links for 2007-06-23

links for 2007-06-21

Danger, BillJank

Ah, amigos – wonderful things are happening at work. Great and interesting things. The downside? I blew off running again today.

I think I will be caught up soon, and if I make it through this week, things should be good for a while. I just need a little collective kick-in-the-butt so I get out there tomorrow…

Thanks.

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Oh, go check out my latest bit on Complete Running. I’m kind of happy with the way it came out, especially the cartoon they added at the end.

Come on everybody, let’s dance, swim like a fish

Coming off of Terramuggus, I took Friday off. Saturday, I ran home from the Y after swimming lessons – 5-ish miles, and mostly good ones. I kind of pooped out on a couple of steep sections before I got home. And my Asics are betraying me – not sure if it’s a bad pair, or not enough miles on my part, but they’re consistently giving me blisters on the ball of my foot. Not good. There’s a new pair of shoes in the mail, but we’ll cross that bridge when they arrive.

Yesterday was my first day in the office in two weeks, so, naturally, it was a zoo. I skipped the lunch run in favor of socializing (Darn friends). Called the Y before leaving the office, and the pool is still open until 2130 – SCHWEET!

Supper, kids in bed, and off to the Y. Not crowded tonight, which was nice. And, after dealing with Fort. H’s evaporatively cooled pool, the Y’s pool finally felt warm-ish. Still gave me a tad bit of shrinkage when getting in, but not what I had remembered.

And the swimming was good – opened with 5xbreast, and then started swimming freestyle. The crawl just clicked, and the laps rolled by. I lost count somewhere between 5 and 10, and just kept swimming as long as the strokes were long, smooth, and strong. About lap 15 or so, I flubbed a flip turn in the shallow end, and figured that was as good of a breakpoint as anything. Finished up with 5 laps of both side rotary breathing (which still kills me – Even though I’m right-handed, whatever obscure muscle is used to give enough “oomph” to keep my mouth clear of the water while I’m breathing on the right side is underdeveloped after years of left-side breathing) and another 5 laps of free.

But for a couple of laps there – man, swimming was amazing. No world, just black tiles, bubbles, turn, suck air, and black tiles again.

Terramuggus Tri 2007 #1

Ah, ladies and gents, life is good. I raced again,and, once more, I avoided the dreaded DNF at the first Terramuggus Tri of 2007.

In fact, I set a PR for the course! Shocked, shocked!

Let’s roll back the clock and look at my overall results (and get a chance to use the cool HTML “Table” tag, which I haven’t yet attempted!)

Race Swim Bike Run Overall
2005 #1 11:14, 61/74 40:29, 55/74 26:34, 41/62 1:18:17, 52/62
2005 #2 11:02, 90/104 39:15, 90/104 26:48, 76/104 1:17:05, 83/104
2007 #1 08:47, 78/114 38:40, 77/114 25:11, 58/114 1:14:37, 71/114

How this happened, I don’t know. I don’t exactly feel powerful, like I did during the 2005 races. Maybe it’s just that my baseline expectations for feeling “good” about running and cycling have increased over three years of relatively consistent training. Or it could be that I’ve got a better engine than I’ve ever had.

My personal theory is that I’ve become more accustomed to suffering, so I’m able to push further into the red.

Oh, and the huge improvement in the swim is probably mostly from having used a wetsuit this time around. Sure, I’ve been swimming more regularly, but two minutes is a LOT of time. I still would have PR’d, though…

I will admit that my pre-race routine was a little bit off, but for good reason. On the way to the race, I stopped off to have beer with one of the guys I’ve worked with in the Reserves. F’n awesome guy – he made First Class Petty Officer in the last exam cycle, and this week got notified he’s been accepted into a commissioning program. Couldn’t happen to a better guy. Since I’m in class up in Hartford, I had absolutely no moral choice but to buy him beer.

I got to the race later than I’d wanted, and had to head to the car three times – forgot wallet, forgot license, and then to carry my stuff to the Transition. Got set up, and got into the wetsuit just in time to get to the start.

The swim – Well, open water swimming still sucks. Within 100′ of the start, I’d gotten both run over and swam into someone’s leg, losing my goggles. So, I kept well to the outside during the swim. Saw a bunch of perch – it was kind of funny to see them looking up at me and the 100+ other people thrashing up the water.

T1 was good – I unzipped coming out of the water, and it was much easier getting out of the wetsuit than getting in. Socks, shoes, shirt … And I had to go back for my bike helmet. Could be worse, I suppose.

The ride was – well, not the greatest. I was winded from the swim, and my legs were cold. I got passed by about 5 people heading down the first hill. But steady wins the race, right? Despite re-tasting beer, chips, and salsa for the first big hill, I started reeling in people on the second lap. Felt good.

Off the bike and onto the run – no problem; and fiddling with the iPod (got to get credit for Michelle’s challenge) gave me the chance to catch my breath and get into a good stride.

Again, I got passed a couple of times in the first half-mile, but then got my rhythm and had negative splits the rest of the way in. 8:30 for the first mile, 8:00 for the second, and forgot to stop Nike+ at the end of the run, so I’m not sure what the last mile was. (looks like less than 8, as the run time includes T2).

I hung around at the end, and got a free C02 cartridge. The ride home? Wonderful, thanks to the VDub’s heated seats.

Doping Update

I’ve been chewing on this Velonews Article about the toll of doping, and thinking about it in terms of economics (darned education – I cannot help but avoid looking at everything as either an engineering problem or via business terms). The problem, as The Doctor lead to, is one of incentives – the biggest incentives come with winning races. Doping comes with both health and potential loss of income incentives (or disincentives), but not doping also comes with the disincentive of not winning races.

And now, after coming clean about attempted doping, the UCI is recommending a 2 year suspension for Ivan Basso.

Let’s see, now – if Basso actually had popped positive, what would he have gotten? 2 years suspension, just like Tyler Hamilton, probably. And then, if the Hamilton model holds true, it’s going to be nearly impossible for Basso to come back.

(as background, Hamilton’s just completed his 2 year suspension. However, as he’s implicated in the Spanish doping investigation, Operacion Puerto, for evidience that he was doping at about the same time he got busted at the Vuelta Espana, he can’t get work with a top-level team. Meaning, even if you serve your time, you’re screwed)

So, let’s examine a couple of scenarios:

1. If Basso hadn’t confessed, he’d still be riding right now – the lack of positive tests in or out of competition, and the glacial process of the Spanish investigation haven’t provided any evidence on which to hang him.
2. The current one, in which Basso confessed, and is looking to get screwed.
3. The scenario in which he stops doping activities quietly. The risk of positive tests in competition is mitigated, but he’s still got his past hanging over his head, and hasn’t done anything to change the climate.

Is it time for a “Truth and Reconciliation” commission in cycling? An opportunity for dopers to confess, get clean, and resume competing with little or no sanction? As it stands, any confession or attempt to get help gets the rider nailed, so, from a rider’s point of view, why quit?

Update

Basso got whacked for two years, retroactive to late last year when the charges against him were identified.

Basso’s 29. He’ll be 30 when he’s allowed to come back, unless he gets whacked again like Hamilton. Neca’s right – there needs to be a better solution

Life Instructions

Life Instructions

Completely ripped off from this guy via Merlin Mann.

The one change I’d make is that good shared assumptions are critical to timely execution, which is likely semantics over “Assuming is stifling”, which I assume refers only to non-shared assumptions.

I suppose I should RTFA instead of just digging on the picture.

What a difference a day makes

Sunday: I got back from Arizona late, late Saturday night (as in 5 minutes to midnight or so), and was woken up by the boys. Church, lunch, got most of the yard mowed, and we headed down to the Y for Family Swim, with the usual thought that I’d run home.

After swimming, I was feeling – well, tired, and really kind of didn’t want to run. But, Missy goaded me into it with her svetlness and her recent speed, especially when she poked me in the belly.

Bleh. The run was awful, but I finished it. 4 miles, 40 minutes. Not one for the ages.

Leap forward to yesterday. I’m in class in Hartford this week, and stopped at Lake Terramuggus on the way home on Tuesday. Ran the PigIronSports run course plus a little bit. 8:30 miles, more or less: Not smokin’, but it felt good.

The first Terramuggus tri is on Thursday. I cannot wait, even though I know it is going to really, really hurt. My weight is still up around 170, probably 5 lbs heavier than my last tri campaign in 2005. But, I’m pretty happy in general.