Spent a little Quality Time with Coach Troy over the weekend.
If you have ever done time on a trainer in front of a Spinervals DVD, you know exactly who I mean. Fit, authoritative-sounding, pro Triathlete background, some kind of southernish accent, stopwatch. Coach Troy cajoles and yells and tells you you have to put it on the big ring on the front and the 12 on the back and give me 100% for only 1 minute. And that 30 seconds is plenty of time to recover before we do it again.
His DVDs have titles like "Suffer O Rama", "Have Mercy", "Bending Crank Arms" and "No Slackers Allowed". So perhaps we ought not complain, but just about everyone who has ridden with Coach Troy has wanted to throw something at him. In fact, you wonder if he's out of his mind at times.
But on "On-the-Road v. 4: Madison WI training ride", we learn that Coach Troy does have a modicum of self-awareness. For this ride, you're supposed to pretend you're riding with him and three other studs around the Madison Ironman course. It's about 3 hours, and doesn't have deathly crank-bending interval sets. In contrast to most of his DVDs, Troy actually rides. Although he clearly taped most of the commentary after the ride, it's done in a style as if he were riding at that very moment. He talks, and instructs, and talks. Actually, if you're alone, he keeps you company if you don't mind a one-way conversation, because at least on this one video, he isn't trying to kill you.
With between 45 and 43 minutes to go, though, find out that Troy knows what we think of him. Nothing dramatic, but he admits that maybe he is annoying and you might want to turn the volume down and not listen to him.
It's good to know he's human.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
Not the Prez any more
I don't mean Obama, I mean me!
I just finished my term as president of the local soccer club. In a way, I'll miss some of the duties, but I will certainly not miss having to keep up on every last detail. I remain on the board, so I will still be involved. Funny, though, what letting go feels like.
I just finished my term as president of the local soccer club. In a way, I'll miss some of the duties, but I will certainly not miss having to keep up on every last detail. I remain on the board, so I will still be involved. Funny, though, what letting go feels like.
Early swim
Swimming was the first thing my soon-to-be-14 year old son could beat me at all the time.
I got a grade 3 AC separation in my shoulder last spring, which did not do anything good for my already mediocre swimming. I had tried to make a point last winter of getting better at it, and I had taken my 1000 yd time trial time down from 17:45 to 15:47 over the course of a few months before I hurt myself.
This past recovery week I did my first swimming TT of the season, and came in at a pretty respectable (for me) 16:34. That's way ahead of where I was this time a year ago, but I think the "easy" time has come and gone. We'll see how fast I can get on my new-and-not-improved shoulder. I have signed up for a group swim workout, which starts in a week. Maybe there will be some good stroke coaching to come from that. We'll see.
Feeling optimistic.
I got a grade 3 AC separation in my shoulder last spring, which did not do anything good for my already mediocre swimming. I had tried to make a point last winter of getting better at it, and I had taken my 1000 yd time trial time down from 17:45 to 15:47 over the course of a few months before I hurt myself.
This past recovery week I did my first swimming TT of the season, and came in at a pretty respectable (for me) 16:34. That's way ahead of where I was this time a year ago, but I think the "easy" time has come and gone. We'll see how fast I can get on my new-and-not-improved shoulder. I have signed up for a group swim workout, which starts in a week. Maybe there will be some good stroke coaching to come from that. We'll see.
Feeling optimistic.
Base 1.
I'm old enough that I train on a 3 week cycle instead of the traditional 4 week cycle. That means 16 days "on" and 5 days recovery (low volume), instead of 3 weeks/1 week. My 5 day recovery cycle means a business week of low volume, and then I can come back with something longer on the weekend.
This past week has been my first rest week since I formally started my program to get to IM Moo. I have a 6 week "Base 1" cycle, followed by a 6 week "Base 2" cycle that will take me into early March. If these terms don't mean anything, a good place to look is Joe Friel's The Triathlete's Training Bible. Basically, this is a pretty low intensity time, meant to build strength and basic endurance. It's "training to train", as opposed to training for the race just now.
Anyway, the good news is that by about Wed or Thu, I felt ready to go again. Still taking the full 5 days. Don't want be great in April and burnt out in August.
This past week has been my first rest week since I formally started my program to get to IM Moo. I have a 6 week "Base 1" cycle, followed by a 6 week "Base 2" cycle that will take me into early March. If these terms don't mean anything, a good place to look is Joe Friel's The Triathlete's Training Bible. Basically, this is a pretty low intensity time, meant to build strength and basic endurance. It's "training to train", as opposed to training for the race just now.
Anyway, the good news is that by about Wed or Thu, I felt ready to go again. Still taking the full 5 days. Don't want be great in April and burnt out in August.
More on Rick Warren
I initially thought Rachel Maddow's take on the Rick Warren invitation to do the invocation at Obama's inauguration was a bit shrill - she did not seem to take seriously that there could be a reasonable "reaching out" component to it.
But Rick Warren recently dug the hold deeper. Rather than rehash the details, I instead draw your attention to another Rachel Maddow segment. Again, some of this is editorial and reflects her strong initial opinions, but there is a lot of plain old fact and quote in here.
If we are to give RW the benefit of the doubt here, this kind of thing sure doesn't help. Can you imagine the collective cringe by the Obama gang when they see this?
But Rick Warren recently dug the hold deeper. Rather than rehash the details, I instead draw your attention to another Rachel Maddow segment. Again, some of this is editorial and reflects her strong initial opinions, but there is a lot of plain old fact and quote in here.
If we are to give RW the benefit of the doubt here, this kind of thing sure doesn't help. Can you imagine the collective cringe by the Obama gang when they see this?
Friday, December 19, 2008
Week 1
Last Saturday was the first Big Spin for me this season. Two hours on the bike on a trainer with a bunch of great folks and half an hour on the treadmill. After some time off, it felt great. I got all those same feelings again. Like impatience after 30-45 min on the bike. Like euphoria in the last 30 minutes riding and the first 20 minutes running. Like an unfathomably deep hunger an hour later.
4000 continuous yards in the pool today, about the length of the IM swim. Not at any kind of exciting pace, but it's an entirely doable distance. Enough to make me tired, but no problem.
Big Spin 2 is tomorrow, and I have to get up early when I'd rather sleep in. I can't wait.
4000 continuous yards in the pool today, about the length of the IM swim. Not at any kind of exciting pace, but it's an entirely doable distance. Enough to make me tired, but no problem.
Big Spin 2 is tomorrow, and I have to get up early when I'd rather sleep in. I can't wait.
Rick Warren
For the last couple of days, one of the big news items was Obama's invitation of Rick Warren to give the invocation at the presidential swearing-in.
A reasonable question that doesn't seem to be noted much is whether there ought to be a religious invocation at this event at all, but I digress....
In what I will call, for lack of better terms, the "pro-gay" literature on the Bible, it is often argued that one of Jesus's traits was his radical inclusiveness. Even many supposedly anti-gay stories (e.g., Soddom and Gammorah) are interpreted with this theme. So, on the one hand, this invitation strikes me as an example of a similar radical inclusiveness, with Warren himself and symbolic of others who are most definitely not sympathetic to the LGBT (or for that matter, Democratic) cause.
On the other, Warren, in his otherwise non-flame-throwing persona, has been staunch in his opposition to equal rights for same-sex marriage, comparing it to incest, polygamy, etc. His statements, while often calm and articulate, have been damning and hurtful. So, on this other hand, inviting him to open the ceremony for Obama seems like a massive kick in the teeth to the LGBTA community.
I hope this was not a cynical calculation, that it was a genuine attempt at post partisanship, or at least inclusiveness. It doesn't feel that way now. At minimum it feels like a miscalculation. At worst, it feels like a major tarnish on our otherwise still-shiny new president (-elect). I hope it was worth it.
A reasonable question that doesn't seem to be noted much is whether there ought to be a religious invocation at this event at all, but I digress....
In what I will call, for lack of better terms, the "pro-gay" literature on the Bible, it is often argued that one of Jesus's traits was his radical inclusiveness. Even many supposedly anti-gay stories (e.g., Soddom and Gammorah) are interpreted with this theme. So, on the one hand, this invitation strikes me as an example of a similar radical inclusiveness, with Warren himself and symbolic of others who are most definitely not sympathetic to the LGBT (or for that matter, Democratic) cause.
On the other, Warren, in his otherwise non-flame-throwing persona, has been staunch in his opposition to equal rights for same-sex marriage, comparing it to incest, polygamy, etc. His statements, while often calm and articulate, have been damning and hurtful. So, on this other hand, inviting him to open the ceremony for Obama seems like a massive kick in the teeth to the LGBTA community.
I hope this was not a cynical calculation, that it was a genuine attempt at post partisanship, or at least inclusiveness. It doesn't feel that way now. At minimum it feels like a miscalculation. At worst, it feels like a major tarnish on our otherwise still-shiny new president (-elect). I hope it was worth it.
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