"Not Everything's a Race"

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?

or

How fast would you be going if you didn't know how fast you were going?

I'm sure I've told you about this problem before but I still haven't found a solution.  Of course like most things, the answer lies within myself, but that's a pretty stubborn place to dig it out of.  I'm referring to my obsession with measuring every aspect of every workout.

And it's not really the measuring that's the problem, but rather the comparing that goes with it.  I seem to always have some standard in my mind that I need to live up to, typically a standard born of my previous achievements.  And while that's all very well and good for a young athlete because it spurns him/her on to greater heights, it stops being useful once your 59 years old!  Actually probably many years before that, but like most things that require some wisdom, I'm usually a decade or two behind the curve. 

My bike magic number for distance events has been 30 kms/hr for as long as I can remember.  I need to let go of that, cause it just don't make an sense.  In my first ironman six years ago I averaged 29.3 kms/hr.  If that's what I could do when I was 53 years old, what kind of wisdom would have me thinking that I could be going as fast, or even faster, some 6 years later.  More rationally I think that a deterioration of at least 10 percent would be expected.  

I thought about all this while I was out enjoying the countryside today, and I believe some of it actually sank in.  For some reason I was a bit tired mentally before I even headed out and that probably helped.  I knew that to get through the day I would have to train without too much pressure, and that of course meant without letting the clock dictate the pace.

And all in all it went fairly well.

I had a funny moment about 20 kms into the ride.  I was going up a very, very steep hill, steep enough that I could barely stay sitting even in my lowest gear.  Recreational cyclists typically push their bike up this particular little slope.  I was doing some little loops specifically to be able to repeat the hill, and half way up my third time I got a flat.  My first reaction?  "Man, I can't stop here! What if someone sees me and thinks I couldn't make it up!"  I actually kept going for a few seconds before I clued in that my pride was gonna result in the destruction of my very expensive front rim.  I stopped!

And the good thing about getting a flat is that it usually helps me to settle down and enjoy the rest of the trip.  I still watched all the gauges, but as time wore on I gradually came to terms with whatever it was gonna be.  I think the other thing that helped me today was the lack of a clearly defined route.  I decided to just ride where the winds took me, and after going briefly home just to pick up another spare, I headed in the general direction of  Tilssonburg.  And while I never explored any roads that I haven't been on at least once before, I certainly didn't remember all the hills I encountered.  There's nothing like a kilometre long 15 degree slope to keep a man grounded.  Further to that a few of the down-hills were very rough with hidden curves.  This necessitated the use of the only part of my bike I can't stand bringing into play....the brakes!!  And that of course was another reason to relax about performance because there is no way to make up for the energy wasted!

I finished up my 150 kms at an average speed to 27.3 kms/hr.  I am totally good with that.

But of course I had to do a run yet, and after 5 1/2 hours of riding I wasn't too excited about it.  Normally I would run for the first minute before my 2 minute of walking but thought I would try to start with a walk of 3 minutes before I got into my 1/2 routine.  i'm pretty sure that's what I want to do in the race as well.  

Anyway, after 5 1/2 hours of fairly conformable riding at an average heart rate of 110 with several spikes over 130, and after a few quiet minutes to prepare for my run, and after 3 full minutes of walking just to relax I started jogging.

Exactly 30 seconds later, with my heart rate barely over 100, I almost passed out!  And I don't mean I felt a little faint!  I mean that if I had taken 3 more steps I would have fallen face first into the gravel. It was bad enough that I literally had to stop and get my head closer to my feet in order  to regain my equilibrium.  Even walking was out of the question for a few seconds!  

Explain that!  I can't!

But, believe it or not I was good with my walk/run as well.  I did the planned distance of 7.5 kms at a slightly faster pace than I hope to do 42.2 on race day.  That target you may recall is 7 min k's.  I also included a couple of hills in today's run portion because there's a whole lot of them in Quebec.  Further to my planned 1/2 run/walk strategy, my hope in Mont Tremblant is to run down the slopes and walk up, and so I experimented with that today.  Turns out that running down hills puts my heart rate at about the same level as walking up them.  Makes sense.  

And just as a matter of interest my heart rate average was only one beat higher on the run than the bike, and yet the effort seemed like double.  Very weird indeed, but eventually I'm gonna find the answer.  I'll accept what ever it is once I understand it, but I will not rest until I do.  I feel like I'm getting closer.  

So overall a successful day I would say.  A quick jump in the pool and a big meal of spaghetti, with cookies and bananas for dessert, I feel pretty good.  Tomorrow will tell a better tale however.  

I am very relieved to get this workout in because they tell us we're gonna get 2 inches of rain tomorrow.  Sounds like a great day to go to the movies with my grandchildren.  Jurassic World here we come!  I hope I don't get too scared.  Ky said she would hold my hand.

ride 150 kms, run/walk 7.5 kms

And in place of a quote today I wish to give a special shout out to my friend Dan W.  You're story is not over yet Big Dan!  Keep on keeping on!

Love

Peter