Here's March:
Swim: 41,050 yards
Cycling (outdoors): 157.6 miles
Cycling (indoors): 13:40 (hours)
Run: 81.15 miles
Strength Training: 3:25 hours
Approximate monthly total training time: 52:00 (hours)
Weight: 170 pounds
A good strong month. The first one this year where I didn't have any forced time off (illness in January, hip/soas muscle in Febraury). I feel like my swim strength and fitness took a huge leap forward this month. Even though my run volume hasn't been that high, I don't feel like my run fitness has suffered at all. Finally, the cycling is coming along. I had some nice outside rides this month, including the long one today. As the weather gets nicer and nicer, I'll spend more time outside on the bike and I'm sure that by the time Placid comes along I'll be ready.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Peach Tree Loop
My original plan had been to do that ride in the Virginia mountains with the DC Tri Club this morning. But we didn't end up getting to the Shaffer's until after 1AM last night and I decided that getting up at 6AM for the ride just didn't make any sense. Instead, I drove about 40 minutes away to Poolesville, MD and rode on some really nice roads out there.
First, I followed a 25 mile route that I found on Bike Washington's website called the Peach Tree Loop (see map below). Then, I rode about 8 miles east on River Road, turned around, went about 10 miles past my starting point and finally rode back to the car. Some of the roads had a shoulder or bike lane, but mostly it was just riding on the side of the road. The nice thing was that there really weren't very many cars out there and the cars that were there were generally very careful around me. There were a ton of cyclists on the roads. As for the route itself, it was tough - tougher than I'd expected it would be. I guess you could describe it as rolling, and there weren't many long hills, but there were some pretty steep ones. I think I did a good job getting the calories in and drinking enough fluid. I felt good for most of the ride, but got really tired near the end of the ride. I can't believe that I'll have to do 52 more miles than that at Placid! Keeping the hilly Lake Placid bike course in mind, I was excited about getting some hills in today. After the way I felt today, I need to spend a lot more time on hilly courses over the next 16 weeks.
It was a fun ride and I would definitely recommend the loop and/or River Road to anyone looking for a ride close to DC. Also, Bike Washingtonis a great resource - tons of routes, along with accurate cue sheets (turn-by-turn directions) and commentary on the routes - terrain, traffic, scenery, etc.
Peach Tree 25 mile loop:
Bike - March 31
Distance: 60.7 miles
Time: 3:20
Average heart rate: 122
Course: Poolesville, MD and River Road
Conditions: Sunny, high 50's, a little wind
First, I followed a 25 mile route that I found on Bike Washington's website called the Peach Tree Loop (see map below). Then, I rode about 8 miles east on River Road, turned around, went about 10 miles past my starting point and finally rode back to the car. Some of the roads had a shoulder or bike lane, but mostly it was just riding on the side of the road. The nice thing was that there really weren't very many cars out there and the cars that were there were generally very careful around me. There were a ton of cyclists on the roads. As for the route itself, it was tough - tougher than I'd expected it would be. I guess you could describe it as rolling, and there weren't many long hills, but there were some pretty steep ones. I think I did a good job getting the calories in and drinking enough fluid. I felt good for most of the ride, but got really tired near the end of the ride. I can't believe that I'll have to do 52 more miles than that at Placid! Keeping the hilly Lake Placid bike course in mind, I was excited about getting some hills in today. After the way I felt today, I need to spend a lot more time on hilly courses over the next 16 weeks.
It was a fun ride and I would definitely recommend the loop and/or River Road to anyone looking for a ride close to DC. Also, Bike Washingtonis a great resource - tons of routes, along with accurate cue sheets (turn-by-turn directions) and commentary on the routes - terrain, traffic, scenery, etc.
Peach Tree 25 mile loop:
Bike - March 31
Distance: 60.7 miles
Time: 3:20
Average heart rate: 122
Course: Poolesville, MD and River Road
Conditions: Sunny, high 50's, a little wind
Friday, March 30, 2007
Getting caught up
Interesting. Last night when I initially started this post, I titled it "Tired". And last night I really was. I had been feeling tired for a few days - muscle tired, sleepy tired, just worn out. For the first time in a while I counted how many days it had been since I'd had a day off (since March 5, 25 days by today), something I used to dwell on a lot, but haven't really thought much about recently. Yesterday morning I did a nice long run which felt great, but over the course of the day I started feeling worn out and last night I did a short "recovery" bike ride on the trainer and felt like I couldn't get it going.
Today though, I feel great. Like a new man. I don't want to think about it too much, but I'm not sure why. I got an adequate night's sleep last night, but nothing special. Today's not an off day - in fact, I was up early to do 25 miles outside and then swam 2,000 pretty easy yards. Maybe last night's sleep was better quality than I've been getting, or maybe it's the fact that I've gotten a few fairly good nights' sleep in a row? Or, maybe it was the sleeve of graham crackers I ate last night after dinner? Maybe it goes back to what I was writing the other day - I used to think all the time about how many days I'd worked out and when I'd get my next day off, but now, I just do it. It's become a part of who I am and my daily routine. Of course I'm tired, but I spent yesterday thinking about that and now I'm over it. I don't have time or the desire to obsess about how much or how little I'm training, I just look at my schedule, plan my day and do.
We're driving down to DC tonight for the weekend. We'll see family and friends and Charlie will get some real outdoors time. We haven't been down there since Cujo passed away, so the visit is probably going to be a little tough on Elizabeth. But she needs the closure and it will be good for her.
As for training, I'm going to do a long ride on Saturday and then run in the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run. For tomorrow's ride, I'm considering hooking up with the DC Tri Club for their Saturday ride somewhere in Virginia. They're scheduled to do a 55 mile route and it looks nice and hilly (which I need). It'll take some motivation to go out there, but it would probably be worth it. I don't even want to think about what my legs are going to feel like on Sunday morning for the 10 miler, but I'm just going out to have fun and participate in a big event.
Swim - March 28
Distance: 4,500 yards
Time: 1:29
Strength Training - March 28
Time: 35 minutes
Run - March 29
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 149
Course: West Side Highway north
Conditions: Cold (high 30's), some wind, sunny
Bike - March 29
Time: 53 minutes
Average heart rate: 101
Indoor ride
Bike - March 30
Distance: 25.6 miles
Time: 1:32
Average heart rate: 124
Course: West Side Highway, Central Park
Conditions: Cold, sunny
Swim - March 30
Distance: 2,000 yards
Time: 46 minutes
Today though, I feel great. Like a new man. I don't want to think about it too much, but I'm not sure why. I got an adequate night's sleep last night, but nothing special. Today's not an off day - in fact, I was up early to do 25 miles outside and then swam 2,000 pretty easy yards. Maybe last night's sleep was better quality than I've been getting, or maybe it's the fact that I've gotten a few fairly good nights' sleep in a row? Or, maybe it was the sleeve of graham crackers I ate last night after dinner? Maybe it goes back to what I was writing the other day - I used to think all the time about how many days I'd worked out and when I'd get my next day off, but now, I just do it. It's become a part of who I am and my daily routine. Of course I'm tired, but I spent yesterday thinking about that and now I'm over it. I don't have time or the desire to obsess about how much or how little I'm training, I just look at my schedule, plan my day and do.
We're driving down to DC tonight for the weekend. We'll see family and friends and Charlie will get some real outdoors time. We haven't been down there since Cujo passed away, so the visit is probably going to be a little tough on Elizabeth. But she needs the closure and it will be good for her.
As for training, I'm going to do a long ride on Saturday and then run in the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run. For tomorrow's ride, I'm considering hooking up with the DC Tri Club for their Saturday ride somewhere in Virginia. They're scheduled to do a 55 mile route and it looks nice and hilly (which I need). It'll take some motivation to go out there, but it would probably be worth it. I don't even want to think about what my legs are going to feel like on Sunday morning for the 10 miler, but I'm just going out to have fun and participate in a big event.
Swim - March 28
Distance: 4,500 yards
Time: 1:29
Strength Training - March 28
Time: 35 minutes
Run - March 29
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 149
Course: West Side Highway north
Conditions: Cold (high 30's), some wind, sunny
Bike - March 29
Time: 53 minutes
Average heart rate: 101
Indoor ride
Bike - March 30
Distance: 25.6 miles
Time: 1:32
Average heart rate: 124
Course: West Side Highway, Central Park
Conditions: Cold, sunny
Swim - March 30
Distance: 2,000 yards
Time: 46 minutes
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
I was ROBBED!
The Prospect Park Spring Duathlon age group results were posted today and it confirms that I was robbed - my second place in the age group award is nice and all but it should have been a FIRST place award! You can see for yourself here.
I took it upon myself to give myself the rightful award.
Bike - March 27
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 119
Indoor ride
Rune - March 27
Distance: 3.75 miles
Time: 31:30
Average heart rate: 142
Course: West/East Village
Conditions: Warm (68+ degrees), clear
I took it upon myself to give myself the rightful award.
Bike - March 27
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 119
Indoor ride
Rune - March 27
Distance: 3.75 miles
Time: 31:30
Average heart rate: 142
Course: West/East Village
Conditions: Warm (68+ degrees), clear
Monday, March 26, 2007
CityTri Prospect Park Spring Duathlon
I think this is the longest I've gone without posting since I starting this blog. I've gotten away from feeling compelled to post everyday. I did plan on writing yesterday, but I had this stupid cold over the weekend and frankly, after running some errands and an afternoon nap, the day just slipped away from me. That means that you get an extra long entry today!
Training-wise, the weekend was great. The highlight was the Prospect Park Spring Duathlon. I think I've written that this was my first duathlon and my first race on the Crono.
All week the forecast called for a cold and potentially rainy morning on Saturday, but when I got out of bed at 5AM, it was clear and already warmer than I'd expected it to be at race time. It wasn't "warm", but it was probably in the low 40's, which, especially given my expectations, was great. I gave myself loads of extra time just in case the subway took a long time or I had some other problem, but I got to Prospect Park very quickly and was all checked in and ready to go by 6:30, well before the scheduled race start of 7:30. So, I paced around, chatted with a few people, warmed up a little and checked my bike, again and again. This event was part of the Gotham Cup Series, in which the various New York tri clubs compete to earn points toward a season title. There were a bunch of people representing their teams. I had signed up as a member of the Brooklyn Tri Club, because I know a few people on the team. I have to say that looking at the team members, all decked out in their matching outfits and talking about strategy and racing, etc. had me a little intimidated. By 7:30, it had warmed up some, but was still in the 40's and I wasn't sure what it would feel like, especially on the bike. I wore a short-sleeve baselayer under a long sleeve one, tri shorts, leg warmers, a hat and gloves. I knew I risked being too warm on the run portions, but was more concerned about being too cold on the bike.
The race finally started at 8AM, about a half hour late. I haven't been really training for speed or running short races, so I was a little nervous about trying to go out fast. I knew that given the distances, this race was all about speed, but I was worried that if I went out too fast I would blow up. When the gun went off, I started a bit slowly, but I noticed a pack of about 15 people already charging out to a substantial lead. I didn't think there was any way I could keep up with them, but wanted to be in the lead of the second pack. So, I kicked it up a notch or two and ended up with a good group of about five or six, taking charge of the second pack. I knew I was running faster than my normal "fast", but concentrating on sticking with this little group helped me maintain the pace. I was also a little too warm, but there wasn't anything I could do about that. We were cruising, but I had no idea how fast. I was trying to size up our little pack and felt confident that at least two of them were runners, not cyclists, who I would be able to drop on the bike. I wasn't sure about other two. (Don't ask how I made those determinations, I just "felt" it.) We cruised into transition (first 5K = 20:04) and after a somewhat clumsy and relatively slow transition I was on the bike and off. I immediately passed two people who got out of transition more quickly than I did and I started flying. I was feeling great on the bike. I just tucked right into aero, got into a comfortable gear and rode as fast as I could. In the 14 miles, I never once came out of aero or touched the brakes. The course was four loops of the Park, and I was passing people left and right, but I couldn't tell if the people I was passing were actually ahead of me or if they were slower ones who I was lapping. It felt considerably colder on the bike and I was happy to have that extra layer on my torso, especially anytime the wind started blowing. I finished the bike in 37:43 and my second transition felt fast and smooth. As I was leaving for the second run, I noticed two other cyclists coming into transition. I couldn't see anyone in front of me. I figured the leaders had a sizable lead on me, so my motivation was simply to not get passed on the second run. My legs were feeling fairly strong, but I ran with a strange pain deep inside my stomach. (My stomach actually hasn't been totally "right" for a couple weeks - there no specific symptom other than it just feels a little achy most of the time.) I checked back every so often and sometimes could see the guy behind me. He was still far enough back that I didn't have to panic, but I didn't have a "comfortable" lead. I just kept up my pace and at the final turn (a couple hundred yards to go) I tried picking it up and bit and came across the finish line pretty strong. I never once saw anyone ahead of me, but maintained my lead on the guy behind. I could tell, based on how few people were around, that I had finished near the front of the field. At one point during the run, one of the race marshalls had said something like "12" as I passed, but I didn't know if he meant I was 12th or if he was right or even talking to me for that matter.
I stuck around the race site for a while to hear the results. I chatted with some of the participants, and with some new confidence as I wasn't so intimidated by their teams any more. I ended up getting an award for second in my age group, which was a pretty proud moment. I was 11th overall.
Here's proof:
After the race, I went home and played with Charlie a bit and then crashed, hard. After my nap, I got right back on the bike and rode for an hour in front of some college basketball. It was an easy recovery ride - I didn't really want to do it, but I needed to make up some time on the bike. Saturday night was a fun dinner with some friends. And Sunday morning, I got on the bike again, but this time rode outside. Sunday's ride was nice - I was definitely feeling Saturday's effort in my legs, but I rode pretty strong and felt comfortable. Central Park was a bit of a zoo because in addition to all the normal tourists, horse carriages, pedicabs and runners and cyclists, there was a big running race going on. I was still able to ride at a nice clip in most of the Park, it just meant paying even closer attention than normal to all the people darting in and out and across the lanes.
Some other good news - both Elizabeth and Charlie's knees seem to be coming along well. Elizabeth's is still not great and she still can't run, but at least she was able to ride the bike and take a spin class this weekend. She went back to physical therapy today and is feeling optimistic about it. Charlie is healing great and at his follow-up appointment today, the vet said that he's just about ready to get back to full off-leash playing.
Finally, I've entirely revised my pre-Ironman race schedule. I think I'm going to scrap both the Columbia Triathlon and Eagleman 70.3 and replace them with the EnduraSport New York Harryman Half Ironman in Harriman State Park on May 20. For one, it's a heck of a lot closer to home and second, it fits better into my preparations. This race is nine weeks before Placid, compared to Eagleman, which is only six weeks. Having the extra time to recover and still get in some good training will be a better plan. It's too bad because I was planning on doing Columbia with my friend Matt and Eagleman is supposed to be a great race, but I won't miss the long drives to get to them!
Run - March 23
Distance: 5.5 miles
Time: 42 minutes
Average heart rate: 149
Course: West Side Highway
Conditions: Cool, overcast, really nice
Swim - March 23
Distance: 1,800 yards
Time: 33 minutes
Prospect Park Duathlon - March 24
Time: 1:20:51
Average heart rate: 151
Splits:
Run 1: 20:04
T1: 1:14
Bike: 37:43
T2: 0:45
Run 2: 21:05
Overall place: 11/111
Age group place: 2/16
Conditions: Cool, sunny, nearly perfect race weather
Bike - March 24
Time: 1:02
Average heart rate: 117
Indoor ride
Bike - March 25
Time: 2:07
Distance: 36.3 miles
Average heart rate:
Course: West Side Highway and Central Park
Conditions: Partly sunny, crisp (low 40's), some wind
Swim - March 26
Distance: 3,000 yards
Time: 1:03
Strength Training - March 26
Time: 45 minutes
Training-wise, the weekend was great. The highlight was the Prospect Park Spring Duathlon. I think I've written that this was my first duathlon and my first race on the Crono.
All week the forecast called for a cold and potentially rainy morning on Saturday, but when I got out of bed at 5AM, it was clear and already warmer than I'd expected it to be at race time. It wasn't "warm", but it was probably in the low 40's, which, especially given my expectations, was great. I gave myself loads of extra time just in case the subway took a long time or I had some other problem, but I got to Prospect Park very quickly and was all checked in and ready to go by 6:30, well before the scheduled race start of 7:30. So, I paced around, chatted with a few people, warmed up a little and checked my bike, again and again. This event was part of the Gotham Cup Series, in which the various New York tri clubs compete to earn points toward a season title. There were a bunch of people representing their teams. I had signed up as a member of the Brooklyn Tri Club, because I know a few people on the team. I have to say that looking at the team members, all decked out in their matching outfits and talking about strategy and racing, etc. had me a little intimidated. By 7:30, it had warmed up some, but was still in the 40's and I wasn't sure what it would feel like, especially on the bike. I wore a short-sleeve baselayer under a long sleeve one, tri shorts, leg warmers, a hat and gloves. I knew I risked being too warm on the run portions, but was more concerned about being too cold on the bike.
The race finally started at 8AM, about a half hour late. I haven't been really training for speed or running short races, so I was a little nervous about trying to go out fast. I knew that given the distances, this race was all about speed, but I was worried that if I went out too fast I would blow up. When the gun went off, I started a bit slowly, but I noticed a pack of about 15 people already charging out to a substantial lead. I didn't think there was any way I could keep up with them, but wanted to be in the lead of the second pack. So, I kicked it up a notch or two and ended up with a good group of about five or six, taking charge of the second pack. I knew I was running faster than my normal "fast", but concentrating on sticking with this little group helped me maintain the pace. I was also a little too warm, but there wasn't anything I could do about that. We were cruising, but I had no idea how fast. I was trying to size up our little pack and felt confident that at least two of them were runners, not cyclists, who I would be able to drop on the bike. I wasn't sure about other two. (Don't ask how I made those determinations, I just "felt" it.) We cruised into transition (first 5K = 20:04) and after a somewhat clumsy and relatively slow transition I was on the bike and off. I immediately passed two people who got out of transition more quickly than I did and I started flying. I was feeling great on the bike. I just tucked right into aero, got into a comfortable gear and rode as fast as I could. In the 14 miles, I never once came out of aero or touched the brakes. The course was four loops of the Park, and I was passing people left and right, but I couldn't tell if the people I was passing were actually ahead of me or if they were slower ones who I was lapping. It felt considerably colder on the bike and I was happy to have that extra layer on my torso, especially anytime the wind started blowing. I finished the bike in 37:43 and my second transition felt fast and smooth. As I was leaving for the second run, I noticed two other cyclists coming into transition. I couldn't see anyone in front of me. I figured the leaders had a sizable lead on me, so my motivation was simply to not get passed on the second run. My legs were feeling fairly strong, but I ran with a strange pain deep inside my stomach. (My stomach actually hasn't been totally "right" for a couple weeks - there no specific symptom other than it just feels a little achy most of the time.) I checked back every so often and sometimes could see the guy behind me. He was still far enough back that I didn't have to panic, but I didn't have a "comfortable" lead. I just kept up my pace and at the final turn (a couple hundred yards to go) I tried picking it up and bit and came across the finish line pretty strong. I never once saw anyone ahead of me, but maintained my lead on the guy behind. I could tell, based on how few people were around, that I had finished near the front of the field. At one point during the run, one of the race marshalls had said something like "12" as I passed, but I didn't know if he meant I was 12th or if he was right or even talking to me for that matter.
I stuck around the race site for a while to hear the results. I chatted with some of the participants, and with some new confidence as I wasn't so intimidated by their teams any more. I ended up getting an award for second in my age group, which was a pretty proud moment. I was 11th overall.
Here's proof:
After the race, I went home and played with Charlie a bit and then crashed, hard. After my nap, I got right back on the bike and rode for an hour in front of some college basketball. It was an easy recovery ride - I didn't really want to do it, but I needed to make up some time on the bike. Saturday night was a fun dinner with some friends. And Sunday morning, I got on the bike again, but this time rode outside. Sunday's ride was nice - I was definitely feeling Saturday's effort in my legs, but I rode pretty strong and felt comfortable. Central Park was a bit of a zoo because in addition to all the normal tourists, horse carriages, pedicabs and runners and cyclists, there was a big running race going on. I was still able to ride at a nice clip in most of the Park, it just meant paying even closer attention than normal to all the people darting in and out and across the lanes.
Some other good news - both Elizabeth and Charlie's knees seem to be coming along well. Elizabeth's is still not great and she still can't run, but at least she was able to ride the bike and take a spin class this weekend. She went back to physical therapy today and is feeling optimistic about it. Charlie is healing great and at his follow-up appointment today, the vet said that he's just about ready to get back to full off-leash playing.
Finally, I've entirely revised my pre-Ironman race schedule. I think I'm going to scrap both the Columbia Triathlon and Eagleman 70.3 and replace them with the EnduraSport New York Harryman Half Ironman in Harriman State Park on May 20. For one, it's a heck of a lot closer to home and second, it fits better into my preparations. This race is nine weeks before Placid, compared to Eagleman, which is only six weeks. Having the extra time to recover and still get in some good training will be a better plan. It's too bad because I was planning on doing Columbia with my friend Matt and Eagleman is supposed to be a great race, but I won't miss the long drives to get to them!
Run - March 23
Distance: 5.5 miles
Time: 42 minutes
Average heart rate: 149
Course: West Side Highway
Conditions: Cool, overcast, really nice
Swim - March 23
Distance: 1,800 yards
Time: 33 minutes
Prospect Park Duathlon - March 24
Time: 1:20:51
Average heart rate: 151
Splits:
Run 1: 20:04
T1: 1:14
Bike: 37:43
T2: 0:45
Run 2: 21:05
Overall place: 11/111
Age group place: 2/16
Conditions: Cool, sunny, nearly perfect race weather
Bike - March 24
Time: 1:02
Average heart rate: 117
Indoor ride
Bike - March 25
Time: 2:07
Distance: 36.3 miles
Average heart rate:
Course: West Side Highway and Central Park
Conditions: Partly sunny, crisp (low 40's), some wind
Swim - March 26
Distance: 3,000 yards
Time: 1:03
Strength Training - March 26
Time: 45 minutes
Thursday, March 22, 2007
And now it's FOUR MONTHS to go
Today marks four months until race day. If I could actually get that timer in the sidebar to work it would say that I have 122 days to go. That's a ton of time, right?
I definitely don't want to jinx anything, but I'm feeling pretty good right now and on track with my training. I sent out a pretty big email today giving people an update on my training and fund-raising and got some great, very positive responses. Everyone's been so supportive.
And regarding the fund-raising, I'm currently at nearly $7,000! That's amazing. Thank you to everyone who's donated. You rock.
OK, the kissy-fest is over. Time to get back to training.
Swim - March 21
Distance: 3,600 yards
Time: 1:12
Strength Training - March 21
Time: 35 minutes
Run - March 22
Distance: 7.75 miles
Time: 1:01
Average heart rate: 149
Course: West Side Highway to Battery Park
Conditions: Cool (low 40's), overcast
Bike - March 22
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 119
Indoor ride
I definitely don't want to jinx anything, but I'm feeling pretty good right now and on track with my training. I sent out a pretty big email today giving people an update on my training and fund-raising and got some great, very positive responses. Everyone's been so supportive.
And regarding the fund-raising, I'm currently at nearly $7,000! That's amazing. Thank you to everyone who's donated. You rock.
OK, the kissy-fest is over. Time to get back to training.
Swim - March 21
Distance: 3,600 yards
Time: 1:12
Strength Training - March 21
Time: 35 minutes
Run - March 22
Distance: 7.75 miles
Time: 1:01
Average heart rate: 149
Course: West Side Highway to Battery Park
Conditions: Cool (low 40's), overcast
Bike - March 22
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 119
Indoor ride
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
The Rollercoaster
This morning, during my walk to work after a pretty good ride on the trainer, I couldn't stop questioning this process and what I'm doing. I spent that time (and parts of my day since) asking myself what it's all about and what I'm doing it all for. Some of this comes out of my thinking about the commentary about Badwater, some has been inspired by reading Chris Bergland's upcoming book, "The Athlete's Way", but I've got this nagging thought asking me whether the sense of achievement I should feel on the night of July 22 is worth the price I'm paying to get there?
In the "The Athlete's Way", Chris discusses finding joy and happiness in physical exertion and he spends a fair amount of time writing about finding that zone when you workout where the effort of training just becomes natural and effortless - Chris calls it "a state of flow" or, he coined the term, "Superfluidity," for when it's taken to an extreme, and it's similar to what's usually referred to as "being in the zone." I know that feeling and I'm getting to know it better every day. When I'm training, once I find my comfort zone between not working hard enough and working too hard, I can melt into my workout and the time slips by and to some degree, I stop noticing my surroundings. It certainly doesn't happen during every workout, but it regularly happens while I'm running and is happening more and more during swims and rides - I felt it this morning on the trainer and it happened yesterday during my swim. The main set of yesterday's swim was 3 sets of 6x100. The first couple were easy, the next few were tough, but by the end of the first set, I was just on auto-pilot; I lost track of time and instead of timing each 100, I was just going by feel. After each set of six, I checked my cumulative time and I was pretty much spot on for the pace I wanted. A similar thing happened during this morning's ride: after warming up and getting comfortable, I just started rolling, rarely noticing how long it had been or how much time I had left to ride. Most times that I checked, I was solidly in heart rate zone 3, exactly where I wanted to be. My mind was blank - as Chris would probably put it, my down/animal brain (the cerebellum) had taken over. The key to all this is that that is my happy place. When I'm in that place, I can feel the why and the how about all that I'm doing. That's my high - all those neurons are firing and the right neurochemicals are coursing through my brain. The problem is that that high wears off quickly after I'm done training and I need to work on finding a similar kind of feeling for the rest of my day, especially those times that I'm feeling tired or bored or lonely. Maybe I need to react to my daily stresses in a way similar to how I deal with training "stresses" - when I'm swimming and I feel like my stroke is "off", I analyze it and fix it then and there, if possible; I try not to dwell on any larger issues about the stroke or what could happen. Applying all this to my life might mean treating each minute or hour as its own, and forgetting about what or where or how I'll be in the future. It won't be easy to do, but nothing worthwhile ever is, right?
Above, I wrote that I'm asking myself about the price paid to get across that finish line. What "price" is that? To be clear, I'm not so worried about the toll this is taking on my body - at this point, I feel I can handle that; I may come out on the other side a little worse for the wear, but pushing myself like this physically feels natural and if it weren't this, it would have to be something else - probably more dangerous! It's all the strain and stress that the training volume and side effects have on the rest of my life - psychologically, professionally, financially, socially with my friends and wife. For better or worse, I'm not the same person I was 8 months ago when I signed up for this madness. I really don't drink alcohol anymore and I try my best to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night, both of which are good things in theory, but it affects my desire to go out at night with friends or to stay up late with Elizabeth. Also, nearly every free hour of my days are filled by training, or preparation for training or cooling down after training. This is another limiting factor on my social life and on my career, or more correctly, career search. Finally, it's just friggin' expensive. The bike was one thing, but all the other costs - the gear, the clothes, the supplies, the travel to races, the hotels. It all adds up and I'm not feeling real flush right now anyway. But, and this is the big BUT, to trade any of the above would go against this feeling of "who I am" right now and as this training becomes a part of me, I can't go against my nature, regardless of the logic of making that "choice".
What's the lesson here? I think the first part of the lesson is that as I get more comfortably physically with the training, I need to think hard about its emotional effects and try to understand the psychological changes I'm going through. The second part of the lesson is that while I work on understanding and controlling it, I need to be prepared for ups and downs - even if they're stacked right on top of each other - because for every down there will be another up.
Sorry for the rant.
Swim - March 19
Distance: 3,000 yards
Time: 1:04
Strength Training - March 19
Time: 30 minutes
Bike - March 20
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 125
Indoor ride
Run - March 20
Distance: 3.7 miles
Time: 30 minutes
Average heart rate: 143
Treadmill run
In the "The Athlete's Way", Chris discusses finding joy and happiness in physical exertion and he spends a fair amount of time writing about finding that zone when you workout where the effort of training just becomes natural and effortless - Chris calls it "a state of flow" or, he coined the term, "Superfluidity," for when it's taken to an extreme, and it's similar to what's usually referred to as "being in the zone." I know that feeling and I'm getting to know it better every day. When I'm training, once I find my comfort zone between not working hard enough and working too hard, I can melt into my workout and the time slips by and to some degree, I stop noticing my surroundings. It certainly doesn't happen during every workout, but it regularly happens while I'm running and is happening more and more during swims and rides - I felt it this morning on the trainer and it happened yesterday during my swim. The main set of yesterday's swim was 3 sets of 6x100. The first couple were easy, the next few were tough, but by the end of the first set, I was just on auto-pilot; I lost track of time and instead of timing each 100, I was just going by feel. After each set of six, I checked my cumulative time and I was pretty much spot on for the pace I wanted. A similar thing happened during this morning's ride: after warming up and getting comfortable, I just started rolling, rarely noticing how long it had been or how much time I had left to ride. Most times that I checked, I was solidly in heart rate zone 3, exactly where I wanted to be. My mind was blank - as Chris would probably put it, my down/animal brain (the cerebellum) had taken over. The key to all this is that that is my happy place. When I'm in that place, I can feel the why and the how about all that I'm doing. That's my high - all those neurons are firing and the right neurochemicals are coursing through my brain. The problem is that that high wears off quickly after I'm done training and I need to work on finding a similar kind of feeling for the rest of my day, especially those times that I'm feeling tired or bored or lonely. Maybe I need to react to my daily stresses in a way similar to how I deal with training "stresses" - when I'm swimming and I feel like my stroke is "off", I analyze it and fix it then and there, if possible; I try not to dwell on any larger issues about the stroke or what could happen. Applying all this to my life might mean treating each minute or hour as its own, and forgetting about what or where or how I'll be in the future. It won't be easy to do, but nothing worthwhile ever is, right?
Above, I wrote that I'm asking myself about the price paid to get across that finish line. What "price" is that? To be clear, I'm not so worried about the toll this is taking on my body - at this point, I feel I can handle that; I may come out on the other side a little worse for the wear, but pushing myself like this physically feels natural and if it weren't this, it would have to be something else - probably more dangerous! It's all the strain and stress that the training volume and side effects have on the rest of my life - psychologically, professionally, financially, socially with my friends and wife. For better or worse, I'm not the same person I was 8 months ago when I signed up for this madness. I really don't drink alcohol anymore and I try my best to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night, both of which are good things in theory, but it affects my desire to go out at night with friends or to stay up late with Elizabeth. Also, nearly every free hour of my days are filled by training, or preparation for training or cooling down after training. This is another limiting factor on my social life and on my career, or more correctly, career search. Finally, it's just friggin' expensive. The bike was one thing, but all the other costs - the gear, the clothes, the supplies, the travel to races, the hotels. It all adds up and I'm not feeling real flush right now anyway. But, and this is the big BUT, to trade any of the above would go against this feeling of "who I am" right now and as this training becomes a part of me, I can't go against my nature, regardless of the logic of making that "choice".
What's the lesson here? I think the first part of the lesson is that as I get more comfortably physically with the training, I need to think hard about its emotional effects and try to understand the psychological changes I'm going through. The second part of the lesson is that while I work on understanding and controlling it, I need to be prepared for ups and downs - even if they're stacked right on top of each other - because for every down there will be another up.
Sorry for the rant.
Swim - March 19
Distance: 3,000 yards
Time: 1:04
Strength Training - March 19
Time: 30 minutes
Bike - March 20
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 125
Indoor ride
Run - March 20
Distance: 3.7 miles
Time: 30 minutes
Average heart rate: 143
Treadmill run
Sunday, March 18, 2007
"Running on the Sun" - Badwater Ultramarathon
I just finished watching "Running on the Sun", a documentary about the 1999 Badwater Ultramarathon. The Badwater Ultramarathon is a 135 mile ultramarathon that begins at Badwater, Death Valley (at -280 feet below sea level, the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere) and finishes at Whitney Portal, 11 miles from the top of Mt. Whitney (the highest point in the contiguous U.S.). As if running 135 miles isn't enough of a challenge, racers also have endure temperatures up to 130 degrees and do it on little, if any sleep. I've read articles about the race, read Dean Karnazes account in his book "Ultramarathon Man" and heard stories from my friend Chris Bergland (whose own book "The Athlete's Way: Sweat and the Biology of Bliss" is coming out this summer - I've gotten my hands on a pre-publication copy and just started reading it. I'll write more soon, but it's great so far).
All those written stories, however, are nothing compared to watching athletes go through the race. What I mean is that right now I'm in this place physically and socially where I'm becoming somewhat numb to how amazing (and amazingly difficult) it is to compete in this kind of races. I'm training for a race that two years ago I never would have considered myself capable of competing in - and I'm now certain that I can do it (or will be able to do it in 18 weeks). Also, a fair amount of people I know are participating in or are veterans of endurance racing - I talk to them on a regular basis or I read their blogs and although running a 50 mile race is still beyond my abilities, I see "normal" people doing 50's and 100's; a friend of Assaf's who I've met got into Badwater this year. In "Ultramarathon Man", Dean Karnazes writes about the struggles of Badwater - the heat, the dehydration, the G.I. issues and the exhaustion, but he makes it - many times, including a win in 2004. I know that both he and Christopher had DNF's at Badwater, but of course, anyone can have a bad race. And somehow, in all that reading, the difficulty of the race and the struggles that racers endure got lost. Not any more. The movie shows, in all it's gory detail, the headaches, the vomiting, the disorientation, the blisters, stiff muscles and absolute exhaustion that these racers experience. But you also get to see and experience the thrill of completion, the supportive friends, family and strangers and the camaraderie. Most of the racers don't give up, and even the few that don't finish certainly aren't quitting and it didn't appear to be a "choice" - this just wasn't their day and they'll be back to fight again.
One lesson that I learned from the movie actually came from the interview with the race direction in the bonus features. The race director got me thinking about why I'm doing all this. I'm paraphrasing, but he said something to the effect that training for, and competing in, Badwater isn't just about dedication. To survive that race, it has to go beyond dedication - it becomes just part of what you do an who you are. It gets to the stage where you just can't help doing it anymore. For me, dedication has always meant training every day, but maybe anyone with time and a little drive can go through the motions and put in the hours. The next step is to make it a part of my life so that it's not so much about checking off another training session - instead it becomes something that I just do "naturally" and without forcing myself to do it or even ever doubting that it's what I'll do. Right now, I think I'm somewhere in between the two - moving closer to the "natural effort" stage. The closer I get to that stage, the more comfortable I'll be and the more ready I'll be to take on Lake Placid.
The other lesson I took from this movie is that I certainly cannot take my race lightly. These men and women were as fit as anyone I've ever seen and I'm sure they thought they were ready for Badwater. I know better than to compare an Ironman to Badwater in the absolute sense, but for me, for now, they may as well be the same thing. No matter how much training and preparation I put in, no matter how few scheduled training sessions I miss, I have to be ready for anything on raceday. I have to be mentally prepared to finish and physically able to do so. I'm definitely part of the way there on both fronts already.
18 weeks.
Swim - March 16
Distance: 1,800 yards
Time: 31 minutes
Run - March 17
Distance: 3.75 miles
Time: 31 minutes
Average heart rate: 142
Treadmill run
Bike - March 17
Time: 2:00
Average heart rate: 124
Indoor ride
Bike - March 18
Time: 2:00
Average heart rate: 127
Indoor ride
Run - March 18
Distance: 2.5 miles
Time: 21 minutes
Average heart rate: 141
Course: Around West Village
Conditions: Cold (mid-30's), some wind, very sunny and clear
All those written stories, however, are nothing compared to watching athletes go through the race. What I mean is that right now I'm in this place physically and socially where I'm becoming somewhat numb to how amazing (and amazingly difficult) it is to compete in this kind of races. I'm training for a race that two years ago I never would have considered myself capable of competing in - and I'm now certain that I can do it (or will be able to do it in 18 weeks). Also, a fair amount of people I know are participating in or are veterans of endurance racing - I talk to them on a regular basis or I read their blogs and although running a 50 mile race is still beyond my abilities, I see "normal" people doing 50's and 100's; a friend of Assaf's who I've met got into Badwater this year. In "Ultramarathon Man", Dean Karnazes writes about the struggles of Badwater - the heat, the dehydration, the G.I. issues and the exhaustion, but he makes it - many times, including a win in 2004. I know that both he and Christopher had DNF's at Badwater, but of course, anyone can have a bad race. And somehow, in all that reading, the difficulty of the race and the struggles that racers endure got lost. Not any more. The movie shows, in all it's gory detail, the headaches, the vomiting, the disorientation, the blisters, stiff muscles and absolute exhaustion that these racers experience. But you also get to see and experience the thrill of completion, the supportive friends, family and strangers and the camaraderie. Most of the racers don't give up, and even the few that don't finish certainly aren't quitting and it didn't appear to be a "choice" - this just wasn't their day and they'll be back to fight again.
One lesson that I learned from the movie actually came from the interview with the race direction in the bonus features. The race director got me thinking about why I'm doing all this. I'm paraphrasing, but he said something to the effect that training for, and competing in, Badwater isn't just about dedication. To survive that race, it has to go beyond dedication - it becomes just part of what you do an who you are. It gets to the stage where you just can't help doing it anymore. For me, dedication has always meant training every day, but maybe anyone with time and a little drive can go through the motions and put in the hours. The next step is to make it a part of my life so that it's not so much about checking off another training session - instead it becomes something that I just do "naturally" and without forcing myself to do it or even ever doubting that it's what I'll do. Right now, I think I'm somewhere in between the two - moving closer to the "natural effort" stage. The closer I get to that stage, the more comfortable I'll be and the more ready I'll be to take on Lake Placid.
The other lesson I took from this movie is that I certainly cannot take my race lightly. These men and women were as fit as anyone I've ever seen and I'm sure they thought they were ready for Badwater. I know better than to compare an Ironman to Badwater in the absolute sense, but for me, for now, they may as well be the same thing. No matter how much training and preparation I put in, no matter how few scheduled training sessions I miss, I have to be ready for anything on raceday. I have to be mentally prepared to finish and physically able to do so. I'm definitely part of the way there on both fronts already.
18 weeks.
Swim - March 16
Distance: 1,800 yards
Time: 31 minutes
Run - March 17
Distance: 3.75 miles
Time: 31 minutes
Average heart rate: 142
Treadmill run
Bike - March 17
Time: 2:00
Average heart rate: 124
Indoor ride
Bike - March 18
Time: 2:00
Average heart rate: 127
Indoor ride
Run - March 18
Distance: 2.5 miles
Time: 21 minutes
Average heart rate: 141
Course: Around West Village
Conditions: Cold (mid-30's), some wind, very sunny and clear
Thursday, March 15, 2007
March Madness
Tonight I had my first fast, strong run in nearly a month. Since the fall on my bike, I've either been in pain or trying to be careful not to re-aggravate whatever was bothering me. Over the course of the last two weeks, the pain has slowly gone away. I can still feel the occasional "twinge" in my groin/hip/psoas region, but it's pretty rare. Interestingly, the healing process seems to have really started accelerating around the time I got back into doing some step-ups in the gym and some light running. Granted, I didn't start those activities until over two weeks after the accident, but I have to think that strengthening the legs helped the recovery. In speaking with Assaf, I've found out that there are two camps within sports medicine for treating relatively "minor" injuries like the one I had - one that advocates the "R.I.C.E." method - rest, ice, compression, elevation - and one that recommends a more aggressive treatment, with stretching and strengthening in addition to icing. (Forgive me Assaf - and any other docs - I'm sure I've totally misstated the process, but hopefully I'm in the ballpark. Disclaimer: if anyone gets injured, follow your doctor's advice, certainly not mine. Just keep this in mind if your doc recommends total rest.) After a couple weeks of R.I.C.E-like treatment, with swimming and cycling but no running, I switched to the other method and got great and quick results. One could argue that the rest helped set me up for the more strengthening process, but I think that using the muscles and strengthening them were the key steps to my recovery.
Anyway, tonight's run was great. I met up with Assaf and we ran my normal route down to Battery Park. I felt fast and comfortable and cruised along with him. After a few days in the 60's, tonight it got really cold and crappy out again, but it just felt good to be out there running and not worrying too much about my leg.
March Madness began today. In years past, for as many as I can really remember, today was a day that I spent in front of the TV or at least the computer, with my bracket(s) in hand, watching scores, hoping for the right upsets and highlighting or crossing out teams on that bracket. This year, I could have forgotten that it was even going on. All the free time I've used in years past to dedicate to college basketball is now being used up training for Lake Placid. During football season I noticed the same thing: sure I still followed the Chargers but in the past I could have told you nearly every score of every game each weekend. Not this year. I barely gave my fantasy football team enough attention to field a full squad. Spring training has started, but what can I tell you about 2007 baseball? Nothing that I catch in my morning thumb-through of the Post. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out - tomorrow I won't be part of the conversations at work about that amazing upset or how many of today's 16 games I got right. And that camraderie is comforting. On the other hand, I know that I spent this evening bettering myself (or at least making myself feel that way) and preparing for the biggest athletic day of my 34 years. And that's what I've been doing all these hours - whether it's actually training or going to be a little earlier so I'm well-rested for training or reading an article on-line or clicking through the new posts on Slowtwitch, I'm doing something that is making me feel better. The NCAA tournament happens every year, I can take this one off.
Elizabeth's in Los Angeles for work leaving me a bachelor for the rest of the week, including the weekend. What's a good bachelor to do in this situation? Go out for a crazy night with the guys? Stay up all night partying? How about getting into bed even earlier than when the wife's around and putting in some extra hours training and with the dog? And I think I'm happier for it. Yep, I'm that guy.
Run - March 15
Time: 55:37
Distance: 7.25 miles
Average heart rate: 148
Course: West Side Highway to Battery Park
Conditions: Cold (mid 40's), windy, drizzling
Anyway, tonight's run was great. I met up with Assaf and we ran my normal route down to Battery Park. I felt fast and comfortable and cruised along with him. After a few days in the 60's, tonight it got really cold and crappy out again, but it just felt good to be out there running and not worrying too much about my leg.
March Madness began today. In years past, for as many as I can really remember, today was a day that I spent in front of the TV or at least the computer, with my bracket(s) in hand, watching scores, hoping for the right upsets and highlighting or crossing out teams on that bracket. This year, I could have forgotten that it was even going on. All the free time I've used in years past to dedicate to college basketball is now being used up training for Lake Placid. During football season I noticed the same thing: sure I still followed the Chargers but in the past I could have told you nearly every score of every game each weekend. Not this year. I barely gave my fantasy football team enough attention to field a full squad. Spring training has started, but what can I tell you about 2007 baseball? Nothing that I catch in my morning thumb-through of the Post. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out - tomorrow I won't be part of the conversations at work about that amazing upset or how many of today's 16 games I got right. And that camraderie is comforting. On the other hand, I know that I spent this evening bettering myself (or at least making myself feel that way) and preparing for the biggest athletic day of my 34 years. And that's what I've been doing all these hours - whether it's actually training or going to be a little earlier so I'm well-rested for training or reading an article on-line or clicking through the new posts on Slowtwitch, I'm doing something that is making me feel better. The NCAA tournament happens every year, I can take this one off.
Elizabeth's in Los Angeles for work leaving me a bachelor for the rest of the week, including the weekend. What's a good bachelor to do in this situation? Go out for a crazy night with the guys? Stay up all night partying? How about getting into bed even earlier than when the wife's around and putting in some extra hours training and with the dog? And I think I'm happier for it. Yep, I'm that guy.
Run - March 15
Time: 55:37
Distance: 7.25 miles
Average heart rate: 148
Course: West Side Highway to Battery Park
Conditions: Cold (mid 40's), windy, drizzling
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Zefrank.com
On an unrelated-to-triathlons note, for the last 51 weeks, my good friend Ze Frank has been writing, producing and starring in his video blog, "The Show". When he started, he planned on producing a new episode every weekday for one year - he's done just that and the year is over this Saturday, March 17. The Show is part political commentary, part humor, part commentary on life, (big) part craziness. It's really an amazing thing he's done. If you've been watching, this final week is a good one to catch; if you haven't seen it, you should go check it out, while you still can. (P.S. the rest of his website, zefrank.com, has some pretty amazing and fun stuff too.)
Swim - March 14
Time: 1:12
Distance: 3,600 yards
Strength Training - March 14
Time: 30 minutes
Swim - March 14
Time: 1:12
Distance: 3,600 yards
Strength Training - March 14
Time: 30 minutes
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
BRICK
This morning I did my first semi-BRICK workout of the season. A "BRICK," for those of you who don't know, is a bike-run combination. No one really knows where the name comes from - it's sort of a combination of the words "bike" and "run", it sort of describes how your legs might feel coming off the bike and starting the run, and there are other theories out there.
I'm calling this a semi-BRICK because not going through an outside transition with all the attendant stress made it easier this morning than I usually find them to be. Also, riding outside just feels harder on the legs than riding on the trainer does. On the other hand, I didn't mess around at all between the bike and the run. I had my running shoes and a long-sleeve shirt ready and it didn't take me more than 90 seconds to get out the door. Thankfully, I've always done pretty well with transitions and this morning's was no different. My legs felt good right from the start. My only issue with the run is that I still can't keep my heart rate down and still maintain a good pace. My goal this morning was to keep my heart rate in the low-to-mid 130's and try to run about 8-8:30 miles. I think I was running around 8 minute miles, but my heart was beating in the 140-145 range nearly the entire time. I was having this "problem" last week as well. It's never been a problem in the past, but I've heard that it becomes a huge deal over the course of an 11+ hour race. I need to talk to with John to see how to work on this.
I was sitting at my desk today, plowing my way through a 12 ounce bag of pretzels that I opened yesterday and realized just how much it is I am eating these days. In addition to a pre-workout small breakfast, often a gel/sports drink while working out, a post-workout breakfast, a late morning protein bar, lunch, an afternoon snack, an evening snack and dinner, I'm also averaging a 12 ounce bag of pretzels every two days. According to the bag, that's an additional six servings (about 720 calories) a day. Remember, I'm not eating these instead of my other food. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't feel like I'm eating too much and I'm mostly eating because I'm hungry (as opposed to bored), but I'm just amazed at how many calories I'm consuming these days. I should really try adding it up one day or one week. Whatever amount it is, it's just about right because my weight has stayed relatively constant for the last few months. But when this Ironman training is over, I could be in big trouble.
Bike - March 13
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 126
Indoor ride
Run - March 13
Time: 20 minutes
Distance: 2.5 miles
Average heart rate: 146
Course: West Village/Soho streets
Conditions: nice morning, mid-40's
I'm calling this a semi-BRICK because not going through an outside transition with all the attendant stress made it easier this morning than I usually find them to be. Also, riding outside just feels harder on the legs than riding on the trainer does. On the other hand, I didn't mess around at all between the bike and the run. I had my running shoes and a long-sleeve shirt ready and it didn't take me more than 90 seconds to get out the door. Thankfully, I've always done pretty well with transitions and this morning's was no different. My legs felt good right from the start. My only issue with the run is that I still can't keep my heart rate down and still maintain a good pace. My goal this morning was to keep my heart rate in the low-to-mid 130's and try to run about 8-8:30 miles. I think I was running around 8 minute miles, but my heart was beating in the 140-145 range nearly the entire time. I was having this "problem" last week as well. It's never been a problem in the past, but I've heard that it becomes a huge deal over the course of an 11+ hour race. I need to talk to with John to see how to work on this.
I was sitting at my desk today, plowing my way through a 12 ounce bag of pretzels that I opened yesterday and realized just how much it is I am eating these days. In addition to a pre-workout small breakfast, often a gel/sports drink while working out, a post-workout breakfast, a late morning protein bar, lunch, an afternoon snack, an evening snack and dinner, I'm also averaging a 12 ounce bag of pretzels every two days. According to the bag, that's an additional six servings (about 720 calories) a day. Remember, I'm not eating these instead of my other food. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't feel like I'm eating too much and I'm mostly eating because I'm hungry (as opposed to bored), but I'm just amazed at how many calories I'm consuming these days. I should really try adding it up one day or one week. Whatever amount it is, it's just about right because my weight has stayed relatively constant for the last few months. But when this Ironman training is over, I could be in big trouble.
Bike - March 13
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 126
Indoor ride
Run - March 13
Time: 20 minutes
Distance: 2.5 miles
Average heart rate: 146
Course: West Village/Soho streets
Conditions: nice morning, mid-40's
Monday, March 12, 2007
Going clubbing?
This morning I did the same swim sets that I did on Friday (main set of 3x6x100). I swam great. I felt fluid and smooth in the water and had to remind myself to slow down. I swam the 100's pretty consistently in the 1:29-1:32 range (I was supposed to be closer to 1:35).
Yesterday I did another short run. I had signed up for a 15K NYRR race, but decided to bail. I got up in plenty of time, but I was only scheduled to do 30 minutes and didn't want to push it; I also didn't see any real need to haul my butt up to the Park. Instead, I took Charlie out for a leisurely walk and then just went for a run around downtown Manhattan - I started off going crosstown west and then down Seventh Avenue into Tribeca, then I cruised through and around Tribeca and Chinatown, over through a bit of the East Village and then home. It was fun to just run around and see the streets, including some I don't think I'd ever been on. It was early enough that the streets weren't crowded, but there were people out. The City felt relatively quiet, which is a strange feeling.
I ran by a club (no name or sign outside) that was still going - I could hear the house music from outside and there were a few bouncer-types standing at the door. It amazes me that people would (could) still be going from the night before. I'm not sure if I'm impressed or depressed. I guess everyone has their passion - and they'd probably think I'm crazy to stay in on a Saturday night so I can get up and go for an early morning run! (And maybe it is...)
Run - March 11
Time: 36 minutes
Distance: 4.5 miles
Average heart rate: 143
Course: All around the West Village, Soho and East Village
Conditions: Sunny, crisp, high 40's, light wind - excellent!
Swim - March 12
Distance: 3,100 yards
Time: 1:07
Strength Training - March 12
Time: 25 minutes
Yesterday I did another short run. I had signed up for a 15K NYRR race, but decided to bail. I got up in plenty of time, but I was only scheduled to do 30 minutes and didn't want to push it; I also didn't see any real need to haul my butt up to the Park. Instead, I took Charlie out for a leisurely walk and then just went for a run around downtown Manhattan - I started off going crosstown west and then down Seventh Avenue into Tribeca, then I cruised through and around Tribeca and Chinatown, over through a bit of the East Village and then home. It was fun to just run around and see the streets, including some I don't think I'd ever been on. It was early enough that the streets weren't crowded, but there were people out. The City felt relatively quiet, which is a strange feeling.
I ran by a club (no name or sign outside) that was still going - I could hear the house music from outside and there were a few bouncer-types standing at the door. It amazes me that people would (could) still be going from the night before. I'm not sure if I'm impressed or depressed. I guess everyone has their passion - and they'd probably think I'm crazy to stay in on a Saturday night so I can get up and go for an early morning run! (And maybe it is...)
Run - March 11
Time: 36 minutes
Distance: 4.5 miles
Average heart rate: 143
Course: All around the West Village, Soho and East Village
Conditions: Sunny, crisp, high 40's, light wind - excellent!
Swim - March 12
Distance: 3,100 yards
Time: 1:07
Strength Training - March 12
Time: 25 minutes
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Crono!
This morning I finally took the Crono for a ride outside! And... it was great. The fit is not exactly perfect yet, but it's really close and man, is that an awesome bike to ride. I've never ridden a triathlon bike before and I'm making the switch from my aluminum Felt to this all carbon bike, and this one rides like a dream. How psyched am I right now?! It was smooth and comfortable and responsive and light and fast. I felt great riding it. Thankfully, the Park wasn't too crowded this morning because I kept thinking about how sweet my bike is and looking down to check it out - had there been a lot of bike traffic, I certainly would have gotten in an accident. Getting out there on it and having a good ride is such a relief. Getting used the the aerobars and brake placement took a little getting used to, but after one more ride I bet I'll be fine. Now it's time to start kitting it out - most importantly, I need new pedals (I've taken Elizabeth's for now, but she'll need them back soon) and I need to install my bike computer. Riding without the computer today was no problem because I know the distances to and from the Park (~5 miles) and the distance around the Park (~6 miles), so it wasn't hard to calculate, but for other rides, I'll certainly want it hooked up. I also want to get an aerobar drink set-up. Finally, I'll probably get some race wheels before the season starts. I mean if I've gone this far, how can I not? After a relatively easy ride, I dropped the bike off at home, took off some layers and went for a short run. I didn't waste time between the bike and the run, but I wasn't in a hurry either. Also, the last mile or so of the ride from the West Side Highway to home is pretty slow. With those factors, I can't consider today a true test of how the bike-run transition feels. I'm not too worried, I've never had too much trouble with the transitions in the past and still have plenty of time to get them down pat.
When I was walking home from work last night, I stopped into Jackrabbit. Of course Chris was there and while we were chatting, he asked about my hip. I told him that things were better and while I was describing the pain, he said that it sounded to him like it could be my psoas muscle. I'd sure never heard of a psoas muscle before, but when he described where it was and had me to a stretch to see if it pulled the psoas, it was spot on. Here's the Wikipedia entry (the most interesting fact there is that when it comes to meat, the psoas is the same thing as the tenderloin). I came home and did a little on-line research and that seems like it could be it - as I've written, the pain wasn't/isn't isolated to my hip, groin or back and seems to move around a bit. I found a couple recommended stretches and I'm going to try doing them each day. I also think I need to strengthen that muscle to avoid future injuries. Figuring out how to do that is one of my projects for tomorrow.
Bike - March 10
Time: 1:18
Distance: 21.5
Average heart rate: 125
Course: West Side Highway to Central Park, 2 loops
Conditions: Overcast, cool, but much warmer than a few weeks ago
Run - March 10
Time: 32 minutes
Distance: 3.75
Average heart rate: 144
Course: Zigzag around the West Village and West Side Highway
Conditions: Overcast, warmed up (mid to high 40's), comfortable
When I was walking home from work last night, I stopped into Jackrabbit. Of course Chris was there and while we were chatting, he asked about my hip. I told him that things were better and while I was describing the pain, he said that it sounded to him like it could be my psoas muscle. I'd sure never heard of a psoas muscle before, but when he described where it was and had me to a stretch to see if it pulled the psoas, it was spot on. Here's the Wikipedia entry (the most interesting fact there is that when it comes to meat, the psoas is the same thing as the tenderloin). I came home and did a little on-line research and that seems like it could be it - as I've written, the pain wasn't/isn't isolated to my hip, groin or back and seems to move around a bit. I found a couple recommended stretches and I'm going to try doing them each day. I also think I need to strengthen that muscle to avoid future injuries. Figuring out how to do that is one of my projects for tomorrow.
Bike - March 10
Time: 1:18
Distance: 21.5
Average heart rate: 125
Course: West Side Highway to Central Park, 2 loops
Conditions: Overcast, cool, but much warmer than a few weeks ago
Run - March 10
Time: 32 minutes
Distance: 3.75
Average heart rate: 144
Course: Zigzag around the West Village and West Side Highway
Conditions: Overcast, warmed up (mid to high 40's), comfortable
Friday, March 09, 2007
CAF Fundraising Update
As an update to my efforts to my CAF fundraising efforts, so far I've raised $5,505, not including some matching gifts that haven't been received. (If you want to donate, click here to get to my donation page. The link is also in "About Me" in the sidebar.) I have to note that I'm very impressed that there are companies that match employees' donations (unfortunately, it seems that very few companies actually do it). It's a very generous act and I imagine its serves as a nice incentive to those employees. Special thanks to The Baupost Group and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for your matching gifts. So far, I've received 29 donations from friends and family - thanks to everyone for their generosity. I'm feeling pretty lucky to have such supportive people around me.
I had another good (read: pain free) run yesterday evening and a solid swim this morning. It's been a relatively "easy" week - scheduled recovery week and just slowly testing out my hip.
For the first time in months (probably since last summer), I ran on a treadmill. I'm not sure why I decided that the treadmill made sense - sure, it was cold out, but it was warmer than it has been for many of my runs this year. I'm trying to keep my intensity somewhat in check this week and the treadmill seemed like an easy way to regulate that. Also, I wanted to get some hills into the run and unless I go all the way up to Central Park, there just aren't hills around. Running on the treadmill was fine - I watched a little basketball and played with the speed and hills. There's no way I'm making it a habit though. It gets hot and stuffy in the gym and I'd much rather brave a little cold and be outside. Hopefully, we're quickly getting to the point this year where "braving the cold" will be a thing of the past. What's likely to happen, though, is that we'll go straight from "braving the cold" to "enduring the heat and humidity". Please, give us some spring!
My leg is still bothering me a little bit. I'm not sure really how to describe it. It's fine under normal circumstances and didn't even bother me while I was swimming. It's all in my groin now, on the left. It's just certain movements that cause pain - if I step laterally too wide it hurts for a second. It feels like the connection between my leg and the inside of my hip is a little weak. During my strength training today, I added some of those adductor exercises to see if I can strengthen the muscles. The exercises didn't hurt it, so I think that's a good sign. This morning's swim went well. I felt better than I did on Wednesday, but still not as fluid as I've been feeling recently. Maybe my arms are just tired. Today's main set was 3x6x100 with 10 seconds rest between 100's. My times were pretty solidly in the low 1:30's, which is great for me. I'll never, ever be swimming 1:20's, but I'll be psyched if I can pull 1:30's on a consistent basis. I've only been swimming laps consistently for about two years now, and except for my one lesson in January, have never had any instruction, and it's only been the last year that I've really been emphasizing lap time, instead of survival, so I can't really complain - and definitely shouldn't even begin to compare myself to life-long swimmers. As for my tired arms, I'm not swimming over the weekend, so I have at least a couple days out of the pool coming up.
Bike - March 8
Time: 45 minutes
Average heart rate: 123
Indoor ride:
Run - March 8
Distance: 3.75 miles
Time: 31:18
Average heart rate: 138
Treadmill run
Swim - March 9
Distance: 3,100 yards
Time: 1:09
Strength Training - March 9
Time: 25 minutes
I had another good (read: pain free) run yesterday evening and a solid swim this morning. It's been a relatively "easy" week - scheduled recovery week and just slowly testing out my hip.
For the first time in months (probably since last summer), I ran on a treadmill. I'm not sure why I decided that the treadmill made sense - sure, it was cold out, but it was warmer than it has been for many of my runs this year. I'm trying to keep my intensity somewhat in check this week and the treadmill seemed like an easy way to regulate that. Also, I wanted to get some hills into the run and unless I go all the way up to Central Park, there just aren't hills around. Running on the treadmill was fine - I watched a little basketball and played with the speed and hills. There's no way I'm making it a habit though. It gets hot and stuffy in the gym and I'd much rather brave a little cold and be outside. Hopefully, we're quickly getting to the point this year where "braving the cold" will be a thing of the past. What's likely to happen, though, is that we'll go straight from "braving the cold" to "enduring the heat and humidity". Please, give us some spring!
My leg is still bothering me a little bit. I'm not sure really how to describe it. It's fine under normal circumstances and didn't even bother me while I was swimming. It's all in my groin now, on the left. It's just certain movements that cause pain - if I step laterally too wide it hurts for a second. It feels like the connection between my leg and the inside of my hip is a little weak. During my strength training today, I added some of those adductor exercises to see if I can strengthen the muscles. The exercises didn't hurt it, so I think that's a good sign. This morning's swim went well. I felt better than I did on Wednesday, but still not as fluid as I've been feeling recently. Maybe my arms are just tired. Today's main set was 3x6x100 with 10 seconds rest between 100's. My times were pretty solidly in the low 1:30's, which is great for me. I'll never, ever be swimming 1:20's, but I'll be psyched if I can pull 1:30's on a consistent basis. I've only been swimming laps consistently for about two years now, and except for my one lesson in January, have never had any instruction, and it's only been the last year that I've really been emphasizing lap time, instead of survival, so I can't really complain - and definitely shouldn't even begin to compare myself to life-long swimmers. As for my tired arms, I'm not swimming over the weekend, so I have at least a couple days out of the pool coming up.
Bike - March 8
Time: 45 minutes
Average heart rate: 123
Indoor ride:
Run - March 8
Distance: 3.75 miles
Time: 31:18
Average heart rate: 138
Treadmill run
Swim - March 9
Distance: 3,100 yards
Time: 1:09
Strength Training - March 9
Time: 25 minutes
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Running (mostly) pain free
The big news from today is that I did a scheduled run and it was pretty much pain free. It wasn't perfect, but the discomfort I felt was more like tightness or the remnants from the bruise on my hip rather than feeling like a muscle strain or something worse. I'm still not totally out of the woods and we'll have to wait and see how it feels later tonight and tomorrow morning, but right now I'm confident that it's near the end of the mending process. This week was a scheduled recovery week (only 8.5 hours of training), so I'm using it to slowly get myself back into running. Including tonight's run have four 30 minute runs scheduled and they're all supposed to be easy, low intensity runs. Based on my heart rate, tonight I ran a little harder than I was supposed to, but I think the days off and the cold contributed to my heart rate being a bit high.
This morning's swim wasn't so great. I swam the scheduled distance and my pacing was pretty good, but it was the first swim in a while where I had that "swimming-through-mud" feeling. My stroke length was a little shortened and I didn't have that extra kick in my stroke. I couldn't really accelerate without feeling like I was flailing. The main set consisted of 9x300 with 50 yards of kicking after the fourth and seventh set. I would have liked to keep those 300's right around 4:45-4:50, but for the most part, they were between 4:55-5:00. That doesn't sound like much, but a few extra seconds per 100 yards really is a difference. And I could feel it today.
Swim - March 7
Distance: 3,600 yards
Time: 1:13
Run - March 7
Distance: 3.75 miles
Time: 31 minutes
Average heart rate: 139
Course: Manhattan streets and Washington Square Park
Conditions: Cold (21 degrees, but it felt warmer than that), clear
This morning's swim wasn't so great. I swam the scheduled distance and my pacing was pretty good, but it was the first swim in a while where I had that "swimming-through-mud" feeling. My stroke length was a little shortened and I didn't have that extra kick in my stroke. I couldn't really accelerate without feeling like I was flailing. The main set consisted of 9x300 with 50 yards of kicking after the fourth and seventh set. I would have liked to keep those 300's right around 4:45-4:50, but for the most part, they were between 4:55-5:00. That doesn't sound like much, but a few extra seconds per 100 yards really is a difference. And I could feel it today.
Swim - March 7
Distance: 3,600 yards
Time: 1:13
Run - March 7
Distance: 3.75 miles
Time: 31 minutes
Average heart rate: 139
Course: Manhattan streets and Washington Square Park
Conditions: Cold (21 degrees, but it felt warmer than that), clear
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Swim question - thanks Anonymous!
This weekend "Anonymous" posted a question in my comments asking about how I keep from getting bored while swimming. Thanks Anonymous, it's an interesting question that I actually have gotten from a lot of people. I agree with Anonymous and find swimming to be a very relaxing activity. One of the primary benefits I get from training is that it's "me time" - when I'm training alone (which is most of the time), I do my best to shut everything else out. Often I go into my workouts still carrying stress from my day, but most of the time once I get into a rhythm all that stress just goes away and I spend the training time concentrating on my training session or my overall training goals or concentrating on improving my form and exercising more efficiently. When I'm biking or running, I still have to concentrate on my environment, but when I'm in the pool, I'm able to shut nearly everything else out (except when there's someone fast next to me and I'm play racing against him/her!). I think a lot about my form and try to feel the difference between one stroke method or another or one kick rhythm or another, I count strokes and laps and I play little brain games to keep my focus. I calculate percentages - as in percent of the current set completed, or percent of the training session completed; I convert the yards I'm swimming into meters or miles and compare that to race distances. My mind never goes blank, but I'm not thinking about anything other than the swimming, which I find relaxing. I do often lose track of the number of lengths I've swum, but I've found a few things that help. First, every time I go to the pool, I have a definite progam in mind - this breaks down the overall total number of lengths into smaller sets. If my main set is 5x400, I only have to keep track of 400 (16 lengths) at a time, which is much more manageable than trying to keep track of 80 lengths! Second, I keep a kickboard at one end of the lane on the pool deck to help keep track of sets. I turn it like a clock to indicate the number of sets I've completed - when I finish the first set, I turn it so that that the front of the board is at 3:00, when I finish the second, it goes to 6:00, etc. Even if I'm doing more than four sets, and my board is pointed at 6:00, I can usually remember if that was my second set or sixth set or tenth set, etc. Third, on my longer sets, I have a system where I count strokes on the first length of each 100 yards. It's not foolproof, but I can usually remember whether I counted on the way down last time or if it was two times ago. Fourth, if I'm ever in doubt about how far I've gone, I just swim more. It's rare that I think I might be off by more than 50 yards, and I'd rather do an extra 50 than short-change myself. Finally, I do it by time. I know my approximate pace for 100 yards and keep an eye on the poolside clock or my watch (which I can check on a flip-turn without slowing down too much). If I check and see that I'm a little bit off, I chalk it up to either swimming slower or faster, but if I'm off a lot and don't feel like I'm swimming differently than usual, I know that I either swam too far or missed some lengths.
This evening I got back on the bike for the first time in a week. It was a nice ride with a 35 minute set in the middle where I rode hard and constant and tried to keep my heart rate in zone 3. Of those 35 minutes, I spent about 15 in zone 3 and the rest in zone 2. I find that I struggle to get my heart rate up on the trainer. I'm not sure if I'm better off spinning in a high gear or grinding in a low one. I'm not really able to sustain a high heart rate either way. I'm going to discuss it with John this week.
This is totally off-topic, but I had a strange experience this morning when I got back to the office. I opened up my office door, which had probably been shut since I left and right in front of my door was a mouse. He (it?) was just sitting there, frozen in place. He didn't move when I walked by him and even when I made a loud noise near him, he just barely stirred. We've been having a mouse problem in our office and there's one that I've seen a bunch in front of my office door running back and forth behind some file cabinets. They've put out poison and sticky traps, including some the furiture in my office. Obviously, he'd eaten some of the poison and was dying. What was I supposed to do? I'll agree that rats are disgusting, but this mouse isn't bad. He's only a couple inches long and is fun to watch run around. But he was dying. I didn't know how to kill him and I wasn't about to just throw him into the trash. Our facilities people weren't around and I didn't want to call maintenace. I searched online to see if there were any suggestions, but couldn't find anything. So, I scooped him into a small box and took him outside and put him in the bushes around a little park across the street. When I put him in the box, he barely stirred. I figure either he'll get eaten or he'll freeze to death. Is that better or worse than throwing him away? I think so, or at least I was able to justify it in my head. Hopefully, he's long dead by now.
Bike - March 6
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 129
Indoor ride
This evening I got back on the bike for the first time in a week. It was a nice ride with a 35 minute set in the middle where I rode hard and constant and tried to keep my heart rate in zone 3. Of those 35 minutes, I spent about 15 in zone 3 and the rest in zone 2. I find that I struggle to get my heart rate up on the trainer. I'm not sure if I'm better off spinning in a high gear or grinding in a low one. I'm not really able to sustain a high heart rate either way. I'm going to discuss it with John this week.
This is totally off-topic, but I had a strange experience this morning when I got back to the office. I opened up my office door, which had probably been shut since I left and right in front of my door was a mouse. He (it?) was just sitting there, frozen in place. He didn't move when I walked by him and even when I made a loud noise near him, he just barely stirred. We've been having a mouse problem in our office and there's one that I've seen a bunch in front of my office door running back and forth behind some file cabinets. They've put out poison and sticky traps, including some the furiture in my office. Obviously, he'd eaten some of the poison and was dying. What was I supposed to do? I'll agree that rats are disgusting, but this mouse isn't bad. He's only a couple inches long and is fun to watch run around. But he was dying. I didn't know how to kill him and I wasn't about to just throw him into the trash. Our facilities people weren't around and I didn't want to call maintenace. I searched online to see if there were any suggestions, but couldn't find anything. So, I scooped him into a small box and took him outside and put him in the bushes around a little park across the street. When I put him in the box, he barely stirred. I figure either he'll get eaten or he'll freeze to death. Is that better or worse than throwing him away? I think so, or at least I was able to justify it in my head. Hopefully, he's long dead by now.
Bike - March 6
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 129
Indoor ride
Monday, March 05, 2007
Los Angeles Marathon
Saturday morning I woke up nice and early and went to 24 Hour Fitness for a swim. It was a beautiful morning and I felt great. My hip was just barely bothering me and I wasn’t really feeling Friday’s long swim. When I got there, I had the pool just about to myself, but over the course of my swim, it gradually filled up. For most of my main set (which consisted of 9x300 with some recovery kicking after the fourth and seventh 300), there were good swimmers in the lanes on either side of me. The guy on my left was slightly faster than my goal pace and the guy on my right was slightly slower, but they were both close enough that I was able to “race” them and stay really motivated, which helped the most during the seventh and eighth 300. I had thought about trying to convert the training plan from yards to meters, but decided, again to roll with the longer pool and just do a longer swim. I felt the added distance on pretty much every 300. Swimming in an outdoor pool was great – feeling the sun on my back and seeing the sky and trees during breaths makes for such a different experience than being in the basement of the gym!
After my swim, Mom, Dad and I drove to Santa Monica and went for a nice walk along the beach. Then Loren met up with us and we had a great brunch at Border Grill. Elizabeth spent the day shopping with her Mom. Saturday night, we went to a little Thai place a couple blocks from the hotel. After dinner, Emily came and met us at the hotel and we got all prepped for the big marathon day. She was sleeping over at the hotel so we could drive her up to Universal Studios for the start on Sunday morning.
At 6AM on Sunday the alarm went off and all three of us popped up and started getting ready. Emily was nervous, but excited. Elizabeth and my plan was to get her to the start and wait with her until she was ready to line up, at which point we were going to drive down to mile 5 and cheer her on from there. I was planning on running bits and pieces of the race with her, depending on how my hip felt. My first assignment started at mile 10. From there, I ended up run/walking with her until mile 18, which was farther than I’d planned, but I could tell I was helping her and amazingly, my hip didn’t bother me at all. At mile 18, two of her other friends jumped in and were going to take her for the rest. We drove to the finish, where I left Elizabeth and their friend John to wait at the end, and I ran a couple miles to cut Emily off at mile 23 or 24. That was the only part of the day that I ran somewhat hard, and I have to say that I could feel that running in my hip. It wasn’t bad, but I could feel it and any lateral movement or hopping onto a curb was worse. I met up with them at mile 24 and we ran with Emily until we got kicked off the course right after the mile 26 marker. She did great. Elizabeth was such a good sport. She was bummed that after all the training, her knee kept her from doing the race. And watching Emily run it could not have been easy, but she was so supportive and genuinely happy for Emily. It really made me feel good. And Emily wrote us today that she’s all fired up to do another one – this time with Elizabeth! Elizabeth’s going to have to be careful and take it easy on her knee, but there’s no question that she can do it. Hopefully they’ll get into New York. I’d love to watch and support them through that race.
Here are some pictures from the day:
Pre-race me and Elizabeth
Pre-race Elizabeth and Emily
Emily's cheering crew mid-race
Emily's support crew minus Elizabeth
Post-race Elizabeth and Emily
Running yesterday was a blast. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Way too hot for a competitive marathon, but for me, it was perfect. And running at Emily’s pace (average around 13:30’s), I could really enjoy myself and look around and smile and cheer, things I didn’t do in New York. I couldn’t even begin to compare it to running New York. Also, I have to say that the LA Marathon itself was a little disappointing. Around 26,000 people raced yesterday, supposedly making it the world’s seventh largest marathon. I will admit that I was totally spoiled by New York, but a bunch of things about this marathon seemed JV – from the simple, like the race packet, which didn’t contain good maps or a clear spectator’s guide to the mess at the start, which wasn’t nearly as well organized as New York (the portapotties weren’t laid out very well, the space wasn’t really big enough for the number of people there, there wasn’t very good signage) to the course, which was pretty lame (I don’t know LA all that well, and this was a new course, but it had a ton of turns and went through a bunch of dead neighborhoods where there literally weren’t any fans for blocks at a time; I just think they could have done better and if this was an improvement over the prior course, I’d hate to imagine what that was like). On the good side, they did have plenty of water and Gatorade and good on-course support (I saw a bunch of people being tended to by the medics) and in some neighborhoods, especially the ones that would probably be considered less “nice,” there was good crowd support. As I said, New York totally spoiled me, but this is LA, and I expected more.
After the race, we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a while before going to dinner with the Shaffer clan. I was in bed and passed out before 10PM.
Today was a travel day – spending all day on the plane pretty much blows. I was worried that my hip/groin would be aching this morning, but it was totally fine. It still feels just a little bit tight, but I think (and really really hope) that it’s finally just about there. On Friday I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Metzl for tomorrow, but I cancelled it this morning. Tomorrow’s going to be a crazy enough day and with my leg feeling better, I’d prefer to see how it feels this week and after I get a couple runs in to decide if I need to go in. Two friggin’ weeks, all because I wanted to put a couple more miles on the bike.
All in all, it was a fantastic weekend.
Swim - March 3
Distance: 3,900 yards (3,600 meters)
Time: 1:16
Run - March 4
Distance: 12.5 miles, split into three pieces at a run-walk (8 miles, 2.5 miles, 2 miles)
Time: 2:35
Course: LA Marathon
Conditions: Hot, sunny, too hot for a good marathon (mid-70's to low 80's) but it felt great on Sunday!
After my swim, Mom, Dad and I drove to Santa Monica and went for a nice walk along the beach. Then Loren met up with us and we had a great brunch at Border Grill. Elizabeth spent the day shopping with her Mom. Saturday night, we went to a little Thai place a couple blocks from the hotel. After dinner, Emily came and met us at the hotel and we got all prepped for the big marathon day. She was sleeping over at the hotel so we could drive her up to Universal Studios for the start on Sunday morning.
At 6AM on Sunday the alarm went off and all three of us popped up and started getting ready. Emily was nervous, but excited. Elizabeth and my plan was to get her to the start and wait with her until she was ready to line up, at which point we were going to drive down to mile 5 and cheer her on from there. I was planning on running bits and pieces of the race with her, depending on how my hip felt. My first assignment started at mile 10. From there, I ended up run/walking with her until mile 18, which was farther than I’d planned, but I could tell I was helping her and amazingly, my hip didn’t bother me at all. At mile 18, two of her other friends jumped in and were going to take her for the rest. We drove to the finish, where I left Elizabeth and their friend John to wait at the end, and I ran a couple miles to cut Emily off at mile 23 or 24. That was the only part of the day that I ran somewhat hard, and I have to say that I could feel that running in my hip. It wasn’t bad, but I could feel it and any lateral movement or hopping onto a curb was worse. I met up with them at mile 24 and we ran with Emily until we got kicked off the course right after the mile 26 marker. She did great. Elizabeth was such a good sport. She was bummed that after all the training, her knee kept her from doing the race. And watching Emily run it could not have been easy, but she was so supportive and genuinely happy for Emily. It really made me feel good. And Emily wrote us today that she’s all fired up to do another one – this time with Elizabeth! Elizabeth’s going to have to be careful and take it easy on her knee, but there’s no question that she can do it. Hopefully they’ll get into New York. I’d love to watch and support them through that race.
Here are some pictures from the day:
Pre-race me and Elizabeth
Pre-race Elizabeth and Emily
Emily's cheering crew mid-race
Emily's support crew minus Elizabeth
Post-race Elizabeth and Emily
Running yesterday was a blast. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Way too hot for a competitive marathon, but for me, it was perfect. And running at Emily’s pace (average around 13:30’s), I could really enjoy myself and look around and smile and cheer, things I didn’t do in New York. I couldn’t even begin to compare it to running New York. Also, I have to say that the LA Marathon itself was a little disappointing. Around 26,000 people raced yesterday, supposedly making it the world’s seventh largest marathon. I will admit that I was totally spoiled by New York, but a bunch of things about this marathon seemed JV – from the simple, like the race packet, which didn’t contain good maps or a clear spectator’s guide to the mess at the start, which wasn’t nearly as well organized as New York (the portapotties weren’t laid out very well, the space wasn’t really big enough for the number of people there, there wasn’t very good signage) to the course, which was pretty lame (I don’t know LA all that well, and this was a new course, but it had a ton of turns and went through a bunch of dead neighborhoods where there literally weren’t any fans for blocks at a time; I just think they could have done better and if this was an improvement over the prior course, I’d hate to imagine what that was like). On the good side, they did have plenty of water and Gatorade and good on-course support (I saw a bunch of people being tended to by the medics) and in some neighborhoods, especially the ones that would probably be considered less “nice,” there was good crowd support. As I said, New York totally spoiled me, but this is LA, and I expected more.
After the race, we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a while before going to dinner with the Shaffer clan. I was in bed and passed out before 10PM.
Today was a travel day – spending all day on the plane pretty much blows. I was worried that my hip/groin would be aching this morning, but it was totally fine. It still feels just a little bit tight, but I think (and really really hope) that it’s finally just about there. On Friday I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Metzl for tomorrow, but I cancelled it this morning. Tomorrow’s going to be a crazy enough day and with my leg feeling better, I’d prefer to see how it feels this week and after I get a couple runs in to decide if I need to go in. Two friggin’ weeks, all because I wanted to put a couple more miles on the bike.
All in all, it was a fantastic weekend.
Swim - March 3
Distance: 3,900 yards (3,600 meters)
Time: 1:16
Run - March 4
Distance: 12.5 miles, split into three pieces at a run-walk (8 miles, 2.5 miles, 2 miles)
Time: 2:35
Course: LA Marathon
Conditions: Hot, sunny, too hot for a good marathon (mid-70's to low 80's) but it felt great on Sunday!
Friday, March 02, 2007
Los Angeles
We got into Los Angeles yesterday morning. We got up at 4:15 AM to catch our 6:45 flight out of JFK. We never get to sleep at a "reasonable" hour the night before we travel - Wednesday, we finally went to sleep a little after 1 AM. Three hours of sleep, sweet way to start our vacation. Elizabeth had a couple work meetings and we spent most of the first part of the day running around town. I was scheduled to try doing an easy 30 minute run, but my hip was bothering me a bit and I had some work to get done, so decided to skip the run and give myself another couple days off it.
Last night, Seth had a fundraiser for Harmony Through Education, the non-profit that he set up after coming back from India last Fall. The organization's goals revolve around helping mentally and physically challenged kids in India. Their first project is establishing a special school for kids in Dharmsala, where Seth spent most of his time when he was in India. Elizabeth's parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles all came, along with a bunch of the Shaffer's family friends and some of Elizabeth's friends. Seth gave a great speech about what the organization is doing. After the event, we went out for a few minutes with some friends, but by 10, we were both about the collapse and came back to the hotel and passed right out.
Today I popped up at 7:15, got ready and drove to the Hollywood 24 Hour Fitness. That's the closest lap pool to the hotel and a friend of Elizabeth's who works in their corporate office was kind enough to provide us with some comp passes. I had called ahead and was told the pool was 25 yards (actually, when I asked if the pool was 25 yards, she checked, came back and said "Yes, 25 yards, Olympic-size") and that it was four lanes wide. I got to the pool and was happily surprised to find that the pool was outside and that it did, in fact, look like it was 25 yards. It was also empty. The air was a little chilly this morning, but the pool was nice and warm and parts of it were getting sun.
I did my warm-up, some kicks and drills and started in on the main set, 5x500 at a "moderate" pace. I was feeling good and swimming pretty strong and my hip wasn't really bothering me. I could feel a little twinge in some kicks, but it wasn't painful and nothing like how it felt during my swim on Wednesday morning. During the first 500, I was counting strokes like I normally do and noticed that most lengths were taking me 21 or 22 strokes, which was a bit strange because normally I'm consistently in the 18-19 strokes per length range. I thought that maybe I was tight or sore and just needed to extend the stretch a bit more. But when I looked at my watch after I finished the first 500, I was shocked to see the time - 9:10, which was 30-60 seconds slower than I expected. It was then that I figured out that the pool must be 25 meters, instead of 25 yards. This explained both my stroke count and the difference in time. I thought about trying to convert the rest of my sets to yards, but decided that that was more trouble than it was worth and just decided to do a longer swim. In the end, I did about 3,700 meters, which I have since figured out converts to just about 4,050 yards - my longest swim yet (by about 400 yards) and the equivalent of around 2.3 miles, just short of the Ironman swim.
After my swim, Loren picked me up at the hotel and we drove down to Santa Ana to meet my parents, Aaron and my grandparents for lunch. It was great to see them all and a nice surprise to see my brother, who I hadn't expected to make the trip. Then Loren, Mom, Dad and I went to a Magritte exhibit at LACMA. Tonight, I think we're just going to take it easy.
Swim - March 2
Distance: 4,050 yards (3,700 meters)
Time: 1:30
Last night, Seth had a fundraiser for Harmony Through Education, the non-profit that he set up after coming back from India last Fall. The organization's goals revolve around helping mentally and physically challenged kids in India. Their first project is establishing a special school for kids in Dharmsala, where Seth spent most of his time when he was in India. Elizabeth's parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles all came, along with a bunch of the Shaffer's family friends and some of Elizabeth's friends. Seth gave a great speech about what the organization is doing. After the event, we went out for a few minutes with some friends, but by 10, we were both about the collapse and came back to the hotel and passed right out.
Today I popped up at 7:15, got ready and drove to the Hollywood 24 Hour Fitness. That's the closest lap pool to the hotel and a friend of Elizabeth's who works in their corporate office was kind enough to provide us with some comp passes. I had called ahead and was told the pool was 25 yards (actually, when I asked if the pool was 25 yards, she checked, came back and said "Yes, 25 yards, Olympic-size") and that it was four lanes wide. I got to the pool and was happily surprised to find that the pool was outside and that it did, in fact, look like it was 25 yards. It was also empty. The air was a little chilly this morning, but the pool was nice and warm and parts of it were getting sun.
I did my warm-up, some kicks and drills and started in on the main set, 5x500 at a "moderate" pace. I was feeling good and swimming pretty strong and my hip wasn't really bothering me. I could feel a little twinge in some kicks, but it wasn't painful and nothing like how it felt during my swim on Wednesday morning. During the first 500, I was counting strokes like I normally do and noticed that most lengths were taking me 21 or 22 strokes, which was a bit strange because normally I'm consistently in the 18-19 strokes per length range. I thought that maybe I was tight or sore and just needed to extend the stretch a bit more. But when I looked at my watch after I finished the first 500, I was shocked to see the time - 9:10, which was 30-60 seconds slower than I expected. It was then that I figured out that the pool must be 25 meters, instead of 25 yards. This explained both my stroke count and the difference in time. I thought about trying to convert the rest of my sets to yards, but decided that that was more trouble than it was worth and just decided to do a longer swim. In the end, I did about 3,700 meters, which I have since figured out converts to just about 4,050 yards - my longest swim yet (by about 400 yards) and the equivalent of around 2.3 miles, just short of the Ironman swim.
After my swim, Loren picked me up at the hotel and we drove down to Santa Ana to meet my parents, Aaron and my grandparents for lunch. It was great to see them all and a nice surprise to see my brother, who I hadn't expected to make the trip. Then Loren, Mom, Dad and I went to a Magritte exhibit at LACMA. Tonight, I think we're just going to take it easy.
Swim - March 2
Distance: 4,050 yards (3,700 meters)
Time: 1:30
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