a princess with TWO crowns?

5 years. What comes to mind when asked about your 5-year plan? It's as emptily/commonly asked as it is mindlessly answered, which makes me question who's worse in that scenario: the ringleader or the entertainer?

I bring this up because I'm approaching my 5th season as a triathlete on FTE and with that said, a NON-smoker for my 5th year in-a-row, (Brice!). Most triathletes at the FTE level won't comprehend the pride I take in cutting that addiction out of my life, but what do they know about addictive behavior? (COUGH! - A-types.)

Had someone asked me 5 years ago to define my 5-year plan, quitting cigarettes was a laughable nomination, if I ever even considered it. But how could I (as a smoker at the time) comprehend the "big picture" if I was able to legitimize compromising my health on a daily, HOURLY basis? I smoked over a pack a day for 7 years (maybe 9 if you're reading this as faculty member at Blair Academy). What else was I compromising as a residual? If I wasn't convinced of my own worth on a physiological basis, what other areas of my life was I disputing and selling short?

I welcome this 5th year outside of nicotine and tar. In light of how insignificant I considered my health to be 5 years ago, how important it is to me now and the potential I have in blogging to a few folks about starting over....I say, make twentyeleven about fearlessness. Just make like Nike and DO IT. Just Do It. (just try.)

You really never know what you're capable of doing and 5 years into being a non-smoker, I feel like I JUST learned what it's like to take a chance. On me. Rather, I recently realized I'm worth doing so. What does that mean for me? I applied to Journalism school. And you know what? One school. The best flipping one in the country and I'm nervous. I'm jittery. I'm excited. I'm alive. But I have a 5-year plan and graduating from Columbia J-School falls into the series of events I have planned therein.

For twentyeleven and in honor (if anything else) of my FIFTH-year victory, I challenge you triathletes (overachievers) to take a chance on yourself(ves) in a way that only you would grasp. For me? I didn't apply to Columbia for years post-undergrad bc I was afraid of rejection. But as a non-smoker and a triathlete on this amazing team, I have a different mentality. In my old way of thinking, I wouldn't race out of fear of not coming in first place. Now? As much as I loathe the idea of coming in 2nd place in a race, I take pride in knowing that I take a chance everytime we rally at the start and cross that finish line. In part thanks to all of you, I applied myself to pursuing a higher education regardless of the outcome.

In conclusion.

In 5 years, I hope to find you smiling. In 5 years, I hope to hear you're healthy. In 5 years, I hope you win the lottery (and share). In 5 years, I hope you're in love. In 5 years, I hope you quit smoking cigs (Brice!). In 5 years, I hope you've inspired someone. In 5 years, I hope you surprise yourself like I did. Because in all fairness? You never know....unless you

tri.

ps: which crown should I wear in twenty eleven? Athena or Columbia?? Both? Yes. Both.

Part 3 of 3

And now the best for last....the 2010 USAT National Club Championship

If the USAT offered Cliffs Notes, you'd read that Full Throttle "whooped it." What I'm about to break down for you is the fact that this TEAM race symbolizes (likely not shockingly) what our TEAM represents: Togetherness, Enthusiasm, Aptitude and Mentorship.

Each season, athletes grow, get injured, take time off, excel, podium, PR, DNF, surprise themselves, "dig deep"-errrr than they thought they could, are disappointed, inspired and even quit. How can all of those drastically different, heightened experiences circle around triathletes cut from the same FTE cloth? All but the latter come to fruition at TEAM Nationals.

We're Together: something that brings out the best in us.

We're Enthusiastic: we're as competitive with others and our teammates as we are supportive of them (ish).

We have an Aptitude: for excellence and nurturing.

We are Mentors: NUF said.

(Oh yeah, and we won.)

Part 2 of 3

Speaking of overachievers, I had the privilege of going to watch a few FTE family members compete in the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaiiiiiii. Let me put it to you this way--in the amount of time it took for these spandex-covered, scrumptious pieces of inspiration in human form to complete a colossal race, here's what I did: I had breakfast, cheered, sunbathed by the pool, filed my nails, ate lunch, picked my nose, did NOT eat it, went for a 10k run, showered, cheered, caught up on my correspondents, likely Googled myself bc I'm vain, cheered, went shopping, had a beer, readjusted my hair, read the newspaper and met them at the finish line. Other than the run, the most aggressive thing I did all day was apply sunscreen. Twice.

Watching our athletes (in fact any athlete) cross the finish line was truly remarkable. When you're on an island that's over 2,000 miles away from any continental coast, you really do get a sense of how large this world is, despite how small it appears to be at times. I can think of no other place to host the WORLD championships for Ironman than such a remote location, so I got an idea of the field of athletes putting themselves to the ultimate test in the middle of a tropical nowhere. Whereas I don't relate to the need to go that distance nor in those conditions (ever!), I have to admit **warning: sappy moment ahead** I had the chills watching our FTE kids cross that finish line because it exemplified the fact that I'm not only amongst wonderfully talented people, but also those that know no limit when it comes to loyalty.

Part 1 of 3

It has been a while since we posted a blog, but I blame training and racing ... we were too busy SHOWING you that we know what we're talking about that we didn't have time to blah blah blah about it (plz see the whole "actions-speak-louder" debate). In light of the spirit of triathlon, I thought I'd get this party started with 3 separate blogs. Yup. Get ready to read, kids. First up? The Offseason...

The Offseason is much like a first date: you look forward to it, but once you're there you're a lil' uncomfortable and not exactly sure what to do with yourself. Some people have a great experience, but most triathletes argue that it takes a few to really get to know what The Offseason is all about...right now? I'm definitely right smack in the middle of my first date with The Offseason and things aren't going very smoothly. I'm nervous, awkward (some would argue that's a constant), inconsistent and desperately trying to find a way to get out of it...to no avail.

Reluctantly, I admit that my body is flashing major WARNING signs stating very clearly, "REST OR I'LL MAKE YOU." I should've gotten the hint last Tuesday when I was in transit to the spin room at Chelsea Piers to get my workout on...no joke, all I did was walk out of the locker room, up a flight of stairs and there on the Suunto board next to my name in BIG GLOWING numbers for all of my teammates to see was my heart rate: 124. Riiiiight. Based on that, here's the transcribed conversation that occurred btw me and my body:

Neurotic triathlete: "124? You're telling me it took 62% of our maximum heart rate to walk up 15 stairs?"
Body: "I'm telling you it'll take 62% to get up and pee in the middle of the night if you don't stop training this way. Don't make me go to 65%."

That didn't stop me from completing the spin class nor did it sway me away from running 7 miles in Central Park yesterday. You know what? Now my ITB flared up and I'm literally not able to workout. It's a love/hate relationship that, like a woman, my body knows best and always wins. Complain fest? Not at all. It's just proof that the body needs downtime to heal. Even if the only thing that creeps up faster on you than your resting heart rate is the scale increase of 5-10lbs, you have to get to know The Offseason...you have to get through that first date.

14. That's the number of days have passed between this very moment and the one when I submerged myself in the Hudson River seconds before the start of the 2010 NYC Triathlon. Something to note about this race is that it encompasses everything the Big Apple represents: fearlessness (please see swimming in the Hudson River ); it's expensive, hot and unforgiving; it attracts the finest and the only thing more difficult than surviving it is getting in. Add up all of those challenges and we're looking at my very first A-race of this season. Yup, I sprayed some WD40 on my joints since Montauk's hilly course (it's the devil!) and had one objective, other than winning my division--I know, sassy. BUT! What I had in mind spurred from an article I read out of Triathlon Somethingoranother about "staying in the moment" during a race. Hmf, seems like a simple concept, right? Um, no.

Race start is Jitterbug Central full of anticipation, nerves, expectations, anxiety, excitement and everything that constitutes the human thought process moments prior to putting yourself to the test and accomplishing your goal--be it to finish or to win or anything in between. The only time I'm quite literally in the moment is right after that start horn WONKS through the air: I ask myself, "How in the mother trucker do I get around and through this bevy of splashing panic-ridden wetsuits that are messin' up my swim game?!" 2 or 3 minutes later, I'm in a groove, most are behind me and instead of focusing on finishing the swim, my brain detours to the bike portion and how hilly, long, hot or technical it is. From there, the minute I start to pedal my bike, I'm off anticipating what my run splits will be and how much more juice my stems have left in them. It's exhausting. And it's something every triathlete battles at some point, if not many times.

Stay in the moment. Okay, I got this. I got it. In the moment...

Race start was per the usual clustertruck, but I bolted nanoseconds after the start horn blared down the Hudson. I counted my strokes--12 strokes per sighting to make sure I was swimming in a straight line (ish). The rhythm of counting helped me to stay focused on what I was doing at THAT moment. Interesting, I thought. The transitions were used as a transition for equipment, yes, but I also used the time to switch modes in my head. T1: "The swim is done. Wipe the Hudson grime goatee off of your face and pedal your heart out!" T2: "Rack that bike, throw on sneaks and run to the finish line!"

That worked to improve my swim and run times (bike was windier this year than last), but my transitions? Let's just say I made a career out of them. Lesson learned? Stay in the moment for ALL portions of the race, not just the sports.

On a sweeter note, however, this NYC Triathlon marks my 4th year as a non-smoker! Yup, I be nicotine-free for 4 years and counting. To be honest, I forget that I ever smoked, but there are moments when I'm reminded of my former Smokey Smokerson self, namely: When I pass a park bench on a 50-mile ride on my bike-the park bench I used to frequent daily on my lunch break and chain-smoke 4 or, depending on whether or not I cared if I was late, 5 cigarettes in AN HOUR. I know, classy.

If given a choice between that old pictured bench and my new Jamis bike, I'd choose the latter, knowing that I've got the best seat in the house now.

Memorial Day weekend.....

Memorial Day, officially launches the summer for most. The Montauk Triathlon launches summer for the Northeast triathlon community. At the Montauk Triathlon, the elite wave is set by the first 50 athletes from the previous year. Twinlab-Full Throttle Endurance Racing has 20 of the 50 slots for the 2010 race in 2 weeks. Bill Kelly and Allison Lind are the defending individual champions, both are a part of the Triathlon machine called "Full Throttle Endurance Racing".

With all of that being said, this is the most humble group of athletes I've ever been around.
Humility from the top down, including Doug Clark, the reigning USA Triathlon Masters Champion 2 years in a row and "Triathlete of the Year" to Jesse Du Bey, one of the Team Captains, who has only won the Overall title in the first three races in 2010. The South Beach triathlon, St.Croix 70.3 Amateur Champion and the Harryman Olympic. By the way, both went sub 9;30 at the Kona IM last year, Doug winning his division. The ladies do their part as well, Allison Lind also won the Overall at the South Beach Triathlon and qualified for Kona 2010 at St. Croix 70.3. New comer Stacy Creamer only wins her division at every race and set a new age-group record at Alcatraz....by 8 minutes.

It is the passion and humility of this TEAM, that makes me the most proud. Have work ethic and always finish with class and dignity.....the accolades will come.

Montauk is only 2 weeks away today......Here we come, Again ;) shhhhh

Worth the Wait

There's nothing like the response I get from civilians (aka: non-triathletes) when I tell them what time I get up to train. Without fail, they immediately spit my answer back at me out of sheer disbelief, "4:30 in the MORNING?!" Following my autopilot confirmation, they mentally categorize me under types of people they cannot identify with, alongside the likes of schizophrenics, the opposite gender, Communists, cat hoarders and the over-medicated to name a few. Feels great. Training is like anything else for which you develop a passion: you make room for it in your life. I don’t wake up singing The Sound of Music, but it only takes a couple of weeks for your body to adjust to 4:30 a.m. wake-up calls.

On that note, there are days when the alarm BEEPING makes me second-guess whether or not the civilians are right about me belonging to a group of crazies. The more seasoned you are as an athlete, the better you get at knowing when to push through the occasional sluggish morning or when to rest because your body is over trained. Let’s put it this way--I’m still learning. Case in point was last Monday...the pillow impressions on my face were reminiscent of a French Bulldog because I woke up in the same position I laid my head down to rest the night before. But hey, it’s nothing a 3000-yard swim can’t iron out. So I squeezed on a swim cap, which actually pulled my face back to normal for me to wear goggles and I flopped into the pool. My body wasn’t having it. It was quite like when a computer freezes...everything you need to function is in front of you but entirely inaccessible and all you see is that little ANNOYING hourglass icon turning over and over again indicating the need for more time to process. As Scott says, “I had nothin’” so I held onto the end of the line and ultimately skipped 50 yards for every 200 my fellow (albeit rested) athletes completed.

The BEEPING didn’t sound any better the next day, but I went to the group spin nonetheless (I catch on quick). It’s easier to push through a spin class than it is in the pool, but my heart rate hovered around 10 beats higher than it usually does, further proving the point that I needed some zzz's. By Wednesday morning, I finally opted for rest and sanity--12 glorious hours of sleep in one night and an extra day off that week. By giving my system enough time to process the training, I'm able function forward. And the only time I have to consider is how to beat the 16 minutes and 21 seconds it took me to complete a loop around Central Park during last Thursday's cycling time trial...must hit sub 16!

I love this team--let me count the ways

It's been a long time since I've blogged so let me jump back in with three reasons I love this team:

Reason #1. I was riding with group 1 in Central Park last Thursday. After a few laps in a two-by-two paceline, we pulled off in the 102nd Street Transverse to wait for the rest of the team. While we were waiting, a passing cyclist told us that we had a man down near the 72nd Street Transverse. There wasn't even a discussion: our group immediately headed south to see if there was anything we could do to help. Poor Scott was already in the ambulance by the time we got there, but I really appreciated the way our priority instantly became getting to him as quickly as we possibly could.

Reason #2. Later that same morning, I was finishing a "kumbaya" lap with Tom and Kevin. Coming up the big northern hill, I saw a guy pedaling with only one foot. His other foot was dangling by his crank. Then I noticed the guy was wearing Full Throttle bike shorts. It was Wyeth!

"Hey, Wyeth," I said, "you totally rock."

"It's a great workout," he responded. "You build strength and learn to have no dead spots. I'm doing another lap for my other leg. Wanna come?"

I passed, but only because I was racing a 10K in two days. I just love that he was doing this hard, extra training and that he immediately invited me to join him.

Reason #3. I knew it would happen eventually: I would forget to pack some critical item in preparing to head to Chelsea Piers for one of our morning sessions. I think I secretly hoped that if I did, the forgotten item would be something work-related. But, no, this particular day I neglected to pack my running shoes. I only realized it when I came back from the pool to change. I knew I had a pair of running shoes in my office. Did I have time to get there and go for a quick run? I was making this mental calculation as I started changing into my work clothes.

"You're not running this morning?" asked Kyla.

I explained that I'd forgotten my running shoes.

"What size are you?" she asked.

I told her and she instantly offered me her shoes. They were a perfect fit!

I already knew my FTE teammates have my back, but I hardly expected them to have my shoe size, too. Thanks, again, Kyla. There's an extra 10K in me that wouldn't be there if it weren't for you.

Meet Jessica Rabbit

I know what you're thinking...cartoon hottie with a RIDUNKULOUSLY hot body in a red sassifrass dress that made Roger's eyes bulge out of his head when she slowwwly waltzed by him? Yeah, not where I'm going with this.

Please note: I got a SLAMMING new bike (Tags: McQueen, Jamis Team, built for Jess).

For the past few bike rides, Scott picked a couple-a suckers from the group as designated "rabbits" (aka: lures for the team to chase). I happen to be one of them. We all take turns on the lead, totaling 3 races in a row. Looking back on the morning, I can calmly comprehend the fact that it makes the "rabbit" stronger by trying to hold off the pack and forces the team to work together to hunt down the rabbit. But when I was in the moment? Here's how it went down in Jessica Rabbit's head: all of my teammates lined up like freshly-branded bulls while I had 5 seconds to get away. Scott opened the gates and unleashed those animals on me. AND NOW I'M A RED RABBIT. And those bulls see nothing else in front of them but my red tush. I pedaled out of the fear of God instilled in me at that point. Half-way up Harlem Hill, MY eyes were bulging out of MY head--pushed my legs as hard as possible to avoid getting pierced by defeat at the finish line.

I felt the hot air streaming from someone's nostrils behind me, so I glanced back and therrrrrre shheee waaas--RIGHT on my wheel just WAITing to make her move. AAHHH--My legs wouldn't move any faster! As I neared the final bend before the finish line, Maria jumped out of saddle and took the crown (insert a few silly curse words here).

By the time I got home, I was entirely depleted of adrenaline and my legs felt like they were filled with bags of steam. What's a girl to do? I promptly spread out on my back on my living room floor (full cycling uniform on and helmet impressions still visible) and did not move for roughly 45 minutes while my brain caught up with what just happened.

It's time to grab the bull by the horns and work hill repeats...

The Bird

The thought process of a triathlete taking a day off from training is the equivalent to that of a child in time out: it's against our will, we would much rather resume what we were doing and it feels like we're the only ones sitting still while everyone else is playing. Compounded by the fact that we're less than 2 weeks out from a race, resting becomes the anti-Christ for all of us. It's as if suddenly people black out the past 3 months of training and it all comes down to

NOW.

The truth is, your body never lies and it ALWAYS wins. Take yesterday for example. There was not a square inch of my body that wanted to workout. In fact every square FOOT was begging to rest. But those DAGGON voices in my head wouldn't stop taunting me, "Everyone else is training, slacker. What's your excuse?" I caved and did cardio/lifted. That would explain today when my body literally gave me the middle finger. I was kickin' it with the usual suspects in lane 4 and we had to swim 2 sets of roughly 900 yards broken down into various speed intervals. I took the lead on the first few hundred, felt great and MIDDLE FINGER! I basically had the lung capacity of an 80-year-old the rest of practice. Awesome.

The GOOD news is my run is back! Actually, I don't know that I ever had it, but it feels spectacular now. My ITB has been on its best behavior and you know why? I'll give you 2 hints: acupuncture and orthodics. It's not the "feel good" kind (believe me). Lorenzo (tags: the wizard, deep laugh, 8000 certifications, ghost Full Throttle athlete) does dry-needling. All I know is that he puts needles in my legs, attaches electric things to 'em and everything twitches (aka: he makes my legs "sneeze"). I haven't felt this great running in...well, ever. Did I just give away the farm?

Looking forward to some sleep tomorrow so my body never gives me the bird again--only two thumbs up.

Oh dear GOD, it's (racing) bikini season...

Ladies, picture this: April 11th. South Beach. Sun. Sand. Racing in full-backs and a sports bra (but totally hotter). Spit. Sweat. Sorry, boyzzz--no pillow fights in our skivvies for you. My point?

There's a difference between LAYING on a beach in a 2-piece and RACING in one. I'm not implying that us gals on Full Throttle rock string-tied uniforms; our team gear is pretty bad a**, but here's the thing: You canNOT hide any flaws on the bod whilst RUNNING in wet spandex suction-cupped to your chest and bottom. And let's face it, even if you're the Bay Watch of all swim finishers, no one looks good pulling off a latex swim cap and goggles.

Enter: Mission South Beach diet: All veggies. 1/2 the booze. Food for thought.....

Nonetheless, this week has been BRUTAL. Holy high intensity, BATMAN. I've never been such a fish in the pool as I have been this week and the spin/brick we did on Tues was beyond taxing. I mean, we were "solid" for 15 mins and then sprinted to the track, then solid for 15 mins, then sprinted to the track over and over again--maybe 4 times through and the running distances only increased each time! I looked at my quads and apologized bc I could hear them cursing me out and I really need them to like me this year.

All in preparation for the team's kick off race, South Beach Triathlon. And with almost 50 of our peeps competing, it'll will be VERY telling...rut ro. A quick throw back to last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji6h7Z5xIfg

My Heart Goes Pitter Patter...

And now thanks to my new Suunto heart rate monitor, I can track how many times it goes pitter patter per minute! No, that wasn't a lame-arse pitch; this lil' device not only detects your HR, it also syncs up with the heart rate monitoring Gods in cardio-cyberspace somewhere and projects onto this massive board on the wall in the spin room (in real time) exactly what zone you're training in. It's like an electronic report card on this bulletin board that shows your status alongside everyone else's in the room (those wearing a Suunto belt, anyway), which is entirely entertaining to watch the numbers fluctuate between sets. I tend to have a higher heart rate than most people on the team (I'm just SO excited!), so I steered clear of this all-telling gadget for a while in hopes to avoid ridicule and perhaps the realization that I may or may NOT be in as great of shape as my fellow A-types.

But as Scott says, "Your heart [rate] never lies." So sentimental, that guy (moment to admire....) I would say I got a B- on the accuracy of my zone training, which is better than the D+ I thought I would get (reminiscent of Spanish class in college-JUST passing). Numbers were good and I'm pumped (get it?) to put this tri-toy to use for future improvement purposes.

Speaking of shoulders, mine are on FIRE from, oh, I don't know--the 20923473022435 IM's we did in the pool today. I don't even know what "IM" stands for--anyone? Look, I'm all about using new muscles, but it's not even 12 hours after the workout and I can hardly put my coat on (enter Advil)! Of course, I made the big executive decision to jump a lane up, so the pace was a bit above average for me...luckily I didn't know what I was doing during the butterfly and breast stroke sets, otherwise my arms would have fallen off by now. I just did the worm underwater (aka: my silly version of under-overs) to increase my lung capacity and avoid injury from attempting those strokes (I'm not so graceful).

(Second to) last but not least, it's a SNOWPOCALYPSE in NYC today (please see pic of Scott and his wintry truck), so only the brave/bold peeps of Full Throttle (and apparently the Post Office) were doing their thang this morning. Since most of the team slept in, those of us that showed up felt like we didn't "technically" have to be there. So, a tinge of giddiness was in the air that was really snow-day-esque (work was cancelled for 99% of us). For a sport/team that's especially obsessed with numbers, fractions thereof and crunching everything in between, it was refreshing to welcome a Friday morning with no one watching the clock (Suunto gismo episode excluded).

Special shout to the FTE fam members making a bold move (pictured together): Dave (tags: former Google guy, witty, would read the phone book before letting anyone beat him in a run, raised in DC) and his lovely wife Heidi (tags: sassifrass, former noseplug newsy, would read the phone book TO Dave before letting anyone beat her in general, lighthearted).

February 23, 2010

Today was my favorite workout--I think ever. We did 5 sets of bricks, the first 4 of which consisted of a 9-minute spin pyramid followed by an 800 on the track. That 9-minute pyramid consisted of 3 minutes steady (level 15 for me), then 3 minutes climbing (level 16 for me), then again 3 minutes steady (back to level 15 for me). We did 5 minutes steady before the final 800, which I think of as our "bonus" since I swear Scott had said that we were doing only 4 800s. Don't know what we did to earn/deserve this 5th. On the run we were supposed to keep our heart rates somewhere south of where they actually soared. I'm still not sure of the math or the exact desired number. I was always just about the last out of the spin room since I have yet to put speed laces on my new racing flats (I suck at transitions anyway), but that just gave me incentive to run faster once I hit the track. I did my 800s in 3:09, 3:03, 3:02, 2:59, 2:56.

After the bricks we were to run an additional mile and a half. Bobby and I ran a mile on the track together and then finished up with another 2.7 or so side-by-side on treadmills. Until today, I'd had no idea how killer he is on the bike. His cadence was so crazy high, I thought he couldn't have had much resistance, but it turns out he had more on than I did. He's been cycling outdoors at least twice a month--not that that explains it. It was fun to actually run and talk with someone and avoid the ipod/nanopod thing.

I liked this brick session because it was challenging but also because I've so rarely had any opportunity to do bricks. I did a brick only once last summer--with FTER in Central Park's northern hills. Prior to that, I'd only done bricks twice the summer before that. So three lifetime. One of the sorry consequences of not being on a team is that you have no one to watch your bike while you go run, which makes brick work a little challenging, which makes triathlon training a little challenging, which makes excelling at triathlons a little challenging. . . You see where I'm going with this. I'm just feeling very grateful to be on a team as fun and hardcore as Full Throttle, even if it means occasionally having to contend with a surprise rogue 800.

February 20, 21, & 22

February 20: Went to Central Park along with my son Kieran and Kieran's Dad (a.k.a. Stuart) to cheer on the FTERs in the Haiti Run. It's amazingly difficult to spot a dozen unmarked teammates in a field of 9,000. I first parked myself on the East Drive at about 97th Street. I saw Tommy run by but didn't manage to see anyone else from Full Throttle. Then the three of us jogged back to the West Drive at 93rd Street. I missed Tommy this time (he must have been running so fast, he was just a blur) but Bobby spotted me and called out my name; then I was able to give him a cheer. Congrats to all the Full Throttlers who ran--and sorry I didn't see you. Maybe we need to think about team singlets if we're going to keep this road racing up.

Saturday afternoon I competed in an indoor triathlon at Equinox: 500-meter swim, 10-mile bike, 5K run. We got 10 minutes transition between each event; guess Equinox didn't want any legs or necks broken in the interims. I did the swim in 7:55, the bike in 23:30, and the run in 20:17 for a total time of 51:47. The top 75 finishers nationwide will be offered spots at this year's Escape from Alcatraz triathlon. Getting a spot was my goal. I should hear today or tomorrow if I made it but my chances look very good.

February 21: Long run day. Had to hit the treadmill again; there's still way too much snow in Philly. I did 15.1 miles at 8:30 pace.

February 22: Back in the pool with FTE. This is our "easy" week in the periodization cycle. Can't say the swim felt easy to me; it was challenging in new ways. I never new "hypoxic" meant breathe-every-fifth-stroke. The stud of the day was Don--booted to lane #2 thanks to me--who did a full 50 meters underwater with only one breath. Whoohoo!

I finished the morning session with a 10K treadmill run starting at 8:30 pace and then gradually taking it down to 7:47 pace. Felt kind of tired. Scott came back from his run (he went outside); he did 6.5 miles. So by his calculations, he's precisely .3 miles better than I:)

RED FLAG THIS

This is no ordinary day. AP and PBS alike are aware! Forget Lindsey Vonn. To spits with Shaun White. I took home the gold today at the flip-turn Olympics. Maybe you're tired of reading about me OBSESS about these magical aquatic movements, but (in addition to my having mastered the event) here's my argument: If you're not an overachiever, then why are you reading this blog? As a TRI(3)athlete, you are taking on 3 (THREE) sports to master and let's face it, we obsess about many, various (RANDOM) things. Today? I tucked one obstacle into bed. Flip-turn ratio? 99%. For further commentary on my phenomenal flip-turn newsflash, please contact my publicist, Jessica Mullin.

OH! So, I am racing my first "run race" EVER tomorrow. A few of us signed up for a Haiti-fundraiser race in Central Park, which will be this week's worth of speed work. I know, between my flip-turn report and staking my flag back in the National-title land, it's like I'm emotionally doping (rut ro). It just feels really good to accomplish something in this "hobby" that isn't directly related to the 3 (THREE) sports...you have your first race/first PR/first flat/first podium/first heatstroke/first second place, but you run out of those "firsts," which would otherwise naturally keep you motivated. As far as tomorrow is concerned, we're all clear that I'll outrun the OTHER Jesse (ugh/albeit I heart him, Dubey), but I suppose that goes unsaid. get your ZZZ's on, Jesse Dubey (tags: stupid fast, loves his brother!, charity-driven, humorFULL, gorgeous wife); I'm on your heels.

February 17, 2010

FTE, Temporary Denver Chapter: I had to go to Denver on business on Tuesday morning and came back Wednesday night. This meant missing Wednesday's double speed workout: pool and track. I was particularly bummed to be missing the track speed session. It's still the old love/dread thing, of course, but whenever the option to actually do a particular speed session is taken away from me, my feelings turn to pure love. Easy to love a hard workout you don't have to do.

But I particularly missed the chance to do the speed work with Tommy and Bobby. We've been working nicely together, taking turns leading each interval and generally pulling one another along. So I resolved to show my solidarity with them by doing the same workout Wednesday morning on the treadmill in Denver. But somehow once I was actually on that treadmill, speed work just didn't seem like the ticket. I abandoned my plan, but was feeling guilty about it. Then, about four miles into my run, I felt sufficiently warmed up and inspired to give it a try. I did the 1200 at 6:18 pace, the two 800s at 6:15 pace, and the three 400s at 6:07, 6:03, and 6:00. Total run: 8 miles. It was hardly the same without Tommy and Bobby, but at least I got the speed work in. And it just shows how you can gain inspiration from teammates even when they're a couple time zones away.

Got home Wednesday night in time to make it to Chris Griffin's spin class at Equinox.

Sweats 'R us

Wednesdays are particularly full in the pool and today was nooooo exception. The more bodies in the water, the more waves I tend to inhale. It's cool, I enjoy the challenge: How much O2 can YOU take in while swimming without gills (this doesn't pertain to Ali)?

The workout was conducive to a true "trade-off routine," so we were each able to lead the lane during sets that reflected our respective strengths, which is not always the case and was quite refreshing today. My flip turn ratio? 2 successes for every 10 attempts (20%). Like a generous tip, it was more than I expected.

My favorite part of the morning? Well, I REALLY wanted to run outside, so I brought all of my FTP BLIZzard gear. Little did I comprehend the black-ice factor...that's right, kids, like a BMW (I am German afterall), I'm SO fast that I must consider slipping on black ice. Okay, so my man feet MAY or may NOT be the issue. I looked down at my clunkers and thought to myself, "Self? You're working with a whole lot of surface area at the bottom of your stems. Perhaps stay inside to eliminate the risk of further injury?" At that moment, Maria (please see prior tags) said, "Why not just make it a hot run? We have South Beach coming up-might as well." Hmmff...okay.

Many heads turned to double-check whether or not the expression on my face was that of a girl dressed to hike the foothills in Antarctica was intentionally running on the treadmill INside Chelsea Piers. I figured as long as I kept a straight face, avoided direct eye contact with anyone and huffed heavily a few times, people would feel intimidated/assume I'm on a special "plan." Oh, I've got a plan, BABY...most of you know what that is, but for those that don't, here's a hint: It rhymes with "taking my national title back."

February 13, 14, & 15

We go to Philly most weekends. I grew up there and about five years ago I bought a house there--a weekend place. Our house is a few doors down from my sister's place. She had twin boys (Aidan and Liam) two months before I had Kieran. We call the three boys the triplets. My getting the house nearby was partly a desperate attempt to give Kieran a sibling experience without my actually producing more children--which would have been tough since I had him when I was 42. TMI, sorry. Where was I? Oh, right. Philly. So we went down this weekend and discovered that our house was buried in four feet of snow. It was hilarious trying to get up our unshoveled walk with luggage and a sleeping seven year old at midnight.

So all the snow forced me to the dread treadmill. As I've posted before, Stuart thinks it's hilarious that I'm on the treadmill at Chelsea Piers nearly every day since I'm on record as hating running on the things. But our snowbound roads and trails forced me to embrace the Necessary Evil. I'll make this quick since even writing about running on a treadmill is boring.

Saturday: I ran 10 miles. I admit I picked that distance because 10 because gave me a 50-mile week. Not smart. Repeat: not smart. But I'm still an occasional slave to mileage. Stuart thinks I should get over my round number fetish. Easy for him to say--he runs 80 miles a week. For my first 5, I averaged about 8:20 pace. For the second 5, I averaged about 7:50 pace. For the second 5, I kept pushing the pace ever mile or half mile until I was sub-7:00 at the very end. The only way I got through this was through music: the first 7 thanks to Velvet Underground, the last 3 thanks to The Vapors. Yes, The Vapors.

Sunday: Long run day. I ran 15. This was my longest treadmill run ever. I averaged 8:30 pace. My playlist--too extensive to bore you with here--may be the first ever to range from the Velvet Underground to the Real McCoy.

Monday: The combo of the hard 10 followed by the steady 15 kicked up an old injury. I'm not even sure what the injury is--it's on the outside of my left foot, below the ankle. Not quite the Achilles, but maybe. Anyway, it was soar and I had to coax it into cooperation for an easy 10K at 9:13 pace. Musical guests: the Velvet Underground and Rick Springfield. Capped off the day with an hour-long spin session at Equinox with Chris Griffin.

Catch you on the flip side.

I woke up this morning--did the usual yawn, arrrrrg and strrrretch and I was immediately aware of my traps. Was I lifting weights in my sleep AGAIN?! No, no...the tightness isn't a result of me sleep lifting; rather, it's from the countless flip turns I practiced yesterday in the pool. I would have blogged about this sooner, but I just now got the rest of the pool out of my nose (sexy). Chris (tags: swim coach, teacher, dad-to-be, whoops lane 5, patient like a priest) decided to take a few of us sad souls into the water and show us how to conquer the world-o-dolphinery (it's a word). Here were the contenders in addition to me and Chris: Maria (tags: contagious laugh, multiple 25-29 age group podiums, spit fire, kitten), Bryan (tags: how not to swim, master planner, bets most wins least, ladies man, cyclist) and Jose (tags: Chechu, speedster on the track, tiny tush, Spanglish). For over an hour, we took turns swimming toward/close enough to the wall, dropping our chins, squeezing our abs, thrusting our hips (get your head out of the gutter), rolling over and pushing off of the wall with the same momentum we had going into the turn.

Despite our best efforts, none of us managed to incorporate ALL of the above, but most of THEM got the important stuff (shaking my fist in the air!) I, on the other hand, averaged a single execution each time. Chris, being as great as he is, said I improved a tremendous amount. Um, how could I NOT improve when I was rolling over sideways, yards away from the wall and (if I got close enough) pushing off of it with one foot? I looked like a manatee having a seizure.

Today, I'm going to face my aquatic shortcomings and practice what I (honestly) learned from Chris yesterday (thank you, Chris). Luckily, it's family day at the Piers, so there will be tons of kids in the pool alongside me to watch, point and laugh. It's cool, I'll be the low-budget clown. BUT! If one of those little kiddies asks, "Is that the Loch Ness Monster, daddy?" I'm out.

February 12, 2010

Chris gave me some terrific pointers during today's swim session. He tipped me off to some changes in my stroke that I could actually achieve. For starters, he had me keep my chin a little more tucked so that my head is straighter in the water. I think I'd been tilting up too much looking to see how close I was to the swimmer ahead. Not aqua-dymanic. Once my head was in the right place, I could rotate my shoulders more and concentrate on gliding a bit. Prior to this, my arms had just been windmilling through the water. My speed instantly improved.

I tried a level harder for the spin session--12 for the steady state and 15 and 16 for the climbs. It was tough to stay on 90 but I just kept my eyes on Don since he was hitting it perfectly. (Yes, Don, I couldn't take my eyes off your legs.) We were music-challenged after Greg had to leave early--taking his Nanopod with him, and right in the middle of Green Day! One of my many New Year's resolutions (chief among them: join Full Throttle full time) is to not be a techno-moron anymore. So as of two weeks ago, I am now the proud owner of a Nanopod. Creating playlists is still a bit beyond me but it's next on my list of things to do. Looking forward to inflicting my musical preferences on the group. (Musical "taste" might be a stretch since it would imply that I have some; I'll let you all be the judge.)

After the spin I hit the treadmill for 4.1 miles at about an 8:10 pace. I made the executive decision to go in late to work. Didn't want to have to leave my run for tonight.

February 11, 2010

The 6-mile loop in Central Park turned out to be particularly icy this morning. The road was clear on the West Drive from 102nd to 72nd but the rest was pretty bad. This was actually a-okay with me since I needed an easy day. The poor road conditions "forced" me to go slow. I put in 8 miles at a pace so slow, my ego has asked that I not post it officially. So mum's the word. Hope this "active recovery" day leaves me better poised for tomorrow's swim & spin session.

February 10, 2010

I had to laugh as I walked out of my apartment this morning around 5:00 a.m.: no snow on the ground whatsoever. Smart move, I thought, thinking of New York City's seemingly premature decision to close public schools for the day. However, the D. of E. had the last laugh, as you all must know; the blizzard kicked in while we were in the pool.

The Big Snow Day yielded a much smaller Full Throttle force than usual--maybe 20 people in all. But those of us who showed turned in the requisite swim speed workout followed by one on the track. The swim featured 15 x 75 meters, broken into sets of 5 with 20 seconds rest between each 75 but then a minute's rest between sets. Then we did a 200 steady followed by 2 x 50 hard on the 1:00. The trick is to pull off that second 50. After that it was 10 x 100 pull (alternating easy and solid), although our lane #3 only managed to fit in only 8.

The track speed work was 4 x 800 with a 200 recovery after each. It was lonely without Tommy and Bobby, but I managed to pull off the 4 in 3:08, 3:09, 3:02, 3:03. Between my half mile warm-up (too much hot tub to fit in the full mile), the 800s and recovery, and a mile cool-down, I put in 4 miles on the track. Then I did a very easy 3 on the treadmill for a total of 7 for the day.

In the evening I did Chris Griffin's hour-long spin class at Equinox along with Stuart and our pal--currently of Terrier Tri--Neil Brenner. That session included 20 minutes of rollers, then one 10-minute climb out of the saddle followed by a 30-minute climb out of the saddle. Glad not to be spinning tomorrow morning. Despite all the snow, I'm hoping to put in a lap of Central Park tomorrow morning. We'll see. . .

Colorado Springs, OTC

USA Triathlon Race Directors Certification in Colorado Springs.....
Weather is beautiful. Just banged out a swim in an outdoor pool, with the mountains covered in snow. You have to love the altitude training, both my run this morning and the swim, had my HR about 10 beats higher.

USA Triathlon puts on some great clinics, this one will allow us to host our own races this year.
Stay tuned for the details, they will be in scenic Ct. in late June and mid September.
Time to end a perfect day with a Guinness.......life is good.

February 9, 2010

Sorry to be such a stranger. I went to San Diego on business the week before last and everything seems to have gotten away from me since. Don't worry, this won't be a comprehensive recap by any means. I'll just hit the highlights.

San Diego: I was there for four days and got in four nice runs in 50-degree weather. Went for a long run on Friday, January 29: 13.3 miles at about 8:20 pace. I missed two FTER workouts, but the trade-off for the (relatively) warm weather was worth it.

Empire State Building Run-Up: I came home just in time to miss another FTER workout--in order to compete in my 11th ESBRU. Scott/Full Throttle has whipped me into great stair-climbing shape. I ran the stairs in 14:25--my best time in 10 years, second only to my PR of 14:22. We really should get more FTERs into this race next year. It's hell, but the half-lap of the observation deck is very cool and there are great bragging rights afterward.

Gridiron 4 Miler: We had a nice Full Throttle showing, despite the 17-degree temperature. Mikael Hanson, where were you:)? Bobby Kennedy found me about three-quarters of a mile into the race and we hung together. It's alway so great to have a friend/teammate to work with in a race. Apparently Scott/Full Throttle has gotten me into great running shape, too. I got my highest age-graded percentage ever. Those of you too young and talented to be aware of age-grading or appreciate it: once you're too old to ever run actual PRs, you'll look forward to the thrill of running virtual ones through age-graded time conversions. The big Gridiron highlight: Tommy Slon debuting in his first road race ever. Dude, you mean you started with the triathlon?

Monday of this week consisted of a somewhat tough swim (for me, anyway) followed by a 10K treadmill run at about 8:15 pace. Then I did an hour-long spin class in the evening at Equinox with instructor Chris Griffin.

Tuesday (today) consisted of a spin session--love that Suunto monitoring system--followed by a 4.1 treadmill run at about 8:20 pace. Had to cut the run short because I had sales presentations to make at 9:00 sharp. Annoying how the pesky day job can sometimes interfere with training.

Tomorrow: Big Snow Day! But I already called Chelsea Piers and was assured that they would be open. See you in the a.m.

Hammies!

Day 1 back in DA pool since my head turned into a massive petri dish last week and I was feelin' pretty groovy. Toni (tags: Aussie, strong female athlete, talks least says most--ish) and I traded off taking the lead during the steady swim sets. We were holding a good pace (1:25/100 yds), which set us up for the "solid" pull sets to follow. Drew (tags: in his 20's-oy, native NYer, horse, elite male athlete, six pack) was in front the entire time with Ali behind him and then MUWA + a few others. There are 4 things I attest to as far as severe weak points in the brain-o-Jess are concerned: peanut butter, the smell of Downy on my hoodies/using 8,000 dryer sheets per load to achieve that scent, geography and the ability to swim with a pull buoy. I might as well swim backwards...BUT I held on, which was enthralling. A certain Disney/Pixar/DreamWorks movie came to mind whilst thrashing my arms about to hold onto their pace--"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!" I swear by lifting weights.

We hopped on spin bikes for an hour afterwards and I admit that my legs were pretty (omg totally) shot. I sat next to Anna (tags: fabulous hair, phenomenal female athlete, artist, big heart, competitive beyond imagination) and was entirely out of oxygen while pushing gears I would ordinarily scoff at had I not had to channel the Lincoln Tunnel through my left nostril (please see last entry). Nonetheless, I made it, which makes me all the more happy to salute my over-worked hammies, "Good night!"

Booty Points

As every New Yorker (especially) experiences at one point or another during the winter, I have a head cold. Despite my Purell hand sanitizer obsession (or perhaps as a result of it), my nose is stuffed like the Lincoln Tunnel on a Friday night with one lane open, which doesn't bode well for swimming--nor do I want to get my teammates sick. While the Full Throttle peeps splashed away, I grabbed a poolside chair, sipped hot tea and watched them swim. There is something to be said about how watching talented swimmers in action brings you such tranquility. I make a point every season to sit out of a practice at least twice and analyze the different strokes from lane to lane. It helps me visualize ways to correct my form, be it something I'm consciously eager to correct or surprised to see that I was doing wrong by comparison.

The treadmill and I are friends again! On Saturday, I made up the "long run" I skipped on Thursday, which consisted of FIVE MILES! Yup, you saw it first, FIVE (**5**)MILES. I was a tad skeptical of doing 4 more miles (today) a mere two days afterwards and the week following my tre(wo)mendous speed work...so I did FOUR AND A HALF MILES instead. It felt fantastic. I wasn't fast; I wasn't on an incline. I was just going and it was beyond refreshing. After a 1/2 mile cool down walk, I sprung for some booty points (resistance work for the tush that I coined "booty points" because it makes me feel like I've got a nice rear view)...or on my way towards one. Stretching is NOT just for the bendy or for the birds, so I gave my legs 15 extensive minutes of love before calling it a (work)day.

To flip turn or not to flip turn...

That was the question today...actually, it really wasn't so much a question as it was a direct ORDER from Scott for all lanes to practice throughout our long, steady sets--he literally paced alongside the pool to ensure execution (loosely defined), so we were forced to oblige (ARG!). If you're not privy to the voices in a triathlete's head already, allow me: You don't flip turn in a triathlon, so why fret over practicing them? Well, APPARENTLY, maintaining momentum improves efficiency and cutting the breath of air you get from open turns out of each turn increases lung capacity over time. I've been dodging such debate/muting the voices since my last attempt to concur the world-o-flip turns last year resulted in me pushing off of the wall into ANOTHER LANE...I thought that was a clear indication that I should just cross out the idea all together.

But today was a new day (thank you, Suzy Sunshine). I fought my aquatic demons and gave it my best shot. Ali led the lane because she doesn't need to breathe when she works out; she's so "elite" that she just holds her breath for an hour and exhales when she sips her protein shake afterwards. The pace was fine, but I'm saying, this tummy tuck/roll over thing underwater takes the O2 out of you and is VERY dissimilar to the front flips I did as a kid in the above-ground pool in my backyard. Nonetheless, I pushed. I didn't make every turn (in fact, I missed the wall once), but I was stoked that I tried--so much that I spent 600 extra yards swimming after the team left to better my technique. I will continue to tri (get it? knee slapper) until I take 1st place in the FLIP TURN OLYMPICS.

New York Road Runners Half-Marathon

NYRR Half-Marathon | 13.1 Miles | Central Park

I didn't really know what to expect in my first half-marathon race, and had no idea what pace I should run. When I started training at the end of November, my goal was to break 1:23:00 (6:20/mile), but it had become clear that there was no way that was going to happen for this race. I was just as likely to set a new world record, so I decided that I would take this race as a training run - an opportunity to set a benchmark for myself, hopefully without blowing up. I picked 7:30/mile as my pace for the first mile or two and decided to reassess the situation after that.

Unfortunately, because I showed up pretty late as I didn't want to be standing around in the cold, I ended up getting stuck near the back of the corral and found myself "running" with the 10:00/mile pacers. Not ideal when there are 5,000 other runners and no where to pass except outside the race course (and on the outside of all the turns). I'm not sure how much distance it added to my run, but I was having too much fun passing people to really notice. 7:30s felt really easy - thanks to training runs with Tommy - I decided to try and negative split each mile to the end, really dropping the hammer after mile 7. Looking back on my splits, that's not exactly what happened, but the second half of my race was faster than the first half so overall I'm very satisfied. I'm really looking forward to the NYC Half-Marathon in March.

Distance: 13.1 Miles, 21.1 Kilometers
Date/Time: Jan. 24, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
Location: Central Park, NYC
Weather: 37 deg., 76% humidity, wind 5 mph.

Finish Time: 1:34:33
Pace/Mile: 7:13
Overall Place: 607
Gender Place: 539
Age Place: 110

I ran with RunKeeper, but the pacing and distance was a bit off. Still, it give a general overview of elevation and pacing changes throughout the race. For details, click on the link in the upper left hand corner:



Full Throttle was well represented by Charles Howe, Colin Stewart, and Maria Mahn. Unfortunately, I didn't know anyone else was racing until after checking the results and searching for Full Throttle Endurance Racing on NYRR's results site. Hopefully, they'll share their race experience on this blog or in the comments section below.

And then there was my ego...(not for long)

One of the most important things that the sport of triathlon forces you to learn is how to be prepared. With three sports, the amount of gear you need to train/race is remarkable; every gadget, gismo and garment is essential, so there's no room for error. I'm not exactly a veteran, but coming up on my 4th season, I was quite surprised this morning when I opened my gym bag to get ready for the swim: Speedo--check. Goggles--check. Cap--check. Skills--oh SNAP!! That's right, ladies and gents, I apparently forgot how to swim today. The workout itself focused on longer sets with hand paddles, so the lane lovelies and I agreed that we would slow down the pace and work on our form(s). Little did I know just HOW slow I would go--seriously I kept checking to see if a HEFTY bag was suddenly tied to my feet acting like a parachute/drag. I checked my ego at the door and held onto the end of the line (by a thread). That's something everyone comes to accept: you can't always be on top of your game...certain days you're just "garbage," as Scott likes to put it.

The spin leg of our workout was all about keeping our cadence at/above 90, which I'm proud to say comes naturally to me now. I kept the resistance low mostly because my legs refused to acknowledge any hard sets I tried to introduce them to, but also because I knew my body was trying to tell me something: "You will always lose in an argument with me. Keep it steady." Dagon IT...

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Today being the "long run" day, I did not feel obliged to go to Chelsea Piers at the pre-crack-of-dawn. This was a very good thing not only for me (nice to "sleep in" until 5:30) but also for my seven year old, who's been a little teary about my not being around in the mornings. I ran seven miles in Central park at about 8:30 pace. This isn't long for me but I do my long runs on the weekend. On the bridle path I ran into FTE's own Mikael Hanson, who turned around and ran with me for about a mile, until I exited the park. Was great to catch up.

I ran a few errands on the way home. When I got in the front door, I called out, "Kieran, I got you a blueberry bagel and ginger snaps for your lunch." Whereupon Kieran came running at me from the living room, grabbed me around the waist, and said, "Best of all, you brought your own self." Did I just enter a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie?

But the headline of the day should go to Kieran's dad, Stuart. today marks the 23rd anniversary of his running streak. For 23 years, he's run at least 1.25 miles every single day. No days off--not for anything. Most of our runner friends are more critical than admiring of this streak, but Stuart started it for laudable reasons--at least I think so. Twenty-three years ago he was coaching his high school cross country team (ultimately, to be state champions in California) and he realized that his own running was vanishing. He decided that he needed to choose: was he in or out? He opted in and figured he'd need a somewhat radical commitment to make it stick. so he decided to run every day--at least one continuous mile. To make sure he got a full mile in, he soon made the requirement a mile and a quarter. And so he's kept that commitment for 23 years now. Of course there have been some streak-threatening scares and some hilarious streak-preserving runs resulting from this vow, but I'll save them for another post.

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Swim/Cycle | Chelsea Piers

This morning was supposed to be a recovery day. It sure didn't feel like one. I'm not sure if it's because it was such a long, hard week or if my body is still getting used to 4:45am wake-ups followed by 2+ hour workouts. Or maybe I'm just a baby. Your pick.

Workout of the Day:

SWIM

Warm up - 300 pull / 200 kick / 100 swim
Tech - 100 backstroke kick / 100 backstroke / 100 Butterfly kick / 100 Breaststroke
Mainset

• 2 x 300 swim steady with paddles R=20
• 3 x 200 swim steady with paddles R=20
• 4 x 100 swim solid; no paddles
• 5 x 50 alt. kick/ hard swim

Cool down

CYCLING

5 min ez intensity effort
25 min steady effort aero
5 min climb steady effort
25 min steady effort aero
3 min ez effort cadence at 105

(For effort/intensity zone definitions, see the Full Throttle official website)

This morning was the first day I used the Suunto heart rate transmitter belt in the spin room. While probably not necessary (as most of the FTE athletes already own a heart rate monitor), they sure are fun. Every athlete wearing a belt has his/her heart rate and percentage of maximum H.R. projected on a screen at the front of the room. This way, you can see who's working hard (CheChu) and who's dogging it (Scott - he's gawbage).

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

NYAC Cycling | 24 Miles | Central Park

I think I may have mentioned in an earlier post that I going to do some racing this summer with the New York Athletic Club and I'll be joining them in Central Park for team rides twice a week - Thursdays and Saturdays. The team is composed almost entirely of former rowers so we're excited to see how we stack up against other amateur cyclists. Other than carryover thunder thighs, I'm not sure how well rowing translates over to cycling. We'll soon find out...

Only a small group showed this morning. It was a bit colder than it has been for the past few weeks. I don't mind the cold so much now that I have the proper clothing for cold-weather cycling. It keeps most of the riffraff out of the park. (Did I really just use the word "riffraff"?) I did happen to spot a very large TriLife peloton this AM. I'm not sure if it's because they're tougher than Full Throttle or if it's because they don't have sweet indoor training facilities like we do. Wait... just checked race results. Definitely the latter... oh, BURN!

NYAC ended up riding four laps of the park, about 24 miles. I think our average pace was around 22 mph. It wasn't particularly hard, nor was it easy. Click on the link embedded in the map below to see details. Note that the average pace is off because I forgot to stop the gps after I finished the final lap and spent 10 minutes chatting with a teammate at Columbus Circle (hence the 14 min mile vs. 3 min for the others):

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Only three weeks into FTE training and I'm already semi-dreading Wednesdays: the day we do speed work in the pool and then on the track. But today's swim session wasn't too terrible. In all honesty I think it was easier than last Wednesday's swim speed session, and that is fine with me. Ten x 50 alternating hard and easy on the one minute seemed to be the "meat" of the workout. The little rest on the easy laps and the longer rest on the harder laps seemed to make the two speeds a draw in terms of difficulty.

As usual, I was more comfortable once we were sneakered-up and back on dry land. Even though I've competed in triathlons for many years now, I consider myself a novice at both swimming and cycling. Not so with running. The track feels like home turf--with the possible exception of the non-banked turn at Chelsea Piers.

The on-land speed workout was 4 x 800 with only a 200 recovery--pretty short and therefore pretty toughening. I ran with Tommy, Bobby, Joe, and Jose. I suggested that we take turns leading the intervals. My track team observes this tradition to prevent people from "racing" the workout. It's also a great study in pacing. The idea is that each person take a turn leading an interval. No one is to pass the leader. My team established this tradition after too many guys in our A group (the fastest one) raced the workouts to the degree that they left it all on the track; they were road kill by the time the weekend race rolled around. So in order to race better, and blow out fewer hamstrings, we take turns. The idea is to really stick to the goal pace, not run seconds under it.

I led the first 800, Bobby led the second, and Tommy led the third. I could just barely keep contact with Bobby and Tommy; it was nice to feel pulled along by them just slightly ahead. I ran the four 800s in: 3:08, 3:06, 3:06, 3:05.

My ultimate goal is to sneak back to the hot tub after some of these sessions, as I've seen other teammates do. But today wasn't my chance.

In the evening, I finished up the day with an hour-long spin class with Chris Griffin at Equinox.

I'm relatively certain that my shoulders think they've done something to upset me, because after today's swim, they're SCREAMING. But it's the kind of scream that's synonymous with the bark of those mighty muscle men you hear in the gym slamming down their 8740-lbs dumbbells: SOMEthing just got a whole lot stronger. Ali (a great friend of mine/the best female athlete on the team) and I traded off taking the lead of lane 4, the second fastest lane in the pool. Our crew was 6 people deep and we were cruising through the main set, which consisted mostly of intensity changes. Alternating between slow and fast efforts helps me get reacquainted with what Scott calls "active recovery." Basically, you can't stop in a race to catch your breath, right? So we train our bodies to function despite fatigue, which could be a result of heat, overexertion or in this case, a lack of oxygen. It's not a pleasant process, but it's a necessary one for endurance racing.

I was particularly pleased with my (our) times during the main set because they show that my swim has improved from last year. The times I'm seeing now (so early in the game) are consistent with what I was holding at the end of last year. Most people stopped swimming during the off-season (FOR SHAME!), but Scott led an unofficial, show-up-if-you-want group swim that I went to on an average of twice a week. We cut out intensity and lowered the volume, but I think practicing my form and making slight changes really contributed to the jump. I also focused on weight training this winter, which is something I never did and vow to never stop.

Coming off of an ITB issue last season and having just started to run again, I participated in speed work for the first time this season during the run leg of our practice! Side note: holy monkey we have some SPEEDSTERS on the team this year. I watched them flash by on the track in front of me while I jacked up the speed of my treadmill's conveyor belt to an alarming....10-minute mile for 3 miles with a few 2-minute 8:30 intervals interspersed throughout those 3 miles. Patience. Patience.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Today's spin session featured 15 to 20 minute seated steady intervals with 5-minute climbs in between. The seated steady intervals were to have a cadence of 90 and we were to pick a resistance level that was challenging but that we could sustain for the duration. Then the climbs were to be 3 to 4 notches about that. Scott and Dan were hooked up to the cool new Suunto monitoring system, so we could see their heart rates and intensity levels at all times.

I picked level 10 for my seated intervals. It seemed reasonably challenging to keep the cadence at 90 but I noticed that my heart rate wasn't nearly as high as Scott's or Dan's. The room was on the warm side but I'm very used to a hot spin class since Chris Griffin--my Equinox spin class guru--likes to keep the spin room really warm for his sessions. No AC and usually no fans either. We call it Bikram Spin Class. Definitely an acquired taste--and there's no acquiring Chris's musical taste, in my opinion--but his classes are the absolute toughest so Stuart and I are regulars. Anyway, I was trying to convince myself that my heart rate wasn't as high as Scott's or Dan's because I'm more acclimated to the heat, but I think this was bs. Scott confirmed my suspicions when he quizzed us about our heart rates and I had to confess that mine was easily a good ten fewer per minute than his at any given moment. So next spin I'll ratchet it up to 11 or 12 and see how it goes. I did go to 15 for the climbs, but maybe I should go a notch higher there, too.

I was tempted to do the core work after the spin but the treadmill called. I run every day and I really wanted to knock out my run. This new FTE schedule is causing trouble on my home front. Stuart, who is not a morning person, has to get Kieran ready for school and take him to school solo--something we always used to do together. And Kieran had a melt-down one day last week when he realized that he hadn't seen me all day; I'd left before he woke up, of course, and then an author reading and dinner kept me out until 11:00. So the last thing I want to do is get home from work and announce it's time for my run. I'm already looking forward to the warmer weather which will mean not just riding in the park but also getting home by 7:30 or so and not heading straight to work from Chelsea Piers. It's funny that what I thought would be toughest about joining FTE in the morning (getting up so early, getting down to CP) is already not so tough, but these other factors that I hadn't considered are--and I'm not sure they'll get better with time.

Monday, January 17, 2010

Ran an easy 8.5 miles in the Wissahickon in the morning--slower than the last two days, just slightly over 9:00 pace.

Made it back to NYC in time to do Chris Griffin's hour-long spin class at the 92nd Street Equinox with Stuart, followed by a very speedy transition home to watch "24."

Sunday, January 17, 2010

I got up early--well, not early by FTE standards--but early for a weekend so I could beat the rain. I had a wonderful long run--15.25 miles--along the same dirt train in Philly that I'd run on the previous day. My average pace was 8:49. Felt great.

Saturday, January 16

It was so nice not having to get up at 4:45 today--although of course I did wake up then. But I just rolled over and went back to sleep.

I was going to run 8 miles on a wonderful winding dirt trail along the Wissahickon Creek in Philadelphia's largest park, but my weekly mileage jones got the better of me so I did 10 to cap off a 55-mile week. My pace, my trusty Garmin informed me, was 8:47.