Monthly Summary - June

This is my last full-month update before the Ironman. This year has really flown by. I can clearly remember standing in JackRabbit last year and saying to myself, "Why can't I do an Ironman?" So now I'm just about there. I'm getting a little ahead of myself and I'm certain I'll be spending a lot of time over the next three weeks reflecting on the last year, but suffice it for now to say that I'm really excited and ready for July 22 to finally come.

Here's June:

Swim: 28,111 yards
Cycling (outdoors): 327.40 miles
Cycling (indoors): 6:10 (hours)
Run: 124.4 miles
Strength Training: 0 hours

Approximate monthly total training time: 49:35 (hours)

Weight: 163.0 pounds. That's down again - 1.5 pounds since last month. But (and these may just be rationalizations), I did spend over six hours training today and just got on the scale. I've been weighing myself for these updates in the morning, but I forgot to do that today. I haven't been lifting at all, and, with my still-healing hands, I haven't been able to even do my push-up, so my upper body is continuing to shrink. I imagine I'll put on some weight during my taper and after IMLP, when I get back in weight room.

When I added it all up for this month I was pretty surprised. I figured that with the two weeks in Italy, my hours and overall volume would have been down. I expected my run volume to be up compared to recent months (which it was - I ran nearly 50% more in June than in April or May), but my bike and swim volume were also up from May (remember that May was a relatively low volume month). The highlight of this month was obviously our kick-ass Italian vacation. My most notable training events this month were my Lake Placid training weekend and the Philly Tri. I'm really glad I spent those days up at Lake Placid and wish I could have made a second trip.

I think today was my last really long training session before the Ironman. WHICH IS NOW JUST THREE FRIGGIN' WEEKS AWAY! It was a good workout, but not what I had hoped for on my last big training day. I didn't ride as fast as I had hoped to and I ran out of water at one point and the dehydration really took its toll, even after I got some more water. Regardless, I trained for 6 1/4 hours today, and lived to talk about it! Dehydration shouldn't be an issue at the race. It wasn't that I forgot to drink or didn't want to. I just couldn't find any damn water!

My taper is starting this coming week and as a friend told me the other day: "No training [I] can do after this weekend that will help [me] in Placid." I didn't think I would be ready to taper, but I am. My body is feeling tired and achy. Surprisingly, it took until pretty recently for me to start feeling the cumulative effects of this year of training, but now I am. I'm tired, a little cranky and the little aches and pains are becoming a more constant reminder of how crazy it is to train for and race an Ironman.

Once again, I didn't have any forced time off and hit my training goals.

Swim - June 28
Distance: 3,250 yards
Time: 1:07

Run - June 29
Distance: 6.2 miles
Time: 45:45
Average heart rate: 148
Course: West Side Highway south
Conditions: Warm, but not so sickly humid

Triple - June 30
Swim:
Distance: 4,100 yards
Time: 1:30

Bike:
Distance: 71.1 miles
Time: 4:24
Average heart rate: 131
Course: West Side, across GW Bridge, Route 9
Conditions: Hot, sunny

Run:
Distance: 2.0 miles
Time: 15:08
Average heart rate: 147
Course: Greenwich Village
Conditions: Hot, sunny

Philly Tri - More Photos

First off, some more pictures from the Philly Tri, courtesy of David and Melissa.

Group shot of most of our "team" the night before the race, wearing the red visors:


This is the group of Brown alumni present (mostly racing):


Elizabeth finishing the race!



Carrying all our crap back to the car after the race:


Some post-race love for the puppy (NOTHING makes him as happy as a belly rub):


It's nasty in New York right now - summer at its worst. It's hot, humid, hazy and wet. Walking around outside, the haze makes the air feel thick and you really feel like you have to move through it. Nice. Another year in which the wonderful spring came and went in a flash and now we've got humid and sticky for a while. The conditions make exercise challenging and this morning's long run was rough. I did it though - over 16 miles before work. From home, up the West Side Highway to Central Park, a loop plus a little in the Park and back on the West Side to home. It certainly felt like an accomplishment, but it was one I felt all day long and am still feeling now. During this year, I've certainly learned that you can't control the weather and you never know what conditions you might face when it matters. I've raced and trained in all kinds of conditions. I was fortunate to get perfect weather when I was up in Lake Placid a few weeks ago, but I've seen pictures from past Ironman's where the winds were kicking and/or rain was coming down in buckets. On the other hand, it could be just like today. Or, if providence shines on us, it might be just perfect. And whatever the conditions, we'll be racing.

Bike - June 25
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 122
Indoor ride

Run - June 26
Distance: 16.5 miles
Time: 2:10
Average heart rate: 154
Course: West Side Highway to Central Park, one loop, home
Conditions: Hot, humid, nasty

Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon

Phew. What a couple weeks. What a GREAT couple weeks. The trip to Italy was fantastic and then we topped off our vacation with a fun trip to Philadelphia for a mini-reunion with some friends from college and a little Olympic distance triathlon.

First off, the race went pretty well. I'm generally happy with my result, especially given the fact that we had essentially just gotten off the plane from Italy and my belly was/is still carrying around a little too much pasta, red wine and olive oil! Also, as Coach John reminded me, I haven't been training for this distance or speed. The long course training is a different beast and my legs aren't used to moving as fast as I wanted them to move yesterday. More important than anything, though, it was a really fun day. Reid organized a pretty huge group of people to do the race, including a lot of first time triathletes, and I think everyone finished and had fun doing it.

It was an absolutely beautiful day. It was a little on the hot and sunny side for racing, but I'll take that over the Harriman conditions any day! The weather made for a great day for spectators - and there were a ton of people out there. I thought the race course was really nice. The Schuylkill River was warm (I was hot in my wetsuit), calm and actually looked, felt and tasted(!) much cleaner than I'd expected. The bike course was fun, generally pretty flat and fast, with a couple nice hills and descents. There was one sort of scary turn, but nothing too dangerous. The run was a little boring, but it was flat and the couple there-and-backs were nice because you got to see people going in front and behind you on the course. It got hot on the run, especially because the last 3+ miles were totally exposed without any shade. Finally, and importantly, the race was really well organized - check-in on Saturday was smooth and easy and for race-day, the course was well marked and the volunteers were great at all the aid stations.

After passing out on Friday night, we were up pretty early Saturday morning. I did a short spin on the trainer, to stretch out my legs and make sure the bike was OK. Then we got on the road for Philly right around 11AM. We checked into our hotel and then drove to the race expo to check in. We met up with a few friends at the expo and went out to Reid's parents' place for a little pre-race barbecue. It was great to catch up with everyone at the party. The group of racers was more than 20 strong and included friends from Brown, members of Reid's family, friends of Reid's from growing up and friends of friends. As I mentioned, nearly everyone was a first time (or first-time-in-a-long-time) triathlete. We made special red visors (you can sort of see mine in the picture above) for people to wear during the run so we would be able to see and identify each other. The visors, designed by a friend of Elizabeth's, came out great.

I'll try to make my race report brief, but apologize in advance for its length...

Pre-race:
We had to be at the race site early, so we tried to get to bed early and get some sleep. Unfortunately, neither Elizabeth nor I really slept and the feeling must have been contagious because even Charlie didn't sleep much. We finally got out of bed around 4:30 and started getting everything together. We picked up Bill and David from their hotels (and dropped Charlie off with David's 8 month pregnant wife) and made our way to the race site. By the time we actually got to the transition area, we only had about 15 minutes to set up and get on the buses to the swim start. Our plan was to have about 45 minutes... oops. Anyway, we got on the bus and made it to the start with about 35 minutes before our wave went off. I got in the bathroom line and by the time I got through the line and out, my wave was already in the water, just about ready to go. I rushed to the start, got my wetsuit on and we were off. My heart rate was already in the 120's - the anticipation had something to do with that, but all the last minute rushing didn't help.

Swim:
The swim went well. I was pleased that, unlike Harriman and some other recent races, I actually eased right into my stroke. The course was a point-to-point, straight down the river, with a short "J hook" at the end. I managed to stay on course with minimal sighting. Our wave didn't seem that big and the swim lane was wide, so there wasn't much bumping, contact or flailing. It helped that we were in the third wave - I'm sure that the later waves found more crowds as they caught up to swimmers from earlier waves. As I mentioned, the water was warm - I think they said 76, which made it wetsuit legal, but it felt warmer than that! It was also clean - it tasted like water actually, and didn't feel silty or dirty, which were nice surprises. I'm fairly pleased with my absolute time - 25:53 (or about 1:35/100 yards), but it was still my overwhelmingly relative weakness compared to the field. I've improved a ton in the last couple years, but the swim is where I still have the most room for further improvement.

T1:
I got through my first transition faster and smoother than ever before. It was so nice not to have to get dressed for the cold like at Harriman. There was a short run from the water to the transition area. But I got out of the wetsuit quickly and had my helmet and sunglasses on in a flash. I had clipped my shoes into the pedals and rubber-banded them to the bike to keep them from dragging, but, in my haste to set up before the race, I did make one stupid mistake: I forgot to open the velcro straps on the shoes. I didn't realize this until I'd already jumped on the bike and started pedaling with my feet on top of my shoes. So, here I am, about 30 yards onto the course, and I'm struggling to open the straps before I can even get my feet into the shoes. I didn't want to stop and just take care of it, but I probably lost a minute fumbling with it. I doubt I'll make that mistake in the future!

Bike:
The bike was my real strength yesterday. Once I got into my shoes, I felt like I was cruising. I rarely came out of aero and shifted smoothly and comfortably. I charged up the hills and didn't let up once. Even though I hadn't checked out the bike course beforehand, it was pretty straightforward and best of all, well marked. I got passed by a few people, but generally, I was the one doing the passing. During the first loop, only the elites and one other wave were out there, and the roads seemed more than wide enough. By the second time around, with many more racers on the course, it felt more crowded and I was forced to do a little illegal passing on the right once or twice, but even then it wasn't too bad. The two steep climbs were more than off-set by some fun descents and a lot of flat or nearly-flat racing.

T2:
As I pulled into T2, I heard the announcer congratulating the winners. They did have about a 15 minute head-start, but that still put them over a half hour ahead of me. The winner, Craig Alexander, actually did a 1:52:18 (splits: 18:51/57:45/33:18). Wow. That's fast! I was pretty pleased with the speed of my T2. Not blazing fast, but again, faster and smoother than prior races - and that's what it's really about. I rode without socks and had planned on running without them, but during the bike I thought about it and I haven't trained much without socks and didn't want to risk getting blisters and potentially screwing up my feet for the coming weeks of training.

Run:
I started the run confident. In the past, I've been able to make up time and places on the run. Unfortunately, from the moment I left transition yesterday, I could tell it wasn't going to be that kind of a run. I felt sluggish, heavy and slow. I also had a pretty nasty side stitch. The cramp wasn't slowing me down much, but it was a psychological bummer. I hit the first mile marker at 6:50, which amazed me - I felt like I was running closer to 7:30. I guess I was moving pretty quickly, but it didn't feel "right". I also got passed a few too many times. A couple of the people were blazing and would have passed me on my best day, but I feel like I should have been able to keep up with one or two of the others. But yesterday, I just didn't have that "zip" that I'm used to in this distance. I think that I can comfortably "blame" that on the Italy trip and the long distance-training I've been doing recently. My last three miles were pretty weak. I had a gel in my pocket but didn't take it because of the side stitch (maybe I should have taken it because of the stitch, but I couldn't force myself to put any solids - or semi-solids - in my stomach). And by the time the stitch went away, I was already into the fourth mile and at that point the calories and electrolytes weren't going to do me any good. Near the end of the run you come around a turn and all of a sudden there's the finish line. I sprinted the last couple hundred yards, which felt great - especially because people were lined up along the chute loudly cheering.

After I finished, I hung out around the finish line and cheered the rest of our group in. In addition to our group of 20+ racers, there was a lot of family and friends who showed up to cheer. It was fun watching everyone else finish. Everyone in our group did great. Once everyone was in, we collected all our stuff and went over to one of the boathouses on the river for a lunch organized by Reid, Pete and Quartie. We all got to tell our stories and catch up.

It's hard to compare triathlons and judge improvement across races. Race courses are all different and even condition changes make the same course run much faster or slower from year-to-year. I'm in considerably better shape this year, but my time at Philly yesterday was 11 seconds slower than NYC last year. The difference there was that the current in the Hudson was strong last year and my swim time was over six minutes faster. My bike split at NYC was five minutes slower and my transitions were each slower. My run last year was a minute faster. Even though the time was essentially the same, I can still feel a lot of improvement - I felt more comfortable on the swim and bike, I know what to expect from my body at all stages, my transitions are smoother and my recovery was much easier.

Finally, I forgot to mention that in Italy I noticed another injury that I assume came from my fall. One or two of my upper left ribs are bruised. It's fine about 95% of the time - but actions like sitting up from laying down hurt and sit-ups would be totally out of the question. It's a bit of a bummer, but I didn't think about it at all during the race yesterday and it hasn't affected my training so far. Again - I'm just plain thankful that it wasn't worse!

And now it's less than four weeks to the big day... no more racing, no more vacations, no more screwing around!

Bike - June 23
Time: 40 minutes
Average heart rate: 124
Indoor ride

Philadelphia Insurance Olympic Distance Triathlon - June 24
Overall time: 2:22:29
Overall place: 113/1544
Age Group place: 20/172
Swim:
Time: 25:53
Rank: 230
Average heart rate: 150
T1: 2:21
Bike:
Time: 1:08:33
Rank: 109
Average speed: 21.7 mph
Average heart rate: 149
T2: 1:50
Run:
Time: 43:50
Rank: 152
Pace: 7:04
Average heart rate: 161
Approximate mile splits:
1: 6:50
2: 7:04
3: 6:59
4: 7:10
5: 7:12
6: 7:16
.2: 1:24
Conditions: Sunny and warm, beautiful day

Bike - June 25
Time: 30 minutes
Average heart rate: 109
Indoor ride

Italia!

We got back from Italy a few hours ago (that's us, enjoying Gelatto in Montepulciano). It was a great, GREAT vacation. I'll write more about the trip next week, but we spent most of the time just relaxing. It was Capri, Tuscany and Rome. We walked a lot, read by the pool a lot, ate A LOT and just spent our time doing whatever we wanted. It was awesome. I'm pretty tired, but we're headed to Philly tomorrow for the triathlon on Sunday, and since I didn't write at all while we were away, I wanted to update the blog tonight.

As far as my training went, in the 12 days that we were gone (including travel days), I actually got in a fair amount of training. I did eight training sessions - I ran about 46 miles and swam about 8,600 yards. I didn't bike at all, but that's fine. And today, after we got home, picked up Charlie and unpacked, Elizabeth and I went out for a short run. Elizabeth actually ran a couple times while we were in Italy and her knee is doing OK. It's still not perfect, but at least she's able to run a little bit.

Tomorrow morning, we're driving to Philly to check in for the triathlon and then we're headed to Reid's parents' place for a pre-race barbeque. We have a group of around 25 people doing the race. It should be a fun weekend.

In Siena:


At the Trevi Fountain in Rome:


Swim - June 13
Distance: 2,200 yards
Time: 41 minutes

Run - June 14
Distance: 15 miles
Time: 2:01
Average heart rate: 149
Course: Around Capri and then through Anacapri to Faro and back
Conditions: Sunny and hot

Swim - June 15
Distance: 3,125 yards
Time: 1:00

Run - June 16
Distance: 3.6 mile run
Time: 30 minutes
Average heart rate: 144
Course: Villa to Montepulciano Stazione and back
Conditions: Hot and sunny

Run - June 17
Distance: 11+ miles
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 157
Course: Villa around Gracciano up hill to Montepulciano and back
Conditions: Hot and sunny

Swim - June 18
Distance: 3,300 yards
Time: 1:00

Run - June 19
Distance: 3.6 miles
Time: 30 minutes
Average heart rate: 149
Course: Villa to Montepulciano Stazione and back
Conditions: Hot and sunny

Run - June 20
Distance: 13.25 miles
Time: 1:45
Average heart rate: 156
Course: Villa through Tuscan countryside - Stazione, Abbadia, Torrita di Siena
Conditions: Really hot and sunny!

Run - June 22
Distance: 5 miles
Time: 41:44
Average heart rate: 141
Course: West Side Highway
Conditions: Warm and windy

Lake Placid Training Trip - Day 3

Day 3 in Lake Placid was another good one. The Lake Placid Marathon started at 8AM and I wanted to get out before the crowds. So, I got up early and took off for my run. It was a sunny and hot morning without a cloud in the sky - too hot for my training run and way too hot for a marathon. I did one 13.1 mile loop of the Ironman marathon course. I was happy to see that the course is really nice - beautiful scenery, obviously, but not too hilly (certainly not flat, but what I guess you'd call "rolling"). Surprisingly, my legs didn't feel yesterday's workout too much - they were a little heavy, but I was trying to take it relatively easy anyway. After finishing up my run, I came back to the hotel and packed up the car. Once the car was all set, I got back on the bike. I only wanted to ride about two hours and since the first part of the bike course was on the marathon course, I didn't want to ride that way. Instead, I did an out-and-back on the back-side of the course (down 86 into Wilmington, plus part of the Hassleton out-and-back). The descent out of town was pretty fun, but of course, that meant that I had to come back up it. I figure it was good experience to tackle those hills one last time.

Tomorrow evening we leave for 11 days in Italy. Our first stop is Capri, where we'll spend four nights before heading to Tuscany, where the Shaffers have rented a villa in celebration of their 60th birthdays. We come back to the U.S. next Friday, and that Saturday (the 23rd), we head down to Philly to race in the Philadelphia Triathlon on Sunday. While we're in Italy, I'm planning on running and swimming as much as I can, but probably won't spend any time on a bike. I'll use the time to maintain my run and swim fitness and let my body recover from the last few weeks of training. When we get back, it will be just four weeks until raceday!

A couple other important notes:

1) Chris Bergland's book, The Athlete's Way: Sweat and the Biology of Bliss comes out on Tuesday. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a pre-publication copy in March. As I wrote in March, the book is great. It's multi-faceted: equal parts training guide (with sections on endurance training, strength training, stretching and nutrition), practical neuroscience for athletes, inspriational quotes and lessons on positive thinking. A lot of what Chris has written has become ingrained in my head during these last few months of hard-core training. The book is available everyone, including Amazon.com, of course!



2) CAF: Thanks to you, I've raised nearly $9,000 for CAF. Clicking here will take you to an inspirational video that CAF recently put on-line.

3) High Peaks Cyclery: I have to give props to High Peaks Cyclery on Main Street in Lake Placid. They hooked me up a few times during my stay - with simple bike fixes and also with advice about riding the course. The staff is friendly and very helpful.

4) Fun photos: Not that you really want to see these, but here are some fun shots showing the results of Friday's fall (the hands are the worst, by far):

Right hand:

Left hand:

Left leg (sorry, couldn't figure out how to rotate photo):

Left arm (again):

Left cycling shoe:


Run - June 10
Distance: 13.1 miles
Time: 1:45
Average heart rate: 150
Course: One loop Ironman run course
Conditions: Hot, sunny

Bike - June 10
Distance: 35.6 miles
Time: 1:57:45
Average heart rate: 124
Course: Lake Placid - down and up back of Ironman course
Conditions: Cloudy, cooler than during the run

Lake Placid Training Trip - Day 2

Alternative title: "He Gets Knocked Down, But He Gets Up Again"

After yesterday's fall, I was pretty worried that I might be pretty sore today or that some injury I didn't notice would start bothering me. Thankfully, I slept soundly and woke up this morning feeling pretty good. The areas on my body where my skin is torn off (hands, shoulder, elbow) hurt, but there's no muscular or bone damage that affected today's training. Also, the bike is fine. I was a pretty lucky guy. That could have been so much worse.

I was up this morning a few minutes before my 6 A.M. alarm went off. I had some cereal and an apple and half a Clif Bar and got my stuff together to load into the car. I wanted to give my breakfast time to digest, so I definitely didn't rush things. I got to the lake, put on the wetsuit and dove right in. It was around 7:30. The swim went great. The air temperature was colder this morning than yesterday afternoon (duh), but the water temp felt about the same - refreshing and brisk, but not really cold. There were a few other people there getting ready to swim.

I got out of the lake after one loop and walked over to the car. I didn't see any reason to rush through the transition - and I had to get the bike out of the car, put bandages on my hands. I was on the bike after about 18 minutes. The ride was nice - it was cool out, but the sky was clear and the sun was out and I figured it would heat up soon enough. I rode right past the spot where I fell yesterday and couldn't see any loose sand or anything else to explain it. Now, I couldn't remember exactly where it happened and it did rain last night, so it's possible that either I missed it or it washed away. I was more careful today about riding in the road or right on the very inside of the shoulder to avoid any other sandy patches. The descent down to Keene is pretty sweet - it's a long, fast descent and I topped out at just over 40 mph. After that descent, at about 20 miles in, the rolling hills start and then about 40 miles in, the real hills start. The last 14 or 16 miles are pretty sick. It's a tough course:



There were a ton of people out on the bike course. It was pretty fun to be a part of that group - I have to assume that nearly everyone riding that loop is going to be at the starting line in six weeks. Good for all of us!

I finished the first loop in about 2:53. I had planned on taking it easy on the first loop. And I did. But obviously not easy enough, because the second loop pretty much kicked my ass. Each hill on the second loop felt steeper and longer than it had felt the first time around. I guess that makes sense given that by the time the real hills started for the second time, I was nearly 100 miles in!

When I finished the second loop, I tossed the bike into the car and changed into running shoes. Again I didn't blaze through this transition, but I didn't take my time either - I took about 6 minutes. The run was great. I was a little nervous about how my legs would react, but I didn't push the run and after I checked how far I ran, I saw that I was running about 8:15 minute miles. That's slow for a normal run, but pretty fast considering what how much time I'd just spent on the bike!

I finished the run and was so happy to be done, I nearly started crying. Instead, I sucked it up and stood in the lake for a few minutes, hoping that the cold lake water would help with my recovery. I spent this evening eating, walking around Main Street and sleeping.

I was out there for about seven and a half hours today. That includes 24 minutes of transition and about five minutes between the bike loops to re-fill water and change my bandages. On race-day, I'll add 1.2 miles of swimming and nearly 23 of running. Since the swim is first, I know I can do the extra swim. I have enough confidence in my run that, I can finish the marathon (it might hurt a lot, but I can do it). I have now proven to myself that I can do this race... the question remains, though, why do I want to???

Training Day - June 9
Swim:
Distance: 1.2 miles
Time: 34:33
Average heart rate: 129
Bike:
Distance: 114.7 miles
Time: 6:05
Average heart rate: 120
Run:
Distance: 3.7 miles
Time: 30:27
Average heart rate: 150
Course: Lake Placid race course
Conditions: Beautiful, sunny, awesome

Lake Placid Training Trip - Day 1

An up and down (literally) day...

I got up relatively early, packed up the car and made the 300 mile drive up here to Lake Placid. It was a warm, sunny, beautiful day. I got up to Lake Placid at around 2:30 and checked into my hotel - Art Devlin's Olympic Motor Inn - which I would definitely recommend to anyone making a trip up here. The hotel is nice and clean, the rooms are pretty big. I guess it's a sorta long walk up to the main part of Main Street, but it's just a short walk to Mirror Lake.

After checking in and dropping my stuff in the room, I scooted over to the lake for a swim. I stepped into the water to test the temperature and was pleasantly surprised to notice that it was actually much warmer than I had feared. It still wasn't warm, but it was fine. I was planning on wearing my wetsuit and it was a bit chilly to swim without the suit. With the suit, the water felt totally comfortable. The lake water felt (and tasted!) really clean. I swam out to the first buoy and immediately found the yellow wire that runs under the buoys. The wire is great. It makes swimming in anything but a straight line just about impossible. I swam at a good pace, but didn’t push myself too hard. I knew it was going to be the longest open water swim I’d ever done and I didn’t want to ruin myself for the rest of the weekend’s training. The swim course is a 1.2 mile rectangle, so for the race, we’ll do two laps. That was my scheduled swim for today as well. This afternoon, at least, there was a nice current behind me on the way out and in my face on the way back. Not too strong, but definitely noticeable.

After my swim, I came back to the hotel with the intention of going on a two-or-so hour ride. Coach John didn’t put it on the schedule, but he said that if I had time and was feeling up for it, it would be good to get some extra saddle time in. I had a little to eat and got dressed and ready. When I grabbed the bike, I noticed that the headset was a little loose. So much for my self-congratulations on removing the spacer and putting it back together! Fortunately, High Peaks Cyclery is essentially across the street from Art Devlin’s. I showed one of their mechanics, Kelly, what was going on and he tightened it all up then and there. Huge props to Kelly and High Peaks. Then, I finally started off on my ride.

The ride was going fine. I was planning on doing most of one loop of the race course (there were a couple parts I was going to cut off to keep my ride time at less than two hours). Anyway, I was feeling good and then, about five miles out, I hit a nice patch of loose sand, wobbled, wobbled some more and then BANG! was down and skidding across the shoulder. As soon as I realized I could think and see and was therefore fine, I panicked about the bike. Fortunately, the bike was/is fine as well. A little scratched up here and there – just like me! I knew that was a sign to turn around and call it a day. The ride back was uneventful. So, I’m here with nice road rash on my left ankle, calf, knee and hip, my left elbow and shoulder and both hands. Awesome – I’ll take some pictures and maybe post them once I get home, maybe. Also, my favorite bike jersey is torn at the shoulder and my left shoe got a little torn up. Even better. Bummer, again. I showered and cleaned up my wounds and made a trip to RiteAid to buy all kinds of goodies. I’m going to take care of the wounds and keep my fingers crossed that nothing affects tomorrow’s training…

Speaking of tomorrow, it’s scheduled to be a pretty huge day – 1.2 mile swim, 112 on the bike and an easy 30 minute run. I don’t see any of my scrapes really affecting the training, but I bet I’ll be at least a little sore and raw. I was hoping that today's ride would prepare me for what to expect tomorrow - hopefully that won't be the case!!

Now, I’m going to get in a bath to try to clean out the wounds a little better and then I’m going to hit the sack to get a good night’s sleep before tomorrow.

Swim - June 8
Distance: 2.4 miles (4,224 yards)
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 128
Mirror Lake swim

Bike - June 8
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 34 minutes
Average heart rate: 131
Course: Lake Placid
Conditions: Sunny, warm

"Done's"

I have to admit that I've been struggling to find inspiration for this blog recently. I remember when I first started writing, everything I was doing was brand new and, as I've written before, I saw everything I did as another item to check of my preparation list. I counted hours and miles and used a red pen to check off each workout on my weekly calendar. As time went by, it has become much more routine - going out for a two or three or four+ hour training session on a Saturday isn't a big deal, it's just the way I spend Saturday morning. I always know what's my training schedule looks like, but I'm not so concerned about it anymore; I just check what Coach John tells me to do, and then I do it. Some of my workouts are more remarkable than others, but they're so deeply embedded into my daily life that they normally don't stay with me for very long.

But then I start thinking about the ultimate goal here. When John and I met last fall, I wasn't hiring him because I wanted to get in great shape. I wasn't hiring him so exercise would become part of my daily life. I wanted a coach to help me train for, and put me in a position to complete, Ironman USA. I've done everything he's asked, but here I am, less than seven weeks away from the big day and I'm finding it easy to slip into thinking about the things I haven't done. I haven't ridden enough hills. I haven't run longer than a half marathon since the NYC Marathon last November. I haven't swam enough 800's or 1,000's. I haven't pushed myself enough on my indoor rides. I haven't, I haven't, I haven't...

But what good is that negative thinking going to do me?! No matter what I've done during the last ten months, I will always find things I haven't done and ways to improve, but is that what this is about? No way. For me - someone who's not in this to win it - this is about the process - and what I have learned, and will learn, about myself throughout it. So, in an effort to stop dwelling on the haven'ts and the could'ves, this post is dedicated to the done's and the completed's, crushed's and even the absolutely killed.

Here is a partial list of my "done's":

• I've completed a 112 mile bike ride;
• I ran a marathon - and qualified for Boston;
• I've improved my half-marathon time by over 5 minutes;
• I raced a half ironman in about the worst conditions I can imagine and came in 11th overall (and second in my age group);
• I've improved my 1,000 yard swim time from 17:21 to 15:34;
• I've gone from a place where cycling was a race-day liability to where I look forward to getting on the bike because I love pedaling strong and fast;
• I survived a mind-numbing 4 hour indoor ride on my trainer - and put in nearly 70 hours on the trainer since January 1;
• I've helped raise nearly $9,000 for CAF;
• I've become proficient with basic bike maintenance and tuning - this week I even successfully removed a spacer from my headset, which is something I never would have even considered trying a year ago;
• I've gained the confidence that I can push myself further, faster and harder than I ever thought possible;
• I've learned that there really aren't limits to what I can achieve;
  
  and last and most importantly:
  
  
• I think (and hopefully my lovely wife would confirm) that I've done a pretty bang-up job balancing Elizabeth and Charlie time into the whole equation.

Tomorrow morning I'm heading up to Lake Placid for a hard-core training weekend and to check out the swim, bike and run courses. I'll hopefully have a few more "done's" to add to the list after that trip.

Apologies for a very self-serving post, but it did make me feel better!

Here are some new pictures of Charlie for your viewing pleasure (taken in Wainscott last weekend):




Bike - June 1
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 128
Indoor ride

Run - June 1
Distance: 5.5 miles
Time: 41 minutes
Average heart rate: 142
Course: West Side Highway/Financial District/Tribeca
Conditions: Hot, humid

Swim - June 2
Distance: 4,300 yards
Time: 1:40

Long Brick - June 3
Bike distance: 70.4 miles
Run distance: 7.75 miles
Total time: 4:35.24
Average heart rate: 131
Course: Bike to Montauk, around east end; Run to beach, around Wainscott
Conditions: Warm, clouds and sun, sorta humid

Bike - June 4
Time: 30 minutes
Average heart rate: 114
Indoor ride

Bike - June 5
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 122
Indoor ride

Run - June 6
Distance: 12 miles
Time: 1:30:30
Average heart rate: 151
Course: West Side Highway north to 120's
Conditions: Beautiful, high 60's, sunny, some wind