Finally....A Good Training Day!

It was a long time coming, and it finally happened. 

Was it on Saturday during my 7.1 mile run down along the boardwalks of Lavallette, Ortley Beach and Seaside Heights?  No, Saturday's run was not the day, although it was a better run than I have had on previous weekends.  I hit the boards at 6:45AM and was feeling OK at the start.  I stopped to check out the ocean, possibly surfing would be on docket for later on in the day (fingers were crossed).  Then it was go time and south I went, starting off around 8:20/mile pace.  I stayed around that pace for the first three miles or so, but then I started to get a tired and my breathing was really labored.  I have to figure out what the heck is going on with me.  I am taking Singulair every day and using Ventolin (inhaler) before every run.  Maybe it is just the heat and humidity, or maybe it is something more than that.

At 3.55 miles, just passed Midway Cheese Steaks I turned around and headed back home, definitely feeling it a bit but determined to negative split the second half of my run.  I did look around for Snooki, The Situation and the rest of the Jersey Shore crew but I couldn't find them.  I was visually bummed (see picture to the right).  The next half mile was rough, but soldiered through it and finally started to up my pace by mile 5.  The last stretch along the Lavallette boardwalk I was able to push it and finish strong with a 7:45 last mile!  I wasn't happy about the run overall, but I was encouraged by the last mile.

After my run it was time to head up to the beach with the family and we actually brought our ocean kayak up with us. My thinking was that my father could paddle along side me while I swam (it didn't happen though).  Instead I took my oldest daughter out for a ride in the ocean, her first time out in the kayak.  We had a really good time and she was so psyched to be out there with me.

So since my good training day wasn't on Saturday....was it on Sunday during my 28+ mile bike and 3 mile run (BRICK)?  YES, yes it was.  I was up early, around 5:30AM, and out the door around 6:15AM for my hour and a half ride.  I decided to go south since the wind was blowing from the WSW, meaning my ride back north might have a touch of a tail wind.  The ride in itself was pretty uneventful, I rode south into Island Beach State Park, a very flat, straight and pretty ride.  I maintained a solid 90 - 95 RPMs for my cadence, averaging around 18.5 MPH for the first 14 miles.  At the end of the park (see picture on the right), I swore I would pick up the pace and finish above 20 MPH average for the ride.  The ride back I was hauling, mile 15 was around 21 MPH, then each mile afterwards was a bit faster, 21.5, 22.6, 22.8, 23.0....with my last mile coming in at 24.6MPH.  I stopped my Garmin at my 'rents and it read:  28.32 miles, 1:24.31, 20.1MPH average.  Whew, thank God, I managed to do it.  I probably should have put in another 1.68 miles to make it an even 30 miles and hour and 30 minutes, but I really wanted to get my workout done and spend the day with my family. 

So immediately after my ride, I switched into my running shoes and headed out for a 3 mile run on the Lavallette boardwalk.  I felt a bit sluggish on the 1/4 mile up to the boards, but then managed to settle into a nice pace with the first mile done in 8:08.  Wow, that was a surprise, I didn't feel like I was really running all that fast.  The second mile went a bit faster - 7:55 - , again I didn't feel like I was struggling to keep a quick pace.  The last mile I definitely picked up the pace because I wanted my average below 8:00/mile pace.  I finished mile 3 in 7:45.  Total run stats:  3 miles, 23:48, 7:56/mile pace.

So there you have it, my first GOOD training day in a long while, where my pace is closer to where I would like it to be and more importantly my feeling good and not like I was on the very of an asthma attack.

The rest of the day was more kayaking (this time with both of my daughters), playing in the ocean with my oldest and trying to cram a little rest in there as well.  I did try to swim a bit but my arms were killing me from kayaking.  I really did want to get in a good open water swim, but it just wasn't in the cards.

Time to get some work done.  Cheers!

Holy Hard Holiday Training

It is Tuesday morning and I am tired and I am sore.  It was a long weekend down at the Jersey Shore, with many activities going on and and many of them not conducive to Ironman training.  I suppose now is the time to start spilling the beans.

Saturday - The Long Bike, The Short Run, The Late Night
Instead of driving down to my 'rents house in Lavallette on Friday night, I suggested to my wife that I just ride my bike down and she could sleep in a bit and drive down a bit later, ideally coordinating our arrival for around the same time.  So I was up around 5:10AM and after my normal dilly-dallying around I finally hit the road at 5:50AM.  It was still dark out so I wore my headlamp for the first 30 minutes or so...I should have left a bit earlier to maximize the headlamp usage. 

I could go into all of the dynamics of my ride, but that would just be boring because there wasn't a whole lot going on.  It was a beautiful day, perfect weather, and no mechanical issues.  I would say up until around mile 70, everything was going according to plan.  Then, as I made my way over the Mantloking Bridge, my stomach started to get a bit queasy and I wasn't sure what I should do to make it go away.  My ride up to that point had been so solid, fast and smooth.  I kept drinking, but that didn't help.  I sucked it up and just toughed out the last 11 miles, grateful that I made it to my parents house without vomiting or succumbing to any other intestinal issues.  Ride stats:  82.15 miles, 4:02:00. 20.4MPH (had been up to 20.7MPH but slowed during the last 10 miles)

I had to hang around for about 30 minutes before I could head out for my run (my wife got down a bit later than planned) which had a negative impact on my performance.  I should have eaten something in the interim, Shot Bloks, bagel, something.  Instead I just sat around and waited.  When I finally headed out for my run I was toast.  The first mile was solid, then I ran out of gas.  I did a lot of walking and ended up only putting in 40 of my planned 45 minutes.  Live and learn I suppose, eh?

The rest of the day was spent at the beach and what a day it was.  My sister was there with her family (visiting from Utah), my cousin and their kids, and a bunch of others.  Me and my family had a really good time.  There was a bit of a drawback in that Hurricane Earl had kicked up the surf pretty good, so they weren't letting anyone in the water past their waist.  So what I had to do was wait until 6PM when the lifeguards left and head back up to get in some body boarding (it was too big for me to surf).  I was in the water for about an hour and had a blast, just getting barreled and worked all over the place.  Awesome way to end an epic day.

That night the party was on at my 'rents house and to quickly summarize the events:

• Played some games for a few hours (washers, etc.)
• I headed to bed at 1:15AM
• I was convinced to drive a bunch of inebriated individuals (5 total) to Seaside Heights to find "The Situation", Snooki, and the rest of the cast of Jersey Shore 
• Arrived at "Bamboo" at 1:45AM, lost my wife and other friend immediately, there was an incident, someone left with a black eye, we were on our way home by 2:45AM.
• Finally managed to get into bed at 3:15AM

Sunday - Long Run, Body Surfing, Sore Ride
Ugh, was I ever tired.  I dragged my sore and tired butt out of bed at 8:00AM.  I thought to myself that this is not the way one should be training for an Ironman, no, not at all.  I was recruited by all of the kids in the house to go on a donut run, so I took my youngest and my niece.  After the donut run I need to get in a my hour and a half run, so I rallied and made it happen.  All in all it didn't go all that badly, I started out easy and gradually increased my pace over the entire run.  Run stats:  10.88 miles, 1:31:30 (8:24/mile pace)

Another day spend at the beach and on this day we were able to get in and actually go body surfing!  I probably spent about two or three hours out in the water riding waves.  They were perfect, 3 - 5', hollow and breaking left to right (a lot of closeouts though).  Absolutely perfect day.

Later on that night I knew that I had to get in a ride, an easy one hour ride at 100+RPM.  I wasn't looking forward to it, especially when you consider everything I had done over the past 36 hours (long bike, short run, body boarding, late night, long run, body surfing, etc.).  Despite all of this I put my helmet and shoes on and got it done.  1:00:00, 17.0MPH.

Bedtime came early that night, I was asleep by 9:30PM

Monday - A Day of Rest

I did not thing on Labor Day, just slept in until 7:30AM, took my dog for a short walk, ate a good breakfast and then just chilled.  We did go out for a ride in my father's boat, heading down to the Barnegat Lighthouse.  Other than that we just chilled on the beach all day before eating dinner and then heading home at 8:00PM.  It was a really good weekend, I was able to spend some time my sister and her family (my nephew and two nieces), spend a lot of time at the beach (that last time until next year), and also spend some quality time with my wife and daughters. 

Not it is back to the normal routine, training every day, soccer Saturday's/Sunday's, dance Saturday's, and everything else that comes out way.  Cheers!

Oversleeping and the "Jersey Shore"

"Damn it!" Those were the first two words out of my mouth this morning upon realizing that it was 5:50AM and I had overslept, missing my chance to get in the pool today. Although it wasn't entirely my fault, I was and still am mad at myself for not getting up at 5:00AM (I don't even recall my alarm going off) and heading to the gym. When I say it isn't entirely my fault I am referring to the 3:55AM wake up "call" provided to me by my oldest daughter. She wanted to climb into our bed, which I wasn't going to allow since she has a perfectly good bed in her room. Then I realized that my youngest daughter had somehow managed to climb into bed next to my wife and thus created a bit of a situation. so instead of trying to get both girls into their own beds at 4:00AM, I opted to just sleep in my oldest daughters room.

So, it looks like I am not going to be able to get a swim in today. I am planning on getting on the trainer tonight and putting in about 40 - 45 minutes on the bike, hopefully along with my wife as she spends some time on the treadmill.

On a separate note, I did get an easy run in yesterday afternoon with my friend Bill (from work). I was pretty sure from Sunday's race and pretty tired from getting up at 5:00AM and swimming that morning, but I thought it would be a good idea to do an easy run and just loosen up my legs a bit. We ended up doing 4.3 miles at 8:15/mile pace, all the while talking about MTVs "Jersey Shore". It was a solid run and the conversation was the best.

As for "Jersey Shore"....how can you not love "The Situation", Pauly D and Snooki? I've spent my summers in Lavallette, NJ since I was a mere infant, and once I turned 21, I can honestly say that I have hung out at many of the Seaside Heights establishments that the cast of "Jersey Shore" like to go to. Trust me, it is like it is on the show. If you ever want to see a different culture or way of life, hang out in Seaside Heights for a few hours, you will be amazed!

Ciao everyone.

Uncertain Future

It is four days after my Olympic Distance triathlon and I haven't been doing all that much. Actually I don't really feel like I have a direction right now. I am about 50/50 on doing the Skylands Triathlon on September 13th, I might do another one in October, but besides that I don't have any other races planned. This is very odd for me in that I always seem to have something off on the horizon, a triathlon, road race, etc., that dictates my training. I guess I really need to decide what I am going to be doing over the next two or three months.

As for this week thus far, I have just been doing what I feel like doing. I opted for a rest day on Monday since my quads were still killing me. Tuesday I went for a relatively easy 4.3 mile run with a my friend Bill. It was nice to just get out and stretch my legs a bit, oh and to have a few laughs along the way. Wednesday I decided to run a bit faster and hoped that I wouldn't feel like crap. I was surprised that I felt pretty good and was actually able to mainain an 8:18/mile pace over 5+ miles and my heartrate averaged 153 BPM, which is great considering how I had felt leading up to my past couple races. I had hoped to squeeze in a swim either on Tuesday or Wednesday night but meetings and weather put the kibosh on thos plans.

My plans for the rest of the week are somewhat up in the air at the present. I was hoping to get to the pool tonight but the weather is absolute crap. The fact that I haven't really swam all that much over the past two weeks isn't a good thing. Being that my swimming is pretty average (and that is probably over estimating my ability), it is very important that I continue swimming as much as possible. Friday is the big question mark right now. I was planning to ride from my house in Doylestown, PA down to my parents house at the Jersey Shore. It is a 72 mile ride that I was going to try and make closer to 80 miles. My daughters have been spending the week with my parents, enjoying the beach and all things that are the beach. My wife is supposed to drive down after work and we are planning on spending the night and Saturday down there. Some possible complications have arisen and we might be making a new plan.

I really do want to do the ride, something about getting on a bike and riding 70 - 80 miles that is just so cool. I still haven't done a century ride yet and I did ponder turning this ride into one, just that I don't think I have enough mileage to really do it successfully. Anyway, I hope my plans work out and I get my ride in and then get to spend the rest of the day at the beach with my little girls. Ciao!