On February 29, 2012,
in Swim Bike Mom: The Video
On February 29, 2012,
in 
Folks have hobbies. Some are gardeners. Others collect stamps. Some people collect Beanie Babies. Others play golf.
What do we do? We do triathlon.
Why?
Have you ever really thought about why we do this sport? What about this sport floats our boat? Is it the thrill of victory? The self-inflicted pain? The concept of being outside? What makes triathlon “it” for us – versus any other thing that could be our hobby-of-choice?
What about swimming, biking and running makes this sport fun? What drives us to do this?
It’s a tough question for me to answer. Frankly, I’m not sure why I like triathlon. Perhaps it just “feels” right. I’m certainly not going to ever win a race, so standing on a podium isn’t my motivation. I think I like the endorphins I get from exercise. I know I like going fast on my bike.
But – what makes really me interested in this sport? Why am I not interested in bowling or woodworking or sailing? Why am I not a fisherman? I wonder if this drive to tri is something embedded in my subconscious. A reptilian need for exercise, perhaps. Or maybe, the root is a desire to test myself. It could be, perhaps, that because others tri, so must I.
I don’t think I have an answer, fully. All I know is that I enjoy, therefore I do, triathlon.
What about you? Why do you tri?
On February 29, 2012,
in Within the past five days I have WOWED myself… Mentally and Physically in my training! Every workout has been tough… But like always… I have pushed through and gotten her done!
Saturday was my first long run since right after Thanksgiving! I wrote out in my training plans that I would complete a long run! I followed through and ran 10 miles from the start of the Capital Crescent in Bethesda down to the Washington Monument on the National Mall! It was one heck of a windy day but I still managed to run under a 9:30 minute mile pace! I was super proud of myself for staying at a consistent pace throughout my run… But most of all for completing a long run!
Sunday called for a bike ride with Dad on the Columbia Triathlon bike course! There was a bit of wind and the day was on the crisp side… But man those hills… WOW… they were difficult and hilly! The major three climbs on the course ranged from short and steep to long and gradual! Somehow I managed my way up all them without wanting to give in at any point! The ride took almost 1hr 40 min and the average speed was only at 15 miles per hour… but WOW… I made it!
Monday wad a simple 2500 yard swim at the pool! Lots of 150s and 400s at a moderate pace… but it felt good to be in the water and work away the… Read the rest
On February 28, 2012,
in Triathletes are an understated, quiet, and reserved group (hahaHAHAHA!!). Thus, it can be very difficult to determine if you are in the home of a fellow triathlete, where it is safe to bring up such topics as chamois butter, goggle fit, or the controversial issue of electrolytes. Here are just a few clues to help with that determination.
Any other clues?
On February 28, 2012,
in A little late in getting the stats from last week up. here they are:
Swim: 8250 yards
Bike: 170 miles
Run: 40.7 miles
Time: 19:37
My last five run weeks have been: 45.6, 29.5, 41.0, 40.0, 40.7. This is a lot of running for yours truly. I took a day off last week and despite that really began to feel a bit of weariness and joint achyness. I’m still mentally motivated to run but my 54 year old body is complaining a bit. It’s not bad aches but there is a good chance if I keep at it I could get myself into a bit of trouble…therefore, I’m going to back off a bit this week. I took today off from running (although I did ride 64.8 miles…lol!). I’m going to go easy, run-wise, the next few days as well. I need the rest and I’m racing my first race of the year this Sunday when I do a Half-Marathon down in MD…..
I’ll return to the whole question of how to manage my run training in a subsequent post…
As I mentioned in a couple of prior posts, I’ve been working on my triathlon race database and analyzing various things to see what I can learn and then hopefully apply to 2012 and beyond. I finally figured out how to get all of my Tri data off of my old PC/Lotus 123 environment and onto my Mac/Excel modern day worksheet management system. It gives me the luxury of doing analysis during my frequent train trips to and fro NYC and Excel allows me to do a bunch of analyses that were much too cumbersome before. Nice to join the modern era!
One of the more useful data sets/analyses I’ve been working on is a dataset of all of my “local” triathlon races. When I just include local races, I’m basically excluding the 24 races that I’ve done with the WTC (IM or IM70.3), ITU World Championships, and the USAT National Championships. The value of excluding these races is that they are so large and the fields so competitive that it really distorts comparisons from one year to the next. For example in 2010 I raced at Kona and did quite “poorly” compared to that august group. In 2011, I didn’t race at Kona so if you compare 2010 to 2011 (average-wise) it looks like I improved quite a bit–in fact, I just raced against a less competitive field (on average) in 2011 than in 2010.
So by excluding the big, competitive races I’m “left” with 90 “local” races. Here… Read the rest
The Expert drove me to work this morning. He brought in my purse, my stool to rest the giant foot upon. I hobbled in to the office. I am surprised at the number of people who laugh at the sight of a boot. What is so funny about it? I need a glue gun and some fancy gemstones to bling it out, then they can really laugh.
But then I saw the weeks of training that Coach M had built out for me, pre-injury. I saw the scheduled 10 mile run for Saturday. I saw the Atlanta Women’s 5k in a few weeks, where I was hoping to do a sub-30 minute run. I saw New Orleans.
All of it wrecked me this morning. I was thinking, I am so stupid. How did I let this happen? I was finally on a positive trajectory….
SourceYep. Yep. Yep. So how am I going to handle the next two months? … Read the rest
On February 27, 2012,
in I knew a woman who as a young girl was raised in a particular religion and with that religion came dogmatic beliefs. When walking down the street in her hometown her mother instructed this young lady she was not allowed to look into the local church of a different religion. I know a lot of people, including triathletes, who treat Crossfit the same way. In discussions with athletes the word “cultish” often comes up. Many make the decision to stay away and not even go to their local box to see what, if anything, they could possibly gain from the experience.
Back to the idea of cultish, really? You mean more then training 15+ hours a week in three disciplines along with spending a small portion of your yearly income on running shoes, bike part upgrades, nutritional supplements, training and racing gear, etc. Really, cultish? By our very nature we have the tendency to condemn what we do not know and fail to take the time to understand.
So, I feel compelled to list ten reasons why you would want to incorporate Crossfit into your triathlon training.
1. Triathletes, by their very nature, live and die by the clock. If that is the case, you will love the Crossfit WOD (workout of the day). They are measurable.
2. It is a way of life. No different then tri training. It defines who you are.
3. It incorporates performance-based racing against the clock which is a great benchmark on overall performance,… Read the rest
…The Tough wear a boot.-1.JPG)
@#*($%!…… thumbs up. I would like to tell you that I did this during a massive bike crash. Or a fall across a finish line, but the truth of the matter is that I dropped like a toddler onto my driveway this morning for no reason… and now I have this boot to wear.
For the next eight weeks. Broken foot. Fifth metatarsal bone. Fracture. Pride and sanity severely broken.
Source
New Orleans is obviously o-u-t, which is resulting in a big, massive, epic p-o-u-t. I’ll be a cheerleader for the Expert, Coach Monster, Robyn and Luke. Maybe I’ll make glitter signs.
The doctor came in carrying her laptop with my x-rays, and said, “Well, it’s broken.” And my first reaction was, “What? Your laptop?”-1.JPG)
A Whole New Meaning to Elevation.I’m not sure what else to say other than, this sucks, but I’m thankful that it doesn’t require surgery, that I have a foot to even complain about, that I can wear a boot so I can take it off to drive, etc. I will take this opportunity to learn to swim with the pull buoy, use the hand cycle machine, and build up my biceps.
In the meantime, somehow I’ll…
Don’t give me the boot.
About Bonehead Decisions
On February 27, 2012,
in Blogs,
by Mauricio
from Motivation and Inspiration: Beyond the Ironman Journey
I consider myself a pretty level headed kind’a person. I make decisions after a well thought out process. So far, this has served me well. I have no complaints.
A long time ago, I read somewhere that a logical person makes the right decision 95% of the time, given the facts and conditions of the moment. Circumstances may change after the decision is made which at time it may render the decision as a bonehead decision.
This is what happened to me this past Friday.
My younger daughter Marcela invited me (earlier in the week) to attend with her a Boot Camp class at the gym where she works. She told me, and I quote: “You WILL love this class, papa”.
Well, who am I to decline such a special invitation. I have heard of such classes. I have heard that they are not for the faint of heart. I have heard that it’ll whip you in shape, like it or not. I have heard all these marvelous things and now with my daughters recommendation and invitation, I had to try it.
And so I did. I showed up on time and ready to go. First thing I noticed was that I was the only male in the class. Not a problem, I can do this. Second thing I noticed was that I had at least 20 years on the rest of the class. Again, not a problem. I can so do this.
It also turns out that my daughter… Read the rest
