Endurance Athlete Project - Here We Go Again.

Well, here we go again.  As I mentioned a few days ago, I'm resurrecting the Endurance Athlete Project.  But it has been reinvented as a social network.  And I'd really, really, really appreciate it if you could sign up, check it out and use the site some.  Because I believe that with a little bit of scale, EAP will be a fun place to hang out.

www.enduranceathleteproject.com

The intention of EAP is not to replace the blogs.  Rather, I think it can enhance communication amongst blogging friends.  For example, there is a Latest Activity time-line (which is similar to what's on Facebook) that is perfect for "in-between" posts that members may want to share throughout the day.  There are also traditional forums, and I've set up and seeded a few to get things going.  Members can create topics within each forum, and I'll be creating new forum subjects over time.  Members also have the ability to set up either private or public groups which makes for a great tool the next time you are hosting a virtual race, creating a training group or just need a way to gather people together in one place.  Of course, members can also set up profiles, list events and post photos and videos.

As far as 3rd party content,  EAP is currently pulling in news feeds from Irunfar.com, VeloNews and Everymantri.com.  This list of feeds will undoubtedly grow.  And last but not least there is a blog roll.  If you want your blog included, let me know and I'll set it up.

Does the world need another social network?  I have no idea.  But it was fun to start, will be fun to build and expand, and will be awesome to watch being used.  So hopefully you guys like it, because it's just another website without users.

If you give EAP a try and like what you see, I'd be thrilled if you could help me spread the word.  The above banner is 250 px wide and should fit well on most blog side bars.  And if you find that you love EAP and never log off, feel free to tell a few friends, because the more the merrier.  And I don't pay extra for more bandwidth.

Endurance Athlete Project

William of Ockham

Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate.

  - Occam's Razor

Literal English Translation:  Plurality should not be posited without necessity.

Simple Translation:  Keep it simple, stupid.

Some of you might be wondering what happened to Endurance Athlete Project.  I must admit, we came out pretty hot and heavy in July but disappeared just as fast.

The truth is that EAP never felt right to me.  On paper, I suppose I could have had a decent chance of leveraging my apparel experience with my passion for endurance sports, just like I did with music.  But the problem is that I hate music now.  OK, so maybe "hate" is a strong word.  But that said, music has become a commodity that I evaluate and monetize rather than something I just enjoy listening to.

I can't let what happened between me and music happen between me and endurance sports.  Because endurance sports have had a more positive effect on me than almost anything else in my life.  Though they are not the most important thing in life, endurance sports greatly enhance the things that are.  I've come to realize that endurance sports where a huge missing piece of me.

I'd still like to do something with EAP, though I now realize that it needs to be a service driven concern, not a product driven one.  Past that I'm not sure; we shall see.  But I know whatever I do, I have to keep it simple.

I would like to thank those of you who where early supporters of EAP.  This means a lot to me personally and is also another example of something I've always believed - that the endurance sport community, and especially the blogging community surrounding endurance sports, supports their own with no questions asked.

EAP is dead, long live EAP!!

- Adapted from a traditional proclamation

The Road Turns One.

The Road turned a year old this week.  Since I've become hyper-obsessed about goals and training volume, I immediately starting thinking about the past year in terms of stats:  224 Posts, 4 redesigns and a countless number of hours spent reading and writing.

But then I realized that I was making a HUGE mistake by thinking about the blog in these terms.  Leave the metrics analysis to beginnertriathlete.com, because the blog is all about the intangibles.  Intangibles like a year's worth of self discovery.  A years worth of self-confidence building.  And year's worth of an education.    

When I thought about the last year in these terms, I felt a little guilty that my initial reaction was what it was.  Had I not started this blog, I probably still done the same amount of training & racing.  But there is no way it would have been as fun, it's doubtful that I would have improved as much as I did and I definitely wouldn't have pushed myself as far as I did.

I just e-read my first post for the first time in long while.  It was definitely a little uncomfortable to read.  I don't remember writing it, but I know where I was trying to coming from.  Some of it reads a little bit arrogantly.  But I know myself, and that arrogance was fear.   I knew I was well on the way to leaving my old life behind and embracing a new one, but I wasn't yet convinced that it would stick.  I was also afraid I couldn't do it, but still wasn't exactly sure what "it" was.  But there is definitely a fire in my writing.  And when I sat down last October to write it, I was writing with a fire that I had not had in a long, long time.  I was naive but determined, and boy did it show.

The one passage that stood out was this one:

"Because when I was younger, I didn't worry about falling off a cliff. Snowstorm and no climbing partner? No problem!! That was the stupidity of my youth. But this last March, cold toes and heartburn kept me from a summit in the Sierra Nevada. It was a clear day and about as safe as a winter alpine climb could possibly be. But I got in a staring contest mortality and blinked first. The cold and my discomfort where convenient excuses. That's the stupidity of middle age."

This is the most honest thing I wrote that day.  The problem with it is that I was wrong.  Forget the failed summit bid, that's not important.  Where I got sideways was when I said that "I got in a staring contest with mortality and blinked first".  This never happened - I got in a staring contest with my own self doubt and was more than happy to acquiesce.  THAT's the stupidity of middle age.

But I didn't figure out that I was wrong on my own.  Which leads to the most important thing that this blog has given me - new friends.  And these are friendships that are as solid as any friendship I could ever have despite the fact you live all over the world and we've never actually met.

I can't count how many times I've picked up a good tip or a great piece of advice from your blogs.  I can't count how many times that you've helped me realize that we are just normal people working to make our bodies and our minds do remarkable things.  On the personal side, I've never been as happy or as sad as I have been after reading some of the things that you have shared.  And every day, there is usually an e-mail side conversation or two with you guys that has a way of really making my day.

But a lot comes from things that aren't said, at least directly.  When I read between the lines of your blogs, I find that we are not so different from each other.  Because there is a common thread of dedication and determination in what we do.  How we share ourselves on the blogs has the power to subordinate just about anything else we may disagree on.  And besides that, I have this theory that endurance athletes we are a little bit more tolerant about the ways of the world, regardless of what we personally believe.  I think this is because as endurance athletes, we make a connection with our lives that tends to make the more trivial things not matter as much.

Which puts me back on that mountain a few years ago.  There was no Grim Reaper dressed in North Face gear and Goretex over boots.  I just didn't have the right friends yet.  Now I do, and I'm not afraid to push it.

Thank you for an incredible year.

Experiencing technical difficulties

Due to a confluence of circumstances including a work computer upgrade and a miss-placed (i.e. left at hotel) Macbook power supply, I am momentarily computer-less, save for this toaster I am typing on now also known as a PC net book.  It took me literally 5 minutes to type the last sentence because the keys are so close together that I keep hitting the wrong ones.

But I'm home and jonesing to read every one's blogs for the first time in a few days.  Hopefully all will be resolved by this evening.

The party that almost was

This morning when I checked my blog I saw that I had reached the 100 follower mark.  This made me really happy - my little community had grown to a three digit population!

I immediately set about making plans for a party.  At this party there would be pony and hot air balloon rides.  There would be a three ring circus, go-carts, and paintball.  There would be dancing polar bears.  I would get Led Zeppelin back together to perform.  And the food would be incredible - anything anyone wanted would be available plus there would be an endless supply of no calorie hot fudge sundaes.  Given the fact that you all are spread out across the country (and in some cases across the globe), there would be door-to-door chartered jet service for everyone.

But when I sat down just now to write a post to announce the party, I was horrified to see that I was back down to 99 followers.  Someone quit on me.   This made me really sad - my little community had shrunk to a two digit population!

So dear whoever moved away, I'm sorry for what I did or said (whatever it was).  Please come home, I miss you!  And when you come home, we will have the party.

The Interweb

 An artist's rendition of the Internet.  I guess dropping super strong acid before creating artwork is still a popular pursuit.

True story - I first heard of the Internet in the summer of 1994.  I was in New York for The New Music Seminar, a music industry gathering that has now been gone for years.  While walking around the small trade show portion of the seminar, I came across a small pipe and drape booth decorated with a few foam core signs.  There where  a couple computers on a table.  There was no one else there except for me and the girl and guy working the booth.

The guys name was Marc - I somehow remember that.  The girls name?  I have no clue.  But she was cute.  So being 24 and single, I ignored Marc and tried to chat up the girl.  She started telling me about the Internet and a program they had called Mosaic.  She was explaining that Mosaic was a way to view the "World Wide Web" using an easy to use point-and-click graphical interface.  But I didn't really care, and my attempts to woo her where going nowhere.  So I moved on.

I found out later that Marc's last name was Andreesen.  Mosaic changed their name to Netscape, and then Netscape changed the world.

I like the Internet, even though it lost it's "last frontier" romanticism years ago and in many ways has turned into a commodity business.  I just saw a commercial for Microsoft IE 8 that practically promises that it's security features are so good that they will save you from yourself.  And last week, when I was on godaddy.com buying a URL, I got the same feeling I get when I'm at the car dealership - "Sorry friend, "sucker.com" is no longer available, but "sucker.info" is....and it's on SALE for only $1.99!!!".  But of course it's not only $1.99.  Checking out at godaddy.com is like being in the auto dealership finance office, except instead of trying to sell you a car alarm, GAP insurance, or an undercarriage sealer, they try to sell you the enhanced e-mail package (Best Value!) or an off-the-shelf e-commerce package.  I'm sure many people hit the "purchase" button asking themselves "What the hell just happened?  I just got fleeced in my own living room."

But I don't control the marketing & merchandising department at Godaddy, so it is what it is.  And though the WAY they sell may not be my cup of tea, WHAT they sell is truly awesome - they help us regular folk easily get our own piece of the most important technological and social development since, I dunno, fire?

I was on Godaddy buying theroadmultisport.com.  I'll admit I was doing this to keep up with "Mr. Early Adopter" Kovas Palubinskas who had just bought midwestmultisportlife.com for his blog.  theroad.com was taken.  theroadblog.com was taken.  theothertheroad.com was available, but I deemed it too cleverly based on a joke that only I would find funny.  In the end, I'm happy with what I got.

My interest and appreciation of our little blog world continues to grow.  I was on the phone with Kovas last week and we where talking about how the blogging community had so many similarities to the punk scene that we grew up in.  Blogging is a very "do it yourself" endeavor.  So was the punk scene.  The content of the average blog tends to be very personal and not overly slick.  So was the music we where making.  Many bloggers work hard to "give back" through cool product giveaways and contests.  We used to put on our own shows and put out our own records.  Podcasts like TriTopics are independently produced and distributed in support of the community.  The punk scene had a support system through college radio.  But most importantly, it's the passion.  Both scenes had/have it.  I know you can't compare endurance sports to punk rock very easily, but passion is passion.

 Triathlon swim start v.  punk show.  Is there really a big difference?  By the way that's me sitting on the side of the stage in the white track jacket...I'm thinking this is 1988.

It's nice to find a new scene that gives back as much as you are willing to put in.  And the overtones of the "old days", at least for me, are pretty comforting too.

The unknown (but welcome) consequences of well intentioned ideas

 The 405 Freeway, today at 6:30.  On the way to swim coaching...

If you're like me, the decision to try a triathlon was pretty simply motivated.  Maybe it just sounded fun.  Maybe it was a way to put yourself to the test.  Maybe it was a dare.

And if you're like me, it didn't take long before the motivation became a little more complex.  By many measures, my first race was a disaster.  Except it wasn't, because I finished.  And by finishing, a switch went off inside me.  For the first time in a long time, I started down a very significant new road.

Many years ago someone told me to stop worrying all the time, because things have a way of working themselves out.  I liked the sentiment, but didn't trust the source.  This "sage" man was a guy who would go to the swap meet to buy a book, and pick a Danielle Steel novel over a Robert Ludlum novel just because it was a nickel cheaper.  There is no problem with being frugal, but this struck struck me as a little weird.  So I took his advice with a grain of salt.  More importantly, I wasn't ready listen.

But it turns out he was right.  Like how I now try to approach most things, I approach triathlon with an active passiveness.  Though I tend to be meticulous in training and educating myself about the sport, I also realize that life works best when I'm a leaf floating down a stream - I'm going somewhere, but I'm not sure where.  I'm just happy to be floating along.

The stream is getting wider.  I'm constantly amazed, perhaps daily, what a positive impact triathlon has.  It's easy to measure the direct impact that the 1, 2 or more hours we all train everyday.  Mileage increases.  Speed increases.  Fitness increases.  But what about the other 22 hours of the day?

Training logs don't address these hours.  But I would guess all of us have experienced benefits from this lifestyle that where never contemplated at the beginning of the journey.  For me it's being more engaged.  I'm excited about things again.  And if you don't mind me saying, I'm pretty darn proud of myself for getting my health back.  The best part?  I made out like a bandit, because it was fun.  Globally, the benefits are endless.  I think this is a sport where anyone can find what they are looking for if they work at it.

All of us come from different backgrounds and athletic abilities.  By reading your blogs, it's clear that many of your are much more gifted athletes that I am.  But hardly any of the blogs focus solely on training or racing.  Training and racing may be a key component, but it's always reported with a lot of depth.  I learn from that.  Also, we all share parts from the other "22 hours" of our day.  I learn even more from that.  In fact, I would suggest that this part of the equation is the great equalizer that makes this community so vibrant.

I welcome the opportunity to be in this community.  Never in my wildest dreams did I expect that such a support system came standard with this lifestyle.  And it goes beyond the blogs - it's pretty much everywhere.  People helping people simply because we all know we are involved in something special.

I bought some swim goggles, a bike and a pair of running shoes because I thought it sounded pretty cool to see what it would be like to swim a quarter mile, bike 9 miles and run 3.  That was a well intentioned idea.  I had no idea how great the consequences would be.

The Road's 100th Post (And all you got was a stupid t-shirt)

Well, hopefully you get more than a t-shirt from my blog. I hope something I've written has made you chuckle, think, or has been inspiring in some way. I've certainly picked up a lot of wisdom from reading all your blogs, and I hope I've been successful in contributing to the blogger world in some way, shape or form.

Here is the link to my first ever post on 10/18/09. I've just re-read it for the first time in awhile. It was interesting to revisit, but I also felt a little embarrassed as well. It was the kind of embarrassment you feel when you look at (or when you someday look at) your high school yearbook 20 years after you graduated. Last October was only 8 months ago. But by every other measure, last October was a lifetime ago.

I understand why I wrote what I wrote. But I definitely had my guard up, and lingering between each sentence is fear and anxiety. I tend to jump into things before I actually understand why. Starting this blog last year is an example of that. I knew I needed to document what I was doing, though I wasn't sure why I was and where it would lead. But it was leading somewhere, and I might as well embrace it. That's why I started typing.

I think the below passage is the most telling.

Endurance sports are perfect for me. I've never had those fast twitch muscles needed to play baseball or football. But, I've always been able to go and go. The mental game. The discomfort. The solitude. Before my wife introduced me to the Hawaiian vacation, my idea of a week off was a solo back-packing trip around Mt. Rainier.

Because when I was younger, I didn't worry about falling off a cliff. Snowstorm and no climbing partner? No problem!! That was the stupidity of my youth. But this last March, cold toes and heartburn kept me from a summit in the Sierra Nevada. It was a clear day and about as safe as a winter alpine climb could possibly be. But I got in a staring contest mortality and blinked first. The cold and my discomfort where convenient excuses. That's the stupidity of middle age.

Yep, that's me admitting a mid life crisis. Over the previous year and a half, I had been taking steps in getting my health and physical confidence back. But I was still concerned about it all, and I was worried that I couldn't keep it up. I was anxious about "cold toes" and "heartburn" being more than just the exception. And I was afraid of what would happen if those things became the rule. I knew I needed to get back to where I came from, at least in certain ways. Getting caught up in my career (and related trappings) to the extent that I did and at the expense of who I really was had changed me in a way in a way I didn't like. It just took a long time to figure it out.

I sense shame in the post as well. I kept talking about "my story", and that the story may "eventually come out". The truth is, I had to get something off my chest, but had no idea how to do it. Though it was possibly naive to think that the answer was hidden in the hundreds of hours of training I was hoping to do, over time those hours did help me realize that I already had the answer. And it was simple - tell the truth. Just admit that until 18 months ago you where drinking too much, had let yourself go, and had (pardon my French) fucked up a whole bunch of things in your life that didn't need to be fucked up. Further, just admit that you are 40, there is nothing you can do about it, and that right now might be a good time to get off your ass and re-prioritize some things in your life. Because God willing, you still have got plenty of time to live. And while you are living, you can love and learn and experience anything you want. Once you get it out, you'll feel a million times better. There will be no more shame. In fact, most will recognize that the progress you made in those 18 months was anything but shameful.

I'd like to think I've come a long way in the last 8 months/99 posts. When I started, I knew the writing would be cathartic. Some days I'd write something worth reading, some days I wouldn't. But in the end I think I managed to get a few things out in the open.

But what I didn't realize 8 months ago was that the reading of other blogs would be just as important.

As I read your blogs, I realize how lucky we are. Sure, we've all got problems, tragedy even. But I'd like to think that we have all found ways to manage and cope with our lives in (I dare say) a "higher than average" positive manner. I'm not sure exactly why this is, but clearly we all have something in common. Whether its triathlon, marathon, trail running, or whatever endurance sport we are constantly gushing about, it is clear that our participation in these sports is a big part of our overall lives. And in every case the benefits of these sports go far beyond the act of just participating.

This is a gift we should cherish as long as we can.

So thank you all for reading this post, and for all the other posts you've read. Thanks for the comments to my posts. And thanks for letting me be a part of your world by sharing your lives too.

My Garmin

I was a little out of sorts earlier. Because just like that, my Garmin stopped working. I had turned it on and then put it back in the charging cradle. When I pulled it back out to head off to run, it shut off and wouldn't come back on. I looked for some sort of reset button, but it doesn't have one. I tried a couple different combinations of button pressing to find the hard reset. But nothing worked and the screen remained dark.

It was 5:30 and I promised Mary I'd be home by 7:00. So I had to get going. I grabbed my old school sports watch. The watch is so 2 years ago when I could barely pull off 3 miles. But at least I could get an elapsed time. That would have to be good enough.

But things where not good. In fact, they kinda sucked. First off, I had to remember to manually start and stop the watch at traffic lights. The Garmin does that automatically. I remembered to hit the start/stop button every time except once, but once is enough to throw everything off. I forgot to hit start at one particular intersection and didn't notice until 1 minute and 36 seconds later. I know that it was 1 minute and 36 seconds because later I drove over to the intersection, parked my car, and re-timed the segment.

I have a thing about accuracy.

I like (and have become very used to) knowing what my pace, heart rate, accumulated distance, and elapsed time is whenever I want. And even though I have this route memorized to the foot, it still felt wrong. I didn't have my training partner.

I was alone. Because today there where not 3 satellites in a geosynchronous orbit somewhere overhead quietly working away keeping me data rich. And I would not have anything to upload into my training log (even though I rarely use that data for anything useful anyway).

I used to proclaim, somewhat proudly, that I was not dependent on technology. I now realize that is complete bulls**t. After all, I almost had a meltdown today. I never leave the house without my Iphone. I have not touched a book since I got a Kindle. And I use AOL Instant Messenger & Skype, at the same time!!!

Then there is this blog. Lately I have been installing every 3rd party blog aggregating widget I can find. I can't go to bed without looking at Google Analytics first. Blogging has created a whole new community, and I want my 40 acres and a mule. Or at least a mule avatar.

Fortunately, the Garmin is working again. I did a Google search for "Garmin 305 will not turn on" and easily found the right combination of keys to press. And by the way, I didn't get the information off the Garmin website. Somebody's blog came up first.