Phil's Triathlon Training Blog

Out of retirement with Grant

2011-06-27T07:16:00.000-04:00

I love that the gang will just DM ya "Dude, OWS/train this weekend?"

Grant came up yesterday and jump started the 2nd half of my tri season by getting me off the couch of retirement. I headed out for a 2hr easy bike ride up the Rail Trail (they added on 2 more extensions which are quite nice!) When I got back it was 10am, I'd been up since 5 (no idea why really) so it felt like midday. So I made "Lunch" consisting of chicken parm and fries ;)

Not too soon after stuffing my face did I get a checkin' that Grant was at the HFWT. Once Eloise settled down and Grant finished off my fries we cruised up to White Pond for a dip. I was all talk about going long.... after 2k I was done, cramping, crying and assumed the position of "car watcher" while Grant went out for another loop. The weather was perfect, and so was the lake swim. You can see Grant kicking the final 100 into the boat dock here:

Once changed it was out on the road, we hit up a pretty sweet new-ish deli just down the road from the pond where Grant nuked a sweet sammie and I nursed myself with an icecream sandwich.

Back home, it was a quick change and out for an hour run on the rail trail.

Grant's looking stupid-strong for IMLP and for me it was the perfect intro back, it was all chill. I'm a wee bit creaky today, but not as bad as I thought I'd be.

Heading down to IMTX

2011-05-18T06:37:00.000-04:00

So all the training has been done. Bike shipped. Plans planned. Now we just pretty much hop into the stream that is Ironman and let it hopefully carry us to the finish-line. From here on out it's very little planning and mostly yes/no decisions where we manage the race at a very micro level (should I get water or gatorade? speed up or ease back?). There's no controlling the weather and the larger IM machinery is basically already engaged and executing it routine.

So here we go...

We're taking a bit of a indirect flight down, thank god it has wifi. Jeremy is going to pick us up in his monster truck late this evening which is damn kind of him (I still want him to get some Texas-style truck-nugs for it tho). We're staying at the IronWorm Headquarters where He and Cat treat their guests like freakin' rock stars. Then Amy & Shannon will link up with us a day or so later, and we're all psyched to finally meet her! My guess is we'll run into the rest of the gang (Devin, Boomer, Ed, and the Gus-Clan) all in the next few days / hours. ;)

Now I just have to pack up the list, and hop into the stream.

I don't have too much of a plan for the next few days (prior to the race on Sat). My bike was shipped by tri-bike transport so it's already at the site. I'll just need to take it for a spin to check it's health, add back the pedals and swap on the disc (ya can't ship it loaded). We're definitely going to get in a practice swim in the lake (which I've yet to dip into), and hitting the athlete meeting may not be the worst idea as I really know nothing of this course other than the quasi-course-ride we did about a month or so back. A quick tour loop of the run course would also be a good idea for me. Heh, yeah, I really don't know much about this course. Friday will hopefully be feet-up and nerves (which are already kicking in!)

and then... (dum dum dum!)

Yup.

Texas weekend and course preview with Jeremy and Devin

2011-04-27T07:04:00.001-04:00

Been a bit since posting. Got lifed again and then moved right into my final push. Jeremy posted ( http://gusano82.blogspot.com/2011/04/imtx-training-weekend.html ) about our awesome weekend down at his new place in Texas with all our friends, and there really isn't too much more I can add to it.

We never really seem to spend more than long weekends there, which (un)fortunately for the Mrs always have training in them. :) But, these days are always so packed full of things to do and so much fun it feels longer.

I'm wrapping up the last week before the IMTX taper and have full blown IMPMS. I cannot wait to get down there and call the game on. Hanging out with that gang always feels like a homecoming. Not to mention the after party. It will also be nice to return to normalcy afterwards as work can really use the undivided attention in the throws of these releases.

Bob threw another video together from SLB

2011-03-14T06:50:00.000-04:00

This is his montage from the Puerto Del Leon ride down to (and back up from, heh) Malaga.

Power, power, everywhere

2011-03-13T08:00:00.001-04:00

I've been able to treat myself to a powermeter recently. I've had the indoor benefit of a computrainer for a few years now but haven't had one on the race rig or my road bike (as even that is fairly new). I like training with power as it gives me an untainted view of my efforts and hopeful progression.

While in Spain, most of the roadie gang had donned SRM's for their training and racing efforts. I've always kept an eye on a crank based ant+sport model and was sold on the SRM after talking options over with them.

At the end of the camp, Sean and I hopped online and picked out the goods. I already had a Garmin 705 so I didn't need the computer. By the time we got home from the vacation after party, it was waiting for me. I assembled the bike from its travels, added the new toy, and gave it a test run.

Not bad at all. We'll be heading out again on it today. So far what I have taken away is that it mentally makes you not give anything up and asks you to hold on or give a bit more. This alone I can definitely use with all of my solo training rides.

Some Garmin GPX to Computrainer 3dc file conversions

2011-03-12T16:31:00.001-05:00

A few of my buds have Computrainers now, so I figured I’d convert some of the badass rides from Spain as well as the awesome Rev3 Quassy Half bike course for their / your consumption if you so want em’.

The rides that the zip file will include are:

Rev3CTBike
Zafarraya
PuertoDelSol
Pico-SierraNevada

The link to the zip download is here.

Enjoy!

Take me home

2011-03-06T20:35:00.001-05:00

Wow. What a great trip that started with unbelievable training with very kind people and ended with a stellar vacation bouncing around formerly unseen (by me) portions of Spain.

SLB lets you carve out time and focus on yourself and your efforts. You're tired and yet you sling that leg over the saddle or hop in the van for the pool before the sun rises or slip the muddy running shoes on and head up the hills through the olive groves. . .

. . . And there is always someone to go with you, cheer you on, pat you on the back, or hand you a water bottle and food.

It's a great training amplification tool as I always feel that you come out of if multiple times stronger than when you went in. Although there's a bit of a price to it - rest. You really need it afterwards and pay for it if you press on. I got lucky to have the Mrs join me in Spain for a bit of an after-party where we could decompress and tour parts of this wonderful country that I've only seen from the saddle of a bike two years ago and last week.

It was great to see a lot of new locales and some familiar ones from a different vantage point. Heck, just driving down the Puerto Del Sol changed the entire ride and gave Kate some perspective as to what we do while we're here. . . Not to mention the snow-capped Pico views from cafes in Grenada with good friends.

I have no idea how the gang that puts on the camp handles 3 weeks of efforts going over this terrain. Professionals indeed, and hats off to you all for a class show.

SLB 2 Bike Vid

2011-03-05T13:07:00.001-05:00

Get it while it lasts…

Some SLB Video

2011-03-02T15:19:00.001-05:00

Day 1 out with the crew in the olive groves

Big Sexy Bobby’s SLB Cribs Show

2011-03-02T03:05:00.000-05:00

Heh. BSB makes me laugh…

Everyone is Gone...

2011-03-01T14:59:00.001-05:00

… and it’s time to start recovering and getting down to a real vacation.

Photo courtesy of Christine (@holisticguru) at http://liveandeatbetter.com/

A Day in Grenada

2011-03-01T14:46:00.001-05:00

Kate, J, Guru and I just spent the day in Grenada. This didn't suck. ;)

Great Posts and Pics from SLB

2011-03-01T06:17:00.001-05:00

Go check out more from http://co2legs.com/

SLB Day 7

2011-02-25T12:50:00.000-05:00

PICO!

Pico… because… Pico! (Peter Gabriel? heh)

This is a long 20 miles or so of climbing. It started with a nighttime packing of the bikes so that we could get a jump on my chain ring hunt early the next day. The gang was so cool about heading out early to help me find a replacement so I could be part of the ride. We dug through a couple bike shops before coming across one that had a replacement. Bought it on the spot, jogged back to the car, Dylan swapped it out for me at the van as the gang came back together.

We shot out towards the climb and had the usual coffee and donut stop at the gas station on our way to the start of the climb. Both vans linked up at the Monachil dropoff area and Sean had already had my crankset on before I could round the back of the van to help unload things. Dang.

We warmed up a bit on the slopes by the dropoff zone and then it was down to the starting bridge. Off we went. J told me not to let my HR drop below 160, and that wasn’t an issue. Especially on this early part that rocks up to the quarry and up to 395 for our eventual climb to the top.

The hardest part is the first 6 miles of ancient road climbing. Heh, and then you get to relax on a steady grade to the top on the last 15 as the air becomes thinner and you rise from nearly arid desert-esque landscape to walls of snow and people skiing/snowboarding in full winter gear.

I headed out hard as I’ve been here before and know the suck of the lower stage. I just wanted to get to the easier grade of the access road and get in a rhythm to the top. It was OK. Not great, but not bad. I put in a good days work avg HR was a few good clicks above what we set as a base. This is always a tuff day and the views on the way up, the fresh air, and the finish on top of the world are such a reward. A quick change of clothes and then I was off to have 3 beers at the top as a celebration. They always taste so wonderful there as you watch the rest of the gang battling it up for their own glories and tales of the victories set against this wonderful backdrop.

Before we left, J said, “No one ever bricks the Pico”… well, we had to now.

So we got home and ran.

Bobby took us out at 9 min miles… and for some stupid fun reason, J and I took it down to 6. I don’t know how we did it… or why. J crushed the climb in his own private hell and now we were giggling like school kids thru the olive groves sprinting around with Bobby.

Back to the house, clean up, food, bed, done.

ZZzzzzzz

SLB Day 6

2011-02-24T12:17:00.000-05:00

Recovery day.

Everyone is heading to see the big boys play at the tour of Andalucia. Guru, Big John, and I played hooky at the Camp. Christine’s been laying low on the training getting most of the food and basecamp in line and running support for the sag wagons with Papa John. She decided she needed a good stretch of the legs and that the day off for everyone else meant a long base run for us through the groves.

We headed out after a bit of a house-ordering-cleanup stint and decided to trot through the sunny countryside for a few hours covering all 4 directions and doing some off-road (road being dirt here) and digging up some hillside explorations to stumble across a honey farm with boxes and boxes of bees. In her words, “that was so Tom Sawyer” and I think she also mentioned “My Girl” once or twice because J is so allergic to them. It was such a clear day that we even got a little burnt on our winter-white flesh out here in the Spainsh sun.

We wrapped it up with a steep hill repeat and dreams of jamon sandwiches. We iced down in the pool, had a late lunch and the gang came home.

I was able to talk Grant into a sunset ride through the groves for a bit of a spin out. I love that wind out ride. It was a good thing we went too, as my bike started dropping it’s chain every time I put it into the small ring. Once we got back, bike wrench extraordinaire Sean took a look at it and noticed that it was bent. Dylan suggested we just hit a shop before the Pico climb tomorrow and replace it as none of us to really get it into a position to bend it back into place (and it only made sense to remove it once). So great idea. Let’s hope we find one, as the Pico is no place for my heroism (heh, or the big ring)

Time for dinner and bed!

SLB Day 5

2011-02-23T21:33:00.000-05:00

Puerto Del Sol

The day started with another early morning swim… and man was that tough. Few beers last night to really give it a challenge. I went with an easy 1k, then an easy 500, and then it was some genius idea to do 50 hard, 50 recovery for 5 sets. yikes. Then we were supposed to do 25 hard 25 recovery. and I pulled the plug as I was beat and my back/tri’s were on fire. Good enough for me to just get there right now, so I was content. Then it was off to the bakery for some pastries

A rolling day of hills that led us over to the PDS for the race to the top. I kept it easy on the way over in hopes that I’d wake up, but it never really happened. We got to the bridge/starting line and stripped down for the heated climb with no clouds in the sky. Off we went. It was a tuff 7+k climb. To crest the top let the views of Spain open up and what’s normally a short rest for most to come up made for a wonderfully sunny lunchtime hangout with a great view. We shot down the other side of it after our eats and headed home.

Once back, it wasn’t quite enuff time in the saddle and I added on a little more time/miles into the olive groves. As I was turning around, Dylan and Sean were firing up the roadway getting some speed pacing in… I was kinda tired, but was told to hop on and in all honesty I couldn’t really resist the chance to hammer out some speed with really good roadies who were willing to give me a lift. That was a lot of fun.

We broke up at one of the traffic circles as Dylan hitched a 40+mph ride chasing the draft on the back of a small euro truck. I pulled into the homestead driveway where we all regrouped, headed to la casa and I missed the rest of the gang who were already out on their run. I wanted one anyway and swapped shoes heading out for a 5k. The gang was coming home and J spun around to join me in mine as well. We just shot the breeze, called it a night and it was time for a shower and some dinner ala Guru.

Another great sunny day.

SLB Day 4

2011-02-22T14:28:00.001-05:00

Today got scaled back for a few reasons.

Weather (late start due to the yuk) – But it turned out BEAUTIFUL!
Everyone was pretty well shelled due to the session yesterday and racing the sun / storms home.

So in the morning, Grant, Christine, John and I headed out for a run thru the olive groves. I was still pretty zombie-like from the travel and training (and for some reason was up pretty late last night just farting about). Everyone was down for the lighter workload for a session. I was even able to steal a few more naps in after breakfast and before the ride.

(Note: while I am typing this, Guru just gave me a homemade bologna-ice-cream-sandwich-with-mustard)

So the ride was only a couple rolling hours and we got some fun pace line training with Sean and Dylan. We caught up with the other group and had our lunch in the sun. After lunch it was a nice steady climb to a beautiful road packed with rollers, some big trucks, and goats crossing the road with even more sun. The wind started to pick up a bit and blow most of the immediate cloud coverage away. But this made the recently stripped down Dylan and Jeff cold… so they wanted to warm up… and they put the pedals down. I hung on as best I could but was yet again the anchor on these quick roadies. We made it back to the homestead at a good clip. But it was a little shy of the hours I kinda wanted in even for a more base-ish day. So, I headed back out for a 45min or so loop in a good wind and some lovely sun shine.

When I got back the gang was out at a lawn table sipping wine and snacking on olives and chorizo in the sunshine. Sean grilled a Spainsh meat-feast and Guru countered with a big pesto pasta and salads.

This was today’s route:

SLB Day 3

2011-02-21T16:56:00.001-05:00

Holy crap. That was unreal. 6:30 wakeup for a 7am ride to the swimming pool. I wasn’t really in the mood, tired and damn meters build up on me. Then it was back to la casa and time for a nap.

The ride had some amazing views in some warm weather.The descent to Malaga was exciting as all hell, with a corkscrew thru some tunnels. The video will have to wait until we get back as even tho we have the connection it’s not the strongest, and even the usually bomb-proof skype is having some troubles. This was the route:

I got to ride with Guru a LOT today, which was awesome and she dragged me up the hills. After some fueling up it was a bomber ride down with Dylan and Sean. Both of which took turns dragging my sorry ass home. I can’t thank them enuff. We stopped at a bakery on the way back and wow. one of each please. We noodled home and it was pretty much right to the showers and the couches. Pretty well cooked tonight. Hopefully we’ll sleep well and catch some running tomorrow. Rumors have an easier gig on deck. G’night!

SLB Day 2

2011-02-20T17:17:00.000-05:00

Run, Ride, Run.

Here we go.

Was a great intro to Spain this year. Woke up at 8 for a run thru the olive groves, then it was food, clean up, and it’s off to ride. We spun around and after lunch and a few café’ con leches, we did a Loja climb up towards Zaff which takes one of my favorite “goat trails” down the mountain. Great people. Great ride and a sweet intro to some of the hill towns here. But god, the mud! it was acting like a brake because it lodged itself between my rear break housing and the tire making for some musical tunes on the road up looking down on the lakes.

Came back, and it was off for a short sunset run thru the olive groves. Home again and bike wash/clean and dinner! wow! @holisticguru had another winner with some refueling pasta. Whoa! seconds and thirds until we wiped it out and then a few glasses or vino and off to bed. Early wake up tomorrow for a swim trip. G’night.

SLB 2011 day one

2011-02-19T16:41:00.001-05:00

We've arrived.

It wasn't anything wrong with the flights, but it's just exhausting to be on the move for so long. Blinks of shuteye where you can and without missing needed food or drink or the occasional flight transfer. But we all made it. Here. To train.

It did help that I was picked up in rockstar form with a huge chariot and a young hottie with my name on a plaque. They really do treat cyclists different here.

I quickly set up my bike at the new cortijo only to find a note from my puppy with a signed photo. I miss my girls. With that and a start, @dylmcnic rocketed in.

While the bulk of the CREW being retrieved from Malaga airport by @j_hirsch, @holisticguru and I headed out for a run through the olive groves. This mud is still like clay that builds up on your shoes, but wow what a view. When we got back they were there in force. @co2legs, @annafyodorova, @triguinness and serge. Only @ironmanbobby and @donna_de were left to arrive.

We knew we had time so all of the new gang saddled up and headed out for a spin. We took a great warmup tour of the town and its rolling hills through the countryside and dropped some off in search of a little more time in the saddle (and a great short climb).

Hit the showers, went to the market and back home for some of guru's magic food.

And with this post while lying in bed, I'm calling it a day.

Note: Bobby even had some damn funny bracelets made up to mark the occasion. ;)

A good weekend of penance

2011-02-07T05:47:00.000-05:00

Between the weather constantly dropping snow and ice, and the new gig at work needing a lot of in person face time and long days, my work week training hasn't been up to par. Heck, my lunches are far and few between as has been dinners (usually coming right home and going to bed as I've been leaving before most storms arrive in the mornings). With the forecast of the coming week, it sounds like this may be the norm until Spain.

So this weekend was key. I really needed mentally to get in a big block and to feel productive. Well, that's just what I got in there and it was a good zombie Monday to follow (one where you can't possibly be annoyed as you are too fried)

This was my lineup. . .

Saturday:

Run 2:35 snow & freezing rain
Swim 2k
Lift 1h
Bike 2h

Sunday:

6h bike
30min core

Now to taper for slb with a recovery week ;)

A few good weeks, and some rest

2011-01-29T08:29:00.001-05:00

Put in a few good weeks of both training and fueling (thanks to @holisticguru can find her blog with tips here, go to her blog for more fun and some cooking ideas) and her magic which was a bit of a recovery from all the fun in Disney. I’m back down, but have really always been hovering within striking distance of race weight which is great for me this time of year as I’ll usually go into hibernation mode.

The training has been consisting of staying steady during the weeks and hitting it on the weekends. This has recently become more important with a new job at a startup that is really burning in some long days, working through lunches, etc. It’s also forcing me to throw myself into the job more as I have SLB coming up and am going to be missing 2 weeks while touring the mountains of Spain. I so can’t wait for that. I t gives me focus and allows me to attempt to train like a pro, if just for a little while.

Anyway, I think that’s about it for now. If you need some new motivation (as I did) from Rise Against, they’ve put out a teaser single recently for an upcoming album. Get up and just keep moving forward.

3 Day Weekend

2011-01-17T13:40:00.000-05:00

It's been a pretty big weekend training-wise now that I'm climbing out of that nasty cold and back into the saddle of IM. The week was pretty much a warm-up to the Saturday -> Sunday combo that J hits us with. Saturday was a 2.5 hour tread run at the crack of dawn (I was up early as the Mrs. was off to Chicago). I do those long tread and bike trainer sessions as a head check every now and again as I think (could be wrong about this) that they help me mentally prepare for the long sessions outdoors when it gets grim. I tend to think that all indoor training no matter how long is grim, and if I can hold it together indoors, I just may be OK once we are treated to some nicer weather outside. Or at least that's what I tell myself to make it worth it anyway ;).

@IronmanBobby recommended a book, "Born to Run" on Audible (been a subscriber for a few years) and I've always found that while running, listening to books about running make the time go by much faster. After that it was the usual chores around the house and then off to entertain the pooch. Swung by the LBS to drop off the MTB for some long needed work, then over to the parents pad as the alarm went off, ah, and a deep snowy playtime for the pooch. The video doesn't do the half of it as to how excited she was, this was when she was winding down! ;)

Once she was thoroughly wasted, we were off to Home Depot for more chores. As that cleared, It was to the pool for a quick swim, I had misjudged the open hours and got kicked out at the 1300 mark, so I came home and energy dog got her second wind and wanted another run to make it 3hrs of running that day. Sheesh.

Sunday was another early rise so i could get a jump on a 6hr bike ride on the computrainer. IM Canada was on Deck and I was to meet @peeeeeeeeej i the hills as she had some turtle-swim class to go too. I've been so frustrated by their crap software which degrades over time and by the time she showed up online, and my exhaustion was well underway, I was happy to hear that I wasn't the only one who had the issues with them sucking it.

I wrapped up the session shortly thereafter, cleaned up and tried to unwind for a short nap. Nope. The dogie wouldn't let it happen. The pooch who had been all sacked out from our adventures the day before had awoke to a spastic frenzy. She even let me so much as nod off for 5mins before barking at me to take her for a run. So again, my training wasn't done. It was another hilly 30min run around the development to wear her out.

So today is Monday 1:30 and I'm still in my PJ's. I've done a good amount of chores. But it's time to get the wheels moving again. I'm thinking a short recovery SBR for today as tomorrow will bring out a new training week. I just can't let a free day go... and yup, I'll be bringing this troublesome pooch to knock her out.

Running the Disney Half

2011-01-17T11:27:00.001-05:00

So I’m pretty sure my wife has lost her mind. She appeared out of nowhere one day stating, “I’m signing us up for the Disney Half Marathon in January 2011”. This was last year and her follow-up was, “I have a year to train for it”.

Me: “Uh, ok.”

See she’s never run that far. Ever.

She’s done plenty of 3 day breast cancer walks, and we’ve been repeating the Race for the Taste 10k for a few years now as part of her yearly Disney fix (yep, she’s addicted). But man, did she blind side me with this. She’s not a fan of running (at all) and didn’t really enjoy even the 10k’s other than the location. Hrrrm.

So now what to do? Well, post it out on twitter of course and see who else wants to go! A good number of people were into it, but some of the kids school holidays, etc. threw kinks into the works. In the end @catwebb, @skdickers, @gusano82, @hihodickers, @klavoie and I ended up rounding out the roster. Damn that was fun. A lot of laughs, food and bevs with a little running mixed in the chewy center.

Well all three ladies rocked it and finished with big smiles (which is all the husbands could hope for!! phew!) and holy crap we were impressed with them. The Mrs. went her longest ever, Cat had a busted up foot, and Dickers hadn’t done a lick of training since her half iron. Sheesh, making us look like wimps. You can read Kate’s report here. She pretty much nailed our only gripes with the race. Heh. in the end we probably ran about 15mi or so when you include the race to get into the corrals.

As for the boys, @hihodickers stayed in bed with his Heineken Kegerator (bless him) while @gusano82 paced himself to a PR by 4 minutes or so hitting under 1:38 for the half. Here’s some shots of us at the end. All in all a great weekend with great friends having a lot of laughs.

I think we’re on for the same weekend next year? may even increase the distances or Goofy it up (see Goofy challenge) although, the half was the perfect distance as to still be able to have fun before and after the race with minimal gimping around and strict diets / bed times.

HiHoDickers knows who’s boss.

It’s a small world.

4 weeks of a cold… broke… building back up….

2010-12-25T07:57:00.000-05:00

I got hit with 2 rounds of the same cold. The 2nd round hit me while I was already down and threw me down for the count. A couple weeks ago was the tipping point and like a newborn, I’m trying to rebuild my immune system into something stable.

So now that this nastiness has finally started to relent, it’s a log build back up to a delayed start of the season. We had the Disney Half Marathon for Kate coming up and were meeting a bunch of friends down there for some fun and a run. I still had some work to put in to get to a comfortable half distance and I just about got it with the teetering back and forth between healthy and sick. There was just enough time to do it, but barely a comfortable span with the holidays throwing themselves into the mix. It happens.

# Note to sick people: don’t go into work, you only get those around you ill.

2011 Race Season

2010-12-02T06:51:00.001-05:00

So I think I’ve cinched up my plans for this upcoming season. Essentially bookending it with IM’s and doing a “recovery” half with a CREW that I love (but may not be my best idea). It breaks down like this:

IM Texas - May 21, 2011
Rev 3 Half in Connecticut – June 5, 2011
Rev 3 Full in Ohio – September 11, 2011

… and yeah, there will be other stuff thrown in there like Spain/SLB and J usually calls me and says, “hey, what are you doing this weekend? wanna race/do ________ ”? ;)

But I think that sums it up as to what the focus is and what I can plan around. These are going to be fun as the gang’s going to each of them are nothing short of great people. First, I get to hang with the HOBA crew down in Houston, then the CREW crew at the HFWT, and the CREW again to redo Ohio.

This will be my first time doing 2 IM’s in 1 season (altho, that’s nowhere near JoJo’s back to back, (ha! you spaz.))

Interestingly enuff, plans with @lisami75 and @austinslide for IRL70.3 in 2012 are on the ticket for the following season… hrrrm, now who else can I con into going over to Ireland?

Crew Birthday Party / Season Kickoff

2010-11-15T07:14:00.001-05:00

Sunday was Christine’s birthday and also quite the crew reunion as a lot of the gang came over to throw a surprise party for her. Head crew and evil genius, J, coordinated the shebang with cloak-n-dagger emails, chats and phone calls. The evening was a fun time meeting friends old and new.

So what did the gang do in the morning? We gave a Spainsh SLB preview! John whipped up a huge healthy, short-order-cook style breakfast that was so dead on after a night of celebration. Then we all gathered for a 8 person crew ride, all of us SLB alumni having a great late season fall spin out of NY into Ridgefield CT and back. It was great to lead the gang out and to hear all the chatter and laughter of the gang I’ve come to know over the years. Most of us were also commenting how similar the feel was to when we do ride the Hills of southern Spain.

It was a damn fine birthday weekend. So good to see everyone.

An honest post…

2010-11-13T07:00:00.001-05:00

One of the guys I’ve come to know via the internet tri crowd for a few years was Jamie. He had a post a few days back with a title that definitely caught my eye. I thought this was a fair and honest post… It also made me laugh as I’ve seen the same trend over the few short years I’ve been into this. So I thought I’d link to it here

Your Triathlon Coach Sucks

It got me thinking… I know a few people who’ve had coaching failures, I wonder how many of those lead to self coaching as opposed to using another? It would be an interesting stat that USAT could use in their level 1 coach course.

It was a good day…

2010-09-18T08:59:00.001-04:00

So, my full distance for the year is over… REV3 Cedar Point was the goal. I had scaled back racing this year to only 2 Tri’s, the Rev3 Quassy Half (hands down the hardest half I’ve done 2x – and will be back 2 weeks after IMTX to do #3) and the Rev3 Cedar Point full. For running I joined my friends Jeremy, Cat, Bill, Shannon and wife Kate in Austin, Texas for the Austin Marathon (my first non-IM marathon) and I also ran a 4mi race with John and Christine upstate to “test the legs”. Nothing too crazy or surprising was going on this year. I put my head down and ticked off the training as best I could. That was all.

Needless to say, I was more than pleasantly surprised with the outcome… as other people react to it and the body heals / pain subsides it becomes more real.

Rev 3 Cedar Point Finish courtesy of my bud/hero Jeremy Webb (@gusano82)

None of this comes alone. Without Kate’s amazing and endless support I’d barely be able to get out of bed and leave the house. Without John’s coaching, plan, friendship and belief I’d still think it unattainable. Without Christine’s health advice I’d not have the strength to make it to the line (John’s training would have seen to that demise ). So to them, and to all of my friends (the twitter crew!), thank you. You followed, booed, applauded, laughed, worried with us all year and you have no idea how much you were with me for pre-race, the 140.6 SBR, and post-race… I’m a very lucky man to know you all.

Huge props need to go out to my fellow racers:

J – 2IM’s in a peak and holding top marks AND still racing a few more!
Guru – PR’ing your half… considerably.
Anna – mocking me with the ease of your run
JoJo – 2 IM’s in 2 weeks in 13-ish fashion?!?!
Bobby – a sick 2.5 hour PR!
Grant - Congrats on #1 of many to come!!! you beat the sun!
Jamie – Congrats on #1 and living your dreams!

And to the sherpa’s / volunteers that not only got us there, but then supported us?!?!

Kate (duh)
Katie!
Guru (yep, you too!)
Anna (rodeo – tied my bike in glad trash bags)

-me

Phase II – I get by with a little help from my friends…

2010-07-05T11:13:00.001-04:00

It’s time to build back up for the big show. Rev3 full is on it’s way into my calendar now and it’s been a few weeks of re-basing to build into it. This weekend was the July 4th holiday and it meant a long ride and a long run to get that base back in line. We’ll be doing this for a bit longer to get in those long slow efforts set for more to build on. This weekend called for juggling the wife’s birthday, friends, family and a 120mi ride and a 2.5 hour run. ha!

The Saturday ride was nice and called for a great 20+ mile loop with some sand and surf views out into the Atlantic and some nice climbs and allowed for me to swing back for facilities and fuel.

The run on Sunday was ok, but I knew early on it was going to hurt in the last hour. Not only was there the fatigue from the ride, but I was forced in the first hour to do three pickup sessions to get away from a swarm of flies nibbling on my back, neck and head. Each kick was about 3/4 of a mile or so to break away from them before I hit some head and cross winds to handle keeping them at bay. This was way to fast at such an early portion of the run and it indeed called to collect in the later moments of the session.

Today is a recovery day so will dial it back and loosen up as I’m feeling the wear in the bones. Thankfully the TDF sure helps making the sitting around easier.

Training solo for so long really made me appreciate what it means to have people to be training with. The weekend prior was a real treat for me. I’ve been training solo for a very long time now and I got the privilege of training with Grant and Anna for a little SBR fun. Just having them around made the hours (long hard hours) tick by without much notice. We rode a 120mi hilly route from my place north a few counties on Saturday, swam 4k in White Pond and finished with a good run in some afternoon heat on Sunday.

Thinking back, it’s been since I was in Texas with Gusano since I last trained with other people. While I was out there this holiday weekend I thought of them all. The whole twitter tri crew. It’s astounding to see everyday folk doing extraordinary things. It feeds the soul and inspires.

Here’s some video of the fireworks up in Mass:

Rev 3 be a Comin’

2010-06-01T18:08:00.001-04:00

An arsenal of crew is coming up for both Rev 3 and even further north for Mooseman. We’ve had over the past few weeks the following royalty previewing the course.

Week 1: J & Guru
Week 2: Guru & Bill
Week 3: Grant & Bobby
Week 4: Jameson & a whole lotta Rev’ers
Week 5: Just me ;)

Now it’s time to rest. This coming weekend is going to hurt so good with all of the friends coming up and the evil beauty of this course. I’m exhausted and off to Seattle, WA and over to Microsoft for a few day stint, then it’s back on a redeye and deliver the bike to the course, sleep, then race.

as Guru pointed out… “Here we go…” – Jane’s Addiction

Check out some good course reviews and posts on the following blogs:

Another new addition to the family

2010-03-06T08:14:00.001-05:00

Altho, this one is lifeless, well… until i make it move.

The road bike i have is about 16 years old with a hybrid of new and recycled components from other people and other bikes I have. Some bucks came in unexpectedly recently and I got the “all clear” from the Mrs. to enjoy some of it. I put and RFC out on twitter that I was in the market for a new (but discounted) rig and CREWmate @gaider threw back a gem of a deal that I couldn’t pass up.

Grant, thanks so much man!

So it’s being built up, but here’s the link to the specs and some snaps of the frame.

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=PRODUCT&PRODUCT.ID=6949

Well Wishes

2010-02-20T11:11:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to throw out a big “have fun” to the crew that’s about to head over for week 2 of SLB (strong like bull training camp) over in Spain.

Here’s some of the crew that you can follow on twitter:

some of the tweets may be protected… but can’t hurt to ask.

these guys are going to have a blast. i can’t wait to hear the stories.

safe trip boys.

Some New Headphones to Groove to

2010-02-20T10:49:00.001-05:00

I usually listen to a LOT of podcasts while on the treadmill, on the running trails or on the trainer as it’s a way for me to get some learning in without needing to steady myself and flip pages. I’ve been using the podcasts as well as an Audible account to pass the time. I do this by using my iPhone, but I’ve already broken it a few times as the headphone wires always seem to get wrapped around something and send the phone slinging onto the ground, and like bread… it’s always the butter side down {smash}.

A while back (a year ago) i picked up some Motorola headphones and all of a sudden life was good. The controls are on the headpiece (altho not all of them work in controlling the phone – not sure who’s to blame on that, apple or Motorola). These were the style i had:

Now they were fine and all, but pricey and the functionality was, meh. Anyway, they died and apparently poking around Amazon this is pretty damn common with these… which is sad, because I may have bought another pair as these were great to run in almost to the point of being a little uncomfortable as they held on tight (but in a good way as you’ll see with the ones i have now).

So i ended up reading all the reviews on different models and ended up with the Nokia BH-503 Stereo Headset (below):

Now these are a bit heavier, but the sound is amazing in comparison, they were also about half the price AND all of the controls work. They are however going to be difficult to run in so maybe with a hat? or doing something funky with tucking them behind my ears? We’ll see as that comes, but they will certainly be fine for general mobility and for the trainer. Being only day 1 (I got them last night) there’s a few other things I notice in comparison:

Pro’s

They charge much faster than the Moto’s
The charge lasts much longer (barely put a dent in the charge so far)
They are cheaper
Sound quality is better (tho i haven’t tried outbound sound via the built in mic for calls yet)
Bluetooth signal strength is seriously stronger, you can walk further away from the phone.
More comfortable in everyday use (but can totally see where they will fall off on a hard run)

Con’s

Heavier and can’t adjust the tension – so not great for a hard run.
They make you look even goofier as they are larger ;) but that’s what i’m all about.
The ear pads don’t appear to be replaceable and I’m not sure how they’ll hold up after some sweat and activity on the trainer. But then again, i lost one on the Moto’s and didn’t see anywhere i could buy a replacement online either, which did make the moto’s very uncomfortable before they just failed.

Both of the above are available on Amazon for customer review (i live thru them) and I’m in no way affiliated with any of these guys. see: CMP.ly/0

There are some other products I’ve picked up lately and are beginning to love… i’ll write about those soon enough (i hope ;)

A few firsts…

2010-01-03T17:31:00.001-05:00

So this New years 4 day weekend brought the following firsts for the season (which started in November):

first all day Kona race marathon on TV
first indoor treadmill run of the season (at home)
first 5hr bike ride
first 2hr run
first 17hr week
first snowy run with the Mrs. & our new pooch
first slug of hammer gel
first bottle of perpetuem
first spin with my pop ;)

Every little bit helps…

2009-12-13T08:12:00.001-05:00

It’s funny. Big efforts are cool. Epic days give you something to mull over a beer as you look back on em’ with accomplishment and fatigue. Hard intensive efforts that surprise you on the watch splits or on the wattage meter get you so jazzed… and you surely feel those efforts then and there. But, those days are far and few… and it’s those weeks where you eek in little nooks of training here and there, even where there really shouldn’t/couldn’t be… that gain this nearly unnoticeable or at least unremarkable days or weeks. You’re tired but not really sure why as each effort isn’t really of notice, yeah ya did it… but it wasn’t really stellar.

But this is where I love to train. More often then not, you’re training days aren’t breakthrough nor epic, nor well… anything but training. This daily grind of getting out and doing it, and doing it a few times a day is more of a win for me than most of the races I’ve been in. I would even argue that I’m not really racing others and only racing myself even during those bigger events. But getting back to these nondescript weeks of training… I love them. I find them invaluable and the reason why I like this sport (or buncha sports rolled into one ;). It’s also the reason I still want to go long. When you meet up with people you generally ask each other, “so what have you been up to?”. I personally never really have anything good or interesting to say as it’s usually these training weeks or the daily grind of the day job. But, you can look back over what you have executed on, be it blog, pen & paper, online/offline training software, whatever you log against… and there it is. You’ve taken your time and made it a little bit richer. This is why you are tired.

All of those 30min based 5k’s with the pooch in the AM and PM add up come weeks end. Conference calls while sitting on the bike? Sure why not… maybe I’ll extend it into the next checkpoint call that’s in 2 hrs… and then, it’s training in the bank.

The consistency reward is really only in the tally as far a semi-immediate gratification goes… but i think it pays dividends for going long. This is why I love winter and the base training it brings. The slow burn here and the seeds of consistency seemed to have made it easier as things get busier and the big pushes come around in summer. The goal is to keep moving, and hopefully it’s in the forward direction towards the line or sometimes just getting back home. ;)

Time for another cup o’ java and then it’s out and to it for me… another one for the bank.

SLB Norte

2009-11-28T10:33:00.001-05:00

Been up in Mass for the Turkey day and Mr. Wizard (@seanjlangford) lives up in these here parts. Sean in the other half of the SLB tour guide and the tech man behind J’s site. Every time I’m up here I give him a ping and see if he wants to link up for a ride, food, drink or what have ya. I also need to mention that every time we try and link up… some sort of nasty weather kicks up to test if we really want to go out and ride. Yesterday was no different.

So I’m sitting in my car tweeting as I’m there a bit early for a CCB team base ride post-turkey-day and thinking to myself… “this is gonna be cold… this is gonna be really wet and cold” :(

When guess who shows up already wet and cold…

Yep… no backing out now… ;) we rode for about 3 hours and about 40miles covering some great scenic parts of Mass (altho Sean did keep saying that , “it’s a lot nicer without the driving rain”). I get so excited to see the guys that I know, but rarely get to train with, that I probably jabbered on for the first hour straight. There’s nothing like base and miserable New England weather to make for a good story telling morning.

This was the loop we covered and with huge thanks to his CCB brethren for plotting out a really nice route:

(I’ve even left in guru’s plum island with the shutters ;)

On a side note, it’s actually been a good couple of days of training… been getting in rides and runs and such all slow and mellow. I ended up doing a 2hr ride to 5++k brick on Thanksgiving and even won the local run (which was not as mellow as I wanted it to be, because I got roped into the actual race portion of the run). oh yeah, and resting… a lot of resting… it’s been good to catch up on that as I’ve been just exhausted going into this holiday even needing a day off of work after sleeping all last weekend.

Making the Plan

2009-11-21T07:43:00.000-05:00

It has been a great and rewarding offseason. I've completed and learned a huge amount of technical schtuff at home and at work with all of the added time gained back on a daily basis. Tomorrow we plan and tomorrow will start the new season. The march back to 140.6 miles takes thousands of miles and hours to get there, and it all starts with a plan.

Much as the quote mentions about legal self-representation, I feel applies to serious training... "a fool for a client" is not what I'm willing to gamble at that level of exertion. So I'll be again placing my SBR counsel in John and dietary counsel in Christine.

The dog days of training

2009-11-01T12:08:00.000-05:00

So yeah. Ok, we got the pooch, and she’s doing great… we’re thinking she’s adopted us as much as we have her. She’s so full of energy that I’m almost required to take her out for a run everyday to tire her out for mommy. It’s been great having the company, but I’m just going to have to slow her down (she’s too damn fast and strong) for the adaptation and base phases of the season or she’ll burn me out before I get to Sandusky.

J, Guru & Coraline were up yesterday for some tricks and treats and doggie luvin’ before heading to the queen’s apartment for the @teamcontinuum shindig pre NYC mary. We ran a 10k with the pooches to get them all best-friendsy with each other and let them play in the small stream, grab a drink, and headed home. Then the humans were downing some Halloween candy and some sammies for lunch (not Guru, of course ;). John and I headed out on a ride as he was wrapping up a push into a recovery week and he’s still getting ready for 70.3 worlds. We rolled down to Rte. 100 for some TT intervals and were about 50 mins or so into it when his gears seized. uh oh!

Neither of us had a phone on us, which is odd… we both thought the other one had it on them ;). We flagged down a fellow cyclist who was all too kind and let us use his to bring in our badass support crew. Well, J jury-rigged the rear cluster so we could start moving towards home (after all, he did have a date with the queen) and we kept missing the support staff… but all worked out… a good day with some good friends that we haven’t seen in what feels like ages. It was great to see the pooches get along just fine too.

Today was another 10k with the pooch and ran it pretty similarly to yesterday. I love that she can rehydrate and take a bit of a break in the stream along the trail. It was then back to the house to watch the finishers of the NYC marathon which was exciting to be seeing those familiar faces on TV and all of our friends clock in online with their splits.

I gotta say tho… I’m glad I’m not doing it. This was a long year… J & I were chatting about it on the ride yesterday. We’re tired. My season was a good 11 months, his is 13! I’m glad I shut down… I mean really shut down. He’ll be doing the same. It’s so important.

My 140.6 next year will be a late season gig, so it will be a real easy and slow ramp up. We chatted a bit about ideas for 2010 and it’s a rough outline, but I think it’s going to be a LOT of fun. We’ve yet to solidify the details but there’s time for that. The 6 of us (couples + doggies) will probably get together for a good meal and lock down the bits after his debut down in Clearwater.

I’m excited for the CREW this 2010 season… there are some real powerhouses on that roster. (you guys know who you are ;) and even beyond their ability… just great people.

Well, we start this week. But it’ll be a slow and just-for-fun-re-acquaintance.

Enjoy your off-season's and take them as seriously as you do your training and fitness, it’s a long year. Rest well.

Hello Eloise!

2009-10-25T21:51:00.001-04:00

So here’s the new pooch on the drive home…

And here she is the first morning in the house looking for what is happening out in the world…

I then took her for her first run run to get her out in this fantastic fall weather to show her around the ‘hood and she was showing off to all the neighbors and their dogs how super awesome she is… she was holding an 8min/mi pace around on these hills for this 2mi jaunt. uhhh… ok you spazzy little girl… by the climb back up the hill to the house she was starting to drag a bit but picked it back up when she saw Kate. Afterwards she passed out cold on the floor nearly dead to the world in a nap. Yep, we’re gonna have to work on her base this season. ;)

More weights

2009-10-23T20:14:00.000-04:00

The week carried on as weeks do when you are back from vacation… and really, the only thing to pencil in here is that I’ve been consistent in both the 1) light weights with core training as well as the 2) semi-strict attention to what has been going down the pie hole. Some cocktails made it back onto the plan, but only late in the week and nowhere near as many as the two man stimulus package that Brian and I were down on Siesta Key.

It’s actually been a nice change and still being active is definitely helping me stay balanced between work and play. Time has once again slowed down a bit and I think we’ll have some fun things coming up on the life side in the next posting.

Clearing off the dust on the bench

2009-10-20T07:11:00.001-04:00

Wow. It’s been ages since I’ve been back on the bench. 2 years ago & not too long after the words, “Hi, is this John?”, I was told to stop hitting the weights. The man was right, they sure weren’t going to help me SBR better… SBR will.

Anyway, I followed the plan… but i do enjoy a good strength workout, so in the off season i do try and get back together with all the training tidbits I’ve accumulated pre-tri. Today I headed down into the training lab and cleared all the stuff that has been using the bench as a storage table and blew off a good coating of dust. It was fun doing it again and I’m again taking the advice of those who know better by taking off from SBR and doing things that are active, but different and enjoyable. So just a wee bit of chest and tri’s to humble myself and remember what past years with the weight rack were like.

It’s a bit of a side note, but I’ve also been paying a bit more attention to my diet after the unrestrained vacation that just occurred. This in turn has also made it feel more like a body building session as I am trying to tear down a few lbs just to stay in striking range of goal weight.

An interview with Christina(??) @ the HFWT

2009-10-17T08:22:00.001-04:00

So @Ironmanbobby had the camera all set up in the house and pointed his interviewing skills at the post beer / post Toughman crowd that was staying there. This was his release to the twitterverse:

A new Episode is up at www.ironmanbobby.com i sit down with @holisticguru and talk about her first official Half Ironman!!

We had to shame him into getting them out there for a bit, but as usual… the man produces. ;)

Another morning, another jog about the island...

2009-10-15T09:56:00.001-04:00

There’s a short loop around the North end of the key that i’ve been circling everyday since we got here. Everyday has been starting with a good routine of up, java, jog, breakfast and then beach. If the lottery is to be hit, this might just be the way to spend it. It’s been really pretty hot here so it’s nice to get it out of the way while it’s still cool-ish out. The weather here lately has been pretty unseasonable continuing the summer’s heat and humidity that is common. As I sit in the new kitchen and catch up on tweets, emails and blogs this is the view as the sun climbs up…

Not too shabby. It’s actually been pretty hard to sit still. So used to moving. Let’s see… I’ve redesigned the blog with a new template and layout. Started posting again. Been catching up on books. Trying to learn new languages. Redesigning and improving the network at home (well, when we were there before we left) and playing some computer games from big fish (it was a year ago since we discovered it right here and i last played). So a whole lot of nothing while trying to adjust back into normal life and taking on projects to keep busy and feeling like we’re moving forward towards some undefined goal. I keep telling myself to enjoy it as it all blows by so fast. Just a few months of this. So yeah, constantly moving became the norm and I’m itching (like @david_pike) to get moving again. If it’s true to the past two years it’ll pass win another few weeks and once we startup again the soul should be even more excited about it. This is like the detox period. ;)

The yearly vacation

2009-10-14T17:48:00.001-04:00

The Mrs. and I have headed down to Florida for what has become a yearly tradition of getaway (our anniversary as well), but more recently has become the yearly athletic goal of hers – the Race for the Taste 10k. Last year it was all about survival for her. This year it was anything but. As I was running beside her I couldn’t help but beam with pride. She worked for it since the one last year and her clothes that are becoming too big (that i only feel once a year ;) are a testament to the amount of training she put in this season. There was no struggling here on this unseasonably hot and humid morning as she, I, and her brother and sister-in-law, all sleepy-eyed had rolled off the bus and into the staging area to get going.

The course is actually a lot of fun (although it could sure use more music and some more water stops). It starts out at the huge Disney Wide World of Sports complex (but bussed in from Epcot parking), you then head out onto one of the main access roads, loop around a bit and head into Disney Hollywood Studios for a short shot through a bit of that park and then out and over to the boardwalk by the Swan and Dolphin and then enter Epot’s world showcase nearest England (Kate made sure to tell the Rose and Crown Pub that, “we will see YOU later!”). You then wrap over the bridge to France and around the globe counter-clockwise to finish on the side of the golf ball and back into the parking lot where you headed out on the bus that morning.

The race in on a Sunday and we had arrived on Friday afternoon. We spent a few days in the park, did the race, and spent another night in the park and headed out that next morning for Siesta Key. Turns out I missed my bud Rideout who was, as luck would have it, up in NYC for the entire stint of our stay down there! ha! oh yeah, it turns out his new pad down here is just one island over. How freakin’ cool is that?!

So what’s been going down? Some rides (of the theme park type, not the cycling type). Some jogs in the AM (which is really just to burn off some beer and awesome eats). Some sitting on some great white sand beaches while soaking up the sun or watching it go down into the Gulf of Mexico. Some crunches and pushups (see beer and food again ;) and well… that’s really pretty much it.

It just been some good, relaxing times with the bro and sis-in-law that we rarely hang with, much less get away with. Tonight we’re off to a great BBQ joint called Mr. Bones that is usually part of the yearly trek (we once had the Aerosmith tour bus pull into this tiny roadside join because the had to have it while travelling between arena’s ;) – sidenote, those guys aren’t very tall. It’s odd not being in motion as much as you have been for so long.

But as IronmanBobby’s last video post (based on J’s interview at the home with him) had brought out – You know you need it, it won’t last, so we’ll take it while we can.

Noon & I’m Still in my PJ’s

2009-10-04T12:09:00.001-04:00

So it’s a Sunday… and I’d normally be halfway through my long session, but not today. The entire crew + some good friends are out racing the Mighty Montauk half which used to be my season ender, and on my first year (3yrs ago) it was the ultimate goal of the entire season. But here I sit, taking in the twitter updates and watching the crumby weather burn off and turn into a beautiful fall day as @holisticguru’s reports of the crew taking names coming to me over the tubes. Still in my PJ’s sipping java after a small brunch nibble. The lady and I will head out for a light jog for a bit as she trains up for her 10k. Other than that it’s chores and brushing up on some long untouched goodies like reading, learning, creating. This year I get the benefit of a longer offseason, a legit few months before resetting. what to do, what to do?

Update: jogging with the Mrs…

Full House

2009-09-12T06:28:00.001-04:00

… the gang’s all here.

After IMLP i thought i was hanging up the wetsuit, helmet, & shoes. Not so fast, pal. Toughman here in Westchester (our backyard for training) is to take place tomorrow Sunday Sept. 13th & there was a lot of the local and not so local gang throwing down for it. Kate gave the nod of approval to open the doors of the house to them and in a moment of weakness, on both her and my part, said, “if you want to do it, sign up”, and I did. So here’s the resting order of talent we’re going to have in the crib:

Arriving yesterday, we have:

Ironman Bobby - @ironmanbobby (of the famed http://www.ironmanbobby.com video podcast twitter )
Katie (his GF and climber on a mission)

Today’s arrivals include:

JH - @j_hirsch (ring leader of the C.R.E.W. – not running the course, but our professional sherpa ;) http://johnhirsch.org
Guru (aka Christina) - @holisticguru (the holistic goddess of awesome) http://www.liveandeatbetter.com/
Grant - @gaidner (a dude to watch & front man for doing the right thing) http://www.teamcontinuum.net/

Now we just need to find the local man who has been hiding waiting to spring on us like Kato:

Javier Gomez - @crash_gomez (yep, that one. Not the other one ;) http://www.operationironman.com

It actually snuck up on me faster than i thought it would with the shorter work week and being in training for 50% of it and some longer days. This is quite the treat to have some good friends from around the intertubes hanging out.

I think there may even be some puppy hunting going on… so I’m oiling up the guns.

As for my training status, let’s just say that i have never been as tapered as i am for this race (as if you couldn’t tell from the posts).

Recovery…

2009-08-24T07:50:00.000-04:00

So it’s been a few weeks since LP and it’s been nice to catch up on things unrelated to tri while the body repairs. This was a very light week hours wise, but some of the efforts were a little toe in the water to see how we’re doing. I think i’m mended and will just try and turn back on some frequency this week.

Yesterday was a little treat as guru and j swung by for a visit around 11 or so. we headed up to the swimmin’ hole for some hooky and man, our boy is ready for Lou. We also were intermittently checking on the crew up at Timberman, and wow were they having a great day there. Unlike us, we played hooky for the rest of the day and watched a movie and ate poppycorn as the sunshowers rolled over the region. They leave for Lou on wednesday, race on sunday… he’ll be #4 so keep your eye’s on ironmanlive.

Weekday Ride After Work

2009-08-18T21:40:00.000-04:00

Headed out after work with some guys who just love cycling…

Bill and Patrick were kind enought to drag me around their stomping grounds into the North of Stamford and man did we have a blast. This was so much fun to just go out and buzz around a place I’ve never would have even known existed for about 1.5hrs. It was a great route with some really nice scenery and the roads were wide open once we left the downtown portion of the city. We even ended up having 2 riders join us for a few miles which was really cool and threw in a mix of culture and discussions from the saddle. I so hope we do this as a regular thing.

Heh.. Thanks J...

2009-08-17T09:36:00.002-04:00

Just got an "honorable mention" from the Boss on his website. His short take on his training stage & what we've done this year. More Human Than Human
(Thanks J ;)

Putting the band back together…

2009-08-17T07:19:00.001-04:00

Busy weekend.

Woke up Saturday morning to a good night’s sleep, some java, and headed right onto the Computrainer for a 2 hour easy stint. About 3/4’s of the way through the Mrs. arose and we sorta sketched out the plan for the day.

I wrapped up grabbed some quick eats and we were off for the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation for a couple hours worth of a jog/hike combo and to do some recon as neither of us have been out on the trails there. Damn was it hot, and quite the adventure too. Let’s see…

Nagged by mosquitoes.
Chased by galloping horses.
Held off by a 3-4 foot snake.
Eaten by flies.
Sweltering in the stagnant and humid heat.

… and it wasn’t even my idea ;)

We shot home (in the thankful AC) and just as Kate laid her head down on the couch for a snooze, look who show’s up…

WOOOOHOOO! So the HFWT is again in action for a post IMLP, pre IMLOU and pre Toughman half get together for some eats and relaxing.

Unpacked the car, brought some stuff in, Snacked on Smartfood and pistachios and not to soon after it was time to head up to the swimming hole (white pond) for a nice out and back 2k. The reeds were getting long and there were a lot of floaties (which Guru has likened to the CSI show drowned/ dead girl hair getting wrapped around us ;) which has made Kate oh so comfortable with getting back in the water.

All cooled down after a pretty fast swim considering we were all either recovering or in a taper, we headed back to the pad. Guru, Kate and I had a few bevies. So we pretty much kicked up as Guru busted out the IMLP finisher cookies (later to be renamed to fit the occasion). About and hour and a few more beers later it was off to a sweet meal of Indian food on one of our training routes up here.

What a great day. It was one of those days that felt like 2.

Sunday we all roused a bit early. The Mrs. had to work (from home) and the 3 of us headed down to take a preview of the Toughman course (which goes right by our old house). That’s where we met Grant of the Team Continuum & JH crew whom I haven’t seen since the winter ride from 125th (man has he gotten fast btw). We scoped out the park and where we theorized the swim and transition would be and headed out on what I thought was a pretty tough (true to name) ride.

It got HOT, very hot and humid and as we swung into my parents to reload the water bottles. I think it was all of 2 seconds before J and Guru were into to pool ;) and man what a great idea. The water was cold and totally helped bring down our core temperature and sustained us for the 2nd half of the ride.

All in all the ride was pretty nice. some crap parts but not bad considering where you launch from. A lot of the roads were either freshly paved, in good condition, or had that newly laid shoulder patching that mde for a great racing strip.

Once back at the car we linked up with Grant as he was packing up to sit in some AC and head home. Guru and I went out for a run into the park where I was melting and she kindly dragged me around for a few (man she’s strong). J went out for another hours ride and we hoofed it back to the car lot where I headed for a quick actionwipe shower and the AC + a powercookies + water, water, water. I was disgusting. Guru needed a little more run love and kept trucking around the lot and later my truck ;) to round out the full hour. damn girl. J came back around the same time as we all dove in the cars, let the heatstroke fade and headed back to our respective houses.

Great weekend.

IM does some weird things to those around you…

2009-08-12T07:33:00.001-04:00

Just take a quick peek at who is now taking up running…

Now who’s proud of who? It’s amazing how we all feed off one another’s motivation and abilities.

Now in another note from a guy i can’t hang around without my abs hurting from laughter… JoJo shot this out to us today (now this is the guy who complains about IM, Spain, hell just about everything and then signs back up)

Yo, my good peeps...

Let's "swim the channel" from my beach to the Sandy Hook light house. It's about a 4 mile stretch of water. I'm thinking end of the month or early September.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/nj/leonardo/857125000563557950

It's usually not too wavy b/c it is protected from the direct ocean by Sandy Hook, but it ain't your momma's lake either. I'll provide a small team of kyackers, at least 2 and hopefully up to 4 to protect the swim group from any boat traffic. We all have to swim the same pace, the pace of the slowest person, but this ain't no race. I'm gonna guess an easy pace of 20 minutes per 1000 yards will suffice, so the swim will take about 2.5 hours. We can ride back in a car, unless.... : )

What’s going on here? Something’s in the water.

Still floating... tomorrow we set sail for just a little longer

2009-08-09T19:56:00.001-04:00

Just something to get this moving again. Winding down the season.

HUGE THANKS - well... to every single one of you. I'm still wondering if it all really happened.

but some special shouts:

Boo, J, Guru, M&D (both LaV's & Flats), TheCrew (esp: JoJo, Ksq, Jesse, RideOut, Sean0L@ngf0rd, Liz [aka. Welly, wow!], Justin , the IMLP sherpa's, and all the tweeps (u guys know who u r < 140chars ;).

you’ve all no idea how much you all meant to me.

Kate threw up a bunch of pics and a vid she was tinkering with here.

Tomorrow I start moving again. The Voodoo continues…

The last push

2009-06-22T12:22:00.006-04:00

So this past week has been a big effort to jump start the last run into IMLP.

This week included:

Run: 49.5mi ~ 7.25hrs
Bike: 136.5mi ~ 7.50hrs
Swim: 14142yrds ~ 4hrs

So it was just about 19hrs on the move.

The big session that both hit and built up some confidence was this past Saturday's brick of 100/7.5 - it was a great learning experience & the longer swims and the frequency are coming around too.

I was tired and in shutdown by Sunday evening & although nervous about what's coming up in 34 days (I've never gone this far before) it's appearing to be doable... if I'm smart about it.

It's so true that you can't do IM alone.

Recovery week down…

2009-06-15T06:10:00.001-04:00

Spent most of this week recovering. We even headed up to Newport, RI with the fam to get in some quality R & R. did a little training this week, about 5hrs or so and am mentally getting ready for the last pushes into Placid.

For this post I was up to get some water at around 1:15ish and was just farting around online. Caught up on tweets, read up on SKDickey’s first oly (nice going there, chica) and then headed to check on rev3’s site for any updates and found these pics.

I also found a better breakdown of the numbers here and just plugged in my race numb of 201. That was much easier of doing the elapsed time math ;). I also shot them a note (rev3 that is) to say thanks and to please stay around the area. Man that was a well executed show. I hope they stay strong.

Well it’s starting to POUR out, time to shut the windows and try and get some sleep. But before i do… heard a great question this weekend (from an audio book i was grooving to). “what would you do if you weren’t scared?'” – amazing how quickly that query snaps things into focus.

hasta.

Rev3 in Review

2009-06-09T10:35:00.008-04:00

here we go... (janes addiction)

so the courses are getting longer now, and this was supposed to be the litmus test for IMLP considering what went down and the challenge that this course provided, I am so proud to have finished.

I want to start off saying that Rev3 was an awesomely setup and executed race. I've now been blessed by 2 in 2 weekends that were run so perfectly (the previously unposted one - yeah i suck - was Ridgefield handled by our bud and crewman Evan). i will do Ridgefield every year that I can and would prefer to do rev3's over wtc's if they grow and compete in the same space.

I headed up early on saturday for the open water swim. i had the usual pre-raceday short swim, short ride, short run on the sked to stay loose. i tried to zip up the wetsuit and bang, the zipper shot off one of the rails. damnit! that's 2x that happened on a damn expensive zoot suit. I think i'll move to J's Xterra suits once this one is done. I was able to jimmy it with some scissors i had on hand and clipped it so that it worked like a jacket. no prob, we roll on.

The water was cold but the lake was nice and it was perfect temps for the wetsuit (raceday was warmer). I was STARSTRUCK! so many pros all running around and chatting Ag's and each other up and saying hi... it was one of the coolest and most populated pro races i've ever been too outside of kona (and even then i wasn't into tri and didn't know who they were). They are hands down the coolest people.

I just did one leg of the 3 on the swim at a really chill pace, came back in, changed and kate and i went to register. the weekend schedule was a little misleading and they weren't ready for us yet, so kate and i headed out to drive the course and as we were out received a bunch of calls from well wishers and i soooo appreciate that. the course looked hard and the kinda hard that was deceptive as it was sooo beautiful. I'll definitely be going back there to ride it again for training.

we headed back into trans after the drive, picked up the packet (and a whole lotta goodies) i set up the bike and left it for the night. I checked twitter and saw that Jameson was at the trakkers booth and swung down to say hi - i luv meeting the online gang in person. unfortunately we missed guru and jav... but we headed back out to drive the run course and then hit the bricks for home and some food.
back at the home for wayward triathletes we linked up with the strays and shot the breeze. the mrs. and i turned in early after having my feet up for most of the day and i felt calm and pretty well rested. 4am was the wakeup. man i hate that part. 5 is doable, but 4 hurts.

alarms go off... coffee starts to brew... raceday is afoot...

all packed and ready to go, one more check of the list...

backed out of the garage and ran into j's car - great start. it was a kiss, but it sucked just the same. got to the end of the road and realized that i forgot 2 gu packets for the run (i use the hammer dispenser from the bento). So we whipped a u'ee and grabbed em. Take 2.

So we were on the road and rollin. Hit the hosting location dead on time, no sweat. Got set up, got suited up. Took my warmup / test swim. Came out and hung with the family and our tri-gang for a while. SimplyStu was on the mic... all was good. Time for the show to start... pros go off. man they rock. now AG's... and then me. 3 waves back or so. the water was shallow so i wadded in for a bit as most people were having some funny trouble trying to swim it. once we got going all was well until my right goggle started to leak (booo - it sure didn't do this on the practice). i just chilled out and decided to swim the line between the bouys and shouldered every one using 1 eye until halfway thru the return leg (#3). Oh well, it happens. I left the water and checked my time, wow. had a pretty good swim. nice! (~35min)

i was mindful enuff to bodyglide up before putting on the suit and it shot right off me (my t1 was horrible in the ridgefield run because my body has changed and is snagging in different places this year). sweet. grabbed the goods and the rig and off i went.

The ride was pretty chill, saw my new bud and crewman Dave Pike in his sweet Champ-Sys kit around mile 5, we chatted for a bit as the refs rolled up on us on a motorcycle and i told him to bolt.... and bolt he did. damn that kid is fast on the pedals. saw him later on the out and back and he ate in a few good miles, also saw his smiling face later on the run too. damn good guy. The rest of the ride we were just hammering along or climbing. around mile 28 i lost my big ring (wtf?!?!) why would it suddenly detune? don't get it, oh well, it was fundgeable and i just carried on. THEN! at mile 51.38 as i was hammering a mostly legal peloton behind me, my left leg started to wobble and i thought my pedal worked its way loose. NOPE! it was the crankarm! double wtf!!!

that's why i noticed the milage... i was so close to home. ah man. that sucks. the crankarm swung around 2x or so while still clipped into my shoe and the right arm wanted to slide out with the crankshaft. I quickly nailed the breaks, pushed my still attached right leg into the bike frame to hold it together, and pulled off to the side.

i so thought my day was done. and soooo close to trans... oh man.

I took a closer look at the crankarm to see what the damage was. hrrm... it wasn't stripped. odd. i was certain it had to be. i quickly opened up the bike bag and started to work on the crank. maybe i could get it on good enuff to just get back. i loosened up the screw, got it back on the crankshaft and whallah! wrenched that mother down as best i could - tho it still looked really shifty to me ;) but hey, at least it was on! now the moment of truth, can i get back 5 miles?

... it worked, tho i gotta say i was spooked and took it a little less hardcore than the train that was rolling prior to it literally coming apart. (2:55 or 2:59 or so?). I even had the treat of passing Guru in those 5 mi as she was running along like a champ and I gave her a shout, "GUUUURRRRUUU", in my best doppler effect.

I got into t2 and had a pretty good one, just some relay dudes standing in the way looking a little lost as to what to do. gave em a "watch out boys", and did my thing and promptly ran out with Kate, Mom & Pops cheering. (1min or so)

I was moving pretty good for the first mile to hit the portajohn at the first fuel station. ahhh, better and back in motion. At mile 3 the pro ladies were around mile 6-7 and whoa were they hauling up the hill. all the boys were cheering from them and a few that could get a breath in gave cheers back. It was sooo awesome seeing them duke it out for 1/2/3 and to take the effort to cheer back. I saw Dave back out on the run and man, he was throwing down a good effort. the turnaround seemed to take forever with those hills and the burn was setting in, but again... with a cool course and things to look at, the rev3 crew had you fooled into thinking you weren't hurting as bad as you are ;). Not much to write about on this, it wasn't my greatest run, but not shabby for the course either. Here's where I tend to pass people until i hit a gap where i see almost no one, and that was from mile 9 to the finish (well, maybe 3 or 4 that i climbed by or tagged up near-enuff to see). The finish was great, but with that rumpled carpet i was so freaked that with my weak legs i was so gonna dig it for all to see. I hustled in as well as i could and was showered with goodies from the staff there. The cheering squad was in full effect and guru trapped the video of the finish here. (around 1:43ish)

again, what a great event and a blast to see so many friendly and smiling faces... that's what makes it. all of that hassel can't even measure up to the joy of a good hard day out in the sun with some great folks.

Here's some of the shots from Kate & my parents and some more from Guru that bring me back.

Note: i ticked this off pretty fast, to just get it out, so don't be surprised if it's edited or added to later on ;)

Another double, dropping the swim for a bit

2009-05-13T06:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday started off with a strength progression ride of sustained effort on the computrainer. It was then off to work, and back home for a quick snack of toast and then off to the pool. Now yesterday, I didn’t think much off it, but I had this tweak in my shoulder that must have been caused from sleeping on it weird. It felt like a pinched nerve in the shoulder that was limiting or aggravated in some directional rotation. Well, yesterday it felt fine. That was until the second part of the training day where I shot over to the pool for a swim. I got to about 600m before i could feel it starting to aggravate and just topped up to 1k before deciding this wasn’t going away or something that could be loosened. So I pulled the plug.

I’ll be just swapping the swims out if I can even feel a twinge of ache until this works itself out. It’s not even able to be massaged as once you hit the spot it feels like a gunshot wound and aggregates further. Looks like it’s going to need to work itself out.

Make a plan... stick to the plan...

2009-05-13T03:31:00.001-04:00

That was a line from the movie layercake that my bud Ian says from
time to time. Well, phase 3 of the plan came in from Dr. Evil
yesterday and the doubles don't fail. Today was an AM hill run with PM
intervals on the compu. Not a bad start for the "on" weeks. I felt so
rested and strong that I considered throwing in another interval
length, but heeded the Dr.'s notes and pulled back to head into the
weekend "fresh" and not blow myself out during the week - not to
mention that there are more doubles coming.

Creepy…

2009-05-10T06:26:00.001-04:00

Bike safety PSA or a video representation of an acid trip?

Happy birthday to me!

2009-05-09T10:01:00.002-04:00

So today I increment the age counter forward and to keep that going
the Mrs treated me to one of the discounts that J has hooked us up
with. I tried his and Sean's Rudy Actyums in Spain and was not only
impressed by how far brain buckets came along since I got mine (about 15 years ago) but how light and comfortable it was. So I was so
pleased that the lady hooked me up with something I could really use
to stay safe and was so useful. I've been giving some thought on
moving more to the roadie side of the triad after this year and IM.
Now not a full dropping of the 3, but just more empahsis on the road
rig. Maybe just 70.3's and the long rides style. It's all conjecture
for now, but just mulling over what's next. Anyhow, stay safe out
there all!

Gusano, this bucket is for you pal.

Long Hill Ride with Joe’s Clan

2009-04-19T20:58:00.001-04:00

Joe was in town this weekend. I swam with Joe and Justin yesterday at the NYSC and today headed out from his parents casa for a ride up north… it was going to be a pretty hilly 112+ ride… but at dead on the 80mi mark, his derailer was ripped clear off the frame after he was having some shifting problems on the last climb. :(

It still was a blast to be invited along with his Sis, and her Hubs to be. Here’s some pics…

cold ride today…

2009-04-12T22:21:00.001-04:00

The wind was up and it sure didn’t feel like spring… some good friends lugged it up to northern Westchester and CT for a ride.

This was Guru and I rolling by Javier and giving some chase to Tom on the way out of NY and into Ridgefield.

I know it's not training, but I can't wait...

2009-04-11T19:56:00.000-04:00

updates…

2009-04-10T09:55:00.000-04:00

i’ve been totally sucking/slacking on the posts.
things have been nuts.
training pretty well tho. HUGE back to back century + sbr training weekend last weekend, same for this one. if curious for the deets, just follow the buckeye tool off to the right.
optimizing training this week (thank god) with an added day on friday due to the market close.
becoming a huge nerd with all of my net connects and digging back into my programming/sysadmin roots – and loving it.
my other phone died, and the new iPhone rocks.
podcasts and audible are golden, pandora keeps me sane.
dork books are spread out with the laptops all over the dining room table.
twittering way more than logging due to the time constraints.
Enjoying the pool but so hard to motivate to actually get there.

that’s it with the thoughts and random junk. sorry, but this e-rag is getting light on the updates when training and work go up.

Another Good Week

2009-03-24T06:50:00.001-04:00

2 weeks back-to-back of decent training time and I’m due for some recovery. This week was another 20hr week capped with another century ride. The breakdown goes something like this…

4 hours running (23.6mi)
12.5 hours riding (198.60mi)
3.5 hours swimming (11,100m)

Sunday was the nail in the coffin of the two weeks, as hard as last Sunday was, the day off (that following Monday) and the continuation of the cycle was wearing the body down. What humbled me at the end of it all was…

4k swim
Century ride
30min run

It’s unbelievable, but the run felt good and pretty strong too. What was there, however, was fatigue. It was the length of time moving forward even with the breaks for breakfast and lunch and probably compounded by moving forward at a consistent clip for the 2 weeks.

Still, I find it odd how much I look forward to the run… not for running’s sake as I’m actually not that fond of it, but for getting as far away from that bike after so much time on it.

So yesterday was a day off and there wasn’t much in the stems. I had that semi-post-Spain glaze and a light hollowness and weakness to everything. It’s actually been nice catching up on things in between sleeping (or not sleeping as work creeps back into the less exhausted body).

Today I’ve overslept (for technical reasons – c’mon clock!) but it’s fine. I’m passing on the swim this AM for an early meeting and have some shuffle time in the schedule for switching things around.

This plan is genius and what has changed it was the view on training that I acquired at the SLB camp. You saw those all around you pushing on, holding back when it was smart to – recovering, and then pushing on as hard as was sensible or even giving all. Walking away at the end of the session/day/week/whatever doing what you could when you could but with an ever mindful eye on what was next or when the finish line would arrive. It was a treat to be with that kind of intelligent perseverance.

So another good 2 weeks on and now to heal.

Zombie

2009-03-15T20:52:00.000-04:00

It’s not even 9pm and I’m exhausted.

Here’s why:

Trained roughly 20.5hrs this week. (a little over)
240miles on the bike, 186 were yesterday and today. (loverly hilly goodness)
21.5 miles of running. (bailed on 4-6 today)
9k swimming. (could be better)

So because of this and as of 8:50pm, I’m in bed and another cycle of the same begins with a rest day tomorrow.

Goodnight moon. ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz.

Doubles

2009-03-12T05:34:00.001-04:00

Yesterday kicked off what is going to be routine - doubles. like our old school soccer sessions where we’d do a session before classes and one after. the same will apply here. the story goes:

wake up
coffee
train
clean up
coffee
go to work
coffee
come home
train
clean up
go to bed
repeat

So not that it was the first, but it’s more consistent and a little longer now. yesterday’s was a 3k swim in the morning with what i considered a very hard interval session to wrap it up after a “longish” day at work (i got on the trainer by 9). the interval session on the bike included 2x10min 100% CP bits and 4x5min 105% CP “treats” ;)

The legs just weren’t, errrrm, snappy? yeah, snappy… after (or during) that bit. I do have to keep that session around tho as it was good and hard, especially after the run the previous eve.

More of this is on the sked for today too. To bookend the day we have a 2 hour ride and a 1hour hill run. I gotta figure out how to get more sleep in tho (although sleep sure is coming easy with this sked).

So far, so good.

Base is so nice...

2009-03-10T21:03:00.006-04:00

"We crawl on our knees for you
Under a sky no longer blue
We sweat all day long for you
But we sow seeds to see us through" -Rise Against

i really do love it. i learn so much from it.

tonight was a 2.5 hour run after work. i feel that this phase is where it needs to count. this is where the investments will need to be made and the largest benefits gained.

so it was a 1.5 hour run outside before the rain came and my flashlight wasn't powerful enough, and then 1 hour inside on the tread.

here we go.

Getting wet

2009-03-09T07:43:00.003-04:00

Well now that breathing and being overly toxic for the rest of the public has passed it was time to climb back into the water. I eased into it today with what started out as a slow "feel the water" type swim that ended in all out warfare with a surprising amount of people in the water this morning. It's amazing to me how disorienting a hard swim is for me. It feels like my HR is about 180 or so and i pull out of the water with my chest pumping. Ridiculous really. Anyway, I've put off swimming as much as I possibly can and still do this stuff so I guess it's now time to hop back in and get to work. The longer stuff is coming, I can see it. We'll see if I'm ready for it but I guess it doesn't matter.

The snow is gone & so is my cold

2009-03-09T05:55:00.003-04:00

ahhhh. I can breathe.

All this white stuff has disappeared as fast as it came with this warm weather and the sun this weekend. My training picks up now, and it's decent timing with this cold subsiding too. I received the following from my coach which made me laugh as we were tweaking and retweaking the schedule after spain and with the illness.

"So I am drinking chain breaker and building your training plan. Oh and I put on the slayer just to make it that much more insane. I think Kate is a luv but she isn't gonna like how much I am about to take her man away from her."

Time to buckle down.

Anyway, to reacap... last week was mostly cycling and light runs. This past weekend was only bikes and runs mixed in with a lot of social catching up that we had to do. I was great to see a lot of the gang from NYC that we've not seen in ages - and we even have a new edition to the clan.

So that's just about it. Lets see how this goes.

The Cold that Wouldn’t Leave

2009-03-02T21:09:00.001-05:00

What the heck is this thing?

I’ve been so beaten down by this cold that this past weekend I headed up to VT with the Mrs and the old ski haus crew of Tim and Nes… and all i did was sleep. I’ve been out of the game with training and drugged up at work to where by 4pm I can’t even remember my name. I shouldn’t have even been in. It was dumb, but I just thought I couldn’t be away with the press of a release that was underway. Hopefully it may be on its way out. But let me just warn ya’s if you haven’t already had it… It’s nasty and stay away from it at all costs. I could actually feel this taking over like an allergic reaction with swollen and sore throat and swollen, tear-ridden, red eyes that led to a few nights of aches, no breathing and no sleep.

Stay as far away as you can. Hopefully I’ll be back in the saddle or on the run again soon.

Just a relay…

2009-03-02T21:01:00.001-05:00

The roomies from SLB cobbled together a promo vid that recapped what we were up to

Been Swimming

2009-02-22T18:43:00.001-05:00

Not bad… it’s getting easier. Nothing crazy and I do feel like I’m coming down with a nice cold as of this post while watching the Tour of California today. But it’s been pleasant to get back in the pool and paddle about. Today was just another short (30min) session with Javier. Yep, the same as yesterday minus the early arrival. I was going to come home, do some work, eat and then head out for a light run but that didn’t go as planned. Whatever this is that I caught – I hate you. I spent most of the day staring at the laptop and zoning out with the TV on while re-loading and stoking the fireplace.

This coming week is going to still be a little recovery that will gradually transition into the normal workout flow (this is mostly due to this cold).

More Recovery

2009-02-21T17:45:00.001-05:00

… And I’m not complaining.

Here’s the deal. Everybody is sick… i think that’s true right now. It’s EVERYBODY I KNOW. I freaked out when I woke up at 3 this AM with a burning throat and a cookie-monster (SLB ref) style nose run. Not good, not good, not good! I have to meet Javier @ 7am for a swim and then bike with a few people.

I was in and out of sleep. Alarms went off and were snoozed and I almost slept through 7am. Yikes. Bounced out of bed. Grabbed a cup of previously cold brewed coffee. Nuked it. Grabbed the bag. Drove to the pool. Crap! pool opens at 7:30! Wait. Found Jav… ok, settle down. Crap only 30mins to swim now before the aquasize class (grr, thoughts on this withheld for politeness). Not a bad chill swim. Back to the house and holy molly! Nice breakfast spread and more Java with the Mrs. (Bless you!). We held off a little before the Recovery ride hoping the weather would warm up – it Kinda did, but not entirely (33 – 36degs). Ripped the valve clear off the rear wheel while removing the pump nozzle, damnit! Change the tube. Jav and I push off finally (everyone else invited were probably wise to drop out today).

A gift. That’s what this recovery ride was. It was beautifully clear out and even though we had a headwind in every direction it was actually quite nice to be back out in the elements and back on the bike. I was telling tales of the SLB camp, the terrain, TJ and death by Recoverite. This was just what the Dr. ordered (I hope) and I came in off the sandy, salty, road after battling a slow leak on the newly-tubed rear wheel in the last 2 miles. Home to a nice chicken cutlet sammy with a small cup of rice pudding (fave) and sacked out for 2 hours in front of a fire.

I’ll take it.

Off the Legs and Back in the Pool

2009-02-18T07:23:00.001-05:00

Today was the first day in a long time of getting wet in the pool. It was so welcome to be off the feet for a few days and getting used to splashing around again. This was expected to be (and certainly came through as) a weak showing. I’m hoping to get in the tub a bit more even if it’s just a few 30min efforts (like this one was) to get my water wings back and to allow the legs to recover from their beating. I’ve had a bit of a kink in my neck from my first night back in my own bed and it made for an interesting breathing roll which I’m sure was quite comical. It was also quite nice to notice that the new years resolutioners have fallen off and it was quite easy to get a lane.

Swim:

Duration: 30min
Distance: 1600m
Avg Pace: 01:52 Min/100s
Calories: 502

SLB Summary

2009-02-16T16:51:00.008-05:00

Just some numbers from the camp...

Fri: 2/6 - 1hr run = 1hr (half day - Travel)

Sat: 2/7 - 1hr run / 4hr ride = 5hrs

Sun: 2/8 - 1hr run / 4.5hr ride = 5.5hrs

Mon: 2/9 - .5hr run / 5.5 ride = 6hrs

Tues: 2/10 - 1hr run / 2hr ride = 3hrs (recovery day)

Wed: 2/11 - 1hr run / 4.5hr ride = 5.5hrs

Thu: 2/12 - 1hr run / 3hr ride = 4hrs

Fri: 2/13 - 2hr ride / 1hr run = 3hrs

Sat: 2/14 - 1hr run / 3hr ride = 4hrs

Sun: All day travel

---

7 Day Total: 31 hours (with recovery)

8.5 Day Total: 37 hours (entire camp)

We ran.. SLB bits

2009-02-16T12:40:00.003-05:00

"Capitalize while you can" and "slow and steady" were the mantras I tried to live out while at SLB. The picture is just a symbol of sticking with it and trying to be steady. The first day there I ran with John to try and set my body clock straight, we briefly chatted aout the training goals for the camp which led to the above. This turned into our norm for the time I was at the camp. Everyday without fail, no matter how long the day was or how banged up we were, we ran. Sometimes slow, sometimes fast-ish :), sometimes shorter, but we ran. One of J's sponsors is Profile Design and he ponied up a cap for whoever (other than him;) put in the most miles of running for the session. I normally don't get caught up on things like this but as I was packing I asked him if I could snag it. As in the movie Layer Cake, "make a plan... stick to the plan" and this was a little reminder of that.

I'll just shoot up some more tidbits of SLB as they come. I'm sore and tired and it'll come at its own pace. Once I get my garmin back from the airline (my bags and I parted ways) I'll update buckeye with the deets if anyone is interested in the stats.

I'd just like to thank J, Mandy, Sean, Andy and his crew for the invite, hospitality and a great setup.

... And to all of you in the camp many thanks for the dynamics, memories, support and drive that you have contributed to my experience there - it elevated me. (I'm still laughing about Contador)

... And of course Kate, you rock... Thanks for that chance.

-Vaya con huevos ;)

Rain on the Plain – Recovery Day

2009-02-10T10:55:00.001-05:00

Tired. It’s a good thing that it’s an easy day. After 2 days of some good, hard climbs and long hours, it’s time for some recovery. It was a 1 hr run this AM with J and a few hours in the saddle with the gang (mostly hanging out with Sean at a real recovery pace). The drizzle and rain was falling today and all of our cleanup efforts on the bikes was reset with the clay-like mud (with a good grit) that makes up the earth here. Some of the crew went to go swim in town, and I opted out for a nap and got some hand washing of the gear done. I’ll probably line up for a massage later to get the legs reset for another effort tomorrow. One of the coolest things today was that Sean blew a tire and the van was there in moments to swap it out and we just kept on rolling. So sweet to be treated like a pro for a week.

^ I think it’s nap time ^

Spain Day 4 - The Ruta de Rute

2009-02-09T16:26:00.001-05:00

Well, it was a 30 min run with the coach today. I was cautious after yesterday’s damage and he went for the full hour. Today was supposed to be tuff, and it delivered. 2 good days of back to back deliciousness. The area right above my knees were on fire by day’s end. This was a great long day. We started out in the rain and ended in the sun with everybody exhausted after 5.5hrs of slow climbs and fast descents. The cabin where we eat and congregate every night was filled with content smiles and ravenous appetites… and then came the sleep. In the words of Mr. Langford – It was EPIC. The morning seemed as though it were days ago and no one of any ability was left unworn by this route. ahhhh.

Some pics of the roomies on the ascent…

Spain Day 3

2009-02-08T11:29:00.000-05:00

Wholly Molly.

We climbed.

And climbed.

And then climbed out of the climb.

I’ve got to get some of the pictures that Ken took of these switchbacks down the mountainside to throw up here. But I was shelled come day’s end. The top of the climb wasn’t even the end of it. we had another few K or so so climb out of that… and it got cold. The landscape was like the moon. and to top that off we rocketed down some bike-trail like road with water strewn about it just to ‘cool’ us off.

This was the scene on the approach to the climb (yes we climbed to the climb too)

We descended into a cute little town to regroup and then it was time to put the hurt on. I just kept spinning for fear of not being able to start again if I stopped. The sun was out at this point and the wind was up assisting you on some of the switchbacks and smacking you right in the face and stopping you in a track-stand on others. As we started to round to the top the clouds rolled in, the temp dropped significantly and we were sweaty and cold. The rain capes came out to hefty-bag in the heat (which was welcome) and we had a great sandwich made and packed by Tracy.

I grabbed a 30 minute massage tonight and was way too tired to post. Tomorrow is supposed to be even harder & I’ll need to play it smart if I’m going to try and make my goal of a consistent burn. J and I threw in another 1hr run this AM which is a nice routine that we are setting into… not sure how it will go tomorrow ;)

Spain Day 2 – On the bikes

2009-02-07T17:36:00.000-05:00

Just some cloud coverage and some cool weather rolling in this AM as we hopped out of bed (after a crap nights sleep) and went for a group 10k run. We took the same route with the gang that J and I took last night. My socks and shoes were a little damp from yesterday and I could feel a heat patch growing under my left foot. Afterwards we grabbed a quick breakfast, loaded the bikes and drove just a short way (it’s cool that you can here in the hills) to sunnier skies and a great ride. Mandy was fetching the last of the gang today and the rest of us rode for about 2+hrs or so and then rounded back at the van for lunch. Some of the gang packed up and called it a day J, Sean, Kristoff, and I rode home for about an hour (a steep climb with a steep descent). Kristoff and Sean then headed up to la casa and John and I tacked on another 1.5 hrs or so of some pretty mild pacing. All told, it was probably close or on a 6hr training day. Tomorrow’s ride is supposed to be serious. I’ve got a new rig to cruise on as I lost the ability to work the front deraileur and Sean and I couldn’t be bothered to disassemble the shifter (I lost the head of the cabling from the connection eyelet). What a great place to come and train, and quite the new adventure. Off to bed now.

Spain Day 1 – arrived!

2009-02-06T16:58:00.000-05:00

We arrived around 3pm at the camp to a little mixed clouds and cool out, but it really is quite nice here. John and I went for a 10k run before dinner and a little preview of the towns around where we are based. The run also led us through the olive groves and near a still flooded stream. People are coming in bursts as flights are delayed through the UK so there have been many shuttles back and forth. Some of the gang have really been painfully put out with cancellations and even being forced to return from where they took off from. Everybody seems to be really excited to break away and get down to work. I’ve pretty much slept and ate my way over here and am so ready for some Z’s.

hasta…

Last crap meal before the training camp begins

2009-02-05T16:57:00.000-05:00

I'm getting the feeling that i'll be dropping some weight during this training camp in spain. This was the 'last supper' of sorts in the terminal of JFK.

No Bloggin’… Just Runnin’

2009-01-25T18:16:00.001-05:00

So these past few weeks have been nothing but broken promises of getting away from the desk (which also blocks most personal and enjoyable sites) and into some more training for double sessions. Most of the crew at work have been clocking in some serious hours to gain stability and functionality in a number of areas of the software suite. The easiest way to put it, was that if training wasn’t done in the wee hours of the morning prior to going in… it wasn’t going to be done. Here’s where the Garmin and some clicks and numbers into buckeye have helped a tad. Not even the micro-blogging length of twitter had the time for any attention. Well, this weekend had some rewards.

I had a good, long run today. It was on the tread which wasn’t so exciting, but I’ve just been tired of freezing outdoors lately. It was a chill pace and I have recently been hooked on a SciFi TV series that I never thought I’d be into downloaded and playing. Between the show’s season 1 and my slowly growing fitness, it was actually quite enjoyable. It’s actually kinda funny as the tread only counts down from 99mins and I needed 150, so it did actually give me a little break to reset the timer and to fire back up again knowing I was on the home stretch.

Run:

Duration: 2hrs30min
Distance: 14.57mi
Avg Pace: 10:17min/mi
Avg Speed: 5.83mph
Calories: 2037

I actually got a kick that I almost ran further than I biked this week ;) see buckeye widget --->

It Was Supposed to be a Rest Week

2009-01-24T18:36:00.000-05:00

… and it kinda was. I had down just a slow, 2 hour ride.

But today I was on Javier’s schedule. It was freezing out, we both had a ride and he just happened to have a 3hr ride to 30min brick. I liked that better than my schedule and needed a little bit more than the 2hrs with what the week delivered.

We just loaded up on the coffee, spun and ran, all while shooting the breeze. I think it’s just been so dark and cold while we’ve been training lately that it went by so fast with a training partner as a distraction from the grind. MTV’s Rock of Love also helped to entertain after we stumbled on that while clicking through the channels.

The spin was slow and the run was FREEZING outside. The wind was up but the hills around the house set the temperature at least a little bearable after the 15min mark. This has been a pretty cold month or so. We took the first half way too fast because of the temperature, but once we settled in and the hills came again the pace slowed way down to what it should be.

Bike:

Distance: 48.60mi
Duration: 3:01:46
Avg Speed: 16.04mph
Avg Pace: 3:44min/mi
Calories: 2408
Avg HR: 128bpm
Max HR: 147bpm
Cadence: 62rpm

Run:

Distance: 3.01mi
Duration: 33:46
Avg Speed: 5.35mph
Avg Pace: 11.13min/mi
Calories: 420
Avg HR: 148bpm
Max HR: 165bpm

Back on the Plan

2009-01-10T20:28:00.001-05:00

A day’s rest to reset the body clock and I’m back onto the plan. Today I was up early (well, earlier than usual). The winter storms are plentiful this year and today had the prediction that it was to start just after midnight. So it was to the trainer for the long base ride today. I actually got quite a bit of educational training and organizational stuff done while perched on the bike for that time. Due to the early start I was done around noon which left for some quality time and a nice long lunch at the local. All in all it was a pretty good day of realignment even though everyone was hunkering down due to mother nature.

Bike:

Distance: 75.76mi
Duration: 5hrs
Avg Pace: 3:57min/mi
Avg Speed: 15:15mph
Calories: 3754
Avg HR: 126
Max HR: 145
Avg RPM: 63.5

No Power = No Heat = No Sleep

2009-01-08T20:05:00.000-05:00

An ice storm with severe winds rolled through the area last night. I awoke around 1am to complete darkness (which is odd here). I got worried that the power would stay out for most of the night if not a few days (as this is common here, and the forecast called for more of the same weather). The really cold temperatures that evening also had me concerned about the pipes in the house, so I headed downstairs to start a fire to keep the core temperature of the place up. Well, now I was up. For the day… and with only 3 hrs sleep. This was going to hurt (and did). The power did come back on though, but the damage was done to my training week.

Well, since I was up I tried to go for a run. I only made it a half hour before my stomach gave in and called it off. I knew there would be nothing but coming home late from work due to the project and going right to bed. That’s exactly what happened. Home by 9 and right to bed.

Funny how Tuesday had me rolling with what the week was handing me pool wise, now this… eh, ya do what ya can with what’s thrown your way and maximize it where ya can right?

Run:

Duration: 30min
Distance: 2.5mi
Avg Pace: 12:00min/mi
Avg Speed: 5mph
Calories: 349

A Gamble of a Run

2009-01-07T19:52:00.000-05:00

My calf had cramped up last evening after last night's run. This one was a gamble that I think paid off... I was either going to loosen it up with a slow run (but would be able to tell in the first mile or so) or make it worse. This slower run was enough to warm it up and was compounded with some stretching after.

Run:

Distance: 5mi
Duration: 1hr
Avg Pace: 12min/mi
Avg Speed: 5mi/hr
Calories: 699

Short Swim & a Run

2009-01-06T19:45:00.000-05:00

I’m glad I got up early and went to the pool as they ended up booting us out at 6:30 for cleaning. That stunk as I was actually ready for a nice long session but things like this come up and I’ll just try to make it up when I can. This is exactly the reason why I used my vacation as best I could to load up on training.

Swim:

Duration: 29:05
Distance: 1600
Avg 100: 1:49
Best 100: 1:40
Calories: 515

Run:

Duration: 1hr
Distance: 5.67mi
Avg Pace: 10:34min/mi
Avg Speed: 5.67mi/hr
Calories: 792

Long Run, a Swim, & Done.

2009-01-04T20:59:00.001-05:00

I’m so glad I took yesterday a little easier. Today was a great long run on a snow covered trail on a beautiful and cool winter day. I had plenty of podcast interviews lined up on the player to keep me company.

Run:

Distance: 13.48mi
Duration: 2:17
Avg Pace: 10:10
Avg Speed: 5.90
Calories: 1884
Avg HR: 156
Max HR: 171
Climb: +921 / -918

Some lunch, some housework… and later on that evening with the swimming kiddies! (yeah, I didn’t know it was “family night” at the pool ;)

Swim:

Distance: 1500m (cut it short)
Duration: 25:17
Avg 100: 1.41.16
Best 100: 1.28.39

Some totals for the week (some 19+ hours):

Run: 9:05:53 - 50+ mi
Bike: 7:52:57 - 110+ mi
Swim: 2:31:52 – 8000+ m

That may be one of my best to date. The breakdown can be found here. 2 more weeks of lesser time and distance to clock in, but similar consistency and then back to 2-on-1-off. Tomorrow will definitely be a full day of nothing but office work. Yep, back to the grind.

Backing Off (just a little)

2009-01-03T18:41:00.001-05:00

I just had an EZ 3hr base spin to loosen up the legs from all of the running (I’ve found that a light and steady spin really helps loosen up the legs and to channel out the lactic buildup). As this was scheduled to be a recovery week that I've been pushing through (simply because I have the time off), I needed the loosening and rest effect of today’s backed-off spin for the longer run that I have planned for tomorrow. I'll take Monday fully off and will end up linking 4 weeks of training straight-through with a bit of a decrease in the mileage in the weeks to come. But, it's still very different from my 2-weeks-on, 1-week-off routine so I thought this was a wise decision this early in the game.

Bike:

Distance: 43.19mi
Duration: 3hrs
Avg HR: 115
Max HR: 134
Avg RPM: 64.1
Avg Speed: 14.4
Avg Pace: 4:10
Calories: 2,055

Long Run & a Short Swim

2009-01-02T18:24:00.000-05:00

Nothing much to write about today. It started snowing again and the wind picked up with it being really pretty cold out so it ended up being a pretty unfriendly grey day. Kate and I were holding onto the swim kick we’ve got going and headed back to the pool later on this evening.

Run:

Distance: 8.72
Duration: 1:35
Avg Pace: 10:53
Avg Speed: 5.51
Calories: 1219

Some lunch… and later on that evening…

Swim:

Distance: 2000m
Duration: 34:52
Avg 100: 1.44.60
Best 100: 1.34.25

First Run, Bike, Swim of ‘09

2009-01-01T09:17:00.000-05:00

Took the morning easy with some breakfast and coffee (of course). I was chatting up guru on fb for a while and trying to get up the motivation to get moving (always the hardest part eh?). Once I did the goals of ‘09 kicked in and I got moving with a run –> bike brick, a small break with nibbles and then it was off to the pool for a short swim. All of this at base pace. I can sure feel the wear on the legs from the past sessions and am looking forward to this coming Monday’s break. The pool has become a welcome sight to get off of the legs and to just feel the water. Not a bad start to the year, now I have all season to slow down.

Run:

Distance: 8.25
Duration: 1:30
Avg Pace: 10:54
Avg Speed: 5.5
Calories: 1153

Bike:

Distance: 21mi
Duration: 1:21:59
Avg HR: 133
Max HR: 150
Avg RPM: 73.8

This was a strength session: w/u 10 minutes 10 x 1 minute 45 seconds fast 15 seconds easy. 2 minutes extra easy spin main set: 4 x 7 minutes big gear. Rest interval 3 minutes c/d 10 minutes or so.

Swim:

Distance: 1200m
Duration: 22:19
Avg 100: 1.51.65
Best 100: 1.43.26

The swim was really just to get in and keep the pool momentum going. It felt really good on the legs and helped. Kate knocked out her first swim of the year and was in really good form for taking quite some time off of the swimming to focus on running. I think we’ll be heading back for another one (longer?) tomorrow.

More Snow?!?!?

2008-12-31T10:26:00.000-05:00

Whoa, didn’t see that coming… Time to adjust the plans…

Javier Tweeted that he was going to the pool… nice. Yes, will join! It was going to be a very slow form / endurance swim to ease myself into the longer distances and I felt great for the entirety of it. A few more of these and I may actually start to come around.

Swim:

Distance: 3500m
Duration: 1:09:24
Avg 100: 1.58.98
Best 100: 1.53.62

Then just before New Years Eve was to kick in (and dinner being served) I decided to get in one last longish run for 2008 before popping the bubbly.

Run:

Distance: 8.25
Duration: 1:30
Avg Pace: 10:54
Avg Speed: 5.5
Calories: 1153

Goodbye 2008… Happy New Years Everyone.

Feels Like Playing Hookey

2008-12-30T10:13:00.000-05:00

So the rest of the world keeps going into work as I normally do, but I had all this time accumulated that I hadn’t burnt and evaporates come 2009 so, burn it I will. It means I have trails, roads and the pool to (mostly) myself.

I went for a run in the morning and then a ride from Harlem up to Nyack and back again (the muffin ride) to round out a really awesome day. The weather was crisp and cold, with the wind up, but it was beautiful and so mentally clearing to be outside.

Run:

Distance: 6.69
Duration: 1:06:14
Avg Pace: 9:54
Avg Speed: 6.1
Calories: 894
Avg HR: 151
Max HR: 166
Climb: +704 / –704

Bike:

Distance: 47.51
Duration: 3:30:58
Avg Pace: 4:26
Avg Speed: 13.5
Calories: 3,122
Avg HR: 151
Max HR: 177
Climb: +2514 / –2585

On the return it was some Rise Against, chocolate covered espresso beans, and some kicking Mexican food for dinner before driving out of town.

Not Exactly the Monday Recovery

2008-12-29T10:08:00.000-05:00

I’m pushing through. I got the nod from the boss that it’s wise to clutch these days of training focus while I can before life butts in. So here we go with focused week #2…

I just needed to back off a little after this weekend to allow for a little more recovery for this week. So today was just a run.

Run:

Distance: 6.68
Duration: 1:07:31
Avg Pace: 10:07
Avg Speed: 5.9
Calories: 896
Avg HR: 146
Max HR: 168
Climb: +507 / -533

Rounding out the Week

2008-12-28T22:18:00.000-05:00

So today rounded out the week with a long base run with Javier. The weather was warm and all of the snow was melting. He shot over around 11:30 and we headed out onto the rail trail for a stretch.

Run:

Duration: 1:55:18
Distance: 10.94
Avg Pace: 10:32
Avg Speed: 5.7
Calories: 1465
Climb: +1,016 / -1,032
Avg HR: 148

Which led to my weekly total of 15+ hrs training (full summary here)

7 Runs – 8+hrs – 44.3mi
2 Bikes – 6hrs – 91.9mi
2 Swims - 1+hrs – 4100m

Not a bad week.

Happiness is…

2008-12-27T13:17:00.000-05:00

… a sweet training day.

So yeah… we have family coming down today so it needs to be an early start to the day. Not as early as I wanted, but still within range & still pre-dawn (I’ve actually been sleeping a LOT better now so I’ll take it). On the trainer for a pretty long ride today. I decided to tack on a brick run as I’ve been feeling so much better with this consistent training. The legs were creaky with a good deal of running this week (run focused), so it took a bit for them to get going so soon after waking up and it being cold. Right around the 3hr mark, with some good tunes coming on the shuffled playlist, it all kicked in and it felt great to hold a decent pace at such a low HR. The last two hours were pretty uneventful and more carryover from the 3hr mark, with some slower paced spins winding down before the transition to the run.

T2 - there is nothing better in a race than that feeling of getting the hell off of that bike. I love the bike, but am always so glad to be done with it… to get off of that seat and start the run. This is also my best transition, and this one was no different even though I took it a little slower with adjusting fans and getting the treadmill set. I’ve also grown to like that jelly feeling in the legs as you start your run and the blood returns to parts of the feet that were locked in a position for a ridiculously long time. It was a really strong day (even though it was sloooow) and was a great boost to my confidence and a nod to my season and base from last year.

Bike:

Duration: 5hrs
Distance: 76.35mi
Avg Pace: 3:55/mi
Avg Speed: 15.3mph
Max Speed: 22.6mph
Calories: 3735
Avg HR: 120bpm
Max HR: 157bpm
Avg Cadence: 67rpm

Run:

Duration: 30min
Distance: 2.5mi
Incline: 2%
Calories: 330
Avg Speed: 5.0mph
Avg HR:121
Max HR: 149

More of the Same

2008-12-26T09:30:00.000-05:00

Up a little early and brewed up the java, and had some toast. In the process of slicing up the rock-hard wheat that my father made the knife slipped and met my finger for a few moments of panic but turned out to be nothing some direct pressure wouldn’t handle nicely. So after pinching all the pieces back together I just wrapped it up tight and got ready for a slow burn base run for 90mins. This run focus is pretty cool and is a perfectly timed effort for cooking off the holiday eats. I was testing out some newly gifted compression gear and it’s kind of neat. We’ll see how it works. Here’s the details on the AM session:

Run:

Duration: 90mins
Distance 7.5mi
Avg Speed: 5mph
Inclines: 2,3, & 4%’s
Avg HR: 138
Max HR: 151
Calories: 1015

Christmas Day Training…

2008-12-25T21:38:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas all!

Yep, not giving up on this streak yet… here’s the skinny.

Run:

Duration: 1hr
Distance: 5.5mi
Incline: 2%
Calories: 730
Avg Speed: 5.5mph

Bike:

w/u 10 minutes
10 x 30 second fast spin-30 seconds easy.
4 x 6 minutes big gear rpm around 60. Rest interval 2 minutes.
C/d 10 minutes
Duration: 1:02
Distance: 15.53mi
Avg Pace: 3:59/mi
Avg Speed: 15.0mph
Max Speed: 19.5
Calories: 736
Avg HR: 118bpm
Max HR: 133bpm
Avg Cadence: 75rpm