Insanity P90X 26.2 70.3

Swim Cancelled 70.3 Is Now 69.1

After Sunday I will officially be a 69.1 Ironman and not the true 70.3 I was hoping for.  The swim portion for the Pocono Mountains 70.3 Ironman has been cancelled due to river heights, current and debris.  I get that it’s cancelled for our safety but for the amount you pay and training you put in I would think that there was a contingency plan in place.  Of course I’ll make the best out of the situation come Sunday, but man I am bummed.  I’m going to keep this post short because if I continue to type I will only get more frustrated.  My focus will now turn to NYC Marathon.

Till next time, I run do you?

Half Ironman Checklist

I’ve been able to ignore all the planning for this weekends Pocono Half Ironman until today.  In today’s post I’m going to list the things I need on race day and hope that I don’t forget anything.  Could you imagine leaving without the most obvious things like your bike, helmet or running shoes?  Luckily my house is only 45 minutes from the event and if I happen to forget something the day before I can always drive back and pick it up.  The weather is going to take a dramatic turn this weekend with temperatures in the upper 30′s at the start and mid 50′s at the finish line, add in a little wind and a chance of showers.

Swim:

• Tri Shorts
• Goggles
• Wetsuit
• Towel
• Lubricant
• Swim Cap (provided by Ironman)

Bike:

• Bike
• Helmet
• Bike Shoes
• Socks
• Light Windbreaker
• Shirt (same shirt I’ll be wearing during run)
• Water Bottle or Camelback (I may wear the Camelback, I’ve done so in training)
• Energy Gu Espresso Love
• 2 Powerbars
• Bike Gloves
• Spare tubes
• CO2
• Tire levers

Run:

• Running shoes
• Energy Gu Espresso Love
• Race Belt

Additional Items:

• Sunscreen
• Sunglasses
• Bag to place over bike (protect from rain)
• Change of clothes for post race
• Thirst for post race, Oktoberfest festival at finish line, beer anyone?

I think that pretty much sums it up.  As of now the swim is still on and the decision will be made come race day.  Water levels are high but if we can avoid any additional rainfall I think there is a chance that the river will drop, slow down and have little debris on Sunday, fingers are crossed.

Till next time, I run do you?

5 Days Till Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains

The training is done and the waiting has begun.  I’m very anxious for Sunday as I attempt my 1st Half Ironman at the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains triathlon.  My workouts this week are quick and easy and are basically used to help stay loose for the big day.  I remember the first time I had to taper during the 2004 marathon, those two weeks were torture, I have the same feeling this week.  Less is more at this point and I need to keep telling myself that so I’m fresh come race day.  Could I have trained harder or longer at times? Sure but what is done is done and I can’t look back, you always have doubts but you need to trust what you’ve done and do whatever it takes to finish.   The only part of the race that makes me nervous is the swim.  Can I do the 1.2 mile distance, yes, but the thing that worries me the most is the beginning and end of the swim which is against the current.  In total it’s probably less than .25 miles upstream and I will need to push a bit harder than what I’m used to in my training and use the downstream current to recover.  I’m sure adrenaline will help me along the way, I just need to stay relaxed. 

Good luck goes out to my buddies Kevin and Jimmy who I’ve trained with but unfortunately will not be starting together because of different wave times which go alphabetically.  Our hope is to eventually catch up on the course for the run which will be survival mode I’m sure.  For now I need to simply get rest, eat well and drink plenty of water.  Oh the forecast for Sunday, temperatures in the upper 30′s to start and only warming up to the mid 50′s as I cross the finish line, good news is there is a Oktoberfest celebration at the end, that beer is going to be so good.

Till next time, I run do you?

God Bless America

Wishing everyone a safe and peaceful 9/11, God Bless America!

Update on Training Next Week

Bike accidents, earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, and getting sick are all reasons why I’ve been lacking with posts, updates to come next week.

Turn up the Dial

Even though last week felt pathetic I still managed to log 23 miles running, 275 minutes biking and 75 minutes swimming, well off the suggested totals for the week but it’s done and behind me now. This week has been much kinder, it’s time to turn up the training dial.  Keep in mind I’m not talking intensity but more along the lines of getting the workouts in and staying within my target heart rate.  The Half Ironman is an endurance event not a sprint so HR training is the key to success come race day.  Here’s my schedule for the week:

• Monday- 45 minute swim
• Tuesday- 90 minute bike, 7 mile run
• Wednesday- 60 minute swim, 8 mile run
• Thursday- 120 minute bike
• Friday- 12 mile run, 30 minute swim
• Saturday- 180 minute bike
• Sunday off

As you can see the training has stepped up now I have to do the same.  Sorry for the short post but I have to go make my softball game.  Yea I do that too.

Till next time, I run do you?

90 Day Fitness Challenge

For those that are interested my buddy is holding a 90 day fitness challenge starting September 1st.  His goal is to create a community to help motivate each other to get fit, not to mention he needs to drop a few lbs.  Sorry Chris but I saw you at the beach Tuesday  

There is a $500 first place prize up for grabs along with 2nd and 3rd place prizes.  All you have to do is click on the following site:

 http://www.gettingstrongnow.com/90-day-fitness-challenge/ and follow the instructions.  

If you need some help I would recommend Insanity, P90x, Asylum or for you ladies out there ChaLEAN Extreme. Click on the above links or side bar banners to place your order and get it in time for the Sept.1st start. 

I’ll join in on the fun after my Half IronMan by doing some P90x and mix bag of cardio. 

Good Luck!

Till next time, I run do you?

Training Blues

I have 58 days 13 hours and 45 minutes until the Pocono Half Ironman and I’m experiencing major training burn out/blues this week.  I’m drained both mentally and physically but I know I need to keep getting my workouts in. 

Over the last 16 weeks I’ve averaged the following per week:

• 24 miles running
• 70 minutes swimming
• 200 minutes biking

Last week was a great week, the schedule ramped up and I completed:

• 29 miles running
• 300 minutes bike
• 120 minutes swimming 

This week is a different story:

• Monday- took off
• Tuesday- 8 mile run/16 mile bike brick
• Wednesday- 35 minute swim
• Thursday- 13 mile run 

I’m behind on my totals this week and debating on taking an additional day or two off so I can regroup for a 3 hour bike ride Sunday, I’ve asked some fellow triathletes on the www.beginnertriathlete.com forum on what I should do and they suggested to scale back on my workouts a bit as I may be training too hard but stay focused.  Apparently this is very common, this week won’t really hurt my overall training as long as I stick to the schedule for the next 7 weeks.   

So here’s the plan for the remainder of the week-

• Friday- 60 minute swim
• Saturday- off day or light 4-6 mile run
• Sunday- 3 hour bike

I’ll be honest, I’m looking forward to exercising for the fun of it and not training for a particular event, especially an endurance event.

Till next time, I run do you?

Training Setback

The setback was planned but how long it’s taking me to get back wasn’t.  Let me explain, I went in last Friday for planned minor surgery which would put me out of commission for 5-7 days, honestly it came at a good time since training and the sprint triathlon have taken a toll on my mind and muscles.  The doctor told me that I can start working out if I feel good, so yesterday (day 6 from surgery) I felt good enough for a 6 mile run on the treadmill.  It was a nice easy run with the hopes of felling good enough to attempt a 10 mile run this morning and then a 30-40 mile bike ride tomorrow.  Well I woke up this morning with some unexpected discomfort which means I may shut everything down until Monday.   

As I type there is 71 days, 21 hours, 30 minutes and 56 seconds until the Pocono Half Ironman, using the next three days to rest will give me just under 10 weeks of training left which is ample enough time for me to be ready come October 2nd.  I’d rather take this route and not risk any further setbacks just to get these couple workouts in this weekend.  Three days off sounds much better than three weeks right?  I’d have to say that the hardest thing is mentally being on the sidelines right now compared to planning my workouts during my busy lifestyle. 

Till next time, I run do you?

First Triathlon

For those of you following I competed in my first ever triathlon Sunday at the Randolph Lake Triathlon which consisted of .5 mile lake swim, 16.4 mile bike & 3.1 mile run, for more details click here.  I really didn’t know what to expect, was I going to panic during the swim with 90 other swimmers around me?  Get a flat on the bike course? Not have enough energy for the run?  Well the answer is NO to all of these.  Let me break down the day for you and hopefully for those that are looking to do their first triathlon this will be of help.

The event started at 8 am and only 15 minutes from my house so instead of rushing around I woke up at 5 am in order to allow myself enough time to eat (bagel and banana) and use the little boys room in the comfort of my own home.  My cousin Will came up from DC was at my house just before 6 am and off we went.  Just one piece of advice here, make sure you pack the night before and go over everything one last time before you leave for the event.  I half packed since most of my stuff was in the car because I’ve been training out of it over the last three months.   

I was registered, body marked, and transitioned set up by 7 o’clock which allowed me time to relax and spend some time with my friends Kevin and Jimmy who also competed.  The water temperature was 79 degrees so if you were to compete for prizes you couldn’t wear a wetsuit.  I was attempting to place in the top three in the Clydesdale division (male athlete over 200 lbs.) so I decided not to wear the wetsuit, I’ll get into this a bit later.

Let’s get into the start, normally from what I’ve seen the gun goes off and you run into the water to start your swim, this tri was a little different in that you jumped off a dock into the lake and wadded for about 3-4 minutes before the gun went off and then the swim began.  At the start I stayed back and let the faster swimmers go ahead of me since I really wanted to concentrate on saving energy and not get bullied around in the water.  About halfway through was when I started to have a little anxiety so I went to the breaststroke for about a minute just to ease my mind, this was very helpful.  Towards the very end I was getting tired but not in the sense of losing my breath but I felt my legs dragging, if I was wearing the wetsuit I’m sure the extra buoyancy would’ve helped.  Nevertheless I came out of the water in 17 minutes and was pleasantly surprised.

T1 was very easy since I had everything laid out nicely, the only thing I decided not to wear were my sunglasses since they fogged up.  The only thing that was weird was running to the bike mounting zone with my bike shoes on, definitely not comfortable but luckily it was only 50 yards or so. 

Since I felt great coming out of the water my goal was to really push it on the bike course and that’s exactly what I did.  My approach was very simple, look at the bike in front of you and overtake it, try and pass as many people as you can.  I’m not going to lie I was passed by riders but honestly I think I passed more and those that did pass me looked like they were pretty elite.  I wanted to average 20 mph on the bike but fell just shy as you will see below when I post my times.

Again the transition off the bike and into the run was fairly simple, T2 was much quicker since all I had to do was transition into my running shoes.  The brick feeling in the legs wasn’t that bad going into the run, at this point is was time to leave it all on the course.  Anything around 8 minute mile average was my goal, I crushed it even though the run felt a lot longer than 3.1 miles.  Here are my splits and official time:

• Swim- 17:12
• T1- 2:38
• Bike- 49:53
• T2- 1:35
• Run- 22:54
• Official Finish- 1:34:15 Placed 2nd in Clydesdale

Congrats go out to my buddy Kevin, Jimmy and my cousin Will who all finished strong. 

I learned a lot and now realize what it is I need to concentrate on before I attempt the Pocono Half Ironman on Oct. 2nd.  First is swim, I need to go longer and stronger every time I hit the water, a lesson or two wouldn’t hurt either.  Second is bike/run brick workouts.  Even though my legs weren’t that bad after the bike/run transition I know there is room for improvement especially since we are talking about a 13.1 mile run after a 56 mile bike and not a 3.1 mile run after a 16.4 bike, big difference. 

The experience was great, weather was perfect and having my family there was even better.  Next stop Pocono, I hope my experience will be just as great come Oct. 2nd.

Till next time, I run do you?