We're TRI-ing - FIVE Weeks to Go!

Tim: Greetings from Lovely Loveland, CO. Karen and I have alighted on the Rocky Mountain's Front Range for a few days of Special High Altitude Globulin Generation Incorporating Natural Gelotology, which is just a fancy-schmancy, scientific way of saying "increase red blood cell count."  

All elite athletes periodically train at high elevation to naturally (read: legally) increase their red blood cell count.  The U.S. Olympic Training Center is located in Colorado Springs for that very reason, so we made this high elevation training sojourn a top priority.

This area of Colorado is also famous for their numerous and high-quality breweries and brewpubs, which is where I prefer to perform the critical Carb Loading; a cornerstone of any serious triathlon training program.  I have included pictorial documentation of my many carb loading successes.

How does an elevated red blood cell count improve athletic performance?  I am so glad you asked.

In the male of our species, red blood cells compel specific behaviors and the higher the red blood cell count, the stronger the compulsion:

• Watching sports on TV
• Amorous overtures towards mates
• Strident exclamations of nationalism like "America!  YEAH!"
• Uttering thing like "Hooters has great wings."  

Science has not yet figured out what effect elevated red blood cell count has on females, but it is theorized that it is mostly about tolerating male behavior.

Without red blood cells, your blood would be white because only white blood cells would remain. It would be harder to see if you got cut by the tooth of a Sabre-Toothed Tiger, so red blood cells certainly contributed to the evolutionary success of our species.  In conclusion, fleeing Sabre-Toothed Tigers made us faster swimmers, runners, and cyclists because they (Sabre-Toothed Tigers) removed the slow people from the gene pool.  Science … yup.

This week's Metrics:

100M Swim:

Tim: Last week - 4:50.  This week - 3:40

Karen: Last week - 3:15.  This week - 2:35

We didn't do any swimming between our Monday swims, so I can only attribute this dramatic improvement to all the time I sat around drinking beer and wishfully thinking, "I wish I could swim faster.  At this rate of improvement, Karen and I will both qualify for the London Olympics in this event in just four weeks.

5K Run

Tim: Last week - 42ish minutes.  This week - 36:11

Karen: Last week - 44ish minutes.  This week - 42:22

If I continue to lop six minutes off my 5K time each week, on the June 3 race day, I will run the 3.1 miles in a world-record 6:11, with an average speed of about 30 miles per hour.  Yay me.

Like swimming, we did not run between our Wednesday timed runs and this brings up a serious point: rest days are a critical part of training.  Your muscles need time off to recover, repair and rebuild.   

Karen: We are in gorgeous Loveland, CO, this weekend, and despite Mr. O’Kane’s exposition of hemoglobin-building and sabre-tooth tigers, the real reason we are here is to visit my sister and her family. The thin air at this altitude is making our training more challenging, but we seem to be adapting well. We have been hiking and jogging and biking around this stunning area, sometimes with the added benefit of my awesome 4-year old nephew getting piggyback rides up a mountain (check adorable photos).

Like a good percentage of women my age, I have endeavored to lose weight and/or improve my fitness a number of times through the years. I have purchased programs with names including “Power” “Turbo” “Kickin” and “Beach” – and had mixed results with each program.  In the past, the measure of success were the numbers on the scale and the tape measure. 

That’s what makes this most recent fitness endeavor different. Nine weeks ago when we began, I weighed X pounds (redacted due to vanity and/or modesty.)  My measurements were XX-XX-XX.  Now, having made consistent, authentic efforts to move more, lift heavy, and eat clean, if I were to measure my success today by the scale or tape measure, I would probably consider myself an abject failure.  I now weigh six lbs. more than when I started. My total body measurements have increased too.

In this experiment of triathlon training, I have let go of the surety that comes with easily measured success. Yes, I am breathing easier with each successive run. Yes, I am going a bit further and a bit faster than I had previously – but those are new, foreign metrics to someone who has always looked at the size on the label of my pants as an indication of fitness.

I know the increased weight is from the increased muscle mass. I can feel the hardness in my legs and in my arms and understand how that makes the measurements go up. I am stronger now that I have ever been and probably in better cardiovascular condition too. I am detaching myself from the numbers and trusting that I am doing the right thing for myself in the long run, even if the long run is only 5K long.

Disclaimer: We are not medical professionals or fitness experts.  Seriously.   Read this blog at your own risk.  See a doctor to make sure you are healthy enough for triathlon activity. Always have a designated non-carb loader.