Still a weak feeble reed going uphill

Back in the day when I used to ride my bike a lot, like in 2009 and 2010, going for a 150 K ride was a  routine thing. Leave in the morning, come back early afternoon. There were even a few rides that were more than 200 K and that would take an entire day. Even then I knew I was far weaker going uphill than I really should be. Weaker on the flats too. I got dropped a lot, which is why I got it done riding alone most of the time.

Part of the problem is that I'm a big guy when it comes to triathlon. Even after losing a ton of weight, I'm still a big guy by triathlon standards. I have to push every kilo of me up every hill, and overcome wind resistance created by every cm of my bigness. When you consider that the top athletes get excited about taking 100 grams off their bikes, you can see the handicap I'm working under. Which is also why I laugh at them a bit. I'm sure my weight can fluctuate several hundred grams just going to the bathroom. TMI, my bad.

It is what it is. I've floated up a few pounds since doing Ironman, much of it around my middle, which isn't good, so this is the summer I'm going to try to work it back off again. The bike love is back, so I'm hoping to get out for some longer bike rides and runs this year.

When you're training for Ironman you are ravenous all the time. It's easy to get into the habit of eating, and then when you aren't training at that level anymore, it's obvious what happens. And it has.

I was so pleased Michelle invited me along on her bike ride today. It was a good first step for me to get out and see what happens. What I didn't tell her is that I was glad someone was with me, just in case. I'm getting old, you know...

The weather forecast said it would get gusty and overcast with a chance of rain early in the afternoon, so we wanted to get an early start. I am a weenie when it comes to riding, and normally I don't go out unless it's going to be at least 10C for most of the ride. I dithered a little bit dressing. It was just on the cusp of wearing tights or not, and I decided to. Just in case. Am I ever glad I did.

Michelle gave me a pair of booties and that really helped my feet stay warm. We had a lovely ride down to 22X, out to 22, and south a bit. One of my neighbours passed us and chatted briefly then carried on, trying to navigate his deep dish wheels in a stiff cross wind.

It was windy. Really windy. Not my windiest ride, but getting up there. It was taking 10 to 15 Kph off my normal speeds. (Weak feeble legs have something to do with it to, but let's blame the wind, shall we.) We spent lots of time head down, grinding along, and that's downhill. Uphills were slow slow slow till we turned around and the trip back was all kinds of awesome.

My legs felt pretty good, but I was a bit worried about going the distance. My plan was to spin easy, and not work too hard up the hills. I think this qualifies.

I made up my energy drink, and sucked back two bottles of it, minus a few sips. I keep getting asked for the recipe, so here it is, stolen from Impact magazine many years ago. This is to fill up 2 standard water bottles. Make lemon zinger tea in a 1 litre measuring cup, with the water up to the 1 litre mark. Steep to taste, but make it strong. Add in and melt a big dollop of honey. Bigger. Lots. You are pedaling your ass off, be generous. Add in a pinch of sea salt. Add orange juice to taste once it cools a bit. I fill it up right to the brim and stir gently. This will top up 2 bottles of refreshing, energizing tastiness.

Here's a better view of my pace, and the elevation changes. As you can see, my speed is all over the place

I was paying lots of attention to my right quad and knee, but it was all ok. I think having the tights on and being warm helped. I'm not sure how to describe how it felt. It didn't feel strong, but I didn't think it was going to collapse on me either. It was complaining a bit, but not cranky. Neither did I tempt fate on this. I could have gone further, I'm pretty sure, but the brief thought of turning right and doing the first hill on Road to Nepal was just that, a very brief thought. Later.

My bike legs are nowhere near what they were, but then I haven't been on the bike much. Running and biking use different muscles in different ways. Even with all the swimming my cardio isn't what it should be. Lots to work on this summer!

Here's Michelle's take on the ride.
This morning was a great adventure and nice escape.  I was very happy to get in a long ride today and was grateful for some company. After some route planning over email and gear getting together, I rode over to Keith’s house and we headed out toward Highway 22x and headed west, then south and back again.  We kept an eye on some menacing clouds that didn’t materialize into anything at all.

The weather app lied.  It said the temperature would be around 11 and the wind around 11 km/hr but I swear it gusted to around 50km/hr. There were times I was being shoved from side to side and was afraid of being blown too far into the car lane to the left of the shoulder we were attempting to stick to.  There were times I concentrated so hard on staying upright I  gripped my handlebars until my shoulders, neck and back were stiff. It was much better/faster on the way back with the wind mostly behind us although it was off to the side and the shoulder along 37th street is non-existent.  Most of the cars gave us a half-lane clearance.  I am much more comfortable riding on the road than this time last year.  Experience I guess.  Cycling is like running… only FASTER!  It’s fun.

I’m happy with my light bike and granny gear (third chainring) going up hills but I had to pedal flat out to keep up with Keith coasting down the hills.  I swear the cows watched us pass and I’m sure they see my fluorescent yellow cycling jacket.  Baby cows scattered in fear.  There weren’t a lot of cyclists out but one rode up behind us, chatted for a bit and it turns out he lives in the SW close to us and was taking his new road bike out for an inaugural spin today.  It was nice to have company and follow behind Keith for the most part although we traded the lead a couple of times.  As a directionally challenged person, this is truly appreciated.

Once back at Keith’s we had time for a snack and chat on his sunny front step, then it was time to head home and help out with our kitchen reno.

Mind the gravel, or the road to retirement

My bike is named Estela. She's never let me down, being a sweet reliable ride on some long rides out of town. Like up to the top of Highwood pass, once alone wondering where the grizzly bear I'd seen was now, and once with a buddy. Did I mention no cell phone service?

But I haven't been out on her much the last couple of years, what with a cranky hip and low back. Things have been getting better lately. I still haven't been on the trainer much, but what little there is has felt pretty good. Good enough that I thought I'd change the tire and head out for an easy ride around the neighbourhood today.

Here's the quick summary.

There were a few times in there I was totally stopped, and I wasn't trying to ride for time, distance, or speed. I was out enjoying the fresh air, and watching out for gravel. There is still a lot of it on the roads. Mostly I kept to residential streets.

All in all it went very well. There is a steep bit coming up out of Fish Creek on the south side that had me standing in the easiest gear, and maxing out the cardio. I'm glad that didn't go on much further. Much of the rest was easy spin, looking around, getting used to being on a bike again. So nice.

If the weather is nice on Saturday I'm thinking of heading out 22x and down 22 to see how far I get. I was a bit worried about my knees and hip today, but there was no comment from them, though my right quad was doing some muttering. I'm thinking of heading out to see if I can make 50 or 75 K, and if I can't, I'll call for a pickup. I'm not so worried about my butt, I can always stand and coast, or take a rest if necessary.

The pool love was not there on Wednesday. I felt clunky and slow in the water, even though swimming long course was 1K, 19:30. Did some drill and some intervals, but my heart wasn't really in it.

What was interesting about the morning was going into Talisman about the time I normally leave to go to work. When I get out of the pool things are calm and quiet. This time there was someone in every lane of the 50 m pool and several in the 25 m pool when I started, and when I finished. There were more cars in the parking lot when I got there. On the way out the place was full. I don't know if that's because lots of people had vacation what with how spring break went this year, or if this is just a popular time for retirees to show up and do their thing.

This week of vacation has been nice and relaxing. I've been able to sleep in several times. Normally on vacation I've been active, doing things, going places. Lately I've been a bit more laid back. I'm content to stay home and putter and relax. It's been a tough slog at work since last September, so some down time has been much needed.

But the other train of thought has been this retirement thing. Back in 2009 when I didn't work for much of the year, I knew I wasn't retired. I was looking for work, and actively involved in training for Ironman. I was busy. Toward the end I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever have time to work again, but I knew I had to.

Since early 2010 I've worked pretty steadily. The shortest transition between jobs was a weekend (yay me!) and the longest was a couple months, which is about par for the course for my profession. The difference is that now on vacation I wonder about it as a lifestyle. Being retired, or semi-retired.

I've been mulling over semi-retired in my mind for a while. Right now my retirement model looks like working some of the time, and not working some of the time. A few months of work can fund a year of my current modest lifestyle. Why not work a bit, and take the rest of the year off?

Part of the trick is that I never know when the next contract might come. Even now with the price of oil in a pit, I get notes from recruiters asking if I'd be interested in a role. The problem is that I can typically only work one job at a time, given that I like to sleep, and do activities other than work. Yet when you aren't working and want the calls, nobody does.

Yet if I want to not work part of the time, I have to learn to do this. Every hour I don't work when I have an active contract is an exactly known number of dollars that I am giving up. I haven't actually spent much money this week, not in a cash sense. Well, except for a trip to Tri it Multisport, my favourite store for gear, to buy new goggles, body lube, and body wash. But the swims imply a membership at Talisman or a nearby City pool. Riding a bike implies bike maintenance. Even running, a low cost activity, requires new shoes periodically and various other running gear. Driving somewhere implies owning a car with the myriad of expenses that involves.

At the moment I don't think I could stop working and never work again, but it's getting close enough that I actually have to do the math. The assumptions I make about how long I'm going to live are typically the make or break element.

One of the business analysts just rolled off the project I'm on. During the course of the contract she decided she was done working for a while. She needed to retire. Perhaps not permanently, but for whatever reason she couldn't just call this a vacation, or a break between contracts. It had to be retirement. Not so long ago, that would have been unfathomable to me. Not anymore. Then I can spend more time looking at this sweet face.

Spin? Run? Election???

I don't like to change the titles of my blog. I'm a make up your mind and get on with it kind of guy. So when I started today, I hadn't decided if I was going to do a spin session, or go for a run, or knew if our Premier was going to call an election or not.

After my run, I find out we now have a criminal Premier. That's what we call people that break the law, right? There is a law on the books, passed by this very government, saying the election would be next year. He didn't even go to the trouble of rescinding it, which he could have done quite easily with the massive majority he currently holds, and then call a legal, if unnecessary election. But no. This is a guy that wants what he wants, when he wants it. Sure, he'll say this and that gives him a loop hole. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what they all say. Talk to the hand. We're done here.

Even though he says we are in a fiscal hole to the tune of billions, he's quite happy to splash around taxpayer money on advertising and (re-re-re-)announcements. Then after the election, just you watch, the taps will be shut off, and the screws put even worse to the ordinary Albertans. I will take bets that the Calgary Cancer Center gets cancelled again. Or "put off" or "delayed", or whatever euphemism takes the place of "we aren't going to build it." They've done it twice before, maybe third time is the charm, but I doubt it.

There is only one solution for this nonsense. Vote for someone else. The PC's might be the party of your parents, or your grand-parents, but it's time for a change. At this point I don't really care who else you vote for. Last time, the Redford PC's rooked in a lot of people that were nervous about the Wildrose forming a lake of fire government. We saw how that turned out. Don't get fooled again. If everybody votes for someone else, the vote splitting doesn't matter. But look around, see who's strong in your riding, that isn't a PC, and vote for them.

So, on to the important stuff. Did I do a spin, or a run today? I should make you wait for it.

Anticipation... (sung to the tune of that old ketchup commercial.)

Fooled you! I did both. Dusted off my bike, checked the tires and trainer, and settled in for 30 minutes of easy spin. Very easy by my old standards, but that's ok. No knee or hip crankiness.

While on the bike Celina the little sweat pervert showed up to indulge.

Then, off the bike, quick change, and outside for a run. So nice out! I didn't have an plan for the run since it was the first brick in ages. Ran easy and stopped when my legs were getting heavy.

Where was I again?

I was pleased to see that my cold lasted the traditional 7 days, and was cleared up for me to start vacation. That week was a complete non-starter for workouts. Here's a bit of a catchup.

Thursday was my first swim in a week and it was ok. Worked mostly on getting the water feel back again. Didn't want to push it too hard. Thursday or Wednesday? I can't remember now.

Swam again on Friday with Michelle and Sophia. Tried for a bit of speed for short distances, but could feel my lungs still getting used to this breathing thing. Michelle continues to improve. This was Sophia's first swim in a while, so she was getting used to the water again. I won't say any more about it, since she has a blog and can talk about it there if she wants.

Ran on Saturday and was very surprised at the outcome. My thinking was to run nice and easy, but I had the sound low on my phone so I didn't hear the pace announcements. I just ran at a pace everything was happy with. I knew I was somewhere between 4 and 5 K, but imagine my surprise when I looked at the phone that I'd been averaging almost a 7m per K pace! I ended at 5 K and 35:09 feeling really good about it. Much of the run was relaxed and not working too hard at all. Stretched lightly afterward, and felt good ever since.

Sunday we had plans to have brunch with friends, but what with all the snow they cancelled. I didn't feel like going for a spin, so I was down washing bottles and then bottled 29 Nebbiolo. It tastes a bit tart out of the carboy, but I'm sure it will mature nicely. Puttered around a bit, enjoying not having to prepare to go to work.

Monday I'd planned on swimming, and a buddy invited herself along. Like that's a problem! The pool was pretty quiet. Michelle had things she wanted to work on, so we did our own thing for a while. I wanted to see if I could break 9 minutes for 500 m long course, and didn't quite do it, ending up at 9:15. Which, as it turns out is exactly the same pace I swam 3 K at a couple weeks ago in a short course pool. The difference was that swim was relaxed and easy. This I was working it towards the end. My water feel got lost part way through and it felt like I was flailing at the water.

After some drill I tried a 100 m nearly all out, and quickly discovered my lungs are still not quite completely with it. I didn't get a good look at the clock, but I'm pretty sure I was 40 seconds for the first 50 m, most of it feeling strong. The last 50 m was a bit of a struggle. My arms and kick were fine, but I was running out of air, and things were getting sloppy. 90 seconds. I'll take it for now.

We worked on a specific stroke thing for Michelle, and made some progress.

I think the plan for Wednesday is to go long. Let's see what happens. And my bike. Poor Estela is feeling abandoned. Now that the run seems to be coming back, and the hip crankiness isn't bugging me so much, I should try a spin session.

Last night I was in the mood to watch something, but didn't know what. I was flicking through the Apple TV box movie trailers. Oh My Goodness! There are some howlers there. All I can think of is that back in the day, some of those (now) well known actors must have been hard up for the money. I almost rented Sharktopus. It almost had me. It might yet. I was very disappointed at Silent Running. I remembered it from the initial running in the early 70's and liked it. Especially the 3 cute robots. Then the trailer showed how bad the over-acting was. Sigh. Sometimes it's better to let memories be. That got me into a whole series of robot themed trailers. I nearly hurt myself I was laughing so hard.

Today I'm struggling to stay awake in spite of the influence of snoring cats. Life is good. See?

Running with the humans, starring Celina the Spotted

We don't let the cats into the bedroom. There are too many nicknacks they could push off and wake us up. Plus we used to have a cat that liked to steal my socks, and that made a big impression on me.

Now we have a cat, one in particular, who has a beautiful spotted pelt. She loves to steal some objects. We aren't sure if she thinks she is rescuing a relative (one pair of my mittens with a fur cuff) or slaying a dangerous creature (a pair of insoles for Linda's boots).

She also likes to dart through doors. Opening, closing, humans in transit, doesn't matter. Today she simultaneously managed to nearly get stepped on and get her tail caught in a door that was closing on her. We think, that she thinks, that she's getting points for running with the humans, to go somewhere she isn't supposed to be, and not getting stepped on.

She loves to dart into the bedroom as we are on the way in or out. Once in she doesn't do anything but hide under the bed. She's quite easy to shoo out again. If she gets outside she makes it to the top step, then stops to roll on her side and back. Needless to say, we aren't thrilled about the outside thing.

Neither are we thrilled about the garage. For a while that was her trick, to dart past us into the garage as we were getting ready to go to work. In the freezing cold. With an open garage door. Sometimes with the car running already. Oops. There are many dangers in the world, and kitties aren't especially good at dealing with the vehicular ones.

Here she is, give her a big round for dodging human feet.

Here's a before and after pair of photos, involving a huge rack of lamb. Oh so yummy!

How to allocate a particular scarce resource

Business requirements for limited annual medical appointments.

Linda and I have the same family doctor. He seems to be good at what he does, and no doubt he tries very hard to be a good doctor to all his patients. But scheduling an annual physical sucks. He does only so many in a month, and they book up quickly.

A few years ago I finished an appointment and thought I was smart to book next years right then. Except they were booking 18 months out. Colour me gobsmacked. I booked, but was considering over a 10 year period, I was only going to get 2/3rds of the medical care I should have got.

Then he went to a different system so that people weren't booking so far in advance. It works like this. He books physicals a month at a time, a year out. So if you go in for an appointment in mid April 2015, all the appointments will likely be booked for April 2016. You have to wait till the start of the first business day in May 2015 to book for May 2016.

In practice the office phone explodes about the start of that day. By about noon it's all over but the crying for the losers in the phone lottery; the ones without redial or something more important to do just then, to say nothing of the office staff who have to explain over and over again. This isn't good for anyone, not the patients, not the staff. There has to be a better way, and there is. Some software developer is welcome to take this BPDD and build functional software to flog to the medical industry. Or anyone else where the model fits.

All current patients go onto a list ranked by last appointment date, most overdue first. Doctor sets the date/time of available appointments in a month. Patients supply on line contact information, email, facebook or twitter message, text, whatever. Every month, for a year out, the system considers the most overdue users and tentatively assigns them an appointment. That user is sent a notification, and they have 24 hours to accept. (or some reasonable window.) Upon the acceptance being logged into the system, the patient receives confirmation of their appointment date and time. They system could be configured to give reminders at set intervals as desired.

As long as there are openings, the system works backwards through the most overdue people. If the first person refuses a date or doesn't respond in time, it goes back into the pool. It could be a configurable choice if that user goes to the bottom of the list, or stays at the top, giving them a chance at another date. My default choice would be to bump them to the bottom of the list.

Eventually, all the spots fill up. The system snoozes. If a patient cancels, or new appointment slots are added, it kicks into gear again. When the appointment is several days out it works through the most overdue patients. Perhaps there is a doctor assigned priority list to work through first. If it's the next day maybe everybody that is due or overdue gets a notification, and the first response wins.

The software ties into the doctor's appointment system to book without needing human intervention. It ties into various internet communication channels. The doctor could get a monthly report indicating which patients refuse the most appointments, or are most overdue. Some people have a preference for appointments on a particular day, and in phase two there could be a mechanism for a patient to log into their account and set preferences. The cynical business analyst in me would instruct the developer to ignore such preferences as long as there are many patients wanting a limited number of appointment slots.

This system saves a lot of people a lot of time and aggravation. The really clever developer also markets an app that ties into this system, so it automatically accepts the appointment (if the space is clear) and puts it on the calendar. For something as important as a medical appointment, booked a year out, people can schedule around it.

There. An idea for a developer. Fill your boots. No payment required, though an honorarium would be nice if you make a ton of money. Contact me to get even more details, a process flow chart, and supporting materials done for you, and we can work out a revenue sharing arrangement.

A new thing

I had sort of thought I knew all I needed to know about belts.

There was old fashioned kind, where the tongue goes through a hole in the leather and rests against the frame of the buckle. There are the ones where the big flatish plate has a hook that fits into the holes in the leather belt. The buckle for last year's Calgary Marathon is like that.

Then there is this. Something new to me. Maybe old to you.

The plate has a simple ratchet mechanism that hooks into the little grooves in the back of the belt. I think it's actually a piece of plastic inserted in there, but I'm not sure. What I really like about these is they are much more adjustable, about every quarter inch, instead of an inch like many belts. It's more secure than I thought it would be. I'm liking it so far. Lets see how long it lasts against the expansion of my mighty gut.

In other news I'm over my cold. Yoga class tonight was lovely. Touching toes again is a very reassuring thing. Looking forward to activity again. Maybe an easy run Thursday evening.