A Day in the Life

I gotz some mad mechanical skillz.....

2012-01-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

Well, maybe not great skills, but I managed to actually do something and not totally screw it up. When it comes to fixing things on my bikes, I leave it to the trained professionals at my local bike shop. Once or twice when I've tried to fix things, it goes horribly wrong and I do the "walk-of-shame" into the shop with my tail between my legs, begging for forgiveness.

I recently got a new trainer for my bike to help me get through the winter months. It's the LeMond Revolution trainer and I ordered it with a Shimano rear cassette. When I put my trainer bike on it, I noticed when I dropped into my 14-13 or smaller cassette, the chain would skip like crazy. I had the Wingman play with the barrel adjuster while I pedaled, but it didn't seem to do the trick. So I started to think about what else would be wrong. Then, it came to me. The cassette that came with the trainer was a 10 speed. The groupset on my bike is a cheap 9 speed (normally I own 10 speeds). A-ha!! All I have to do is swap the cassette. Easy peasy, right? Well sure, if you are mechanically inclined.

Wingman suggested we go to the bike shop and let them do it. I resisted the suggestion and wanted to see if I could do it myself. I mean seriously, am I that big of a jackass? (sadly the answer is usually yes). It wasn't like it's an expensive part that I could break and be pissed. So I went to Youtube and found tons of videos on how to change the cassette. Now I needed the tools. A chain whip is ~$30 and I'm not sure what the locking tool would cost. So I emailed Wynn and asked him if he had the tools. He replied yes and that it was OK for me to borrow them.

I stopped by last night after work and picked them up. He gave me a few tips and basically told me ~~'don't be a moron'~~ I would be fine. Clearly, he forgot that I am known as the 'Hero of the Stupid' in these parts.

This morning I got up and watched the video two more times. Then it was time to head downstairs and make it happen. I followed the directions carefully and took my time. Before I knew it the cassette was off the wheel and the trainer. I swapped it out and put the bike back on the trainer. I popped on my shoes and did a quick test spin. I must have been quite the sight in my pj's riding the bike. The bike shifted smoothly, no chain skipping. I now have all gears available to me again.

It really was an easy thing to do. Hardest part about the whole thing really was duplicating the man's accent as I worked:

No walk of shame for me this time..............

Getting the work done

2012-01-15T20:55:00.001-05:00

For the first time since September, I'm back in the pool. I meant to swim with the local tri club on Tuesday night, but I was overwhelmed with evaluations and fell behind on my documentation. I wound up bringing stuff home to type which pisses me off to no end. I would love to leave my work at work, but when my schedule gets loaded up and a patient doesn't shut up, then I lose time. So my pool entry was delayed until Thursday. And I looked and felt like someone that hasn't been in water in ~4 months. My 100 times were so slooooowww. I had my workout scribbled on a piece of paper in a ziplock bag and I ticked off each set on the list. Before I knew it, the workout was over. And I had that horrible feeling of weighted arms. It wasn't a hard or long workout, but it still wore me down a little. The Wingman was in another lane practicing his drills. Once we were both done we headed home and I went right to sleep. I had a long day Friday.

Friday morning I had to head to a different office to cover for another PT that was off for the day. It was a slow day, which I didn't mind for a change. Then I had to head to the tax office for my 2nd job. It was a good 12 hour day for me. I headed home to spend a little time with the Wingman and then get to bed early.

Saturday was a pretty windy day. I had two choices for my ride - stick to my schedule and do an easy 90 minute ride on the trainer, or head into the trails with the Wingman, Wynn, and Teresa on a MTB ride that would be anything but short and easy. I opted to stay home and ride the trainer. I missed riding with the group, but I'm glad I got my workout in. I really want to stick to the plan this year and not go too hard, too fast, too early in the season. One of my goals is to not burn out or get injured before the end of my season. Saturday night we headed over to Ian and Joan's for dinner. Wynn and Teresa were also there. As always, we had a great time and laughed a lot.

Today I had a long run scheduled, but the wind was not going to cooperate. I opted for the treadmill instead. I loaded up my iPad with a few training podcasts and fired up the treadmill. I had an hour fifteen to knock out. About half way through, the moment I was waiting for occurred. That wonderful runners high. It's a great moment when I feel it take full effect. There is an amazing disconnect between my upper and lower body and my brain says "hmm, the legs are moving, I don't know how it's happening, and I can't feel them going, but they're going." I'm on auto-pilot until the workout is done. Once it was done I felt good that I banged it out.

I'm sure by now Jen can tell when it's been a good workout for me. I log my workout data in Training Peaks, I usually put in a post-workout comment to let her know how the workout went and how I am feeling. When I'm in the full effect of a workout high, my comments are probably quite bizarre. I either have a funny/strange comment or I call her various names.........all good of course.......... ;-)

What goes through my head

2012-01-07T21:51:00.000-05:00

At any point in time, I am always in thought. For some reason, I just can't shut down my brain. It comes in handy at work where I can listen and think at the same time. But sometimes I would like to enjoy some quiet time and relax but I have yet to figure out how to do this.

When I go out and exercise, especially running, many things go through my head. Sometimes I create lists of things I need to do or I sort through problems. Other times weird shit enters my thoughts and then I am trapped. A conversation I had with Dolores a few years ago popped into my head. It was a Saturday during tax season and somehow we got on the topic of the song "Cracklin' Rosie" by Neil Diamond. I was telling her it sounded like some hooker:

Cracklin' Rosie get on board

We're gonna ride 'til there ain't no more to go

Takin it slow

Cracklin' Rosie make me smile

God if it lasts for an hour, that's all right

We got all night

So we spent a good deal of time analyzing the lyrics and convincing ourselves it was about a hooker. But we were stumped by the part where he calls her a 'store bought woman'. So we consulted with my mother, who is all things Neil Diamond, and she informed us that Cracklin' Rosie was not a hooker, but wine. Needless to say we were crushed. We preferred our version of the song.

So now my problem was despite listening to my iPod on the run, all I could hear was Cracklin' Rosie in my head. And it was in my head all day.

Play it now. Play it now.

Play it now my baby.....

We were so fortunate with the weather today. It was almost 60 degrees out. I was supposed to ride, but with the Wingman's swim lesson, we juggled the workouts so he could ride with me tomorrow. I went out and ran long today. I'm doing a better job on the long easy runs of just sitting back and trying to go easy. I don't bother with the GPS watch. I pick a route that will cover the time goal that is set for me. It's not even about mileage. Just get the time in so the fitness builds up.

Tomorrow the Wingman and I will be busting out the mountain bikes and riding some double track trails with Wynn & Teresa. Wynn assures us it will be challenging with hill climbing. I dug out my GoPro video camera so hopefully I will get some good footage of the ride.

Riding in the New Year

2012-01-02T09:14:00.000-05:00

To celebrate the new year (and fantastic weather), the Wingman and I headed over to Wynn & Teresa's house for a 2 hour 'social' ride. Unfortunately Joan is battling a cold so she and Ian had to sit this one out. We use the term 'social' for some rides so there is an understanding that the pace will be easy and we stay together as a group. We had a rough route planned out that was a loop starting and ending in Manorville, that rode through Northampton, Westhampton Beach, Remsenberg, and Easport before finishing up.

The weather was unbelievable. I had a few lighter layers on with some toe covers. My gloves were stripped off within 20 minutes of starting the ride. When we got to the golf course road, we were greeted by a locked fence. So we did what any reasonable cyclist would do. We passed bikes over the fence and then climbed over. Then we did the same when we got to the other end. Except this time we walked around the end of the fence to get out onto the road. As we headed south I could feel the wind picking up a little. The route was planned so we would ride into the wind heading out and then get some tailwind on the way home. Once we were south of Montauk Hwy, we stayed on side roads to get some shelter from the wind. There were many times we had no idea where to turn, but it didn't matter. We were just out to enjoy the day.

I brought the camera along to snap a few 'in ride' photos. Sorry if some are a little blurry, hard to get good shots while riding.

Wynn & Teresa on the golf course road

The ever lovable Wingman

Road as far as the eye can see

Wynn & Teresa

Teresa with the guys up ahead

The views are easy on the eyes

Teresa and my sweet Reynolds wheel......

I couldn't think of a better way to ring in the new year (except if Ian and Joan came along) than with a bike ride with friends. Afterwards we had a little chili and conversation at W&T's. Then we bid them farewell and let them continue to recover from their NY party the night before. Next weekend we plan on getting out for another spin.

The Winter of my Discontent

2011-12-30T22:38:00.000-05:00

I've been reading a quote from the commencement speech Steve Jobs gave at Stanford University back in 2005. It's been in my head for ~2 weeks now.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

The end of 2011 is approaching and I've been looking back on the year. It was quite a wild ride for me. My coursework was finished at the end of 2010 and the first 6 months was filled with clinical work. I was fortunate enough to spend 4 months with an excellent instructor learning not only about how to improve my skills, but how to sell myself and my services to patients. There are many facilities out there and they can go anywhere so you have to make yourself stand apart from the rest. It was really good information and I try to apply it each day. Upon graduation I started work and studied for my boards. I passed them in September and what a relief it was. Now I was able to focus on improving my skills as a therapist. I read the latest research and try to become an efficient clinician. Most insurance companies don't approve a lot of visits so you have to maximize what you do in a short period of time. It's a good challenge and I've had some great patients to work with.

But there is a necessary evil to the business as well. You aren't always going to work with your 'ideal' patient population. You have to take the bad with the good to pay your salary. For me, the geriatric population is the bad. Once 2012 rolls in, so will they. It's a whole new year for their insurance. I have looked at my schedule for next week and it is chock full of them coming for their evaluations. I'm not looking forward to it. I will evaluate them with the same level of attention that I evaluate my younger patients with, but deep down I will not be happy. It's lead me to think about the quote above and sadly there have been quite a few "no" mornings lately. I was up at 3a the other morning and having difficulty falling back asleep. My head was full of thoughts about what do I want from my career and what can I do to put myself in a position to make myself happier and get more enjoyment from my work. I jotted some notes down and went back to sleep. This weekend I will flip through those notes and see what I can do to change in order to make my mornings a "Yes" morning.

Why I do what I do

2011-12-27T21:25:00.000-05:00

Saw a great quote about triathlon in a book I was reading. When I tell people about the distances I race, many of them just don't get it. It's all about finding out how far I can push myself and finding what my limit is and how to push through.

"The magnitude of the satisfaction that a triathlete experiences

upon crossing a finish line is directly proportional

to the amount of suffering he has to overcome to get there."

Time Management skills

2011-12-27T21:04:00.000-05:00

Time management is something that everyone can always improve upon. If you don't carefully look at how you spend time, you may wind up wasting it and coming up short on getting things done because you ran out of time. I have two areas that I focus on - work and home. At work, my schedule is usually jam packed. I usually get 30 minutes to treat a patient and a full hour to evaluate a new patient. In that time I have to also write up my documentation. An eval takes a little longer to write than a regular treatment note. An an eval can go south very quickly if you don't keep the patient on track. For some reason some patients think that my treatment table is like a psychiatrist's chair and will tell me everything I don't need to know. It's these people that I will cutoff (politely) and redirect them to give me information that I need. If that doesn't work, I start my physical exam quickly and then ask questions as I go along. Many patients cannot multitask and talk while they do things so it keeps the excess conversation down. Win-Win. I get the info I need, they get a diagnosis quickly. Hopefully there's time left to write the note. Otherwise, I sneak time throughout the day to type my notes.

I've been doing better getting my evals typed before I go home. Tomorrow will be a challenge. They crammed in 5 evals into my schedule and one was squeezed into part of my lunch hour. As soon as I saw it I went to the receptionist and demanded my hour for lunch. I need that time to eat, catch up on paperwork, and get out of the office to decompress. She was able to adjust the schedule for me. Phew.

When it comes to time management at home, this is a challenge. I work 40 hours a week and when you add in my commute, it comes out to ~50 hours a week dedicated to work. I will use the time in the car to listen to podcasts on training and racing. I am trying to find more time between workouts and working to study for my CSCS exam. I have my weekends to study, but I also need to spend time during the week studying as well.

I've cut down my TV watching dramatically. I will watch TV during my early morning workouts. I get up either at 5a or 6a (depending upon my start time at work) and try to workout before work. Then I shower, eat and then drive ~50 minutes to work. The earliest I get home at night is usually 6p 3 nights a week, the other two is 8p so trying to workout at night is tough. The night workouts are dedicated to swimming. It's been a struggle trying to fit it all in. I want to have a good balance of a life and work. It's a work in progress and hopefully I will find that balance soon.

Finally following orders

2011-12-20T13:41:00.000-05:00

I remember a conversation I had with Ian ~2 weeks ago. He mentioned the training of a world class runner and the 'easy' run pace and how much slower it was than the race pace. It got me thinking about what I do when I run easy/tempo/intervals etc. I am sure I'm not the only guilty party here, but I don't run my easy efforts slow enough. I was always afraid of slipping back into being slow so I would make sure I would hit a certain average for my easy runs. I am sure it was too fast, too much intensity for 'easy'.

I was sick all last week so I have not run in a week. I had a run scheduled for this morning, an 'easy 4 miler'. Wingman came along with me. I told him this was going to be an easy effort and that I was not going to run faster than a certain pace. There was a goal to this workout (as with all workouts) and by golly I was going to nail it. So out we went. With the wind. Big mistake. Basically the route was an out and back route. Of course this meant I would be running two miles back into the wind to get home. And it was windy.

Wingman ran alongside me and when a car was approaching, he would tuck in behind me and run single file until it was clear again. I kept the pace easy, staying true to the goal of the workout. Despite the headwinds, I kept the effort easy by dropping my pace. The feeling I had was I could run that pace all day long so I knew I nailed it.

When we turned back into our development, Wingman did some pickups. I opted to stay back and run my workout. In the past I would have been tempted to chase him down, but that would defeat my workout. Craig Alexander discussed this in a podcast I've listened to a few times already. Working out with a group is good, but don't lose sight of your workout goals. This is going to be crucial for me heading into the new year. My off days will be few and far between so I need to make sure my easy efforts really are easy. If not, my season will come to a screeching halt very quickly.

Where do I begin...........

2011-12-18T15:17:00.000-05:00

So for the 2nd time in a month, I came down with a cold. I am sure a patient came in sick and I got it from them. I wish people would stay home when they are sick. Now they come in, get me sick, and in turn I am sure I made a few other patients sick. And the winter cycle begins. I think I need to look into working part-time ;-) (May-October). I missed all my workouts this week. I felt too crappy to even try to workout. All I could muster was walking on the treadmill. I had two vacation days I had to use-or-lose so I took off Friday and Monday. I spent Friday running around, getting a haircut, shopping, etc. Monday we were going to play golf, but now it looks too windy to play.

Yesterday was the HoHoHo Holiday run in Bethpage. I've run this race every year for the last few years but I had to bail this year. I am getting over the cold and I knew the air temperature would not help me. Cold air into my lungs would have set off a coughing fit, just like the Turkey Trot. Lesson learned. So instead I went down as the 'official' photographer for the Wingman and my all-things-Australian coach Ian. Joan was spectating as well. I dressed in layers and stood ready at the start. It's a two loop course so I knew I'd see the guys a few times. The guy that actually won the race was pretty fast. Wingman and Ian did a great job themselves. I snapped a few photos of them in action:

Wingman in action

The Flying Aussie - making it look easy as usual

After the race we went in for the awards and clapped wildly for Ian as he collected his 2nd place award. Afterwards we went out for breakfast. We had a great time catching up with Ian and Joan before the hectic holiday season sets in.

Later that day, Wynn and Teresa stopped by to pick up some extra cycling helmets for their crew coming out next weekend. I just picked up a new helmet for myself and the Wingman in the last month so we had plenty of spares lying around. After catching up with them, we planned a New Year's Day ride with the usual suspects. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and the 6 of us can get out. And no ride is complete without breakfast afterwards!!

Today I went downstairs on the trainer to ride. I would have gone outside to ride with the Wingman, but my Jewish mother Wynn advised against it. I tried a new workout called "Suffer-fest" and they do not lie. I suffered every minute of it. This particular workout was designed to be a climbing session. They mix in video from real cycling races and you have to match the efforts. It was a pretty cool workout and you do get wrapped up in it. When it was over I did a little strength work. Not for my legs though as I could not feel them, just the upper body stuff.

Tomorrow I may sneak out early for a short run or back on the bike trainer to shake the legs out. All I know is I don't have to go to work tomorrow!! I have more time to sleep in and recover. Wingman is off tomorrow too so we have some time to spend together. I think we'll head out and get my pool membership started. It's time to get back into the pool. Master Yoda said I had to start swimming again in January. And I know not to mess with the Master. I have a few things on tap to help get me into the pool more this year. Some of them require me to beg a little at work with the boss for a longer lunch break in exchange for working later, joining a new masters swim club, and/or joining a local pool. We'll see what shakes out. I am switching over to part-time in the winter months (4 days work instead of 5) so that will help me in the winter get into the pool and get a long workout in as well. Early January the boss and I will sit down and figure out what days I am taking off.

For now, I am rested and ready to tackle the last workouts of 2011 that will usher me into 2012 ready to race!! I am focused and ready to take on the new challenges and goals that lie ahead.

It's all in the details

2011-12-06T21:32:00.000-05:00

So today I officially booked our trip to Mallorca. The Wingman and I will spend one week cycling in Mallorca and then we'll head over to Rome and sight see in Italy. This means I have to get ready to climb some hills!!

Yesterday and today I've been listening to some podcasts in the car on the way to/from work. I enjoy listening to triathlon-based podcasts and there are a few specific one's that I've listened to multiple times. I get a lot of good information out of them that helps me focus on my workouts. While I will never train with the volume that the professional's train at, I can still apply the same intensity and focus to my workouts. The main take home message has been to not lose sight of what the goals of the workout are. Don't get caught up in a group workout and miss your workout targets. It's easy to miss your targets and then you got nothing from your workout.

I've been thinking about my goals for the season (the one's Jen identified and what I hope to achieve). Jen has my schedule on Training Peaks where I get daily emails of my workouts, plus I can logon and record my workout, workout feedback and any other metrics I want. Jen gets an alert when I've logged something and can see any comments I might have made. She can adjust my workouts based on my feedback to her. This is crucial to keeping me recovered and my injury rate down. This last season's injury had nothing to do with my schedule, but more to do with a change in running shoes I had made. Now that the problem has been remedied, it's time to soldier on.

As a PT, when I evaluate my patients and write up a plan of care, I have to create a problem list. This will consist of things that I found wrong or what contributes to a patients problem. It could be a strength issue, range of motion, control of motion, etc. From there I setup short term and long term goals that the patient should achieve as they progress through rehab. So I was thinking on my ride home tonight how that applies to anything. Identify what is wrong, and then setup a plan/goals on how/when the problem will be resolved. In Training Peaks, you can setup weekly goals and then measure up at the end of the week. So over the next week I will write down some weekly/monthly/quarterly goals and share them with Jen and get them into Training Peaks. I think this will help me really focus on my workouts and pay close attention to the details in there. That is what's going to get me to the next level of racing.

Meeting with the Evil Exercise Scientist

2011-12-04T21:07:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my end of the year sit down with the Evil Exercise Scientist (EES) to review what I did in 2011 and what I have planned for 2012. I walked in with my monthly race calendar and she wasted no time marking it up to the point where I didn't even recognize it. I just jotted down rough distances for races and she helped me pick some specific races to complete my calendar. She also threw down the gauntlet with me for race specific goals. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sweating a little when she told me what she wanted from me. But I'm up for the challenge now - no more school, no more studying. It will be a triathlon focused season this year and I can't wait to get started.

2012 Outline

April - Mallorca cycling
May - Gran Fondo NY
June - Olympic Distance Triathlon
July - Sprint Distance Triathlon
August - Half Iron Distance Triathlon - "A" Race
September - Olympic Distance Triathlon
October - Army 10 Miler
November/December - Fun, short races

I'm sure it will fill in with more things as the year goes on, but the big focus will be the August race. The key will be to stay injury free next season. This year I was hobbled by a shin splint from July through early September. I am just starting to build up some speed again. I am nowhere near where I was last fall, but I am making some progress.

Today was the Toys for Tots 5k in Patchogue. I was realistic going into the race and knew a PR was not on the table. But my goal was just to run consistent splits. Ian and the EES were also there to run. Wingman told me he was going to run with me for as long as he could. I told him what pace I wanted to run and before I knew it the gun went off and we were heading down the road. I know the course pretty well and it's flat. The Wingman stayed on my right as we made our way around the block and around to Waverly Ave. I knew I was working hard but so far I was OK. I saw my split for the 1st mile and was fine with how I started. Wingman started easing ahead of me but would stay close so he could stay on pace. It was time to turn off Waverly and I looked at my watch and thought "Crap, Ian is just about done with his race and I am slightly more than half way through."

I kept plugging away and saw my split at the 2nd mile. It was close to the 1st mile split. I only had one more mile to hang in. At this point I didn't see the Wingman on my right anymore. I didn't want to turn my head to look for him since I was trying to negate any small loss of energy. With about half a mile left I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was the Wingman's cousin 'Little' Linda. I could barely utter words, it just came out as grunts. I think she understood that I could not talk, but would be more than happy to chat later.

When the race was over I checked in with Ian and he scored himself a sweet PR and managed to finish 9th overall, 1st in his age group. I am such a slacker. I am heading to the supermarket tomorrow to get me some vegemite so I can be fast like Ian. Even the EES finished 1st in her age group, so we stuck around for the awards to cheer on our friends. Afterwards, the Wingman and I went out to eat with Linda, Tom and his wife.

Silly Season

2011-11-27T18:16:00.000-05:00

This is the time of year where my intense training takes a back seat. I enjoy late October through November when I don't have to work too hard when it comes to swim/bike/run and just enjoy getting out and running or riding. The real work picks up again come December/January. That mindset came in handy when I was sick last week. I hadn't had a cold in about 2 years and then last week I was sidelined with a cold. I left work early on a Friday to come home and rest. I had to skip a race the next day as I wasn't even close to 100%. With the holidays coming the following week, I had to rest up. So that weekend I spent it home taking it easy then it was back to work Monday for a shortened (sort of) week.

Thursday I ran a 'turkey trot' and knew as soon as the gun went off I had nothing to give. My chest felt heavy and so did my legs. I had been completely inactive for over a week and a 5k was a tough effort. But I took it easy and just planned on enjoying the exercise. I was coughing a bit about halfway through and finished feeling a little horse, but I was glad I ran it.

Thanksgiving dinner was spent at Dolores' house with Big Lou making dinner. We always do our group shot at some point, but this year I decided since it was nice out I setup the camera and gathered everyone outside for a quick shot. With two small kids added to the mix, I was nervous we would not get the shot with them looking forward. I would set the 10-sec timer on the camera and then run into the group so there is no one behind the camera to get the attention of the little ones. Needless to say these two are true professionals and we nailed the picture on the first shot.

La famiglia (the italian crew)

Dinner as always was wonderful. And more importantly, Louie and Lily were wonderful new additions to the family dynamic.

Friday was back to the grind at work. Too bad many of my patients didn't remember their appointments, and some that remembered canceled which makes for a sloooooow day.

Saturday was a fun day. First I went out and did a long run. Jen instructed me to just run with a regular watch, not my garmin, and just run for time. It was a nice to not be focused on splits or how fast/slow I was going. I just had to run for time - distance was not important. I was laboring towards the end, but that was no real surprise since it was the longest I had run in a while. Then it was me and the Wingman off to Newark for the NJ Devils game. I love ice hockey and enjoy watching it live. Hopefully this season we'll get to a few more games.

Sunday we went for a longer ride. I hadn't been outside for a ride in a month so today was an effort for me. The last few rides were on the trainer so I had no wind to contend with. Today was a different story. There was a slight wind to contend with but I just kept it comfortable. When we got home, I took a quick shower and then a nap!! Been a while since I took a post-workout nap. My folks came out for a visit and we went out for an early dinner.

Next weekend I will sit down with Jen and we'll review my 2012 racing schedule. It definitely will be a different racing year for me. 2011 was a rough one. I had to juggle studying for my boards, starting a new job, and multiple training injuries (leg and back) and watched as my racing schedule went downhill quickly after July. This coming season will be a whole lot different. I've been doing a lot of specific strength/neuromuscular re-education work the last few weeks (it's good to be your own PT/conditioning coach) so that should help me with the injury bug. I also found a glaring strength imbalance that I've been addressing. Hopefully it will translate to a better bike/run performance.

I will be able to dedicate more mentally to my training next season without the stress of school/studies. The time management aspect of working will be interesting, but I might make some changes that would benefit me. I am eager to take that next step in my training and racing. While the 2nd half of my season was not as good as the first, I am pleased with how my racing mindset has changed. What I am thinking during a race has evolved over the last year. I think I got a big boost from my late 2010 surge that catapulted me into 2011. My attitude going into each race was different that it ever was. I am looking forward to seeing what I can do in 2012 and hopefully springboard into a huge 2013 when I plan on going long again. Hey Jen, to quote your Black Eyed Peas "Let's get it started!"

What a week.......and I have a plan

2011-11-18T19:50:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here wiping my nose and sniffling. Haven't experienced a cold in over two years. This is pure misery. Today was the final straw. I had to take a generic brand of Nyquil to help me sleep last night. I finally managed to sleep through the night. It was the first night this week that I was able to sleep. I went to work as usual, but I had a tough time trying to talk. I decided early on to pack it in. I made it through the morning, finished my paperwork and left at lunchtime.

As soon as I got home I put on some 'couch clothes' and made myself comfy on the couch. It wasn't long before I was out like a light. I had a great nap and before I knew it the Wingman came home. We had dinner and he took me out to get a little ice cream to speed my recovery. What a guy!!

While home this afternoon, sniffling, I was thinking about how I am doing at work so far and what I need to improve on. I look at what other PT's at work write in their notes and compare my notes to see what else I could be looking for or testing. I have also decided I need an accent. Patient's seem to respond to Sinead's accent so I figure I will work on one. Obviously I cannot use an Irish accent since she has the market on that one, and I think an English accent is too close. Instead, I will hire Ian as my 'coach' and learn how to speak like an Aussie. I'll be like Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. I promise to be a good student and work hard. I think if I can develop a good Aussie accent it will also translate to a faster swim/bike/run split. We all know how fast they are. In Kona, Australian men won the last 5 world champion titles and an Australian female won last year and was runner up twice. Sounds like a win-win situation to me. Hey Ian, let's make this happen!!

Tomorrow morning we're heading out to Lynbrook for a race and then having breakfast with our good friend Jennifer. The race won't be pretty since I havent' run all week, but I will get through it and then enjoy catching up with Jennifer. Every week we watch Modern Family together via Facebook. Hopefully soon we'll have a Modern Family viewing marathon of season 1. That would be awesome!!

A brief update

2011-11-09T22:07:00.000-05:00

What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been. Almost two weeks ago, I left on Friday night for DC for a race with the Wingman. We flew down and settled into the hotel. The race was Sunday and I had a fast turnaround as I had to be back at work Monday morning. My flight back was 10p and I landed at 11p in Islip. By the time I got home it was close to midnight and I had to be at work for 8:30am. Needless to say when that alarm went off at 6a I was completely wiped out. I managed to get through the day, but when I got home I wanted to do nothing but sleep. I waited for the Wingman to come home (he flew home Monday evening with his cousin) and then I went to sleep.

I was constantly on the go with work all week. I was working in two different offices so I had to keep track of what days I was working in what office. This is hard to do when you are sleep deprived. And to make it worse, I had my first patient conflict to deal with on Tuesday. I won't go into details, but basically there was a patient that walked in and was having a meltdown in the reception area. Being the 'Supervising PT' in the office, I stepped in to deal with this person. By the time the whole situation was done and they left the building, I was mentally wiped out. This situation reared it's ugly head again on Thursday and, once again, I had to handle this person.

Friday I was back in Sag Harbor with my regular caseload. That evening I had to leave for NJ for a Foot Disorder: Biomechanics course. The Wingman was staying home. I made the drive Friday night and got to the hotel pretty late. I got some sleep and drove to the medical center for day one of a two day course. Within the first hour or two, I realized I learned that most of what I was taught in school was a bit outdated. The instructor for the course was outstanding and I was able to re-learn so much about the foot. The day went well and for dinner I was meeting up with a friend from school. We spent several hours chatting and before I knew it, it was late. Once again I was going to be sleep deprived. Day two of the course went well and by 5p I was back on the road home. I made it home at a reasonable hour (sort of) and somehow coasted my way through work on Monday.

I am so looking forward to not setting my alarm clock Saturday. It will be so nice to sleep in a little bit and not travel all over the place. Sunday we have a race, but it's a local one. Thank goodness!! I have so much to do.

Crushing Dreams and a Beatdown at the Ridley

2011-10-25T20:03:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I made my return to the Ridley 5k after a 1 year hiatus. I've done this race every year since 2002 but last year the Army 10 Miler conflicted with it. On Saturday morning I lined up for the 5k.

The main road the race starts and finishes on was ripped up for repaving so that meant taking it easy on the way out and back. But once off that road, it was all out. When the gun went off, I started out at a comfortable pace as I made my way down 25. The crowd fanned out quickly and I had some room to run. I had a race planned the next day so I knew this would not be an 'all out' effort. The turn off came quickly and I was running well.

Before I knew it I was coming up on the 1 mile marker. Ahead of me I saw a small runner. At most she came up to my waist. She was wearing a pink shirt with shorts that had matching trim. She looked like a child of one of the central american farm workers up here. On a whole, they are short people so she could be a 7 year old or a grown woman in my age group. Either way, I had to keep her close. As I came up along side her, we established eye contact. I ~~taunted~~ encouraged her by giving a thumbs up and said "good job". She took this as a challenge and ran ahead of me. I smiled knowing full well she was about to get a beatdown by me. I let her go a little but knowing she couldn't hold on. I maintained my speed and quickly came back to her. This time I didn't look directly at her, but I could see out of the corner of my she was looking at me. I mumbled "hasta la vista, baby" and put down the hammer. At this point I had 2 miles to put her away. There would be a few opportunities on the course to judge how far ahead I was.

The first roundabout came up and as I went around a small turnaround I didn't see her. For all I knew she was right behind me. I looked for her as I went up the road and still didn't see her. That meant at this time she was still not too far behind. I was running scared here. I didn't want to have this race end in a showdown. I turned down Riverside Drive and headed towards the next turnaround. After I turned around the traffic cone, I looked for my prey. She was a good distance behind me now. I knew if I didn't slow down, the crushing of her dreams would be complete.

I kept up my pace and was nearing the finish line. I made the final turn off 25 and headed to the finish line triumphant!! I kept my eye on the clock and saw my victim making her way up the road. She wound up finishing ~3 minutes behind me. When I looked up the results later, I saw that she was 7 years old. It's never too early to crush the dreams of a child. Ah, I love the smell of a good beatdown, smells like victory!!

Fulfilling a Promise

2011-10-17T20:09:00.001-04:00

Last year at this time I was doing some fund raising for my cousin Michael's medical bills as he was about to undergo chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant after a relapse of his leukemia. When I brought him the money I told him when he was well enough he had to run a race with me. He promised we would run together. Sadly, Michael passed away in March and we never had our run. After his wake his mother said they wanted to do a race with me like Michael had promised. I searched the web for something in the fall and found something that could get everyone involved.

Fast forward to yesterday and Wingman and I headed out to East Brunswick, NJ. We arrived at Cathy and Paul's house in the morning. Carolyn and her boys, Danny and Nico, and Rosanna and her daughter Juliana came to Cathy's house before the race. Even my aunt Katherine tagged along. We formed a caravan and drove to the race start. We were missing my cousin Cindy because she had to work and couldn't get out of it, but she sent her husband Jim and their daughters Kathryn and Lauren. Michael had plenty of people representing him.

This event had a few races - a kids pumpkin dash, 1 mile fun run, 5k and 10k. We were split between the 1 miler and 5k. Carolyn was the official photographer for the 5k race. Carolyn, Aunt Katherine, Cathy, Rosanna, Juliana, Danny, and Nico rounded out the cheering squad after their 1 mile fun run.

The course was a simple out and back. It gave us all plenty of opportunity to see each other on the course and cheer each other on. I have to say I was so proud to see Kathryn and Lauren running out there. The Wingman saw Kathryn running on her own and doubled back to run with her and coach her to the finish. Jim and Paul stayed with Lauren and got her through the race.

Overall it was a great family event. I was so grateful to everyone that stepped up to help Michael with his promise. It truly made my day and next year we are all planning to do this again!!

Lauren and Kathryn before the race. Clearly someone

is proud of her race number!

Wingman and Danny finishing up the 1 mile fun run

Danny making some adjustments to his race shirt

Carolyn trying to give the illusion she's

running in with Nico

Cousin Cathy and Aunt Katherine

Our cheering squad, ready to go!

Nico, Danny, Juliana and Rosanna

Carolyn's foot........

Kathryn finishing her 1st 5k under the

watchful eye of Coach Wingman

Victory!!!

Paul, Jim and Lauren. Seriously, she gets

major style points for this finish!!

Someday my hair will bounce this nicely when I run

The whole crew!!

Michael, your family came through for you yesterday,

but I know you were there running with all of us.

Thank you.

Hello small chain ring, so nice to meet you.......

2011-10-15T16:30:00.001-04:00

My off season has begun so I am not training for anything. But I still enjoy getting out and riding. Today I had plans to head out with Wynn and Crazy Mark for a ~3 hour ride. I had an appointment at noon up island so I told Wynn we needed to be on the road at 7a. They were more than happy to oblige. Wynn had a route picked out that would hopefully shelter us from most of the wind blowing out there this morning.

I drove to Wynn's house and Crazy Mark was already there. We chatted in the kitchen for a few minutes with Teresa and then it was time to head out. At 7a, it's not quite light out, but it's not dark either. We must have looked like a strange site wearing sunglasses, but before long it was pretty light out. We zipped along the back roads heading west towards Middle Island. The usually quiet roads were busy with detoured traffic from the LIE. There must have been an accident or some kind of closure to warrant all the cars we saw.

The roads were mostly flat until we were up in Middle Island and heading north from there. Usually I am used to flat land riding, but this was considered hilly to me. I wasted no time in dropping down into my small chain ring. I haven't been on this ring in ages. And today I spent a good deal of time in it. Wynn was up ahead and Crazy Mark and I were bringing up the rear.

Rocky Point was the last hilly area I rode through. I could feel the fatigue setting in. It's been a month since I rode more than 1.5 hours. My last long ride (3 hrs) was my race in September. I also had to keep one eye on the clock too. When we got to Wading River, they turned up north to add on a little more and I bid them farewell and headed back to Wynn's house. The ride back was tough. I was alone to ride into the wind. I had no one to take turns blocking the wind. I just kept my head down and pedaled hard.

Before I knew it I was back in Wynn's development. I had completely forgotten about the big hill to get to his house. Crap. Once again, I dropped down onto my new best friend the small chain ring, and got up. I packed the bike into the car and went inside to say goodbye to Teresa. She graciously have me a few brownie cupcakes and I made quick work of one of them. Sooooo good after a long ride.

I really enjoyed the route today and am looking forward to getting back out there again soon. Group rides in the fall are so much fun!

Mission Report: Army 10 Miler

2011-10-09T21:49:00.000-04:00

All season long, General Gatz has been training and mobilizing her troops in the Jayasports Army to various missions across the country. She carefully constructs the battle plans, gets her troops ready, then sends them off on their missions. My latest mission was the Army 10 Miler down in DC. My training has been sporadic to say the least due to a lingering leg injury. It was getting better and I was ramping up my mileage again slowly, but then I was sick for a week, and when I returned to running, the leg pain started coming back. I opted for a new pair of running shoes and tried some taping during the week. It seemed to keep the pain away so I had my fingers crossed for the race. My longest run going into it was ~7.35 miles so no matter how you slice it, this was going to be a tough race. The last two miles are tough to begin with, but if you are covering them with a lack of run fitness, it has the makings for a brutal morning.

Friday night Wingman and I departed for Washington, DC. We got in pretty late and went straight to the hotel and to sleep. Saturday morning we got up and made our way to the expo to pick up our race packet. I also had to think about what weapons I was going to use for this race. Would a standard military rifle do?

Or should I bring the rocket launcher?

Or do I just go with a simple Black Hawk?

The Black Hawk is very impressive in person

Instead I just opted for a simple pair of Asics:

Weapon of choice for the Army 10 Miler

The race changed slightly this year. The start and finish lines were moved to different areas of the highway. Just getting to the Pentagon was a near nightmare. The Metro was hardly running any trains so we had to wait almost 20 minutes. Once we got to our stop, we had to wait almost 15 minutes just to exit the station. Once above ground, we dropped off our bags and made our way down the highway to the start. It was crowded so I gestured to the Wingman to follow me.

Once we got up to the race start, I relaxed knowing we were now settled in. I remembered General Gatz' orders about my pacing for the run. Since I haven't trained 100% for this, it was just going to be a 'Sunday run' and not a race. The problem is, once that cannon goes off, I can't control what the HOTS will do. I knew that I could get to the 6 or 7 mile marker comfortably, it's the last 3 miles that had me worried.

After the Star Spangled Banner was sung, the cannon went off and my mission began. I went up the road about 1.5 clicks and turned off on an exit ramp to get onto the Arlington Memorial Bridge. This bridge is like a minefield for me. I had to watch every step I took. The bridge is all cobblestone and one wrong step could tweak my shin splint and end my mission right there. I followed a 1.5 foot wide solid cement border along the edge of the bridge. Once I secured the bridge, I circled around the Lincoln Memorial. I know this part of the course like the back of my hand. I knew which lanes to be in to prepare for the turns. I made sure not to follow anyone to closely so I could see the pavement at all times. Last thing I needed was a pothole or rough road surface. I also avoided stepping up onto curbs. I turned onto Constitution Ave and ran past the Federal Reserve building. After a sharp left, it was an uphill climb towards the Watergate Complex. I swear I shed a tear every year I go past.

Another sharp u-turn and I came around the back side of Watergate and then along the Kennedy Center. I was 3 miles in and was making good time so far. I started to think that if I could put in a few fast miles, then maybe I can minimize the damage late in the race. But for now, I just kept my focus on feeling good.

Before I knew it my Garmin buzzed I noticed that I was 4 miles in and that each mile time was almost identical which means I was running very even splits. I knew I would be able to rendezvous at the 5 mile time check with plenty of time to spare to keep the mission alive. Once I crossed the timing mat I was running down Independence Ave and along the National Mall. The streets are heavily lined with spectators so I knew I had to keep moving fast. I turned at the American Indian Museum (seriously, there is a museum for everything in DC, so PC down there) and made the turnaround. The only glitch so far was not being able to open my gel packet. I fought hard with it and finally got it open and swallowed it down quickly.

By now I was 7 miles in and entering no-man's land. It's a slight uphill back up Independence Ave so I made sure I didn't gun it. Every step now was in uncharted territory. Fatigue, my enemy, was waiting for me with every step I took. It was getting warm out and I could feel my eyes burning from the salty sweat running down my face. Would my mission be in jeopardy? With each buzz of the Garmin, I reviewed the split. I was still making decent time, but I knew the dreaded highway awaited me. This highway is tough because it's constantly rolling. You're up, you're down, you're up, down, etc. It really wears away at you if you went out really hard (or haven't run more than 7 miles in a few months).

Mentally, I was calculating how many more minutes I had to run. After you cross the George Washington Memorial Bridge, you have 1 mile to go. I knew this was almost over. I finally made my way up the last hill on the highway and then raced downhill to the Pentagon. In years past, this means your race is almost over. But with the new course, you still have ~ 1/2 mile to go. This was the longest half mile of my life. I was doing the math and looking for visual contact of the finish line. Once I had it in my sight, I ran hard to try and salvage a course PR. I flew across the line and managed to set a course PR by 16 seconds. It was nowhere near my 10 mile PR, but the lack of running and this being a tough course made that impossible.

I am pleased with the results of my mission and reported back to General Gatz at the end. She is already formulating a battle plan for next year. I've already been told what time goal I need to hit. She said I need to come down at least 6 minutes over this year's time. I tried to negotiate with her, but her answer was "Go big or go home." And I guess there's no arguing with the General.

Wingman and I flew back to NY tonight and for the most part my legs feel fine. The only thing is it feels like I was hit in the calves with a baseball bat. Go figure.........

My race season has officially come to a close. The rest of the fall season are short, fun races to help me get back some speed and fitness. I need to sit down with myself over the next few days and figure out what I want from next season and then the General will draw up the battle plans to help me make it so.

It's like a roller coaster.......

2011-10-02T19:22:00.000-04:00

What a long week. It all started last weekend with my uncle coming to NY from SF for a visit. I had the weekend planned out, then we had another thing to deal with. The Wingman's cousin passed away after battling pneumonia and we were back and forth all weekend. Saturday morning I went to my mom's house to visit my uncle, then the afternoon we went to the wake, back to my mom's Saturday evening for dinner. I got home a little late and got my things together for my race the next morning. I think I got ~5 hours of sleep.

When the alarm went off I got up, ate, showered and went to my race. It wasn't until I got to the race site that I realized I left my helmet home on the table. I was ready to bail on the race and head home when I ran into Mary Ellen and she found a helmet for me to use. The race was over pretty quick. It was all high speed, short effort stuff. No time to think, just go go go. It made for a great workout! After the race, I changed and drove to my mother's house to see my uncle before he left for the airport. Then I drove home, showered, and changed for the wake. I was exhausted at this point. I slept in the car as Wingman drove to the funeral home. Between the two wake sessions, we went out to dinner. I think we finally left the funeral home after 9p. That's a long day for me - up at 3:45a and in bed well after 10p.

Monday was the wake. I shifted my work hours to go to the church in the morning and work the afternoon. But as soon as I woke up Monday, I felt something was off. I came into contact with quite a few people and I cringed all weekend as I could feel germs all over the place. I was hoping whatever it was would pass me by. But I went into defcon 5 and started eating zinc lozenges like they were candy. It wasn't long before my taste buds could only taste zinc no matter what I was eating. I also upped my vitamin C intake. This was an all out assault on the germs. Whatever took hold, didn't have much of a foothold on me. I had some sniffles and felt run down from no rest over the weekend. It impacted my workouts for the week. I am in crunch mode for the Army 10 Miler. I opted to rest a few days and let my body get a break. It's been 2 years since I've had a cold and this one was mild compared to the last one I had. I think the zinc helped me and taking it easy didn't hurt either.

It was a tough week at work. When I'm not feeling well, I can get crabby. We had to explain the Medicare regulations regarding PT visits to patients and it was like talking to a wall at times. I kept my composure, but it reminded me that in my perfect employment world, I would prefer not to work with most geriatric patients. I am fortunate that I have a few patients on my caseload that are fun to work with. I really get to stretch my brain with them between hands-on manual therapy and creative exercises. Now that I no longer have to study, I've been doing some reading on various treatments. Today's topic was neck pain and looking at the evidence out there to help me plan treatments for patients. I'll try to put something together over the next few days to hand out at work.

My weekend workouts fell short of my goals. I had a long run planned for Saturday, but I had to cut it a little short. I was running on fumes after being sick this week. It will leave me with a gaping hole for long run training as I head into the Army 10 Miler. I am heading into this race undertrained. As a precaution I am going to tape my leg to support my recovering shin splint. I have no idea how my leg will hold up over 10 miles so I'm better off being safe than sorry. Today the Wingman and I went out for a 2 hour ride. About halfway in he got a flat from a piece of metal. When he took his spare tube out, we realized the valvestems were too short. I gave him my spare tube with the thought of "we both couldn't possibly flat on the same ride." Well, guess what? I flatted. Damn nail in the tire. I now had no spare. I sent the Wingman home and I began the walk of shame. I knew it would be ~40 minutes before I would see him again and I was afraid of sitting around and feeling cold. I walked a bit up the road and decided to sit on a guard rail in the sun and wait. I saw the Wingman drive towards me so I went near the shoulder to wave to him my new location. And he kept on driving...........

He didn't see me because he was trying to pass a slow driver. I called him on the cellphone and told him to turn around and come back. He picked me up and we headed home. Tomorrow we will deal with patching two tires and tubes.

Oh how I love new toys

2011-09-22T21:01:00.002-04:00

I've been meaning to try a new saddle on my road bike. I've been tweaking my fit here and there in my never ending attempt to find the optimal position for me. A few weeks back I swapped out my stem and adjusted the bars. Tonight I put a new saddle on the bike. Hopefully I will get to take it out soon and test it out. The nice thing about this saddle company is they offer a 180 day return policy. That means I get ~6 months to really try it out and if I'm not happy, I ship it back for a refund or exchange for a different saddle.

Sweet new saddle.....I hope......

I've also been going through other adjustments as well. Last week I officially started 'full time' at work. Over the summer I eased back into working 3 days a week while I studied but now it's time to suck it up, put on my big girl pants, and go to work 5 days a week. I've drawn out a rough plan of my training and how to fit it in with the job. The toughest part is the commute. It takes a chunk out of my day. But with some good time management, I think I'll get everything in.

I got up early to run this morning. It was misting out when I left and man was it HUMID out there. I hated every step of the 5 miles. Not once was I happy out there. My times were slow but I know there was nothing I could do about it. I'm a slug when it's humid. I would have been much happier on the bike.

This weekend is my final tri of the year. It's a really short race so it should be interesting to see how I can do going all out. After that, the offseason begins. I have my fall schedule planned out with short, fun races and I plan on racing my way into some fitness for next season. I sent Jen an email listing my potential races for 2012. Now the hard part, coming up with my goals and what I want to accomplish next year. I will also think back over this year and see where I hit the mark and where did I fall short. Then Jen and I will sit down, review it all and she'll ~~devise a fiendish plot~~ come up with a plan to get me there! Can't wait!!

Weekend Roundup

2011-09-19T20:34:00.002-04:00

This was a busy weekend. Saturday morning the Wingman and I went for a ride with Wynn & Teresa. We went out to Mattituck and had a planned breakfast stop. But first up is my favorite part of the ride: the oil tanks. It's not the tanks I like, but the hills over there. Wynn and I were riding side by side chatting like a couple of old ladies and before I knew it, we were up the hill. Once you make the first climb, it's like a roller coaster up and down the rest of the way. Your momentum carries you over the smaller hills and you can power down the hills. I got down into a crouched position to minimize the wind resistance and let 'er rip!! After the hills we made a pitstop at the beach. It almost turned into a big mistake. Immediately we smelled bacon and looked to see where the Wingman was. We turned to him said "NO." I was afraid he was going to storm the people that were cooking there and eat their bacon.

Once we left the beach we had another hill to climb to get up to Sound Ave. We lucked out and had no traffic to deal with getting across the road. From here we rode for a few miles and made our way to Mattituck for breakfast. I ordered oatmeal with fruit and man oh man was it good. It hit the spot and I knew it wouldn't haunt me for the ride home. As always, the conversation was great and before we knew it, it was time to head home. Wingman and I had to get home to shower and meet up with some of my friends in Huntington.

We bid Wynn & Teresa farewell and went a more direct route home to save time. We were fortunate to have a slight tailwind, but needless to say it was a hammerfest going home. I wanted to get a good workout in for the second half of the ride and I think we succeeded.

We got home, quickly showered, and drove up island to Huntington to the Cheesecake Factory. It was a farewell luncheon for my friend who will be moving out of state next month :-( The 3 of us spent a lot of time together studying and I think we were an effective group. Each one of us brought something different to the table. It was great to get together one last time. I think we spent over 3 hours in the restaurant talking. I will certainly miss our conversations, as well as RAM and the CLWBIC.....

Sunday I had a long run planned. Since I am getting back into running long, I'm not too concerned about my speed right now. I think I'm about 20 seconds slower per mile on the long runs then where I was at in the spring before it warmed up. The most important thing was to feel good the entire run. And I did.

When I got home, Wingman went out for his run. I planned on making chili for the football games on TV. First, I was in a celebratory mood and went out to Williams-Sonoma and bought a sweet new pot. I then went to the supermarket to pickup the missing ingredients for the chili. When I got home I went to work whipping up a batch of chili. I think it could very well last the week! The great thing about it is if you let it sit around long enough, it gets hotter. Can't wait.

I'm heading into my last week of tri training. One more race this season and then it's the offseason for me. I have some goals for the offseason and it's time to get to work on them.

Badges?!?! We don't need no stinkin' badges......

2011-09-11T21:56:00.000-04:00

This summer saw many changes to my race schedule. First I was sidelined from running by a shin splint. I had to scramble and find a race of equal swim/bike distance to my "A" race, but without a run (referred to as Aquabike or Aquavelo). Originally I was going to race in Williamsburgh, VA but instead I found myself in southern NJ to put an exclamation point on the end of my season. Or so I thought.......

We had a tropical storm in NY two weeks ago and as part of cleaning up the yard and bringing the BBQ back onto the deck, I hurt my back. I have a cranky SI joint to begin with, but one false move while lifting the BBQ and I really threw it out. I was hobbled for two days and sought treatment from two of the best manual therapists I know - Vinny and Sinead. They did their best to free me up, but something like this doesn't heal overnight. It took some time for the inflammation to calm down. When the race rolled around Saturday morning I was feeling better, but not near 100%.

Wingman did his usual awesome job of putting my race number on the bike. He is meticulous when it comes to cutting down the number to the right size and can attach it smoothly so it doesn't interfere with me.

The Beast - locked, loaded, and ready to roll

We got to the race venue and it was a little dark. It is a really small race that is very low key. They cap it at 350 athletes so it's never really crowded on the course. It's so low key, that you can rack your bike anywhere in transition you want. There were no assigned racks. I really wasn't concerned about location so I found a spot on the end of a rack near the side fence. I dropped off my bag and hit the port-a-john. The line was short so I wasn't there long. Up next was body marking. I noticed inside my race packet they give you your race number to put on your arm yourself. It's basically a temporary tattoo. It really looks sharp to have a nice clean number on your arm. The only marking they do is put your age and division on your calf. Since I was in the aquavelo division, I had a giant A on the back of my calf. And I know that A is for AWESOME!! After the marking I went back to transition to setup my stuff. Since I wasn't running there wasn't much to setup. Just my bike shoes, jersey, helmet and sunglasses.

Badges?!?! We don't need no stinkin' badges.......

I grabbed my wetsuit and walked to the beach with the Wingman. As soon as I put on the wetsuit, my back felt great. It compressed my pelvis enough to support it. Had I known how good I would feel I would have worn the wetsuit all week. I got into the water to warm up. First thing I noticed was the color of the water. Like I told my friend Kari, it looked like the color of iced tea and I don't mean that as a compliment. Her mother told me that was because of the high levels of iron in the water. Well, if I had an iron deficiency issue prior to the swim, this would take care of it.

The water temp was nice and I couldn't wait to get started. I was looking forward to putting down the hammer on the bike and the swim was acting as a warmup. There were three waves and I was in the last one. When it was my turn to enter the water, I tried to line up in a good spot - not too far back, not too far forward. When the siren went off, I went into the water and started my swim. First thing I noticed was it was crowded. The first turn was probably 100 yards out so I took it easy and then after the turn I tried to find my line. I could see that I was swimming in a pack of women. They were lined up off my right shoulder and trying to push me left. I held my line, but it was a very physical swim. I didn't want to expend too much energy trying to break loose too early since there was another pack ahead. Each time I came to a buoy they tried to push me into the buoy. I would use my left arm to push the buoy aside so I could get through. At times I could also feel someone swimming across my legs. WTF?!?! It wasn't like they would hit my leg with an arm. They would swim over my legs. That forced me to increase my kicking a little to get the point across that I was not to be used as a shortcut.

I kept my stroke nice and steady and well before the swim turn around I had lost the women near me. They fell back and now I had some room to swim. When I reached the turn around, it was setup like a u-turn. What a disaster that was. It really should have been two left turns instead of one. Clearly people on the swim lost their minds at the turn and did a breast stroke to get around. I swam a little wide to keep up my pace and not slow down. I still felt great in the water. I made every effort to not swallow water since who knows what's in Jersey water. At some point on the return trip I noticed that I was alone in the water. I looked around to be sure that I was still on course. I could see that I was fine and getting closer to the beach. I kept up my stroke pace and before I knew it I was standing up to exit the water. I peeked at my watch and saw I had a decent swim time. It was the 2nd fastest time in four half iron distance swims so I was pretty happy. Especially since this was the most physical swim I've ever participated in.

I eased my way into T1. I didn't want to risk running and jarring my back. I got to my rack and got the wetsuit off. I wanted to change into a cycling jersey instead of a tri top for the ride. I never realized just how hard it was to get a top over a wet body. I finally won the battle and finished my transition. I got out to the bike mount area and hopped on to start the ride.

Just starting the bike ride and I'm sucking my gut in to support my back

Due to the storm two weeks ago, the race director had to change to bike course from a one loop to a two loop course. As part of the change, the length increased from 56 to ~57.5 miles. The course is relatively flat and my goal was to use the first loop to warm up and check out the course and then really bring it home on the second loop. I felt great on the course. The road conditions were decent and there was virtually no wind. I settled into my aeroposition and kept an ear out for my alerts. I have my bike computer set to alert me for every lap. I defined a lap as 5 miles which, depending on my speed, is anywhere from 15 to 16 minutes. Each time the lap alert went off I took a drink or had something to eat. I knew if I was going to have a good bike split and really drop the hammer I would have to nail my nutrition.

I found myself passing quite a few people and hardly getting passed. I was feeling strong and powerful on the ride. I looked over my power numbers and saw that I was far from burning myself out. What was strange was that I was riding pretty fast, but my numbers weren't up where they usually were. I was wearing an aero helmet and that would save you some watts but I think with my back issues, I was not going to generate as much power as I usually do. I just kept my focus on the road ahead and pacing myself.

I had a couple of lapses in focus on the bike course. At one point I settled behind some guy (3 bike lengths of course) and decided to sit back. I knew I could be going faster, but for some reason I didn't feel aggressive enough to do it. Finally after ~2 miles I passed him and moved on. I was riding alone for a few more miles and came upon a few more riders. I carefully passed each one, but the final guy must have had a bone to pick. I was riding along and noticed a shadow. He was right on my wheel. Literally. I looked back two or three times at him so he would know I was aware of his wheel sucking, but he clearly didn't care. I put out a big surge for ~1/2 a mile, but he stayed with me. Well, just short of turning my head and yelling at him, I grabbed my drink bottle and took a sip. Then I sprayed it over my shoulder at him. I don't think he took too kindly too it and before I knew it he passed me and so did another rider. Now he latched onto her wheel. I could see just how close he was to her. There was less than one foot between their wheels. Again, another mental lapse as I just sat back and watched. Finally I decided enough was enough and put out another surge and passed the two riders. I was afraid of picking up the drafter again, but he didn't follow.

One mile after the pass I looked back and saw that I was alone again. I kept cruising and before I knew it I was near the turnaround to begin the second loop. I knew I had to put up or shut up now. As I made my way out again, I tried to remember the landmarks from the first loop. Sadly, nothing looked familiar and now I had a bit of a headwind. I did know that when I got to ~44 miles (halfway mark of the 2nd loop), I was home free. I looked down and saw that I was at mile 30. Not even close. Now my ride piriformis was screaming out at me. I was trying to figure a way to stretch it out without stopping on the side of the road. With the clipless pedals, it's hard to rotate my legs around to really get a good stretch. I unclipped at one point and wiggled my hip around to try to stretch it out. No luck. At this point I resigned myself to just finishing up and then after I dismount working it out. Onward ho............

I could feel fatigue start to settle in. Mentally I needed a pick-me-up. Usually I have a musical soundtrack in my head to keep me going. Oddly enough the only song that came to my head was a downer.

Mama, take this badge off of me

I can't use it anymore

It's gettin' dark, too dark to see

I feel I'm knocking on heaven's door

I had no idea what was happening. I think the stress of my summer was getting to me. Mentally I was fatigued and was running out of steam. My legs felt good, but it was hard to keep my focus. I started to calculate my calorie intake for the ride and I was spot on with my regular needs. My power numbers were still in a good range so I wasn't bonking. I didn't feel hungry but took in a few extra calories just in case I was starting to get low.

I looked down at the mileage and saw I was at mile 50. Only 7.5 miles to go. I did some quick math in my head to see how many minutes it would be. I also played a game in my head. I imagined various points along my rides at home and tried to picture where I would be if I was riding at home. This little game worked fine. When I got to the turnaround marker from the 1st loop, I was directed to go straight. At this point I saw I was alone on the course. No riders were in front of me. Now I was nervous about going off course. Honestly I had no idea what the rest of the course looked like. Thank goodness for the volunteers on course. They guided me along. I looked ahead and saw the sign for the school parking lot we parked in earlier that morning. Now I knew I was home free.

The final stretch........

I headed towards the dismount area and panic set in. I've pretty much been in the aero position the entire ride and now I have to stand up. My lower back had stiffened up and that made getting off the bike a challenge. I unclipped and stood there bent over. I lowered the bike slowly to the side and attempted to swing my leg around. I performed the most delicate dismount anyone has ever seen. Then I walked in looking something like this:

After the bike dismount

I got into the transition area and collected my medal. Once at the rack I stood there trying to relax and Wingman snapped a photo.

The most 'upright' I'd been in the last 3 hours

At the end of the race I was allowed to take my stuff out of transition right away. We brought it back to the car and then sat in the air conditioning for a while until the results were posted. After the last biker was in, they posted the results from the aquavelo division. According to the sheet I placed 2nd in my age group. When they announced the awards, the woman that came in 1st in my division was actually 2nd female overall. Since you can't double dip (overall and age group) on the awards, I won my age group. When I looked at the results online later that evening, I could see they still listed her as 2nd overall and 1st in the division. How can they steal my thunder?!?!?

Another race, another prize....

My race went well, but I am a little disappointed with my lack of aggression at times on the bike due to mental lapses. I just wasn't sharp 100% of the time out there and that can't happen again if I want to be successful. I am pleased with the swim effort. It was a rough swim. The most physical I've ever been involved in and I didn't back down. I held my position in the water and never let up.

Since I don't want to end my tri season on a whimper, I have one more short sprint later this month. Then the offseason begins. I have some things planned for next season that will require a planning meeting with my official Evil Exercise Scientist soon. Despite not being able to race the half iron distance, it was a successful season for me. I performed well in all races I was in and I can feel the positive effects of the last 3 years training with Jen. I'm getting stronger as a triathlete and this season I had the biggest single season improvement since I started racing triathlons in 2003. I can't wait to see what the next season will bring.......

The Next Few Days

2011-09-07T19:56:00.004-04:00

I will look something like this........

Shhh, be very very quiet......let sleeping dogs lie.......

Riding and a runaway horse

2011-08-16T21:41:00.000-04:00

This past weekend the Wingman and I joined Ian and Joan (aka The B-Train) in Hadley, MA for "The Farm Ride". We originally were going to do the century ride (100 miles) but my mileage just hasn't been anywhere near that. It would be a game time decision as to what distance we would do.

Friday night we took the ferry from Orient and then drove from CT to MA. We arranged to meet The B-Train for breakfast in the morning, quickly checked in and went to sleep. The next morning we got up and met then down in the lobby for breakfast. We got up to speed about the course as they had done a short ride the day before. After breakfast we followed them to the bike start. The start is very informal. You basically just check in and start whenever you are ready.

We rolled out with cue sheets in hand. The B-Train led the way. The B-Train is what I call Ian and Joan onboard the tandem. Watching them ride is like watching a train roll by - smooth precision pedaling. As we were making the exit from the campus onto the road The B-Trian pulled ahead. The Wingman and I worked together to bridge the gap to get back to the tandem. We came upon some railroad tracks and I managed to launch a water bottle from it's cage on the frame. Wingman and I stopped to pick it up and that wound up being the last we'd see of The B-Train for quite some time.

After we picked up the bottle we decided to keep riding our pace and hope that we'd meet up at the first rest stop. We followed the markings on the ground and enjoyed the sights along the way. I wound up following some old-school cyclist. This guy was riding a touring bike and his shifters were on the ends of his drops. I was riding close but not too close. Good thing because Old-School liked to bunny hop the big bumps in the road. If I rode too close I wouldn't have too much time to react to obstacles in the road. At some point he pulled over to help a group change a tire so we continued on. We rode for a little while with another group, but it was quite haphazard. They couldn't decide what speed to ride. They'd be up to 20mph, then drop quickly to 15 requiring me to jam on the brakes. The guy in front of me would call out "slowing" but I really wanted to ride alongside him and say "Do you seriously think I can hear you when you shout from on front of me?" But I opted not to.

There are many farms and wide open fields on this ride. We passed a home on our left when something caught my eye. I thought a deer was running on the side of the road, but when I turned my head to look I realized it was a large HORSE on the loose. I have to admit that I puckered up a bit (and I don't mean my mouth). I was almost paralyzed with fear that the horse was going to run out into the road right in front of me. Oh man, if I ran into that horse, that might have actually topped my "I hit some kids, I'll tell you about it later" story. But lucky for me the horse ran along the side of the road and left us cyclists alone. Phew!! Bullet dodged.

We made our way to the 1st rest stop and didn't see The B-Train there. I hit the ladies room and then grabbed some fruit for a snack. We topped off our bottles and hung around a bit. A few minutes later we saw The B-Train roll in. We were puzzled as to how we were ahead of them since we never saw them out there after we separated, but they stopped a few times along the way. We exchanged a few stories and then headed out for the next leg.

Wingman and I rode a little longer with the tandem this time. We were riding in a large group for a while and when we came upon a hill, that was the end of it. The B-Train powered up the hill like they were riding on a flat road. I was stuck in some traffic and couldn't break away. Once again, we lost contact with the tandem. Wingman wanted to work together to bridge the gap, but I couldn't break free from the pack I was in. We did work together to break out into a smaller group that we stayed with until the next rest stop. We rode along at a nice pace but before I knew it I was getting pretty hungry. I was eagerly awaiting the next rest stop.

When we pulled in, I immediately scanned the area for food. They had pie but I wanted something more than that. I made a beeline for the table with the peanut butter and jelly. I grabbed two slices of wheat bread and the first thing I noticed was "mmm, this bread is soft. I like soft bread." Then I smothered it with PB&J. I took a bite and was immediately happy, Wingman saw that I was eating a sandwich. He looked at me and then turned away. When he turned back the sandwich was gone. He asked me "did you just eat that sandwich?" and I sheepishly replied "yes" and looked down in shame. I made that sandwich disappear faster than a David Copperfield trick. After that I loaded my bottles again and we made our way out.

We decided earlier to bag the century and ride the 70 mile route. I just wasn't feeling a 100 miles in my legs today. The last leg of this ride was challenging. It had a short, steep hill and many miles of bike paths. We got up and over the hill no problem but the bike path was another story. It was far from smooth and incredibly boring. I think we easily rode ~8 miles of the path. It was bumps galore and my kidneys were bouncing up and down and my eyeballs were vibrating. I couldn't wait to get off the path. Add this to the list of reasons I hate the state of MA.

We finally made our way onto solid roadway again and were on our way to the last rest stop. We stopped in and had some burgers and corn. We chatted we a few others from the ride and then decided to head out for the last few miles back to the campus parking lot where our car was. It was brutal. My legs were tired from the last stop. If we had just skipped the stop I would have been fine, but the stop and start was tough. The whole ride was ~74 miles. We slowly made it back to the car and the Wingman loaded our stuff into the car. We went back to the hotel to shower and clean up for dinner.

I think our dinner easily surpassed the ride. Ian and Joan had dinner Friday night at a local restaurant and we went back Saturday. Oh man, that was a great dinner. Each entree came with a giant popover. I swear it was the size of my head!! The dinner was great and so was the company. We had breakfast at the hotel Sunday morning and then we departed for the ferry ride home. We promised that next time we'd do the whole hundred.

The B-Train and the Wingman

The Wingman

No farm ride is complete without a tractor

A cow field

One of our last bridge crossings

Riding at the back of the pack on the bike path

The reward for our ride - Popovers!!

Whirlwind

2011-08-08T07:26:00.000-04:00

So when we last left our superhero..............

I started a new job
I suffered a big injury and am unable to run more than 30 minutes
I switched my A race to an "aquabike" so officially all I have to do is swim and bike
I've been studying like crazy

The new job is going OK. The commute wasn't too bad until they asked me to work in a different office for two weeks. It's a long story to try to explain, but the only alternative to working in the other office was to not work at all. The commute is about 25-30 minutes longer than my current commute thanks to the trade-parade traffic in the Hamptons. The staff at the East Hampton office has been great to me and welcomed me there like I work there full-time so that made it easy for me. It's just the driving that wipes me out.

My running woes continue. Since I am unable to run longer than 30 minutes before flaring up my leg pain, it was a no brainer decision to switch my A race next month to an aquabike race. Now the goal will be to hammer the bike course and see how fast I can go and not worry about pacing myself for the run. As far as the running goes, I will rehab/rest it up and wait for the Army 10 Miler in the fall for a long race for running. For now, the Wingman and I have been riding a lot. It's nice to be on the bike in the hot weather. I still sweat like crazy, but I can tolerate it much better than I can when I run.

The studying - where do I begin. I meet with my study group every Wednesday at a local library. We usually spend ~5-6 hours together reviewing predetermined topics. It's been a big help because we answer questions for each other on material that we're not quite sure of. This past week we were unable to meet on our usual day so we met yesterday (Sunday) at the bookstore near the mall. It was a long day. We met at 9a and studied through lunchtime. We ate a small lunch at the coffee shop there, then hit the books again until 4p. It was a productive session, but tiring. It's crunch time now with the exam looming ahead of me and I can feel the stress starting to build. I've had a few exam nightmares already (same type of nightmare that I have before a big race). I feel like I spend most of my free time studying/reading, etc as I don't want to have to cram at the last minute. I can't wait for this exam to be over and of course with a passing result since I don't want to have to repeat this nightmare.........

What a week

2011-07-26T21:40:00.000-04:00

The last week has been a super busy one. First, I took a week off from running to try to rest my weary leg. I was at the point where I was about 50 days out from my big race of the season and I opted to stop running for a week. Losing a week of running would impact my run fitness a little, but if I kept running I risked making the injury worse and not even getting to the starting line. And it wound up being a perfect week to take off as I started my new job and it felt like a baptism by fire. It's an understatement to say I was busy. Plus I was meeting with my study group during the week so there was no rest for the weary.

With no running on the schedule, there were extra bike workouts on the schedule. On Saturday, Wingman and I went out for the long ride. I hadn't been on the road bike in a while and with the heat I wanted to be comfortable. The temperature and humidity would be brutal in the afternoon so we went out early to try to beat the heat. The air was so thick I could hardly breathe. The ride called for an easy first half and faster second half. Around the halfway point we stopped at a 7-11 and I got a slurpee to cool me off. Each sip brought on a brainfreeze no matter how slow I tried to sip.

After our pitstop we motored on. I felt stronger as the ride went on. I was pushing the pace on the way home with Wingman in tow. We were about 2 miles from home when I heard the Wingman calling out from behind me. I looked behind me and noticed he was dropping back. I asked him to repeat what he said. What he said and what I heard were two very different things.

He said: "I have a flat. Go get the car."
I heard: "You're fat. Go get the car."

No joke. That's what I thought I heard. Now, I know he would never say that but it was pretty funny to hear it. I raced home and drove back out to pick him up. When he got into the Element, I told him what I thought I heard. It became a running joke throughout the weekend.

Sunday morning brought on more riding. I picked a route that was about as hilly as you will get out here. At the first climb I started my spinning to get up. My goal was to spin up and not grind up like I usually do. I focused on my cadence and just put my head down. I saw the Wingman go by. I picked up my cadence and next thing I knew I was passing him on the way up. Near the top I looked back to see where he was and I could see that I was about to claim the "KOM" polka dot jersey. Once over the top I went into an easy spin to recover. We had a few miles before the next incline. By the time we got to the incline, I did the same as the previous hill, found a good gear where I could spin and power myself up. Looks like my week in NH and ME paid off on the hills. The rest of the ride was nice and quiet and I took it easy coming home. I had another easy ride scheduled for Monday and I kept that ride easy.

I had my first run tonight in over a week. When I got home from work I was getting ready to change when I heard rumbling outside. Before I knew it, there was a massive downpour. I thought about getting on the treadmill, but decided to wait out the rain. In less than 10 minutes the rain stopped and I went out for my run. I felt almost light on my feet at the start, but made sure I was holding back. It was supposed to be an easy run to test my leg. For the most part the leg felt good. Every once in a while I would feel a quick jab, but it would last for a split second and then it was gone. I got a little faster as the run went on, but I was a little on the slow side. In the grand scheme of things, I was happy with how the run turned out. I'll re-assess how I feel tomorrow to be sure it's still OK, but tonight's run was definitely progress!

Taking this mother down

2011-07-17T22:36:00.000-04:00

Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity

To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment

Would you capture it or just let it slip?

This morning the Wingman and I got up early to head out to Montauk for another triathlon. I've done this race every year since 2005, with one exception (2006). It's such a great venue to race at and the weather is pretty much perfect every year. The setup is a little tricky with two different transition areas, but with some help from the Wingman, I get my stuff setup easily and stress-free on race mornings. The only thing weighing heavy on my mind is a lingering calf issue. I've been battling a shin splint on and off for over a month now and I have good days and bad days. Most of this week has been bad. I've been wearing a compression sleeve at night when I sleep and since this week has mostly been a recovery week, I've stayed off my feet as much as I could.

I decided to wear my sleeve for the race so my calf would feel good during the race. The 1/2 mile walk down the sand to the race start wasn't much of a help. I tried to minimize the twisting motion of my foot/ankle as I walked but I could feel a twinge every now and again. Once I got down to the starting point, I chatted with Wynn, Teresa, Jen, Dave and Marty for a little bit. Then the Wingman joined us for a few. Before I knew it, it was time to get into the water for the start. The ocean was a little cool at first, but I quickly got warm. There was also a nice chop that we were swimming into as well. The saving grace was the underlying current that would carry us along. When the horn went off, I started off. At first I was in a little traffic jam, but I decided to take it easy a little to see if it would open up. My patience paid off and due mostly to the chop, I quickly found some open water to swim in. I've done a few open water swims with a chop similar to today so I had a rough idea how to time my strokes for the rise and fall of the chop. At times it was a little weird when I would look up to sight ahead and all I would see is a wall of water coming towards me. I think I was about a 1/3 of the way through the swim when I was actually thinking "This is kind of fun. I wonder if I can go back and do it again?"

I think by the time I was 3/4 of the way done with the swim, the waters were calmer and I could see ahead of me. Oddly enough I noticed that there were very few swim caps of my color in front of me. I wound up finishing ahead of most of the people in my wave which is a huge victory for me since swimming is not my strength. Once I got out of the water I took a peek at my time. I was ~1 minute faster than last year. Oh boy, could this be the makings of a good race? Only time would tell.......

I made my way up the beach and into T1. I passed the Wingman who was sitting down on a rock not expecting me quite so soon. I waved hello and he cheered me on as I ran by. I got to my rack, stripped off the wetsuit and got ready to ride!!

I grabbed the bike and set out on the bike course. There was a bit of bike traffic in front of me and I was kicking myself for not being 20 seconds faster in transition. Now I was stuck trying to maneuver around people. For ~3 miles I had to do various accelerations to try and get around people. I felt good on the bike and was pushing my pace. Every once in a while I would look down to see what my speed or cadence was. I didn't bother looking at power. I think maybe twice the entire time I looked at my average power. I zipped around Gosman's and decided to go for broke. I was feeling really good and wanted to see what I was capable of on this course. Before I knew it I was back on Montauk Hwy and making my way to the Lighthouse. Usually on this stretch of road, I tend to labor a little, but not today. I think I've really nailed my nutrition down. Even though it's a short course I still brought half a bottle of my drink out there with me. I'm not as fast as the uber people out there so a little swig here and there to keep my topped off doesn't hurt.

Up ahead I could see my nemesis looming. There is a big hill to climb about 2 miles from the park. Every year I struggle up this hill. It's a pretty sad sight to see my climb this hill. I am usually huffing and puffing my way up with my heart beating in my throat. But this year was different. I was spinning up easily and in a harder gear than in years past. Next thing I knew I was at the top and flying down the back side of the hill. Holy crap, who stole my old, crappy hill riding legs and replaced them with the climbing legs I had today? Now I was flying the rest of the way to the park. I looked down at the race time and started to think about a PR on the course.

I got to T2 and switched out my shoes for the run. Before I left the transition I took another swig and told my calf to behave itself. I channeled my inner Jens Voigt and said "Shut up legs" and began my run. As soon as I hit the grassy hill, my left calf started to ache. I walked it up the hill and started to run when I was on solid ground. The usual spot of my pain didn't bother me, but I could feel a knot in my calf with each step. I tuned it out and kept moving one foot in front of the other. I had no idea where on the course Obi-Jen was and the last thing I needed was to have her see me walking at any time. I knew I would find my rhythm quickly, but I forgot that the run course is ever so slightly uphill on the way in and you are rewarded with the downhill on the way out. The other thing I forgot is just how long it seems to take to get to the turnaround point. I saw Wynn running along with his laser focus and when I said hello it almost seemed to startle him. A few minutes later I saw Obi-Jen and commented on her loud sneakers and she managed to grunt and barely give me a thumbs up. Hmm, must be hereditary because earlier that morning her son said hello to me and it sounded pretty much the same.

I kept my focus now on finishing strong. When I saw my time prior to starting the run I knew I had a course PR in the bag. The only thing would be if I completely imploded on the run course or a catastrophic injury. I got to the turnaround and was never happier to be heading out of the park. I took advantage of the downward slopes for free speed and overall, my foot turnover was increasing. I was feeling a little stronger as the run went on. As I exited the park I saw Teresa and cheered her on.

Now I made my way to the road and the uphill finish. I did my best to get up the hill as quick as I could. The only thing going through my head was the faster I got up the hill, the faster the race would be over. When I crossed the line I stopped my watch and was shocked at what I saw. I had an incredible PR. I shaved 13 minutes off the PR I set last year. Most of the time came off the blistering pace I set on the bike and some more came from the run. I saw Obi-Jen near the finish line and asked her if she liked apples. Then I showed her my watch and said "How do you like them apples?!?!?"

This race was a HUGE breakthrough for me. My bike average was ~2.5 mph faster than my previous best. I climbed the hill like it was a bump in the road. I powered through the last 2 miles with plenty of energy. I held it together on the run. There are always things I find in the race that I could work on for next time, but overall I have to say I am finally pleased with my race performance. The results are proof that Obi-Jen's planning and training are taking hold. The pieces are starting to come together as I hunker down for the heavy load coming up for my A race in September. Hey Obi-Jen, this padawan is ready to become a Jedi Triathlete - let's make this happen!!!

2/3rds of the way there.......

2011-07-09T18:59:00.000-04:00

Today was day 2 of racing. Last night was the time trial and today was the 'international' triathlon. The distances were a little shorter than a traditional international race, but with the hills on the course it felt long to me. It was also the Wingman's first triathlon so I was nervous for him as well as trying to focus on my race.

We are staying really close to the race start so there is no need to drive over. We just make the 5 minute walk to the transition area with our stuff. First up was body marking then we made our way into transition to setup our stuff. After I was done with mine, I went over to the Wingman to check out his setup. We reviewed the in/out areas of the transition for the swim/bike/run segments. Before we knew it, it was time to line up for the swim time trial start.

The swim is in a very, very small lake so each racer goes in one at a time every 5 seconds. I had looked into the water earlier and could see there were small rocks in the water. In an effort to avoid the broken toe suffered in my last race, I knew I would go easy into the water. I wished the Wingman good luck and found my spot on the starting line. It took about 12 minutes before it was my turn and I stood at the top of the slope and when I was told to go, I ran down the slope and then slowly got into the water. As soon as I dropped down to swim, I realized the water felt FRIGID!!! I kept trying to swim but I felt so breathless from the cold water. They listed the temps as 70 degrees, but there was no way this area of the lake was 70. I just took it easy until I got a little warmer. At first I thought I made a mistake wearing the sleeveless wetsuit, but as soon as I got to the first turn buoy I was feeling better. The lake swim was weird as the water seemed to change temperatures in various sections. The swim itself is really short, only .25 miles so I was out in less than 10 minutes. Getting out was a challenge too. Plenty of rocks under foot made it a challenge.

I made my way up the slope towards the transition area. I passed up on the wetsuit strippers and got to my rack and got the wetsuit off quickly. I put on my socks, bike shoes, shades, helmet, and grabbed the bike. Once out of transition I mounted the bike and started my 20.5 mile ride.

Basically the bike course elevation profile is a big U shape. First half of the ride is downhill and the second half is uphill. I knew I had to bomb the downhill section as I would lose time coming back up. I was flying along and before I knew it, I was at the turnoff. After ~ 8 miles there is a small loop that you do before you come back out. Wingman and I drove the course yesterday so I knew where the hills were. This first one at the turn off was a doozy. I knew I would have to drop down into my small ring to get up it. It looked steep from the car, but it was much steeper on the bike. When I looked down at my bike computer, it said it was a 16% grade. You just don't find many hills like that on Long Island. But I just focused on spinning up.....ok, more like grinding up the hill. Once over the top I popped back onto my big ring and recovered with a slight downhill. The road surface was not too smooth so I was moving around a bit to avoid any bumps that would slow me down. Otherwise, the loop section wasn't too bad. Any uphill area was preceded by a downhill so you had some momentum to climb back up.

Before I knew it, I was flying back onto the main road. The uphill route back to the transition area was about to begin. It's roughly 8 miles of uphill riding. It's very misleading because some of it is a false flat. I looked down at my computer and it was telling me the 'flat' area was 2-3% grades. I kept the gear light and easy for spinning and kept staring at the computer for the distance. I so desperately wanted to get off the bike. The constant pedaling was wearing me down a little. I started to think "how am I possible going to run after this?" but I quickly got back into the moment and stopped worrying about what was coming. Before I knew it I was at the last climb which is the steepest of the last series of climbs. I just hammered over the top of it and once again re-introduced myself to the big ring. I had about a half mile to spin it out before I had to transition to the run.

My legs were feeling fresher by the time I reached the transition area. I was somewhat pleased by my bike time seeing as how I am not a hill rider. I changed my shoes, grabbed one last swig of my drink and made my way out to the run. I took it easy going out as I wanted to find my running legs. I focused on my leg turnover and keeping a steady rhythm. I was wearing my Garmin GPS, but didn't really look down to see my pace. I was going by feel. Once I hit the first mile marker I could see I had a good first mile. The time was better than I felt. As I went through the first water stop I took a gel and some water. Normally I would go without for 5 miles, but since I am racing again tomorrow, I didn't want to deplete myself too badly. The run course was pretty flat with only 1 uphill in both directions. The hill was steep for me so I power walked it to save some energy since I knew I could not run it any faster. After this hill it was mostly shaded. I ran along wondering how the Wingman was doing. I was also hoping that the turnaround was coming soon.

I kept on running and at the turnaround I had another gel and some water. I could feel my energy level picking up. I felt stronger on the 2nd half of the run so I knew my nutrition plan was working. I took advantage of this new found surge and tried to hold on to it. I don't think I was actually running faster, but I felt more power in my stride. I kept it going and was looking for the Wingman. Since the entire run course was an out and back style, I knew I would see him at some point. It was on my big downhill and his uphill where we exchanged high-5's.

When the GPS buzzed that I was 4 miles in, I was thrilled to know that there was only 1 more mile to run. I barely remember that last mile as I was focused on finishing (aka tunnel vision). I was getting closer to the transition area and could hear the spectators ringing their cowbells like crazy. I somehow found another gear and motored around the long finishing chute to a 1st place finish in my division.

I felt pretty good at the end of the race. My legs were tired, but otherwise not too bad. I think the bike course hills tomorrow will be challenging for me. I will certainly feel the fatigue of the entire weekend of racing while climbing back up the hills.

My proudest moment of the race was watching the Wingman cross the finish line of his first triathlon. It was a hard race with the hills, but he handled it well and he is welcomed into the club of triathlon finishers!!

Tomorrow is my last race of the weekend. It is a shorter distance than today (.25 mile swim, 15 mile bike, 3 mile run), but it will still hurt. I just hope I have some running left in my legs when I get off the bike.

"You'll get a 3 countdown......"

2011-07-08T21:35:00.000-04:00

Those are the words I last heard spoken to me prior to my launch into my first ever bike time trial (TT). Getting to the starting line today though was touch and go.

Yesterday the Wingman and I arrived in New Hampshire and checked into the hotel. We have a nice suite in a ski lodge right near the race start. It has a full kitchen so we went out to do some light grocery shopping. We picked up some cold cuts and other stuff for dinner. When we got back to the hotel, we made some sandwiches, watched TV and went to sleep. When I woke up this morning, I just didn't feel right. I felt really dizzy and every time I moved my head the room would spin. I took it easy and had some breakfast and took a nap to try to sleep it off. I thought perhaps my head was congested so I took an allergy pill hoping it would help. When I woke up later, I did feel better but still not close to 100%. At this point I was doubting my ability to race tonight. I made another sandwich for lunch and still felt lousy. Hmm, maybe a shower would help clear my head.

Got into the shower and I knew it would not be pretty. My stomach quickly alerted me that I needed to vacate the shower immediately. Before I knew it, I was sick as a dog. This may be a little TMI, but the sandwich came back up. I am thinking there was something to the cold cuts that did not agree with me. Wingman had the ham while I had the turkey. Once my stomach was empty, I was actually feeling a little better. I still felt weakened, but at least the dizziness was gone. Phew. Now I had about 5 hours to get some calories in me to sooth my stomach and get ready for the time trial.

Wingman and I went down to the packet pickup and got all of our goodies. We scoped out the race sight and then came back to the room to get the race numbers on the bikes. Before I knew it, it was time to make our way down to the race sight. There were a lot of racers already there. I could see that the race director abandoned the TT ramp. Racers had to go off every 20 seconds so it would have been impossible to load everyone one by one onto the ramp in a timely fashion. Instead, you clipped into one pedal and two guys on either side of you grabbed the bike so you could clip the other foot in. Then they passed you off to two more guys to hold you up prior to the start. Once guy asked "Are you ready to rock?" and I answered "Please don't drop me." He laughed and then said "You'll get a 3 countdown" and then I vaguely remember hearing 3..2..1..and the horn went off. I got a huge push from the two guys like a giant catapult and was flying towards the main road. Spectators lined the road and the cowbells were going like crazy. It was a huge boost for the start. I realized in my worry over the start that I forgot to start my computer. I was about 2/10th of a mile in when I started it.

The first half of the course starts out flat and then goes into a big downhill. I quickly worked up into a big gear to be ready for the downhill. I used the free speed here knowing I would be slower coming up. I felt like I was flying but never looked down at the computer to check my speed. The other issue I had was the sunglasses I was wearing were too dark for an overcast, twilight race. I have a lighter tint pair, but I left them home. I had no trouble making it to the bottom of the hill. I had to slow down quite a bit as it is a tight u-turn before you begin the climb back up.

Once I began the uphill I had to decide if I was going to pass the woman in front of me. I waited it out a little to get through the first climb. On the flat, I could see she wasn't going any faster so on the next climb, I came out of the saddle to accelerate past her and continue my climb. I was handling the hills well for a flat lander, but the last climb was a tough one. I opted to stay in my big ring (tomorrow I will definitely be in the small ring) and I was working hard. The one thing that snapped me out of my tunnel vision was hearing some kid shout out "If you believe in yourself, you can do it!!" Which is a reference to this video:

It made me smile a bit and took some of the hurt out of that climb. By now I was on flat ground again and quickly shifted gears back to I could finish out the ride fast. I hammered it down the last big straightaway and made the first of two left turns to get to the finish. I passed the spectators again with the cowbells going but I had to slow down for the final turn. The finishing area is really short so I opted out of a crazy sprint so I wouldn't have to brake too hard once I crossed the line.

After the end, I took an easy spin to flush out the legs and then went back to see the Wingman finish. There were about 40 riders between us so I saw him on the course as he was heading down the first hill and I was near the end of the last uphill. He was looking strong out there!! After he finished I told him to keep on riding to cool down.

We came back to the room to change and went back to see the results. We didn't do too badly in our first TT effort. I would love to come back next year to see what I can do if I can get any better at hill climbing.

Tonight will be an easy night as we both have a tri in the morning and I have another on Sunday. No rest for the weary as I feel it will be a looong weekend.........

Swimming with Obi-Jen KenoGatz

2011-06-30T21:12:00.000-04:00

I got an email the other day from Master Obi-Jen asking if I was interested in swimming this morning with her. Being a young Padawan it was a good opportunity to a) sleep in b) test my swimming fitness. So this morning I made my way down to the lake and waited for the Master to arrive. Once she got there, we hit the water quickly and started the swim. My goal was simple, try to stay as close to Obi-Jen as possible. That meant working hard to get across the lake. I just focused on my rhythm and tried to swim a steady cadence. Obi-Jen started out on my left, then got ahead, and then over to my right. She's a much faster swimmer than me so I was out of my comfort zone trying to keep up. This is a good thing for me, especially at this point in the season. I managed to keep the distance between us respectable by the time we got to the other end of the lake.

I took a minute to rest at the other end and she quickly started off again. I jumped back into my groove and before I knew it I found myself right on Obi-Jen's feet. I decided to stay there as long as I could. I could tell she was swimming a little slower, but it was still a good pace for me to work hard. Oddly enough, staying on her feet proved to be a little more difficult that I thought. You see, Obi-Jen had a little difficulty swimming a straight line. We were swimming a little left, then a little right, then left. I decided just to stay on her feet. At the narrow section of the lake, she picked it up and there was no way I could get back close.

I could see that she stopped ahead so I swam up to her and bid farewell. She was going to the other exit in the lake. I commented on her ability to zig-zag across the lake. I was intrigued to see what the Garmin mapping would look like when I downloaded the data later. Overall, it was a good swim for me. I pushed myself a little harder as I wanted to prove to Obi-Jen that I have been swimming well. Workouts like this one also serve as a good test for me. I think this year I was able to stay closer to Obi-Jen. I'm not sure if she was swimming an easy workout, but her easy is still fast for me so I will take the small victory today!

Later on I got an email from the Master reviewing some things she saw during the swim. I have some technique that needs refining and hopefully it will manifest in some free swim speed.

I called the Wingman when I got home to see if he wanted to go for a ride later. He was game for a ride so I held off on my workout until he got home. The workout on the schedule was a one hour high intensity workout. Once I warmed up, I let 'er rip!! I kept an eye on my target power zones for the workout. I can see some big changes in my riding so far this season. Part of it is using a powermeter, but a big part is being more consistent with my workouts. I'm not a slave to the powermeter. I don't get crazy with analyzing my data. Some of the rides I do I go by feel and then see what the numbers tell me. On today's ride, I felt great. I could tell I was spinning a higher cadence and pushing bigger watts then the workout called for. I kept pushing each interval harder and harder. I even took a peek at my speed and I was amazed at how fast I was going.

At the end of the ride, I was pretty happy with how well I rode. I downloaded my data and was pretty happy with how the ride turned out. I think Obi-Jen is pleased as well. Hopefully she looked at the workout results and thought "the force is strong in this one." All I know is it gets me one step closer to being a triathlon Jedi........

Owning the pain and suffering

2011-06-25T18:39:00.000-04:00

"Every triathlete, pro or amateur, no matter how fit,

reaches a point in every race where he has to decide

whether he will endure more suffering. It's very simple.

Either he will or he won't. You will get there. The only

question is how you'll handle it."

-Chris McCormack

This morning the Wingman and I made our way to Ronkonkoma for the Run Around the Lake 4 Miler. We've done this race maybe 4 or 5 times over the last 8 years. The distance is short, but the course is challenging. I have never had a good race on this course. Usually the time of year (hot, humid) and the terrain (hilly) are a lethal combo for me. The two sections that will bring your race to a screeching halt are the hill in the first mile and the hills that come in the fourth mile. If you go out too hard, you will suffer later on. Wingman asked me what my goal was and I told him I just wanted to run the whole race and own the last mile. A PR was the furthest thing from my mind. But oddly enough, the weather was almost perfect this morning. No winds, very overcast, and no/little humidity. It was still a little warm, but without the other elements to slow me down, I was ready to finally own this race.

We made our way up to the starting line and I thought about that last mile. It has haunted me for years and I wanted so badly to run well. The gun went off and I was on my way. The race starts with a very slight decline and then flattens out so it's easy to start fast. I waited patiently for the road to open up before I picked up my speed. I could feel how light my running shoes were. My feet were barely touching the ground. I was afraid to look at my garmin to see what pace I was running. All I knew was it was a little quick. The other thing I noticed was I was not laboring. Usually the first half mile or so my breathing is really heavy and I always wonder how long it will take me to settle in and feel good. I had a rhythm early and decided to ride the wave.

When I approached the first hill I eased up a little to save some energy for the hills later. A few people passed me on the climb, but I knew I had to keep it comfortable. Once I got to the top, I picked it up again and turned down a small section of road. This part of the course was great as it was nice a shaded. It's a small section shaped like a U to add mileage to the course to make it a 4 miler. When I came around the back side of the U, I was at the one mile marker. The GPS buzzed for the lap and I peeked at the pace. It was much much faster than I have ever run before in this race. I think it was about 40 seconds faster than I've ever run that first mile. I was still feeling good so I figured I'd keep up the pace.

By now I made my way back to Rosevale ave heading towards Portion Road. I passed up the water station as I was feeling good. I turned onto Portion and noticed it's a slight decline in the road so I picked it up again to take advantage of the terrain. I still felt like I was moving at a good speed and was working hard. All I remember was passing an ambulance that was stopped along the course and in front was a HUGE swan in the road. I was hoping that it wouldn't freak out and attack me. While it would make for an awesome race report, I didn't want to deal with the humiliation of a swan attack.

I was nearing the two mile marker and was still feeling good. When I saw my time, I could see that I was still running very well. I kept pushing it thinking if I could put in 3 fast miles, whatever happens in the 4th mile won't hurt me too much in terms of the final result. I knew I had to get up the hills in the final mile, but I decided to worry about it when I got there. For now, I had to keep on pushing.

I saw a woman ahead of me that is at a lot of the races. I decided to keep her in my sights. She's a good runner and she always finishes ahead of me. (Ignore the fact that she's 68 years old). I figured if I could keep her in my sights, it would motivate me to keep running fast. I was now running along the back side of the lake. The second to last water stop on the course is in front of a drug rehab facility. I am sure the water was fine, but I am always leery about it being spiked. I passed up on the water and noticed I was slowly gaining on my rabbit.

I approached the last climb. It's not a major hill, but it's a bit of a grind due to where it comes on the course. You're going full throttle for 3 miles and now you have a hill, then it flattens out briefly, and then goes up again. I knew I was slowing down to get up the hill, but there was no way I could go fast as it would take up too much energy. There was still a good 3/4 of a mile to this race and another small hill around the corner. As I rounded the corner my rabbit was right there. She slowed down for the last water stop so I took this as my opportunity to pick it up and pass her. I was suffering at this point and had to dig really deep to find my legs. Once I passed her I used the downhill to pick up more speed. I kept telling myself to push it. I was hurting at this point, but I really wanted to finish ahead of her.

I climbed the last hill and had about a half mile to go. Out of the corner of my right eye, I could see her at my side. I let her stay there for a few strides while I tried to figure out my strategy. If I stayed with her, I wasn't sure I could out-kick her at the end. But if I made my move too soon, could I hold on to beat her? I decided the time was now and I dropped the hammer. I couldn't risk the gamble of a finishing sprint. I surged ahead and could feel my heart pounding in my throat and my legs growing heavy. I was running scared. I summoned every fiber in my body to hold her off. I kept looking over my shoulder to see where she was. I didn't want to be taken by surprise.

I was getting closer to the entrance to the lake and at the turn had one final look back. I had no idea how strong her kick was so I wanted to gauge the distance between us. I could see the race clock ahead and knew if I kept pushing it, a PR was in my grasp. My legs and arms felt so heavy but I had to keep moving as she wasn't that far behind.

I finally crossed the finish line and looked back to see how close it was. I finished 5 seconds ahead of her and broke my 4 mile PR by 26 seconds. I was amazed at the 'killer instinct' I had on the course today. In past races I would back down from a challenge and just think "if she passes me, she passes me. I'm just running my race." But now I am taking calculated risks on the course to see if they will pay off. And today it did. I received a medal for 2nd place in my division.

Transitions

2011-06-22T20:06:00.000-04:00

Today was my last day of my last clinical for school. I am less than 48 hours from graduating and it's a little weird. I've spent the last few years in a classroom or clinical setting and now I am finally done. The transition will begin as I slowly reclaim my life. My focus has been on school but now I get to have some 'me' time. I do have one major priority and that is to pass my boards. I will also start a new job sometime in late July (depends when NYS processes my paperwork).

Over the next year I will focus my efforts on my skills for work and also my training. I would love to return to long course racing, but I need another year before I can really make that commitment. And when I do, I will jump in with both feet ready to go!!

So Friday morning I will don the ugliest graduation gown known to mankind for my last hours as a student. Then I begin my transition into 'civilian life'...............

Weekend ride

2011-06-21T21:29:00.000-04:00

This past weekend Wingman and I ventured out with Wynn, Teresa, Ian and Joan for a ride out east. I had a workout on the schedule so I was only able to join for half the ride. The plan was to ride out east, stop for lunch and head home. It all sounded good, except I wouldn't be able to stop. In order to reach my race goals this season, I have to hit my long workout goals.

We met up and I led the way out to the oil tanks near the sound. The back roads were lightly traveled. The main roads were packed with cars heading to the strawberry festival out east. Once we hit CR 48, it picked up a bit. There was a slight tailwind, but it really didn't impact the speed so far. A little further up the road and we headed north again and made our way to Horton's Lighthouse. The fog was still over the sound so we couldn't see the water.

It was at this point we bid farewell to our friends and Wingman and I headed home. Once we got out onto CR 48 I dropped down into the aerobars and let 'er rip!! I felt really strong on the bike. Despite a slight headwind, I was flying. I nailed my nutrition perfectly during the first half of the ride and it was paying off for the second half. I felt so strong I thought I could rip the crank arms off the bike!

Once we got home I quickly changed and went out for a quick two mile run. After the run I had lunch and relaxed on the couch for a while. It certainly was a well deserved rest.

My "B+" race is coming up in two weeks. I am pretty excited to see how I can hold up over three days of racing. It will be tricky to get the pacing right. I don't want to go all out and have nothing left for the last race but then again I don't want to finish up and still have something in the tank. It will be interesting to find that balance.

Heading up to the oil tanks

The fog is still prominent in the distance

The deer near the tanks

Closer look at the deer

Teresa on her bike, shot over my shoulder

Waiting for a truck that was stuck in the mud

Grape fields

Maximum Performance PT

2011-06-20T21:36:00.002-04:00

I am winding down to the last two days on my affiliation at Maximum Performance PT. I can't believe 4 months have gone by so quickly. I remember my first week there telling patients that I would be there for 16 weeks. The length of time seemed daunting and I thought it would drag by. But no, the last 4 months flew by. Wednesday will be my last day there and I will miss a lot of things about the time I spent there.

If you are in need of PT and live in the area (and can't make your way out to see me at my new job) be sure to stop in and see Vinny or John. You are in great hands with them. But some of the things I will miss:

Vinny is an excellent teacher and PT. I learned a lot from him. Not just about how to eval and treat patients, but the importance of selling yourself and the business. I also laughed every day while working with him. I think we make an excellent comedy team. "So, is it my back or my hip? Is it a muscle or a bone?"
Having a nice large private room to evaluate new patients. The setup I had was ideal. It was a nice quiet environment away from the PT gym where I could spend up to an hour evaluating and treating new patients. I also used the rooms to treat patients with back or neck issues. I will miss having a desk to lean on.
Having a nice, healthy fear of Linda (billing queen) and never using the "D" word around her (discharge). I learned early on you just don't use that word around her. But seriously, she is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to insurance questions and billing reimbursements.
Meeting my equal in the sarcasm department with Pat. She is as quick with the one liners as I am, but her vocabulary is much larger than mine. We're at a point where a simple expression between the two of us gets our point across.
John is a genius with the little ones. When I mentioned my idea for torticollis treatments using duct tape, he laughed and said he's had similar thoughts but only with kinesiotape. See, great minds think alike.
The amount of food that Gary can eat never ceases to amaze me. If he's not treating patients, he's eating. For a skinny guy, he can put away a ton of food.
There are patients I will miss and a few I won't. But the good outweighs the bad by a lot.

I have two more days to soak up as much as I can from the team at my clinical. I'm glad I had the opportunity to spend my time there. I had enough room to carry my own caseload, but still had plenty of guidance from PT's with many years of experience. They answered my millions of questions and taught me what it really takes to be a good PT.

Tiring weekend heading into the homestretch

2011-06-14T18:31:00.000-04:00

This weekend I was back at school for a review course designed to help prepare me for the state boards. As soon as I walked into the old classroom/lab again, I was reminded how much I did NOT miss the rooms. it is an ergonomic nightmare. You are sitting at plinths that are too high and chairs that are too low. I spent 2.5 years sitting at these tables and was thrilled when I got out of there. Now I had to spend another two full days there. It was great to see my classmates again, even though we didn't get a chance to chat too much.

Saturday night was the PT banquet held by the department. The Wingman came with me and I enjoyed catching up with some of my professors. After dinner was the awards ceremony. We assembled into the theater in the Wang Center on campus. I was nominated for one of the awards. I didn't think I would win it so I wasn't too nervous about it. We sat through a few other award announcements when they finally came to my nomination. One of my favorite professors went up to talk about the award and about the winner. She started talking about all the things the winner had accomplished and I thought "crap, my classmate buried me on this one. No way will I win." She then talked about how this person was innovative with treatment techniques and ideas. One item she brought up was how the winner talked about using duct tape on babies to treat torticollis and how she has a wager that in 5 years this person will be working in pediatrics. I sank into my chair and tried to hide. She was talking about me. My classmates were laughing along with it knowing exactly who won. Then I was called up to the stage to collect my award. Overall it was a fun night and I'm glad we went.

Sunday I was back in the classroom again. I forgot how tiring it is to sit all day long and basically do nothing. I made it through the class without falling asleep. When I got home I was too tired to workout so I took another rest day.

Monday it was back to the grind of my clinical. I reviewed my inservice with my CI and got the green light to present it later this week. My clinical project was completed last week. I am almost finished with this clinical and graduation is right around the corner. My gown, hood, and tam arrived today. I opened the box and was horrified at the color scheme. I think whoever designed the gown and hood were colorblind. Even someone fashion-challenged like myself can do a better job. If they were making more Harry Potter movies I could play one of the wizards. Or I could just wear the multicolored graduate hood and go to a gay pride parade. What's really sad is I paid $155 to rent this ensemble and if I don't return it by 5p graduation day, I will pay $600 for the privilege of keeping it. No worries, I will be the first one on the line to return my stuff.

A sampling of the ugliness that is my graduation attire

"I'm here to win"

2011-06-05T14:28:00.000-04:00

I recently started reading professional triathlete Chris McCormack's book "I'm Here to Win". It's part autobiography and part racing guide. He's been successful at every distance he races at, including 2 wins at the Hawaii Ironman. He knows his strengths and weaknesses and how to put together a strategy that put's him in a position to win. My original strategy for this race was that it would be a training day. Now inspired by Macca, my focus became "I'm here to win."

I woke up a few minutes before my alarm and had my breakfast. Took a quick shower and then Wingman and I headed out to the race. I setup my stuff in transition quickly and made a pitstop at the porta-john. The air temps were chilly and I put my wetsuit on early. I brought the sleeveless wetsuit and was worried that I made a mistake and should have worn the full sleeve. But as soon as I entered the water, I knew I would be OK with my wetsuit choice. The water felt warm enough for a sleeveless. The one thing about entering the water is you need to be careful of the large rocks in the water. This was my third year doing this race so I knew to be careful. I would lift each foot high and gently step down and lightly feel the bottom before I step down hard. I was almost at the starting line in the water when I slammed my toes into a big rock. It hurt like hell at first, but the pain subsided. It seemed like forever before the horn went off. I started shivering in the water and worried about letting myself get too cold. The water didn't seem too cold, but the air temperature was chilly.

I heard the countdown and one more time I said to myself "I'm here to win." The horn went off and I was on my way. The goal for the swim was to put in a solid effort with no going off course. I found some feet to follow early and had a close call with getting kicked. First thought was "Oh no, not the hands, I still have 2 weeks left on my clinical. I need to graduate." But I kept plugging away and I quickly came up to the first turn buoy. I thought for sure that I must have been off course because I made it there quickly, but alas, I was on course and on target for a good swim. I made a tight turn and swam across to the next turn buoy. So far, the swim was effortless and felt fast. The swim in to the beach seemed to take forever. With the sun in my eyes, I had a tough time finding the beach. I knew I was on target, but it just seemed to take forever to make it in. I managed to get through the swim exactly like I planned. I stayed on course and had a great rhythm.

I came out of the water and ran to transition. I heard the Wingman cheering me on. I found my rack and quickly stripped out of my wetsuit. I grabbed my bike stuff and my bike, and ran out to the bike mount. Since I was starting in the last wave, I knew there would be a ton of slower riders in front of me to pass. This is not a biker friendly course if you are not in the first two waves. The roads are a bit narrow at times with a ton of turns. The course is flat as a pancake, but I can't take advantage of it. I was passing riders like crazy, but once a turn was coming up, I was stuck behind someone slow. After the turns, I would pick it up and ride hard until I came up to another slow rider. This is also the first race using a powermeter. I kept an eye on my average watts and current watts. I'm not sure I looked at my speed once. As long as I was near my racing zone, I knew the speed was there. And again, I felt like I left a lot in the tank on the bike but it was out of my control. The number of new/slow riders on the course in front of me doesn't give me a chance to open it up on the bike. If I was in an earlier wave, I could definitely make some noise on the bike. But overall I think I did well given what was laid out in front of me.

I got into T2 and quickly changed shoes for the run. I grabbed my garmin so I could get my run splits. I had a nice rhythm early and my legs didn't feel too heavy from the bike. I guess that's the result of having to scale back my bike effort. I could see the Wingman racing along the parking lot to cheer me on one last time before I left the marina. I kept thinking to myself "I'm here to win." My run goal was to put in a good effort and keep the feet moving. For the first time in a race, I was passing people. I couldn't believe it. People usually pass me on the run, but this time I was flying. As I came up on 1 mile, I reminded myself "I'm here to win." I wasn't going to give anyone in my division an opportunity to steal it from me. If they want to beat me, their effort has to be better than mine. I wasn't going to give an inch.

The run course is basically an out and back. The turn around is a cul-de-sac and it gave me a chance to look at the other race numbers that were behind me. I knew the number range I was in so I looked for those numbers and I didn't see any. But I knew I couldn't let up. I had no idea if someone was in front of me. I kept up my pace and was passing more people. I was feeling good and picked it up a little more. I knew the last 1/10th mile was on grass and naturally I would slow down, so I picked up my pace before entering the marina. I got a shout out from my friend John and then made my way to the finishing shoot. I ran hard and managed to not get passed. I crossed the line and stopped my watch. I saw that I finished ~4 minutes faster than last year and put in an incredible run for me.

I caught up with the Wingman and we went to the car so I could change. After that we went to collect my stuff from transition and wait for the results. When they were finally posted, I could see that I finished first in my division my a little over 1 minute. I turned to the Wingman and said "I'm here to win."

The awards at this race are nice. They give you a plaque, and if you are first, a package of chocolate chip cookies.

It's all about the cookies

The car was packed and we headed out to breakfast. My right shoe felt like it was rubbing my toe. I felt around and the shoe was not tight and I had plenty of room. When we got to the restaurant, I took off my shoe and sock and saw this:

Result of smashing my foot into the rock in the water

I guess with all the race adrenaline I never noticed that it hurt. Now it was becoming painful. As soon as we got home I iced it down, but the bruising got worse. Not much you can do for a broken toe, but I believe I am a total badass for racing on it, right? After all "I'm here to win........"

Getting back to my roots

2011-06-01T13:04:00.000-04:00

Monday morning, Wingman and I went down to the lake for an open water swim. We were joined by Teresa and Wynn for a short swim. In no time we changed into our wetsuits and waded into the lake. The water temp was perfect for swimming. I wore my sleeveless wetsuit and couldn't have been more comfortable. As usual, the lake was alive with nature's creatures. I saw the occasional turtle and osprey and the bullfrogs were making their presence known. But the one animal I hadn't seen before until Monday was the lovable muskrat.

Not the actual muskrat in the lake

The swim was over pretty quick and we chatted a little more with W&T in the parking lot. The only thing missing was Ian, the keeper of the lake.

This is Ian with blonde hair

On the way home I realized how much I missed training with my friends, especially my partner in crime Teresa. My schedule has been a little wacky so I haven't been able to join up with them at all this winter. Plus they have some early season races and my big races are in September so our training volume is different as well.

Tuesday the Wingman and I were fortunate enough to join up with Wynn and Teresa again for a swim. This time it was after work, not in the morning. When I got home I went out for a run and holy cow, it was hot out. I checked the weather on my 'smartphone' and was dumbfounded by what I saw. It said it was 79, but feels like 80. What?!?!

I know monkey, how can someone

differentiate between 1 degree?

I mean, who figures this shit out? "Well, the thermometer says 79, but I'm telling you Bob, it feels more like 80 to me." It just goes to show the weather people have too much free time on their hands.

I barely survived the heat on the run. But I know it made the swim in the lake much more refreshing. We completed a mile swim and talked about the upcoming races. Our 3 amigos are heading up to New Hampshire for a race this weekend. I know they will represent LI well and kick some butt!! I have a sprint tri this Sunday. It will be a nice training day for me.

After everyone returns from their races, we should be able to get together more for some fun swims, rides, runs and food!! I can't wait!

Another 10 miler, another PR

2011-05-30T12:48:00.001-04:00

"In running, it is man against himself, the cruelest of opponents. The other runners

are not the real enemies. His adversary lies within him, in his ability with

brain and heart to master himself and his emotions."

- Glenn Cunningham

Yesterday the Wingman and I made our way out to Long Beach for the 10 Mile Trophy Run. I was up at 4:30a getting ready to race. We had a long day ahead of us and I was already plotting when I could catch a nap. We left the house at 5:30a and got into Long Beach around 7a. The check in was smooth and we went back to the car to get ready. I was looking forward to this course knowing it was flat as a pancake. I felt rested and ready to go.

We headed down to the starting line and I kept my focus on running my race. I wasn't concerning myself with the others in the race. I had a time goal in mind and was figuring out my pacing in my head. We had great weather for the start of the race. It was a little warm, but the skies were overcast keeping the sun at bay. It would be a race against the weather. The more running I can do under the overcast sky the better I would do at meeting my goal.

Something caught my eye near the starting line. A guy was walking nearby eating Hostess cupcakes. He was wearing a race number. I thought it was an odd pre-race food choice, especially 10 minutes before the start. All I was focused on now was if he was to finish ahead of me, I was going to give up running. If I can't beat a guy eating cupcakes, what's the point of running. Or I would start eating cupcakes before each race.

The gun went off and I made my way down the road. I had studied the race map the day before and knew the early part of the race would be mentally tough. It was 3 miles of straightaway (miles 2-5). The pace I started out at felt easy and when I got to the 1st mile marker, I looked at my pace. I was 45 seconds too fast. Crap. OK, stay focused and slow it down. If I can control it early enough, it won't haunt me in the later miles.

When I ran along mile 2 I thought I smelled a familiar smell. I breathed in again and recognized it. Bacon!! Oh no. I immediately thought of the Wingman. If I could smell the bacon I knew he would smell it. I worried that he would seek out the source of the smell and not finish the race (or at least finish it with bacon grease on his shirt). When I got to mile 2, I saw my pace was still 45 seconds too fast. Now I knew I was in trouble. The fast miles would probably bite me in the ass later, especially when the sun was coming out.

After the mile 2 marker, we made our way up the ramp to the boardwalk. The next 3 miles are on the boardwalk along the ocean. After about 3/4 of a mile I was eager to get off the boardwalk. I don't care who you are, but 3 miles in direction is boring and requires a dose of Adderall to get through it. I would look over at the ocean a little, but then down the boardwalk. I couldn't even make out where it ended. This was the never ending boardwalk. I was starting to plot the early end of my race when I saw something ahead that caught my eye. It was the Cupcake Man!! He took off at the start and I lost sight of him early, but now there he was ahead of me. I didn't pick up my pace, I just focused on not losing time.

After a while we were finally off the boardwalk (or as I now call it boredwalk). At this point quitting was becoming an serious thought. The sun was coming out, I was slowing down and overheating. The community does a nice job supporting the race. People setup tables in front of their homes and handing out water. I grabbed cups and poured them over my head and down my back. It worked a little but the humidity made the air thick and hard to breathe. Around mile 6 I was thinking if I saw the block my car was parked on I would bail on the race and wait at the car. Until I had an emotional pick-me-up. Some little kid ~1.5-2 years old was running in the opposite direction and next thing I knew I heard him wailing. He face planted on the concrete. Oddly enough I started to smile and it lifted my spirits a little. Soon enough, I passed the Cupcake Man. Now I had to put some distance between us.

But it didn't last long. I was sinking again. The straightaways were killing me. I wanted some short blocks with turns to break it up. I also noticed that my left achilles tendon felt like it was on fire. Every step was agony. Being the neurotic fool I am I kept thinking "this is it, I am about to have a full blown tear of my achilles tendon." But no, I looked back and saw red all over the back of my running shoe. I wear a low profile sock and this one dropped even lower on my heel. Now the back of my shoe was rubbing me raw and I was bleeding into my shoe. I could stop and fix the sock and lose precious time to my PR quest or keep running. So I kept running.

When I rolled through mile 8, I knew there wasn't much time left in the race. I decided at mile 9 to pickup the pace. Good thing as the Cupcake Man was coming up on me. I dropped the pace to create some distance. Soon I could see the finish line ahead. I was running, but it felt like I wasn't moving. My legs were heavy and tired. There was no kick today.

I finally crossed the finish line 4 minutes faster than my previous 10 mile PR. If the weather was cooler, I could have gone faster, but I did what I could with the hand I was dealt. I was completely soaked. This was a hard race physically and mentally. I thought about quitting a few times during the run, but I knew I would regret it if I didn't finish.

My running times are coming down, but there is still a lot of work to be done. My times are still slow but hopefully when the weather cools again this fall, I will see more PR's coming my way.

The injury puzzle

2011-05-25T21:56:00.000-04:00

So last week I had some issues with my achilles tendon that I thought was coming from this:

The heel in these shoes are not as snug as my regular running shoes and I thought that perhaps I had a control issue and my achilles was taking the brunt of it. But I had a few other runs in it previous weeks and couldn't really come to grips with this being the root of my injury. Last night I had a breakthrough in my problem solving.

Wingman and I went to the pool to swim. Our regular masters swim group had no session last night so I had to make up the swim. We went down to the Y and hopped into the water. I pushed off the wall and started to swim. My feet are pretty flexible so I can plantarflex (point my toes) quite a bit when I swim. First thing I noticed was that my achilles was very uncomfortable. I kept stopping every 100 meters to stretch it out, but I wasn't getting much relief. I ran earlier in the day with no issues so weight bearing and loading the tendon wasn't an issue. The extreme plantarflexion/kicking motion in swimming was stirring it up.

So I kept thinking and thinking about it, wondering what about my routine over the last few weeks was different. Then I think it hit me. I think it's all the kicking drills at my masters swim sessions. When he'd make us swim with the kickboards, it flared up my SI joint. Then he did a boatload of heavy kicking drills/sprint work with fins on. I think these drills are creating new injuries for me.

I've been swimming with this group for a short time now and I'm not sure I will continue much longer. I never felt like I was getting a lot out of the sessions. I was putting in some pool time and getting the yardage in, but I never got much from the drills. They promote a crap load of kicking which is something I don't do. What I want to get out of my swimming and what the sessions offer aren't mixing well. I've worked on some issues with my swim stroke, but I think it's time to either get into the open water or find another swim group. Good news is the weather is warming up and I hear the lake calling. Ian (the official Keeper of the Lake) has opened the lake for swimming. I think my achilles is happy about that.

Waiting it out

2011-05-22T17:57:00.000-04:00

After my run Wednesday, I knew I needed a few days to rest my cranky Achilles tendon. By Saturday night, it was feeling good enough to run Sunday. My calendar had an 8 mile run planned. This run was critical to my mental preparation for next weeks assault on my 10 mile PR. My last long run was bad. I completed the mileage, but felt awful the whole time due to the sudden heat and humidity. I was dragging my ass the entire time. Even recovering from that run took an extra day. Then this week I had a self-imposed timeout from running.

This morning I got up and knew that I would be OK to run. But first, the Wingman and I went out to breakfast. He came home late last night from a week long trip to Florida and I was out like a light when he got in. So we went out to eat and catch up. This delayed my run a little longer and bought me a couple more hours of rest.

By the time I went out to run, it was early afternoon. Normally this time is a little late for me to run, but I made the best of it. The temps were nice and I didn't really feel the humidity. When I started the run I was waiting for the pain to start, but it held off. The first mile was nice and easy. Only 7 more to go. My focus today was just getting through it pain free and with some ease.

I planned a similar route to last week so it was a loop and then an out and back. Before I knew it the loop was done and I just had the out and back. With each mile, my GPS watch would beep and show me the pace. I was hitting my targets and maintaining a solid pace. I have to say I was surprised at how easy it felt since I rode over two hours yesterday and then stood on my feet for 6 hours helping with bike fits.

Before I knew it I was on my way back home. I made sure to keep the pace going and even handled the little hills well. When the GPS beeped that I was at mile 8, I was tempted to continue my run but I knew better than that. The last thing I want to do is have an injury rear it's ugly head. When I got home, I stretched and iced and enjoyed a nice hot shower. I think the couple of days I took off from running paid off. I put together 3 good days of training and I'm feeling great.

My time on my clinical is winding down. Just a few more weeks to go and then I graduate and my racing season will begin to go into full swing. I have the job situation nailed down so that stress is off my mind. Things are starting to fall into place.

Bike fitpalooza

2011-05-21T21:02:00.001-04:00

So I had the good fortune of observing some bike fittings today. The other day I had asked Sinead if I could tag along and watch her do some Retul bike fits. A few weeks ago she tweaked my bike fit using this system and I wanted to get a closer look at it.

Turns out she had 3 fittings scheduled today. When I arrived in Sag Harbor she was about to start the first one. I could identify many changes that would need to be made, but the great thing about the Retul system is it gives you great dynamic measurements to give you quick feedback about the changes you made. Some fitters use DartFish software, but you need to capture video, draw lines, measure angles, etc. Retul uses sensors on the body to take all those measurements for you. In the span of 6 hours, she went through 3 bike fits.

I'm grateful that Sinead let me swing by and 'help out'. When I left, I felt pretty good about my ability to see various movements on the bike and identify, most of the time, what corrections needed to be made.

This morning I went out early to get my ride in so I could get to Sag Harbor this afternoon. I was supposed to do a brick workout, but my Achilles tendon has been a little cranky this week. I felt some pain Wednesday when I started my run but it went away after ~1/2 mile. Of course afterwards it came back so I treated it at work and took it easy. I decided to skip my Thursday run to give it another day of rest. I could have tried to run through it, but I would rather take a day or two off and let it heal rather than have it flare up more. I knew if it got worse I would lose more than 2 days of running. It would be more like 2 weeks. And the reality is I wouldn't lose any fitness by taking a few days off from running. I took some ibuprofen last night and woke up feeling good this morning. I decided to just complete my ride and skip the run portion of the workout. I have a long run scheduled tomorrow so I wanted just one more day of rest. When I get up tomorrow, we'll see how I feel, but as of right now I should be able to get out to run. Hopefully it won't be too humid out there.

What's up with the headlines?

2011-05-17T18:54:00.000-04:00

So rumor has it the end of the world is coming this weekend. I guess that's good news for me. I won't have to worry about a little rain or humidity getting in the way of my run. Just the 'rapture' that is coming. And anyone that knows me knows that I'm not on the 'A' list for getting past the red velvet ropes for access to Jesus so I will still be around, I think. Hmm, so maybe I do have to run in the heat after all. Drats!

The last few days we've had some crazy news stories:

Apparently Osama likes porn.
'The Governator' fathered a child 10 years ago with his family staff worker and we are 'anxiously' awaiting to see if Maria Shriver will talk to Oprah about it. Because somehow someone somewhere made Oprah the queen and we have to buy whatever she says we should buy. She has zeroed in on the fact that people are sheep and will do whatever she says.
Wynn informed me yesterday that Justin Bieber got a tattoo. Seriously, who is this Justin Bieber fool and how is he newsworthy?
Kids are starting drugs at much younger ages. I never had such cool toys to play with.
If you have a body to dump, Long Island is the place to do it.

The rain is showing no signs up letting up. This really puts a crimp in my training this week. I would love to get out and ride/run but it looks like I'm stuck indoors. I should swim tonight but I really don't feel like leaving the house. But I really should go, otherwise I've shaved my legs for nothing.

Damn you, humidity.....

2011-05-15T18:13:00.000-04:00

That's pretty much what I looked like post-run today. In my earlier post I thought I would be stuck inside on the treadmill, but the weather cleared up enough that I could get out. As soon as I stepped out the door I knew I was in trouble. The air was so thick from the humidity that it was hard to breathe. I had my 10 mile route planned out and set out on my course. It consists of a 4 mile loop and then 3 miles out and 3 miles back back. By the time I hit the 4 mile mark I was soaked and my legs were heavy. Breakfast, which was eaten 3 hours prior to the run, was threatening to come up.

My legs were moving, but I had no control over them. I begged them to go faster, but they would not listen. Someone must have snuck in last night and filled them with lead. The snap I had yesterday was gone. Vanished. Someone call 911, my speed was stolen!!!

There was nothing I could do. My workout goals went out the window and I figured just get the miles in as that was better than nothing.

I made my way home and stood at the bottom of the driveway looking up. It's not much of a hill, but it took some encouragement to walk up it. I was done for the day. I stood with my hands on my hips staring at the house. I was worried my neighbors would come out and "put me down" if they saw what I looked like.

I'm feeling better now and I've been hydrating all afternoon. It's going to take a little time to catch up on fluids but I know I will sleep like a baby tonight. I'd better, tomorrow is a looooong day.

Rain, Rain go away

2011-05-15T09:47:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I had some great weather for my ride. I woke up early, hit the bathroom and sat on the couch and almost immediately fell asleep again. It's a tough 15' walk down the hall to the living room and sometimes I need a recovery nap.....

I didn't nap for long though. I got up and changed for my workout of the day. I grabbed my bike and bottles and rode off on my two hour loop. A few weeks ago Wingman and I did this loop in 2:10 and I think it was mainly because of the winds. Saturday was a calm weather day and I took advantage of it. I was flying out of the gates. The pedaling seemed effortless and I was worried that I wasn't riding hard enough. I looked down at my power numbers and the watts were a little higher than previous rides and so was the speed. Even riding the small rollers on the road seemed easier too. Of course being the pessimist I am, I kept thinking that I would hit the wall soon.

Things were going smoothly until I got near Middle Island. Some old broad with her white hair pulled her mini-wagon over in front of me on the shoulder. She didn't cut me off, but she pulled in front of me as I was approaching I could not get around her. She was just sitting in the car. I was afraid to go around on her left because I feared she would pull out and hit me. So I stopped behind her and knocked on her rear window and yelled "LET'S GO ALREADY!! YOU'RE BLOCKING THE SHOULDER!!!" She pulled out and started driving again. Drivers out there have no concept of anyone else on the road.

Once she left I started riding again. I was nearing the turn to head north. Even CR21 seemed like a breeze today. Before I knew it I was up at 25A and ready to head home. The ride home is great because of the nice wide shoulders on the road. I can relax a little bit but still put the hammer down. At this point I was heading south (same direction the 'wind' was coming from) and it was easy. I think there was just a slight breeze, but it didn't slow me down.

The rest of the ride was uneventful until I pulled up to a stop sign ~3 miles from home. I looked across the road at another cyclist stopping at the sign. I thought "hmm, he looks familiar" and then realized it was Wynn. The odds of us rolling to a stop at the same time was freaky. I knew I should have played the lottery last night.....

We stopped for a few minutes to compare workouts and to checkout his new ride. This season he is riding a new tri bike he had built up over the winter. The frame is made by Blue and it looks sharp. He had his nice wheels on. I still have my welfare rear wheel on the Beast. I think in another week I will put my good wheel (clincher, not tubular) back on. Since it looks like rain most of the week I will probably be on the trainer again so no use in swapping wheels yet.

Wynn and I bid farewell and I finished the ride home. I had a brick workout on the schedule so I quickly changed my shoes, grabbed a last swig of my drink and headed out the door for a 30 minute run. My legs were so heavy that the first 5 minutes felt like 15. But it wasn't long after that when my running legs came around. The running felt easier and before I knew it, my GPS signaled that I was one mile in. My pace was pretty fast for having just rode 2:05. The second mile was just about as fast as the first one. I was already heading home and I heard the watch beep. Somehow I lost my GPS signal. So now the clock had been ticking and no mileage was calculated so that means my third mile was recorded as pretty slow. Once I got the signal back I made up for lost time. I was flying the last half mile. By the time I got home I calculated that I ran for ~1 minute with no GPS signal. Overall I was happy with the run.

I got inside, had a quick snack and took a shower. I made lunch and sat on the couch to eat it. As soon as I finished eating I was out like a light. I woke up about 45 minutes later with my plate still in my lap.

I woke up and took a drive to my folks house and we went out to dinner. From there I went to Whole Foods to pick up a few things.

This morning I have a 10 mile run scheduled but the weather is just not cooperating. It is raining on and off and I am trying to figure out when to run. If it was maybe 10 degrees warmer I wouldn't hesitate to get out and run in the rain, but then again the idea of blisters on my feet from wet shoes is not very inviting. So it looks like I will cap my workout with just an hour run on the treadmill and then ride the trainer later to flush it out. The rest of the week looks like a washout too.

On the bright side, the Wingman and I are officially signed up for the Army 10 Miler in October. This will be our 4th year running it. It's a great race and the Army does a great job hosting it.

Heading into the weekend

2011-05-13T20:30:00.000-04:00

I just finished up my 10th week of my clinical. Things are going well so far and I have seen some interesting patients/diagnoses. I have 5.5 weeks left there and I plan on making the most of it. I've had someone proof my resume to be sure that I didn't make any dumb mistakes. Now it's onto the cover letter phase this weekend. I've been doing some research for PT facilities and will be sending out resumes.

I also have to get my inservice finished. I have a date set for my presentation, but I want it to be done well before that date. I have a few other things on my plate (like get a job) and want to clear things out. I also have to get my project done as well. My priority list for the weekend is full.

As far as my workouts go, I have a 2 hour ride followed by a short run on Saturday. Sunday's schedule calls for a 10 mile run. The weather forecast looks great for my ride Saturday, but looks like it will rain during my run. Since it's not bitter cold out, I will venture out in the rain. I have a 10 mile race planned in two weeks and I want to be sure I am ready for it. The weekend following my 10 miler is my first triathlon of the season. It's a short sprint triathlon and I am using it to gauge my fitness/use it as a hard workout/test my new nutrition out.

On a cycling note, the Amgen Tour of California starts this weekend. I love watching cycling on TV and with the weather looking sketchy next week, it makes for a great trainer workout.

Motoring along.......

2011-05-11T20:14:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, Wingman and I had a 2.5 hour ride planned. The winds were somewhat cooperative, but at times there was some hard riding to be done. About 2 hours in, Wingman pulled over with a flat. Something punctured his tire. He replaced the tube, put in a quick fix for the tire and we were on our way. He told me to continue on without him and if he had a problem he would call and leave a message for me to come back out with the truck to pick him up. He didn't last long out there and the puncture got worse. When I made it home I saw I had a voicemail and listened to find out where he was. I grabbed a few drinks and headed out to get him. Overall, my ride was 2 hours and 40 minutes. I felt great at the end of the ride. I was a little tired, but I felt really good.

The one thing I've noticed is that I am recovering from my workouts a lot faster than I used to. I am pushing myself hard in the workouts and definitely feel the fatigue at the end, but by the next day I am ready to roll again. Hopefully this will continue as the season rolls on. But for now, I'm glad to be feeling "fresh and loose" for all my workouts. It's important to nail these workouts during this phase of my training.

Monday was a rest day and an added bonus was my work day ended early. I usually get home late on Monday's but this week I was home by 6p. Added time to my recovery process. Tuesday I was also home early, but that's normal. The wind was blowing and I wasn't looking forward to riding outside. Instead I headed to the basement to ride the trainer for my power workout. It was a 'head down hammerfest' workout. I had short burst intervals to complete after a long warmup. About halfway through, my legs were burning and begging for mercy. I kept up the efforts and was quite happy when the workout was over. By then, the Wingman came home and we had dinner. After dinner, it was off to the pool.

I've been swimming Thursday nights only, but it's time to step up the effort. Since Wingman started swimming with me, it's easier to get out of the house two nights a week to swim. When I got to the pool I assessed the lanes and who was swimming where. I know where I belong on Thursday nights, but had no idea about the Tuesday crowd. The lane I normally swim in was crowded and the guys looked fast so I dropped down a lane. Turns out that was a mistake. I was miserable when I wasn't leading off the lane. Some of the people had to stop for rest breaks and weren't completing the timed portion of the workout properly so it slowed me down too. In order to improve I need to push myself to the extreme of the workout requirements, but the folks in my lane were hanging around at the wall. This makes it difficult to really get the workout done right. At one point, one of the guys looked at me and asked me why I was in that lane and I should have been in the next lane up. Next time I will just go up to the next lane and be done with it.

This morning I got up early to get my run in. It was setup to be an easy run to shake things out. I wore a new pair of sneakers for this run. My old trainers were starting to break down. I can feel it in my posterior tib when the shoes are breaking down. The new pair were flawless. It's the same model, but a fresh new pair. I've even getting adventurous with my color selection. This one has bright lime green accents to it. My new racing sneakers are yellow and black. You won't miss me coming! Of course with flashy colors, you'd better be fast to back up that boldness. I'm working on that so when I cross the finish line they don't take my sneakers away because I'm not fast enough to wear them.

On a side note, my resume has been finished and I have someone reading it over to proof it for me. Once that is done, I will be sending them out in search of a job. Hopefully things will work themselves out quickly and I can graduate knowing I have something lined up.

Holy Hills, Batman......

2011-05-08T07:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was my 2nd time running The Bench 5K. Last year I ran this race not knowing what the course was like. I knew it had a hill in it, but that was it. Turns out it has several hills. Two in particular stand out. The first one comes up less than 1/2 mile into the race and the 2nd hill comes around the 2 mile mark. Last year it also rained near the end of the run. I had a tough time on the course last year due to the hills, but this year I am a different runner and I was curious to see how I would do.

Fast forward one year to yesterday. I pulled out my lightweight running shoes for this one. The Wingman and I drove out to the race and went to check in. There were so many people that signed up by the time we checked in they only had XL and XXL shirts left. I bumped into a few of my professors along the way. It was also a first time 5K for my friend Tracy. She brought a friend down to run with her. Tom and his two friends came down as well. I briefed everyone on what I remembered about the course, but it turns out my memory of the course was not entirely accurate.

We started in the first 3rd of the pack. I didn't want to get caught in people traffic. My strategy for a 5k is to just go out and hang on. There is no such thing as trying to hit a target pace for each mile. When the horn went off, I was heading down the road. I think it's a very slight downhill because it felt easy to run off the line. I could see Tom ahead of me and the distance between us wasn't changing. I didn't look down to see my pace, but I knew it was fast if I was running Tom's pace. I knew he would lose me by the first turn and that first turn came a little sooner than I remembered. As soon as I turned BAM!!, the first hill was in my face. It was a little steeper than I remembered. I knew I would take it easy and just make my way up it - no walking allowed. My arms grew heavy as I climbed up. As soon as I reached the top I breathed a sigh of relief that it was done. Only to look ahead and realize we had more climbing ahead. I took advantage of the downhills to get some time back. I just wanted to get through the hills because there were flats coming ahead.

Once I got into the flat section I opened it up a little more. The sun was out and it was warming quickly. They had an aid station halfway through so I grabbed a cup to pour down my back and take a swig to clear my mouth. Right after the aid station, we made a turn and I could see the next big hill. This hill was more brutal than the 1st series of hills. This one just kept going, and going, and going. It had to be almost 3/4 of a mile long. My only focus was to make it to the downhill prior to the finish line. I kept plugging away at the hill. My arms and legs grew heavy. I was turning myself inside-out, outside-in, and then inside-out again to keep going. My heart was beating in my throat. The crest of the hill finally came. I used the momentum of the downhill to pick up my pace. I made the final turn and had tunnel vision on the finish line. I was pleased with my finishing time on a course that hard.

I looked over my paces and the first two miles were fast and the wheels came off for the last mile. I have something to work on for next year. Without a doubt, I will be back for that race. The improvements they made from last year for the pre/post race festivities were great. The finish line was moved out into the road and the back lot of the bar was used for the food. Whatever organization donated the food did a great job. They had hero sandwiches, bagels, fruit, hot dogs, beer, water, sport drinks, and if you hunted it down, they had ice cream too!! There was a live band playing too. But most importantly, the proceeds were going towards a pediatric oncology charity.

Today Wingman and I will head out for a long bike ride and the weather looks great. I think the wind will cooperate for this ride. Got my fingers crossed.........

Where does the time go?

2011-05-02T21:05:00.000-04:00

The weeks keep flying by and I feel like I am in autopilot mode. I have a routine I follow and that seems to get me through the day. My clinical takes up a good chunk of my time. It's not just time spent in the office, but time at home prepping/reading/researching etc. On top of that, I have been swimming/biking/running too. I had to write up my last midterm evaluation. My CI and I sat down last week and reviewed them together. We were pretty much on the same page with feedback about my performance. There are some things that just take time and experience to improve, but otherwise I am ahead of where I need to be right now.

I think I can say the same about my cycling. I remember this time last year I was not riding as well as I am right now. Not that I'm riding like a superstar right no, I feel better in the saddle earlier in the season. This week proved to be a challenging week. I was out Tuesday and Friday afternoon for a workout and man did I work out. The winds were not kind to me. I try to check the weather before I head out so I can plan what direction I am riding in. I usually head out into the wind and return home with the wind. Tuesday I had a crosswind to contend with. I couldn't get down into the aerobars as the wind was blowing me all around. Friday was a little bit better, bit it was still hell going out. My workouts were calling for intervals, but it felt more like a steady effort. There really wasn't a chance to 'ease up' on the ride. I just kept thinking how it will make me a better/stronger rider.

Saturday, Wingman and I went out for our long ride. I looked at the forecast and planned a nice route. It wasn't too long. We covered ~38 miles. I focused on keeping my legs moving throughout the ride and making sure I nail my nutrition. I know if I go too long without calories, I can get pretty ugly:

After a long ride last year.........

I'm working out a new nutrition strategy this year. The stuff I used last year was failing me over the winter so I have been changing things up. I can feel my energy levels staying steady over the course of the ride. When I am done with the ride I am pooped, but it's the normal end of ride fatigue, not a feeling of exhaustion.

Sunday morning I went out for my long run. My legs were a little heavy after the long ride on Saturday. I was spoiled all winter running on legs that weren't so beat up. But I know this season I am further along with my running fitness than I was last year at this time. I plodded along and finished the run ~10 seconds slower per mile than I ran the previous weeks. Hopefully it was just an anomaly and not a sign of things to come. I shudder to think that as it gets warmer I will get slower until the fall comes around again. I excel in 30-40 degree temperatures so once we get over 50, all bets are off.

I hit the pool this week. I went down to the masters swim group and was working hard. The workout for the night was a heavy kicking workout. I hate kicking. Especially when he wants us to use kickboards. All it does is create havoc for my SI joint so I skip the kickboard and the coach on the deck gives me other things to do. Usually I have different drills I do. In a few more weeks they will be swimming outdoors. My first outdoor swim is in early June and hopefully the water will be a decent temperature.

Today is a rest day for me and tomorrow I have some hill work to do. Hopefully my legs won't fall off.....

From PR hunter to Job hunter

2011-04-24T18:00:00.000-04:00

Hello....is this thing on?

I've noticed the buzz picking up among my classmates that they have begun the search for jobs. I graduate in 2 months so I guess it's time I start looking around for work. As much as I'd like to lounge around all day eating bonbons, those student loans won't pay themselves off. I think my parents failed me too (just kidding, mother). I was born to be a trust fund baby but somehow they didn't get that memo (or there are other members of my not-so-immediate family that have taken that role from me.) So by mid-July I hope to be a productive tax paying member of society again.

This weekend was a nice block of training for me. Thursday night I was back in the pool for a masters swim session. Because the school was closed they had the pool for an extra hour (7-9p) but I knew better than to try to swim that long. I capped my night at 75 minutes and was still able to lift my arms over my head to change.....sort of. Needless to say I slept like a baby that night. Up every two hours crying and eating because I skipped dinner. Seriously, when my eyes shut and head hit the pillow I was down for the count and woke up when I heard ~~my stomach rumbling~~ the alarm go off Friday morning.

Friday was a low key day at clinical. When I got home I changed to go riding and ~~slept on the couch~~ patiently waited for the Wingman to come home. I had a ride scheduled but wanted to wait for him so we could go out together. I grabbed the tri bike and we were on our way. I kept it easy and noticed on the way back my feet were numb. I had toe covers and leg warmers on, but I must have been riding so fast...cough.....cough....cough.....that it created a wind chill that made my feet numb. As soon as I got home the feet felt fine.

When I woke up Saturday the ground was wet and the rain was falling. I looked at the forecast and decided to gamble and take a chance on the weather Sunday and move my ride. Now I was left debating where my run would take place. I could run in the rain, but it was still a little chilly out and the combination of cold and wet do not appeal to me. I waited until early afternoon and decided to hit the treadmill. I loaded up my laptop with some episodes of my favorite TV show and started running. It's hard to run on a treadmill and laugh hysterically at the same time, but I made it through. Before I knew it I got the run done and had a late lunch. Wingman and I went shopping at Trader Joe's then came home. I fired up the BBQ and we had some turkey burgers with sauteed onions. After dinner I began the yearly task of going through my clothes and getting rid of what I don't wear. I swear my running shirts multiply like rabbits when I'm not looking. I need to keep a closer eye on them.

Today the weather was AWESOME for our ride. I had a 2 hour ride with a short run afterwards on the schedule. Our bottles were prepped the night before. When I woke up this morning the ground was still a little wet, but I knew it was drying out. Since I didn't know what condition the roads would be in, I grabbed the road bike for today. We did our usual 2 hour loop. On the way out we had a bit of headwind to contend with. It wasn't too bad, but I was working harder than I wanted to to pull us along. I waited ~~impatiently~~ patiently for Wingman to come up so I could draft off him for a little and rest but he didn't come up. I kept looking behind and he was on my wheel. We continued our ride west and the winds seemed to die down a little. I was feeling good up front and enjoying the workout. Before I knew it we were turning and heading north. Just a short distance up the road I saw a sign for road work. To my delight, it was a nice stretch of freshly paved roadway. It was so smooth and made it easier to keep up the speed. I kept humming along and saw my sign "Speed Zone Ahead." This means I put my head down and pedal like a madwoman. There is a radar controlled speed sign up ahead that I love to set off. I have a small assist from a slight decline in the road and I can usually get into my top gear and down into the drops. My legs were furiously pumping up and down. I looked up and hoped there was no car coming behind me because I wanted that sign to myself. If a car came along, the sign would pickup the car's speed. But today it was all me!! I've gone faster through that stretch, but it's still early in the season but I was happy with what I did today.

We made the final turn to head east and make our way back home. There was one stretch of road that was far from smooth. It was so bumpy that I thought I was riding the cobblestones in Belgium. I even launched a water bottle and didn't even know it. A woman in a pickup truck was kind enough to pull over to the side of the road to alert me to my bottle's location. So thank you kind woman!! That bottle had my calories in it. A little spilled out but I had enough for the rest of my ride home.

When we got home I hurried in and changed my shoes and shirt for a quick run. I had quite the waddle going on. I'm pretty sure I looked like I had a load in my ~~diaper~~ shorts. I did a quick out and back and felt much stronger on the way back.

Once back at the house I cleaned up quick and began to make brownies for the Wingman to take to his cousin's for Easter dinner. I stayed home to relax, cook, and enjoy some quiet time. I decided to check out the race photo's from the race last weekend. I usually don't photograph well so I didn't have high hopes. I specifically remember seeing the photographer ahead on the course so I made sure I wiped the dried snot and spit from my face and made my best attempt at looking pretty (yeah right).

This is about 7 miles in. The winds were brutal from mile 4 through the rest of the race so I had to flip my hat backwards so it wouldn't fly off. If you look carefully you can almost see light under my feet. I almost give the illusion of looking like a runner!! I'm usually not this tall when I run. I tend to collapse into my stride, but I've worked on running tall for months. I would almost be tempted to buy the photo but I'm not sure I want a picture of myself with a guy behind me that looks like he's sleeping standing up. It makes me look slow.

Good, Better, Best

2011-04-21T16:22:00.000-04:00

I saw a quote last week that I like:

Good, Better Best. Never let it rest.

Until your good is better and your better is best.

That's how I'm treating the rest of this year. I am heading to the pool tonight and I'm excited about my scheduled workouts this weekend. I can only hope the weather holds out so I can do most of it outdoors. I am onto the next phase of my racing season and feeling "fresh and loose." Look out!!

Changing gears

2011-04-20T12:40:00.000-04:00

Monday was a rest day for me before I begin my serious training for the upcoming triathlon season. I am still ticked off about the race from Sunday, but my anger is wearing off. I would have been OK with the change to a 10 miler had it actually been a 10 miler. I received an email yesterday from the race people with some half-assed excuse about why they changed it to a 9.55 mile race. I'm still not buying it. But I am looking at the big picture and see that I held a great pace over that distance. My splits were all over the place because of the heavy winds, but I dug in, put my head down and fought through it. I am happy with my personal effort despite not setting any kind of PR. I had a solid 7 months of running and saw my times come down.

Yesterday I came home and debated where I was going to ride. The weather looked sketchy and I didn't know if the predicted rain would hold out. I knew if I stayed indoors to ride it would never rain and if I went outside it would come pouring down. Obviously I chose to ride inside and it never rained. Oh well. I got a solid hour on the trainer in. Hopefully I will be outdoors more often soon. I'll also be heading back to the pool this week. I've gone sporadically this winter/early spring but now I will be more consistent.

This morning I went out for a short run. It was designed to be an 'easy' run as part of my recovery from running 13.1 miles. But since I came no where near that distance Sunday, I wasn't worried. I still kept the pace easy and was enjoying the early morning run. Today is a long day at my clinical (9a-8p) so I had to get up early to get the run in. I snuck home for lunch and and to put my feet up for a bit. I will head back shortly for the afternoon grind. Then the week is more than halfway over!!

The Half Marathon and PR that weren't

2011-04-18T21:59:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was supposed to be my half marathon "A" race, but mother nature had other plans for me. I had trained for months and was prepared to crush my PR and had lofty goals. Saturday night it rained like crazy. As a result, a river flooded out part of the race course. When we arrived Sunday morning, we heard the race director announce that the course was shortened to a 10 miler. At first I was disappointed, but after a few minutes I changed my focus and prepared for a 10 mile ass kicking. I knew my pace would change and I quickly set a new time goal for the day.

When the gun went off I ran like a fiend. I knew I had to go out hard because the winds would kill me later. I was feeling great until ~mile 6. The winds were really taking a toll on me. I was battling to hold on to my pace while fighting the winds. I tried to hide around people, but it was too wide open.

Long story short, I made it to mile 9 and was fighting to hang on. This was the only uphill on the course. I struggled up and could see up the road was the final turn. I looked at my Garmin and got a feeling that this was not going to be 10 miles. I kept pushing down the road and was passed by a few people in the shoot. When I crossed the line I saw that I killed my 10 mile PR. Problem was, my Garmin said it was 4/10 of a mile short. I waited for the Wingman to finish and saw what his Garmin said. He came in short as well.

Overall I was happy with the pace I ran. I really killed it out there. The pace I held over the distance I ran was the fastest I've done. Well, I was happy until I looked over the race results today. They listed the race as a shortened 9.55 miler. What?!?! Why did they say it was a 10 miler knowing it was not the distance? The race organizers should be ashamed of themselves for not admitting Sunday morning what the true distance was. I know the Garmin came in short and that the course had to be short, but to tell us otherwise is stupid. And to add insult to injury, the pace they avg is based on the gun time, not my chip time. They did wave starts so I had ~2 minutes added to my time. The avg time for my chip time is was actually counts. I've never seen a race calculate the time this way when there is a starting mat. It's so frustrating. Needless to say I will not be doing another race organized by this particular company.

So now I don't have a PR to show for my efforts, but I have an ass kicking pace for a long distance under my belt. When the next 10 miler comes up next month, I will be ready to kick some serious butt........unless it's super hot out, then all bets are off. But for now, the runner is leaving and the multisport athlete is entering. It's time for a change.

Final run

2011-04-15T21:13:00.000-04:00

This morning I had one last "shake out" run to keep me loose before the big race. I had 2-3 miles scheduled so I sound up splitting the difference and running 2.6. It felt so nice and easy. I can tell the last few weeks I am taller when I run. In the past my strides were so short that I would "collapse" down into my stride and my trunk would bend forward. Now, I feel more upright. I call that progress.

When I run I like to listen to music. Most of the time it's just something to distract me while I think about anything and everything. Heck, at times I've even had other songs going through my head while a different one was playing. And once I get home, I couldn't even begin to tell you what I was listening to. This morning was no different. I was thinking about the race and what I was looking like from mile 10 to the finish line. I was picturing myself finishing strong when suddenly this popped into my head:

"Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride

Nobody's gonna slow me down, oh no

I got to keep on moving

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride

I'm running and I won't touch ground

Oh ho, I got to keep on moving"

Wow, how did THAT get in there?!? That's definitely not on my playlist. I tried to think of other things and turn up the volume on my earbuds, but alas, it didn't help. I made it home and tried to shake off the cheesy lyrics. Thank goodness once I got home I was busy downloading my data and updating my training log so the song was just a bad memory.

I have my race day outfit picked out and I will wear my moderately cushioned shoes for this race. No lightweight trainers for me. I'll save them for shorter efforts. Right now 10 miles is pretty much my distance limit for those shoes. I have a 'special blend' on my iPod to get me through the race. There are a few songs that I seem to hit repeat on during my runs that keep me moving along. I've reloaded the iPod and it's fully charged. My GPS watch is fully charged. My gels are ready to go, no shot blocks for me this race. They just don't agree with me. Saturday is packet pick up and then I head to my cousin Cindy's house. She lives ~15 minutes from the race site. After the race Sunday we'll head back to her house to clean up and then head to my aunt's house to meet up with the rest of the clan.

"Running is a big question mark that's there

each and every day. It asks you,

'Are you going to be a wimp or

are you going to be strong today?"

- Peter Maher

Taper Workouts

2011-04-14T21:36:00.000-04:00

This week is an "easy" week. My workouts are shorter in duration and designed to keep me "fresh and loose." I shifted Wednesday's workout to Thursday to take advantage of the warmer weather. I flew home after clinical today, did a few things around the house, and then changed for a 3 mile run. I dressed lightly for the run knowing it was much warmer out. I planned a simple out and back and true to my poor planning, I was running home into the wind. I felt like a slowpoke and when the run was over, I reviewed the workout. My pace was actually pretty quick. I certainly felt like I was running slow and easy but I guess my taper legs were faster than I thought.

After the run I changed into some cycling clothes for a quick "flush out the legs" ride. I debated for a few minutes which bike to take out. If I took the road bike out I know I would pedal easy. If I took the tri bike out, the temptation to ride fast would be great. Sticking to my HOTS status, I grabbed the tri bike and went out. I actually felt comfortable and relaxed on the ride. Same as the run, I had an out and back planned. I wore shorts and not tights for the ride. I think I was even smiling out there. I can't wait for next week to come. With the weather getting nicer, I can't wait to begin some serious outdoor cycling.

"Your toughness is made up of equal parts persistence and experience.

You don't so much outrun your opponents as outlast and outsmart them,

and the toughest opponent of all is the one inside your head."

- Henderson

Holy cow, it's only Tuesday

2011-04-12T21:14:00.000-04:00

I went through most of my day thinking it was Wednesday. I'm not sure why that is, but I was really hoping the week was almost over. My big race is Sunday and I just feel like I want to get it done. All of the work is done and any running this week is all about keeping it "fresh and loose." That's been most of my workout feedback over the last week - "fresh and loose." My legs felt fantastic after my last 8 miler and the pace was pretty spot on too. I've been studying the race course for all of the turns. I want to make all the tangents so I don't add extra mileage by taking wide turns. I don't have much wiggle room to make my goal time and every inch I can spare on pavement will be needed. I have also been eyeballing the weather. If it is going to be windy, I will have to make sure I duck behind someone as I run to shield me.

I can tell I'm getting a little restless and I want to run. The feeling I have is "let's get this started already." I am eager for a long run. I'm like a horse being led into the starting gate for the big race.

The other nice thing about the upcoming weekend is visiting with my cousins. The last time I saw them was at Michael's funeral and it wasn't the best of circumstances. Now I can sit down and relax and catch up.

Sunday night the Wingman and I went out to dinner with our friends. We haven't seen them much because of my crazy work schedule lately, but now that my schedule is easing up we had a chance to get out and have a great dinner and get up to speed with how everyone's training and lives are going. I will be going full tilt into multisport mode next week and am eagerly awaiting it. Wingman and I have been outside for a few rides and I am chomping at the bit to really open it up on the road. The last couple of rides I had to hold it back so I don't ruin the taper. Needless to say Wingman wasn't happy when I had to draft off of him and not the other way around. He said he was going to tell Jen that she can't schedule workouts like that anymore. In reality, he has been riding a lot lately so he doesn't need to draft off of me anymore.

Ugh, tomorrow is only Wednesday and it's my longest day of this week 9a-8p. After that the days get shorter and hopefully the weather gets better.

Ready to transition

2011-04-08T19:10:00.000-04:00

My last triathlon was in September 2010 and what I took out of that race was a great bike segment and a ~~shitty~~ ~~crappy~~ ~~miserable~~ forgettable run segment. The whole drive home (and it was a loooong drive) all I could think about was how I blew up a perfectly good race by turning out one of the worst running performances ever. Something had to give and I decided quickly to take advantage of an actual off season to work on this glaring weakness.

Since late September I've been dedicated to running and pushing the envelope. My focus was setting PR's throughout the fall culminating with the half marathon that I am running next weekend. I took on the role of the "PR Hunter" and was taking aim at every race I lined up for.

I think the real key of my success was changing my mindset about my running and really making a commitment to change. I saw a great quote today that sums it up:

"the only way to find the limits of the possible

is by going beyond them into the impossible."

Next weekend I will stand on the starting line of the half marathon with a PR in sight. And when I cross that finish line, my triathlon season will officially begin. This running experiment was definitely worth the investment. I feel I have laid down a great foundation to springboard off of for the upcoming race season. It's been a great ~7 months of running and I am ready to move on and change up my focus.

My first triathlon is in early June. It really will just be a training day for me to give me some intensity in my workout and see how well I run off the bike. The real racing begins in July and peaks with my "A" race in September. Plus Team BAMF is reuniting for another race this summer. Our motto for the race this year is "Go big or go home!" It's going to be a great summer of racing!!

And you run and you run.......

2011-04-02T18:59:00.000-04:00

to catch up with the sun

but it's sinking.

Racing around

to come up behind you again.

This has been one busy week. And I mean busy in a good way. My clinical us picking up speed and my caseload is growing. Did some interesting evaluations this week and I look forward to seeing how those patients improve. I am also pleased that my clinical judgement is good too. In one hour I have to interview a patient, ask all the right questions and form my hypothesis as to what might be wrong. From there I have to perform various tests and measures to confirm or rule out what I was thinking. Then I have to "make a call." This refers to making a decision about what you think is wrong with that person, why it's dysfunctional, what else is going on to feed into that dysfunction and what can I plan for that patient to make it better. It's OK to not necessarily have the complete big picture after the evaluation. Whatever you wanted to test but didn't get a chance to, you can follow it up at the next visit. For all the evaluations I did this week, I was able to "make a call" and feel confident with my decision. My CI was in agreement with what I diagnosed. Phew.

I was also fortunate enough to get an up close look at the Retul bike fitting system Sinead setup in her office. The whole process of data collection is much faster than the traditional bike fit using other software/video combinations. You can get a whole snapshot of a riders setup at once instead of measuring out one joint at a time. It still takes time to interview the rider, do a biomechanical analysis of them, setup the bike, but once they start pedaling, it's easy to see the big picture and make changes and see the results much quicker than before. Overall we wound up making some adjustments to my seat height and position which yielded me a "flatter back" and more ease in my pedal stroke. So far my rides post-fit have been confined to the trainer, but hopefully I will be able to sneak outside soon for a short ride and really test it out.

Tomorrow is my last long run before the half marathon in two weeks. I am looking forward to backing off the long runs a little and getting into my taper. I've noticed one weird thing, all of my "easy" runs all wind up being the same average speed for the entire run. I guess I am the model of consistency with the easy runs. The rest of the runs are falling into place. My long runs are close to the average pace that I want to race at. I can only hope with the rest in my taper that I can feel fresh and loose and nail my goal time. Two weeks from tomorrow we'll find out!

Sleep trumps EVERYTHING

2011-03-27T19:10:00.000-04:00

Yep, it really does. This last week has been a crazy one. I've been putting in the hours on my clinical, training, and working a few nights this week. I needed to take Sunday off for a foot/ankle course I signed up for in the city so I had to be sure I was caught up at work. This meant my long run would be Saturday morning. I made sure I didn't stay too late at work Friday night.

When the alarm went off Saturday morning, I got up, went to the bathroom, and climbed back into bed with a less then convincing "yeah, I'm gonna run today" to the Wingman. As soon as the words left my lips, I was asleep. Yep, I was taking a nap after waking up. Getting up to use the bathroom is very strenuous work. I slept in a little and realized that a morning run was not going to happen. Instead I drove into work with the Wingman and worked feverishly all day long. I was stressing all day about getting my long run in. I had one eye on the clock and the other eye on the pile of work. It became a race against the sunset.

Around 3p I knew I was not going to run that day. I also knew that I had to get up early Sunday to drive into the city and spend all day there. A Sunday run was not going to happen. I thought about Monday and how I could squeeze it in. My clinical hours Monday are 9a-8p. I would have to get up early again to run. The thought made me shudder. I was craving waking up without an alarm clock. I wanted some "me" time (me meaning me and the Wingman and my long run).

I made the executive decision to skip the class. I knew if I went the feeling of being rundown was going to get worse. And when you are rundown, it's easy to get sick. I am in contact with many people throughout the day and the potential to catch something is pretty high so I need to be in the best shape I can be. So with that, I turned to the Wingman and told him I was going to stay home Sunday. He was supportive of my decision and completely understood. As soon as I announced my decision it felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I could feel the stress just melt away.

I finished out the day at work and we came home and had dinner. After dinner, we loaded a DVD into the player and relaxed on the couch together. I guess it was around 11p when I finally went to bed (which is late for me). I put my head down, shut my eyes and fell asleep.........until 8:30a this morning. I felt so well rested after waking up when my body wanted to wake up. I lounged around until 1p (thank you 3 part episode of Law & Order) and finally changed my clothes for my long run. I told the Wingman of my route and was on my way. I pieced together two of my favorite routes to make up one long route. It paid off big time.

I went out easy and truly enjoyed every mile of the run. Even late in the run when I felt myself slowing down because of the wind, I was still happy to be out there. I thought about the race and how I would finish. I could see myself in my mind's eye crossing the finish line looking strong. When the run today was over I looked at my overall time and thought back to my goals. It's going to be a big push to make it. I am close to making it, but I need to really nail my last long run. From there it's all about the taper. The hay will be in the barn and I need to make sure I don't set it ablaze!!

And tonight, I will head to bed at a reasonable hour so I can get a good jump on my recovery from the long run today.

Crunch time

2011-03-25T18:06:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I ran for the first time in two weeks. I had been having issues that prevented me from running. Not sure if making my first run after a hiatus a long run was good for my confidence, but I went out anyway. I cut the run short at 10 miles due to fatigue. I have to be honest I was a little worried about missing that time. So Tuesday I had an easy 5 miler on tap.

I got home around 3p and chatted with the Wingman for a little bit. I changed my clothes and headed out for a run "around the block." I didn't think about my previous run. I just wanted this to be a nice run. The weather was decent with a little wind. The whole time out there I felt fresh and loose. When the run was over I was quite happy with my 'easy run' time. The memory of the last long run was gone. My legs were back. I even felt good during Thursday's run.

I am taking a foot/ankle biomechanics course on Sunday so my long run will take place tomorrow morning. I have 12 miles and will be planning a route later. It's crunch time and I need to nail the next two long runs to build up my confidence for hanging on late in the race. Gotta go and get my run on........

Back from my hiatus

2011-03-20T21:13:00.000-04:00

"Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me

Other times I can barely see

Lately it occurs to me,

What a long, strange trip it's been"

I have been off the radar for ~1 week. It's been a bit of a roller coaster for me. I'm truly enjoying my experience on this affiliation, but I also had to deal with going to Michael's wake. I have to say it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. On Tuesday I made the long drive to Jersey after work to pay my respects and say a final goodbye. The whole drive there I was OK, but once I walked into the room and saw his parents it was hard to hold it together. I stayed for a few hours and spoke with various members of my family. Then I had the long drive home as I had to work the next day.

With all this going on, I also had SI joint issues with my back that prevented me from running. It was weird to diagnose it. It started when I did my 3 mile running test. After the run I stretched out and then got in the car to drive. When I got out of the car, my hamstring was sore right up near my butt. I tried stretching it and working it out. It felt a little better, but it was still sore. I ran the 4 miler race with it and that didn't help. Not only did I feel the soreness, but my hip was tight too. A few days after the 4 miler I ran again. Still tight, but I was able to run. After that, I had to shut it down. I knew I had to ease up on it to help it heal. All along I was thinking hamstring, and then I turned the Wingman into my personal PT. I knew what tests I wanted to do, but I couldn't do them to myself. I guided him through them and realized I was having SI joint issues. By using the foam roller I was able to work it out and feel better after a few days but I knew I needed more time off.

I finally felt good enough to run this morning before work. I had a 12 miler on the schedule but I knew that was a longshot. I hadn't run in a week and my previous long run was ~2 weeks ago. I woke up early and got dressed to run. It was a bit nippy out so I was dressed in layers so I could peel them off as I went along. I fired up the iPod and a great song came on to set a good starting pace:

"Well the first days are the hardest days,

don't you worry anymore

When life looks like easy street

There is danger at your door"

And the opening lyrics were never truer. It was more like the first steps are the hardest steps, but once I got going it was OK. I didn't focus on what pace I was running, I just wanted to get some fitness back. I felt like a slug at first but then I was able to pick it up for a while. Around mile 6 the fatigue was setting in. I planned a 10 mile loop and if I had enough in the tank I would tack on 2 more miles. But alas, 2 more was not meant to be. I knew if I pushed it I would be in trouble. So I called it a day at 10 miles.

I still have 2 more weeks of long running to build it up so I am not worried. I would have preferred a few more longer runs, but this is the hand I am have to deal with. The real test was how my SI joint would hold up after my run today. I stretched out and stood for a while before I got in the car for work. The car ride and sitting all day at work flared it up a bit, but tonight it's feeling pretty good. I am optimistic for the next few weeks and plan on rockin' my half marathon next month. It's on the Rutgers campus and that's where Michael went to school. I know for that race Michael will be with me when I run so I need to bring my A game, no slacking off!!

Stepping out

2011-03-12T19:52:00.000-05:00

This week I had a bike power test scheduled. It is designed to give data to help me set training zones as I head into the spring and begin some serious bike training. I read the workout over and over again and kept thinking "No problem, I can nail it." But as I got closer to actually doing the test, it's another story. The whole workout would last an hour, but the two key intervals that count at a 5 minute super hard effort and then another 20 minute effort that's not quite as hard as the 5 minute.

I brought my iPod down stairs and some water to get me through. I loaded a Tour de France DVD and picked the time trial to watch. I figured if I was watching other cyclists do a hard effort, it would help me. Once my warmup was complete, I reset the powermeter, put on some fast music, put my head down and pedaled furiously. My 5 minutes had just begun. I was surprised at my cadence. I was spinning faster than I thought I could. Every few moments I would look down to see how much time I had left. The sweat began to pour off my face. I was grunting the last minute of the effort. I could see my heart rate was pinned way up for cycling. I haven't seen a number that high on the bike in quite some time. The last 30 seconds I just focused on maintaining my pedal turnover.

I greeted the last 10 seconds like a New Year's Eve countdown. I might have even counted out loud, I don't really remember as it was a blur. I stopped the computer and made sure I saved the data. Now was the cool down and preparation for the 20 minutes.

The 20 minutes was harder than the 5 minutes. Even though my effort was "lower," it was still super hard. I kept thinking "20 minutes isn't so bad." But as I looked down at the computer, 3 minutes elapsed. Holy crap, 17 more minutes. Sweat was coming off my head like it was coming out of a faucet. I knew I just had to make sure my power numbers stayed up. It was a hard effort and took everything I had to hang on. I looked down again and was only halfway there. It was at this point I thought "Why the hell am I doing this?"

The answer came quickly. I need to push myself if I want to get better. I spent a good deal of time in the offseason working on my running and getting out of my comfort zone and it has paid off big time. My times are dropping and now it's time to focus on the bike. I don't want to maintain the status quo. I am tired of being stagnant. It's time to push the envelope and get to the next level on the bike.

All that thinking took about 2 minutes. I still had 8 to go. Oh brother, the legs are burning now. I turned up the volume on the music, dropped my head and dug deep. Gotta keep the numbers up. My legs were turning over the pedals fast and furious.

The final countdown was a welcome sight. I was grunting and spitting like crazy. My head was dripping everywhere. 10.......come on, hang on......9........pedal, circles......8.........keep working......7......only on 7?.........6..........almost there.........5......maybe I can stop the computer now..............4.........don't cheat, you can do it............3.......someone kill me please.........2.....seriously, end this........1..............DONE!!!!!! Next thought was "I never want to do that again."

I saved the data and then completed the rest of the workout. Once it was all done, I uploaded the data to Jen so she can setup new training zones for the bike. The hard work was done and I was way out of my comfort zone. First step on the road to improvement.

Remembering Michael

2011-03-10T21:12:00.001-05:00

Michael and his little cousin Nico

Early this morning we lost an amazing young man. My cousin Michael was battling Leukemia for the 2nd time in his young life. Some of you may remember I did a fund raiser for him back in October to raise money for his treatments. In January he received a bone marrow transplant and spent a month in the hospital. He was able to go home, but was battling infections and was in and out of the hospital over the last month. He went back in Monday evening and passed away early this morning. He was only 20 years old. He and I had a deal that when he was better we would run a race together. While that is not physically possible now, I will always have him in my heart when I run.

He was a student at Rutgers University and managed a 4.0 GPA last semester while undergoing chemotherapy treatments. My half marathon next month is at Rutgers University. I had hoped to visit with him but unfortunately that is not possible now. But I know Michael will be running along with me in spirit and carrying me through the race.

I was reading through his facebook messages that his friends have been leaving for him. They talk about his great smile, how nice he was, what a great friend and how at ease he made people feel. He touched many lives and hopefully we can all carry his amazing spirit forward.

Photo by A. Palino

It's an old Sicilian message.....

2011-03-07T07:39:00.000-05:00

It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes

For almost two weeks now we've had a small mouse in the kitchen. We've tried various traps and techniques with no success. The mouse would eat the food off the traps without setting it off. Last night was the final straw. I was in the bedroom getting ready for bed when I saw something dart out and go under the chest of drawers. My heart started beating fast as I hopped up onto the bed (yes, I know, how brave of me). My excuse was I wanted a good vantage point to see if he came out from a different spot. Yeah, that's it.

When Wingman came into the bedroom, he saw me standing and staring. I told him where Luca was and we barricaded him under the chest while Wingman went to get the traps. I stayed on the bed as a lookout. Wingman did a fine job setting up the area with traps.

Around midnight Luca came out to eat and Wingman was awoken by the sound of the trap going off. I, unfortunately, slept through it. Never heard the trap go off. When I woke up this morning I saw that the trap went off and Luca was now "sleeping with the fishes."

I told Wingman we should put him in some newspaper and leave it in the garage as a message to his other friends. But for now, I can rest easy knowing our tormentor has been caught.

Opening up a can......

2011-03-05T18:32:00.000-05:00

This morning was my 2nd year running the Little Cow Harbor 4 Miler. Wingman and I ran it last year and we liked it so much we made a point of going back this year to do it again. The race director and organizers do such a great job putting the whole race together. The course is challenging, the race shirt is a nice long sleeve shirt, great goodie bag, outstanding volunteers, and of course a great post race spread. But before you can celebrate your race, you have to get through the course.

Thursday I had my 3 mile run test and while I put up great numbers for it, I knew I could not run them today. Thursday was a nice flat run. Also, after my run I had some gnawing hamstring issues. Right where the hamstring starts at the base of your butt hurt every time I took too big of a step. I walked gingerly Thursday night and all day Friday. When race morning came along, I agonized over which pair of running shoes to wear - lightweights or regular trainers. I wore the lightweights for Thursday's run (hadn't worn them since January) and I wondered if they would be any good for this race. About ten minutes to the start I went with the lightweights. I did an easy warmup so my hip/hamstring would loosen up. At the start line I felt confident that it would hold up.

This race doesn't have any major hills to it but it is a rolling course. When the siren went off, so did I. I knew a PR would be difficult to achieve on this course so I gave it no more thought. The first half mile is mostly gently rolling downhill. I didn't try to weave in and out of the crowd. I knew in enough time that I would get some space. And once we came upon the first incline, things opened up. I just kept my focus and stayed relaxed. Nice and easy up the hill. I vaguely remember some parts of the course from last year so I knew a flat section was coming up. But too bad mother nature had different plans. On the flat was a nice headwind. For real. I saw the one mile marker ahead and I checked the garmin for my 1st mile pace. I was surprised at how fast I came through that mile. I knew I would slow down a little but it was all about hanging on.

By now I was feeling pretty loose and ready to open up some more. But we came upon another rolling section. At this point I had to try and just hold my pace instead of dropping it down. The wind and the hills was not making it easy. By the time I got to mile 2, my pace had slowed. I remembered just before mile 3 we'd have a nice downhill leading into a flat section to make up the time. I didn't worry about it and noticed that I was starting to pick people off. Hmm, this is totally new to me. Usually I get picked off in races. At this point it was a game. I would find someone and try to reel them in.

As I came upon the downhill section around mile 2.8, I saw a young girl that looked like she ran track. With my ~~tunnel vision~~ laser focus, I picked it up a little and made my pass. Hasta la vista baby.

I was running like a woman possessed. The thoughts of getting a negative split in this race filled me head. It wouldn't be too hard to do thinking back to what I ran the 2nd mile in. When the 3rd mile came up, I saw the times had come back down again. That 2nd mile was just a bad memory.

Next up was some guy running in a red shirt. It caught my eye like a bull to a matador's cape. He was a little up the road, but I dropped my speed some more and reeled him in. I made my pass and now it was a matter of not letting him pass me. Suddenly this sickening feeling came over me. The last quarter mile is uphill. No way I could keep up this pace going up that hill. Also, fatigue was setting in. When the start of the last hill came, I almost came to a complete stop. I was moving so slowly that I thought I was going backwards. What makes it worse is there are two quick turns to break up your momentum - a left then a right. When the right turn came up into the parking lot of the school, all I wanted to do was lie down in the grass. I have no idea why, but that's what I felt like doing. But I HTFU'd and made it to the finish line in one piece. I looked at my time and noted it was 4 minutes faster than last year. Not too shabby an improvement. The course measured out a little over miles (~4.1) so the pace listed for me on the results (4.0 miles) was actually slower than what my watch showed.

I did a quick cool down and waited for the Wingman to finish. After he crossed the line, we hit the food lines. There was a ton of fruit, cookies, rolls, and awesome chicken & rice soup. I treated myself to a chocolate chip cookie and a honkin' bowl of soup that had chunks of chicken in it. I think Wingman even had a second bowl. We checked our race times and I saw that I finished 6th out of 41. Not a bad way to run my first race since I've aged up to a new division. I'm like the spring chicken in the division.

We went into the gym where the raffle had been picked during the race. They have a poster up with race bib numbers listed next to prizes. Turns out I also won a $50 gift card to Eastbay Sports. As Charlie Sheen would say "WINNING!!!" I did a bit of stretching to work out the hamstring and then we headed home.

Though I did not get a PR today (wasn't trying for one) I am pleased with my race. I faltered a little at the end, but I felt solid throughout. I had two hard runs in 3 days and I put up great numbers for both runs. Especially this one being a hilly run. I'm not much of a hill runner but I hung in there and gave it all that I had. I am eager to see what the next few weeks of long running will bring. Running fast over a short distance is OK, I want to excel over some longer distances. The half marathon in April will be my first real test of it.

3 mile sufferfest

2011-03-03T18:56:00.000-05:00

So the Evil Exercise Scientist listened to my talk about how I can't hold the slower paces she prescribed for my workouts. And I had to put my money where my mouth was. I had to run 3 miles like a madwoman to see if a new training pace was warranted. Was I all talk or can I really drop the paces. Last night when I scoped out the weather I was feeling like this about the workout:

I was ready to attack this workout and breakout like the Hulk. Though if I actually ripped through my clothing it had nothing to do with muscle bulk and all about the Hershey nuggets I snacked on in the afternoon.

As the time for the workout drew near, my sense of greatness looked more like this:

I started thinking that maybe I wasn't as fast as I thought I was. Just because my cruising pace was faster, what makes me think my top end speed is faster? I was really timid about the run. What if there was no improvement since my last 5k PR effort? When I started the run I didn't feel like I was carrying my PR hunter rifle with me. I warmed up and hoped for the best. Once the test began, I took off like I was shot out of a cannon. For the first half mile I felt the pace was good. I was working hard and had that false sense that I could actually hold the pace.

My GPS watch is set to vibrate at every mile. I knew I didn't want to look down at it. I just wanted to wait for the third vibration and then I knew this run would be over. In the mean time, I didn't look down throughout most of the run.

I planned to run ~two miles out, one mile back and then a cool down. After the 1st vibration, I knew I was one mile in. I still had that feeling of "I can hold this pace, easy peasy." Now don't get me wrong, I was working hard, but I thought I could hang on.

Mile 2, I just focused on holding my pace. Still full of optimism but I could slowly feel the lead trickling into my legs. I kept my head up and pushed on. By the end of the 2nd mile, I turned around and faced some headwind and a slight uphill. This was the moment of truth. Would I hang on or bail on the effort?

I remembered a phrase from a show on Discovery Channel and that got me through the last mile: "Pick up that weakness and put it in your pocket." My legs were so heavy and I was getting tired. Every time a group of cars passed by it kicked up the headwind. I kept picking up my weakness and putting it into my pocket. Problem was, the pockets were getting heavy from all that weakness. Now I started to look down at my watch: 2.6 miles done, keep pumping the legs, hang on, 2.7 miles done, come on you can make this, heart pounding in my throat, 2.8 miles done, please don't puke, almost there, open your eyes, 2.9 miles done, OK I will never publicly comment about paces being too slow again, 3.0 miles done!!!!! Phew. I was cooked. I jogged slowly home to go easy on the legs and try to flush out the lead that filled them.

When I got home I uploaded the data for the Evil Exercise Scientist to parse. Needless to say I was able to put up some numbers that will drop my training paces. I put the money where my mouth was.

After it was all said and done, I looked more like this after the run:

Carpe Viam

2011-03-02T20:33:00.000-05:00

After all of my talk about running pacing, the edict came down from the Evil Exercise Scientist.

A 3 mile running test has been added to my schedule for tomorrow. I swear I could hear the evil laughter as she updated my schedule yesterday. It's all for the better for me to continue to improve, but when I look at the weather, it will feel like single digits when I get out in the morning to run. The wind will be blowing from the north so I planned an out and back route that will run east then back west. Hopefully that will keep the freezing to a minimum.

So tomorrow morning if you hear that sonic boom, that will be me burning up the roadway!!

You can't stop me....

2011-03-01T19:41:00.000-05:00

You can only hope to contain me.

This morning I woke up without the aid of an alarm clock. I could hear the wind kicking up a bit outside and quickly juggled my day around. After checking with the weather websites, the wind would die down later in the day and the temps would warm up slightly. So I made the easy decision to wait it out. I sat down with the Wingman and we had a leisurely breakfast together. He went off to work and I changed and went down to the basement to ride.

I didn't have a ride scheduled for today, but I still had some lingering hamstring soreness. I knew if I warmed it up I could stretch a little and feel better. I have a longer ride planned tomorrow so I kept it short and sweet today.

As the day went on, the winds slowed down. I changed into running clothes and headed out for an 'easy' 6 miles. I knew I had to hold back today and stick to the plan. I had the best of intentions of running as slow as the plan dictated. I even glanced down at my watch early in the run and saw I was in the right speed zone. Too bad I was running uphill. Once I was running flat again, all bets were off. I certainly had a lot more speed in the tank and was holding back, it's just hard to hold back much more.

I planned 3 miles out and back. I knew I had it planned that the wind would be in my face for the first 3 and at my back for the run home. I made it to the turnaround and saw my pace. I was running ~15-30 seconds too fast per mile. And that was into the wind. Coming home I had a tail wind to assist me. And the music on my iPod was no help either in my pacing:

When this song came on, it was full steam ahead. The only thing that slowed me down was a fallen flag. There are flags hung along the roadway and the heavy winds knocked one down so I stopped to pick it up and roll it back on the pole. Someone will come along and hang the bracket back up, but for now at least the flag is not on the ground. I collected my karma points and continued my run.

Before I knew it I was back in my development and cruising home. Another 1/2 mile and I am at the door. I got inside and stretched my legs out. The hamstring definitely was acting up early in the run, but before I was at 2 miles it quieted down and let me extend my knee more easily. I iced it for a few minutes and hopped into the shower.

I am into such a groove this week. My mind is clear and I'm sleeping well. All good things needed to perform well. All I have to do is tackle cleaning the kitchen, organize my magazines that I have all over the place, go through my clothes, and brush up on my ortho skills. Hmmm, so much for the week off.

My goal for the week.....

2011-02-28T19:05:00.000-05:00

With the week off, I am in need of some serious saving. That is, I need to be saved from myself and the dumb things I have the potential to do. I may need to hire someone to babysit me. Anyone up to the task? I'm not as rambunctious as I was when I was younger so no duct tape will be needed to keep me in check.

Today was a scheduled day off, but I went to the pool. I did an easy swim to help flush out my legs from yesterday's long run. My right hamstring reminded me today what happens when I do a lot of treadmill running and then take to the streets. My poor legs suffer as a result. So I wanted to help myself along. I went down to the dreaded Y and their 100 degree pool. Well, maybe not 100, but it can feel like it at times. The board on the pool deck said 86 degrees, but as soon as I slipped into the water, I knew it was much cooler. They play games with the old folks there. They put up a higher number to make them think the water is warm. Personally, if the old folks would just SWIM and not stand around and flap their gums, they would be warm. But I digress......

There weren't many people there, but I wound up being the odd one out and had to share a lane. I picked the end lane because it's slightly wider than the rest. My lane partner was a man with a sweater on. OK, it wasn't a sweater but he could use some serious manscaping. It wasn't long before most people got out of the pool and then it was just me, one other swimmer and 3 lifeguards. I finished up my swim, took a quick shower and then came home.

I'm fighting the urge to go downstairs to ride. Wingman is working late so I am on my own for a little while longer. In my head I can convince myself that it would be an 'easy' ride, but I know at some point I'll blow it. Arghhhh, I'm going stir crazy!!!! And to think I am not even tapering...........

Time off for good behavior

2011-02-27T20:55:00.000-05:00

My affiliation is over. I get one week off before I dive back into the world of free labor. But this last affiliation should be a good one. I purposely chose the type of facility because in the long run it is what I want to do. So if I am going to spend 16 weeks somewhere, I might as well try to make it a good place.

I had my inservice this week. Instead of choosing a topic to educate the staff on, I picked a patient to present as a case study. From the day I started treating this patient, the rest of the staff seemed to have an interest in him. So I gave the details of the hospital stay, my evaluation and findings. I presented information about the diagnosis (traumatic brain injury) and how it plays into my plan of care that I create for him. I talked about what I am looking for during the evaluation. It's not just a case of following the form. You have to look at how the patient is responding to your directions. How are they moving? How do they problem solve? I addressed how I went about my treatment sessions. I relied heavily on problem solving for this patient. I told him what I wanted done and it was up to him to decide how to do it. From there I covered his progress and ultimately his discharge home.

Friday was my last day. As usual I got out very late. But at least it was the last day of a long commute. I got home, ate dinner, and hopped onto the treadmill for my run. I am truly hoping that was the last of my treadmill runs. I long to be outside running where the scenery changes and I can let my legs go. The treadmill can be a good tool in a jam, but for me, I just prefer to get out.

Today was my long run. I went to work early so I could come home and run in the afternoon. I would have preferred to run in the morning, but it was wet and dismal looking out. When I got home, I took a quick nap and then changed and went out. I felt good from the start and tried to set an easy pace. I felt like I was running easy, but the pace on the watch was a little faster than what I was supposed to be running. I tried to slow it down, but it felt awful. The pace kept creeping up. I just focused on the effort and as long as it felt easy, then I knew I was OK. I had a big loop planned and as usual, I was lost in my thoughts. It's amazing how everything and nothing can go through my head at the same time. When the run is over, sometimes I can't remember what I was thinking about but my head is clearer. I do remember thinking about my half marathon that is coming soon. The PR hunter is prepping the rifle and scope. It's been 4 1/2 years since I set a half marathon PR. Barring a catastrophe, I will nail this one. The question is, by how much? I know when I sat down with Jen back in January and stated what time I was shooting for, I didn't realize how ambitious it was. It seemed like a long way to go. Honestly, I am not sure I can achieve that goal this time around but I know I can set a PR. My focus between now and April is all about doing everything I can to whittle down my times.

Breaking through

2011-02-24T19:45:00.001-05:00

Every few weeks, I can feel a change in my workouts. The volume builds and then it backs off. With each recovery, I can feel the difference. This week was no exception. I am in my final week of adult rehab PT. The last 8 weeks have been filled with heavy lifting and being on my feet 8 hours a day. Then I come home and workout. I've had to flip flop workouts to adjust to how I feel physically. This week is a bit of a 'light' week.

I've been stuck inside mostly due to the weather or darkness. I've been eager to get out and ride, but the time is not right yet. The bright side is the trainer rides have been going well. The trainer keeps you honest. There is no coasting. I can feel a difference in my cycling since January. I've been using a powermeter to give me feedback about my rides. I can see my average watts coming up over the last few weeks. I will be doing a formal power test soon so we will see if I still pedal like a 5 year old.

Most of my runs have been on the treadmill. Last weekend the wind, cold and darkness kept me indoors. The ~~hamsterwheel~~ treadmill also keeps me honest. The pace setting on the treadmill is not accurate. I know what pace I run outside and when I set it on the treadmill, it's not right. It's too fast, so I just go by perceived exertion. If it's supposed to be an interval run, I just turn up the speed and then slow it down to recover. I feel like I'm working hard.

I got home early yesterday and had the opportunity to run outside in the daylight. It was a 4-5 mile easy run. I got changed, popped on the headphones, and made my way out. Almost from the start, I was feeling good. I was lost in my thoughts and before I knew it, I could feel the watch vibrate and realized I was 3 miles in. I made the turn into the home stretch. Another 1.6 miles and I was home. It felt so nice to be outside and the temperature was comfortable too. Now if spring was only just around the corner.

After the run, I was thinking about the last few weeks of training. I could feel I've made a small breakthrough in my training and fitness. I feel I am on to the next level and ready for more challenges.

So close.......

2011-02-21T19:20:00.000-05:00

4 days left on this affiliation. I am eager to move on to outpatient orthopedic work. My caseload is dwindling right now. It only makes sense as I am leaving at the end of the week to begin to transition my patients over to other therapists. As far as I know, tomorrow I will only have to treat 3 people. Hopefully an evaluation will come in and I will get my hands on that.

My inservice will be presented on Thursday. Usually I pick a topic to educate the staff on, but in this case I opted to pick a patient and present a case study. I will review the events and hospital stay prior to admission in this facility for short term rehab. I'll talk about what I found during the evaluation and how it shapes my treatment plan. Then I will talk about the latest evidence of the diagnosis and how to treat it. And from there I will review my actual treatment interventions.

Overall it should take ~15-20 minutes to present. Hopefully the questions won't be too bad and I will escape unscathed. Then on Friday I get my final review. I also have to complete a 4 page survey of the facility that needs to be sent back to Stony Brook. Ugh, the paperwork never ends.

Tonight I feel a little restless. It's a rest day and I am jonesin' to get on the bike and ride the trainer. Instead I will catch up on the latest in orthopedic rehab to help brush up for the next affil. Tomorrow I have a fun looking workout planned. I am actually looking forward to 'getting the work done'.

Busier than.......

2011-02-20T20:50:00.000-05:00

A one legged man at an ass kicking contest.

That sums up the last few weeks for me. My clinical has been crazy. I have been fortunate enough to pick my caseload because I am a student and am supposed to be learning. So they were nice enough to let me select which patients I wanted to treat. But the facility took on a lot of new patients in a short period of time and it became an all hands on deck situation, so I was busy from the moment I walked in the door until I left at the end of the day. And that included working most of my lunch.

Add working weekends to that mix and you've got one tired person. Earlier in the week I felt really rundown. I thought for sure I was getting sick. I moved workouts around to buy myself more rest time. I had no energy to run or ride. I was in bed by 9p one night and slept through until 5:30a. That seemed to do the trick. I felt better again. I was back and hitting my workouts again. Sometimes you just have to back off a day or two in order to bounce back instead of trying to slug through a workout and taking longer to bounce back.

Weekend nights have been busy too, but they were 'social' busy so in my book it's OK. Last weekend we went to dinner Saturday with some friends of the family. This couple was kind enough to let us stay in their apartment before the NYC triathlon two years ago while they were away. Then Sunday was the birthday dinner with my folks and my "Special Projects Coordinator/Executive Assistant" Dolores and the Twine King Lou. Last night we went out with Wynn and Teresa to catch up on everyone's training and lives.

As this week went on, my training picked up. I was running and riding well. I missed going to the pool, but I knew this week it was critical to make sure I was getting enough sleep. We even got a tease of spring weather, but it was gone before I knew it. But when the weekend came around I was stuck indoors. I was really hoping to get out to ride on Saturday, but with 40mph wind gusts, that wasn't happening. It was back on the trainer. I was watching a triathlon documentary (probably the 40th time I've seen it) that follows 4 pros as they train for the Hawaii Ironman. I was so high from my workout that the thoughts of entering into another iron distance race danced through my head. Good thing I didn't go anywhere near a computer until the high wore off. But it's still in the back of my mind. I am trying to be realistic about my racing schedule.

I know this season is out of the question, but I turned to next year. I think next year is also out of the question since I will be in the 1st year of employment somewhere and need to focus on my skills and developing as a PT. Races will always be out there so right now, 2013 looks like the year I toe the line again for an iron distance race. I have a time of year in mind for the race and I think I even have the venue picked out. But for now, the season in front of me and how to get the most out of myself is the priority.

With that, I have been trying out new nutrition for my workouts. For a while, I've been using Shot Blocks on the bike and run. But the last 2-3 months, the shot blocks and I are not getting along. I am experimenting with different products and have had some good success. I'm feeling good on the run and as good as I can feel on the bike trainer. I really need to nail my nutrition for racing this season. I think it's part of the reason I fall apart on the run.

This week is my last week for this clinical. After Friday, I have a week off. But in reality, I am not sure how much I will have off. First up will be my workouts and then heading into the office in case there are a lot of mail in returns to complete. But at least there will be no more 40 minute commute on the LIE in rush hour traffic.

Learning on the job

2011-02-13T21:44:00.000-05:00

This week was a full week without my CI (Clinical Instructor). I was pretty much free of supervision. Actually, the PT supervisor and another PT were there and very helpful to me when I asked questions. I think I learned more from them this week than I did from my CI in previous weeks. There are a few things I did pickup this week:

If a patient (pt) has cellulitis with abscesses forming, it's not OK when you get their puss on your pants. Nasty stuff. As soon as I was done, I changed into another pair I had in the car and threw the dirty pair out. No way was I putting that in my washing machine.
When you and your CI disagree on pt treatment times (you want to decrease and they don't have the heart to do it), wait until they are out to make all the changes.
It's not OK to get 'hit on' by an elderly man with Alzheimer's who thinks you are his prostitute.
Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy just rolls right off the tongue. Seriously.
It's not OK to teach the old ladies to say "What up bitches?" when they are being wheeled into the PT gym.
The staff can't tell if I am having a seizure or attempting to dance with a pt.
Teaching the old folks to flash gang signs is considered therapeutic. They are moving their limbs against gravity.
If a pt has taken a dilaudid (heavy duty pain meds) AND flexeril (muscle relaxant) you are not waking them up. Impossible.
You can think about hitting someone with a baseball bat, you just can't actually do it.
Old people like to start phrases with "Did anyone ever tell you who you look like.........?"
Hobbits really exist. I evaluated two of them this week. They were disguised as 4'9" elderly women.
If you only have the use of one arm, I can double over nicely as the other arm to help you get down to the Village People's "YMCA" song.

Out of the frying pan......

2011-02-06T20:28:00.000-05:00

.....and into the fire.

That is how this last week went at my clinical. My CI (clinical instructor) called me Tuesday when I was on my way in to say she was going to be out sick. I was going to be on my own. Well, sort of. There are two other PT's in the department but no one to supervise me. They were there for me if I asked for help or had a question, but the reality was I was on my own. It was nice to see what I was capable of. Do I show good clinical judgement? Do I make good, sound decisions for my patients? Am I safe in how I handle them? Tuesday went pretty well. I had a full load of patient's to treat plus two new evaluations to perform. One was straight forward and the other was complex. The complex one was a spinal cord injury. I joined up with the OT and we went in together and performed our eval. Creates less stress for a patient if we can do everything in one shot.

I went home pretty proud of myself. I made it through the day. Even wrote up a discharge summary for someone that was going home the next day. Wednesday was another story. My CI was out again and I was flying solo. I had another full caseload plus two more new patients to evaluate. And of course one of those patients was complicated - traumatic brain injury. Again, I paired up with OT and we did the eval together. The day was stressful and I was looking forward to my CI coming back soon. I don't mind working hard, but I am a student and need a little guidance here and there. Plus I am not free labor for a facility.

CI came back on Thursday but it was like she wasn't there. I was alone again treating patients. Then Friday she left early for a family emergency Right now, I have no idea when she will be back. The PT's there just look at me like I'm a baby dropped off on their doorstep - "I don't know. What do you think we should do with her?" That's how I feel. This week I have no idea what will happen. I'm just out there trying to find my way.

This weekend was my first full weekend back at work too. It's tax season and I had a ton of work left for me to do. I worked all day Saturday and went in early today so I could leave early. I had a long run to do and with the wind howling this morning, I opted to go to work early and come home early to run when it was warmer. The strategy paid off. I knew I would be starting my run in daylight and ending it in darkness so I made sure I had my headlamp. My last long run didn't feel good so I was hoping today would be better. My mind was full of clutter of things coming up this week. I have one patient leaving before he is ready to go home (his choice to leave) so I have to prepare a discharge summary stating what goals were not met and any additional comments that I feel should be stated. I also thought about what treatments I have to plan as well. All of this plus the thought of no supervision for who know show long fueled my run. Before I realized it I was 5 miles in and flying waaaaaay ahead of my pace for the workout. Funny thing was I was feeling good on the run so I didn't worry about my pacing too much.

By now it was dark out so I flipped on my light so I could see the road in front of me. I had to slow down at certain points because I couldn't tell if the road was wet or icy. I made it home unscathed and felt pretty good about my run. I guess I need someone to come over and stress me out prior to a long run.

Tonight I'll be watching the commercials during the Superbowl. I don't care too much for either team playing so the commercials are the highlight of the evening for me. The halftime show is horrible. Not my kind of music.

I'll be heading to bed early to get my rest. I have at least two more days in the frying pan..............

Onward and upward

2011-01-31T21:02:00.000-05:00

I am halfway through my clinical and am counting down the days until I am done. On Friday I had my 'midterm evaluation' and my CI scored me very high. So as long as I don't fail miserably the last 4 weeks, I should do well. It's been a rough 4 weeks physically. Many patients require some heavy lifting. At times I come home wiped out and find my workouts difficult to complete. The weather has not been a help either. The snow has made it difficult to get outside and run. I've been hitting the treadmill during the week. This weekend I finally had a chance to get outside and run. I had a 9 miler on Sunday and made my way out. The weather was much better than last weekends freeze-fest. I didn't need to bundle up prior to the run. I was dressed 'light' for the weather. The first half was easy, but the second half was some serious work. It took a lot of focus to keep the legs moving. Being on my feet all week and the lifting was taking it's toll on my endurance. But I hunkered down and got the work done. After the run I hit the gym and got my workout in as well.

Saturday was a busy day for the Wingman and I. First up was my trainer ride. I popped in the 2005 Tour de France DVD and rode along with the tour. It did a nice job of making the time go by quicker. For Christmas I got a new powermeter on my P2 bike. I had hesitated to put my good bike on the trainer, but finally a few weeks ago I caved in and set it up so I could start using the powermeter. I hit the bike shop to get a cassette for a temporary wheel. My P2 has a sweet Zipp 1080 on the back. That wheel is waaaaaaay too nice (and expensive) to be on a trainer. So after a supervised trip to the bike shop, I now have a wheel for when the bike is on the trainer. After the trip to the bike shop it was off to work and then Teresa's birthday dinner. My day started at 7am and finished up around midnight.

With all the crazy weather, my swim session was cancelled last week. I will make it back in the pool this week. This week my target will be to nail every workout this week. Not just complete them, but nail them. I know the weather won't cooperate so the ~~hamsterwheel~~ treadmill will have to suffice. I can only hope spring is right around the corner.............

RIP Jack LaLanne

2011-01-24T22:08:00.000-05:00

This morning I was driving to my clinical when I heard the news on the radio that Jack LaLanne died. The man was a fitness pioneer and a badass until the day he died. His list of accomplishments is stunning.

Age 41: swam from alcatraz to fisherman's wharf....handcuffed
Age 42: 1,033 pushups in 23 minutes
Age 45: did 1,000 pushups and 1,000 situps in 1 hour 22 minutes
Age 62: swam 1 mile in Long Beach harbor while handcuffed and shackled towing 13 boats with 76 people
Age 70: swam 1.5 miles handcuffed and shackled towing 70 boats with 70 people

He also had some great lines, commonly referred to as "Lalanneisms"

People don't die of old age, they die of inactivity
If it tastes good, spit it out
Your health account is like your bank account. The more you put in the more you can take out
Anything in life is possible and you can make it happen
If man makes it, don't eat it
Eat right and you can't go wrong
I can't die, it would ruin my image.

So RIP Jack LaLanne. You've inspired many people to incorporate fitness and good eating into their lives.

There's no place like home

2011-01-23T18:41:00.000-05:00

I was desperately searching for a pair of these today

The weather here has been brutal lately. Between snow and bitter cold, it has not been outdoor workout friendly. Obviously I've been doing my bike riding on the trainer. Thank goodness for Netflix because I can load a few movies or documentaries into the "watch instantly' queue and then watch them on the TV downstairs. My tolerance right now is still only an hour on the trainer. I just can't get past that point. Especially since I don't have any major racing requiring long biking coming up until this summer, this winter has been a running focus for me. My first 'A' race is a half marathon.

I was super busy yesterday so I didn't get to my bike ride until late. Flipped on the TV and found a hockey game on the NHL network. Even though my workout was a 'spinning' workout, it quickly turned into a 'hockey' workout. I use the game to create mini workouts within the workout to pass the time. An hour still felt like an hour though.

Today was a big day of indecision. I had an 8 mile run planned. I looked at the weather forecast and it was 24 degrees out with 20mph winds to make it feel like 7 degrees. I thought about driving somewhere more populated so I wouldn't have to contend with the wind. Then I thought about just hitting the ~~hamster wheel~~ treadmill. Until I remembered how lately the treadmill has been flaring up my ITB. So the treadmill was out. I put on my big girl pants and a lot of other clothing and went out to run. Going out wasn't too bad, but coming home was into the wind. I could feel the stinging cold on my legs. Then after a short time I couldn't feel a thing. It was brutal. I kept hoping that Glenda would come out and tell me that all I needed to do was click my heels 3 times and say "there's no place like home. There's no place like home......" Alas, she did not appear and I had to keep on running.

When I finally made it home, I stripped off my sweaty clothes and tried to warm up my now pink skin and blue lips before I hit the shower. I lingered in the hot shower hoping it would help. When I got out I dressed in several layers, dried my hair, and sat under a heavy blanket on the couch. I was shivering like crazy. Seriously. You would have thought I was in the advanced stages of Parkinson's or having a seizure. Took over an hour and some hot soup to finally feel better.

Also, my commitment to swimming is still there. I've been swimming with a master's swim club and getting a lot out of it. I am proud to say I was the fastest in my lane Thursday night. I'm not super fast, but my endurance is there. Most of the night was filled with ridiculous kicking drills. As the night went on, it seemed like most people were rolling their eyes with me as he announced the next drill. Finally we got some swim only drills in. I felt like I was moving quickly but saw the guy in the next lane above me swim right by. Zoinks! I still have a ways to go before I am moving up any lanes yet. But it's something to work on. Swimming has been a nice change of pace and I'm glad I got back to it earlier in the year than previous years. Perhaps soon I will be able to go to more workouts.

As for the upcoming week, we are expecting more snow. I know, a real shocker. I have to look at the schedule and forecast to see how I can move my workouts around. I really need to avoid the treadmill.

At the end of the week I will be getting my midterm evaluation at my clinical site. I think I am doing fairly well and have received good feedback over the first 3 weeks so far. I also have to finalize my inservice topic. Normally you pick something that is relevant to the area of rehab you are in. I can't think of anything beneficial so I will do a case study. I have an interesting patient that I am working with. This person has a TBI (traumatic brain injury) so I will present the details of the injury (how it happened, what specifically happened to the brain) and what we are doing in rehab to get this person back to a functional level where they can go home and lead as normal of a life as possible.

HOTS in action

2011-01-16T18:37:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Wingman and I went up island for a 10 mile race. In previous years this was just a 'fun run' where you show up and run up to 12 miles. This year they made it an actual race. It was supposed to be a one loop 10 mile route, but the race organizers were told by the police that they couldn't control traffic over a course that large in a residential area. So they compromised on a 2 loop 5 mile course. The temps were pretty cool out so I opted for my regular tights, long sleeve 'under armour' style shirt, cycling jacket with removable sleeves, gloves and a beenie. Teresa, Ian and Joan were also there to race. Wynn was the 'corner man' for mile 1.5 and 6.5. Jen and Dave were there as well. It was easy to spot Jen. All I had to do was look for someone dressed like this:

The race starts and ends at a brewery. They upped the ante this year and had a large heated tent behind the building. This really is a nice option for a cold weather race. You could stand around and stay warm before and after the race. Almost 500 people turned out which is a nice showing for a race in January. The weather postponed this race from last weekend. My only problem was most of my runs lately have been on the ~~hamster wheel~~ treadmill. The roads have been covered in snow or ice and since I can only get my runs in when it's dark out, the treadmill is my only option.

Teresa and I lined up together at the start. When the horn went off we slowly made our way down the road. There were a lot of people all around and I was OK with going out easy. We chatted over the first mile and not long after that Teresa said she was going to drop back a little. We bid farewell and I went on. I picked up my pace and was feeling pretty good. I had the course broken down into (4) 2.5 mile segments. It makes it easier for me to divide a race course into smaller pieces. Helps me mentally while I maintain my pace.

I cruised past Wynn's position on the race course and he was cheering people on and pointing out the turn. I had found my rhythm and found my effort was minimal. This wasn't really about racing today, just getting in the mileage. But deep down inside I was curious to know where I would stack up against my 10 mile PR. I knew going in it was doubtful but hey, you never know.

After mile 2 I saw a water station. I didn't bring fluids to this race. I figured I would take what was on the course. The only problem was the woman handing out the cups turned to face the table to get more cups as I approached so there was no handoff. I would have had to stop to get water and I didn't want to disrupt my run that early. Let's call that HOTS move #1. I continued on and figured I would grab water at the mile 5 turnaround. I was starting to heat up so the gloves and sleeves came off and I tucked them into my back pocket.

At this point I was on segment 2 of the race. The 2nd 2.5 mile segment went pretty smoothly. About a half mile out from the turnaround you see the runners coming towards you are starting their second loop. I looked for Jen and saw her coming. Seriously, look at the picture above and you'll realize it was not hard to spot her on the course. I put my bare hand up for a high-5 and she raised her sweaty lobster glove. I continued down the road. I knew after the turnaround I would see the Wingman at some point. I grabbed two cups of water and started the 2nd loop. It was when I slowed down for the 2nd loop that I knew something was not right. My stomach started to bother me a little. I tried to focus on something else for a while and hoped the feeling would pass.

I was also worried about what would happen after mile 8. Anything past 8 miles is unknown territory for me. Over the last month or so, my runs haven't been any longer than that. Again, I knew this was a training run so I wasn't worried too much. But with my new stomach woes, I didn't want to suffer too badly. I passed Wynn's position on the course and he taunted me with hot tea. I kindly flipped him the bird and a smile and kept on running. I spotted a port-o-john in someone's front yard (house under construction) and gave some thought to stopping. But I thought "nah, I think I'll be OK. It's only another 3.5 miles. How bad can it be?" HOTS move #2.

The next 3.5 miles were excruciating. I slowed down over a minute a mile the last 2 miles. Some of it was fatigue but a lot of it was discomfort. I was never so happy to see a finish line. I looked down at my Garmin and saw the course was a little long. Also, I didn't break my PR. But my finishing time was pretty good for the trouble I had on course. I saw Wynn at the finish and then went straight to the bathroom. Then I went out to the finish line to wait for the Wingman. I saw him coming and looked at the clock. He was on a PR smashing pace. When he crossed the line it was like he loaded some C4 under his previous 10 mile time and blew it sky high. And remember, the course was long so technically his actual 10 mile time was even faster than the clock reported but you have to go by the official clock when it comes to PR's. I was so proud of him and what he did. After the race we hung around the heated tent for a while and then Ian and Joan joined us for a post-run breakfast.

When I looked at my data when I got home, if the course was 10 miles, I probably would have set a PR. I'm not worried. This race was really about getting my mileage in for the half marathon in April. I believe I can hold a good pace for 10 miles even though I didn't execute it on this day. I don't think fatigue was that big of an issue. It was really a GI problem. So it's back to the grind of my workouts. My new focus will be getting outside to run. The treadmill just won't cut it for me anymore.

1st week in the books

2011-01-10T21:19:00.000-05:00

Last week I started my clinical affiliation in adult rehab (nursing home). I have 8 weeks to complete there. It's a nice facility.......if you like feeling like you're on the surface of the sun. The residents keep their rooms so hot it's crazy. I started out in a long sleeve shirt under my lab coat Monday to short sleeves by the end of the week. I'm sweating like crazy and can't drink enough water. Teresa had a great suggestion. She said I should wear my camelbak while treating patients during the day. This way I can stay hydrated.

One problem I'm experiencing is my nasal passages are drying out. It's so uncomfortable for the inside of my nose to be so dry. I've taken to using a saline nasal mist to help with the dryness. Hopefully it will help.

My patients are an interesting bunch. Most of them are short term rehab patients. They have been discharged from the hospital but need more care before they go home. So they are sent to a facility like the one I'm at for PT, OT and any other skilled nursing care needs. On my first day, I had a patient that was downright rude to me. When my CI (clinical instructor) walked away, this woman decided to insult me. Normally I would have defended myself, but I bit my tongue. She's a miserably depressed woman and she insults others to make herself feel better. I let the insult drop and later told my CI what the woman said to me. I said I would continue to treat this woman, but I refused to be alone with her. I just didn't want to give her a chance to insult me again. I want to get through this affil without an incident.

The next day another woman wheeled into the PT gym. She wasn't on my schedule but I smiled and said hello. She smiled back and then asked me "Has anyone ever told you who you look like?" At this point I am afraid as to what would come out of her mouth. If I had a dime for each time I was asked that question. Quite frankly, I look like no one (besides my parents). So I told her "no, no one has ever asked me that. Who do you think I look like?" Her answer was a new one. She said "Elizabeth Taylor." Now, I own several mirrors and I've even looked at myself in them. Not once have I ever said "wow, I look like Liz Taylor." One of my faults is that I can never take a compliment. I started to say "Why thank.....wait a minute. Do you mean Young Elizabeth or Old Elizabeth. There's a difference." She was surprised by my comment and said "well, I guess Young Elizabeth." So then I thanked her for saying so. As I walked away, I started to wonder if she was from the Alzheimer's unit, heavily medicated, or legally blind. If not blind, then should I talk to nursing about getting her an appointment with the eye doctor to have her eyes checked or maybe get her medication looked at because she was hallucinating.

Young Elizabeth

Old Elizabeth

Thank goodness for my self esteem she said Young Elizabeth.

Off to a good start

2011-01-04T20:31:00.000-05:00

So I started my 8 week clinical affiliation in adult rehab. It's ~40 minutes away and for the 1st two days the ride has been fine. I hope it stays that way. The traffic has been tolerable so far. My clinical instructor has been nice and the rest of the staff at the facility seem great. Hopefully the 8 weeks will fly by. Then I get a week off and begin a 16 week affiliation (my last). For the most part, the patients have been nice. Geriatrics is not my ideal patient population, but right now that is out of my control.

Right now I am using my 'downtime' to study for the CSCS exam. If all goes well I will be able to take it prior to my last affiliation starting. I took a practice exam to see where my weak points are. The good news is I have a good handle on the material so I know where to focus my efforts. I'm pretty confident that I can pass the exam easily. Once the last affil starts, I will focus my studying on orthopedics and then my licensing exam.

My first race of the season had been canceled due to low pre-race registration. We were a little bummed about it but at least we were spared driving to the race. Instead, we stayed home and got our run in. I also finally started my strength training program. I kept telling myself that I needed to start it but kept putting it off. Finally, I knew I had to commit to it. I know what is weak and designed my own routine to address it.

I had a rest day scheduled for my 1st day on affiliation so that was nice. I was able to come home and tell the Wingman all about my first day. I had a 45 min run scheduled today. When I got home, Wingman was dressed and ready to run. He asked if I wanted to go out with him but in my 'old age' I erred on the side of caution and was worried about black ice on the road so I stayed home on the ~~hamster wheel~~ treadmill and got my run in. Once it was done I went downstairs into the gym and got my other workout in. Wingman came home and we had dinner. In a few minutes I will crack open my book and get some studying done.

I've also made a few changes to the blog (did that over the weekend). There are tabs at the top for race reports and my 2011 race schedule. I was trying to clean it up and make it easier to navigate.

No rest for the weary...........

Reflection on the Year

2010-12-30T22:57:00.000-05:00

2010 is drawing to a close and 2011 is bringing many changes. My life will transition from graduate student to working full time. I no longer will be in a classroom environment. The clinic is now my classroom. I only have one exam left to take and that's the state boards for my PT license. I am eligible to schedule the exam once I graduate and have put in some serious studying time. Right now it's kind of weird. I can't remember the last time I wasn't in a classroom. It's been a long road and I am looking forward to what the future brings.

My 2010 racing season was like a roller coaster. The first race was the marathon back in January. I knew going into it that it would probably be my last one. For now I am happy to say that I am still 'retired' from the distance. The only way I will commit to running 26.2 miles is if I sign up for an iron distance race.

My triathlon season was pretty successful. Out of 4 races, I placed in my division in 3 of them. My last triathlon in September didn't turn out exactly as I hoped, but I crossed the finish line with a desire to work on my shortcomings. And throughout the fall things started to turn around. In 4 different distances, I set 4 PR's. In all honesty, my good fortune caught me by surprise. And it motivated me to work even harder. Sometimes the stresses from my last semester prevented me from hitting all workouts, but I did what I could with the time I had. I am excited that even though I started 2010 on a downswing, it's ending with things heading up.

The 2011 racing season is right around the corner and my schedule is pretty much set. The bonus this year is I won't have homework or constant studying during the spring. I am also making a commitment to my swimming. 2006 was my best swim season and the reason was because I swam early and consistently. I signed up with a masters swim club and swam one session with them already.

So if I want to improve my standing in the races, I have to put in solid training in all 3 sports from the start. The past few years swimming took a back seat but not anymore. There are plans in place to improve all 3 disciplines. As it has been the last two seasons, Jen is laying out the plans for me again. I've steadily improved as a racer while letting her guide my way. This year will be a full blown assault on the season. Before each race I will set a goal of something to be accomplished. There is no more showing up and just 'participating' this year. I mentally feel ready to focus on what it takes to get to the next level in racing. So who's with me?!?!?!?

Working out the kinks

2010-12-29T16:07:00.000-05:00

The last few days have been crazy. We stayed home Sunday while it snowed. I was forced to run on the ~~hamster wheel~~ treadmill instead of outdoors. That was two days in a row that I was indoors. Cabin fever set in big time and I was eager to get out of the house. Monday morning our neighbor came by and used his snowblower to clean our driveway and walkway. What a relief that was. Then we took the Element out for a ride just to get out for a little while. I needed a change of scenery.

We drove around town, grabbed lunch and Wingman dropped me off and then went to work. I grabbed a shovel and cleaned up the rest of the driveway. The hardest part was the end of the driveway where the plows leave snow. But since I didn't have to shovel the entire driveway, I wasn't about to complain. I just paced myself and considered it my weight training for the day.

Yesterday I drove out to Hewlett to visit with some friends. My 'little' friend, who's not little anymore :-( is almost 21. Zoinks! I could go on and on about with "I remember when she was this big"stories, but I will spare her from any public embarrassment. Her family and I went to lunch and then drove around a little while looking for places to take pictures. I had a few ideas for photos, but with all the snow, it made it hard to do. So we went back to their house and I swapped lenses, handed her the camera and set her loose on some stuff. She did a nice job. Her stuff came out really nice and I gave her digital copies of all the pictures. We had fun and it was great seeing her again. When the weather gets nicer we'll plan a trip out this way and head further east for some photo opportunities.

This morning the Wingman and I went out to run. We drove to another part of town where the shoulders are wide and clear of snow. Plus there wasn't a ton of traffic to deal with either. I had a 45 minute 'easy' run planned. It started out as anything but easy. But I am starting to learn to be more patient at the beginning of my runs. In the past, if I started sluggish or feel slow, I would get aggravated with myself and have a bad run. Now, I find myself a little more forgiving about it and it keeps me relaxed. By the 2nd mile, I was moving along with ease. Before I knew it I was at the turn around and heading back to the car.

We got home and I enjoyed a nice hot shower. Then it was off to the stores for food shopping and then home again. My shoulder was sore from the snow shoveling the other day. It's a little hard to work on your own shoulder, but I did some soft tissue work on my pec minor/major and that relieved a bit of my soreness. I whipped out my foam roller and massage ball to work out some trigger points near my right scapula. Then I did some stretches for my neck and shoulder. I also have some glaring muscle weaknesses to address. Later today I will map out a workout plan to address these problem areas. Wow, all that PT schooling is paying off!!

The Aftermath

2010-12-26T14:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Christmas and my folks and sister came out for dinner. Of course I ate waaaaaaay to much between Christmas eve and Christmas Day. And to add insult to my injury, we have a blizzard warning. I didn't get out to run before it started to snow. I have stuff for my shoes so I can run in the snow, but we didn't have much on the ground. Plus it was slippery out on the roads and there were too many cars to take a chance. So, I will have to hit the treadmill later to get my run in. I wish I could wait until tomorrow, but we are getting more snow.

I'll setup my laptop in front of the treadmill later and watch a movie as I run. Tomorrow will be just as bad. I will ride the bike on the trainer while watching another movie. At this rate, I may die from boredom. Maybe I need a bike like this:

Fatback Snowbike Riding in Alaska from Philip Tschersich on Vimeo.

Torte Reform

2010-12-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

Well, maybe not that kind of torte reform. I decided to try my hand at making a torte for Christmas Eve dinner at Dolores and Lou's. Last year I made a triple chocolate mousse cake. Each year I like to do something new, so a torte was in order. The one I settled on was a Chocolate-Raspberry Torte.

Always start with the best chocolate, never skimp

Mmmm, chocolate and butter melting

Chocolate, butter and espresso

Flour and almond mix

Baking rounds filled with parchment

Half of the torte assembled with raspberry mix

Torte assembled prior to ganache

Oh yeah, more chocolate and heavy cream

Raspberries totally make this healthy

Transferred to the cake carrier, ready for departure

The torte was a hit at dinner last night. Of course there are little things here and there I could improve upon, but I didn't hear anyone complain about. So now I have to start planning next year's dessert!

The things I do......

2010-12-22T10:20:00.000-05:00

Tuesday was a bizarre day for working out. I got up with the Wingman and we went on a 60 minute run. I opted to go the route he had planned. The wind was howling, but I thought it wouldn't be too bad. What's a little wind, right? I could only wish it was a little wind. On the way out I had the wind at my back and could feel it pushing me a long. Even running up a hill didn't feel too bad. But then the inevitable turnaround was coming. I knew I'd have to run into the wind to get home. Running back up a hill into the wind is no picnic. It was like a treadmill workout. My legs are going, but I felt like I was stuck in place. The last 3 miles was brutal. I was working so hard to hold a super slow pace. I tried to run faster to get home faster, but that wasn't happening. I could feel my eyes tearing up from the wind and it streaking down my face. Good thing it wasn't too cold so it didn't freeze.

When I finally got home, it was such a relief. I hopped into the shower to warm up and then went about my busy day. Dropped the Wingman's bike off at the bike shop and did a little light shopping. Then I came home and continued my cleaning.

For the evening, I had something planned that would cement my status as HOTS. After not swimming since September, I went to a masters swim workout. Oh yeah, chalk up another notch in my HOTS belt.

When I got to the pool, I told the coach on the deck that I needed the 'slackers' lane. It was a slow night so I had a lane to myself. She then instructed me to do an easy 200yd warm up. Piece of cake I thought. Finish my 200, then she tells me the next set. I do that and still feel kind of OK. All throughout she was watching my swim stroke and offering me advice on how to correct stuff. First thing she wanted was for me to start breathing on both sides. What?!?! I only breathe on the right. When I try on the left, I sink. But I figured I should try it so I don't look like a pain in the ass on my first night. And what a sight I was. If they had a lifeguard there, he probably would have thought I was drowning and rescued me. What a pathetic sight I must have been. But the coach gave me some more tips and sent me out for the next set in the workout. Huh? It must be close to the end of the session, right? Wrong. Still plenty of time to add to my misery.

The sets just kept coming. And I kept suffering. And I swear the pool clock at one end of the pool is faster than the other end. When I would stop for my 10 sec rest interval in the deep end, the second hand seemed to be moving too fast. When I had my rest intervals in the shallow end, the clock seemed to be moving slower. I like that clock.

Finally at the end of the night, I lost count how many yards I actually swam. I was more concerned with how I was getting out of the pool without using my arms. Thank goodness the shallow end is really shallow so I didn't have far to lift myself to get out. I went into the locker room to change. I can only imagine how ridiculous I looked trying to put my sweatshirt on without lifting my arms. I put the arms through first and then bent over at the waist to wiggle my head up into the shirt. I could bend my arms at the elbow, but over the head was not happening.

This was an appropriate shirt for me last night

I bid the group farewell and said I would be back Thursday. I should be able to move my arms by then. Leaving the pool was another story. I get to the door that takes you out to the parking lot but it doesn't open. I push again. Not opening. Weird, I just saw people go out that door and there's another guy waiting behind me to leave. I had to lean into the door to get it to open. That's how pathetic I was after the session. I made my way to the car and drove myself home. Needless to say I slept like a baby last night. I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

What I looked like after the swim session

My First Day Off

2010-12-20T15:59:00.001-05:00

So this morning I still managed to wake up early, despite not having classes. I would prefer to keep my body clock on school time so when my clinical starts in two weeks it won't be a major adjustment.

With the holidays coming up I got a jump on my food shopping and meal planning for the weekend. I took a ride up island to Trader Joe's and was scared when I first pulled up. It was gone. Then I saw a note on the door that they moved to a shopping center behind the mall. Phew. I drove over and was able to pickup what I needed. The new store is nice and big. Very well lit.

From there I headed home and grabbed my gift certificate to PC Richards. I got it in my race goodie bag this summer and it was expiring soon. I've had my eye on a Blu-ray DVD player with networking built in. This one has wired and wireless ports. I got it home, unpacked and setup in less than 10 minutes. I setup my Netflix account and now I am streaming movies to the TV. Piece of cake. Right now I am watching "My Cousin Vinny". What a good film.

"Imagine you're a deer, you're prancing along, you get thirsty,

you spot a little brook, you put your little lips down

to the cool clear water.....BAM...a fuckin' bullet rips off part of your head.

Your brains are lying on the ground in little bloody pieces.

Now I ask you, would you give a fuck what kind of pants the

son of a bitch who shot you was wearing.?"

I will spend the rest of the day cleaning and putting my books and notes away. I know, I lead an exiting life.

A bunch of ho's.......

2010-12-19T15:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the Wingman and I went out to Bethpage for a 5k race. Wynn & Teresa came out as well to join in the festivities. It's quite the atmosphere since it's a holiday race. People come down dressed in costumes and sometimes we even get snowfall for the race. It didn't snow this year, but there was plenty of cheer. The weather was actually nice for this time of year. Probably around 32 degrees at the start.

The race consists of two loops with an added section on the 2nd loop. Prior to the start, I took my spot in the front 3rd of the pack. There were 1058 people in the race and I didn't want to get caught behind any walkers. When the horn went off, I started my Garmin and took off down the road. It's a bit of a narrow start so you have to be patient and wait for some open space. Well, one douchebag in a Team Runners Edge jacket clearly wanted no part of waiting. I felt his forearm on my shoulder and next thing I knew he shoved me hard out of his way. Now, I understand sometimes you use an elbow to maintain your position. But why would a grown man shove a woman out of his way just to get slightly ahead? I managed to stay on my feet, but now I was filled with rage. I chased him down the road and plotted my revenge. I seriously thought about jumping on his back and taking him down. Or pull his coat over his head and pummel him with a few punches. Or just trip him. I ran behind him for a little bit and he had no idea of what could be in store for him. Instead, I asked the running gods to let a boil appear on his ass and fester for a few weeks.

When we made the first turn I settled in and tried to let it go. I made it around to the back side of the course and when I approached mile 1, I hit my lap button on my watch. Or so I thought I did. I wound up hitting the stop button instead. Whoops. Realized it about 1 minute later. Started it back up again.

Came around for lap #2 and was flying by all the spectators that lined the course in front of the school. Then we had to cut into a small development and run around a circle. I stayed close to the curb to keep the distance that I have to run to a minimum. Problem was two small kids had the same idea and boxed me in. I had one in front and one to the side. Really?!? I debated what to do. I didn't want to slow down to drop back and then come around them. And there was no room to cut between them on the angle. Then I remembered a quiz I took about how many five year olds I can take in a fight. These two weren't five, but they were small. I could pick the kid up that was next to me and throw him at the girl in front of me and take them both down. But then again, I think I would have gotten a major ass kicking by the crowd. So I waited patiently and the boy dropped off and I was able to get out.

When I made my way around the back side of the loop, I could feel a massive energy drain. The last few weeks of school stress and decreased training volume were catching up with me. I knew I just had to hang on for another half mile or so.

With about .3 miles to go, I felt something hitting my ankle. I looked down and my show lace came undone. Crap! Decision time - stop to tie it, take the shoe off and run, or just keep running. I went with option 3 - just keep running. I knew the final sprint was out of the question with a loose shoe but I made the best of it. Crossed the finish line 20 seconds slower than my PR, but going into the race, I knew a PR was not even an option.

Wynn had already finished so I went back to stand with him and wait for the Wingman and Teresa to finish. Afterwards we went inside to grab something to eat and wait for the raffle. The food line was long but we managed to get in. They had the most wonderful looking cupcakes and they were HUGE!! Teresa and I stood there and drooled, but stayed strong and didn't get one.

The raffle was uneventful. None of us won the TV or the camera or anything else for that matter. Once it was over, we drove to Holbrook for a post-race/pre-birthday lunch at the diner for the Wingman. Teresa filled us in on her first marathon she ran last month. We reviewed each other's racing schedules and what is on tap for next season.

For now, I have two weeks off and then I start my clinicals. No more classes for me. Ever (except continuing education stuff). So I have two solid weeks to get ready to ramp up for my 2011 training to begin. I have a race in early Janauary (10 miler) that I am excited for. It's just a training race, but a good barometer of where I stand to prepare for my 1st 'A' race of the season in April.

Bring on 2011!!!!!!!!!