New York City Triathlete - Thoughts and Conversations

New Entry on New Blog 12/16

2007-12-16T20:37:00.001-05:00

You know the drill. Contact me or leave a comment if you want the new address.

New Entry on New Blog 12/13

2007-12-13T22:31:00.000-05:00

New entry posted on secret location blog. Email me or leave a comment for new address. Those who should not have my new address know who they are.

Warmth and Comfort

2007-12-07T05:48:00.000-05:00

So I seem to have developed a fairly consistent routine again. I am finding myself able to wake up in the morning and get in a workout. Also, I am getting to the gym at lunch to do some much needed strength training. Its amazing how much you lose when you don’t use it. I am not exactly week, but I can see it in my body and the weights that I am able to lift, that strength training sessions have been long overdue.

Most of my workouts have been indoors. I’ve been using the warmth and comfort of my basement to as a crutch to getting them in. I can just space out and watch TV while a run or bike. So far it has been working out nicely, although this morning, I think I may go outdoors for my run. It has been a while since I saw Prospect Park before sunrise. I guess I’ll see what is on TV first. I’ll report back here later.

New Post Added

2007-12-06T05:26:00.000-05:00

To new blog location - 12/6/07 5:35am

New Post Added

2007-12-02T15:47:00.000-05:00

A new post has been added to the secret location. Contact me for details

The Last Entry – A New Beginning

2007-11-17T16:47:00.000-05:00

This will be my last entry for this blog. The time has come for me to move on and start anew. It has come to the point where I can no longer write what I want to say for fear that those who should not be viewing it will see it. I’ve censored myself enough, and I’ve had enough of that.

If you would like to know my new blog address, please send me an email or leave a comment on this entry. I hope my long time readers will reach out to me for the new address.

Lobster Pot Pie at Michael Mina, Las Vegas

2007-11-15T00:24:00.000-05:00

Enjoying a Guiness at JFK

2007-11-11T17:50:00.000-05:00

Grand Army Plaza Brooklyn 5:30am

2007-11-06T05:51:00.000-05:00

NYC Marathon 2007

2007-11-06T03:41:00.000-05:00

It was a long day. Where do I even begin with it? I suppose I should start with waking up an hour too early, since the only clock in my house that I forget to set back was my watch which serves and my alarm. When I woke, I had a migraine headache and felt like shit. I considered just rolling over and going back to sleep. I wasn’t even sure if I could to the full distance of the marathon and at this moment I was wondering what the point was of going if I wasn’t sure I could go the distance. The fact that I awoke feeling terrible was an affirmation that I should stay in bed. I got up though and after some Excedrin and a bowl of cereal I started to feel better and got on with the process of getting ready. I hadn’t packed the night before and I needed to get moving if I was to make the bus to the marathon start.

I was already 5 minutes late by the time I finally left my house. I had to walk about a half mile to get to the bus and I was halfway there when I realized I forgot my HR monitor strap at home. I ran back to get it, but was now very late for the bus. I tried to call Larry to tell the bus organizer I was coming and not to leave without me, but my cell phone crapped out. Fortunately, my wife was amenable to driving me to the bus location. I just made it. The bus doors were about to close just as I got out of my car.

The ride to the start was quick and uneventful. The sun was just starting to peak over the horizon and we walked into the Marathon Village. All of the runners were separated into three color groups; Orange, Green and Blue. Larry and I made our way to the Blue staging area. It was definitely the low rent area. Where the orange and green had lots of grass to sit down upon, the blue area was mostly paved asphalt with a few patches of grass which served as parking lot medians. We staked a claim on a small patch of grass and began the business of waiting the 4 hours before the start.

I don’t know what the organizers were thinking in regards to staging the luggage trucks. Thousands upon thousands of runners had to make their way in and out of a narrow gap to get to and from the trucks. It took over an hour to move about 50 yards necessary for reaching your truck and getting back out. It was the biggest cluster fuck I’ve ever seen at a race. I think Mary Wittenburg of the NYRR is going to get a lot of email complaining about the situation. It was a very dangerous situation and I am glad no one yelled at “Bomb” otherwise there would have been a lot of dead or maimed marathoners from trying to get away.

Larry and I did finally make it out of there and we headed to the start. Even this was poorly organized. In past years it was possible to just walk onto the highway leading up to the Verrazano Bridge, but this year we almost didn’t get out of the village when the gun went off. In any event, I was happy to be running. Running over the VZ is always a thrill. This year for some reason the bridge wasn’t bouncing to the cadence of the runners. That was such an odd feeling. They must have done something to the bridge to eliminate that. In any event we set out at a leisurely 9 minute mile pace. I was feeling ok at first and felt like I could hold the pace for the entire race.

When I started to approach the 6 mile mark, I began the lookout for my family. I grossly overestimated the time that I would arrive (I thought it was at the 4 mile mark) and hoped my wife and kids would still be there. I was afraid that they would have thought they missed me and would have gone home. When I passed the block where I expected, but didn’t see them, I felt very depressed. I was looking forward to seeing them and giving my kids a hug. To my surprise they were just 2 blocks further down the course and I was very surprised and extremely happy to see them.

The race was pretty uneventful for the next 7 – 8 miles. I slapped a lot of kids hands as I ran by and took in the pleasure of running in one of the world’s largest marathons (is it the largest?). Just before the 59th Street Bridge our friend Willy had jumped into the race to run the final 11 miles with us. We were both supposed to run home with Larry along with several other friends, but that was not to be. By the time I got off the bridge I began to fade fast. My 9 minute miles turned into 10’s, followed by 11’s, 12’s, 13’s, 14’s and finally 16 minutes for the last two miles.

The last 10 miles up First Avenue, into the Bronx and back to the finish were torture. The thing I hated most about it was that I couldn’t predict what my next mile would be. There is something comforting in being able to predict your splits. It gives you an idea how much time you have left and how long the suffering will last. With each mile coming slower than the previous, I had no idea how long it would eventually take me. All I knew was that I was going to finish it, even if I had to crawl across the finish line.

The entire race was the complete opposite of last year’s. In 2006, I ran with Larry until the 59th Street Bridge when I told him I was too cold and needed to speed up. I had left him and passed 1000’s and 1000’s of runners as I started to run 7:30’s. This year, Larry left me on the 59th Street Bridge and 1000’s and 1000’s of runners passed me to the finish line. I wasn’t sure how I was feeling over the way this was turning out. On the one hand, I figured a measure of pride for even doing the race since I only did two small runs and two bike workouts in the past 1.5 months. I am completely detrained and probably should not have chosen to do a marathon as my first real run after recovering from injury. I think I should be proud of the fact that I was even able to do it. On the other hand I was feeling a bit embarrassed. This marathon was going to be my personal worst by far. It was hard to stomach the fact that I once ran 3:13 in a marathon and had aspirations of breaking 3 hours. I was like all those newbie marathoners who went out too fast and had to walk to the finish. It’s not right that our physiology takes us a long time to build up fitness, but becomes so totally detrained in such a short period of time.

After doing my death shuffle across the finish line, I was faced with an even larger and slower moving crowd to claim my baggage. It took over an hour to finally make my way to the UPS Truck that held my bag. I was feeling horribly nauseous and just wanted to lie down. I considered faking a collapse onto the ground so I could have the medics rush me out of the crowd. I was pretty close to doing that in fact, possibly not even because I was faking. After I finally got my bag, I sat on the ground to change into some dry clothes. As I’ve said before, the post race food at the NYC Marathon is without a doubt the worst you will encounter. Nothing would even be better so you don’t wind up carrying a bag of junk.

Me and Larry Waiting for Marathon Start

2007-11-04T06:50:00.000-05:00

Me and Larry waiting for marathon start

Tomorrow is Marathon Day

2007-11-03T16:15:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I am doing the NYC Marathon. I am as unprepared for this race as when I walked into a Calculus exam in college, having not studied or understanding any of the subject matter. I think I got 10 out of a hundred. I am hoping though that I will get more than 10 miles and my marathon grade will be a full 26.2. I think I am only doing this race, because I don’t want to sit out of my third NYC Marathon because of shin splints. Also, this marathon will make my 3rd consecutive year and my 4th NYC Marathon in total. I’d like to get to the point where I have enough NYC Marathons under my belt so that I do not have to worry about qualifying for it each year.

To get over the shin splints I think I’ve only ran about 3 times in the past 1.5 months. I am praying that the weather will be much warmer tomorrow with a lot less wind. I will be running this marathon slow which means the cold and wind will make it torturous.

This year I intend to run the total race with my friend Larry. It is his intention to run the 12 miles home after the marathon in celebration of his 25th consecutive running and his 50th birthday. I told him I would do this run with him, but I suppose I’ll have to see how I feel after the marathon. I already don’t think I am being smart by running a marathon off of no training and a painful shin, but if I feel somewhat ok, I think I’ll make the day into an ultramarathon. I know what my coach will say about this last statement – That I am questioning whether I can even do 26.2, but here I am talking about making it an ultra. I just like to keep my options open and by thinking of making it an ultra, 26.2 miles will be relatively easy. I am just being optimistic.

Crossed the Line

2007-10-30T12:03:00.001-04:00

I crossed a line this past Sunday. There was a NYRR race scheduled, a Marathon Qualifier which I needed to do if I am to get 9 races and I completely blew it off. I sat in my darkened living room at 5:30am and knew that if I didn’t get going I would miss the race and gone would be the opportunity to guarantee entry into the 2008 marathon. It was the first time that I purposely said screw it, I don’t need to do this. I crossed the line to the dark side.

Several hours later, after the sun came up and revealed a beautiful day, I got annoyed at myself for letting that happen. So for the first time in months, I dusted off my bike trainer and road in my basement for 2 hours. It wasn’t much, but at least it was something. I could tell by my elevated HR, compared to the effort I was putting in, that I’ve gotten completely out of shape in the month since I injured my leg and decided to take a training vacation. It was so depressing, it almost made me stop. But stopping would not be a way to get back in shape.

Yesterday, I went to the NYSC for the first time since joining over a month ago to do some strength training exercises. I used to be a regular in the club and a couple of the personal trainers recognized me and made a big deal about saying hello. I did an easy workout since I didn’t want to push too hard. I knew if I did, I’d be suffering pretty badly from DOMS the next day. It will take a few trips to the gym before my body gets used to it. After working out, I once again was feeling depressed as I realized how much strength I’ve lost over the past few months. You would think I am a virtual cripple by the way I am describing how weak I feel compared to when I was really in shape. I wish the workout had rejuvenated me and gave me a positive feeling. I guess I’ll start feeling better as the tightness in my waistband lessens and I start getting back in shape.

So far since I crossed the line, I am doing ok. For the first time in months, I woke up early enough to do a morning workout - One hour on the trainer. I easily kept my HR in the aerobic and my mind occupied by playing online poker and Full Tilt poker.

I Take It Back

2007-10-25T22:47:00.000-04:00

I guess I shouldn't have felt so bad in regards to my previous post. My friend went ahead and got a matching offer for the person I offered the job to. He accepted the counter. Oh well.

Feeling Pretty Low

2007-10-25T12:27:00.000-04:00

I am feeling like a piece of shit right now. I just screwed a friend of mine, someone I’ve been close to for over 13 years. Granted I did not intentionally set out to screw him, but that is the end result none the less. I used to work at the company where my friend is now. When I left that company, I went to their biggest competitor. There was a programmer there who I would have liked to hire at my new job, but I didn’t since I knew it would screw my friend.

Recently though, I was led to believe that this programmer was no longer reporting to my friend. I decided that if that was the case, then I had no reason not to pursue him. It wasn’t until I finished negotiations with this person, that he stated that my friend would be very pissed off when he told him. Evidently my friend was still responsible for the area in which this programmer worked. I was surprised and dismayed when I heard this. Needless to say my friend called me this morning to tell me what a low thing I did. I couldn’t argue with him. I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t speak to me again.

One of the things that were going through my mind when I decided to go after this programmer was how it would reflect badly on the manager to whom I thought he was reporting. I felt that my friend was somehow put in a lesser position by not directly managing the team the team that this programmer was a part of and by taking the programmer it would show what would happen by not trusting in my friend’s ability to run this team. Basically, to get the programmer, I had to make an offer that he would be foolish to turn down. Otherwise I don’t think there would have been any way in hell that he would have come over to me. My friend is a great manager, extremely competent, hard working and one of the best people you could ever know. I am deeply saddened to know that I may have ruined this friendship or somehow this will reflect badly on him.

Hypnosis

2007-10-21T16:11:00.000-04:00

I am thinking of getting hypnosis. My drive to maintain any sort of exercise routine is seriously waning. I recognize what is happening to me. I fear I am at the start of a downward spiral to becoming out of shape and overweight again. I don’t want it to happen, but I am almost helpless in my effort to fight it. I have been through this before and know the signs. I am thinking that hypnosis can help me get back on course.

I supposed I am just depressed and frustrated that I can’t run. Everything was going so well and then my leg suddenly fails me. All I feel like doing is running. I really don’t have a desire to bike and swim right now. I went for a ride yesterday and within 30 minutes I was getting pretty bored. Granted I was just going around Prospect Park for the billionth time, but usually I can stay focused for more than 30 minutes. All I managed to ride was a total of 17 miles. Pathetic. To top it off, I am so out of bike shape, that they way I struggled to do those miles was even further depressing. I’ve got to get out of this state of mind. Hypnosis may be the key.

My Mistress

2007-10-19T23:49:00.000-04:00

For the longest time Ironman was my mistress. She would give back to me as much as I put into her. It was a great relationship. One that I found fulfilling and rewarding. Lately though, I’ve decided to try out a new girl. Her name is Ultrarunning. She is a lot harder on the body than Ironman and I am afraid she has broken me down. My left leg is toast. Shin splints have gotten so bad that it is now painful to just walk around. Going up and down stairs is a killer.

I ignored this herpes sore of a problem for as long as I could. I decided that the problem has gone far enough when I found myself grimacing within the first half mile of a run the other night. I can’t stand this problem. It is just something that won’t go away. Just like herpes. Maybe I can get rid of the problem through amputation. I participated in a spirited discussion the other night about whether a below the knee amputee has an unfair advantage over someone with a full leg. The reason being that the artificial leg is lighter and more aerodynamic. If I go that route, I will be sure to keep my leg and not lose it like the fellow in one of my recent blog postings.

I suppose I should start riding my bike and swimming more often. I just can’t get myself to go. I fear that I am starting to get fat and lazy again. My clothes are starting to get tight on me. Now that I can’t run, I just want to stuff my face while sitting on the couch and watching TV. That’s such an easy thing to do. It’s amazing how I have resisted that lure for so long.

It Comes Back to You

2007-10-15T17:11:00.001-04:00

Many years ago my wife and I (girlfriend at the time), rode our bikes from Miami Beach to Key West and back. On the trip back to Miami, I stopped on the side of the road to take a piss. When I looked down, I found an addressed envelope that must have been blown out of a car or something. I picked it up and later mailed it to the recipient when I returned home to NY. If I hadn’t stopped at that exact spot it most likely would have dissolved away by the elements. I sent it anonymously with a little note stating where I found it.

Well today I received a letter at work containing an envelope with a banking receipt that I had lost. I remember coming home and thinking I lost it, but I didn’t give it much thought and quickly forgot about it. Until today when it showed up in my mailbox, with a note attached telling me where it was found.

I guess there is such a thing as Karma.

Volunteering

2007-10-14T20:03:00.000-04:00

So I volunteered for the first time at a race. I chose a long one in the 6 Hour-60th Birthday Run in Sunken Meadow State Park. I afraid it would be awful and boring just hanging around for 6+ hours to help out, but I actually had a decent time of it. There were plenty of volunteers so my responsibilities were very light. About all I did was direct the runners on the trail during the first two loops, and even that was well marked by an arrow on the ground. I mostly read my book (The Road, by Cormac McCarthy) and would encourage the runners when they passed my way. The only other thing I did was to help move some picnic tables and to load some equipment into a truck. The toughest part of the day was trying to stay warm early in the race. I was starting to get very cold just sitting around.

After the runners passed me a couple of times, I headed back to the race start/finish area and ran into some friends from my office. They were there to check out the scene and we chatted for a while and watched the runners go by. After chatting for a while, I saw my friends Larry and Willie come by and I quickly changed into my running gear to do a few loops with them. This would be my first run in two weeks and my first test to see if my leg was healed. The first loop I did with them was at a nice and easy pace. However on the second loop, Willie started to run on a flat section of the course as if he had an angry mob with torches chasing him. Larry and I asked him what he thought he was doing when he finally slowed down. It was definitely too fast of a pace for my first comeback run. Fortunately after that little burst of speed, we settled down to a more civilized pace. After running 4 loops we took a bathroom break and I had to decide if I wanted to go any further. I felt some twinges in my leg, but I went out for one more loop. I wanted to run at least 10 miles today. My leg was a little sore afterwards, but nothing really too bad. I am not sure if I’ll run tomorrow. Other than my leg, I felt pretty decent and felt like running 6 hours. It was frustrating to have to stop.

While I was cooling down I hung around the people timing the race. We were commenting on the leaders and I would call out the times to my fellow Hammer Nutrition athlete Byron Lane. Byron was running several minutes behind the leader and I would let him know how much time he had to make up. After a while of hanging around the timing mats, I grabbed my camera to take pictures of the people I knew in the race. I got some good shots of Larry and Willie. Here are all of the pictures.

During the time I was running, I couldn’t help think about “The Road”. For some reason I felt fortunate to be running along a road that was green on all sides of me as opposed to a barren, ashy, burnt up landscape as described in the book. I couldn’t imagine living in a world as described in “The Road” and counted myself as fortunate for not being in such a situation. What would have been the point in living in such a situation? Hopefully we won’t have a nuclear war anytime soon. If you ever read the book or have read it already, you wouldn’t have to guess what I would have done while I had two bullets left in my gun. It would have been the most merciful thing to do.

Anyway, the day was as pleasant as it was long. Everyone was appreciated for the help I provided and I got my Service Requirement Form for the Vermont 100 Miler filled out. At least that is out of the way. Now I just have to hope my leg gets healthy enough to run in it.

The Road, The Mold and PT

2007-10-13T20:24:00.000-04:00

The Road

So I am reading this book called “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy. It was recommended by my friend Todd. I don’t think I’ve read a more horrible book. It’s not the writing that’s bad, it’s the story. It’s about a father and son making their way through a post apocalyptic world and their struggle to survive. It’s thoroughly depressing and definitely not something that I should be reading. I don’t know if I should put it down or continue through what I am sure is to be a brutal ending. Just reading the pages is enough for me to want to down a Xanax and run for the anti-depressants.

The Mold

My wife and I own a condo in which we rent out. Our tenants had a leak underneath the kitchen sink and didn’t notice it until the floors were ruined and mold had set into the sheetrock and other areas. I had to have a company that specializes in mold remediation come in to remove the toxic material. Fortunately it was regular mold and not the black mold that everyone is in fear of.

Anyway, we spent over $1,500 to have the moldy floor and sheetrock removed and carted away. However that is not what the company we hired did. Instead of hauling the debris away and properly disposing it, they drove 3 blocks away from the condo and dumped it next to a fire hydrant where I guess they hoped NYC Sanitation would cart it away. Little did the employees of this company know, that the fire hydrant they dumped this stuff happened to be across the street from the house in which my family lives. At first we just thought some inconsiderate bastard had dumped some household trash. It wasn’t until the next morning that my wife passed it and realized that she was looking at the flooring that was removed from our condo. Needless to say we were a bit pissed off.

I called up the company and the representative that I arranged the mold removal with said that he was in shock when I told him what happened. Supposedly, the workers who dumped the debris are to be fired. He sounded sincerely contrite, but I’ve become a skeptic in my old age. I guess I’ll never really know whether this was standard operating procedure or just a one time case of workers being lazy. They had to travel back to Long Island to dump the stuff and I guess they didn’t want to make the trip from Brooklyn.

Physical Therapy

I started physical therapy on my leg this week. It has been going well and my leg is starting to feel better. I’ve been so bummed out about not being able to run. It’s been two weeks since my last run and 3 weeks since I’ve injured it. I think it is finally well enough for me to attempt my first easy run tomorrow. I’ll do it at some point in the day that I will be volunteering at the Sunken Meadow 6 hour run. I really wanted to be doing this race, but I guess it is just as well that I am not doing it. I want to do the Vermont 100 miler next summer and part of the requirement to do that race is to volunteer for 8 hours or longer at another ultra event. I guess everything happens for a reason.

Webby Connect Conference

2007-10-06T14:34:00.001-04:00

I am on my way back home from another business trip. I spent the week at the Webby Award’s Webby Connect Conference listening to all that is new, exciting and the future of the Internet. It was held at the St. Regis Hotel in Dana Point. The hotel and conference were excellent and I am very glad I went. The conference covered a variety of topics and had many good speakers. The 3 keynote speakers included Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post, Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney and Vinton Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the Internet.

I arrived early enough on the first day to get a swim in the ocean. It was great to be back in the Pacific on yet another trip to the Left Coast. I used my wetsuit, although I probably could have gotten away without it. The water was clear and a cool 67 degrees. I could even see fish swimming along the bottom. I only swam for a half hour. My leg injury was bothering me when I kicked and I didn’t want to aggravate it.

The conference was a joyful mixture of compelling content mixed with pleasurable activities. During the first day of the conference, the sessions ended early. As part of the conference, it was arranged with the hotel for everyone to take surf lessons. Unfortunately, the wave weren’t conducive to surfing, we all wet Boogy Boarding instead. It was a lot of fun. I spent almost 3 hours in the ocean, comfortably in my own wetsuit. Everyone else had to borrow a wetsuit from the hotel. After Boogy Boarding, I then went to the hotel’s lap pool and swam around 2000 yards.

The activities for the next night of the conference included dinner followed by an open bar and a Trivia contest. Everyone was broken up into teams of 4 and we played to win a Wii, Ipod and other great prizes. Our team didn’t win anything though, but it was still a lot of fun. That was about it. The conference ended around 12:30pm the next day and then it was time to zip over to the airport. I had an uneventful trip home. While flying I entertained myself with a great book I am reading called “Busting Vegas”. I highly recommend it.

End of the World

2007-10-03T00:38:00.000-04:00

I found this on the Internet. Pretty funny.

Just Another Entry

2007-10-02T18:02:00.000-04:00

So the other day I am walking to the subway after work and I pass the Subway sandwich shop where I will occasionally get lunch. Normally it is hustling and bustling, but today the windows were closed and a sign was out in front saying that it has been closed down by the Board of Health. That makes me feel so good as I just ate there the other day. I wonder how many roach bits I consumed.

I also took a ride in a taxi that has been outfitted with the GPS device that all the cabbies have been complaining about. I have to say the thing is great. You have a small computer screen in the back of the car that shows exactly where you are. It also has a TV that plays channel 7 all day long. You can get sports scores, restaurant and hotel reviews. You can also get a check on the weather and pay by credit card if you want.

This morning I took a private taxi to JFK. I am on a business trip once again. The ride to the airport was awful. I had a female driver and her driving made me sick. She would speed up when she saw a yellow light, only to stop short when it turned red. All the stop and going made me nauseous.

Yesterday I went to the doctor to have my leg checked out. It was the quickest $200 that I’ve ever spent. The doctor spent all of 5 minutes with me. Unfortunately, he didn’t take my insurance. I did get an x-ray though. The doc says I have excellent bones. My diagnosis is most likely a slightly torn adductor muscle with the prescription for recovery being about 3 weeks rest and physical therapy. The worse part about being injured is not being able run while I am away. I’ve gotten to enjoy my wandering around while running in other cities.

Cheating the System

2007-09-30T13:23:00.000-04:00

Today was the ING NYC Marathon Tune-Up. An 18 miler around Central Park. I had some qualms about doing the race since my left leg was bothering me, but I decided to give it a shot. I probably shouldn’t have done the race since not only was my leg bothering me, but I also have a slightly pulled muscle in the left side of my back. I did that yesterday when I ran the 5th Avenue Mile.
I woke up at 5am to eat breakfast and then drove into the city. Miraculously I found a parking spot close to the start within a few minutes after pulling off of the FDR Drive. I even had time for a quick nap in my car before the race started. As I started to jog easily to the starting line, my leg felt a little stiff and my shin was hurting a bit. My shin pain always seems to flare up worse than usual after I take a couple of days off.

I started out the race feeling ok, definitely not great. I know I went out too fast and my leg was a bit painful. To compensate, I kind of just zoned out and ran. There were many runners around me but I put up a wall of space around me such that I didn’t see or hear anything except for the double while line passing beneath my feet. I was comfortable in this zone and ran like this for one complete loop though the park.

At the start of the second loop, Jay a fellow member of AGTC caught up to me (we met and spoke at the start) and we started chatting while we ran. This pulled me out of my reverie and got me thinking more about my pace and leg. It was probably just as well though as I noticed my leg was progressively starting to bother me more. I told Jay to go ahead since I could tell my pace would soon be slowing down considerably. By the time I got to approximately 8 miles I knew it was all over. I stopped to walk and began to look for a place to cut through the park so I could get back to the east side. I wandered around for a few minutes to rest and saw that I couldn’t cross where I was since a lake was in my way. I then continued south doing a slow trot hoping I was closer to the 72nd Street Transverse than I was to the 102nd. It was disconcerting seeing so many runners pass me as I was struggling along at such a slow pace. As it turned out I was only a few hundred yards from 72nd.

Once I was at the 72nd Street Transverse I decided to continue around the bottom of the park instead of cutting across. I did this for two reasons. The first was I started to feel a little better and the second and more important reason was I didn’t want to tempt myself into cutting the loop short by going across 72nd. I figured if I could continue at a slow pace, perhaps I could finish the race and get my Qualifier (I only have 3 of the required 9 for the NYC Marathon). By the time I got back around to 72nd on the east side I knew I was really done. I didn’t even think about continuing on and exited the park. I went to a cash machine and then grabbed a cab back uptown to my car. As I watched the streets go by I knew I made the right decision. It would have been very painful just to walk the distance back.

On the way home in my car, I realized why I had regrets about not finishing Lake Placid earlier this year. I know because while sitting in my car, I started to feel regrets about quitting the 18 miler. The reason for the regret is because after I stopped racing, I know longer felt any pain or discomfit. I was feeling ok, which gave me the illusion that if I kept going I could have finished it. If I am feeling ok now, shouldn’t I have been able to go on? Realizing this I quickly came to grips with the fact that sometimes stopping in a race is the correct decision. The ghosts that haunted me about stopping have been exorcised from my mind.

I also learned something else about myself today. I know I will never cheat in a race or when it comes to qualifying for the marathon. I was giving thought to how bad it would be to register for a race and have someone else run with my chip so I can be scored and get a NYC Marathon Qualifier. I never seriously considered it, but the thought did cross my mind. Today I could have sat in my car or in the park for a while and then made my way back onto the course and cross the finish line. It would have been easy to do. I know now that no matter how easy it may be to cheat like that, I won’t do it. I need to earn my place to the starting line and if quitting today means I won’t have enough qualifiers for next year’s marathon, then so be it. Better I make it there by earning that right than to get there by cheating the system.

September 29, 2007 Observations

2007-09-29T20:58:00.000-04:00

While walking home from the dry cleaners today, loaded down with a ton of clean laundry, I walked past an obese woman with a cigarette dangling out of her mouth. This is unfortunately, not an uncommon occurrence, but what was remarkable about this woman was the t-shirt she was wearing. Written on it was Health Walk to find a cure for Diabetes (or something to that effect). I found it kind of ironic that she could wear such a shirt given her current state and appearance.

I also observed several kids stop next to my neighbor’s house to admire freshly poured concrete. My neighbor just had his sidewalk redone and the wet cement seemed to draw the kids in like a very powerful magnet lifting a load of metal. You could see the desire to write their names in the cement in their eyes. Who actually doesn’t think about writing their name in freshly poured cement? I suppose the desire comes from knowing that the mark you leave behind has some permanence. It is not every day that cement is poured and when it is, it will most likely be there long after we are gone.

Perhaps the most important and happiest observation I made today came when I watched my son play goalie during his soccer game. The kid has so much heart. He is always smiling when he plays any sport. The most poignant moment for me came when the ball was hit towards the goal and my son dove for it, grabbed it and rolled over. As I was watching this play unfold I was saying in my mind “dive for it”. That is just what he did. It is exactly what I would have done. I was struck at how I was watching a mirror of myself out on that field. This moment in time resonated inside me and I suddenly felt all choked up. It made me think about how much our personalities are due to genetics as opposed to the environment in which we are raised.

Amputation

2007-09-26T19:05:00.000-04:00

I saw read this story today, about a man finding a leg in a human leg in a smoker that he bought in an auction. The smoker had been sold at an auction of items left behind at a storage facility. It turns out that the leg belonged to some guy that decided to keep it after it was amputated because of a plane accident.

I’ve always said that if I ever have a body part removed I am going to request that it be given back to me after it is removed. After all, it is mine. I should be entitled to it even if it is no longer connected to my body. I don’t think though that I would have forgotten about it such that it would turn up inside an item that went to auction of abandoned possessions.

I don’t know what I would have done if I found the leg. I suppose I would have called the police as well. The question would be, what I would have done with it had no one claimed it. Perhaps I would have boiled it down to the bone, polished it and kept it.

Yom Kippur Ultra Marathon

2007-09-25T09:59:00.000-04:00

Well, this was really called the Staten Island 6-hour run, but it was also held on Yom Kippur so I think my name is appropriate. The day started out heavily overcast and foggy, for which I was glad. It was kind of warm and running in the sun would have been a drag. The course was in Clove Lake Park along a 2 mile loop. It wasn’t actually a loop, but consisted of a single straightaway with a loop on each end of it. There were only two minor hills, but I’ll tell you once you started running 30+ miles they began to feel like mountains, especially when you were trying to maintain an even pace.

I had two goals for the day. The first was to see how far I could go without food or water and the second was simply to see how far I could go. I ran for the first hour without taking anything in. I was running really well though, so I decided that if I wanted to keep doing so, it would be in my best interest to start eating and drinking. So much for my Yom Kippur fast.

For a while I was running with the same people loop after loop. I kept trading places with some guy wearing the number 3 for a while. Eventually though I dropped everyone around me as I was able to maintain an even pace and even slightly quickened pace. Pretty soon I was started to lap the other runners. In fact I lapped everyone except the first 5 finishers. I came in 7th place overall. The 6th place finisher was the winning female runner who only had about 1 mile more than me. I ran a total of 38.4 miles. Short of my goal of 42, but I was very happy with my finish. In fact, this was the best I’ve ever finished overall in any race I’ve ever done. Perhaps I have a future career in ultra running.

I didn’t have any profound thoughts while running. I didn’t get bored and I never really felt like stopping. I just felt like running and I did all that I was capable of. I did think that I went out a little too fast, judging by the way I started to slow down at the end. I was glad it wasn’t a 50 mile race, because another 12 miles would have been very painful. I have no regrets though as I wanted to see what I could do. Since there was no set distance or finish line, I could quit the race anytime I wanted. I stopped running one minute and thirty seconds before the 6 hour mark. Towards the end of the race, you were transitioned from the 2 mile loop to a shorter .4 mile loop to facilitate scoring. I did one small loop, and saw how little time was left and decided to get a jump on the massage tables rather than to add a quarter mile to my distance. Unfortunately, they weren’t doing massages and were stretching instead. I decided to go for it anyway, which was a mistake as the next day my hip flexor was feeling irritated. I think if I did get stretched I would have been fine the next day. It’s ok now though and I’ll probably start running again tomorrow.

The highlights of the course included a small water fall. The waterfall really started to flow during the race when the sky above opened up and it started to pour. I liked having the rain hit me, but the drawback to that though was it made the dirt path just to the inside of the paved trail all muddy. I like running on the dirt to take some of the pounding off of my legs. There were also plenty of ducks and ducklings along the course. At one point a whole posse of baby ducks was in the middle of the course. It was like an obstacle course having to run around them; they certainly weren’t afraid of the runners passing them.

I knew a couple of people in the race that I met during previous ultra marathons, including the winner Byron Lane. We are both sponsored Hammer Nutrition athletes and posed for pictures together after the race with our awards. Hopefully, he will send a copy of the pictures to me soon so I can post on my blog.

I know I said in my previous post that I was going to back up this race with the Westchester Triathlon the next day. There was no way that was going to happen though. I could hardly sleep during the night from the minor aches and pains I accrued from the race. I know if I would have even attempted it, I would have suffered badly and probably not even finish in time. I decided what was the point in that? Also, I was gone all day and going to the triathlon would have meant I would have been gone two days in a row and would have deprived my wife the use of our car, which she needed to use. So all totaled it just didn’t make sense to go. Instead I took my kids to the YMCA where we all swam around for an hour or so. A much better way to recover.

Cool Nights

2007-09-21T20:34:00.000-04:00

I’ve run for the past three perfectly cool nights with my son Lucas riding alongside me on his bike. It was pretty cool having him with me. This desire to go with me is new and he is determined to make it 3 times around Prospect Park without stopping. So far we’ve only gone twice around, but I think he will be ready for a 3 lapper when the weekend rolls around when we can go during the day. It won’t be at night, so he wouldn’t be getting as tired towards the end of the second lap.

Our weekend ride though will have to wait for another weekend. On Saturday, I am doing the Staten Island 6-hour run. It will be held on Yom Kippur, which will make this in my mind, the Yom Kippur Ultra Marathon. My plan is to do it without food or water in observance of the holy day. I discussed this with my coach, who thinks that such a plan is foolish. I’ll see how it goes. If anything, I’ll just drink some water so as to not send myself to the hospital due to dehydration. I wonder how this will go. The day will be nice so I suppose it will be better than my fictional account of a Yom Kippur marathon from two years ago. Oh and before I forget to mention it, I plan to back up my ultra marathon with the Westchester Triathlon on Sunday.

I guess you can say I am spending two days to taper for the YKUM. I took Thursday off completely unless you count a little bit of canoeing on the Gowanus Canal. My friend Tim invited me to a party to benefit the Red Hook Boaters, who offer a free kayaking program in Red Hook. I was more than happy to spend the 25 bucks to go to this party to support Tim’s organization. If it wasn’t for him kayaking beside me a couple of years ago, I never would have done the swims to Hoffman and Swinburne Islands. We made tentative plans for him to be escort for a swim from Sandy Hook to Coney Island. Today I just did an easy 1500 yard swim. I feel ready for tomorrow.

Survival of the Shawangunks 2007

2007-09-12T23:29:00.000-04:00

I survived. That is what I have to say about this race. I’ve done it before, but I never had the feeling of surviving a race as I did this one. Well perhaps I have felt like that before, but this race is freshest in my memory. Nothing went particularly wrong during the race, it just felt extremely tough. During the first run segment I even considered dropping out. However, I couldn’t let myself do that. The sting of DNF’ing at this year’s IM Lake Placid was still fresh in my memory. Dropping out of two races in a row would have been the start of a bad habit.

I guess it is all just a matter of knowing how to endure. Someone just told me, that if there is one thing I am able to do well, it is to endure during tough times. I guess I always manage to pull myself through difficult circumstances, even if the process of making it through them is at times ugly. Well, so much for philosophy.

The bike segment of the race went reasonably well. I pushed a bit hard and almost managed to match my time of last year. I was only slower by about 90 seconds which wasn’t so bad considering I have practically no bike miles in me this year. I paid for that effort though on the first run. This is where I thought seriously about dropping out of the race. My legs felt like lead. It was like I was running through knee deep mud. I worried about bailing out of the race in the middle of nowhere, which was one of the reasons why I kept going on. I was in “Survival” mode early. I just decided if I could make it through the first swim things wouldn’t be so bad. I got through that first 4.5 miles in 48:26, which was almost 10 minutes slower than last year. If you had handed me the application to do this race again during this run, I would have torn it right up.

I was very happy to make it to the first swim. The water felt cool and refreshing. I even swam it faster than I did last year by 4 minutes. The cold water against my legs worked wonders. I felt so much better when I came out of the water. I didn’t run as well as I did last year, but at least the dead feeling was out of my legs. I started to enjoy myself while running through the trails.

One of the things that made this race very enjoyable was that my support crew met me at several points during the race. Andrea and Brian had come up with me and my friend Rob to take care of our bikes. I had no idea that they would also meet us at various points on the course to take pictures and cheer us on. For the first time I have some really cool candid pictures of me doing a race.

After completing the second run and second swim, I really started to feel better on the 8 mile run. I even thought I had a chance to catch my friend Rob who had left me in the dust right after we got off of our bikes. My time for the 8 mile run was 1:09; only 1 minute slower than I was last year, even though this year was considerably warmer. Had the run been a couple of miles longer, I would definitely have caught him. Rob had 10 minutes on me after the first run, but at the finish, he was only 4 minutes ahead of me, which amounted to the differences in our swim times. I was glad that he was in front of me because it gave me a challenge. I wanted to see if I could catch him. He was the better man though and he beat me fair and square.

At the finish line our crew was there once again to lend us support. Andrea was kind enough to prepare a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was a nice, big, goopy PB&J which was oozing jelly. Some of it fell to the grass and quickly attracted several bees. I sat contentedly eating the sandwich along with the bees enjoying their newfound jelly.

The post race BBQ was as great as it is every year. I had a couple of beers, chicken, ribs and corn on the cob. It was great to relax after the race with a bunch of friends and just kicking back. I know I will be back again next year.

A Case of the Mondays

2007-09-04T14:46:00.000-04:00

I know it is Tuesday, but I am suffering from a severe case of the Mondays. I guess that is what happens when you have as good of a 4 day weekend that I had. It was a combination of quality training time on my own and quality play time with my kids. The weather was picture perfect. It was the type of weekend you wish you could bottle up and open up every now and then.

The weekend started off with an early run through Prospect Park. I did an easy 8.5 mile run under cool, clear blue skies. It was nothing like the running I did in Spain just a week previously, but for living in a big city it was as quality as you can get. Afterwards, I ate lunch with my kids and their cousins and then took them to the Red Hook Municipal. We played in the water and surrounding park for hours. When we returned home my wife was wondering where we disappeared for so long. Everyone was having fun so I told her we just didn’t feel like coming home. After I did take them home, I headed back to the Red Hook pool so I could do some laps. That swim made it the third time in a week that I visited the pool. Unfortunately, this past weekend was the last time it will be open until next July. It is so sad that good things have to come to an end. Now I am back to swimming at an overcrowded and overheated pool at the YMCA.

Saturday morning I went out for an easy 50 mile ride. I needed to get this ride done in time for me to take my family to a Yankee game at 1pm. I didn’t think I would go 50 miles when I started and was only hoping to get around 30 miles in. Fortunately though, I found a couple of other athletes that I was able to draft off of which kept the ride interesting. This was especially true when I a serious Olympic distance athlete named Fred rode up upon me. He was going at a swift pace, but I was able to get on his rear wheel. We then proceeded to zip around Prospect Park at an average time of 9:30’s for each loop. At one point we started speaking to each other (that’s how I knew his name) about the races we were doing and our training. He lived out in Breezy Point, which explained why I didn’t recognize him from all the time I spend in the park. Anyway, he just happened to ride around the park enough times to get my distance up to 50 miles. I was really glad I ran into him, because riding behind him took at least 30 minutes off the time I would have spent to complete my 50 miles. When I returned home, I quickly showered and ate and then it was off to see the Yankees vs. Tampa Bay. Luckily we got to see the one game that the Yankees won over the Labor Day weekend.

My Saturday ended with me taking the Long Island Railroad out to my brother-in-laws house in Long Beach. I was doing the John Daly Ocean Mile swim race early on Sunday and I wanted to leave my car at home for my wife and kids to drive out their later in the day on Sunday. The conditions for the race were perfect. Clear, calm seas and a large field of 211 swimmers. I was happy with the way I swam and completed the race in 35:03. This placed me 88th overall and 14th for my Age Group. I had a great time and also ran into some friends that did the race as well. After the swim race, I ate a couple of the complementary donuts laid out in the post race buffet. Actually, that’s all there was to eat along with bottles of water. Those donuts fixed me right up and gave me enough energy to do a 17 mile run later that morning. I ran to Point Lookout and back and then started on another loop of the boardwalk in Long Beach. I wanted to go 20 miles, but at the 17 mile mark, my wife had called to let me know she finally arrived at her brother’s house. So I packed my run in and played with my kids on the beach.

My son had me dig him a giant hole in the sand. I brought a large gardening shovel so I could make an adequate hole. I managed to dig a hole that was about 3 feet wide by 3 feet long and 5.5 feet deep. When my kids were in the hole they were unable to get out. It was very funny listening to my son whine that he needed help getting out of the hole. I told him you got into the hole by yourself; you need to get out of it by yourself. One of the funnier moments with the hole was when my son jumped into it and yelled as he was falling into it. Some guy a few beach blankets away from us saw him jump into the hole and couldn’t believe how he just seemed to disappear. He came over to look into the hole and was duly impressed. Besides playing around in the giant hole, I went boogey boarding with my kids. The surf was reasonable accommodating to ride in and we had a blast. It was a lot of fun to ride the waves in with my daughter right next to me on her board.

Monday was another perfect day. We joined up with another couple and their sons and headed out to Coney Island. We splashed in the surf and built mud castles until late into the afternoon. We purchase from one of the vendors walking the beach sliced Mango on a stick that was served with hot sauce. I never heard of that before, but it was delicious. After the beach it was off to Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park for a ride on the Wonder Wheel and other assorted rides. None of the kids wanted to leave and I couldn’t blame them one little bit. However, it was getting late and alas, school began the next day. We finished the day by eating pizza and ice cream and L&B Spumoni Gardens. That is a famous Bensonhurst Brooklyn establishment where they make the best square pizza you will ever taste.

Part of the plan for going to Coney Island was for me and my friend Chris to take a run on the boardwalk while our wives watched the kids. We didn’t get in that run, so I decided to go out around 8:45pm for a quick run around the park. I didn’t get much past my corner though as I decided a run at this point wasn’t worth it. I really just wanted to extend what was a perfect day; a day that was ruined only by the fact that it had to come to an end.

So I guess you can see why I am unmotivated and suffering from the case of the Mondays. With Labor Day now in the past, it is back to school, back to work, no more vacation or play time. Back to the old grind stone and all manner of things unpleasant. People bitching their Blackberries don’t work, emails not getting through, computers crashing, homework to check, bedtimes to enforce and the ever shortening day. It is just really pissing me off. Why must all good things come to an end? Who made up that rule? Why does it seem that is one rule that could never be broken? ARRRRGHHH, I need to take my mind off of it. I have good things to look forward to. I am doing SOS this weekend. I’ll be on my own, but perhaps that is a good thing. I could concentrate on the race and just worry about having a good time. In a couple of more weeks I have the Staten Island 6 hour run and the Westchester Triathlon. That should be interesting. The 6 hour run is the day before the Westchester Triathlon. It will be interesting to see if I feel up to doing the triathlon and if so, will I finish it. Perhaps I’ll just skip it. Nah, I like my suffering.

Pictures to be posted soon.

Brooklyn Brick

2007-08-30T14:55:00.000-04:00

Vacation time is not real time. You exist in a universe where you do not need to worry about anything, except perhaps the vacation coming to an end. It is very hard for me to make the transition from vacation back to work. I try to alleviate some of the pain of the return by having things to look forward to a short time after I go back to work.

One of those things was the Brooklyn Brick race held in my backyard last night. The race was held from the Bartel Pritchard circle which is no more than spitting distance from my front door. Plenty of athletes from my tri club Asphalt Green were there, along with many members of other tri clubs. It was a Gotham Points race so AG’s strong showing was sure to get us a few points.

The race was originally set for 4 loops of the park, but unsurprisingly it was shortened to 3 loops since it would be getting too dark to hold the race of we went that far on the bike. It is a shame how early it gets dark around here. While I was in Spain, it was light outside until 10pm at night. Instead the race was a .75 mile sprint to the bike, a 3 loop/10 mile ride around the park and then a 3 mile run. The very definition of a sprint race.

For the first run, I was surprised at how sluggish my legs felt. I had absolutely no leg turnover. Really though, I shouldn’t have been surprised since I just got through with some very slow running while I was in Spain. I did no fast in Spain as everything was climbing up hills. The way everyone ran away from me on the first run, it felt like I was going to be dead last in the race. When I got to the bike though my legs started to feel better and I managed to pass several people while riding.

My legs rose to the occasion for the second run. I ran the 3 miles in 21 minutes, which gave me a finishing time of 55:58. The 3 mile run was very interesting. It was pretty dark by now and the run was on the inner trails of the park. The race director had volunteers out along the trails with lanterns marking the course, especially at the various forks in the road. It was difficult to see where you were going to step and at one point a turned my ankle.

After the race, I went with my fellow AG’ers to Farrell’s pub for a pint of beer in a Styrofoam container. We all stood around outside recanting war stories from various races and training days. All totaled, it wasn’t a bad way to ease the transition from vacation, back to the normal routine of work and training.

Galicia

2007-08-29T11:02:00.000-04:00

So it was a very joyful reunion when I finally joined my family. My kids were very happy to see me and I was very happy to see them. – Those are the words I wrote when I started to make my first blog entry while I was in Spain. That’s as far as I got. I was too busy to spend time sitting behind a computer writing blog entries. I am now in the airport waiting for the plane to take us home. (actually, now I am finishing this entry on the subway ride to work). My god how time flies when you are having fun. I must say though, that I was my sense of time was in some sort of hyper drive. I suppose staying right next door to a church whose bells went off every 15 minutes of the day didn’t help. But that is how time is; it slips through your fingers like grains of sand.

Since this is a training blog, I will primarily recount my training activities. I ran 116 miles, hiked several more and swam 13 miles. All of the runs were in the mountains where I climbed 1000’s of feet for each one. The swimming was great as well. I took pictures everywhere I went. The land is rugged and beautiful. One of my runs saw me run straight up 1500 feet in the fog covered mountains. As I submitted the mountain I began to hear what sounded like low planes flying over head. It wasn’t until I realized that the sounds of the planes were going away that I realized that what I was hearing were windmills. I made several friends while running. Typically little old ladies tending cattle or sheep. One of them was nice enough to take a picture of me with some pigs. The following are some of the sights I saw while running.

Here is Little Bo Peep in case you were wondering what happened to her.

On a mountain farm walking the cow.

Up in the mountains by the Windmills.

The Hike

One of the first things I did with my children was to take a hike up a mountain trail that I discovered while running. I came across it at the end of an out and back road. I had started to run up it while doing a run, but it was too steep and over grown with brush for a run. I wanted to find the top so I vowed to return later on. I returned with my children in tow and I carried a backpack filled with snacks and water. The trail meandered up the side of a mountain, bringing us closer to a bunch of windmills that were on top of the mountain. As we climbed, the brush started to thin out and the trail became rocky. We had climbed above the tree line. We were treated to magnificent vista’s of the town and water below. It was truly a sight to behold.

As we started getting closer to the windmills, my daughter started to have some angst about proceeding any further. I must admit it was kind of creepy up there. The wind was howling and the sounds of the windmills slicing through the air made an eerie noise. I insisted that we keep going forward as I suspected we were only within 50 feet of a windmill and it didn’t pay to stop right now. We eventually made it to windmill number 37. Then we settled in for the long hike back down the hill. All totaled it was a 3.5 mile hike.

Swimming – La Cueva – There is an island in the distance from the beach where everyone goes. I vowed to myself to swim to it at some point while I was there. Unfortunately, there was boat traffic in the water so I had to be very careful when swimming. I stayed close along the shore which was the long way to get to the island. When I reached a point that was closest to the island, I opened up my stroke and swam hard across a small channel to make it to the island. It was a satisfying feeling to know that I did it. I explored the island for a little while. On it I saw dozens of star fish. I would have liked to have brought one back with me, but I didn’t have any place to carry it. My daughter told me I shouldn’t have brought it back in any event, since it would have died being out of its natural habitat.
Spain is a very beautiful country and I am taking my opportunities to swim and run in it. The running has been great, with lots of mountains to climb. I only wish I had my bicycle. That would have been perfect.

Training in Galicia

2007-08-20T17:23:00.000-04:00

Internet access is hard to come by here, so I haven't been posting. I am loving where I am for training. It is a triathlete’s Mecca. Plenty of hills to run and bike on and the swimming is great. One of the places I’ve swam at is this inlet. Amazingly the difference between high tide and low tide is about 5 feet. Here are before and after pictures.

Word of the Day

2007-08-09T20:15:00.000-04:00

Today's word of the day. What a great word. I've never heard of it before.
hegira
Definition:
(noun) A flight to escape danger.
Synonyms:
exodus, hejira
Usage:
The oppressed villagers secretly planned a hegira to escape the czar's army.

3 Weeks Have Passed

2007-08-09T20:11:00.000-04:00

I have only made light mention of the fact that my family has been gone for the last 3 weeks. My wife took the kids to Spain for some multi-cultural enhancement. I wasn’t sure how I would feel, being left alone to fend for myself. I wasn’t sure how I would react to coming home to an empty house every night. My daughter summed it up best when she said that she didn’t like the thought of Daddy eating dinner alone at home every night.

I’ve kept so busy during the past three weeks; it feels as though I didn’t even have time to miss them. I also spoke to them every day on the phone. The combination of being busy and in constant contact made it seem as though they were never gone at all. The 3 weeks feels as though it’s just been a couple of days that have passed.

One thing I will admit though is that I have enjoyed my time alone. I’ve felt as though a giant pressure has been taken off of me since I didn’t have the responsibility of being a Dad for the past 3 weeks. I could come and go as I pleased, work out for as long as I wanted and not had to worry about my children sitting at home waiting for Daddy to come home. I don’t think I realized it before, but I have put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself to be a good father and keep my children engaged and occupied. I don’t regret the time I’ve spent devoted to them nor do I wish I didn’t have them. I must admit though that these past 3 weeks have been incredibly liberating.

Someone said to me that I must be very excited to see my children. I don’t know how to answer that. I’ve liked my time by myself, but like I said, I’ve been so busy that the time disappeared in what seemed like a blink of an eye. I’ve had so few hours of idle time that I never really got lonely. There were several moments when I got depressed about being alone, but that didn’t last long, since I didn’t have so much time during those moments before I had something else to do. I suppose had I had more time and not have been so busy and not have been in such contact with my family that the feeling of loneliness and missing them would have been much greater.

It scares me a bit to admit that I didn’t really miss them. Does this mean that I don’t really love them? What does this say about me as a parent? Perhaps I am just normal and relishing in the fact that I’ve had a nice long break in which I’ve had to worry about no one but myself. I am sure my emotions at not seeing them will hit me once I walk in the door of my in-laws house where they are currently staying. My son told me he wants to sleep with me when I arrive and I’m sure I will enjoy having him kick me in his sleep once again.

Fritos, Cheetos and other Disgusting Snacks

2007-08-09T18:31:00.000-04:00

Do you ever have the feeling that you are removed from the world as you walk upon through it? Like you are in your own little universe and are simply observing the happenings and going on’s around you. It is like being in a space suit and exploring a strange world. I get that occasionally. It sure beats the feeling I sometimes get, where is feels like I am about to fall off the edge of the world. I suppose they make drugs that can help with both sorts of conditions.

While on my way home from work, I had the pleasure of sitting next to this plus size woman eating a bag of Fritos. I can’t stand the smell of these cheesy disgusting snacks. Watching her stuff her face and munching a Frito reminded me of a time when I was in high school. It was the first class of the day, around 8am, and there was this girl with oversized fingernails and oversized lips caked with deep purple lipstick. She was eating cheese puffs (Cheetos?) and orange crumbs were all over her mouth. The site of her purple tinted, orange spectacled lips and the smell of the cheetos so early in the morning gave me a vicious headache and nausea. From that point forward, I can’t even look at a cheese flavored snack without getting nauseous.

San Francisco

2007-08-07T22:19:00.000-04:00

Last week I went to San Francisco to attend a 2.5 day conference. I didn’t really want to go, but I wound up having a very good time. As of late when I travelled, I’d usually just retire to my room unless I was conducting the business I was sent out to do or working out. I was feeling pretty good though and decided to go out. I was glad I did because I wound up meeting some interesting people which kept my trip very entertaining.

The first entertaining thing that happened to me in SF was while I was standing in the Taxi line waiting for a cab to take me to my hotel. When a Taxi finally showed up, some guy come from out of the blue and says he was ahead of me on line and proceeds to put his luggage in the trunk. I told him “No Fucking Way” and through my luggage in the back seat and hoped in as well. Obviously, I now had this guy stymied, because the only way he was going to get the cab was to physically throw me out of it. The guy then looks at me through the window and tells me I have very bad Karma. I replied that may be so, but I also have the cab.

I kind of felt funny afterwards at making a scene, since a business colleague I knew was also on line for a Taxi with his two sons. I thought to myself, how did I just look, yelling at the guy that there was no f’ing way he was getting the cab. I called him when I got to my hotel and he just laughed saying, “Well that’s New York”. He then told me he tried to cut in front of the people that were behind me. Well, since I had a great trip and met many friendly people, I figured I must have been in the right and my Karma wasn’t so bad after all.

In a previous blog posting, I wrote about a theory that I have in which you will suddenly find yourself in a place that you don’t normally visit more than one time in a short time span for completely unrelated reasons. My theory was never stronger than on this trip. It wasn’t more than the previous month that I was down at Crissy field and other locations in San Francisco to participate in the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. How could I ever have predicted that I would have met a local real estate agent that would take me on a tour of houses she sold and in the process pass all of these places I had just visited? I didn’t know I was going to San Francisco until 4 days before the conference. San Francisco is not a place I normally go to, but it is not inconceivable that I could go there in any given year. I’ve been there many times before, but the fashion in which I just revisited not only San Francisco, but places in San Francisco that I had no intention of visiting is just uncanny. Long live the theory.

I also got in a workout every day I was there. The first workout was a 2.5 run to the Aquatic Park, where I swam for 40 minutes and then a 2.5 mile run back to my hotel. The water was a bracing 62 degrees. I had used the services of the Dolphin Club to store my running gear while I went swimming. While I was getting ready for my swim, I asked a person just coming in from the water if I needed a wetsuit. He said Oh No, go without it. Well I almost did, but fortunately I changed my mind and put the thing on. Did I mention the water was 62 degrees? I wouldn’t have lasted more than 10 minutes in that temperature. The other days I managed to get in 6 mile runs in between conference sessions.

All told it was a very happy and successful trip.

Grimaldo’s Ocean Mile

2007-08-05T22:20:00.000-04:00

Today was a pretty decent workout. It’s August, which means I am training for SOS and as usual I ran the 7 miles down to Coney Island with my friend Rob for a swim, followed by a run home. Today though, was the Grimaldo Ocean Mile swim race so our swim had some further purpose to it. We made it down to the race start with perfect timing. Enough time to get ready, but not so much time that we completely cooled off.

I swam in the same clothes I ran, in order to test out my outfit for SOS. It worked out pretty good. I swam the mile in 32 minutes, which isn’t too bad. I am guessing that the course was a little over a mile, since you had to swim out to the first buoy and then back in to shore. The race had a costume division with some pretty creative outfits. The one I liked best though was the guy who wore a suit and tie. I thought that was pretty hard core. Hopefully the website will have pictures of the costumes soon.

After the swim race we hung around and ate some food. They had a band playing while everyone refueled and socialized. I was having a good time and would have liked to stay through the end of the awards ceremony. However, my friend Rob had to get going home and I felt as though I should run back with him. I sort of got depressed leaving the post race activities, since I really had nothing to do when I got home. A couple of times I almost said screw it and felt like heading back to the race site.

Down in Dumbo

2007-08-05T21:26:00.000-04:00

I was down in Dumbo Friday night for my friend Larry's 50th birthday party. It was a wonderful shindig and Larry was very happy with the present we got him - a new pair of race wheels, especially since he thought that all of his friends didn't get him anything when the actual day passed a couple of weeks ago.

Point to Point Day Trip

2007-08-04T22:54:00.000-04:00

I didn’t know what I wanted to do this morning for a bike ride. I thought of going out with one of the two rides of my tri club, but couldn’t get my act in gear. There was a ride leaving from Central Park at 7:30am and 8am. I loafed around my house watching the clock until it was too late to make either ride. Eventually, I decided to go back to bed. In retrospect it was a wise decision as I conked out until 10am.

When I finally got out of bed, I thought about riding out to my brother-in-laws house out in Long Beach NY and then onto Point Lookout. When I walked into my living room, I saw an Instant Message from him blinking on my computer. Riding out there was it seemed, preordained. He told me about a party that was going to be held on the beach, so I figured what the hell; I have nothing else to do. I figured I would hang out at the party for a while and then continue on my ride in the early afternoon. Because the party was starting around noon, I didn’t go my usual route when I ride out in that direction. I went the most direct route possible so I could make it there on time. The 24 mile trip took me 1 hour, 20 minutes; which was 5 minutes before noon. It turned out that I needn’t have rushed as he screwed up on the dates and the party he was talking about wouldn’t happen for another two weeks. It didn’t really matter though as I was just as happy riding down to the beach with him and watching several volleyball games that were going on. I also took a lovely dip into the ocean, which was invitingly warm and full of seaweed. When I emerged from the water I had globs of it hanging from me and in the pockets of my bathing suit (actually my B-I-L’s bathing suit as I didn’t have anything decent to wear).

I hung out on the beach with him until just before 3pm. I decided if I was going to make it to Point Lookout and back home early enough to get a decent meal and rest for tomorrow’s activity (a seven mile run to Coney Island, race in the Grimaldo’s 3rd annual Ocean Mile and run back home) I needed to get a move on it. The wind was at my back, so I made very good time to the Point. Fortunately, when I arrived there was a couple admiring the view and they were nice enough to take a picture of me with my Treo.

After the picture I started to head home, but not before I decided, I’d made it over to Breezy Point. I decided my day wouldn’t be complete unless I literally made it a Point to Point ride. I had a headwind the entire ride to Breezy Point, which I figured more than made up for the lack of hills on today’s ride. I was also able to get a picture of myself at Breezy Point, but the sun was in the background and you can’t really make me out. I did have to walk over the sand for about 40 yards in order to make it out onto the beach so you could see that I was at the end.

Having completed my PtP ride, I decided that I was going to head home as quickly as possible. It was around 5pm at this point and I didn’t really feel like riding for much longer. I wanted time to rest up for tomorrow. Before going home, I stopped at the corner bodega to pick up some spinach to eat with a steak that I had leftover from my trip to San Francisco last week (another blog entry to be written at some point). I also got a Gatorade to slake my thirst and replenish those lost electrolytes. My preferred drink HEED which I had in my water bottles was disgustingly warm as the temperature was in the low 90’s all day.

So that’s it. Now I rest comfortably typing this entry and sucking on an Ambien so I can fall asleep for tomorrow’s Run, Swim, Run. I am in training now for the SOS Triathlon in early September. That is always a fun race to do.

Ride Stats:
1st 24 Miles – 1:20
Next 41.3 miles – 2:34
Calories burned – 985 + 1861
Water Consumed: about 1 Gallon

My First DNF

2007-08-01T03:37:00.000-04:00

As I stated in my previous post, I did not finish this year’s Ironman Lake Placid. This was the first time I’ve experienced the inability to go on in a race. I am not liking the feeling one little bit, but alas, there is nothing I can do about it. I know I made the right decision to drop out of the race, however, I do not have to like that decision.

Race day started off as perfect as can be. It was clear and warm and I was feeling great. I had a good amount of sleep the night before and I had a good breakfast soon after I woke up. Even my bowels were cooperating as I took a nice poop well before I needed to leave the Bed and Breakfast place I was staying (The Winterberry Inn for those who are interested; it was fabulous). My friend Larry had his wife drive us to the start and I arrived to the transition area feeling good. I ran into several friends that were doing the race while waiting for the start and I was having a good time even before the race started.
I waited as long as possible to enter the water. I wanted to save as much energy as possible before the race. When I got in, I lined up about 20 yards off the starting line. I knew I wasn’t going to be a fast swimmer this year and I had no desire to have the shit kicked out of me by faster swimmers trying to get in front of me. I got jostled around some, kick in the face once or twice and had my head shoved under water when I came up to breathe, but other than that I swam in mostly clear water. When I came out of the water after the first loop, I saw 39 minutes on my watch. When I came out from the second loop, I saw 1:14, which meant that I negative split the swim.

I got on my bike feeling good. I didn’t push to hard, at least I didn’t think so and rode around 80 percent of my max HR. The course was the same as it always is; long lines of riders struggling up the hills and people flying down the downhills, with the usual people riding too far to the left making it difficult and dangerous to pass. I reached special needs is just under 3 hours and I was very happy with that time. The climb back out of Lake Placid started out ok. My friend Walter had caught be by then. He complained as usual about his swim. I told him to forget about it, he was doing great and he should go on and kick my ass in the bike. Little did I know at that point that my day would soon be coming to an end.

I took it easy on the downhill to Keane. I was beginning to feel tired and I didn’t want to take any chances storming down the hill. The race wasn’t worth dying over. At one point a strong gust of wind came and almost knocked me off the bike. Another rider came up behind me and said “That was something”. I think we both had the crap scared out of us. It was a good thing I wasn’t aero at the time.

I really started to slow down once I began to head towards Jay. I was pushing into a headwind and my HR was beginning to drop. I was doing ok though and hoped that I could continue on. It wasn’t until I made the left turn onto the climb that leads to Haselton Road that I knew I was done. The climb became so difficult that I was barely making any forward progress. I felt very cold and my HR dropped significantly. My skin was completely dry. The tiredness I felt was deep within my body. I didn’t think I could make it up the hill, much less go on to do the climb back up to Lake Placid and then do a marathon.

Many people started to pass me. It felt like I was being left behind by everyone and that I would be the last one out on the road. When I finally made it to Haselton, I cut across the road to head into the aid station. I almost cut my friend Todd off in the process. I stopped ostensibly to have suntan lotion put on the back of my neck. I had it applied to my neck by a very caring volunteer who took his time to rub it in. The volunteer must have thought I didn’t look so good, because he asked me if I wanted something to drink or eat. At that point I got off my bike to use the portosan. I was no longer worrying about my bike time, I was just thinking of survival. Normally I would just pee while on the bike. After I got out, I decided to take a break and sat down on the floor and rested my back on the portosan I just exited. Someone asked me if I wanted to get out of the sun, to which I replied no, that I was feeling very cold. A blanket was offered to me.

I was watching many riders turning onto Haselton road and hoped to see my friend Larry. I was hoping to see someone I knew for encouragement. While I was sitting down a couple of EMT guys walked over to me. They asked if I felt ok and I told them I was just feeling cold and a little tired. They offered to check my vital signs out in the ambulance. I figured I had nothing to lose and walked over to it with them. I was checked out ok, but I was still feeling cold and not ready to move on. Eventually, I went outside the ambulance to sit in the sun and watch the other riders go by. I let myself bake in the sun, but I still wasn’t warming up or sweating. An EMT guy sat down next to me to make sure I was ok. We talked about how I still had plenty of time and that there were many people still behind me. I told him that even though there were, while you are out there alone, with people passing you, it feels as though you are going to be the last one.

I went back and forth with the EMT guys about whether or not I was calling it a day. I just couldn’t pull the trigger and say I was done. The EMT guys were very good about it. They were not going to force me off the course if I wanted to go on, but I could tell they thought I should stop. I would have liked to have rested in the aid station a little while longer, but my decision to quit was eventually forced by the fact that the ambulance was about to leave for town to with another rider who succumbed to the day. I didn’t want to have to hang around another hour or so if I eventually came to the realization that my day was done. I finally just said to hell with it and jumped into the ambulance for the ride back.

I had no sooner gotten into the ambulance when my body suddenly started to sweat again. This was what I was waiting for, since I figured if I could sweat, I was at least hydrated enough to have gone on. A sick feeling invaded my stomach as I realized that I really did just quit this race and I was headed back to town in an ambulance. I wanted to tell the ambulance driver to turn around that I was ready to go on now. Perhaps I was sweating because of the nervousness that I was feeling about quitting. I knew I would now always be left wondering if I could have finished the race had I just waited it out a little longer. Quitting was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made in my life and I was feeling sick over it.

On the ride back the EMT guys told me that I made the right decision. I began to agree with them as I watched everyone struggle up Whiteface on the way to LP. It would have been very ugly for me if I decided to go on. The immediate remorse at quitting settled down a bit and I relaxed for the rest of the way into town.

Once back in town, I was brought to the medical tent to be check out. By then I was developing a splitting migraine headache and was happy to be resting on a cot. The doctor watching over me didn’t want to let me go unless someone came to pick me up. Fortunately, I had the cell phone number of Larry’s wife Kathleen who was amenable to come and get me.

That is pretty much it. I went back to the place I was staying, showered, ate and rested. I tried hard not to be depressed and decided to go back outside to cheer on my friends who were still doing the race. I spoke to my coach on the phone who agreed that I made the right decision about stopping.

Quitting this race hurts, but I have to move beyond it. Perhaps I raced it wrong, perhaps I was undertrained or maybe I had some underlying medical condition at the time that caused me to poop out. It doesn’t matter. It is over and I have to look towards future races. Will I sign up for Lake Placid again? Most likely. I never thought I would be doing Ironman last year, much less this year, but it has become a lifestyle. It’s something that I do. My son says I should do it because if I keep on doing it eventually I will win. I guess based on the way my year has gone so far, I am a winner just for trying.

Ironman Lake Placid 2007

2007-07-22T18:08:00.000-04:00

I DNF'ed. What more is there to say. Well maybe more, but on another day. Let's just say this one wasn't mine.

Ironman Final Preparations

2007-07-20T21:58:00.000-04:00

Wow, I just noticed that it has been over a month since my last blog post. I guess I have been preoccupied with other matters. I just really haven’t felt like blogging for a while. I suppose many bloggers go through periods like that.

Let’s see if I can get my life up to date for posterity. I had to disappear for a while to attend to a personal matter the last week in June. It wasn’t a fun thing, but I came through it ok. I did a couple of long rides the last couple of weeks before IMLP, with the highlight being my solo trip to the top of Bear Mountain. That was a fun day (not). It was a warm day and I really wasn’t in shape to do such a long ride. I went over the George Washington Bridge, down around River Road and then straight up through 9W for the remainder of the ride. I was supposed to go 110 miles for the day, so I figured I would ride out 55 miles and then turn around. However, the 55 mile mark saw me so close to Perkins Drive (the road that leads to the top of Bear Mountain), that I figured that since I was there I may as well climb it.

Really that climb was more than I was ready for, but I just pushed myself to do it. The climb up Bear Mountain is a winding road that relentlessly ascends. About 1200 feet to be more precise. I was tired, thirsty and fatigued, but I forced myself up to the top. When I arrived at the top I stopped to look around and enjoy the view. I drank almost a liter of water on the way up and was suddenly very low on water. There was no water fountain available, but there was a machine from which I purchased two bottles of water. I didn’t hang out on the top for long. I knew it was going to be a long ride home and I wanted to get going. There were a couple of sections on the way back that I thought would kill me. Finally though I made it back to the GW bridge. I considered taking the subway home from there, but it was flat back to the Brooklyn Bridge so I decided to just go for it and ride home.

I made it over the Brooklyn Bridge, but just barely. I feeling wasn’t feeling that well and was suffering from dehydration and/or hyponatremia. I rode about another mile into Brooklyn, until I got to the point where I soon have to start climbing the slope back into Park Slope. I had just passed my subway train so I decided to hell with climbing the slope, I am done with this ride. I bought a can of coke from a corner bodega, and then took the subway 4 stops to my station. From the train I was able to call my wife and tell her that I wasn’t feeling well and possibly hyponatremic. She offered to call an ambulance for me, but I told her to hold off until I got home to see if I would start feeling any better. After an hour or so, I started to come around and told her to go off to work. I then had to force myself to cook dinner for my kids and later play catch with my son.

That ride was two weeks before Lake Placid. Since then I’ve done several swims, one with Larry in the Ocean at Brighton Beach, a 60 mile bike ride with Larry and a 10 mile run on my own. The week before this weekend I took it really easy and today I am feeling pretty good.
Another big event that’s happened in my life over the past several weeks is that my wife and kids have left me home alone as they spend the summer in Spain. As the days ticked off to their departure date, my kids would spend more and more time next to me telling me that they wished I was going with them. I will join them later in August for 11 days and we will all come home together. I sent my wife with one of my laptops, rigged up with a global Broadband (cellular) card that allows her to connect to the Internet wherever she is. She is staying in a small town with my in-laws and no one there has Internet access. So far the connection has worked out and we’ve been talking to each other for free over Skype. We even managed to get a video conference (we both have web cams) going so I am able to see my kids now and then. Only for a few seconds though as the Skype connection tends to cut out when we load the broadband card with the video. We even made a Skype to Skype call while I was driving up to Lake Placid. I have another Broadband card in my laptop and we managed to connect a call while I was driving 75 mph on I 87 and she was in a small house in the hills of Spain. Pretty cool how technology works sometimes.

I’ve taken it easy while up in Lake Placid. On Thursday, my first day here, I ate an early dinner by myself and then saw Live Free or Die, the newest Bruce Willis movie. That was a good flick which I highly recommend. I also registered and toured the athlete village despite the steady rain that plagued Lake Placid all day on Thursday. Today (Friday), I did a loop of the swim course with my friends Larry and Walter. The water was just as beautiful as its always been. We swam easily over the 1.2 mile course in 42 minutes. That included the several times we stopped to hang out and talk. One of the times we stopped to talk was when some guy swam between us so fast, it was as if he were a motor boat. I thought it was Larry since the guy had on the same wetsuit as Larry. I thought to myself, why is Larry swimming so fast all of a sudden? When I looked up, I saw that it wasn’t Larry and he had stopped swimming also as we both couldn’t believe how fast this guy passed us.

After the swim, the 3 of us went our separate ways. I went back to the Bed and Breakfast that I am staying at and did an 11 mile ride over the run course. I timed it perfectly, as just after the moment I returned to my B&B it started to pour rain again. I was relieved to not be riding in the rain (I didn’t want to gunk up my chain) and sat down to eat some lunch.

After relaxing for a while I went to the Athlete’s Village again to grab some more swag. I also went to purchase another tube after discovering that in my flat repair kit, I was carrying a tube with the wrong valve size. I am glad I checked as it would have really sucked to find that out by getting a flat and not having the correct tube.

To top the day off, I had dinner with Larry and his family at a BBQ place outside of town. We met up with Willy and a couple of friends of Larry’s and celebrated Larry’s 50th birthday. Now I lay in my bed typing this entry which for the most part updates everything that’s been going on. I am sure I left out plenty of details, but I supposed if I can’t remember them now, they are not significant enough to warrant writing about. Maybe I’ll make a couple of addendums at a later date.

Father’s Day 2007

2007-06-19T21:00:00.000-04:00

This post should also be called the Larry Lewis Invitational 100 miler. It is the day Larry invites his friends to join him for a 100 mile ride inside Prospect Park. I decided to join him and make it my first 100 miler of the year. I was really looking forward to this ride. I couldn’t even sleep the night before I was looking forward to it so much. It was like I had a big race in the morning and the excitement was keeping me from sleeping.

We met up at exactly 6am and we were joined by two other invitees for the start of the event. This was to be a no frills affair with no aid stations, rest stops or trips outside the park for replenishments. If you were lucky, someone who wasn’t completing the 100 miles would exit the park and return with Gatorade and bagels.

As the ride progressed, we started to add on additional riders as they came out to join us. Some riders just joined us as the saw our peloton passing by. Riders would come and go throughout our hundred miles. At one point I am sure we had close to 40 riders in our group.

It is amazing how much easier it is to ride around this park when you are part of a large group. Time just seemed to slip by as you were constantly engaged in conversation while riding. The draft from all of the riders made the ride feel effortless. I remember thinking to myself that it was taking a long time to do a slow loop around the park, because it felt so slow and easy only to discover that the loop was the fastest around the park yet. As the pack got really big we were easily averaging 19 miles per hour. It was almost as if we were one giant pack that stretched the entire length of the loop.

We didn’t make one stop during the ride, not even to go to the bathroom. This ride was the longest contiguous bike ride I have ever done. I went 101.5 miles without ever stopping. I am sure I’ve never ridden that far without coming to a stop at least once. Even in Ironman, you stop at special needs. I had 4 water bottles with me, two of them filled with Heed and two with water. I also had a flask of Hammer Gel and some other small snacks in my Bento Box. Towards the end, I realized I was running low on water, but it was close enough to the finish that I was able to ration it through the end. It really felt great to do such a long ride so effortlessly and without stopping.

After the ride, Larry, Willie and I went back to the park for a run. We saw a couple of people we were recently riding with and they couldn’t get over how riding 100 miles wasn’t enough for us. Unfortunately, I only had time to do one loop of the park with them. I had to get my family out to brother’s house in Long Island for a Father’s Day BBQ. When I came inside to shower and change I remember feeling very hot. I took a cold shower, but that wasn’t enough to lower my core temperature. Almost as soon as I got out of the shower, sweat started to burst out of my forehead and body. My daughter asked me why my shirt was all went, that’s how drenched from sweat I was. I needed a shower within minutes of getting out of the shower. I finally started to cool down on the ride out to Long Island by blasting my car’s A/C on me for the duration of the trip.

Afternoon Delight

2007-06-16T09:29:00.000-04:00

Well I finally got my first long run of the season. Yes, I know I’ve done a marathon and two 50k’s this year, but this was my first long training run – Approximately 20 miles inside Prospect Park. I did it on Friday afternoon, taking advantage of my summer work hours in which we get out of the office by 1pm. This was also my first run of any quality since I returned from Alcatraz. I guess I am finally over the hump of whatever was afflicting me causing anything over 2 miles to be impossible. It sure beat the run I had earlier this week in which I went out with my daughter. I was walking after the first mile, but fortunately, my daughter was with me and she kept offering encouragement to me to keep going. Maybe I can have her ride alongside me at IMLP for when times get tough.

At the start of my 20 miler, I ran into Todd. He was in the park doing his weekly 100 miler. We had talked earlier in the week, in which he wanted our friend Rob’s telephone number to let him know he could get him a spot at the NYC Triathlon through his store Jackrabbit (www.jackrbt.com). When he told me that, I said really, perhaps I will take one of those spots instead of doing IMLP. An Olympic distance race would be no problem. Todd was disappointed to hear that I was considering bailing out of IMLP. I gave him Rob’s phone number and told him I would think about it and call him back if I decided to take the spot. Well I didn’t call him back and I am not sure why.

Anyway, after I said hello to Todd, he continued his ride and I went on for my run. I’d see him a few more times as he circled the park. On one of those times Todd gave me the Ironman wave (middle three fingers bent, thumb and pinky sticking out) as he passed me on the bike. That served to remind me of the Ironman lifestyle one lives as they train for an Ironman. Swim, run, bike, eat, sleep and do it all over again. I need to get back to basics and start living that way again. Of course, for me it will be more like swim, bike, run, play with the kids - baseball, soccer, etc. and then sleep. I just need to do it and remember I am having fun doing so.

Meat and Potatoes

2007-06-14T22:22:00.000-04:00

I have not really had any good workouts since I returned from Alcatraz. My legs seemed to have lost all of their strength. It is quite frustrating. Ironman Lake Placid is little more than a month a way and I don’t even have my first hundred miler in for the year. I feel like I am going to go into this race completely unprepared.

This morning I did nothing to get myself ready for IMLP. I was feeling exceptionally lazy and let myself sleep in. It felt good to get the extra sleep and for once I wasn’t in a coma on the subway ride to work. It was a relief not to feel like I needed a nap by 11am. I hoped though to get in a bike ride in the evening after work.

I actually returned home this evening a little early. My son though wanted to throw the baseball around and I couldn’t deny him. We played catch for about 20 minutes and then were called in for dinner. I ate a steak with potatoes and some roasted peppers. This meal fixed me right up and I went out for a bike ride while the food was still making its way down my esophagus. I wound up having my best workout since Alcatraz. I guess I’ll have to eat a heavy meal before a workout more often.

Tomorrow will be the real test to see if I am recovered. I plan to run a 20 miler. So far since Alcatraz, I’ve barely been able to run 3 miles. At least I know what to eat before I go.

Eagleman 2007

2007-06-09T22:17:00.000-04:00

This is actually a misleading title for this post, since I am not doing the Eagleman Half-Ironman Triathlon for the first time in 4 years. This is due to the fact that I had to attend my brother’s engagement party today. Perhaps though not being able to go was for the best. Based on my run Friday, in which I was only able to run 6 miles before I pooped out, I am not recovered enough from Alcatraz to put in much of an effort for a Half Ironman this weekend.

I am kind of bummed out I am not going. It would have been good to go with my friends Todd and Rob again. Perhaps I should call them at 3am this morning and crinkle a paper bag over the phone, since that is what I did last year when I was with them. I was eating a blueberry muffin out of the bag at the time – hence the crinkling. They said they were going to miss that.

There are benefits to me not going to the race. I was able to see my son’s baseball game this morning and I will be able to go to another game of his tomorrow afternoon. My son and daughter are sleeping over my in-laws this evening, so at least I will be able to get in a long ride tomorrow morning. I was thinking of going with Larry and the Iron Riders group up over the Bear Mountain Bridge from the NY side and heading back home through NJ. I decided against that though since the ride is likely to be 130+ miles and I don’t think I am in shape enough to do that, plus I couldn’t guarantee I would be home for my son’s baseball game at 3pm. I might just ride 100 miles in Prospect Park or perhaps go to Point Lookout. If I go to the Point, I could stop by my brother-in-law’s apartment for some refreshments and a bathroom break. Plus I could get him to drive me home if I get too tired.

This is pretty pathetic that I am worried about getting tired and not being able to get back home from a ride. I don’t know if it is all mental or if realistically I am just not in shape. I guess the answer is both. I don’t have the drive to push myself to my limits this year. I am too concerned with being home on time and spending time with my kids. I don’t want to risk riding away from home and suffering a mechanical breakdown and being stuck miles away. Better to play it safe and stay in the park so I could always easily bail out.

Deciding where I will ride will be a morning decision. Even my wife though thinks I should get out of the park. I’ll probably do the point. At least that is closer to home. I may as well get to sleep now so I can get an early start on the day.

Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon 2007

2007-06-05T17:32:00.001-04:00

So I escaped from Alcatraz. It took me 35 minutes to swim from The Rock and 2:49:07 to complete the course. The water was very choppy, salty and around 55 degrees. It was a challenging swim, but overall not as bad as it was made out to be.

There are a lot of logistics to get ready for the race. It is different than Ironman, but just as complicated. The morning preparations necessary for the race is an extra layer that other triathlons don’t have. We needed to be at the transition area around 4:15am in order to setup our transition site. Then you had to drop off a transition bag for the ½ mile run between the swim exit and bike transition. Then you needed to have another bag ready to drop off inside the boat that takes you to Alcatraz. This bag contained all of your warm clothes that you would wear before the race. To get on the boat, you needed to board a bus that took you to Pier 3, where you got body marked and had to wait for the boat to start loading. It was a lot of moving around and activity even before the race began.

While going through all of this I started to think that I am glad I am doing the race now, but this might be it for me. It all just seemed a bit much. However after the race, that feeling completely left me. It was a spectacular and fun course and I highly recommend it.

Once we got moving on the boat, we were treated to a wonderful view of San Francisco. We then circumnavigated Alcatraz Island. This was a treat, because on the tours of Alcatraz, the boat doesn’t do that. While looking towards shore, they announced over the PA system the landmarks you needed to swim towards. You don’t swim on a direct line to the exit, since the current pull you towards it. If you were to swim a direct line, you would most likely wind up shooting past the exit and need to be fished out of the water. Instead you were directly towards shore, instead of along the length of it. I think I overcompensated a bit as I found myself to the left of many swimmers throughout most of the swim.

To exit the boat we were told to storm off of it like the army storming the beaches at Normandy. They would call your wave and everyone made a mad dash off the boat by jumping into the water and immediately started swimming. At the race briefing they told everyone that once you were in the water, you should stop and take a look around to see where you are. I did do that and it was an experience to see Alcatraz only yards away from me from the middle of San Francisco Bay. I didn’t linger for long. The sea was rough, there were swimmers all around me and the water was cold. My plan was to pee in my wetsuit once I hit the water to warm up, but the shock of suddenly being out in the open water made the urge disappear – In truth, I forgot all about peeing until I was about halfway across. By then it was difficult to let it flow, but after slowing down and concentrating I was finally able to get it out. Here is a picture of me by the swim exit the day before the race.

I must say the cold water swimming experience I got with my Cibbows friends really paid off. It was reassuring to know how my body would react to cold water. I think my previous cold water experience paid off and my hands and feet never really got so cold that they became problems.

The part of the course I was most intimidated by was the bike. I had previewed the course by car the day before and I was concerned with the hills that we had to tackle. They were constant and steep and you really couldn’t get any momentum to carry you over them. One particular hill was very steep and I asked my companions in the car (who have done it before) if they saw people walking their bikes up this hill. They said they did see people walking up the hill, albeit with great difficulty since their pedaling cleats would keep slipping on the hill. I saw one person trying to walk up the hill when I reached that point in the race.

Even though the course had hills, you were never really able to take advantage of the downhills. Every downhill had many turns or was on a rough road. Even the flat sections, it was tough to get aero, since the road was so rough. On a particularly rough patch I thought I was going to lose control as I struggle to go from aero position to my handgrips in order to maintain control of my bike. It was difficult to pass as well since the course was narrow and also an out and back. That is cyclists were also heading right towards you just on the other side of the street. The last couple of miles of the course were downhill leading into a flat section, so I was able to make good time back into transition. When I arrived at my transition position, my father was right next to me on the other side of the spectator barrier. It was great to see him there cheering me on.

My favorite part of the course was the run. This was also and out and back course, much of it on narrow trails with the return runners passing right on the same path. You could help but graze against many runners as the headed in the opposite direction. I felt like I ran really well right from the start, even though my feet were a bit frozen. During the first mile or two, it felt like I was running on top of frozen rods along the length of my feet. It took a while for my feet to warm up and get a real feel for the ground.

The course went through some wooded areas, up and down stairs and through a tunnel with a low clearance. The tunnel was crazy as not only did you have to watch your head from the roof, but it was impossible to see the ground since it was so dark. The best part was when you went out to run on the beach. Everyone ran along the hard packed sand near the water line and would dart back towards the sandy part of the beach every time a wave would come in. The famous sand ladder that everyone talks about was kind of an anticlimactic part of the race. Everyone walks it and it wasn’t that bad. It was tough, but since you walked it wasn’t horrible.

After the sand ladder you started heading back for home on some really narrow trail. It was difficult to pass people as runners were also heading towards you from the opposite direction. You had to be able to turn on bursts of speed to get past people when you had the opportunity. Usually the person in front of you would be accommodating with you yelled out that you wanted to pass. That was the case except for one person in front of me who didn’t seem to want to let my by. Finally I yelled to him passing in a loud voice to which he replied “are you kidding, just deal”; that’s when I told him I wasn’t, put on a burst of speed and flew past around 6 runners in front of me.

When we came out of the trails we had about 2 miles left to go. I started running flat out, pushing my heart rate into the red zone. It felt great and horrible at the same time, but I didn’t let myself slow down. I wanted to see how much I could make it hurt and how long I could last at that pace. I was able to hold it all the way across the finish where my father was waiting and cheering for me.

Me and Dad by the Sand Ladder

Here I am the day after the race by Pier 39 while doing an Active Recovery run

Off to Alcatraz

2007-06-01T18:38:00.000-04:00

I have an inner conflict that rages inside me every time I go off to do a race without my family. I hate leaving them behind. I have such a comfort knowing my kids are with me and I feel physical and mental pain when I am away from them. It is enough at times to make me just want to call the whole thing off and stay at home. I keep telling myself that I am doing the right thing by pursuing these athletic endeavors, both in terms of for myself and for setting an example for my children. I think they call that modeling. Maybe I can convince myself that I am setting a good example for them by going off to do these events; that it is ok to go off and pursue your dreams.

My daughter insisted that I wake her up before I left the house. We shared a warm and long hug while she lay in bed. I told her how I am going to miss her so much and how I wished that she were going with me. I think she almost started to say how she wanted me to stay, but then thought better of it. She is such a great child. She knows how by saying that how torn up I would be inside.

I said goodbye to my son while he slept in his bed as well. Usually he doesn’t wake up when I kiss him goodbye in his sleep, but this time he roused enough to give me a nice hug. I wished him luck for his baseball game on Saturday, which I unfortunately have to miss. I so enjoy watching him play and feel bad for not being able to be there. His mother is taking him though and it will be the first game she will see this year.

At lease I am not alone on this trip. My father is accompanying me once again to a race. The trip is my Father’s Day present to him. It is good to have him along, because at least I know I have someone to claim my body should I not survive the swim from Alcatraz. I think I will be ok in the water. I’ve done a couple of cold water swims with my wetsuit recently and I felt good. I just hate the pain of the cold water against my face. Maybe I can get a neoprene bondage mask to keep my face warm.

I hope I am not too cold while in San Francisco. The temperatures are only in the low 60’s. I think I packed enough warm clothes. I guess at worst case I will come home with some new things. I do need a pair of arm warmers; I am not sure why I’ve never bought a pair.

Harriman Hurt

2007-05-27T17:51:00.000-04:00

Saturday I took a trip to Harriman State Park for a ride with my friends Todd and Walter. Let’s just say it was a hurt fest. I am so out of shape compared to where I was last year. I was scheduled to go 6 laps or 84 miles, but I had to stop after only 5 laps. I was just too tired to go on. During my last couple of laps, I was really starting to lag. Perhaps I was better off just going myself so I could have taken my own leisurely time instead of pushing to keep up. Perhaps then I would have gotten in the total distance.

Todd bailed out of the ride after 56 miles. He had done 100 the previous day and didn’t want to push it anymore. I had expected that by tackling Harriman a day after a 100 miler he would be suffering, but he looked strong as ever. Walter stayed with me over my final 14 miles, but I could tell I was really holding him back. Even if I felt like going on another lap, I don’t think I would have because I didn’t want him to feel obligated to stay with me.

After Walter left to complete a 100, I met Todd down by the beach. I could already feel my muscles shaking from the day’s effort and I was filled with chills. My HR started to take a dive on my final lap and I guess I used up all of my energy, hence the chills. Despite the chills, I took a dip into the lake to wash off the sweat, dirt and suntan lotion from my body. I was feeling groddy and needed to get in the water. After I submerged myself, I stood up to see an oil slick surrounding me. I was an environmental hazard I was so covered in grime.

When I returned home and started to unload my car, I suddenly felt like such a loser for not completing my intended distance. It felt as if I had quit a race simply because I was feeling too tired to go on. As I write this, I vow never to let myself quit a race because I am tired or the going has gotten tough. If I feel like such shit for just quitting a training ride, imagine what I would feel like if I bailed out of a race. In a way, I wish I could go back and complete that 14 miles, even through at the time I am pretty sure I made the right decision.

After returning home I almost decided to make up the distance right then and there. I had to pick up my road bike from the shop and I thought about taking it out to Prospect Park for a 14 mile test drive. I was feeling a little better, since I had eaten some solid foods. However after some asshole turned his car too sharply onto my side of the street and almost hit me head on I decided to just go home and rest for the remainder of the day. And rest I did, I fell fast asleep in my bed for several hours.

This morning I was supposed to do a 20 mile run, but I was conflicted with my desire to go for a swim out in Brighton Beach. Swimming won out since I have tomorrow off from work (Memorial Day) and could do the run then. I went down to the beach with my friend Rob. We swam for a wonderful 51 minutes in clear and mostly calm seas. The water was a balmy 61 degrees and I felt toasty warm in my long sleeve wetsuit and neoprene hoody.

As pleasant as my morning swim was, my afternoon wasn’t nearly as so. My wife and I went to the Jackson Premium Outlets in New Jersey for some Memorial Day discounts. I lasted with her for much of the shopping spree, but towards the end I had to bail out and escape to my car where I listened to the radio in air conditioned comfort and now type this blog entry. Here is a picture of the vast sea of cars on top of an oppressively hot asphalt parking lot. It’s 91 degrees and stifling.

Healthy Kidney 10K

2007-05-19T20:28:00.000-04:00

If last week’s 50K was a test to see if I could go slow and long, today was a test to see if I could go short and fast. So I decided to see if I could go fast at my first NYC Marathon qualifier – 6.2 miles around Central Park. I am happy to say that I still have some speed in my legs. I ran the 10K in 42:56, a personal record.

It really wasn’t that hard to do. I woke up this morning feeling pretty good. My legs felt loose and the weather was nice a cool. Perfect for running a hard and fast effort. I was a little nervous just at the start of the race, as I haven’t run hard in several months and only twice in the past 11. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to take putting out a hard effort, but it turned out I needn’t have worried. My body just ran it like it was something that I did every day. It’s nice to know I could still push myself.

When I went out, I had no idea what I would have to run to make a PR. I hoped I would PR as I didn’t want a hard effort to go to waste. When I got home later and was able to check my records, I saw I had the PR by almost a minute; breaking a record that went back to February 2003.

The toughest part of the race was the last .2 miles. I was already running hard and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to push harder to pass a few more runners or to try to try to hold off anyone trying to pass me. The question was soon answered as someone tried to pass me in the last couple of hundred yards, which turned on the competitive spirit inside me. I not only held the person off, but it motivated me to catch a few runners in front of me. According to my Polar HR monitor, I raised my HR to 99 percent of max. I don’t remember the last time I did that.

So anyway, I still felt good enough after the race to do some more running, but I had to get home for my son’s baseball game. I thought maybe I’d have time later in the day to get in another run, but it didn’t work out. Just as well, as the weather turned pretty nasty.

My plan for tomorrow is to do an 80 mile bike ride in Prospect Park. I asked my coach if I should go up to Harriman State Park or if I should just ride the 3.4M loop. He made the point of saying that my perception of my fitness does not nearly match the reality. He means that I am much more fit than I am giving myself credit for. He feels that what I need to do more mental training and what better way to do it than to spend several hours on my own in the park. Nothing like a mind numbing 3.4M loop to train one’s mind. So that is what I am going to do. I may as well sign off from this now so I can get up nice and early and get it started.

Up At Night

2007-05-17T01:18:00.000-04:00

I am training regularly again. This for some reason means I cannot sleep at night. I guess because I am not taking a sleeping pill that keeps me out for the night. I want to be able to wake up to get out the door. It has been successful, but on the occasional nights like these I do nothing but sit in my kitchen reading blogs or playing online poker.

I just discovered that one of my favorite reads, “Fast @ Forty” is no longer online. I hope nothing is wrong with Janice. If you are reading this please let me know you are ok.

My nose is stuffy from the swim I took this evening. What a lousy swim it was. The pool only had two lanes open and both were filled with gimpy swimmers with absolutely no lane etiquette. It made for a difficult and unsatisfying workout. But at lease I have been swimming lately. I no longer think I will drown at Alcatraz.

I ran into an athlete I know named Blake today. He told me he is doing the Badwater 135 this summer. I wish I could do that. I really think that after this year’s IMLP I am going to concentrate on ultrarunning. I think I will look to do the Vermont 100 miler next summer. Maybe then Western States. It is good to have goals. I can always come back to Ironman, especially when there is less competition in my AG.

Long Island Greenbelt Trail 50K

2007-05-15T16:43:00.000-04:00

I haven’t written a blog entry in quite some time, but I have been training and planning for races. One of the highlights of my recent training was my annual birthday trip to Harriman State Park for some suffering on my bike while I negotiate the hills. I’ve done this on May 7th for the last 3 years. My goal for the birthday ride is a 100 miler, but I’ll take what I can get. This year it was a pleasant, but painful 70.5 mile ride. I’ll write a more detailed entry about it some time soon.

Anyway, this training ride set me up nicely for the Greenbelt 50K trail run this past Saturday. Where do I begin describing this race? Perhaps I should mention that the night before the race I cracked one of my teeth and the merest whiff of air against it would throw me into spasms. I almost decided not to do it in order to get the tooth fixed the next morning, but after speaking to my coach, he told me to put some ear plug wax over it. This worked out nicely, so I decided to go for the race and just wait until Monday to get the tooth fixed.

The race was definitely one for the record books. Let’s just say it was not what I expected. I thought I would have an easy 5 hour , 31 mile run with my friends Larry and Willie over some pleasant trails, but instead this race turned out to be one of the hardest things I have ever done, if not the hardest. Larry and Willie both felt the same way.

The race started out easy enough. The course is two loops of an out and back trail, so we all left our resupplies in the car. It left from where we parked our cars, and then on roads for about 2 miles before we entered the Greenbelt trail. The trail at this point was relatively smooth and easy going. It was a pleasure to get into the woods and off the asphalt. I was able to run steadily and easily and began to range ahead of Larry and Willie. There were some difficult parts along the first couple of miles, but nothing so bad that you couldn’t make good progress. There were plenty of roots along the ground and you had to constantly watch your step. However for the first few miles you were mostly able to run it. At one point we came out of the woods into a wide open pasture, with beautiful clear blue skies and a pleasant breeze.

It is really hard to describe the entire course. The best I could really do is separate the 7.5 mile trail (remember it is out and back) into the first 4-5 miles and the last 2-3 miles. The first 4-5 miles was mostly runnable with the occasional walking breaks to climb some stairs of to navigate some particular rocky and rooty areas. The last 2-3 miles was a freaking nightmare. Since it was out and back, you had a 4-6 mile section of course that was like something out of a Charles Dicken’s novel. It consisted of long stretches of ups and downs in densely covered woods. This entire section had a dark feeling about it with obstacles thrown at you every few yards. I remember feeling pretty good up until this part began, but then feeling my mood slip and the trails became more difficult to negotiate and the course harder to follow. Many runners on this first loop were taking wrong turns and you really had to concentrate to stay on course. As the trail got tougher on the way out, I began to doubt whether or not I could do it.

During the run out on the first loop, we passed the same runners over and over again. This is because they took several wrong turns along the way. There was one woman in particular who took several wrong turns and I guess this caused her to bail out of the race at the turnaround point. The turn around point was a steep trail down a hill with steps along the way. It dumped you out somewhere near Cold Spring Harbor. Waiting for us at the turnaround were a couple of volunteers with Gatorade, water, cookies and potato chips. I really wished they had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

On the way back we started to come across the lead runners of the 25K. They started out an hour after the 50K start. It was amazing to see them fly up and down the hills that we were struggling with. I wished I was them, not so much for their speed, but for the fact that they were only doing the 25K. The way back to the start was tougher than the way out. All the time on the way back on the first loop I was thinking that I would just bail out once we reached the cars. The Long Island Railroad was sounding very good to me. I figured I’d get my stuff out of Larry’s car, perhaps call my brother who lived nearby, and head to the train station.

On the way back my mood started to lift again, after we got out of the treacherous part of the course. We were able to do some decent running again and the constant motion served to calm me down. I still didn’t want to go back out again and all I wanted to do was call my brother-in-law who was taking my son to his baseball game to see how my son was doing.

As we started to get closer to the starting point, I tripped over something on the ground. I hit the ground and rolled for a few feet, but other than getting dirty I was fine. As we started to see the lead wave of runners come back at us, we noticed that many of them were dirty and cut up from falling as well. Finally, we came out to the trails end and what I thought would be a loop around to the cars. However, we were told at this point we simply head back out on the trail to do it all over again. I was literally in shock and in a panic over this news, because all of my plans for either bailing out, or calling my son or resupplying myself just flew out the window. I said to Larry that I wasn’t sure if I could do this, to which he replied to just put one foot in front of the other. We were at this point over 3.5 hours into the race and I had expected to be done in 5. I somehow just managed to follow Larry back onto the trail and talked myself into calming down and to just keep moving. Within a few minutes of heading back out I began to feel better and settled into a steady rhythm.

The joke of the day on the course, especially when we got back to the difficult part was how the course was Challenging, but fair. This was the race director’s description of the course on the website. We really were questioning exactly what fair meant. What did he mean by challenging, but fair? This was the most difficult course any of us had run on and there didn’t seem to be anything fair about it. The course looked to trip you up almost with every step of the way and it was a long time between aid stations. This course was more about survival than being fair. I finally decided that the RD meant to say fare, as you were certainly paying a price for running on it.

As difficult as this course was, I do have to say that I probably had more fun doing it than any other race. When the going got really tough, there was really nothing to do but laugh about the situation. Many times during the day, I simply busted out in laughter at the absurdity of what we were trying to do. Everything that we could say about the day brought out peels of laughter from the 3 of us. We laughed at how there didn’t seem to be much quality running to be had as at times the most you were able to run was able 15 feet before you had to negotiate a steep hill or obstacle.

The 4-6 mile difficult part of the course on the second loop was just as difficult if not more difficult than on the first loop. Let’s just say we were all glad when we left it for good on the second loop. We passed a few runners who were still coming out for the second loop and all I could think of was how I was so glad not to be them, first having to negotiate it. It was a major relief to finally put behind the difficult section of course for good.

Along the way back a couple of runners had passed us. This kind of annoyed me even though I wasn’t going out to be competitive in the race. One particular runner passed us at one of the aid stations, but he never got that far ahead of us. We tracked him through the final miles of the race. At the last two miles of the race, I realized that we could break 7:30 for the race. I also wanted to catch the runner who had recently gotten ahead of us. I found a second wind on these last two miles and just let my legs start running. I am sure it was a slow pace, but it certainly felt fast compared to the previous miles. We caught the runner who got ahead of us at a road crossing when he went the wrong way to enter the trail. I started to run ahead of him with Larry and Willie following me not far behind.

My adrenaline at the thought of the finish got the best of me and I totally blew out ahead of Larry and Willie. I crossed the finish line about a minute ahead of them and immediately felt bad for not slowing down and finishing with them. I couldn’t help it though, I was running and feeling good and couldn’t slow down. Hopefully they didn’t mind so much, especially since if it weren’t for them, I am not sure I would have finished the race.

As tough as this race was, I am contemplating doing it again next year. It was definitely a great workout and I did have a lot of fun. Next time I’ll be prepared for it. I took it easy the next morning by riding my bike for an hour and then heading to Coney Island for a swim. The cool 56 degree water felt great on my legs and wiped out any aches and pains that may have lingered from the race.

I am feeling confident now that I’ll do ok at Escape from Alcatraz 3 weeks from now. It feels good to know that I must be in some pretty decent shape to complete the course I just did.

Chapter Over

2007-05-02T06:01:00.000-04:00

What a day. Every time I try to get away from work for a few hours it seems like stuff blows up in my office. Today I had expected to get in an easy early morning bike and then cram for the NYS Real Estate Salesperson exam. However, that was not to be. As soon as I returned from my ride, I looked at my computer only to discover several messages from users complaining that a couple of computer systems were down. Therefore instead of being able to get in some much needed last minute studying, I was off to the office to fight fires.

During my ride this morning, my friends Todd and Rob zipped past me. Evidently I just missed hitting them with snot rockets as they were approaching me. I didn’t stand a chance of keeping up with them and after a brief hello; they left me in the dust. I guess that is what happens when you let yourself get fat and out of shape. Of course, fat and out of shape is all relative, but when I compare myself to last year that is what I am.

Anyhow, after dealing with the fires in my office, I managed to get back downtown to take the real estate exam. I am not sure how I did. I just hope I passed so I can be done with it. It will be a welcome chapter of my life put behind me.

Athenian Army

2007-05-01T20:05:00.000-04:00

While doing a 10 mile run this past Saturday Prospect Park, I ran into the Athenian Army. Here they are:

Exceeded Expectations

2007-04-30T21:56:00.000-04:00

It is Sunday at 5:20am and I am up the earliest I have been for a workout this year. I think I am getting my act together. My friend Rob and I are supposed to ride up to Rockland Lake, but I think I am going to convince him to stay in Prospect Park. I don’t relish do a 70 mile ride on a 3.4 mile loop but I have my reasons. They are: I am coming down with a cold, I am not sure how far I am going to be able to go and I don’t want to get stuck out in the middle of no where, and lastly, I want to be home early.

While I am out riding my wife is planning on taking my kids to their grandparents’ house. However, my son asked me last night to take him to the park so we could practice baseball all day. He wants to be better than Derek Jeter. I just can’t turn down that request. We spent over 5 hours in the park yesterday practicing baseball and he wants to do so again today. Spending quality time with my children like that trumps any desire I have to go out for a long ride on my bike.

When I spoke to Rob before heading out for the ride, he agreed that we should stay in the park. The sky was heavily overcast and the sky looked to threaten rain at any minute. We started out on our ride slowly. Truth is, I was slow and Rob was riding to my pace. I struggled on this ride just about from the start. My longest ride for the year has only been 24 miles and I would have been happy to get in 40 for the day. It is scary how out of shape I’ve become. Just last year I was whipping around the park in under 10 minute loops. Now it was a struggle just to break 11 minutes. Rob was a good sport about my sluggish pace and stayed with me throughout the ride. Occasionally, e would get ahead, but would slow down at some point to let me catch him. I somehow rode with him 60 miles which was more than enough for the day. The distance completely exceeded my expectations.

Before I left for the ride, I told my wife that I would be home early so not to take the kids to her parents while she went to work. So after the ride, I went home to quickly eat, shower and dress. I then took my kids out on our bikes to the baseball fields where we had batting practice for several hours. My daughter fielded the balls while my son practiced hitting. Baseball practice was finally over after my kids discovered that they can stick a plastic water bottle over a water fountain spigot to make it shoot up into the air. They did this for about 20 minutes, until they were soaking wet and cold. We went home to have snacks and try off. We then played hopscotch and soccer out on the sidewalk of my house until it was time to go to my in-laws for dinner.

50 Year Window

2007-04-23T10:45:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I feel as though I am looking through a 50 year window. I am seeing things in the present, but somehow it feels like what I am witnessing occurred many years ago. It is kind of driving me insane. Of course, this most specifically happens while I am with my children. I will remember forever this past Friday when I stayed with my son on the ball field long after his team’s practice was over. We were practicing hitting and every time he would he the ball he would start running the bases. The look of pure joy as he rounding third and headed for home while I tried to chase him down with the ball was enough to make my heart melt. However, while watching him, it was as though this current event happened long ago. I am already longing for days that have not yet passed.

I passed a pleasant weekend. I played poker with some friend later on Friday evening (lost $40), but had to leave early so I could wake up to take my son to his baseball game Saturday morning. My son went 3 for 3 with 3 runs scored and made a play at the plate. He loves playing baseball and is certainly enjoying it infinitely better than I was at his age. After baseball and horsing around with my son and his friends we headed home for lunch. My wife and daughter were heading out for her soccer game when we arrived. I wanted to get to her game, but I couldn’t get my son back out the door since he wanted to hang around and rest for a while. I was sorry to miss her game and I vow to myself not to miss her next one. I was able to get in a good 25 mile bike ride in the late afternoon, when my mother came over and took the kids out to a movie. It was my best ride in months.

Sunday morning I took my kids out on their bikes while I ran a lap of Prospect Park. While circumnavigating the park, I ran into my coach who happened to do a duathlon that was held in it earlier that morning. We chatted for a few minutes and I let him know I am contemplating the Greenbelt 50k on May 12. He told me as long as I keep jumping into ultramarathons I will be just fine for Lake Placid. I just need to get in the pool a little more. We then finished up our lap of the park and soon headed back out to it to play baseball with my friend as his kids. I felt a little bad for my daughter who didn’t really seem to want to play baseball, but fortunately our practice didn’t last too long.

After leaving the park all of us headed out to Coney Island. We went to the beach and played in the surf for about an hour. Their clothes, hair and bodies were full of sand and saltwater by the time we left. Fortunately they were mostly dry by the time we got back to the boardwalk and I was able to easily brush the sand off of them. We then headed to the Wonder Wheel for a ride in the swinging cars. This was their first time in it and they had a thrilling good time. I then dumped a ton of money in the arcade where they played Skeeball and other games that award you tickets, which could be traded in for an assortment of crappy prizes.

After the arcade the boys at some pizza and I promised my daughter I would take her to Nathan’s for a hot dog. Before we went to Nathan’s though we went to the Coney Island Freak Show. The show can best be described as a collection of circus side shows reminiscent of years past. It was hokey and amusing at the same time. They had a contorting girl, Geek the Freak, a man who at the glass of a light bulb and a fire throwing. The show went on for a long time and was filled with pitches for donations to see additional exhibits.

The show went on much longer than expected, so we had to leave a little early in order to get to my mother-in-law’s house for dinner. We didn’t have time to get to Nathan’s for my daughter’s hot dog which deeply upset her since everyone else had gotten something they wanted to eat while at Coney Island. So after dinner I agreed to take her back to Coney Island so she could get her hotdog. She ate it during the car ride home and the look of happiness on her face was worth the side trip.

Boston Marathon 2007

2007-04-17T13:06:00.000-04:00

I sometimes find that the longer the race the less I remember. My coached mentioned that to me when I called him after the 50k. He pointed out that I barely had a word to say about it, whereas two weeks earlier I did a sprint duathlon and was quite verbose about that. However I will do my best to recount the marathon.

First off, the weather was completely anticlimatic. It was no where near as cold or rainy as advertised. There was only about 25 minutes of rain the entire time. It was windy at times, but nothing that I felt was so bad. I was very disappointed in the milder weather. If I was going to do a marathon in bad conditions, I'd just as soon have them be really terrible.

Since I was expecting colder and rainier conditions, I had dressed a lot warmer than necessary. I wore running shorts with tights on my legs, a long sleeve Craft base layer, a Nike dri fit top with a zipper in front and my Hammer Nutrition winter cycling jacket, plus a thin hat and running cap. By mile 5 I had tied the jacket around my waist, pulled my arms out of the sleeves of the second layer and forced it down about my waist by squeezing through the neck hole. Then I stuffed my hat into the waist band of my shorts. With all this crap about my waist it was just about impossible to reach into my jacket pockets to get a gel or electrolytes. That is all there really is to say about the weather. It was windy at times and I got the occasional chill, but I have definitely trained and race is worse weather.

The travel to the start was interesting. We stayed at the Cambridge Gateway Inn, which was about 25 minutes out of town by the Boston T (subway). Two stops away from where we had to get off, the trained stalled between stations. After about 15 minutes of them trying to fix the problem, the conductor promised the marathoners we would miss the race and had another train come up from behind to push. I have to give credit to people of the Boston T, as instead if making us get off the next stop to wait for the next train, they just pushed us to our station so we could make the busses. We made it onto the next to last bus. The bus ride was also interesting. Apparently the driver was unsure where to go and kept consulting his directions while driving. Each time he did that the bus would swerve from one lane to the next or we would suddenly stop short as we got too close behind the vehicle behind us.

The best part of being late for the busses was that we didn't have to wait long for the start once we arrived in Hopkinton. I was with my friends Larry and Willie and then miraculously found my friend Jon. We were supposed to meet Jon in Hopkinton, but his cell phone wasn't working so I couldn't get in touch with him. He stumbled upon us as we were putting our bags in the baggage car. It was raining in Hopkinton so we sought out shelter under the entrance to the high school. Larry, Willie and John all had high bib number and were in the second wave of the start. I had a low bib number and should have been in the first wave. I had to fight off the temptation to go start out ahead of them with my wave. However, I decided it would be better running with some friends. While we were standing in our shelter a runner from Uganda joined us. He was still wearing regular street clothes and had to change into his running gear. Everything he took out of his bag was brand new, with the tags still attached. We had to point out to him that he needed to remove his tags. The race started at 10am and it was by now a few minutes after. This fellow still hadn’t even checked in his bag. Anyway, we wished the guy luck and the four of us headed to the start.

The start at the back of the back is tremendously crowded. Our first mile was a 10:36. It was impossible to go any faster due to the thick crowds. It took several miles for the crowd to thin out enough to run a faster pace. Jon and I started to run a faster pace and Larry and Willie kept a slower pace. Eventually Jon and I had our pace running at an average of 8:30’s. We kept this going up through mile 13 and Wellesley College. The Wellesley girls were out in force with many of them holding signs telling runners to kiss them. It was tempting to stop. One wise guy had a sign saying Kiss a Boy.

By the time we passed mile 13, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hold the 8:30 pace. I told Jon to run ahead; as I knew I would have trouble finishing the race if I tried to hold that pace for much longer. Several times I was tempted to quit and just take the railroad back into Boston. It would have been so relaxing to just sit on a train and take away the suffering of running. The urge to do so was somewhat strong. But as I have always said, I wasn’t hurt, injured or sick, so I really had no reason not to keep going. It was just a matter of how long it would take, which felt like it would be forever. Besides, how could I go back to my kids and tell them that after spending all this time away from home, I just decided not to finish what I set out to do.

As the marathon progressed I began to notice the timing clocks along the way. They were indicating a time that said I was running really slowly. It looked to me that I would be well over 4 hours. When I passed a clock that said 4:05 I got really discouraged and started to fear that Larry and Willie would catch up to me. Larry like to say how if you go out too fast that he will be seeing you later. I expected him to pass me at any moment and hear him start rubbing it in that I went out too fast. About 10 minutes later though, I past another clock and finally realized that the clock was reading from the 10am start time and not the time I started which was 38 minutes after that. I felt a little better once I realized that and saw that I could still break a 4 hour marathon.

At Heartbreak Hill, around mile 18, I passed a bunch of spectators ringing cowbells. All through the race I was worried that I didn’t get my kids souvenirs yet and I realized I could grab a couple of bells and be done with the chore. So I ran off the side of the road, asked the guy handing them out of I could have a couple (he said yes) and ran the last 8.2 miles with a cowbell in each hand. I would have stuff them into my jacket pockets, but it was impossible to get anything in or out them. I didn’t really mind carrying them in my hands as they were light and seemed to keep my hands warm.

I remember getting to mile 22 and feeling discouraged. It seemed like it would take forever to run the last 4 miles. I guess I was just feeling tired from the 50k two weeks ago. I was feeling fatigue in my hamstrings early in the race that should not have been there unless I did a lot of running recently. I guess the 50k counted as a lot, even though I hardly did anything during the two weeks between races. I just wanted it to be over and hoped my splits remained even for the remainder so I could at least predict when I would be seeing another mile marker.

Anyway, I made it through the last 4 miles of the race and finished in 3:56:19. Definitely not my best time, but not my worst time either. I was happy with breaking 4 hours. I am also very happy that I didn’t go out with the first wave. That would have been very ugly. I probably would have gone out much faster and would have really been hurting later on. The best thing about having a low bib number, but starting in the back of the second wave, was that my checked bag was about the only one left in my baggage bus. Due to the rain before the start of the race, the numbers were practically washed off all of the bags. About all you could make out on my bag was the words “New York” and the baggage handlers immediately knew that had to be mine when I asked them to look for it. I guess they could distinguish my Yankee accent.

After getting my bag I put on all of my warm clothes while I waiting for Larry and Willie at our appointed meeting place. I had to wait about 35 minute, but during that time I just relaxed, ate and made some phone calls. I was in no rush to make it back to the hotel. Fortunately, the train didn’t have any problems on the return. We walked the mile back to the hotel from the train station. After we showered and rested a while we went to a bowling alley next door to the hotel and ate chicken wings, burgers and drank beer. I would have bowled a game or two just for the hell of it, but the guys weren’t into it. After eating and drinking, we went back to the hotel, where I soon fell asleep for the night.

A Day in Boston

2007-04-15T21:56:00.000-04:00

So Larry, Willie and I spent the day in Boston. We started out at a local IHOP, where I had the Ruti Tuti Fresh and Fruity breakfast for the first time in years. It filled me up nicely. After, we went to the marathon expo where we talked to some people, tried out some free products and said a lot of Hmmms and Huuhhhs. We hung out for a couple of hours which gave my friend Jon a chance to get off his Amtrak train to catch up with us. We made tentative plans to meet for dinner and we agreed to call each other later.

Dinner turned out to be much earlier though. Larry wanted to scout out the restaurant we decided to eat at to make sure we could find it later. By the time this happened it was already 3:30, so we figured we may as well eat dinner now. The food was delicious and plentiful. I can’t recommend this place enough. It is a must eat. Check it out at http://www.lafamigliagiorgio.com/. It is located on 112 Salem Street in Boston’s North End.

All through the day I did my sponsor, Hammer Nutrition justice by wearing my Hammer Nutrition winter cycling jacket. It is what I plan to wear for the race tomorrow. It is very flashy and most of all warm. I talked to the representatives from the Polar booth and “The Stick” booth about Hammer. It seems that Hammer is not to well know in the running community, but I am doing what I can to spread the word.

After dinner we whet to Whole Foods for supplies – freshly ground Peanut Butter, Organic Jelly, Organic Oatmeal and Organic Soymilk. I think I will be well fueled for the race. I still have a blueberry muffin from this morning to eat.

I did nothing else for the day. I didn’t even start getting my things ready until Larry stopped by my room and helped to make the decision as to the appropriate gear necessary for marathoning in a Nor’easter.

My xomputer battery died on the bus ride out, so couldn'y write a report. Really, it was nothing to report and the who trip was over quickly and without incident except if you count the time I missed the bowl taking a piss when the bus hit a bump.

Ok, I am Going to Boston

2007-04-14T17:19:00.000-04:00

I am booked on the Fung Wah bus to Boston. 15 smackers for the trip. I prefer Amtrak, but that would cost about 100 bucks. I may as well make this economical. You know, save for the childrens college education. More reports when I am on the bus.

Pondering Boston

2007-04-13T20:20:00.000-04:00

So I am headed to the Boston Marathon this weekend. At least that is what I think I am doing. I am really not sure yet. About 25 percent of my mind wants to go and about 75 percent doesn’t. The chances of going really stand at 50/50 or perhaps closer to 60/40 that I will go. The marathon promises to be held in Nor’easter conditions, which is looking to make this long run, even longer

I know I just did the Kurt Steiner 50k just two weeks ago, but since that time I just haven’t been running well. It is more a mental thing than anything else. Physically I am just fine. I didn’t even have any soreness the day after the 50k.

The fact that the weather is supposed to be horrible for the marathon is one of the reasons why I want to go. This way I can always look back and say I did the Boston Marathon under the worst conditions it was ever held. Then again, hanging out with my kids at home while the rain and wind pelts my windows as we play games all day is incredibly appealing.

I know what part of my problem is lately. I’ve gone through this ambivalence towards training and racing before. I guess you can kind of call it a burn out. I’ve gone through 3 cycles in my life where I have gotten back in shape, only to let my fitness slip away after a few years of training. I am like a bear that needs to go into hibernation and wake up in the spring. I am fighting mightily against this urge. I am getting older and I don’t have many more spring times. In each of my previous cycles the in fitness and out of shape periods have become progressively longer. If I let myself go into hibernation, it could be many years before I feel another spring time. By then it might be too late to ask my body to get in shape again. I need to keep this going for the sake of my kids, wife and most of all myself.

So for anyone out there reading this between now and Sunday morning; what do you think? Should I go torture myself in the wind and rain come Monday morning or should I kick back and relax with my kids this weekend? The New Jersey Marathon is only two weeks away and I can always sign up for that, plus have my kids cheering for me at the finish line.

Or should I just do both?

Testament to Fitness

2007-04-04T13:45:00.000-04:00

So I ran 31.06 miles Sunday or if you like better, 50 kilometers. I did it in Forrest Park, Queens where the Broadway Ultra Society was holding their annual Kurt Steiner 50K and Metropolitan 50 Miler. I guess it is a testament to my existing fitness that I could just go out and run 50K. I certainly didn’t train for it, as my longest run for the year was 13 miles back on February 4.

I don’t know what possessed me to follow through on doing this race. I guess it really boiled down to the fact that I signed up for it a several weeks previously and my friend Larry was waiting to pick me up in his car at 7am. The fact that I got up in time for it is a miracle since I didn’t get home until after midnight the night before, having gone to my uncle’s 80th birthday party. But Larry was waiting for me brightly at 7am outside my front door and I couldn’t just back down and decide not to go. I at least had to try. The night before while I was at my uncle’s party my wife told me that I should go out and do it. I should at least try or otherwise I would likely be sitting around at home cursing myself for not going. I knew her prediction would be true so I figured I should go and the worst case would be that I’d have a long subway ride home.

I had no plans for how I would do during the race. I was going to be impressed with myself if I got past 3 miles. My biggest concern going into the race was how I would get home if I had to bail out. I couldn’t really focus on the race as my mind was too filled with anxiety over other issues in my life. While running I could at times feel anxiety was over me like a wave in a storm surge battering up the beach. I tried to focus on the running and just let my cares and worries disappear. At times I would feel nothing other than the pounding of my steps at other times I would be filled with worry and just want to quit. I had my friends Larry and Willie with me so every time the worry took hold I just concentrated on keeping pace with them.

The 50K consisted of 10 loops of a slightly longer than 3 mile course. I know runners who hate loop courses, but I don’t mind them. I like their predictability and the metronome type precision that comes with running a steady pace. All I had to do was count off 10 laps on my Polar heart rate monitor and I would be done. The laps ticked off one by one, each the same as the last. The only differences I noticed were in two places where someone didn’t bother to clean up after their dog. Other than that the course appeared unchanged throughout the day. It was heavily overcast all day and rain threatened at any moment, so not even the sun was available to cast different shadows. Occasionally you would see someone new sitting on a park bench.

It was impossible to know who was in front of you and behind you. The course consisted of two loops interconnected by an out and back stretch. You got to see the same runners over and over again. You also had runners doing the 50 miler as well as the 50K. The most interesting part of the race was watching the two front runners for the 50 miler battling it out between each other. They were within 100 yards of each other throughout the entire time I was out there.

Having finished this race in good form, with nothing but the most minor of soreness in my legs, I have confidence in my ability to do the Boston Marathon in just two weeks times. I should also be ok for the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, provided I at least continue to get in a couple of swims per week. It just feels like such a struggle lately.

Prospect Park Duathlon – Saturday, March 24

2007-03-25T20:16:00.000-04:00

I almost decided to sleep in for this race since it was a bit chilly outside and I wasn’t in the mood to wait around in the cold for the race to start. To top it off, I discovered that I had 3 flats over my two sets of wheels. I had put on my Zipps the night before and inflated them after they have been sitting since September ’06. When I went to my bike in the morning I discovered both of them had lost all of their air pressure. I can’t imagine why this was so as they seemed fine when I took them off all those months ago. My third flat was on my regular set of training wheels, so I had to spend a few minutes that morning, getting my hands dirty to fix at least one flat.

I met up with a bunch of other members of the Asphalt Green Triathlon Club. Since this was a club points race, I felt obligated to wear my AGTC tri clothes. No worries to Hammer Nutrition though, as before and after the race, I had on my Hammer gear. It was nice to be part of a team for a change.

My lack of serious training as of late showed up in the race. I felt like I was running through molasses. The last time I did this race, I was second in my age group. This time the best I could muster was 7th. It is what it was though and I guess I should just be happy to have been able to put in a hard effort. Overall place I was 33rd out of 111.

After lounging around the house for a while, I decided to head to the YMCA for a swim. I felt pretty good and wound up going 2000 yards when all I planned for was 1500. I could have gone longer, but I wanted to leave the pool wanting more. Hopefully this will give me inspiration to get back in the water soon. I do have Alcatraz coming up.

When I got off the subway when returning from the pool, I decided to stop into the local grocery to buy a lottery ticket. A woman was standing outside of it asking for money. She didn’t seem to be in particular need and I didn’t like the way she asked for it. Anyway, I entered the store to cash a winning lottery ticket and buy another for that nights drawing. As I turned to leave the store, this woman who only moments ago was on the sidewalk begging for money was right next to me purchasing her own lottery ticket. I couldn’t help but ask her if that was why she was asking for money. She replied “That’s right, there is no crime in that”. I could have thought of a million different replies to her, but I just kept going instead. Who knows, maybe one day she will become a millionaire from someone else’s money.

I guess the workouts from Saturday, took their toll on me. I went out for a 5 to 6 mile run this morning and completely lost all energy by the time I reached 2.5 miles. I stuck with it thought and managed to get in 5 miles without stopping, although it was a struggle. The fact that I had trouble with these 5 miles is concerning me a bit as this coming weekend I am signed up to do the Kurt Steiner 50K. At least this ultra will be over a short 2.2 mile loop so I can always easily bail out. I am counting on my friend Larry to get me through it. This 50K will also serve as my one and only long training run before the Boston Marathon. I’ll just have to see how it goes.

Return from San Diego

2007-03-22T21:50:00.000-04:00

Well, I am back on the plane, returning from San Diego. It was way too short, but we packed as much time in together as we could. It was great having my family with me on this work subsidized mini-vacation. I was able to spend some quality time with them in between work commitments. The following is a summary of what we did.

Sunday morning I managed to get myself out of bed after a late arrival Saturday night. I went for a pleasant 5 mile run. It took me past the aircraft carrier Midway. Several miles into this run I got a strange sense of déjà vu. Everything looked very familiar and it took me a few minutes to realize I had run this route several years earlier on a business trip with a different company. It was complete coincidence that this happened as I picked out my route by looking out my hotel window and thinking it looked nice to run there. My previous time, I was directed to the place by people at the hotel.

Once back, we started off our Sunday together with brunch at the Hotel Del Coronado. This is an old and famous hotel, the scene of Marilyn Monroe movies and a sleep over place for every American president. The place is huge and spectacular. Everything is very ornate and the Crown Room where the brunch is held is magnificent. The buffet consists of everything from pancakes and eggs to Sushi, Raw Oysters, crab legs, prime rib, roasted ham and the list goes on. To top it off they had a desert station with a flowing chocolate fountain that you could pour over marshmallows, fruit, graham crackers and other items.

After that we headed out to Sea World and spent the day watching several shows and seeing the attractions. My children seemed to really like the shows, especially the parts where you were in danger of getting wet. Sea World is pretty much spread out and you need to do a fair amount of walking to see the different exhibits. We didn’t have time to finish it all since we wanted to go to Carbrillo National Monument to check out the tidal pools. We timed our arrival for the pools to be in the late afternoon, since that was when low tide occurred. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, the park closes at 4:30pm, so we only had around 25 minutes to explore. My biggest disappointment of the trip was not getting to spend real quality time looking around. The other days were out, as the tide would be high making the tidal pools invisible. If only my flight out wasn’t cancelled on Friday. It’s a spectacular place.

Sunday night I went to a work related dinner and hung out with coworkers eating a drinking until around midnight. My wife took our kids out to dinner and were back in the hotel asleep by 9pm.

On Monday morning I woke up early enough to get in a 6.1 mile run despite eating a drinking a lot the night before. I would have gone longer, but then I would have been late for the convention I was supposed to be attending. My wife and kids went to the San Diego Zoo, while I was at work. They were gone all day, which gave me some free time in the afternoon after the convention ended for the day to hang out by the hotel pool with some coworkers. I even got in a 30 minute swim. At around 5:30pm, my family returned and I played with my kids in the pool. It was a little cool outside, but after first going into the Jacuzzi for a while, my kids warmed up enough to go in the pool.

Monday night I went out with my coworkers again to a restaurant where you cook your own steaks on an open grill. I didn’t actually cook mine as one of the coworkers took on that responsibility for everyone. I ate a big fat T-Bone steak and drank several beers. This knocked me out enough so that Tuesday morning I slept in instead of getting in a run.

The convention ended early enough on Tuesday for me to get in a struggling 4.5 mile run and then meet my family in Old Towne San Diego by late afternoon. We shopped for souvenirs and ate an early dinner in a decent Mexican restaurant. Afterwards, we dropped off our purchases at the hotel and then walked over to the seaport just outside our hotel. We bought a few more souvenirs and rode the carousel several times. We didn’t stay out too late as Wednesday would be our last day and we only had a few hours to see a couple of more places before we had to get back to the hotel to pack, wash up and leave for the airport.

I took my family to La Jolla Cove, the place that I written about previously where you can get in an excellent open water swim. I took my wetsuit with me just in case I was able to get in the water. It was very windy when we arrived and the surf was very rough and looked unpleasant. I couldn’t see any buoy markers, nor were there any other swimmers or lifeguard on the beach. I decided not to risk a swim and more importantly spend as my time with my children exploring the surrounding area. We walked through some caves and tidal pools and saw a Sea Lion perched on a rock. My son ran from the surf as the water chased his feet.

After La Jolla, we went back to Cabrillo National Monument to look at the lighthouse and other exhibits. The tide pools were not visible this day, but there was still much to see. My children did the Junior Ranger program, in a much expedited fashion, as we were running out of time. After they received their badges, we hurried back to the hotel, washed, changed clothes and began the long journey home.

Silver Lining

2007-03-18T00:36:00.000-04:00

I am off to San Diego with my family. I am heading there for a business trip and I decided that San Diego is too nice of a place to go without them. I was supposed to leave on Friday, by the Noreaster that stopped by cancelled all of the flights out of JFK airport. I’ll only get to spend 1 day with them and the rest of the time, I’ll be at a conference and the wife and kids will be off to Sea World and the Zoo. I’ll at least get to go with them to the tide pools and beach tomorrow (Sunday). Maybe I’ll even get a swim in at La Jolla Cove.

The storm did have a bit of a silver lining. My real estate class ended this week and the final exam for it was on Friday. Since I was no longer flying out, I was able to take the exam on the original time scheduled, instead of having to sweat it that day after I come back from San Diego. The test was quick and easy and I was home before 7pm. This gave me just enough time to take my kids to Prospect Park to do some nighttime sledding. We were the only ones out and we had fun going down the unmarked fresh snow. I also managed to get in a quick swim and run earlier in the day.

Today I extended my workout streak to 16 days. I did an easy 4 miler on my treadmill, in between packing for the trip. Yeah, I should have packed yesterday, but since my flight was cancelled I spent the time studying. So today was just a quick 4 miles and then it was off to one of my most dreaded tasks – packing for a trip. I hate it. I always worry about forgetting or not packing something I may want. It’s enough that it almost makes me not want to go anywhere.

I still haven’t done a long run in quite some time. To make up for this and to get ready for the Boston Marathon, I signed up to the Kurt Steiner 50K. I figure I will get all of my long runs in at one shot. Kind of like cramming for an exam. I am doing the race with Larry, so I really have no worries about finishing it. I know he will help me pace properly to insure success. Also, when I return from San Diego, I have the CityTri Spring Duathlon in Prospect Park. Just a short little race to get some of the cobwebs out of my body.

That’s all for now. The airplane is getting ready to land.

10 Days in a Row

2007-03-11T17:41:00.001-04:00

I have now trained for 10 days in a row, which included a double workout yesterday – Bike/Swim. None of them have been all that exciting, but at least I am on a roll. I think the training highlight for the past 10 days was when I did a trainer ride on Wednesday night and then backed that up with a 5 mile run in the morning. I haven’t done a night/morning workout in quite some time.

On Saturday I rode with my friend Todd for about 45 minutes. He had called me early in the morning, just as I got up to grab something to eat. At first the sound of my vibrating phone filled me with dread as I thought it was someone from work calling me about a problem. I was relieved when I heard Todd’s voice asking me to join him in the park. I took a while getting out the door, so Todd was just about finishing up when I finally met up with him. Oh well, some company for a while was better than no company at all.

After Todd left, I finished the distance I was supposed to do in the park and then headed out of it to do a final long climb back to my home. It was the route that my friend Larry would take to end a ride. Finishing the ride this way turned out to be providence as I ran into Larry just as I was finishing. Larry had just got back from the LA Marathon and we talked about that for a while. He then mentioned that the Kurt Steiner 50K is coming up on April 1st and he said he had an application for me. I think I am going to try to do it, even though my mileage has been next to nothing lately. Maybe I need the challenge of something big to snap myself out of this training funk I am in. If anything it will definitely serve as a long training run before the Boston Marathon.

Today I did my first run of the year with my kids on their bikes, but apparently, they didn't have their early season legs. It was a bit of stop and go for the 3.2 miles I ran with them. They wanted to go home after little more than 2 miles into the run, so I took them home and then went back out and ran an additional 3. I had no pace to speak of, but at least I didn't feel the need to walk. However, they both said they wanted to go to the pool after I got back, so I was looking forward to that at the conclusion of my run. However, that is not what happened as their grandmother had come over the house and took them out for a while. I was a bit disappointed I couldn’t frolic around with the kids in the pool, but I used the free time to study for my upcoming real estate salesperson exam and then took a 3 hour nap.

Taste of Ambien

2007-03-09T23:23:00.000-05:00

I love the taste of Ambien. I suck on it like a Tic-Tac when I am ready to go to bed. At first I didn’t like the taste, but I must say I have certainly acquired one. I couldn’t imagine swallowing it whole like you are supposed to do.

It has been 8 days in a row in which I have done a workout. I haven’t had such a streak going in quite some time. Maybe I can keep my momentum going. My streak though was in danger of being broken today. I was supposed to go swimming in the morning, but couldn’t get up early enough, and besides, the last thing I wanted to do was face the prospect of going into a pool in which I would have to walk through 12 degree temperatures to get there. I took my swim gear with me, in case I somehow got the urge to do it this evening. I debated whether or not I wanted to go my entire subway ride home and decided to get off at the stop for the YMCA just as the doors were closing. I ended up having a very pleasant swim for 45 minutes. I am glad it worked out.

Back to the Beginning

2007-03-03T20:02:00.001-05:00

Due to the nice weather, I pulled myself from the lure of my basement TV and broke out the Tri-bike for a 20 mile ride in Prospect Park. I seriously over dressed, but at least I was warm. You could say I was heat acclimating for the summer.

One thing I can say about today’s ride, is that I am definitely back at the beginning in terms of building fitness. I didn’t struggle to complete 20 miles, but I did feel as though I had enough when I reached the distance. I guess that’s what happens when the only riding you do is half-hearted attempts on a trainer, without wind and hills. I am completely out of shape and starting over again.

Later in the day, I got back on my bike with my children on theirs. We rode over to the Prospect Park Zoo. We haven’t been there in quite some time and it is always worthy of visiting for the occasional diversion. Originally we planned to go skiing today, but I feared the weather would be too warm and the conditions would have been awful. I sort of feel as though I should have chanced it, but at least I got out and did something with my kids today.

Last week was the last day of swim lessons and tomorrow is the last day of Basketball. My weekends we be free of commitments for the next several weeks until Spring Soccer and Baseball begin. I am going to try to use this time to really get back into the swing of things. I really need this Real Estate class to be over though to form some semblance of a productive workout schedule.

Week of 2/26 – 3/3

2007-03-03T05:27:00.000-05:00

Well, whatever malaise that came over me on Sunday, infected myself through Monday morning. My eyes didn’t open until after 7am, which was way too late to get in a morning working. The only good thing I had to look forward to later on the day was the NY Knick vs. Miami Heat later in the evening, which turned out to be a fine contest with the Knicks pulling out the game in the final 3 seconds.

Tuesday morning I was completely wasted. My body felt like a ton of bricks and I was stuck to my bed like a mouse in a glue trap. I was lucky to make it to work on time. I felt good enough in the evening for a run, but once again, I am trapped in this real estate class.

Wednesday - Did it even happen? I don’t remember a thing about Wednesday. Oh yeah, I did an easy 50 minutes on my bike in the cool darkness of my basement. And I had real estate class which went on forever. And the train on the way home didn’t want to arrive. When it finally did it was too crowded to get on. I waited another 25 minutes for it. I got home really late.

Thursday I slept late. I had no choice. I got to bed so late the previous night I was too tired to wake up. I drove my kids to school, then drove myself to Long Island for work. This meant I had to drive back home after work, only to head back into the Manhattan by subway to make the real estate class. I considered driving into Manhattan, but my wife needed the car that evening and I didn’t want to pay for parking.

Friday. I got in a comfortable 6 miles on my treadmill. It was nice to know I still can run. I thought I forgot how to do so. The day went by quickly enough and I headed straight home after work. I was supposed to swim, but I just wanted to go home early for a change after being out late all this week. I finished the night off by going to a friends house with my children, where we played a game of Monopoly. My daughter and I were one team, my son and friend’s son were another and the third team was my friend and his youngest son. I am happy to report that my daughter and I kicked ass.

It is now Saturday morning at 5:23am and I can’t sleep. What better time to make a blog entry than right now. I guess I could ride my bike in the basement, but I think it is going to be nice outside today. It would be refreshing to get outdoors with it today. I think that is what I am going to try to do. Maybe I’ll try to go back to sleep. I’ve only slept about 6 hours so far and I am an 8 hour kind of guy.

Dead Battery

2007-02-25T14:35:00.000-05:00

I am ready to give up. I went out today for a 10 mile run, but after two miles I ran out of energy like an old battery. I felt like a toy that starts to move slowly and then eventually stops altogether. Then when you open the toy you find forgotten and corroded old batteries in it. It’s like my body has forgotten how to move. Perhaps it’s due to interrupted sleep over the past couple of nights. I had a work project going on and I was on my computer late into both nights checking on its progress. Fortunately the project went well and I didn’t have to deal with much fallout.

Despite the crazy work hours, I did manage to get in two reasonable workouts on Saturday. I managed a 90 minute bike followed by a 2000 yard swim. Both were done easily and I was glad I completed them. The best part of the swim was that I had my kids with me in the next lane as they took their swim lessons. It was fun for me to be swimming and seeing my own kids swim by my side. They are ambivalent about continuing them though as I think they prefer to relax on the weekends for the next couple of weeks. They have been busy with basketball, soccer and swimming and I think they just want to relax on their weekends for a while. To tell the truth, I will be happy for this break from activity. Perhaps without these obligations, I can get a little more focus on my training and enjoy it, instead of feeling like I have to rush through it to take care of my fatherly duties.

I was also able to get in two decent workouts on Friday. I had taken the day off from the office and managed to get in an ok 7 mile run followed by 2000 yards in the pool. It’s great when I can be a fulltime triathlete; I just wished I enjoyed the workouts more.

I do really not understand what is going on with my body right now. Every workout just seems so difficult. It is like some sort of malaise has infected my body and mind. I am not looking forward to the workouts and when I go, they are such a struggle. I am not sure which problem comes first. Am I not looking forward to the workouts since they are a struggle or are they a struggle because my mind is not into them? Maybe it is just the cold and dark winter dragging me down. Spring is fortunately on its way.

Skiing

2007-02-22T19:22:00.000-05:00

I feel as though I am at a standstill as far as my journey towards competing in the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon Championships. I am just not putting in the effort to reach such a goal. It’s been an effort just to do any training at all. I guess after putting in 4 hard years towards the goal its time to slack off a bit. I guess that is why in the upper right hand corner of my blog I called this my journey. Any journey worth taking is bound to be filled with delays, detours and other obstacles. This is apparently what is happening to me now.

I refuse to completely quit though. I am going to do enough training to at least get me through this year’s IMLP. I am going to place no expectations on myself whatsoever. I am not going to care about my time. I am not going to worry about lining up in front of the swim, only to get my ass kicked during the start. This will be strictly back of the pack kind of stuff. Who knows, maybe I will surprise myself.

I guess I have come to this conclusion while skiing with my family this past Presidents Day weekend. I took my family up to the Berkshires and took my kids skiing for the first time. My wife was very worried that this would turn out to be a disaster of a trip. She was afraid that the kids would just be complaining about the cold, not liking skiing and generally complaining the entire trip. Nothing could have been further from that. The kids not only enjoyed the skiing, they really excelled at it. I can honestly say that I was very surprised. I thought they would have a lot of trouble, but after a short lesson they were both skiing down the slopes with carefree abandon. Neither my wife nor I could keep up with them.

The first day skiing we spent at Bousquet. We liked that place a lot. They were very efficient, helpful and attentive when it came to fitting you with rental skis and getting you on your way. They clearly knew how to get you sized for boots and skiis and it was completely painless. The instructors were very nice and spent a good amount of time with you. It was a great place to go for beginners. I just wished they had a few more and longer beginner trails.

Our second day skiing was a bit rougher. This time we went to Butternut. We had to wait over an hour to make it through the ski rental place and the equipment we received had clearly seen some hard use. It was also much older equipment. The rental area was very congested and chaotic. It was a major relief to get out of there and out on the slopes.

Once we got skiing, we started off on one of the small hills. We just wanted to warm up and make sure the kids remembered the basics. After a couple of these easy trips, we decided to take the Top Flight lift to the tallest and longest beginner course on the mountain. Stupidly on the way up on the life, I dropped my glove. I wouldn’t have even realized it if it weren’t for the people behind us yelling out to let me know.

Taking the tallest lift was a mistake as my son suddenly forgot how to keep his pace slow by going from side to side and instead kept barreling down the mountain until he made himself fall because he was going too fast. After a couple of times of falling he refused to ski anymore and just wanted to walk down. We couldn’t coax him to continue on and I finally had to get help so the ski patrol could bring him down the mountain on a sled. My wife and daughter then skied on and I went down a more advanced trail in search of my fallen glove.

Fortunately, I found my glove (it was really cold outside) and even more fortunately, I found my son sitting in the Ski Patrol lodge eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate. Eventually my wife and daughter joined us to complete the family reunion.

I then took my daughter on some of the bigger trails, while my wife took my son back to the small slopes. After practicing some more on the small slopes, my son rebuilt his confidence enough to try a bigger hill. He figured it out this time and all of us spent the remainder of the day skiing down the Cruiser trail. We would have kept this on all day, except it started to get late and they closed down the lifts.

On our third day the weather turned really cold, getting up to only 12 degrees. We decided to go Snow Tubing back at Bousquet. My son wanted to form a big train of snow tubes going down the mountain and got several other people to join us. It was a wild ride down. We spent 4 hours tubing before we finally got hungry, called it a day and went out to get lunch. We ate lunch at a small place in Lenox and then went to Pittsfield to do some shopping for new ski jackets.

We went to a store called Ski Fanatics, which was having a clearance sale. My wife and I both bought new ski jackets and my son got a snow skate – basically a skate board for the snow. While we were in the store, you could hear some sort or racket going on from above. I don’t know how the people who worked there could stand it, but they said that they don’t even hear it anymore. It turned out their upstairs neighbor is a candlepin bowling alley. This is some strange form of bowling where you throw balls the size of Skeeballs down a bowling alley that has 10 thin white pins. It is much harder than regular bowling. You had to manually reset the pins by pressing a button, which meant that we could take 3 turns (or more) to try to knock down the pins. I wound up with the high score of 83. We finished off the day by going to a nice restaurant called Dakota. It was very crowded, but the food was very good. Fortunately, the people at Ski Fanatics recommended we make reservations. After dinner we spent a few hours in the pool at our hotel – The Yankee Inn. A very nice place and moderately priced.

On our last day we went back to Butternut Mountain. It was in the direction of how we had to drive home, so we figured that we may as well go back to it. My son remembered his lessons this time and had no trouble going down the bigger hills. Soon he was asking to go back up Top Flight to do the really long trail that he couldn’t do a couple of days earlier. He liked it so much this time that he insisted on doing it several more times. We all had a great day. I alternately skied with just my son or daughter or the whole family together. In each case, my son was the first one down the mountain. I just couldn’t keep up with him. Perhaps he will be an Olympic skier.

After a while my wife and son had enough and just wanted to rest. My son played with his ski skate while my daughter and I finished off the day skiing. It was very nice having her just to myself. We skied for so long that we were literally the last people off the ski lift before it closed. As soon as we got off the chair the lift stopped and the attendant confirmed that we were the last ones. I couldn’t think of a better way to end the day, getting in the last run of anyone for the day, just me and my girl.

Sitting on my Ass

2007-02-16T10:54:00.000-05:00

2/14/07

For being an active person, I lead a very inactive life. I’ve spent the last two days sitting on my ass, which is certainly a bit worse off from the wear. I sat through two days of 4 hour company meetings and followed each meeting up with 3 hours of Real Estate Salesperson classes. Maybe I can get some cortisone shots in my butt cheeks to alleviate the pain.

The weather has been below freezing for the last week or so, which means I’ve been spending my time training indoors. There was a time when I’d go outside no matter how nasty the weather, but lately I just want the safety and comfort of my basement. I guess I’ve been out too many times in Prospect Park to find it interesting and instead have been captivated by my TV while working out. I suppose once the weather gets warmer and it is light out when I wake up, I’ll more easily find my way outdoors. For now I am content to wear nothing but a pair of shorts and work up a sweat indoors; even though it means I need to wipe up a small puddle every time I finish.

I am feeling a bit tired today and I fear it will be a struggle to wake up tomorrow morning. I’ve got the winter doldrums and just feel like hibernating. I guess I am going to have to challenge myself to keep going.

2/15/07

Well I woke up this morning to train, but my heart really wasn’t into it. My alarm clock woke me up which is a good sign that I am tired. Usually, I am up at least 30 minutes before it goes off. I still forced myself out of bed, stood around my kitchen debating whether or not I should go on my treadmill and finally decided to give it a try.

It was a major struggle. I ran just short of a mile at a slow pace of 6.5 miles per hour and was struggling badly. I decided to just end the torture and to go back to bed. I fell asleep almost instantly. Of course, when I woke up later on and started to get ready for work, I was feeling all depressed and out of sorts. If only I didn’t have to go to work, I could have slept in and did a run later. Now once again, I am stuck on my ass at this Real Estate class. Ugh.

2/16/07

I had another early morning meeting today, which combined with me getting in late last night from work, found me too tired to get up and workout this morning. I am not going to worry about it. I’ll get enough exercise this weekend when I go skiing with my family. It will be the first time that my kids will go skiing. It’s been many years since I have gone. Hopefully I won’t break my leg. At least I won't be sitting on my ass this weekend.

Frozen Water

2007-02-11T15:44:00.001-05:00

I felt like a frozen stream today when I went out for my run. I don’t know what happened to have made this so, it just felt like I had no energy and no desire to continue. I took a couple of walking breaks within the first two miles and flirted with taking a shortcut home instead of completing a loop around Prospect Park. I decided to go for the full loop to see if things improved by just pushing on.

If anything, my pace only got slower and I couldn’t get my HR up to acceptable levels. I tried not to be discouraged at my apparent lack of strength. I am trying to tell myself that this isn’t happening because I don’t feel like training anymore. I feel better when I have a good workout; I am just having trouble getting started lately. Maybe it is just the winter blahs. I wished I had someone to run with this morning. Perhaps I would have perked up a bit more and not felt so bushed. I completed a pathetically slow loop of the park and then called it a day. I wasn’t running fast enough to keep myself warm, despite the many layers of clothes I was wearing.

How does a person recapture the drive and fire they once felt to train? On a deep down level, I want to continue. But there is also a level inside me that is saying enough for a while. Take it easy, kick back and relax. Really though, this is not an option. I know where this alternative will take me and its not a place I want to go back to. I refuse to become one of the overweight and out of shape Americans that you see walking all over the place. I can’t do that to my body again. I want to live a very long life and that can only be achieved by taking care of your body. Signing up for races is a way to keep my focus and train towards a goal. Maybe I will feel better once the weather turns warmer again.

Change in Schedule

2007-02-08T13:52:00.000-05:00

Lately, I seemed to have gotten my training routine back together and have successfully woken up early enough to get in morning workouts. I’ve been getting up early enough so that after they are finished, I can still wake my family up and sit down to breakfast with them. With everyone just waking up, it’s like the workouts never happened. What proof do I have of accomplishing them except for the data on my Polar Heart Rate Monitor. This is the second time I’ve felt like that this week. Maybe I am just dreaming I am working out.

Anyway, so I had a nice run yesterday and I was planning on a swim in the evening and then heading home for a relaxing evening with my family. That’s when my schedule for the next 6 weeks became suddenly complicated. As one of my job requirements I am to take the Real Estate Salesperson licensing course and exam. A coworker of mine told me that a course has just began and that she was going this evening. This was at 4pm in the afternoon and then by 6pm I found myself sitting in an extremely boring 3 hour real estate course. I’ll be doing this for three nights per week (T,W,Th) for four more weeks over the next 5 weeks.

I was kind of freaking out that I somehow committed myself to this course of action with so little time to contemplate it. Being in this course was the last thing I expected to happen when I woke up this morning. While not nearly as extreme it was like I was suddenly taken from home and sent to the war in Iraq. Yes, I should probably be ashamed of myself for comparing going to a real estate course to going to Iraq, but it will serve for the purposes of letting you know how suddenly out of sorts I felt.

The course is deadly boring. Three hours of pure torture. New York State requires that every student must spend 45 hours in class. Actually 40.5 as you are allowed to miss up to 4.5 hours. Since I missed the first day I only have a 1.5 hour cushion. The material that is covered in 3 hours could easily have been covered in about an hour. The instructor fills the remainder of the time with stupid jokes, comments about student’s clothes and stories of him golfing and playing the guitar. We spent at least 15 minutes on one student’s shoes and a shopping mall where the student could have purchased them for half of what he paid. I spent most of the time playing online poker on my computer (thank goodness for WiFi Internet access) and chatting with friends over IM.

Fortunately, the instructor decided to let us out of class about 30 minutes early. That was until he had the bright idea of offering to the class the opportunity to watch a video of him playing a guitar solo of Freebird on stage with a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band on my computer. So instead of going home I had about 10 other students gathered around my computer watching a grainy video of him playing the guitar. I thought I would puke right then and there. Only 39 more hours.

My New Friend

2007-02-07T13:54:00.000-05:00

I saw this little guy walking around my feet while taking a crap in the men's room of my office. I understand he is homeless due to the building demolition next door.

Mental Health Day

2007-02-06T09:54:00.000-05:00

I took yesterday off from training. I just didn’t feel like it. I was tired, had a stressful day and I was home alone with the kids when I got home after work. All I felt like doing was playing games with them or having them lean up against me as we watched TV on the couch. Once I took the pressure off myself to train, I started to relax and felt much better.

I did make myself go to bed early though so I could wake up in time to do my scheduled 10 mile run this morning. I contemplated running outside in the 9 degree temperatures, but I really didn’t feel like running in the dark. It just seemed too depressing to do. Instead I opted for the comfort of my basement treadmill and cable TV. I was lucky enough to have a couple of good movies playing, so the time went by quickly enough and when the run was over, it was like it never really happened. I guess that is a good sign, when you can wake up, run 10 miles and still feel like you are just getting out of bed to eat breakfast. Perhaps I should have run harder.

Two Bridges Run

2007-02-04T15:38:00.000-05:00

It has been a good weekend of working out. Saturday was a 35 mile indoor trainer ride that I did while watching the movie Munich and playing online poker at Fulltiltpoker.com. Munich is a rather long movie and I was able to complete my 35 miles during the duration of it. Unfortunately I lost a couple of thousand points while playing poker. It was entertaining though. At first I didn’t think I was going to be able to complete this ride. It seemed like a long time to be on my bike indoors. I’ve done longer, but not in a while and I questioned my desire and motivation. In the end I felt good throughout and perhaps is a sign that I am coming along with doing long rides again.

After my ride, I headed to the pool with my kids for their swim lessons. Normally I swim during this time, but not today as some kid puked in the pool. Therefore it was closed due to contamination by hazardous materials. I had neither the time or inclination to try to do this swim later on.

The highlight of the weekend was the run I did today with Larry. I wasn’t sure about doing it when I woke up since the temperature outside was only 17 degrees. My coach recommended that I stay indoors during the colder temps since I am just getting over a cold. I called Larry at 8:12 this morning to see if he still wanted to do it and his comment to me was simply “of course” and “dress warm”. I figured what the hell, as it’s been a while since I trained outside and there was a time when I liked being out in the bitter cold. I dug out all of my cold weather gear and met Larry on my corner at our appointed time.

Larry took me for his two bridges run. This means heading down Flatbush Avenue to the Manhattan Bridge, followed by a short trip through Chinatown and back to Brooklyn over the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a bit windy at times, but spectacularly clear and sunny. In fact, when the sun was shining in my face I was practically blind from the glare and fog on the lenses of my eyeglasses. The bridges and streets were mostly deserted as I suppose everyone decided to stay indoors and avoid the cold temps. Here is a picture of us from the Manhattan Bridge looking south to the Brooklyn Bridge.

I guess I was dressed properly for the run, as I never felt cold during it. I always loved that feeling of being outdoors and properly protected so that you can’t feel the elements. It gives me the feeling of moving around in a spacesuit - Isolated from the elements but in the middle of them at the same time.

After returning to Brooklyn, we made our way back to Prospect Park by way of Bergen Street, 3rd Avenue and then 3rd Street. We made a left into the park and then ran out the Southwest exit over to McDonald Avenue and the Greenwood Cemetery. This served as the final leg to the run and one last long climb. Total stats for the run was 13 miles and 2 hours, 3 minutes.

My New Thing

2007-01-30T09:20:00.000-05:00

So I’ve got a new thing going for my training routine. Whenever my workout calls for a bike ride, I setup my computer right next to my bicycle so I can play online poker at www.fulltiltpoker.com while I ride. It is really working out for me. I’ve been able to achieve a higher heart rate while doing this than while ever watching a movie on TV. I guess the excitement of it is a constant thing unlike a movie which inevitably has slow and dull moments. I am not playing for real money, so no worries about me becoming a degenerate gambler. Playing for points is satisfying enough; but damn is it addictive. So now I am fueling two additions at the same time – training and gambling. Maybe I could somehow work sex into this equation and really reach nirvana.

Yesterday I blew off my 3 mile active recovery run and instead substitute about 90 minutes of ice skating with my kids at night. It was my son’s first grade school outing, so I took him and my daughter to the rink and skated amongst a bunch of 6 years old. It was a lot of fun. The night was cold and crisp with a light breeze. The air was sparkling clear and the lights in Prospect Park were twinkling beautifully. It was very heart warming to see a bunch of little kids all skating, sliding and falling with a rosy glow on their cheeks. My kids had a great time and didn’t want to leave the ice. My son is really starting to get the hang of ice skating and was off on his own for almost all of the night. Moments like last night serve as a reminder of how lucky I am.

Training Again

2007-01-28T21:43:00.000-05:00

I was able to combine two of the things I love to do this past Saturday when I started training again; riding my bicycle and player poker. I setup my computer at arms reach while I rode my bike on my indoor trainer. It worked out very well. I rode and played for about 45 minutes, after which time I started to feel tightness in my chest from the cold I am trying to get over, so I backed off and stopped. It was a thoroughly enjoyable session.

After the bike I took my kids for their swim lessons and I hit the weights while they were in the water. I had a strenuous 30 minute workout and finished a few minutes ahead of their lessons. Then it was back to home where I ate lunch and vegged out my couch for the rest of the day. No worries about the kids though, since my wife took them for some indoor soccer lessons.

This morning I decided to just do a run on my treadmill. I wasn’t sure how far I would get, but I felt very comfortable and kept going for over 90 minutes. I figured I would run for the length of time it took for the movie Cry Wolf to finish – a teenage slasher flick that was pretty good. I’d recommend it.

I think the worst of my cold is over and I hope to keep my two day streak of training alive tomorrow morning. I’ll just have to see how it goes.

Nothing to Report

2007-01-25T22:37:00.001-05:00

There has not been much to report, because I have not been doing much of anything. I’ve taken just about a week off to let this cold pass through my system. I finally got some antibiotics today, so I am hoping it will clear up in a day or two. I did ride this past Tuesday in my basement, a ride in which I felt good and strong. I really have to start training again. Maybe I’ll have something more to write once I do.

Being Alive

2007-01-21T16:45:00.000-05:00

I am still sick with icky green and yellow mucous coming out of me so I took another day off. Three days in a row and I am convinced that I am going to become fat and out of shape again. I can hear my inner couch potato jumping up and screaming for joy as I sit on the couch playing online poker at fulltiltpoker.com and watching the football games.

Actually, I wasn’t a complete couch potato today since I coached my son’s basketball team. I seem to get along well with the kids. Speaking of kids, I found myself pondering the reasons why I decided to have children. I think deep down I was too nervous not to have them. I guess it is some built in biological urge to procreate that drives most of us to spawn offspring. If I didn’t have children, I would be a biological failure right?

Life though as I’ve gotten older seems to have become more complicated and stressful. It bothers me to know that my children may someday be going through the same stresses and worries that I am going through now. It sort of makes me question the wisdom of bringing children into this world. I guess it all depends on whether you feel the awards of being alive outweigh the pains of being alive.

Subway Chronicles

2007-01-20T14:44:00.000-05:00

I am sick again so I took yesterday and today off from training. It feels nice to be able to just lie around and relax, although yesterday I really did feel like going out for a run while it was snowing. Today I am taking my kids to the pool, but there is no way I am going to swim while suffering from a head cold. It’s a shame really as I am starting to get back into swimming.

Since there is not much to report training wise, I figured it was time to post some commentary about my travels as of late on the subway. It appears that the MTA now has a policy of putting garbage bags on the outside of the garbage cans. I am not sure this is going to work out as you can see by this picture.

Also, the MTA is now allowing the homeless to move into the subway. Here you can see someone who has setup a nice sectional part of his sofa. It looks very cozy.

A Week of Work

2007-01-18T19:57:00.000-05:00

Its been a few days since I made a blog entry, so I figured I’d better post something. It had been a busy week, one in which I’ve gotten in all of my workouts. Well sort of. I had a crappy bike ride on the trainer today, which was so short that I’d hardly call it a workout. But other than that, I haven’t done so bad.

Monday was almost a washout. I thought I would be home early from a trip to my brother’s house on MLK day, but that is not how it turned out. I had the day off from work, but I was called so many times during the day, I may as well have gone to the office. By the time I got home, I was feeling defeated and exhausted. I was just at the point of bagging the idea of a run when my wife told me I should go. She was right. As soon as I started running I felt much better. I figured I would go out for an easy 3 miler, but felt so good I called her up and told her I would be home later than I told her. Now that I am worried about being accosted in the park, I make sure she knows my route and the approximate time I would be home.

Tuesday morning I got in an hour’s ride on the trainer and then headed out to the Hamptons for an overnighter. It turned out I didn’t need to stay overnight, but it was late by the time I was able to leave. Rather than deal with all of the traffic headed back towards the city, I went with a friend and coworker for a strength training session at a nearby gym. It was a good workout. I am starting to feel stronger again now that I am somewhat regularly doing strength training.

Wednesday morning I woke up a little late, but still had time to go out for a run. I wasn’t sure how far I was supposed to run and my computer was all screwed up so I couldn’t view my workout plan. I decided to just go out and run 6 miles. I felt really good and wanted to go longer; which turned out to be a source of annoyance, because when I finally got my computer to work, I saw I was scheduled for 8. Well, I guess the good thing is that I wanted more rather than wanting to do less.

I also got my swim in Wednesday night. I am starting to feel a bit faster in the water. Maybe though that is just in comparison to some of the people I’ve been swimming next to. I must be going at non-prime time swimming hours because some of the people in the pool when I go have to be seen to believed. Yesterday I swam next to a woman who looked like a baby orca and would absolutely freak out if I grazed her toes when I caught up to her; which was very regularly. Finally though she left and was replaced with this stunning looking girl in a hot looking triathlon two-piece bathing suit. Suddenly my swim was much more pleasant. She flowed through the water with such speed, grace and ease; a form at which I could only hope to one day reach.

Today as I mentioned was a washout. I was exhausted. I really need to stop staying up to watch CSI:NY so I can get enough sack time to do a decent morning workout. To be fair though, I did take an Ambien at 9:45, but it failed to put me to sleep. Or maybe it is just that I am coming down with a cold.

Training Well

2007-01-14T16:28:00.001-05:00

I’ve been training well over the past couple of days. Maybe I am starting to get back into the swing of things. On Saturday I was able to swim 2500 yards while my kids were busy with their swim lessons. According to my son’s instructor, he holds a lot of promise and should be an excellent swimmer. Hopefully I can hope for him to win a swimming scholarship to a prestigious college so I can save money on tuition and spend it instead on doing Ironman races around the world.

After swim lessons, my wife took the kids out to shop for clothes, so I got to ride around Prospect Park with my friend Larry. It was raining fairly steadily, but the temperature was warm and still too nice outside to pass up an opportunity for a middle of January bike ride. We rode in a small group for most of the time and the ride was uneventful and pleasant. Initially I felt that I went out overdressed and almost stopped to shed down some clothes. However, just as I was getting ready to stop a couple of riders caught up to us and Larry and I slipped behind their wheels for some paceline action. I didn’t want to stop to shed down, which ultimately turned out to be a blessing. I started to get chilled as the rain came steadily down. In total I rode just shy of 44 miles.

Today I ran a little over 10 miles on my own. I decided to get a little adventurous and ran outside of Prospect Park for a change. I started by going through the park and then out by the Ocean Parkway exit over to Fort Hamilton Parkway. I then took a right onto McDonald Avenue and ran along Greenwood Cemetery and up the steady climb back to Prospect Park West. I then went back in the park where I did a figure 8 along the transverses to get me to over 10 miles.

When I got home, I was annoyed to see that my workout today actually called for 15 miles. I was really running well today and would have liked to go longer. But by the time I realized I screwed up on the distance, it was too late in the morning and I had to get ready to take my son to basketball practice. I had fun running around with the kids for the duration of it and made up some further exercise later on by doing some strength training at the gym in the mid afternoon.

Accosted

2007-01-13T04:24:00.000-05:00

I was running with Larry in Prospect Park this past Wednesday and I got to talking with him about how much better it is to train in the city rather than in the suburbs. Here we were running around a perfectly paved road free of traffic under the cover of darkness. Those in the country don’t have that sort of luxury. We both agreed it is far more dangerous to be running on country roads with their blind turns than to be in a city park at night with plenty of other like minded people.

Well my confidence in that belief was somewhat shaken last night. I was running on my own down by the skating rink (sometimes known as the low rent section of the park) when several young punks started to approach me from an angle. As soon as I saw them I knew I was in for a bit of trouble. The leader of them came directly across the road, up from behind me and then paced me on my left hand side. He asked me for money, to which I replied excuse me (I was listening to my mp3 player). He asked me again and I told him I didn’t have any. He then replied “What if I hit you”. I could hear his friend laughing and running up to my right had side while this was happening.

I was glancing over my shoulder to see where his friend was (he was just about on top of me), when the leader called out to him “Yo Chill”. I am not sure what happened to make them suddenly stop and I just kept on running. Perhaps he didn’t like the look on my face or the fact that my demeanor didn’t change at all. I don’t think I changed my pace a bit during the entire time, but I was ready to start to make a break for it. I just wasn’t sure if I could outrun them. Fortunately I didn’t have to find out. Possibly they were just kids looking to horse around, but you wonder what type of parents bring up kids who think scaring people is a good time.

Besides thinking about how I was going to get out of the situation, I kept thinking about how my kids were waiting for me at home and how it would really be sub-optimal to get hurt while out for a run. What scared me even more was my daughter was a fraction of a second away from coming with me this evening and I had no idea how I would have handled the situation had she been with me.

I am really pissed off over this. Running is one of the ways I can relieve my stress and I enjoy my time being out in the park where I can let my thoughts and worries disappear. To have that solitude disturbed by several assholes is extremely disturbing. I am now worried about taking my kids out with me at night and resent having that pleasure taken away from me.

After the incident had passed, it took a while for me to pass anyone else in the park. I finally saw a single woman walking towards me into the direction of the incident. I stopped and warned her along with another male runner who happened to come up on me. Finally a Parks Department vehicle came up from behind me and I flagged it down. The people I warned must have already told the officers, because they already knew about the hooligans and were heading towards the area. At that point the alert was sent out and I saw several police vehicle enter the park.
This was not the way to end my week. Or perhaps it was a fitting ending to a crappy week. It seemed as though everything that could go wrong at work did. It was a stressful week and a stressful way to end it. At least in the end I had a good run and my legs felt great. I have a 3-day weekend now, thanks to MLK, so hopefully it will be restful and peaceful.

One Million Years BC

2007-01-11T11:58:00.000-05:00

Email to coach@slb-coaching.com

Neil -

I got in 7 miles last night with my friend Larry. It was a good run, we pushed the pace towards the end. I felt like I was breathing heavy throughout it, but that could be because I am not used to breathing in the cold air.

This morning, according to my HR, I rode easily. It didn't feel easy though. I struggled through an hour on the trainer while watching Raquel Welch in One Million Years BC. It came out in 1966, which means I waited 40 years to see this movie. I don't think I stuggled because of the movie, if anything, the hour I watched of it got me through it.

I am going to the pool this evening, to make up for yesterday, skipping it tomorrow and will swim again on Saturday while my kids have swim lessons.

Winter, its the New Summer

2007-01-07T17:08:00.000-05:00

Winter is the new Summer, at least according to the temperatures as of late. It was over 70 degrees on Saturday, which made me actually feel hot. For the hell of it I took my son outside with his magnifying glass to see if we could light a piece of paper on fire.

Unfortunately it was raining Saturday morning so instead of riding in the warm summer temps, I rode on my trainer in the basement. I didn’t have time in the afternoon after it cleared up since I was having company over the house and I needed to get the place cleaned up and ready. Besides riding, I also got in a swim at the Dodge YMCA while my kids took their swim lessons. The pool was really crowded at this time and only two lanes were open for lap swimming. Both of them were filled with swimmers that moved with a zombie like pace. It wasn’t the optimal situation for a swim workout, but at least I got it in. I did spend some time with my son outside throwing a ball around, including trying to throw it over our roof from the front of the house to the back. On one of the throws, the ball didn’t make it over, necessitating a trip onto the roof. The roof was bathed by the full force of the sun and it was literally hot on it.

Today I ran with my friend Larry down to the Red Hook track. We wanted to recalibrate our Polar 625x heart rate monitors. It was nice to venture out of Prospect Park once again. To test our calibration procedures, we ran 1600 meters to first see how inaccurate it was, then 1600 to calibrate it and the 2x1600 to test the accuracy – once in miles and the other in meters. The calibrated distance was a few hundredths off what it should have been. I am going to blame that on not running exactly along the lines on which a 400 meter track is measured.

We finished running by 11am and then it was off to my son’s basketball practice. The head coach for our basketball team could not make it today and the other coaches looked to me to start leading off the practice. I guess they felt that since I am into Triathlon, I would be good with warming up exercises, stretching and calisthenics. I haven’t warmed up or stretched before a workout in years and the last time I did calisthenics I was 10 years old. Hopefully our head coach will be back next week, because if these kids need to rely on me to teach them how to play basketball, they are going to be some terrible basketball players.

That’s it for the day. My wife took the kids to a roller skating birthday party and I got to sit at home with my in-laws watching the NY Jets lose to the NE Patriots. My in-laws are over for some reason today cooking a turkey in my oven. I have no idea why.

I Feel a Little Better

2007-01-05T20:05:00.000-05:00

I feel a little better; mentally. I got in a 6 mile run on this balmy January evening. It’s incredible that the temperature is 61 degrees and I am running at night in shorts and a short sleeve shirt. I’ve seen summer nights cooler than this.

My stomach and guts are still absolutely killing me. I think I may just give up food. It seems I only have stomach and GI problems after I eat. If I give up food, I reason that the pain will just go away. I’ve been to a doctor to have my issues checked out. They scoped me from top and bottom and found nothing wrong. I think not eating may be the best course of action.

Well maybe not entirely stop eating. Perhaps I can try a liquid diet. I can probably subsist on Ensure, Pedialyte and other liquid meals. Maybe I just don’t like solid food. If I give up solid food I won’t have to worry about getting bits of food stuck in my teeth and I can give up flossing. I always hated to floss.

Stopped Boulder

2007-01-05T10:44:00.000-05:00

I so blew it today. I refused to get out of bed when my alarm clock went off. I kept telling myself that I didn’t want to go for a run and that all I wanted to do was sleep. That is what I wanted to do at the time, but I am so regretting it now. I finally did pull myself out of bed, but then I took my sweet time getting ready. By the time I was finally ready to get out the door, it was almost 7am. My kids’ school had Parents as Reading Partners today, so if I wanted to go to that it was too late to get in a run and be able to get ready in time.

I asked my daughter if she wanted to go for a run with me this evening and she said she would. Hopefully I will get that in. However, it is supposed to rain all day starting late morning and I doubt this will happen. It was beautiful outside this morning. 60 degrees and calm in the middle of January – perfect weather for a run. I am on the train now to work and the only thing I can think of was the fact I should have done my run. I would be feeling so much better now if I had gone. Right now I am feeling depressed and anxious. I haven’t done anything in 3 days now. I’ve been suffering from a bit of a stomach virus since Wednesday morning so I took the last two days off. Today will make 3 if I don’t get in my run tonight. My stomach is still bothering me though, so who knows how I will feel tonight. If it keeps feeling like this I am going to leave work early.

I don’t know what it is with me lately. I don’t know why I am struggling to get out. I am like a gigantic boulder that has stopped rolling. It is so hard to get it moving again and gathering momentum. It takes such energy to get it moving that it seems impossible. Once I get the momentum going though, I know it will be easy to continue. I just can’t seem to gather it.

New Year’s Day 2007

2007-01-03T11:58:00.000-05:00

I had my best run of the year today. I can say that, because that is the most applicable way to describe it. It was really very good otherwise I might have described it as the worst run of the year. I ran with Larry around Greenwood Cemetery and then back through Prospect Park. It was raining, but the temperature was mild and the conditions were quite pleasant despite the rain. This is the second New Year’s Day in a row I ran with Larry, which is the start of an annual tradition as far as I am concerned.

I wasn’t sure how far I wanted to go this morning, but as we crept up on 6 miles, I definitely felt like going longer. However, we were both doing the annual Polar Bear New Year’s Day dip, so we had to go home to get ready for that. I really couldn’t believe that I was going to do it, especially since I’ve been having such trouble with the cold. However, Larry’s wife Kathleen promised her famous Hot Toddy’s and Chili back at their house for all dippers. It was something that is far as I am concerned is worth the suffering of a little cold water.

As a special treat, my daughter decided to come with me. I was very happy to have her along to watch the spectacle. I figure if she comes to enough of these events, she is eventually going to want to do one. Today she was the official event photographer. It was just fun having her with me and laughing at all of the funnily dressed people. We got a picture of ourselves with King Triton.

While we waiting around for the dip to begin we threw a football around the beach. I hadn’t done that in a very long time. It was just a lot of fun to be hanging on the beach with a bunch of friends. The fact that it was the dead of winter and we were about to plunge into the cold Atlantic made it all the better.

When the time came to go in the water, everyone ran at the same time and took the icy plunge. Everyone was yelling, screaming and splashing. I am not sure how I did it, but I got in and dunked my head underwater. Everyone from our group did not just one time, but three. My daughter was waiting for me every time I came out of the water laughing, smiling and taking pictures.

After three times of plunging into the water, we dried off, dressed and set to cleaning up our little beach campsite. We didn’t hang around much longer after that and headed back to Larry and Kathleen’s house for post dip festivities. The Hot Toddy and Chili was everything it promised to be. A perfect way to warm up after the cold swim. I was content to stay there all afternoon, but I soon had to leave for New Year’s dinner at my in-laws. It was a busy day and a good start to the New Year.

Last Week of 2006

2006-12-29T22:09:00.000-05:00

It is much easier being a triathlete when you don’t have to work a job. I’ve taken the last two days off and I find getting in my workouts to be much easier. I can sleep in if I want to and get out the door at my leisure. Then I can come home, eat, nap and then do a second workout if it is called for. It is such a better routine than swimming, biking and running before 8am in the morning.

I’ve started to strength train again. It feels good to begin building back some strength and I am somewhat reassured in my fitness when I realized I hadn’t lost as my physical strength as I feared. The first time was this past Tuesday. I went to the Dodge Y with my kids who said they would wait for me to weight train after we first went to the pool. The kids had a fun time swimming after and diving for their Water Toypedos. They would race to see he could return the most the fastest. It was a good way for them to build up their swimming endurance. After the pool, my daughter read a book and my son followed me around the gym while I did a quick 25 minutes weight training session.

On Wednesday, I went for a 6am run. The most memorable thing about it was that I was back in my house and back in my bed before 7am. I was able to sleep for another half hour before I had to get up for work. It was like the run never happened and if not for the file I downloaded from my Polar Heart Rate monitor I may not have believed I actually did a run. I also swam on Wednesday evening; a relatively relaxed 2300 yards.

Thursday morning was a trainer ride in my basement. I am liking riding my bike in the basement as opposed to dressing warm for an outdoor ride. I am able to space out and watch a movie, instead of dealing with the cold. Not that it has been cold around here lately, but it was chilly enough that I didn’t feel like dealing with bundling up. Later in the day I met my friend Chris at the Y for my second strength training session of the week. We did dumbbell press on a stability ball, one-arm dumbbell rows, leg press and abs.

Today I did another morning run. I asked my daughter if she wanted to come with me, but she wanted to sleep a little longer and said she would go to the pool with me later. I ate breakfast afterwards and hung around the house for a while. Then it was off to the pool, where my kids played in the water on their own while I swam 2000 yards. We got home a little after 2pm. My kids had snacks and watched some TV, and I did some chores around the house. After a while I cajoled my kids to go back outside. It was too nice outside to let the remainder of the afternoon pass by indoors watching TV. My wife felt I should just let them sit around, but there is something about wasting the time away watching TV when it is nice outside that just drives me crazy.

Xmas 2006

2006-12-25T15:41:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve

I was supposed to do a 12 mile run today, but I just wasn’t feeling it. My HR wasn’t getting to where it should be and I suspect I am just a bit tired from staying up too late and biking and swimming. I went swimming yesterday for the second day in a row. It wasn’t far, only 500 yards, but the two days in a row combined make it a lot more than I have been used to. I was able to get that swim in while my kids played in the family recreation lane at the Dodge YMCA. I took them to the pool for a swimming evaluation for determination of which swimming class they can take in January. So far I am making the most of my membership.

So instead of suffering through a slow and painful 12 miles, I went home to grill vegetables for the xmas eve party we throw every year. It’s nice sitting by a warm grill drinking a beer and listening to my Ipod. Add in wireless internet access and I am feeling no pain. All I needed perhaps was a football game on the radio but it was still before noon.

I noticed that I have love handle starting to develop again. If the sight of that is not enough to get me back into training, I don’t know what is. It is pretty scary looking. I’ve grown accustomed to the svelte mal-nourished look. Actually, I never felt I looked mal-nourished, but that is what some of my friends have told me in the past.

Christmas Day

Well I am making like Santa today and taking the day off. It was too much fun watching my kids open their presents and I just wanted to be with them all morning. Both my kids still believe in Santa Claus. I am starting to feel funny that they still do, but on the other hand there is something about their innocence that just melts my heart. I want it to last as long as it can.

My son got a Rubik’s cube and both of my kids got MP3 players. My son wanted Rock and Roll on his and when I asked my wife what I should put on it, he replied that he wants all of it. I don’t think his MP3 player has that sort of capacity.

It is a lofty responsibility deciding on what music to put on your children’s Ipods. Where do you begin? I have a decent library of music, but I am clueless as to what is appropriate. Is it ok to give my son Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Metallica and Judas Priest? I am also without a clue when it comes to current music. Any recommendations would be appreciated. My parents didn’t have to go through this. I need a teenager to help me. Damn I am getting old.

At least I am not so old that I am too dense to figure out the Rubik’s cube. Once I figured out the instructions, it was a snap.

So far this xmas has been easy. Like right now, I am sitting in my car with my wife driving on the way to her aunt’s house. I get to relax and work on my blog (posting too, technology can be cool). Hopefully there will be no traffic when I have to drive home later.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

2006-12-22T23:33:00.000-05:00

There is a demolition site along 56th Street in Manhattan that I pass everyday on the way to my office. As they tore the building, this funky painting of a mushroom was revealed. But now it is gone.

Hard Swim

2006-12-22T23:30:00.000-05:00

I had the hardest swim workout today. It wasn’t hard in the sense that I went at it very hard; it was hard in the sense that it was difficult to do. I guess that is what happens when you don’t swim in almost 2.5 months; you lose all of your swimming fitness. I have to make sure I don’t take such a long layoff again. I feel like I am starting at the beginning. It was such a struggle just to get in the first 500 yards. At least after that point I started to feel a little better and swam a total of 1500 yards in a dismal 30 minutes. I also ran 6 miles earlier this morning, so today marks the first day I've done a run/swim combo in quite some time.

Getting back in the pool though was a major accomplishment. Perhaps I am back on the righteous path. I went to the Dodge YMCA, which is close enough to my house to make the commute to it painless. I had to sign up as a new member and the process was quick and painless. The front desk was even kind enough to lend me a lock since I forgot mine at home. It was a 4 digit combination lock and I was able to go to a locker which had the exact same number. This was very convenient and scary. Convenient because I didn’t have to remember the combination and scary because when I opened that locker door, there happened to be a young boy hiding in it. It was just pure coincidence and the kid got a real kick out of how badly he startled me.

This past Wednesday night, I did another run/ride with my daughter. I think we had our best conversation of all the times we’ve gone out together. We were just talking about life, memory, dreams and desires. Perhaps one day we will both talk about the guy we saw walking a white dog near a red stop light. It was a warm conversation which flowed naturally and easily. It made the run pass very quickly, which was a good thing because her small hands and toes were very cold by the time we got home. When we got back into the house, she wrapped herself in her Yankee blanket, lounged on a chair with footrest and drank a cup of hot tea. It all seemed so adult like, except for the fact that we watched Spongebob while she warmed up; but then again I know many an adult that likes Spongebob.

Ravings and Rantings

2006-12-20T14:12:00.000-05:00

I hate the building in which I have to work everyday. It is completely ugly and depressing. Everything about it is geared to make you miserable. Outer offices are plagued by the incessant noise from the street below and the internal offices, like mine have windows that face inside the block and are surrounded by all of the buildings around it. You would never know if it was sunny or cloudy outside even if you could see through the grime encrusted windows. Actually, I don’t even have windows that face this middle of the block limbo, but rather a window that looks out onto the seating area that has a view if it.

Now that it is winter and the heat is on, we get an extra special bonus for working in this building – static electricity. The building is plagued with it. You can’t touch a metal surface without getting zapped. I can be feet away from something metal and the built up charge will arc over that distance giving you a zap worthy of bringing Frankenstein to life. The elevators are such a pleasure. They have the heat sensitive buttons and only activate by the tough of your bare skin. In other words, if you are wearing gloves you must take them off in order to press the button for your floor, thereby guaranteeing a shock as soon as you walk into the building.

At least things in my area of the building are getting interesting. They are demolishing the building next door, so I am treated to the incessant pounding of jackhammers as they slowly knock the building down. And when I say next door, I mean it. The building is right up against the wall of my office. My desk vibrates from all of the noise. Just beyond my office are windows that overlook the deconstruction site. We setup a “demo” cam to broadcast the demolition to our computer monitors. At least I can see my tormentors. Maybe one day my wall will accidentally be knocked away and I’ll be left sitting there overlooking a gapping chasm.

The building even tortures you in the bathroom. There is absolutely no ventilation causing the men’s room to stink all the time of everyone’s dumps. It can be quite putrefying and petrifying at times. Today while taking a dump a building maintenance worker peaked over the top of the stall door to hand me a roll of toilet paper. I was sitting there all comfortable reading a book and listening to my iPod when he scared the crap out of me. Why he felt I needed toilet paper I am not sure since there were already 5 rolls inside the stall.

While I am on a bitching and moaning fest, I may as well make a comment about the new Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0. I don’t know if it is possible for Microsoft to make a bigger piece of shit. The menu bars are all fucked up and can’t be placed in any sort of configuration that makes sense. Plus all of the commands and toolbars are located differently causing you to have to go through a big learning curve to figure it all out. If you are thinking of upgrading don’t or go to Firefox if you want that tabbed browsing feature.

Maybe I am irritable because I didn’t work out this morning. I am still having trouble getting up early in the morning. Most likely because I have been watching too much TV at night. After watching several weeks of CSI (various versions), Law and Order, etc, I think I have had enough. The shows are really nothing so good that I should be getting to bed late and blowing off working out. It is time I started to focus again and get back into my old routines. I think I’ll be much happier once I do.

Legs

2006-12-19T17:01:00.000-05:00

F Train - 9am.

Succumbed to the Holidays

2006-12-19T10:32:00.000-05:00

I’ve been out late for the last few nights in a row, making it impossible to wake up in time for a workout. Truth is though I am being a little lazy; at least that is what I tell myself when I start skipping workouts. The current streak started Sunday when I let myself sleep too late to get in a full workout on Sunday. We were at a Hanukkah celebration Saturday night and I got in late. Then after a birthday party on Sunday, I totally blew off going to the pool on Monday morning because I felt I needed more sleep. Top that off with a holiday party Monday night and I am working on two days without any significant workouts. I of course slept in this morning, so if I don’t get something in tonight, I fear I will blow back up to a big fat slob before New Years. I am already finding I have to let my belt out a notch.

I can’t let that happen though. I’ve now fully committed myself to doing Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon on June 3. TriCalifornia got their act together and sent me a corrected link to register, plus refunded my money for the mistakenly registered Wildflower. I even booked a hotel room and the economical rate of $104 per night only about 5 blocks away from the transition area. Now I just need to pay for airfare.

Alcatraz is all about the swim. How many times in a lifetime do you get to swim from the Rock like a convict trying to escape the place? 55 degree water, choppy, full of currents and sharks; sounds like fun. I want my family to go with me, but right now my wife is objecting to that notion. She doesn’t know it yet, but she doesn’t have a choice and is going. The trip will be an experience for me and the kids. I don’t want anyone to miss it. I think it would be a crime to do so, just in the name of saving a few bucks. It’s a life experience and as far as I am concerned you need to take every good one that gives you.

So all this being said, I need to start swimming again. I am completely out of swim shape. I probably couldn’t do a lap around my bathtub right now. I bet I can probably float real well from all the extra weight I put on. Ok… from this point forward, I am going to think swim. I am a swimmer; I am one with the pool. I am not cold all of the time and the water will feel refreshing. There is nothing like positive thoughts to kick start your motivation.

Lucky Day

2006-12-16T16:43:00.000-05:00

I’ve forgotten what it is like to suffer because you are pushing very hard in a race. I haven’t done so in a very long time. Yeah, I’ve done a lot of long stuff, but never at an intensity that brings about that suffering feeling. I am not used to it anymore. Today was the first time I've pushed myself hard throughout an entire race in quite some time. It yielded my first sub 7 minute mile pace in almost 3 years. It's nice to know I can still have it in me.

For my pain, I was able to set a PR for the 10 mile distance and a PR for my Age Graded percentage. According to NYRR I ran at a 67.7% level which is the best I’ve ever done. I guess this means that I am in the best shape that I have ever been in, but I really can’t go by that since I haven’t “raced” a NYRR race in quite some time. Perhaps I was stronger in the past, but never knew about it. My finish time for the race was 1:09:13 which took over 2 minutes off my former PR.

Today was another spectacularly warm and sunny December day. I wasn’t even cold before the start and I was able to shed all of my warmer layers of clothes. I ran in shorts and lightweight long sleeve top. I even ditched my gloves although my hands were still a bit cold throughout. The only downside to this warm weather is the lack of snow to go sledding with the kids. However, it does make it great for racing, running and biking.

On other good news I just found out that I am the winner of a lottery entry spot into the 2007 Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. I am shocked, awed, dismayed and excited all at the same time. I understand that it is very hard to get into this race and I am not going to pass up an opportunity to do it. The only downside to the race is that it is exactly 1 week before the Eagleman Half Ironman. I don’t know if I can justify to myself disappearing for two weekends in a row from my family to go race. Maybe I can get them to come to San Francisco with me.

I was so excited about winning an entry through the lottery, that I immediately followed the link I received in the email to sign up. It wasn’t until I paid and completed the entry process that I noticed that the race it said I was signing up for was the Wildflower Triathlon on May 6. Hopefully they will straighten this little problem up soon or I guess I will have a conversation with my credit card company.

Speaking of age grading I was watching TV after I got home today and saw a commercial for The Heritage Plan; a Funeral Pre-Planning product offered by some life insurance company. They are looking for people born through 1966. It’s nice to know I qualify for something else today as well.

September in December

2006-12-15T10:32:00.000-05:00

I am struggling again to get myself to work out. So far I’ve been successful in getting myself out of the door, but it has been difficult. It is much easier when I have someone to go out with me. That is what got me outside last night. Larry called to see if I was up for a run. I told him I was but asked if he might not like to go for a ride instead. He asked me if a ride was my preference, to which I replied it wasn’t, but a ride is what I had scheduled for this day. The weather was nice and warm, perfect for an evening ride, so I think that is what convinced Larry to want to ride over a run.

The weather has been fantastic or crazy, depending on your point of view. It is the middle of December and the temperature yesterday afternoon was 60 degrees. I was walking around Madison Avenue around 3pm and based on the mild conditions, you could have sworn it was just September rolling around. When I left my office around 5:30pm, I was kind of surprised to see it do dark outside. The lack of sunlight didn’t jibe with the warm temps and September feel to the day.

Riding in Prospect Park last night was like riding on country roads during a cool summer’s evening in the country. There was dense fog throughout the park, give the whole place a ghostly feel to it. The air was completely still and hardly anyone was outside. I would have thought on such a calm and warm night more people would have been outside. Perhaps they are all at various Holiday parties.

I am supposed to get into the pool twice this week. That is definitely not happening. I can manage to begin riding, but the thought of going to a pool is too painful just now. I suppose that once I go, I’ll feel much better and glad I went. Maybe I’ll psych myself up for it over the weekend and schedule a couple of days next week.

Omega Man

2006-12-13T10:47:00.000-05:00

Omega Man, the Charlton Heston classic about a doctor in Los Angeles who is one of the few survivors on Earth after biological warfare and must protect a life-saving serum while repelling mutant attacks was on TV this morning. I was unlikely to see something so good in Prospect Park, so I elected to run on the treadmill and watch it while running.

After my run, I notice from my Polar file, it was very hilly. My basement must be l undergoing a gravitational flux, causing my elevation level to change in great leaps and bounds. My Polar file says that through it all I ascended 400 feet. Hopefully this will continue, because doing hill training indoors through the winter is something I can get used to.