Passing Time

Day 2 of taper week. Our coach put together a schedule calling for an easy 12-15 mile ride today. After crawling out of my skin yesterday with just the swim - and yesterday was supposed to be rest - I decided to go for the 15 and add a short, 2-mile run. It's early in the week so I figured a final brick would be nice. Since I was half following orders, I kept it easy by staying along the Hudson where it is flat. There was a strong headwind on the first half that made it kind of slow, but I reminded myself that the ride was supposed to be relaxed. When I turned around and headed south, I was able to make up some time. My transition was really fast today and the run was great. When I started training, I was dreading the bricks because so many people hate them. But I've actually enjoyed them. When I start doing longer distances I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune.

Since my workouts are short, I have a lot of time on my hands. I spend 90% of it obsessing about the race and try to occupy the other 10% with positive distractions. My official race photos arrived from the Flat as a Pancake Tri so I figured now is a great time to scan and post them here.

First up, they captured a shot of me at the swim exit. Note the "oh my god, I can't believe I didn't drown" look on my face. Also note that there are several people with pink caps still in the water, which means I wasn't last! Of course the guy in the blue cap started 5 minutes after me.

Next up, here I am on the bike looking very serious. This was coming into the u-turn from the first loop. I think I was still in awe that I made it through the swim.

And finally, the finish. I was elated and actually had a smile on my face, or as much of a smile as you can manage after a roasting hot run with no shade. But it's not my happy finish face that should be noted here. My fellow finisher's face was hidden as she looked down to stop her watch, capturing her exact finish time.

People stopping their watches in race finish photos is not unusual. What's unusual is this second shot, where she appears to be checking her heart rate monitor on the other wrist. This was a little local race on Staten Island. I forgot to start my watch at the beginning and forgot to reset my bike computer in transition, so I didn't have a clue what my time was. Someone once said that it's better to have had a good time than to have run a good time. But I guess we all have different priorities. If I could thank her though, I would. She encouraged me to sprint with her to the finish and as a result, I set a 5K PR.

Next up this week, I'll be posting a video of one of my open water swims at Brighton Beach. After that, I'll have to find something else to occupy the rest of my taper time.

Biking (brick workout)
Distance - 15 miles
Time - 58:47

Running (brick workout)
Distance - 3 miles
Time - 16:13

Taper Madness

It's just 6 days until race day, which means I should be tapering my training throughout the week and have a solid day or two of rest. You'd think after training pretty much non-stop for the past two months that I'd be looking forward to a little break. I haven't had an actual rest day since June 22 after all. But it turns out that's not the case.

I was supposed to do the early morning run course preview with some JackRabbit folks. I figured I'd do the run at a nice, slow pace and then go back to sleep. I woke up at 5, briefly asked myself what the heck I was doing, and slowly got out of bed. I put on my running gear and headed downstairs for some coffee when I heard a faint ticking sound on the window. Rain. I had checked Weather.com while lying in bed and it said nothing of rain. But a glance out confirmed that it was raining pretty hard. There was no way I was going to drag myself out for a 6 a.m. run in the rain. I sent a text and went back to bed, totally changing my plans for the day.

I decided to go for a swim instead. After open water, my stroke is often really off and takes a bit of practice to get back into shape. Since it was still drizzling and I was feeling out of sorts, I decided to walk to the pool instead of riding my bike thinking it might wake me up a bit. I had this feeling you sometimes get the day before you come down with the flu, where something isn't quite right, but you're not yet sick. So of course I had panicky thoughts of getting sick in these final critical days and that worried me all the way to Tribeca.

The pool was quiet so I was able to get in and out quickly without interruption. I did a slow warm-up of 450 yards with a little kicking mixed in, then two main sets of 450. I tried to do the second set faster, but to my dismay, it was exactly the same time as the first set. My shoulder was still a bit achy, but my form felt good. I never thought I would reach this point, but I'm feeling really comfortable with my swimming. I'm not fast, but I'm able to cover the distance easily and after tackling the challenging conditions at Brighton Beach this weekend, I'm feeling less anxiety about the Hudson. Of course we'll see how I feel at 6:29 a.m. on Sunday when my wave starts. I'm sure the fear will come flooding back in, but I'm prepared for it.

I finished swimming early and had the full day ahead to rest. And thus began my taper madness. I felt crabby, tired and frustrated. I was hungry all day even though I only did one short workout. I focused on tying up all sorts of loose ends in an effort to occupy my mind. First on the agenda was picking up my beautiful new Sidi T2 shoes at Cadence. They finally got my size and they are a perfect fit. I then headed up to JackRabbit to stock up on gels, an economy size Gatorade Endurance mix and CO2 refills. Since no one had the tinted goggles I needed, I ordered them online for rush delivery. But even after all of this, I was still having a taper tantrum. So I planned my training for the rest of the week so I'd have something to look forward to. My plan is to train normally tomorrow, then scale back Wednesday and Thursday before a full rest on Friday. I'll have the race expo and briefing to do on Friday so that will burn through unused energy.

I'm not nervous yet, but I know it's just around the corner. This is a place I could only dream of being just a few short months ago so I want to take it all in and enjoy every moment of this week. Even the highs and lows of the taper. Because when it's over, I'll inevitably miss having the goal to work toward. It's time to sign up for my next race.

Swimming
Distance - 1350 yards (.75 miles)
Time - 40:00

Attack of the Killer Jellyfish

I'm going to lead today's post with my second workout because while it was short, it was far more interesting. I made the journey out to Brighton Beach again to get in one more open water swim before the NYC Tri. Sure enough, Hurricane Bertha continues to churn up the Atlantic making the water actually harder to swim in today. The waves didn't look as high, but they were more frequent and I thought I felt a rip current at one point. I used my handy new Garmin to confirm the distance between jetties is .44 miles. I swam this with a bit of a struggle in 14:50, including several inefficient pauses for sighting since a slight glance up only led to a wave in the face. Every other breath was a mouthful of water today and I felt like I was being thrown around even more. Yet when I made it to the jetty, I figured I'd turn around and go back. Why not? I wanted to make the most of my time there.

As usual, the return was into the current so it was a bit more challenging. I was just getting comfortable when it happened. The attack of the killer jellyfish. I saw tons of jellies right off the beach but didn't encounter any on the first stretch. Like yesterday, I felt the stinging on my arms and ankle simultaneously so it was a definitely a group assault. But unlike yesterday, I came face to face with my attacker. Just after I felt the first sting, there it was. A big, ugly pink gelatinous thing about two inches below my face. If it were possible to scream under water I would have. I didn't want to stop for fear of forcing it to sting me more, but I didn't want to keep going for fear of running into his group of friends up ahead. So I stopped. Most of my left arm was hit and was already red and blotchy. A good length along the inside of my right arm was also burning and red as well as the top of my right ankle. I wasted tons of energy treading while inspecting the damage and since I was alone, I felt panicky. Since the jellies were likely still lurking nearby, waiting for my naked arm to pass by again, I decided it was time to head in.

I hated to cut the swim short, but in reality, swimming in swirling, choppy water isn't really necessary to prepare for most races so I felt like I achieved what I went for. It was hours before the sting marks faded, but the image of my pink nemesis lasted much longer.

Taking a step back to my first workout of the day... Today wrapped up week 2 of NYC Marathon training. I've pretty much just continued triathlon training with an extra day of running each week. On the fairly lazy schedule I'm following, my long run this week was supposed to be 8 miles. Because of the NYC Tri next week and the NYC Half Marathon the following week, I had to step it up and go a bit longer this week so I can rest a little next week, but still be ready for the half. So I modified the plan and did a 10-miler. I signed up for the Naples-New York Park to Park 10K so I could practice racing the tri distance and make some of the time go by faster. After finishing the race, I did the remaining miles on my own.

I had a pretty great race. I was conservative on the front half, which worked well since it was the hilliest part, and picked up the pace in the back half. Even though it was only about 72 degrees, it was 81% humidity so they issued a heat advisory. Last year's Chicago Marathon has stricken fear into race directors. They sent out an email a few days ago, there were a few ambulances trolling the course and they had 3 or 4 misting stations. Despite all this, I saw a runner down about 500 yards from the finish, lying flat on her back while medics tended to her. This is not uncommon since so many people overdue it in the end. There were people at the finish in oxygen masks looking pretty miserable. And I still had 3.8 miles to go. Luckily I felt great aside from a lack of fuel. My last remaining gel mysteriously disappeared so I had to do the 10 miles with nothing but water and two tiny cups of Gatorade I grabbed at the finish. I felt fatigued as a result, but pushed through. It's my own fault. I need to start buying my gels in massive bulk considering how many I'm consuming these days.

I hit 10 miles and headed back to the finish area for water and food. They had the usual assortment of bagels and some apples. I held a water in one hand and the bagel and apple in the other hand, and managed to eat both pretty much simultaneously in a very un-ladylike fashion. I'm lucky I didn't accidentally eat a finger.

I'm doing an insanely early run tomorrow morning with some JackRabbit training mates. I really shouldn't be running, but we've agreed to do a nice, easy, slow pace. We just want to experience the run course so there are fewer surprises next Sunday. Wow. Next Sunday. I think my freak out may have just begun.

Running (10K race)
Distance - 6.2 miles
Time - 52:17

Running (extra miles)
Distance - 3.8 miles
Time - 34:08

Swimming (open water)
Distance - 1100 yards (.62 miles)
Time - 21:50

No Sleep Till Brooklyn

I spent the majority of my day training in Brooklyn. I spent the rest of my day on the subway going to and from Brooklyn. It started with an 8 a.m. ride with the JackRabbit group in Prospect Park. I usually ride in Manhattan on Sundays, but there is a New York Road Runners race tomorrow so they encouraged us to join in Brooklyn today instead. It sounded like a great change of pace after riding so much in Central Park this past week. Of course the trains weren't running so it took a short bike ride, a transfer and a lot of waiting to get there, but it was worthwhile.

Prospect Park is significantly smaller than Central Park, about 3.4 miles around. We did a 1-loop warm-up, 3 X 2-loops at race pace with short rests in between, and a 1-loop cool down. My first two sets were at a consistent pace, a little under 22 minutes for each. But on the last set, I rode with a girl from the Manhattan group and we chatted the entire way. It slowed us down, but who cares. It broke up the monotony of looping around and around a small park.

I went back to Manhattan, dropped off my bike, got into my swimsuit and raced back out the door to Brighton Beach to meet up with Roberto again from last week. The Brighton Beach stop is on the elevated line and when I stepped out of the train, the wind nearly knocked me over. Even though I couldn't see the beach, I knew we were in for a challenge. The waves were about 2-3 feet or more at times. There was a light current so we swam with it on the first leg, although it didn't make it much easier. If this were just two weeks ago, I would have turned around and gotten back on the train. There is no way I could have handled these conditions. We were getting tossed around the entire time. I got flipped over a few times when rolling to breathe and at least every 2nd or 3rd breath ended up being a mouthful of water. The waves were going over us at times and lifting us out of the water at others. We had to stop about every hundred meters to get our bearings since sighting was nearly impossible. We were laughing the entire time over just how ridiculous it was. But we figured if we could swim in those conditions, we could swim just about anywhere.

We swam from jetty to jetty and back to cover about .88 miles. It was slow going with the quick stops and we needed a moment to catch our breath after reaching the turnaround. We considered walking back to the start and swimming with the current again, but decided to give it a go against the current. It was definitely more difficult and took longer, but totally doable. It was on the return trip that I was stung simultaneously by two jellyfish. It was as though they got together under water, saw me coming and hit the only exposed flesh on my body. I got it on my left ankle and the front of my right shoulder. At least this time they weren't stinging my back since I was actually swimming!

I hit a new level of tired today. I felt relatively good for the ride, but my legs have definitely been fresher. After riding 153 miles this week, I couldn't expect more. When I left Prospect Park and had to carry my bike up and down long flights of subway stairs, I got so exhausted that the thought of riding it down the stairs seemed appealing. Climbing stairs even without the bike made my legs burn. I was moving like one of those slow people I am usually cursing under my breath as I try to get by. By the time we finished the swim, I was toast. I spent what little time was left in the day trying to stay awake and take care of a few odds and ends.

I have two more days of early starts ahead. I'm running a 10k race at 8 tomorrow followed by 4 extra miles to make it my long run this week. Then on Monday morning at 6, I'll be meeting up with some of the JackRabbit group to run the NYC tri course. Since we can't swim or bike the course, we figured it would be good to at least be familiar with the run. I'm thankful I have the luxury of being able to go back to bed afterward. That is definitely something to look forward to.

Biking
Distance - 26.84 miles
Time - 1:34:39

Swimming (open water)
Distance - 1550 yards (.88 miles)
Time - 45:00

Summer Friday

I had a very heavy training day planned. I was going to swim in the morning and do a longer brick to be sure I'm ready for the race distance. I was already questioning the feasibility of the swim last night as my shoulder continued to hurt. I iced it and took ibuprofen, but it was really achy. I didn't sleep well in general and the shoulder only made it worse. When I woke up, I knew I needed to rest it for another day so I skipped the swim.

I got off to a later start than planned for the brick. My lazy nature kicked in full force and it was a struggle to motivate myself out the door. I wanted to ride around 20 miles, but really didn't want to go to Central Park again. It would be my third trip this week. So I decided to ride as far north on the Hudson as possible and loop back a couple times if needed to make the miles. I set up my transition area just inside the door and finally headed out. It was a beautiful day, picture-perfect really.

I rode as far north as the river path would allow, to 129th Street, and then headed back south. I had ridden just over 18 miles when I reached my planned stopping point so I figured it was close enough. My transition is never as fast as I'd like since I have to wait for the freight elevator. My doorman and neighbors must think I'm insane when I come running in with my bike and then run back out without it like there's a fire or something. It was pretty hot and sunny by the time I hit the street so I settled on running 4 miles. I'm always pleasantly surprised by how well I am able to run off the bike. I definitely have the lead legs feeling everyone talks about, but I don't find it too uncomfortable to push through. My first 1.5 miles were pretty quick, then the next .5 was a bit slower. I found a stretch of shade to get some relief from the sun and was able to run the last .5 under an 8-minute pace.

After I finished, I relaxed in the park for a bit and made some phone calls. I was in the shade as much as possible and couldn't believe how many people were spread out in the grass in full sun baking themselves. I guess they missed Skin Cancer Awareness Month back in May.

I dropped by my local bar to say hi to friends and eat something so I could survive until dinner. The best part of being a regular somewhere is that you can stroll in at any time in any condition and feel at home. I sat at the bar in my all my spandex glory and enjoyed the company of a few friends having an early summer Friday. You all know I've given up beer until the NYC Tri next Sunday except for a few special times where I've made an exception. I wasn't planning for it, but today became one of those exceptions. As my friend Louise, one of the bartenders, said, "are you going to sit there dressed like that and drink a glass of wine?" Absolutely not. It was a moment that demanded a beer. So I had just one, a Victory Saison, the perfect end to a perfect day.

Biking
Distance - 18.32 miles
Time - 1:09:09

Running
Distance - 4 miles
Time - 33:18

Back to the Beginning

It was time to take a day off swimming to give my shoulder a rest. This created another opportunity for a ride, which was great for my Tour de France Challenge goal. I decided to ride north along the Hudson River Park and Riverside Park to 99th Street to get a look at the swim start for the NYC Tri. There were a few detours along the way and an incredible amount of human traffic that slowed the ride down, but it was well worth it to have a few moments of reflection at the place where I'll be jumping into the Hudson River in just 9 days.

The water was a little choppy because of the wind, but it looked relatively swimmable. Yet standing there safely behind a railing, it was still hard to imagine actually getting into that water. Everything will look different on race day and I'm sure I'll feel like I've never been there before. I didn't feel nervous, but rather slightly disconnected, as if the reality of the event hasn't entirely set in. I'm sure my full-fledged freak out will begin shortly. I'll just apologize to my friends and family in advance. I'm sure none of you will want to hear the word triathlon after next Sunday.

I rode south to the swim exit to get a sense of what that mile will look like. Not surprisingly, it looked really far. I just have to hope the current is everything it is said to be and that my training and preparation kicks in and carries me through.

After the site inspection, I rode across 72nd to Central Park to get in some quicker miles. I did about a loop and a half, and then a middle loop before heading south again along the Hudson. It was mid-day by then and the park was extremely crowded so it was nice to get in and out quickly. I was supposed to have a group training run tonight, but a series of unfortunate events precluded it. I left on time for once, but then waited for about 10 minutes for the 1 train. It was packed like a can of sardines so each stop was painfully slow. By the time we reached Penn Station, still four stops before my destination, it was already 6:30 and I figured it would take another 10 minutes. I got off at Penn and hopped on the Downtown train thinking I might run on my own. But after some calculations and reflection, I decided this was a good thing in disguise. I really shouldn't have been running today given the brick I have planned for tomorrow and a long run this weekend. I got off the train about a mile from my apartment figuring I would at least walk off the Espresso Hammer Gel I had in preparation for the run. It was a nice night and a nice walk.

My new Conti 4000 tires arrived to much excitement. It used to be that when a package arrived for me it would be from Bluefly, Zappos or Saks containing fun things like shoes and dresses. Now I'm overjoyed when the doorman gives me a box from BikeTiresDirect. I can't wait to ride on those tires tomorrow and see how they feel. That's assuming I can get them back onto the bike.

On another gear front, I headed back to Cadence Cycling to try on the Sidi T2 shoes they brought up from Philadelphia for me. To my dismay, they were way too big. It turns out the ones I tried on before were the right fit and of course, they were gone. The pair they had in my size had the full carbon sole with an extra $110 on the price tag. Definitely not worth it for a cyclist like me. So they got on the phone with the Philly store again and found me a pair. They will arrive at Cadence on Monday and be all mine. These shoes were definitely worth the wait. I just need to pick up a few more odds and ends and I'll be all set for the big race. Let the countdown begin.

Biking
Distance - 21.3 miles
Time - 1:19:56

Unbelievable. I Can Actually Swim.

I finally got around to working with a swim coach tonight. I kept second guessing it. Was it too close to the race to do any good? Would he tell me to do the opposite of what I'm already comfortable doing? Would he be horrified by my mediocrity? But I decided I needed someone to watch me swim and tell me if I'm at least on the right track. After all, I don't want to perpetuate bad habits I may have picked up along the way.

Warning: Anyone not interested in reading a lot of swimming jabber, please skip to the next paragraph. Oh wait, the next paragraph is also about swimming...

My swimming has been largely self-taught. I took two basic lessons with a very basic instructor and then hit the pool 3-5 days a week for the past 8 weeks. I've watched DVDs, countless videos on YouTube and exchanged hundreds of emails with my virtual swim coach to get where I am today. So I was a little nervous about what this coach would have to say. He had me get in and swim 200 yards so he could evaluate my stroke. I swear this was the longest 200 yards I have ever swam. My first few hundred yards are always a bit rough even when no one is watching, but this made me self-conscious and when I lifted my head to breathe, I could see he was taking notes. I was dying to know what he was writing. All this mind wandering made the 200 yards a little tiring and I was winded for the first time in a long time. But when I stopped, I got feedback I thought I would never hear - I had very little to work on.

My body and head position are just right and I have a good kick. My stroke is pretty good and will get me through the triathlon and basic swimming, but to improve and get faster, I have a few minor things to work on. So we spent the hour working on breath timing and learning to breathe on my right since I only breathe on the left. This will allow me to give my right shoulder a break every few laps and will eventually be really helpful for open water swimming and racing. I left feeling incredibly proud and my confidence was boosted. When I took on this challenge two months ago, it was hard to imagine myself actually becoming a swimmer. As of tonight, I finally feel like I have.

This wasn't my first trip to the pool today. I went this morning to get in a workout since coaching sessions involve a lot of talking and stopping. I took it easy because of my shoulder, warming up with 200 yards and then doing two sets of 500 yards with 150 yards of kicking and warm-up mixed in. It was a good swim and I'm feeling more and more comfortable every day.

Immediately after the swim, I headed out for a run. It was another scorcher today and I'm hoping with each training session in the heat that I'll get a little more acclimated. I ran hard and tried to push an 8-minute mile the entire way. I had stretches below 8 and about a mile with a strong headwind that pushed me closer to 9 at times, but my average came out to 7:53, the fastest 4-miler I've ever done. I feel like a completely different runner this year. It's as though something finally clicked or I'm finally trying harder and it has really paid off. I didn't have any issues other than the heat.

This week will likely be my heaviest training week before scaling back a bit for the NYC tri. I'm not able to do a full taper since I have the NYC Half Marathon the following week, but I'll decrease the intensity a little and get more rest so I have energy for the tri, but don't lose momentum for the half. Now I just need to find my next tri, maybe one in August and one in September. Any suggestions? I'm willing to travel!

Swimming
Distance - 1350 yards
Time - 35:00

Running
Distance - 4 miles
Time - 31:32

Swimming (coaching session)
Distance - N/A
Time - 1:00:00

Fire Drill

My plan for the day was to swim in the morning and then bike in the afternoon. I even got to the pool on time for once and was really looking forward to my first swim in three days. But I was soon greeted with an unpleasant surprise. The pool was closed. In fact, the entire athletic floor was closed. Not good. I immediately started thinking about Plan B, moving up my ride and hopefully swimming later.

I had a mid-day appointment so I didn't have a lot of time. I had originally hoped to do around 25 miles today, but had to cut back to 20 to keep it quick. It was good motivation to ride faster despite the heat and usual NYC obstacles. This also counted as my second stage of the Tour de France Challenge I joined on Beginner Triathlete. I committed to riding 10 stages and 300 miles from July 5-27 so I have just 8 more stages and 213.75 miles.

I called the community college where I swim to make sure the pool would be open tonight. They didn't offer an explanation for the closure, but assured me it would be. Once there, I learned there was a small fire in one of the locker rooms earlier. This little fire drill caused the pool to be much more crowded than usual.

I shared a lane with a woman I know from the mornings who is nice and leisurely. When she left, another woman joined while I was mid-lap, and gave me a leg tap as she passed so I'd know she was there. Most people don't bother to do this so I figured she was a pool veteran. Boy was I wrong. First, she was a breaststroker and I hate sharing a lane with a breaststroker. I got kicked on every single length because she was unable to keep herself on her side of the lane. I tolerated this and kept swimming. Then she started backstroking and drifting all over the lane. I had to practically swim under the lane divider to avoid her. But I kept tolerating it. Then finally, on the 30th length of my set of 36, she backstroked right over me and ended up in front of me. I lost it. I stood up and tapped her shoulder, which freaked her out - apparently she didn't feel the human body that she had just swam over - and prompted her to mumble something about not touching her. As politely as possible, I pointed out that she was on my side and said I wouldn't touch her if she would stop swimming all over the lane including on top of me, in front of me and kicking me. I wasted about 8 seconds on this and got back to my set. Thankfully, someone left a few lanes over so I was able to move.

I covered a mile in three sets - 18 lengths, 36 lengths and another 18. But my shoulder was still achy and I felt it on every stroke. I have a session with a new coach tomorrow to see if I can figure out what's causing this. I hope he goes easy on me, my fragile ego isn't ready to hear that I'm doing it all wrong. But if I am I have to remind myself that right or wrong, I can cover a mile comfortably, which will get me through my race. And for now, that's all that really matters.

Biking
Distance - 20.25 miles
Time - 1:19:04

Swimming
Distance - 1800 yards (1 mile)
Time - 45:00

Listening to My Body

When my alarm went off this morning, I barely had the energy to hit snooze. I'm pretty tired most mornings, but this was different. I thought about trying to get to the pool, but my body was telling me to shut off the alarm and go back to sleep. I don't often listen to my body very well. I once ran and biked on a stress fracture for almost two weeks before finally going to the doctor, and I wasn't even very athletic at the time. So I set the alarm for two hours later and went back to sleep. It's been over a month since I last slept in so it felt really good.

I decided to be productive and take care of a few things I've been meaning to do. I started with a little excursion to Cadence Cycling, a very cool (and very dangerous) cycling and multisport store in Tribeca. If JackRabbit was burning a hole in my wallet, this place could fully melt it. The primary reason - triathlon bikes. I really want a tri bike. And I really want one now. If the tri bike fairy wants to drop one off for me, I'll take the bike pictured here. Thinking about these bikes and looking at them are two different things. It was actually hard to leave the store without one, but I settled for some basics and did find an incredible pair of tri-specific cycling shoes, the Sidi T2. I'm in need of new shoes and I think these will do the trick.

I needed new tires so after my fantasy trip to Cadence, I spent about two hours trying to figure out what the heck to buy. I stopped at my local bike shop and looked online, and it was like reading a foreign language. I had gotten a recommendation from a friend over the weekend, but it's not that simple. It turns out my virtual swim coach is also very helpful with bike advice. Thanks Jeff, yet again. One of these days I'll figure out what I'm doing and won't have 1,000 questions a day. My new tires will be here Wednesday. It will probably take me an hour to get them on my bike, but I'm looking forward to the practice. I figure the more prepared I am, the less chance I have of getting a flat during the race.

I couldn't take a full rest day so I went out for a short run tonight. It turned out to be a bit of a bust. I didn't realize how hot and humid it was and I think my legs were still tired from yesterday's ride. Keeping up a slower than usual pace was a struggle, so I stopped after 3 miles. After a little break, I put in one more mile, which was actually better since I was warmed up. I may need to start running in the early morning and swimming in the evening to beat the heat. It's a small sacrifice to make to be sure I stay on track. I'll re-evaluate that plan in a few days and let you know if it works.

Running
Distance - 4 miles
Time - 34:39

Pedal to the Metal

The one thing missing from my training so far has been the long ride. The most I've been able to get in so far this year has been around 40 miles. So the plan for today was to do 65 miles, covering my first metric century of the season. Pam from the JackRabbit group joined me since our training was canceled for the holiday weekend. We started downtown and rode 13 miles to the George Washington Bridge, some of it on the Hudson River Park path and in Central Park, the rest on the street. It was pretty slow due to traffic, but a good start to the ride.

From the bridge we rode through several New Jersey towns before re-entering New York and making our way to Nyack (thank God for GPS). This is a great ride on low-traffic roads with rolling hills. You can ride directly to Nyack up 9W, but it's only 18 miles from the GW Bridge. By the time we arrived in Nyack, we had already ridden 46 miles, which made the stop at the Runcible Spoon even more enjoyable than usual. I felt like I could have eaten everything in sight, but instead exercised a little control so I was sure to not leave my lunch behind on the challenging hills that were yet to come.

The Runcible stop is a combination of good and evil. It's a cozy little place peddling all sorts of great stuff you love to eat in the middle of a long ride and it's always filled with cyclists. You sit on a bench outside in the sun and you start to get relaxed, even a little tired. It's hard to get back on the bike. But I'm always glad I stopped when I hit the first hill out of town. In an earlier post, I wrote about the hill I fondly call "Humiliation Hill" due to how ridiculously slow I ride it. After hitting one earlier that made this one seem like a picnic, it actually wasn't so bad this time. Don't get me wrong, it's still miserable and long with seemingly no end in sight, but at least I didn't think I would pass out or start rolling backwards like I did about an hour earlier on the way into Nyack. That other hill was no hill. It was hell.

I rode my best yet today. I've never been one to push myself on the bike so today I really tried. After getting out of the city, I was able to maintain between 18-25 mph except for the hills. It doesn't matter how much progress I make, the hills always put me back in my place. But even so, I was able to really push the last 18 miles on the hilliest part of the ride and finish strong.

I spent the rest of the day trying to stay awake. In the hours following a long ride, I'm always ridiculously tired. It was too late to attempt to nap, I already stay up late enough and would have ended up well into the wee hours for sure. And I can't allow that since I have to get back to the pool in the morning to pick up where I left off last week.

Biking
Distance - 66.3 miles
Time - 4:31:00

Out in the Open

I did another open water swim at Brighton Beach today. The sky was dreary and rain was in the forecast, but when you're in the water swimming, who cares? I was meeting up with a guy I met through my online triathlete forum, and of course, I was late. I am always late, but I can firmly say this was not my fault. I waited 35 minutes for the B train that never came and had to settle for a slower two-train transfer that took forever. I was 15-20 minutes late, and luckily he was still there. We quickly acquainted ourselves, got our wetsuits on and got in. The air temperature was about 70, much cooler than recent days, and the water was really chilly. It took several minutes to get used to it and get ready to start our swim. Our first approach was into the current, although we weren't really aware until we finished and turned around. I take forever to get comfortable in the water so I had a very start-stop approach to this entire length. Roberto, my swim partner, was really great about making sure I was still there and stopping when I took breaks. I fought through my usual open water fears and within about 20 minutes, I was feeling good for the first time.

I had a tendency to veer off to the left due to my poor sighting skills, but I got better as we continued and was eventually swimming straight. I'm not sure when I'll get into open water and feel comfortable. Even when my feet could touch the bottom, I was panicked. I was in the water and struggling when I remembered some good advice I'd been given about how simple it really should be, and that made all the difference. I stopped stressing over how I felt, I relaxed and was finally swimming. We stopped at a jetty and caught our breath, then decided to try the full distance back with no breaks. It looked far, and Google Earth claims it was about 760 yards, or .43 miles, but once we got started and I found my rhythm, I didn't need to stop. I had the Coney Island Parachute Jump to sight so it was easy to stay on course. We covered the distance in 14 minutes very comfortably.

The rest of my day was “active recovery” as I like to call it. I went back to Brooklyn to meet up with some friends from my regular Manhattan bar for a chance of scenery. This marked the second permitted break from my beer moratorium and I enjoyed every single moment. I started with the Sierra Harvest, then the Blue Point Toasted Lager, the Southhampton Double White and then the Captain Lawrence Liquid Gold. Oh beer, I miss you, but our time will come soon enough. For now, I’m back off the beer and looking forward to my toughest training weeks yet. I’ll be up early and out for a long ride tomorrow with a friend from my training group. With a little luck, that will compensate for at least two of my beers today.

Swimming
Distance – 1300 yards (.73 miles)
Time – 1:20:00

Flat Out Frustrating

It seems like it's been raining a lot in New York these days. I got up after getting way too little sleep with the intention of doing a 45 mile ride. But the sky was dark and after a look at the weather report, I knew it would have to wait a bit. After it stopped pouring, the plan was to ride up the West side, across to Central Park, one loop around, then ride up to the GW Bridge from there before heading to Nyack. I was looking forward to a challenging, hilly ride on 9W since I haven't done it that much this year. But while looping through Columbus Circle, I got a flat. My back tire has been losing air pretty much every day so I figured I had a puncture, but I kept filling it back up and riding on it. After just four miles today, it was done.

Let me explain my history with maintenance on my bike. When it comes to the bike, all I know how to do is get on and ride, and I don't even do that so well. I've been riding three years and this is luckily only my second flat. I was planning to spend some time over the next week learning how to handle a flat just in case it happens during the tri. Murphey's Law says those that prepare will never get a flat and those of us that have no clue, will. I had intended my practice to be on a non-ride day, but this was real-time and necessary so there's no time like the present.

First of all, most guys can do this in 5 minutes flat. Not me. It took me 5 minutes just to get the back tire off my bike. The back is the worse since you have to deal with the chain. Then I had to go step by step through what to do, getting filthier and filthier by the minute. It's tricky getting the tube out, and even trickier getting it back in. I was suddenly thankful there is always a guy with me or guys nearby willing to help when I ride. I really hope this never happens during a race. I could seriously run faster in cleats with my bike the remainder of the distance.

Since the flat caused such an enormous delay, the enthusiasm for the 45 mile ride was deflated along with the tire. I decided to do a brick workout instead, which is probably better since I've only done two in my training. I rode 20 miles and then had a longer than ideal transition to drop my bike back in my apartment and make a few quick adjustments. Since I wasn't planning to run, I wasn't wearing the most ideal upper body undergarments. After the fastest change possible, I ran (yes, I ran in my apartment building both with my bike and back out for the run - my neighbors are sure I'm insane) back out for the 3-mile run.

It was hot, humid and hard to breathe, but otherwise, I felt good. I didn't run my race pace, but wasn't too far off. I think I need to do a few more bricks before the race to get ready to put in 10K after the bike. I'm not quite there yet.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the holiday. After dinner at my favorite restaurant in New York, Little Owl, I made a quick stop into my home away from home, The Blind Tiger, to see who was around. It was a good time with good friends and I was glad everyone else was as tired as I was so I had the perfect excuse to leave early.

I'll be breaking the beer moratorium one last time tomorrow when I join my Tiger friends at the Bohemian Beer Gardens in Astoria. I've lived here for 10 years and have never been so I look at it as a cultural experience. I'll make up for it with a good open water swim at Brighton Beach and an even better ride to Nyack on Sunday. Happy 4th of July to everyone.

Biking
Distance - 20 miles
Time - 1:15:00

Running
Distance - 3 miles
Time - 25:09

Mile High

Everyone talks about the runner's high, this great feeling you supposedly get after a long, hard run. I've never quite experienced this given the enormous amount of pain I'm in after most challenging runs, but I experienced a different kind of training high today. I swam my first continuous mile with absolutely no breaks. It took me 38 minutes to cover the 72 pool lengths (1800 yards). That's 38 minutes face down in the water with a lot of time to think. I spent most of the time analyzing different parts of my stroke and running through all of the great tips from my virtual swim coach. I felt relaxed and the only hard part was keeping track of how far I had gone.

Covering this distance has certainly boosted my confidence, but I know I still have a lot of work to do. I've been trying to get a live coach to do a few sessions with me, but given the NYC Tri is two weeks away (gulp) and it's the heart of triathlon season, that has not been an easy task. Maybe next week?

It was another hot day in New York, still 86 degrees for my JackRabbit training run tonight. We ran a total of 5.14 miles consisting of three loops. We were supposed to do the first loop at a slower, warm-up pace, the second at a 5K race pace, and the third at a 10K race pace. I, of course, went out way too fast on the first loop. My fancy new Garmin showed that I was below an 8-minute mile at some points, which is not wise for a warm-up. But I was chatting with our coach Helene about my tri (I just LOVE talking about the tri) and since she was on a bike, I got caught up and wasn't paying attention to pacing. I was starting to get tired on the second loop, when we were supposed to be kicking it into high gear, and ended up with the same split as the first. On the third, I was really dragging, but luckily it was supposed to be a more moderate pace. I need to get more disciplined for intervals. I'm used to the Lazy Marathoner method of run training which generally involves slogging through weekly mileage at whatever pace I can sustain. This year will be different. I promise.

My pool is closed for the holiday weekend so I'm planning an open water swim. I definitely need the practice. I'm sure I'll get out there and end up panicking and struggling after 100 meters, but I just need to keep practicing. I'm determined to beat my fear of hopping into the Hudson River with 3,000 other swimmers. Hmmm.... Ok, I think it will take more than a couple trips to Brighton Beach, but here's hoping.

I'll be riding a lot this weekend as well. I'm in a Tour de France challenge through BeginnerTriathlete.com and I committed to riding 300 miles and at least 10 stages. Unfortunately, my ride tomorrow won't count, but starting Saturday, every ride and mile will go toward my goal. I love a good challenge.

Swimming
Distance - 2150 yards (1.22 miles) with 1800 continuous
Time - 50:00

Running
Distance - 5.14 miles
Time - 43:21

The Big Breakthrough

As I arrived at the pool this morning and locked up my bike, I noticed a rather interesting one locked beside it.


We can all relate to this sentiment and it made me feel pretty happy that instead of going to work, I was headed to the pool.

I had just 40 minutes and was determined to make it count. I did my usual slow warm-up and decided to try 450 yards again, which is .25 miles. I finally took the swim advice I've been getting and switched to breathing on every stroke. It took a couple laps to get used to this, but once I got into the rhythm, it made an incredible difference. I reached 450 and decided to see how much further I could go. As I approached 900 I realized I wasn't tired. So I kept swimming and right as the lap swim time ended, I did my 54th length, which totaled 1350 yards, or .75 miles. I wasn't breathless and my heart wasn't pounding out of my chest. This is the breakthrough I've been waiting seven weeks for. I know I will inevitably still have bad days swimming, but I feel like I've finally figured something out that is going to make it easier for me to improve.

When you're swimming lap after lap in the pool, your mind has a lot of time to wander. I made some observations today that I found a bit disturbing. First, there are always odds and ends floating around in the pool. Some are identifiable, some are not, and all make you thankful that you feel as though you're swimming in a vat of Clorox. I've noticed a trend of band aids floating around in the water. They are always suspended a foot or more below the surface, threatening to be accidentally inhaled or stuck on your face. I have two questions for the people who have contributed the band aids to the pool: (1) If you have an open wound that requires the extra large band aid, do you really want to be swimming? (2) If the wound is minor, would it kill you to spend 2 seconds ripping that nasty thing off before hopping in the pool?

The second thing I find a bit revolting is the use of the public swim caps. It's a rule that you can't swim without a cap so there is a pile of caps that are property of the college, laying in a small puddle of water above the kick boards and pull buoys. This area never seems to dry and since the caps come out of the pool and end up piled up, you can only imagine what is festering inside of them. A guy strolled in today who looked fairly serious about swimming and proceeded to pull a soggy cap out of the pile and put it on. Why, I ask? Of all the gear you need to buy, a swim cap is the smallest investment you'll ever make. I felt like giving the guy five bucks so he could go buy one of his own.

After a very leisurely day including a long lunch with an old friend, I spent the rest of the afternoon putting off the bike ride I swore I would do. It was hot and after my enormous lunch at the always delicious Shake Shack in Madison Square Park, which included a chocolate frozen custard shake that likely had about 2,000 calories, I found myself rather tired and sluggish. I finally felt like riding around 7:3o and it was too late for anything lengthy outside, so I had to get on the trainer yet again. I rode as hard as I could for an hour, hoping to burn off at least a smidgen of the burger, fries and shake I had at lunch. It was well worth it.

Swimming
Distance - 1650 yards (.93 miles) with 1350 continuous
Time - 40:00

Biking (on trainer)
Distance - 14.13 miles
Time - 1:00:00

Dead in the Water

Yesterday was the only the second time I didn't post on a training day since starting this blog. I had planned a morning swim and afternoon run, but only the swim ended up happening. And it was rather unpleasant so there wasn't much to report. I might have still been tired from the weekend, or just having an off day, but I felt about as buoyant as a rock so I didn't accomplish much. Plus I've now got this nagging shoulder pain as a result of my poor form.

After a rather fun and late night with some girlfriends, I dragged myself back to the pool for another try this morning. I spent some time yesterday getting more tips from my virtual swim coach and tested them out today. He was right about my shoulder, it all comes back to my breathing challenges. I was more aware of it today so it helped, but my breathing did not come easily. I need to work on this and soon.

I met up with Pam from my training group for a run tonight. We each did eight miles, but only four together. It was great to have someone to help pass the time for the first half. I was a bit slower tonight, but on the longer runs, I don't really care. And most importantly, I got to try out my latest toy, my new Garmin Forerunner 405. Of course, I was too lazy to read the manual so I had some issues with it, but I love it. My wrists are small and this thing is pretty big, but it fit nicely and after a minute I was barely aware of it. And unlike the other Forerunners, it didn't slide around at all. It was so fun to be able to just run wherever I wanted instead of having to follow a map.

My NYC Marathon training officially started today. I'm following the same 5-day schedule I have in the past, only I always replace at least one run with a bike ride to avoid injury. I haven't figured out exactly how I'll merge triathlon and marathon training together, so for now I'm just going to aim for 3-4 days a week with higher mileage than I've been doing so far. So if my life outside of training was dwindling away before, it's going to pretty much cease to exist from now until November 1. But that's ok with me. I'm happiest when I'm training, talking about training, planning my next training session and preparing for a race. I'll do my best not to bore everyone to tears, I promise.

Swimming
Distance - 1350 yards (.76 miles)
Time - 50:00

Running
Distance - 8 miles
Time - 1:14:42