A New Low (and a few updates)

Oh yes, people, today I saw a number that I don’t think I have ever seen before on my scales: 168! And I did it without even really trying!

OK, so maybe it’s due to dehydration (I’m sure I sweated it all out in yesterday’s heat), but I’ll take it nonetheless, even if only for a fleeting moment. I had been hovering in the 170-172 range for most of the last few months (I think I might have actually seen and quickly dismissed a 174 in there once during that time), so it was nice to see that new low number.

It was also a huge physical barrier for me to overcome since I didn’t think it was possible to go below where I was before, especially without really focusing on it. But I have to say that I have been noticing changes in my body over the last few months from all the training I’m doing. I can really feel the muscle definition in my legs and my arms, both of which are very good things. I would be happier if the weight came off my stomach or those little pooches of fat on my back, but I can’t really make that happen, so I will just take what I’m given and be happy.

I’m not getting too comfy about the weight-loss, though: not until I get down to 165 or so will I be able to confidently say that I have broken through the 170 barrier. I like to give myself a three- to four-pound cushion to allow for normal fluctuations. And I would say that’s probably a good strategy to have all around: don’t celebrate the two- or three-pound losses any more than berate yourself for the two- or three-pound gains.

And the interesting thing is: normally seeing a number like that would have me racing for the cookies in an attempt at self-sabotage (I am oh so good at that), but not today. After a brief “I must have a muffin” moment this morning, I settled down and found the resolve to have my normally healthy breakfast. I’m also going to be sure to get in AT LEAST 1L of water before I leave the office today and then fill up my bottle and try to get the rest in before the end of the day.

I didn’t drink nearly enough yesterday. I had a 750mL bottle of sports drink for my run, but I don’t “count” liquids consumed during exercise towards my daily goal of 1.5-2L since I’m taking that in to replace what I’m losing during exercise. I had filled my 1L pink Nalgene water bottle before I left home and it was still nice and cold in my Starvin’ Marvin cooler.

Aside: I’ve had the Starvin’ Marvin since I went on a road trip to Cleveland with some friends about 10 years ago. You know, I can’t even remember when it was that we went! It was the first year that Jacobs’ Field opened for the Indians and we saw the Orioles play (Cal Ripkin Jr. had just beaten the record for consecutive games), as well as a football game at the old Municipal Stadium where the (now defunct) Browns used to play. Oh, and we went to the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, too. Anyway, I digress. We stopped at this gas station and the little convenience store attached to it was called Starvin’ Marvin. They had these little Styrofoam coolers that were probably meant to hold a six pack of beer cans, but it turns out that it’s perfect for keeping my water bottles cold in the car while I’m out running or biking.

I polished off the 1L of water in no time after running. I never got a chance to refill it, though. At the BBQ (a.k.a, cook-out) after the race I had a beer and a couple of glasses of ginger ale, so that hardly counts as hydration! I had a big glass of soda water with a splash of POM (pomegranate juice – yum!) when I got home. Oh, and a glass of wine. Hmmm, that also doesn’t count as hydration.

If the simple formula for weight loss is to decrease the amount of calories you consume and/or increase the amount of calories you burn through exercise, I have to say that I would rather exercise more than eat less. But there’s only so much more exercise I can do than I’m already doing! That said, I did bail on my morning workout today. I just could not drag my ass out of bed when the alarm went off at 5:30. I had planned on doing some weights followed by 30 minutes on the elliptical, but I’ll just have to settle for a long swim this evening as my exercise for the day.

The other kicker is that the more you exercise, the hungrier you actually get (well, at least that’s the case for me). So I’m trying to figure out the right balance of food that will leave me full and ready to perform, yet allow me to maintain my current weight or, ideally, lose a couple of pounds a month. I think that for the time being as long as I can stay away from junk food (mostly sweets) then I will be fine. What is it about things made with butter, flour, sugar and eggs that entice me so much? Honestly, in and of themselves they are all good things (well, except maybe for the sugar). But I just love them, I truly do! Sigh. Oh, and cream: I love cream, too.

This heat is really getting to me (as evident in my lack of ability to get up this morning). I am not sleeping well as it’s just so stifling hot. I do get a bit of a respite between 8AM and 5PM when I am in the office, though. When I walked into the office this morning it felt like I was walking down the frozen food aisle at the supermarket! It was heavenly! But once my day is over, it’s back to the stinking heat. And I don’t get any relief the entire weekend. This week the temps are supposed to stay in the mid-30s every day! Crikey, that’s 95F and that’s without factoring in the humidity! It’s a small blessing that I live near the lake as it’s quite a bit cooler down there than it is uptown (3-4 degrees).

But it’s going to make exercising really tough this week. I have a race on Sunday, so I have to get my training in this week. It’s not going to be pretty. And there’s really no benefit to exercising indoors as my race will be in the heat, so I have to acclimatize myself to exercising in those conditions. Blech! SO NOT looking forward to exercising this week!

Sunday’s race, which is in my own back-yard a mere 10-minute bike ride from home (hence the pressure to do well), is a triathlon consisting of a 750m open-water swim (in Lake Ontario – which is not as bad as it sounds, Trish, honest), followed by a 32K (20-mile) bike ride on a flat loop done five times. Then it’s a 7.5K (4.7-mile) run, also on a flat course. And I LOVE flat courses as compared to hilly ones as they suit my abilities better. My goal for the swim is to complete it in 15 minutes or less. For the bike, I’d like to be able to maintain an average speed of 30km/hr, which would have me complete it in just over an hour (1:05). The only factor that could play into that is the wind. If it’s a windy day, it might be tough to maintain that pace. If I can maintain a sub-6:00 per km pace on the run, I should complete it in less than 45 minutes. Add about 3 minutes for transitions (swim-to-bike and bike-to-run) and that brings me in at 2:08. The race starts at 8AM, so hopefully it won’t be too hot at that time. If all things go well, I’ll be done just after 10AM. I’m going to do a bit of a test on the course tomorrow evening.

The last time I did a race of that relative distance I completed it in 2:08. That was in 2001 and I think the swim was short that year because it said that I completed it in under 14 minutes, which I find hard to believe as I’m a much better swimmer now than I was then. I only averaged 26km/hr on the bike, but there were hills and I think our transition times were included in our bike times. The run for that course was only 7K (as opposed to 7.5K) and I did it in 40 minutes, so if I can do a sub-2:08 this weekend that will definitely be an improvement.

Cell phone update: I bought a new phone on Saturday. Actually, the old phone had dried out sufficiently that it seemed to be working OK, but I really didn’t want to chance it. And the guy at the store managed to retrieve my contacts and transfer them over to the new phone, so I didn’t have to reprogram them all. Yea! Although it was a couple of hundred dollars that I didn’t need to spend! I wasn’t eligible for the rebate since it’s been less than two years since I last replaced my phone. Now I just have to download some more ring tones because the default ones are kind of lame. At first glance, it appears that my old Ironman ring tone is not available for this phone. Whaaa!

Litterbugs: I meant to post this last week when it happened, but I’ve only just remembered to do it now. I had just gotten on my bike outside the gym for the ride around the block to my office when I saw an arm come out of a pick-up truck parked by the side of the road. My cyclist’s instincts took over and I moved to one side, thinking that he was about to throw a cigarette ash (or worse: butt!) out the window. But then I saw something truly horrifying: the guy dropped an empty take-out coffee cup (from the largest chain in Canada, you know who you are!) right out the window onto the ground! As I rode by, the first thing that popped into my head to say was, “That was rude!” I didn’t look to see if he picked it up (doubtful) and I hope he knew that I meant that it was rude of him to litter in the first place, not just because he threw the cup right in front of me (which is also rude). Sheesh! Some people! I’m trying to live by the motto: Leave it cleaner than you found it. At the race yesterday, people (my friends, even) had left pop cans and other garbage around. I didn’t clean up everyone’s garbage, but anything that was in my general vicinity made it into the trash. I just wish I could always live by that motto at home…

The antidote to negative self-talk

Last week, I noticed a few of my lovely bloggers wallowing in their apparent failures. Many of you felt like you had fallen off the wagon or that you had gone into a tailspin. So, in response to that, let me offer you this little bit of inspiration.

I get a weekly e-mail from an Olympic-level triathlon coach named Barrie Shepley (he was the Canadian National Triathlon Team’s coach at the Sydney Olympics where Canadian Simon Whitfield won the inaugural gold medal in that event). Barrie is one of the most positive people I have ever met or trained with. Every Monday he sends out a newsletter filled with positive energy to literally hundreds, if not close to a thousand, people via e-mail (if you are interested in having this e-mail sent to you, go to personalbest.ca and follow the links to sign up). In his newsletter for July 4th he included the following article. I hope it has as much meaning for you as it did for me.

FAILURE IS REQUIRED

by Steve Goodier

Nobody stood and walked the first time her weight was put down on wobbly legs at a few months old. Nobody got his ABCs or counting to 10 right the first time he tried to imitate someone with that series of sounds. Nobody spelled "rendezvous" correctly upon first hearing the word. Everybody fails at something.

If it is true of things so basic as walking, counting, or writing, why should we be so surprised that we fail at things when we get older? A first job may not turn out to be a career. A sure-fire investment may not be. Some relationships don't work out. The real question isn't "Will I ever fail at anything?" but "What is the best way to deal with my mistakes and failures?" Nobody wants to mess up. Nobody sets out to fail. But fallibility is another name for humanity.

Thomas Edison was extraordinarily successful. He lit up the world with his incandescent bulb. He invented the phonograph, microphone, and movies. He conceived and created storage batteries. He worked with the inventions of others to make them commercially feasible - things like the typewriter, telegraph, and telephone. He patented a phenomenal 1,093 inventions during his lifetime. Those inventions literally changed the world. But failure was part of his creative process.

Most of us seem to fear failure so much that we avoid taking risks. We are reluctant to learn new things. We hesitate about anything unfamiliar that might make us look foolish or label us as failures. But where does one learn virtues such as perseverance and courage except from facing difficulties and setbacks?

During a frustrating series of experiments, Edison tried to buoy the spirits of a discouraged co-worker. "We haven't failed!" he told the man. "We now know things that won't work, so we are that much closer to finding what will."

Instead of fixating on the possibility of failure, it is better to understand that it is acceptable to try worthwhile things and fail. It is part of the learning process.

Think about the last time something came undone for you. Did you try to conceal it? Find someone to blame for it? Go into some dark place about your inadequacies as a person? Give up on the project or person?

Now think about a different strategy for your next setback. Admit that things didn't work out as you had hoped. Take responsibility for whatever part of the failure belongs to you. Then figure out what you can learn from the process. The point here is not simply to acknowledge but to learn from a reversal.