Category: books

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Best Laid Plans

“If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”   – Woody Allen

After building this year’s Race Calendar, the next logical step was to build a training plan.  Obviously the way to attain goals is to stick to a plan that will build you up to the point where you can achieve them.  I wanted to write something up that was structured, and stand on the shoulders of giants by following or adapting something made by professionals.

I like the book Training Plans for Multisport Athletes by Gale Bernhardt.  Each chapter is a different training plan for a different scenario: they differ by athlete’s level of experience, the event type and length, and the athlete’s goals/expectations.  Looking into the book, I figured that my plan should resemble one of three plans:

  1. Faster Olympic Distance Performance.  This is basically what I want to achieve, but the plan involves 2 workouts in different disciplines a day, even in the General Preparation phase (where we basically prep the body for the training to come).  It just isn’t terribly realistic for my schedule and life, and most structured training plans look more or like this one.
  2. 6 Weeks to an Olympic Triathlon for Athletes with Limited Time.  This one is nice and simple and also geared not only to my race type/distance, but also my schedule.  I do have more than 6 weeks to play with, and the plan isn’t structured with regards to types of workout (speed, tempo, long distance/endurance).  I wanted to get a little better in regard to having more specific training sessions, so this one isn’t ideal.
  3. Multisport Fitness Plan.  This is my favourite as it is more of a lifestyle plan for athletes who like to do multisport, and allows for some cross-training (e.g. basketball, hockey, or jiu-jitsu in my case) in your schedule.  It isn’t geared for specific race goals, but it is 24 weeks long, which was just about right at the time I made my race calendar plan.

I struggled with trying to hybridize these plans as the structures got pretty complicated, but I liked the idea of a general preparation phase (of about 4 weeks) so I decided to focus on that.

Mon
Tues
Wed
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
Week #
DATE
27/02
28/02
29/02
01/03
02/03
03/03
04/03/
1
Main
Swim
Run
Spin
Rest
Spin
Run
Circuit
Backup
Spin
Circuit
Yoga
Pushups
Swim
Yoga
Bike Trainer
Sec. Backup
Jitsu
Body Blast
Circuit
Jitsu
Yoga
DATE
05/03
06/03
07/03
08/03
09/03
10/03
11/03
2
Main
Swim
Run
Spin
Rest
Spin
Run
XC Ski
Backup
Spin
Circuit
Yoga
Pushups
Swim
Yoga
Sec. Backup
Jitsu
Body Blast
Circuit
Jitsu

Knowing how chaotic my life was I tried to match each day to what might be available in terms of work schedule (meetings near lunch would eliminate lunchtime workouts), gym group exercise schedule (spin classes for bike workouts, spacing strength workout apart appropriately), and other extra-curricular considerations like when I would most need to be at home. Each day had not only a backup workout in case I missed my first shot (pool closures, bad weather, work related rescheduling), but a backup-backup workout. So every day had a primary, secondary and tertiary workout option. I included possible workouts like Yoga, the 100 pushups workouts, group exercise at the gym, and jiu-jistu. I tried not to plan rest days (the purple field is a tentative/possible rest day), because I knew they might happen unbidden (based on experience), but boy did I ever underestimate that!

Here’s what happened.

Mon
Tues
Wed
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Sun
Week #
DATE
27/02
28/02
29/02
01/03
02/03
03/03
04/03/
1
Main
Swim 1500m
REST
Spin
Run
Backup
Sec. Backup
DATE
05/03
06/03
07/03
08/03
09/03
10/03
11/03
2
Main
Backup
Sec. Backup

I started off sticking to the plan, but by Wednesday, Shark Boy had gotten sick with a fever and throat infection which kept him miserable throughout the day and woke him up several times a night.  After waking up, he was generally inconsolable for almost an hour each time.  Through visits to 2 after-hours clinics and his pediatrician, we ruled out strep throat and ear infections.  The wake-ups continued when the fever was down through drugs, and when he had no fever at all anymore.  Without turning this into a family drama post, suffice it to say that sleep was hard to come by – to a degree I hadn’t experienced since he was a newborn.  The red in the table represents days I didn’t do any exercise at all – forced rest days.

I managed to get it together enough to attend a spin class on the Friday and on Saturday I decided I would use the scant time I had to do a tempo run.  My thinking was that since I couldn’t go long, I could at least go fast.  I had obviously contacted some kind of infection of my own; I was coughing throughout the day, but I had read that you can train with a cold, as long as it’s not in your chest.  Does having a cough count?  Apparently it does, because I was sick as a dog by Monday and took Tuesday off work.  I spent the rest of the week recovering and trying to help Shark Boy do the same.

I’m not sure when I felt physically up to training again, because mentally I had just about given up on the idea of committing to anything (even though I’ve paid for a couple of race registrations already – see the Race Calendar).  I was really down in the dumps, and I guess I needed the entire week to regroup.

The good news:

  • Shark Boy still wakes up a few times a night, but he’s much easier to get back to sleep again.  He’s feeling well and his disposition during the day is delightful; just like it used to be.
  • I lost about 3-4 pounds somehow during all this.
  • At the time of this writing I’ve gone for a run and a spin class this week already.

Getting back into training after a hiatus is an injury trap for me; I had to tell myself the following to make sure I eased back into it (yes, apparently I talk to myself on Twitter):

 I’m happy to be doing something physical again.  I don’t feel up to anything hardcore (or doing any strength work) yet, and I don’t have a structured plan, but I do have the desire again at least. 

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Book Review:The Distance (An Average Joe’s Path to Balancing Family, Work, and Triathlon) by David Mills

David Mills is not the kind of person you could make a lot of excuses to.  He trained for, and completed an Ironman triathlon (Louisville) while working as a navigator for the US Airforce in Okinawa (that means not only long but irregular hours), being a father to 2 children (including changing diapers), completing grad school courses, and attending church.  His book ‘The Distance’ chronicles his route to the finish line as ‘an Average Joe’… Although the description above doesn’t make him sound so average!

Let me get one thing out of the way: the author is a Christian, and not at all shy about it.  If you want your reading material to be 100% secular, you should be aware of this.  If you’re like me, and interested in being part of a tolerant society, you can treat an author’s faith as part of their voice, like a naughty sense of humour, or a tendency to overuse parentheses (like this!).

I generally stay away from biography and non-fiction, as I like my reading to have an escapist quality, but I did enjoy this book.  The book is fairly light reading; it is broken up into short chapters that give David’s overall journey a logical structure.  He starts off with not only a good overview of triathlons (specifically Ironmans) but also a self-examination of what made him want to attempt something he admits is ‘crazy’.

After a little insight into the mind of Average Joe Ironman, he spends a few chapters giving us background on his family (including how to include them in training), work, athletic background and surroundings.  This sets the stage for us to understand how little time he would have to spare, but the other nice part, is we feel like we’re getting to know the man, and the whole read feels like a conversation with a regular guy.  His humour and spirit really help in this regard.

From there he moves into the 3 disciplines of triathlon, one chapter at a time.  These were my favourite parts; even though I have my share of triathlon experience, I found David’s take to be enlightening (especially from the perspective of training longer distances) without alienating me by being overly technical or daunting.

“The swim portion is like the bouncer at the door and if you want to make it to the party inside you’ve got to train and find a way to overcome your fear in order to get past that beast of a swim.  The swim portion keeps out the riff-raff”

David’s advice is to be as relaxed as possible, not only for energy conservation, keep your technique clean, avoid the melee of feet and elbows, but also from a ‘stop and smell the roses’ perspective.  It’s solid and sensible advice.

I got the most out of the bike chapter; since Ironman biking distance represents the biggest jump from my comfort zone (I’ve run a marathon and swam 2.1km in races before, but never biked more than 55km) in my weakest discipline.  David correctly identifies cycling as the most time consuming discipline, as well as illustrating the importance of knowing basic bike repair:

“Part of the spirit of Ironman is self-sufficiency.  You can’t accept any outside aid from friends or family, and no one else on a bike can lend you any tools or help either….Flat tire? Change it yourself. Broken Chain? Should’ve carried a chain tool and a spare link…”

 He also stresses the necessity of eating while on the road.  I always knew to take in calories during the race (I usually use gels and sport drinks) but I didn’t know that most Iron distance athletes use real, solid food like bagels (or rice balls wrapped in seaweed if you’re in Okinawa!).  The idea of taking nutrition breaks at local stores/cafes makes longer rides seem more appealing, I’ve got to admit.

Once you get to the run chapter, you’ll see where David’s ideas get a little revolutionary.

“…you don’t have to run as much as someone training for a marathon… all that swimming and biking you’re doing is also increasing your overall fitness… If you must err, then err on the side of undertraining.”

Obviously his advice is always geared toward completing the Ironman, not competing or achieving a specific performance goal.  He also highlights a difference between marathons and Ironman: the lack of headphones forces the athletes to be more ‘in the moment’ and cultivates a more communal atmosphere as athletes talk with each other and get engaged with spectators.  I liked that he was able to see a positive side to what most of us see as a real negative to triathlon racing.

For my part, what I’ve gathered from this book and other sources that the obstacle is simply wanting it badly enough; everything else is just an excuse.  So will I be doing an Ironman next year? No, I don’t want to.  I don’t want to spend hours and hours on my bike (I could live with more running and swimming, I guess), or ask my family to make sacrifices on my behalf, or handle the more complicated logistics of travel and accomodation.  I will tell you though, that after reading this book, I don’t want to do it a lot less.