"Stay Calm"

I don't know what to do next.  It's hard not to panic.  I do know however that I need to keep everything in perspective.  After all it's only a freaking amateur sporting event, and the world will not be worse off if it doesn't came together as planned.

By now you may have gathered that my long run was not a success.  As promised I did everything by the book, but I ended up with the exact same outcome.  I barely survived 25 kms and then finished with a very painful 3km walk home.  Based on the minimal amount of activity leading up to today I have positively ruled out the overtrained theory.  I don't think I really bought it in the first place since I never experienced the elevated resting heart rate problem that is one of the most common indicators.

It is unlike anything I have ever experienced before.  The first indication is sore legs after about 90 minutes. That is unheard of other than the day after a very hard workout of some kind. Then my heart rate starts to climb quickly and within a half hour I go from being totally in control to completely floundered.

I have not ruled out the effects of the hyperbaric chamber despite the confidence of the doctors.  On Monday I will challenge him more specifically to give me evidence in the form of studies and data.  The Internet is full of stuff but I can not find anything relevant to my particular situation.

(run 25 kms, 2:13)

Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath."---Michael Caine

Fear cannot be banished, but it can be calm and without panic; it can be mitigated by reason and evaluation."---Vannevar Bush

Love

Peter

"Wish Me Luck!"

Tomorrow I will do everything right.  I will start by sleeping in.  Then I will have a leisurely but generous breakfast.  I will dress appropriately.  I will stay well hydrated and I will even put a few bananas in the mailbox.  I will wear my heart rate monitor and focus exclusively on that indicator as opposed to time.  I will stay close to home and run only as far as I can without getting into trouble.

And I damn well better have a good run or I'm gonna lose my mind!!!

I have already pretty feel decided to forego my marathon which is slated for 4 weeks from Sunday.  I just can't see any possible way I will be ready.....barring some kind of a miracle tomorrow.  That may even be a good thing.  Certainly all of the experts caution against doing a marathon as part of your preparation.  For me it was more of a psychological issue than a physical one because that was part of my strategy last time around.

Wish me luck!

Your smile of the day.  I went into my giant test tube today with my underwear on, and they are decidedly not 100% cotton.  Fortunately I never realized it until I was just about done, or I would have been stressed out of my tree wondering whether I should tell them or not.  I don't know what they would have done but I suspect the protocol would be to shut down and take me out.  By the time I figured it out I decided to keep my mouth shut.  After all.....I never blew up!  Oh, and by the way, that has happened a few times around the world, including an equine chamber in Florida just over a month ago.  That explosion killed both the horse in the chamber and the technician running it.  Here's the story.

(swim 1500 metres)

"I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike?"---Jean Cocteau

"From the cradle to the coffin underwear comes first."---Bertolt Brecht

Love

Peter

"I've Lost One (1) Kylie"

Well make that almost two (2)!

I keep this belt around as a reminder of other times.  When I wore it in that hole I was the GM at Formet during the most stressful time of my life.  I weighed 240 lbs!  I am now closing in on 160....almost 2 Kylies difference.  Damn I'm a lucky man to come out of it alive and to have gained one (1) Kylie in the interim!

(run 7.3kms)

"The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome. The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse."---Helen Keller

Love

Peter

"Diet of a Madman!"

I decided to thoroughly capture my eating regimen for one day.  I generally try to keep it around 2500 to 3000 calories and keep my fat intake under 80 grams.  Lets see what it adds up to today.

Breakfast was 2 bagfuls, 380 cals, 6g fat) one large banana, (125/.5)and 2 cups of coffee.

Lunch was in the car on the way back from Hamilton.  One Arbys Philly and Swiss (410/20) , one large banana (125/.5), and 2 cartons of 2% milk (260/10)

 Supper.  Two pieces Presidents Choice Blue Menu chicken (300/5), two cans green beans (160/0), 75 ml fat free dressing (50/0), 2 cups fresh papaya (120/.5), one tub of fat free yogurt ( 210/0), and one large glass of skim milk (170/1)

And my usual bed time snack is 2 Del  Monte yogurt bars(120/2).

For a grand total of 2420 calories and 43.5 grams of fat.  This is probably a little less than the average as I usually eat a larger lunch.  One of my staples is of course pasta and I often eat a plateful worth more than 1000 calories in one sitting, and when I am working out I often supplement with high protein meal replacement drinks which are 250 cals. a pop.

A couple of things jump out at me.  One is that I could probably afford to eat more, early in the day.  I think even getting my breakfast up to 800 calories would not be overkill.  The other thing that was evident at least on this day, was that I could probably afford some more fat.  I still want to be careful but too little fat  will definitely hurt my training in the long run.  Fat is especially essential to allow our bodies to absorb the nutrients we provide them.  I decided to start taking a multivitamin as well and so again I need to make sure I get enough fat to support them.

Today I did almost nothing again. I will tell you it is so very hard.  It is less than 5 months to the race now and I suddenly feel woefully behind.  I will however stay the course until Saturday when I will try a longer run, but even beyond that I intend on going easy until I finish my treatments next tuesday.  By then I better feel a lot freakin better or I'm gonna be pissed!  Cause then I'm gonna drop the hammer again!!

(swim 1000 metres)

You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She’s 97 today and we don’t know where the hell she is.” –Ellen Degeneres

Love

Peter

"Well There Goes That Theory"

Teresa,  when I gave the Doc your hypothesis he chuckled and told me it was wishful thinking.  I told him it was Corys idea!

But this particular Doctor is a very special guy as I may have mentioned before.  I told him that I couldn't get in to my family doctor until next week, and that was his cue to take charge.  The first step was of course to check out my heart and lungs which all seemed great.  Then blood tests, but because the outpatient blood taking people were only open until 11 am it would mean not getting that done until tomorrow.  He went down the hall to the burn unit and talked someone into coming to the HBO unit with their needles, and they poked me before I went into the tube.  By the time I got out he had the results!

And the verdict is....everything normal other then a wee bit of dehydration.  I was momentarily disappointed, as insane as that sounds.  I was hoping for an answer, but that answer was certainly not to be found in my blood.  His opinion after hearing my story, examining me, and looking at the test results?

I ain't buying it yet but I am thinking about it.  And the only reason I'm seriously considering his diagnosis is because he is an experienced endurance athlete himself.  And he is a very convincing guy.

He says "overtrained"!

Overttrained???  WTF!  Not me!  I am a machine!

I know from my reading and from witnessing others experiences that they never seem to see this particular condition coming until they have it, and even then I have seen people in denial about it.  If I compare to my last undertaking I have to admit that I have taken much less time off.  Perhaps you will recall that in 2009 I was still travelling to Mexico quite often which automatically built downtime into the program.  Since I went to China 4 months ago I have rarely taken a day off and maybe....just maybe...that has all added up.

So I'm gonna do my best for the next several days to do everything in a relaxed manner, and of short duration.  I will completely stop the weights until after my Hamilton trips are over next week.  Come this Saturday I will do another longer test to see how it feels, but I promise myself to stay close to home and "quit" the minute it stops feeling right.

Meanwhile I will follow up with my family doc next tuesday to see what he says.  I have also decided to start taking a multivitamin and I may even talk to the dietician at the doctors office.  I know my nutrition can still use some enhancement.

Wish me luck!  The mental part of this whole deal is the toughest especially because that's the area I'm most challenged in.  After all.  I'm an idiot!

(swim 1000 metres, run 7.3 kms)

"Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable"---Coco Chanel

Love
Peter

"I Know I Promised"

And I'll probably get shit from someone but it's hard not to worry.  I suppose that's the problem with any obsession.  If anything seems to threaten it, you get panicky real quick.  Today I can not even walk normally let alone work out!  

I asked the Doctor in Hamilton today and he said it was very unlikely that the chamber was causing my problems.  He's not my favourite Doctor however and I will ask another guy tomorrow.  The other guy actually has personal experience with endurance sports and as such will at least care about  my situation.  Let's see what he says.  I also made an appt. with my family doctor to at least get my blood checked.  He is also a bit of a fitness nut so again I know I will get good support. Unfortunately he is off until next week.

I read an interesting article today about a study related to "hypo"baric treatments.  That is the exact opposite of what I'm doing (low pressure and low oxygen).  The study claimed to prove that  endurance improved in athletes who regularly used this method???  You can also find all kinds of claims that hyperbaric does the same thing???  That don't make any sense to me at all!!!

If I can't get answers I will have no choice but to ignore everything and deny there is anything wrong.  Stick my head right up my ass and just get training!!

And last but not least for today, and just for the record Cory, I did not "quit" yesterday.  I got closer than I ever did mind you, and it may well be in my future sometime, but I have not quit in a race yet.  I did slow down, but that is a very different thing.  That being said I appreciate the point you were trying to make. Thank you!

Back at it tomorrow for sure.  I will swim in the morning before my trip and then go for a little jog when I get home.  I should be ready to go, since HBO is supposed to speed recovery??

"Men do not quite playing because they grow old; they grow old because thy quit playing."---Oliver Wendell Holmes

Love
Peter

"Success"

She didn't want me putting her picture up here again but I told her that I had worked my ass off for the last 3 months to get her that shirt and so she was damn well gonna pose for me.

Today my wife ran 30 kms in a time of 2:33:47!!  Of the 320, fifty year old women that ran this race Claudette finished 16th, which puts her in the top 5 percentile!!!!  She was also in the top 10 percent of all female runners, the majority of which are younger than her.  That's what I call success and I am damn proud of her.  Way to go old girl!  And for crying out loud...look at her!! Fifty??? Wow!!

Despite a different kind of day for myself I am not the least bit envious......no wait.....maybe a little bit.  Check out the very cool shirt.  Mine is a very boring single colour blue.  Bummer.  I would steal hers if only it would fit me.  Oh well.  Such is life.

Very quickly on my day.  I'm not sure what it is but something is quite wrong.  I knew suddenly at about 18 kms that it was gonna be the same story as the last 2 weekends.  At 20 kms I sent Roo on ahead by herself and I finished the last 10 alternating walking and jogging.  I finished in 2:38:34.  Just for the record I ran this same distance in a training run in February, with no rest, in a time 0f 2:27!  WTF!

Now I have to find the problem.  Please know that is not because I am a shirker.  I have never experienced anything like this in all the years I have been running.  I actually had moments of dizziness even while I was walking.  They were serious enough that I moved to the side of the road away from traffic because I did not trust myself to not fall down.  To totally and completely fall off the rails like this is not in my experience.   Something is quite wrong!

   I am hoping that it is the hyperbaric treatments.  Certainly the timing is coincidental with the beginning of my struggles.  There is at  least some anecdotal evidence that prolonged use of the treatment in healthy, fit athletes can have a negative effect.  I will talk to the Doctor this week to see what he says.  If not that, then I guess maybe I'll go to church. 

It was also great to see Teresa and Brett there today, and the scientist in my dear sister has al;ready produced a theory related to hemoglobin and the production of red blood cells that I will also ask the doctor about.  I'll let you know what he says Teresa.

Whatever it is I will figure it out.  Despite my fears I am intrigued by the mystery, and I know it is of paramount importance that I do not let it get the better of me mentally.  I promise myself to stay positive. 

(30 km race, 2:38:34)

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."---Winston Churchill

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."---Thomas Jefferson

Love

Peter