The yearly vacation

•October 14, 2009 • Leave a Comment

The Mrs. and I have headed down to Florida for what has become a yearly tradition of getaway (our anniversary as well), but more recently has become the yearly athletic goal of hers – the Race for the Taste 10k. Last year it was all about survival for her. This year it was anything but. As I was running beside her I couldn’t help but beam with pride. She worked for it since the one last year and her clothes that are becoming too big (that i only feel once a year 😉 are a testament to the amount of training she put in this season. There was no struggling here on this unseasonably hot and humid morning as she, I, and her brother and sister-in-law, all sleepy-eyed had rolled off the bus and into the staging area to get going.

IMG_0310 The course is actually a lot of fun (although it could sure use more music and some more water stops). It starts out at the huge Disney Wide World of Sports complex (but bussed in from Epcot parking), you then head out onto one of the main access roads, loop around a bit and head into Disney Hollywood Studios for a short shot through a bit of that park and then out and over to the boardwalk by the Swan and Dolphin and then enter Epot’s world showcase nearest England (Kate made sure to tell the Rose and Crown Pub that, “we will see YOU later!”). You then wrap over the bridge to France and around the globe counter-clockwise to finish on the side of the golf ball and back into the parking lot where you headed out on the bus that morning.

The race in on a Sunday and we had arrived on Friday afternoon. We spent a few days in the park, did the race, and spent another night in the park and headed out that next morning for Siesta Key. Turns out I missed my bud Rideout who was, as luck would have it, up in NYC for the entire stint of our stay down there! ha! oh yeah, it turns out his new pad down here is just one island over. How freakin’ cool is that?!

IMG_0318

So what’s been going down? Some rides (of the theme park type, not the cycling type). Some jogs in the AM (which is really just to burn off some beer and awesome eats). Some sitting on some great white sand beaches while soaking up the sun or watching it go down into the Gulf of Mexico. Some crunches and pushups (see beer and food again 😉 and well… that’s really pretty much it.

It just been some good, relaxing times with the bro and sis-in-law that we rarely hang with, much less get away with. Tonight we’re off to a great BBQ joint called Mr. Bones that is usually part of the yearly trek (we once had the Aerosmith tour bus pull into this tiny roadside join because the had to have it while travelling between arena’s 😉 – sidenote, those guys aren’t very tall. It’s odd not being in motion as much as you have been for so long.

But as IronmanBobby’s last video post (based on J’s interview at the home with him) had brought out – You know you need it, it won’t last, so we’ll take it while we can.

Noon & I’m Still in my PJ’s

•October 4, 2009 • 2 Comments

So it’s a Sunday… and I’d normally be halfway through my long session, but not today. The entire crew + some good friends are out racing the Mighty Montauk half which used to be my season ender, and on my first year (3yrs ago) it was the ultimate goal of the entire season. But here I sit, taking in the twitter updates and watching the crumby weather burn off and turn into a beautiful fall day as @holisticguru’s reports of the crew taking names coming to me over the tubes. Still in my PJ’s sipping java after a small brunch nibble. The lady and I will head out for a light jog for a bit as she trains up for her 10k. Other than that it’s chores and brushing up on some long untouched goodies like reading, learning, creating. This year I get the benefit of a longer offseason, a legit few months before resetting. what to do, what to do?

Update: jogging with the Mrs…

IMG_0272

Full House

•September 12, 2009 • 3 Comments

… the gang’s all here.

After IMLP i thought i was hanging up the wetsuit, helmet, & shoes. Not so fast, pal. Toughman here in Westchester (our backyard for training) is to take place tomorrow Sunday Sept. 13th & there was a lot of the local and not so local gang throwing down for it. Kate gave the nod of approval to open the doors of the house to them and in a moment of weakness, on both her and my part, said, “if you want to do it, sign up”, and I did. So here’s the resting order of talent we’re going to have in the crib:

Arriving yesterday, we have:

  • Ironman Bobby – @ironmanbobby (of the famed http://www.ironmanbobby.com video podcast twitter )
  • Katie (his GF and climber on a mission)

Today’s arrivals include:

Now we just need to find the local man who has been hiding waiting to spring on us like Kato:

It actually snuck up on me faster than i thought it would with the shorter work week and being in training for 50% of it and some longer days. This is quite the treat to have some good friends from around the intertubes hanging out.

I think there may even be some puppy hunting going on… so I’m oiling up the guns.

As for my training status, let’s just say that i have never been as tapered as i am for this race (as if you couldn’t tell from the posts).

Recovery…

•August 24, 2009 • Leave a Comment

So it’s been a few weeks since LP and it’s been nice to catch up on things unrelated to tri while the body repairs. This was a very light week hours wise, but some of the efforts were a little toe in the water to see how we’re doing. I think i’m mended and will just try and turn back on some frequency this week.

Yesterday was a little treat as guru and j swung by for a visit around 11 or so. we headed up to the swimmin’ hole for some hooky and man, our boy is ready for Lou. We also were intermittently checking on the crew up at Timberman, and wow were they having a great day there. Unlike us, we played hooky for the rest of the day and watched a movie and ate poppycorn as the sunshowers rolled over the region. They leave for Lou on wednesday, race on sunday… he’ll be #4 so keep your eye’s on ironmanlive.

Weekday Ride After Work

•August 19, 2009 • 1 Comment

Headed out after work with some guys who just love cycling…

StamfordRide1

Bill and Patrick were kind enought to drag me around their stomping grounds into the North of Stamford and man did we have a blast. This was so much fun to just go out and buzz around a place I’ve never would have even known existed for about 1.5hrs. It was a great route with some really nice scenery and the roads were wide open once we left the downtown portion of the city. We even ended up having 2 riders join us for a few miles which was really cool and threw in a mix of culture and discussions from the saddle. I so hope we do this as a regular thing.

Heh.. Thanks J…

•August 17, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Just got an “honorable mention” from the Boss on his website. His short take on his training stage & what we’ve done this year. More Human Than Human
(Thanks J 😉

Putting the band back together…

•August 17, 2009 • 1 Comment

Busy weekend.

Woke up Saturday morning to a good night’s sleep, some java, and headed right onto the Computrainer for a 2 hour easy stint. About 3/4’s of the way through the Mrs. arose and we sorta sketched out the plan for the day.

I wrapped up grabbed some quick eats and we were off for the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation for a couple hours worth of a jog/hike combo and to do some recon as neither of us have been out on the trails there. Damn was it hot, and quite the adventure too. Let’s see…

  • Nagged by mosquitoes.
  • Chased by galloping horses.
  • Held off by a 3-4 foot snake.
  • Eaten by flies.
  • Sweltering in the stagnant and humid heat.

… and it wasn’t even my idea 😉

We shot home (in the thankful AC) and just as Kate laid her head down on the couch for a snooze, look who show’s up…

IMG_0242

WOOOOHOOO! So the HFWT is again in action for a post IMLP, pre IMLOU and pre Toughman half get together for some eats and relaxing.

Unpacked the car, brought some stuff in, Snacked on Smartfood and pistachios and not to soon after it was time to head up to the swimming hole (white pond) for a nice out and back 2k. The reeds were getting long and there were a lot of floaties (which Guru has likened to the CSI show drowned/ dead girl hair getting wrapped around us 😉 which has made Kate oh so comfortable with getting back in the water.

All cooled down after a pretty fast swim considering we were all PowerCookieeither recovering or in a taper, we headed back to the pad. Guru, Kate and I had a few bevies. So we pretty much kicked up as Guru busted out the IMLP finisher cookies (later to be renamed to fit the occasion). About and hour and a few more beers later it was off to a sweet meal of Indian food on one of our training routes up here.

What a great day. It was one of those days that felt like 2.

Sunday we all roused a bit early. The Mrs. had to work (from home) and the 3 of us headed down to  take a preview of the Toughman course (which goes right by our old house). That’s where we met Grant of the Team Continuum & JH crew whom I haven’t seen since the winter ride from 125th (man has he gotten fast btw). We scoped out the park and where we theorized the swim and transition would be and headed out on what I thought was a pretty tough (true to name) ride.

It got HOT, very hot and humid and as we swung into my parents to reload the water bottles. I think it was all of 2 seconds before J and Guru were into to pool 😉 and man what a great idea. The water was cold and totally helped bring down our core temperature and sustained us for the 2nd half of the ride.

All in all the ride was pretty nice. some crap parts but not bad considering where you launch from. A lot of the roads were either freshly paved, in good condition, or had that newly laid shoulder patching that mde for a great racing strip.

Once back at the car we linked up with Grant as he was packing up to sit in some AC and head home. Guru and I went out for a run into the park where I was melting and she kindly dragged me around for a few (man she’s strong). J went out for another hours ride and we hoofed it back to the car lot where I headed for a quick actionwipe shower and the AC + a powercookies + water, water, water. I was disgusting. Guru needed a little more run love and kept trucking around the lot and later my truck 😉 to round out the full hour. damn girl. J came back around the same time as we all dove in the cars, let the heatstroke fade and headed back to our respective houses.

Great weekend.

Snackin

IM does some weird things to those around you…

•August 12, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Just take a quick peek at who is now taking up running…

PopsNewShoes Now who’s proud of who? It’s amazing how we all feed off one another’s motivation and abilities.

Now in another note from a guy i can’t hang around without my abs hurting from laughter… JoJo shot this out to us today (now this is the guy who complains about IM, Spain, hell just about everything and then signs back up)

Yo, my good peeps…

Let’s  "swim the channel" from my beach to the Sandy Hook light house. It’s about a 4 mile stretch of water.  I’m thinking end of the month or early September.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/nj/leonardo/857125000563557950

It’s usually not too wavy b/c it is protected from the direct ocean by Sandy Hook, but it ain’t your momma’s lake either.   I’ll provide a small team of kyackers, at least 2 and hopefully up to 4 to protect the swim group from any boat traffic.   We all have to swim the same pace, the pace of the slowest person, but this ain’t no race.  I’m gonna guess an easy pace of 20 minutes per 1000 yards will suffice, so the swim will take about 2.5 hours.  We can ride back in a car, unless….  : )

What’s going on here? Something’s in the water.

Still floating… tomorrow we set sail for just a little longer

•August 9, 2009 • 1 Comment

Just something to get this moving again. Winding down the season.

Finishers

HUGE THANKS – well… to every single one of you. I’m still wondering if it all really happened.

but some special shouts:

Boo, J, Guru, M&D (both LaV’s & Flats), TheCrew (esp: JoJo, Ksq, Jesse, RideOut, Sean0L@ngf0rd, Liz [aka. Welly, wow!], Justin , the IMLP sherpa’s, and all the tweeps (u guys know who u r < 140chars ;).

you’ve all no idea how much you all meant to me.

Kate threw up a bunch of pics and a vid she was tinkering with here.

Tomorrow I start moving again. The Voodoo continues…

IMG_0197

The last push

•June 22, 2009 • 1 Comment

So this past week has been a big effort to jump start the last run into IMLP.

This week included:

  • Run: 49.5mi ~ 7.25hrs
  • Bike: 136.5mi ~ 7.50hrs
  • Swim: 14142yrds ~ 4hrs

So it was just about 19hrs on the move.

The big session that both hit and built up some confidence was this past Saturday’s brick of 100/7.5 – it was a great learning experience & the longer swims and the frequency are coming around too.

I was tired and in shutdown by Sunday evening & although nervous about what’s coming up in 34 days (I’ve never gone this far before) it’s appearing to be doable… if I’m smart about it.

It’s so true that you can’t do IM alone.