Lance Armstrong

       Last summer I wrote a post about Lance Armstrong and defended him and hating on Travis Tygart. Click HERE if you want to read what was written then. Since then, the truth has come out. I didn't watch the Opera interview of Lance coming clean, but now know that everything that he does is cold and calculated. I think that his only motivation in coming clean was to try to get some repentance so he can race again sometime in the near future. So far, every event that he has attempted to enter has refused to let him compete. This includes events such as a marathon and a swimming event. I find it to probably be the best punishment for him (Although loosing virtually all of his sponsors and possibly having to repay some of his legal winnings and competition bonus' has to sting as well). Someone who is soo dedicated to competing is now not allowed to compete even at the lowest levels, from what it seems. The biggest issue that I have with Lance was how he personally went after and publicly crushed the people that were actually telling the truth.

         The fact is, Lance Armstrong was a dominant cyclist in an incredibly dirty time in cycling. In those days, it seems like everyone was doping. I'm not saying that doping is ok, but you need to understand the context in which he was competing. This is proven in the fact that when the UCI stripped him of his victories for the Tour de France, there is no declared winner for those years. Meaning that the people who were the runner's up are not considered the new victors. Why? It's because everyone was doping and every single one of those who were right behind Lance were also suspected of doping in those years as well.

       I think that the cycling community is getting better about doping, and making it extremely difficult to cheat and not get caught. They now employ a testing procedure called DNA Passport (at least I think that's what it's called). Essentially what it is, is they no longer look for specific drugs or "masking agents" which hide the illegal drug use. Instead, they look for changes in the blood and urine samples that would show irregularities because a person is doping. It's way more sensitive of a test, and the proof that it's working is in the most recent races. The times are climbing back up to where they have been in years past (not counting the dirty times where the times were incredibly low).

    So why am I bringing all of this up now? Well, I was bored and surfing eBay the other day and saw someone selling some race wheels and they claimed that Lance had ridden and raced on the wheels. This got the conversation started with my wife Shawna and I again about what Lance had done. I had saved a blog post from a pro athlete to Lance that was penned right after his confession. I had planned on writing this back then, but then I got my bowel obstruction and it was forgotten until the other day. So here's the blog post, enjoy the read.
     It should also be noted that I need to give Travis Tygart some props for sticking to his guns and fighting the fight against a huge mountain. Travis knew the truth, and although no one wanted to believe it, he was willing to stand up and take a stand. For that, he is to be truly commended.



http://asklaurenfleshman.com/journal/2013/01/17/a-letter-to-lance-armstrong-a-fellow-pro-athletes-plee/

May 5-11 recap

Here's my first week of workouts (WOD's) recap

Mon:

Swim 2200yds
200yd warm up
Drill 4x75 1 arm swim (25R/25L/25 free) 20 sec rest between intervals (RBI)
8x100 at race pace, 20 sec RBI
2x200 moderate pace, 20 sec RBI
4x75 pull set with paddles, 20 sec RBI
2x50 kick swim set, 20 sec RBI
100 Cool down

S&C:
Run 1 mile   (6:20.56)
Row 1600m (1 mi)   6:44.40
Run 1 mile   (7:33.54)
20:38.50 total

Tues:

17.5mi bike ride. Only the 2nd time taking the new bike outside, and had just enough time in the schedule to squeeze a ride in.

Wens:

Swim 1800 yds
I was going to do a harder swim wod, but wasn't feeling it this am, so I cut it back.
400 yd warm up (100 free, 200 paddles, 100 free)
Drill 8x50 20sec RBI; 2 rounds of:
25catch up/25 free
25 fingertip drag/25 free
25 fists/25 free
50 free
5x100 moderate intensity swim with a focus on form, 20 sec RBI
4x75 pull set with paddles, 20 sec RBI
2x50 kick swim set with kick board, 20 sec RBI
100 cool down

S&C:
Shoulder press, 5 reps each at: 95-115-125-135-F145-140;
Push press, 3 reps each at: 105-120-135-145-160;
Push jerk, 1 rep each at: 135-155-170-185-200

Thrs

Bike in the am: Spinervals "Time Trialpolosa"

S&C
Bench Press 8x2 @ 140 (65% of 215) on 45 sec
       then
3 rounds
25x Kettle Bell Swings @ 55#
25x Burpees
8:36.40

I had a class all day friday, and half of sat. Sat was also busy with 3 birthday parties. Sunday was Mother's day and I wasn't going to train on that day!

packing on the pounds

          

       After I had my bowel obstruction back in January I was sort of struggling to put all the weight back on. I had lost almost 8 pounds during that episode, and while I was able to fairly quickly put 5 pounds back on, the last 2 1/2+ pounds never really came through. I just though that maybe after the season was over, I'd get the weight back when I cut down on all the endurance training and just do more lifting. But something happened after Robie. The weight magically reappeared. Why it decided to come back I have no clue, but I guess I'm glad it's back. I only weigh myself at the station, and when I saw the scale back at 155 I was totally shocked. I even reweighed myself the next day just to make sure that it wasn't from dinner, but it was still there. I weighed in tonight and it was still at the 155, in fact it was actually at 156, almost my heaviest. So my weight is back, which is good, and I now have 7 1/2 weeks until the Quest for the Capital Triathlon.

               I decided not to do the Boise 70.3 Ironman this season. It was long time in coming to that decision, but ultimately I think that I'm making the right choice. I just don't have the time to dedicate to an event of that size in terms of my training. I know that I could complete the event, but I don't want to just finish the event, I want to do well. I know that I wouldn't be anywhere near the podium or near qualifying for the Championship in Vegas, but I still want to do well. There is still 2 more years left on this current contract with Boise, so I still have another 2 years to complete the race.

               The Quest for the Capital triathlon is an Olympic distance event, with some serious climbs if I'm reading the map correctly. I have to go over the course details with some friends, but it's going to be a challenging ride, so it should be fun. The run seems to be fairly flat and the swim is a 2 loop swim in a local pond that I've swam at before. With the race so close, I've kicked up the training, and I've decided that I'll post my work outs here as well so you can see what I've been doing. But for now, I'll just talk about how the training is going.

                  Swim:  I'm in the 1st 3rd of the Carmichael Time Crunched Triathlete 70.3 swimming program. I chose the 70.3 because I photocopied those workouts and not the Olympic workouts back when I thought that I might still do the Boise 70.3. My thought now is that if it's going to prep me for a 1.2mi swim, a 1500m (0.9mi) swim wont seem so bad. So far I really like the programming. There is a warm up, some drills, a main workout set, and then usually a skill set and then a cool down. It has given me my confidence back in the water, which is awesome. None of the workouts so far are under a time pressure for how fast you complete an interval. There are some intervals that are base intervals so you're working on form/technique more than speed, but still putting out a comfortable, steady pace. Then there are the race pace intervals that are obviously harder, but still very doable. I gotta say though, that the one drill that I really don't like is the kick board drill. I was never much of a fan of the kick board to begin with, but when you do the intervals as described, they are horrible. The outside of my hips are always on fire by the end of each interval. I don't really have much of a kick with my swim anyways, so I know that this will help, but I am not a fan of the kick board. With the swimming, while doing my warm up, and the base sets, I've been trying to improve my breathing. Working on the bilateral breathing or just slowly letting the air out and going for any extra stroke or 2 before going for a breath. I know that I have to be faster the less I break my form with having to breathe.

                      Bike:  With my focus being on Olympic distance events this season, I don't see a reason to really go on super long distance rides. Anything over 35-40 miles isn't really going to do much for me, race wise. Instead, I've been working on getting quality 40km rides in on the trainer, and a few outside rides. When I'm on the trainer, I'm trying to not compare myself to how I was last year. Last year I was on the magnetic trainer and the resistance is not nearly what it is with the fluid trainer. But I have been able to push out some serious speed on the new bike on the trainer for sprints, so that's encouraging. I'm really looking forward to the Emmett Triathlon where I can really compare apples to apples on how much faster I've gotten and how much faster my new bike is. Don't worry, there will be an entire post just for the bike review.

                         Run:   I haven't gotten much running done since Robie, but I'm hoping that will change this week with really getting after the work outs for the season.

                       Crossfit:   I'm really going to try hard to get 2-3 Crossfit Strength and Conditioning workouts in every week. I think that keeping my strength up there will really pay off in the long run.

                         The Family:  What can I say about the family? Monkey has just lost another tooth, his 3rd. Bubbee is on his 3rd pair of glasses in 4 months. Poor guy, both times were total accidents and not his fault at all. We ended up having to get a cheap pair in the mean time since his first frames were on back order. Both the boys are completely in love with Lego's and Star Wars.
Peanut is getting sassy in her 2 1/2 year old way. It's not the terrible 2's where she cries over everything, but she definitely is a handful and very independent. She's completely potty trained and did that mostly on her own. One day she woke up and said that she didn't want to wear diapers anymore. Shawna and I spend less than a week having to remind her to go pee before she figured it out. Sure, she still has her accidents, but they are few and far between considering her age. Now, she just gets up and heads to the bathroom. I still follow her in there and help get her on the toilet because I'm afraid she's going to step into the toilet in the attempt of getting her little butt on the seat, but otherwise it's all her. She's even now starting to tell me to get out and close the door while she's going.
Cupcake is now trying some solid food since she hit the 6 month mark. She is also army crawling all over the house and is wicked fast. If she sees something that she wants, she's off across the room to get it. She's a very happy baby, and if she could just start sleeping through the night, life would be that much more awesome!

Race report: Race to Robie 2013

The race to Robie Creek has been over for a week now, and I even did a video talking about the event the day after. So here it is, 6 days after the video was shot and I'm finally getting around to posting it. I gotta say, I like doing the vid's because they are quick and easy, but I feel that I still get more said and in better detail when I write it down. Until then, enjoy!

Training clarification

With the last video I thought that I might have led people to believe that I had abandoned the Crossfit Endurance training methodology; so here's a clarification about video about my training.

Here's a video that I mentioned in the above video of Bubbee on his birthday

Catching up- a video

Here's another video, trying to catch up on all the happenings of life. I apologize for the beginning of the video. I had just gotten done eating some almonds and didn't realize I was picking it out of my teeth while trying to talk. Instead of doing the video again, I've decided to just keep it real and post it.

New rocket ride!!!

I've decided to take some of this blog into the video world, and here's the first installment. My new bike, or as I like to call it, my rocket ride! Enjoy!

So I just realized that with taking video on my Iphone and posting it to youtube, it looks like does with the black lines on the side. I guess I'll have to start using my other digital camera for any of my other videos (I still have a couple more to post, so you're stuck with it like this for a couple more post).

Seattle Stairclimb 2013

   

     The Seattle Firefighter Stairclimb has come and gone, and it was a blast! This event was truly a last minute event for me. Sure I signed up back in November, but then pushed it to the back of my mind. I was really only reminded about it with how hard my Captain, GT, was training for the event. Even then, I didn't give it much thought because I wasn't sure that I was actually going to go. With the new baby in the house, and everything else going on, I wasn't sure that we were going to make the trip again. I totally wanted to go and redeem myself from last years debacle, but wasn't sure if this was going to be the year that it was going to happen. I initially signed up only because GT was claiming that it was going to be his last year doing the event. As the time came closer and closer, I found out that families were not going to be allowed into the building like they did last year. This really bummed Shawna and I out as we wanted the kids, especially Monkey, to experience the atmosphere of all the firefighters and the bag pipes. I almost backed out when I first heard about the no family rule. Luckily I didn't.

          With about 5 weeks or so before the event, I figured I should probably start to do some sort of training for the event. If you recall last year, I did one 20min stair machine for a fundraiser as the entire training for the event. This year was going to be different! Here's the entire amount of training I did for this year's event.
           1 session at the US Bank building. It's the tallest building in town, and when going from the basement to the top, you get about 24 flights in per climb. I did 3 total climbs with a 40# weight vest, which GT said counts close to 100 flights at the Columbia Tower.
           2 sessions during a fund raiser on the stair machine, one was a 20min and the other a 15 min. Both in full turnouts and with the air pack, but not on air.
           3 sessions on the stair machine at the station with the 40# weight vest, 20 min each session.

            That was all the training I did. I didn't train anywhere near the volume or intensity that GT did; but then again I didn't get under 13 min either. GT was so fanatical about his time, he was at the US bank building in his full gear, and on air at least once every 4 day. He would do the stair machine at the station on air. Once the bottle was empty, he'd get off the machine, drop the air pack and then climb right back on for another 20+ minutes. His cycling intervals, toward the end, were geared toward the stair climb, with 10-12 min heavy Power Intervals with a lower cadence (80-85) with a 5-6 min rest. GT was very discipline and worked extremely hard, and all his hard work paid off. He got 7th overall (out of 1474). I, on the other hand, didn't do nearly anything like that. I didn't even start training until after my bowel obstruction issue.

       With the no family rule, Shawna and I decided that we would still go to Seattle, and we would take Cupcake with us since she is only 4 months old. At her age, she really doesn't do much other than hang out, and it made us more comfortable to know that the mom's didn't have to worry about a baby while trying to entertain 3 other children. Cupcake did great on the entire trip, and really didn't prevent us from doing anything that we wanted to do. We got into town on Friday night, had dinner and then hit the hotel and went to bed. On Saturday, we went to the outlet mall and did some shopping before meeting up with some of the guys from the team for a tour of underground Seattle. That tour was really cool, and we learned a ton of cool stuff about the history of Seattle. Saturday night we went out to dinner and then called it a night.

My gear, ready to go

 

       Sunday morning came, and it was time to get the game face on. Last year, my start time was something like 3 in the afternoon, which his horrible. This year, 930! Yeah!!! I got up early enough to have a decent breakfast once I got to the tower. It was a breakfast sandwich with eggs, cheese and spinach and wasn't too bad. At 830, I took my Sport Legs pills, and started stretching. 910 rolled around and I downed my Gu with some water. Next thing I knew, my battalion was being called. I was already halfway dressed, but I threw my coat on, grabbed my air pack and helmet and off I went to line up. I was processed through and made my way to the line outside where everyone gets a chance to look up at the tower before they're about to climb. I was a little anxious and nervous, but ready to go. On my right wrist, where my timing chip was, I had written down the half way mark (floor 37) and the final floor (floor 73) on the strap. Yes, we climb 69 flights, but we don't actually start on the first floor (I don't know why, so don't ask).

          While waiting outside, I decided it was time to turn on my hear rate monitor. I was just curious as to what kind of readings I would get while climbing. Just standing outside waiting to go, I was already ticking along in the mid 120's! Holy crap, I thought. But there was nothing I could do to slow it down. As I inched closer to the start, I put my mask on and my gloves. I clicked my regulator into my mask and prepared to climb. The music was already playing and I got the signal to go. I hit the stop watch on my coat as I waved my timing chip across the table and I was off!

         Before I go any further, if you didn't read about last year's self inflicted disaster of a climb click HERE to get yourself caught up because I'll be talking about the differences a year and experience can make. This year, I had made plans for a bottle change at the 40th floor where everyone gets the chance to swap bottles. I started the climb and tried to take it easy on the start and not take off like I did last year. I did start with the double step on the stairs though. After the first 4 flights, you get a hallway dash before continuing up the main stair case. Once in the main stair case, I was again surprised by how quickly people were having to pull off to the side and let me pass. I just kept my head down and kept double stepping. My air issues of last year were not there. While I was winded, I wasn't fighting for air like I was last year, which was a great relief and really helped me mentally while climbing as well. Also for this year, I didn't zip my coat all the way. That would actually be an understatement. The truth is, I barely had it zipped up at all. I saw a guy in a video from last year and said that I'm doing that as well. The gear was still wicked hot, but even that little bit of fresh air was nice. Climbing toward the 40th floor, I noticed that there was a sign this year that told you the half way point, which I thought was awesome. I got to the 40th with a 1/4 tank of air on my back. I break off out of the staircase and through the open door. There is a volunteer who then starts shouting your dept name out to alert your bottle changers to be ready. I had already gone over the procedure with Shawn before hand it worked flawlessly. As I entered through the door, I undid my waist strap and was already loosening my shoulder straps. I stayed on air until I saw Shawn that way my mask didn't fog. Once I saw Shawn, I took off my regulator. Karl, the other bottle changer and my chief, stripped off my pack as Shawn then threw the other pack on my back. I cinched down the left shoulder strap, but before I could grab my right Shawn was pushing me out the door, yelling "Go buddy, you got it!!! GO GO GO!!" and then he slammed my regulator into my mask and I was off. It was extremely efficient and quick, just like a well oiled Nascar pit crew. It took me about a flight and a half before I had my right shoulder strap cinched down. I never did try my waist strap.

         When I started the climb I was double stepping the stairs. Somewhere, I have not a clue where, I started single stepping. I'm thinking that the way to further improve my time is to push the double step all the way up to the top. I also need to incorporate my arms more and use them to help pull me up the stairs as I double step. I know that probably all of the faster people are using their arms as well to help pull them up the stairs. So I got back into the stair well and kept on climbing. This year was WAY more easier throughout the climb. Don't get me wrong, the climb is brutally hard; but just not having to fight for air like I did last time made it mentally and physically easier. The further I climbed, the more my legs felt heavy, and the more that there were guys who would pull over to rest. I stopped paying attention to floors, instead I was just counting. 10 steps, left turn; 9 steps, left turn. That was one floor. Just keep counting, 10 steps, left turn. 9 steps, left turn. 10 steps, left turn, etc. Every so often I would look up to see what floor I was on, or to pull over and catch a quick couple of breaths before getting back at it. The volunteers were there every few floors offering to dump water down my back. The answer was always no. My gear weighed enough, I didn't need it any heavier because of the water.

        Finally, I saw a beautiful sign, "10 floors to go!" This year the climb had a count down for the last 10 floors, which was awesome. It was hard not to look at every sign, but it was nice to know that the suffering was almost done. I got to the last floor and forgot that there's a short hallway that you have to get through before you swipe your arm and are officially done. But I got to that table and heard the beep, signalling I was done! Here's a breakdown of the 2 years....
       2012:     Total time 22:21.   884/1552 overall, and 203/306 AG
       2013:     Total time  17:51  315/1474 overall, and 76/286 AG
                                     Difference:  4:30

A couple of shots from the top of the Columbia Tower

      I was very happy with my time. I told Shawna before the event, that I was going to get a sub 20, and knew I was capable of a sub 18 if things went well. The big question mark was just on the bottle change and how smooth that was going to play out. Needless to say, everything played out perfectly and I got my sub 18. I wore my heart rate monitor and totally forgot to stop it after the climb. It was literally 30 min later when I realized that I hadn't hit stop. This isn't a huge deal, except now I can't see where exactly my heart was for the duration of the climb. I was curious to see how quickly it was going to climb from that initial 120's reading until I was done. The only real piece of info I was able to gather was that my max heart rate for the event was 191 beats/min (which is really high, even for me). To contrast that, I see my heart rate regularly in the 180's when I run, and 170's while on the bike. I can tell you that I had my heart rate in between 168-187bpm for 18:09.
        I had a great time once again in Seattle, and would love to do the event again. I can't guarantee that the next time I climb will be in 2014, but I can guarantee that I'll beet my time once again (but not by 4:30 like I did this year). HERE is a link to a news story about the climb featuring a Boise Fire guy and my buddy Dave from NFD.

No bike, no pool, what to do?

             The rumors are true, I have sold my Felt. I have really been wanting to sell the Felt mostly because of the sizing issue and the 650c wheels. If I was sold the 52cm frame, I'd had kept the bike. I loved the felt, and had a ton of great times on it. But the fact was that it was also becoming a pain with the wheels. I had been contemplating trying to find a new bike, or to just try and be content with what I had. After all, Antonio had me set up very nicely on the Felt and I was comfortable. The 3 bikes I was considering was another Felt (preferably the 2012 DA3 because they look wicked sweet and are super fast), a Trek Speed Concept (7 series, really liked the 2011 7.5) or the Quintana Roo CD0.1   I had talked with Antonio about the bikes and sizing, and he said that pretty much any of those bikes as a size 52 would work for me. I even went and got on a 52 for the Speed Concept, and it fit nicely even with just the basic quick fit.

            I had decided that I would only really look at getting another bike if I found a great deal, and was able to sell mine. Well I found a rocking deal on a frame, and wouldn't you know it, my bike sold on eBay. I got some wheels and a crank from my Buddy Dave here at work, but looking for a decent set of aerobars have been the recent bain of my existence. I'm about ready to pull the trigger on a set of aerobars though. I gotta get something figured out. The frame is now on it's way to my greedy little hands, and I need to build it up. Once I have it all built up, I'll announce what I got and show it off. I'm definitely antsy about getting the frame and getting it built up. Of course, the bike will be delivered the same day that Shawna and I leave for Seattle for this years Firefighter Stair Climb Challenge (more on that later).

            As far as training goes, yeah I have no pool. The rec center has closed the pool down for "4-6 weeks" to work on the ventilation system in the pool area. They have given me the option of buying a pass to the YMCA for $32 for the month, but the Y is way out of my way. Idaho Athletic has quoted me a price of $50 for the month, which I might do once we get back from Seattle. The other option is to hit up the Tritown masters swim class at BSU. That's a mon and thrs night swim. I'm sure it would be great, and I'll learn a ton, but the evening part is just sucking the possibility of it. I enjoyed being able to swim in the morning so it doesn't take time away from the family. For now, I've gotten back on my swim halo and am just doing that. But, I am also trying to work on my breathing while on the halo to also better help mimic being in the water. Long, slow exhales followed by a short, deep inhale.

             Biking has been nonexistent, for obvious reasons, except for when I'm at work. While at work, I get to ride the studio bike. Which really, really sucks by the way. It makes me really appreciate my bike and the comfort that I had on it. I've grinded out a couple of sessions on the studio bike, and it just isn't fun, and it makes me sore down below.

               Since my bike is out of commission, I've picked up my running. The weather is starting to turn nice again, and getting out on the road for a run is so, so very nice. I've been working on my form, and it's still a conscious decision. I'm definitely a mid foot striker, but not a full POSE runner. The POSE method is more efficient, and I will continue to work on that.

             The rest of my training has been lifting and Crossfitting, and getting ready for the stair climb. I've actually done a few days of stairs training for the event. I've gone to the US bank building down town for a day of weighted stairs. It's the tallest building in town, and have done several sessions on the stair machine here at work and during fundraisers. I'm confident that I can break the 20 min mark this time around, if by nothing else having done it once before and knowing I won't have the air issue I had last year. I've already weighed my turnouts, and picked the lightest stuff I have. Just by changing my boots and picking the lightest turn outs, I am saving 3#'s.

              The kids are doing good. Monkey is enjoying school, and has a track break coming up (he's in year round school). He has also informed me the other week that he plays "a mean game of Tether ball" after I picked him up from school. He's also taking the bus home on the days that I work which is a huge help for Shawna.

             Bubbee has shown me that life decisions for an almost 4 year old can easily be solved by the simple reasoning of Iny, Minney, Miney, Mo.

              Peanut is starting to get into the terrible 2's I think. Everytime we tell her no about something it's almost guaranteed to be a fight. But she does love to wear jeans, and insists on them every day, which is really cute. She also has this funny stance that she does whenever she says Spiderman. We're not sure where/how/why she picked up the stance, but it's funny. She is also loving to dance anytime there's music on the TV.

          Cupcake does what she does best, be cute and smile. She is starting to roll over on her own more and more, so we need to be more careful about where we leave her.

    Lately, I've been on a Rise Against music kick, so here's a video of one of the songs that seems to be on perpetual repeat in my head and on my phone. It's called Satellite

The WRONG way to make race weight

                 It's been six weeks since my last post, and 5 weeks since I had a very unexpected hiccup in the training schedule. I usually write my posts while I'm a work. It's one of the few chances I can get to possibly post, and I am seriously considering turning this into a video blog, or maybe doing a video every now and then to make it a little easier on myself and getting my thoughts down. Anyways, what's the wrong way to make race weight? If you said binge and purge, you'd be close, but wrong. The correct answer would be........ (insert drum roll) A BOWEL OBSTRUCTION!!!

                Yes, I said a bowel obstruction. 5 weeks ago while I work I got a yucky, cramping feeling in my guts. It felt like lunch just didn't settle right. But the feeling continued to get worse through the day and turned into down right pain going into the evening. After I was done making the guys dinner I decided to lay down and see if I could ride the pain out. I had had a previous bought with this kind of pain before, and the MD thought that it was a gall bladder issue. The pain eventually went away with the help of some Morphine that time, so I thought I would try and tough it out a bit at work. I went into my room and laid down, and that's when the pain completely overwhelmed and consumed me. I was absolutely horrible, and I realized that I was not going to be able to respond on a call if we had one. I walked out to the dinning room and told my Captain GT to call the Battalion Chief and have him bring someone out because I was done. I text Shawna and told her that I would be heading to the closest hospital to get checked out.

                  The guys were great, loading up all my stuff for me back into my car and asking if they could do anything else. I got to the hospital ok (it was only 2-3 miles down the road) and Shawna met me there before the doc came in. I told the doc that I thought it was my gall bladder, and he said Yeah, probably not. He was not convinced that it was a gall bladder issue, so he brought on the tests. First was a "GI cocktail" and that's basically some viscous Lidocaine and a liquid Tums like medicine that you drink. If the pain is from an ulcer, this will knock it down. That didn't work.

                  Next was the soda infused contrast for the CT scan. I haven't drank soda in a very long time. Occasionally, I'll have a sip here and there, but then it grosses me out and I put Shawna's drink back down. This time, I had to drink a 32oz Sprite mixed with the contrast. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. It took me a while to get it down, even throwing some of it back up in the process. Once that was down, it was off to the CT machine where the Iodine injection plays weird tricks with your mind. I was warned that the Iodine would make me feel like I pee'd myself, but that was an understatement. It felt like I had diarrhea in my shorts. Luckily, I didn't. The CT results: Obstructed Bowel.

                 Now that they knew what was going on, it's time to treat it. Treating the obstructed bowel is a horrible process. It involves sticking a tube up your nose that then snakes its way into your guts. The tube is then attached to suction. They suck all the gastric juices out of the belly, and relieve any pressure in the intestines. This actually creates a negative pressure, causing the bowels to get untwisted and open. The NG tube as it's called it just extremely uncomfortable and is miserable when they put it in, and have to advance it further down (which they had to do twice for me). The next few days were filled with Dilaudid and Ativan. A pain med and an anti-anxiety med. It was the only thing that kept me from yanking the tube out of my face.

                   The first night was horrible trying to adjust to the tube, and I simply gave up trying to talk. It hurt to talk, and it hurt to swallow my spit, so I just didn't do either. Luckily, the Dilaudid makes you sleepy, and I have a great wife who answered all the questions for me so I just slept. I'll skip the projectile vomiting story of what happened after they put the tube in place, and the fact that it felt like I was getting a massive ear infection or strep throat from the tube (neither of which actually happened). I was without food from Monday (I think I threw up everything I ate that day in the ER) and on Thursday I was finally allowed to have clear liquids! Meaning chicken broth, water, juice and Jello. Thursday night the tube finally came out, although the doc wanted it to stay in another day, and by Friday am I had my first real food; scrambled eggs, banana and a cup of coffee. Did I mention that I wasn't allow to have coffee for the entire time either? Talk about torture. The doc wanted to keep me yet another day in the hospital, but I was having none of it!

                      By this time I was finally starting to feel like myself and I wanted the hell out of there. Granted I felt weak, but at least the tube was out, I had food and coffee. The doc reluctantly signed the discharge papers and I went home Friday night after I had another meal at the hospital. I was in the hospital for 5 days, and lost over 7 pounds during the course of events. Fortunately, I have a wonderful wife who was there for me, and a great family who helped out with the kids while I was out of comission. I also had some good friends who came by and visited me while I was stuck in the hospital.

                    Follow up with my personal doc said what the hospital doc had said. The fact that I had my appendix out almost a decade ago (and some serious complications with that to boot) means that there is scar tissue inside by abdomen. The intestines can catch some of the scar tissue, or lesion's as they like to call them, and make them get all twisted causing the block. They don't want to do surgery because it will then cause more scar tissue, making the problem potentially worse. My doc also said that the "gall bladder" issue I had a few years ago was probably a mild bowel obstruction that just happened to free itself; and since I've had this one, it means that I'm more prone to having another one. So I got that to look forward to, which is awesome! I eat a fairly clean diet, but the doc did suggest that I try to avoid foods that make me bloated and gassy. Otherwise, there's nothing that I can do about it.

               Needless to say, I was off the training that entire 5 days in the hospital, and then for a few more days after that. I did get on my bike for an easy spin inside the days before I saw my doc to see how it felt, and it went great. The following week was just a matter of some easy work outs and lots of eating to regain my strength. In went back to work, after missing the following rotation, and am now back in the training full time. It was a crazy weak, one that I won't soon forget, and hope that I don't ever have to experience again either. Here's a shot of me from the hospital with the tube in my nose. I think this was sometime Tues. I can't really remember with the drugs and everything, but it's me with my stoned Dilaudid face. I do have a video of them taking the tube out, but I'll refrain from sharing that with you.  Enjoy

Snow, snow and MORE SNOW

            This winter has hit and hit HARD. Last year, we had a pretty mild winter; and this year it's making up for what we didn't get last year. Not only have we had a ton more snow on the ground this year, we're also hitting a major cold wave. Cold as in 15-20* below average, with the temps getting into the 20*'s for the high and playing around the zero mark the low. This is before any kind of wind as well. Honestly, I can't remember it being this cold in the many years that I've lived here. Sure it can get cold in the winter, that's expected, but damn, this weather is down right bone chilling!

             The kids, of course are having a blast. My neighbor across the street made an igloo in his front yard and here's a pic of the Monkey hanging out inside.




                    After seeing the igloo (it took Oscar literally all day to make the igloo) I decided that my contribution to the kids fun was a ramp for the sleds. I piled the snow up against the light that is in the front yard with the ramp shooting the kids out into the street. I know it sounds dangerous for them, but really they need help getting the sled going down the ramp so there's always an adult to double check for cars. Besides, it's not nearly as dangerous as the kids being pulled behind the ATVs on their sleds without helmets on.



In that pic, the ramp doesn't look big, but remember that the light post you see is probably 3 1/2 feet tall where the light actually comes out of the base, so it's a decent size little ramp.

               On the training front, I've gotten back into the full swing of things. Right now, I'm working on getting 3 Crossfit workouts in a week to rebuild the strength that I feel that I've lost from my time off. I'm also trying to get a min of 2-3 bike sessions a week in (2 hard and one endurance ride) along with the swimming and running. Which brings me to talking about the other 2 sports of triathlon.

    I'll start with the running portion since that will take the least amount of time. I ran for the first time in over 2 MONTHS last week. I didn't realize that it had been that long since I ran any sort of distance (I don't consider the occasional 400m interval run that is built into some Crossfit workouts as a real run). Granted, I did have the vasectomy, and after that I had NO desire to attempt running for a while. But 2 months. Man, that was a long time. I've decided to ease myself back into running since it's been so long. I did an easy (8min/mile) pace for a 5k the other day at work. It felt really good, but reminded me how much I hate being on the treadmill. While on the treadmill, I loose all sense of time and space so I tend to look down at the screen every 30sec and get frustrated that I haven't gone nearly as far as I feel like I have gone. So instead, I need to just zone out into my music and not look at the screen until after each song, or every other song to help pass the time away. Of course, my right ankle has been a little tender here and there since the run, but that's to be expected. I'm just going to work on progressing myself back to where I was, and then build or at least maintain from that point on. Running is the least of the 3 sports to work on this season.

       Swimming is going to be an entirely different story. I was in the pool today and was getting very, very frustrated over being in the water. I used to enjoy the pool, but today it was not fun at all. I feel horribly slow, and my mechanics are all out of whack. I've noticed several areas that I need to work on, but not sure where to start. The 3 main aspects that I need to work on are (in no particular order):
1) Form with good body roll
2) Gliding
3) Breathing
      I feel like I'm getting a better high elbow catch in the water and not crossing my arms over the midline, I still feel like my form is crap. I noticed this with breathing on my left side. Every time I breath to my left, my butt sags down and so do my legs. My right arm isn't keeping the balance that it needs to and I'm forced to increase my kick cadence every time I breath on my left because of my crappy form. In terms of my gliding, I somehow lost all sense of gliding before going into the next pull, at least that's how it feels to me. The breathing is another issue entirely. When I start to get tired and try to just gut it out in the water, I fall back to my right sided breathing and breathing with every stroke. Why? Not a clue, it's like I'm in a race to see if I can blow all my air out during that one stroke cycle so I can roll and take another breath. I noticed that today, and I would try to slow my breathing down to force me to go to a 3 count breath (meaning breathing from both sides) or a 4 count breath. I would default to the 4 count since it would allow me to always roll to my right to breathe. While I would be able to do that for a couple of rotations, I would soon feel like I wasn't getting enough air and then would default back to the 1 count. Like I said, it's extremely frustrating.

        My new Crossfit Endurance book has an entire chapter on swimming with a ton of drill that are sequential in building your form. My plan, until I can hire a coach or hit the masters swim class for some extra help, is to go through those drills and hammer out my form for the next month. I will try to get into the pool for a min of 2x week for 1+ hour to really get after my form. I think that with a better form, I will get # 1+2 doing a lot better. Maybe #3 will follow suit during this entire process as well???  So now through Valentine's day, I'll be hitting the pool as often as I can and will hopefully have a better report and ease of swimming. I'm not looking to be in the Olympics, but I am looking to get a sub 24min Olympic distance swim time this next season.