45 RPMs

It's official, running with music is faster than running with people talking.

For the past several runs I randomly chose to listen to either a podcast or music on my iPod Nano. Although I wore my Garmin, I ran without a specific pace goal. I just ran on feeling, like how I decide which tie to wear in the mornings because my eyes lack the requisite cones to help me make an informed decision based on the color of shirt I'm wearing. The point of my study was to determine if I ran faster listening to a podcast or to my musical playlist.

So, my study was not super sciencey because I knew what I was studying and the purpose of switching from podcast to music, nevertheless, I do have results. (I suppose you could say I know I run faster when listening to music when I know I'm conducting a study to find if I run faster with music or podcasts playing.)

My playlist consists mostly of rock and roll songs, but there's some rap, a novelty song, opera, singer-songwriter stuff, and maybe a couple other things I can't think of (I guess the choice of songs is another variable).

Results: Running with music, average pace 8:12. Running with podcasts, average pace 8:21. So there you have it. In case you're wondering, I ran a variety of routes with various start times and distances. The average distance I ran was 4.70947 miles.

At some point in my life I acquired a CD with the Rocky I, II, III, and IV soundtracks. I have a playlist of all those songs which should propel me to victory in my next race, based on the above results. If it doesn't I'm going to seriously doubt the power of music, and science.

Let me take a moment and tell you about my new favorite podcast. It's called Good Job Brain! It's four people (I think there's four) and they sit around and give trivia to each other. I know, it's awesome! They pick a subject, they each research some aspect of that subject, and then they tell various bits of trivia about the topic. You should listen to it.

I realize you'll never listen to that podcast. I have a feeling podcasts are a little like music in that if you really want someone to not like a song you should say, "Hey, check out this new song! It's great! You'll love it!" It's scientifically proven that no one has ever liked a song that a friend recommended to them.

Nevertheless, here's what I heard on my 7.23 mile run today.

Bat Out of Hell-Meatloaf     This song took up like 4.5 miles of my run.
Big Gun-AC/DC
Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)-Styx     A song about a guy out of work and too proud for welfare. Are there anymore people like that anymore?
Carry On Wayward Son-Kansas
Cum on Feel the Noize-Quiet Riot     Worst spellers ever. This is mostly on my iPod because I wasn't allowed to listen to it in 6th grade when it came out even though all my friends had the cassette. I guess my parents didn't want me listening to bands who couldn't spell, I don't know.
Decadence Dance-Extreme
Fight for Your Right-Beastie Boys     Brilliant lyrics, I mean, cum on!
Flo-Smash Mouth     About a guy dating a lesbian who's not over her old girlfriend. Pretty sure mom and dad would have a problem with this one. Don't tell my pastor either.
Grounded-The Supertones     I believe this is a Christian band, but I doubt this would've received much air play at home. I really can't tell you what the song is about.
Hair of the Dog-Nazareth    The name of the band sounds Christian, but I don't think they are. At least I've never heard a Christian song that uses the phrase "son of a bitch".
Hammer to Fall-Queen     Not their best. In some ways it's good that Freddy died when he did. Those last few albums weren't great.
Hells Bells-AC/DC    Pretty sure this is a Christian song warning about going to Hell, where Bon Scott went to live.
Here I Go Again-Whitesnake

Then my run was over.

I doubt I will listen to much music while running in the future. I prefer the podcasts though I recognize they slow me down. I'll bust out the music in running races. You can't wear headphones in triathlons (fascist USAT).

Let me know if you live dangerously like me and take to the streets with headphones in each ear.

Run Like a Deer

We wake up to gun fire around here at the start of deer season. The season actually starts next Saturday, but there is a special youth hunt today and tomorrow, so I heard the distant rifle booms this morning as I contemplated an early morning run.

Although I'm thankful for the legions of men, and women, in my neck of the woods who bravely take to the forest to protect us from the poor defenseless Bambis out there, I do feel like I should wear hunter safety orange while running. Occasionally I'll hear gunfire while I'm out, depending which trail I take, but I comfort myself knowing that if I hear the gunfire, then they missed me.

I actually have nothing against hunting, and maybe someday I'll go. I would want it to be a challenge, however. I mean, c'mon man! I've been out running and seen deer close enough to hit with a rock, let alone a rifle and a scope. In the paper there'll be pictures of kids with deer they killed. "Susie Q, 8 yrs old, from Podunk, MO, killed this 12 pt buck Sat. morning." I never heard of an 8-year-old completing an Ironman. See, there's a challenge!

Completing an Ironman must be a serious challenge, but training for one is challenging as well. For instance, I'm sitting here procrastinating a run and using the excuse that I need to update the blog. Can you blame me? It's 34° outside. I have a warm quiet house because the kids are at their Grandmother's, and I just made some coffee in the coffee press. So why in the world should I go outside and exert myself? Oh, and another reason to stay hunkered down, the woods are filled with children and firearms today.

Seriously, I'll have another cup of joe, or two, then I'll get out and do some running. No trails today. I'm going to keep it in town. There's an Ironman somewhere calling, and I need to be ready, and I don't want to get tagged by Susie Q.

Tis the Season

Don't you love this time of year when the leaves starting turning to orange and red, but you can't see them on your run because it's still way too dark that early in the morning? I love it too!

This morning was the first I wore pants on my run in a long time. I'm glad I did; it was frosty out there. I have various appendages that are susceptible to freezing temperatures, so in addition to pants, I wore gloves and a watch cap.

frosty morning

I'm always tempted to put on way too many clothes, but this morning I did OK. I didn't get over heated at all. In the past I've tried to keep a log of what the weather conditions were, what I wore, and how I felt. It would be a lot easier if I kept that up and then referred to it before putting on that hoodie and then tying it around my waist half way through the run.

The other thing I think about when it gets chilly is that just a few weeks ago I was complaining about how friggin' hot it was out there. So what's better to work out in, hot weather, or cold? Or to ask it another, more creepy way, how much do you like to sweat?

Am I Lazy or Just a Wussie

My in-laws acquired a few chickens and the hens are laying eggs. They gave us a couple dozen eggs and I boiled three of them this morning for my AM protein. I don't know why but I feel just like a peasant in feudal France eating these eggs. I don't know if French peasants even ate eggs. I guess because someone I know actually gathered the eggs it makes them more rustic.

The French today enjoy watching pro cyclists ride through their country in a spectacle known in English as "Le Tour de France." If at forty-one I ever hope to compete in le Tour I need to start training on the bike. But getting outside and actually taking your bike with you is such a hassle! There's traffic, weather, and who knows what else?

Enter indoor trainers. I'm contemplating getting one of these things but would obviously like to make the right decision before I plunk down however many francs these things cost. I read a few reviews on Amazon and I have read about other cyclists using them, but I'd like to know if they'd be right for me. At least one plus I see with them is you're training on your own bike, so maybe it wouldn't be exactly like training outside, but at least you're sitting on your own saddle.

A pricier option is a stationary bike. This option worries me a little because I've rarely ridden one that felt anything like riding a real bike. I did ride one at a Y recently that was pretty good. It had aero bars and everything. I looked at the reviews for the Proform le Tour trainer, but the reviews are mixed, people aren't happy with the customer service, and it weighs in at about €926. That's a lot of bread for a peasant like me if I don't end up liking it.

Or, should I just go outside and ride? Wouldn't that make more sense? After all, if you want to do triathlon and cyclocross, you have to get used to the weather. I know I can read the All Seasons Cyclist and be well outfitted for any condition, and I do hope to make it out more this winter on my 'cross or trail bike, but sometimes I'd like to go down to the garage in the morning before work and knock out forty-five minutes of riding without too much hassle.

One other issue I complain about regularly is the lack of good roads around my town. I live in a thriving metropolis with a population of about 9,000 people. You would think there would be a good country road where I could ride for miles and miles without even thinking about it. There are some roads, but they don't have shoulders, and with the curves and the rolling hills I'm too nervous to get out on them. So I do most of my long rides on the Katy Trail, an old railway line converted to a biking trail here in Missouri. It's OK and I appreciate it being there very much, but it is flat and covered in fine gravel, so it's not exactly like riding on the road either.

If you have any suggestions, let me know. Now, if you'll excuse me I need to go and gather some lovely filth.

The Doldrums

What should you do after the last race of the season? Take a significant amount of time off? Keep training? Sign up for more races? Eat potato chips and hotdogs for lunch? (I did that last one today, so check.)

It's hard to decide how lazy I should be. What I do know is I don't want to start from zero when I do start, so, I took about a week off in September, and started working again at the end of the month. Nothing heavy, just weights, some running, and swimming.

Wait, what? Swimming?

Yes, I actually went to the pool twice since September 23rd. Since I started triathlons three or four years ago I never hit the pool after September until February. And this time I have a new approach. I am no longer going to just put in laps and try to hit a certain distance. I will do a number of sets and make sure I hit some time goals for those sets. For instance, swim four laps in four minutes, and then beat that by two seconds the next set. That sort of thing. (Our indoor pool here in town is 25 yards long, so a lap is 50 yards, and not 100 meters.)

I also plan to take paper and pen with me to the pool to record my sets and make sure I'm making improvements. I see a few soggy notebooks in my future. How do real swimmers record their workouts? They must have something.

Anyways, I did it the other way all those other years and never got any better, so I'll try it a different way and see what happens.

Otherwise I'm still sitting here in the doldrums, trying to get motivated, and trying to decide if Ironman is for me. Hey, they're racing in Kona this weekend. If that doesn't motivate you, what will?

Red Red Whine

In yesterday's post I related how I had a bad race in Branson last Sunday. I was pretty disappointed, during, and after, the race. Heck! I'm still a little disappointed right now. But I own that bad race.

I talked about how my back tightened up and made it hard to get good deep breaths. At one point I thought I might die, but I realized it would be a slow death, slow enough to let me finish the race, so I might as well keep moving. I think the reason my back gave me that trouble on the run is because I didn't train enough on the bike. I think my back was reacting to being in the aero position for so long, which it's not accustomed to doing.

I also know that if I'm really honest I'd say I don't really 'train', but rather, 'exercise'. Even though I track my times and efforts and all that, it's been a while since I've put that information to use. That's the main problem with my swim. I'm happy to just knock out a certain distance. I need to incorporate some time goals and work to achieve them. Space and time, just like that famous triathlete Einstein told us about.

Even in the midst of that run last Lord's Day, I remembered something I read the night before. I ran across an article on some triathlon site about things to remember on race day. Probably a little late to start getting ready for a race the night before, but the last thing on the list was something like, "Be thankful you are able to race." So I had to give thanks for being out there, even as a man with a prosthetic leg passed me. Props to him.

So what now? Man, last Sunday I said I was never doing a triathlon again! Today I'm looking at full Ironman races and trying to decide which would work out best for me. Actually, I think if I get into a full Ironman I want to meet some intermediate goals before I even sign up. But that's tricky, because a lot of these races fill up so fast. And I'm disappointed that the St. George race in Utah is now a half Ironman. Wisconsin sells out the day registration opens (what is it with that race?). So maybe TX or Louisville? Any thoughts?

At any rate, I did work out today for the first time since last Sunday. Squats, deadlift, and crunches. Twenty-four minutes all together. I recorded the weights and sets, but it was really just a light set to get back into the swing of things. Let's see if I can get any better at the next workout.

ps. BTW, normally you can follow me on Twitter, @kenkenkenusa, but yesterday I broke my iPhone (I know, I'm very sad). My son and I decided to go shoot skeet. At one point we were messing with the cord you pull, and I set the launcher. Cut to the launcher getting released and hitting me in the leg. I didn't think much of it at first, but then I thought, "That didn't hurt as much as I thought it would." And then, "Oh crap! My phone is in my pocket." Sure enough the screen got shattered. It still displays the time and the lock screen photo, but I can't "Slide to unlock." So, we may make a trip to the Apple store tomorrow.

The Big Branson 70.3 Bust

or

How Bad Do I Suck at Triathlon?

or

Time to Start Blogging About Something Else

Wow! What a let down. I knew my time wouldn't be great, but c'mon man!

Last Sunday I participated in the Branson 70.3 Ironman race. I say 'participated' because I didn't 'compete'. I was present. I, in fact, finished the race, but only after several others finished ahead of me.

My goal was to do just a little better than last year. In 2011 I finished in 7:10, and it took 4:05 to get through the bike course. So I thought I'd push it just a bit more on the bike and get done that much sooner. Everything went as planned, until I started running, my strongest event.

The day started early at Moonshine Beach. Normally it's an Army Corps of Engineers park, and the water is surprisingly clear. The water was also surprisingly warm. At 74 degrees it was warmer than the air, but still wetsuit legal. I got my transition all set up and got my wetsuit on and decided I should hit the port-a-potty once more before my wave started.

Normally urinating in a port-a-potty is uneventful, if not really smelly. You don't expect to be put on display when you're in there. There were about fifteen port-a-johns lined up but there were only five or six lines of people taking turns to get into one. Everyone was standing 10-15 feet back from the doors and nobody was going into a john unless they saw someone come out. There was no one going down the line knocking on doors looking for an empty one.

So with that knowledge I stepped into the head and didn't feel it necessary to lock the door. About midstream I hear a knock. "Just a second!" I say. Knock again. "Just a second!" At this point the door opens and a young lady is standing there (mid 20s?). If I opened a port-a-potty door and there was anyone in there I'd probably get that door shut in half a second and be embarrassed. This girl lingered! I tried to keep my back to her but I turned my head around and looked her in the eye. She did not meet my gaze. I swear to you it seems like she was trying to get a look at my johnson. It's like she was trying to see what I was holding in there. And it's not like she was, "Oh, I'm so sorry!" and then slammed the door. It was more like, "Oh, let me see what this guy is holding over there. What is that? Oh well, he obviously doesn't want me to see. I guess I'll close the door and go wait in line."

So with that out of the way, I decided to go for a swim with a few other guys 40-44 years old. I finished this 1.2 mile swim in 48:04 in 2011, in 2012 I finished in 48:12. Lost a few seconds, but consistent, uh? Pretty slow, too. I don't know why I swim so slowly, but my wife diagnosed my stroke and said I'm "methodical."

On to the bike. Last year I had no idea about my pace, speed, or anything while riding. So this year I brought my Garmin just so I could make sure I maintained some sort of minimum speed. I calculated that if I averaged 17 miles per hour I could finish in about three hours. After the first loop I could see that wasn't going to happen. There's about 3,000 feet of total ascent. If you don't believe the hills in Branson are steep and long, read anyone else's blog that did this race. I haven't read one where the blogger says, "There were hills, but they weren't that bad." Up hill I'd hit 7-9 miles per hour. Down hill I'd get up to around 38 MPH. Others say they went much faster (50+). I'm too much of a wuss to stay in the aero position on those down hills.

I finished the 56 mile hilly, non-flats, bike course in 3:44! That's 20 minutes better than 2011. I was happy getting off the bike. I started running, and my happiness ended.

As soon as I got off the bike and started running pain went through my midsection and around to my back. Not my lower back, it was all up around my ribcage. At first I couldn't figure out what was going on. I'd never experienced this kind of pain before. My first thought was I had eaten too many goos and my gut was reacting, but it wasn't that kind of pain. After probably three or four miles I finally figured out what was going on.

For whatever reason the muscles in my back started to spasm. When they did it constricted my ribcage and it got hard to breathe. I would literally have to force myself to take deep breaths, but when I did, more spasms. So I would slow down and walk until things calmed down. Then I'd start running, and with each step I could feel the muscles getting tighter and tighter. As they'd tighten they forced these little grunts out of me. So as people ran by they'd hear, "Huh, ugh, uh, erh." Finally I would have to walk again.

I really thought I'd get through this after the after the first few miles, but it persisted the whole race. I had to walk several times. I stopped and bent over a few times. At one point I crouched down and some dude told me not to stop and to not sit down, so I kept going. Once while I was walking a girl walked past me and said she didn't know if it hurt more to run or walk. I said walking hurt my pride but running hurt my body.

I finally finished the 13.1 mile run in 2:55. In 2011 it was 2:06. I was disappointed to say the least.
Well, this is long enough already. I have more to talk about, like the tallest guy ever to ride a bike and other observations while racing. I'll have to save them for another post. Sorry, no pics. My wife and I didn't even think to take the camera.