Tuesday, October 19, 2010

... Like an Old Tired Dog

Yep, talking about my ass because my ass is dragging like an old tired dog.  I think that quote was from Goose in Top Gun?

Speaking of Top Gun, what the hell happened to that cast?

- Tom Cruise became some crazy Scientologists.  I have trouble even watching any of his movies anymore because all I see is him jumping on Opera's couch and calling Matt Lauer "glib".

- Val Kilmer used to be awesome.  He went from the guy that made Jim Morrison cool by playing Jim Morrison to a straight to video phenomenon. He was the quintessential cool dude that has eaten himself to the quintessential fat guy.  Proof:


- Kelly McGillis completely disappeared for years. Then one Saturday morning last year I click on my favorite SyFy channel and see her as the lead role in a made-for-Sy-Fy movie called Supergator.  Now don't misunderstand what I am saying, Supergator was full of pure SyFy B-flick awesomeness - Kelly McGillis was not.  I was excited when her head was ripped off by a supergator.

- Goose went on to ER fame, Meg Ryan has had a great career (if you like crappy chick flicks), and Tim Robbins still throws like a girl - sorry, he ruined Bull Durham.

NOW the reason I even bring all this up is because this is the conversation I had with myself while suffering through 15 + miles running on Sunday morning.  I was so mentally exhausted that I was completely incapable of rational or coherent thought.  I was 5 minutes into the run and thought, "Dammit, my ass is dragging like and old tired dog." This triggered the who said that?  This triggered the answer of Goose? And then this little 1986 pop culture moment occupied my mind for the next 2 hours.  Seriously I was keeping a mental checklist of every movie that every actor in Top Gun made after Top Gun.  Does anyone else ever have benign exchanges with themselves while training or am I nuts?

Okay here the Week 17 numbers:

SWIM:  4 Trainings - 5h 55m - 12,100 Yds
BIKE:   4 Trainings -  9h 43m - 177.40 Mi
RUN:   4 Trainings -  5h 16m -  37.40 Mi
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Totals: 12 Trainings - 20h 54m 


Longest Ride - 88 Miles
Longest Run - 15.1 Miles

This was my biggest volume week YTD and I am feeling it right now.  I was feeling very strong going into the weekend with an 88 mile ride Saturday morning.  I came home and relaxed in the afternoon and then went out for the scheduled run which included lactate intervals of 6x3min with 3mins of active recovery.  The total run ended up being 7.41 miles with an average pace of 7:32/mi.  I actually felt great after the run but when I woke up Sunday morning I was beat - with a planned 2h 30m run still to be completed.

This run was probably one of the most difficult training runs I have ever done.  A groove was never found, not once.  About mile 12, both my right knee and my left ankle began to bark.  By mile 15 I decided to continue would be stupid because I was going to injure myself.  So I walked a dejected mile back to the car, but it was okay because I knew that the right decision was made. Total run was 15.1 miles in 2h 09m @ a 8:32/mi pace - fail.

After two days of compression, ice, and swimming the legs feel much better and the knee and ankle are back to normal.

So this week the volume comes down to a more reasonable 17 or so hours with a lot of high intensity workouts and another long weekend but the long run is on 1h 20m!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

26 comments:

  1. It is uncanny how similar our current situation is. The only difference is that I ran my 2.5h run at a slower pace and managed to get through it. But had the same sorts of pains at 12 miles. Hell, I might have quit at 15 if I had thought of it. I was in full retard mode at that stage.
    Training is making me dumb(er).

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  2. No my friend, you are not crazy...my mind does the same but mostly with SNL skits, Seinfeld, Mad TV, and in Living Color. It works well as a distraction strategy and can at times numb the pain. Don't you just love this part-time triathlon training job?

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  3. I have conversations like that in my mind all the time. Sometimes not even when I am training.

    Wow, your training volume is incredible! You made the smart move on Sunday. You definitely don't want to hurt yourself!

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  4. I definitely have crazy conversations with myself when the going gets tough... you aren't alone! Makes you feel a little better for some reason, doesn't it?

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  5. I think you're forgetting that Meg Ryan's plastic surgery is totally out of control and she currently looks like the Joker.

    Onto you--smart call to back off and rest. You're doing so much training right now and you still have a long road ahead of you. Keep on listening to your body--cliche, but right.

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  6. you probably need the rest but you did not go too far off the edge. Otherwise you would have been making up actors and movies that don't exist.

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  7. Impressive training week! Don't worry, I have goofy thought streams on much less training. It was really bad when my Ipod broke during HM training.

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  8. "Your body's writing checks IT CAN'T CASH!"

    My favorite line from that movie,

    Impressive man. Impressive! I am excited to see how this all is going to pay off in 18 days. Almost there! When does the taper begin?

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  9. I agree with you on Tom Cruise. I loved Days of Thunder, All The Right Moves, Top Gun....all seem to be ruined for me now too.

    Smart idea on listening to your body. Best way to avoid injury and get yourself to the starting line.

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  10. I FEEL THE NEED...THE NEED FOR SPEED!
    Great BALLS OF FIRE!!!
    Negative GhostRider the pattern is full.
    You can be my wingman anytime...no you can be mine.

    Whatever happened to Tom Skerritt (VIPER).

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  11. Wow, check you out!

    I'm glad after a couple of days you seem to be back to normal - way to bounce back!

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  12. Your post totally cracked me up! I loved Top Gun! It's hard to see Val Kilmer in that picture...he was so hot in the movie!

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  13. After hearing my husband make thousands of Top Gun references, I finally watched the movie a couple of years ago. I love your list of "where are they nows." While I've never thought about Top Gun during a run, I've spent quite a few runs pondering TV shows and movies.

    That's an incredible week of training. I'm glad that your knee and ankle are doing better. Good luck with this week!

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  14. I was never (NEVER) a Tom Cruise fan and don't even think he is remotely attractive-
    Val Kilmer on the other hand...be still my beating heart! (The Saint was a great movie-well, not sure of great but HE was great in it) anyway, wow Val-
    How things change :(

    yeah, I have all kinds of strange conversations with myself on long runs...

    Sounds like you are recovering well after a big week! smart call cutting that mile off

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  15. You are really pushing hard. Good to see you making wise choices before getting injured. I measure my progress by looking at my recovery between hard weeks.

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  16. Wow... Iceman sure let himself go. How depressing.

    I have all sorts of weird thoughts while I run; conversations with my self, thinking about work problems (computer programming) that I haven't been able to find a solution for. The problem is that once I get home, I forget them almost immediately.

    "More reasonable 17 hours" - Love it.

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  17. They are making a Top Gun II and they are bringing back alot of the old cast as flight instructors, just read about it this week

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  18. Great idea.. I can see how it can occupy the mind for awhile. Kind of like degrees of Kevin Bacon. Sometimes, on long runs, I will have meetings in my head. This would be great visualization.. if my job actually involved lots of meetings (which it doesn't, thankfully)

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  19. Damn you're getting big. I'm the 19th comment or so and you just posted. Don't let the fame go to your head.

    Me, I track Biggest Losers, although this can be very difficult at times. How many have kept their weight off? Plotting time vs. re weight gain can be challenging.. How many have married other Losers? This is the stuff that keeps me up at night.. (I'm thinking about writing a book about it..)

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  20. EEEK!! Val Kilmer looks awful!! I used to have a crush on him too...(should I admit that?)

    I have crazy and random one sided conversions with myself when I am training all the time. I think it is normal...

    I can't say this enough, way to really bust out the training for the upcoming HIM! Impressive for sure. A little ass dragging is kind of normal at this stage of the game, eyes on the prize!

    OH AND really honest, I have the boys present from Bailey in the mail TODAY!! I am sorry I am so slow...

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  21. haha - well you may be FEELIN like an old tired dog but at least you dont LOOK like one (Val) !

    I just heard on the radio TopGun2 is coming out? this is prob old news to you but gave me a good laugh...im sure it will do as good as Wall Street 2

    Okay! you are over the "ridge" and highest volume week! good work

    -D

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  22. I just saw a photo of Val with Cher in my new issue of InStyle, circa 1980 something, he was hawt. such a shame.

    Glad the legs are normal again!

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  23. 1) Val Kilmer will always be awesome. If proof is needed, please watch the greatest film about lasers liquidating human targets from outer space: Real Genius.

    2) Sometime your body needs rest hombre. Listen to it!

    3) The volleyball scene from Top Gun is the worst soft core male porn video ever made.

    4) Good luck with the rest of your training. Now the fun begins. Tapering!

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  24. Running 15 miles is NEVER a fail! Now that Kelly McGillis has come out, I have a hard time watching her kiss the boys, a remake with her smoothching with a lady pilot would be quite a movie!

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  25. I was wondering where Matty-O went to.

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  26. Who and the hell doesn't love TOP GUN!?! I saw that movie in the theater 6 times:) Totally drooling during the volleyball part! Can we say yummy? :) Aimee is right...those guys were super hot!

    You are doing awesome as always! Keep it up Jeff!

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