Labor Day Weekend Special Edition

You know that whole adage, "Don't try anything new on race day"? Well, seeing as how I like to live life on the edge, I choose to ignore this adage and think that I know better - mostly because I am awesome but also because I actually DO know everything. It's true - I have a master's degree in Library and Information Science. That right there should tell you all you need to know. Anyway, back to the point. I bought these bad boys this week:

Pearl Izumi Tri Fly IV

I know, I know. They are pretty bad ass. And I will stand out like Dorothy in Munchkinland. However, it is super close to my A race so I know that I am tempting the karmic gods by trying to break them in and race with them all by next Sunday. The way I see it, it can go one of two ways: exceptionally well or horrifically awful. Let's just go with a the glass half full version and say it's going to be great!

I have been slacking a bit this week, but I just keep telling myself that I am actually tapering so I shouldn't feel so guilty. After my long run on Wednesday, I was going to take Thursday off, but found myself with a few extra hours to kill before having to be anywhere, so I got in a phenomenal pool workout. I know! I even surprised myself! I have maybe been in the pool ten times this summer. Considering the swim is where I lose the most amount of time, you would think I would get myself there a few more times, but I can just never muster the effort on those mornings - and good luck trying to find the time to swim outside.

I picked out a workout with some decent mid-distance intervals and some speed thrown in at the end. Apparently, "they" recommend doing speed work in the beginning when you are freshest, however, I say bollocks to that. I don't get the benefit of "fresh" at the end of a race when I need the speed the most so screw your recommendations - I'm doing my speed work at the end.

Main set:

100 hard
100 pull
2x100 hard
200 pull
3x100 hard
300

2x50 sprint
200pull
4x50 sprint
200 pull
6x50 sprint
200 pull

1x25 sprint/1x25 EZ
2x25 sprint/1x25 EZ
3x25 sprint/1x25 EZ
Repeat

(To those of you who aren't swimmers and don't understand that, you can find an explanation on intervals  here.)

So, miraculously, I did this set and wasn't left feeling like I needed a nap. I actually felt inspired and like next week's swim won't suck nearly as bad as I was thinking it might (famous last words). Don't worry, I can't believe it either. 

I also had the last parade of parade season on Thursday night. SJ met me up at the fair afterwards, and seeing as how it was fireman's night and we all drank for free in uniform, I did just that. I mean, I felt like it would be rude if I didn't drink what they were offering, and I don't ever want to be rude. Also, I like a deal and free beer is pretty much the best deal in town, even if it is Bud Light. 

She doesn't even know how famous she is! Beer me!

Due to my alcoholic intake on Thursday evening, I opted for a rest day yesterday instead of the hill repeats I had planned. I had a long day at work and there were a few things that needed to be taken care of afterwards, like going to the beer distributor to order a new fall-inspired keg. However, lest you become worried that I am falling off my training plan, I did bring running clothes so that I can do them after work this afternoon. I wanted a new hill to run on anyway, so this is a forced change.

My shoes should be in by next Tuesday, so I'm hoping to get a few good rides in them next week. I also need to get my bike tuned up and ready to roll so there are quite a few things that need to be taken care of between now and next Sunday.

It's Labor Day weekend, friends - the official end of summer. I have a weekend jam-packed with activities - most of which involve beer and some of which involve training but all of which involve fun! I hope everyone else has a great weekend and enjoys every last bit of summer they can squeeze out of it.

15 Miles and 1 Beer

Something must be off with my math because clearly running 15 miles deserves more than one beer tonight, however, seeing as how I can barely keep my eyes open long enough to finish this one, I'm thinking one might be all this girl can handle tonight.

I did my long run this evening. A 15 miler after work is not really what the doctor ordered, especially when this is supposed to be the start of my taper for next Sunday's Nation's Triathlon. However, I haven't really done an actual "long run" since before the West Point Tri and if I don't do one or two between now and September 8th, it could reasonably be a month between long runs. Taking a month of training off right in the middle of marathon training doesn't seem to be the smartest plan, and seeing as how I've turned into such a stickler for my training plan this summer, I figured I would find the time to bang it out.

My pace was right on target for my long run, so I didn't have any trouble with that like I did for my GMP run on Monday evening. I don't know if it's because I just didn't really care about how fast I was going and was more focused on just running long and smooth, or whether it's because I actually just didn't care what my speed was, but it was a good run.

On the flip side, I am now pretty much completely living in my compression shorts and calf sleeves. I might as well be the Michelin man with how much of my body I am stuffing into these bad boys. I have been wearing one or the other, or sometimes both, to bed after hard days the past few weeks. I will give a product review at a later date - but just know that anything that takes you an hour to get into and almost as long to take off is not something that anyone would consider "sexy bedtime attire", although SJ doesn't seem to complain when it's ALL I wear to bed (schwing! Sorry dad!).

Onto the beer tasting for the evening. I figured it's been awhile since I had one of those and seeing as how I've drank my fair share of beers over the past few weeks, thought I might offer you all a little insight into what I'm drinking now:

I know what you're thinking, Ugh, another beer from Brooklyn? Don't those hipsters have anything better to do than open up craft breweries in gentrified neighborhoods? Alright already, we get it. You guys like to drink beer. No go carefully sculpt your beard and find another flannel shirt to wear with your skinny jeans. However, you would be wrong, because this beer is not from Brooklyn, but rather Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

I actually bought this beer because of the label - anything that is clean and clear automatically has my attention. I don't need my beer labels to be cluttered up with pictures and writing and too much "stuff". Just tell me who makes it, what style of beer it is and what it's called. That's all I really need. If you would like to add a picture, just make it a simple one. We don't need works of art on the bottle - that shit usually gets ripped up and torn to shreds in the cooler anyway.

The beer pours out a light, straw-yellow color and the head is big and foamy, but settles down relatively quickly for a pilsner while leaving a light foam along the top. It is brewed with the Czech's in mind and you can tell right away from the aroma. It gives off a typical malty, grassy smell, but with an added hint of yeast and - something else that I can't quite tell.

The taste is smooth, just like a pilsner should be but with a slightly hoppier finish than you would expect. That "something else" comes out in the taste a bit more, and I can only describe it as "buttery". As I am drinking it, the foam on the top is leaving a lace design along the side of the glass.

The finish is typical for a pilsner, with no great flourish or lasting impression. It's by far not a bad beer, but it's also relatively unspectacular either. This is billed as a "session beer" and I wouldn't refute that at all. It's light and crisp with a smooth, easy finish - definitely a beer that you could have all day and feel good about.

In fact, maybe I SHOULD crack another one of these guys open. I've even inspired myself!

Better Luck Next Time

As a result of not getting my long run in over the weekend due to various other drinking activities, I felt guilty and went for an 8 mile GMP run on Monday evening. After an easy mile warm up just to get my legs under me after Saturday's race and Sunday's off day, I set off on what started as a comfortable run and turned into somewhat of a nightmare on two feet.

I struggled to maintain any comfortable pace the entire time, thinking I was going either too fast or too slow and trying to adjust accordingly. I have a difficult time of pacing without looking at Alastair every quarter mile, and I have been having a harder time of "finding the groove" lately. This could be for any number of reasons, including:

- my legs are tired from all the training I've been doing.

- I am relying too much on technological gadgets and need to do a few runs "on feel".

- I am thinking too much about what I am supposed to be doing and not just doing it.

- the area that I live and run is deceptively hilly and I overcompensate on the up-hills and then carry this over into the downhills, which leaves me practically sprinting.

I'm sure there are a few other things that could also be going on, but these four are what I feel to be the major culprits. And the things that I need to work on before NYC.

Here are the breakdowns for my run:

Mile 1: 7:58
Mile 2: 8:08
Mile 3: 7:55
Mile 4: 7:52
Mile 5: 7:53
Mile 6: 8:09
Mile 7: 8:07
Mile 8: 7:50

You can see from almost the twenty second swing between my best mile and my slowest mile that my pace was all over the place. While everything stayed within a :10 high/low from my 8:00/GMP, I would much rather see less of a swing from one mile to the next. Miles 7 and 8 were nearly :20 apart, and even though it came towards the end of my run, in actuality, this is not even a third of the way through an actual marathon and if I'm struggling this much to stay on pace then like I am now, this could be one spectacular dive.

But the good news is that I have officially started my taper for the Nation's Tri next Sunday. I have two long runs to fit in between now and then, but will do my last one next Monday to allow myself all of next week to recover and get ready for the race. I do have track work scheduled for next week, but am cutting it back to 800/400 repeats to gear up for the shorter 10k distance. This is my A race for triathlon season, so even though NYC is my overall goal, I don't want to negate all the training I've done for the Nation's by pushing too much for the marathon, which is still more than two months away. I have the time to build mileage back up after September 8th, so I need to focus on the next two weeks and not the next two months.

Yesterday was an easy 20 mile ride just to give my legs a spin from the hard effort Monday evening and it felt good. I was smart enough not to push the flats and instead took it steady and kept a comfortably pace (unlike running, I have no problem keeping a steady cadence on the bike - riddle me that one).

This evening I'm shooting for 15 after work and before FD training, but if I can't get them all in, then I'm not going to kill myself trying. I'll have two hours to get done what I can, and then I'm calling it a day.

Happy training, friends!

Race Report: TOBAY Triathlon

I always say that I'm not going to do this race every year, and then somehow I manage to get myself involved. Whether it's taking someone else's spot, or signing up at the last minute, I've done it for the past four years and at this point should just set my alarm to go off the day registration starts and sign up for it.

Being that it was my second race in six days, I wasn't exactly sure how this race would go down. I did well last year in it, so I wanted a repeat performance, but knew that my legs were a lot more tired this year than last year. Between training for the Nation's Tri and marathon training, I have put a lot of miles on these bad boys and coming off a hard race on Sunday I wasn't sure how well I would recover. However, I played college lacrosse for a maniacal head coach that loved to run us into the ground day in and day out so I  know what it's like to play tired. (Sorry if you read this Kelly. You weren't a maniac - most of the time.)

Let's get down to the recap.

Pre-Race/Race Day

Considering this was a Saturday race, that meant no happy hour for me on Friday night even though we hosted. I had my usual one beer the night before and hit my bed some time around 10ish. Because it's so close, our wake up time was 5:30, which is the same time I have to wake up for work anyway so this wasn't anything crazy. Except for the fact that it was Saturday and no one should have to wake up at 5:30 on a Saturday morning. Ideally, you should just be going to bed, but who am I kidding? I am old and probably couldn't stay up till 5:30am even if I tried my hardest.

It was one of those mornings where there was nothing in the house that I wanted to eat, which didn't bode well considering I had a race to compete in. Usually I have a bagel with peanut butter and that sets me up for the morning, but I just wasn't feeling it. I choke it down anyway but wasn't all too impressed with my caloric intake for the morning. I grabbed an extra GU for the bike leg and hoped I wouldn't bonk.

We pulled into Oyster Bay Town Hall and parked and I made it into the transition area around 6:30 with plenty of time to set everything up. I was able to snag a decent spot on the transition bike rack close to the front and laid out all of my gear. It seems really stupid, but this is a pretty important part of the race. Depending on the field, you can gain or lose an edge if your transition goes smoothly, so being able to have everything exactly how you want it is ideal.

I picked up my timing chip, hit the porta-potties (always crucial!) and went out to find SJ to wait for my wave to go off.

The Swim

The swim course has changed at least twice since I've started doing this triathlon, and this year was probably the worst. Oyster Bay is in-and-of-itself a horrible place to swim. It is basically a working harbor/marina and thus smells eerily of diesel fumes and has a lovely oil sheen on the top of the water. Our start point is at the edge of a boat ramp and every year I seem to gash open my foot on either a barnacle or a broken beer bottle or some kind of ick in the water. You would think that since none of the athletes are wearing shoes they would be able to find some kind of nicer starting point, but doesn't seem that way.

The finish this year was literally ten yards to the right of the starting point, but rather than being an easy out-and-back, the course was set up like some kind of maze. I think I had to make at least four right turns and at one point I swear I was swimming in exactly the same place I had just come from. If I had the ability to draw a map on here for your benefit I would, but just think of a rectangle drawn by a two year old, with four sides that juuuuuuuust don't quite work out, and that is the shape of this
swim course.

My wave went off at 7:42 and the water was pretty choppy. We rounded the first buoy and immediately the water got rough and the current was kicking against us. It was a slog to the second turn (or possibly third turn, I can't remember exactly how many yellow turn buoys there were as this course wasn't exactly a known "shape") and as we headed home I thought, Yes, now I can use the current. However, since nothing is ever easy, it still felt like we were fighting against it and this time we had the added benefit of heading straight into the rising sun so every time you tried to sight the exit ramp, you were blinded by the light.

Also, since there were no large banners or buoys signaling said exit ramp, it was tough to make out where exactly the ending ramp was. I basically just headed back towards the dock I came from and hoped I had it right. At this point, I had already caught up to the slower swimmers in the back of the waves ahead of me, so now I had to fight the current, the sun and the floaters. Awesome.

 

The Bike

After a better T1 than I had in West Point, I was off on the bike. It's still not as fast as I would like it to be, but there are a few tweaks I can make between now and the Nation's Tri that will hopefully correct that.

The bike course winds its' way through the back of the park and then goes out onto Cove Road for a big chunk of the race. It's rolling hills in the beginning before straightening out into a false flat until a slight left onto Moore's Hill. It's only .28 of a mile, but it's a tough climb. I don't know what the highest incline is, but I would imagine it's somewhere in the teens towards the top. There were quite a few people walking their bikes up by the time I got there and quite a few others doing the "weaving climb".

After two sharp rights the course takes you back out onto 25A, and seeing as how this is not a fully closed road course, that can be quite tricky. By switching the race from Sunday to Saturday, there was a significant difference in the number of cars on the road, which doesn't make it fun for bikers. It's bad enough having to train with Long Island drivers, it's quite the other to be racing with them as well.

The back end of the ride is all downhill and the course has reverted back to the "old" course through town and back to the park. Entering the park you have to go over the railroad tracks, so the race directors (wisely) but the bike dismount directly before them. I was able to get out of my shoes and off the bike without breaking stride and headed into T2.

The Run

After another quick T2, slowed down only by the fact that some people just don't know how to get out of the way, I was out the run chute and onto the course. One great part of this race is that everything is concentrated into one area: transition, swim to bike, bike to run and finishing lines are all really close together. As I was heading out for the run leg, the first guys were just crossing the finish line - in roughly 51:00. That is craziness.

The front part of the run is all uphill. I mean all of it. You basically climb for the first 1.75 miles and then head back down. The only good part about this is that you know you have an easy second half, but that doesn't quite make up for the extremely shitty first half. Before you can even get your running legs under you, you hit a small but steep climb and then it's pretty unrelenting from there.

I had no idea where I stood at this point and who was in front of me. Based on last year's time, I was running behind, but this could have been for any number of reasons: choppy swim, different bike course, longer run from swim to bike transition, etc. I got up the first set of hills and headed up towards Coe Hall and the turnaround. But wait, what's this? Why isn't the turn around cone where it's been the past three times I've done this race? Why has it been moved further back? I don't understand. This run course has literally been unchanged for twenty-some odd years. How'd they mess that sucker up?

Seeing as how I don't really rely on Alastair to give me accurate mileage right now (we are fighting over land, just like we were living back in the Middle Ages and everyone had to fight for their land rights) I was really just looking at my total run time. Figuring that the first part of the race was all uphill, I knew my pace would be higher than normal, but coming down the last part of the course, I really didn't think that I would be almost 1:00 slower than last year's time on the run course alone.

However, at this point I was having trouble seeing straight and just willing both of my legs to continue moving me in a forward motion at a relatively fast clip. It was all going on muscle memory at this point, friends, and these muscles were losing memory at a rate even doctors at an adult home would be awed at.

I finally crossed the finish line at 1:11:25. I wasn't happy with my run, but later found out from other runners that have much more reliable Garmins that the 5k was not, in fact, a 5k but rather a 3.4 miler. So that's where that extra minute came from. Or at least that's the story I'm sticking to.

Post-Race Party

 

This is really all you need to know about the post-race party.

By far the best post-race party of any triathlon that I have participated in thus far in my illustrious and world renowned career. First and foremost, Blue Point Brewery sets up shop sometime about 8:00, which is just amazing. Second, Western Beef is a big sponsor and this year they threw a big for all the racers. With the combination of these two things, plus the race only being a sprint distance, it is full possible to have both a beer and a hot dog in your hand by 9:15am. Which I did. And it was glorious.

By the time the awards ceremony happened, I'm surprised I had the full use of both my legs and brain. We hung out for a good three hours after the race was finished - as long as Blue Point stuck around I wasn't going anywhere.

Wrap-Up

This race is always a good time and I don't know why I always say that I am going to skip it. I always end up here, and it's not just because of the awesome post-race party (although that helps, don't get me wrong). I know that I have done it three of the past four years (one year was canceled because of Hurricane Irene, so it wasn't even my fault), but it's a local race and it's sponsored by a lot of the places where I get my racing gear, so I like to throw my support behind them. Last year SJ even did it, and had an awesome time while kicking some butt. I think she placed top three in her division - she has a habit of bringing home the hardware at races.

I highly recommend this race for anyone of any racing level. There are relay teams that compete and tons of first time racers at the event, which makes for a great atmosphere. There are guys that finish in under an hour and some that take more than two - but everyone has an awesome time, which is the whole point in the grand scheme of things.  While it didn't have the sentimental value of a race like West Point, it's got that whole "fun" thing down, and who doesn't like to have more of that in their life?

Here is the final breakdown:

Swim: 16:36
T1: 1:30ish
Bike: 29:28
T2: :40ish
Run: 23:04

*Total Time: 1:11:25

I placed fifth overall and in the end, the top 3-6 finished within :19 of each other, making it probably one of the closest TOBAY races in a long time. Last year I finished 9th overall, so I'm moving up in the world, friends. 

*I don't have the official results so I don't know my official transition times, but when I get them I will add them in.

Good thing I didn't bring my beer up with me!

Weekly Wrap-Up: Race Season Makes Me Tired

I have to do a much better job at updating my Daily Mile tracker. I tend to not update workouts for a few days, and then I add three or four at a time, which really defeats the purpose of using a tool named the "Daily Mile". Perhaps something called the "Whenever I get the Chance Mile", or the "I can't remember to update this Daily Mile", would be more appropriate. But anyways, it's finally been updated today for everything from roughly the past week, so feel free to browse, friends!

Had a great weekend since the last time we spoke. Well, I guess we didn't actually "speak", although if you actually know me in person - as opposed to just stumbling across this here blog and stalking me from afar - you might read this and hear my voice saying things in a way you would think I would say them, and then I guess it really is like speaking to me! Wow, that was a long sentence on something totally off topic.

Anywho - so the weekend was fab. I won't go into too much detail about TOBAY other than to say I was successful in many of the goals I set this weekend, most importantly the goal of having a beer in my hand by 9:15am on Saturday morning. After the race, there was a nap and then there were some more beers and some crabs. I know what you're thinking and no, I didn't go to the Jersey Shore Saturday night - my dad had a crab feast and we cooked up some blue craws in Old Bay and went to town. Any food you have to eat with a hammer is food I want to eat!

I admit that I was rocking somewhat of a hangover later on that evening - either my party shoes are starting to get worn out or all that pre-noon beer really did a number on me - so it was relatively early to bed for me. Sunday I was off to Queens to visit Ry-Guy and the girls for brunch. You know you're getting old and your friends are having babies when brunch starts at 10 am and includes home-baked goods like cinnamon rolls. However, that did not stop us from having a few cocktails and lucky for me, I took public transportation and did my part to save the environment (while also denting my bank account. Really, LIRR, $22 to get to Queens? WTF?) so I didn't have any shame (when do I ever?) in having four or five.*

SJ and I cooked up some good eats last night for dinner (steak and potatoes - we are so typical) so we had a great ending to a great weekend. The three fire calls I got in the middle of the night weren't appreciated, but that's my fault for volunteering.

More on TOBAY in the race report coming up tomorrow. But for now, I leave with the totals.

Number of Miles Run: 22. That's a pretty low number. I mean, I know it was a step-back week, but that doesn't mean take a running leap and see how far back we can step, Kaitlyn. Seeing as how I started today off with a 10 miler, I promise to make this number bigger this week.

Number of Miles Biked: 28. I only biked once last week, plus the race on Saturday, so not great. Considering my A race is in two weeks and consists of a 40k ride, I should probably do a bit more riding this week. But at this point, I can't cram for it so it is what it is. I do have a 35 miler on tap for this week, so that should help out a bit. 

Number of Yards Swam: 3500ish. This is typical.

Number of Beers Drank by 12pm on Saturday: 6. It was great.

Number of Epic Naps Taken: 1, on Saturday after those 6 beers. I slept for almost four times as long as I actually raced that morning. It was great.

I'm watching Serena Williams crush it at the US Open right now and about to fall asleep. Poor SJ, I'm sure she didn't realize when we got married that I would turn into someone who goes to bed earlier than toddlers.

Look for a race recap tomorrow, as well as a better week of training reports. I promise!

*I promise to buy you and Mark more beer to replace the ones I stole drank.

Nunsense

I realize I have been slacking a bit on the actual training posts this week, although considering I did give you all three posts to read that were chock-full of interesting and fun-filled things, you shouldn't be complaining. Just because you all need something to do at work while you're pretending to look busy doesn't mean you have to harass me about not posting anything. Why don't you go to Sporcle and quiz yourself on something useful, like naming all the kings and queens of England or the United States Military ranks (yes, I have done both those quizzes). Or go to Facebook and, if you're anything like me, you will find yourself three hours later looking at the photo's of your roommate's second cousin's niece's third birthday party extravaganza.

Anyway, since you've asked for it, I'll give it to you.

This week has been pretty unspectacular training-wise. We were on vacation until Monday evening, so I never went on my long run over the weekend. After SJ and my epic trip to the sticks, I decided to not try and squeeze in a run on Monday and just give myself the day to relax. Tuesday is usually my rest day, but now that I don't have FF1 class, I have somehow managed to come up with five useful hours in my day so I used them to go for a long-ish run. I'm starting to get to that point in training where I don't consider 10.5 miles a long run - which is both semi-scary and also bad-ass. Wednesday I hit the bike for an easy 20 miler down to visit SJ at the club and then yesterday it was back to the track.

I had five1600 repeats on schedule for tomorrow. I also had play tickets for later that evening so I was in somewhat of a time crunch, but SJ, being the stellar wife that she is, made sure everything was all set to go when I got back so I could get my workout in. Seeing as how my last foray onto the track for 1600 repeats went (hint: not very well), I decided that today would be the day that I got my pacing down. After running a few laps around the track for a warm-up, I set off on my first of five repeats.

My goal was a 7:10 pace, which is roughly a minute faster than GMP, but slower than my 5k pace. I figured, if I was going to have to do five of these bad boys, I wanted to make sure I could finish them all without feeling like I was going to pass out/collapse/die. Alastair is still funky on split times on the track and putting my 1600s at 1.10 miles, but I haven't had time to worry about it. He did run long in Chicago as well, so it is something that I should probably look into since so much of my training is based on mileage and pacing, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Mamadukes has a Garmin as well (Mother's Day present from SJ and I - I know, we are awesome), so I am thinking of borrowing hers on my next track workout to see what's up.

Anyway, as soon as I started running, the entire JV football team came walking out to the area right next to the track for practice. Great, now I even have an audience for this. Also, seeing as how I can never catch a break on Thursdays and it is either, A) raining, B) so humid it gives saunas a run for their money, C) ridiculously hot, or D) all of the above, I was pretty much running in hot pants that were riding so far up my butt I should have just worn a thong, and a sports bra, so I probably should have collected money from them.

 Regardless, I got on with my workout. 20 laps around a track is excruciatingly boring, and considering I also ran a 400 between each repeat as a "rest", plus 6 laps each for a warm-up and cool down, 36 laps is even more so. Here's how it went:

Laps 1-6: Nice and easy warm-up pace. Feeling out the track - seeing if there were any spots I should be aware of to avoid. Settling in. 

Laps 7-10: Not too bad. I can totally handle four more of these.

Laps 11-15: Alright, now I'm starting to get tired. How many more laps do I have?

Laps 16-20: This is awful. It's so muggy. When did the sun come out?

Laps 21-36: I don't remember as I was in somewhat of a run coma due to both the boringness of the run as well as the counterclockwise vortex I was creating for myself by running in so many circles.

The good news is that I was much, much better at pacing myself this time around. While Alastair was really messing me up in terms of accurate splits, at least I stuck to the predetermined finishing pace. Here are the results as follows:

*Mile 1: 7:18.8
Mile 2: 7:12.7
Mile 3: 7:19.7
Mile 4: 7:17.0
**Mile 5: 7:00.0

*I am writing these as mile times, but according to Alastair they are 1.10 miles, or 1600 meters. I will get that sorted out at some point.
**I actually forgot to start the lap counter for this lap and am only going by my perceived rate of exertion. I purposefully pushed this one and was hoping to negative split, but since I have to actual split times I am just going to guess. Yes, even I sometimes have training mishaps.

Overall, I am stoked about my pacing this past go around. I do one more day of 1600 repeats in two weeks and then I start to rotate between 800s and 1600s. Hopefully I can get my pacing down even better on the next time around.

On a much lighter note, SJ and I saw a ridiculously funny play last night called "Nunsense". If any of you ever went to Catholic school or are Catholic or are just not adverse to things that are super funny, I highly suggest you get yourself over to the John W. Engeman Theater in Northport to see this show before it ends on September 8. It won't disappoint. And as a bonus - if you use the code: HYMCA, you will also get $5 off your ticket price, and the theater will donate $10 to the Huntington Y. You get a night of laughs AND can feel good about yourself for helping out the Y. It's a win-win for everyone!

Bike ride today and then the TOBAY Triathlon tomorrow. That means another sober evening and another race report for you, fellow readers. Also, TOBAY is sponsored by Blue Point Brewery, so I fully intend on imbibing directly after I cross the finish line and then, to top off the already spectacular day, Pops and Mary are hosting a crab feast (no, not those kinds of crabs, get your mind out of the gutter!). Looks like I will be bringing an overnight bag my friends.

See you all after the weekend. If you don't have anything better to do than wake up at 6:00am on a Saturday morning, then stop down to Teddy Roosevelt Park in Oyster Bay and cheer on me and my fellow triathletes.

Happy training and good luck to any racers out there.

Race Report - The West Point Triathlon

Wow! Two race reports in one weekend! Obviously I will have a bit more knowledge of this race seeing as how I was a participant rather than a spectator, and also because we had to travel to this race there were a few more things going on, but click here to read about those events.

Pre-Race 

After SJ finished the Deep Pond Tri and collected her hardware, we headed back to the house to get all of my gear and load up the car. We hit the road about noon and made it up to the West Point area by 2ish - not too shabby considering we had to cross two bridges and drive through the Bronx to get there. Like I said in an early post, it was a ridiculous car ride and we cracked ourselves up on numerous occasions discussing SJ's tri earlier in the day. (On a side note: I am happy that she was finally able to laugh about how ridiculous the whole morning was and to poke fun at herself for trying to run and cry at the same time. I am also happy that she is a badass and continued to run all bloodied and swollen. My wife rocks!)

We got to Camp Buckner at about 2:30 and I went inside to pick up my race packet and get myself all checked in. We hit up the "store", which was really just a few folding tables set up on one side of the mess hall with old Army Triathlon tri suits and old race shirts that they were selling. We perused the offerings and I contemplated getting a West Point Triathlon pint glass (foreshadowing), but decided on buying an old race shirt for dirt cheap ($5!). After picking up my timing chip, we heading back out to the car where I changed into some running clothes and went for an easy 4 miler to get the lay of the land. SJ gimped over to the lake as at this point her knee looked like it was growing a second head and walking wasn't the easiest thing, where I eventually met her over by where the finishing line would be the next day.

Seeing as we had a whole day to kill and not a whole lot to do, we drove ourselves over to West Point and walked around the campus for a little, taking in the view and looking at all the sights. The Plebes had graduated that morning into Cadets, so there were a few families on the lawns having picnics and hanging out before the semester started. As we had yet to check into our "hotel", we still had no idea what the evening entailed but we soon found out. Without going into too much detail, I can sum it up by this: shared bathroom, wine tastings, 12 bottles of wine, pasta for dinner, Mariachi band.

Race Day

As far as triathlons go, this one started late - the first wave went off at 8:30. To put this in perspective, SJ was done with her entire race by 8:45 the previous morning. We aimed to get to the race between 6:30 and 6:45 because we were warned about parking and how far away it is from transition. Because the race is held at Camp Buckner,which is where the cadets train each summer for military maneuvers, there is only one real way in and one way out by design. For all intents and purposes, it's a military base and thus guarded like one. SJ and I got a decent parking spot about a half mile from transition and I rode down to start to get set up while she gimped along behind me.

Transition was smack in the middle of the base, which was great for spectators. The lake was right next to transition and we would pass by on the run at least twice before the finishing chute. There were probably somewhere in the range of 500-650 racers, so transition was tightly packed, but there was more than enough space for each racer. There were no assigned spaces - just a range of numbers and then you picked where you wanted to set up your gear. I found a spot decently close to the head of the bikes and we had a big RUN sign that marked our transition line, which was great for locating our stuff in both T1 and T2.

Once I was all set up, we headed over to the swim start for a race briefing at 8:20 and at 8:30 the first wave took off. This was the paraplegic wave and the wounded combat veterans wave, and seeing those guys take off puts a lot of things in perspective right before you race. One of the racers had lost both his arms and legs in combat and was doing the swim portion of a relay - he was able to use flippers and his head as a rudder and swam on his back for the entire 800 meters. Whenever something got tough - the hill was long and my legs were screaming on the bike, or I started to fade on the run - I thought about all those veterans who were literally doing things that seemed impossible and it made me realize that at least I had the ability to do all of these things.

The Swim

The swim was a rectangular pattern and we had a beach start. We took off on one side of a little cove and swam around an embankment before heading straight to the first buoy and making a left turn and then another left turn to head back towards a different spot on the shore line. We had an all-female wave, essentially 34 and under, which was so much better than when they lump random ages together.

When the horn sounded, we took off in one giant mass. I tried to stay to the left as we went around the cove because I knew that it would be an easier course to the first turn buoy. As I made the first turn, I could tell I was towards the front of the swim pack with a few others in my wave around me and by the second turn I was able to get a better idea as to where I stood. Luckily, with five minutes between each wave start, I didn't come across too many swimmers from the other waves until about 200 yards from the exit and by that point we all started to funnel down to the swim exit anyway.

I hit the swim exit somewhere in the 15:00 mark and saw SJ and gave her a high five on my way down the chute (or at least I think I did) into T1.

The Bike

My T1 time was pretty brutal, especially considering it wasn't a long run from the swim to the bike. I felt slow and kept forgetting something - my headband, my Garmin on, then my race number - so it wasn't as smooth as it could have been. SJ let me know I was somewhere around 7 or 8 out of transition from my wave, so I knew I had some work to do on the bike and the run to make up for my slower-than-normal (but what do you expect when you skip swim practice 1 out of every 2 times) swim and T1 time, but it wasn't anything I was going to stress about that early.

I made my way down Pershing Drive and out onto the bike course for what would be a tough, hilly out and back. We stayed on the same road for the entire course and had two turn-around points at either end. Think about drawing the letter T, and that's what our course looked like. Because of this fact, and also because the entire area is owned by the US Army, there was absolutely no one on the bike course to cheer us on except at the turn around points, which made for a slightly crappy bike leg.

The hills were rolling and I wouldn't say that there were any "climbs", but your legs felt it anyway. As a result of it being one of the least technical courses in the entire world, you could get up good speed on the downhills and take back some of the time from the uphills. The road was in good condition for the most part and since we hadn't had any rain, everything was dry - always a concern for racing. By the time I hit the second turn around, I had been able to take back time from my swim and pick off a few of the other people from my wave. When I hit Pershing Drive, I started to take my shoes off and was ready for the dismount.

 

The Run

Because I had already had my shoes off and was able to slide my running shoes right on, I had a wicked-fast T2 time and was out of the chute and off on the run in less than a minute. Right off the bat there is a steep uphill climb - I grabbed water at the top and, feeling good, pushed the pace a bit faster. We had a short downhill before heading into a half mile climb so I wanted to gain as much time as I could when I could. The climb was steep and unrelenting until the turnaround at the top - the good thing about gravity is when you can use it to your advantage, like on downhills. At the second turnaround at the 2k mark, I was feeling strong so I picked it up a little again. I had forgot to restart my Garmin after T2 so I had no idea what my pace or my time was, but I felt strong, even after the big hill.

Knowing I was going to run down one more hill and then through transition before the final turnaround, I pushed up the back of the downhill and then came down through the transition area and saw SJ waiting for me, camera at the ready. I passed her at about the 17:00 mark and, knowing the route since I had run it yesterday, was able to push the pace closer to the red line because I knew what was ahead.

After the final turn around, there was only one short uphill and then a 200 meter flat stretch before the finishing chute. I rounded the corner and could here SJ cheering me on towards the finish and crossed the line in 1:23:09.

 

Post-Race Party

I really need to start doing a better job at researching the post-race parties because this was race number two of the weekend that was a dud. There was some pizza and Heed for the athletes to munch on after they finished, but as far as parties are concerned, I've been to better funerals. Really - this wasn't so much of a "party", it was more like, here's your medal, congrats on finishing, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Oh, wait, you can't even leave for another hour because in order to get to your car you have to wait till the course is cleared. Sucker. So, it wasn't the greatest. SJ and I hung around to watch some of the final finishers cross the line. Like in the beginning, it was pretty inspirational to watch some of the combat veterans cross the line. The race had a big Team Red, White and Blue contingent there, so there were a lot of current military racers as well as veterans.

 

Wrap-Up

Overall, I would give this race 7 1/2 stars. The actual race itself was great except for a few minor things and the only downfall was the lack of post-race celebration. I mean, I know it's the Army but can't we celebrate even a little bit? Does everything have to be so blah? I'm not asking for much here - I won't even ask for post-race bevies as I know it's a military base and that is probably a no-no. But maybe get a band or two to play or have some kind of raffles going on - maybe invite some stores in to set up shop so the athletes can spend some cash. I don't know, anything would help improve it.

Regardless of the crappy post-race, it was still an excellent race. The venue was cool - running through Camp Buckner, you pass all of the cabins where cadets sleep during their summer training and the ropes and obstacle courses they train on, as well as the parade ground where they practice - and although the bike course was somewhat lonely, it was long and straight. The swim was in fresh water and uncrowded, making it a smooth swim. The inspiration from some of the other racers is huge and a definite bonus to feed off of and the spectators on the run are all over the place, which provides a much needed boost along the course. The volunteers are mostly Cadets at the academy and it's cool to have them cheer you on, as opposed to the other way around.

Here is the final breakdown for my race:

Swim: 14:39
T1: 1:57
Bike: 44:20
T2: :35
Run: 21:40

Total time: 1:23:09

The TOBAY Triathlon is this Saturday in Oyster Bay so there is little turn around time for these legs. However, the after party at TOBAY is hosted by Blue Point Brewery - my wave takes off at 7:45 so I fully expect to have a beverage in my hand by 9:00am. Who wants to volunteer to come pick me up?!

P.S. - I have no photos of this event, however, SJ has videos so I will try to add them later.

Race Report - Deep Pond Triathlon

This past Saturday, SJ and mamadukes participated in the Deep Pond Triathlon out in the Wading River/Calverton area of Long Island. I do not normally spectate at triathlons as I am usually the one doing the racing, however, I had a blast cheering on all of the racers and taking in the day.

Pre-Race Morning

We were up at the ungodly hour of 3:30 in the morning on Saturday to make our way out to the Schiff Boy Scout Camp in Wading River. I had never heard of this camp and therefore had never been there, so we gave ourselves a few extra minutes in case we got lost - which we did. Luckily it wasn't too detrimental to our arrival time and we still got there with plenty of time to get everyone set up in transition.

Seeing as how this was not the biggest race, check-in went smoothly for SJ, although they did make her pay $10 for not picking up her packet prior to race day. (Note to Race Directors: if you want people to come back to your race, do not penalize them for not being able to drive to west bumblefuck prior to race morning to pick up their packet. If you are only offering packet pick-up in places obscenely far away from where many of your races actually live, then at least give them the courtesy of a race-day pick-up. It's not like this is Age Group Nationals and there are thousands of people banging down the door to get into your race.) I was able to go into transition with her (clearly the extra $10 was not going towards security) and help her set up her gear next to her bike and get her all set up. She's starting to be a pro at this now and soon she won't need my help - I guess this is what it feels like for parents when their kids start to do things on their own, like tie their shoes or go to school. Spread your wings a fly, little birdy!

The Swim

It was a simple 800 yard out and back set-up for the swim course - nothing too crazy - and since it was a pond, there was no real current to contend with. The field was small - probably 200 people max - so the waves were relatively tame at the start, as opposed to bigger races where there could be between 50 and 100 people in each wave and it's like a mosh pit when the gun goes off. Or like an Ironman, where it's just one big giant wave of people.

Mamadukes and SJ ready for action!

Mamadukes took off in wave four and SJ was right behind her in wave 5 three minutes after, which made it super easy to cheer for them both. Mom was first out of the water and I was able to cheer her up the hill and then make it back down in time to see SJ come full steam out of the water. It was about a quarter mile to T1 and the hill they had to charge up right out of the pond was no joke, but it was great to cheer everyone on and the effort was there from every racer.

Mamadukes making her way up the hill. I told you it was no joke.

SJ in transition.

The Bike

After a stellar transition (sorry, Mamadukes, I was waiting on SJ so I never did see your T1), SJ was off and on the bike - which is probably her strongest event. Because the course was off the campsite, I didn't really see much of it, but from what I do know from the race map, the course took the riders onto the Calverton Executive Airpark, which used to be called the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant and was used by the Grumman Corporation to retrofit jet planes for the Navy. Without going into too much history (snore), the airport is best known for the testing, assembly and retrofitting of Naval planes like the A-6 Intruder, E-2 Hawkeye, EA-6B Prowler, and the F-14 Tomcat (best known for it's role in Top Gun). It is supposedly one of the longest runways in America.

SJ was able to make up the time on mamadukes and came back into the camp about a thirty seconds in front. They went through transition together and mamadukes beat her out onto the run course for the third and final event.

SJ heading out onto the run course. That's mamadukes up in front. 

The Run

The run was actually a 5K trail run around the lake that the racers had swam in earlier. Again, I didn't see much of the race course itself since I mainly stayed around the transition area so that I could see everyone finish, however I did hear that is was a tough course. For those unaccustomed to trail running, it can be super tough. It's less about the speed that you are running at and more about how strong your legs are. You are constantly on the look out for tree roots and rocks and anything else that you can stumble over. In this case, SJ forgot about that part and took a digger right around the 1.5 mile mark. According to her:

 I flew in the air about 5 feet and then landed on my side and rolled 25 times before finally coming to a stop. People kept passing me and asking if I was alright and as I laid there, feeling sorry for myself I realized I had two options: sit there like a baby and cry, or pick yourself up and start running. Because she is awesome, she chose to do the latter.

As I limped along for a couple hundred yards, snuffling and snorting and generally making a giant mess of myself, I realized that it is nearly impossible to cry and run at the same time. I was having a hard enough time as it was just without the added drama of hyperventilating, so I stopped for a minute, pulled myself together, and got down to business. As I ran, I slowly started picking people off and climbing my way back into it. My left knee was about seven times the size of my right one and I had blood running down my leg, but I just told myself I was a warrior coming back bruised and bloodied from battle. That this 'battle' happened to be with a tree root and my left foot, no one needed to know. As I crossed the finish line, I was so pissed at what had happened that I ripped the banner out of the poor volunteers' hands and threw it on the ground in disgust. This was not the way I had intended the race to go. 

I saw mamadukes come out of the woods first and knew something had happened since there was no way SJ was going to let her mother-in-law beat her SJ is a stronger runner. Mamadukes shouted, SJ took a spill about halfway in - I don't know where she is!, as she continued to run by me on the way to the finish. Apparently not even seeing the sight of SJ bloody and crying on the ground could stop mamadukes from finishing the race - we'll remember this later on in life when she needs a good home to stay in, just FYI. Anyways, SJ came limping along about a minute later and finished in a respectable time considering the trail run fiasco.

Post-Race Party

Or, as this sub-heading should be called, "What Post-Race Party?", because there was none. There were some bagels and fruit for the racers, and the Sayville Running Company had set up a little stand to sell some running goods, but as far as 'after-parties' go, this was a dud. However, they did serve popcorn and hot dogs to the racers, so had I been running this might have been tempting. Unfortunately, 9:00am is still just a bit too early for even me to eat a hot dog, especially as I had done no form of physical activity that morning, except waking up at 3:30 which is a feat in and of itself.

Race Wrap-Up

As far as small-time races go, I would say the race directors put on a pretty good show. For only it's second year in existence, the Deep Pond Tri went smoothly and aside from the digger SJ took, I don't think there were many complaints about the day. Parking was fine and the transition area was well spread out and uncluttered. Paying a fee for picking up your packet on race day is a bit ridiculous and if you want to keep triathletes happy, don't make them pay for things that should just be offered free-of-charge. That's kind of like when airline companies charge you to both check a bag AND carry one on - if you are going on an airplane, it's kind of necessary to bring some kind of bag with you.

The course was well marked and I didn't hear of any wrong turns or unclear directions on either the bike course or the run course. The volunteers were all very friendly and the race director was around the entire morning, talking to racers and family members.

SJ walked away still placing 2nd in her division despite the drama on the run course, so now we have this awesome travel mug to use. I love it when races give out practical gifts to Age Group winners! Mamadukes did well, too, and now that she's got the bug she keeps telling me that "if only she trained a little more she could have caught the person in front of her." Looks like someones got her eyes set on a podium finish at the Huntington Sprint Triathlon in September.

SJ with her medal and the goods. 

Weekend Update - Our Trip to the Sticks

I honestly don't even know where to begin with this weekend's post. There are so many things that need to be discussed that trying to pick a starting point is like trying to solve a Rubik's cube - there are just too many options. We were literally all over the place in terms of adventures, and not to mention that it was a double race weekend, so you will have twice the race recaps later on. I know I know - I can see you shaking with delight as you read this.

I'll start from the beginning.

Saturday morning we woke up at 3:30 - a time that can only be described as "the time in which bars are STILL open". Shannon had probably still not gone to bed and possibly hadn't even left work yet, but there we were, packing bikes onto cars and drinking coffee at a time when it is still socially acceptable to drink alcoholic beverages. We headed out to Calverton and SJ and mamadukes were off to the races. (I won't go into the race itself because I'll save that for the race recap.)

After a stellar morning, SJ and left home around noon and seeing as how we had been up for pretty much a whole day's worth of time at this juncture, we were going slightly mad. The car ride up to West Point was quite possibly one of the funniest car rides we have had in a while. There was nothing that didn't make us laugh - it was foreshadowing for what was to become one of the best weekends in which everything is wrong but everything is perfect.

Let me tell you a little bit about the place we stayed Saturday and Sunday - but let me first preface it by saying that I have been on quite the streak of bad decision-making. I picked out an awful movie a couple weekends ago, I have picked out a few bad restaurants and then I go ahead and pick this hotel for us to stay in this weekend. Actually, it wasn't a hotel - it was a "lodge", and by lodge I mean essentially a hostel, complete with a shared bathroom facility. Yes, that's right friends - you read that correctly - shared bathroom facilities.

The actual lodge was a converted mansion and we stayed in what were clearly the "servant's quarters" back in the day. That's actually what we nicknamed our room for the remainder of the stay and we got a kick out of it every time we said it. Like I said earlier, it was a weekend in which nothing was right but everything was perfect. We laughed so much this weekend I'm pretty sure it would make stand-up comedians jealous.

Here are a few highlights of our weekend stay at the lodge:

- At one point on Saturday night, there was no running water. Anywhere. Even for the toilets.
- Saturday night, we fell asleep to the lovely, peaceful sounds of a mariachi band at a Latin wedding being held on the property.
- We stole a row boat on Sunday evening and drank red wine out on the lake.
- We saw a bear and SJ freaked out.
- We made at least 35 jokes about not having a bathroom connected to our room.
- There was nothing electric in our room - I'm actually surprised it had electrical sockets. But there was one of those iPod charging docks. Riddle me that one, Batman.
- We toured the weird statues of three Eastern European poets - and Walt Whitman - on the property. Why Walt Whitman was lumped in with three giant busts of three Eastern European poets I can't tell you, but there they were nonetheless.

Sarah drinking red wine on our stolen row boat. We are classy girls.

The view from the veranda. In actuality, if we hadn't had to share a bathroom, the place probably wouldn't have been that bad - or that funny.

As you can imagine, the Arrow Park Lake and Lodge left us with quite an impression and I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone. However, it gave us some good times and we made the most out of what could have quite possibly been a horrible weekend. At one point, SJ turned to me and said, At least we like each other. I can't imagine being here with someone I can't stand. So I got that going for me!

Besides the hostel/lodge/shared bathroom debacle, we had a great time. Saturday night, SJ stumbled upon a wine tasting at a local liquor store and 12 bottles of wine later we were able to leave to go get dinner. The race was fantastic on Sunday morning (more on that in the recap) and Sunday afternoon we went on an epic one hour journey to Cornwall, NY to discover that, much like Cornwall in England, there is nothing going on. Although we did take this picture:

Monday we toured West Point and the military museum and learned some pretty cool things about the USMA. I can see why anyone between the ages of 12-16 could go there and see the place and decide that that is the place they want to go to college and the career path they want to take. It is an inspiring place and I highly recommend going there at least once if you get the chance. There are a lot of interesting facts and you can't beat the view - although I'm sure the cadets that have to be in formation on the parade ground at 6:30am in the freezing cold snow during the winter would probably tell me the view isn't that great.

It was a pretty stellar weekend and I'm not exactly super pumped to be back at work, but with only three days until the TOBAY Triathlon, I really don't have much time to complain. I took yesterday off, even though I was supposed to do a 17 miler over the weekend, and this week is a step back week, finally, so my mileage is down. These bad boys are tired so I'll be glad for the easier week.

Weekly Wrap-Up:

Number of Miles Run: 14. This number is pretty  low due in most part to the fact that I didn't do the 17 miler I was supposed to. However, I am going to do it this Sunday rather than the 12 on the schedule. This is called "adjusting on the fly". Also, I am including the 3.1 miles from the race on Sunday because, well, I ran them so I think it should count for my total. And also because, without those miles the number would be pretty paltry.

Number of Miles Biked: 45. This is okay. I skipped my ride Friday because I didn't have the time and didn't want to stress about it and I had the race on Sunday so that added in some mileage. Two hilly rides for the week and one was at racing speed so it'll do.

Number of Yards Swam: 3800. Hard swim on Friday and then the 800 from the race. Meh.

Number of times the phrase "shared bathroom" was said: 37. It was the highlight of the weekend.

Check back later for race recaps on both the Deep Pond Triathlon and the West Point Triathlon!

Hills, repeat 6xs

Obviously you can tell by the title of said post that I did a hill workout yesterday, and I am paying for it today. This week has been absolutely monstrous in terms of training. It's my third week in a row of building mileage and training intensity, and by Monday night these poor legs of mine will be so weary all I'll be able to do is sit back and drink. Hopefully SJ will be home so I can have someone wait on me hand and foot don't have to crawl to the keg to keep refilling. But that's a whole three days from now, and in between is some serious business.

Yesterday I did hill repeats, and I rocked them if I do say so myself. (Which I do, because I just did, because this is me that's writing, which makes that expression somewhat stupid.) I have been doing the same hill the past three hill workouts so that I can see how my progress has been coming along. The first time I ran it, it was about 104 degrees and the humidity was hovering somewhere in the 1000 percentile, so that was a bit of a wash. I didn't have my Garmin with me so I had no idea of my pacing and as it was the first time doing hill repeats since high school winter track, I really had no idea what I was doing. The second time I ran repeats, it was pouring rain but I soldiered on and performed as well as one can be expected in not-so-great weather. However, yesterday I had no excuse. The weather was great - low humidity, nice breeze, not super hot out - and though I was far from having fresh legs, I felt good.

After an easy 2.5 mile warm-up I was ready to attack. I had six repeats on the schedule for today, and my splits evened out to this:

1. 47.5
2. 47.8
3. 48.4
4. 47.5
5. 46.3
6. 46.2

BOOM! Nothing over a :50, which I hit four times the last time I did this hill, including a :55 effort. I don't know if it's the or the simple fact that it wasn't pouring with rain, but I'm gonna take it. Coming off two weeks of building mileage and a hard bike ride on Wednesday, I was super pumped by the results.

I didn't ride this afternoon like I had intended to do, but I did get in 3000 yards in the pool. I struggled the whole time, which is how I know I am super tired, but I knew that going into the workout it wouldn't be a great one. This heavy workload is starting to catch up and my legs are feeling it. I did go to the bike shop this afternoon to order my new tri shoes, though, so I am going to count that as training-related time. So I guess I did get in a ride afterall!

Just because we're racing this weekend doesn't mean we can't 

have a beer for happy hour! 

This is a big weekend for both SJ and I. SJ races tomorrow morning out in Calverton at the Deep Pond Triathlon, along with Mamadukes. They get to cycle part of the bike leg on the old Northrop Grumman runway, which will be a pretty cool experience - it's supposed to be one of the longest runways in the country. The race is starting at an ungodly hour, even for a triathlon. Our alarm is set for 3:45am - which is partly why I am so cool and blogging on a Friday night at 9:30 (as SJ snores like a truck driver gives cute little sleep snorts next to me). After the race we head up to West Point to get ready for my race the following day at Camp Buckner. Unlike SJ's race, I have no fun facts about my race, except to say that it is on the military academy training grounds. However, I will make sure to find out one fun fact to bring home and report on!

Don't expect anything this weekend kids, as I've made it an unofficial rule to not blog over the weekend. However, upon my return on Monday I will regale you all with a weekly wrap-up, not one but TWO race reports, and some highlights from our upstate adventures. I'm looking forward to West Point as I've never been there before and SJ and I are going to make sure we take pictures in Cornwall to send to her brother in London. I am supposed to run 17 miles at some point over this weekend, and it probably won't be Sunday, so a long, slow run in the mountains on Monday morning is looking like it's in the cards for me. I'll make sure to take pictures and send postcards.

Happy training this weekend and if anyone is racing, good luck!

No Pain, No Gain

It's been a busy week here at BS&B. Work, firefighter school and training (both for racing and the fire department) have kept me swamped, but this week marks the end of classes so at least that frees up my evenings two nights a week. I've been struggling to make everything work and it's been tough some days to leave the house at 5:30am and know that I really won't be able to relax until 10pm that night, but I've managed to get it done somehow - and by "somehow", I mean with the help of the most awesomest person in the entire world - SJ.

As I've said in previous posts, I've never exactly set a workout plan for myself in terms of training schedule and mapping out A races vs. B races, etc. etc. I have always been a "sporadic trainer", meaning that if I felt like going for a bike ride that day, then I went for a bike ride. If I felt like swimming, then I swam. But creating a training schedule and then sticking to that schedule was never a huge priority for me, and I always seemed to do decently well in races so I never really bothered changing anything.

This year was different in terms of both work and what I was training for. Taking the jump to do a fall marathon meant that I had to find a training plan that worked and stick to it. The marathon is far and away my A race of the year, but I also have the Nation's Tri in September that is an A race as well, which meant that I had to build in days for biking and swimming. This forced me to design a schedule and, more importantly, stick to it. Working off of a couple different marathon training plans, I was able to come up with a weekly training schedule that fir and I feel like I am better trained and more focused than I have been in any racing year.

I was supposed to swim yesterday morning, but getting a phone call at 5:00 am to let you know that the person who is supposed to be working is, in fact, not at work I decided to go back to bed after sorting it out. I had a long enough day yesterday without adding to trying to squeeze a swim in would have provided. Sometimes you can't win them all. However, I  was able to get in my planned 30-35 mile bike ride with some decent elevation. I try to do at least one hard ride each week - whether it's hills or a flat out time-trial or some kind of speed work - and then do an easier ride and maybe a brick workout. I picked out a ride that would take me down near the water and then back up and over the Tobay course so I could hit Moore's Hill - a brutal .28 of a mile that climbs almost 200 feet. It's not long, but it's hard.

As per usual, I was on a time crunch so I couldn't extend the ride as much as I would have liked. I had to be at HQ by 6:15 since we were leaving for the Yaphank Fire Academy to go over live-fire training scenarios, and I knew it was going to be a long, hot night. At least it was a decently cool night and not as brutally hot as it could have been for the middle of August. Having come off a hilly ride and going straight into training, my legs felt like jelly when I got home last night and the beer I poured myself (Blue Point Toasted Lager - always a good go-to in my book) couldn't have been more refreshing. The fact that I only finished about half of it before falling asleep is just pathetic, but cheers to me!

Hill repeats today - let's see how the old legs survive this week of endurance and pain. If I come out of this triathlon on Sunday feeling like my legs weight 800 pounds each, I won't be surprised. But this is what's meant by "training through it", sucker.

Weekly Wrap-Up: Better Late Than Never

I know, I know. It's Tuesday already so I probably should have just gone ahead and skipped the whole weekly wrap-up to begin with, but this week was HUGE training wise so I felt the need to brag about it fill you all in. I also did various fun activities last week, making it quite the productive week. I had a parade on Wednesday evening that resulted in slight intoxication as well as a trip to the vineyards on Sunday, which is only slightly ironic since the only thing I drank was beer.

I had training in the morning on Sunday and then left for the vineyards around 1, so instead of half-assing a five miler just to do something, I chose to rest on Sunday and opted to do my long run on Monday evening. I spent a bit longer at work than I wanted to so wasn't able to get out until almost 5 and by that time I knew I would have to push it in order to get the whole 16 in. I ended up doing 15.5, which I was totally fine with.

In terms of training mileage, it was the heaviest week to date, and I have one more heavy week of training before a step back week next week. I have the West Point Triathlon on Sunday morning, and then will try and add on another 5 or 6 miles after at a nice steady pace, but the race is tough with a lot of uphill work, so I'm going to see how it goes. Also, I have a tendency to drink immediately post-race which puts a serious damper on all physical activity later on in the day. If you can't enjoy yourself during the race, you might as well enjoy some beverages after it.

On to the wrap-up.

Number of Miles Run: 35. My running mileage is slowly but surely creeping up into that "you are crazy" number. I am counting yesterday's long run as part of last weeks' running mileage total. I know that technically that's a cop out, but seeing as how I might not do another long run this week but rather on Monday again next week, I'm counting it. And it's my blog so I can do what I want.

Number of Miles Biked: 28. That's a bad number. The fact that I have run more miles than biked is pretty bad, and I actually only got on the bike once last week. I wanted to ride on Friday, but I ended up going for a swim in the afternoon and just ran out of time before happy hour. Yes, that's right, happy hour. I know where my priorities are.

Number of Yards Swam: 5300. This is actually phenomenal for me. Considering that I can barely get in 3000 each week, the fact that I swam a long session last Friday and did a 2500 main set was great and I applaud myself. I'll take anything I can get swim-wise at this point.

With the West Point Tri this upcoming weekend being only a B race, I am training through it so there will be no taper for me. Depending on the after party there might be a chance to squeeze in some after-race miles, but don't count on it. SJ and I are spending the weekend up there, so maybe I'll be able to convince her to do a long trail run in Bear Mountain State Park on Monday and call that my LSD.

Other things on tap for the week - besides beer, of course, because that's always on tap at our house: FD training on Wednesday, hill repeats on Thursday, hopefully two swim workouts and two bike workouts spaced out somewhere amongst the madness.

Gear Review: Dry+Goods Powder Spray

**Disclaimer - I have been asked by the guys at Dry+Goods to write a product review for them in exchange for products and getting their name out there to expand the brand. However, this review will be unbiased and truthful in both the positives and negatives and I stick by (but I don't stick to!) everything that I write.

I am a sweater. It really doesn't matter what I am doing, I will sweat while doing it. One of the biggest problems I had about semi-living in Astoria with SJ was the fact that I would basically have to bring a change of clothes with me wherever I went because the walk to the subway made me sweat, then waiting for the subway made me sweat, then being on the subway made me sweat, then the walk to wherever we were going made me sweat. It was a wonder I didn't pass out from dehydration almost daily. I can't imagine what my commute would be like if I actually worked in the city - just thinking about all that sweating is making me sweat right now.

Obviously, seeing as how I lose copious amounts of fluid from my pores at a rate that would make even football players in August (hello preseason NFL games!) cringe, this does wonders for my sex life training. It's hard enough getting through a long run or bike ride without also considering the inner-thigh chub rub, groinal area chaffing, blisters on my feet, boob sweat (of which I actually can't relate since I am still waiting for mine to develop but hear that it is awful) and any number of other moisture related problems that can occur.

TA-DA! Enter: Dry+Goods.

I received a free can of the stuff in my swag bag for Ragnar Cape Cod last May and instantly fell in love with the catchy name. Who doesn't like a little humor when relating to both moisture and your nether-regions? Then I used it and instantly became hooked. I was like a crack fiend, stealing cans from the other people in my van so that I could take home as much as I could. I had never heard of it before, but having used a ridiculous amount of various other products to combat said moisture issues, I knew the (dry) goods when I saw the (dry) goods. Or, in this case, used the goods.

For training purposes, Dry+Goods is great for just about every event in a triathlon. When I open-water swim, I use it around the parts of my wetsuit that cause the most chafing (neck and around the arms) and because it's a spray on, I don't have to worry about missing some small section and then feeling it halfway through a swim. I still use a little Body Glide before spraying it on, which makes the powder attach even better and 9 times out of 10 I am chafe-free. It's also great for getting your wetsuit off for a fast transition out of the water - much better than using Pam and far less sticky and oily.

For running, it is good for pretty much anywhere that you can imagine - and I mean that literally. Be creative. Use it under your arms. Use it on your thighs. Use it on your feet to combat blisters on long runs. If you have a problem area, use it there. If I was Dr. Seuss, I'm sure I could come up with quite the catchy book to write about all the places you could use it (I will use Dry+Goods from a can, I will use Dry+Goods, and not Pam, I will use it in my socks, You can use it on your - well, you get the point). I used it when we raced Ragnar Florida Keys and even in the warm climate was good to go.

I use the product most heavily on bike rides, especially when I am doing a brick workout. I used to use Desitin (yes, the diaper rash cream) but found that it was both super gooey and left residual schmutz in my biking and racing kit. But since it's a powder spray, Dry+Goods is pretty much mess free; just find a nice secluded area, pull your pants down, hold the can about 6-8 inches away from you body and spray (that's what she said!). It goes on cold, so you're in for quite the shock, but dries pretty much instantly into a fine powder not unlike baby powder, but without getting excess powder everywhere so it looks like you have a bad case of dandruff. While I have yet to find a cream or powder that prevents saddle-sores completely, Dry+Goods does help keep the saddle area much drier than any other product, which eliminates 95% of the problem. Without getting too graphic, less moisture = less chafe. You get the point.

It's also great for day-to-day use on those super-sticky, high-humidity days in the middle of the summer that we seem to be getting more and more frequently up here in the New York area. Spray them in your shoes or on your feet before going to work to keep your feet dry or spray some on your inner thighs before wearing a dress and you'll be chub-rub free the whole day!

The only downfall I have found so far is that, much like a spray-on sunscreen, there can be a lot of product lost to wind or spraying too much on at one time or just simply not hitting the correct area and having to spray again. However, as far as the actual product itself, it got me through the last heat wave of a few weeks ago with zero chafing and blister-free, so I have no complaints.

If this awesome product is something that you want to buy, click the link below and it will take you directly to their website. Type in the code: iknowkaitlyn and you can get a 10% discount on any purchase! I highly recommend it for not just athletes, but anyone who lives in an area where sweating is the norm, not the exception.

Click here to buy some Dry+Goods and keep your goods dry!

Happy training and stay dry out there, kids.

Mile Repeats. See also, Death

**DISCLAIMER**

For some of you reading, you may or not get the sweats when I start to tell this story, or maybe even start to feel your stomach get funny like you might want to puke, or maybe you'll just run screaming from the room in terror of having to relive those days. Yes those days - Mondays.

Let me tell you a little story before I dive into my workout yesterday. When I was in college, I played lacrosse (and we were awesome, just sayin'). Since lacrosse is a spring sport, we had the entire fall season to be tortured practice and condition. Fall ball was fun - practices were hard but focused on team-building and learning "the system" and transitioning the new freshman into their new roles as peons college-level players. However, once fall ball ended, it was time to get down to business. 3 days a week for 6 weeks, we were put through high-intensity, lung-burning, vomit-inducing, can't-walk-up-OR-down-the-stairs workouts.

Mondays were especially bad. They were so bad, in fact, that we called them "Hell Mondays". (As if Mondays weren't bad enough in college, coming off of college football Saturday and pro football Sunday Funday. Oh wait, what's that you say? Seems like nothing has changed? Yes, you would seem to be correct.) And each year I was on the team they became progressively worse because my coach became progressively more sadistic until her boyfriend finally proposed and then she leveled off slightly.  Essentially, Monday was an hour of straight sprinting. Notice I didn't say "running", because there was no running involved. It was full on sprinting. And I'm not talking about 400 repeats with rest in-between, I'm talking 30/50/80/100 yard sprints in blocks of time even Usain Bolt would have trouble sustaining.

For an hour.

And then we lifted.

For an hour.

It was awful.

I'm pretty sure our coaches got some kind of weird, twisted joy in watching us die slow deaths on those Monday afternoons. There has to be some kind of gene mutation that allows for that degree of evilness. We did the math once - we ran more on Mondays than the track team ran THE ENTIRE WEEK OF PRACTICE. It's no wonder so many of us have gone on to be runners after college - we were pretty much on the track team to begin with.

This brings me up to my planned mile repeats yesterday - or, as I have started to call them, death. As I ambled out to the track, I couldn't help but think about those Hell Monday runs and figured that if I could get through those days, four mile repeats would be cake.

I was wrong.

They were also awful.

My plan was to go in running 7:00 miles. This is slower than 5k pace, but seeing as how I am aiming for an 8:00 mile pace in the marathon, 7:00 miles is a good speed workout. Contrary to popular belief, track work isn't about just bombing through the interval at whatever your fastest speed is. This will inevitably lead to awful splits and an inability to accurately judge your current work effort. More often than not, it also leads to crashing and burning in spectacular fashion. Which is precisely what I did yesterday.

Keeping in mind my planned pace was 7:00, here are my actual splits:

Mile 1: 6:40
Mile 2: 6:52
Mile 3: 6:58
Mile 4: 6:47

If this were a test, I would have failed miserably. Notice the progressive slide toward crashing and burning in miles 2 and 3. Had I been doing 5 repeats, I probably would have been well over the 7:00 mile pace on mile 4, and the only reason I went under yesterday was because it was my last one and I essentially forced myself to finish strong.

I guess I'm not as good at this whole "pacing" after all, but lucky for me I still have four more attempts at getting it right before November 3rd rolls around.

Tangent (because I have trouble running them): Either I can't run in a straight line - or between straight lines - or Alastair is giving me funny splits, because yesterdays miles were actually clocking in as being 1.07 miles. This is weird because, in reality, 4 laps around a track is NOT a mile, it is roughly 9.34 meters short of a mile. So the fact that I was getting a reading of OVER a mile is absurd and something I need to look into. If anyone else has had this problem in the past then let me know, but the splits I gave above were for my finishing times and not what Alastair considered my "mile" times.

Train Now, Beer Later

This post has a little bit of everything for you today; training, parades and beer - lots or beer, mostly because I had lots of beer last night and am paying the price for it now. I'm not as young as I used to be, and my body definitely doesn't recover from post-ride brews as well as it used to. I'm pretty sure I used up all of my "hangover free" mornings in college because my mid-to-late twenties have not treated me that kindly.

Work first, party later.

It's been a big training week so far - and it's only Thursday. Monday night was the final Summer Run Series run - a five miler down at Jones' Beach. It was a fantastic night for it and the crowd was by far the biggest of the summer. After such a tough training week and my seemingly-endless uphill long run on Sunday, I opted to not race on Monday evening and instead take it at a nice comfortable pace. SJ and I ran together for the first time in what seems like ages and we negative split every mile. Here is the breakdown:

Mile 1: 8:40
Mile 2: 8:19
Mile 3: 8:14
Mile 4: 8:04
Mile 5: 6:25

Obviously, I found another gear on that last mile, but it felt good to open up and let it fly. I finished strong at a respectable 40:12 - and then promptly sat down to enjoy a few post-run bevies and hang out with the fam.

Tuesday I gave myself off, mostly because I don't have the time to train on Tuesdays. It's a good way to force a rest day - schedule yourself jam-packed one day a week and you won't be able to get any training in!

Yesterday I was back at it, getting in 2500 yards in the morning and the a bike ride in the afternoon before going out for the night. Like I've said before, I haven't been getting in the water nearly as much as I should be, and I can definitely feel it. My times are slower than usual and I have a hard time maintaining a set pace that used to be relatively easy. The joys of the 50 hour work week! My ride to Kings Park was also hellish - I didn't have a huge chunk of time so I purposely picked a route that I knew would be challenging so that I could get a hard workout in. At one point, I am fairly certain that I was going backwards down a hill, that's how steep it was. We may not have mountains here on Long Island, but if you want some grueling elevation gains on a ride, I can point you in the right direction. L'Alpe d'Huez it won't be, but it'll hurt nonetheless.

Onto the fun stuff - beer.

The East Northport Fire Department had their parade last night, and is typical with most fire departments, if there is beer involved at the end, we will come. After what seemed like a five mile march, we ended at their headquarters, which also happens to be located directly across the street from The Lark - one of the best beer-drinking establishments around. It really is a beer-drinkers heaven. 16 taps, over 40 bottles and not a light beer to be found. If you want to go someplace for a good beer and you happen to be in the Huntington area, The Lark is definitely the place to go. (On a related note: I really need to start going their more often, especially on Wednesday nights when it's Trivia Night.)

I whetted my palate for the evening with a Breckenridge Pale Ale and it was fantastic. Hoppy, but not so much so that it takes away from the refreshingness (which is not a word, but whatever) of the beer itself. It went down easy and was extremely drinkable - something that was good at the time but so good at 5:15 this morning when my alarm went off. It's a smooth beer that you can drink all summer long, but probably wouldn't hold up for the winter months.

Over the weekend I treated myself to two brews that I hadn't had before: Cisco Brewer's Whale's Tail Pale Ale and Heavy Seas Riptide, both of which I am super fond of.

 

That's SJ's wine glass in the background. She used to share my love of wheat and barley, but

apparently she's strictly a grape-girl now.

 



The Whale's Tail pours out darker than I would have thought, but drinks surprisingly light with only a slightly hoppy taste. At 5.5% ABV, it packs a smallish punch for a Pale Ale but it's a beer that leaves you wanting another when you finish.

Heavy Seas' Riptide calls itself a 'White IPA', so it's a combination of two great things that could have gone horribly wrong if not done well. The drink is loaded with hops, but drinks like a Belgian. When I poured it, there was a strong note of orange and citrus flavors, but you could smell the yeast cutting through the fruit, which made me super excited. I wasn't let down by the flavor in the least. The hops jump out and bite you right away, but the finish is Belgian in style and taste, leaving a pleasant taste in your mouth. At 7.2% ABV, this beer left me drooling on the couch after two, and it was no wonder I woke up Monday morning feeling like I had done a session on Sunday afternoon.

Now that my hangover was faded to the background, it's back to the track for some mile repeats, followed by some lovely 800s. I've had a few weeks off from the track, but I think it's time I revisit the oval-shaped tenth circle of hell.

Train hard and drink well, friends!