Back to the Drawing Board

Last weekend I swam at the Ithaca Masters swim meet at Ithaca College. This meet marked my one year return to competitive swimming after 30 odd years. I pretty much entered the same events I swam last year, except that I didn’t swim the 50 butterfly and ended up swimming only four events. I had hoped that one year and some pretty intense training up to this meet would have allowed me to see some sort of improvement in my times. Well, not only didn’t I see any improvement, I actually got slower. A lot slower.

So, I’ve decided to go back to the drawing board. It’s roughly 16 weeks until the next swim meet I want to consider. I am going to have a more focused and prescribed approach to how I train. The first 4 weeks are going to be mainly on strength training. I’ll be away for a portion of this time period, so it makes sense, logistically and otherwise, to do my strength training. Plus, I just need to get stronger.

The second 4 weeks will be spent pulling back a little on my strength training and re-entering the pool. I’ll try to swim at least 3 times per week focusing at least 2 of sessions on IM strokes and stroke drills. A lot of zone 2 training to build up my swimming base while also putting more time on the IM strokes than I have in the past. I’ll also toss in some running and biking as weather permits to build up my cardio-vascular endurance.

the third 4 weeks will still have 1-2 days of strength/core conditioning, though I’ll probably dispense with the weights since they seem to really hold back my swimming if I am recovering from strength training. I’ll ratchet back on the distances, still maintain the focus on the IM strokes, and ratchet up the intensity….so more zone 3 training. I need to get faster by building my endurance and stroke turnover at the same time.

The final month will be almost all taper. Focusing on intensity, but not so much distance, and continuing stroke technique work. By the second week I’ll dispense entirely with strength/core work. And the last week before the meet I will put in 2-3 good sessions of intensity spring work, but making sure I have adequate rest for at least 2 days before the meet.

I had also focused very intently on my diet. I had cut back on grains, sugar, and alcohol, and was eating a primarily plant-based diet. In all likelihood I will continue with that program while cutting even more grain-based and sugar based foods out. Not totally vegetarian, though that is the direction I’ll head, but more pescatarian, though my fish consumption is not very high anyway so this shouldn’t really be more than just an added source of nutrition when I do decide to eat fish.

At 50 years old I’d love to think I could compete successfully in the pool. This may or may not be the case since I don’t think I’ve really pushed myself to that next level yet. Hopefully, this 16 week program will get me there. If not, I’ll have to step back once again and reevaluate. Either way I don’t want to lose my love for swimming because I’m so hell-bent on being a competitive masters swimmer. I lost that love once, never again.

Today’s Swim — December 6th

I’ve been away the past few days in Florida enjoying some sunshine and warm weather. While there I always head to the Pompano Beach Aquatic Center to put in some yards and stay in shape while on vacation. Well, we got back the other day and I’ve been itching to get back in the water so I could put some of my new found knowledge and training techniques to good use (many thanks to Lisa Bennett, the Piranha Masters Swim Coach). Here’s what went down:

500 yd warm up freestyle
8 x 25 yd kick choice (fr\fr\br\fr\br\fr\fr\fr)
2 x 400 yd freestyle (#1 swim, #2 drills mixed)
2 x 300 yd freestyle (#1 swim, #2 drills mixed)
2 x 200 yd freestyle (#1 swim, #2 drills mixed)
2 x 100 yd freestyle (#1 swim, #2 drills mixed)
2 x 50 yd freestyle (@30 seconds, breathe every 5th stroke)
4 x 25 yd freestyle sprints (@15 seconds, breathe as little as possible)
200 yd swim down freestyle
3,100 yards TOTAL

For my drills I used a variety of techniques:

1. breathe away, one arm pull, alternate R\L
2. breathe with, one arm pull, alternate R\L
3. 3/8/3
4. closed fist pull
5. breathe every 3rd or 5th

Of course, I didn’t use each of these every time, I mixed it up as I went along based on what I felt inside. I also focused more than I ever have on keeping my head down so my shoulders don’t drop, reducing drag, and keeping my elbows high.

There’s a meet in Ithaca next weekend that marks my one year return to the competitive side of the pool, so I am looking forward to that. I didn’t improve much at my last meet (RIT) for a variety of reasons. So, the focus I’ve been giving to technique plus a little post-season rest should allow me to see some improvement. I’ve got my goals which I will put out here right now. I’ll let everyone know how I do after the meet.

100y IM  1:18.00
100y BR 1:21.00
100y FR 1:07.00
50y BR 35.00
1000y FR 15:00.00

Those are pretty good improvements I am shooting for, so if I get even close I’ll be happy. You can check here to see my times to date so far.

A Very Semi-Vegetarian Thanksgiving

For as long as I can remember Thanksgiving has been a day of thanks-giving, gluttony, and meat. For the past how many ever years, I have cooked a big part of Thanksgiving dinner–turkey, stuffing, rolls, etc. The turkey was, of course, the main course. The stuffing, something I’ve gluttonized for at least 45 years, is largely a meat and bread-based dish that I’ve jacked up the fat count on by adding sausage, bacon, and butter.Very savory, but deadly. In a good way. Of course.

The day after my birthday this past year I decided to eject meat from my diet and try and redirect the focus to vegetarian foods. For the most part, I haven’t really had any issues or moments of weakness. Except for a rouge piece of ham in a sandwich I’d ordered a few months ago, there’s been no meat in my diet at all. I thought about the whole vegan thing, but haven’t really been able to make the leap. Yet. In fact, I’ve been thinking more about a cheeseburger lately than cashew cheese. Be that as it may, this Thanksgiving I was given the green light to substitute my fat laden dishes with some nice pseudo-vegan dishes.

Just to get it out of the way, there will be a turkey. It’s in the oven right now, roasting away. Even though I won’t have any, others will love it just like a warm blanket at bedtime. the stuffing I replaced with a recipe I got off of the MindBodyGreen web site. Here’s the recipe: Vegan Stuffing. Not quite sure how it will go over, but it’s definitely healthy. Since I won’t be eating the turkey, I needed a main dish substitute. And since fake meats don’t appeal to me on many different levels, I needed something savory that didn’t involve meat or Tofurkey. This is what I came up with: Vegetable Pot Pie. Again, not quite sure what it will taste like, but we’ll find out pretty soon.

Of course, Debbie will be preparing her awesome cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. Maybe I can get her to post her recipes to her blog soon. In any case, I will let you know how this all turns out. I’ve still got the mindset of a carnivore, but I am pretty much married to a vegetarian lifestyle by now. If I can get through the holidays, then I should be home-free.

For more information on starting a plant-based nutrition lifestyle, I’ll encourage you to visit Rich Roll’s instruction video at MindBodyGreen.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Making it Count!

The past few weeks have been stellar. I’ve hooked up with a good group of people to run and swim with on a consistent basis finally. I’m learning things that are reinforcing what I’ve been studying. And they are teaching me new things I need to know to get stronger and faster (faster being the point, of course), and it’s only been a few weeks!

Early November training had been hampered by family issues. The first week my wife had to go to Florida to help her Mom after she broke her hip (she’s recovering nicely, thank you!). I became Mr. Mom and took care of Mathew and made sure he got on the bus each morning. It was all very necessary and it gave me and my son some great time to connect and bond (I am usually at work by the time he gets up each morning).

The week after Debbie returned I felt the end of apple season descend on me in a big way. My job is very seasonal and the end of harvest is always difficult, but this year I had the life-force simply sucked out of me. I’m still not sure if I was sick or exhausted, or both, but in retrospect these two weeks “off” gave me an opportunity to rest and recover from many weeks and months of hard work (at the orchard) and intense training. So, by the time last week rolled around I’d had two weeks to rest and recover. Without a doubt I hit the ground running, full of vim, vigor, and intention. My mind was rested and ready to go again; my body had repaired itself and given me the green light.

So, Monday morning I hit the pool with the crew and put in about 3,400 yards that included an IM (individual medley sans butterfly) set at the end of a grueling freestyle workout. Tuesday I did some light yoga and core exercises to open up my muscles and work out some of the kinks from the day before. Wednesday we were back in the pool where we did about the same workout as Monday with more of a focus on distance. I put in about 3600 yards with the same IM set as I did on Monday. Thursday night I stopped by the Geneva High School track to do some running speed work with the swim group only to find out how slow of a runner I really am. Speed is relative, of course, but I certainly didn’t compare to these guys. So, I may be getting faster when compared to my historical speed, but I still have a long way to go to be anywhere near competitive. C’est la vie.

As I was driving home that night I calculated I would exceed 10,000 yards swimming for the week for the first time in a while. But I also realized that if I added a few more sets to my “normal” workout I could not only best 5,000+ yards in a single workout but that I could exceed 12,000 yards for the first time ever.  And so I did. It wasn’t easy and by the end of the workout I could barely lift myself out of the water (I am sorry to admit).

By the end of the day I had to admit I learned a few things:

1. Don’t keep your goals and objectives to yourself. Put them out there for the world to know about. If you don’t achieve them the first time, there always next time around. For me, however, the possibility of not achieving my goals only pushed me harder to finish the final set. I wasn’t going to fail, no matter what.
2. Speed work in running isn’t the most important thing. Build that base first, bring it up slowly, and then when you’ve got a solid foundation you can begin to add in HIIT (high intensity interval training) to your workouts without fear of injury. No I didn’t get injured, but I was warned by the others to be careful. And given I’d already battled a few injuries the past few years, I certainly didn’t want to take the chance. Nonetheless, speed work is necessary to get faster, but only if it is done properly.
3. Rest and recovery are keys to future success. No matter how intense you are about training and competing, you need to always take some time off to allow your body to repair itself, and this includes your mind. Training is hard out of necessity if you want to get better. Just don’t burn out by going to the limit every single time.

By the end of the week I had swum over 12,000 yards and run over 4 miles. I am taking the weekend off so I can get ready for my vacation and next week’s big swim workouts in Florida. Yes, I found a Masters swim team to work out with not too far from where I’ll be staying. I’ll up the ante a little more once again and let chips fall where they may.

NOTE: I swam with the Pompano Beach Piranhas Masters Swim group last night (11/25/13). Killer stuff! But I’ll save that for my next blog.

Brick Laying

As I was stacking wood on Saturday, I was reminded of something I read a long time ago about how Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Colombu, both new to the United States at that time, would do anything they could to improve their physical fitness and strength. I’ll probably get some details wrong, but my recollection is that not only were they looking to build bigger muscles and get stronger, they were looking to make money. So they started a brick-laying business and used it as both business venture and training tool. Day after day they’d work out at Gold’s Gym followed by a day’s work laying bricks.

As I venture further down the road, I find myself looking for more ways to improve my cores events (swim, bike, run) through other forms of exercise. And so, as I was stacking the wood, I took pleasure in realizing that every piece of wood was working some muscle somewhere and that in the end it would all be for the better. No matter how sore I may become. You see, it is all interconnected. You can’t isolate one muscle through exercise without weakening others. You need to bring it all up to speed equally.

The point is is that if all your training is done with a singular vision, you’ll only become “so good.” You need to incorporate as many different exercises as possible into your daily routine. And even if you think it may be a worthless motion, it probably isn’t. For some getting out of their chair and walking around is significant. Playing catch with you son. Doing cartwheels in the yard. Chin ups in the kitchen. A leisurely bike ride around the block. Or even working in the garden or stacking wood. It all counts.

At worst you’ll be sore for a few days. At best you’ll discover muscles you never had and achieve a higher level of fitness than you probably ever expected you would (wood).

Healing Thyself? Just do it!

The end of the season, and specifically apple season, is always hard on me. By the time I get to the end of the season, usually around mid-November, I’ve spent the past nine months growing and harvesting sixteen different fruit crops. My mind and body are spent. Though I try to take plenty of time through the year to exercise, eat well, get enough sleep, and reduce stress, none of it is ever enough to ward off the eventual post-harvest crash. Yes, eventually my body and mind finally give in and I get sick or exhausted, or both. The trick is not to avoid it, but handle it properly and get back up to speed quickly.

Over the years I’ve developed my own routine when I feel this crash coming. Ironically, it is not too different from what people should generally be doing anyway during periods of high physical and mental stress.

1. Sleep/Rest. Your body is tired. Give it what it needs: downtime. Take the day off from work, sleep in and go in late, take naps (lots of them). The best way to get yourself back on the road to recovery is to give it sleep. Sleep is one of the most overlooked wellness tools we have, whether you’re sick or not.
2. Eat Well. No, this isn’t a signal to go out and gorge yourself on pizza and beer. It is a call to eat the best, most nourishing foods you can find. Foods that are high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, foods with healing properties will get you back on your fit quickly. In our household, we really love soups like curried squash or pho. Anything with a little spice is always nice.
3. Fresh Air/Sunshine. Get outside and breathe deep of the fresh air and bask in the sunshine whenever possible. This is almost as much mental as anything, but renewing your oxygen supplies, expelling the bad air in your body, boosting your vitamin D levels can help you physically as well. And as we all know, getting better physically is as much about state of mind as anything. Besides who doesn’t want to get outside on a beautiful day anyway?
4. Exercise. Yes, that’s right. Despite the fact you may feel like you want to lay in bed all day, take some time throughout the day to get your blood flowing. It will keep your metabolism high, move the antioxidants and other nourishing goodness around your body, and move all the bad stuff out. You don’t need to run a marathon, just a little yoga, short jog, or a walk around outside for some fresh air and sunshine will do.
5. Avoid Alcohol. Despite the old wive’s tale that brandy will sweat it out of you (which doesn’t work), alcohol lowers your immune system and reduces your ability to get well fast. Stay away from alcohol and focus on liquids that will nourish and heal your mind, body, and soul. This is pretty good general advice for day to day living anyway.
6. Herbal/Holistic Nourishment. I can usually tell when I’m heading downhill. When I do feel the metaphorical air coming out of the balloon, I start to take some herbal remedies to beef up my immune system: Echinacea, Boneset, Elderberry. Those three are the mainstay of my holistic medical kit. Vitamin D, C, B, in particular are supplements I depend on for staying healthy and getting better when I am sick. Giving your body the stuff it needs is important to getting and feeling well.
7. Healing Teas. My own personal phytotherapist will have to fill you in on exactly what she does, but ever since I first met Debbie she has made me the most impressive, healing teas I have ever had. From the first time I got sick and lay at death’s door, almost 13 years ago, she has been able to heal me time and time again with her teas. Again, she uses lots of plants and herbs that improve my immune system and fight off whatever ails me.
8. Neti Pot. Personally, many of my health issues either start or end up in my nasal cavities. I’ve found that like #3, the sooner I start with the Neti Pot, the less sick I become and the quicker I heal. Yes, I swim a lot and the water and chlorine I do believe help my nasal health. But there’s nothing like a warm salt water flush to really get the nasties out and me back on my feet. Cheap, easy, effective – do it today!
9. Dental Hygiene/Salt Water Gargle. Since my nasal passages are connected to my mouth and throat and my teeth are located in my mouth (and drippy nasal passages go in as well as out), I figure it doesn’t hurt to be comprehensive. So, after I use the Neti Pot, I floss my teeth thoroughly, rinse my mouth out with warm water, and then brush.  This gets all the gook and gunk out and sanitizes my mouth so that the germs don’t prolong whatever I am fighting off.
10. Time. Even though the walls are coming back into focus and you may feel 100%, the fact is your body is still working hard to get better. Give it the time it needs to fully recover by following the above tips for a few days to a week after you’re back on your feet. You’ll thank yourself for it.

I know this all seems pretty extensive. But the fact is that whenever I feel “something” coming on and/or it already hit, by doing these things I can be back on my feet and feeling close to 100% in just a few days. After a few years of following these few simple steps, they are now just routine when I feel “something” coming on. In fact, many of these steps are incorporated into my daily life because of how important they are. Now, go out and get better.

No Sugar, No Grains (NSNG) is effing hard, folks!

I consider myself an intelligent, well-read, well-fed person. I also feel that I am in good shape, healthy, and very active after three years of hard work (after 20 years of doing basically nothing) to get into shape. I have always had a focus (though a somewhat loose at times) on diet and nutrition. Even though what I eat does not always reflect what I know is best for me, I do know the difference between nutritionally/physiologically good and bad food. This despite the misinformation campaigns of the USDA, FDA, and all the so-called “diet” experts over the course of my lifetime. Fads do not replace good sound nutrition and frequent exercise for optimal fitness and a healthy lifestyle. 

Unfortunately, most diets focus on cutting calories and the simple math of ‘calorie in, calorie out’ instead of changing the kinds of foods you eat and getting people to really exercise. That is, focusing less on calories, more food quality, and activity. A simple step would be to avoid processed (packaged) food and choosing fresh food. Delving deeper, there are simply some kinds of foods/food ingredients that are just plain not good for you. Highly processed foods are high in salts, sugars, oils, and grains. Sugars and grains, in particular, are two key ingredients that are simply bad because of 1) how they are combined in many foods and 2) how prevalent they are in the overall food supply.

Vinnie Tortorich, trainer to the stars, promotes a ‘No Sugar, No Grains’ approach to eating. Interestingly, he doesn’t really say ‘eat this, don’t eat that’ (though if you listen to his podcast, he does have his opinions). His approach is to simply say, “don’t eat foods with sugar or that are made from grains.” I realize that nutritional fitness is the nexus for me to achieve true well-being, so I decided to go down the NSNG path and see what it did for me. Bear in mind, that I am not a huge dessert person, but I love my bagels, breads and pastas, so I knew grains would be a big challenge. I didn’t realize just how many foods contains grains or a grain-based ingredient until I really started paying close attention. They’re nearly impossible to avoid. And its not just the obvious items like sandwiches or pastries, but also all of the ingredients made from grains and sugars that go into making food. I won’t get into the fact that many animals used for meat are also fed grains, so I am sure the effects of grains in the American diet accumulate as you move up the food chain….and YOU don’t even realize it.

Sugars as a food ingredient are basically grains times 100. They’re everywhere and in everything, and one sugar in particular (high fructose corn syrup) is also made from a grain, so its a double whammy. Sugar is now added to practically everything because our minds are attuned to seek out sweetness. And when food processors can use a particularly highly-addictive form (HFCS) it creates a vicious circle that many people can’t snap out of if they’re trying to lose weight or reduce the chances they’ll have diabetes. HFCS is basically culinary heroin–easily hooked, tough to kick.

Planning a menu, eating out, buying groceries is effing hard when you’re looking for foods and ingredients that don’t contain sugars or grains. the typical American diet is so heavily laden with sugars and grains, it makes it practically impossible to eat out or buy groceries without running into them. Sugars and grains are such a huge part of the American diet because they are cheap ingredients subsidized by the government. Mega-food companies (already largely subsidized) have access to cheap ingredients that they spin, toss, turn, and pound into whatever food product the American public may not even know they desire. How many grains can you name? Can you find any products without a sugar and sugar substitute added to it? Good luck — in fact, just head on over to the produce aisle and start there, you’ll be better off.

Yes, it is incredibly difficult (at least in my neck of the woods) to adhere to a NSNG diet. But once you get on track, the improvements you’ll feel in your body and mind are incredible. Even after just one week I could feel a significant difference in how I felt mentally and physically. I’m pretty sure that practically anyone who takes this on will lose weight, feel better, run faster, leap tall buildings (well, you get the idea). I’ll let you know how I feel as I put some more time between me and SnGs.

Is it possible to become an elite athlete after 50?

Most elite athletes spent the better part of their teens, 20s, and 30s working incessantly to become the best in the world. And if they were lucky and gifted, they did, in fact, become just that. However, the bulk of humanity, like me, is or has been athletic in a very informal way, spending their teens and 20s swimming, playing soccer, jogging, and softball before settling down into so-called “adult life.” My personal journey is one where I swam competitively until I was 16 years old, was a delusional bodybuilder/powerlifter in college, mountain biked, and began running and practicing yoga in my 30s before finally succumbing to middle age around the age of 45. Shortly thereafter I found myself exactly where I never wanted to be: feeling old.

In the fall of 2010, I began swimming to repair an injury that prevented me from walking upright (psoas muscle) — something I refer to as the de-evolutionary, or neanderthal, phase of my life. As I swam more and more, I became interested in triathlons — something I found fascinating in the mid-70s, but never pursued — so I began running and biking again. After bicep/shoulder injury surgery in 2011, I competed in a few triathlons, 5Ks, USMS swim meets and began to wonder how good of an athlete I could become. Even though my body is worn down from years of use and abuse, I seem to get faster, stronger, and more determined with each passing year. As an index, my swim times are every bit as fast as they were when I was 16. I’ve recently run two consecutive 5K PBs (personal bests). So, it begs the question….how good could I become? How good could anyone, any human being, become after 50? Is it possible through proper fitness, mindset, and nutrition to become an elite athlete after the age of 50? Not just the best among a bunch of other 50 years old men and women…..but the best of the best. It goes without saying that PEDs are not an option.

There are numerous examples of older folks succeeding in competitive athletics later in life. The real question is: how good can someone, anyone, become given proper genetics, training, nutrition, time, and financial resources.

I’d love to hear from beginning, practicing, and lifelong competing athletes on the subject. As well, I’d love to hear from doctors, exercise physiologists, sports psychologists, trainers, or anyone who has an opinion. It seems that the time is right and, as the world’s population gets older, and seemingly more in love with staying fit and living longer, that we ask the question…..how good can we, can anyone, really become?

It’s NOT about the calories, it’s about the quality!

I’ve probably been listening to too many podcasts recently. Everyone seems to have an opinion one way or another about the best way to eat. Paleo, vegan, pescatarian, 80/10/10, Atkins, etc. @vinnietortorich, @richroll, @bengreenfield, and on and on. For many who are just trying to get into shape and lose a few pounds, the choices seem endless and the decision precarious. For those reaching a new level of fitness and athleticism, the choice can be the difference between winning and losing. However, one thing I think they all agree on is that a ‘calorie in, calorie out’ approach is just plain stupid. Yes, if you burn more calories than you take in, you will lose weight…for a while. But if you starve yourself, then your body stops functioning properly, you can’t exercise properly, can’t think properly, and you just plain stop feeling the way you should: really really good. But with the right choice of foods, the tables are turned and you begin sensing a whole new life right around the corner.

Given the un-fitness and obesity epidemic we currently have in the US, if folks would focus more on “what” they are eating rather than “how much” — all the while being active — as a whole we’d get so much further down the fitness road than we are now. Fad diets, calorie counting, anorexia, bulimia, ‘cheat’ days, etc. are not helping. In fact, they are hurting — some in very deadly ways. We need a wellness revolution in this country and it can only start by improving the quality of what we eat rather than focusing on how much we eat. Trust me, if you start eating the right stuff, your body will adjust to how much of it you are eating (keeping in mind certain limits, of course). You will have more energy, vitality, vim & vigor, ultimately leading to a healthier you.

What’s the right stuff? Well, that’s coming up in future blogs. But as starter, stay away from processed foods, junk/fast food, meat, sugars, and grains, and start eating more dark leafy greens, fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Eat local, organic, and whole foods. Start there and that, my friends, should get you out of the starting blocks and down the road towards a new fit you!

But a Little Intensity Never Hurt (or hurt much)

Saturday morning I woke up knowing I needed to do “something” to get the cobwebs out of my head and the lead out of my feet. It was a slow day at work and I could afford the time away, so a short run was just what the doctor ordered. Little did I know that it would turn into a 9 mile run that nearly kicked my butt. I actually didn’t know how far I was going to run when I started out. I just headed out knowing that no matter how far I went I would have to come back. And by the time I got back I was one hurting pup — but certainly better for the wear and tear. Here are the details: MapMyRide.

Sunday I knew I couldn’t just sit around or I would just tighten up beyond belief, but I couldn’t do anything too strenuous because I could barely walk (ok, maybe a little exaggeration). Since it was family day and we hadn’t been bike riding in quite a while, we loaded up the bikes and headed for one of Ithaca’s finest parks: Stewart Park. I can’t say how far we went, but it doesn’t matter it was very enjoyable just being out with my family on a beautiful day. It was a good thing to stretch my legs and limit the soreness that would have surely come had I just sat on my ass watching a movie. So next time you’ve just completed an awesome work out, get out there the next day to make sure you’re setting yourself up for more awesomeness. Here’s some more information for the adventure minded: Stewart Park.

Monday came around a little too quickly–but it wasn’t the stereotypical Monday. Things went pretty well at work. I had recovered from my Saturday abuse, err, run. So, later in the afternoon I headed to the gym for some strength training and to blow off a little steam. (By now, I am feeling like I’ve got some momentum going for me. I’m feeling my fitness level rise, my desire to push myself harder each time, and my competitiveness increase. I am even contemplating my first trail run competition this coming Sunday.) I did a variation on my weight training circuit by adding a few sets, a few reps, and decreasing the time between sets. Again, focusing on my chest, back, arms, shoulders, and abs. It wasn’t enough to really kill me, but enough to keep me pushing myself and my fitness to new levels. Who do you want to be?

Which brings me to Tuesday. I got up at 4am (as usual, if I am swimming) to head to the pool. I didn’t feel out of sorts or totally destroyed from the previous few days, though I was a tad tired. Nonetheless, I got to the poll, did my normal workout, and decided to do my butterfly set, something I knew wouldn’t come easy directly because of the past days and especially the weight training the day before. So I gutted it out. Swam my IM set (3×150 yds bk/br/fr) before deciding the internal egg timer had gone off and I couldn’t do anymore. Stick a fork in me, I was done. 2000 yards wasn’t so bad given the intensity of the sets I swam and what had come in the days before.

Here I sit writing this a mere 11 hours after finishing that swim realizing that while I feel tired and sore, the intensity of the past few days (including the casual bike ride) has set me up for even higher intensity training and better results the next time I decide to compete (which at the very least will be on October 20th for the Chris Bond 5K in Trumansburg).

Exercise intensity is a good thing. It forces you to push yourself to surpass thresholds you probably didn’t even know you had. It increases your ability to get stronger, faster, smarter. It helps you understand your own physiology better, to become a better athlete, human being, occupant of planet Earth. As Nietzsche said, “that which does not kill you only makes you stronger.” I am not sure I totally believe that. But I do know if you sit around waiting for results without pushing yourself (and allowing yourselves to pushed) to new limits, you’ll never know how high you can go.

Ready? Let’s go!