Not A Triathlete

 Not A Triathlete

I am not a swimmer. Flip turns seem like black magic to me. It takes me over two minutes to drag myself through 100 meters. I’ve never swam on a team, and I only wear a swim cap when someone forces me. My goggles are a cheap pair from Academy Sports, and they fog up constantly. I swim less like a fish and more like a cat clinging for dear life in a bathtub. Somehow, despite all this floundering, I have swum 2.4 miles without drowning.

I am not a cyclist. My helmet is a bottom-shelf Walmart special, barely functional but good enough to keep me legal. My bike has aero bars, but I never use them—I’m too busy hanging on for dear life to worry about aerodynamics. I slow to a crawl for every curve, and I’ve been dropped from more group rides than I care to admit. Maintenance? Forget it. I change tubes when absolutely necessary and hope the rest holds together. I couldn’t tell you the manufacturer of any of the parts or what gear ratio I have, but I always grind in the hardest gear I can stand and ignore my heart rate entirely. Still, I’ve ridden 112 miles before and didn't die.

I am not a runner. Joining a running group would mean actually knowing what I’m doing, and I definitely don’t. I focus more on pace than heart rate, even if that means I’m one misstep away from total exhaustion. I can go weeks—or months—without even touching my running shoes, so consistency clearly isn’t my strong suit. My form is questionable at best, and my training plans usually consist of, “Let’s wing it and see what happens.” But somehow, through sheer stubbornness, I’ve managed to slog through 26.2 miles more than once.

I am not a triathlete. I’ve never had a coach and have gotten by with just spreadsheets.  In 20 years, I’ve done maybe four triathlons.  In each of those I just try to survive from one leg to the next, and in one of them, did not even make it out of the swim before getting tapped on the shoulder. But according to Mike Reilly, I am an Ironman.

Disappointment

Today is Fathers Day 2019 and I write this with a heavy heart.  Growing up, my father showed me nothing but love.  He loved me and sacrificed for me as all good dads do.  He not only showed his love but also told it to me in words.  He encouraged me and told me how proud he was of me at every turn.  As I grew older, this made it hard for me to relate the cliched story of children, usually in their adult years, declaring that all they wanted from their dad was his love and acceptance and for him to be proud of them.  I had always felt both and come to cherish my dad all the more since so many seem to be lacking what I took for granted.   

Many years later as my dad entered his seventies, things began to change.  The fun loving man I once knew - the one that took me on countless bike rides and camping trips - was slowing replaced by a grumpy old man... and with good reason.  My mom died when she was 63 and he was 67.  Not only was she is his companion, she had also done all the cooking and cleaning for years.  Although he had mostly recovered from the stroke he had in his late 50's, the effects started to return.  This combined with smaller strokes and diabetes began to take a toll on first his balance and then his ability to walk and eventually his ability to even stand.  At the same time, he began to lose the dexterity of both hands in general, but especially in his left hand.  This made it extremely difficult to operate a phone, remote control, or computer.  Without the ability to stand or use his hands, simple tasks like getting dressed or even going to the bathroom became impossible.  One day at age 74, he woke up in his own home just like he had for the last 42 years, with no idea that it would be his last day there.  Then later that day, he had a fall resulting in a trip to the hospital.  From there he went to a series of assisted living facilities and eventually to a nursing home.   In short order, he lost control of his car, his finances, and even his home.  This (and the fact that it was literally my mom's deathbed charge to me) meant it was now all up to me and my sister to take care of him.

Early on, I adapted the mantra that I should do all I can to keep him "healthy, happy, and safe".  All my decisions regarding Dad were guided by this maxim.  I was soon to learn that I might have to settle for two out of three. I felt like so many times it fell to me to deliver the bad news to him.  "You can no longer drive."  "The assisted living cost this much money" "We need to change facilities again" ... and on and on and on.  Although in many cases, I was only the messenger, it begin to seem as though it was I who decreed all these things based on my will and wishes.   As a child, I never for a second had the sense that I was a disappointment to my dad.  He always demonstrated his pride and love for me and this continued well into my adult years.  Now, in the winter of his life, it was I that was forced to become the face of disappointment.   I believe that my sister and I did a good job of keeping him as healthy and safe as circumstances would allow.  I never seemed to be able, however, to make him happy - and this has been my greatest disappointment.

While I started this post and this thought process in June 2019, I did not finish it until January 2022 after having  time to process his passing in September 2019.

The F Word

 Yes, that one.  The "F bomb".  The one that some find amusing when they hear it from the very young or the very old.  The one that made several comedians and actors famous.  The one that the show "Battle Star Galactica" replaced with "frig" in all its literary glory.  The one that Saturday Night Live almost but didn't spell in their "Jingleheimer Junction" skit in 1998 (Season 24, Episode 1).  Ostensibly, the word is meant to mean "to make love".  While that is the cleanest and mildest definition, it is certainly not the only one.  While it's versatility is almost without equal, it is almost always used as a verbal underline or exclamation point.  Despite its versatility, in the U.S. the word is banned in certain media formats - usually based on time of day and type of broadcast.  The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) will fine any media outlet that airs the word outside of the defined context.  While still banned (or at least frowned upon) in many situations, it has become more and more acceptable to use it directly if not by abbreviations such as WTF.  So much so that even kids will often say "What the?"  and not finish the whole statement.  What the what, Timmy? You can't end a question with a question.

At the same time, another phrase has become more and more acceptable.  One may recall the final scene in "Planet of the Apes" where Taylor realizes what mankind has finally done and pleads with God to condemn mankind to eternal damnation.  Jeremiah Wright, a pastor, once came under fire when he suggested that America should be damned instead of blessed by God.  While shocking to many at the time, the phrase G.D. has become even more acceptable than the F word.  G.D. can be heard on prime time television, PG-13 movies, and public radio - whereas the F word is still avoided or bleeped out in those same contexts.  The ancient Jews revered the name of God so much that they removed the vowels from his name so that it could not be pronounced.  This helped to avoid violating the 2nd commandment: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."  As a child, I was taught that this meant to always say his name in reverence and never without reference to God himself.  To even say "Oh my God!" was considered disrespectful.  

As I have grown in age and experience, I have long since learned that not everyone holds to these same tenants and beliefs.  Many grew up with the same teachings as I but have since discarded them and many more have never held to these beliefs to begin with.  I have heard almost every way of using both the F word as well as using the Lords name in vain both separately and together.  While I refuse to adopt either into my prudish vocabulary, I have long since stopped being shocked when others do.  Until today.

I read online where someone was thankful for a particular outcome and especially that it was not any worse than it was.  Who did they thank?  Did they thank God. No.  Did they thank "goodness".  No.  They said "Thank [f-word]". Are you kidding me?  I could not believe it.  Still cannot believe it.

I am starting to wonder if maybe Taylor and Wright may have been correct.  God help us all.

Saitama's Hero Workout

There is a comic called One-Punch Man that tells the story of Saitama who can defeat any opponent with, you guessed it, one punch. Saitama's journey to hero status included the following workout.

• 100 push-ups
• 100 sit-ups
• 100 squats
• 10 km run (100 hectometers if you want to keep it consistent)

EVERY SINGLE DAY

 I have not read the comic myself, but was still intrigued by the workout and decided to give it a try.

Well, mostly.  

Unless you are already a hard-core dedicated gym rat, it is not likely you could do all of this on day 1. I could not. Like any target oriented goal, the key is to start where you are and then push yourself more and more as you go along. I think the (almost) every day part is more important than the rep count. Getting into a consistent routine is the hard part. After that, then slowly incrementing reps is easy.

I found it helpful to create a chart (ok - a spreadsheet - no surprise to my children) to keep up with my progress. Each row is a different day. I plan on doing this for 100 days, so my rows are numbered 1-100 with a column for pushups, situps, squats, and the run. I also added a column for pull-ups since that is something I want to track as well.

• 100 Push-Ups - I started with 4 sets of 25 spread through out the day and worked my way up to 2 sets of 50 by day number 25. The sets are often many hours apart. Once you get to 50/50, then you have to decide if you will stick with 100 by doing 60/40, 70/30 and so forth until you get to 100 in a single set ... OR ... do you start going 60/60, 70/70 and so forth until you are at 2 sets of 100. I am at day 34 and doing two sets of 55, so I am going to see how long I can keep that going. Time will tell if I abandon my goal of 100/100, but either way is a fantastic heroic achievement.

• 100 Sit-Ups - A started out doing Marine Corps crunches which typically require a partner or something to hold your feet down and must be done in 2 minutes. The first set was max in 2 minutes and then second set was the remainder to get to 100. We did the run in between each set. Once my partner lost his enthusiasm, I switched to bicycle crunches where every left elbow to right knee counts as one rep. I decided to sync these up with the push-ups and squats, so I am now doing two sets of 55 of these as well.

• 100 Squats - Again, I started at 5 sets of 20 and worked my up to 2 sets of 55. I try to go as deep as I can and keep my back as straight as I can. A recent ankle sprain required me to switch to 2 sets of 30 single leg squats ("taking a knee" and then standing each time as one rep). Hopefully this reduces strain on my ankle which will let it heal faster which will get me back to the normal two legged squat.

• 10 K Run - (aka 6.2 miles aka 100 hectometers) - This was not a big stretch for me since I was already a runner. I had become lacks in my running recently, so this was a good motivator to pick it back up. Again, the key is start where you are and work your way up. Whereas the other exercises are done in multiple sets, I recommend doing this in a single set. Run as far as you can and then slowly increase it over time. I also recommend doing at least one 60 second sprint within each mile (I do two). This will greatly improve your pace over time.

• 100 Pull-Ups - Ok. No freakin way. At least not for me. At least not anytime soon. Instead I do 3 sets of max pull ups. The Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test stops counting after 23, so that is my goal. I am not in the Marines, but was in a previously life. I started at 10 and, on day 34, am up to 14. This was not part of the Saitama's Hero Workout, but I added it since my bucket list includes the ability to do one or more muscle-ups.

• Every Single Day - Kinda sorta. Its common knowledge that muscles need time to rebuild after a workout. This is why it is usually advised to do legs one day, arms the next, and so forth. Other research, however, suggest that compound workouts are effective if done more often. The happy medium that I have found here is do the run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, do the rest Monday - Friday, and then rest on Saturday and Sunday. I use Friday as "level-up" day where I increase my sets (push-up, sit-ups, and squats by 5 and pull-ups by 1). For the runs I try to make 1 of the 3 as fast day and the other day just a jog (but mid run sprints in every run).

• Saitama also suggest that you "Never ever use the air conditioner in the summer, or heat in the winter – so you can strengthen the mind". That is just crazy talk. I do, however, recommend spending at least an hour outside (like for the run for example) everyday year round to keep yourself acclimatized to the changing seasons.

More about the comic

• https://read.one-punchman.com/manga/one-punch-man-chapter-1/
• https://www.netflix.com/title/80117291
• http://galaxyheavyblow.web.fc2.com/  (the original in Japanese)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Punch_Man

More about the work out

• https://roamstrong.com/one-punch-man-workout/
• https://squatwolf.com/blog/one-punch-man-workout/
• https://dietplanworkout.com/the-one-punch-man-workout-routine/
• https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a30046110/one-punch-man-workout-pushup-situp-squat-100-days/
• https://anitay.kinja.com/the-one-punch-man-workout-explained-and-analyzed-1833208695

Android App to track your progress

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ch3tanz.onepunchman.tracker&hl=en_US

Typical Thru Hiker Gear

The Appalachian Trail (AT) is about 2,200 miles long stretching from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine.  Every year, around 1,000 intrepid souls hike the whole thing from beginning to end.  Those going from GA to ME are considered NOBOs (Northbound) while those starting in ME are SOBOs (Southbound).  These Thru-Hikers know better than anyone what works and what doesn't on long backpacking trips.  Wouldn't it be great if they could be surveyed to find out which gear the most of them depend on.

Mariposa from The Trek has come to our rescue and is a thru hiker herself.  Every year she pours over the annual ThruHiker survey from TheTrek and compiles the data into a series of informative, interesting, and useful posts.  If you are planning a trip or shopping for gear, please do yourself a favor and check them out.  You may not be planning a multi-state trip, but if you plan to go for more than two nights or plan lots of little trips, you will find her posts worth a read.  While her posts go into lots of awesome details, I wanted to use this space as a summary with links to her posts for the deep dive.

Note that there are a lot of choices in each category which meant that "most popular" may have been something that was barely double digits percentage wise.  In most cases, this tells you more about the general features desired than the actual model selected since 2nd, 3rd, or 4th place were usually very similar items.

Favorite Gear From The 2019 Survey

Backpack
https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail/top-backpacks-2019-appalachian-trail-thru-hiker-survey/

Thru-hikers packs had an average (mean) capacity of 52 liters, but anything between about 43 and 61 liters was common. Thru-hiker pack capacities ranged from 25 to 80 liters.  The average capacity of section hikers’ packs was 48 liters, and anything from 40 to 60 liters was common. Their packs ranged in capacity from 6.5 liters to 70 liters.  If liter measurements are not meaningful to you, this link may help.

The most popular brand (used by 38%) was Osprey with its Exos model (used by 10%) being the most popular on the trail.  The Exos medium size is 58 liters, weighs 2 lbs. 11 oz, and retails for $220 at REI.

Tent
https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail/2019-appalachian-trail-thru-hiker-survey-top-tents-shelters/
87% of respondents used a tent, 11% used a hammock, with the reminder using tarps, bivy sacks, or lean tos.  Two person tents were the most common. The most popular brand was Big Agnes in general, but the most popular tent was the Zpacks Duplex (used by 16%) which is a "pole-tent" requiring two trekking poles (not included) for support.  The Duplex weighs 1 lb, 3 oz, and retails for $599 on the Zpacks site.  If trekking poles are not your thing, a freestanding kit is available for $125 (and another 10 oz).

Honorable mention goes to the Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 2 (used by 8%) which is a standard freestanding tent. It weighs just under 2 pounds and retails for $349.95 at REI.

Stove
https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail/top-stoves-and-filters-the-2019-appalachian-trail-thru-hiker-survey/
MSR was the most popular brand with its Pocket Rocket taking 42% of the vote.  It weighs 2.6 oz (without the fuel) and retails for $44.95 at REI.

Honorable mention goes to Jet Boil which was the stove of choice for 13% of respondents.  The Flash weighs 13.1 oz and sales for $109.95.  On average, hikers went four days between resupply and purchased food in town much more often than using food drops.

Water Filter
https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail/top-stoves-and-filters-the-2019-appalachian-trail-thru-hiker-survey/
The most popular filter (77%) was the Sawyer Squeeze.  The idea is to put dirty water into the 32 oz bag provided (or a SmartWater water bottle which is also common) and then screw on the filter in place of a cap.  You then invert and squeeze the bag (or bottle) to push water through the filter into your mouth or another bottle.  It does not work by gravity alone without squeezing.  It weighs 3 ounces and cost $36.95.

It was not mentioned in the survey review, but the group I have been hiking with is very fond of the GravityWorks 2.0L Water Filter from Platypus (9.1 oz,  $89.95).  You put the dirty water in a bag and then hang it from a tree.  No pumping or squeezing required. 

Sleeping Bag
https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail/top-sleeping-bags-pads-2019-appalachian-trail-hiker-survey/
NOBOs had bags with an average rating of 35 degrees while for SOBOs, it was 20 degrees.  75% of the hikers preferred an inflatable pad while most of the rest used a foam pad.  For the bag itself, Enlightened Equipment was the brand of choice and the Revelation being the favorite (12%).  It was 19.18 oz and sells for $280.

Footwear
https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail/top-footwear-appalachian-trail-2019-thru-hiker-survey/
Trail runners are far and away preferred over traditional boots with ankle support.  Some say that hiking without ankle support builds up your ankle strength over time making them less necessary.
38% selected an Altra shoe and most of those were the Lone Peak.  A pair weighs 1.5 oz and will set you back $120.

On average, thru-hikers went through four pairs.

Summary

Getting all the items would cost just over $1,300 and weigh 6.7 lbs.

Item	Brand	Model	oz	cost
Backpack	Osprey	Exos	43	$ 222.00
Tent	Zpacks	Zpacks Duplex	19	$ 599.00
Stove	MSR	Pocket Rocket	2.6	$ 44.95
Filter	Sawyer	Sawyer Squeeze	3	$ 36.95
Sleeing Bag	Enlightened Equipment	Revelation	19.18	$ 280.00
Footwear	Altra	Lone Peak	21	$ 120.00
		TOTAL	107.78	$ 1,302.90

General Info
https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail/2019-hiker-survey-general-information/
86% were NOBOs with most of those starting between early March to mid April.  The average pace was about 15 miles a day. Of the 365 in the survey, 70% made it 2000 miles or more.

Distance Traveled	Percent
-500	11 %
501-1000	6.9 %
1001-1500	5.8 %
1501-2000	5.5 %
2000+	70.8 %

All About That Curve

On February 28, 2020, Drew Harris tweeted a graphic with two bell curves.  One with protective measures and one without. 

Drew A. Harris, DPM, MPH@drewaharris

Important to remember that #Covid-19 epidemic control measures may only delay cases, not prevent. However, this helps limit surge and gives hospitals time to prepare and manage. It's the difference between finding an ICU bed & ventilator or being treated in the parking lot tent.

1,568

1:47 AM - Feb 28, 2020

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1,092 people are talking about this

On March 11, the World Health Organization classified COVID-19 as a global pandemic. By then, the "Flatten the Curve" had become a meme and slogan that soon became ubiquitous.  

FastCompany as a detailed history of the meme including one of the most popular animations of it.  In order to flatten the curve, protective measures had to be taken.  This included washing of hands, use of a face mask, and of course "social distancing" which meant keeping at least six feet away from each other.  It soon became a guessing game as to when we would hit the peak of the curve and start down the other side.  Just like kids in a long car ride, we were all asking "Are we there yet?"  The New York Times was one of many sites tracking and displaying the daily numbers.  Their visualization seemed to be the most "bell-like" which is why it is used here. 

As of April 3, Mainland China (in the center) was the only country to have recovered to a pre-pandemic case count.

source: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/03/world/coronavirus-flatten-the-curve-countries.html

The curve could be monitored daily at a global, national, or state level.  By April 18, the World, US, and Georgia appeared to be very close to their peak.  Bell curves are enticing because they suggest predictability.  Reality, however, cannot always be predicted.  In spite of this, I wanted to see when we would be close to zero (according to the bell curve).  I found a way to use PowerPoint to make the curve. Using that, I was able to stretch the curve until it mostly matched the first half of the slope.  With the caveats that it may be years before we see 0 cases, it is not likely symmetrical, and life does not always follow the script, here is my unscientific prediction.  

World

United States

Georgia

As it turns out, (caveats accepted) we should be on the other side by early May. Insert statement here about keeping protective measures in place past the peak to prevent a relapse.  Early May is also the time frame many much smarter officials have come up with.  

Just after putting this post together, I found out that the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) had already done the math (I knew someone had) and were the ones providing officials with projections.  Their graphs focused on deaths instead of total cases, so I did not show it here, but they did have actual data for download that included many more measures.  Using what they called "allbed_mean", I used Excel to come with these two curves (data past April 17 is projected).

The IHME further projected that, for Georgia: 

"After June 15, 2020, relaxing social distancing may be possible with containment strategies that include testing, contact tracing, isolation, and limiting gathering size."

____________________________________________________________

The original article (above) was from Apr 19.  Below are the latest updates from May 8.

First, from the New York Times

Then, from the  Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)
with actual to the left of the red line and projected to the right of the red line

Pack Sizes

When my youngest son was about 4, I was in the market for a new backpack. In those days, my thinking was that if big was good, the bigger was better.  I envisioned myself going on treks 7 days at a time with no resupplies.  With this in mind, I was proud to purchase the Kelty Red Cloud 6400 (Big Red). When I bought it, my son could literally ft inside of it.  He is now in his twenties and that is no longer a good idea.  Neither, it seems, is getting the biggest pack you can just because you can. One of the properties of a gas is that it will expand to fill its container.  This is also true of packing.  If you have enough space, you will find something to fill it with.  This led to me giving up trail comfort in favor of camp comfort which is not always a wise exchange.  I used to think that the strange looks I got was because folks were impressed with the behemoth on my back.  Age has taught me that the look was actually more like "Wow. What an idiot.".  This is especially true of thru-hikers that I would see on the Appalachian Trail.   The pack has been good to me, but 20 years of carrying more that any sensible person would has taken its toll on Big Red.

I am now in the market for a replacement, so I am planning to downsize (it would be hard not to).  Packs sizes are often measured by volume using either cubic inches or liters.  No one measures packs by quarts or gallons, but I thought it would be useful in the chart below to give an idea of how much they hold.  Conversions are rounded to the nearest integer.

Bag Type	Cubic Inches	Liters	Gallons	Quarts
Drawstring/Cinch Bag	693	11	3	12
School Bookbag	1343	22	6	23
Weekend	2746	45	12	48
Multiday	3967	65	17	69
Extended Trip	4577	75	20	79
Big Red	6400	105	28	111

It seems reasonable that anyone thru-hiking the AT might have a good idea what a good pack size should be.  Here is what a survey revealed from hikers that did that in 2019.

Thru-hikers packs had an average (mean) capacity of 52 liters, but anything between about 43 and 61 liters was common. Thru-hiker pack capacities ranged from 25 to 80 liters.
The top three most common sizes were 55, 60, and 65.

I will post back here after I make my final choice, but I am pretty sure it will be less that 105 liters.

edit: I decided to go with the Osprey Aether AG 70.  At 70 liters, it is no thru-hiker pack, but it is closer to it than it is to Big Red.