Man, being sick is pretty lame. I spent the last weekend horizontal after some sort of illness kept from doing little more than sleep. Oddly enough, I still got in a 10k race on Saturday morning. I woke up feeling like absolute s**t, but I was hoping it was just a fluke. The race didn’t begin until 10:00 in the morning so I was hoping I would come around in the hours leading up to the start. I didn’t, but I went down there anyways. I decided I would warm up and if I felt alright, I’d roll. Again, I didn’t, but I started anyways. Within one mile my heart rate went into the 190s and I realized I was in for a loooooooooooong 6.2 miles. That was honestly the highest level of discomfort I’d ever had to deal with in a race. Seriously. HARDEST RACE EVER. It was also the slowest 10k I have ever run (standalone).

I’m one of the more conservative individuals when it comes to balancing health and fitness. IOW, I often back out of situations and/or workouts if things don’t feel right. I guess I was overly anxious to know whether I could tolerate the discomfort of racing after four months of none of it. Well, I guess I can, but I still should have been sleeping in my bed on Saturday morning instead of running that race like a yahoo.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You guys need to check out Blakes’s blog on www.blakebecker.com if you aren’t already. He’s got a really detailed outline of his Ironman Arizona training in there. I know we all like to get a little geeked out from time to time with that sort of stuff so that can be a great fix us all. He’s really laying it down in the Land of the Mont.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Speaking of blogs; my coach, Joe Friel, has a blog up and runnng at http://www2.trainingbible.com/joesblog/blog.html

He talks about some plyometrics I did during the month of February. Essentially it involves box jumps and 20 sec hill sprints on a treadmill. I didn’t have a good setup in any local gym so I did my workouts in Herman Park in Houston. I found a big cement block to jump on and a hill outside Miller Outodor theatre to run up.

Totally Rocky stuff. I often did the box jumps with bums drinking malt liquor around me. They usually tried to send words of encouragement, but outsiders might have been confused and thought they were yelling at me.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I’ll be participating in Tom Rodgers’ Texas Tri Camp (www.texastricamp.com) this weekend in Keller, Texas. Joe Friel and John Cobb will be there and we really have things running smoothly after three successful camps behind us. This is a great time to get one-on-one time with those dudes and there is typically enough downtime to get a lo of your questions asked from guys who know their stuff.

There are currently 4-5 spots still open and, interestingly enough, we tend to have people sign up the week of the event. If that’s you, then bring it on; we’d love to have you. Its probably best to contact me or Tom directly. If you tell him you got your info from my blog he’ll hook you up with a little discount and you’ll get lots of jokes from me for no extra cost.

Keep it realz,

jd

Happy Ash Wednesday.

The sun came out in Houston. In fact, I would venture to say that last Sunday was likely one of the best days I have seen in all my life in this corner of the world. 60, sunny, no wind. Love it. Today it reached 80 degrees so who knows what the remaining time will be like here in Htown.

I’ve squared away my next living arrangements in Boulder from April-September. I’m not sure as to whether or not I will stay longer, but this is the longest planned stay I have had in one location in quite some time. I might stay in Boulder permanently, but we’ll have to see how financially viable that is for me once things get rolling.

Training has gotten rolling as well. Over the last couple weeks I managed 20 hours/week and even threw a birthday in the mix (26). One of the better bdays I can remember; for sure. My hometown buddies stepped it up and I think we all achieved rock star status for a night. I did train quite a bit on my actual birthday, but I assure you that I did_very_little (read:nothing) the day after.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This Season:

I had a deep break this year from the previous one. I hardly rode my bike for two months and then I spent about six weeks with only 12-15 hours/week of training. I just kept moving at a reasonable pace until I started to feel that fire to fight. It took some time, but as February nears it end I feel physically and mentally sharp; and all before the heaviest and hardest training has even gotten rolling. I don’t think my choice to lay down solid training in Jan and Feb of years’ past was a mistake, but doing so this year might have been.

Tentatively it looks as though my season will include:

Lonestar Tri HIM April in Galveston

Tri 101 in Brandenton, Florida on May 6

Ironman CdA on June26

Boulder Peak (maybe)

5430 HIM Aug 12

KONA

Not much of a race schedule, but it’s a start. Off to massage,

jd

Yesterday I was out for a 90-mile ride ‘Bjorn-Style’: strong, steady, long rides with no HRM, PM, etc. He might not do so anymore, but I still credit these types of rides as such.

As I was riding yesterday I noted the fact that I was ‘Bjorning’ the ride and I started to think about the other names that have been incorporated into training/workouts.

I really don’t have that many. Whenever I do “Cam Brown training” it means I attack the day’s training so that its completed by 2-3 in the afternoon. However, you have to get in at least six hours of training so you have to get rolling early.

I figure I can probably think of some others.

“Lessing training” would involve sessions where everyone is absolutely pinned. Just staying with the group would be solid workout execution.

“Mike Larsen training” would involve me calling my not-as-fit friends out for a ride and then promptly drilling them (sorry buddy. I look forward to the day I can return the pulls).

“JD training” would only be training during traditional business hours; 8 or 9 to 5. You also have to drink coffee that is at least twice as strong as everyone else’s and get very, very quiet when tired.

“Chris McDonald training” would be somewhat similar to JD training (minus uber coffee) except his days start earlier. IOW, one must train no later than 5 in the evening, but 5:00 a.m. swim sessions are ok. If you do this you must also be the most chipper of the group and never complain.

“Marilyn training” is similar to CMac and JD training. Take the coffee from JD and the hours from CMac. Fatigue includes a need for cold rooms.

“Armando training” incorporates goals of looking good as well as getting fit. Absolutely no mismatching gear.

“Marc Bonnet-Eymard training” is hard.

“Molina training” incorporates six-hour recovery days.

“Partain training” involves mandatory late nights before early morning sessions and lots and lots of fuel belts.

“BB training” includes ridiculous indoor training hours. If someone else has put in_consecutive_40+ hour training weeks indoors they can claim lead name. Oh yeah; You also have to work 20+ hours_on_your_feet and sleep NO more than five hours a night during these weeks.

I’ll think of some more. Anyone would reads this and can think of more send them to me and I’ll post them.

jd

I was watching Kordell Stewart (my hero from 1994) in a debate with Skip Bayliss (sp?) on Cold Pizza the other morning. Stewart was asked: “what is the one thing you do NOT miss about being a professional football player?” He answered: “getting hit.” IOW, just constantly getting hit after hit all night long; not necessarily getting rocked, just slowly beaten down as the days, weeks, and months roll by. A Chinese torture of sorts.

Skip fired back (as he always done) in a hotheaded manner by saying (not exact quote) “he did not feel sorry for him since he got paid so handsomely.”

I thought this was a little uncalled for because Stewart was responding to a question, not stating a complaint on his own.

However, that’s not really where I’m going with all this. What I really wanted to address is the constant demeaning of high profile pro football players in the U.S. for the money they make. People always point out the salaries of these players and assume that their job is one of the best ones possible. They might be right about THAT. These athletes might have one of the best jobs anyone could ask for (assuming they love their sport) and are paid well when they are on top of their game.

BUT… …the real issue at hand is how these players came to receive such good pay.

Owners are looking for a sure thing when they choose a player. No different from any business manager/owner who looks for an employee who’s going to perform. But I really find it no less absurd that football players make millions of dollars while lawyers (or any professional. I like lawyers all the same), fresh out of law school, could make $100,000. By the time a professional football player has made his way to the pros he likely has over 10+ years of profession-specific “training.” A new lawyer has never actually practiced real law, but a football player has potentially been playing football since grade school.

Now an argument might be made about the different tiers of the sport and how the game changes from high school to college to pro ball and until one has played pro ball he has no experience. However, a rookie isn’t going to sit pretty unless he goes early in the draft. Most players aren’t Reggie Bushs or Vince Youngs; they’re the no names later in the draft and they are going to have to prove themselves again(assuming they even get playing time) before one of those sexy paychecks come in.

The NFL has the fortune of weeding out talent with two levels of unofficial, “unpaid” minor leagues. I think high school ball can qualify when one considers that some high school games draw tens of thousands of people and are featured on national television. And College football? C’mon man. DI ball is so intense that a spring scrimmage game (for Alabama) is going to be on ESPN. Freaking crazy dude. Most NFL stadiums’ capacity levels pale in comparison to Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, ATM, Ohio State, Ala, Auburn, Florida, etc. NFL teams don’t have to take a chance on a great high school player because they get to see (for free) if they falter throughout three (or four) years of college ball.

Now talking about college ball gets a ton of people fired up because they start pointing out how athletes get treated and how they get a free education, etc. That’s true, but they don’t have a choice if they have dreams of the NFL. Some of them might not have a chance in the world of making it to the big show, but the only way they will find out is playing college ball. There is no minor league for them to go to. This also ends up compromising the integrity of some programs since educators, coaches, boosters will start bending the rules to keep these guys rolling.

I’m not defending the unethical and (especially) disrespectful manner that SOME student-athletes conduct themselves with. I remember sitting in Entomology (yeah bug class) at TAMU a few years ago and getting absolutely furious with how unprofessional and disrespectful the football players could be to their professor and fellow students. I don’t think it helped that the team absolutely sucked at the time (posting the first losing season in a redonkulous number of years).

Essentially my point is this: a football player makes what he makes because of his value in relation to the NFL’s earnings. By the time he starts to actually see a paycheck he has been ‘training’ for nearly his whole life. An employer who hires a salesman, engineer, lawyer, etc takes risk when these professionals start their respective careers. On the other hand, a lawyer, salesman, etc. with 20 years experience is much less of a risk for a big paycheck, as is an NFL player with a few years of pro ball experience.

Does a football player deserve $250,000 for four hours of play time. Dunno. Does a lawyer deserve 300/hour for filing your divorce?

I guess people complain about every situation when it doesn’t seem fair. Nevertheless, there is no real reason to get hung up on one absurdity in an absurd world.

Don’t get worked up on the politics of the game this weekend. Underneath it all are two groups of men that are going to have a chance to live out their childhood dream. That cannot be said of too many people in this world.

Watch the Superbowl.

And all this from a guy (me) that doesn’t even like the NFL….