Spring is Here

I ran this morning wearing shorts, which I believe is a first time this year. I noticed a tree outside my door starting to bloom with white flowers. All I had on top was a long sleeve shirt, which was even too much for today. It must mean that spring has finally arrived.

Prospect Park was once again quiet and peaceful and this time I noticed it had a lot more color. From trees and plants in bloom, colorful birds flittering around and knocked over garbage cans spewing forth all kinds of colorful bags, wrappers and bottles. Ah, springtime in NYC.

Today called for a 6 mile run with hills at half marathon pace. The pace wasn’t happening, but I did manage to throw in lots of hills. My legs were feeling a bit sluggish though, from the combination of the accumulated distance and new running form. However, I had the endurance, so I made sure to get the 6 miles in. I’ll just have to see how it goes this weekend.

Right now I am sitting in my office all depressed. It’s beautiful outside and this is the last place I feel like being. It’s the perfect weather for a long bike ride, but the only thing I will be riding for the next 8 hours is my chair.

37 Miles

I had my first good midweek workout this year; a 31 mile bike, followed by a 6 mile run. It felt great to feel good again while training. Originally the workout was to be separate by several hours. I was supposed to ride in the morning and then run sometime later in the day. However, I knew if I didn’t take the opportunity to get both in this morning, I stood a very good chance of blowing off the run.

The ride was supposed to alternate between AT efforts and IM pace. I definitely don’t have my cycling legs yet as all I could muster for any length of time was IM pace as measured by my HR. Speed-wise I rode at an average speed of 18.6 mph, which is about 1.5 mph off from my normal IM pace. Total time for the 31 miles was 1:41:00. Maybe I could have gone faster had I not rode home from work last night, but I did ride fast enough to get home in time to wake my kids up for school. This cost me some time for my transition to the run, but it was well worth it. I love seeing their smiling faces in the morning.

After rousing my children out of bed to get ready for school, I proceeded into my run. I felt really good and my running legs seemed fresh. I was able to keep a decent pace and I increased speed as the workout wore on. Prospect Park was very peaceful this morning and the lake so still that the sky and trees reflected off it like a mirror. I had to do a double take as I ran past it.

Hopefully, more good days like this are to come.

Cake

I should really get to bed. I've been up all night listening to cake.

Hear it for yourself.

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2006/03/cake_coversg.html

Cake
by Todd Colby

I'm so full of cake.
If I eat any more cake I'd have to vomit first.
Sometimes I'll eat 2 or 3 cakes in a single day.
I love cake!
I can't be any clearer than that.
I love cake!
I'll eat every cake in New York City.
I can't even go into bakeries anymore because I'll eat all the cake.
I'll say "Where's the cake? Gimme the cake! Get the cake!"
And they say, "We know how very much you love cake, and we know you very rarely have the money for any of our cake, so get outta here, because you can't afford our cake! But we know how much you love cake, so get outta here, you can't afford the cake!"
I'll punch somebody in the head for some cake.
Give me all your cake!
I love cake!
Gimme the cake!
Now!
I love it!
I love cake!
Gimme your cake!
[sinister laugh]

Profound Thought of the Month (March)

I realized today that as I get older I am unwilling to take certain risks that I wouldn’t have given a second thought to in the past. One in particular is playing “Frogger” while trying to cross a busy NYC street. Usually, I am fearless, darting between moving cars in an attempt to get to the other side as fast as possible. This morning however, it dawned on me how foolish I was being standing along side the parked cars on Madison Avenue while trucks and busses were whizzed past me only inches away. I suddenly had visions of a vehicle swerving towards me and splattering me all over the asphalt.

I guess you begin to realize that you no longer care to take risks with your life when you have your family waiting for you at home. How could it ever be explained to my children that Daddy was killed because he wanted to get to work 30 seconds faster.

I wonder though if this type of fear manifests itself in some people to such an extent that they can longer leave their homes. Hopefully, this won’t be me in a few years. I don’t think I would enjoy being a hermit.

Bowling

I woke up today with Monday morning blues. Actually, it started last night with the Sunday evening blahs. I am not really sure of the reason of my down mood, as nothing bad happened and I had a pretty good weekend. The highlight of which was most definitely going bowling with my daughter, while my son was a few lanes away at a bowling birthday party. It warmed my heart to see them laughing and having a good time and I really enjoyed the couple of hours where I had my daughter all to myself.

My bowling outing yesterday came after I put in a 63.3 mile ride to nowhere. I could say it was a ride to better fitness, but distance wise, I never ventured more than two miles away from home. I rode with several friends at various times, the majority of which was with Larry. We rode at a leisurely pace as is Larry’s inclination and that suited me just fine. I figured on a long ride, it is better to start off slow and push the pace later on. I broke off from Larry around 36 miles. My goal was to try to come around and loop him. Calculating the pace I accelerated to and the pace that Larry was going, I figured I would do it within 10 laps. It would be difficult to catch, but definitely within the realms of possibility. He

Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep my increased pace throughout. While I did ride faster during the second half of the ride, I slowly started to slow down from my initial second half pace. I rode another 9 laps/30 miles and I decided to bag it for the day. I was out of HEED, running low on water and I wanted to go home, eat breakfast and play with my children. After I ate, spaced out a few minutes, showered and played with the kids I took them bowling. Evidently, I still had some strength, because I bowled halfway decently; scoring a 145, 143 and 126 with my daughter taking my 10th frame in the final game. I even got out and did an easy 4 mile run this morning. Fortunately as the day wore on the blues disappeared. Unfortunately, I didn’t leave my office until after 7pm, which greatly limits the time I get to spend with the kids before bedtime. Such is a busy life.

Cross Roads

My legs were tired this morning. I guess riding 20 miles on a bike weighing 75 pounds late last night didn’t help. Yesterday started with a bike commute to the pool and work. My plan for later in the day was to ride to the Union Square area for 7:45pm appointment, after which I would ride home.

I left work around 6:30pm, which gave me some time to kill before my appointment. I decided to do a lap or two around Central Park for some extra exercise and to burn off some time. I was just about to head into the Harlem Hills when Larry, a fellow member of the Asphalt Green Tri Club started to pass me. . I couldn’t hope to keep up with him on my fully loaded beater bike, while he was on his light weight tri-bike. However he heard me call out to him and he slowed down to keep me company for a loop of the park, figuring he would have plenty of time to ride fast for the remainder of his 34 miles. I was very glad for it and the time passed way too quickly.

I left him around the east side of the 72nd Street Transverse. I didn’t have time to complete another loop, so I cut back across to the West Side and then headed down 7th Avenue into Times Square and Broadway. As I headed in this direction I realized that I could be at the crossroads of my world. While this is commonly known as Times Square in NYC, I am really referring to a crossroads in the metaphorical sense. This thought occurred to me just as I approached Times Square on my bike. The night was crystal clear and filled with energy. I took a picture with my camera phone to capture the moment.

I have definitely taken a new road in my life, which so far seems to be taking me to a better place. I am feeling good and I am focused. However, whether or not this is a better place was questionable this morning. I could tell completing an 18 mile run was going to be difficult. Fortunately, like last night, I ran into a couple of friends to keep me company.

The first was Todd who passed me while riding his bike. He yelled out how I will never beat him. I suppose he has forgotten that I already have; in every race we ran together where we declared an outright competition. Todd, you will have to wait for Eagleman to see if you are now the better Athlete.

At first I planned to run my High Points loop. After running the first set of stairs, I could tell it was going to be difficult to do so another 5 times. The point was moot however, as I soon crossed roads with my friend Grace running in the opposite direction. I really wanted company during the run and we were running the same amount of distance. I hadn’t see her in a while and it would have been a wasted opportunity of a workout companion had I not joined her.

We quickly fell into a comfortable rhythm like we had when we ran regularly together a few years ago. We stopped meeting for a daily run when I began on my Triathlon career. I missed the company, but my training schedule no longer corresponded with hers. We caught each other up on what’s going on in our lives. Grace told me to make sure to get the May issue of Runners World magazine as she will be featured in a cooking column.

I am very glad we met. Grace was running a pace slightly faster than me. It served to keep my running honest and focused. My legs were a bit fatigued from the 41 miles I ran in the past week and the cycling I had done the night before. If it wasn’t for her company I wasn’t sure I would have completed my workout.

About halfway into our runs, my friend and fellow triathlete Robert crossed our path. Rob, turned around to run with us and we proceeded around the park in our own comfortable group. As we were talking we all expressed how grateful we were on this day to have company to run with. Perhaps it was the brisk winds and 40 degree chills that made it intolerable to be solo. Misery loves company, but in this case the company eliminated the misery.

At the last loop it was just Grace and I again. I was starting to lag and Grace was able to turn the tables on me by telling me to come on and push through it. On all of our previous runs, it was always me offering such encouragement. At one point she said her ass should be incentive to keep moving. I replied that if I caught it, would I be able to have it. It made for a humorous moment during the final hill of a long run.

San Antonio Recap

I had a pretty good time while I was in San Antonio. The Prudential Real Estate conference that I attended was extremely well organized and had some fantastic speakers. The entertainment they provided before and after the plethora of award ceremonies was great and for the most part, the conference kept my attention throughout.

I also managed to run quite a bit while I was in San Antonio. I must have completely covered the Riverwalk about a half dozen times. My running appears to be coming around and I’ve put in 68 miles in the past 11 days with no ill effects. Each day I was really looking forward to running.

Perhaps it was the influence Ronan Tynan, one of the conferences keynote speakers. He is a very compelling individual who overcame a physical deformity at birth that eventually required him to have both legs amputated below the knees. Despite that, he went on to become a successful jockey, doctor, para-olympics gold medal winner and a world famous tenor. Listening to him tell the story of his life was deeply inspiring and motivating. If he can do all of that, I can manage to find someway to train for a shot at Kona.

Another keynote speaker was Jaime Clarke. Jaime has successfully climbed Mount Everest after two previous failures. He also crossed the Empty Quarter of Arabia on camel. This story was particularly compelling.

He described how during almost the entire crossing of the desert, all he wished for was for the journey to be over. He was hot, tired, thirsty and beaten down by the relentless sun and heat. He went into some detail about how painful and experience this was for him.

However, when he finally reached the end of the desert and could see the lights of the city ahead of him he realized that the journey was over and all he wanted to do was to go back into the desert (sound familiar Ironman racers?). He then made the realization that for most of his entire life, he was leaving in the past contemplating his previous journeys or planning for a new adventure for the future. He said he realized that he was never living in the moment to enjoy what he is currently experiencing.

I like to think that I have avoided this type of mistake. I make a conscience effort to stop, look around and take in my environment during my training and journey towards the Kona goal. Before I saw Jaime speak this morning, I set out for my run along the Riverwalk. I headed towards the direction a water falls and realized that I hadn’t taken a picture of it. This bothered me, so I ran back to my hotel room to get a picture, so I can appreciate in the future what I enjoyed about it at this current moment. It didn’t matter to me that I was going to lose some running time, since my life is not about how many minutes I put into training, but more about how much of it I can capture and keep with me as I progress on my journey. I found what Jaime said to be very resonating and vowed to always remind myself to savoir the moments of my life while I still planning for my future goals.

I am glad I went on this business trip. I had an opportunity to hear several speakers that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity had I not gone. I still missed my family very much, but then again distance makes the heart grow fond.

Also, if I hadn’t gone, I would have missed a performance by the Dallas Cowgirl Cheerleaders, an excellent keynote address by Ken Blanchard, a Texas Rodeo (sort of lame) and a standup comic routine by Jeff Foxworthy (excellent). I am coming home very inspired and anxious to begin training in full for this year’s IMLP.

The Alamo

So I finally made it to The Alamo. As soon as I checked into my hotel, I changed into my running clothes and ran to this must see San Antonio attraction. It’s a quaint building amounting to not much of anything. This is a picture of me at the entrance.

I said earlier, that possibly god wanted me to see it. This could have been, because standing out a short way from it was a religious fanatic handing out money. You didn’t realize what his mission was at first. When I happened upon him he was trying to get an audience by offering one dollar bills to anyone who could answer his questions. The first few were innocuous enough – What do you call a baby elephant (a calf which I answered and got a buck), what was the first word said on the moon (Houston) and various other trivia questions.

Eventually he started offering the big money in the form of a five dollar bill. This he would give to anyone if he could prove to the audience he was a good person. A young male among his posse of friends decided to take up the challenge. Little did he know that he would be peppered with sophistic questions that only a religious freak would ask. The first question was “Did you ever lie?” Of course the answer was yes, to which he asked the young man “And people who lie are called….” whereupon he got the man to answer “liars”.

He then got him to admit that he has used the lord’s name in vain and has had lascivious thoughts about women. After recounting these facts and calling into question his moral integrity there was no question that this was a man who was destined to burn in hell. The poor sap. He never saw this coming and you could just feel how much he wanted to get away. Perhaps he didn’t leave immediately, because he still held out hope he would get the 5 bucks.

After this little treat, I decided to go run the River Walk; something that JKRunning told me I should do. It was actually quite pleasant and just the ticket for an easy recovery run. I took it very easy and stopped plenty of times to take some pictures. I was in a pretty good mood, which I think was helped by the overcast skies and the smell of rain in the air. The fragrance of the river was also very pleasant. Hopefully, I’ll get to do this run a couple of more times while I am here. Perhaps I can even swim in it, since the pool in my hotel is completely unacceptable for swimming laps.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I am on my way to San Antonio, Texas by way of a change of planes in Dallas. I’ve been to San Antonio once before. I had no interest in seeing it then and I have no interest in seeing it now. I did feel as though on my first trip, I should have visited The Alamo. I didn’t, so perhaps this is god’s way of giving me a second chance to see a major historic sight. Hopefully it is not to far from my hotel and I can take an easy run to it.

Just a few minutes ago, I went through the metal detectors to get to the gate. I had to practically strip down to my underwear (thank goodness I didn’t as I am not wearing any) to pass through it. After I got through the metal detector I went to collect my belongings from the x-ray machine. I had just finished putting my laptop in my bag when I noticed someone else doing the same thing. I noticed that this other person's laptop had the “standby” light blinking and thought could that be mine as I always keep my laptop on standby. I quickly asked the guy if that was his laptop and we realized that we had each others. Had I not noticed, he would have left with mine and I would have left with his. What a disaster that would have been. I guess I am blessed with a heightened sense of perception.

Thankfully, I have minimally soreness from yesterday’s Brooklyn Half. It would have been very uncomfortable to sit for the next 5 hours traveling, if my legs were stiff and sore. Even my toenail that started to bleed during yesterday’s race isn’t bothering me. I forgot to mention that in yesterday’s entry. During the race, it felt like I had made a hole in the sock of my left foot around my middle toe. The feeling of my toes sticking to the sole of my shoe was very annoying. When I got home I realized that the nail had cut into the flesh causing it to bleed. I must remember to make sure my toenails are short before I do another long run.

Brooklyn Half Marathon

I really can’t or shouldn’t complain about how I did today. I could already guess that this opening statement is going to elicit a “you’re too hard on yourself” response from my coach.

I completed the race in 1:49:21. I did it will all negative splits which is a very good sign, especially considering when I crossed the finish line I had run close to 20 miles. I ran from my house to the start, which gave me about 6.5 miles of running before the race even began.

On the way to the start, I kept pace with the NYRR truck that was putting out the mile markers. I knew if I kept on pace with it, I would reach the start in time for the race. I also saw some other runners around Prospect Park as I was just getting underway to the start. Two runners asked me where the bus is and later someone asked me where the subway was located. I pointed it out to them and I was asked if that is where I was going. They looked at me a little funny when I told them I was running to the start – 6 miles away.

When I arrived at the start I saw many people I knew. Some were from my tri-club, others I know from training in Prospect Park and one friend I hadn’t see in over a year. I ran into my friend Rob and we decided to pace each other for the race. As we walked to the starting line we were wondering where in the crowd was our friend Todd. We finally found him around the 7 minute mile start. Todd was shooting for 1:30:00 and I was just hoping to finish. Here is a picture of us just before the start.

While waiting for the race to begin, I was starting to get pretty cold. I was sweaty and cooling down rapidly from my run to the start. The start is on the Coney Island Boardwalk and was exposed to a brisk wind. It didn’t help that the temperature was only 33 degrees. My hands felt like blocks of ice.

Finally the race began. Rob and I took it very easy in the beginning. For the first time I didn’t care how long it took me to reach the starting line. It was kind of a liberating feeling. We started at a 9:15 pace and slowly increased it.

At the 6 mile mark we would specifically pick off runners. One of us would point out someone ahead of us and we increased our pace until we passed the person. It was a lot of pink jacket with the cute ass or funny looking guy running shirtless. The process served to keep the run interesting.

We entered the park together and continued that way until the 12 mile mark. We then decided to go for it with whatever we had left. Rob pulled ahead of me on a hill and I followed closely behind. I thought I may be able to catch him closer to the finish, but he was able to keep his distance. As I entered the finishers shoot I heard and saw Todd cheering for me. Unfortunately I couldn’t find him after the race to take a post race photo. My wife and children met me at the finish line, but they were unfortunately about 1 minute too late to see me cross. Given the chilly conditions, that was just as well, as I didn’t want them hanging around in the cold for very long.

I saw a few more friends after the race and snapped a few more photos. Here I am with Lowell, Jason and Ben from AGTC. Photos done, I made my way out of the park and walked frozenly home with my family to have a big fat breakfast.

St. Patrick’s Day

I am not sure if today is actually St. Patrick’s Day, but the parade was most definitely streaming down 5th Avenue this afternoon. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see any of it as I was busy working all day. It is annoying that I sometimes can’t get out of my office.

Another point of annoyance this morning was that I slept through my alarm clock again. By the time I woke up, it was too late to get to the pool. I guess I really shouldn’t sleep with ear plugs, but sometimes the machine noise from a commercial building down the block drives me crazy and won’t let me sleep. I probably should have just stayed awake when I woke up at 3am instead of trying to go back to bed until 5am.

I made the best of the situation though and did a trainer ride in my basement. A solid 75 minutes on the bike while watching “Assault on Precinct 13”. It was pretty good fodder for entertainment during an indoor ride.

For the remainder of the day I had illusions of making it to Asphalt Green to get in my swim. I was hoping to leave early, but something kept coming up, causing me to remain in the office. It was all petty nonsense and bullshit and I am pissed at myself for not saying “fuck it” and getting the hell out. Other than the crap that came up it was a very quiet day and the perfect opportunity to cut out a bit early, especially considering I have to leave for a business trip tomorrow morning.

By the time I was able to leave the office (5:30pm), it was too late to get to the pool and make it back downtown for a 7pm appointment. I called my coach and explained my frustration, who advised me to just get an easy run it at a nearby gym. Fortunately I had running gear in the office so I was able to fill some of my waiting time with a leisurely run. By the time I finished, I was nicely mellowed out and miraculously calm. That type of feeling hasn’t come over me in a while.

It is a little late now, so I am hoping I will sleep well enough for tomorrow’s Brooklyn Half Marathon. I am going to run to the start (about 7 miles), so I need to wake up extra early. Normally I would want to get to bed earlier, but that’s what happens when you get home late. I think I’ll make my children tuck me in.

AG Awards

I skipped Thursday’s workouts, but the reason was due to a triathlon obligation rather than slacking off. Last night was the Asphalt Green Triathlon Club awards dinner and I was requested to make an appearance. Actually, I think the wording was more along the lines of “don’t be such a cheap fuck and come out to support your tri club”. My coach told me to take the morning off and not to stress about getting a workout in.

I wasn’t actually moaning of the cost to go, it was more along the lines of I just preferred to go home to be with my children. If I knew I was going to win an award, I was more inclined to go, but of course those things always remain secret. The basic response to whether I got an award was along the lines of “you may be part of an award”. No matter though, after the come out to support your club comment, I decided that I should go.

Of course when I heard my wife tell my son that I was coming home late from work while I spoke to her on the phone, I heard him let out a loud “Awwwwww”. I felt terrible after that, but realized I should just explain to him that I may be winning an award that night and if I did I would wake him up and give it to him when I got home for coaching me so well. He seemed happy with that and told me to go.

In the end I did win a “gag” award, albeit one that came without any sort of physical evidence. That is no trophy, medal, certificate, etc. It was an award for most outrageous postings to the clubs discussion boards. He read a sample posting to the audience and I admit I forgot all about this one. The posting was in response to an organized training week in Florida during the month of February. Here is the post:

“Despite what Paul said regarding New York winters sending you into paroxysms of despair and sorrow, for those of you who want a winter training event closer to home, I am planning for The Frozen Century Ride on February 18, 2006.

This has nothing to do with the suspension of time. It will be a bone chilling ride of 100 miles in the beautiful mountains of Harriman State Park. Forget about the sunburn when windburn is waiting for you right at home. Besides, the human body can’t tell the difference between hot and cold at extreme temperatures. So with a little imagination you can make believe you are training under the hot Florida sun.”

I was then reminded of several other posts and really don’t see what was so odd about them. The post I made about doing a trainer ride in the sauna in order to winter train for a warm weather event caused many to wonder about my sanity. I can’t think of a more logic thing to do.

Unfortunately, in regards to my Frozen Century post, I didn’t get any takers and I also didn’t do the ride. Back in February I was lucky to get out of bed, much less workout. I am starting to itch for a trip back to Harriman though, so I will make a post looking for other who would enjoy 100 miles of hills and springtime chills. It should be fun.

Unpredictable

I find that so much regarding training is unpredictable. Time, places, circumstances and injuries could conspire to derail your training, none of which you could possibly foresee. This unpredictability could be from the mundane to the more serious.

When I woke up yesterday morning at the early hour required to get in my swim, the last thing I wanted to do was get out of bed and head to the pool. At that point I could not have predicted that a little more than an hour later would see me not only getting my swim in, but going over distance. I felt so good, I didn’t want to stop. After I left the pool for the ride to work, I had no idea that it would be raining, which is a good thing; had I predicted that, I may have used it as an excuse to stay home.

Unpredictability regarding my training also takes on some amusing forms. If I look back just a year ago while working at my former employer, I never in my wildest dreams could have predicted that I would be using their number one competitor’s computer as a changing room to change from my bike clothes to my work clothes. Every time I do that, I look back and say “how improbable is this?”

This past fall, I was looking forward to having very strong training through winter. I could not have predicted the mental vapors that practically incapacitated from training for the first two months of the year. Where that came from I have no idea.

Sometimes unpredictability is something annoying, like riding down Second Avenue on my way home last night to find that overnight they ground the road up in order to repave it. That was very annoying and treacherous. At least later on in my ride a branch that broke due to the high winds that night missed me instead of clocking me on the head.

The morning sky is always unpredictable. I need to remember to carry my camera so I can take pictures of the beautiful dawns that appear on occasion; if only for evidence of what I saw.

2600 Meters

Email to coach@slb-coaching.com
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Neil -

I swam a steady 2600 meters. I decided to skip the drills since it takes much longer to do and I got in the water a little after 7am. They close the pool at 8am to make it 25 yards and I wanted to get in some distance. With drills I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get it in.

After I hit 2000 meters, I decided I may as well continue to swim until they kicked me out. I was starting to feel good and comfortable so I just went on; keeping the momentum of working out for time and utlizing the time I have.

I thought of running a bit after, then thought better of it, since my legs are still a bit sore. I then thought of stretching in the gym, but then I figured why rush anything and to let myself leisurely get to the office.

The ride to the pool is only around 10-11 miles, then 2 miles to the office. I'll ride home tonight to get some more bike mileage; that's if the thing isn't rusted solid - it was raining when I locked it up.

Charles

On the Verge

I appear to be on the verge of making my comeback. I made sure to get in a 4 mile run in the middle of my work day. This is a good sign. The run was an easy way for me to kill two birds with one stone; I ran to my accountant to drop off my tax information and I got in the scheduled workout. Fortunately, it was a relatively quiet day in my office so I didn’t have to worry about stepping out while the place was burning down.

About the only problem I had during my run was some residual chafing on my nipples as they rubbed against my shirt. Yesterday’s rainstorm caused my shirt to give them a stinging abrasion. At least the abrasions didn’t leave bloody streaks down much shirt in the form of the number 11.

Spring is definitely in the air which means it is time to consider using sun block again. I noticed I have a bit of sunburn on my face from Saturday’s ride. I think I prefer avoiding skin cancer more than avoiding the greasy feel of sun block on my face. I’ve already burnt my nose severely several times in my life, but hopefully the future risk of skin cancer is somewhat exaggerated.

If I can manage to get to the pool twice this week, I’ll feel more comfortable saying that I am back. So far I find waking up at 4:30am for the ride to the pool remains unappealing. Maybe with the earlier rising sun it won’t be as bad. I’ll know I am back when I start cursing myself for all the wasted time over the past 2 months. While I know at this moment I didn’t have much choice in the matter, in the future I’ll have just the fading memories of my reasons why I didn’t train properly to which I’ll say “what was so bad”. I am looking forward to that day, because when it comes there will be no denying my return. I’ll have to refer back to my blog for a refresher so I don’t punish myself too much.

What is pain except for the memory of it? Once it’s gone can you really conceptualize what it felt like? You can know it was bad, intense or the worst you ever felt; but could you really feel it again after it’s gone. Once it leaves, if it wasn’t for the memories, did it ever really happen?

Over the Hump

I think I am over the hump. I did two strong workouts this weekend and I felt pretty good while doing them and afterwards. I can feel my inner beast starting to break free of its chains. It’s not quite free yet, but it busted 3 out of 4 arm and leg shackles. Hopefully it won’t be long before he is roaring along. He definitely came out today as I ran a hard 14 miles in the rain. He could be heard shouting at me to move my fucking ass.

Saturday’s workout consisted of my first “big” ride of the year; a 75 miler up to Nyack, with some extra hills thrown in. I wasn’t as weak as I feared. I was afraid that my dearth of 2006 bike mileage would make me a laggard. I rode with Todd and several other guys from the Prospect Park peloton. In the end I finished strong and had no problems keeping up.

During the ride I wondered at several points if I would start to become overly fatigued as the miles ticked on. Perhaps any fatigue was staved off by our stop at the famous coffee shop in Nyack. I’ve ridden through Nyack dozens of times, but I never made this stop. I’ve always preferred to just hammer through my ride and only stop for water refills and bathroom breaks. Chilling at the coffee shop for about 30 minutes was pleasant, but it was not my cup of tea when it comes to training. After all, I don’t have such a luxury when racing.

The place was a cyclist’s version of a Hells Angels gathering. There must have been over 50 bicycles in racks and leaning against any available wall or post. The crowd consisted of showboaters, weekend warriors and many other types sporting untold sums of the fanciest bicycle gear and a montage of colorful cycling clothes. I wonder if the fancy stuff makes you go faster. I think I’ll stick with my secondhand jersey with the broken zipper.

On the way home from Nyack, we formed a paceline and flew back to the George Washington Bridge. We probably averaged around 23 miles per hour. Once back over the bridge, we leisurely strolled back down the Westside and to the Brooklyn Bridge. I could have ridden longer, but I was glad to be home.

After the ride, I still felt good and had minimal fatigue. I started to wonder what type of run I would have today, considering I haven’t done a run, followed by a hard ride in a very long time. My legs still felt fresh this morning and I was eager to get started – another feeling I haven’t had in a while.

It was raining when I began the run, but the temperature was almost warm. The day called for 2 miles warm-up, 10 miles acceleration run - 8:30 mpm down to as fast as possible increase pace every mile, 1 mile warm-down. I did the workout pretty much as proscribed. During my penultimate lap, I wasn’t able to keep increasing the pace. I suppose the sogginess of my sneakers added weight and made it harder to maintain an increasing pace. I actually went over distance for the day. The last few miles were slow, but not laborious. I guess the rain made it easier to go on. I’ve always enjoyed running in it.

Run Stats:

Annoyed

I am annoyed. I didn’t wake up in time to get a ride in, much less get to the pool. Even my daughter said something to me. She saw me in the bathroom, getting ready for work and she flatly stated “Daddy, you were supposed to go to the pool this morning”. I’ll never get my swimming fitness back unless I solidly get with the program.

The reason for my inability to wake up had much to do with the fact that I didn’t fall asleep until after midnight. I went to bed around 10pm, but all I did was lay there, stubbornly refusing to fall asleep. Around 11pm my wife entered the room and expressed some surprise that I was still awake. When I said I couldn’t fall asleep, she asked why I didn’t come downstairs to watch TV with her. I thought about doing so during that hour, but I was hoping I would nod off.

For the next hour, we talked and pleasingly engaged in carnal relations. I am sure the greater part of the hour was spent talking. Anyway, after we were through with each other for the night, I popped an Ambien on top of another sleeping pill and finally fell asleep around 12:30am.

My alarm clock going off this morning rudely awoke me and I knew in that instant I was too tired to get up. Had I gone out to ride to the pool, I undoubtedly would have some sort of incident as described in the New York Times about people being arrested while driving under the influence of sleeping pills.

Getting out for a lunch time workout was out of the question. I worked non-stop from the moment I entered my office until I forced myself out the door at 6:30pm. By the time I get home, eat dinner and tuck my children into bed, I’ll be completely wiped out. I stand no chance of doing a workout tonight, not if I want to have a chance of waking up tomorrow.

I enjoy my sleep too much to wish I could do without it. I guess I find it precious since I have such difficulty attaining it. I no my body and I am definitely no good trying to work out when I am tired. My form is completely off, my heart rate low, and I wind up either shuffling or rolling at a speed barely necessary to stay balanced. And staying balanced is one of the keys to maintaining a healthy and happy life.

Turtle

This morning I was reminded of a turtle I had about 15 years ago. I found him walking along the sidewalk in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. It was quite an incongruous place for a turtle to be and I never was able to figure out how he arrived at that place.

I was excited at my find and immediately went to the nearest pet store to find out how to care for him and purchase an appropriate habitat. I wound up getting a 10 gallon fish tank with some fake grass and some rocks. The guy in the pet store said he probably came from around a lake outside of the city and was abandoned by some kid. Once inside his new home, the turtle walked to one side of the tank and insistently tried to walk through the glass. He kept on trying to get out of his confinement in this manner for the next couple of weeks.

Eventually, the turtle gave up and would just sit in his tank forlornly. He gave up trying to succeed in accomplishing his goal of moving beyond his confines. He would barely move and I started to feel very bad for him. I did take him out regularly, but for the most part he would stay still in the tank while I was out.

Eventually, I couldn't take looking at him, sitting in his tank with this depressed look about him. I decided to take a trip to upstate New York to find a lake and set him free. I put him down by the shore and off he went. Hopefully he went on to live a happy life.

The story of this turtle came back to me as I thought about how I want to accomplish or do certain things in life. I realized that I can’t be like the turtle and just give up. Granted, the turtle didn’t have much choice, but I can still take a lesson from him. I can’t just keep doing the same things when they are clearly not working. I need to keep trying different things to get what I want and never give up.

Speaking of turtles, I am a bit dismayed that my running speed has been as fast as a turtle. I suppose it will come back, once I really get back into training, but the lack of speed is annoying none the less. Today I went out for a 6 mile run, which I did along my High Points route. The brilliant orange sun was just peeking over the horizon as I reached the highest peak.

At the completion of my first loop, I flirted with calling it quits. I was hungry and my Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) was very high compared to my heart rate. Just as I was about to give in and go home, an annoyance flooded my body at the thought of quitting and I forced myself to go on. Even though one part of my brain was telling me to do an easier route to complete the run, I wouldn’t let myself and stuck to my High Points path. Every time I thought about taking an easier route or cutting it short I let the thoughts of my children encouraging me to do Ironman and get to Hawaii flood my mind. They are expecting of this now and I owe it to them and myself to give it my best shot.

Pool Time

I made it to the pool this morning. It’s the first time since January 26. It seems like a lifetime ago and my apparent lack of fitness in the water echoed that fact. I quavered about getting up this morning to go, but in the end I am glad I did. I have much to make up for to get ready for IMLP.

As usual, I got to the pool by way of bicycle. The ride was part of my scheduled workouts for the day. It was probably less than 15 miles, but I was carrying a lot of weight. I propose that the extra effort to move such mass, made up for the lack of distance. The bike fully loaded with my gear must weigh 60 pounds.

The sky was already illuminated by an early dawn brightness by the time I started riding over the Manhattan Bridge. The last time I did this ride it was pitch dark and gave the bridges bike path a lonely and desolate feel. With some light outside it was quite pleasant as you could see the entire city waking up.

My day was pretty much non-stop from the moment my feet first touched my pedals. After my bike and swim, I had a meeting at 8:30am. My day stretched on continuously answering email, telephone and attending meetings. It was past 5:30pm by the time I looked up.

I had another appointment over on the Westside of Manhattan starting at 6:15pm, so I quickly changed into my bike clothes and freed my bike from a sign post along 56th Street. When I first started locking my bike outside and leaving it for 9 hours unwatched I the street, I was worried that it might be stolen. However after looking at many of the other bikes locked up around Manhattan, I realized that my bike was one of the biggest pieces of shit chained to a pole. I could probably just lean it against a fire hydrant and find it untouched at the end of the day; no one would want this thing.

My appointed ended very quickly which capped off the day. I contemplated either riding home or taking it easy and riding the subway home. In the end, I figured I am getting off to a good start, so I rewarded myself by relaxing on the train.

Good Signs

I am going to take the fact that I woke up this morning and got out of bed a good sign. Not in the sense that I am alive for another day, but in the sense that I got up to do a workout. I wasn’t sure I would be able to rouse myself for another weekday, early morning workout for a while and the fact I was able to do so today is reassuring.

Granted today’s workout just consisted of an easy 4 mile run. I did it in Prospect Park and my reward for getting outside was the spectacular view of the sun rising over Prospect Heights and reflecting over the lake. While I didn’t physically find anything during the run like I did yesterday, mentally I was very happy to find that I was enjoying the run. It was a welcome change of pace to the nervous feelings I’ve been experiencing over the past several weeks while training.

My severe curtailment in training has put a damper on my once springtime plans. I was hoping to be run a sub 3 hour marathon at the NJ Shore Marathon, but it is obvious I am not going to be ready for that. In truth, this isn’t bothering me in the least bit, since I no longer have to worry about the suffering I would have to face to peak for this race and the physical discomfit I would have attempting such a distance as such speeds. My coach advises me to still do the marathon. He states “Two months and a marathon as a goal will help keep your running "honest."

I asked my other coach, that being my 5 year old son, if I should do Ironman this summer. Once again he said yes, even if it means me being away sometimes in the morning and not being around on Saturdays until noon. Both my children feel this way so far and as long as they do I will continue.

The true test towards my getting back in action will come tomorrow morning. I am scheduled to swim. This always takes a bit of effort as I have a lot of preparation required to fit in this workout. I’ll have to pack everything I need for a day at the office, commute about 12 miles by bike to the pool, swim and then change and ride my bike to the office. All this at approximately 5am through the streets of Manhattan. This hasn’t bothered me in the slightest in the past, but recently, it was the last thing I wanted to do especially after working 10 hour days. If I swim tomorrow, I’ll know I am coming back.

High Points

I did what I call the High Points run in Prospect Park today. It consists of running up to the highest points in the park. Running this route definitely takes you off the beaten trail. It is very peaceful and scenic and offers quite a bit of solitude. I think my favorite part of it today was hearing the wind howl when I reached the highest point. The trees groan from the branches rubbing together, which sometimes fills you with the fear of having a large branch come crashing down on your head. This is not so unlikely, as the area is filled with wind felled trees and limbs.

Yesterday, I took my children hiking in this same area. It was at least 15 degrees cooler and far windier. They didn’t seem to mind the conditions and proceeded to hike and explore for three hours. The hiking made up somewhat for my very short Saturday ride.

Some other high points today included finding a five dollar bill, a skateboard and a soccer ball. I found the soccer ball during my run at the highest point in the park. The first time I saw it, I decided to leave it where it was in case its owner was lurking nearby. However, when I returned to the spot 30 minutes later and the ball was sitting forlornly in the same corner I decided that it had been abandoned. I didn’t feel like deviating from my planned route, so I ran about 2.5 miles while carrying it instead of heading directly home.

Later in the day I took my son skateboarding with his newly acquired board. He asked me to help him clean it up and wants to paint it so that it looks like flames. I guess I have a project cut out for me after my workouts next weekend.

Lost and Found

I found someone’s wallet on the subway last night. Actually, I should say the thing found me. I had reached my stop (homeward bound fortunately) and women pointed out that I had dropped something as I started to get up. When I looked down I saw a wallet and a cellphone power cord. I decided to take them with me, since it only would have gone to someone else who may not contemplate returning it.

The wallet is black and made of fake leather, folds in 3 sections and is secured together by a Velcro strip. It doesn’t contain much money and only had some basic information about the person. A NY State Identification card; specifically not a driver’s license so I know he doesn’t drive. Some medical insurance cards, which have a different home address and club cards to Pathmark and Best Buy. There is also some change and a couple of keys in a zipper compartment.

This person is definitely a smoker. I can smell old cigarette smoke wafting off of it. The most interesting item in the wallet is a one dollar bill with red print directing people to go to www.WheresGeorge.com. Unfortunately, at this exact moment the site happens to be down for maintenance. It won’t be back up for two more hours, but hopefully my second Ambien of the night will kick in beforehand.

Judging from the picture on the ID card, this person has lived a relatively hard life. He is only one year older than me, almost to the day, but looks to be around 50. He smokes, is overweight and has an access-a-ride card that lets him use the service when it is extremely hot or cold. I guess he would have been using it today, had the card not been expired.

Earlier this evening I was struggling against a problem that I’ve had several times in my life, after I’ve gained a large amount of fitness. I reach a certain point and then start slipping off the edge. It begins with a slow fall followed by an eventual acceleration into weakness. I think the apparent state of this guys life is enough to make sure I don’t fall down that path.

I can’t find a telephone number for him, but the handy advertisements that ask if you want to search on this person may find him. I tried one and for $7.95 I can find out all about him and possibly get his telephone number. If I do, should I be entitled to a $7.95 reimbursement from his wallet? I think there is just enough to cover that amount.

Maybe I should cover the cost of the search myself and throw in some bonus money into this guy’s wallet. That may make up for my thoughts where if the wallet contained a large some of money, I may not have contemplated returning it.