2021 – 03 Feb – Eat all the things

Eat all the things!

Yup! The hunger is real. The post swim workout binge hunger has arrived. Tonight we decided to take the kids to the pool too. So, I was a bit time crunched and got a good solid 1600 yd swim in with 5 minutes to spare to grab the kidlets. Good thing too b/c Mr. Lucas does not like vacuum cleaners.

That being said. There is a hunger that drives deep from swim work outs. I don’t know what it is. Is it being horizontal. Is it the lean mean machine I am becoming (bahahahaha – enter laugh track here, that will come in like June/July). Whatever it is I feel like.

Is that pool buoy edible? I mean like really, do you need that towel, b/c I could just eat that. What makes it more fun is that Liz and I have started being more disciplined in following a macro driven eating concept. We use an app called : Avatar Nutrition (https://app.avatarnutrition.com/register/1) – find out more here. So we just passed day 30, and the weight isn’t dropping but I can see the changes in body composition and as I start to dig into Swim, bike, run, it will come down. So, that looks like this today:

Right after I captured this I added one more cup of https://silk.com/plant-based-products/plant-based-protein-beverages/silk-ultra/ultra-chocolate/ which took me a bit out of compliance but with the swim I will be just fine.

Some fun pics

Anyway. I had a rough work weekend. I have a great job, mostly. I have been able to establish boundaries and hold fast. But an emergency cropped up, despite my best efforts to control it and signal that it would come forward in August and September. Well, Lack of prior planning on another’s part did indeed become my emergency. It sucked! And all I could do to control things was lean into it. It caused more stress on our family than we would like to admit, so I took all of Monday off, and alerted my great boss that I directly report to. She has been my best boss and mentor and she was great.

I have been in a bit of a swim focus with the erratic weather and I am starting to get back on my bike. I am starting to feel better in the saddle. i adjusted my seat down about 1/2 cm and it feels much better. Since I got my bike in 2013 I have not ever been privileged enough to be able to have a professional bike fit. I think I had it pretty dialed in for the 2016 and 2017, but then I started tinkering and my body composition has unfortunately changed. Thus the reason to be more disciplined in the nutrition space.

I grabbed a subscription to Rouvy (www.rouvy.com) . I am really liking it. In fact I am pleased with its overall set up and pair it with my Wahoo Kickr Core, it is keeping me honest. The weather hasn’t been favorable so swim and bike concentration it is for now.

I did actually get out for a run the other day. IT doesn’t look like it will let me embed the code here, but: https://www.strava.com/activities/4698135976 here is the link. A simple almost 4 mile run. I still am needing to wear the extra support for now, but the run was comfortable and I am slowly starting to get back to running normal. I am keeping to varied terrain and leaning into the hills.

All things considered, I am moving forward, i am not where I need to be yet and i will keep doing my best. We will try to do another swim night tomorrow and I need to get a run and a swim in. My current swim totals for the year are my best progress, now to get my bike and run back. Finding the space to accomplish all this is the challenge.

So another topic. A wee bit controversial and I will take it on for a brief moment. Covid and eventing and cancellations. First of all, i am grateful for the momentous strides I have taken in my own personal mindset. I am grateful that my wife allows me the space and grace to make mistake, learn lessons, analyze things and iterate for positive forward progress. That being said. The triathlon Ironman brand released this statement:

“Announcement: After evaluating of the status of the COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting restrictions in place, and access to certain portions of the course currently prohibited, we regret to inform you that the IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside triathlon cannot take place in March and have determined it will be better positioned to return on Oct. 30, 2021. Our team will continue to work hard developing and refining operational plans in a manner consistent with local community objectives and within the guidelines and recommendations set by public health entities as it relates to COVID-19. The IRONMAN Safe Return to Racing guidelines will be updated as policies are refined and can be viewed here.”

What I may write here will probably be unpopular but at the same time, I need to say it for me. I am grateful to be able to be working toward October 24th which is the IM California proposed date. IF it goes off awesome! I will be training toward that event. To the chagrin of myself and my wife and our family, I took the risk to sign up for IM St George back in 2020. I was grateful that it was delayed, ultimately cancelled and I was granted the opportunity to defer to IM California on Oct 24th. I was trying to persuade the person i was emailing with to do just that, but I was merely granted the punt to the later offered IM St. George that was ultimately cancelled. Look I am not going to take on Covid, but I will say this. It’s an event. IT is an opportunity to celebrate and express fitness. There is absolutely no need for me to sign up and pay money to participate in any of these events. I am grateful to be able to do so and I have participated in now 4 70.3 IM St. George events. Sure, I love the show, I love the opportunity to participate to finish and to bring my family and celebrate my fitness. However, that is my selfish side. I love the sport of triathlon. I love the lessons learned I have endured, faced, realized and often times am surprised by. It is not a requirement in life. It is a great opportunity. All things considered, I am grateful I have taken the time and looked within to understand what I need. Its not that I need the event to hear Mike Reilly call out that great phrase – ” Shane you are an Ironman, I have heard that a few times in St George. I think I am most grateful for the journeys. The event is truly just another day in the lifestyle. I choose to participate in the lifestyle regardless. Now this does not in any way replace or remove the SUCK associated with my 800 rolling loan with ironman. I have just developed a mindset that allows me to put this all in perspective for me and I know many will find my points of view terse, self-righteous, convenient, but this is where I have landed and I am grateful to be in this space.

I just wanted to put my thoughts out there around what will be a gripe fest and spur on many conversations that also go down varying rabbit holes. At the end of the day, I can only control what I can control, and currently that is me, my mindset and my attitude. Sure, I can complain with the best of them, but my emotions, my complaints aren’t going to change this is what we are currently facing. It only means I can choose to be better, to try and rise above and try to be an example to my triathlon oriented friends. So for now, instead of focusing on the noise – I will choose to concentrate on doing what it takes to be ready for Oct 24th. Giddy up!