FitOldDog with his friends/supporters, admiring Mirror Lake, the evening before the 2013 Lake Placid Ironman. A day for physical rest combined with focus on preparing race psychology. Photo by Deb.
Hi folks! Welcome!
Sometimes one is so focused that the little screen is everything.
The world you live in will be the world upon which you focus your attention, and this being a conscious decision on your part, believe it or not, you get to choose which world it is to be as you go through each day.
I’m writing this post the day before my 7th. Lake Placid Ironman race, so it will be brief. I undertake this activity, and some wonder why, because it’s my choice. I also spend quite a bit of time on the Internet, but I try to limit this to what is really necessary for my business and blogging interests. When working on the Internet it is as though you’re in touch with the entire planet, but not truly in touch with anyone completely. You’re glued to a little screen, be it iPhone, iPod, or Apple Computer, in my case.
A slight shift of my attention and the little screen no longer dominates my consciousness, revealing other roads to physical and mental exploration.
Time goes by, and before you know it your body is stiff and tired, and instead of finishing your work you’ve found even more things to do. This is why I like to mix and match my activities each day by shifting my attention.
I find that I really like writing this (almost) daily blog, and carrying out my training, which includes one or two workouts a day, most days. Then I find some time to think about marketing and sales for my e-book and videos, but it comes after the previous two items. At the same time, I try to make family my first priority, fitting everything else in around the edges.
The important things in life are mainly about the people in your life, so it pays to take care to show your appreciation.
Jay, great mechanic and rescuer of stranded triathletes in Lake Placid, NY. Photo by FitOldDog with permission.
Your happiness will definitely be a function of how well you parse your time, so do it wisely. I seem to be doing OK considering the great support I have here in Lake Placid, and from people like Marsha and Alan on the web.
It’s surprising where important people turn up, not that they aren’t all important to themselves. Take Jay, for instance, who runs a vehicle repair shop next to my hotel in Lake Placid. Each year for the last three years our old truck decided not leave Lake Placid willingly. It refused to start when the race was over and we were ready to head home. Once it was the battery, then the alternator, and last year the fuel pump. Each time Jay rescued us, in spite of being completely slammed with work, and became yet another member of our support crew. Thanks Jay!
It takes a village to raise an Ironman. In fact, it takes a village to do almost anything.
Cheers,
Kevin aka @FitOldDog
Hey, thanks for the mention! “Shifting attention…” I like that practice. Good luck tomorrow.
Inquiring minds want to know – how did it go? I expect you finished and felt terrific with all your new efficient techniques. I thought of you today while riding from Greensboro to Durham (took the train there, rode back, via Saxapahaw and of course lunch at the general store).
Hi Gary,
Well, I did not finish due to nausea that hit me 10 miles into the run, until which time I felt great, but my times were off for the swim and bike. I ate only three eggs at 4 am., gun went off at 6:30 and I was in the water by 6:45. I carried no food, and did not carboload. I just went about my usual Paleo business. For me this race was an important experiment. I qualified for World’s doing it this way, relying on body fat, but my time was off I thought, in spite of placing. Here I’ve never felt better before a race, which my support crew commented on, but I could tell that I just didn’t have the same umpph in the swim and bike as usual. I felt great and enjoyed both. I was surprised as hell by the nausea, which would not stop, didn’t matter what I ate, and I was forced to walk for the last 11 miles. If this hadn’t happened my time would have been ok (arriving about 9:30ish), but walking kills the event (except for talking to other walking people, most of whom are upset). I was fine with it, as I saw it as an experiment, turning in my chip at mid-night when I arrived, completing 138.6 miles – I’m thinking that would make a great bumper sticker. Conclusion: Paleo is great for short events, ok but not great for half Ironman, not workable (by me) for a full Ironman. I think that my Cori Cycle could not keep up, depleting needed glucose, for red cell and brain function, forcing me to walk. But this needs some research.
Then the guy in the next room, who I was chatting to over my camp stove, told me he had been on Paleo for a while, and he read a book called Paleo for Endurance Athletes (of which I was unaware), and he said the author recommends supplementing with white rice. More experiments to do – my goal is find the safest way to do the Ironman as I get older, and still have good times. I felt fine as soon as I stopped moving, and especially the next morning, at which time I wanted to eat everything in sight.
I’ll read the book, and modify my approach. Yes! I’ve signed up for next year, but I have several races to experiment on nutritionally this year, including NYC marathon, Worlds Half and Outer Banks Half. Plus I can decode this on long workouts. It does feel great not having to carry food, but I guess I have to explore this issue further.
Overall I’m very happy with the experiment, and I’ll have time to nail my new run technique for NYC.
Each day is an experiment, I think.
Thanks for asking.
Cheers,
Kevin aka happyolddog
Kevin,
Part of the reason I’ve been so fascinated with following your blog is that I’ve been thinking on very similar issues with my endurance endeavors (although none as ambitious as even a 70.3). I have been on what Tim Ferriss calls a “slow carb” diet for nearly 2 years, and struggled with figuring out how to manage nutrition on rides longer than 30 or 40 miles. I tried to stick with slow carb at first, passing on sport drinks or other “fast” carb sources but found myself bonking a bit. An element of slow carb is that one day a week you get a “cheat day” – eating all manner of sweets, pizza, whatever; gorging/binging is encouraged if not mandatory! If I am riding long on a cheat day, no problem – drink gatorade, eat clif bars, pbj, etc. But if on a Sunday, trouble. Doing a bit of searching I found some sources that basically say you can eat your regular slow carb diet but you need the carbs while on long rides, essentially suspending slow carb for the 3-6 hrs you are riding. That has worked for me although I have been experimenting with eating fewer carb grams and calories/hr and seem to be fine. Can’t say I have any hard numbers to back it up.
Good luck in your further research. I did find this discussion interesting: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/jonas-colting/#axzz2LkRPyiva
–Gary
Hi Gary,
I really appreciate your information and the link. I just bought the book by Cordain and Friel on Paleo for Athletes, and it seems that I can maintain my Paleo status, but I have to supplement with carbs during and after training. I plan to work on this for my next race. I just signed up for the Louisville Ironman, which is in about 4 weeks, so I have time to dial this in. Before I went Paleo 6 months ago I had the bonking problem nailed by eating 1.25 Powerbars (~300 cal) per hour on the bike and one Hammer gel per 3 miles (200 cal/hr) on the run, along with carboloading. It now appears that I have to fix my nutrition again. I will train for the next three weeks for Louisville, eating as I train and following the advice in the book by Cordain and Friel, then if I can maintain Paleo status I should do fine in Louisville nutritionwise. The Lake Placid IM hardly beat me up at all, even though I did cover 138.2 miles, because my low energy level limited the effort that I could put out all day, resulting slow swim and bike times, and a screwed up nauseas run (fun!). Now let’s see how this approach goes. I’ll be reporting on it if things turn out to be interesting.
Thanks for your interest and comments.
Cheers,
Kevin