Gregg Gordon
type: channel
description: A triathlete's diary and other stuff
date: 2016-08-23T21:33:11Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: The Podium Year!
items: Four Races – Two Podiums
items: Philadelphia Triathlon
items: Brooklyn Half Marathon
items: Gran Fondo NY
items: A Double Race Weekend
items: CityMD Partnership
items: 2014 NYC Marathon Race Report
items: NYC Marathon is here!
items: Hi, Welcome Back

The Podium Year!
type: item
creator: Admin
date: 2016-08-23T21:33:11Z
subject: Training
description: I’ve figured out the perfect formula to get onto the podium: Train very little. Eat a lot. Drink alcohol. Race selection. Okay, the last bullet point trumps the rest of them and it’s why I’ve been on the podium three times in the last three races. Some obvious questions: why have I virtually given up […]
encoded: I’ve figured out the perfect formula to get onto the podium: Train very little. Eat a lot. Drink alcohol. Race selection. Okay, the last bullet point trumps the rest of them and it’s why I’ve been on the podium three times in the last three races. Some obvious questions: why have I virtually given up on training? What’s causing the malaise? There are a lot of factors actually, but they all roll up into life. My wife and I have a lot of life changes happening in the next bunch of months and as we anticipate them, we are experiencing stresses and anxiety that are different but similar. For me, you’d think that training would be an ideal antedote and my best friend. The toxins that are released, and the increased serotonin production would seemingly mitigate some of the effects of this anxiety, but instead I’ve regressed into a kind of off-season mode. My diet has been bad, and I’ve even been drinking soda in the last week! I know, it’s THAT bad. As has been the case with me many times in my life, I’ll get to a breaking point and say enough is enough. That will spur a new training discipline and I’ll get deep back into the healthiest of lifestyles. That day could be as soon as Monday, but who knows. I just know that I’m not there yet. Being lazy is a terrible addiction and I’m in the thick of it now. So how have I been doing so well? Race Selection! These three podiums were all in very small races featuring 300 or less participants. I’m also in a new age group having “aged up” this year into the 45-49 Male category. As such, I’m the youngest age in that age group and competing against 48 and 49 year olds amongst others. I would argue that my general youthfulness and ability to recover well from athletic events benefits me well in this group. In the Central Park Triathlon, I raced a course I know like the back of my hand. In the Staten Island Triathlon, I had raced the course maybe a couple of times in the past, but it was flat and fast. In this past weekend’s Pequannoc…

Four Races – Two Podiums
type: item
creator: Admin
date: 2016-08-16T15:08:52Z
subject: Training
description: It’s been a busy month. When planning my 2016 race calendar, I decided to race four events in rapid succession such that I’d get just a week’s rest between each of them. Figuring that my early season form would only improve over the course of the season, it seemed like a doable and successful plan. […]
encoded: It’s been a busy month. When planning my 2016 race calendar, I decided to race four events in rapid succession such that I’d get just a week’s rest between each of them. Figuring that my early season form would only improve over the course of the season, it seemed like a doable and successful plan. Mostly, it has been. What I’ve seen emerge over the last few years is a great early season of training with appropriate build-ups of distance and intensity. I generally feel good, my weight is appropriate, I’m invested into what I’m doing including going to the gym to lift weights, etc. Then, as the warmer temps arrive… and I’m not solely pointing to the thermometer as the single catalyst here… I seem to be less enthused, less fast, and stuck in a rut. Thus, my late season long endurance events like the NYC Marathon are typically really bad days for me. This year has unfortunately been no different. I felt great in my early training and in the races I entered. I was happy with the progress and felt good about my later season prospects. I didn’t overdo it and felt like the passion was still there. Being between full-time work projects and while consulting, I had the time to train and lift weights… but I didn’t do that much of it inexplicably. I still did some basic stuff, but as time wore on, swimming became a lost interest and forget about going to the gym when it’s warm out. While the cycling performance improved and continues to improve even now, the run element has suffered. I don’t run often and when I do, it’s not surprisingly of poor quality. There is a cycle here and if I were an objective coach looking at me as a client, breaking the cycle would be easy to recommend. Run more! Run smarter! Just do it! Adapting to a new company in a new segment of the industry doing a job that’s entirely new has been a big challenge. So has the preparation for a little guy who is set to join our family in January. And, we are moving to my folks’ home in northern NJ to get help with…

Philadelphia Triathlon
type: item
creator: Admin
date: 2016-06-27T17:39:12Z
subject: Training
description: I competed in and finished my 10th Philadelphia Triathlon this past weekend, and while it was probably the most fun I had, it was also my slowest. Naturally, that correlation troubles me, but the real correlation needs to be understood to figure out why yesterday was what it was. First, I’ve not been putting in […]
encoded: I competed in and finished my 10th Philadelphia Triathlon this past weekend, and while it was probably the most fun I had, it was also my slowest. Naturally, that correlation troubles me, but the real correlation needs to be understood to figure out why yesterday was what it was. First, I’ve not been putting in crazy training hours. In reality, I’ve been in the pool less than a half-dozen times in the last two months, and I’ve been really unmotivated with running. After the Brooklyn Half-Marathon, I realized that a blister the size of Rhode Island had developed under my left foot, so I let it heal for as long as it would take to not put further pressure on it. After I while, I got complacent and used to not running. I did compete in the Queens 10k race in Flushing Meadow Park last weekend, but as would be expected, my performance numbers weren’t great. My average pace wound up around 8:19 per mile where I had started off with sub 8s. On the bike however, I’ve been feeling great. My numbers have been improving steadily, and I feel so strong whenever climbing up hills. I seem to be stronger than most of my riding partners, so that’s also good for the ego. But, I sense that the progress on the bike has hurt the run especially given the lack of brick sessions. My weight has been pretty good and I’m hovering in the high 170s; that’s great for me! I suspect that I’ll shed just a few more pounds be a solid 175 within a month. Second, the Philly course is not a fast one. The swim typically has some element of tide within the Schuykil River, but on Sunday, they changed the course due to low water levels. And there was virtually zero current. That’s fine, and I swam well considering my under-training, but a little tide would have helped. The bike course is technical and challenging as it offers plenty of flats, short and gradual hills, tight turns, and fun downhills. The run course is pancake flat; half in one direction away from transition in shade, and the other half in the…

Brooklyn Half Marathon
type: item
creator: Admin
date: 2016-05-22T22:37:13Z
subject: Training
description: Having had an oblique issue for the last few weeks, it’s been hard to get out to run. While an ideal running form features primarily a horizontal orientation where the energy pushes the runner to limit the up-and-down vertical movements of running, few runners can actually run like former NYC Marathon champion Alberto Salazar who […]
encoded: Having had an oblique issue for the last few weeks, it’s been hard to get out to run. While an ideal running form features primarily a horizontal orientation where the energy pushes the runner to limit the up-and-down vertical movements of running, few runners can actually run like former NYC Marathon champion Alberto Salazar who epitomized a still upper body and a glide-like running style. I have a little bit of vertical movement in my running style, but it’s still there and what little I do move up and down affected my oblique such that I focused instead on cycling the last few weeks. As such, my run miles were few and I worried a lot about how I’d fare in a half-marathon or any running competition. For the Brooklyn Half, an event I’ve done 3 or 4 times, I had low expectations. I would have loved seeing something sub 1:50, but figured I’d be closer to 1:55. My last half-marathon in March at the NYC Half brought me in at 1:55 and change, and before that at the Staten Island Half, I came in a few seconds shy of 1:49. My best buddy Fernando and I have done a lot of races together and in all but a few of them, he’s been faster than me. It’s not so much a competition between us as we are so supportive of one another, but in this event, neither of us believed that we’d have a banner day and there was the potential that we’d run together for most of all of it. It was an early start time; 7 a.m. To get there in plenty of time to take care of the bathroom break, checking our bag, and getting situated in the right corral, we had to get up at an unGodly hour and take the subway. For me, that meant a 3:45 wakeup and meeting at the subway at 5:15. We got to the race at 6 a.m., took care of the essentials, and got ready in the corral for the big day. We were light-hearted and in great spirits, except Fernando was struggling with stomach ailments likely from some bad sushi the day before. We both hoped that he’d fight through it like he has before. I was decked out in my CityMD …

Gran Fondo NY
type: item
creator: Admin
date: 2016-05-20T15:00:17Z
subject: Training
description: This past weekend, my good buddy Fernando and I participated (not raced!) in the GFNY event held in NY and NJ. It’s actually two events combined into one: a 100 mile bike RACE, and a 50 mile bike ride. Fern initially came up with the idea of doing the 100 miler thanks to influence from […]
encoded: This past weekend, my good buddy Fernando and I participated (not raced!) in the GFNY event held in NY and NJ. It’s actually two events combined into one: a 100 mile bike RACE, and a 50 mile bike ride. Fern initially came up with the idea of doing the 100 miler thanks to influence from friends of his with whom we’d potentially be a four person team. But, as time marched on and he realized that his fitness was not where he thought it needed to be, we dropped down to the 50 mile distance. Essentially, riders gather on the lower roadway of the George Washington Bridge and at 7 am, all depart on a course that takes us along the Hudson River (mostly) through beautiful scenery towards Bear Mountain in Rockland County, NY. The course is hilly for sure; the Bear Mountain climb itself is 4 miles of various gradiants, the most being roughly 10%. For the 50 mile participants, ascending the hill is the victory, and a short descent to the shuttles ends the day where riders and their bikes are driven back to the GWB. For the 100 milers, the latter half of the course features more hills but on a different return route. Neither of us have ever done this type of event before, and neither of us are true cyclists in the sense of living and breathing the cyclist lifestyle. Sure, we ride to support the triathlon interests, but tri-guys are considerably different than roadies. We ride different bikes, we are not comfortable in big groups and often train solo, and we don’t know all the unwritten rules of etiquette. But, how hard could it be? It was a chilly morning; temps in the low 50s, overcast mostly, and windy. We killed time for almost an hour on that lower roadway of the GWB and once we were off, it was mayhem. Tons of riders everywhere, we were chilled to the bone, and a meandering course to get us to River Road. Once there, we were on familiar ground and just rode along per our usual training pace. Many yahoos were darting in and out as they did their relative best to race this ev…

A Double Race Weekend
type: item
creator: Admin
date: 2016-05-08T22:31:55Z
subject: Training
description: It wasn’t a particularly tough weekend as the two races didn’t duplicate disciplines, but it was nonetheless fun… and wet! On Saturday, I raced in a cute, small race called the Spring Couples Relay. I’ve done this race maybe a dozen times and it’s always super fun despite the bouts of super high intensity. My […]
encoded: It wasn’t a particularly tough weekend as the two races didn’t duplicate disciplines, but it was nonetheless fun… and wet! On Saturday, I raced in a cute, small race called the Spring Couples Relay. I’ve done this race maybe a dozen times and it’s always super fun despite the bouts of super high intensity. My partner a few years ago was this tiny dynamo named Jessica. She hails from Ecuador, and we met rather by chance while she was a student at Baruch. She lifeguarded while I swam at their pool, and I’d often see photos of her next to championship banners for swimming and running. Later, she joined my triathlon team and we quickly became friends. I adore her. Super smart, super sweet, amazingly fast, and always smiling. The race consists of a male-female team where one party completes a 2.2 mile run, the other completes a 12.2 mile bike, and then both parties get into a row boat in Central Park and navigate a kidney-shaped pond for about 3/4 of a mile in a flat-bottomed beast of a rowboat. In 2013, we won first place overall thanks to her run effort. Unlike years past, in 2013 the bike leg was first. I was 5th and Jessica chewed up the competition on the run putting us in first place for the boat. We managed to hold off the competition with me rowing and her navigating and we were overall champs! This year, they swapped the run and bike. Jessica is coming off a running injury and isn’t quite pain-free, but still soldiered on. She took off at the start and came in 2nd with just some super fast guy in front of her. She tagged me and I took off like a bandit in front of the lead cyclist. I found her quickly and hammered away in wet, cold, and windy conditions. Halfway through the first of two laps of Central Park, the race organizer in his SUV pulled in front of me to announce to the other park visitors that they needed to make the road clear for the “lead cyclist”. Wow, it was at that moment that I realized that I was winning the race… on a bike! I’ve never been in t…

CityMD Partnership
type: item
creator: Admin
date: 2016-04-05T21:59:34Z
subject: Training
description: It’s been quite some time since I posted on this blog, though I have referred friends and colleagues to it over the past couple of years with some level of embarrassment for not being more conscientious. Perhaps that’s a good sign of having other fun things to focus upon. So, regarding the title of this […]
encoded: It’s been quite some time since I posted on this blog, though I have referred friends and colleagues to it over the past couple of years with some level of embarrassment for not being more conscientious. Perhaps that’s a good sign of having other fun things to focus upon. So, regarding the title of this post… a little backstory is needed. I used to work for MagnaCare, a regional management company that helped different types of clients manage their health benefit plans. I loved most of my experience there and wanted take my pride of them to the next level by representing them as a sponsored athlete. So, I presented the idea and they were on board. I proudly wore that MagnaCare kit in triathlons, in running events, while training on the bike, etc. In December of 2015, amid some restructuring following a few company setbacks, we parted ways. It was bittersweet as it not only represented a goodbye to some pretty good successes there, but also the end of this athletic sponsorship. As with most things in my life, I chose to look at what was next… professionally, personally, athletically, etc. “This is an opportunity,” a voice in my head kept telling me. I met the CEO of CityMD through the course of my work and instantly liked him. Dr. Richard Park is impressive in every way that I find valuable; he’s immensely intelligent, he is humble despite his enormous successes, he has instilled a culture of positivity and kindness within his organization, he is generous, he is an amazing father, and he’s simply a very nice guy. I like what CityMD is doing in the local marketplace, and I like that they have plans to scale this business to other markets. I have had many friends relay their positive experiences from visiting a CityMD location, and I too am a patient with a very positive experience. It occurred to me that I would love to represent them in multisport activities since they are a health care company, doing great things, and supported by kind, positive people. So, it is wi…

2014 NYC Marathon Race Report
type: item
creator: Admin
date: 2014-11-04T23:10:51Z
subject: Training
description: Wow, that was a rough day. So many stories to tell, and so much pain to describe, but I’ll be succinct and focus on little stories/tidbits. – Woke up at 4 a.m., out of the house at 5:15 a.m., and took a cab to the subway. Got there early, so went inside a 24 hour […]
encoded: Wow, that was a rough day. So many stories to tell, and so much pain to describe, but I’ll be succinct and focus on little stories/tidbits. – Woke up at 4 a.m., out of the house at 5:15 a.m., and took a cab to the subway. Got there early, so went inside a 24 hour Duane Reade and read US Weekly. – Met up with my best buddy Fernando at the W 72nd Subway at 6 a.m. and took it down to the Staten Island Ferry. Met up with another friend Isela. Once on SI, saw another friend Bill. Took a bus from the ferry to Fort Wadsworth to wait until race start. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-843" class=" wp-image-843" alt="NYCMarathon-SIFerry" src="http://www.gregghgordon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/NYCMarathon-SIFerry.jpg" width="576" height="432" srcset="https://www.gregghgordon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/NYCMarathon-SIFerry.jpg 960w, https://www.gregghgordon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/NYCMarathon-SIFerry-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" /> At the Staten Island Ferry with Fernando. – The day before, went to a thrift store and bought some warm clothing and a fleece blanket to keep me warm during the wait, which wound up being like 2 hours. Scores of others seemed to have the same idea. No one appeared to be fashion conscious. – At race start, temps were in the low 40s and winds were howling. Once on the Verrazano Bridge (I was on the lower level), wind speeds picked up. Easily exceeded 40 mph. Smaller female runners in front of me were literally blown off their feet and into other runners. I wore two thin long-sleeved tops with a short-sleeved MagnaCare racing shirt on top, and MagnaCare tri shorts on the bottom. Wore a visor and over-the-ear headphones with an arm-band holding my iPhone. Created a 7 hour playlist of great tunes to keep me well entertained. Coldness and wind had no effect on my spirit. I like battling bad weather. I don’t like running into a headwind for 20 miles though. – Once over…

NYC Marathon is here!
type: item
creator: Admin
date: 2014-10-31T20:55:22Z
subject: Training
description: This Sunday is my second NYC Marathon, and I am really unprepared. I mean, I’m prepared, but such preparation didn’t go that well and I’m fearing having a bad day. Most people seem to think that if you think positive, good things will happen… and I too subscribe to that theory… generally… but there’s something […]
encoded: This Sunday is my second NYC Marathon, and I am really unprepared. I mean, I’m prepared, but such preparation didn’t go that well and I’m fearing having a bad day. Most people seem to think that if you think positive, good things will happen… and I too subscribe to that theory… generally… but there’s something to be said for zeroing in on honesty and using reality as the true barometer. Here’s what I mean: If I believe in myself, and I buy into the really supportive comments made from fellow athletes, friends, family, etc., and then on race day, my beliefs are dashed by the body’s failure to perform at a certain level, I’ll feel emotionally bereft and pillars of disappointment will surround this memory for a long time. Conversely, if I only think negative things, then maybe I’ll make that my reality and never perform to a level that I could have and I’ll still be saddled with a poisoned memory. So, there’s the middle ground where I say to myself, “Self, you were conscientious, you put in the work as best you could, and you clearly remember your past successes and failures, so just go out there and be aware that you may not have any control of what happens on race day. You may feel great and push too hard, only to really hit the wall in the back half of the race, or you might feel great and find a good, sustainable rhythm… or you could feel like shit right out of the gate, and those feelings won’t dissipate much with time thus making it a many-hour shit-fest.” I cannot control some of these variables and while I am mostly type A, I have learned to be comfortable not being in control. Being married to a type A certainly helps to grow this ability, but I think that I am in a good place. I don’t have any lofty expectations and just finishing will be a major honor. Yes, I did it before (in 2007), but I remember how horrible an experience it was by having hope of breaking four hours and coming in at 4:37. I remember feeling embarrassed talking about how badly I did, and t…

Hi, Welcome Back
type: item
creator: Admin
date: 2014-10-23T18:50:37Z
subject: Training
description: Well, it sure has been a while. I’ve done a lot in the last couple of years since I last maintained this site, but rather than re-hash where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to, I’m just going to add stuff whenever and for whatever reason… starting with a pic from an event I […]
encoded: Well, it sure has been a while. I’ve done a lot in the last couple of years since I last maintained this site, but rather than re-hash where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to, I’m just going to add stuff whenever and for whatever reason… starting with a pic from an event I went to last night. My company does a lot of business with Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and we had representation at a gala fundraising event they held last night at the famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel ballroom. In attendance was my wife, and a colleague and her husband. Roya looked amazing as usual in her runway Gucci gown, and I did my best to not ruin her look by wearing a Gucci tuxedo that Roya helped me get courtesy of a sample sale at Gucci and her generous discount. So, we were the Gucci couple indeed. Fun event, decent food, some dancing, and lots of laughs. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-833" alt="GG&Roya-WaldorfAstoria-20141022" src="http://www.gregghgordon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/GGRoya-WaldorfAstoria-20141022.jpg" width="432" height="576" srcset="https://www.gregghgordon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/GGRoya-WaldorfAstoria-20141022.jpg 720w, https://www.gregghgordon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/GGRoya-WaldorfAstoria-20141022-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px" />