Today is Not That Day

Aging prevention: triathlon training

Have you guys seen this?? Amazing:

This was from a study published in the Physician and Sports Medicine Journal, which compared athletes and non-athletes from age 40+.

It is commonly believed that with aging comes an inevitable decline from vitality to frailty. This includes feeling weak and often the loss of independence. These declines may have more to do with lifestyle choices, including sedentary living and poor nutrition, than the absolute potential of musculoskeletal aging. In this study, we sought to eliminate the confounding variables of sedentary living and muscle disuse, and answer the question of what really happens to our muscles as we age if we are chronically active. This study and those discussed here show that we are capable of preserving both muscle mass and strength with lifelong physical activity.

We found that chronic intense exercise preserved muscle mass and prevented fat infiltration of muscle in masters athletes.

Note that the "athlete" participants had the following profile:

Forty masters athletes (20 men and 20 women) were included in this study. Subjects were included if they were aged ≥ 40 years, trained for fitness and sports competitions ≥ 4 to 5 times per week, and did not have current sports-related injuries that limited their ability to compete in sports competitions. Many were age-group winners for their sport. The subjects were primarily composed of runners/track and field participants, bikers, and swimmers.

I don't know about you, but this doesn't describe me! One drawback to this study is that it doesn't include those who start exercising later in life. It also doesn't reflect the "semi-active" population, ie. those who might walk regularly and/or have a 3x per week gym routine. I'm loking forward to future studies that explore these two scenarios, but in the meantime this has certainly motivated me to ramp back up on training.

motivation - the hard work is worth it

In this post I talk about my training and motivation -- because it's all about me, right? It's my damn blog. Ha. -- and at the end I link to a phenomenal writer and include a snip of her phenomenally motivating recent post. If you wanna skip my musings, be sure to click through to read Sarah's blog. So gifted and wise for only 28.

---

After 3 months off, I am starting to really miss triathlon training. But my group half-marathon training just commenced on Saturday and I can tell this is gonna be good. I've been largely training by myself for the past 2 years, and what a difference a group makes!

We meet at 6:30 pm on Tuesdays (to run) and Thursdays (for bootcamp); I wasn't sure about night running but last night was my fantastic first night run. It feels a bit like running in the rain -- you see all the warm lights in the windows... everyone home from work, snug and cozy, fixing dinner -- and you're out running in the chilly dark. Awesome. Makes me feel a tiny bit bad-ass. Then Saturdays are our long runs. I'm adding stairs and hill repeats on Sundays.

When I got home last night I logged on to BuckeyeOutdoors.com for the first time this year -- it's the only free program I know of where I can create my own training plan, upload Garmin data and create reports. Since I have PT 4x per week (for shoulder rehab and previous injury prevention), plus a focus on weight training for the off-season, plus needing to add in a few more running miles each week, I knew I needed to map out a plan. Having a coach and weekly plans in Training Peaks really kept me going earlier this year, and now I need to do it for myself.

So I've been thinking about motivation, and what I need to keep going. For the first 40 years of my life I wasn't into sports, so I haven't built up that inherent need to move like many of you who started young. I just started all this last January and I'm realizing that while I'm gradually "becoming" an athlete and crave sport after I've been away for a couple months, I'm not there yet. I need some external motivators... I need to intentionally create the context and conditions that will keep me on the path. Those things include:

• Accountability, whether training with friends or having a coach
• Companionship to keep things fun. Fortunately this overlaps with accountability.
• A plan. If I wake up without something specific to do on my calendar, it doesn't get done.
• A goal. I've signed up for two half marathons in 2012. Knowing that I MUST hit a certain distance by x date to avoid another sufferfest is key.
• Cheering on others' successes. I love following friends and fellow bloggers as they accomplish things I can only dream of. So excited for Molly and Mary for great races at IMAZ. Loved reading Alyssa's race at IMAZ for a Kona slot; I actually teared up at the big pass with 1/4 mile to go. Amazing. I've always believed I'd NEVER do a full IM, but in the last couple days I've been thinking that it's no longer inconceivable.

But hang on... one step at a time. I need to get my body comfortable with running 13.1, and that's the goal of my two 13.1's on the calendar. I need to get my shoulder rehabbed so that I can start swimming and training for Wildflower by Feb 1. If I can manage both of those goals, I'll find a late-season 70.3 to train for.

It's exciting to have a general plan and goal for next year, knowing that things may change but that I'm working towards something... a gradual progression of distance, speed, and comfort with the process. I didn't have this sense earlier this year... I'd just wanted to complete a 70.3 but it wasn't in any kind of greater context for my life. I didn't have a "what's next." This 3-month slugfest has really sucked from a fitness retention standpoint but awesome from a mental standpoint. I'm realizing that sport is becoming part of me; not something I have to do to stay healthy but something that is simply part of who I am. And that's really cool.

In closing, I thought you'd enjoy this fantastic blog post, The hard work is worth it. I was trying to find a shorter clip to post here, but I can't get any shorter than this. (Note: she's not a tri blogger, but she is a triathlete. I find her posts inspirational for all areas of my life.)

My swim coach used to call this “cashing in.” At the end of the year, all of your work, all of your invisible hours in the pool, laps painted and erased on top of each other in tireless sequence; every set a measure against yourself; each frustrating day in the cold pool, each microscopic change in threshold potential–it’s all work that you’re putting in the bank. Exhausted, I would look up to my coach from the water and ask him with my eyes, “Can I ever make it? Am I doing it? Is this worth it?” He knew, intrinsically, the phenomenon that is cumulative, additive work, of minor changes built into powerful movements, and yet all he could do was push us to do our best in the present, enticing us into the future by telling us the stories of great legends before in his attempt to inspire us and make us dream. Without knowing, without having been there, I had to put my head down in the water and trust, trust, trust that the hard work would be worth it. My muscles shivered. I was tired. Could I do it?

Yet throughout the year, he would tell us over and over again, “Put your money in the bank!!” And when we did something great, he’d jump up and down and shout excitedly, “THAT’S the money in the bank!” I would return to the wall, trying again, reaching, stretching, hands seeking something invisible and unknown, wondering if any of my work would add up, doubtful that the painstaking days of testing would measure up to something worthwhile. But I trusted. I continued.

And then when the collection time came, when all other fanfare was stripped away and we were faced, naked, with the clock and a crowd and our bodies, when the end-of-the-year championship performance would arrive as it inevitably did each year, we’d see what we were capable of. How we did. What our cumulative actions amounted to. Whether or not we’d been working hard and building up assets. We would cash in. And somehow, in the four-year tenure of my time there, somehow they transformed an awkward, inexperienced, shy teenage swimmer from the slowest lane into a chiseled, daunting, All-American swimmer–this person I still don’t fully recognize today, despite years gone by. A trophy on the wall: this is the evidence that I marvel at as a reminder that yes, it can happen.It can happen to me. I can make it happen. You can make it happen.

It happens.

 Happy off-season training!

 

2010 Ford Ironman World Championship on YouTube

So I finally watched the Ironman World Championships... I don't have cable, so I usually have to make do with finding it on the Internet after the fact. I finally found this guy had created a playlist of the Championships in 10 parts. Hopefully NBC doesn't make him take it down.

It was my first time to watch it, and I was curious to see if it would inspire me to do an Ironman someday. I just started down this triathlon road and have not been able to imagine putting myself through all the torture. The fact that I'm already jumping into a 70.3 in year 2 is a bit surprising.

My reactions: watching Macca battling it out for the win was awesome. Watching the running machine called Mirinda Carfrae was totally inspiring and humbling. Listening to race strategy and seeing poor Lieto's bike lead dwindle down to nothing was instructional. The rest was... ok. Not what I was hoping. I have to echo other comments around the blogosphere that it would have been great to see an age grouper who had worked for years to earn a slot at Kona. Not to say the 80-year old wasn't inspiring; he was. The former convict... very cool to see how he turned his life around. The former soldier with cancer who crossed the line: amazing. 

It just seemed like a parade of the fringes, many of whom likely got in via lottery. I wished they'd actually talked about how the vast majority of the athletes actually got there... that this is a WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP for goodness sake, not something to check off on a bucket list. Use a different Ironman to check your box, but keep Kona separate. This coverage was like, sure, anyone and their dog can come and play in the World Series, or Wimbleton, or the World Cup. And I suppose what makes triathlon different -- and cool -- is that age groupers can compete at the same time as the pros. But in my opinion, NBC failed to capture what this race is all about: where the best of the best -- not just the pros, but the athletes who reached the podium in their age groups -- can really test their stuff. And some of these folks -- like the poor cancer survivor who DNFed 2 years in a row -- almost looks exploited for the sake of a good story.

So... suffice it to say, I was disappointed with the coverage. But I was definitely inspired by a couple of the stories, and there is now a glimmer of "hmm... maybe someday I'll work my way up to 140.6." But let me make it to 70.3 first.

Instructions for life

Found the Holstee Manifesto via Cloe... good stuff.

 

 

One more goal

As a follow-up to my post on goals, Cloe gave me a new one: to earn the right to wear this. Awesome.

Oh, and some good news: when I broke rules and went for a run a couple days ago, it worked some magic. Woke up with negligable pain... hamstring is still tight but piraformis is WAY better. I took a big risk and it paid off! Now I'm at about 85% back to normal (versus about 40% a few days ago.) Time to go run some stairs.

Motivation

A couple of my favorite videos...

 

 

Why?

My mom told me years ago that my very first word was "why?" And that's continued on through my entire life; I've never been one to do something, or believe something, just because someone else wants me to do that or believe that. I always need to find the "why" for myself.

When I jumped into triathlon this past February, I did it because I wanted to get in shape and it was something to do with the guy I was (then) dating. And then I got hooked. I went from barely swimming 25 yards to swimming a mile in the chilly waters of Aquatic Park. I went from hating running to loving it, happily running 8 miles in pouring rain. Thrilled to see my pace drop from 10:30 to 8:35 over 5 miles. Delighted to finish in the top 25% of my AG at Pacific Grove.

I had committed to giving triathlon a full season before deciding whether to continue on next year. I had suspected that after September, when the season was over, I'd probably stop training (because that's been my pattern with exercise.) But I surprised myself by being even more committed to training even in the off-season. It's become a part of my life.

So yesterday I was talking with a friend who's also doing Hawaii 70.3 about hiring a coach for our little group. He felt like it would just be a hassle because he wasn't doing the race for time, just to have fun and finish. And he asked me why I wanted one. Hmm, good question. While I'd babbled a bit to a coach earlier that day about what I was seeking, I knew I hadn't fully translated an intuitive gut sense into clear rationale. And I need to do that... for myself, and for my future coach. And writing my "why" publicly will help hold me accountable.

But before I can articulate why I want a coach, I need to articulate why I'm doing triathlon. Why exactly have I become so passionate about this sport when I've never been athletic in my entire life? What's going to keep me going when the training gets really tough?

• First, regret. I grew up believing that exercise was a dirty word; a not-fun chore in order to lose weight. I didn't know any athletes. My parents never exercised. I didn't know that sports could be not only fun and energizing, but a way to discover yourself and grow. So since I didn't need to lose weight, I blew it off and read books. Or went to parties once I got into high school and college. I try to live my life with no regrets, but I can honestly say I now have one: that I didn't experience sports when I was younger. It's bringing out a side of me that I never knew existed, and I love it.
• Second, I've crossed the big 40. There's a voice inside my head that says I can't perform at the top of my age group unless I'd already been training for decades. It says stuff like, "at your age, you should just be happy to finish and not worry about time." I hate that phrase, "at your age." I want to prove that voice wrong. 
• Third, I like the competition. I know that at the end of the day I'm only competing against myself, but I love pushing myself against other people and seeing how I stack up. I've never experienced competition and had no idea how much I'd enjoy it.

So why a coach? Why not just push forward on my own? Having a coach is a big commitment; I didn't expect to want one so soon after starting this journey.

• I don't want to just finish; I want to finish well. I want to go into a race feeling confident that, barring unforeseen circumstances, I am going to have fun and reap the rewards of the time I'd banked. My first triathlon was miserable because I hadn't adequately trained for it, and I never want to experience that again. And I have absolutely no idea how to train for finishing well. I'm way too soft on myself. I have no idea what my limits are, and therefore I've always played it safe.
• I want to know what I'm capable of. I want to know what it's like to not just do a triathlon, but to be a triathlete. I want to find out what's possible. And I never want to wonder, when I'm 80 years old, "what would have happened if I'd actually put in the time and effort?"

I think the bottom line is, I want to live with no regrets. Pretty simple.

What's your "why?"