Rewards

This week I had to run a 2 mile time trial. For those who don’t know, this means that I had to run 2 miles as fast as I could. If you haven’t tried it, running as fast as you can isn’t easy, or very much fun. It is one thing to try to sprint, say, 100 yards. Most people who are reasonably physically fit can sprint for that distance. Two miles, however, requires a different approach. No one sprints 2 miles. You have to run as fast as possible but marshal your energy so that you can finish the distance. The whole while, if you are like me, your mind is working on several levels.

 

On one level, you are monitoring your breathing, your perceived effort, how your legs feel, how fast your legs are turning over, and much more. You adjust as necessary trying to ration your efforts to complete the distance yet not have too much gas in the tank at the end. The whole idea is to spend yourself totally. On another level, your mind is telling you how hard this is, asking you why you are doing this, and, in general, making sure you are very aware of just how unpleasant it is to push this hard. On yet another level, you are thinking about the ultimate reward.

 

In my case, what I keep going back to is hearing the words, “Rick Bosshardt, you are an ironman” as I cross the finish line just over 3 months from now. That will be the reward for all the pain, effort, and discipline of the past year. Having that followed by someone putting a finisher’s medal around my neck is just the final validation of all that I have done. In the case of the ironman, I have personally seen innumerable people who accomplished just that. Seeing it makes the reward tangible and very real.

 

This got me thinking about the other race I am running; the one that every one of us is running. It is the race called life. Like all races, it had a start, our birth. It has a course, our journey through this life both in time and space. Finally, it has an end. Wouldn’t it be nice to think that we have a reward at the end of all those years and miles, of joyous accomplishment and the heartbreak of failure in so many areas of our lives? As much as I want to hear the words spoken above, by some anonymous announcer at the finish line, what I really want to hear some day are the words, recorded in Matthew 25:23, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.” Implicit in the passage is that these words are spoken by none other than the maker of the universe itself.

I have never seen someone finish life's race and receive this reward, which makes it less tangible, i.e. real. I don't think  anyone else has either. I take this aspect of my life on faith. Not blind faith, mind you, but faith none-the-less. All of our logic and reasoning can  only take us so far. After that, faith steps in to take us the rest of the journey.

 

Not to get too deep into theology here, but all of us have a world view on which we base our actions and decisions each day. Everyone has a set of fundamental beliefs regarding the world around them and their place in it which guides their every movement through life and provides their life with meaning or, in some cases, not. My particular world view is decidedly Christian and those words, recorded by the Matthew, are especially meaningful. If I fail in this attempt to complete an ironman, I will be disappointed and I may or may not try again at some future date to complete one. It is not going to ruin my life. Such a failure, however, pales in comparison to reaching the end of my life and not hearing those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant…..” from the One that I profess to believe in and whose precepts I claim to follow. That would signal failure on a level so monumental, not to mention eternal, as to be inconceivable. Yet, many live life as though what they do has no consequences. I cannot understand that.

 

Florida Ironman Training log:

I am tired! This week, there were several moments when I just did not want to do my scheduled session. Running sprints around a simulated track on the treadmill because the weather outside was stormy was not my idea of fun. The time trial was an ordeal in the afternoon heat and humidity, after a busy morning and was made tolerable only by the rain at the end, which cooled things down by at least 10 or more degrees. My left shoulder was sore, I did not feel like doing any strength training, and I miss the fun of just riding my bike for the heck of it. I don’t think I am burning out yet but I think that sometime in the next month or so, I will take a light week to recharge. Still not getting enough sleep during the week although I do try to make up for it on the weekends. Love those Sunday naps! Still concerned about trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle in place: strength, endurance, nourishment, hydration, etc., by November 2.

 

Week’s sessions:

Mon., 7/22- Swim, 2525 yards @ 2:22/100 yds, total time 1:12:05 hrs

                     Bike (spin with intervals), 8.82 miles @ 13.3 mph, total time 40:05 min

Tue., 7/23- Swim, masters at NTC. Did not have Garmin. Swam ~45 min with drills and intervals

                     Strength training at NTC, 1 hours

Wed., 7/24- Run (treadmill at YMCA) 3.35 miles @ 8:13 mi/min (with interval sprints), total time 40:05 min

Thu., 7/25- Swim, 2650 yards (time trial) @ 2:27 min/100 yds, total time 1:04:56 hrs

Fri., 7/26- Run (2 mi time trial), 6.41 miles @ 8:56 min/mi, total time 57:18

Sat., 7/27- Bike, 50.17 miles @ 15.1 mph, total time 3:19:51 hrs

Value is relative

Imagine this sales pitch: Special sale. Normal price is $39.95. Now, for a limited time, get it for only $329.95! Makes you want to run out and buy whatever it is, doesn’t it? Why would anyone do this? Why would a seller imagine that they would find buyers for such transaction? The answer to that lies in the law of supply and demand.

 

If the demand for something is high and the supply is low, the value of that item or service will go up and up. Take diamonds, for example. Everyone who has ever done any reading on the subject knows that diamonds are only as valuable as they are because the demand for diamonds is high and the supply low. Diamonds are supposed to be rare, only they are not. This is a case of artificially inflated prices. The DeBeers Consolidated Mines company has had a monopoly on the world’s supply of diamonds for over 100 years. They control how many diamonds can enter the marketplace so as to keep the prices high.

 

In my practice, I have always used microcassette recorders to dictate my patient notes. The tapes are given daily to our transcriptionist, who listens to then and types out each note on paper, to be put into the patient’s chart, then erases the tape for reuse. It is an expensive, efficient system. We briefly used digital cassette recorders but didn’t like them. They were more complicated to use, were not as easy to cue and review dictations, and required a more expensive system for the transcriptionist. So, we went back to the old, reliable system. Eventually, our microcassette recorders broke down from daily use, not to mention the occasional drop on the floor. When I went to replace my recorder recently, I discovered that they were no longer available at our usual sources, big box office supply stores, like Office Max, Office Depot, and Staples. No problem, I thought, I’m sure we can find these on the internet.

 

Searching the web, and Googling microcassette recorders, at first, I thought I was seeing things. The recorders we used to purchase for $39.95, were now all over $300!! The situation soon became clear. These simple little machines were no longer being manufactured, as digital recorder users had become the rule since we last purchased one. However, a few entrepreneurial types had accumulated caches of never sold recorders and were offering them to those of us who chose to stay with the old system, at a price, a premium price.

 

Value is a funny thing. Supply, or rarity, is one determinant. Another is what goes into acquiring something. There is a race, the Western States 100 miler, arguably the world’s most rigorous foot race, along the Western States Trail in California. Runners must complete the 100 mile course in under 30 hours, a lot of it in the dark, in nearly inaccessible areas of California wilderness. For this they receive a…….belt buckle. The winners get their names engraved on a trophy, which they do not get to keep. There is no money award for the winner. I would say, with  little fear of disagreement that finishers regard it as a very valuable belt buckle.

 

I’ll wager that the Ironman finisher’s medal is inexpensively cast of cheap metal. I would guess that the actual cost of one of these is probably a few dollars, probably much less. Even so, I think I would rather have one of those, legitimately earned, than even a diamond!

Florida Ironman Training Log: I am starting to see progress. Last week’s long bike ride was one of my fastest solo rides at 15.7 mph average over 45 miles. I have also noticed that I am not getting as sore after the strength training sessions, even though I am still convinced that Karl is trying to kill me. He disguises his efforts by asking me, “are you alright”, repeatedly, as I gasp, whoop, and grimace through the workout. I find myself continually calculating how long I figure to be able to finish each discipline, then working out the total time it might take to finish. All I have to do is keep the final figure under 17 hours. Anything better is icing on the cake.

 

Week’s Training Summary:

Mon. 7/8- Swim, 2875 yards @2:23 min/100 yds, total time 1:15:30 hrs

                   Spin session, 7.27 miles with intervals 4 X 90 seconds hard

Tue. 7/9- Swim (at NTC) 1625 yards @2:19 min/100 yds, total time 47:34 min

                 Strength session at NTC

Wed. 7/10- Run, 3.51 miles @9:02 min/mi, total time 31:40 min

Thu. 7/11- Swim, 2775 yards @2:25 min/100 yds, total time 1:14:13 hrs

Fri. 7/12- emergency surgery, no training session

Sat. 7/13- Bike, 46.53 miles @ 15.7 mph, total time  2:58:02 hrs.

A year of cold showers

 Anniversaries are very popular. We celebrate all sorts. Our birthday, of course, is the anniversary of our arrival. Wedding anniversaries are de riguer. Then there is the anniversary of our graduation from high school, college, or graduate school; first job; first date; first kiss; you name it. We observe the anniversary of historical events. We love to celebrate milestones.

On July 1, I celebrated the anniversary of my first of a year of cold showers. No, it isn’t what you might think; my libido is not out of control and in need of frequent dousing with cold water. Just for the record, no, the cold showers haven’t dampened whatever libido I do, in fact, possess. A year of taking cold showers might not sound like much of a milestone to commemorate but just try it some time. It is harder than it may appear.

To those not familiar with this blog and the otherwise uninformed, the logical question arises: why would anyone take cold showers for a year (aside from the obvious, but incorrect, assumption above)? Well, it started with a seemingly innocuous comment from my son-in-law, David, who shared that some elite triathletes take cold showers as a part of their training. Why? It takes them out of their comfort zone, helps them focus on the goal, and aids in recovery after hard workouts. Innocuous comments can sometimes lead to unexpected consequences. The light bulb over my head, figurative though it might be, went on as I thought, “what a neat idea”. I was swatting at the notion of doing an ironman tri, which seemed to buzz incessantly around my mind and simply would not die. Resigned to the fact that this would continue to pester me until I did something about it, this seemed like a good way to jump start the mental and physical process of, as the Nike ad states, just doing it.  

So, on the morning of July 1, 2012, I stepped into our shower stall to take my first of an endless line of cold showers. That’s right, I haven’t turned on the hot water for 365 days. It has been, shall I say, an interesting journey. Have there been any epiphanies? Yes, a few.

First, a cold shower, especially in the winter, is a spiritual experience. If you don’t think so, just try it and see if you don’t starting praying before you turn the water on, then invoke deity repeatedly during the entire shower. I don’t think I have ever called on God with greater sincerity than just before that first icy blast from the shower head.

Second, if everyone took cold showers, our water consumption would plummet. There is no such thing as a long, luxurious cold shower. Just the term long cold shower is an oxymoron.

Third, and this is important in our present culture which seems to delight in continually espousing the idea that we can do anything we put our mind to. Despite Nike’s “Just Do It” mantra for our generation, no, you can’t do anything you put your mind to. If you think otherwise, just try stepping off of a tall building while flapping your arms and see if you fly. Dreams and goals stop where harsh reality begins. This is not cause for despair, however. I think we all tend to sell ourselves short in what we are capable of. You can do is more than you ever believed possible by putting your mind, will, and heart towards a goal. I have spent the past year taking cold showers, slightly less than this as a vegetarian- after a lifetime as a diehard carnivore, and put in the training for an ironman triathlon, none of which I would have thought remotely possible a mere 12 months ago. No, you can’t do anything you put your mind to, but you can do A LOT.

Fourth, cold showers make you mindful. You will never find yourself blithely entering a cold shower stall early in the morning without thinking long and hard about what you are about to do, and  why. The why better have a pretty good answer before you reach for that handle to turn on the water!

Finally, one can become a connoisseur of cold showers. I have learned that cold showers in Florida are refreshing. Cold showers in New York City in October are bracing, invigorating, even. Cold showers in Virginia in the dead of winter are so cold that they give you brain freeze when you dip
your head under the stream.   Cold showers in Montana in July make the cold showers in Virginia seem positively refreshing.       Happy anniversary to me......

Florida Ironman training log: The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of work, travel, and trying to fit in training in the midst of all this. I was able to maintain reasonable consistency with training but missed some training sessions unavoidably. How do others do this? I cannot imagine what kind of life people have who do ironman tri’s repeatedly. Do they have any other life? The last big commitment, our trip to Montana for a reunion of old friends and colleagues from our Navy days and a few days hiking Glacier National Park, was completed June 28 and for the next 4 months, I am as committed to training as I can be within the restraints of my “other” life. I envy those who can devote themselves to just this one thing. There are days I feel that I will be able to do this but others where I still ask myself “are you nuts?” There is no doubt this is the most daunting physical challenge I have ever undertaken. Karl, my strength coach and overall strategist assures me he will have me ready. All I can do is trust……..

Week’s training summary:

Mon. 7/1- Swim, 2775 yds, 2:12/100 yds, total time 1:10:38 hr                                                                                        

                    Cycle (trainer), 6.61 mi, 13.2 mph, total time 30:01 min.

Tue. 7/2- Swim, 3375 yds, 2:13/100 yds, total time 1:25:31 hr

Wed/Thu. 7/3-4    One 30 min run on New Smyrna Beach on 4^th of July

Fri. 7/5- Swim, 3375, 2:13/100 yds, total time 1:25:31 hr

                Run, 4.88 mi, 9:30/mi, total time 46:21 min

Sat. 7/6- Cycle, 45.66 mi, 15.2 mph, total time 3:00:01 hr