Sunday, December 30, 2007

Workout: Bike, Long ride target 2 hours base target HR 120-140

Actual, 3:10 ( approximate since I was late to stop timer) distance 40 miles, Ave HR 140, Max 183

The ride was done along with friends Phil, and Adam. Headed out towards Ridgefield, CT on 35 rode on some hills there ( at least thats the parts I remember :) and rode back. My bike fitness is lame. I was the car guard ( its nicer than saying last) throughout the ride. I am not sure if some of it had to do with the fact that I did my 16 mile run last night? Possibly but I definitely died on the hills.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Workout Planned; 16 mile run, base run target HR between 120-140

Actual: distance 16.1 miles, Time: 2:53, Ave HR 149, Max 182

It was a good run along rte 22 which is pretty quite, My ave HR says 149, however the good news is that during teh mid 6-7 miles I was hittingt he target HR range being around 130 Average. Hr goes up around my home where there are alot of hills.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Workout planned for today:

swim 60-70 minutes, endurance swim

Actual
Swam 73 minutes, and 3000 meters( Finally broke that milestone!)

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Workout planned 45-60 minutes base run, with focus on hills ( max HR on hills to be no more than 165)

Actual: Done Indoor on Treadmill with some hill ( increase angle thrown in)

Time : 55:24
Distance 5 Miles
Av HR 146
Max HR 172

I later added 4.1 dog miles* at an Ave HR 154 Max 176 on the hills

Total 9.1 miles

* "Dog miles" is the technical term for added "unplanned" miles run with my dog Simba for her exercise.
** I like the term "Dog miles" so will probably use it as a reference for ANY unplanned miles done from now on. It sounds cool, and really gives off that impression of hard work
*** I like term sooo much that the term "Dog miles"(c) is now copyrighted by me!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays to All!

Monday, December 24, 2007

Workout: SWIM on the plan 45-60 minutes speed workot

Actual
10 x 50 sw :15 RI
400 @ T pace @Tpace + :03
4x100 @Tpace
300 @ T pace @Tpace +:03
3x100 @ Tpace
200 @ @ Tpace + :03

C/D 100

Total 2200 Meters

Building base, Good Karma and saving the environment..All in a days work

Grip its

It started out as a simple 14 mile base run. I was joining my friend Adam and his RwP running buddy Dave at the Rockefeller state park preserve( lovingly called the Rockies by locals). The day was dreary, wet and cold. We all met up at the Sleepy Hollow High parking lot at 8AM as usual.

I should have known this was going to be a tough day once I saw Adam and Dave putting on these spiked devices on their shoes( "grip it") for a better grip on the Ice ( dave was supper fly with running shoes with Built in spikes). I of course had not even seen these things before ( how did I miss the memo?). So I saw that these more experiensed runners were expecting some icy conditions. This was going to be interesting. Not having been at the Rockies since the fall I had no idea what the conditions would be.

We started off down the Old croton Aqueduct as usual. The trail was covered with about 2 inches of packed snow, turned to ice in some spots. Fortunately, in the early morning it was still firm enough that we basically, were able to run over this stuff. It was still kind of hard but the snow did give a little so there was not a solid footing, which made this a little more of a workout. Throughout the run I could not keep my HR below 155 even walking.

Anyhow, I had assumed we would take a trail that went by the visitor center mid way as we usually do, but Adam informed me that those trails are probably unusable for running, so instead I brought a water bottle and hid it strategically about 4 miles down the road since this is a path we would come back on. We would fetch it later.

As time went on, the day continued to warm up, and it started to rain. The result being that this hard packed snow started to soften up. Eventually, we found ourselves running on soft slushy snow that gave way every time we tried to push off. It was like running in sand. Although Adam pointed out that In sand you are trying to keep your feet from getting stuck wereas in snow we were struggling to keep our feet from slipping and sinking in thus a different effort. However the fine details were insignificant to me, it just sucked. But Adam IS a running coach. I am sure in a coaches mind this is critical.

By the half way point we were pretty tired but still game to finish, since we had a mission to finish our 14 mile planned workout. My HR was all over the place. The ice was even more slippery now that it was partially melted. Slugging through this stuff was just plain hard.

Save the Bhudha, Save the world

At this point, Adam informed us that we were going up "Bhudha hill" informally named due to a Bhudha statue that is hidden in a crevice along the wall. I had never seen it and did not believe Adam. So as we ran up this hill Adam was taking us up to point out the crevice that the Bhudha calls home. We could not find it. Adam knew it was supposed to be there, but for some reason it was not. So we looked around. Dave continued on up the hill. I stayed to help Adam to look for the Bhudha. I did not know what to look for since I had never seen it. I had thought that maybe it was some form of Rock formation or maybe some horse poop that happened to be shaped to remind you of the Bhudda. I acted like was really looking but really I was just placating Adam...When lo and behold there it was...we found the Bhudha. It was truly a Bhudha statue, about 2 inches in height, a tiny little thing. But not in its rightful place, it was supposed to be in a small crevice and had fallen out somehow and was laying in the snow just to the side of the path, just waiting for a horse or person to come by and crush it, thus possibly ruining peace and harmony for the world forever! ( or at least a day or two)

Realizing how close we came to disaster we immediately put it back in its rightful place. The moment was so powerful that I felt like doing a sign of the cross, but wasn't sure if that would somehow create spiritual havoc in the universe by mixing religious symbols. So I withheld the Cross sign.

Was it the Bhudha who made me question Adam? Forcing him to show me?!

Who knows! I just hope this action resulted in some good Karma for us having saved the Bhudha from sure disaster. As if its not bad enough whats happening in wars, disease and famine already ravaging our world, we certainly did not need this!

The sludge fest

After saving the worlds Karma we continued on our way. The conditions just continued to deteriorate ( or maybe it was us who were deteriorating), anyhow, by mile 9 we were just pushing through, Dave was doing great having developed a stride that was very reminiscent of "Rocky Balboa" from the Rocky movies. I myself had developed sort of a John Wayne-esque like limp/stride as it seemed that my stabilizer muscles in my right leg were starting to give way after 2 hours of pushing through the wet, slushy, crap (as we started to fondly all it). Adam seemed to be no worse for wear ( probably buoyed by the recent Bhudha rescue) though he did seem to slow down a bit.

By mile 11 we were back at the cars, tired weary, and just plain pooped. There was a real temptation to stop the run at this point since we had all already worked much more for these 11 miles than was planned due to the conditions. There was only one problem the water bottle was still out there and we still had another 3 miles to go on our plans.

We simply could not leave this water bottle out there to pollute the earth ( that and also there was a good chance it was my Singapore 70.3 souvenir bottle, yes it was a crappy race for me but WOW what a bottle!) . We just assured ourselves of some pretty darned good Karma, why ruin it now?

So we headed out for the damned water bottle and for the extra 3 miles. We went over the path taken earlier when it was nice a firm. Now it was a sludgy shit fest and we suffered through this like I never before. It was in fact so bad that we simply had to start laughing. Thats the benefit of running with friends, especially those with a real good attitude, it makes doing the hard stuff fun. We were just cracking jokes and laughing at how bad we looked running. I felt like Jerry Lewis in one of his comedies where he is running with his legs going all over the place.

When we finally got to the water bottle it turns out not to be the Singapore water bottle, ( who really pays attention to what water bottle you have? forget what I said before it wasn't THAT special;) . Anyhow we turned around and finally finished this decrepit run. When all was said and done we had gone 15.6 miles*. I was soaked, cold and incredibly sore. But comfy in the knowledge that I finished my planned distance. All in All, a good day.


* Note 15.6 miles is from my foot Pod, Adam and Dave had a GPS units. Adams Unit lost the signal all together near the end of the run so HIS calculations were not accurate, and Dave's said 15.25 BUT Dave did stop and walk for a bit since he had only a 13 mile run to do. Though he claims to not have stopped the device at any point, BUT how can we be sure that he did not lose the satellite at some point just like Adam. In my mind that disqualifies the distance. Making MY pod distance the most accurate of the inaccurate distances!!

Sundays Workout

Planned Run 14 miles Base, The plan was for a long easy run in the Rockies ( Rockefeller Eastates) with some friends.

Actual, 2.55 hour, 15.6 mile slog of death!

by the numbers, Disatnce 15.6*, Av HR 157, Max HR 180!

Total mile for the week 32!! New milestone for me!

Saturdays workout

Planned 2 hours on Bike. A nice cold ride with Friends

Actual: Zip, zero , Nada Thank You 1-800 Mattress for keeping me waiting all day long!

Friday, December 21, 2007

Workout planned: 60 minute swim focus on Endurance

Actual workout 1 hour, 2600 meters

WU 2X200 ( 50 sw, 100 K, 50 sw)
Mainset 400, 300, 200, 100 SW Mod pace :20 RI
300, 200, 100 N/S :25 RI
200 Fast :30 RI
100 Fast :30 RI
200 K
100 cooldown

Workout: Run Planned 60 minutes with lots of hills

Ran in Heritage hills with a focus on the hill sections

Time 59:19
Distance 5.8 mi
Ave HR 150
Max HR 176

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Finally! A swim workout

It was not much of one, but I had 45-60 minute workout on schedule.

Today I happen to be in an office in White plains, so knowing this I brought my swim gear and during lunch hopped on over to the NYSC in White plains which has a 25 meter pool. Since its lunch I can only do 45 minutes of actual swimming when you add in a 10 minute walk each way and a quick shower after its going a little past the hour available.

So I went in and did the following:

Its a speed workout from the

300 Sw warm up
100 Kick
25 x 12

Then 2 X
300 Sw mod pace
2 x 75 Fast

then 200 Kick

cool down : 100 yards swim

Total 1900 meters

Not really as much as I would like to get in but at least I got some yardage in. I was feeling real bummed that I have been missing the swim workouts, which is key in my base phase.

One thing, there was a guy there for NYSC who was the acting life guard, he said he was a swimming coach and had in the past trained triathletes in swimming. He saw my little "Swim workouts for Triathletes" book by Berhardt and Hansen, he commented its neat and he never saw that before. ..... Huh?....
Now it might be my own prejudice but how the heck could you be a swim coach for triathletes and NOT know about this book?! I mean its a neat little book that fits nicely in the gym bag, has lots of great swim workouts and best yet, the pages are waterproof so you can take it to the pool and have it right there! Brilliant!!

I mean just about everyone I know that has been in the sport long enough knows about the book! I can understand an age grouper not knowing, but a coach? I wouldn't trust a coach unless they knew of this book.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Tough times for training


Yes I was suppossed to spend an hour swimming yesterday but had to put it off due to being late at work. Thought I could get it in today. Work thought different. Whats up with that?!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Todays Workout: RUN

Planned 60 minutes, Base training

Time 01:03:15
Distance 5.77 mi
Max HR 174, Av 149

Calories 670

Conditions Icy and wet, slow going due to slippery conditions.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Todays Workout Cycling

Base training Target HR 120-140

1 Hour on Indoor Trainer, Max HR 139, Ave HR 124
Calories 462

Back home

Well finally back home from Cali, Nice to be home but the flight sucked. Now because I travel for business I am able to fly business/first class. The price is about 5 times the price of coach and what do you get? I believe its an extra 2 inches in inclination of your seat, an extra foot for leg room and yes a meal as opposed to the peanuts they throw at the people in steerage ...errrr...I mean coach. Thats what you get for an extra 1200 bucks. Is it really possible to get a good night sleep on a chair that barely reclines? Not for me.

SO I got home pretty beat.

Anyhow, today I finally setup the bike on my trainer. Put it in the basement ( THE IM Wisconsin training center of Somers ;) Did my workout.

The good news is that its looking like I may be able to forgo any further travel until February, that gives me 6 weeks of solid training and home time.

About Base training

The following is right from my coaches Blog( Johnhirsh.org) it is regarding the need to stick with Base training during the base phase.

"A lot of the athletes I coach have jumped into 5k and 10ks recently, not taking my not so subtle hints of telling them not too. Amazingly, they all seem to be hitting near or on their personal records despite the fact that they all have been training less than a few months since their breaks.

When athletes and I first talk, and we plan their run training, I get to spend some time talking them out of all the fancy run training. One thing that I think the majority of training programs have wrong is the need for speed work. I get why people want to do it. Its fun, the workout are dynamic. You think it's gonna make you fast, after all its called “speed” work, the proof is right there in the name! But the reality is that a huge majority, in fact almost everyone I have coached never properly build their run base. So the biggest gains come from more volume. One of my athletes for example did his first 40 mile week. [god bless you dude, as you had to do most of it on the treadmill even if the gym was full of eye candy]. He is running faster than ever, even though it's only his 2-3rd month of training, all base work.

Speed work kills volume. Here is how. First, your speed work is shorter. maybe 4 x 1 mile or 12 x 1/4 or 8 x 1/2 or something. that's only -4 miles or so. While a nice 1 hour base run is normally 7-8, about double that. Beyond that most athletes can’t bounce back from it, so they lose the next day. Now, instead of running 16 miles, 2 x 8 miles, you are running 4 [maybe a little more for a warm up and cool down].
Also, running isn’t easy. There are no junk miles. Junk miles running is called walking. Downhill. When I hike with a heart rate monitor I go above my recovery zone when I go uphill. That how easy you have to go to not be aerobic. So really all you need to go to get much faster at any race all the way down to a stand alone 5k is run more often. If you run more often, you will build volume, fitness and speed. All without speed work. This becomes even more true for longer races, and in a race like an ironman you don’t really need any speed work.

This is what people mean when they say they want to build “economy.” As you run more, you run faster at the same effort. At some point if you want to be wicked fast at a 5k you will need to add speed work, after you fail to get faster with a deep run base. But what ironman training has shown, is that athletes who train fort a long event and build Ironman base, see fast times at short distances.

The truth is people want short cuts, and running has no short cuts."


I have of course been following this advice as close as I can ( that's the benefit of getting a coach, you tend to stick to the plan a bit better) But I do have to say that it feels counter to what we have always been told for just about everything else which is TRAIN HARD. So it is difficult to jog along when I have this pent up energy just bursting to get out. I like the feeling of going out and kicking my own ass, when done you just feel like you did something.

Now I know that this stage is key to the rest of the season. My friend who also is the head running coach for Race with Purpose, Coach Adam, also agrees that base training is important. Although he does believe that after a good base training period its essential to also build on other aspects of your game such as speed and strength. So with such backing for a solid base period you just know its got to have merit. So despite my instinct to sabotage the training by going all out I intend on sticking to the plan.

Maybe I'll just have to think Angry thoughts while jogging to get myself emotionally tired, something like how I feel duped that the season for Heroes seems to be over due to this writers strike.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Portmanteu

I was looking up some information about one of the local towns here in southern Cali, Calexico in Wikipedia and found this:

"Calexico is a city in Imperial County, California, United States. The population was 27,109 at the 2000 census. It is part of the 'El Centro, California Metropolitan Statistical Area'. Calexico is about 122 miles east of San Diego and about 70 miles west of Yuma, Arizona. Its name, a portmanteau ***of California and Mexico, like that of the adjacent town of Mexicali emphasizes its importance as a border city."

What was that? ......Portna ahmina whatsa.... what? That's what I thought when I read that. Fortunately Wikipedia has a link to the definition. In short it means combining two words to come up with a new one.

Now really I dare anyone to tell me when is the next time this word will be used outside of scrabble. Maybe I am just an ignoramus dorkus, but isn't it easier to just say "A combination of two words"?

I don't know maybe this person has an inferiority complex. Who knows, maybe this person needs a date real bad.

Todays workout: run

A 1 hour workout on the treadmill, 5.26 mi, Max HR 168, Ave HR 143 Calories 603

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Todays workout: Bike

Indoor stationary Bike 60 minutes Max HR 149, Ave HR 130 Calories 440

As I sat there watching the TV in the workout room, I was thinking that "Law and Order" could probably establish its own dedicated Cable channel. Everywhere I go, there seems to be a "Law and Order" showing, even Dubbed in Spanish in Chile.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

12 miles in El Centro

So yesterday was suppossed to be my long/slow run. 12 miles. Unfortunatly I spent most of my day travelling so I did not get a chance to get it done. So I decided that I would get it done today. Now although I have been here maybe 6 times in the past two years, I am still not familiar with the roads between the major avenues. But I really did not want to spend 2 hours on the dreadmill soooo I asked some of the locals. They suggested I go to one of the local High schools where they have brand new tracks. Not really what I was looking for, I was kind of hoping there was a hidden park somewhere. But No. Still a track is better than nothing. So I started out from the Hotel, it was about 65 - 70 degrees. Nice and comfy. I was wearing a tech T and shorts. Figured with the run I would work up enough heat to keep me warm.

I was a bit worried about how to get to the track since the roads seem to be pretty busy. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that El Centro has invested in sidewalks, Allot of them. In fact Just about every place I look there are sidewalks, miles of them. Its funny Westchester NY has close to a million people and its hard to find a sidewalk outside of village centers. Yet here in El Centro "de Nada" there are sidewalks even in front of huge barren plots of land.

Anyhow, the run to the track was about 2 miles. There were some "questionable" areas where the doors seemed to be barred. Or shall I say there were bars with a little door behind them if you get my drift. Also they seem to like to leave their dogs out front, which a couple of times caused me to nearly Cr$p in my pants when I would suddenly find myself with a Sudden barking right next to me. Mostly though they were either tied out or behind fences.

Anyhow finally I got to the track and it was pretty nice. It was pretty active too. There was a tennis court next to it that was being used by local teens ( maybe the HS team?) and a little league soccer game going on in an adjoining field.

I spent the next hour and a half running loops on the track. Nice alternative to the treadmill. One thing though. In the time since I had left it got freaking cold ! I mean probably it dropped 15 degrees in the 2 hours since I left, by the time I was back at the hotel my fingers were numb from the cold.

Anyhow I managed to get my run in, so I felt great!

My stats were the following:

distance 12.05 Miles
Time 2:09:44
Max HR 158
Ave HR 135
calories 1172

Monday, December 10, 2007

Back on the road

Blogging from Lovely El Centro California. More info to come

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Offseason Weight

Well its back! The offseason weight that I was so happy to have shed has returned. I am back to 165 lbs. I guess I can't say I am surprised. I have been eating like no how ( don't ask me what "like no how" means, i just heard someone say that). In my peak shape right before Tupper Lake last year I weighed 158 which was the lowest I have weiged in possibly 15 years. However, for my frame ( 5' 6") I believe the recommended weight is 140, so I was still overweight.

However, for some reason I just feel 140 would be scrawney for me. So really my goal is more like 150. That should help me get rid of the belly too. And most importantly...My power to weight ratio !! Better hill climbing! At some point I'll work on some nutrition plan. But for now I believe acknowledging the problem took more out of me than I expected. Better go have a bagel ;)

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Endurance swim today

Total 65 minutes

W/U 200 SW
400,300,200,100 Mod pace with :20RI
300,200,100 Neg Split with :25 RI
200 Fast :30 RI
100 Fast :30 RI
4x150 Pull :20 RI

Total yards 2700

This workout came out of the "Swim Workouts for Triathletes" which I like because its a little book that all the pages are waterproof. So I have all the workouts right there without having to deal with soggy paper and baggies etc. The last time I did that I had F' ed up the paper so bad by half way through I could not read it anymore. I HATE that! Grrr

Today Two fer workout day. I traded the swim from today to tommorow and did the hills run today

Workout 1 -

45 minutes on the indoor cycle in NYSC ave HR 127


Workout 2 -

Run 1:08:25
7.3 miles
Ave HR 151

hills for today

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Simba's pet peeve

Had a planned 60 minute run today.

The plan was 60 minutes HR between 12-150

Today I met the goal completly. Ran almost exactly 60 minutes.

Actual numbers:

Run time 1:00:39
Distance 6.4 miles
Ave Pace 9.28 min/mile
Ave HR 147

All in all a good run. But COLD!!! It was hard getting up but after realizing the amount of work I need to do I came to the conclusion that its time to buckle down. SO I got up at 5AM and ran in the dark. I have to guess it was something like 25 degrees. Freezing! But I did warm up eventually. I discovered that Simba, my dog has a real issue with those decorative reindeer that are lit up and move their head slowly. We ran past two of them and she was ready to destroy them. Not digging the moving head reindeer. Not at all.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Swim T-time

Well back from Chile, and amongst the first workouts back is to establish my T time in the pool. This is done with 3 x 300 with a small rest period in between. The get the average of each of the 100's done. The idea is to come up with a pace that is fairly consistent. In other words the last 300 should be within 15 seconds of the first 300. Also manage to do this while doing them as hard as you can.

Well I did my first test today, and don't really know if I did them correct. I was pretty consistent 1st 300 was 365 second, 366 seconds and last 300 was 375 seconds. The average was 122.8 seconds per 100 or 2:02. Which I believe is pretty slow. In fact if I look at the chart for T1 times in "Workouts in a binder" it is literally slower than the last sample in the chart which was 2:00 per 100. YES folks I have my work cutout for me!

Workout: Swimming - T1 test 100 warm up 3X300 total 1000 meters

Friday, November 30, 2007

Adios Santiago

Well as I sit here in the airport I am looking back on the week here in Chile. Overall its been a very good experience. Aside from the fact that travel in general is a bit difficult on my training and my life. Santiago is a very nice city. Amongst the safest in latin America. Unlike some other countries in Latin America, in Santiago you really have a feeling that you are in a well controlled an safe country. The people I have encounterred seemed well educated and the people, all of them, were very pleasant. The people in the office I was visit went almost to an insane level to make sure I was comfortable and taken care of.

So all in all a good experience. But....I am glad to be going home.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Gadgets

Lately almost everyone I know seems to be using a Garmin 305 GPS HR Monitor. Here I was just running around with my paltry Polar R400 running computer that CANNOT upload to a website and show me on a fancy map the course that I ran/biked. Talk about HR Monitor envy!

But how could I justify a $399 purchase when we just finished buying a house AND I signed up with a coach to help me get to IM Wisconsin in totally winning and cool fashion ( mind you complete with running across the line waving my arms to my 2 fans and having the energy and sufficient thought process left to remember to exagerate hearing my name "Javier Gomez YOU are an IRONMAN" I mean cupping my ears with my hands and all! (John Dude, if you are reading this you have your work cut out for you!) I cut out the part of moonwalking across the finish line because damn that is Sooo 80's ( also because it would require hiring a different type of coach:)

Side note: Despite the absurdity of the concept don't you think that if I moonwalked across the finish line of a IM, wouldn't I at least make the news?!

Anyhow, after much deep thinking I decided to list out the things I think really would make a difference in my Racing aside from getting a coach(listed in order of importance):

-New Bike, tri specific(3-4K)- I am right now riding a 650$ entry level road bike.
-Some kind of aero wheelset(1K in a fire sale)
-a Bullet head helmet ( aero helmet(price who knows They look silly as far as I am concerned and would only wear one if I was a Pro))
-Threshold testing ( $600)

Other than that I cannot really recall what I would like, though I am certain I am missing about 5K worth of stuff.

But ultimatly I thought that 20 years ago this stuff was not around, and thos guys still would kick my ass and would probably still end up in the top 10% of todays races. They had relatively heavy road bikes. NO HR monitors, and for all I knew they ran in the original waffle pattern Nike shoes. According to my dads logic ( if I fall for the "walking to school for 10 miles in the snow" story despite the fact that he grew up in Cuba...yeah it was a stretch) they did it barefoot!
So really what is it that makes the real difference, would it be the equiptment or would it be the training? I think its obvious. Its the training( I know genes play a part but I do sometimes like to delude...errr...remind myself that I have the right set of genes so keep your mouth shut! Its the training DAMMIT!!)

So still How does one keep the technology envy away? Well let me start by saying the only reason I even have a Polar R400 Running computer is because I got it free from TNT as a returning athlete last year. So I got it by having raised over 6K for the benefit of all the folks with leukemia. So all I diod was go on eBay and scored a foot pod for only $60

So can I map my run. No But I can tell the distance now (give or take a few) and get all kinds of analytics) Next year I will invest in the Polar Bike computer that will tie into the same software ( my el cheapo Bike computer is on the fritz). Giving me almost all of the same analytical data as a garmin 305 at in essance half the cost. OK so maybe I will have to fabricate the maps of my runs to send to my friends, but hey thats the price we all have to pay at times right?


More Running

Todays run was uneventful, now that I am familiar with the Business park that I call home in Santiago for a week, I am starting to notice more of the detail. For example today in the office I learned that the business park itself is only about 5 years old, and that many of the buildings were award winners here in Chile. Architectural wonders all of them. I am not joking. There is one buildingthat looks like it would be a figure 8 one one side but when you go to the other it is a waterfall and some structure that looks like a metalic tree and vines running up the side. I was told by my local coworkers that the building was built to run completly from solar power. Cool!

I hope to be able to download the pictures from my blackberry. But though I am a technology guy at work I am a bit slow in the personal gadgets department.

Anyhow back to my run. here are the stats

5.72 Miles
48.35 minutes
Max HR 175 (90%)
Ave 162 ( 83%)
Ave Pace 8:29 Min/Mile
593 Calories
Polar Running Index 54

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Chile

Well this week I am in Chile on business. It was a very long flight, 14 hours, so I am a bit sore from sitting in a slightly smallish seat ( for business class). I did manage to sleep a good portion of the time.

I got in at around 8:30 Am and got to the hotel around 10 AM. Having that much time I decided to go and take advantage of the free shuttle the hotel has to "providencia" which is suppossed to be a tourist friendly area. On the way there the shuttle operatore pointed out the Hyatt Hotel which is apparantly the most significant hotel in Santiago. According to him "Michael Jackson!" even stayed there. Nice to know that Michael still has some influence somewhere.

Anyhow they dropped us off in what was basically a large mall.

I had lunch and got a few things I forgot like toothpaste, and headed back after around 3 hours.

Later I did a run around the area of the hotel, the area is called "Ciudad Empressa" which is basically a business park. There is a loop a little less than 1.5 miles long. So I did 4 loops of it. On the run I ran into a number of what I think were strays though I could not tell because although they were running around in the street they had collars on. So I could not tell.

My run went as follows:

Distance 5.74 Miles
Time 48:38
Max HR 184
Ave HR 166

Ave Pace 8:28
Calories 620

According to my Polar R400 I have a running index of 52 ( good)

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanks Giving

Run today. 5.55 Miles 55:29Max HR 174, Ave HR 150 706 Calories burned. ready for Thanks Giving!!

My situation: I have a mountain of debt which includes a sparkling new Mortgage, I have a new house that needs some repairs and thus more debt to come, I have a new house full of boxes that seem to take forever to unpack. My mom has a heart condition. My job is demanding and sometimes frustrating and gives me more work than I can really handle. I have dogs that seem to poop alot more than any animal should. cats that like to wrestle and wake us up when they feel like it.

So I give Thanks for a challenging job that pays me enough to pay my debts ( including the brand spanking new Mortgage, and for some of the repairs to the house. I give thanks that I am fairly handy and can do MANY of the repairs myself. I give thanks for a Great wife who helps me have fun unpacking and looking over old pictures and books and spend more time than is really necessary unpacking, but making it fun anyways. I give Thanks for awsome dogs and cats whose antics can keep the blues away when feeling overwhelmed. Finally I am thankfull for a GREAT set of parents who have found a great Cardiologist and who has helped my mom get past the worst of it.

So Thank You.

Happy Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Today a Swim.

Warm-up 200 swim, 200 Kick, 200 Swim ( supposed to be pull but still no pull buoy)
9x50 ( slow, med, fast 3x)
6x75 (50 drill 25 build swim) for drills I alternated between fist drills and one arm laps)
400 cooldown

Total 52:38 minutes 1900 Meters

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Long run today. 10 Miles. Total 1:35:40 Ave HR 153 Max 175

Did the run with Simba, she was great. Ran on the North county trail where we encountered a few people and dogs. This is good for her to get used t the idea of running past them and NOT stopping to say Hi. She can do the distance easily, But she needs to get used to conditions of running with many distractions.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Cold Ride

Ok so todays plan was a 2 hour ride. I couldn't arrange anyride with friends because I had to participate in the companies BCP testing this morning. So at about 1PM I was free to ride and decided to give it a shot. The temps were 41 degrees. I couldn't find my booties ( not due to move, since I could not find them the week before the move. ) nor my skullcap that I use under the bike helmet.

Anyhow I was suppossed to stay within 120-145 HR, my ave was 155 max 189. Not being familiar with some of the roads I took I encountered some nice hills, that kept my HR up. Finally the lack of appropriate cold weather gear kept my bone a chill. SO I ended my ride a bit early. Total time 1:29:38 1209 calories burned.

Must go buy some new winter gear now.

And blow leaves off my lawn :)

Friday, November 16, 2007

Doggie Duathlon Bios

Well its official, the competitors have been named!

http://www.nyctri.com/Event_Info/Doggy_Du_Competitors.htm

Simba is my dog.

Did a catchup swim at lunch. Since last night I could not swim since apparantly teh lifeguard had to have dinner at 8PM. Thus closing the pool while she was out. See Gripe written earlier today below.

Swam for 40 Minutes. I started out with a 600 warmup 50 freestyle/50 Back
then 9x50 ( slow, medium,fast x3)
finished off with a 400 Meter cooldown
Total 1450 meters

Run was on the plan for today 45-60 minutes.

Actual

Time - 50.26 Minutes
Distance - 5.56 miles
Max HR 183
Ave HR 158
Cals 700

Map below.

Heritage hills is pretty hilly, so there were some nice hills in there I had to run. I ran with Simba and she was great. This afternoon I need to make up for the lost swim session of yesterday. I went there at 8PM having minimal amount of time to do the workout since I have to be back home to pick up lovely spouse at the train station. I get there and of course the lifeguard is on dinner break, and wont be back for 15 minutes. I waited 15 minutes and she was still nowhere to be found. The pool gets closed when teh lifeguard is not around. So I decided to ditch the workout because if there is something I cannot stand is working out with a time constraint. So today at lunch I will work it in at the White Plains NYSC.

Run today. 45-60 minutes on the plan. Actual Workout





Time -50.23 minutes,


Distance - 5.4 miles

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Spend an hour on the stationary bike. Not exactly what was on the plan, but I kind of overslept, so I had to do my workout over lunch at the NYSC in Jersey.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Swim workout today

Well today I had my first structured swim workout in a looong time. Since I have been out of the water for quite possibly 2 months ( with an occassional 1k yards in the pool here and there)the coach has me starting out slow. Today was 30-60 minutes. I did about 50 minutes. Had to stop due to crappy goggles that simply have to go. I was swimming with that fishbowl feeling almost the whole time. Other technical difficulties. The workout I chose had 200 yards pulling. Problem is I could not find the damned pull bouey! Its somewhere in the room depicted in the picture below:


Anyhow despite this I managed the following:
200 swim, 200 kick, 200 pull( well I dead legged it)
9x50 (slow, medium, fast 3X)
6 x 75 (50 steady, 25 fast)
finished with 300 cooldown
Total 1800 meters

Monday, November 12, 2007

1st day of training

Well today I kick off my training on the road to Ironman greatness.

Todays schedule is.....Day off

Sorry but it IS part of the plan :)

Coaching

Well I went and did it. I done it! I got me a coach! Well a coach just for me that is. I have always had the benefits of the great group coaching by Team in training, and then there is my friend Adam who is a running coach himself and who was kind enough to critique my form and give me pointers on how to improve my game. So I cannot say I have been without coaching, but despite all the help, It was still up to me to develop my own training plan and execute it.

That worked fine for the shorter races. In fact I had success in meeting my goals for 2007. But in 2008 I am taking on an Ironman which is a whole different beast. Also I really want to get the most out of my time this year, I think a coach is better to help me do just that. I have enlisted the aid of John Hirsch. He is an Elite athlete and very successful in the mauntauk HIM (overall #1 male)and some of the local races. After speaking with him on the phone for about an hour, I had a real good feeling about this. He has already put together a plan for me. I am Psyched!

PS. New home pictures will be posted soon, because I finally found the USB cable I need. The problem is that as I shifted stuff to find it, I seem to have covered the camera, so now I can't find that! So I have a cable but no camera, I will one day get the equation straight ;) Moving sucks

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

New Home!

Well I finally moved in to teh new place. Its a mess. When I say moved in I mean all of the boxes with all of my "stuff" is in the new house and out of the old one. Actually finding anything is another matter. Pictures of the mess will follow soon ( once I can find the box that has the USB cable to conect the camera to the PC :)

Anyhow we are digging the new much larger space. The neighbors are refresshingly not present. Its not that I am anti-social, but after living in an apartment complex, we are pretty much fed up with neighbors. There were some good ones, even some we will miss. But there were also the pain in the ass ones. Especially when having dogs in a building. Now we have an acre of property and no problems :)

Friday, October 26, 2007

Training and Planning for 08

The past few weeks I have been taking it pretty easy with training. I think this has been a good thing since I know I was burnt out by September. However, now after a few weeks of this I am slowly working my way back into a training mode. The past two weeks I have gone on 5-6 mile runs pretty much 4 times a week and have snuck in one swim session and a very short cycling session. At this point I really cannot do much more due to everything going on in my life right now ( selling Condo, buying house, tons of work). However that has not stopped me from Thinking about training :)

I have two races that offer me training challenges. First is the IM race which is now a whole new category of training level. Second I have the IAMS world Championship Doggie Duathlon, which now involves training my dog. For regular training I have already identified and plotted out some of my training areas around my new home such as open water swim training, a great dead end straight away that runs for about 300 meters, excellent for speed work. Challenging rides can be found anywhere in Westchester so I did not plot those out.

My main challenge for IM training will be in finding the time to do the necessary training and well developing a strategy that will help me make the most of the time I have. This will be tough. I fear I will have to depend on mostly quality training in order to prepare. I was hoping to upgrade the bike and some equipment. However, after buying a house, there simply is no money around to get that done. However, I CAN train with what I have. So perhaps the money I do have is best invested in preparing a quality training approach.

The second race of note is the Doggie Duathlon. I know what you guys must think..."What a nut". But I am looking forward to this. Its different and that adds a little spice. Sometimes maybe its good to do something that is half witted ;)

Anyhow the challenge here is that now I have to train my dog Simba for endurance events. The run will be easy since she is faster than me by multiples. And already runs 5 to 6 miles with me fairly regularly. The real problem will be the swim. She can swim pretty good and enjoys chasing a ball in the water. In a race she has to swim 1500 meters ( .9 mile) without a ball to chase. And go straight too !! Yes I'll be swimming with her, but that will not be easy if she is going to be struggling to swim to the sides. I also don't want her to panic. I would like this to be fun for her as well as me. So I need to figure out a way to train her in the water.

Its a challenge, but its a fun challenge.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Its Official!

I just got the email-

Hi Javier,
Congratulations! You are officially entered in the Iams Doggie Duathlon World Championships. You will receive monthly e-mails and updates between now and the July 20 race day. It is your responsibility to make sure that you and your partner are sufficiently fit to complete the 1500 meter swim and 10k run. Please call Carlie or me if you have any questions 212-691-2200. We will process your credit card. Welcome to the Iams World Championships - woof, woof!
John Korff


So me and Simba are one of the 20 teams to be competing in the inaugural IAMS World Doggie Duathlon Championships!


Thursday, October 18, 2007

Ironman on a dollar a day

As I sit here counting the massive amounts of money seemingly stream out of the bank account as myself and my wife participate in this endurance sport of selling and buying real-estate, it occurs to me there will not be much left in the kitty for upgrading the Tri gear for 08.
When I first thought of taking on an Ironman event I figured I would of course upgrade to some Superior equipment. Something that would finally make me look like a REAL triathlete....Like This-




However, the above Bike costs many thousands of dollars. After we finally buy this house I think the only Tri Bike I will be able to afford is This....

Ok so I am being dramatic. I know. But I guess I wish I could set my self up with all of the equipment necessary to give myself the best advantage possible when assaulting the Ironman challenge. Being that I am riding a bike that I bought two years ago when I was unsure if I would like the sport, and thus did not invest a whole lot of money into it, its not exactly top or middle of the line. Dusty ( the bike) was never meant to be used in a gigantic effort like IM.

On the flip side, as has been said, "its not the bike, but the man". Dusty may not be a speed machine, but it will be more than enough to get t=me to the finish line. And perhaps this is for the best. In my first IM Triathlon I don't know if I want the pressure of performance goals other than to finish. The Bike I have is good enough for that. Its best to let the real performance goals to the next IM.

There are some upgrades I will probably be able to do like getting a better Bike computer, possibly a GPS/ HR monitor (Garmin 305) to help in training. Better peddles, etc. If I look there are small upgrades I can make to improve my equipment. But really the best equipment I can improve is myself and that doesn't cost much to do. With a little creativity I will manage.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Chicago's massive fun run

So who gets the blame for a race gone bad? The weather? Organizers? or the racers?

As described in this article: http://www.nbc5.com/news/14287642/detail.html

The Chicago Marathon had to be stopped at around 12 noon due to the excessive heat. they called it a fun run after that. The result being a HUGE number of folks who trained for months on end did not get to complete the marathon, were in fact turned away at the half way point. This mostly affected the slower runners and newbies who were just in it to say they finished a marathon. Those fast enough were already probably done by noon time.

The real question is was there enough water or not? There seems to be mixed information about this. The fact however is that Many MANY participants said the aid stations were not stocked well enough to deal with the heat. to me that sounds like it was the organizers issue. After all they were forewarned, Chicago had been hot for days before this race. The organizer had promised all of this support for the race. It apparently did not transpire as they promised.

Now over the past few days I have heard many discussions about this. Several different point of views, some saying that the organizer was not responsible for the weather and the runners should have been better prepared, carrying their own fuel. Others stating that the problem is an already over crowded race that the organizers simply could not manage once there was a problem. Others stating that the problem is that there are simply too many "new" runners who really are not trained enough to deal with the weather conditions.

Most likely its a little of all. But in MY opinion the organizer failed to manage the emergency. They failed to recognize that they could not handle the massive amounts of runners, they failed to deliver on their promises of water and gatoraide. So yes they are mostly at fault.

But this does bring up another issue, as a society is it possible we are just now taking on the "Just do it" approach that Nike has been pushing on us for so long in their adds. Are we just "Doing it" without proper training and preparation? The massive increases in folks doing Triathlons and marathons would seem to support this. I wonder if allot of people are just taking on these exceptionally strenuous tasks just for the sake of saying "they did it". I remember last year while I was training for the NYC tr with Team in Training, I overheard one woman tell another that she should go ahead and sign up for the NYC Marathon because after all if she got tired she could just walk most of the race. Aside from my own feeling of being appalled that ANYONE would want to participate in a race and actually walk through it ( whats the point then?) it is evident of what allot of people think, forget training just sign up for the sake of saying that you did it. Which bring me to think that allot of people out there do not get it. The real point is you should finish this thing KNOWING you are in better shape than when you started. That you really are someone who can finish a Marathon. Not just someone who might as well take a taxi to the finish line.

Anyhow, no matter what my opinion I do believe this does add to the problem and its a problem that race organizers will have to deal with. They need to start to "Dummy proof" the races.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Time trial - ongoing

Oct 6th did a 4 mile Bike time trial on Route 100

Overall did it in 11:04 = 21.8 mph

2008 Objectives

OK. I know what I said about goals in my last post but now that I am more rested I feel better about them. Anyhow I met all of my 2007 goals so they are not so bad.

I had 3 goals for 2007 and they were:

1. Bike speed on ave 17-18 mph by June 30
2. Finish Tupperlake Tinman in Better than 5:45
3. Finish NYC Triathlon better than 2:40

Results

1. My Bike average in Tupper was 18.5 mph *met the objective :)
2. Finished Tupper in 5:44:01 *Met objective by 59 seconds! :) Note this included dealing with leg cramps on the run so I could probably have done better.
3. Finished NYC Tri in 2:37 *met objective :)

So overall I had a great year in meeting my objectives for 2007

So here goes for 2008

1. Improve my Bike average at Tupper Lake to 19.5 mph
2. Finish Tupper Lake in 5:30
3. Do the Tupper Lake run in 1:40 or about 7:30 pace
4. Finish IM Wisconsin in better than 14 hours ( the goal really is finishing being its the first IM for me)

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Back to training

Well after a few weeks I finally put the bike together ( since Singapore!) and went out for a ride. It was a beautiful day and it felt like a shame not to do something with it.

The past few weeks have been dedicated to recovery of sorts for me. At Singapore I hit a very crowded intersection in my life where I had so many competing stresses, that even something I enjoy like triathlon seemed to be a real burden. Between work, problems with the neighbors, illnesses in the family, and even more work, and trying to sell and buy a home at the same time. I just could not find the right time to fit in those critical workouts.

Well, that's not the whole story. I really just felt drained when I did find the time. The Singapore race felt like such a huge burden to me. Thats just not what its supposed to be about. It was just one goal too many for me to handle properly.


So right after that race, which in and of itself was not a shining moment for me. I decided to take a break from training. Not only was I dealing with all of the mental stresses but my body was just beat, I had a nagging extensor tendinitis that was just getting worse the more I ran. My body was just beat.

That was perhaps 3 weeks ago. Today feeling quite refreshed. I went for a 1 hour bike ride followed by a 30 minute run. I felt GREAT!

There is still allot of stress. In some cases more, but being on a two week "no contact" break from work has helped alleviate some of the stress. But My foot felt great. Not an incling of pain. mentally I feel almost ready again.

At least I feel ready to slowly get back into it. I think we should all at times take a break from our lives. or at least some portions of it. I guess that's what a vacation is about. But I do know of so many people that even when on vacation they simply cannot just stop and veg. I mean they take their vacation and then build a schedule of "Fun" things to do.

Athletes often stress on how they can continue their training in the new environment. Come on! Just enjoy the time off. That's where I found myself at. Once I let go of the "need" to train I was able to focus on the real priorities. Maybe that's what over training is about?

Anyhow now that I am in a better place, training is fun again. Looking forward to the challenges of IM Moo in 08!!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

IM in :)



Well It seems I made it...Finally! Not that I had any friggin notice from them, or shall I say I have received 3 different notices that asking me to register to finalize the process. This time it seems to have taken because my name appears on the participants list. Thats good enough for me!

Now I have to figure out what to do from here!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Doggie Duathlon

Well I am still waiting for final confirmation about the IM Moo ( Wisconsin) entry. I did get a hopefull sign in that they sent me an email asking me to fill out the registration form and I will get final confirmation within 5 or 6 days. So hopefully that is going in the right direction.

In the meantime to be honest I have been vegging and taking it easy workout wise. Probably not the best thing to do but I do feel a bit burned out. I just have so many things going on at the same time between an indredible workload, and the selling of my condo and buying a house. Along with all other peripheral crap that goes along with life.

I did find out though that there is a Doggie Duathlon being run in conjunction with the NYC tri. Only 20 entrants allowed so I have to be quick about sending in my application.

I will be doing that race with Simba. Seen below in her patriotic American Flag attire:



She is a Border Collie/ Chow mix and she has teh Border Collie energy so she is athletic enough. She also likes to swim so she is a natural! We just need top lengthen her stroke on the swim :)

Anyhow the race is in July of next year so assuming that we get in we have plenty of time to train. She already runs 4 miles with me on many mornings so it should be no problem to build her up to 6 miles. I wonder how you put on Swim caps on a dog?

Friday, September 14, 2007

7 to 10 days

Well Since I fedexed the application for the community fund slot I am able to see that it has arrived and been delivered. Now I suppose is the waiting period, to find out if I got in. In the meantime I have decided to take a small break from Training so that I can focus on some areas of my life that are currently in dire need of my attention.

1) Finally looks like we are selling the damned Condo I live in. Now we are in a real need to find a replacement home.

2) Work has been insane and will get next since I will be on my mandatory two week break in a week or so.

Also since I have been travelling so much lately my wife has been taking care of all problems at home on her own. Its time I pitched in a little. I find that actually if I participate in my marriage it actually goes better :)

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

As predicted

I knew getting into the race would be hard. Just never thought this hard!!

Online registration for IM Wisconsin was suppossed to open at "around" 11AM race local time. Which for NY is around 12PM. I was online checking active.com for an hour before that to see if "about" meant within an hour. Well it was and at exactly 11:08 I first saw the Ironman Wisconsin link. Clicked on it and it said it was full!! What the .... FUCK!!!!!!



It was almost an hour before it was even supposed to officially open and it was already full!!

Anyhow, I had basically given up on signing up yesterday. I was bummed but what can I do. I was back to squar one. Then this morning Adam came up with a suggestion of me getting a community spot ( or actually Race with Purpose getting it for me) and then I could fundraise to cover the cost. I agreed and today we both sent out checks and applications. So here I am with some hope of getting in thanks to Adam and race with Purpose. But I still have "7 to 10" days to find out if I get in. If not I will have to rname this site to "Operationtryingtogetintorace.com" :)

Monday, September 10, 2007

Ironman Wisconsin 08

I watched yesterday as fellow TriScoopers were on the race course through Ironmal live. It was inspiring to watch them finish their journeys. Glad to say they all ended happily. Now its time for me to kick off my own journey. I sit here monitoring the online world to wait for registration to open. I also have Coach Adam onsite on line who will try to register me there. This part is almost as difficult as teh race itself! Lake Placid sold out in 9 minutes! Lets see how it goes.

HOME!!

Well finally I am home. After two weeks away in a completly different time zone, it feels great being home. Singapore was a great experience. Lots of fun. A HIM and lots of good people I met. But none the less I am glad to home. It was wonderful to see my wife again.

Now to deal with the jetlag.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

The Singapore 70.3 - race day

To be honest I had no expectation of crushing any records in this race. I had not trained sufficiently to do this. I thought I would participate, have a good time and finish with a respectable time. Ummm it didn't quit work out that way. Although in the end all was well.

I had heard it happen to others but had never experienced it myself. The "Bonk" ( AKA Wall, Crash etc ). Overall, it was just a bad race for me. I had made an assumption that since I had already trained for and completed a 1/2 and a Oly and completed both in good form that I was in good enough shape to race here without much specific training. I was wrong.

First let me say that the race itself was well run and managed. The volunteers were awsome. The race itself was done mostly around Singapores bay with some beatiful views. However, the logistics for the race was just too complicated for my taste. The two transition areas was just weird to me.

I started the day waking up ready for breakfast only to realize the hotel has no room service at that hour. Thus I had Shot Bloks for breakfast. Yummy!! Not!!

That was mistake #1 did not consider that most people are still sleeping at 4AM, and that I was not home. Thus no breakfast. Anyhow I got in by Taxi at around 5:45AM, and headed into transition with my bike a swim stuff.

The swim was a rectangular shape, The race started at 7:15, but my wave started at 7:40. There was some chop in the water. ALOT of people for some reason were breast stroking from the git go, which I found strange. Other than that, nothing eventful here other than my right goggle leaked and the salt water aggravated my eye. Finished the swim in 49 minutes.

Then onto the bike. First thing I see, my bike computer, yet again is not working despite the fact that it was working when I put it together and tested it out just a few days before. This is a real pain for me during a race. I rely on the feedback from it to guage my speed and also I get pumped when I see that I am hitting high speeds. The backup is my HR monitor to guage effort, and that also for some bizzare reason was not working even though its a new Polar RS400. Never had a a problem with it.

So I just went along on effort. The ride is fairly technical with lots of turns, but also mostly Flat.
I started out hard, maybe too hard. The course starts with a 10 K route that leads into the city where you jump on a 20K loop that has to be done 4 times. By the time I finished the second loop I was not feeling right. My left foot was sore and I was feeling tired. Leading me too believe I pushed too hard in the first two loops. I toned it back for the last two but I think the damage was done.

When I finished the bike, the heat and humidity had settled in and it was bad. I did not expect it would effect me in such a way. Maybe because I was already in a bad way when I started the run. But I found the run to be unbearable. Normally this is my stronger of the 3 skills. I suffered no leg cramps but I was just out of it About 3 miles into the run I just walked. I had no energy left. The heat and humidity was killer. ALot of people were walking. It even got to the point that I wanted to just Stop. Just DNF because I knew this race was a goner time wise. But then I decided thats a bad idea, mentally I turned it into a training session and now my job was to acclimate mysef to push myself to finish even when I do not want too. Especially if I plan on doing an Ironman race. To get by, I focussed on reaching the next aid station and then the next after that, until reaching the end. Running in with all the other walking wounded.

It was just a bad race for me and I am glad that I at least finished. I am glad I did the race because there are lessons to be learned here.

1) I underestimated this race. I thought it was Flat and so it would be easy for me who is used to riding in Hilly terrain. Never underestimate a 1/2 iron or more distance race. It is still a substancial effort.
2) I severely underestimated the effects heat and humidity would have on me. It truly sucks the life out of you if you are not ready to deal with it.
3) I really did not train for this race. I had thought about it a few months ago, but did not decide to do it until a month before the race. As such I was just not physically ready to do something like this. A 1/2 ironman race is a substancial distance and should not be taken lightly. Not something to just throw in for the sake of doing a triathlon.
4) I did not really consider all the logistical requirements of doing a race when staying at a hotel in a foreign country. In NY in a pinch I could head over to a diner that are often open 24 hours. No such luck here. I just did not think of breakfast.

So what did I do right? I stuck it out and beat back my desire to quite. I finished :)

Friday, August 31, 2007

Pre race confusion

Ok so I am getting ready for this race and man oh man it is confusing. they have two transition areas, so your gear has to be distributed to both. To assist in this the organizers has given "transition bags" to all athletes. 1 Swim bag, 1 Bike bag and 1 run bag. I am supposed to put what I need for each part of the race in each bag. It does not sound like much of a big deal, but I never put that much thought into transitions, I simply bring everything I have in my race bag and worry about it on race day when setting up the transition area.

In this case I will not even see the run transition because for all practical purposes it not a traditional transition area, its a tent with a bench so I can change shoes. Thats it.

In a way its probably good because it forces me to think about what I am doing, but its different and that makes me nervous.

Another thing I never even considered. They use the British system here for driving ( drive on left part of road) So the race is following that. So for this race you have to stay on the left side of the road and pass on the right. Otherwise they will give you a "Out of position" penalty. This means that instead of being able to zone Out and worry only about the race, I have to keep myself from following my natural instinct to stay on the right and pass on the left. Also it seems they are going to be very strict on the rules here. In fact being its Singapore you can almost bet on that.

Overall its not overwhelming stuff but its different.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Training in Singapore

Here are some photos taken during my training runs and time here in Singapore. My stay here has been busier than I expected. Aside from the work I have to do which has been extensive. I made myself busier by forgetting and losing key pieces of gear. So I ended up having to seek out these things here in Singapore. This was not as bad as it could have been thanks to Darren, a Triscooper that Adam had introduced me to online, who was gracious enough to drive me around to different bike shops in search of a multi-tool, and tire changing gear ( which was a strange adventure in itself!).


Darren and me at the Japanese barbecue place

Protein!

During my run in Ft Canning Park, this is the "14th Century Walk"


A Building viewed from Ft Canning Park



One of the few peaceful moments in my ride in Singapore




Sunday, August 26, 2007

18 Hours

I embarked on my journey to Singapore on Friday evening. It is an 18 hour direct flight from Newark. also they are 12 hours ahead. Thus I am leaving Friday and arriving on Sunday. Anyhow, as I was entering the airport terminal wher Singapore airlines is and immediatly I hear " hey you must be going to Singapore for the race!" I look over and sure enough there two triathletes. They were two women, asian, and they were checking into Singapore airlines.

Aside from the fact that they spotted me first, I would have spotted them for what they were pretty quick, they had more baggage than anyone should ever have: 1 Gigantic box carrying the bike. 1 suitcase which may have half clothes for normal day to day stuff, the other half the same amount if not more workout clothes. 1 very large sport bag, full of empty water bottles, energy drink powders, bike and running shoes+ all other race gear. Another carry-on which turns out to usually be the zipp wheels. A Backpack with the helmet strapped on and flip flops( which will probably be the same one used top walk to the swim start).

While waiting in line we all exchanged all the pertinent information in just 5 minutes. What races we had done in the last year, what HIM experience we had, whether we packed our own bikes or paid someone (I packed mine, they had a bike shop do theirs), what clubs we belonged too ( they to Terrier tri in NYC, me a mercenary of charity organizations TNT, Race with purpose etc). After having established our credentials we then exchanged names By that point we were able to easily chat for an hour while waiting around to board the plane. Conversation was mostly about How the race refs were going to be, about drafting penalties and other really important stuff. We also had established the informal "Tri team" mentality in that one would stand watch over all the gear while the others went to the bathroom or looked around. A sort of T1 area in the airport if you will.

Once we boarded the plane we pretty much went on our separate ways, though we agree to email each other to see if we can get a group for a ride around Singapore. Whether it happens remains to be seen.

The flight itself went without any events. I started to see "Hot Fuzz", but fell asleep because it was 1AM and I was tired. I slept pretty well for maybe 6 hours. Woke up watched TV and slept some more maybe another 2-3 hours. I definitly, took advantage of the flat bed seats they have in Business class. It helps that they make it pretty dark in the plane almost the entire ride. Whatever they do it works. Almost all were asleep.





everyone is asleep in Business Class


I can say I slept almost the whole ride. I had enough time after waking to see an Indian Film, that was OK. I take advantage of these flights to see foreign films so I can get me some "culture" :) All else on the flight went smooth even baggage pickup and the ride to the hotel.

Once I got there what did I do? Why naturally I put Dusty the bike back together!

Dusty is ready to roll

Friday, August 24, 2007

Preparing for Singapore

Well tomorrow night I am leaving for Singapore. So this evening I started to pack the Bike and triathlon stuff up. This is the first time I travel with the Bike so it was a bit unsettling taking the bike apart not 100% certain that I will be able to put it back together. I am 99% certain I can. In fact I went through a practice run the other day so that I could feel confident about putting the bike (AKA Dusty) back together. However, some things I did NOT take apart then such as the rear derailleur, or the aerobars and handlebar. I made sure to put tape everywhere just so I know what position to put things back at, but its still just not natural!

Anyhow I am probably packing too much. But since I do not know what to expect when I get to Singapore, I am bringing everything I have sports wise. Now I know that Singapore happens to have GREAT shopping ( locals tell me shopping is their national pass time), so I am sure if I could find a bike or sports shop I could replenish anything I need. Its just the finding of the stuff is the problem.

Since I am going for work purposes, I will not have allot of time to explore prior to the race. So I would rather have everything with me. Better safe than Sorry.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Extensor Tendonitis

Over the last few days I have started to feel an ache across the top of my foot when I run, and it seems to be getting worse. Up until now It was not so bad that it actually hindered my running, it was an ache that just was not supposed to be there. Well today I was doing a 9 mile run at around 70% HR and the ache just kept getting worse and worse until towards the end of the run I was favoring my left foot. I looked online and found this website:

http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/front/foot/extensor_tendons.htm

What are the symptoms of inflammed extensor tendons?
-Pain on the top of the foot (dorsal foot pain).
-Diffuse swelling on the top of the foot.
-Pain along the top of the foot which is worse during running. ***
-Pain when the tendons are passively stretched.


Well aren't I the Lucky one! I happen to have all of these symptoms. I will try the treatment suggested before it gets worse:

What can the athlete do about inflamed extensor tendons?
-Rest until there is no more pain. <---- This could end my marathon plans for Oct 7th
-Apply ice or cold therapy.
-Alter shoes or get shoes that fit properly!
-Ensure shoe laces are not too tightly tied.
-Pad the shoe in the forefoot to take the pressure off.
-Follow a rehabilitation programme including strengthening of the extensor muscles and stretching the calf muscles at the back of the lower leg.

I feel I have caught this early enough that I can do something about it. In fact tonight I am icing the foot. I think its also time for new running shoes. Anyhow its better to get this under control before it gets worse. I will just focus on my swimming and cycling. for the next few weeks. I am hoping that the pain will subside enough for me to be able to run well in the Singapore 1/2 IM on Sept 2nd.

Ironman or Not?

The recent furor over comments made by a reader at Triathlete magazine regarding the right to get an IM tattoo has made me think. His stance is that if you have not done the Kona championship race then you are in effect not really an Ironman. A statement that was met with tremendous disdain and outright fury by the other readers. I agree with them. Anyone who can complete ANY ironman distance should have the right to call themselves an Ironman.

In the same light I feel that the Ironman name has become synonymous with the distance of 2.4 miles swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run. As such I feel that anyone completing ANY race of that distance whether its a Ironman branded race or not can call themselves that as well.

I have posted a thread in TriScoop.com regarding this to see what others opinions are regarding this. Lets see what the results are.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

First step on Road to Fame and Glory

I actually need to register for an Ironman race before I can even get started on this journey to IM. From my recent experience registering for IM Lake Placid, that will not be so easy. On Monday, July 23rd I received a call from Adam saying that online registration for IM Lake placid had just opened. Up until that point I was not sure if I wanted to do an Ironman. However, that call just kicked something in and in a split second I decided I wanted to do it. I immediately logged on to register, BAM! I saw the message "registration is closed". It took only 7 minutes for online registration to sell out. Its my understanding that IM Wisconsin goes pretty fast as well.

I will have to develop a plan for being ready instantly to register the second it goes on, maybe a training plan is required, work on speeding up typing skills? Clearly some kind of threshold and speed work will be required. Must think!

Friday, August 17, 2007

Singapore Sling coming right up!

Well I finally made my decision. I am doing the Inaugral Singapore Ironman 70.3. Just signed up, I took one of the last 100 spots left in this the first Asian qualifier for the 70.3 world championships.

To be honest one of the driving forces of making me sign up is my current business trip. Its BORING! I have decent enough company, but after you do enough busines travel, you realize that after the workday there is nothing to look forward to except restaurants, and that gets old. I have to go to Singapore for two weeks on business, the weekend in between being Sept 2nd. which is perfect. This triathlon can occupy a large portion of my weekend!
Tri's are always fun, especially large and BIG events like an inaugural triathlon for a whole country! Here is the link for the triathlon: Singapore 70.3


Here is the course map, isn't it great looking? Makes me want to stop at the Bowling center during the ride :)




Thursday, August 16, 2007

Beer and training..no good

Well today after work I wanted to catch up with a friend at my job. We agreed to meet up at a bar after work for a few beers. I had maybe 3-4 beers.

Then I went home and was planning on doing a 7.5 mile run and then work in a 1 hour swim session. Even before starting I had an upset stomach, headache felt dehydrated...in other words I had a hangover. I started my run and realized that 7.5 miles was not going to be good. So I did 5.25 miles instead. I normally finish this at 42 min. Today 49. My heartrate was very high basically at threshold with just an easy pace.

I decided to ditch the swim and do it tommorow. Lesson learned. If I plan on seriously training for the IM, there can be few of these types of days. Or at least train...THEN drink :)

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Special day for Dusty!

I took today off and decided it was high time Dusty the Bike got cleaned. Some of you that have ridden with me in the past may at this tiem be in shock ( Dusty is called "Dusty" for a reason). I have in the past wiped Dusty down before but never a thorough cleaning. Iwas driven by the fact that I have to take my bike apart in order to travel to Singapore, and well I did not look forward to the massive grease stains that I will inevitably end up with. Heck I end up like that even just picking up the damned bike!


Above: Dusty as he is ready for a cleaning.

Anyhow, once I got started, it was like a chain reaction. I would clean one piece only to realize that there were multiple layers of crap on this bike. So I would take off the front wheel so I can clean it better. The the rear wheel so I can clean the bike chain.






On left: Dusty in a sad state







Anyhow, once I got started, it was like a chain reaction. I would clean one piece only to realize that there were multiple layers of crap on this bike. So I would take off the front wheel so I can clean it better. The the rear wheel so I can clean the bike chain.

When I arrived at the chain ring. Well that was just a disaster. the oil and grease was just caked on it. I was appalled! I hate to admitthis, but I might as well. I had noticed the "black" teeth before and just thought that they were carbon "tipped". Imagine my surprise when the "carbon" came off!

May not be too clear but on the left of the chainring the teeth are still black. Those MUST be carbon tipped right?



It took quite awhile, and I may have ended up with more grease on me than on the rags. But I think I managed to get a substantial amount wiped off. I actually ended up taking the chain off and using a toothbrush to get to the caked grease between the chainring and gears.




After all was done, here are the victims, once clean white rags and paper towels.






After, I finished putting the chain back on and the wheels back in place, I then lubricated the chain with my "Prolink" chain lube. This process irritated me becase the oil was splashing onto the bike again, which meant I had to wipe it down again. Sigh... After maybe an hour and a half I was done. :)





Dusty is happy