Back in the Saddle

So I have been away for awhile. I decided that other areas of my life, such as my family and my career need more attention, so I scaled my training hours back severely and focused more on one sport, running, since it is my greatest weakness. A couple months ago I got the great idea to do the LA Marathon to give myself a goal, but I guess I could never really commit to it. I thought maybe it would be too much of a commitment given the fact that I am supposed to be focusing on other areas of my life right now. But I tried just "working out" for a few weeks and it was really hard. I just don't have the motivation to just burn calories -- I need a goal. So I signed up for the marathon. It's official!

I also have the Rose Bowl Half Marathon in two and a half weeks. Fortunately I have been running enough to still be prepared. I did a thirteen miler this past weekend and will be in taper mode for the next two weeks.

Finding Your Motivation

So why do we run exhausting mile after exhausting mile? After all most of us are never going to win a race or frankly even get close to winning. Many of the people out jogging or filling up the local gym are simply trying to lose a few pounds, look a little better and feel fit, and I don’t doubt that most of the burgeoning ranks of triathletes in this country are seeking the same thing – to feel better, to look better and perhaps live a little longer. But you know what? When these types of extrinsic motivators are your reason for getting moving it is unlikely that you will succeed in the long term. The reality is that most people start exercise programs all the time with great enthusiasm only to give up only a few months or even weeks later.

There is a great article by Tom McGrath in the latest issue of Men’s Health magazine that discusses this topic, and I thought I would pass on a few pieces of information that I thought were particularly useful. First off, external rewards are in the vast majority of cases simply not strong enough motivators to keep us working out. Why? Because exercise becomes drudgery or boring – namely it becomes just work. We work out day after day and it is the same thing over and over again. If working out just becomes work then there are too many activities (constructive or not) competing for our time for us to keep at it. If we want to succeed in the long term, we have to cultivate within us the intrinsic rewards of exercise. We have to enjoy the feeling of movement. We have to enjoy what we are doing, and most of all just have fun.

What will make us enjoy exercise? McGrath points to three factors: autonomy, competence and relatedness. Autonomy relate to an activity in that we choose to do it; it was not forced on us. If we are thinking that we have to do something, or are being forced then we lose our autonomy. If it seems that we are being forced and we naturally bridle against that. If we tell ourselves that we have to workout or we will gain a few pounds, that motivator is just working against us because it cuts into our sense of autonomy. The second factor, competence, relates to the skills that we build while doing the exercise. If we feel that we are doing well or at least improving we will feel good about our accomplishments and continue in our efforts. If we just go to the gym and put in our thirty minutes on the elliptical machine then this is not going to feed our desire for accomplishment. We need to always have new goals and look for progress. For long term success, probably the most important factor is the last, relatedness, which is how the activity connects you to others. Activities that bring you together with others are naturally going to be more intrinsically motivating. Plugging away on the treadmill with your iPod on is not bring you closer to anyone (well, sometimes a good Podcast can relate you to all kinds of people). Instead, find a group to train with, or even just one friend. It can really make the difference.

All of this makes complete sense to me. When I embarked on my triathlon journey it was to change my life and become a better person, but the question remains, why triathlon? Why not just go to the gym and slave away at a treadmill for a while and then call it a day? Why do I have to race, and in three separate sports no-less, and wear a funny outfit? Because it is fun. Getting up early in the morning to set up your gear in transition is exciting. Taking the first plunge into the ocean along with hundreds of others is exhilarating. Passing another cyclist as you make your way along the course makes you feel like a millions bucks, especially when the other guy is younger or has a faster bike. And there is nothing like crossing the finish line and erasing all the doubt of whether you were good enough or whether you could do it. In short it is a blast.

I knew then that starting an exercise program wasn’t enough. It had to be more, and that is probably the only reason I’m still out there, still doing it and still setting goals. Sure I have had my stumbles, but I have always come back. The only solution for continued motivation and improvement is to cultivate more intrinsic rewards in my training. I set my own schedule so that I know that I am choosing to train and no one is forcing me. I set goals and carefully measure my progress so that every time I PR or go a little farther I feel a surge of pride. I search out training locations and ways of training that I enjoy, like getting out of the musty gym and onto the mountain trails or into the ocean waves. And lastly, I find others to train with, so that every week I look forward to seeing my friends so that together we can get faster, stronger and little bit better.

On to New Challenges

To say that it has been a while since my last post is an understatement. For a while there I think I slide off of the face of the earth. I actually wasn't sure if I was ever going to blog again. You see the first 4 months of this year were more about detraining than training. I was often sick with several nasty infections that my preschool age daughter brought home with her during the winter and then when I finally felt better it seemed that I could only get in a few days of training before some other crisis would occur and whip out another week of training. I was constantly starting my training and never building. I became so frustrated that I started to think that perhaps triathlon, and all three of its sports are perhaps too much for me to handle at this point in my life and that I should perhaps just focus on one or two.

The problem with this strategy is which sports to choose. As I got closer and closer to Wildflower my frustration built and I guess as a protection mechanism I decided to just not doWildflower. I needed a new goal. Something different and something realistic with the time I have available. So lately I have been focusing on cycling. My goal is to climb Mt. Wilson by the end of the year. Here is a nice 3D image of the over 5000ft climb.

(image courtesy of CalTech Velo)
And here is the elevation profile. Definitely an epic climb, but no extreme grades.

(image courtesy of CalTech Velo)

So far I have made it to about 3000ft. Other members of my tri club have been going up this route too, but I usually don't ride with them because I have to be back home at a reasonable hour (I couldn't keep up with them anyways), so I leave the house at five or six in the morning. The triple crankset on my Trek 1220 has been a life saver. I don't think I could move my 250lb body up this climb without a triple. I am usually in my lowest or next to lowest gear the entire way up. No standing, just spinning.

While I appreciate the triple I still am not happy with this bike. All this cycling has made me more sensitive to the fact that my bike just doesn't fit right. It is a 50cm frame which is the second to smallest frame they make and I am six feet tall. I bought a new seat post and toyed with the idea of a new stem and even a new fork, but in the end that would just be putting more money into a bike that will never be 100% right for me. This was hard to admit because I wanted my next bike to be a tribike. I also wanted to have a road bike in the stable, and at my level of skill a road bike is going to be more important than a tribike, because I am simply not fast enough to take full advantage of the aero position available on a tribike. So I started to look for a new road bike and pushed the idea of getting a tribike back for a few years. Who knows. Maybe I wouldn't be doing triathlons in a few years, but still cycling. Then I would really appreciate the choice of a new road bike. If I still am doing triathlons by then, then I know I have earned the tribike. At least that is what I keep telling myself. . .

So what to get. There are so many more options with road bikes than in tribikes, and I combed the magazines and internet for options. I was becoming obsessed. The problem is that no matter what bike you look at there is another "better" bike for a little more money. That is just the way it is. I did not want to regret that I could have gotten something better if I had just spent a little more money, and yet I have to cut it off somewhere. After struggling with the issue for a while I came up with a system. At the risk of revealing to everyone I am an incredible nerd I am going to share with you my system in case you have to make such a decision yourself.

First I selected the features that I cared most about, and ranked the factors. I then awarded each bike points based on how well they satisfied each factor. For me, I cared most about ride quality, because my Trek 1220 is just bone-crushingly stiff. The second factor was that I wanted a decent component group. I am a big guy so I need something that will work well and have good durability. The third factor was weight. It is not that important since I am rather heavy already, but for some illogical reason it mattered to me. The last was the brand name. I guess this makes me shallow, but the name Cervelo, Pinarello or Orbea it is worth something to me. Certainly less important than the other factors, but still worth something. I would be dishonest in my analysis if I left it out.

Now you may notice that I left fit out of the equation. Fit is really a do or die issue. Either it fits or it doesn't. Obviously I can't buy a bike that doesn't fit. But what I am doing here with a point system is really trying to establish a baseline of value, or at least the value to me of each model of bike. Then I go try them out.

So I ranked each factor and gave more points to higher ranked factors. 10 points available for factor one, 8 points available for factor two and so on. If the bike exceeded my requirements it got full points. If it met my requirements it got half points, and if it was deficient it got no points. For example, for ride quality I based it mostly on materials. Carbon, Scandium and Lightweight Steel bikes got full points, other steel bikes and lightweight aluminium got half points and regular aluminum bikes got none. Ultegra or Dura-Ace was full points, 105 was half and Sora or Tiagra no points. For weight, bike less than 18 pounds got full points, less than 20 half and greater than 20 nothing. Etc.

After adding up all the points I then divided each point total by the price of the bike. This gives me a value quotient or value for the money. Certain bikes came up as good values right way, particularly Felt, Jamis and Raleigh. They seemed to offer the best value for the money. But did I get any of them? Nope. This is what I got.

I found a great deal (40% off) at a local shop for a 2006 Bianchi 928 Carbon. It fits very well particularly because the size is 55cm which is actually a rare size. I have short legs relative to my height, and so I need the largest bike I can get while still having a tolerable standover. 55cm is the largest I can go with my legs. Most other brands offer a 54cm or a 56cm. A 56cm is too tall for me to standover comfortably and a 54cm will have a cockpit that is too short. Some compact geometry frames would also work, but they often have headtubes that are too tall, so this bike worked out perfectly.

The full carbon frame allows the ride to be really smooth. The component group is Campagnolo Veloce, which from all my research is very reliable and strong. I gather that the general concesus is that Veloce is between 105 and Ultegra in terms of quality, but that with Campy the lower end components share more in comon with the high end stuff than with Shimano, so it is difficult to compare the two. Really the only difference between component groups for Campy is weight so Veloce should be very durable. I was skeptical of the Campy system at first because I wasn't familiar with it, but after trying it out I like it much better than Shimano. The brifters fit my large hands better, and I like having two separate levers instead of one. I find that I can't mishift like I sometimes do on Shimano, and the cabling is much cleaner.

The bike is also just at 18 pounds. And the name . . . got to love it. I admit I go a little crazy over Italian stuff. It's not rational, I know. The bike was handmade in Bianchi's factory in Italy with Italian components and even Italian wheels. By the way, this is not true of most Bianchis, which are often made in Taiwan with Taimanese components. The bike got full points in every category and because of the closeout price, it was by far the best value of any other bike I considered. The only problem with the bike is that it doesn't have a triple like my Trek so going up Mt. Wilson my not be possible for me. It does have a compact crankset so I may be able to get the gearing I need by swapping out a cog or two in the cassette, so I am still considering what I want to do about that.

Now I have been riding this piece of art for a few weeks, and I am in cycling heaven. Now on mornings when I'm scheduled to ride I wake before my alarm goes off, and I haven't missed a single ride.

DietPower Update

I has been a bit anticlimactic after my first triathlon. I'm not sure why but my enthusiasm has gone way down. I was actually expecting this. Is has been around six months since I started this journey, and I have often had difficulty in sustaining interest in any project for over six months. I have been frequently thinking of all the things that I have given up to participate in this sport, which does produce a bit of longing for the gold old days of sleeping in and having relaxing weekends.

this troubling new attitude, in combination with recent family issues and work issues I just haven't had the focus on training that I need. The Nautica Malibu tri is less than two weeks away which puts me right in the end of what should be my peak training period. Instead I went 6 days last week without any training at all. The week before that was really light, and the week before that was another 6 days straight with nearly no training. I could definitely feel the effects of the lack of training on the Santa Barbara Tri. While I did better than I expected I would, I could have done much better. Now I am looking at Malibu and just don't seem ready. The course apparently has a very hilly bike segment which really scares me. I haven't trained much on hills. I assumed the course would be pretty flat since the tri is near the ocean. I guess that will teach me.

So where is the bright side? While I am feeling a bit down on triathlon right now, I have to admit that it has changed my life. I feel much better. I look much better. My daughter was sick over the weekend and I didn't catch it! I have met some great people and have really enjoyed the time spent outdoors. I remind myself of this as much as I can.

Today, I wanted to check in on my weight loss progress. I have been using the DietPower weight and nutrition manager as a integral part of my training and I give it a lot of credit with my weight loss. I could train several hours a day and still not lose body fat if you don't pay attention to nutritional inputs. DietPower gives my tools to evaluate where I am in regards to water intake, calories, fat, sodium, etc. It doesn't do all the work for me. I still have to not eat the double cheeseburgers (or eat less of them), but without its guidance I don't think I would have gotten this far.

Here is a screenshot of my weight history. You can see a bump up a few months ago where I changed blood pressure medication. I got through that and now I am nearly back on track.

You can see that I have a ways to go. According to the chart I have lost 25.5 lbs, but if you count the fact that I was 280 lbs just late last year, I have lost 43.5 lbs! My goal is to lose another 46 pounds, which puts me at nearly the halfway point.

One of the effects of lagging training motivation is the difficulty in keeping to my nutritional plan. I find that under times of stress I will binge eat. You can see from next screenshot of my calorie history. There are some serious red spikes which is where I went through a period of over eating. You'll notice that often these times also show low training levels (dark purple lines along the bottom).

I had a spike yesterday. Ugh! I missed my spinning class and ate an extra 1000 calories. Not a good combo. Today has been much better. I still have over 700 calories left to eat and I am not hungry. Into the bank they go.

The next two weeks are critical. I need to kick up the training this week and next week do a reasonable taper, and I'll be ok.