Cancel my reservation in the padded room please

All right all right... I had a breakdown and shared my thoughts, possibly too much too soon for some that don't know me very well. Some of you have asked what goes on in my head... bet you wished I hadn't told you now eh? It is us quiet folks that you have to look out for is it not?

It's been a week with lots of sleep, good food, and some recovery swims and all is well. Coach Mike and I have had a few long chats and have come to the conclusion that I had a nutritional breakdown that led to a mental breakdown typical over training stuff that Triathletes tend to excel at. We had thought that while everything was fresh in my mind I should document how I felt and my feelings to use it as a learning experience. Did you know when all you think of is smarties your body is craving simple carbs... who knew???

Coach and I have decided to take a forced day off (Monday) and that I should run with a group more often. So I am going back to the Running Room to be among fellow runners.

So I am back on track with my training, hopefully I can repair any damage done by my overly public rant with all of you. I'll keep the next breakdown a bit more private.

Golden Triangle 2008

Looking back Day 0

The adventure the day before GT involving the load of dirt had me stressed out, I now realize and accept. I got dehydrated and didn’t get myself topped back up by the end of the day. The stresses I listed in the rant above were on my shoulders ready to break my back. I have over the years given up on other people’s expectations of me and this week I gave up on my expectations of myself. I am the quiet guy that doesn’t speak my mind that often that has control over my emotions but this week I lost that Vulcan like control. I had a conversation with my Coach Tuesday and we have figured out that my diet has a big hand in my meltdown on the Golden Triangle.

From past rides I know the number of photos taken is directly related to how much fun I am having. Unfortunately this year there is not many photos but I am still glad I went on it, even if I got a ride for 28 of the 327. I need to use the warning signs I saw before rock bottom as a learning experience. This weekend was not a failure no matter how much I wanted to sell the bike.

Looking back at Day 1

Starting the ride with no water in my bottles was DUMB. I should have known better especially after being dehydrated so badly yesterday. Looking at my graphs closer I just realized that the first hill I went pretty hard, the first 5km my avg HR was 165 and the days average was 150. I never much enjoyed climbing a mountain pass first thing in the morning. Next time I have to figure out how to warm up before going, at least the snack stop is early into the ride.

The majority of the day is downward run so if you can catch a tail wind it is mostly enjoyable. I recognized a few people from past GT rides… ok I mostly recognized the ladies. There was one lady when she spoke you would have to look twice to make certain it was a lady.

The second major climb of the day I put my head down and just grinded looking at my graphs my heart rate was hitting the roof on the first half of the climb. There is a false summit I think it’s by the lookout and I pulled over and rested lying against the hillside praying for death to take me.

The downhill was not as fun as it was with “Go Fast” the touring bike. This unnamed bike is a whole lot more twitchy and we haven’t quite found the sweet spot yet for going fast down a hill. The pavement is getting worse so that doesn’t help much.

I set my tent up and caught a shuttle to the Hot Springs and soaked for 40min and then had an ice-cream for surviving the first day as I waited for the shuttle back. Well I waited for about 4 shuttles, I was getting bumped by larger groups. One would call dibbes on the van and they wouldn’t want to split the group up so me being the quiet one knowing that I didn’t want a small thing to cause me to blow up at strangers I would wait for the next one. The forth came and it filled before it came to a complete stop so I muttered under my breath and started walking to get the rage out of me. I realized that two ladies were talking about my Birkenstock sandals I was wearing… I don’t even remember looking to see if they were cute or by themselves finding solo ladies was difficult. Either they were married or in a pack of single ladies to fend off guys like me I guess.

So I realize that supper service is probably going to be done by the time I get back to the rink it is at. So I stopped at a restaurant and had a steak sandwich (my thinking was protean for recovery) I get back and find a charger for the garmin and end up chatting with the night guard they hired to look after our stuff as we slept in the ball field.

I slept pretty nice once the guy with the guitar shut the hell up. It was nice for a while but there is only so much camp songs you can take when you are trying to sleep. I had Breath right strips on but the ladies in the next tent glared at me as they all said they were kept up by all the snoring. I know I wasn’t the only one but I was closer to them J I slept well so I don’t care.

Looking back at Day 2

I did have sunscreen on yesterday but my knees and arms have got a good red tan line on them. I wore my tri suit today which wasn’t the best choice with the chip seal pavement. It has a smaller Butt pad so there is less padding. My entire body was vibrating from the road surface.

I could have eaten more at Breakfast but what options do you have when some haven’t even eaten yet and you want seconds. I do not remember what I had to eat at first snack but I do remember sitting in the shade of the truck and a volunteer with a very serious look on her face asking if I was alright. My heart just wasn’t in it today was my response and I have a feeling that since then they kept an eye on me. I could see some motherly looks tossed my direction as I stood with my helmet as my plate for food.

Looking at my graphs I just realized that there is 3 decent climbs before snack and 1 after lunch and their map shows that the whole day is mostly flat. It makes more sence now why I was pacing behind this Full Suspension Mt Bike. It was depressing at the time when I saw the hydraulic brakes and the fox suspension fork. I am on a tri bike for crying out loud I should be leaving this guy in my dust! But nope I was hoping that he wouldn’t speed up for the longest time.

I found myself having more mini stops this day. Pull over get the butt off the seat and stretch for a while. I had thought today would be somewhat of a Half Iron man simulation day. I hope my races this summer go better than this simulation. My mind did wandered to what life without triathlon would be and as bleak as I felt and the number of times I yelled I quit during the ride, as I set up my tent I thought what will Mike have planned for me next week.

After lunch it started to sprinkle and the head wind picked up and the speeds dropped to a crawl. On the plus side my HR dropped a zone after that last hill, the body was giving out very slowly.

Supper was an absolute feast for me, I had that plate piled up good and high. I did not stick around for the slide show that was put on after the door prizes were handed out. Oh the streak continues, five years of not one single door prize won my by myself.

Looking back at Day 3

This was another light plate for breakfast. I had thought the night before that maybe I should just find a Denny’s and get a good breakfast without a lineup so I could get the day started before the traffic got going. There was a mud slide blocking the traffic west of Golden so we all were hoping to make it to snack stop before the heavy trucks started to roll.

I ended up drinking both of my bottles dry by the time I made it to snack and as I pulled in I realized there were a few cars with bike racks and I offered $40 to take me to the top of the hill. I was a mess a complete and utter wreck. The food table didn’t have the greatest selection which was a disappointment. I chatted with one of the volunteers and found that I could put my bike on the luggage truck but that would finish my day. I wasn’t ready for that. I knew that the section to lunch would kill me off with the rolling climbs. But I know within myself that if I know that climb is 14km and I can see the top of the climb… it will be done. So I went back to one of the vans and took a ladies offer for a ride. I found out as we drove that she was a nurse and I looked like Hell when I first pulled in.

Lunch was a good helmet full of food. I had seen people at lunch the day before with Mr Noodle cups and this time I got one for myself and it was the best thing I did all day. So I rested as I noticed that weather was starting to act up behind us so off I go. I did get up the hill, stopped to take off a layer, then again to put it back on and one last time to take it off till I hit the top. The HR monitor started acting up and going up to 240, bugger off I know my heart would explode if it really was going that fast.

The road surface changed when we came back into Alberta, every 6 feet there was this dip that could have used a tar strip to fill it in. So that rattled the bones for quite some time. I remembered from previous years that they had Smarties at the last snack stop so I was chanting Smarties as I climbed the hill. Looking back that is when I started mentally bouncing back to reality.

At the snack stop the rain caught up to me as I stood and enjoyed my box of well earned Smarties. I saw the pretty red head and ended up riding to the end with her and her husband. There was a few climbs that I didn’t remember and was not ready for. Next year remember the part where the road splits. I was happy it was raining because then I don’t overheat but with my slick tires I wasn’t going to do any crazy riding just in case. Each and every corner I was looking for the sign saying we were done. That last 20 odd km is pretty much a mind fuck that you can’t just shake off, it keeps going and going. Then you get that last left curve and there is the hostel sign and your done.

I got changed out of the wet gear and saw the volunteer lady that helped me out today and thanked her. Shook hands with some of the radio guys as I got my luggage and called the ride done as the bag piper got started.

I stopped in Canmore for supper and good thing because there was a mini van that caught on fire climbing Scott Hill. It caused quite the traffic jam, the tow truck was just pulling in as I passed the accident scene. I was in bed by 9pm and awake at 3am, I have two night shifts to look forward to. I might flop around in the pool before work and sit in the hot tub now that I have finished my story and updated my logs and such.

Day1 in 2005 8:34-15:55 446 Pedal time 521 Total Time
in 2008 8:53-15:39 436 Pedal time 636 Total Time
Day2 in 2005 7:37-13:36 405 Pedal time 437 Total Time
in 2008 8:19-15:33 449 Pedal time 714 Total Time
Day3 in 2005 7:36-16:00 538 Pedal time 655 Total Time

in 2008 7:47-16:00 434 Pedal time 813 Total Time

Start weight 207 - 20% body fat

Finish weight 207.5 - 17.5% body fat. As per my fancy scale

Race results

    -------FINAL---- ----------------------- ----------
                                        Category               
Pos     Time    Name          Plc/Total Category    #      

148/171  1:38:22 Randy MILLER  52/58  Male Individ  272    

    500m          17.5km                  5km
--------SWIM-------------BIKE--------- ------RUN----------
Ovr  Time  /100m    Ovr  Time  km/hr    Ovr  Time   /km
146   15:13  4:04   53   38:03  3:49    166   45:06  9:02



WO HO  I beat 6 dudes!!!!!!

That swim pace calculation is a bit off..
if it took me 4 min per 100 it would be 20min
I know I am slow but not that slow!!!!
53 overall on the bike?????  you have to be kidding me!!!!!
I freaking love it!!!!
After that pathetic horrible run I still was
faster than 5 folks????

Thank goodness for the bike



Checking back on my history that was:
-3rd fastest swim pace
-2nd fastest bike Km/h
-3rd slowest run pace

Mount Royal Sprint

Well this is the first race that I haven't had a nervous meltdown. As I right this I don't have the official results. On Saturday I was invited to a poetry reading and as I am attempting to expand my horizon of knowledge thought what the heck. I honestly enjoyed myself, I must admit just like in High school I tried to find the literal meanings of the words spoken. So I understood 1 of the 5 read, I got to ask the author some questions like I wished I could have in school. Afterwards we went to this high end Pizza joint, it looked good. As it was pre-race night I already had eaten and would not eat anything different.

I got to bed a bit later than planned because I was restless and not very tired for some reason. I had my breakfast of an Egg Wrap and got my gear together, added a few items thinking it would be a bit cool in the morning but didn't really need to as it was quite warm today. I arrived to line up to get into transition and bumped into Meg who I met at Coach Mike's Transition Clinic. It was her first race she asked me a few questions and it felt really nice to have the answers and speak from experience. Sign in was easy and then we waited, I had my Ipod to listen to so that I could relax instead of chatting with everyone, it was a nice change I think I will do at the next race.

I lined up for my swim heat and waited and waited some more.... 11:30 I think I finally got my face wet. I thought I would have to share a lane with 3-4 people but nope. Each person got a half lane to go back and forth in without worrying about running into or slowed down by the fellow lane sharers. I actually felt good, I banged out 4 laps before I really took a pause for an extra breath before continuing. I had lost count around 7 laps so I asked the lady to confirm and I was on my way. My arms were feeling a bit heavy around lap 8. Then I felt like a beached whale trying to get out of the deep end without cracking my head on the dive platform.

I was able to jog to T1. I fumbled around getting my shoes on, I tried getting the socks on but I quickly gave up on them. I need to get better balancing on one foot after getting out of the pool, I must have looked like a drunk sailor.... but the bike is my thing and I am happy to say my Garmin says my average speed was 28.8km/h. I was doing 11min per lap and I know on my first I passed about 8 people. The second I got passed by 2, the third passed by 3. The first lap was probably the last for the earlier people and then the faster folks came out and passed me. I was very happy I was comfortable in the Aero bars in the flats. The corners and the uphills I would hoods, the downhills I would grab the end of the hooks. As I came in on my last lap I heard my name being called and someone waving, Ela is in the house!!!!

I fumbled once more in T2 the stupid bike racks they provided were CRAP I and many others were not impressed. The last few runs have not felt quite right and this was another on that list. My left side of my calf OH MY **** it shot up my leg with pain. I spent way too much time walking instead of running. I would grab bits of snow and rub it on my calf thinking it might help it relax so that I could do better. On my way back from the turnaround I saw Meg go past me and her face was full of pain. She had a bike crash a day ago and it looked like she was feeling it. I then this big guy ran past me and I recognized him from my swim group and I think he was behind me in line so my new goal was not to let him pass me again. I accomplished the goal so I know I wasn't in last place and that was my other goal :) I know I am a selfish bastard, I have learned to deal with it :) So I get to the final corner and I see Linda doing her volunteering bit and that blessed finish line. As I ran past Ela I just said "Advil please" as the pain was not good.

I crossed the finish line and just stopped moving. It felt great I was kinda angry with myself because I know that my run has suffered lately and this was result of that. I used to say my swim was the worst sport but I am seriously wondering if the run has become it.

So according to my watch I did the swim in 16:16, bike in 36:22, run in a pathetic 45:37 for a total of 1:38:00 which is good I was going to be upset with myself if it took longer than 1:45:00

St Pats 5km 2008

Alright folks, this was a good test for myself. I planned ahead and scheduled my massage 2 days before the event so I had a chance of being loose and relaxed. The lady that works me over has noticed I am getting less adhesion every time.

So I did my night shift watching the snow fall and getting worried with each and every flake that fell. It has been a while since I ran outside and this would be the coldest run in a while. So I hung around for an hour after my shift with the next crew talking about Vegas. I took a quick walk over to the race site to get the muscles warmed up a bit.

I lined up near the back of the pack with the idea that the slower runners would keep me from going out too fast. It was very cool to see the HAWK2 helicopter start the race with a countdown from their speaker and then their siren went off to get us going.

So my plan worked I didn't go off like a jackrabbit, I found a group running at my pace. The group turned out to be Kathy who was my Half Marathon Clinic Pacer so I knew she have a good pace to follow.

I felt good when I got to the bridge so I took my first walk break on the way back I paced with Candice a friend from Highschool that I saw at the start. I ended up taking the walk break with Kathy's crew and Candice got ahead of me. I watched her move from the back of her group to bridge up to the group ahead, it was fun to watch. I caught up to her just before the 4km marker and started to wind up my sprint but once again I ran out of gas in the middle of Princes Island park...

I started the wind up closer than the last race I did this experiment so next time I will do it 750m from the line. So she passed me as I took my third walk break trying to get my Heart to slow down from the 180 bpm it was going at. That last walk break cost me 13 places at the finish line and Candice got me by about 25 seconds.

Place Race# Name         City     Div/Tot  Sex/Tot  Div    Time      Pace 

84/164 5666 Randy MILLER Calgary AB 7/13 26/38 M3039 35:09.2 7:02

Vegas.COM attractions list

This is the list I was using of things to see on the strip I have put an x out front of the things I saw.

Shows:
Blue Man Group (A+ DRUMS!!!!!!!)
Zumanity (B+ wish I didn't go solo)
Phantom of the Opera (A+ the classic that will never disappoint)
Hover Dam Tour (B- was a bit disappointed)


Buffets:
Imperial Palace, breakfast, very self serve
Tropicana, lunch, limited selection
Harrah's, lunch, good selection nice atmosphere
Bellagio, supper, selection was out of this world if I could I would have gone every day!!!!

Bally's (many shops)

· Jubilee! All Access Backstage Walking Tour

Bellagio (amazing)

x· Fountains (A) watched 4 diff perfomances

x· Gallery of Fine Art (C-) not worth my money as I didn't enjoy the art

· Conservatory

x· The Art of Richard MacDonald Presented by Cirque du Soleil (B+)

· The Tuscany Kitchen

Caesars Palace (nice open casino and great atmosphere won $4 on slots)

· Exotic Cars

x· Fountain shows and aquarium (C was just a display in the mall)

Circus Circus (no go)

· Adventuredome

· World's Largest Permanent Circus

Excalibur (no go)

· Motion Rides

Flamingo (no go)

· Wildlife Habitat

Imperial Palace (I stayed here but didn't do much other than sleep here)

· The Auto Collections

Las Vegas Hilton (STAR TREK do I say more??)

x· BORG Invasion 4D (A+ way cool effects)

x· Klingon Encounter (A+ fell in love with the lady that transported us)

x· Star Trek: The Experience (A the display of artifacts is unlike anything I imagined)

x· Star Trek: The Experience -- Secrets Unveiled (A++ it was cool to see the rides and how they are operated)

x· Quarks Bar (A great names of foods!!!)

Luxor (high class, must be hard to sleep with all the rooms opening into the all night casino

· IMAX Theatre

· In Search of the Obelisk

x· King Tut's Tomb (B+ it was neat but I expected more)

Mandalay Bay (hard to get around)

x· Shark Reef (A- it was a great cool place to relax and enjoy watching the fish and peoples reactions )

MGM Grand ( very large!!!)

x· CBS Television City Research Center (B+ Watched a pilot show for some crappy coupons)

x· Lion Habitat (B got there as they first came out but man that crowd was huge)

Mirage (no go)

· Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat

· Volcano (under renovations)

New York - New York (top 3 for my entertainment)

· The Roller Coaster at New York-New York

Paris (absolutely beautiful)

x· Eiffel Tower (A the view was incredible)

Rio (no go)

· Masquerade Village

Sahara (no go)

· Las Vegas Cyber Speedway

· Speed - The Ride

Showcase Mall (shops)

x· GameWorks

x· M&M's World

Silverton

· The Aquarium

Stratosphere

· Big Shot

· Insanity-The Ride

· Stratosphere Tower

· X Scream

Treasure Island

x· Sirens of TI (A watched it twice from different spots)

Tropicana (old but well kept up)

· Bodies...The Exhibition

x· Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit (A found a poster that blew my mind)

Venetian ( the most amazing hotel on the strip, learned Roulete here )

· Gondola (I didn't want to go by myself)

· Guggenheim Hermitage Museum

· Test America at the Venetian

x· Madame Tussauds Las Vegas (A+++ had a lot of fun posing with the stars)

x· Streetmosphere at the Grand Canal Shoppes (I wanna go to Italy now)

Wynn Las Vegas BIG MONEY!!!!

x· Penske Wynn Ferrari Maserati (A- I wish they would have let you take some photos of the cars)

Post Vegas, Panorama Skiing

Well I passed the line of potential probing from our friends in homeland security. I fell asleep on the plane before we reached cruising altitude. I tried taking some photos of the city lights but non really seam to have worked (sorry Dom) . At landing I couldn't remember what parking lot my car was in so I waited for the shuttle I thought I was in only to find out that the two buses earlier were the ones I needed.

I got myself home and chatted with Carey from upstairs planning to be ready for noon when Rob would show up and take me out to Panorama for the weekend. He showed up 2 hours early so I quickly unpacked from my desert attire to the skiing gear. There was to be about 12 of us going but everyone bailed out at the last moment... work got in the way. So Rob and I had some drinking to do to make up for the guys not joining us. I realized that I had not really slept since 7am Thursday so I did pretty good partying till 11 Friday. It was so cool meeting up with Laura and her guy in the pub we were at. I thought they weren't back till Sunday so it was an added bonus to the evening.

Saturday we skied the snow was very hard packed, I don't know when the last time they got snow but it was bare in spots already. We decided to stick to the first Chair because the snow was better than the top of the hill. Happy to say nobody crashed out of our party... there was one guy on the ground for 2 runs with ski patrol holding his neck very still. Pat my head because I did not want to repeat the feeling I had when Leah and I went. I want my brains to stay in my skull.

We had lunch with our I should say my (I am the single one) favorite waitress as she took good care of us which helped with the drinking pace the night before. Supper we were served by the lady with the "supervisor" tag on her shirt... Rob and I got our two round from the bar because she took too damned long and she got a 1.40 tip. stroll down to the general store for some offsales and back to the room. I was passing out but Rob was wired for sound so he went back to the pub, probably paid cash at the bar to avoid the bad service.

So this concludes my story of my travel on this trip... Now I have to go through 600 photos. I'll pick the better ones and upload to facebook.