Half a freakin pound

Last week, I lost 6 1/2 pounds. This week? about 1/2 a pound. ugh. I know I didn't eat as well this week as last, but I was down more yesterday, and I ate pretty well yesterday. I've been craving sugar and salt, which means some form of junk, whether it's just baked french fries or not, to get that taken care of.

The good news is that even with those cravings I still lost a little, and I have a whole new week to correct that. Plus I'm running tonight, and we're racing Sunday. I'm pretty excited to see how the working out, specifically the couch to 5k is going to impact my time.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, and a shout out to my friend Tim who is running his first half-marathon this weekend! Good luck buddy! And to anyone else racing this weekend, have fun!

WTC: Biting off more than they can chew?

For the folks who read to hear about what I'm doing, this is going to be one of those times that you might not be that interested in what I have to say today. In that case, just jump to the "notes" section at the bottom of the post. But for those of you who are really into triathlon like I am, there's something I've been thinking about that I need to get off my chest. It regards the 400 pound gorilla in the triathlon room and how they might be doing more harm than good for triathletes.

I'm speaking of course about World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), the folks most known as the owner of the Ironman brand, and specifically for putting on the Ford Ironman World Championships in Hawaii (Kona), and the related Ironman and Ironman 70.3 race series. There's been a lot of buzz regarding WTC lately, between the recent acquisitions of multiple half-iron distance races, launching a magazine, and more specifically the creation of a new series of Olympic-distance races, purchasing the rights to 13 established triathlons in the US and an as-of-yet unknown number of international distance races.

Now, I'm no communist, and in the broad sense of things, I'm all for the right of a company to expand as it sees fit. WTC has deep pockets from all the IM branded products and 140.6 and 70.3 races that regularly sell out the day they open for registration. It's their money, and they can certainly spend it how the choose.

But what about the effect this has on the participants in their events? How does all of this recent growth change the landscape of triathlon? I've got a few key areas where I think this is a cause for concern.

• Dilution of the Ironman brand. There's a reason why Mercedes-Benz doesn't offer a $10,000 car or Apple doesn't offer $20 iPods. Part of the demand for something is the exclusiveness of the club. Ironman's brand has become iconic, which adds to the mystique of it's iron-distance races. There are even some folks who still believe you're not an Ironman if your 140.6 came at something other than a WTC race. For those folks, WTC reaching out into a bunch of different retail forays will surely see the brand as diluted, and therefore not as enticing to spend the extra money on a WTC race vs. some other company (Rev 3, independant races, etc.). Meaning eventually, while striving to reach out to new customers they may disenfranchise themselves from some of their most reliable consumers/participants. Especially in a market where repeat business is the #1 priority, this could be very troubling.

The logo for the new Olympic distance series

• Confusion over what it means to be an "Ironman". Triathlon is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States. As most athletes don't start their immersion into the sport with a half or full Iron distance, the creation of the 5150 olympic-distance series makes sense as a way to rope in a potential customer base. And while the new series doesn't have the name Ironman in it, the logo (pictured above) is a pretty obvious tie in. Between that and a bunch of Ironman branded products likely being hawked at the race venue, my guess is that it won't be long before we'll have folks who have finished one of these races bragging that they did an "Ironman" race. Personally, I don't care that much, but as I said, I know triathletes that would, and would go out of their way to correct them. Maybe once I've done a 140 mile race, then I'll care if someone else calls themselves an Ironman who hasn't done an Iron-distance race.

• Regularly racing with the pros may soon become a thing of the past. Unlike in baseball, basketball, or hell even bowling, when you participate in a triathlon, you're not just coming out to compete with and against folks of your own ilk. In every triathlon I've been a part of, there has been at least a few world-class elite athletes who has represented their country in a world championship or is a professional triathlete. It's one of the things that makes the sport special. While I'm probably never going to be good enough to give them a run for first place on the course, I get to say i raced with and against names like Lieto and Wellington when we did Timberman. But as a way to get the professionals to attend the races that WTC wants to further develop, they've instituted a points system that professionals must follow to qualify to participate in the Ford Ironman World Championship (AKA Kona). Each race is categorized as being in a certain points category, and professionals wanting to qualify will likely need to focus on the continental championship races, reducing the likelihood of them participating in the lessor valued races. This means that smaller races will likely see smaller pro fields as the big points will be elsewhere and pros will look for races where they have a higher chance of getting the points they need to qualify for Kona.

• WTC adding blackout dates into race contracts. In an alarming anti-competitive practice, the WTC is adding "blackout dates" into their race contracts with their race locations. Essentially, these clauses say that an area (for example, Muncie, Indiana) cannot host any other triathlons in the 30 days prior to or directly following the WTC event. I recognize the company wants to maximize it's profits and prevent scheduling mishaps, but this means that smaller races that may serve as important fundraisers for local charities may have to be rescheduled (which can be costly) or cancelled entirely. No matter what else, I'm for competition, because it forces race directors to continually improve their race experience, or see it fall by the wayside. That's one of the reasons I was happy to see the Rev3 Triathlon Series come into the picture at the Iron-distance race level, in order to prevent WTC's de-facto monopoly from becoming a true monopoly.

• Negative changes in the actual race experience. If you've been reading the blog since Timberman, the fact that I STILL haven't gotten my finishers medal is a bit of a sore spot for me. It's the starting point for this whole topic. Plus, when I called in to talk to the WTC athlete services to check on this (Who I must say are as helpful as possible), I head a recorded message that they weren't even taking calls about Ironman Lake Placid due to the volume of concerns. Sure, it's natural that there will be glitches at a given race, and that problems do occur in an event that relies equally on weather and volunteers. But when the volume of complaints overtakes the customer service department, it's time to consider growing your staff to match your offerings. Of course, that cuts in to profit margins, and companies are often loathe to do that. Cuts in profit margins could lead to less benefits included with race entry fees, or perhaps moving to less costly (read: inferior) venues. Between these issues and the possible disappearance of professionals from most races, it could mean a real degradation of the race day experience.

In the end, it may be that WTC adjusts to all of these changes in a way that improves the overall feeling of participating in their events. But right now, it sure looks like a field of potential marketing and operational landmines that could really impact not just the WTC but the general experience of triathlon participation in the US and perhaps the world over. 

Notes:

- Last night was day 1 of the fifth week of my couch to 5k. The workout actually calls for one less minute of running overall, but lumps the running together in 3 five-minute segments with a three minute walk between each. The challenge is to sustain a somewhat steady speed throughout the third running segment. I always feel stronger in the second running segment of these workouts, as it usually takes most of the first segment to adjust to the running. Last night was no different, as I felt strong in the second segment, but had to fight to finish the 3rd segment strong.

- It's gorgeous here today, but we're expecting a strong storm tonight, so I'm going to do my best to get in a mountain bike ride before the storm hits.

- Things are looking good for tomorrows weigh in. I'm not going to post on fridays until after noon, so I can include how it went.

Some days even the little battles are big battles

Preface - First, a quick welcome to all the visitors who found me via USA Triathlons bloglist. It was very kind of them to link to my blog out of the thousands of triathlon blogs out there. I hope you'll find some value and/or entertainment here and stick around. I welcome comments (and criticisms if you have them) and responses either here on the blog or at my email address. Also, if you've recently found me outside of the USAT bloglist, well... welcome to you too!

Work today has been shall we say, confrontational. I won't go into the boring details except to say that we're going through a lot of growing pains and I find this all very stressful. And if there's one surety about my response to things, its that when i get stressed; I eat. My willpower has been pretty strong lately, but today wasn't looking too good.

I didn't pack my lunch today because we're out of sandwich meat and peanut butter (at the same time no less!) so i was forced to buy my lunch today. The really stressful meeting was right before lunch, so off I went to the lunch counter with dreams of pizza, steak subs, french fries, and non-diet soda in my head. Here in New England restaurants with names like "Athens" don't mean you're stuck with Greek food. In fact, they offer everything I listed above and more.

Getting there, the two friends and co-workers I had been having to disagree with (not personal disagreement, job responsibilities requiring us to represent different needs type of disagreement) were there, so I of course felt even more awkward. This made me even more ready to eat something bad. Then the lady at the counter asked for my order and that's when it really got tough.

I looked at the menu and everything that was grease filled and salty called my name like a mothers voice speaking soothingly to an upset child. The worst part is that their pizza is readily on display in one of those rotisserie display cases. I've had it before and can attest they earned their 2008 best pizza in town award.

As the counter woman stood ready to take my order and the folks in line behind me waited anxiously for their turn, I stalled, trying to figure out what I truly wanted. Thats when the thoughts went through my mind about how much work I'd been doing, and that I had an off day yesterday, and Paddy's is only 4 days away. And that's when I made my decision.

Lean roast beef, no side dishes, drink the diet soda waiting for me back at my desk.

I know that's a lot of drama just for ordering a sandwich, but some days the effort that goes into making a healthy food choice is as much of a workout as going for a long run.

Notes:

 - Speaking of running, Monday night was my last day of week 4 of my Couch to 5k. That means I start  week 5 today. I'm pretty excited because it means I'll be running 15 out of the 21 minutes of the actual workout, with 5 minutes of warm up and cool down.

- I've been getting a few offers by coaches willing to take Rach and I on as clients. I recognize that it's part of growing their business but it was still nice to hear that we seem "especially coachable" and that my attitude "is the coaches dream". We've thought about looking for a coach, but at this point we're pretty much restricted to self-coaching via online training plans because of the cost.

Yay! Recovery day!

After a four consecutive days of workouts, Rach and I have rest day scheduled today. Normally, I wouldn't take a day off after just four days, but with races and workouts, we won't have another day off scheduled for the next two weeks. That means taking today off isn't really optional, it's sort of a must in order to give my body a day to rest.

That also means I have to be extra vigilant about my food intake. We've mostly been avoiding eating away from home, with the exception of Subway and what I ate on Saturday at the hockey game. I've been packing my lunch which allows me to keep my points in check. I make sure to pack snack bars to keep from getting hungry in the afternoon and wandering to the vending machine or worse a restaurant in search of other food.

I had another good run last night which put the end to week four of my couch to 5k. I do feel faster. I'm not tracking distance with a GPS because I don't want to get discouraged or frustrated by knowing my pacing, but I did run most of 1/2 mile in less than 5 minutes last night. We're familiar with the distances of the path we run on, so I'm seeing what feels like improvement. I guess I'll know better on Sunday how I'm coming along.

Notes:

 - Rach and I will have the 2011 calendar put together in the next couple weeks along with the road races for the rest of this year. A couple of really good running tests with hills this fall, and some great races for next year. I'm getting really excited and I'm really happy to be training again at more fulfilling clip.

- Related to next years calendar, I have been looking into the charitable aspects of racing, and are hopeful to make an announcement next month about doing at least one race for a charity next year.

- Can you believe it's almost mid-October? A little less than 8 months until our next 70.3, and 11 months until our first Ironman!

When the cats away...

It was a really busy weekend, and I have lots of stuff to share:

Rachelle's team had a road game Saturday afternoon in New York, so I was left to my own devices for the start of the weekend. My beloved Columbus Blue Jackets started their season on Friday afternoon, so I scooted out of work early to catch the game. I made chicken wings (baked, not fried) to get a little of the feeling of being at a game, but stayed within my points. 

After watching my boys drop a 3-2 decision, I had a decision of my own to make: take the day off and enjoy my weekend of bachelorhood, or go out and get a run in to keep prepping for Paddy's Road Race. I guess the discipline is really starting to kick in because it was no more than a passing thought before I got off the couch, got into my workout clothes and hit the trail. 

35 minutes later, and I was back in the house.I ran the second day of the third time through the fourth week of my Couch to 5k plan (try saying that five times fast). I realized during this run that I'd been doing part of the workout wrong. Instead of pushing myself to walk as fast as I could between runs, I was supposed to be using that time for recovery to be able to give more during the running period. Guess I'm a little slow on the uptake. The running portions felt a lot better after my realization, and hopefully this will help me improve my running at faster pace than I have been.

Saturday was the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. The woman's three time defending champion Chrissie Wellington had to pull out of the race due to an illness she came down with the night before, so it was a wide open field on the ladies side. As for the men, the competition is so close, it's hard for any guy to repeat. In the end Marinda Carfrae took it on the women's side while Chris McCormick got his second Kona victory in the past 4 years. I only watched a couple hours of the race, but as always it inspired me to get some work in.

Off I went on the bike, but not the road bike this time. That was still in the box in the living room. Instead I took the mountain bike to the Middlesex Fells for a trip around the 7 mile mountain bike loop. The Fells is a really amazing reservation, and the loop was a cool place to ride. Talk about tough though, lots of climbing on the loop with some technical sections that I thought were much harder than at Wompatuck.

Many of the easier trails that better fit my level of experience are off limits due to unrest between local hikers and bikers as to shared usage of the park. I didn't encounter any problems, other than having to walk about a miles worth of the loop because of my inexperience and lack of skill. I will say though there were some sections of single track that I managed at the Fells that I wouldn't been able to have tackled prior to the Landmine Classic, so I guess I'm improving.

Sunday I had planned on finishing off week 4 of Couch to 5k, but Rach insisted that she wanted to ride and that we needed to run Monday because it would put us on schedule to run every other day this week without having to push or skip a workout prior to Paddy's. She's subscribed us to a off-season training plan, so I had to dig the road bike out of the box and put it back together so we could ride.

We did something I haven't done before, an 85 minute series of increasing speed intervals. 10 minutes of warm-up followed by 5 minutes at 15 MPH. Then we did 10 minutes of cool down and then 5 minutes at 16 MPH. This went on until we ended with 5 minutes at 19 MPH. Normally I can do 5 minutes at 19 MPH pretty easily, but I haven't really tried it in a fashion like this, and let me say I had a hard time keeping the number over 19. In fact I wasn't able for the whole five minutes, but I got most of it.

It felt really good to get in a workout like this that will help keep the legs going through the fall and into winter. The only bad part was hitting a pothole about an hour in. I heard a snap but didn't notice anything wrong, so I assumed it was just the typical noise that comes from the bike during a drop like that. It wasn't until we were 1/4 mile from home when I heard a soft pinging noise and looked down to see a spoke bouncing around between the wheel and the fork. I stopped to unscrew it and walked the bike the rest of the way home.

Thankfully, it was only a front spoke, which is cheap to fix and not that dangerous to be missing, but it still means work needs to be done on the road bike if I'm going to ride it anymore this year.

Notes:

- Progress on the Timberman medal: The woman I've been working with at WTC told me more of the story of what happened to the medals. Originally, they ordered enough for everyone but somehow come race day, the person responsible for them showed up with fewer than the ordered number of medals. She didn't go into details but it does sound as if something shady went on with the original order and they're still looking into it. 

Worse, when they  made the replacement order, supposedly only 100 of the 200 replacement medals were ordered and delivered. She had been under the assumption they had all been ordered and sent, learning only Friday that this wasn't the case. They have now ordered the final 100 medals and should have them in hand in "two weeks". She didn't know if that was when the warehouse would have them, or when they'd be sent out, but she said to call her back next Friday.

Between this and what I'm hearing was a mess at the Ironman Lake Placid event, it seems as if the WTC is growing at a rate faster than it can properly support. But that's a conversation for another time...

- Eating has been going mostly better as I followed my points all of last week and wound up losing 6.6 pounds from my weigh in on 9/24. I am sure this all happened in the week following Club Nationals because I know what I weighed when I got home from the race, so it was a single weeks worth of work that got me there. I stayed pretty close to points this weekend as well but my food selection Saturday night at the hockey game I attended left something to be desired. Gives me something to work on I guess.