Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Shortbread and trail runs

Christmas is always a challenging time of the year for me. The main reason is that I can't help myself. I grew up in a family that embraced Christmas. It was always a huge family event. The house decorated to the rafters.

This year I'll be spending Christmas with Margreet and Luka here in Squamish. A year ago I was in Toronto and Margreet back home .. and Luka was wandering around north of here enduring a tough start to life.

Our lights are finally set outside after a bit of back and forth to Canadian Tire to sort of the colours and the extension cords. And Margreet crafted a wreath for the front entrance.

So while the snow has melted here this past week and it actually is relatively mild outside today, there is still lots of Christmas spirit.

With that in mind, I devoured a 'small' box of shortbread cookies between last evening and midday today. So small that it is hardly worth mentioning. As I said, I couldn't help myself. I don't train all year for nothing.

To make up for it today, Luka and I hit the trails this afternoon and wow, we had a solid 45-60 minute run up and down, through some streams, navigating a bit of ice. A beautiful training session.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Charlotte Paul

Charlotte had a busy 2009 - five iron distance races.

She won China, was third at NZ and fourth at WA. In between NZ and WA, she raced at Roth and in Kona - though both days didn't pan out quite as planned.

A very very solid year of racing.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Become a Fan on Facebook

Become a Fan on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Running-Shoes-Are-a-Girls-Best-Friend/207783926601?ref=nf

Ollie Whistler

Ollie Whistler .. you'll see this name a lot in the future and for good reason.

At Ironman WA a few weeks ago, this 21-year-old Aussie swam 48.22 and spun 4.35.

However, he - by his own admission - stopped drinking and taking his nutrition.

As a result, his day ended rather abruptly on the run.

While he didn't make it to the finish line that day, he learned a few lessons. And no doubt he'll be a tad more disciplined next time.

*Waiting for word on his blog

Motivation

It's been tough to train these past few weeks. It's dark when the alarm sounds in the morning and it's dark by 5pm in the afternoon. And race season is a long time away.

I know the importance of being consistent with my training and 'banking' the work that I do now for next summer.

Still, it's tough to get out the door when the temperature drops and the snow is falling.

But I'm still walking with Luka every day and I consider him to be a key to maintaining my fitness through these short winter days.

There was a story in The New York Times this week about the benefit of walking a dog. Here's a small excerpt:

New research from the University of Missouri has found that people who walk dogs are more consistent about regular exercise and show more improvement in fitness than people who walk with a human companion.

Here's the link for the story:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/the-best-walking-partner-man-vs-dog/

Before Luka arrived here earlier this year, I didn't really have a clue how much time we'd need to invest in him every day. Margreet talked of walking him three hours a day and I thought, geez that's more time than I train and I struggle enough with that. In my mind, I nominated her as chief executive dog walker.

We now split our dog walking duties. Because of my work times, Margreet has the morning shift. And I take the little guy - he appears to have hit his adult size - in the afternoons.

For quite some time, Luka intimidated me. I just wasn't sure how to interact with him. Something has changed in me, though I can't say exactly what it is. It's a confidence issue. And I have great confidence in my ability to manage him.

That sounds far too clinical. If you have a dog, you probably know what I mean. We've had a melting of the minds. In simple terms, I'm thinking more like a dog. His needs are simple: food, water, play, sleep - repeat, not necessarily in that order.

The simplicity with which a dog approaches life has provided me with the gentle reminder that I need from time to time when I let some life stress take too high a priority.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Swimming like a fish

I was at the pool today and asked whether there was anyway to determine how many times I visited this past year. I have a swipe card and thought that there might be a continuing count of its use.

Well, there is and there isn't.

I was given a sheet with a list of all the times that I've swiped my card when the swipe system began at the end of April.

How could I resist? I run every other number I can find. It's part of being a triathlete.

So here's some of the raw data:

May - 10
June - 13
July - 6
August - 8

What's not captured here are the outdoor swims in July and August ahead of Ironman Canada. To be honest, I don't keep detailed training records, I just train. I should keep better records and I try to do that with some key sessions but for the most part, I don't want to think about it too much. That's something that I've learned with ironguides.

Back to my swimming though.

I took September off. The main reason was that the pool was closed for two weeks for maintenance. And the other reason was that my race season was over and I wanted/needed a break.

I returned to the pool in mid October and hit the water six times. In November, eight visits. And so far this month, seven.

If I can get to the pool at least twice a week, and preferably three to four times during winter, then I know I'll be set for the season ahead.

If only Luka could swim a few laps.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

In memory of

I often write about perspective and it’s something that I have thought a lot about in recent years in part because of triathlon but more importantly because of ‘life changing events’ involving my parents.

As I edge closer to the half century mark, I’m increasingly aware of how finite one’s time on earth is, how precious one's health is and the importance of making the most of every single day. I think Marc Becker would agree.

That's why the news of Marc’s death struck home for several reasons.

First because he died far too young. And second, there is no doubt in my mind that he had so much more to contribute to this world.

Since hearing of his death, I have spent a lot of time searching the internet for references to him and have been reading all that I could find that he has written.

Marc was a bright, articulate and forward-looking person.

He also was a high achiever and yet he didn’t need to say so. He was an entrepreneur because it gave him an outlet to reach others.

Marc wasn't perfect and his life wasn't perfect. He had his share of success and failure. And he seemed able to re-balance himself, to keep life in perspective.

For me there is no greater legacy than for the simple words of encouragement one can offer to another when life throws a curve ball. Marc seemed to have a natural instinct for doing so.

The tragedy is that he lost all hope. He lost his perspective.

The private Marc remains private. I never met him. I had very little direct contact with him. He was not my direct coach at ironguides.

I know little of what happened in his last few months, weeks, days that helps put his death into context. And I don't need to know.

***

On the ironguides website, there is a section called The Inner Athlete and Marc wrote a series of articles on the building blocks for success. I have selected a few of the comments that struck me.

***

“Determination is a resoluteness of purpose, a resolve to carry on without fear of failure until your objective has been reached. It’s “don’t weaken in the tough times” and it’s the voice inside you that speaks up and drowns out the words of the naysayers around you. Unbridled determination is an irresistible force, wearing down good opponents who are nevertheless forced to confront their inequity in the face of your power of determination.”

***

“A great attitude sets you up for success because it differentiates the gold from the glitter. A great attitude means the inevitable setbacks in life don't hold you back, but are transformed into the fuel to drive you ever forward. If all else fails and you hit a rough patch, focus on one thing and on thing alone: Try to return quickly to the perspective you want to take on life. Find your great attitude, and you'll find your self, too.”

***

“Taking responsibility means you erase uncertainty and doubt and are able to act and be decisive in the pursuit of your goal.”

***

“Detachment is also the quality that enables you to tune out the noise that threatens to drown out the core values in your pursuit of excellence.”

***

‘’I had several hugely disappointing races in my athletic career. Racing from prize purse to prize purse, when each podium counted to pay the rent, and taking a year off career and work to invest in training and then having major DNF's at my goal races all taught me a thing or two...about triathlon, about the world, but mainly about myself and the cracks in my character that kept me from achieving everything I dreamed I could or thought I could. The work is the work - anyone can be coaxed enough to complete it. But that is only the beginning.’’

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Building blocks

From Marc's comments on success:

It’s not the process, it’s how we apply ourselves to that process that spells the difference between success and failure. By adopting the attitude that “we will never surrender” we give ourselves but one option and that is to succeed.

Marc wrote a series of articles on what he called The Building Blocks of Success that you can find in The Inner Game on the ironguides website.