than a bit of a breeze the weather was perfect and I ran 31 kms in total control.

Actually that would make 3 things I learned and fortunately it is not too late for me to take advantage of it.  I have already mentally scheduled 2 more recovery weeks before I start my taper at the end of July.

Hopefully I will learn something tomorrow as well, as it is my first swimming lesson at the tri shop.  I am very nervous about it because I don't want them guys to see just how bad I am, and on top of that they will be filming it.  The lesson takes place in an endless pool, something I have tried before with little success.  This pool however is a much better facility than the one I used before, so maybe it will be a better  experience.  After my swim I should be bringing my new toy home as well.

As to the 2 other things I learned today one of them was about food.  Since I hadn't tried it in a long time I thought I would have a go at a long time favorite meal, and sure enough it went down not too badly.  But of course like everything else I eat I had to know the nutritional value of it.  Sadly there are not too many peanut butter and banana sandwiches in my future.  I was shocked to see that 1 tbsp of peanut butter has 100 calories and 8 grams of fat!  I think each one of my 2 sandwiches had at least 4 tbsp's, and when you add the bread and the banana, my small lunch was about 1300 calories, and almost my entire allowable fat for the day.  I did the math and found out that the jar of p.b. had over 13000 calories and over 1000 grams of fat!

And the 3rd thing I learned today?  Chipmunks don't swim very well!  I fished this poor guy out of the pool this evening but unfortunately it was too late for mouth to mouth...

I suppose they are probably from the same family so it shouldn't really surprise me how much a chipmunk looks like a small rat when his pretty hair is all flattened out.  I still felt bad for him though.  Something our parents instiilled in us was a concern for suffering animals.

Anyway, that's it for today.  A good run and 3 things learned.  I should sleep well.

(run 31 kms, 2:42:45)

"A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way."---Mark Twain


Love
Peter

"I Don't Like Mondays"

Blaahh!

Tomorrow is tuesday which means long run day. Talk to you then.  Gotta go rest up.

(swim 1500 metres, leg weights, ride 30 kms)

The silicon chip inside her head
Gets switched to overload"---Bob Geldof

Love

Peter

"On Bad Habits & Living Dangerously"

I'm sure you are sick and tired of hearing about my swimming trials and tribulations, but I had one more epiphany today that I want to share.  There is a well renowned swim coach who has made millions of dollars teaching people something he calls total immersion swimming.  It has apparently worked for many people but I am not included in that group.  I just couldn't get into his techniques.   One thing that he is not an advocate of is the myriad of swim aids that are available to help you learn.  Things like hand paddles, flippers and pull buoys.  He calls them them aquatic "crack".  While I think these things do indeed have a place in a well structured, coached environment, I think he hit the nail on the head with his addiction analogy.  Certainly you can quickly come dependant on them, and clearly that has happened to me.

While using pull buoys regularly, or swimming in my wetsuit has allowed me to build my endurance and my fitness it has done the opposite for my technique.  Swimming just 200 metres without a cheater leaves me winded and hanging on the edge of the pool.  Today I did my entire workout without any devices and it really drove the message home to me.  Thank freakin god that Sunday is my short swim today!

While you may think this would discourage me, I can tell you it has done the exact opposite.  Like I mentioned the other day, I am very comfortable in doing the distance now and so I'm gonna use my remaining time to focus on stroke improvement.  I'm not exactly sure of my specific strategy yet but I'm gonna figure something out.  Maybe the tri guy will be able to help.  I'll keep you posted.

And on living dangerously, the second half of my Sunday training is trails, and today they were extremely slick.  I didn't mind the mud, and I didn't even mind all the wet branches that hang down from the moisture,  making contact with them unavoidable.  I don't even mind falling because that's good for the soul as well, but I do mind getting hurt.  I took it really easy and still almost went down 5 or 6 times. But I didn't want to skip because trail running has such a relaxing effect on the body and the mind.  I survived!

You could probably tell that I felt pretty optimistic after my long workout yesterday and the timing could not be better.  Only twelve weeks to go!!  My workouts actually peak in 8 weeks at which time my taper begins.  I have thought long and hard about telling you my goal time but I'm afraid to do so.  I may still come out with it at some point.  Hopefully my Half Ironman in Welland in 3 weeks will give me the courage.  Meanwhile I have taken old Johns advice and am targeting to be in the top 10% of my age group.  Last time around I was in the 13th percentile.

(swim 1000 metres, trails 6 kms)

"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive."---W C Fields

It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a man's life is made up of nothing, but the habits he has accumulated during the first half."---Fyodor Dostoevsky

Love

Peter

"Testing Ones Resolve"

I am quite impressed by the accuracy with which the experts are able to predict the weather these days.  It seems the science has come a long way.  That's why I was not surprised to wake up to a cold, windy, cloudy morning.

While it's great to have advance warning of tough conditions it can also play on your mind a little.  When you know you have to get up in the morning and that you're gonna be out there for 5-6 hours it can be a bit daunting.  I was even starting to think about delaying til Sunday but things didn't look much more attractive then

So I was up and out by 9 am with long sleeves and gloves.  While it was indeed a bit chilly (10C), after I got my muscles warmed up I was okay.  I was awful glad for the gloves however.

On account of the very strong winds (30 kms/hr) I decided that I was just gonna stay close to home doing whatever loops that came to mind.  I did however start out on my favorite route which after the first 12 kms turns southwest and today was headed directly into the wind.

And that's when the head games began.

Maybe I would do the first 30 k into the wind and then head back and do loops.
Maybe I would turn at Shedden and head back home.
Maybe I would only need to do 120 kms today since it was such a brutal wind.
Maybe I would make a new decision with every 10 kms I got under my belt.

At some point I realized that any of these rationalizations could leave me with a shortened workout, which was not gonna be acceptable.  At 60 kms I knew that I was gonna go to 70 before I turned.  So unless I got a flat I was gonna get my 140 in, regardless of the suffering it would take.

Even with that decision made it was hard to stay positive.  Why do I want to do this to myself week after week all for the sake of one day of glory?  Because of the wind and the fact that it is a relatively flat route  I spent 3 solid hours in the aero bars.  The result of that was a very sore ass and very cramped shoulders.  A few hills would have been a godsend.

It sure felt great when I turned around and ran with  the wind.  Then I had only one more little tough spot at the end.  Often when we have a southwest wind it turns as the day wears on, more to the south.  Today was no exception which meant that the last 12 was gonna be hell....and it was.

But I made it in a very slow time of 5 hours.  Of that 5 hours, 3 of them were on the way out, and just 2 back!!

So I was a bit tired when I got back, but as part of my earlier excuse making I had already decided that my run would be a short one.  I headed out with the intent of maybe 4 kms.  But lo and behold I felt great right away!  I completed the original plan of 7.3 kms in a very nice time of 33:46.  Wow!

So I feel very content with my effort.  I think there were 2 factors at play today.  First and foremost was the bit of a break I forced myself into, and secondly I took great care to make sure I consumed lots of calories and that I got lots of electrolytes.

But most importantly I tested my resolve and passed!

One of the reasons I had justified the possibility of a shortened run was because I wanted to get to the tri shop in London before they closed at 4.  After a serious bout of courier madness my new baby arrived in London for the second time.  She's not ready to come home yet so I thought I would just go for a quick visit.  Here's a bit of a teaser for you.

(ride 140 kms, run 7.3)

There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul."---Ella Wheeler Wilcox

"Resolve to perform what you ought; perform wihout fail what you resolve"---Benjamin Franklin

Love

Peter

"Who's Challenged?"

Friday is my long swim day with my wetsuit.  While I seem to be getting slower each successive week it also seems to be getting a little easier.  I think I mentioned that the triathlon shop has offered me a couple of sessions in their endless pool with accompanying coaching, and I think I'm gonna take them up on it.  The bottom line however is that after 3 weeks in a row at 3000 metres or over I at least have the confidence to swim the distance without any serious effort.

My local Y, as I suspect others do, offers employment opportunities to mentally challenged individuals.  There is one young man at our branch that brightens my day every time I see him.  He is probably in his early to mid twenties, always seems to be cheerful and while he manages to communicate quite well, he is very obviously limited.

I always engage him in conversation as it seems to stimulate him, but at the same time  I try hard not to talk down to him.  After all, I'm a moron and he decidedly is not.

How do I know?

I ran into him on the way out after my swim today.  As we walked together we chatted for a few minutes and as we approached the doors I commented on the fact that the rain was really coming down.  Without a moments hesitation he tilted his head in the direction of the wetsuit I had over my shoulder, and with a mischievous grin said. "You should put that back on".

It felt so good to laugh with him.  I'm supposed to be the witty one, and him the challenged one?  Where's his challenge I want to know?

It got me thinking about a long held belief that there is no such thing as smart people or dumb people.  We are all smart!  Some people are math smart, some are language smart, some are mechanical smart, and some are plant and/or animal smart. Some are emotional smart, some are funny smart, some are kind smart, and some are street smart.  Some are physics smart, some are athletic smart, some are electrical smart, and still others are psychology smart.  Some are broad based smart and others are focused smart.  etc, etc

Either way you slice it people are people, and although the mental skills of some are more obvious than others don't be fooled by what meets the eye or the ear.  After all, many people upon meeting me jump to the conclusion that I'm  a moron!  Anyone who takes the time to get to know me better quickly acknowledges me as an idiot....and unfortunately not  a savant.

(swim 3250 metres)

"An intelligence test sometimes shows a man how smart he would have been  not to have taken it"---Laurence J Peter

Love
Peter