There will be other days

My goal for today was to get in a nice and easy medium-to-long run. Unfortunately, the travel and busy weekend plans with the family weren't really compatible with that goal. We were meeting my grandparents for lunch in Irvine at 1, so I had planned to get the run over with this morning. But then, we were out at Loren's party pretty late (1:30AM here, but that was 4:30AM in NY and meant that we had been awake for nearly 24 hours) and this morning when I tried to get up I couldn't even move. So, instead I ran this afternoon. I ended up doing just 4 miles, but I did it pretty fast (28 minutes). I went out with a map of a 4-mile loop and had hoped to do it two or three times. The nice thing was that I felt pretty much like crap the whole run - I had side cramps, my stomach was upset, I tasted my lunch nearly the entire time and my head sorta hurt. Sweet. So, after the first loop, I just called it quits and decided that it would be better to just stop and wait for the next one.

Loren's party was a blast. She was pretty surprised. She says that she knew something was up, but certainly didn't know exactly what it was. Either way, she definitely had fun. There were a lot of people at the party, and from all parts of Loren's life. Lunch with the grandparents was really nice. We went to a Cuban place in Irvine. My lunch was yummy but definitely wasn't a good pre-run meal.

First thing tomorrow morning we fly home so tomorrow will be a forced off day. I'll get back at it (and the writing) on Monday.

Run - September 30
Time: 28 minutes
Average heart rate: 150
Distance: 4 miles
Conditions: beautiful evening, clear
Route: Around UCLA campus

West Coast weekend

We flew to LA this morning for my sister's 30th birthday party. Her surprise party is in a few hours. My parents picked us up at LAX this morning and we've spent the day relaxing. Well, Elizabeth actually worked all day, but the rest of us relaxed.

We're staying at the W Hotel and there's an Equinox with a lap pool right down the street. So, I was able to get my regularly planned swim in, which felt good. I swam about 1800 yards. It was a good swim - I felt pretty fast and strong and could have gone much further, but I wanted to also get in a little core work and stretching and get back to see Elizabeth and my folks. Tomorrow, I'll try to get in a good medium-long run; maybe 10-12 miles. How far I go sorta depends on what time we get up and moving. I'd like to get in at least 90 minutes. Next weekend will be my long run of the season - hopefully 20-22 miles.

Yesterday I had a good long talk with my new coach. He was recommended by a friend who's training for Kona. He's a USAT certified coach and a very experienced triathlete. Most of what he'll do for me is provide me with weekly workout schedules and training advice, but I'll probably also do a few swim lessons with him to improve my technique. The nice thing about him vs. some of the other on-line coaches is that he's located in New York, so I can get the in-person swim lessons and he goes to some of the local races. I'm pretty excited to work with him over the course of the next year. I've been getting by on my own for the last two years, but I know that (a) I can do better with a little structure and guidance and (b) the Ironman is a totally different beast. He's going to help me with the last few weeks of my marathon preparation and then get me going for the big race. Already in just the first real conversation with him I got some good information and advice about nutrition and hydration and he made me start thinking more analytically about my running. He helped me think about why I broke down last Sunday on my run - probably a combination of dehydration and not getting enough calories in during the run. I'm pretty excited to do this.

Swim - September 29
Distance: 1800 yards

Midweek stress

It's been less than a week and I've already missed a day. I guess writing every single day is going to be a little tough and I am allowed to miss days. Yesterday was just insane. From the moment I left the apartment (which was a little later than I'd planned) until the time I actually closed my eyes to sleep, I was going gang-busters all day and night. It was a super high-stress day, one of the worst in a while. Work is busy, but the day also had a bunch of other things going on that added to my stress. I had a meeting in mid-town smack dab in the middle of the day that went longer than expected and then plans that I thought we had for tonight were actually last night, so instead of making up time in the office and then having a chill night at home, I was running around trying to finish up here to get out. The night was fun - we saw this crazy "show/circus/freakshow" called Absinthe. Sorta like a twisted Cirque du Soleil. Anyway, I have another pretty crazy day here at the office, so I'll leave it at that.

Yesterday I woke up a little later than I'd hoped and ended up riding inside instead of taking the bike out. I got a good workout on the trainer and watched Sportscenter, but I was wishing I was outside. The problem, like I've written before is that if I'm on the trainer for 45 minutes, it's 45 minutes of workout. If I ride outside, it takes over an hour to get that 45 minutes in.

Indoor Ride September 27
Time: 45 minutes
Average heart rate: 120

This morning I got up at the crack of dawn (literally) and met my friend Ron at 6:30 for a run. He and I try to run together at least once a week. He's a great guy and I'll write more about him later. It was a beautiful morning, nearly perfect running weather. I had a good, but not great run. We were up late the last two nights and I'm pretty tired. Because things were so crazy yesterday and my stress level was pretty high, I didn't eat so good yesterday, so I think that contributed. Also, my legs were feeling it. I got my miles in and did it at a good pace. That's what really matters.

Run September 28
Time: 57 minutes
Average heart rate: 140
Distance: ~7 miles
Conditions: beautiful morning, warm (low 60's) and clear
Route: West Side Highway to Battery Park and home

Back at it

After yesterday's off day, I was anxious to work out today. Because of some things going on around the apartment, I couldn't make it this morning, so I ducked out of work during lunch for a quick swim. I felt great right from the start. Sometimes, I get into the pool and it feels like the water's a little "thick" and I'm moving s-l-o-w. Today though, I was cruising (at least for me). The day off certainly did me right.

Swimming is something of a relative weakness for me. I've never had formal lessons, so I'm certain that I'm not very efficient. I work pretty hard at it and have learned some technique from watching and talking to people and reading, but I know that I can be faster and more efficient. This off-season I'm hoping to take some lessons.

When I swim, I swim for distance instead of time. In fact, I never really pay attention to the time. I think that 2000 yards (with short breaks between sets) takes me somewhere around 35-40 minutes. I normally swim 2000-2300 yards twice a week and have two different workouts:

the first (the one I did today) looks like this:
- 600-700 yard warm-up (freestyle, pull-bouy, kickboard)
- 2x 300-500 yards
- a mix of 50 and 100 yard sets at a fast pace
- 100-150 yard cool down

the second workout looks like this:
- 500-600 yard warm-up
- 500-700 yards of 50-100 yard sets at a fast pace with 10 or so seconds between sets
- a mix of 150-250 yard sets at a comfortably fast pace
- 100-150 yard cool down

Then, after work I got in a great run. I ran my usual route down to the tip of Battery Park and back, but I ran hard and fast. My heart rate never really spiked, but I was really cruising. It felt great. I certainly couldn't have kept up that pace for too many more miles, but it was fun to feel that fast.

Swim
Distance: 2100 yards

Run
Time: 55 minutes
Distance: ~8 miles
Average Heart Rate: 155
Route: West Side Highway to Battery Park and back
Conditions: Beautiful night, 67 degrees

Off Day Struggles

After yesterday's run, I figured I had two options for exercising today: either I could push through and punish myself for yesterday's sub-par performance by getting up early and getting in a long swim or I could take the day off to give my muscles and joints a chance to recover and hope that by tomorrow I'll be able to get back at it. I chose the latter option, in part because I think my body needed it, but also because I was up sort of late last night and struggled to get out of bed this morning. I think that taking the day off is the right move. Hopefully tomorrow morning when I get in the pool I'll be refreshed and strong.

It's a struggle for me to take planned days off. If I don't work out in the morning, I generally spend the day feeling sluggish and tired and antsy and irritable. It helps me wake up and be attentive for the rest of the day. Also, with triathlon training trying to get in the runs, cycling, swims and strength training, it's tough to get all those workouts in every week. But I know how valuable days off are, so I try to take a day off each week. This weekend we're headed to LA for my sister's 30th birthday, so I imagine I'll take at least one day off this weekend as well. Psychologically it kills me, but physically I'm sure it's for the best.

Not as far as I'd hoped

Today is exactly six weeks to the marathon. I ran 18 miles two weeks ago and my plan was to run 20 miles today, then 20-22 in two weeks and then 16-20 in four weeks, then taper for two weeks leading up to the marathon. Unfortunately, I only ran about 16 today. I just simply didn't have the juice to go any further. I ran from here, down Bowery, across the Brooklyn Bridge, down Court Street, left on Union Street to Prospect Park, then did 1 1/2 loops of the park and headed back. I made it about half-way across the Bridge on my way back. Then I walked home.

The weather was great, I had a good breakfast about 2 1/2 hours before I went out, I had a gel at 50 minutes and 1:40 and carried Accelerade on my fuel belt. I felt great for the first 10-12 miles, then really fell apart quickly. I'm not sure what it was - maybe I still hadn't fully recovered from the race last weekend; maybe I ate too early and should have eaten a bit more before I started; maybe I hadn't recovered from my ride yesterday; maybe I went out too hard (I don't think so); maybe I didn't carb-load enough this week. I'm not sure, but whatever it was, I need to put it behind me and get a good, long run in two weeks from now. I was planning on swimming tomorrow morning, but I might take the day off to recover.

I tried weighing myself before and after the run to see how much weight I would lose. Before my run, the scale said exactly 168 lbs. When I got back I was 161.5. That's a loss of 6.5 pounds. During my run, I drank 12 oz. of Accelerade and stopped at three water fountains for a few more ounces. Then, while I was walking home, I bought and drank a 32 oz. bottle of Gatorade. 6.5 pounds is 3.8% of my body weight and that doesn't take the 46 or so ounces of fluid I replaced while out there. Maybe dehydration is to blame for my performance today? My long run in weeks will be part of a NYRR marathon tune-up, so there will be water and Gatorade on the course. The same obviously goes for the marathon.


Run
Total time: 2 hours
Distance: ~16 miles
Average heart rate: 162

Slowly, Saturday

I was up really early this morning but it took me a long time to get it going. It's dreary and gray and wet and humid and not especially inviting outside, so I've spent most of the day inside - I read the paper, played with the dog, had some breakfast, puttered around. I did get out and take Charlie for a nice walk. As 1PM rolled around and college football was beginning, the skies didn't look inviting and I decided there was no reason to ride outside when I could ride inside on the trainer and watch some football at the same time.

This was only my 4th or 5th time on the trainer and I'm still getting the hang of it. I haven't decided yet how the trainer workout compares to the road. On the one hand, when I ride inside I can't get my heart rate up as high as I do outside, also, i have a hard time riding really hard and my hill climbs aren't as satisfying. On the other hand, I did pedal for 75 minutes straight, compared to all the stopping and starting and coasting while riding outside. That's one big complaint about training in NYC - it's about 5 miles to Central Park, and a lot of the way is on streets with stoplights and cars, etc. that make it hard to get it going. If I ride to Route 9A in New Jersey, it takes 45 minutes or so to get across the bridge and a lot of that is garbage. On the trainer, a 90 minute ride is really 90 minutes of work, which is nice. Also, I got to watch a big part of the Michigan-Wisconsin game (Michigan won pretty easily) and some bits and pieces of my Jackass DVDs.

It's my mother-in-law's birthday, so they're in town and she and Elizabeth are out shopping, which means a free day for me. Football and exercise, pretty much perfect. That means that in addition to my ride, I'm going to go to the gym to quickly do some core and strength training.

Yesterday evening I stopped by Jackrabbit, my favorite triathlon/exercise store. Fortunately, their Manhattan location (they have a store in Brooklyn as well) is just a couple blocks from my apartment and actually I walk by it nearly every day going to and from work. They do shoe fittings using a treadmill, video cameras and special software that allows you to watch your foot striking the treadmill. They can slow it down so you can watch frame-by-frame to see if a shoe is helping you to strike evenly and correctly. You also get to run on the treadmill to try the shoes out. It's perfect for a gear-nerd like me! I bought a pair of running shoes from their Brooklyn store a year and a half or so ago and was really happy with the process of the shoe fit and the service. I was pretty excited when the opened the Manhattan store in April and it is just a few blocks from my house. Pretty much all my exercise clothing and gear that I've bought since they opened was purchased there. The store is really nice and they stock all the brands I need. Also, they're just really good people - I became friends with the manager, Christopher, and he's been great to both me and Elizabeth. He's a very experienced triathlete and ultra-marathoner and ultra-triathlete - he spends a fair amount of time and energy giving us training advice and shopping advice. I totally trust his advice. His staff is great as well - they're all runners or triathletes or athletes and know what their selling. I probably spend too much time there...

I stopped in Jackrabbit yesterday to talk to them about getting a new bike. Last year, my first year of triathlons, I rode on a really nice road bike that I borrowed from Assaf. It's a great bike and he doesn't use it these days, but it's a little too small for me. So, this year I bought my own bike - a Felt F65 (here's a link). I've been really happy with the Felt and would recommend it to anyone. Aluminum with carbon seat stay and fork. Shimano Ultegra components. It's very reasonably priced for a quality road bike and it rides super comfortable. I put aerobars on it and feel like I can really fly. BUT - I think I'm going to upgrade. I know it's soon. My Felt only has 1,000 miles on it. But I now want a triathlon specific bike. I'm at the point where I'm a little competitive in the races and I think that a true tri bike (at some point I'll include more info on the difference between road and tri bikes) would help me be (a) faster and (b) more comfortable. The guys at Jackrabbit are running a pretty good deal on some bikes right now, so... This way, I can spend the off-season getting comfortable on the new bike and start next season all ready to rock and roll.

Ride time: 75 minutes
Average Heart Rate: 122

Official Last Day of Summer

I'm pretty sure today is the last day of summer. It's definitely begun to feel like fall. The mornings and nights have been chilly, but thankfully the days have been nice and sunny. The heat and humidity is gone. This is just about my favorite running weather. Unfortunately, it's dark later in the morning and earlier in the evening.

I was up this morning at 6:30 and it was pretty dark, but by the time I got outside for my run (around 7:10) it was turning into a beautiful morning. It was in the high-50's and sunny, without any wind. I ran 55 minutes, which in my mind equals about 7.25 miles. These days I estimate that I normally run 7:30-7:40 minute miles for that length of run. I think I probably run slightly faster than that, but I'd rather under-estimate than over-estimate.

It was a good run, but not great. It took my body a while to warm up and wake up and my legs felt pretty heavy. I still ran pretty hard and just as long as I wanted.

The marathon - I don't think I've mentioned yet that I'm running New York for my first time on November 5 - is now just about 6 weeks away. I haven't run a marathon in 8 years (Marine Corps Marathon in 1998 - more later). Each of the last two years I've tried training for marathons (Rock and Roll in San Diego for 2004 and NYC for 2005), but ended up getting injured and couldn't follow through and withdrew both times. This year, so far I'm feeling great. I'm running pretty fast and generally injury free (there's something not right in my right foot (more later), but it hasn't stopped me yet, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that I can get through the next 6 weeks). My longest training run so far is 18 miles. I'd like to do 20 this weekend, but I'll have to see how I feel on Sunday.

I'm hoping to go buy a new pair of running shoes today. This summer I've been running in Mizuno Wave Rider 9, size 11. This is my first pair and they've been great. They're lighter than the New Balances I was running in before and have nice cushioning and just the right amount of support for my feet. Now they have a little over 300 miles on them and are beginning to feel flat. I've got to get new ones.

Course: West Side Highway to southern tip of Battery Park
Time: 55 minutes
Distances: ~7.25 miles
Average Heart Rate: 156
Conditions: Sunny, 60, no wind

Who am I?

I figure this is as good a place to start as any. I plan to go into all of this in much more detail later, but here's an outline. Most of the details below are relevant for one reason or another.

I'm 33 (turning 34 in January). I live in New York and have lived here since October 1999. I grew up in a suburb of San Diego, CA, went to college in Rhode Island and law school in Michigan. Between college and law school, I lived in Austin, Texas. I work a regular lawyer-type job - sitting at a desk, dreaming about being outside. I started doing triathlons last year and so far, I've done seven races (3 in 2005, 4 this year). I also regularly run in New York Road Runner races here in the City. I don't race to win awards, but I definitely get competitive when I'm out there.

My lovely wife and I just celebrated our second wedding anniversary. We met in 2001 and were married in 2004 in Washington, DC (her hometown). She also does triathlons, and would probably argue that doing them was her idea first.

We have the best dog in the world. He's a 7 month old long hair chihuahua named Charlie and is just about the cutest thing ever. He's also a pretty good cheerleader and fan for me (see picture below from the 2006 NYC Triathlon).

My parents still live in San Diego. I have two siblings - I'm the oldest: my sister's in Los Angeles and my brother currently lives in New Zealand (he's been there almost two years). My in-laws and my brother-in-law are in Washington, DC.

First blog, first post

On Monday, July 24, 2006 I signed up to compete in the 2007 Ironman USA in Lake Placid, New York on July 22, 2007. It will be my first Ironman race. Today is Thursday, September 21, 2006 and as of right now, I have 10 months and 2 days to prepare. In fact, if all goes well, 10 months and 3 days from right now, I'll be about two and a half hours into the bike leg and probably deeply questioning my sanity.

This is my first post in what will hopefully be a 10-month journal of my training, racing and living in preparation for the Ironman. I've got lots of grand ideas about the content of this blog, but let's start slowly and just spend some time getting thoughts posted.

I'm not sure yet if I'll tell anyone about this blog - at this point, it's mostly for me to record my life.

I'm not sure yet how often I'll write - my goal is to write on a near-daily basis, but that might be a hard promise to keep.

Soon, I want to cover a bit of who I am, my althletic and triathlon history, why I signed up for the Ironman, why I want to write this blog and what I hope to take out of the whole experience. I also want this blog to serve as something of a training log.