The Brick Sauna.

Well, it looks like I’m getting my legs back now after a sluggish last week or so. I did take the extra day off on Saturday and bumped my brick to Sunday; I just knew early Saturday morning that I wasn’t feeling my best and the additional 24 hours to rest and recuperate helped immeasurably. Sunday afternoon I blasted through 60 minutes on the bike in what can only be described as sweltering conditions - I thought I’d do my brick on the trainer so I could avoid the tendency to go further and longer than I should on my street bike (plus I wanted to watch the Germany/Spain Euro final, I’ll admit). However, the air exchanger in our weight room at the condo seemed to be on the fritz so it was almost as hot inside as it was outside (mid-30s - about 90+ degrees for our neighbours to the south). I came off the bike feeling good in the legs, but a bit tight in the hips - as I’ve mentioned before, I really don’t like the recumbent cycle in our gym since my leg length falls between two settings on the seat so prolonged rides actually hurt after a while. The run more than made up for it though - I ran for the entire 30 minutes. No rests, no walks, constantly hovering between 3.7 and 4 MPH, a nice comfortable steady pace. Kept myself well hydrated throughout the brick, and really felt great afterwards - a good long positive workout was exactly what I needed to pull out of this low energy ebb cycle.

This week is my hardest training week heading into next Sunday’s taper before the Locarno tri on the 13th…I still haven’t secured a bike yet, and I’m having a bit of an internal war as to whether I’m going to go through the frustration of racing on Luigi again - especially since this is a really hilly course in parts - or whether I’m going to skip this one and work on getting a bike before Walnut Grove in July. There’s a friend at work who has a Giant TT bike that he’s considering lending me for the rest of the season, but he’s a bit shorter than I am so I need to check out the frame size to ensure that it will work for me. If not, I’m going to try a couple of other options (namely talking to people I know in the sport and doing a lot of pleading and begging). If those don’t pan out…well, at this point I haven’t made up my mind. I’m continuing to train as if I’m racing in two weeks, but those prospects are starting to dim. I just can’t bring myself to pay full price in the middle of the season for a TT bike when I know I can save several hundred dollars off of it in a couple of months; in my mind, it’s worth it not to race if I can save that kind of cash. I’ve already blown my budget for this sport this season; I can’t justify going into debt for the full package right now.

Welcome Back Ivana.

As a former semi-pro musician, I have a very controversial stance on the downloading of music - I completely support it as a marketing tool for artists who want to take control of their own lives, and believe that it has assisted in returning the scene to where it was in the late ’60s and early ’70s when bands like Led Zeppelin would record an entire album in two weeks and then tour for a year…the album was a promotional tool for the live show rather than what happened in the 90s where the single became king and bands were only good for 2-3 decent songs per album with the rest being crap and filler. I firmly believe that if you are a real musician, your venue is the live stage - if you can’t play live, you’re of no interest to me, personally, and I have a greatly diminished respect for ’studio bands’.

Having said that, if I download something that really impresses me, I support the artist and buy the disc. It’s kind of a ‘good dog, here’s a biscuit’.

I just wanted to throw that out as a bit of a caveat with regards to the first part of this post…

I downloaded Ivana Santilli’s new album “TO NY” two days ago, and had a chance to listen to it at work this morning while generating some construction drawings in CAD.

Holy crap.

Welcome back, Ivana. We missed you.

Cin and I have been huge, massive Ivana fans since her stint in Base Is Base years ago. Cin actually dragged me to see her play on her first solo tour for Brown, a little gig at Sonar in Gastown where we were two of maybe a hundred people in the audience, and spent most of the night standing directly in front of her, swaying, singing (and sweating - it was an amazingly hot night in that club) and loving the purity of expression that she puts forth live. Several live shows followed at Performance Works, the Jazz Fest…any time she hit town we were there.

Then, she put out her second solo album, and like the fickle little beeyatches we are, she lost us. I thought the album was boring, rote, a jazz/funk/r&b paint-by-number kit and couldn’t find a spark like The Sun Has Set, or Sun+Moon=Tomorrow. We clung to Brown, and consoled ourselves with a copy of Directions’ disc, Chantal Thompson’s band that opened for Ivana at Performance Works in Granville Island.

Over the next three-plus years, Ivana’s music retreated into the background - there were rumours of a musical meltdown in her life, moves between Toronto, New York,and London, a broken heart, all sorts of personal issues…the typical laundry list of conjecture and hyperbole that I learned to just tune out and ignore rather than take personally when we were in the scene.

Then, two days ago I noticed a tiny little blurb on the Net about Ivana’s new album. Cin and I both looked at each other, kind of puzzled that we hadn’t really heard anything about her for the last couple of years. Remembering our disappointment with Corduroy Boogie, I found and downloaded the album, and held my breath when I loaded it up this morning.

Ten bars into “Still Anymore”, she had me.

The second song, “Whateva U Want” had me looking at my iPod in disbelief.

Four songs in and I was emailing Cin…

Holy crap - I’m listening to the new Ivana Santilli album right now.

It’s good.

It’s really good.

It’s what the Remy Shand album kind of promised, but this one delivers. Total soul, R&B, very New York. Her voice is amazing on this album. Totally makes up for the crap last album.

It’s fabulous. Seriously. It’s amazing chill-nu-funksoul-NYC-night-vibe music. She channels Barry White in a couple of tunes, or Chef from South Park, I can’t decide which…

Yes, that last part was tongue in cheek. However, it gets my point across - this is a really mature album from her. Moving to NYC obviously agreed with her, and she’s written an album that not only plays like a letter to a lover, but plays like an open letter to a city that has helped her find herself again. She’s in love, and it’s obvious without being annoying, or saccharine. When she sings “…cause we’ll be making our sweet, sweet love, cause sweet love’s what you need”, it comes across as a genuine expression of passion, lust and love not only to a partner, but to her adopted city as well. This whole album is so consistently heartfelt that it’s a joy to listen to - more than once I found myself sitting at my desk with my eyes closed, relishing her breathy voice and beautifully layered harmonies…it was like nu-soul-porn. I guiltily felt like I needed a moment alone with Ivana’s voice in the washroom…

In a word, this is slinky music.

I really lost myself in this album - on a track called All Afternoon she sings “…roll up your sleeves cause it’s about to get real deep” and I caught myself grinning because vocally, there’s a nice little subtle tip of the hat to So Deep off of Brown, whether intentional or not - it’s two notes, but it’s like a warm embrace between Ivana and her fans, a little inside quip, a subtle tip of the hat to her past that comes off as sultry, slightly cheeky and not at all cloying or self-referencing. She’s found her way back to a sound that feels like her whereas I think the problem with Corduroy Boogie was that it was too much of a collaboration between her and several other songwriters - her voice was diluted and consequently so was the album. Here on TO NY, she’s writing purely her own style, from her own point of view on her adopted homes, and I think that’s the biggest compliment I can give her as one musician to another; when an artist can emote a certain style to the point where the listener feels like they’ve stumbled across a private note between two lovers, that’s an amazing accomplishment.

The second biggest compliment I can give her?

I’m going to find a copy of this album on the weekend. She deserves my money.

Welcome back Ivana. Now, come to Vancouver so we can give you some of that love back in person.

Sometimes You Can Fool Yourself, And Sometimes You’re Just The Fool.

One of the interesting side effects of training is becoming more receptive to the signals your body sends you - learning to read the signs, like when it’s time to stretch out and go for a longer session than normal, and when it’s time to pull back or flush a session completely. Last Saturday was one of the top training days I’ve had since I started; yesterday was the diametric opposite.

I’d been feeling leg-heavy and sluggish for most of the day; grunting and groaning every time I had to get up from my desk and by the time I hit the weight room I knew it would be a day of low weight/increased reps, and a relaxed Zone 1 technique swim. The interesting thing is, whereas in the past I’d get really incensed and angry at having such a weak session then turn into a retard and force myself to do something completely unnatural and against my better judgement, this time I embraced it as a lesson to be learned - how to identify these types of low-energy ebbs and flows in my natural rhythms. Typically they tend to come in 4-5 days spurts, and it’s during times like these that I do a lot of cocooning at home, epsom salt baths, leg inversion, and I focus on what I’m eating rather than pushing through and risking a long-term injury or mental breakdown. Yesterday I took it easy through the weight session, did a slow 5 minute warmup in the pool and spent 10 minutes working on bi-lateral breathing drills, then a slow 5 minute cooldown 100m. Home to a nice low-key mellow dinner of marinated souvlaki chicken breast with rice, baked bean and steamed veggies, and then some leg massaging and inversions to stimulate the blood exchange in my legs. It just seems to be my legs that are suffering right now, although I’ve noticed that my lung capacity/cardiovascular system is feeling a bit handicapped right now as well. I have another brick scheduled for Saturday and I’ve promised myself that I won’t turn it into a breakthrough ride this time; next week is my hardest week in this block of training with four benchmark sessions in three days, so it’s to my advantage to follow the plan to the ‘T’ rather than improvising.

Hmph - triathlon as amateur psychological self-analysis tool…whodathunkit?

Esse Quam Videri.

Tiredness…aka “Why Is That Lunatic Posting At Four In The Morning?”

Got home after yesterday’s run, and I just had nothing left in the tank. My legs felt like lead - I basically collapsed into bed and slept until 2:30am this morning, bagging my 45 minute hills ride and sleeping the sleep of the dead; I didn’t even eat dinner, so you know something’s amiss when that happens. Obviously I need to listen to my body a bit more…the surprising thing is that I don’t feel…bad…just worn out. I think I’m going to experiment with staggering my rest days rather than taking two off right after my weekly brick. I’m doing 2-A-Days every Wednesday, and a rest day afterwards rather than my second weight session in three days plus another endurance swim will probably increase my recovery rate and prevent any chance of burn-out.

Having said that, of course I’m going to the gym/pool after work today…’cause I’m a glutton for punishment. I remember at one time I said I wanted to feel that constant level of pain and discomfort that indicates my body is running at a higher level of training - mission accomplished. A lot of this really has to do with my elevated sleep debt, and continued poor nutrition. The first one I can correct instantly; the second one is a war I’ve been fighting for a decade and although this ship is starting to slowly turn, it’s going to be a while before I’m where I need to be mentally and emotionally with regards to food, and I’ve accepted that now. There are small victories daily, and that’s where I draw my strength.

The run was great…after the fact…Spanish Banks, early evening, blazing sun, fresh sea air…now I know why Eric advocates running at the shore break line where/when possible. I did try walking the break line but the sand was so soft and it was such a dramatic incline that I had a feeling I’d put too much stress on my ACL/MCL if I tried running at that angle for a prolonged period of time. I stuck to the gravel trail that runs parallel to the beach - it was a slow start and I really didn’t want to be there, but I sucked it up and made a five minute deal with Jakob. Just run for five minutes, then if I still feel like crap we’re going home. Somewhere in my subconscious he just slyly grinned and mouthed the word “sucker”.

40 minutes later I’d covered 5.14 KM at an average pace of 7:48 per KM, burning 652 kcalories in the process at a 148 avg. HR. I’d also walked seven of the 40 minutes, so that tells me that I’m probably close to breaking 35 minutes on my 5K time once I run straight for longer than 15-20 minutes at a time. It was a great feeling once I finished, but I hated it while I was doing it. My legs were tired from the start and I was feeling the effects of pushing it in the weight room and in the pool on Tuesday. However, this is what I wanted, so this is what I get.

Pain is temporary. Glory is forever.

Esse Quam Videri.

Another Domino.

Last night’s weight and swim session was a benchmark for me. I know it wasn’t scheduled as a benchmark workout, but things are starting to come together fast and furious now…I’ve managed to prove to myself that I can bike 20K in under 45 minutes (on Luigi no less), and if I continue to increase my foot turnover and endurance, I should be able to break 35 minutes on a 5K within the next couple of weeks.

Last night I managed to prove to myself that I can swim 35 minutes (almost) non-stop now using TI, and my goal of 3×250 repeats with 30sec. of rest between is just another domino ready to fall. By the time Locarno comes around I should be working on mastering the 750 continuous swim for Walnut Grove - always keeping the next goal in front as the carrot.

The weight session was good - I’m steadily increasing weight, but I think I’m going to keep the weight stable now and focus on increasing reps instead. I don’t really want to add too much muscle bulk, just work with lean muscle mass instead. When I entered the water, my legs did feel heavy for the first 200M or so. Luckily all of my lanemates cleared out shortly after I arrived, so for 25 minutes or so I had the entire lane to myself and didn’t have to worry about staggering my starts between faster swimmers. I did some negative splits just from force of habit, but halfway through the session I realized that I was on track for 800M by the end of my session so I switched mentally to just churning through the laps, pausing at the end of each 25M for 5 seconds or so to move to the other side of the double-wide lane. Essentially once I re-learn to do a kick-flip, I should be able to start pounding out 100M repeats and eventually move to doing the 3×250 goal.

This is me, wearing a huge freakin’ smile on my face.

Run/bike 2-A-Day today. This is my hell day for the week so I will probably post again Thursday if I get a chance; if not I’ll do a post on today’s festivities and tomorrow’s swim on Friday night. I’m trying to set up an open water practice for Thursday night with Peter and a friend of Cin’s so keep your fingers crossed.

Esse Quam Videri.