By Mike Tarrolly, Co-Host of the Crushing Iron Podcast
I just broke rule number one from the Crushing Iron Podcast. Seems odd since I’ve probably heard and said it 100s of times, but what’s life without breaking a few rules?
This year is off to a rough start and I haven’t done a whole lot of “triathloning.” And outside of Run Camp, I probably haven’t run more than 5 times. The longest was about an hour.
Somehow I just talked myself into a walk/run that lasted 1:43. How does this happen?
RULE #1 – Err on the Side of Caution
The weather was perfect and I cinched my hydration belt tight around the top of my waistband. I felt good and ready to roll out a few miles. The mistake I made was pulling up my shirt and looking in the mirror. That’s when I saw it . . . a cute little roll of flesh, softly draping over my belt.
Years ago I wrote a post called “Picture is worth dozens of pounds” and it is the epicenter of how I wound up in triathlon. We’ve all been there. That moment of truth when we think, “I’m gonna go out there and get in shape right now!” All those pesky pounds and revolting lung tissues will learn the hard way. I’m not playing around this time!
As jacked as I was to restore my fitness to Ironman level in one day, I did err to caution with the style of run/walk. Three minutes running, one minute walking. I played the whole thing by ear and the recovery cycle was quite intriguing.
Truth is, it wasn’t that difficult and the result gave me confidence that, despite my slacking, I could probably run a decent half marathon right now. A good reminder for that general paranoia we have about “losing fitness.”
RULE #2: Be Consistent
Yeah, I broke this one, too.
There has been nothing consistent about my training since my father went into hospice care in late November. Consistency is tough, especially when life gets in the way, but any win is a step in the right direction.
Thank goodness for my mom.
Mom was in town last week and she gave me a large dose of consistency. We cleaned, organized and polished this house into a good old fashioned home. She gave me a list of things on her way out the door, and the minute she left . . . I was back to being good ole’ Mike.
Well, not totally, but with all this crazy going on it’s a struggle.
This run gave me hope. It felt great to be out there and good at the end. Now it’s just a matter of stringing some things together and trusting the process.
RULE #3: Be Patient
If you think about it, patience is the balance in our lives. Worthwhile things don’t happen overnight and trying to force our lives into a box creates an anxiety loop.
I’m still about 90% sure I’ll tackle a Full Ironman this year, but haven’t quite found the juice. I’m trusting it will appear like one of these lemons I’m squeezing into hot water for my immune system.
And this whole quarantine thing might be the ultimate test of patience. So many things just waiting to happen, but the uncertainty weighs like a rain cloud.
This period of slow-down has actually been good for me. I’m just staying in the moment as much as I can and working on little things. It’s actually quite nice when the world slows down for you.
Rule #4 – Keep Learning
This is the rule I followed the most today. I still contend that writing things down is the best way to learn and grow in this sport. Remembering what you already know goes a long ways.
With that said, here are:
7 Things I learned (or remembered) from today’s run:
- The Importance of exhaling – How quickly we forget the importance of breathing OUT. That goes for swim and bike as well. I’m a well-known-non-scientist, but for me, I just feel like a lot of our inflammation and lactic acid build up happens because we are tense and don’t exhale. I especially focused on this while walking and there was a crazy since of small recovery before each run segment. Like a lot of things, good exhaling is a habit.
- Slow is Slow – There’s this thing called a “gray zone” and in my experience, most triathletes live there. It’s that pace we think is easy, but just creeps into Zone 3. It’s the, “I felt great today, I’m sure I can hold it after 56 or 112 miles on the bike.” Wrong! Today I truly ran slow and I think that’s the reason I actually didn’t feel that bad.
- People Still Aren’t Looking at me on the greenway – This is an emotional thing for me. I wish people would realize this is a time to embrace humanity, not ignore them like they are the walking plague. I literally watched a woman reach out, grab her teenage daughter’s arm and yank her away as I ran past them. Don’t let this thing drive us to insanity!
- Heal Cups may be helping my plantar fasciitis – This is TOTALLY an old man’s thing. My buddy’s dad always used to tell us heal cups were the solution to foot pain and take us down to the old pharmacy and hook us up. We always thought they were dumb but now I’m seeing his point. My left heal has been bothering me, which is one reason I’ve been inconsistent, but I think they are helping. Edit: The pain was certainly not any worse, which I’m taking as a good sign after such a long run.
- Negative splits are negative splits – This is my training motto. The negative split is all about finishing strong and I believe it’s a good habit to build. On a day when I ran for 40 minutes longer than I have in months, I tried to keep way under control on the way out. I did the same thing on the way back and negative split the second half by 30 seconds. That’s about 4 seconds per mile faster and a huge win in my book.
- Operation Hamstring must start in earnest – Will he ever stop talking about his f&*king hamstrings? I know, it’s annoying. Are they weak or are they tight? I am leaning toward tight and I really have to take this seriously. Yoga has worked wonders for me in the past, but I also think it could be sleeping on my stomach (this after talking with a body mechanic). There’s just no reason I should feel like I do in the morning. Hunching over like an old man with tight hammies. But then again, I am an old man, so maybe I should just live with it.
- No chance in hell – I am not “accepting age” as I get older. For me it’s about throwing your hat in the ring over and over. Doing hard stuff that keeps you young. If I do something today that is hard, there is no reason I shouldn’t be able to do something tomorrow that is similar. That one day at a time approach is my other mantra. In fact, I believe this to the core. You know how some days you just feel great? Well, if that was just yesterday, why can’t it be tomorrow, too? Sometimes I feel 20 years old. That’s the feeling I go for, until 30 is the best I have . . . and I hope it’s a long ass time before I feel like I’m in my fifties.
For more articles like this, bonus podcasts, triathlete conference Q&A’s, coaching articles, and tons of instructional videos, please check out the C26 Online Hub Preview. We currently have a “pay what you want” program through September 30, 2020. Thanks for supporting the Crushing Iron Podcast.