Posted by Mark on April 26, 2005

“If you have ever used the words “only” and “10k” in that order…”

“…Then your hydration needs are probably more complicated than the average athlete.”

-Gatoraid.com (Enduracne Formula)

Yea, at this point a 10k is a speed workout. I’m getting my legs back- On Saturday I had a really good solid ride followed by a pretty solid transition run. I need to walk severl times during the transition to let my legs recover, but I should be able to turn them over to running after the ride. Hell, I’ve done it countless times before.

Gatoraid endurance formula, aka “sea water” is great stuff. I hate lemon lime, but it has HUGE amounts of sodium, which has been proven to a) keep me from dying, and b) gives a performance boost.

I do recall, at some point saying to a coach: “5k? You want us to run a 5k? I can’t even warm up in 5k. I’m going to have to run 10k just to get my legs turning over.”

Turns out he had a point, I just missed it, but still- It’s fun to think of a 10k as a light day.

Posted by Mark on April 26, 2005

CNBC Squak is nothing but….

I listen to CNBC on Sirius radio every day on my way to work. Recently out of frustration I have been swithcing to CNN during commericals, but today I decided to do something different: I’d time the commercials.

Here are the results of a 20 minute period:

2:00 content
3:00 commercials
2:45 content
2:00 commercials
4:00 content
2:45 commercials
2:00 content
1:45 commercials

So basically that’s 9:30 worth of commericals and 10:45 of content, and the content is no longer compelling. CNBC has become worthless. CNBC International, however, is fascinating. They have huge gaps between commericals, and the talk is actually serious, and technical. I love it. I look forward to CNBC International every evening when I drive home, so I can hear about the Asian markets. It is truly well crafted listening.

Posted by Mark on April 25, 2005

Quote of the day:

“The driving force of all action in war is ‘human will’”

-USMC Warfighting Manual

The same applies to triathlon. Your legs do not carry you, your mind does. The human will drives us. While I have no “enemy” in triathlon besides myself this is a thought to ponder:

The outcome of a battle, external or internal, is simply a matter of who has more desire to win. Who brings more “will” to the battlefield.

Who will win? My will to be the best I can be athletically, spiritually, and professionally, or my will to stop? For some people this is not even a question, they are so driven. For myself, I am still confused on this issue. I have the drive to succeed (I somehow managed to get a job with a great company, live an extrordinary life thus far, and complete two ultra marathons and an Ironman) but this is never a given.

It is always a fight, always a struggle.

I have been successful at many things, despite my best efforts to the contrary.

Sometimes I am startled by how much blind, dumb, fucking luck one man can have.