Breakout.

Tonight was a mile stone. I think I had my fastest mile time ever. Over the run, I averaged a 6:42 mile. Which may not seem that fast but it was great for me.

After making myself drenched in sweat, Adam and I decided to hop and do some laps in the pool as well. Disaster. I really need to ramp up the swimming or else I am not going to make it.

Anyone have any swimming tips or want to teach me to swim better?

Well here's to another exciting work out tomorrow night to continue to punish my body.

Cheers,

e

Speed Workouts.

So today was probably the hardest day of training to date.  Not in the sense of distance and overall accumulated hours / mileage... but in intensity.  

Holy crap.

Started off by going to the gym and lifted arms: biceps and triceps, for those of you that need me to break it down:)

After coming home, my brother and i went up to the track for Nathan's inaugural Speed Workout!!  Oh joy!!  I could barely contain my excitement.  The prospect of running a 400m (one lap around the track) at roughly 75 - 80% and jogging a resting 100m ... THEN repeating that 12 times... i honestly didn't think it would be as tough as it was.  

The total mileage ended up being approximately 4 miles.

I told Aron (my brother) that i was going to try to keep a constant steady 1:30 - 1:35 pace for my 400's since that is on pace for a 6:00 - 6:20 mile.  I sort of miscalculated my ability... badly.

I came out of the first 400 in 1:24.  Ok... 6 - 11 seconds faster than i had anticipated.  But hey, I got faster.  My splits were as follows:

400  - 1:24

800  - 1:20

1200 - 1:18

1600 - 1:17

2000 - 1:22

2400 - 1:23

2800 - 1:27

3200 - 1:25

3600 - 1:25

4000 - 1:21

4400 - 1:22

4800 - 1:12

Adding up the times... my mile splits were as follows:

Mile 1 - 5:29

Mile 2 - 5:37

Mile 3 - 5:20

The last 400 was torture.  At the end i could barely breath, i had nothing in the tank and had left everything on the track that last lap.  Aron told me to shoot for a 1:17 or so on my last lap and he was stunned at what i did... he also said that he's never seen me that out of breath either.  I have never been that depleted physically and emotionally and i honestly felt like crying.  It was very strange, yet although it was only 3 miles... it was the hardest three miles i've ever run in succession.  

I highly recommend watching the movie "Without Limits."  Its a movie based on the career of Steven Prefontaine... and it inspires me.  Makes me want to go faster.  Be better.  Endure the pain.  Go out harder each time out and muscle my way to the top.  Watch it.  Seriously.  If you aren't a runner or that physically active now, this will light a fire under your ass.  

Hard to believe that i ran all out with everything i had my last lap, and Prefontaine ran his last lap after 3 miles in more than 10 seconds faster.  Unreal.  I need to be like that.  I need to be better.

I feel like now a sub - 5 minute mile is within reach for me... and a 5k time of less than 18 minutes even more so.

I won't sit here and say that i'm going to take a day off from running tomorrow, because i know good and well that it will be a complete lie.  From here on out, i will be running EVERY DAY... even if it's only slow mile to get the distance in.  

Friday will be a hill workout most likely and I hope to get a couple 10 milers in before next week.  

I guess you could say that i'm "kicking it up a notch," as if my current level wasn't intense enough.

Yes.  I'm a masochist, extremely motivated, and when I'm on top of the podium, the look of elation on my face will show you why i'm subjecting myself to what most consider "torture and suffering."

I live for this.

7/30

Soccer on Saturday. One goal and 2 assists in a 4-0 win. Played as a lone striker and should have had at least one more goal, but that's the beauty of soccer that many Americans will never understand: You get no points for doing almost everything perfectly. I know, the same is true in basketball, but in basketball you get to do it all again on the next play. In soccer, you'll have about 20 scoring chances in 90 minutes against a very bad team. In an even match up, you'll have five chances if you're lucky. And you have to do everything right when those chances arise. With your feet.

4.5 miles on Tuesday in 34 minutes. That's approximately 7:30 per mile, which isn't bad considering the stop-n-go nature of city running and the idiots who walk 4-wide on the sidewalk. My next purchase will be a steel-toed running shoe. The left shoe, when placed into a buttock at high speed, will leave the word "COMMON" imprinted on the flesh. The right shoe, which will inevitably follow it's partner into battle, will leave "SENSE" behind. If you newspapermen and women are trying to think up a catchy title for the sweaty man leaving messages in buttocks across the city, may I suggest "The Adidalante" or "The Jaded Jogger". Although I'm more of a runner than a jogger, I'm willing to sacrifice accuracy for marketability (call me, Oprah!)

Insanity kicking in.

Posted a few times on my site.  Too long to type over and the copy / paste doesn't work all that well.  It's been a crazy few days as far as training is concerned.  I've been called "mad, insane, crazy, psychotic, masochistic" just to name a few.  

Check out the insanity if you so desire:  Road to the Ironman

Anyways... i've been looking up more races and there are two marathons that i'm considering entering  later on in the fall (after the Baltimore Marathon, of course.)

The first is the Philadelphia Marathon on November 23 (it's the 15th running, so it would be cool to do it) and the second is the Toronto Marathon on October 19th.  Technically, Toronto is 1st, but this is the order i discovered them.

I really am becoming a junkie.  People don't really understand if they haven't experienced this.  Pushing your body to the physical limit and then pushing it further the next time around... BLISS!

Those who can endure the most pain and embrace it will come out on top.  I think it's safe to say that my tolerance has shot up, and i find myself seeking pain out in my workouts.  

If it doesn't hurt, you're not going hard enough.

Dedication.

Ok.

I have been very lackadaisical about keeping up with the blog. I feel like the month of July just disappeared. Poof...gone..into thin air. I have still been training and have not been very good at logging it into the site. For this I apologize.

Tonight was actually a night for biking. 11 miles, again had to stop because the sun was going down. Legs and breathing felt okay, but the problem is that the trail is so freaking crowded with soccer moms power-walking, little kids swerving on their skateboards and bikes, and the hundred other runners and bikes.

I seriously need to go home for a weekend to train. I could have open roads and actually swim in a lake. August 16th I will be home so that will be good.

Also doing a little better with the swimming. I got these new nose plugs that fit nicely with my goggles so I am doing better with my breathing.

The LIVESTRONG race is coming up so I am very excited for that. It will be nice to have the whole team together, doing what we do for a great cause. I am doing pretty well on my fundraising, but please DONATE if you can!!!

Got an email today... 54 days til race day. Can't wait!!!

My brother and I talked the other night about training. He is doing a lot better with his joints since he has been on the supplement. I still need to be him in the bet though. Remember, whomever beats the other gets $100 towards a new tattoo.

Wish me LUCK!!!!

Cheers,

e

7/25

4.623 miles running. My knee doesn't have much in it right now and I'm avoiding the bike because I get a lot of swelling after a ride. Went through S. Phila today and checked for good restaurants along the route. 10th and Morris had something that looked interesting, wish I could remember what it was. High of 90 today but only about 72 when I was out (thank you, noworkonFriday)

Blogging!!

I seem to be the only one doing it!

Since that is the case for now, I will probably only continue to update my own page rather than updating two.  It's just easier that way.

So I reckon until the slackers start getting their act together, you can head over to my page if you're interested in what I've been doing and how my epic training sessions are going.

Road To The Ironman

ANNNND....

IT'S OFFICIAL!

I just got back from Lake Placid and my spot is officially reserved for next years race.  July 26, 2009... who's coming to watch?!

Nate = Athlete # 1685

You could tell who the people were that participated in the race yesterday by the obvious limping and soreness.  Ah!  I can't wait!

I met a lot of really cool athletes, saw some great bikes (I refrained from purchasing... just barely,) and the crappy weather on 4.5 hr drive there broke for the brief hour and a half I was in town.  It promptly began pouring again after I began my trek back to Canandaigua.

Oh, and i have some good news and bad news:

Good News: i found out that the top 4 slots of my age group qualify for Kona.  Sweet.

Bad News: the slowest of the 4 times was still 9 hours and 45 minutes.  Damn.  Guess i have to better my goal time of under 11 hours.

It's gonna be an intense year!

ironman ironman ironman ironman...

!!!!!

Chills.

Nate just took the first step towards Kona. The perfect mixture of excitement and being nervous... I could hear it in his voice.


Chills.

My Ride.

Blisters...

... I have them.

Just got done with todays 10 mile run only to take off my left sock and be greeted with a bloody mess.  I guess I'm finally getting a taste of what serious athletes have to go through.

Going to try to get through a 3 mile warm down run tonight despite it.

It's hard to believe that I'm nearing 100 miles of run training.  

It feels good.  The training... not the blisters.

Swimming.

So this guy finally got his act together and started swimming.  Open water.  1.1 miles in the lake.  Ogni giorno.

Every muscle in my body hurts. 

The End.

7/16

3 day hike from Saturday-Monday was exhilarating and refreshing. I had never been hiking before, and this was a rather large undertaking for a first-timer. We did 7 miles on Day 1, 12 miles on Day 2, and another 7 on Day 3 for a grand total of 28. I played softball on Tuesday (7/15) because it was about the only activity my legs were prepared for.

I didn't discover this until the middle of Day 2, but the proper way to carry your pack on a hike is on your hips. You have 2 shoulder straps and either one or two chest/belly straps on your pack. You want to tighten the belly strap so your pack rests on your hips and takes the stress off of your shoulders and places it onto your leg muscles. Once you master that system, the weight isn't so bad, but your legs feel heavy, like you are walking through a world of molasses.

We got drenched during the first night. Rain was supposed to hold off until Day 2 but it came early and heavy.

I'll update my totals tonight and I'll be back on the running/biking/swimming horse today now that I've got something more than rubber in my legs.

A last note: When I left for this hike I had about 3-5 flies in my apartment; not an unexpected number since I had a window open. I closed all the windows over the weekend, and when I came back there were close to 100 flies either buzzing around or trapped on flypaper I had set up for the original 5. They were dotting the walls and the carpet, buzzing around in relentlessly random and evasive patterns. I believe I have caught all but a few stragglers now, and I expect a fly-free apartment by tomorrow morning so... Call me, Ladies!

Geese!

So I am sure that you have all been reading Nate's harrowing tales of extreme speeds and near crashes.

Well I have one too.

Last night Adam and I went for a 10.5 mile bike ride up on Kelly Drive. Felt great and it was really a great temperature out. I was cruising along when all of a sudden, 50 Canadian Geese flew across the path almost taking me out with them. I had to come to a screeching halt to avoid getting bludgeoned by pissed off beaks. Not fun at all.

It is hard to really get up to speed when the area is so congested with people. We are looking for a new place to train soon so that we can really open up and see what these bikes can do.

Will keep you updated tonight!

Hills are the devil, but they sure do help.

Today was a "successful" day... however, i've come to realize my definition of "success" makes me want to collapse and die.  

Intense cycling day... 44 miles and the most difficult hill climbs in the area.  I made it my goal not to stop and get off my bike at all until i made it to the top of each hill, and even then, i only did so that i could turn around and admire the work i had just done.  haha.

My new mantra: you have to earn going down hill.  unless you've climbed the hill first, you aren't deserving of the downhill run.  I'll tell you what, my biggest climb of the day was a scary ass downhill.  I topped out near 50 mph... well, 48.2 mph, and all that was going through my mind was "well, if i hit a rut or a stone in the wrong place, i'm done for."  super.  haha.

Hill workouts definitely help with all other aspects of cycling though i've found.  My average speed is up, its easier to hammer in lower gears, its just easier overall.  

Hill workouts: a necessary evil.

Got home, changed, rushed straight to the gym and lifted back and shoulders. 

Here it is now, 9:30 pm.  About to eat dinner and then head out for an evening 6 mile run or so. 

I have a feeling my numbers this week just might be kind of absurd.

Nutrition and Crosswinds... an EPIC tale....

Today was a stellar training day... although, in the end, i wish i could have run more (dinner time was fast approaching and i had to cut it short.)

Started off the day with an hour and a half gym session.  Worked chest pretty hard:

- decline press

- flat dumbbell press

- military dumbbell press

- dumbbell flies

- military machine press

It was a little discouraging since when i was last at the gym i could bench 225 and do 85 pound dumbbells... and this time around i was rocking out the 35 pounders and doing a measly 125 in the decline press.  I guess this is the biggest thing: when i used to lift, i was doing it to bulk up and get jacked... this time around it's specifically to make me faster and strengthen specific muscles for swimming / biking / running.

After the gym and a quick lunch, set out for my cycling for the day.  HOLY HEAD AND CROSSWINDS!  There is nothing more frustrating than going downhill where you usually go 30-35 mph, and even with pedaling, only able to pull off around 20 mph.  I HATE HEADWINDS.

But even more so than headwinds... i nearly died in my first experience with a strong crosswind.  I was about 15 miles into my ride when the road suddenly became lined on either side with field rather than the woods and trees that had previously been the case.  oh. my. god.  The wind literally threw me to the left side of the road and if i hadn't gotten my foot out of the pedal, i would have bit it... hard.  The next 5 or so miles were spent leaning to my right side, into the wind.  No, seriously... i was leaning into the wind to keep upright.  

Overall the ride was frustrating since after a day off, i was feeling good and fast, but turned in a time 4 minutes slower than my best and .8 mph off my best average speed.  Damn winds.

Came home, ate a snack to recharge, and headed out for a quick 3.3 miles on the cross-country course.  Felt great, and i wish i could have done more. (see initial sentence.)

Today is the best i've felt training-wise in a long time, and it was the first day i've kept track of my calorie intake.  It really is unreal the amount you have to eat when you're trying to accomplish what i'm doing.  I just finished dinner and my daily total is up to 5,062.75 calories... so far.

For a taste of what i'm eating (no pun intended) ... here was my dinner for tonite:

- GNC vanilla protein shake mixed with L-Glutamine and milk

- Salad with Italian dressing

- Cauliflower

- 2 ears of corn with butter

- 1 grilled chicken breast

- 1 cheeseburger

- 1 Ribeye steak

... and the weird thing is... i'm still not what i would call "full."

The rest of my intake for the day included 3 bananas, 4 packets of oatmeal, and 3 ham and cheese sandwiches.  I'll tell ya... bananas are a godsend.  172 calories, light, and perfect before running for some extra energy.

It's crazy how much of a science this all really is.

Back to the grind tomorrow... planning on a 10+ mile run in the morning, arm day at the gym, cycling in the afternoon, and a "cool down" x-country run at night.

God i feel good.

Our Blog....remixed

Really cool site wordle.net

It takes any words and creates a collage based on the words used most often.

Here is an insight into PhillyTriGuys.

7/8

6am gym: 7 miles bike, 3 mile run. Minor lifting just to wake the body up.

I hate the stationary bike. If anyone has a bike they really like but also really want stolen (insure it first, so we both win), leave it outside and cover it with timothy hay and parsley. My rabbit will find it.

7/5-6

First soccer game of the summer on Saturday. A nice win against a fairly weak team. More running on Sunday, updating the Totals tomorrow. Joining a new gym on Monday, so I'll be on the bike more regularly and in the pool. Hopefully a real bike will follow soon, as I am almost finished paying off my credit card bills from The Move.

If anybody has ESPN Classic, check out the Federer/Nadal final. It took up most of my day today but it was completely worth it.

My first week of REAL training.

Well... it's been a crazy week.  Hard to believe that just a week ago i was in Florence watching Spain win the EuroCup, and partying with thousands of my closest Spanish friends.  Crazy.  Its been a nice week to start my training though... not too tough.

I wasn't able to train on Monday since i was traveling all day, and Tuesday was only a run day.   I took July 3rd & 5th off from running, and the 4th off from cycling.   I have yet to gain access to a pool, which is seriously getting on my nerves.  I may just have to flounder around in the lake for a bit without distances until i can find something better.

Anyways... my totals for this week alone are:

Swimming: 0 yards (yes.  i'm embarrassed.)

Biking: 88.4 miles

Running: 21.1 miles

Next week expect to see my distances upped.  I'm planning on cycling to Buffalo which is 100 miles alone.  

I didn't realize how expensive just training could get!  The amount I eat now is absolutely ridiculous.  I'm also finding that since my muscles are getting toned and changing... i tend to cramp up if i'm sitting or standing a certain way.  It's actually quite annoying.  haha.

It's great to see progress though.  I've dropped 9 minutes off my cycling loop and upped my average mph from 15.5 to 17.3... all this in only 4 sessions!  Hills are easier, i can keep a steady 20 mph cadence along the lake, and i actually topped out at 40.7 mph down one hill.  Mind you, the speed limit for CARS is 35 mph.  Can i get a ticket?  hmm...

It's exciting to see that my lofty goals are actually reachable now!  Can't wait to get out again tomorrow!  

A new week, a clean slate.

7/3

3.999 mile run today acccording to Googlemaps. I'm going to assume that I swerved around enough oblivious couples meandering down skinny sidewalks to pick up that last .001 of a mile. 30 mins/4 miles is about seven and a half minutes a mile, which is acceptable right now given that it's all city running and about 2 miles were on heavily trafficked streets. Tomorrow probably a bike day, since Saturday is a new soccer season. Joined a new team for the summer season and I'm excited to play with some new guys and get the fun back. I need to figure out a way to touch a ball during the week, I've really missed the game these past few weeks. I found a Wesley Sneijder Euro 2008 jersey online for 20 bucks. Nate, I think you'll agree that Sneijder is dirty-good, esp. for a small guy.

Any suggestions for the next jersey I should hunt down? Soon I'll have enough to form my own team.

In other news, I made my own BBQ sauce from scratch for July 4. I'll be taking orders and suggestions for names. It's a sweet sauce with a spicy, thai pepper at the back end. I'm making a root beer-based sauce tonight.

Nate, you have to make it to Philly for a soccer game in the fall. Good times will be had.

Whew... Gettin' into it.

So I took July 1st off since i was lagged as all hell after an epic journey stateside... but as promised, July 2nd I started at it hard.

Cycled 20.8 miles in each of the past two days and ran quite a bit as well (see totals to the right.)  I think today is going to be a day off from running since my legs are pretty much useless after 50+ miles in the past couple days.

Days of REST are just as important as days of TRAINING.  Write that down.

Going to start weight training today at the gym... so i'll be all sorts of sore elsewhere!  woo!

Knees and ankles are feeling great.  I'm a little sore in my upper back from the cycling position (just need to get used to it again,) and i can feel it in my quads and lower abs from running... ah its great to feel like I'm accomplishing something and making progress.

Actually knowing me... I might get the inkling to go for a run and break my day of rest... oops.

Tip of the day:

When its heavily raining while you're cycling and you need to take a corner, don't slam on the rear brake.  Doing this leads to a frightening fishtail, and if you feet are locked in the stirrups, you're pretty much looking to kiss the pavement.  I learned this on my ride this morning.

Iron legs?

Have you ever worked out so hard that you almost threw up... or actually did?

Well that was me on Monday night. And now I am so sore I am limping. It's awesome.

After a quick 2 mile jog, I decided to just test myself at the gym with how much I could do. I upped the weight on all my machines by at least 20 lbs and upped the reps by at least double. I know...insane.

But I found that I could do it. It wasn't pretty... but I could do it. I've always looked at those people in the gym grunting, sweating and carrying on and thought, "What the hell is wrong with those people?"

Now I know... they were pushing themselves.

Well I have decided to forever push myself. There will no longer be an easy night at the gym. I will forever be pushing myself harder and harder.

Never settle for mediocrity. Wow I sound like Nate.

Away this weekend which might give more time to train!!!

7/2

4.1088 miles running yesterday, according to Googlemaps Distance Tool. Knee feels good after about a mile but the stiffness is there every morning. Not a great sign.

I placed my first sports wager today, which is exciting. Maybe I'll place a wager on Nate to win the Finger Lakes Sprint Triathlon. Who's setting the odds on that anyways?

In other news, my ipod battery sucks and I think it might be time to invest in a new ipod altogether. Anyone have any suggestions? A new nano? A touch? I'm thinking about inventing the iProd. It's a cattle prod that plays your favorite music while you move your herd across the barren New Mexico steppe. And it automatically detects what music is playing at your local Strawbucks!

Distances.

So i've decided that i'm going to continuously update my distances on here... my system so that people can see what i've done and so i can publicly be  held accountable for my training or lack thereof.  haha.  Here we go:

June - 

Swimming: 0 yards

Biking: 0 miles

Running: 12 miles.

July - 

Swimming: 0 yards

Biking: 2 miles

Running: 4 miles

Stellar June i had, eh?  ::vomit::

Wanted to cycle more today, but i ran a 4 miler before going, and i had some serious cramping issues with my quads.  Just did a light two miles to try and work it out... but to no avail.  Tomorrow will be a cycle first day with the run directly after.  Still working out the details with they gym and various pool and coach availability... so hopefully i'll get that squared away soon.

Man it feels good to be training again.