I’m back baby!
Posted by Admin on June 9, 2013 in Training
So, it’s been over a year since I last posted, and I could offer a thousand excuses, but I won’t… because no one cares. I will say however that I’ve been meaning to for a while but found it hard to get over the hump of putting up that first post. As of this writing, I’m over that hump.
So, what’s going on? Well, on the training and racing front, quite a bit. Last September, I raced in my 100th triathlon but only after a long, grueling season that saw me slower than I should have been and often fatigued from a lack of recovery. Following that achievement, I vowed that the 2013 season would be a “fun” season where I’d do a few favorite races, not do too many races overall, and cut off the triathlon season by the end of July so that I’d have three full months to properly train for the NYC Marathon. For the most part, I’m track for that… except that I qualified for the USAT National Championship in Milwaukee on August 10th. USAT is the national accrediting body for triathlon in this country and qualification for their championship happens a variety of different ways. In my case, I raced in a super sprint triathlon near one of my offices and finished in the top 10%. This “super sprint” consisted of a quarter mile swim in a pool, followed by a 6 mile bike course (3 loops of a two mile course), and a 2 mile run. Two buddies of mine also qualified at this race, so we’ll be road-tripping together to Wisconsin in August. I would have liked to just run in August, but this race is worth it and to be invited to participate is an honor I couldn’t refuse.
So far this season, I’ve had a good run of things. I raced the Nautica South Beach Triathlon in April, and have done a few others of smaller distances since. I was supposed to race the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon in March, but Roya had a minor procedure planned for that weekend, and frankly, I was a bit undertrained anyway… so I bailed on the race. I decided however to race my version of Alcatraz that day in NYC and I did so by swimming 1.2 miles at the pool at Riverbank State Park, then cycled about 25 miles with a friend in 30 degree chill and wind, then, after a 10 minute thaw session in my car, we ran just over 7 miles (the run course at Alcatraz is actually 8 miles, but I thought it was close enough!). It took me 3.5 hours which is a long time to race/train but it felt good to simply accomplish it. A few weeks later, I had planned to race the NYC Half Marathon which goes through Times Square and ends by the South Street Seaport (what’s left of it!), but again had to bail on the race to help Roya. And again, I decided to race on my own that afternoon. I went to the actual start line and raced the exact course just like I would have that morning. The only times I stopped were because of some red lights, but other than that, I ran my heart out with the goal of getting a personal record… and I did… by a lot! Finished with a 1:41 finish time and though it’s totally unofficial, it felt amazingly good. Below is a pic from the subway platform after the run.
Post Run Happiness after the Personal Record
This month, I’ll be racing the YMCA Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes Triathlon right near my home town in northern Bergen County. It’s been a bucket list race of mine for some time and given its proximity to my parents’ house, I’m excited about racing it. My goals are fairly simple for this race; partly, it’s to put out a major effort on the bike given the amount of work I’ve done this season on that leg, and to complete the latter half of the run faster than the first half (called a “negative split”). I expect to really, really, really suck on the swim leg because I just haven’t spent much time in the pool. The following week, I’ll be racing the Philly Olympic Triathlon, my 8th time doing this event. It’s one of the three races that I feel I must do every year, and also includes the NYC Triathlon and the Central Park Triathlon. In Philly, Roya will be joining me along with our little dogs, so it’ll be fun to actually my loves there to support me.
One final note on this catch-up post: a few months ago, as I discussed the servicing of my triathlon bike with my mechanic (the very dependable and trusted Imbert Jimenez from Master Bikes), I mentioned that I was hoping to get a new tri bike next year to which he revealed that a triathlon shop in midtown was getting out of the bike business and selling their Cervelo P5 models for about half price. The P5, to me, was a dream bike, not because it was the right bike for me based on my body geometry, but because it was a top of the line bike that simply looked awesome. Sure enough, when I got to this tri shop, it was confirmed that the bike was on sale for a huge amount less than retail. I was nervous about spending the money, but when I told Roya about it, she insisted that I must get this bike. Who does that? What kind of wife insists that her husband buy a top-of-the-line expensive bike? Roya! So, I did get it… and it is amazing. It’s fast for lots of reasons, but while I was at it, I got a power meter and some other fun extras, so I couldn’t be happier on this new bike, and it’s brought me a new joy for cycling this season. Let’s hope it pays off this weekend and the rest of the season.
The bike is fast, but I'm still the same engine. If nothing else, it sure is pretty!
So that’s it for now. Glad to be over the hump. More to come soon.
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