Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Moving on Up

Hi. I thought about George and Weezie when I figured out what my first event of 08 would be. You remember the Jeffersons?? How the couple was "moving on up" to that deluxe apartment in the sky. Well, I plan on "moving on up" in early February.
The event is "Tackle the Tower". It consists of either fun "walk" or "run" up one of Clevelands bigger buildings, the Galleria at Erieview. Theres 37 flights of steps. Not killer. But I'm sure I will be huffing. However, some of my firefighting friends will be competing in some kind of department against department race, and they will be wearing thier firefighting gear. I will have it easy. Plus, the event benefits Ronald McDonald House. Its a win, win.


So, there you have it. Event number one. Thanks for the suggestions on what I should do to celebrate my 55th this summer. I am batting around in my brain some scenarios but nothing is definite. Not sure if any Starbucks will be involved. We will see. I will let you know that, plus what else is on the schedule. Ohh yeah. 4 weeks now. No coffee.

Right now, I am settling more and more on a training routine, which consists of 2 upper body workouts, 1 leg workout....one Pilates class courtesy of my bride, the lovely and talented Jane. Add to that a flat time each week that includes any running, biking ,rope skipping, stairclimbing and swimming. This week, its 4 hours. Into the 4 hours, I have one tempo-interval workout but most sessions have a heart rate zone in mind. Ideally, by late April, I will be at 10 hours each week. I want quality, not quantity. I will have 2 Half Irons, but no Full Iron. My weakness is biking. I aim to better that.

These books are where my truths and perhaps my workout lies live. I have been writing my workouts down for many years. But I have to admit, sometimes I am less than candid with myself. I gloss over workout imperfections. I am reminded of the line from A Few Good Men.


"You can't handle the truth". I varnish, and polish the truth at times and not putting down exactly what I have done or intend to do has hurt my racing. So, whenever I think I am straying, I think of how Jack screamed at Tom Cruise and I straighten out.
So, my hope for you is that you remain truthful on what you are doing to improve your racing. If you slip, admitting it won't kill you. In fact, it will help to make you better.
Happy training.

19 comments:

Rainmaker said...

That sounds like fun - and for a good cause to boot! Good luck!

rocketpants said...

Too true, so easy to just sorta 'leave out some details' when recording a workout. But ya learn more from more info.

Charlie said...

sounds fun. I hear it is a good idea to wear a surgical mask to filter the dust kicked up in the stairwell.

Mnowac said...

oooh Tackle the Tower. That was my first race ever 2 years ago. It took me about 12 mins. 12 mins of HELL. It was in a different building, part of tower city and it was so gross and dusty, I really thought I would die. I was sneezing and coughing up black stuff for a whole day!!! I am assuming the place they moved it is not like that - and probably the dirt and dust will be at a minimum. I thought about trying it again this year, to see how my time improved. You might see me there.

Monica

Marcy said...

Dude that sounds like fun! Although I do wonder how bad it's going to smell with a bunch of (some of them) unbathed men and women :P

Marci said...

Sounds like a fun yet challenging event... of course for a great cause! Good luck with it :)

GP said...

You are a mightier man than I. Even if I'm a woman. Technicality. It sounds like a fun race and a great way to start the season.

There was a fun story in Runner's World last year about one writer-runner's first race up the Empire State Building. It's a fun feat, and you really need to milk all the awe you'll get for it. You deserve it!

Happy 2008!

Kim said...

Yeah, didn't they used to do this in the Terminal Tower?

Have fun! You've been doing the stair climber, so you should be fine!

S. Baboo said...

That sounds like a cool event!

RunBubbaRun said...

Sounds like a fun event. We have similar events here that sell out pretty fast.

Good luck with the event.

Congrats on the coffee purge so far as well. I think I rather climb more stairs than give up that.

Steve Stenzel said...

I'm doing something like that in Feb too! We'll see how much it busts up our legs!....

Speed Racer said...

I hear you on the training log thing. Sometimes I can be such a slave to my daily totals. I did one of those stairclimb things a couple of months ago. It was fun, but the dry, stale air from the emergency staircase which is closed 364 days a year KILLED my lungs. Or maybe that was just the building I was in. It sounds like a great season. have fun!

Oh,and I just quit coffee a few months ago, too. It's not so bad once you get used to it, and that first cup when you come back to it is better than any other drug.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great race! Good luck!

"You can't handle the truth!"...hmm...that line pops in my head before I step on the scales at the doctor's office, you know the ones that are really honest.

Wes said...

Going up that sucker would be brutal for me :-) Good luck! Yea, I agree, if you can't be brutally honest with yourself, then you got "issues"!

Unknown said...

I like my little notebook when my training is going well. I don't like it so much when my training isn't going as planned. I see lots of blank pages lately. But I see it as 'the truth shall set you free' because those blank pages eventually wear me down and I long to fill them back up again!

triguyjt said...

heres the honest truth from yours truly. great training this week.
food consumption could be better.

there...i said it....feel better already... ummmmmm pizza.....

thanks for comments

E said...

Sounds like a great event! Good luck!

4 weeks with no coffee.. that's gotta hurt :-)

Triteacher said...

Agreed - you have to be truthful with yourself re: your training. It might help to look at it this way; your worst element is the one in which you'll make the most gains. Hit that bike, triguyjt! :)

B Bop said...

No coffee...sounds like torture.
Tackle the tower...sounds like fun.

I highly recommend Pete Gladden's excel in cycling workouts:

http://www.excelincycling.com/