Richard Nelson

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Five weeks!

In Uncategorized on 2025 June 2 Monday at 12:06:20

Almost a tenth of a year has gone by since my last post.

An even bigger chunk of my current macrocycle. Not great for accountability—but here I am.

Progress, April 28–June 1

As I write this (June 2) there are 104 days, almost 15 weeks to Barrelman. My Chronic Training Load (TrainingPeaks’ single-number estimate of my fitness) is 20% higher than five weeks ago, 172% higher than at New Year’s. Logged 20 workouts for 21 h 41′. By my rough-and-ready calculations, I covered 124.56 miles (200.46 km, 78% of that virtual). TrainingPeaks gave me a Training Stress Score of 1052.

Highlights/lowlights

  • I love bullet points
  • Recovering from the Vancouver Sun Run
  • Spending the post–Sun Run week in Vancouver visiting my daughter and her family (i.e. my two younger granddaughters)
    • I always get a lot of steps but not a lot of workouts
    • And frankly I was tired
  • Highest CTL since September 2020
  • Highest weekly TSS since September 2019
  • Longest swim in over a year
  • Had a molar extracted
    • Took a few days to recover
    • Still hurts (5 days on)
  • Longest bike ride in almost a year
    • But still not riding outside—various circumstances
  • TrainingPeaks identified 44 Peak Performances

Looking ahead

Coach Mary wanted me to do a couple of practice races—a sprint and a “standard” leading up to Barrelman, but my schedule for the summer means they’re earlier than maybe either of us wanted.

The sprint is in just 3 weeks! Eek.

Am I ready to swim 750 m, bike 20 km, and run/walk 5 m. No. Can I? Meh, probably: it meets my 70% threshold for doing anything.

Big concerns?

  • Haven’t biked outside or on my outside bike since last year
  • Haven’t swum in open water or in my wetsuit since last year

The coming weekend sucks for training because of some important and unmovable personal things. I’ve otherwise cleared my schedule and asked Mary to redraw the week so I can get my key workouts done.

As of Saturday the City of Toronto’s beaches are lifeguarded, even though the water is about 10°C≈50°F. I’ll head out to Cherry Beach (usually Toronto’s warmest beach) on June 15 to see if my corpulence can fit into my old wetsuit; won’t really care if the water is frigid.

Kulture Korner

Mona and I have watched the first two episodes of the British series Dept. Q; it’s darker than we usually watch but we’re compelled to find out what happens next.

We’re also watching Murderbot, chiefly because we love the books.

This has resulted in my rerereading the first two novellas (All Systems Red and Artificial Condition), which (IMO) make a single good read. I am as far as it’s possible to be from an expert on autism but (based on this 3rd reading) I think Murderbot’s problems (as it itself says) are depression and anxiety—and learning how to be a free agent, choosing for itself.

On this coming Saturday the Poculi Ludique Societas and the the University of Toronto’s Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies are mounting all of the York Cycle mystery plays in Victoria College’s quad. They anticipate it’ll take from 6 a.m. to past midnight into Sunday. Mona will be staffing the Richard III Society’s table for a couple of hours, and I’ll join her to see something I’ll never have another chance to see.

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All about the Sun Run

In Uncategorized on 2025 April 28 Monday at 14:18:32

This week’s post is all about the Vancouver Sun Run, a 10K race I ran with my ten-year-old granddaughter Zoya. Well, we walked/ran it: 3 minutes brisk walking, 2 minutes jogging, for the whole distance. Her parents had been concerned that she’d find it too tough, but in fact she had a ton of energy, sprinting hard the last few hundred metres to the finish. We chatted the whole way, listened to the bands. She’s already planning next year. I’ll have to get fitter—I’m pretty sure that walk/run thing won’t appeal to a fit almost-12-year-old.

The day was a kind of holiday for Vancouverites. Just 13 hours and 8 kilometres from the race start someone drove a vehicle into a peaceful, non-political street festival. Many were killed, many more injured. After consultations the race organizers decided to proceed. I was ambivalent, but glad they did and that I participated.

Any lessons?

Reminded hard, once again, that my keystone limiter is my own body’s fighting itself: not all muscles firing as they should, overdependence on certain part of my body, and so much stiffness, mostly from decades of desk warrioring. Getting more balanced kinetically is top of my priorities right now, so I’m ok with the reminder.

But what about Barrelman?

Sure, right, that’s the point of this blog!

Twenty weeks to go. Chronic Training Load up a tick from the week before, more a reflection of the previous weeks than this week past: except for the 10K I was pretty dilatory. Blew off two workouts because of low energy early in the week. But did swim (always a struggle for me getting to the pool), and had a good “intervals” run midweek. Travel day always a mess, with a ton of walking and tons of sitting. So: progress.

Every week has been a lesson, and I hope—and actually think—I’m taking the lessons on board.

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Catching up!

In Uncategorized on 2025 April 21 Monday at 11:38:30

Three weeks without a substantive blog post. Not good. Not enough accountability. You won’t be surprised to learn it’s because I had a couple of bad weeks in there. No real doubt inserted into my plan, but still not good.

Progress, March 31–April 20

As I write this (April 21) there are 146 days, almost 21 weeks to Barrelman. My Chronic Training Load (TrainingPeaks’ single-number estimate of my fitness) is 14% higher than three weeks ago, 150% higher than at New Year’s. Logged 20 workouts. Covered 49.95 miles (80.39 km, 72% of that virtual). TrainingPeaks gave me a Training Stress Score of 558 (including my heaviest week in what I think is 6½ years) and identified 16 Peak Performances. And I had my longest run (even it it was really a walk/run) in 11 months.

But I also had a bout of non-compliance: 7 red cards and 3 orange. Most of this non-compliance was from my mysterious periods of low energy; I’ve posted a separate blog post about these periods of low energy here; I’d be delighted if someone could read it and tell me what the solution is. 🙂

Long run

A friend says I shouldn’t put “run” in quotes as I’m wont to do. In my defence I will say that I’m really doing a cycle of 2 minutes jogging and 3 briskly walking. My jogging is getting faster. After the Sun Run I’ll work on (amongst many other things!) getting more jogging into the cycle. I expect I will do Barrelman with a lot of programmed walking.

Having said all that, I had my longest, er, run since last year’s Sun Run on April 13. To be frank I was scared, apprehensive. I procrastinated. But I did it. The first, oh, 1½ miles I felt every niggle, every step, and I wondered if I could do it or if I would just turn around and walk slowly home with my metaphorical tail between my legs.

Next thing: I was at 2¾ miles, more than halfway, and I knew, just knew, that the 2/3 cycle would take me all the way home, even on the steep grade out of the East Don River’s ravine, one of the glacial spillways that add spice to running and cycling in Toronto. The funny thing was how the mile and a bit in between just disappeared.

Anyway, now 100% confident about the Sun Run.

Next week!

Zoya and me in 2018 and 2024

On Sunday, Zoya and I are going to run the Vancouver Sun Run. In 2018 and ’24 Zoya and I ran the Mini Sun Run (2.5 km) together and then I did the 10K. This year we’ll both run the 10K. Her mom is talking about giving Zoya escapes every 2.5 km (presumably on mom’s e-bike); my big concern is that she’ll go out ’way too fast, so my strategy is to ask her to stick with me as boring as it will seem—she should easily be able to last 10K on a run 2/walk 3 cycle.

Having said all that—I know she hasn’t been training; we’ll just depend on her (quite high) fitness from all the other things she does. On Friday, when I arrive in town I’ll ask her if she’s still committed. She is so active, so focused (right now on circus school) that I will put zero pressure on her. But if she doesn’t want to do the Sun Run I won’t do it either. I said last year I wouldn’t do it again unless Zoya did it with me. And it’s not like all this fitness will go to waste. 🙂

Still indoors

View from my trainer

Still biking indoors. Like most working triathletes I expect my workweek rides to be on the trainer. Now into mid-May you’d expect my weekend rides to be outside. But it hasn’t happened yet; combination of bad weather on Saturdays, the period of low energy I’ve written about, and a sharp but thankfully short period of depression. I’m now splitting my indoor rides among no fewer than four virtual apps: TrainingPeaks Virtual, Zwift, FulGaz, and Rouvy (as above). Targeting May 10 for my return to the road with my forever bike.

Dailyish walks

I’ve taken to going out for a short walk dailyish. I’m blessed to live next to a glacial ravine with a paved path. For 20 or so minutes I can do a medium-pace walk of not quite a mile and feel somehow blissed out. A couple of days ago one of my cats, Tip (short for Tiptree), came out with me, and I let him set both the pace and the route. It was kind of fun. Here’s my Facebook post on it, complete with weird GPS trace.

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