Training in Vegas

Posted by on March 18, 2008 in Training

I’m headed to Las Vegas on Friday for a bachelor party event for my good buddy Brad.  From what I can tell, it’ll be a PG-rated weekend which is kind of a relief.  I won’t know a lot of the folks going, but Brad is a such a good guy and I have to believe that he only attracts and befriends people of similar character.  On the slate is watching a ton of college basketball, a pick-up basketball game of our own, going to a club with passes to avoid lines and hang in a VIP area, partying by the pool, etc.  I may play a few hands of blackjack, but I believe that you have to have throw-away money to gamble and given my recent induction into the club of home owners, there are echos in my cash vaults.  All of this aside, there’s only one thing separating me from the masses… I have to train.

Last week, I worked from home because the car was in the shop (I just got it back last night and finally made an appearance in the office today).  The luxury of working from home wasn’t lost on me though, and I managed to get a lot done professionally and training-wise including a long run and an 81 mile bike.  With just under 10 weeks until the big day in Brazil, I simply have to get in a ton more of long days and be comfortable with such long mileage.

So, in Vegas, I’ve scheduled a 16 mile run.  I figure I’ll run in one direction for an hour and ten minutes, then turn around.  I also figure that the terrain is somewhat flat and that I’ll negative split (go faster the second half).  The weather is supposed to be 75 degrees or so but if I go in the morning, I should get 50 to 55 degree temps which is ideal running weather.  I’d MUCH rather sleep in Saturday morning and have fresh legs for playing basketball, but Brazil is a priority and I just don’t have any margins here in terms of timing.

Running is something I can do anywhere, anytime.  Cycling is quite a bit different for all the obvious reasons.  So, I’ve taken off from work on Friday (the flight is at noon) and will do about 50 miles of riding early in the morning.  I also took off on Monday since Sunday is a non-training day (what we call a “recovery day”) and the goal is ride 90 miles followed by a 4 mile run.  If this plan works out, I will finally feel like I’m on target.  I have a huge bank of personal time, so days off here and there are not an issue.

The rest of the week will be like other weeks, where I swim, do one hour runs, and do either 90 minute outdoor or 60 minute indoor rides.  On Sunday, March 30th, I’m racing in the March Madness Biathlon which is composed of a 2 mile run, a 12 mile bike, and another 2 mile run.  The New York Triathlon Club calls these events biathlons (even though it’s traditionally defined as cross-country skiing and target shooting) whereas the rest of the world calls our events duathlons.

In any event, it takes place in Central Park and while my fastest time was in 2006 where I clocked 1:10, there’s definitely no chance that I’ll come close to that this year.  My short-course/high-intensity speed probably doesn’t exist given the focus on distance rides and runs, but it’ll be good to be in a race environment and see some friendly faces.  Because I scheduled the race, that weekend will be an “off” weekend for me in terms of long distance training and that’s always a relief given the physical toll.

I have this policy of eating/drinking whatever I want for 24 hours following a race.  Mom and Dad are coming to watch me and afterwards, we are going to meet up at a Persian food restaurant to celebrate the Persian New Year.  No Ruz, as it is called, is on March 21st but since I’ll be away that day, I wanted to make sure that I still had the chance to enjoy the cultural celebration with Mom and Dad.  While the chance to eat my favorite food in the world is really exciting for me because I will have earned the right, the big deal that day is that the ‘rents will be meeting Deborah for the first time.  Yes, this is the first mention of Deborah here at least by direct name.  There will be more entries about her in the future, but for now, I’m exercising restraint out of mutual respect for one another.  With Ironman training and now a steady girl, it’s no wonder so many of my friends are wondering where I’ve been!

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