I Suck at Blogging

Ugh, I am a horrible blogger.  Actually, I'm not a bad blogger when I am blogging.  It's the getting to the blog and writing in the blog that I am not so good at lately.  The problems are stemming from the fact that I have very little time to blog about and have few blog-worthy activities to mention here.

I will sum up the past couple weeks here as succinctly as possible:

Hurricane Irene - I was luck in that my home escaped Irene with no damage what so ever.  Also, my parents managed only a few problems, flooding in their garage destroyed a refrigerator and cabinets and wind knocked out their hot water heater.  Yes, it cost money to fix/replace, but otherwise the house is OK.

Soccer - Both of my daughters are playing soccer and for the first time in three years I am not coaching either of their teams.  It is driving me crazy not being involved.  I am turning into "that Dad" who complains, etc.  I have decided that I am going to abstain from saying anything about the coaching and be a cheerleader for my girls and photographer.  Below is a picture of the the girls new cleats, very stylish, eh?

Surfing - Ugh, so many good waves between Labor Day and September 7th....and I suck at surfing.  I tried and even though I failed I was still out there.  I crashed more than I rode, but I was brave and tried to take of on a lot of waves.  I really want to get better at surfing next year.  Here are some pictures of sunrises from Labor Day weekend.

Pregnancy - Whew, my wife is big, and I mean that in a good way.  She is in her 31st week I think and the due date has been set for the third week in October.  I need to start banking sleep now because those first few months are going to be rough.  I suspect I will be getting back to doing my morning work-outs thanks to 4AM wake up calls.  A little tidbit of information about me:  When my wife was pregnant with our second daughter I weighed the most I have ever in my life....220 LBS!!!  I am not that heavy now, but I feel close to it.  Below is a picture of the first day of school for my girls.

Work - I have been all over Maryland and DC the past couple weeks and I am going to be down in Richmond and Virginia Beach soon as well.  I hope this travel turns into dollars for me!!!

Training - Nonexistent at this point.  I actually went ten days between runs recently.  TEN DAYS!!!  That is unacceptable.  I need to get out and run on the weekends, maybe even get out and ride my bike.  I think a gym/pool membership is much needed.  I need to set up my bike trainer in the basement and get back to my evening training sessions.  If I am going to be sitting around watching TV, I might as well be burning calories, right?

I hope to spruce things up here soon, maybe liven things up a bit.  Cheers!

Being a Dad

Two reasons for my post today:

1. Last nights training
2. Learning to be a Dad

Number 1 is the easy one, so I will start with that.  After work yesterday I was not in the best of moods, I don't know why, maybe it was the traffic coming home, maybe it was my frustration with myself and my inability to do my job well.  Whatever it was, I was not in the best of spirits.  When I got home I was happy to see my family, but I still wasn't feeling great.  My wife made a great dinner, the girls were good.  I had asked my wife if she would be able to drop me off at the pool around 7:00PM tonight so that I could get a swim in and then just run home afterwards; thankfully she agreed. 

So after filling my stomach with spaghetti, sausage and bread....oh, and also hanging a canopy over my younger daughters bed, it was off to the pool to get my swim on.  I was really tired (and still am) and my swim reflected it.  I did a solid 300yd warm up, followed by 4x100yd of drills and then 4x200yds w/45 sec rest.  I had hoped to get in around 2,000yds, but only managed 1,500yds.  Unfortunately I just ran out of time and needed to be heading home by 8:15PM.  The run home started slow, really slow!  It is a little over 4 mostly uphill miles to run from the pool back to my house.  My pace reflected that: Mile 1 - 8:51, Mile 2 - 8:41, Mile 3 - 8:33, Mile 4 - 8:15.  I had some issues with my breathing for the first two miles or so which made the run harder than it should have been.  I have exercise-induced asthma which hits me really hard when it is hot and humid out, thus why I had problems last night.  The fact that I forgot to take some shots off my inhaler didn't help either, nor the fact that I haven't taken my allergy medicine for five days.  STUPID!

All in all it was a pretty good day of training, not the long swim that I wanted, but it will have to do.

Now for Number 2 - Learning to be a Dad, something that I struggle with every day.  For the most part I think I am a pretty good Dad, not great, but good.  I like to think that I am very involved in my daughters lives, whether it be sports (soccer, lacrosse, etc.), dance (my daughters recitals), or just every day life (coaching their teams, playing with them in the pool/beach).  I am there biggest fan/cheerleader (although my wife would argue that she is, not that I would disagree) and want nothing but the greatest successes for them in whatever they do.  Now with all of that said, I am failing at a number of other things, primarily just general communication with my oldest daughter.  She is a great kid, she really is.  She can be the most thoughtful and caring child, she can be the best helper, she wants nothing more than to make everyone happy and to laugh.  She is so much like my wife and I that it is scary - she is stubborn like we are and also very strong willed.  Both traits are good to have, but can be a curse as well.

Now with the good sometimes come there bad.  There are times when she does things that just don't make sense to me.  For example, last night at dinner, while trying to eat spaghetti, she used her fork to move the pasta to her mouth then proceeded to use her other hand to shove it all in.  It was a bit gross watching her shovel the pasta down her gullet like an infant eating solid food for the first time.  I told her that we don't eat food like that, we use forks, and that is that (the tone I used was too stern for the infraction).  But it isn't just that, there are just things that she does that drive me nuts, like not cleaning up toys when done playing with them, then hemming and hawing when asked to; chewing with her mouth open like a cow; talking back to my wife and I in a very "fresh" manner, etc.  I guess what I have described is pretty much every eight year old child, right?

Here is where I am failing "Daddy 101", I don't know how to communicate with her effectively so that we can correct these things.  It is obvious that what I am doing/saying is not right because it just isn't working and I am kind of pushing her away.  My wife has told me that I need to change the way I talk to her so that she doesn't "tune me out".  That is easier said than done, especially when I think about how my parents dealt with me when I was her age (or at least how I recall they dealt with me...a hand to my bottom was always looming).  What I know about my daughter is that she thrives on positive feedback and praise.  Knowing that, how should I correct a bad habit/manner when it is happening?  How does the praise come into play?  I guess I have to be more mindful of how I talk to her, in the tone that I speak and not nit pick every little thing (like I know I do....and am told by others).

It is said that when you want to get a drives license you need to take classes and pass a test, but the same can not be said for raising a child.  There are no classes and not test to pass.  "Congrats on your new baby....good luck over the next 18 years, I hope you figure it all out."  I know that every child is different (my two are very different), so it is important to treat them as unique individuals.  That also means that they need to be taught, corrected, disciplined and rewarded differently as well.  I don't know where I am going with this at this point, I guess I just needed to put it out there for me to read over and contemplate.  With triathlon or any sport for that matter, It is easy to become better by training harder/smarter/faster.  But to become a better father, well, it isn't so easy.  I guess admitting that you have faults and trying to correct them is the first step.  I better figure it out sooner otherwise the potential divide between my daugher and I will only get bigger.  Ciao.

Why Can't I Get Up?

Quick post this morning.....lots of work to do.  I have one question that I need an answer to, why can I not get myself up and out of bed at 5:00AM to go running or riding?  Why?  Why?  Why?


This morning my alarm went off at 5:00AM and I was just laying there wide awake.  Then it went off again at 5:05AM and I continued to lay there in bed.  I stared at the ceiling contemplating what I should do.  Deep down I knew that I should be getting up and working out, but there was something holding me back.  Is it because I spent a year of waking up at 4:15AM so that I could get to the pool and swim 3,000m+ every other morning and I am burnt out?  Is it because the weather isn't perfect yet (it was raining out this morning)?  Is it because I am so terribly out of shape that I don't enjoy running at at painful 8:15/mile pace?  Whatever the reason I need some inspiration.  I have an Olympic distance triathlon is about 10 weeks and I not even close to being in shape for it.  That should be enough motivation, but it just isn't.  Ugh, I need to figure this out.


I should point out that my training time is short at the moment, I need to leave for work around 6:30AM and usually don't get home until around 6:00PM.  I don't have the ability to run at lunch like I could at my old job, I have a lot to do when I get home from work, usually free to do what I need to do around 8:30PM.  So yeah, my free time is really in the AM right now.


Any advice from anyone is welcome and appreciated.  Peace out!

From Chaos to Chaos

Whew, it has been a very busy week since I last posted here.  Between work and home, I have no time to myself.  Actually, I have been able to carve out some bits and pieces along the way, but I have had to be very creative with it.  Let me recap:

Tuesday, May 10th
I was in NYC for a Sales Conference, so from 8:00AM to 11:00PM I was either in meetings or socializing with my new co-workers.  Knowing this, I was up at 6:00AM and out the door by 6:15AM for a run along the southern tip of Manhattan.  It felt great to be out running so early in the morning, in a place I have never run before.  I think I ran about 5 miles but it didn't feel like it.  I was also able to see a cruise ship heading north up the Hudson to port.  It was HUGE!   Awesome!

Wednesday, May 11th
I was up early again, and I put in a nice 6+ mile run.  It was a gorgeous morning, lots of people were out running, biking, roller-blading, etc.  I had such a good time running; I am starting to feel like I am getting back into shape.  The rest of the day was meetings, meetings, meetings.  I think I finally headed back to my tiny hotel room around 11:00PM.

Thursday, May 12th
My last early morning run, and it didn't disappoint.  I put in around 5 miles, starting by running cross town via Wall Street, and over past where the World Trade Towers once stood.   I went right when I hit the river and ran north for a ways.  Another beautiful morning, another good start to the day.  Meetings until around 2:45PM and then a ferry trip back to Jersey City to get my car.  I was home to my wife and daughters by 5:15PM.  I really missed them!

Friday, May 13th
Back to the office and no time to work out, run or bike.  My daughter had her last night of travel soccer team try-outs from 6PM - 8PM, so I got to spend the night watching her play soccer (and worrying about her) and talking with all of the other soccer mom's and dad's.  After she was done, she and I went and got dinner together.  We had a good night.

Saturday, May 14th
Oh what a busy day, kicking off with my oldest daughters first ever race, well distance race that is.  It was a 3K for only elementary school kids.  Despite being totally wiped out from soccer the night before, she ran hard and did great.  My wife and I were so proud of her.  We had the added bonus of having my mother and father there to cheer her on as well.  After that we all went and got breakfast....because we had to fuel up for her lacrosse games which were at 1:00PM.  Lacrosse went well, our girls played the best they have all year.  My daughter managed to score a couple goals which is tremendous for a 2nd Grader.  After that we headed back home for a late lunch and some "chilling out" time.  I managed to take my first nap in a long, long time.

I finished up the night by getting on my bike for an hour while watching Black Swan....really good movie!  I think I finally hit the hay around 11:00PM.

Sunday, May 15
This was the busiest day I have had in a very long time.  Here it is in bullet form:

• 7:00AM - Woken up by daughters
• 8:00AM - Eat breakfast (three eggs and whole wheat bagel) & make breakfast for the family
• 9:00AM - Start cleaning bathrooms, including scrubbing of grout.
• 10:30AM - Finish cleaning bathrooms
• 11:00AM - Sit down for 45 minutes to watch 1st half of Liverpool v. Tottenham
• 12:00PM - Coach daughters soccer game (we won big, my daughter dominated, dribbled circles around the other team, scored 4 goals).
• 1:20PM - Arrive home and proceed to vacuum the entire house
• 2:00PM - Talk to my wife about the rest of the day/night
• 3:15PM - Go for a 6.7 mile run....oh, so very slow.  I was hurting really bad and I don't know why
• 4:30PM - Get dressed in jacket and tie.
• 5:15PM - Take my youngest daughter out for dinner (she missed the Father/Daughter dance a few weeks back b/c she was sick)
• 6:15PM - Stop by Chubby's on the way home for ice cream...AWESOME!!!
• 7:15PM - Arrive home and get the girls ready for bed.
• 8:15PM - Go to the food store
• 9:15PM - Return from food store
• 10:30PM - Go to bed....finally.

So that was the last few days.  I have yet to put together a training program yet for my Olympic Distance triathlon in late July, which is not a good thing.  Maybe tomorrow if I have some time.  I am hoping to get up around 5:00AM tomorrow and put in 45 minutes on the bike in the basement....we'll see if it happens.  I have to start doing something before work because there is not time left at the end of the day. 

Time for bed!  Peace out!

Transformation

This past month has been unlike any other I have had in my adult life.  January started out pretty well, at least the first couple of days were good.  I had let my hair grow for about six months or so and decided to cut it short again on January 1st (the pic to the right is the "before"...look at all of that gray hair!).  Things seemed to be going well at work and I was feeling very good about a new job opportunity.

That would all change within a day or two.  I was told that I probably had a hernia and then found out that my job was being terminated the following day.  The potential "new" job wasn't moving along as quickly as I had hoped and I was getting nervous.  Despite all of this I wasn't terrible depressed, most likely because I just despised my job and was happy to have that stress gone from my life.

Things were then up and down, depending on how you looked at them.  First, I was able to spend a lot more time with my daughters which was great.  My lower back was in bad shape, which prevented me from working out at all.  I finally got some positive news about the potential new job, but nothing concrete.  I had to cancel my gym membership as a result of my losing my job (plus the fact that I was pretty immobile because of my back).  I did manager to grow a beard for about two weeks which the ladies in the house were not too happy with.  I was starting to get into a funk and hoping that things would change.

About a week ago everything started to turn around; I started seeing my sports doc and my back is feeling much better, I got the call regarding my new job and I start this coming Monday, and I have been given the OK to start running again tomorrow (albeit easy).  Yes, things are definitely getting better.  I am hoping that I can start really training this coming week as I really need to get back into shape.  My weight is way too high, my fitness way too low and my aspirations for the upcoming season definitely, well of course VERY high. 

So, 2011 didn't start off all that great, but I have a feeling that it is going to pick up and be a great year.  My optimism is soaring and I think it could be a great year for me.  Let's hope so!

Ironman Training.....This is Hard

Lately I have found that work and training have completely and utterly taken over my life.  On a normal weekday, I am up and out of bed by 4:20AM and then my day goes as follows:

• 5:00AM - Swim 3,500 meters
• 7:15AM - In my office working
• 11:45AM - If I am lucky I get out for an hour run.
• 4:00PM - Leave work to pick up my daughters
• 5:00PM - Get home and start making dinner
• 7:00PM - Fire up my work laptop and get some work done, while helping get the girls with normal bedtime stuff.
• 9:00PM - 10:00PM - Shut down my laptop
• 10:00PM - 10:30PM - Try to get to sleep since I have to get up between 4:20AM & 5:00AM the next day.

That is pretty much every Tuesday through Friday.  Monday is a rest day, but I am still getting up before 6:00AM and the rest of my day is the same as above.  Even my weekends are tough, waking at 4:30AM - 5:00AM to get in a long run or ride before I have to coach my daughters soccer game or simply try to be a good husband and father. 

I read a lot before signing up for Ironman Arizona, I spoke to a lot of Ironman veterans, and I thought I knew what to expect.  Nothing can prepare you for the journey until you actually are a part of it.  This has been the most difficult sporting endeavor that I have ever under taken

Here's a quick weekend recap:

Saturday
My daughter had a 10:00AM soccer game which meant I had to get my 2.5 hour run in before that.  I was up and out the door by 5:15AM, with the difference being that I was in my car driving down to the Delaware River to run along the canal.  I had spoken to a friend at the gym on Friday and he advised me to make my long runs easy (with regard to terrain).  I agreed and opted for the nice tow path along the river.  I did 18 miles in 2:31:26, good for around an 8:24/mile pace.  I forgot to bring my Garmin, so I was running on feel.  Kind of a nice feeling for a change.

After running it was soccer time, then we rushed home and then drove up to Lafayette College (my father-in-law's Alma Mater), where we attended Homecoming with my in-laws.  We had a really good time; it was a beautiful day and Lafayette won.  Once we get home, we headed out again to get dinner (I pigged out on pasta) and were home by 8:00PM.  I then had to put in a 1.5 hour ride.  Well, it was late and I had a 5.5 hour ride on Sunday, so I cut the ride down to 45 minutes.  I didn't get to sleep until around 11:00PM.

Sunday
Seems that my daughters soccer games are determining my schedule....noon soccer game meant I had to be on my bike by 5:00AM if I had any chance of getting in my whole workout (5.5 hour ride FIB 1 hour run).  Up at 4:40AM, on my trainer at 5:06AM where I put in two hours before the sun came up.  I then had to do a quick change into my warm weather clothes (it was ~42F outside), swap out my back wheel and do 3.5 hours outside.  Unfortunately my change wasn't so quick and I lost about 15 minutes.  The 3.5 hour ride went really well for the most part, I would say right up until around 2.75 hours in (4.75 hours into the ride overall).  I started to just feel exhausted, I think my lack of sleep for the week was finally catching up with me.  Oh yeah, it was friggin' freezing out!!!  My feet were numb the entire ride, I didn't not dress appropriately.  Here is a ride summary:

• 2:00:00 - Trainer Ride - 32 miles (outside it would have been closer to 38 miles)
• 3:25:00 - Ride north along Delaware River ~ 64 miles
• Total - 5:25:00, ~ 96 miles

I managed to make it back to my house by around 11:00AM and realized that I only had time for a 15 - 20 minute run (DANG!).  I trudged along for around for 15:30, 1.83 miles at 8:29/mile pace.

Then it was soccer time and then pumpkin picking time.  I spent the rest of the day, from 4:00PM on just trying to take a nap, but it didn't happen.  It is tough to nap when you have two little girls that just want you to play with them.

I think I finally fell asleep last night around 10:30PM, despite my best efforts to make it happen earlier.

Today
I am plum tired, having gotten out of bed at 6:15AM this morning.  It is my goal tonight to get to sleep by 9:00AM and get a solid 7.5 hours of sleep in, if not more.  That is if for now.  Adios!

Crazy Week

Where do I start...probably at the beginning. It has been a crazy week,everything has been turned upside down in my household. Wednesday afternoon I received a call from my wife telling me that she had fallen. Flash forward to later that night and we find out she has a fractured ankle. She was hurting really bad. I felt/feel so bad for her; it is her right ankle so that means no driving for a while. It also means that everything just got tougher in our house, e.g. school mornings, dance class, dinner, etc. All those things that my wife typically does now become drastically more complicated.

Now for my completely and totally selfish and self-centered angle. My training this week has suffered, I have missed a few key runs and rides, I have had to cut two of my swims really short, and I just feel like everything is off kilter. OK, I am not trying to be a drama queen here, I understand that many people have to suffer through much more difficult situations than mine. I am simply saying that what had felt like a very smooth and consistent training program leading up to Ironman Arizona has now hit a bit of a speed bump.

Today will be the first day that things get slightly back to normal. After my youngest daughters dance class, I have my oldest daughters soccer game, and then I will be able to get my five hour bike ride in (followed by a 45 minute run).

What I don't want to get lost in what I have written above is that I feel horrible for what my wife is having to deal with. I will do everything to help out until she is a bit more mobile. I how she has a speedy recovery and starts to feels a bit better, with the pain her ankle subsiding soon.

That is about it for now. No weekly recap, just a little "woe is me" session. Peace out!

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!