Obviously, Ironman Augusta 70.3 is one of my favorite races, since this is the third year in a row I competed in it. Why?
The 1.2 mile swim heads downstream giving those of us that are not great swimmers a little push.
There are two main sporting events in Augusta. The little golf tournament called “The Masters”, and the Ironman, so the whole city seems to show up to support it. The Ironman doesn’t have near the amount athletes or the out-of-town spectators, but it doesn’t seem like that when you are competing.
The 56 mile bike course is beautifully scenic with rolling hills which makes it somewhat challenging and a lot of fun.
The run course is two-loops around the center of town which is loaded with spectators that are cheering and holding signs with sayings like “If Triathlon was easy they would call it football.” It gives the competitors continuous motivation through a the 13.1 mile completion to the challenge which depending on the temperature could be grueling.
The volunteers, all three years I have competed, have always been amazing. There are aid stations every 10 miles on the bike and every mile on the run, so there are a huge amount of volunteers that are there for a very long time.
The expo and check-in have always been run very professionally and smooth. It is probably one of the best run expos I have took part in.
The weekend started off with a caravan of amazing people up to Augusta including my buddy Pete, Kari, Jaime, Kat, Chris, Kate, Matt, Jeff & Miranda. All of them great people and athletes.
The ride up was uneventful with one stop at Cracker Barrel to fuel up and a couple of minute stops for gas and essentials. We went right to check-in and surprise, surprise, the Marriott opened their new convention center so there was so much more space for check-in and the expo than last year. In the past everything was in a series of rooms, now it was in one great big room that allowed for more vendors and more space to move around. There had to be at least 50% more vendors than last year. It was amazing. Of course my favorite part, as always, is the atmosphere. Super charged with excitement and enthusiasm.
After getting settled in are hotels, Chris, Jaime, Kat and I had dinner at this little restaurant of an old hotel called the Partridge Inn. The meal was incredible, and for the first time I got to try Shrimp & Grits, which of course Jaime was astounded I had never tried. It was really amazing. Paleo? Not in the least, but it was delicious. We ended up splitting our dinners, of which mine was a 16oz prime rib that was cooked to perfection. It was an amazing choice, indeed. (Patrons of the hotel had much less to say of the hotel though.)
The next day consisted of quick workouts, bike check-in, race prep and another awesome dinner at Charlie-O’s Steak House. We had a much larger crowd for dinner which not only included the caravan gang, but some members of Tri-Psych as well. It was the perfect crowd to spend the evening before the race. Everybody was calm, cool and collected on the outside, but some pre-race anxiety seemed to be looming over all of us.
I was surprised at how well I slept that night. I usually never sleep the night before a race. Of course I still didn’t get eight hours, but the 6 I did was a very hard sleep. I woke up even more refreshed than I thought. I had the opportunity to dress, eat and be ready with time to chill out and motivate myself.
The transition area was crowding fast as usual, and since last year I had a very early start, this year I ended up more in the middle waves, so there was plenty of time, to relax and get my bike and gear ready, without feeling rushed. As always there were plenty of people who caught up with me either from, home, past races, social media, or my blog. It was awesome. Race morning has to be one of my favorite times of the race, just because of the excitement and the convening with friends and acquaintances. Those of you podium placers probably are in your own little world at this point, and it makes sense, but to a lot of us just trying to beat our past times and finish comfortably, this is a great time of the morning.
The shuttle took us to the host hotel, and as it was in the lower 50s at the time, we decided to grab some coffee and hangout in the lobby. Finally, it was time to head over to the start, drop my “morning clothes” bag in the truck and enter my corral for the start. I found Jaime, which calmed my nerves a bit. He races with Team RWB of whom I am honored to call myself a part of as well, but he is much faster than I. Usually about 20-30 minutes faster. He is an amazing athlete, motivator and all-around person. We only catch each other at races, but he always is able to motivate just that little bit extra.
The time came and they moved us to the dock, the
gun went off and we jumped in and started swimming. I have been working on my swimming so I adopted my rhythm as soon as possible, and found myself right with the majority of the pack the first 800m but then I fell short. They swam past and I ended up, as usual, in the back. Around the 1200m mark the pack behind me caught me and by time I finished, the fast women, two waves behind me, caught me. I still ended up beating my swim time from the year before by a minute, but it was still slow.
I ran up the ramp to transition and without any incidents I grabbed my bike and headed out and just as I was about to leave transition, mother nature called and I made a quick decision to use the portlets. I still ended up with a four-minute transition, but I was a little disappointed. Around the three-mile mark I started to feel something new; quad burn. I was astounded I was feeling this so soon. Usually, it took 40 to 50 miles of hills before I felt it this bad. I must have over-used them in the swim. After another fifteen minutes I took a Honey Stinger Gel prematurely and the burn subsided meaning that I must have depleted my glycogen levels just enough to feel it. My cadence kicked up and I started passing people, and while I was still getting passed by the elite cyclists in the waves behind me, I was doing more passing than getting passed. The hills were as I remembered and I didn’t have any issues with them until mother nature threw me a curve ball. She added the wind. I was thinking the whole time, I just wanted to average 20mph. That would get me into T2 under 3 hours. I did make it to T2 with that goal, but I fell short of my 20mph average at 19.44 mph.
Unfortunately, because I wanted that 20 mph so bad and I had not accounted for the wind, I spent a little more energy than I wanted and I felt in on the run. At first I felt a little tight, but I was used to that. In my training it took till mile three to get my legs back, so I pushed through and bided my time until then, but at mile three, the tightness didn’t go away. As a matter of fact, the tightness never went away. I ended up doing a run/walk of 1 mile on and sixty seconds off. It worked but I faltered on even doing as well as I did the year before. I was under two hours in 2012, but this year I ended up 2:05 which is the exact amount I was off my over-all time: 5:42 off from 5:36. I cared for a while, but I assessed what I learned and what I needed to take away in order to be successful at Ironman Florida which is the ultimate goal for the year.
I caught up with Pete around mile 11 and we ran into the finish chute together. Of course we were passed by Master’s champion runner, Jeff Lessie who was doing the bike and run as part of a relay. What made it really embarrassing, was that Jeff started an hour behind us and he still caught us. He is an amazing athlete, and when he ran passed us we thought for sure he was just on his first loop, but when we saw him in the finish area, both of us looked at each other and then down at the ground. After a couple of nanoseconds we lifted our heads, found him and gave him a hearty congrats. We both still did pretty well and we knew it.
On to the next challenge, for me, the Chicago Marathon, and for both of of us Ironman Florida, Panama City Beach.
It has been a while since my last post. My only excuse is only to say that “life happens” and sometimes I do not get to accomplish as much as I want to in a day, so I end up putting off what I really want to do to accomplish what I need to do. You know, work, train, eat, sleep, train, etc, etc. Nevertheless, let me introduce you to Rich O’Dea.
Rich O’Dea
Speaking of accomplishment, I want to introduce to you a very good friend of mine; Rich O’Dea. His successes in the five years I have known him are nothing short of astonishing. From losing 80 lbs to running and then placing in marathons and Gasparilla Challenges and always going for the PR and most of the time succeeding. Lately, he has been on a quest to help others lose weight, attain their fitness goals and even start to work on their financial goals. He does this by telling the story of his weight loss and showing people how to attain their dreams using Isagenix products. He actually just recently attained the rank of Crystal Director which is a huge indicator of the success he, and the people that he has been helping, are having.
Through my postings, I have mentioned that I am endorsing these products, but it was actually watching Rich transform his body and then backing it up with the research that actually led to my involvement with Isagenix. I digress, this post isn’t about Isagenix, but about Rich.
I have to credit Rich O’Dea with introducing me to the other type of ‘fun’ that is more popular with my elite athlete friends. Rich O’Dea likes to WIN, and he has a drive and persistence rarely seen in any individual when he takes on a challenge. I remember when he had a goal of running a half marathon in 1:45 or better. He had his routine down to the calorie and his workouts down to the second. Every workout and every meal was planned and accomplished and when race time came he finished in 1:36. He refuses to stop and he works out like a champion in order to accomplish his goals.
Ok enough of me boasting about my bud. Let him tell you in his own words.
The Interview
Name: Rich O’Dea Birthdate/Sign: March 5, 1972 Place of Birth: East Chicago, IN Place growing up: Highland, IN
High School: Bishop Noll Institute
High School sports: N/A – I was not in shape to play sports
College: Benedictine University (f/k/a Illinois Benedictine College)
College Sports: I was a 270lb back up kicker and lineman for all of two weeks of training camp before I realized I was in no condition to make it through the season Other Sports: Competitive runner
Can you tell us what was the major turning point that started your fitness journey?
I struggled with weight my entire life going all the way back to childhood. I remember my dad telling me I was so heavy as a toddler he threw out his back trying to pick me up. My struggles continued through school and my adult life. The biggest turning point was the passing of my father who was always an athlete. The thought that there was time to get in shape and make him proud caused me to miss that opportunity. I was at one of my heaviest weights when he passed. I made the decision at that time that I was going to never quit no matter what until I found a way to lose weight and become the athlete he always wanted me to be.
You have some great successes and failures within your journey. Will you share a few of them with us?
Despite spending the majority of my life being overweight and in poor health, I did have brief periods in my life where I did lose weight and had some successes, but unfortunately, I resorted back to my unhealthy lifestyle shortly thereafter. For example, in 2009, I was able to overcome the odds and lose significant weight and run my first Marathon (2009 Chicago Marathon) I finished with a sub 4 hour time. A few months later, I ran the Gasparilla Challenge which is 15k and 5k on Saturday and a Half Marathon on Sunday. I finished 7th overall. While I was very excited about my accomplishments, it was short lived. I bounced back from 175lbs back to 225lb within months. I did not lose the weight the proper way and had no plan to maintain my success which ultimately leads to me failing again.
What would say is your latest success and why did it work?
My latest success worked when I made the discovery on why ever diet and work out plan I ever tried in my life were flawed. Life completely changed when I was first introduced to Isagenix earlier this year. I learned it’s not about caloric restriction or working out twice a day as a means of sustainable weight loss and athletic success. Rather it’s about feeding your body quality healthy nutrition while cleansing out the built up toxins in my body. Our diet and environment are full of toxins. We are ingesting man-made food-like products and not food. The typical diet is contaminated with herbicides, pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics. Our air is polluted. Once I started eating as much organic food, grass-fed meats, real food the way nature intended us to eat and incorporate Isagenix products into my daily lifestyle, my life completely changed forever.
If you could give me one adjective to describe the feeling you get when you are working out what would it be?
Unstoppable
When and why did you start running?
I first tried to run back in the mid-1990s as simply a means to lose weight. It was a struggle. I could not slowly jog more than 5 minutes without stopping for a breather.
What is one thing you love most about competing in road races?
I love the competitiveness of road races. Most of us will never be professional athletes and hear the roar of the crowd as we come out of the tunnel or hit a home run. But for us, this is our sport. There is no greater feeling than standing at the gun with thousands of other runners listening to the National Anthem getting pumped up knowing that my dad is looking down on me and is ready to run the race with me. Gives me chills just thinking about it.
Coach Brad, Rich and Scott Bragan in Chi-Town for the Marathon
We all have those days when we just do not feel like training. What do you do to get past that feeling and get on with your workout?
We all have those days we don’t have a full tank or have little motivation to get our training in. I am a big fan of running and/or training with others. When you have other people depending on you, you are more likely not to skip that workout. I also don’t think of my runs or workouts at work. Your training should be fun and social. Look forward to seeing your friends and rely on each other to motivate you through your training. Join a running group or take a weekly workout class and you will find yourself looking forward to your workout. And you will make some great new friends along the way.
What would you say is your greatest obstacle you ever overcame?
My greatest obstacle was myself and my lack of knowledge. I always had the desire to be healthy, to lose weight and to be a competitive runner; but I did not know how to do accomplish these goals. I struggled for decades because I was not searching for the answers in the right place and was not surrounding myself with like-minded individuals and groups. I learned that if you want to accomplish a goal, find a handful of others who have accomplished the goal you are striving for. Listen to them and do what they do.
What is your greatest victory?
My greatest victory is to carry on my dad’s legacy of being an athlete. As low as I was when he passed, I made the decision that day that I would not fail. Once you make the decision to not fail, you can only succeed. For the first time in my life, I am comfortable in my own skin. I am If I never gain or lose another pound, I am happy just where I am at. For the first time in my life, I am at peace with who I am. Waking up each day, knowing my dad is looking down upon me and is proud of who I have become. There is no greater victory in life for me.
What are your favorite quotes?
“If you are going through hell, keep going” -Winston Churchill
“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path” – Buddha
“The same wind blows on us all” – Jim Rohn
“My father used to say that it’s never too late to do anything you wanted to do. And he said ‘you never know what you can accomplish until you try'” -Michael Jordan
Want more of Rich??? Hear him speak; Saturday, September 21, 2013, @ 11 am at the Westshore Embassy Suites. He will be accompanied by Lori Harder and Angelike Norrie who are both champion figure competitors and authors. I promise you won’t want to miss it.
After a few seasons of the goal being just to finish those long races, most athletes decide not only would they like to finish the races comfortably, but hit those goal times. Is this where you are? In my opinion, in order to achieve faster times, comfortably, with little injury and pain, comes with a seasonal plan. This starts in the off-season with planning the race schedule and deciding, either with a coach or an experienced friend, what would be realistic. Obviously, moving from a 4 hour marathon to a 2:30 marathon in one season would be considered unrealistic for most runners, but is it possible to move to a 3:34? It could be based on the runner. It just takes a little longer of an approach.
Let me move to a quick history lesson to help put some of this into context. Arthur Lydiard was a running coach in New Zealand whose method has won more Olympic medals and Marathon wins than any other coach in history. Of course, when talking about marathon wins and Olympic medals, coaches are not usually publicized, at least for running events. As a running and triathlon coach I personally identify with Arthur Lydiard as he himself was never an elite athlete but was an amazing coach. He just had a superior way of working with athletes and actually experimented all of his own methods on himself first. His biggest tribute is that he is considered the “Coach of Coaches of Champions.” Let me give you a few of his credits: Author of “Run to the Top”, “Run the Lydiard Way”, “Jogging the Lydiard”, “Distance Training for Young Athletes”, “Distance Training for Women Athletes” and “Distance Training for Masters”. His personal athletes include:
What is Periodization? Aruthur Lydiard was considered the father of periodization and his method contains the purest form. Periodization is a method of training which breaks down the season into smaller phases in a timely manner, so the athlete will be at peak performance at race time. Let’s face it, no matter how hard we try are bodies cannot be at peak performance 100% of the time. We can try, but most likely it will cause, injury or fatigue, but we can manage it so that our bodies are in the most superior physical condition when we need it most. Periodization provides for this, unfortunately, modern American coaching has bastardized periodization which may be the reason why we see more and more ITB, hamstring, Achilles and plantar injuries than every before. From here on is a high level explanation of pure periodization as Arthur would have coached and they way I coach now.
1) Aerobic or Base Phase – This phase starts in the off-season. It is running up to 100 miles a week at 1 to 2 minutes slower than race pace. This is strictly to build aerobic endurance. There are no intervals, no speed work, no tempo runs in this phase. Aerobic capacity can be increased and it will remain at that level as long as it is exercised. This is why an marathoner can take weeks to two months off and their first training session could be a half marathon. That aerobic base stays in tact and can be built upon. The first season an athlete can build his/her aerobic base to a 43 VO2 max and then the next season can build to a 60 VO2 max and the following season even higher. As long as the athlete isn’t off for years, or have a pulmonary injury, the aerobic base will remain constant. Usually, the Aerobic Phase will be from 10-16 weeks and compromise about 30% of the training cycle.
2) Hill or Strength Phase – This phase executes workouts that strengthen the core, hamstrings, quads, calves and increases flexibility. There are still no interval or speed workouts yet. The athlete will include 2-3 workouts of hills doing 30-60 minutes of bounding, striding and running up hills and doing cadence work down the hills. Long runs are also included to maintain and slightly increase the aerobic base. This phase lasts anywhere from 4-6 weeks.
3) Anaerobic Phase – Here is where intervals and speedwork are included in the training plan. Why do we wait this long? More injuries are caused by speedwork than in any other training, but when there is an adequate aerobic base and strengthening than the injury percentage drops significantly. While aerobic capacity can be built upon season after season, anaerobic or oxygen debt cannot. Every person/athlete has a capacity for oxygen debt that can be built to where a maximum is reached and it is impossible to gain any improvement. The improvement in speed will come from strength and aerobic capacity. Have you ever consistently done track or speed workouts and find that you cannot seem to get any faster? Or have you taken a break from interval training and when you returned you found that you were slower and it took a little while to return back to that faster pace? That is because you can only build your oxygen debt to capacity for so long and it depletes rapidly. Doesn’t it make sense to have a phase of intervals to build the oxygen debt and speed to its maximum right before race season? That was Arthur’s belief and mine as well. Anaerobic phase lasts 4-5 weeks.
4) Coordination phase – This phase incorporates all of the phases and simulation training after analyzing the weaknesses of the athletes. For instance if the athlete finds that he is losing speed at the end of the race the coach would plan a Progress Calibration Run(PRC) where the athlete would run a long warm-up and aerobic run to that point in the race and then run intervals to simulate how the runner would feel at that time in the race. The long aerobic run would always continue along with a day of intervals to keep up the anaerobic threshold. This phase would last for 2-4 weeks.
5) Taper Phase – Finally the race is around the corner and it is time to bring down the frequency, effort and duration of the workouts. The coach might put in a PRC run here or there and a long aerobic run, but basically this is just prior to the “A” race or race season beginning. This lasts 1-2 weeks
Once the season has started training would continue based on the athletes needs. The race season can continue until the Aerobic Capacity is depleted and then the off-season begins and the phases start all over again.
This method has both been proven to have less injuries, less muscle soreness and pain, and faster times and results. Give it a try one season. I suggest finding a coach that complies to a strict Lydiard approach and have them put a plan together for you. There is a lot more to this method than I can put together in one post as there are hundreds of books written on the Lydiard Method. Lydiard Coaches can be found on the Lydiard Foundation Website.
Carpe Viam!
This post was originally written for IR4C.tv by the IronGoof himself. See it on the IR4C.tv website soon.
It has been a while since I have been able to put together a Tribute Tuesday post and this weeks tribute is someone I am truly honored and excited to write about. Katrina Pilkington, known by most people as Kat, has a heart that is rare by most standards. While she enjoys being healthy and partaking in fitness challenges and goals, she always…and I mean always, finds ways to help others reach their goals in the process.
To tell you the truth I have no idea how she does it. Katrina Pilkington is a woman who a few years ago decided to shed over 40 pounds for herself (see her story) and in doing so created a new energetic voice in the community and the blogosphere directed totally at those who want to become more healthy, more fit, and share ideas on how to go about it.
With only starting to run seriously just a couple of years ago, Katrina Pilkington, over the past nine months has completed her own challenge of 6 half-marathons in 6 months, attained her Certified Personal Trainer, has blogged about some new idea, product, person or technique every single day, holds a full-time job and is very active with her newlywed husband. Sarah Jessica Parker in “I Don’t Know How She Does It” has nothing on Mrs. Katrina Pilkington. She is truly amazing.
She doesn’t know it yet (well, she will now), but she is an inspiration to me. If it wasn’t for her example, Inner Fire probably would not be around today. Kat showed me it was possible to get a message out that would inspire, motivate and be fun to write. She also set an example on that there are plenty of topics out there to be expressed each and every day.
You don’t have to take my word for it, take hers in my interview below:
Birthdate/Sign: December 10 – Sagittarius all the way
Place of Birth: Clearwater, Florida
Place growing up: Clearwater, Florida
High School: Pinellas Park High High School sports: None – I had my head in the books College: Tampa Technical Institute College Sports: Nope
Other Sports: Never did any until I grew up!
I have linked to your “my story page” above so everyone can read your amazing story, but can you tell us what was the major turning point that started your fitness journey?
I’d struggled with binge dieting off and on and depended on quick fixes only to regain the weight back each time I stopped. I decided once and for all that I wanted to be the healthiest I’ve ever been and the fittest I’ve ever been once I turned 30 and have since worked to help others learn to live a healthy life the right way through the right methods.
If you could give me one adjective to describe the feeling you get when you are working out what would it be?
Powerful
When and why did you start running?
I started running and did 5ks and smaller races back in 2007.
What is one thing you love most about competing in road races?
I love the sense of accomplishment. I’ve done races and distances I never thought my body could take me through and hadn’t planned on it. Having asthma that kept me from playing sports when I was younger definitely motivates me to keep going and seeing how capable I really am.
Following your twitter, facebook, and blog, we know that you just past the NASM-CPT exam. What do you plan to do with it?
I wanted to learn about fitness in more depth on my own and to teach others what I’d learned through my blog and in person. I’d love to start teaching boot camps and learn more skills to do more with others.
Kat with husband Gary, and Jaeden
We all have those days when we just do not feel like training. What do you do to get past that feeling and get on with your workout?
I am super structured and as long as I have a training plan in my face, I get up. Having to turn off the alarm and sit up and go. Only one rest day a week is required for me and the only other time I rest is if I’m sick. My workout will get me through the rest of the day better than anything else could.
What would you say is your greatest obstacle you ever overcame?
Running 6 half marathons in 6 months all around 2:10 while working to increase my lung capacity through having allergen-induced asthma (went from 74% – the lungs of someone in their 60s or 70s – to now 88%)
What is your greatest victory?
Those races – and now training for my first full marathon!
What are your favorite quotes?
“Love yourself and be awake, today, tomorrow, always”
~ Buddha (tattooed on my left, upper, inner arm as a daily reminder)
If you are following on Twitter and Facebook, then you have seen the posts regarding certain developments that have taken place. I didn’t want anything to sully my race reporting because it was really a fantastic race, so I held off a bit so I could cool my jets. More on those developments later, but first let me bring you through race day.
I woke up early, groggy and already making note that I really need to be more responsible when it comes to race prep. I didn’t really gain a lot of good sleep over the last two nights with all the excitement of seeing my friends and being in my favorite city.
My normal ritual took place; fuel up, double-check my race bags, dawn my tri kit, apply the race tats, and head on down to transition. Even though it was still dark at 5:15am, it was warm with just a slight breeze coming off the Hudson. As I mentioned in my recent post, the only bags allowed into transition were these drawstring plastic bags, but my regular transition bag was allowed, empty and inside the transparent ones. I kept thinking about carrying them to transition and then, of course later, out of transition, I put the plastic ones in my personal transition backpack on the way to transition and when I arrived I removed them and dropped my backpack in the plastic bags until after the race. This later turned out to be a smart move.
Transition was already crowded with athletes all jazzed up for the race. I was lucky to have the end of the row so I had plenty of room for my gear. Commercial, outside lights on generators, gave us plenty of illumination to set up our own transition areas. I have been getting better and better about my transition area and only bringing in what is needed and not what I think I may need, therefore making my setup easier and faster. I have yet to leave anything behind that is actually needed. (Knock on wood.) After making sure that everything was ready to go, I knew I still had a mile or so to walk to get to the start, and it was getting warmer. Donning my wet suit at this point whether I put it on halfway or not would be a mistake so I through it over my shoulder and started walking up the path to the swim start which was around 110th St and the West Side Highway.
It was nice to start seeing the sunrise and chit-chat with some athletes both experienced and not. I do not really like to mention that I have completed an Ironman, but it does come up sometimes. I was reminded on this occasion why I don’t. Upon completing an Ironman distance triathlon, there is a level of expertise and speed assumed. These assumptions occur only from those who have not completed one, because those that have, understand that it can be just as slow as any other distance. I, of course, fall into that slow category. I met a newer triathlete whom was competing in her first Olympic triathlon whom automatically assumed I was a pro because I finished an IM. Even though I gave her the whole scoop of finishing pretty slow, I believe she thought I was being modest, but it met for good conversation. We parted at the corrals at the swim start while she met up with her friends and I stepped off to take off my shoes, drop them into the clothing bag provided, which was taken one of 10 trucks to be available at the finish. I halfway, put my wet suit on and headed into my corral.
The start was a time trial start which was actually pretty nice. They lined about thirty of us up on the edge of a pier and every twenty seconds would send us off. It kept the waves from bunching up during the swim. When it was my turn, with the butterflies in my stomach, I stepped forward like I was about to walk the plank, and waited for the count down. I heard the beep of my timing chip hit the timing mat, the announcer counting from ten and at one I stepped off into the 75 degree filth..uh…I mean water, of the Hudson River.
By now you must know, that of the three events I am not as fond of the swim as I am of the bike and run, but this one wasn’t so bad. Why? The NYC Tri, is definitely a non-swimmers triathlon. The current was incredibly fast. It made the Augusta Ironman 70.3 seem like there was no current at all. I surmise that if I would have just put my arms and floated I could have made it through the whole 1500 meters in around 35-40 minutes. Instead, I decided to swim a little and I made it in 22 minutes. WooHoo! Swim PR for me.
T-1 was around 800 meters from the swim finish so I ran and was feeling pretty good, until I stopped paying attention and ran into the bike out and had to get detoured around the outside of transition. What a goofball. I guess that goes without saying. Anyway, between that and struggling to get my wet suit off, I just about ate up the time I gained on the swim.
One thing the previous day’s race briefing was adamant about was to leave the bike in a higher gear in transition because of a sizable incline at the very start of the bike and this they were not kidding about. I must have passed six or seven people on that hill and I am from Florida. I don’t even know what a hill looks like. I did find out though.
The bike course starts at 79th st and runs up the West Side Highway into the Bronx to the George Washington Bridge and then turns around and comes back south to 57th street where it then does another U-turn and heads back to transition. Pete had mentioned it was a little hilly, but I thought I would be ok with the training rides we had completed in San Antonio. Well, no such luck. It was not that the hills were steep, they weren’t that bad, but they were long. That is where I came into trouble. I was averaging a pretty good pace going up to the Bronx until we started this amazing decline. I was coasting at 30+ mph for what seemed like forever. At first I was thinking, “this is great. I can make up some time.”, but the more I kept going without pedaling I realized, I was going to have to actually pedal back up that monster. What didn’t help was the fact that there were a few hills on the way to the GW Bridge and then I was going to have to turn around and go up that monster. When I did, I lost all momentum and literally was in a crawl on the way up and when I did finally make it, I was exhausted so I couldn’t get my speed up for a few miles. It sounds negative, but it was kind of fun.
When I arrived in T-2, I had recovered from that monster hill and was moving pretty good. I made it out of transition as expected and ran across Manhattan into Central Park. What a fun run course! It was full of spectators cheering like crazy, plenty of aid stations and volunteers. It had some shade since the temperature had increased into the mid 80’s, so I could feel a nice difference and pick-me-up when I dumped water over my head.
As of yet I didn’t mention that I debuted my new IronGoof Tri Kit at this race. While I didn’t hear anyone mention anything on the walk to the swim, or on the bike (probably because I was just a blur….LOL), on the run it seemed like everyone was noticing my logo. Ever few spectators and/or volunteers I passed someone would yell “Go Goof!” or “You got this Iron Goof!” It was really amazing. I did hear a couple of people laugh, snickering “Iron…..Goo….Goof? Is that what it said? IronGoof?” Whether or not they remember the website afterward, doesn’t really matter, but it was nice to hear and was very amusing and motivating.
Overall the run was tough, but again a lot of fun. I ran into the finish shoot feeling drained, but exhilarated. They handed me the medal, a pair of Aquaphor flip-flops, a towel and some water all the while moving us to the finish activities. I was excited to have completed it, but there was something missing. Even though I had met some very interesting people during the experience, they had their own support crew there. I didn’t really have anyone. Sure, I had people come up to me while I walked around asking how I did, and what the story behind the Iron Goof, but on the whole there was no one there to share it with. It made me remember one of the best things about completing these challenges. It’s the bonds we share in training and in competition. While it was fun, it was also a little depressing. I like the feeling of sharing my experiences with my friends. I like heading to the finish line afterwards and waiting on others to finish and cheering them on. Heck, I even enjoy being a spectathlete and being at a race just to cheer others on. I am not saying that I won’t do another race without having friends there, but it sure does make the experience more enjoyable.
I had a limited amount of time after I finished because I was flying out that night. I couldn’t retrieve my bike and gear from transition for almost two hours, so I received a foot massage, tried some “healthy” ice cream called Eatenlightened, which was awesome by the way, and headed back to the hotel to shower and pack before retrieving my bike. It was perfect that Hotel Belleclaire was positioned equidistant from the finish line and transition. When I compete in this triathlon again, I hope have a return stay there as well.
After a long shower and packing up my suitcase, I headed over to transition and grabbed my bike and gear. As, I watched the majority of competitors try to balance their plastic bag on their bikes while going up the hill to their cars and cabs, I was comfortably riding my bike with my transition bag on my back. I was very happy I figured that out early. After the short ride back to the hotel, I pulled out the bike stem, dropped the aero bars, and took off the front wheel. I then packed the bike back in the box, secured the bike stem and saddle to the box, packed and secured the race wheels, taped the box back up, and secured the FedEx slip to the top. My bike and I were ready to head home.
I called FedEx to give them the info for the pick-up, notified the front desk (whom were more than accommodating to make sure that it would get where it needed to go), and hailed a cab home. From there on out it was uneventful. Monday afternoon I checked my tracking number online and saw that my bike had been picked up from the hotel as expected. I logged on and checked again the next day where the tracking info stated it had left the FedEx Brooklyn location. It wasn’t until Wednesday when I loaded up the website that I noticed something peculiar. The tracking had stopped. I expected to see another scan somewhere between Brooklyn and Tampa but there wasn’t, but it did state it was expected to be at my home on Thursday. When it didn’t show up I started to get a little concerned, therefore on Friday I called and had a trace put on it. Monday when I called back, due to the fact I had not received the promised communication, I was told that it was nowhere to be found but they were looking. I was dumbfounded. I had no idea how a package that big could get lost.
To make a long story short. It still has not been found, and due to a weird typo in the declared value versus insurance purchased fields in the online form, FedEx is fighting paying me the amount needed to purchase another bike. At this point Misty is gone. I will continue to converse with FedEx in the hopes they either find her or they reimburse me, but at this point I have no idea what is going to happen.
It is too bad something like that has to dampen a great experience. I would highly recommend the New York City Triathlon to anyone to include first-timers. It was a fantastic course, that was well supported by the public and the corporate vendors. I would just take your bike with you.
Traveling for races is always exciting, but the opportunity to race in my favorite city in the world, caused an overwhelming explosion of emotions that may have actually hindered me. I will explain that last part a bit later, but let me start from the beginning.
In order to race in the NYC Triathlon from out-of-state, a lottery is performed and in February of this year I was notified that I had been chosen to race. At the time I was not quite sure about it, as my race schedule was already pretty full, but I had heard great things about the race, so I decided to go ahead and put it on the calendar. How many times was I going to be chosen via a lottery…right? I have entered the lottery for the NYC Marathon for the last 3 years and was never chosen, therefore I felt like this may be a one-time opportunity. I made my arrangements immediately, and found some inexpensive accommodations at Hotel Belleclaire which ended up to be a very nice boutique hotel on the upper west side of Manhattan, beautifully positioned directly between transition and the finish line.
The challenge I had was, how do I transport my bike to NYC. I had a few choices.
1) Tri-bike Transport which was $300 each way.
2) Take my bike completely apart and take it with me, then take it to a bike shop to be put back together for $75 and again when I returned, not to mention possible oversize luggage fees at anywhere from 75-150 bucks.
3) Use shipbikes.com and buy a reusable AirCaddy for $100 and then ship my bike via FedEx, directly to my hotel and back home for $100 each way with very minimal dis-assembly of my bike.
I chose option 3, which turned out to be very convenient. The Air Caddy came in a very flat box and was assembled in 10 minutes and my bike was then placed in the box within 5 minutes and ready to ship. It comes with a fork plate that stabilizes the bike in the box and then a series of other corrugated cardboard is placed around the bike which secures and stabilizes it even more. The only small adjustments that need to be made are to remove the saddle and seat post together, and fold down the aero bars. Each is just the loosening of two allen screws. I only had to bring my small bike tool with me in order to tighten them back up upon re-assembly. I taped up the box, added the label which is purchased through shipbikes.com and then called for a FedEx delivery representative to come by and pick it up. Easy breezy. It all happened like clockwork. Of course since this is the first time I was shipping my bike I was a little anxious, and I was going to be, until I re-assembled in NYC.
I left Friday Morning two days before the race and was so excited I could barely contain myself. Not just for the fact I had the opportunity to race in my favorite city I have ever been to, but I was also going to spend some time with friends I hadn’t hung out with in what seemed like forever.
All of the pics online of Hotel Belleclaire were of course beautiful, but in New York City it is sometimes a crap shoot. The marketing pics look great, but when you get there, sometimes you get a room that a little worse for wear. Hotel Belleclaire was absolutely beautiful and the service was first-rate. I was in my room for about 30 minutes when the front desk called just to ask if everything in the room was alright. I was a little shocked because I never experienced that before. It is such a simple concept to give a 30 second call to the guests and it made me feel kind of special. Before I knew it, there was a knock at my door and there was a bellman with my bike. Talk about service. After I put my bike together I phoned the front desk and requested that they store the box since the room was small. I didn’t really care about the size of the room since it was just me, but the box and my bike took up a little more room. It turned out that they could not find anywhere to store the box, so instead of just saying “Sorry, we cannot do anything about it”, they upgraded me and put me in a larger room to accommodate the box. That, was to me, an amazing touch. On Sunday after the race, I boxed up the bike and the concierge told me to just leave it in my room. Monday morning I received a text from FedEx notifying me my bike was picked up and that the estimated date she would be back home was Thursday. If you are going to be in NYC on the upper west side, I highly recommend the Hotel Belleclaire. I think you will enjoy it.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program(after my little endorsement).
After I checked in I planned on going to the expo at Hilton Midtown, so I started walking. The hotel was on 77th St. and Broadway and the Hilton was on 55th and 6th so it was 22 blocks south and two blocks east. No big deal, and it was nice outside so I decided to walk. Here is where I started with a little hinderance. I saw my favorite hot dog place in Manhattan. Grays Papaya. OMG! Now remember that I am about 90% paleo and I haven’t digested a slice of bread in over a year, so you can imagine how my system was going to react to a couple of white flour, processed, buns with grilled hot dogs and all the trimmings. They sure tasted good going down, however they left me in a lurch later that evening. Grays Papaya is famous in the city for their hot dogs and papaya drink. I had both and they were sooo good. It was like a sin to eat something that tasted that good as processed as it was. I always talk about balance right? Well, I figured I hadn’t had one in so long, it wouldn’t hurt. WRONG!!!! I will spare you the details of what happened a couple of hours later.
Inside the Host Hotel. I just had to take a pic.
I called a good friend of mine, Michael who moved to the city almost four years ago. Michael and I used to to perform in plays and musicals together semi-professionally. Michael was keeping the dream alive in New York while I turned to health and fitness. To my surprise he was willing to go to the expo with me so I could check-in. The New York Triathlon required the attendance of all the athletes at a mandatory meeting in order to verify everyone had the information in the Athlete Handbook. In order to get your packet you had to attend a meeting and get your hand stamped. Because I had been to so many races prior and never usually went to the meetings, that I would be a little annoyed but the person whom MC’ed the meeting was hilarious and had us all in stitches. He also was great about getting the info out specifically and succinctly, so all of us whom attended could have our hand stamped and out of there in about 25 minutes. The rest of check-in was a breeze.
The expo was, well…interesting. Mainly because I was in a different part of the US, it had different vendors. What I did notice was that Zicco Coconut Water was a huge sponsor. They were giving out coconut water like it was, uh…water. Even in our SWAG there was one of those huge liter bottles that usually sell for around $9. I love Zicco so I was beyond freaking thrilled. The only unfortunate thing was that they only were giving the original version and I know that the chocolate flavor is amazing, but I enjoy the natural flavor too. The rest of the expo was what you would expect of a triathlon which is minimal compared to marathon’s and big road races, but it still had that great race aura and energy.
Michael and I hung out for a bit and caught up and then headed to Restaurant 44th&10th which is located, can you guess? You are correct. 44th st and 10 Ave just about 20 more blocks from the hotel. The place is a corner of a set of stores and is decked out in white with colors used as accents on the walls and cushions of the chairs. The food was amazing. I had the grilled tilapia with steamed spinach and a sweet potato, butternut squash mash. Deliciouso! For desert was a dark chocolate flour-less cake which tasted more like mouse, and an organic banana sundae. WOW! It was an outburst of flavors that stimulated my taste buds with the cool essence of banana, chocolate and toasted marshmallow. O-M-G was it good!
Now all fat and happy, Michael and I headed off to my hotel, so I could drop off all the swag from the expo and that, ladies and gentlemen, is when Grays Papaya decided to fight for control of my digestive system away from my incredible food from 44th&10th. That is all I have to say about that. Needless to say after a couple of syndicated comedies, conversations about theatre in the city and dealing with my stomach I wasn’t going anywhere else that night.
I woke up Saturday feeling a lot better. I took a shower, put together everything I needed for transition, which didn’t open until 2 pm, and headed out into the city. Around 1 pm I stopped at my favorite pizza place. The restaurant will remain, forever, a planned event whenever I am in NYC. The place with the best pizza on the planet. John’s Pizza on 44th St between 7th an 8th avenues. This place has the absolute best pizza with all natural ingredients I have ever tasted. The thinnest flakiest crust with a spicy tomato sauce, mozzarella that strings to ceiling if you let it and the best ingredients ever resting on top. Personally, I am a minimalist so I prefer a nice pepperoni and fresh garlic, but my friend Jorge Acosta whom joined me for this amazing meal, was all about the pineapple and Canadian Bacon. I never tried it, but I have to say it was pretty good too.
This part of 44th st is a kind of home to me. It is where all the best theatres are located. Across from John’s , Phantom was playing. Directly next door, Let it Be. A little further down and across the street was Lucky Guy with Tom Hanks and two doors down was the famous Sardis of which Jorge and I headed to afterward to continue catching up. Jorge is one of those guys who has had such an amazing life that we can just talk forever. If I wasn’t participating in the triathlon the next day, we would probably still be talking. He is an amazing and talented guy and I am so excited he is making it in NYC as an actor. Knock on wood, he hasn’t needed another job to get him by. That is how talented this guy really is.
I left Jorge and headed back to the hotel to grab my bike and head to transition in Riverside Park. There are
two transition setups for the NYC Tri. Yellow and Red. My wave was in the Yellow which was schedulted to start at 5:50 am on Sunday and included the pros and elites along with half the Age Group athletes, while red didn’t start until 7:20. The transition setup was just like any other triathlon, no
frills with metal rods to hang the bike from the seat. The only somewhat different protocol was the transparent bags that were handed out and highlighted during the mandatory meeting. This was new after the incident
at the Boston Marathon. Instead of bringing in a transition backpack like I usually do, now a plastic transparent bag is the only thing allowed to bring gear into the transition area. I didn’t want to leave anything besides my bike, so I personally didn’t bring anything at this point but my bike. I left my bike with a plastic bag covering the handlebars and seat and headed out to meet another friend of mine from high school, Kyle.
Kyle, a professional Opera singer, is just as interesting. He had just opened a show, so we were able to meet just outside of Lincoln Center for a bit before he needed to be at the theatre. Kyle has an amazing wife, Laura and an eleven year-old prodigy daughter. A prodigy in what? It would probably be easier to tell you what she is NOT a prodigy in . She is incredibly smart as well as an Olympic swimmer in the making. Maybe I can get lessons from her? Kyle and I talked for an hour about his shows, my races, Alana’s talent and Laura’s singing as well. When it was time to head out Kyle said something to me that made me so proud. He started with, “I know you will probably taught this but Laura and started doing this ‘Insanity’ workout and I feel better, taller and stronger than I have ever been.” I praised him, because I use the Insanity workouts and I am a Beach Body coach. I was so excited to hear about his and Laura’s results. He went on to tell me about how everything was better. He was singing even better, he felt taller, slept better and was craving the workouts. It made me smile when I heard about it. Right here was proof, that with a child that needed to be brought to school, activities, swim practice, his daytime rehearsals, night-time performances, and Laura’s full-time job, they both still found time to workout six days a week. Remember that living in New York City means taking even more time for transportation as well. There are very few people that are as busy as Kyle and Laura and they still find time, six days a week. No excuses. I love it.
That finished my day. I went back to the room, took a shower and fell into bed exhausted. I know it would feel like no time at all, before the 3 am alarm would go off and my phone would remind me again at 3:10. I would try, but I wouldn’t get as much sleep as I wanted.
I personally have been involved with charities that specifically relate to Cancer for over a decade now. With that in mind and the fact the my friend Ben Menahas taken on a challenge with the The Little Things for Cancer and created a team to run the Marine Corps Marathon, I thought this would be an appropriate time to incorporate a guest post by my friend David Haas. His bio is at the bottom of the post, but he is very active in creating awareness and outreach for Mesothelioma. Enjoy this great article and pass it on to anyone you know that cane be of benefit. Carpe Viam!
How to Improve Nutrition During Cancer Treatments
Nutrition plays an important role in helping to prevent many types of cancers, but it also plays a major role for those going through cancer treatments and therapies. Eating the right foods can help you maintain your energy levels, gain needed strength to go through treatment and improve your quality of life. However, vicious side effects such as nausea, loss of appetite and extreme fatigue can seriously affect your ability to eat.
Learning how to side step these problems and improve your nutrition can make cancer treatments easier to handle.
Nausea
Common cancer therapies such as surgery, radiation or chemotherapy often result in nausea. Since weight loss can lower immune system function, sap your strength, and lower your vitality, it’s particularly important to learn how to improve your nutritional condition when nauseated.
Start by eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. Sipping carbonated beverages, using foods or drinks that contain ginger; sipping clear soups and avoiding spicy foods can also help. It’s also important to stay hydrated, so focus on foods that contain plenty of liquids such as puddings, custards and creamy soups.
Loss of Appetite
The stress and emotional upheaval that comes with a cancer diagnosis can seriously affect your desire to eat. Uncertainty, fear of the unknown and strained family relationships only adds to the burden. Even if you don’t feel hungry, it’s important to eat a balanced diet that’s high in protein, fruits and vegetables. The University of Arizona Cancer Center suggests you take advantage of the time of day when your appetite is best.
Focusing on higher calorie foods for both meals and snacks will help because you won’t need to eat as much volume. Try adding fortified protein powders to milkshakes, snack on cheese and nuts, and add sauces or extra fats to your vegetables. Making sure you exercise everyday can also help to increase your appetite.
Fatigue
When you’re tied and worn out due to anxiety, medication, or treatment, poor nutritional practices only makes the depression or dragged out feeling worse. Getting plenty of liquids, exercise, and nutrient-dense foods in the form of colorful fruits and vegetables are important to keep the fatigue from getting you down.
While some causes of fatigue from cancers can’t be avoided, like the symptoms of mesothelioma, make sure you’re eating plenty of iron-rich whole-grain cereals, getting adequate sleep and eating enough protein foods such as eggs, beans and dairy. While paying attention to nutritional details can feel like it’s more trouble than it’s worth, keeping your nutritional intake high during cancer treatments can give you that extra edge you need to survive.
David Haas Joining the MCA in 2011, David Haas is the Director of Awareness Programs. In addition to researching much of the information available to our site’s visitors, David often blogs about programs available and campaigns underway at the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance. David is a fitness enthusiast who frequently runs, climbs, and bikes for enjoyment. He is also very involved in outreach associated with awareness about the dangers of asbestos for many different organizations and groups of people.
Read more: http://www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/david/bio.htm#ixzz2PVMlj2OR
One of the scariest things for a beginning triathlete, besides getting in the open water, is cycling. The first image that wandered into my head upon deciding to start seriously bicycling was of a that scary peloton. Those tight formations of bikes moving at ridiculous speeds, during the Tour de France, so close together that one wrong move could cause serious damage to my body or someone else. Scary right? Luckily, triathlon doesn’t allow for huge groups like that, as a matter of fact it isn’t even allowed. Whew!
Buying my first Bike
I didn’t have a lot of money when I first started in triathlon, and I also didn’t really know if I was going to like it. I spent a lot of time in bike stores drooling over the expensive bikes, while studying cheaper entry level bikes. Every bike store had a different angle they played. One would say, purchase the more expensive bike, gain more speed so when I improved I didn’t have to buy another bike. Another would tell me to buy the entry level but load it up with expensive components so I could ride faster, and when I wanted another bike, the components alone would warrant a good price, and of course that store would buy it back from me and give me a discount an another bike. Decisions, decisions what to do, what to do?
I researched different road and tri bikes online and in magazines, and while I was pretty sure I would enjoy triathlon, I decided on an entry level Canondale CAAD 9 road bike. I also included in my purchase, a pair of pedals, cleats, shoes and a helmet. The helmet was very important especially since I hadn’t actually rode a bike in over 10 years. Would I really not forget how to ride a bike? The answer to that my friends is YES. It is not a skill that is forgotten. It maybe a little unsteady the first couple of times, but not forgotten. Luckily I will have my trusty helmet, just in case.
I also read something that resonated with me. The most important thing that is needed after the purchase of a bike, is the fitting. At first I thought, “what? Don’t I just have to find the most comfortable height of the seat and then get going?” I had no idea that there are so many different adjustments on a bike, to a point that bike “fitters” actually have to be certified in order to properly fit you. They have to take courses, pass tests and be mentored. “Really?”, you ask? Yes…really.
The fitting took about an hour where they put my bike on a trainer, and with my shoes and bike shorts I pedaled, then the fitter took measurements and made adjustments to my seat post raising it and lowering it to a perfect dimension. Then he took angle measurements from the ground to my hip, knee and shoulder and from the pedal and a bunch of other places. He moved my saddle not only up and down by forward and back. He then took my handle bars and put different size spacers on the tube underneath my handlebars to find the perfect height and then was able to move them back and forth to find the right angle, height and most comfortable spot for me. I had no clue there was this much to it.
Pre-First Ride
As I left the store after my fitting, Jo-el, the general manager and friend from my track club, gave me some good advice. I had never rode in cleats and pedals before, where my feet were clipped into the pedals where they wouldn’t just simply lift up. I had to turn my heel so the cleat would unclip from the pedals so I could put my foot down. Jo-el said to take my bike in the house and put it between a doorway, and practice clipping and un-clipping from the pedals. Also, I needed to find the most comfortable side to unclip first and then stick to that side no matter what. I followed that advice in detail. I clipped, unclipped, clipped and unclipped till I was sure I had mastered it. Then I took a little ride around the block and practiced even more till I was confident I mastered at least that part.
I had a feeling of euphoria that first little trip in my neighborhood. I felt fast, free traveling under my own power on this brand new, tuned Cannondale bike. I was really excited for my first ride the next day in the hills of San Antonio.
The First Ride
I drove to San Antonio…Florida that is, with my brand new bike in the back, my new bike shorts on, bottles ready to put in their cages on the bike, coffee in my cup holder and classic rock playing on the radio. I remember having mixed feelings about this initial ride. I had never ridden in a group before, I had never ridden with these cleats and clips before, but I knew I was in good shape but was I fit enough? After that I just thought to myself, “if you cannot go as far then just turn around and head back. no big deal.”.
I met a friend at these ball fields and was mesmerized by the amount of bikers getting ready to take their morning ride. The sea of colors from the different bikes and jerseys was extremely overwhelming. That anxious feeling came back for a second until my friend mentioned we were riding with triathletes not pure cyclists. They would understand I was on my first ride and would help me out. After preparing for my first journey, we found our formation and began the trek.
I was surprised that I was staying in the middle of the pack and with minimal effort. The wind was in my face, I was pedaling under my own power and keeping up! It was an incredibly euphoric feeling. Unfortunately, when we hit the first long hill, euphoria turned to anxiety and then… embarrassment.
My pedaling slowed, and it became extremely hard to mash down on the pedals. With very minimal spinning of my legs I tried to switch to higher gear, but I actually ended up in a lower gear which made it even harder. When I did finally gear up, it was too late. I couldn’t move the pedals fast enough to switch gears, and my chain fell off , so I was at a dead stop. Of course I was so concerned about the gears I didn’t unclip out of my pedals, and I went down on my side. The only thing that really hurt was my ego as I stood my bike up and examined the chain. The group was passing me all asking if I was ok, and taking for granted that I was telling them I was fine and to keep going. By the time I had my chain back on the group was completely out of site. I pedaled like a bat out of hell hoping to catch up, but I missed a turn and ended up 10 miles out of my way, and lost.
To make a long story short ( I know, too late) one of the faster members of the group realized I was gone, backtracked, and finally found me asking directions at a convenience store. He led me back to the group and I finished the ride without any other issues, but I learned a lot of lessons that day.
Hints to get started in cycling straight from the Goof:
On my first bike after a couple of modifications
1. Buy an entry level road bike. This is usually an aluminum alloy frame. You don’t want a Wal-mart special, but you don’t need to start with the top of the line bike either.
2. Purchase a set of entry level pedals, cleats and shoes. The pedals usually come with the cleats and the bike shop will install them for you.
3. Purchase safety equipment. Biking shorts, and a helmet to start. I would also have a set of sunglasses as well. Not just to keep the sun out of your eyes, but it helps with the wind too. Make sure you also have at least one water bottle with a cage installed on your bike.
4. Get the bike fit for you. Have a certified bike fitter make those adjustments specifically for you.
5. Practice getting in and out of your cleats . Put your bike in a doorway, hold onto the frame and get in and get out of your cleats. Find the most comfortable side of the bike and then practice getting out of the cleats and putting your foot on the ground.
6. Take a short ride around your neighborhood and continue to practice getting in and out of your cleats. When seeing a stop or even a potential stop ahead practice just moving your heel just to the point where you unclip before stopping so you have a quick option that you can pull out of your clip to stop or return your heel to clip back in to keep going. Remember to always clip out and stand with the same foot first every time.
7. Understand your gears. While in that first ride, switch the gears on your right hand and find what lever takes you to a higher or easier gear, and which one brings you to a lower or harder gear.
8. Take your first long ride with friends and have some fun.
One last thing, you are going to fall. That is just the reality of it. You will get stuck in your cleats at some point and you will fall over, but it will be minimal. The trick is to accept it, get up brush yourself off, laugh at yourself, get back on your bike and have fun. It’s worth it I promise.
This post was originally published for IR4C for their new media site, IR4C.TV on July 2, 2013.
There is a few races that I have neglected to report on. I decided that being most of them were smaller and very…well…uneventful, I thought I would just give the highlights.
Escape from Ft DeSoto Sprint Triathlon
Taking part in brick workouts at the North Beach at Ft DeSoto allows for familiarity of the surroundings, so when competing in a race in the same location, it is like having home field advantage, unless the course goes off the path.
The swim was 800 meters which for me is usually pretty slow, but the current was decent and I was able to stick next to the bouys so I felt like I improved on the swim, but it still wasn’t fast enough. I was able to sprint out of the water and head to transition with energy to spare.
The bike was one simple loop around Ft. DeSoto with a familiar headwind on the way out and a tail wind on the way back. I averaged over 21 mph, so I felt pretty good, but I overdid it just slightly because I felt it on the run. The run was slightly longer than a typical sprint and the second half was on the beach, so I really felt it on my legs. I still had enough to sprint into the finish line, but it was a lesson learned that even on a ten-mile bike leg, I still need to take it easy at the start and ride negative splits in the second half.
Afterward the finish line was filled with excitement sharing stories of the race with friends and watching a few of them at the award ceremony on the podium. It was a fun race and while I am not huge fan of Sprint Triathlons, I will definitely be taking part in this one again.
Tampa Corporate 5k
This race was put on by my friends Ben Mena and Beth Shaw (MenaShaw Races). It was incredibly well-organized with numerous tents for vendors and a line of food trucks preparing everything from smoothies to homemade doughnuts. Of course a beer truck was strategically placed near the finish line to provide access to exhausted runners looking to replenish their carbohydrates.
It always amazes me when Ben and Beth pull these races off. I know it was basically the two of them doing all the organizing, fundraising and negotiating with vendors and sponsors, so when I walked up to the site and saw an enormous amount of people and activity, I was overwhelmed with pride and honor just to know these two personally.
I was on Nick’s team, No Limit Marketing, so he gave me my shirt and we took a couple of photos and lined up for the race. I really wanted to just take it easy during this race, but the energy got the better of me. The course was interesting, as it led out of downtown, then off the beaten path where the terrain changed to broken pavement and then a turnaround back to the start. I was on track for a PR, but the course turned out to be 3.4 instead of 3.1 due to a last-minute logistical changed ordered by the city. Interesting enough, I only know this due to a conversation with Ben after the event was cleaned up. There was no mention of it during the event which is a credit to my friends, because it was seamless and no one really cared, because everyone was having a great time.
Our team actually came in 4th but just a couple of minutes. St. Anthony’s Triathlon was going on that weekend, so Nick decided to just coast through it, which was smart, but he kicked himself later because if he would have actually ran it we would have placed. We still had a great time.
St. Anthony’s Olympic Triathlon
It was a crazy day for St Anthony’s this year. The expo was as expected with numerous vendors all giving free swag, free trials, and providing goods for the race and future races. They all kept the excitement of the race consistent. I could not keep my heart rate down during the expo. After a quick bike, run and swim I walked over to check-in and a press conference was taking place. On the panel were a number of champion triathletes and NFL superstar. Hines Ward, former NFL player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, was on the panel due to his upcoming entry into the 2013 World Championship Ironman Triathlon in Kona, October 12th. He has never competed in triathlon before so on his road to the Ironman he is competing in the different distances and St. Anthony’s was to be his first Olympic Distance Triathlon. My favorite triathlete, Mirinda Carefrae was sitting right next to him, because they are both sponsored by Chocolate Milk. That was a huge treat for me, especially since I was able to talk to her and I got a hug from her afterward. (Awww.shucks) She was on her way to a meeting, so unfortunately I didn’t get a picture, but maybe she will recognize me at a later date and at that time I will get a pic. But I digress.
The next day the expected wave of anxiety especially since the water looked a little choppy and being my confidence in the water is a little shaky, I was even more anxious. I guess my feelings were correct because after the pros started Phil LeHaye, the race director, came over the loudspeaker and stated the course would be shortened for safety sake. I really thought that I would be happy due to my limited swimming confidence, but I was amazed at how disappointed I was. To me it was no longer an Olympic Triathlon. I ended up doing this exact same course two years prior when they moved the swim but I was even worse at that point.
Truth be told that was the most unusual part of the race. I completed the swim without any real issues, the bike was uneventful with an average of 20.8 mph and I even was able to complete the 10k run with only one hitch; my bladder told me after mile 4 that I needed to empty it. I told it that we only had two more miles, but I had already held it for a while and it just wasn’t going to allow me to keep going for another two miles without relieving it. I ended up using a port-o-potty on the route which took even longer because I was wearing a one-piece tri suit that Zoot had sent me with their new technology. I usually am not a fan of one-piece tri-suits but this one even though it was black, was cool and comfortable.
I finished in 2:43 which was 37 minutes better than two years prior with the same distance. If it wasn’t for the stop it might have been up to 7-8 minutes faster. Either way I was happy with my performance and I felt really strong crossing the line.
Police Appreciation Run
My friend Rich texted me a few days before this 10k race. I had no intention of running it, but
I had not had the opportunity to hang out with Rich for a while and I wanted to catch up with him. Of course Rich is really fast genetically, so even with all the training I had been doing I still couldn’t catch him, but I enjoyed the race.
This is a Chris Lauber directed race, whom I just have the utmost respect for, not to mention the race was dedicated
to the current and fallen Policemen and women in the area. Great cause, and a great race, even with the 10k going off course for a bit. We didn’t know this until we returned to the finish line, but Chris was lucky because even thought we drifted, it was still exactly 6.2 miles, start to finish. There were plenty of vendors afterward, with food and recovery fluids. I highly recommend it to anyone.
Miles for Moffitt
I believe I have stated this in other posts, but to make money to live I contract myself out as an IT Program/Project Manager for large firms. What exactly do I do? Well, companies hire me to manage projects that usually have over million dollar budgets, like re-designing an online banking site for a well-known financial company, or the development of a government website with over 50,000 pages and applications. I identify the scope of the project, procure the resources both human and material, set the schedule, manage the budget, mitigate the risks, serve as a liaison between the business executives, IT department, internal and external vendors and worker bees, and manage the tasks in order to complete the project.
My latest contract is with Gerdau Steel and they are a major sponsor for Miles for Moffitt, which is a very popular event in the Tampa Bay Area. Gerdau was nice enough to allow me to run the 5 mile race for them. They have basically three races the 5 miler, the 5k and the 1 mile run/walk. The 5 miler and the 5k can be run either timed or untimed. This was a well-organized event with a relatively flat course on the campus of the University of South Florida. Surprisingly enough there was a couple of hills, but nothing that felt terrible. I saw a few of my clients while out there and hung out with Rich again. I averaged 7:30 miles as I did the week before during the Police Appreciation 10k, so I was content with my performance.
After the races concluded, and the thank yous are stated, they have a parade for the cancer survivors that ran the race. It was a really awesome site to see all of these people who were diagnosed with cancer now running in a race. it was inspiring and motivating to know they came back from as close to hell as one can get, and stronger than before.
The Dunedin Sprint Triathlon
I have completed this race for a couple of years now, and since my first triathlon is no longer around, the Morton Plant Mease Triathlon, I decided to make this one my annual “remember how it all started” race.
This race is held on Honeymoon Island which is a great beach with usual minimal issues, but this year we were told that the bottom was a little rocky and we should bring water shoes. I decided to wear my Vibram 5-fingers because they do not hold a lot of water and I thought they would be easy to get out of.
The swim was pretty much a water run due to the shallowness of the water. I usually incorporate some water running during my swim sessions so I know the resistance that water can put on your legs, so I dolphin dived/swam most of the way. I was going to be using my legs enough during the bike and the run, I didn’t need to be wearing them down, prior. I came out of the water in the faster 10% of the wave, but was slowed down by two things. The first being getting out of my shoes. While there was no water giving me issues, the shoes had constricted around my foot so I had to fight to get them off, and then exiting transition had a very narrow trail, so there was a line of us only able to shuffle to the start mat. Other than that the race went great I finished in 1:05 which was another PR for me by a couple of minutes.
And that brings us up to date on race reports. My next race is the NYC Triathlon which is an Olympic distance triathlon in the heart of New York City July 14th. I am really looking forward to this race due to the course being around my favorite city.
Of course, you know you should eat right and exercise. Most everyone understands the importance of fitness for health. Why is it so hard to stay motivated then?Consider the things that inspire you toward fitness. You may enjoy a particular healthy recipe or be a fan of a certain professional athlete. You might have a goal of running a race or participating in a certain sporting event.
The primary benefit of sports massage is to improve blood to the muscles. Sports massage is a highly effective healing technique also moves oxygen and nutrients to muscles. After you exercise, lactic acid builds up in the muscles. Sports massage can eliminate lactic acid buildup. You can decrease your recovery time by simply eliminating lactic acid buildup and improving the flow of lymphatic fluids. This process promotes the healing process (http://www.howtobefit.com/massage-for-runners.htm).
Consider these tips and methods of sports massage from the Pro academy of New York golf course, Shenandoah:
Frozen Water Bottle– Most athletes are familiar with the concept of rest, ice, compression and elevation (RICE). A frozen water bottle is an affordable way to ice the muscles and massage them at the same time. The ice will reduce the swelling and soothe your extremities as you roll your muscle with the water bottle. Consider this low-cost at-home massage remedy after your workout.
Tennis Ball– If you don’t need the ice, try a tennis ball to massage your muscles. Tennis balls can also be used on the back and legs also. This method is effective for working out the knots in the foot. You can roll the feet over the tennis ball from toe to heel for the most effective results.
Soup Cans– Soup cans are also used to massage the feet and legs. Consider rolling your feet over cans or rolling the cans over your legs to relieve tension and pain. As the pain dissipates from the area of the body
where the soup cans are applied, recovery will begin. This will prepare you for your next workout session.
PVC Pipe – this is an inexpensive alternative to foam rollers. 10″ pipe is best and it is easy obtained from your local Home Depot or Loews. If a little cushion is needed the pipe can be wrapped in several layers of contact paper and secured with duct tape. You can then use it to massage your calves, hamstrings and even you lower and upper back just by rolling on it. It will easily break up the toxins that are located within the muscle and allow them to pass through the membrane and out through the endocrine system.
Training is Better With Sports Massage
There is nothing better than a nice sports massage to start the healing process. Most athletes have made the massage a part of marathon training. Certainly, the benefits of these massages have been proven. Consider sports massage for less painful and more effective training. A healthy life is easy with simple changes. Take baby steps. Remember that moderation is key in all things. Indulge from time to time, but treat the body as the precious temple that it is.When setting your health goal start small.Choose a goal
that is attainable and reasonable.
(This was written by Michelle Pino with some added content by the IronGoof specifically for IronGoof.Com)
including my buddy Pete, Kari, Jaime, Kat, Chris, Kate, Matt, Jeff & Miranda. All of them great people and athletes.
The next day consisted of quick workouts, bike check-in, race prep and another awesome dinner at Charlie-O’s Steak House. We had a much larger crowd for dinner which not only included the caravan gang, but some members of Tri-Psych as well. It was the perfect crowd to spend the evening before the race. Everybody was calm, cool and collected on the outside, but some pre-race anxiety seemed to be looming over all of us.
of us just trying to beat our past times and finish comfortably, this is a great time of the morning.
Zealand whose method has won more Olympic medals and Marathon wins than any other coach in history. Of course, when talking about marathon wins and Olympic medals, coaches are not usually publicized, at least for running events. As a running and triathlon coach I personally identify with Arthur Lydiard as he himself was never an elite athlete but was an amazing coach. He just had a superior way of working with athletes and actually experimented all of his own methods on himself first. His biggest tribute is that he is considered the “Coach of Coaches of Champions.” Let me give you a few of his credits: Author of “Run to the Top”, “Run the Lydiard Way”, “Jogging the Lydiard”, “Distance Training for Young Athletes”, “Distance Training for Women Athletes” and “Distance Training for Masters”. His personal athletes include:
miles a week at 1 to 2 minutes slower than race pace. This is strictly to build aerobic endurance. There are no intervals, no speed work, no tempo runs in this phase. Aerobic capacity can be increased and it will remain at that level as long as it is exercised. This is why an marathoner can take weeks to two months off and their first training session could be a half marathon. That aerobic base stays in tact and can be built upon. The first season an athlete can build his/her aerobic base to a 43 VO2 max and then the next season can build to a 60 VO2 max and the following season even higher. As long as the athlete isn’t off for years, or have a pulmonary injury, the aerobic base will remain constant. Usually, the Aerobic Phase will be from 10-16 weeks and compromise about 30% of the training cycle.
Birthdate/Sign: December 10 – Sagittarius all the way
All of the pics online of Hotel Belleclaire were of course beautiful, but in New York City it is sometimes a crap shoot. The marketing pics look great, but when you get there, sometimes you get a room that a little worse for wear. Hotel Belleclaire was absolutely beautiful and the service was first-rate. I was in my room for about 30 minutes when the front desk called just to ask if everything in the room was alright. I was a little shocked because I never experienced that before. It is such a simple concept to give a 30 second call to the guests and it made me feel kind of special. Before I knew it, there was a knock at my door and there was a bellman with my bike. Talk about service. After I put my bike together I phoned the front desk and requested that they store the box since the room was small. I didn’t really care about the size of the room since it was just me, but the box and my bike took up a little more room. It turned out that they could not find anywhere to store the box, so instead of just saying “Sorry, we cannot do anything about it”, they upgraded me and put me in a larger room to accommodate the box. That, was to me, an amazing touch. On Sunday after the race, I boxed up the bike and the concierge told me to just leave it in my room. Monday morning I received a text from FedEx notifying me my bike was picked up and that the estimated date she would be back home was Thursday. If you are going to be in NYC on the upper west side, I highly recommend the Hotel Belleclaire. I think you will enjoy it.
77th St. and Broadway and the Hilton was on 55th and 6th so it was 22 blocks south and two blocks east. No big deal, and it was nice outside so I decided to walk. Here is where I started with a little hinderance. I saw my favorite hot dog place in Manhattan. Grays Papaya. OMG! Now remember that I am about 90% paleo and I haven’t digested a slice of bread in over a year, so you can imagine how my system was going to react to a couple of white flour, processed, buns with grilled hot dogs and all the trimmings. They sure tasted good going down, however they left me in a lurch later that evening. Grays Papaya is famous in the city for their hot dogs and papaya drink. I had both and they were sooo good. It was like a sin to eat something that tasted that good as processed as it was. I always talk about balance right? Well, I figured I hadn’t had one in so long, it wouldn’t hurt. WRONG!!!! I will spare you the details of what happened a couple of hours later.
which didn’t open until 2 pm, and headed out into the city. Around 1 pm I stopped at my favorite pizza place. The restaurant will remain, forever, a planned event whenever I am in NYC. The place with the best pizza on the planet. John’s Pizza on 44th St between 7th an 8th avenues. This place has the absolute best pizza with all natural ingredients I have ever tasted. The thinnest flakiest crust with a spicy tomato sauce, mozzarella that strings to ceiling if you let it and the best ingredients ever resting on top. Personally, I am a minimalist so I prefer a nice pepperoni and fresh garlic, but my friend Jorge Acosta whom joined me for this amazing meal, was all about the pineapple and Canadian Bacon. I never tried it, but I have to say it was pretty good too.
to researching much of the information available to our site’s visitors, David often blogs about programs available and campaigns underway at the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance. David is a fitness enthusiast who frequently runs, climbs, and bikes for enjoyment. He is also very involved in outreach associated with awareness about the dangers of asbestos for many different organizations and groups of people.
I would enjoy triathlon, I decided on an entry level Canondale CAAD 9 road bike. I also included in my purchase, a pair of pedals, cleats, shoes and a helmet. The helmet was very important especially since I hadn’t actually rode a bike in over 10 years. Would I really not forget how to ride a bike? The answer to that my friends is YES. It is not a skill that is forgotten. It maybe a little unsteady the first couple of times, but not forgotten. Luckily I will have my trusty helmet, just in case.
elevation (RICE). A frozen water bottle is an affordable way to ice the muscles and massage them at the same time. The ice will reduce the swelling and soothe your extremities as you roll your muscle with the water bottle. Consider this low-cost at-home massage remedy after your workout.