The Prelude to a Race Report

Before I publish my "official" Syracuse Race report tomorrow let me take a moment to explain why I  (and others) publish these things in the first place:

Usually when a triathlete returns a rental wetsuit or wheels to Bonzai after a race, I like to ask how his/her race went. Some customers say something along the lines of "oh, it was good" then leave. However, a percentage of those asked (I would estimate around 40-45%) will give you a 20-30 minute intricate, elaborate, stroke-by-stroke, mile-by-mile, step-by-step, race report complete with rants about the jerk who cut him (or her) off on the bike, how the Ironman Perform drink was not blended to the correct strength, the quality of the bowel movements before, during, and/or after the race, calorie intake, and a power analysis that even Training Peaks would be proud of. (While I occasionally speak in hyperbole, these past examples are actually what people have described to me when I inquired about their race. Sometimes you cannot even make stuff up like this).

All I can do is smile, nod, and keep an open mind while trying not to pass judgement. Unless I am slammed with work or other customers, I rarely cut them off because talking about a race afterwards is not only beneficial from a training perspective but also therapeutic. (Believe it or not I actually like to hear all the stories about "what actually happened" during a race. With all the different perspectives, it's like reading a James Joyce book.)

My Spiddy sense are tingling just writing this

Analyzing a race, allows you to analyze what went as planned, think about what went wrong, and highlight your mistakes so that in the next race you do not make the same ones. Looking at power and splits can also point out the weak points that you will need to work on in the training leading up to your next race.




In my race report tomorrow and those to follow I will try to avoid:

1. Bashing the race organizers
2. Ego boosts
3. Self-deprecation 
4. Using it as a means to pick up women (<---no guarantees here)
5. Elaboration and hyperbole i.e. turn a sprint into an Ironman 

What I aim for is:

1. A way to get my thoughts out on the page and put words to my emotions (I am just that sensitive)
2. Write down both my strengths and my weakness so that I can improve and get advice from others on what to do differently
3. Some humor, some tragedy, some light hearted but true stories
4. Provide race tips to those who will race the same race next year
5. Provide general race tips and tricks that I found worked
6. Prevent readers (and myself) from making the same mistakes that I did.

Hopefully, what I write will help. I  know that just writing it down helps me...but thats my two watts.


Stay posted tomorrow for my Syracuse race report

"Oh no! I caught obesity" Should obesity be labeled a disease?

This post is most likely going to open the proverbial can of worms and cause an onslaught of angry emails to flood my inbox, but I am going to post it anyway because I am that type of guy. This post is not intended to convince you whether obesity is a disease or not because I myself am not sure. The intention of this post is to get you think, look at both sides and not to sway you either way except to better health and understanding. 

Yesterday, the American Medical Association (AMA) officially recognized obesity as a disease (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/18/obesity-disease-american-medical-association/2435701/). By labeling obesity in such a way, the AMA recognizes that obesity deserves "medical attention and insurance coverage as do other diseases." Considering, that almost 2/3 of American children are obese and that if the obesity rate continues to rise just under half of America will be obese by 2030, obesity is obviously a big, fat problem. However, is it really a disease?

This is a very sensitive and touchy subject among Americans and especially for me. I come from this subject not as someone who is obese but from the opposite end of the eating disorder spectrum. The American Psychological Association recognizes anorexia as diagnosable disease, and as a result patients of eating disorders can usually file claims for psychological help, nutrition counseling, and in patient care through their insurance companies (unfortunately this is rare, and insurance companies will find any excuse to drop coverage and deny coverage for those who have been diagnosed, leaving the patient with huge bills for inpatient treatments which can sometimes cost upwards of $1000 a day...but thats another subject for another day and another post). HOWEVER, most of the time with diseases like anorexia and even alcoholism, insurance companies are not paying for the treatment of the disease itself rather they are paying for the ancillary diseases that arrise from such disease such as cirrhosis of the liver and depression. Currently obesity is being treated in the same way. We are not treating obesity (if anything we are encouraging but once again another post), we are treating the resulting problems like diabetes, gout, heart issues, low testosterone etc. Defining obesity as a disease, though, increases coverage of disease itself making "treatments" like plastic surgery, gastric bypass surgery, and weight loss pills open for insurance coverage.

My first reaction is this is ridiculous. Why should I have to shoulder the cost of people being fat? Why should I be paying for someone else's surgery to make them be thin again? They ate their way to where they are and therefore they have to deal with consequences. Plenty of people have lost weight successfully on their own without me having to pay for them to help them do it. However, before I get all verklempt lets take a deep breath and look at the pros and cons of labeling obesity a disease:

Pro disease:

• If we look in the dictionary, Merriam-Webster disease is defines disease as:

"a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms" 

and

"A particular quality, habit, or disposition regarded as adversely affecting a person or group of people. 

Does Obesity impair normal functioning? Yes. Does it have signs and symptoms? Yes. Does it adversely affect a person or group? Yes. So obesity passes the dictionary test.

• Obesity apparently also has other similarities to diseases: its contagious(http://www.wtop.com/25/2107037/Is-obesity-contagious-among-friends-Yep), it can lead to other health problems, and it can kill you. Ostensibly it seems that obesity is a disease.

• Then there is the moral side of it being that these people need help and therefore as my neighbor I would like to help them. 

• Saying obesity is a disease also increase awareness and sends the message that being obese is a problem that needs to be treated. 

Now lets look at the cons of labeling it as a disease:

• By labeling it a disease we are taking the blame from them; we are telling them that its not their fault that they are sick. The same thing happened with alcoholism in the 1950s and 1960s and anorexia in the 1990s and early 2000s. As a recovering anorexic I recognize that my anorexia was my fault. I decided to lose the weight in the very beginning; I decided to keep on losing weight even though it was bad for me; I decided to fight my doctors tooth and nail; but I also decided to get better and to stay better, a decision that I make daily if not hourly. At the deepest darkest part of my disease, I was powerless over it; it controlled me and my actions. Yes, I would call it a disease but a non traditional one and more of a mental issue and problem that I needed help to deal with. 

My conversations with recovering alcoholics show that many in the program think along the same lines. They recognize it as a disease that they are powerless over but that they have to take the necessary steps (showing up to meetings, not putting themselves into situations where they may relapse, etc) to get better. Its not like they can pop a pill and continue on with their normal lives.

• If we label it as a disease chances are we are going to treat it like other disease through medications and quick fixes like surgery. These do not work! They may temporarily solve the problem or treat the conditions but they do not deal with the underlying issues. 

• Chances are that insurance premiums will rise especially since its such a wide spread issue. 

• Labeling it as a disease also adds to the growing number of diseases out there. It seems that everything is a disease now. 

So I am still on the fence here about the whole label. Here is what I do know though:

• Obesity is a problem
• I would love to help in any way I can to help them get better. 
• Everyone has a personal obligation her and himself to respect their bodies
• Those who are obese have my compassion. I can understand the problem and relate in some way
• It needs to dealt with through multiple interventions
• It can and should be treated though other means than medication and surgery except for EXTREME conditions

....but thats just my two watts


I would love to hear your thoughts on this issue so leave them bellow

Welcome to the Next Episode...hold up

"Now usually I don't do this, but uuhhhh go ahead and break 'em off with a little preview of the remix..." (R Kelly)

Wow, this post has been a long time coming. I haven't blogged in a good three months, which is simply too long for both you and me. In the words of my Middle School, Soviet wrestling coach, "This is unacceptable, Mr. Hague" (pronounced as Mista Ha-gooo").  

I could bore you with every single detail, but that would take too long and my memory is not good enough to recall them. I am sorry if this blog is more a personal baggage than my usual musings. I hope though that you find some sort of redeeming life truth at the end for you to take away (you can skip to the bold section at the end if you are in a rush).

Therefore, here is a snap shot:

March: Bunch of cold weather and little sun light, (that little rodent in Pennsylvania was full of shit when he said it would be a short winter).  Even though I wanted to make my season debute in San Juan 70.3, work and finances (those two pesky life limiters) got in the way, so I  had to pull an audible and change to racing Galveston 70.3.
 

Galveston 70.3

April: Awesome race in Galveston taking 5th in the AG. More cold weather in DC. Lots of work at the store.

The calm before the storm in Knoxville

May: Went down to Knoxville to race the Rev3 Half, got hypothermia on the bike, had to drop out. Not the greatest of races and a long drive home. More work at the store business picked up and with it my stress levels. Found three grey hairs

My Wattie Clique in Quassy.
"Aint no one fresher"

June:  Raced the Oly at Rev3 Quassy. Awesome swim and 10 mile ride, then two flats, followed by a fast 15 mile ride and a 36:29 10k, so essentially two great races with a 40 minute coffee break in between. THEN I was offered a job in Phoenix, AZ at a charter school, which I immediately accepted. Set to move on July 5th!

That last event was a HUGE life changer, and is going to be the focus of the rest of this post.

For the most part I enjoy working at Bonzai, but over the past few months I have found that my life is out of balance, and when your life is skewed in one direction be it social, work or training then all of those spheres suffer and so do you.

Work was draining me of energy, killing my workouts, stressing me out, and killing my already pitiful social life (it was already dead but it was beating a dead carcass even more). You would think that working at a triathlon store would be great for a triathlete and to some extent it is: I may not get health care but I get great bike care, I am abreast on all the latest tech in the industry, I know all the inside details of geometry and design, and the discounts are wonderful. But everything else is horrendous, the hours are during key training hours so I have to cram all my training (sometimes even 3 workouts) between the hours of 4am and 8:30am, after which I had to be on my feet for the rest of the day, no weekends, one day off a week if I am lucky, and no set hours or schedule. By the end of the day, I am usually so tired that I have no energy to do anything but go home, eat dinner, play a couple rounds of Words with Friends, watch "Jeopardy!" and crawl into bed for another 3:45am wake up call.  Pretty pathetic.

I know there are athletes (some who are incredibly good) who have tougher jobs (doctors, nurses, military, police, fire fighters, just to name a few), who can find time to train in the middle of a chaotic and stressful life, but for some reason I just could not find that balance that I needed. My life was unsustainable. Something had to give and something had to change. When the teaching job became open in Phoenix, I knew this was the change that I needed to make.

Now teaching is not going to be an easy job; it's not going to be a cake walk--not even a gluten free cake walk.  Having worked with kids (and parents) in the past, I am expecting a lot of work, but at least I will be doing something that I am passionate about. When you enjoy what you are doing and it fulfills your passion then you can get through the worse parts and may even "enjoy" (for lack of a better word) them. Its similar to training: if you love the sport, then those hard workouts, while tough, are still enjoyable.

More importantly, I think changing jobs will restore my life balance, which I have not had since leaving my coaching job at Sewanee. Trying to balance life, work and training is always tough. For a happy, healthy, and sustainable life, I think people need all three in near equal proportion. If you are completely focused entirely one sector in your life, not only does that area suffer but also the other two. No one wins except your psychologist who will be raking in the cash from all the therapy session you will need..but thats just my two watts. 

Welcome to the next episode...

Thanks for reading and I promise to blog more often, returning to my normal social and psychological observation and insights instead of mundane life updates from some West Coast (formerly East Coast) kid. 

"Where you at?"

I am the one hidden behind the guy in the white shirt.  Notice the Batman socks.

Race season is almost here! In just under two weeks, I will be traveling down to Galveston, Texas to race the 70.3 there. This will be the first race of the season for me, which makes me nervous.

The race is one giant question mark. Having not raced since November (my local 10k Turkey Trot) and having not done a complete 70.3 since Word championships in September, I am not sure where I am at physically and how well I am going to do, my age group is a stacked with plenty of stellar athletes from across the country and some international blokes also making an appearance. The caterpillars of doubt, who have been wrapped up snuggly in their cocoons since last year,  are starting to emerge as butterflies in my stomach (and I still have two weeks left till race day!). My feelings of doubts and nerves hit me particularly hard and it felt like there was a mass hatching yesterday during my long run followed by a local 5k.


I typically like to listen to podcasts on my zone 2 runs and, especially, the Rich Roll podcast. Today, however, although the podcast was playing, my mind was miles away in Texas. "Who was going to be at Galveston?...Are they faster than I am?...I bet they are...There is no chance I will race well...I haven't ridden outside in months, just miles on the trainer...I am simply not ready...maybe I don't have what it takes..." and so forth. I noticed that with each successive thought I was pushing my pace and my heart rate began to creep up. Then, as if in response, Rich (we are on a first name basis because we are bff being both from the Bethesda area) said (and I am paraphrasing here):

"You shouldn't train where you want to be or where you think you should be. You have to train where you are at."

Once again Rich has it right. I cannot get caught up about where I want to be rather, I have to accept where I am at currently and train at that level. There is no point in pushing yourself to a level that you are not capable--at that time. I  would love  to swim like Andy Potts, bike like Chris Leito, and run like Pete Jacobs, but I am not there right now. That is not to say that I will never get there; I hopefully will but that is in the future and thus unknown. What is known though is that I am progressing in some manner, which is far better than regressing.

Later on that day during my 5k (more on the race later), Rich's words continued to resonate with me. I definitely was not the fastest one there but that was alright. As the lead group slowly pulled farther and farther ahead of me, I just let them race. I was pushing my pace to the maximum (check out that heart rate!) and that is all I could ask for. I may have been faster in the past but that was me then and this is me NOW.

You can see where Rich's Intervention

I finished the race with the time in 18:20, which is a pretty solid result given that I had run 17 before (18 if you include warmup), and the course was .25miles  long.

Taking it to volume 11. 

Those are excuses. Even if I had not run before or the course was different, I should be pleased with that time because I know I pushed myself to my (current) max...but thats just my two watts.

Bring it, Galveston!

My Asile Uptopia

I love democracy, and I love America. In my opinion, for what it's worth (which is not much), even though Congress may do some stuff that is well intentioned but more often than not goes awry and our soccer team struggles to make the world cup most years, America is pretty awesome. I am definitely blessed to have been born and raised in such a great country. HOWEVER, I think I may go and found my own communist country. (I may be making light of a serious subject here but bear with me please. The message is a good one I think.)

I pity the fool who doesn't this eat cereal

The reason why I want to move is not because I want to set my own tax rate, embezzle hundreds, or have a whole population under my control. No, it is because there are too many goddamn choices in the cereal aisle, and I cannot decide which one is the best and which one I can trust. Is Kashi's "Good Friends" really my friend? Those old people on the front of the box look so sweet. Will Captain Crunch steer me to a healthful lifestyle with its "made with whole grains promise?" (these are obviously rhetorical questions here so no need to respond in the comments unless you want to).

The other day, I went to the Supermarket to pick up some vegetables and walked down aisle 6 (this is the ultimate aisle of temptation: cereals, breakfast pastries, granola bars, and cookies on one side, and sodas and chips on the other. And yes, I still get excited when I go down this aisle and my inner child throws a major hissy fit when I refuse to put Fruit Loops into the cart). I did not count but there had to be over 60 different types of cereal to choose from. Moreover, there are hundred more that have been, for some stupid reason, stopped (my top list : http://xfinity.comcast.net/slideshow/finance-cerealstoosweetolast/9/).

I have to give major props to the cereal industry for the design of all their boxes.  The labels are catchy and grab your eye (and more importantly your kid or inner kid's eye). Just looking at them makes me want a bowl of cereal. Moreover, all the different colors are enough to give you a seizure. Walking down the aisle is like watching Japanese anime. Even the "healthier" cereals like Special K too are perfectly designed to give the impression of health even though they are still filled with sugar and refined crap.

Unfortunately there are not too many truly healthy cereals out there (some would argue none), and the ones that are remotely so resemble bird food and taste like cardboard. There is a direct relationship too between how boring the outside and the health of the inside. The more boring and simple, the healthier it is. If health conscious companies really wanted to make money and sell cereal then they should start making their boxes look as good as their competitors. Regardless of whether it tastes like sawdust, I would definitely eat more of these healthful cereals if they came with some sort of toy and had games on the back of the box. For example, to get old people to buy Kashi Good Friends, they could offer a free sample of Viagra in each box or to attract the triathlon community, Ezekiel 4:9 could have an "Escape from Alchatraz" maze on the back of the box. However, the chances of companies making this change is as slim as Mary Kate's waist; consequently, I want to create my own communist nation with me as chairman.

In my communist country, the cereal aisle would only have two or three options. Maybe, a brand called Castr-O's ("10 out of 10 party members agree that it's great!" It was 9 out of 10 but the one dissenter suddenly went missing and his replacement agreed too). Or Chairman Crunch (a little red book in every box). Regardless, it would be a healthful cereal without wheat or gluten, sugar-free, preservative free, tastes better with almond milk than regular milk, comes in a recyclable box, and made with organic, sprouted Chia, flax, raw nuts, coconut chips, kale chips, sweet potato crisps, beet bits, sprouted tofu nuggets, and a bunch of other heart healthy stuff (I am actually working on my own recipe for this).

The cereal aisle is only one example of this problem. In all aspects of life it is hard to know whom to trust and which path to follow because there are so many options. Whether it is the cereal aisle, a nutrition program, a training plan, or a path to enlightenment.  Having one option would certainly make life easier Just one choice that you know you can trust that its the best thing for me. No doubts that it was made with child labor or from baby seals. A guarantee that if you do "X" you will get "Y" (and "Z" too) eventually.

However, in this life , there is nothing certain, no guarantees, or one plan that works for everyone. Which is why all you can do is do your research with an open mind, then take a leap of faith, trust your  decision, and chose one cereal box. Hopefully, Count Chocula will not be a cruel despot...but thats just my two watts.

Tom Fleming is full of it

I grew up with the motto:

"Somewhere in the world someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win."

Tom Fleming's Boston Marathon Training Motto 

Tom Fleming: Great Runner but not always right

I loved this expression in high school because it gave me such motivation to train. Whenever I would feel tired or not in the mood to lace up my running shoes, I would remember this quote, and it would instantly drive me outside or to the gym to do a workout. As I ran, I could envision my rivals (some of them my own teammates) beating me. "I cannot lose to him" I would think to myself. "I MUST keep pushing."

This overly competitive attitude got and occasionally continues to get me into trouble. It drove me to disregard how I was feeling and the condition of my body, and instead overtrain to the point of exhaustion and beyond. I could not let go of the fear of losing and even worse being thought of as a loser. I needed that external validation for my efforts and therefore could not allow anyone to come between me a the podium. If somewhere out there someone is training to beat me, then I have to train even harder to beat him. Writing this makes me sound like an absolute jerk, but please don't judge me. I promise I have matured since my prepubescent high school days even though I still cannot grow facial hair.  

This mentality also sucked all the joy out of training and racing. Instead of training for the pure internal joy and pleasure of running, I was running for, or I should say from, an external and more importantly imaginary fear.

In my mind, my rivals were just like me. They would go for runs and think to themselves: "I have to beat Chris Hague this year. He has to go down." In reality though they were running because they enjoyed it. I highly doubt they even thought about me. Only I was freaking out about them and not the other way around. I therefore was stressed for no reason.

When illness or injury struck, which was bound to happen given how stupid I was training and how much I was stressing, the anxiety only got worse. Since I was on the sidelines feeling like crap and literally watching myself through my skewed mental goggles getting slower, more unfit, and fatter, it drove me up the wall to see others race circles around me.

Being partially sick this past week and still recovering from whatever horrible bug or influenza that I had has made me think again about this quote. As I lay in my bed coughing up multi colored mucus, I kept on beating myself up about not being able to train. "Everyone is going to get ahead of you" that little nagging voice inside of me said. "You NEED to get into the pool...You were slow already but now you are going to be even slower." The more I stressed the worse I felt, and the downward spiral continued.

In the middle of this fever, it finally occurred to me that this quote is deeply flawed.  The first part is true. There is undoubtedly someone in the world training right now, but when I race him (s)he might win and (s)he might lose. Regardless, both situations are unknown and thus uncontrollable and thus should not be part of my mental consideration or angst. If (s)he does win, good for him/her; his winning has no impact on how I perform. It is not like if I come in second place, 5 minutes will be added to my time. Moreover, if I try to push myself through this sickness, (s)he will of course beat me; there is no way I can perform my best in this current state. Doing half ass workouts will only prolong this bug and how bad I feel. The only way I am going to get back to full speed, health, and quality training is to get better. The focus has to be on me and never on anyone else.

In triathlon, there are only three competitors: you, your watch, and your own preset and false expectations...but that's just my two watts.

Gangs of Nutrition

If you get all of us together, we ain't got a gang, we've got an army.

The streets of Nutirtion are rough. The city itself has several boroughs and each controlled by rival gangs, of which the loyalty and devoutness of the gang members put the Hell's Angels, Black Panthers, MS-13, Bloods, Crips, and KK to shame.

Like any gang, there are different layers of membership with those who loosely follow the rules of the street on the outskirts, but once you get into the inner circles, people can get very extreme going as far as tattooing their loyalty on their arms (or at least wearing t-shirts or having bumper stickers like "Yes, Vegetarians do eat animal crackers," "I eat vegetarians," and "Get your Grock on!"). Moreover,  they all fight for territory in the supermarkets, blogosphere, podcasts, and scientific journals. Drive-bys occur frequently as another "scientific" study or book takes down the research of another. They all seem to be at odds with each other and truce does not seem to be on the horizon. Consequently, I am here to ask "can't we all just get along?"

Earlier this year, when I was thinking about moving boroughs, I sat down with several of the gang leaders (at least met with them in my mind and tried to reconcile all the differences.

The Butcher

I met with:

• The Double Ps  from the north side (Primal and Paleo)--a rough but strong group who runs their business out of grass fed butcher shops usually. 

• The Vegs (vegans, vegetarians, and fruitarians) who are the loudest of the bunch. They like to drag race hybrids but are also known to lead raids on Zoos and vandalize Fast Food joints. If you cross them, you may get tofu brick heaved through your window.   

• The Ketoes (those in dietary ketosis and low carbers) from the south side who are notorious cereal killers. These guys some time team up with the Double Ps. You think Dr. Atkin's died because he slipped on ice? Think again. They also like to mark their territory with the spray paint has tag "nsng "(no sugar, no grains) 
• Biohackers- a very scientific group that espouses that they are bullet proof. 
• The SAD mafia (standard American diet--this was a tough group to get a hold of. They currently control Tammany Hall and have tons of money backing them. I was a little worried that dealing with them would be dangerous. If I did not watch my step I would wake up one morning with ketchup all over my sheets and a dead horse head next to me (the body was used for some English burgers--too soon?). They also control the pharmaceutical industry and push anti-obesity drugs. Halfway through my moderation, they left the table "to go for a lunch" and never returned.

The Godfather himself

They may disagree a lot but here is what I heard as what they agree on (with the exception of the mafia of course):

• Dark leafy green vegetables are good. Other vegetables and fruit are debatable depending on their glycemic load and index
• Protein is important but not too much (the source of protein is a sticking point)
• N64 is much better than the Wii with the best game being Golden Eye and Mario Cart '64
• Exercise is good (how much and the type is debated hotly) 
• Healthy fats found from sources like avocados are good 
• The less processed the food the better
• Moderation is critical to any diet
• The best diet is that which you can sustain for a lifetime
• Fad diets are not sustainable. 
• Sweets should be limited if not eliminated (what defines a sweet is debatable).
• Science backs their point of view
• The "Rocky" movies get better with each instalment with the exception of Rocky V, where the kid ruins everything. 

The list maybe longer but these are the ones I came up with (if you have other similarities, please comment).The above list is pretty solid advice but the devil is in the details.

I am not sure which borough I want to live in right now. I am still moving between them to see which one I like and works best for me. For now, I like living in the suburbs of moderation and experimentation. 

As I listen to more podcasts and read more blog posts from the gang leaders, the tensions between these groups seems to be on the rise. I have therefore come up with a solution:

I would really like to see a WWF style (that is the World Wrestling Federation not, for hippie, tree-huggers like me,  World Wildlife Foundation, or, If Alec Baldwin is reading this, Words with Friends ),  "winner-takes-all," to the death, Monday Night smack down cage fight between all the diet gangs out there. 

Who do you think would win?