Wind Cycle

It's Friday night, so you know what that means - party time I'm stuck at work covering for someone. The joys of doing the right thing. But alas, it means I get to catch up on my work - and by "work" I mean looking up random things on the internet and reading sports and fitness related magazines. Hey, it's relevant. I work in the field!

I hit the track yesterday for my first track workout of the training period. I haven't run on a track since the last timed mile I had to do for lacrosse in college (shout out to the MU lax crew!) and I haven't done an actual "work out" on a track since those winter track days in high school (shout out to the TP!), so, needless to say, I was a little rusty. Considering the fact that I have been a competitive triathlete for the past, ohhhh five or so years, you would think I would have gotten by ass in gear earlier in terms of all this "speed work", but I have never been the most disciplined person when it comes to an actual plan. I have more of an "all over the place" type of training style, so the fact that I have any kind of training plan at all at this point is a huge step in the right direction.

Let's get back on track (pun intended) - the actual workout was 4x800 repeats at 3:15 followed by 4x400 repeats at 1:30, with a 200 jog/walk between each repeat. I did a mile warm up and a mile cool down, so in total I did somewhere around 6 miles, 3 of which were at a pretty decent clip. Clearly, this is not a pace that I could sustain for 26.2 miles, but I figured if I'm gonna do speed work, I might as well go fast.

I'm not going to say that the workout was awful - any Monmouth Lacrosse player circa 2004-2009 can tell you that Monday running was much worse - but it wasn't a pleasant experience either. Thankfully, I only have to do track workouts one out of every three training weeks, so I won't have to think about this again for another 20 days.

I followed up yesterdays track session with a windy and sneakily hilly 35ish bike ride today. The thing about windy rides is that, when you have the tail wind and are pushing 26 mph, you love it, and then when you hit the turn around - as you inevitably do unless you are lucky enough to be riding a point-to-point and then you never have to worry - and you're hitting the head wind and barely breaking 15 mph, it's absolutely dreadful. Really. When you crest a tough hill in a head wind and STILL have to peddle just as hard on the way down, you know it's gonna be a long ride home. And you almost NEVER get the tail wind home.

All-in-all it was a hard two days worth of work, and my legs are definitely feeling it. I'm supposed to get in a 5 mile marathon race pace run in tomorrow, but I'm back to work early in the morning and then headed into the city for the NYC Triathlon on Sunday and the thought of a 5 am wake-up call for a run tomorrow makes my already drained legs tremble just slightly.

I will, however, be getting in my second double digit run this weekend, as well as giving you a full race report from the NYC Triathlon on Sunday. I am only doing the swim as a last minute relay substitute for a friend but I've never done NYC so I'm looking forward to it. Maybe not so much the "swimming in the Hudson River" bit, but I'm sure I'll survive. I will be wearing a full wetsuit to protect myself from hypodermic needles though. I'm not stupid.

A Note on "Insider Training". . .

There are only a few things in life that are worse than running on a treadmill, and one of those things happens to be using a bike trainer for indoor rides. I know, I know - you're probably thinking, "What about the state of our economy?". Or maybe, "What about starving children in Third World countries!?". Or even, "Global warming is ruining our planet!" (although I'm sure there are quite a few people out there who believe global warming is a myth, so perhaps that isn't the best choice). Yet, as much as I hate to say this, these thoughts rarely cross my mind on any given day - at least not in a way that actually disrupts the course of my daily routine. However, treadmills and bike trainers are two things I am confronted with far more often than I would like.

I admit it, treadmills and trainers are easy and convenient. When it's 105* outside with humidity hovering somewhere just around "tropical rain forest" (global warming?), who wouldn't like to be in an air conditioned gym with a cool breeze blowing on your face from your own personal mini-fan? Or when it's pouring rain to the point where building an Ark isn't too far out of the question and you have a 40 mile bike ride planned, why wouldn't you want to just throw your bike on the trainer and ride in the comfort - and dryness! - of your own home? Yes, yes, these are all valid points. But it doesn't take away from the fact that YOU ARE STAYING IN ONE PLACE FOR THE ENTIRE DURATION OF THE EXERCISE!

I mean, really. You want to take about feeling like a hamster, go try busting out a 10 mile run on the treadmill or biking 40k on the trainer. It's not exactly the most thrilling of activities. It's the means to an end, of course, but that's about it.

And yet, these were the two options I was forced to consider yesterday as I try to keep on track with my weekly training goals. Having already skipped the planned early morning swim Tuesday due to a late meeting Monday night, I couldn't slack off for a second day in a row and as I stared at the weather monitor on TV and the impeding thunder clouds looming overhead I knew I had a Sophie's Choice-type decision to make. (Okay, I realize that my choice wasn't nearly as dramatic as that, but all being equal, it was a choice I would have rather not have had to make. And for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, see here.)

I decide on the bike - it's the lesser of the two evils and I can do it at home, rather than in the gym. I literally work and work-out in the same place which, while convenient, leads me to want to spend as much time as possible working out elsewhere. I also realize that I can watch the DVRed time trial stage of the Tour de France from earlier today, which makes this somewhat slightly more bearable. It gives me a change of scenery and makes me feel like I'm riding in the Tour, just without all the blood doping and steroids. I get everything set up - bike trainer, fan, chair to put the TV remote on situated right next to my bike, water bottles - and go grab my bike.

Flat tire.

What? I rode last Friday and everything was fine. I decide it must be a slow leak somewhere and opt not to change it - I'm not going out on the road anyway - so I just pump it up and get going. I turn the TV on and hike up the volume (those trainers are effing loud) and press the DVR button.

No Tour de France.

What? I distinctly remember using the FiOS app to record this stage. It HAS to be on here. Still nothing. I run through all the troubleshooting - reset; manually reset; unplug and wait 30 seconds; reset again. Still nothing. At this point I'm cursing Verizon and their stupid cable service and mentally calculating how much it will cost to switch to Optimum or DIRECTV and it's only five minutes into what should be an hour trainer workout. This is going to suck.

With no Tour to get me through and nothing decent on TV - I slogged through another 20 minutes before finally giving up. There is only so much I can do staring at a blank TV screen, going absolutely nowhere before my adrenaline wanes and I pack it in.

Today will hopefully be better - it's raining off and on but my first track workout of marathon training is calling my name so weather be damned, I'm going outside. I got in an easy 2500 yards this morning in the pool and I'm itching to get a run in. And I have a feeling it'll be another couple of months before my bike trainer gets any love.

Happy Thursday - the weekend is almost here!

Monday Night Runs

Despite what the title may imply, this post is not about bowel movements, but rather the State Parks Summer Run Series here on Long Island. Every Monday night at 7 starting mid-June, a gathering of roughly 2,000 people get together at one of the state parks on Long Island and slog happily run their way through a 5K, 5m or 10K run. And then, after we've all sweated and snot-rocketed our way through a park, we sit down and have a few drinks.

I realize that after reading the above paragraph, I make it sound like we all sit around a campfire and sing Kumbaya while we make s'mores, and that is not AT ALL what we do. I mean, c'mon, there are over 2,000 people there on any given Monday. That is one MASSIVE campfire. And we all know you can't make a (legal) campfire that big! (Remember: only you can prevent forest fires!) However, it's not very far off from it either.

The best part about the Summer Run Series is that anyone can do it. No, really. They even have a wheelchair race that goes off 2 minutes before the rest of the runners. Kids, teens, adults - everyone can run or walk and hang out afterward. They even serve beer at the end! I mean, if a couple of 8 oz. cups of lukewarm, badly poured Miller Lites don't get you running faster, I don't know what would.

Last night was the Bethpage State Park 5K. For those of you into golf - a sport I don't play but wish I did (mostly because of the ubiquitous 19th hole at every course) - that's where the 2002 and 2012 US Opens were held and it's also one of my favorites in the series. The finish line is on the Polo Fields (really!), and who doesn't like dodging horse crap on their way to the finish! But you also get to run along some of the golf course cart paths and it's got a lot of rolling hills which means you can get a decent time on a pretty hard course.

I finished strong with this one chick wearing "Colorado" (ugh, I love that place!) socks. It was one of those mental/physical battles where you both know the other is right there, neck-and-neck, and even though neither one of you is winning anything at this race you are still trying to stick it to the other person. I got stuck behind "Old guy in the short shorts" as we came into the finish so she beat me across the line - but we both gave each other a high five as we crossed. It was one of those "Thanks for pushing me so hard but there was no way I was going to let you beat me even if it meant that now I can't see straight and am in danger of falling over in front of all these people" high fives - but the camaraderie was felt!

Unfortunately, we had to bolt right after we finished because I had a FD meeting to get to, which meant that I also missed my favorite part of the race - the after-party. But alas, there are still four more races to go so there will be plenty of lukewarm beer in my future!

Sunday Night Wrap-up - on a Monday

I woke up late for work detail at Headquarters this morning, which is never a good way to start a morning. You know that feeling when you wake up and just know that the day is shot before you even start it? Yeah, that was my day. I dragged myself out of bed, threw on essentially the same clothes I wore the night before and sped to headquarters to make my appearance. With only two weeks left before the fair, there is a ginormous amount of work left to do and as low-men on the totem pole, it falls to the Probies to do most of the grunt work and if I don't show up, it will be noticed. I have learned one thing in my short time in the fire department thus far, and that is: don't do anything stupid that will get you noticed for the wrong reasons. So hangover or not, I have to go.

After we scrubbed down tents in the baking hot sun and I felt like I wanted to vomit no less than four times, I was finally able to leave to go home and take a nap. My head was pounding and all I wanted to do was lay down - the ten mile run I am supposed to be running today looming over me. There's a heat advisory today and the humidity is hovering somewhere around 100% so there's no way I am running anytime soon as it is - so I want to sleep off this hangover and hopefully feel like a human sometime in the near future. Sarah is up and watching the Murry/Djokovic final at Wimbledon - excellent. I love watching other people workout, especially when I feel like crap.

I finally peel myself off the couch roughly 3 hours later, shower and get on with my day. By 6 it has finally cooled off dropped a degree or two, and after watching 2 hours of the Tour de France, I figure my ten miler isn't nearly as bad as climbing four Pyrenean mountains in one day. SJ has offered to run the first two miles with me, which I gladly accept - if only to force myself to actually do it. Nothing like an audience to force you into something you don't necessarily want to do. Thank you, peer pressure.

We get to mile two and she peels off for home - at least I know I'll have an amazing dinner cooked for me when I get done - and continue on. (One side note: I am not a new runner and ten miles, while not exactly a walk in the park, isn't exactly stretching myself either. But still, there is something about doing a ten miler and knowing that, nine or ten weeks later, you will have to double that in training that makes it all a bit bigger.) Anyways, I finish up about an hour later having sweated out somewhere in the area of 50 lbs. of water and take a walk around the block.

First long run under my belt. Check
First week of training under my belt. Double check.

Weekly Wrap-Up

Total running mileage: 16
Total biking mileage: 18
Total yardage: 2500

First week

This week was supposed to start my first "official" marathon training week (thanks, Hal Higdon, for having not only great training programs, but putting them online for free!). I have chosen the "Advanced 1" level training program - not because I am an advanced marathon runner like the description says you should be, but mostly because the mileage is doable and it gives me speed work.

Naturally, since I am supposed to begin my training schedule, everything goes out the window and I'm lucky to even get in one of the runs that I am supposed to do. Between work and the Fire Department it's already like having two jobs, and then adding training to the mix, I'll be lucky to see my wife, let alone have any kind of social calendar. But so it goes.

Since yesterday was July 4th, I was given a rare day off and tried to use it in a somewhat productive manner. We had a parade in Eaton's Neck in the morning, so that put an early run out the window and I had BBQ plans in the evening, so there went an evening run. That left 1pm - smack in the middle of the hottest part of the day. Awesome.

As soon as I laced up my shoes I knew this was going to be an awful run. The heat and humidity were in full force and I was already sweating just waiting for my Garmin to calibrate. I don't know when exactly Long Island turned into Florida, but I would like just one day where I don't have to empty the dehumidifiers in my basement three times. Anyway, off I go on an easy two mile warm-up and slog through quarter mile hill repeats until finally returning home in a sweaty mess.

Is this really only day three of an 18 week plan?