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.