Einstein, Relativity and Triathlon Training.

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." - Albert Einstein

I recently began reading the new biography on Einstein written by Walter Isaacson called, Einstein: His Life and Universe. I wanted to read the book to learn some basic facts about the man, but I have also gained some insight into the world of triathlon too. (Of course I had to be looking for it, but hopefully it's entertaining / insightful none-the-less.)

The first theory of relativity that Einstein provided was called "special relativity." (He later came up with his general relativity theory.) The take home idea from special relativity is that if there are two objects, determining who is at rest and who is in motion is relative to the "observer" and is not an absolute. The scenario used to best describe this idea was a man sitting in an armchair versus a women in an airplane flying above. In both scenarios the same laws of physics apply, therefore each person (man and women) could consider themself at rest, while the other is in motion. Neither is right or wrong. (Isaacson, pg 107-108).

In triathlon training and racing, I believe a similar understanding of relativity can be valuable. Follow my thought process for a couple steps:

- When training with a group it can be hard to do the training appropriate for you. We ride too fast to keep up or we want the group atmosphere, so we swim a masters workout that does not address an Ironman triathletes'or an individual's needs.

- When developing a race strategy we make decisions and goals based upon what we would like (hope) to achieve. These decisions are not grounded in the honest assessment of our current fitness levels. (It would be ideal if specific workouts have been completed to assess those fitness levels... check out my last two race simulation posts as my examples: race sim #1, race sim #2). An even more frieghtening scenario is when we start setting race goals based upon our training partners' race goals, keeping in mind their race goals may not be based upon an honest assessment either.

Even worse.... basing them on ideas, reports and race strategies you see posted at online forums or blogs (even mine)!

The relativity link..

The connection between special relativity and triathlon is that there rarely is a right or wrong when it comes to training programs or race strategies, there is only an appropriate program based upon the athlete (the observer).

When we complete workouts and follow our training partners' lead we may be involving ourselves in a scenario that leaves us sitting "at rest" while our partner is reaping the benefits of the workout and maintaining momentum. The program has to be based upon the individual athlete to know for sure that progress is occurring. After all - it's all relative.

Special Ironman Wisconsin 2007 Note:

I wrote this blog entry last week, but last night (8/10/07) found myself in the middle of a conversation that made me understand this idea a little better. A group of us doing Ironman races in September were sitting around eating at a local resturant, naturally the conversation lead to: How much training we were currently doing, How much training we would do 'x' weeks out, etc. I almost began to have an internal anxiety attack, because I came to the "realization" that I wasn't doing enough.

It took a few minutes before I remembered this topic and understood that I was getting caught up in someone else's experience. Their experience was robbing me of my own. I took on the attitude that what they were doing was right and therefore my experience was less-than-positive.

I pulled myself out of that place quickly and thought back to the positives that I personally have had lately. I also realized that if I was doing the training they were talking about (25 hour specific prep weeks) I would be left to heaps of dust come September 9th. Perfect for them, not reasonable for me.

How do we know if we are "at rest" or "in motion."

There are ways that we can set up a program that encourages us to learn about ourselves enough to make those "honest assessments." Here are several that I'll share now:

- Races: A race is not only exciting, but a great testing ground to see if we have improved our fitness. Use shorter races strategically placed to enable yourself to make several observations throughout the year. Alan Couzens wrote a recent piece that includes an analysis of Jack Daniels' Formula and using racing as test. (Use the link and check it out.)

- Fitness Tests / Test Sets: Set up your own fitness test and test regularly. Gordo has talked a lot over the past year about his 3 mile aerobic run test. Some things that I use are:

• --> 3 Mile Aerobic Run w/heart rate
• --> Thursday 6.3 mile group run w/heart rate
• --> 10 x 200 yard main set
• --> 4000 meter time
• --> North Middletown Bike Ride w/out and back, heart rate/time
• --> Valley View Ferry Climb time

- Meditation: I realize this may appear to be non-physical. It may or may not be, but one thing that regularly practicing a mindful state does is open up your awareness so that you can become more aware when you are training. Instead of looking at your training partners' performance for validation of yourself, you maybe more comfortable looking within your own ability. (I do this well in training, not so well in the day-to-day).

Final Question:

Are you "in motion" or "at rest"? Remember, don't confuse movement and progress!

Into Thin Air - Book Review and Thoughts

When I came to page 95 of Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster I saw this quote:

"Unlike your routine life, where mistakes can usually be recouped and some kind of compromise patched up, your actions, for however brief a period, are deadly serious." by A. Alvarez, The Savage God: A Study of Suicide

That quote got me thinking at that time so I took out a piece of paper and put down some notes. Here were my thoughts then:

You can't make excuses in extreme sports because mistakes take lives. Maybe this is one of my attractions to endurance sports because it allows me to go up against others and myself. Then at the end of the day - the excuses I have don't matter. The mistakes that I've made in a race can only be traced back to my own training decisions or race execution. There is no one above or below me on an organizational chart that I can shift the blame to.

In the business world this happens all the time and drives me crazy. What is even worse is that at times results and rewards in the business world don't reflect the aptitude of a person's past. Just look at Bob Nardelli, the recently departed CEO of Home Depot, he did little for shareholders yet he leaves his job cashing in. I don't believe we would see Nardelli performing well in the endurance sports arena.

There are incredibly more risks associated with climbing Everest than competing in a triathlon but racing a triathlon at the least creates an environment where an athlete's mistakes are immediately realized. The is no way to hide behind words and you definately don't get rewarded for doing nothing prior to the event.

One of the biggest lures of endurance sports is that it creates as level of a playing field as there is.... therefore, there are no excuses.

My final thoughts on Into Thin Air

Those were my feelings at that point in the book, but as the book went on I began to wonder if I was right. To say that the book becomes one of the saddest and intense books I've read is an understatement. The scene on Everest has all the drama of a modern day sitcom; the wealthy lady with all her toys and bags, the hippies, the dreamers, the outlaws, the rivalries and even some sex scandals. It is amazing to think that all these things could go on while a climb is taking place or getting ready to take place. My perception leading into this book was that everyone would be so focused upon getting to the summit that their own abilities to climb and helping their teammates with their own climb would be the only concern. I was wrong.

The one thing that this book did discuss some but I would like to read more about are the Sherpas. Those people have a story that shows to me that all things are not really equal in climbing expeditions. The sherpas are hired help and they help people achieve their dreams of getting to the top of the world. Even if it means they drag a climber up there by a rope. Amazing.

As I finished this book, I could really feel the heaviness that Krakauer has in response to the climb. He even talks about how he hadn't come to terms with the lost lives at that point. The ending of the chapters and the letters he shares in the epilogue are very real reactions and show the varied responses that individuals had to the book.

There has not been a day in my life that I've thought about climbing Everest. The closest thing that I've done would be hiking up Pikes Peak - hardly an experience that would allow me to understand the sport of mountaineering. After reading about their situations on Everest and having to make decisions like walking by another climber that is near death in order to maintain your own life - I'm pretty sure the thought of climbing Everest won't be on my goal sheet anytime soon.

If you are interested in reading a compelling and tragic story, a story that is well written and emotional - then I'd suggest you read this book. You won't be dissapointed!

"Everest a reasonable goal"

I mentioned in my last post that I was starting to read Into Thin Air by Jack Krakauer. I'm not completely finished with the book to give a complete review, but I wanted to share a quick quote that hit home a little bit. The quote is actually a quote of a quote that he used at the beginning of chapter 7.

"Everest has attracted its share of men like these. Their mountaineering experience varied from none at all to very slight - certainly none of them had the kind of experience which would make an ascent of Everest a reasonable goal. Three things they all had in common: faith in themselves, great determination, and endurance" by Walt Unsworth in Everest

I like to think that I have great determination for certain things. I like to believe that I have endurance to achieve certain things. (Persistance if nothing else). There are a few things that I have faith in my abilities to accomplish, although maintaining this faith and dealing with self doubt is a regular battle. So what does this mean? I am not sure, but maybe it means that I am foolish enough to attempt climbing my own "Everests" even if it doesn't look smart.

If I am honest, the people I respect the most are those few people I have been around that place their fears aside and are willing to take a chance. The people that not only dream, but take steps that give inertia to those dreams. Sometimes they have failed, a couple times they have succeeded. In both instances (failed or succeeded) they have demonstrated a characteristic that I envy. They dared to make a dream turn into a reality.

Maybe I can get some feedback from a couple of those people and share it with you?

Deep Survival : Book Review

I finally completed the book - Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why. I have already written about this book in a post titled, "Is Fatigue Physical or Psychological?" The truth is that I tore through the book, but sat it down prior to finishing the last chapter or appendix. Why would I do that? Who knows because this book is a treasure chest full of information related to survival, but it seems to be much more than just a survival "guide." In fact, I might say that if you are looking for a "how to" book on surviving in the wilderness than this might not be what you are looking for, at first.

This book takes you into the minds of survivors. It digs into what kind of mind-set and behaviors they exhibited when faced with their life-or-death situations. He pushes through the most obvious assumption that those with the most talent survive, while those with less talent do not become survivors. The stories range from climbers on Mt. Hood (an very relavant situation given the current news while I was reading the book), men lost at sea, a climber escaping an accident with broken bones and terrible weather conditions, navy fighter pilots learning to land on a carrier and many more stories that make you wonder - Could I survive in a similar situation? Am I a survivor?

The book gives you so many ideas to think about and stories to digest that I will probably be going back to the stories several more times. (I have a lot of notes and underlined texts to go back and review, hopefully gaining a deeper understanding.) Not to leave you stranded without some sort of text to think about yourself, I wanted to share the suggestions (or characteristics) he has in the appedix for survival when in trouble:

- perceive, believe, then act
- avoid impuslive behavior; don't hurry
- know your stuff
- get the information
- commune with the dead (he talks about reading accident reports, etc.)
- be humble
- when in doubt, bail out

One of the more interesting things that I remember from the book was when he wrote about young children being better at surviving then older children. This is a very interesting concept to think about if you look at a child and then think about what you perceive to be the characteristics of a survivor. Maybe some of the conditioning we've had throughout our own life puts us in a place that makes us less able to suvive, in any situation. (i.e. work, relationships, financial, triathlon ....)

This book has made me courious about the topic of suvival, so I've started reading, Into Thin Air and bought, Touching the Void (a story talked about in Deep Survival).

I want to be a survivor, but how do we know until we are faced with a survival situation? Maybe that is one more reason that I've put in an application for the North Pole Marathon entry sponsorship over at yourrunning.com.