One foot in-front of the other. . .

Friday, I did a couple of shots of flax-seed oil and then ran 1:15 aerobically with a little progression at the end. Felt great afterward which says it all. Of course slamming my recovery drink post run was key too. I have to get this immunity system back together!

Saturday (today), rode the trainer for 45 minutes in the garage, mixing-up the gears and then quickly jumped into my running cloth and did 50 minutes. Again, all aerobic but for a little progression at the end. Felt great.

Listened to a little Zeppelin today. They are the best. . .ever. By the way, John Paul Jones, Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and Dave Grohl have started a new band: Them Crooked Vultures. Queens is the shit. Grohl worked with them on Songs for the Deaf. JPJ: enough said. Stoked.

These work-outs were good. Goal: strong and fast. And stay healthy. Health is wealth.

No Mas . . . Data . . .Fo reels

Solid 5 miler this am no HR data, no Garmin, no nada. Just the feeling that I would be having a heart attack around the next bend in the trail. And this is how I will roll.

The dumbest thing I can ever say is that the blogosphere has made me a slower runner. But sometimes the dumbest thing someone might say, might just have a point. Let's just say I'm going to run like I used too, dumb and full of the need to get after it without comparison or commentary. Just run. I used to run organically. Now I just try to eat that way. Well, ironically, I'm full of shit now. So, time to run. No data to compile other than the knowledge that I worked that day and the day after. This is the plan along with weights and core. My wife and I had a little stint with a Personal Trainer, so I have some "routines" that enable me to think less, maintain my dumbness. Run and get strong. And I will hit the bike. After all, it's laughing at my dumb ass right now, insisting I don't have the manhood to ride. We'll see.

Whatever.

My blood work came back pretty uneventfully. I shut-down the fitness program after a run last Wednesday following some bigtime fatigue on a run. The HR had been higher than it should and the fatigue had become pretty odd. I always have a lot of energy. That has not been the problem. But these bouts of fatigue have been alarming. Head-aches, very fatigued, pretty silly. The blood work didn't reveal much other than a slightly weak thyroid. We'll see what the next week or so reveals, if my doctor wants "more tests."

It might boil down to my coffee abstinence and simple recovery from some illness and drugs. . . and the fact that I'm getting old.

Anyways, I started up again today, the minute I heard the blood results. After my work-out I hit the OB Noodle House and went Pho with three Racer 5s.

Back to square one.

We have a lot of work to do!

Here's an email I pulled from the Triathlon Club of San Diego "message board."
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10-11-09

List mates

I sipped my coffee this morning and read the LA Times.In the pictures I saw snow on the ground in America.But none in San Diego.Then I thought of my friend Clayton Griessmeyer who now lives and practices law in Wisconsin..He tells me its getting cold.I miss him.Were sure lucky here.

Seconds latter, I reflected on yesterdays Hawaiian Ironman,which signals the traditional close of the Triathlon season.Even most Bicycle races.

With that said, may I share with you all a poem my mentor Gerry Spence,Esq wrote for his wife Imaging,which captures the change in season.Its called First Snow.


First Snow

Together we watched the snow cover the ground

In ten minutes.

“Before it’s through

The snow will be up to the doorknob.”

Do you remember saying that?

Then we saw the golden ground give up,

The tall summer grasses, frightened,

Standing stiff

Like old men frozen at the brink

Waiting to be smothered.

“Do not be afraid, grasses,” you said.

“Already you have seeded.

Do not shiver so.

But fight.” Do you remember how you said,

“Oh, please fight!”

And then the blood of golden grasses

Turned all white.


Warm Regards to you all this Fall. I look forward to next season... full of racing, friendship & adventure.

Sincerely,

Richard __________

___________________________________________________________

Clearly, a fine mention of the nice weather in San Diego vs. other parts of the country, and the popular sentiment whistling through the minds of many regarding the racing season.

However, I've been reminded too often via the blogosphere and elsewhere of how athletes embrace the change of season despite snow and other seasonal changes. Moreover, it. is. on. And any talk of respite, hiatus, off-season. . .be gone! We all live in the season of becoming a better human being which includes but is not limited to husband, father, brother, son, daughter, mother, wife. . . and athlete. And sure we need a little recovery now and then, for sure. But don't get carried away.

Let the good times roll! and don't stop believing. . .and let's get this party started!

I like GZ's mention today of how he's just exercising because he doesn't have a specific goal in mind. But you can see he wants to be ready. And obviously, the more active we are in our preparation/maintenance/drive to succeed, the better we are in other facets of life.


Btw, i gotta say watching the Yankees beat the Twins to clinch that divisional series had one real highpoint. After A-Rod tied the game at 1-1 with a solo blast, the Twin faithful chanted, quite well I might add, "Steroid. . . Steroid. . . ." etc.

I'm going to start twittering so I can yap about those kinds of things.

. . .and this Rockies/Phils game is great!

The beginning of the end?

Hopefully this is the end of my off-season and I can start to get some full health in place and start to really build. I had a good week of building, but can feel yesterday's run in my upper chest (nothing too bad). I'm not even 85%, but I've been working-out. I'd like this next week to be "WEEK ONE" in my (end of) '09 - '10 campaign.

Here's my little comeback, so far:

9/30 - 4 miles

10/1 - 2 miles

10/3 - 2.5 mile hike on Ray Miller

10/4 - 4 miles (went too hard at the end. .. "I want to run, bad.")

10/5 - 4 miles (felt pretty weak)

10/7 - 40 minutes on my trainer

10/8 - 5 miles on hilly trail (run/hike)

10/9 - 8 miles (6-am & 2-pm) Felt very very tired/weak, elevated HR

10/10 - 7.5 miles, hilly. Energy was pretty good so I just ran, but the HR was way too high. Oh well. It "felt" good.

10/11 (today) - 1 hour at the gym doing core and strength work. I will take the rest of the day off. Yesterdays ("hard") run kicked my ass. I'm going to hunker-down and hope this next week can build.

~37 miles in a week and a half.

I'm drinking a bud lite right now at 12:30 watching baseball and football and procrastinating the 100+ papers I have to grade. Yuck. If I end-up in the Hop Head, trouble.

Congrats to Craig Alexander and Chrissie Wellington. Pretty convincing.

And congrats to JW on his first CX win.

The Yankees

The New York Yankees' rhetorical argument:

I don't buy it. That they haven't won more world championships in this modern era is a little surprising.

Here's their logos: a lot of extremely high paid players. This year, once again, they roll-out the best that money can buy. Their ace and #2 are brand new. The Yanks signed their ace (CC Sabathia) to a 7 year $161 million contract; their #2 (Jason Burnett) is making a fresh $82,500,000 over 5 years. That's the '08 off-season. Over the past decade they have signed huge free agent after huge free agent. Oh, and Mark Teixeira, their new first basemen, signed an 8 year $180 million contract. Those three contracts equal $423,500,000. Under the rules, they have done their job of creating a most capable team consisting of, essentially, the best players available. In terms of personnel (coaches, players) they have a strong argument. Most baseball fans would say the Yankees have what it takes to win it all. True. They do have the evidence, and one can reason from that evidence that the team is solid. A good argument.

Pathos: Do the Yankees evoke sympathy? Do you feel good about what they represent in the game of baseball? What do they represent? What emotions does one associate with the NY Yankees? Well, unless you're a fan (New Yorker, Front-runner, etc.), they symbolize what is wrong with baseball's salary structure. There is very little or no revenue sharing. You've heard it before: the Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers can't compete with the Yankees or Mets, or Red Sox. The Yankees are the epitome of the HUGE market franchise. The financial reality might inspire fear in some fans. But I'm sure there is equal amounts of resentment. Such a structure isn't fair. Emotionally, outside the New York Yankee fanbase, the argument is pretty weak. A lot of people hate the Yankees.

To be fair, the team has a history of winning (numbers don't lie). That kind of success translates. People associate success with the Yanks. Even the New Yorker arrogance has come to represent a true American characiture, a ture American classic. However, in today's context of corporate excess and corruption, the Yankees have a lot of evidence to support that kind of operation. That doesn't translate. Emotionally, perhaps we have a split decision. They inspire a lot of excitement, a lot of success in big games with players that have performed very well. The fan-base enjoys the fruit of a very strong logos which has helped manifest a strong pathos. Unfortunately, not everyone shares these sentiments.

Ethos: The Yankees have a lot of credibility as a baseball enterprise. They have been hugely successful, become part of the mainstream culture, representative of the great American past time. Some might argue the Yankees represent American baseball better than anyone. If you're a fan, you trust your team is actively (aggressively) building a competitive team. The San Diego Padres fans (and surely other cities' fans) have lost faith in their teams. They don't trust management is doing its best to build a strong team. Perhaps the owner(s) want to make money (only), and since his/her team's market might be less conducive to growth, said owner has to make decisions that ensure he makes money: sign average players but still charge fans big league prices. NY Yankees fans don't have this problem.

Be that as it may, in the past decade the Yankees have lost a lot of respect/credibility. Sure, the fan-base might still be fanatical about its Yankees, but anyone watching baseball knows that they haven't been very successful in recent memory. In fact they haven't won a world series since 2000 despite having the HIGHEST payroll each year; despite each off-season signing the best free agent players available. I would love to link a list of the Yankee free-agents signed in the 21st century. This disparity represents a big weakness in the New Yorkers' ethos. They have contributed to the massive salary inflation and petered-out in the post-season. Having said that, their credibility (ethos) is not very strong.

Now, despite the association one makes between the Yankees and corporate excess, we have to be fair and say that the real indictment here is that of baseball itself.

I have to admit, I decided to do this after watching the Yankees win yesterday, beating the Twins in extra innings. All of these big free-agents pitching, hitting walk-off homers, etc., made me a little queesy. So, I thought, let's breakdown the Yankees the way Aristotle might on his own blog.

Having done this, I realize that the Yankees indeed have some rhetorical weaknesses. Emotionally and ethically they are vulnerable. However, they play by the rules. Baseball establishes the rules. The Yankees more or less abide by those rules. In the event that they have a luxury tax to pay for going over some sort of salary cap, they can afford that, no problem. The beat goes on.

Maybe we should take a closer look at baseball . . .

In Stages

Doesn't everything happen in stages?

(Really no relevance to this photo but it's such a good one).

"In a surprise, Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize."

The reaction from most, even his biggest supporters, appears to be stunned. Clearly, from anyone who has followed even lightly the news will wonder on what the committee based this decision.

Obviously, the conservative reaction concerns the rest of the world's idolization of Obama. He's popular, he's practically a celebrity in countries around the world. They'll point to various speeches he's given abroad wherein he's effectively "apologized" for the U.S. So, the conservative (anti-Obama) take will amount this award being the result of his deference to others, to put it mildly. A right-winger might just say, "Obama's a pussy."

At the very least, people (both left middle and right) will wonder what accomplishments of Obama warranted the Nobel Peace Prize. The selection committee is, I believe, notoriously left (liberal) so again some criticism will point toward a giant liberal hug.

A couple of problems with this conservative spin. First of all, there is, I think almost all would agree, a great deal of credibility associated with the Nobel Peace Prize selection/election process. Intelligence, culture and good-will (ethics) exude from that entire enterprise. As a result, we ought to consider their choice in light of this credibility. Does a world-wide liberal conspiracy out-weigh that committee's role in maintaining a history of recognizing human achievement? I really doubt it. But don't be surprised if you hear Glen Beck or one of his puppies argue otherwise.

The second problem with the knee-jerk "what in the hell has Obama done to deserve this" reaction is that such points-of-view still see America as a country operating independently in a world of lesser foes. The patriotism associated with the Republican banner is both bullshit and one of that party's inherent flaws. It's bullshit because the more liberal thinker is just as patriotic, just as proud of his/her American citizenship, as the right-wing clown. Such a tactic as arousing the social conservatism of, say, the southern states of this country amounts to raising a pit bull to kill on command: it's just as unfair to the dog as it is to the one the dog will attack. One saw this line of bullshit with McCain's VP pick. Her down-home Americana bullshit got laughed right off the stage. But the flaw is even more serious. Our independence was established in and around 1776. But centuries later, the world is different. To use the ideas of one Benjamin Barber, we are interdependent now. Our failure to realize that amounts to our failure to be successful on so many fronts (politically, economically, environmentally, educationally, socially, medically, etc.). We have to get along with the rest of the world. Sure we are still a leader, still pound-for-pound the strongest country (leave it at that), but that only means we have to lead in working interdependently with others. To be the leader, we have to act like the leader.

And that's, I believe, where the Nobel selection committee got its read on Obama. They believe in Obama. Let's certainly not take away that he has initiated talks with certain countries and made priorities of certain issues that amount to establishing more peace and security, but many will wonder what exactly has he done?

Everything happens in stages. At this most early stage of his presidency, the world's authority on human achievement has declared "good things are to come from this man." I think even Obama woke-up this morning and said, "Wow."
_________________________________________________________________________

And the training happens in stages. . .

Wed. 40 minutes on the trainer. Light. Felt pretty good.

Thurs. 5 miles on a hilly trail. Walk/run repeat. This was more or less the prescription of Dr. Tim. I coughed most of the 5 miles, pretty annoying. Really tight in the chest.

Friday. 8 miles. But tired w/elevated HR. I'm coming. . .

Some exercise

Last Wednesday I ran 4 miles and felt great, even blobbed about how great it was. Whatever. Well, it beat me up. I just wasn't quite over the sickness. Did another 2 miles on Thursday. Friday traveled up the coast to go camping. Saturday did 2.5 miles and some climbing but that was a hike. Then I slept a lot, on the beach, in the tent, between beers. Sunday, got home and ran 4 miles pretty solid, finishing with a little intensity. Almost threw-up and didn't go that hard. Monday, feeling a little iffy, ran 4 more miles. Tuesday (today) took off because of work and just knew I needed to stay off.

Couple of good points came-up about working-out with a cold on GZ's blog. I knew I was going a bit too hard during some of my runs, even if I wasn't going hard. HR too high. So, I'll hit the bike tomorrow and see where I am. I feel better today. I mean it. I know it. After my night class got out at 9:00pm, I sprinted back to my car. I'm ready to go tomorrow. Let's do this!

So for the week so far, I have 12 miles.

Pictures

Camping w/friends in N. Malibu







Beat after 2.5 miles, 800ft. climb

Get it, Bo.


Another beer commercial.
This is a still from the video shoot -- I'm explaining the aggressive hops. . .