Burnout and Mental Conditioning

A couple of months ago I experienced a couple aspects of burnout; I was mentally drained and even caught a small cold. The guys over at Marathon Training Program have a thorough description of overtraining and burnout but for me, their following phrase seemed to encompass the entire feeling:

When running is no longer a joy for 90 percent of the miles, the rest of your life is probably affected.

JOY! It all comes down to this simple aspect. Just like most things running, I've found that this quote is applicable to all aspects of life: training, work, etc. Try it for yourself. Just replace the previous quote with a life activity.

For me, the burnout occurred on a swim. I have never been a strong swimmer and have had some bad experiences growing up. So right off the bat, it was evident that if I had any joy from swimming it was no where close to 90%. Plus Master Swim classes aren't exactly easy. Check out what Ate Joy has to say about them:

I was already beat between the warm up and those drills, but he was just getting started. I couldn’t keep up with the rest of group, but it really wasn’t about keeping up. It was an eye-opener to get pushed like that though. On my own, I never would’ve pushed that hard for that long until my arms felt completely limp.

Needless to say I burned out. It was in the middle of the swim and I hit a point where I just couldn't finish mentally and physically (a sensation that many people have described to me as bonking). The days following I felt bummed out and even got a little sick. I had it set in my mind that I was doing too much and gave up swimming completely until after the marathon.

Since then, I've finished a marathon and learned quite a bit about how much our mental conditioning plays a part in our training, racing and daily lives. One thing that was helpful was this I clinic attended several weeks before the Richmond marathon. It was entitled "Running With Your Head" and given by a Dr. Ferguson (sorry I couldn't find his first name, but he was an olympic qualifier so his information is credible).

In the clinic Dr. Ferguson described the mental aspects concerning preparing for and racing a marathon. One of his key emphasis was that there are countless things that you cannot control (weather especially) on race day, BUT one of the most important things you can control is your mind. In the weeks leading up to the race I practiced mentally by envisioning how I would run, the feelings I would go through, and how to stay positive and push through when my body wanted to quit. And it helped out a lot during the marathon because even though I bonked physically, I never quite thought that I could not finish mentally.

For me this mental conditioning has applied through all aspects of my life. If I'm having a bad day, I'll close my eyes and find several positive thoughts to help pick me up. Its even helped out a lot with swimming! If you stay mentally positive or joyful then you can accomplish great things. Besides whats the point of doing what you're doing if its not at least 90% joyful.

Richmond Marathon 2009

Happy Holidays! So I finished a marathon. Yeah, yeah, I know it was like two weeks ago but I'm a busy guy (we'll get to this more later)! Besides, I decided that I wasn't going to write a race report. You can get plenty of that stuff from Ate Joy's blog. Instead, just to stay in the holiday spirit I want to focus on what I'm thankful for with regards to this whole marathon thingymajingy.

I'm thankful that I not only finished a marathon, but I finished it healthy and in one piece!

Since I've finished the marathon, one of the first things I always tell people who are considering doing one is that its a different race than any you've ever done. For me the half is just a regular race. You run, you pace yourself, and then you finish. The marathon on the other hand consists of running, pacing, enduring, and then finishing. The enduring part was a completely new aspect of racing for me. I'm pretty sure that I bonked but I wouldn't call it a 100% bonk. I did have a new pain in my legs that I never experienced but never did the thought, "I can't do this" creep into my head and from what I understand about bonking, that's a big part of the whole ordeal.

One unhealthy thing I do have to mention though is that men should always, always, always wear something over their nips. I mentioned this fear in my Patrick Henry post:

Now I have never had the pleasure of severe chafing or bloody nips but those are experiences I plan on living life without.

For some crazy reason, I thought that body glide was going to be enough but around the halfway point I experienced insane chafing. So bad, that I feared I was going to finish up with the bloody nip run of shame. I decided that I still did not want any part of that club so I stopped for bandaids along the way. Imagine my time if I had those 5 minutes back!

So I finished and I'm completely fine. I even ran a mile the very next day. It wasn't pretty, but I did it anyways. I tried to drag Ate Joy out with me but she ducked me by taking a nap on the couch.

I'm thankful for all the new friends I met in the process.

One of the reasons that I decided to do the marathon was because of the Joy Run challenge. But that was not the main reason. I needed to get out of the house. I was (and still do) working from home and despite what everyone thinks ("That's awesome!") it can be a rather isolating experience (It is pretty awesome most of the time though). This combined with the fact that my wife has been working an insane schedule the past couple of years and I could see my sanity slowly slip away. There would be stretches for more than 24 hours where I would go without any human interaction. Some people like this kind of thing but not me!

Training for a marathon was the perfect thing to get me out of the house. I met so many wonderful people just from running! Who would have thought?! And a lot of them have become good friends. Which is reasonable considering that we've just spent the last six months running 700+ miles together while spilling our guts to each other in the process. Man! There's quite a number of people out there now who have some pretty good dirt on me.

I'm thankful for the new challenges that have presented themselves.

So this is the main reason why I've been MIA. Not only did I drop off of blogosphere because of the preparing and recuperating from the marathon but because I've started triathlon training. Yup! In the past couple of weeks I've bought a bike, did three spin sessions, been in the pool at least eight times, endured several strength classes, and sprinkled in a couple of runs. Oh and I threw in surfing, basketball, and football just for good measure. Its been great! I'm positive that it expedited my recovery from the marathon. Although, when I tried to wake up this morning for a run I decided to stay in bed because my body felt like it had just gotten hit by a truck.

Well Ate Joy already posted some pics from the event but she forgot to post mine! She sent me her favorites and here they are:

Why I Blog

I promised that I would touch up more on this topic. Last month, I mentioned that I had done some thinking and actually thought about the answer to this question.

I've come to realize that I'm a carpe diem kind of person. I'm not really sure where the attitude comes from.  Maybe its my youthful attitude. I love stories like 'The Last Lecture' and 'Tuesdays with Morie'.  In fact, I consider Randy Pausch one of my heroes.

When his video viraled online, I identified with it.  For me the overall purpose was about legacy.  Not one's legacy with regards to the world but one's legacy with regards to their friends and family.

That's why I blog, its about communicating my identity and legacy.  Its about describing who I am and the way I live life. Its cool that through blogging I can potentially make online buddies one day. What's even more fulfilling to me though, is the idea of leaving a paper trail that represents me for my future children and other family.  I have so many stories and life lessons that they can learn from.  Its important for me to write them down now because 1) I may not remember them later or 2) I might not be around to tell it (not likely, but you never know).

A Review

Whew! September was a blur. I managed to travel to the opposite coast and back, run my first race with Ate Joy, get lost on a run in the dark (and subsequently run home instead of to the car), run my first 20 miler, experience what overtraining feels like, and catch a small cold.

I've had several posts that I've been sitting on in the background and for the sake of saving time writing I've decided to do a List of N Things post.

So here we go...  I present to you:

The list of the coolest things I've done/experienced in the past couple of years (with pictures)

• Went to Jamaica for my best friend's wedding. 

• Went on my first flight in a general aviation plane. A manager of mine came into my office asked what I was doing for lunch. I didn't have anything planned so he offered to take me up in his plane during lunch. Next thing I know we're on an airstrip getting ready to take off. During the trip, we flew above my apartment, landed at an international airport, and I even got to take the controls for a little bit. One of the coolest things I've ever experienced!

• Went to my first NFL game. Chargers beat the Titans 17-6 in the 2007 Wild Card.

• Got married.

• Climbed a mountain in Vermont with three great friends.

• Attended a presidential inauguration.

• Finished my first 10K.
• Celebrated my one year wedding anniversary in Maui and behind the Spur's bench.
• Did a 5K mud run with my wife and best friend. The description of the event mentioned obstacles and we thought of things like a rope climb. What we got was running about three feet into the river and back, a couple of small dirt mounds, and a crawl through a mud pit. Disappointing but still a fun experience overall.

• Finished my first Half Marathon.
• Helped welcome my niece to the world.

• Ran a half marathon with Ate Joy. She pretty much touched on everything concerning the event here and here, but I have the cooler pics!

Training in San Diego: The Good and The Challenging

Hello from the West Coast!  I'm in San Diego for the week to help welcome my brother's first child into the world.  It would of been nice to take a week off from work and training but unfortunately that isn't the case.  There is no rest from marathon training.  Its a half a year commitment!  The most I'm changing with my current routine is my marathon training diet (and of course, sleep, once the baby gets here).  I have to have In-N-Out while I'm here right?!

The Good

Its been nice to have a little break from the crazy humidity of Virginia.  But staying with my Brother and Sister-in-law definitely have other perks:

My home away from home for the week.

The view outside of the pad.  Wait.  What is that behind the gate?

Is that a lap pool just 20 feet away?  Why yes!  I believe it is!

The Challenging

With the combination of struggling through Tuesday's 8-miler and traveling all morning on Wednesday I thought it would be best to give the legs a break on Wednesday.

I woke up early Thursday morning and decided to try out the local roads for a brief 4-miler.  I went over to the USATF site and mapped out a quick run.  I knew the neighborhood we were in was on the side of a hill, but I remembered, "hills are your friend".

I came out of the neighborhood and took this first right, and started my run down the hill.  Not too bad so far.

Most of mile one was down hill so I thought, no problem.  I knew I was going to have to run back up but on the way down the hill was so steady I figured it wouldn't be too much of problem.  I felt so good that I decided that I would take a parallel path back up the hill to finish up my run.  Big mistake!  This is the BEAST I encountered at mile 2.5.

I know hills are our friends, but what about mountains?  This climb was insane!  I really wanted to stop and walk at the top of it.  I powered through, but after a quarter mile I got another shocker.  I was going downhill again!

After some personal motivational talk (most of which can't be repeated here) I eventually finished up the remaining inclines and my run.  Overall, it was a good time.  I'd have to say that I felt more challenged than when I did my Half.  I'm sure the benefits will outweigh the sheer torture I put my body through.

I still have to do a 10, a couple of 8s and a couple of 4s while I'm here, but its safe to say I'll be avoiding the BEAST.

Just for kicks, here's the elevation profile of yesterday's grueling run:

Work on Your Strategy Already!

I went out for an 8 miler yesterday morning and by the time I got to mile 5 my legs were dead.  I could of used the excuse that I had just run a Half on Saturday.  Or that I didn't allow any rest for my legs on Sunday (I actually played a little football and did a half mile in the pool).

The truth is, after my race I decided to splurge on junk food and have some taco bell, movie theater popcorn, and soda.  What's the big deal about all that?  I mean we're doing these long distances so we can eat whatever what we want, right?  Wrong!

For the past six months, while training, I've figured out what does and does not work for my body.  I've tweaked my diet and determined the amount of sleep I need to have a good run.  If I don't at least follow these habits then my run is just about guaranteed to blow up.  I'm amazed how many people haven't figured this out.  That's half the point of the training!  It's like they're just asking to bonk on race day.

So how about it guys.  Have you figured out what routine/habits works best for you?  (I know there's only a handful of you, but I'm sure you've got excellent information to share!)

Figuring Out Blogging

This is a comic from xkcd that appeared a couple of weeks ago.  I found the strip to be particularly funny because on the very day I saw it, I had considered doing yet another blog post that apologized for never updating.

What's even funnier is that at the time I only had one follower and she was my cousin.  So even if I wrote that post, at most only two people would be reading it.  For me, that was a make or break moment for this blog.  I had to get back to the roots and figure out why I was doing this in the first place.  What I found was rather surprising.

For one, I realized that I'm a web newb.  Not in the sense that I just started using the internet but in the sense that I never really picked up the social power behind using the web.  I've been on the web for over 10 years and I just figured that out?!  I've never really used forums, done online gaming, or met random people online (via chatrooms, social networking, etc).  What's worse is that I have a computer science degree.   For some crazy reason I excel at face to face communication but when it comes to social interaction I'm like one of the shyest guys on the net.  Its like I'm some kind of Bizarro Computer Scientist.

The other thing I realized that at no point during the lifetime of this blog or my other currently stagnant blog did I ever really think about why I did blogging in the first place.  That's crazy!  It's one thing to do a proof of concept really quickly but you eventually got to iron out the details.  I haven't 'ironed out the details' for like four years!

So I decided that I needed to think a little about this blog.  Think about whether it made sense for me to just scrap the whole thing or to actually commit to blogging.  I even did a google search for "blogging beginner".   I found the post, 23 Questions for Prospective Bloggers - Is a Blog Right for You which covers just about everything you should consider before you start blogging.

So with that, I'd like to announce the relaunch of Caveman Ramblings.  I'll still be talking about random things but the focus will be on how I try to live an overall healthy lifestyle.  More to come on this soon!

UPDATE: I now have two followers, so we're about to rock this thing out!