MusingsRUs

IMAZ: Race and Aftermath

2009-11-27T08:03:00.000-08:00

Aside from the "minor" glitch of me forgetting my goggles and cap in my hotel room, my race went almost perfectly. I was prepared in all facets, and except perhaps for not taking enough salt on the run, all my preparation worked, from athletics to nutrition, and I had a very relaxed and pretty strong race.

10:09:05.

Under the ceiling goal of 10:15, short of the reach goal of 10:00, but good. I'm happy with it, which is saying a lot for me.

Swim: very relaxed, felt good, could have gone perhaps a bit faster and harder, but it was fine. Didn't feel cold or tired at all until perhaps 55 minutes in, but still finished strong. Was frozen on the way out, though, and onto the bike. T1 was a long 8:30 as I struggled to put on socks while frozen. 1:09:53

Bike: also relaxed and strong. Pushed a bit harder than planned because I thought my swim was actually slower than it was. Decent headwind on the way out, strong tailwind on the way back. Each of the three laps was pretty even. I didn't feel my legs until roughly 99 miles, though I did hit a bit of a mental rough patch around 60-70 and had to push through 100-110, but felt very good coming in to T2. T2 was a much better and easy 3:30. Took about 5 minutes in a porta potty 30 minutes into the bike that I wish I had back. 5:16

Run: told myself to go out slow, went out fast: 6:18, 19:30 for 3, 33:10 for 5, 77:12 for 11 and then it began to hurt. Halfway (13) was 1:34, and my thighs/quads started to cramp at about mile 15. By mile 18, however, I knew I'd finish. The 2nd lap was toughest, but after taking coke with other drinks, Gu and electrolytes (could have taken more salt as mentioned, though), I felt a bit better through the end. Getting to 22 was important and 25 was super; I picked it up a bit and finished the last 200M running hard. 3:30:20 for the run.

Finishing was great. I rolled as well. All in all, I was thrilled that my training plan got me through pretty much as expected and that I was able to come through the line in a bit of pain but feeling no pain as well.

IMAZ Days 89 and 90: GAME ON

2009-11-21T07:48:00.000-08:00

Day 89: Test swim in Tempe Town Lake. Water temp of 64 degrees, we're told. I decided to go without the thermal cap and it turned out to be fine. The water wasn't too cold at all, at least not after the first 30 seconds, and I had a good swim. I'm psyched about the straight line swim and my optical goggles - woohoo! Except for really cold toes, the 15 minute swim was great.

A little later (early afternoon), I went for a short ride and run. The ride once again felt great; the run, after 5 minutes warming up, also was great! Ran at pace after that and felt strong and loose.

Eat, relax...and wait.

Day 90: Saturday, one day to go. Easy 14 minute run this morning, again good after a few minutes getting loose. Will check in bike and prepare all my nutrition a bit later. Ready to rock and roll...it's time.

IMAZ Day 88: It's nearly here

2009-11-19T17:22:00.000-08:00

I'm in Arizona!

After a few days of feeling like a fat slug, a morning with no workout, 2 plane flights and great (not) airline food didn't help. Got to Arizona, though, easily and with all my gear intact! Took a while to get to the expo and build the bike, but it's done! I'm also checked in.

After all that, it was 4:45 and just enough time to get in a ride before dark. 31 minutes and I felt GREAT!!! Then a 10 minute swim and 5 minute jog just to keep (or get) everything loose.

This is starting to get exciting!

IMAZ Day 87: Winding down...and up

2009-11-18T11:55:00.000-08:00

Day 87: 30 minute run. That's it. Ran it after a good, pre-race massage so didn't go too hard (wouldn't have anyway). Felt much better than the other day; felt rested.

Picked up bike, all packed away nicely in its travel box. Using disc wheel. Still need to pack EVERYTHING else, but have lists galore, have stuff piled up and will get jiggy with that later. Car coming at 5:15am tomorrow for 6:55 flight - first class, thank you AA miles - to Arizona.

Ready to go; raring to go.

IMAZ Days 85 and 86: Tapering the taper

2009-11-17T12:56:00.001-08:00

Day 85: A swim day, that's all. After the sluggish feeling, I thought giving the bike/run legs a rest would be a good idea and so I just swam, 45 minutes, and felt quite good. I swam in a 50M pool the following: 2x(200 and 8x100) with 30 seconds after the 200s and 15 seconds after each 100. This was designed more for rhythm than anything else, and all the times were similar (1:35-1:36 avg. for the 100s).

Day 86: 40 minutes.

That was it for today. 30 minutes on an exercycle and 10 on a treadmill. Good news was, it all felt pretty good. Bad news is that I now have this anxiety about eating since I'm not working out 3 hours or more per day. I'm trying to not OVEReat, though I'm pretty sure it's not an issue. Eating RIGHT? That's something else all together.

From here on in, the focus is on feeling good, fresh and getting the game face on. I'm beginning to spend more time visualizing the race and its elements, telling myself that 21mph will be easy and that 7+ minute pace will also be easy...and that the swim will be relaxing and not as cold as the 63 degree water temp might suggest.

But I believe I'm ready, and that's all there is to it.

Less than 5 days to go.

IMAZ Day 84: One week to go for the slug

2009-11-15T15:18:00.000-08:00

In slightly warmer (than they had been) temperatures this morning, I decided to run 45-60 minutes that would include at least 3x1 mile on the track at race pace or just under, just to keep it fresh in my mind and muscles. Immediately upon running, my legs felt leaden. Humidity? Overdressed? Who knows. Ran easily to the track and proceeded with the workout. Looking at the 800M mark in each mile (with an easy one-minute jog), they went as follows: 7:02 VERY easy; 6:47 also easy, a bit more sweat; and 6:37, which I felt a bit but had no trouble with, a lot more sweat. I decided to do one more without pushing and without checking the watch at all until the end just to see if I could come up with race pace -- 6:57. So THAT was OK, but I could feel it in my quads and felt it later as well even after the w/d. Hmmmm. I didn't push the brick hard yesterday. Will chalk it up to lack of overuse or something and move on to the REAL tapering that starts...tonight.

One week -- well, actually less given the late hour -- to go. Yesterday and today were organization day and, excitedly, time to get the bike tuned, disassembled and packed for the trip (while on another trip). I'm going to use the disc wheel for this race given the lack of technical riding. Started packing and assembling the tons of gear needed.

One week.

IMAZ Days 82 and 83: Those were the days...

2009-11-14T18:13:00.000-08:00

IMAZ Day 82: A swim, run and (yes, but easy) bike day. The focus was on the swim as I tend to taper for the swim much less than the run or the bike (since I don't swim as hard or as often as the other two). Total of about 3000 yds. consisting of 4 sets of 100-100-200-100 at faster than race pace and short rest and ending with a realtively fast 500. Felt very good throughout the swim. Ran 10 minutes very easy after and spun a very easy 20 minutes yesterday evening.

IMAZ Day 83: It's starting to feel like I never really trained...the memory of the 3-6 hour days is just that already. Trust the training...anyway, the day started indoors with a steady but fairly easy 80 minute spin (watched "Milk" -- not the easiest thing to watch while spinning) and followed (as a brick) with a 20 minute run at faster-than-race pace -- also felt very good, ran negative easily.

8 days to go. Stay healthy and uninjured. Do NOT believe my mind telling me I'm getting as big as a house.

IMAZ Day 81: The Home Stretch

2009-11-12T12:26:00.001-08:00

Found out today that my race number is 1599. Getting a race number assigned adds that extra dose of reality. WOOHOO!!!

Meantime, 10 days to go (well, less than 10 according to the official IMAZ countdown timer). This morning, I went 73 minutes on the bike in gale force winds, careful not to push TOO hard against but rode steady to loosen the legs a bit, spin, etc. Felt decent. Later, I ran an EASY 30 minutes, very controlled, no pushing the pace, dead even out and back, maybe mid-7s pace? Ran it on a course I'm used to and times were consistent with other runs there without much effort.

I know, just under two hours and I'm supposed to be tapering? Believe me, these weren't hard workouts. The bike was a bit hard due to wind, but I hadn't been on the bike since Sunday. The run was EASY, and given I'd run only 5 minutes yesterday, no compounded effort. Further, there were 5 hours between the two workouts, so it wasn't a brick at all. Am I defending myself? Yes, a bit, but I don't like to go more than a day with no run (or a miniscule run), so not much choice, especially given the impending downpour later today/tomorrow.

Swim tomorrow, MAYBE an easy spin indoors late.

IMAZ Days 79 and 80: Relaxed

2009-11-11T08:41:00.001-08:00

Traveling appears to assist with the tapering process, at least from the perspective of either the inability to train really hard or the lack of desire to do so. The only thing to watch out for is being a glutton, because even though the training volume slips precipitously, the appetite doesn't quite do so.

Day 79: A nice, 50-minute run at a steady clip. Still felt a bit of Sunday's bike ride, but that was OK; felt like I could run the pace forever (maybe really low 7s?).

Day 80: a 2000-2500yd effort turned into a 3500M straight swim. Ideally, I was going to do one last looooong swim this Friday, but decided to do it today because...I could. Like yesterday's run, this was relaxed and flowing. 57:45 for the swim feeling strong throughout despite slowing a bit each 1000; last 500 was very strong and could easily have continued. 200M of warm down followed, and the workout included short runs to and from the pool. Very happy with that AND I don't have to do it Friday.

IMAZ Days 77 and 78: TAPER TIME

2009-11-09T06:15:00.000-08:00

Day 77: Last day of "hard stuff". Biked with a group up to the Croton Dam. I figured one last 3-4 hour ride couldn't hurt and I didn't plan to really put the hammer down. That said...what a ride! Thanks to Rob W. and company for the great course. What a challenge! It's a mixed ride with really harsh, short hills, very challenging long gradual climbs and several spots where you can really hammer. I hung off the front for most of the ride and didn't go 100% but was close on a few occasions. 64 miles and 3:45 for a 17mph average, and that was after pushing the last 20 miles at >20mph most of the way. I wasn't dead after, but I certainly felt the ride, which helped the decision to end the training day there.

Day 78: Taper time is here. Sure, a 3500 yard swim doesn't SOUND like a taper, but it's shorter than I would have done. I felt very good and smooth in the water, which isn't usually the case on morning swims. Did 2x1000, some 100s, a 200 and a 500. After -- a 10 minute EASY jog. My goal for the next week or so will be to rest the legs by decreasing volumes but will keep swimming (maybe more frequently) to maintain rhythm. Travel will help keep volumes low as well.

IMAZ Day 76: "Easy" Day

2009-11-07T21:18:00.000-08:00

Slept in...no rush to get out, and good thing -- it was cold! Finally ventured out, though, for a trail run. Ended up with 80 minutes that went from pretty bad to great by the end. Later in the afternoon, 46 minutes on the bike into a weaker wind than yesterday, but...still a bit windy. Felt very good, though.

IM AZ Day 73 wrap up, Day 74 and WINDY Day 75

2009-11-06T06:15:00.000-08:00

Day 73 epilogue: Lunch time, why not try an intense brick? Not a lot of time, so this turned into a 90-95% effort with 30 minutes on the bike in wind and then 10 minutes running immediately after. I haven't really pushed HARD (super-fast) on the bike in a while, so this was fun for a bit before it became work. Anyway, 30 minutes later, zoomed upstairs and threw on the flats and hit the road, hard, for 10 minutes. Not 100%, but enough to feel the effort. Felt pretty decent and was pleased.

Day 74: A brick consisting of just over an hour each of biking and running. The bike was moderate; the run was steady and felt really good, fairly effortless at 7:30s or so.

Day 75: WIND!! ...plus a bit of indecision. Initially, the plan was to do a bike/swim/bike similar to Day 73, but was too lazy to switch in and out of clothes. So instead, I kept my swim bag on my back and rode 2 hours in 15-25mph gusts. What fun! Not. This kind of riding doesn't allow a high speed approach but is very sapping, esp. when a bunch of hills is thrown in. 2 hrs, about 32 miles, I'm done...for now.

...and to close out Day 75: a swim at lunch because, well, I didn't want to HAVE to do it tomorrow. Not THAT long, but pretty good -- 10x200 with 20 seconds rest in 2:51 average. Felt great as all non-morning swims do. Later...a 31 minute run on trails, which unfortunately didn't feel quite as great as the swim. No issues, just TIRED. Took 10 minutes to loosen up, felt really good for 10 minutes, then crawled back to the car. FOOD!!!!

IMAZ Day 72 Wrap Up & Day 73

2009-11-04T05:57:00.000-08:00

Day 72 epilogue: After work, I went out for a 30-40 minute run. I had some energy to burn, so decided to run the first 15 minutes or so steady but controlled and then hit the gas. I felt really good, which is usually the case for an afternoon/evening run (vs. the morning). I hit the afterburners at around 20 minutes and felt GREAT. 35 minutes with a short warm down.

Day 73: Back to the pool, but via the bike. I figured I'd get in a swim/run combo today, so I schlepped my pack with lock, goggles, cap, etc. on my back to the Y on the bike. The swim workout was pretty nice, shockingly. It was the 500/5x100, 400/4x100, etc. workout I'd been shown earlier this year. All told, about 3200 yds with warm down. Felt pretty easy and strong. Then I dried off, put back on the heavy clothes, and hit the road for just over an hour, nothing dramatic, an easy 17mph average. Felt a bit draggy, but that's OK. More later.

18 days to go.

IMAZ Days 71 and 72: One Week of the Rough Stuff to Go

2009-11-03T08:29:00.000-08:00

With one week of hard training left before taper, I figured I'd really get back in the swing - er, swim - of things on Day 71. The morning started with 4300 yards of swimming: a 3000 yard straight swim that was fairly lethargic followed by 10x100 with 10-15 seconds rest at a slightly faster clip. Warmed down for the extra yards. Not too dead...that was good. Then ran a fairly easy 42 minutes, not that I could have run that hard after Sunday/Saturday. Late in the evening, a one-hour easy spin (it was massage day, so no hard stuff) inside.

Day 72: It's COLD!! 38 degrees this AM, though it was light at 6am. Took a two hour ride and covered 38 miles (you do the math)...hills felt a bit hard but to be expected. Also took 90 minutes to warm up and get my fingers back. Ow. Later, a run and/or swim.

19 days to go.

IMAZ Days 66-70: Catch Up and Home Stretch!!

2009-11-01T15:09:00.000-08:00

Sorry to have been absent, but between work, travel, and everything else, this took a back seat. Never fear, readers, training's been steady and still going great! Here's a quick recap of days 66-68 and then the weekend update, 'cause it was big.

Days 66-68 (Vega$) - Continued my affair with the exercycle on Day 66, and this consisted of just over an hour early and then a short brick late: 20 minutes bike, 35 minutes run, got to experience Vegas' "inclement weather" - wind and lots of it. Like running into a brick wall on return. Day 67 saw a respite from the exercycle and just a 65 minute run that felt pretty good; same course as Day 65 but faster. Day 68, travel day, saw a break from running in favor of a "swim" -- drills in awkward pool -- and some more exercycle after, just to spin. I had in my mind days 69 and 70, a weekend of going LONG.

Day 69 - All about the bike. Having missed my bike for the week, I decided to make up for it regardless of crappy weather conditions. This turned out to be a 90+mile ride in 5:08 with wind and hills galore. Most of the ride was on wet ground and leaves, which meant a lot of time NOT at top speed, but I ended up just under 18mph for the ride. Quads were a bit sore due to pushing in the wind. I swam 20 minutes late just to remember what a REAL pool swim felt like...not too bad, considering. I swam a decent 1000 and some hundreds.

Day 70 - congratulations to Meb as well as all my friends that ran the NYC Marathon! After I saw Meb win, I donned my own gear and set out on what should be the last hard run I do before IMAZ (just as yesterday was likely the last looooong bike -- it is 3 weeks before race day). I ran an easy 30 minutes in the early AM, but the real workout was my intended favorite 10M tempo run on the track. An easy warm up getting to the track and then I put on my flats for the run (no socks, race simulation). My intended time was 6:50s-7:00 pace, but my first lap in 1:37 suggested that would have been a bit too slow. I quickly altered the workout to be a first 5-miles in 6:40s and then a negative 2nd 5-miles in whatever, not too crazy. Timing every 1/2 mile, my first 5 turned out to be 32:55 (6:35s). I felt great, effortless, nearly gliding. I was easily able to pick up the pace, though I went too fast for a bit and scaled it back. Nevertheless, the 2nd 5 were done in 32:03 for a total time of 64:58 or JUST under 6:30/mile. I was THRILLED...this tells me that I am running ready, since my intended pace will range from 7:00-7:20/mile. Plus, after yesterday's ride, my ability to do this run shouts volumes about my readiness as well.

This was also the first day I really started to feel the race impending. Running in the AM, I could feel the tingles of anticipation and the visualization of the race become more real. This afternoon, I imagined feeling just as good throughout the marathon. It's coming...it's about time, but it is finally almost here.

IMAZ Days 64 + 65: Vega$

2009-10-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

Here at the IBM conference, it's fun trying to get in the training time. Yesterday, on day 64, I was able to fit in a 40-minute exercycle ride in the morning and then a 20-minute swim in the giant wave pool in the afternoon with a short 5-minute run afterward. This totaled 65 minutes on the day and felt like a vacation.

Day 65: with company, I ran 1:45 very easily. I ran 27-28 minutes prior to company fairly quickly and then 1:18 with at an easier pace. I felt great and the run had no impact afterward. Later in the day, I was able to get in 95 minutes on an exercycle predominantly at high RPMs and low-ish tension. Felt good, lots of sweat. 200 minutes on the day and feeling good.

IMAZ Day 63: Travel (again)

2009-10-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to get a leg up on today's workout, I thought I'd get up at, say, 4:30am to get in a semi-decent run before heading to the airport. That didn't quite work as I slept a bit later than intended, so I had to settle for a 10 minute "loosen up" run.

Once in Las Vegas, I was able to put together a very nice 90 minute run, straight out and back on Tropica Ave. I felt strong the whole way with the pace likely near 7:30 or a bit better. My legs felt pretty good since yesterday's long workout. I took my fuel belt with Gatorade/water mix and drank every 15 minutes.

IMAZ Day 62: The Longest Day Yet

2009-10-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

First, Day 61 epilogue...34 minute run late evening with two emergency pit stops. It's TMI, but funny how food and drink are being processed much more effectively on this training. Felt good after warming up and after stops.

Day 62: I did the longest brick I've ever done. The threat of monsoon-like conditions (and the inability to switch to tomorrow due to travel) convinced me to go inside on the bike. I planned and executed a 5 hour ride (5:01 to be exact) of mostly steady pace -- let's call it 90+ miles, but it could be more, could be a drop less. Most importantly, I simulated food conditions for the race and tried to test my calorie intake. Over the course of the ride I ate one fruit/nut bar, one fruit/cakey bar, 4 GUs, one peanut butter/honey sandwich (at 2 hours) and maybe 10 endurolytes (one every half hour until 3 hrs, then 2 every half hour). For drinks, I ended up with 3 large bottles CarboPro/water and 2 Gatorade/water. Total calories consumed seem to approximate 3000, which should be about right (maybe a little short). They worked today because I felt extremely good the last 90 minutes AND the whole run, which took 65 minutes and went at maybe 7:15-7:30 pace (conservatively). Total time, 6:06 for the workout. Then another 2-3 hours to consume any and all food near me.

I MAY be stupid enough to swim a little later, if only because swimming while traveling is dicey at best. Otherwise, VERY early morning run, I hope, before travel and then a longer run while in Las Vegas.

IMAZ Day 60, Wow; Day 61, What now?

2009-10-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

Day 60: The morning rush didn't permit a workout, but I did have an opportunity in the afternoon and I made the most of it. I ran 62 minutes and cycled on a pretty good exercycle for 31 minutes. The run was amazing...I ran solidly, though not THAT fast, for 31 minutes out and came back feeling superb and pushing the pace. I finished negative and warmed down a bit, then hit the exercycle. 31 minutes at the equivalent of 22mph felt fine. Not a huge workout, but a very good one.

Day 61: Travel interference again...33 minutes of exercycling consisting mostly of steady, not too hard spinning. Felt good after yesterday. MAYBE an opportunity to run later in the day, but who knows. Mentally preparing for what will be an indoor 4-5 hour ride due to weather tomorrow. Yuk. Hopefully can run an hour after that, but we'll see what the weather brings. Hope it doesn't have to be on a treadmill.

IMAZ Day 59: Feeling Fast

2009-10-22T06:36:00.000-07:00

Day 58 closed out without a tempo run but an easy 33 minute run on grass...that's what happens when your intended track is off limits due to football and soccer games. Just as well...my legs felt a bit worn at the start, though they loosened up later.

Day 59: I decided to do a brick. I went 63 minutes on the bike at a fair speed but was actually more focused on the hills during the ride. I had numerous long, gradual slopes and I was able to push through them pretty well. Immediately after, I threw on my flats and hit the road hard. I ran to the track and proceeded to do a 3-mile run, negative, in 19:17 feeling quite good. I ran hard back and was pleased with the whole effort. Later, I hit the pool for what became 11x200, 10 of them in 2 sets of 5 with the 5th and 10th harder (2:46/2:47) and the rest in 2:53. The very last one was a nice, easy attempt to relax and take 17 strokes per lap and was successful (2:59).

Travel will determine what Day 60 brings. 30 DAYS TO GO!!!

IMAZ Day 58: THAT was chilly.

2009-10-20T07:03:00.001-07:00

As promised, Day 57 ended with a one-hour bike ride. As is usually the case when I ride (or swim or run) late in the day, I felt very good, loose, fast. It does, however, get dark quite quickly these days. No more rides that start after 5pm.

Day 58: Dark in the morning is OK, though. 39-40 degrees is not. Good thing I'd prepared every bit of clothing I owned last night. Went to the winter gear: balaclava, lobster gloves, booties, 2 shirts plus heavy bike shirt, fleece-lined tights...it actually worked well, save for my face frozen into an odd shape by the end of the ride, which went 40 miles in 2:15. I saw one other nut out there. I caught and passed him. Mission accomplished.

Tempo run later.

IMAZ Day 57: Swimming

2009-10-19T06:14:00.001-07:00

I like to try and start off my weeks with a long swim of some sort, both because it makes recovering from all the biking and running over the weekend easier and because it gives me a bit of a leg up on the rest of the week's swims in case of travel or time slippage. So today, I was aiming for a 4000yd day but didn't know what to do. I decided on the ever-popular 40x100 workout with a small twist: the first 20 would have 20 seconds rest, the next 10 would have 15 and the final 10 would have 10. I was less concerned about the pace than with feeling steady and consistent, but I did want them all to be the mid-to-high 1:20s. Mission accomplished -- I averaged 1:26/1:27 for the entire set and felt quite good throughout. After the swim, I did a 30 minute run, and it took my legs 5-6 minutes to loosen a bit from yesterday. Wasn't too bad, though. Bike later today.

IMAZ Day 56: Next time I decide to do an IM in November...

2009-10-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

Day 56 started out with drizzle and developed into "rain". Undaunted, I decided to hit the trails anyway -- it's just water, right? Went to Rockies and actually happened to meet two people from CT that, by chance, are going to do IMAZ as well. Since misery loves company, I joined up with them for as much of the run as possible. We ran together for 1:40, at which time they were done and I decided to continue to 2 hours by running a 3-miler on the track. Intending 7 min. pace, I was able to easily hit 6:40s for 19:55 and a total run time of 2:04. I felt REALLY good, especially considering yesterday's ride. That was it on the day. Averaging over 20 hrs. per week for the month including 48 miles running, >200M biking and just under 10,000yds swimming. Feeling very good.

IMAZ: Closing out Day 54 and celebrating Day 55

2009-10-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

Day 54 closeout: only 50 minutes on bike. Sue me...I was busy. 2:20 on the day. But tomorrow (er, today) is the big one, so what the hell.

Day 55: CENTURY #2 IN THE BOOKS!!! This one was even better than the last one for a few reasons: first, I rode all of it except 20 middle miles (thanks, Matt!) alone; second, it was windy and cold the entire way, the wind accounting for at least 1mph of speed in the first 35-40 miles; third, I was able to put the hammer down from mile 55 or so and rode negative, 2:48 for the first 50 and 2:36 for the 2nd (18.4 average overall); fourth, I felt GREAT throughout and even at the end and also felt I had a lot more. For proof, I threw on my racers after the ride and did a 5 minute transition run, which doesn't prove a hell of a lot, but I felt GREAT.

Long run tomorrow unless we get the perfect storm.

IMAZ Day 52 Epilogue and 53/54: Nor'easter!

2009-10-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

Day 52 closeout: so after the huge swim, a pretty good bike late in the day (after massage, which really isn't optimum given the intensity of the massage. Sorry!). Went roughly 37 miles in 2 hours in chilly conditions and on what seemed to be the Paris-Roubaix course transpanted to White Plains. EVERYthing was bumpy, which meant riding in the right land and drawing the ire of all those that REALLY felt they HAD to pass me at 50mph and not wait, say, 5 seconds for me to move over when I could. Love that. Anyway, it was a good ride and took me over 3 hrs for the day.

Day 53: the expected rain hadn't arrived yet, so I took advantage and biked outside early. 75 minutes on the bike just a bit tired from yesterday's ride and also viewing a Cateye with dying battery (actually, dead battery by about 13 miles). Right after that, a really nice 30 minute run with a 2-mile track run in 13:25 that felt VERY easy. In the afternoon, I did a spin inside while it rained and set new sweat records. Joy. 3 minutes under 3 hours for the day.

Day 54: the rain finally arrived overnight with some sleet and more chill. Was really not into the swim this AM but went 45 minutes anyway, and glad I did. Had a good opening 1000 in 14:48 followed by drills, 5x100, drills, 3x200, and warm down. I then ran 45 minutes that were nothing to write home about until about the 25 minute mark, at which time I got a huge 2nd wind and felt great. Picked up the pace a bit. Later today - maybe 75 minutes or so on the bike outside (if little rain) or inside (if more rain).

IMAZ Days 50- 52: Tired

2009-10-14T11:14:00.000-07:00

IMAZ Day 50 epilogue...ended up running outside, likely too fast, for 30 minutes outside for a grand total of 2 hours of training. Felt very good though.

IMAZ Day 51: Yes, I ran too fast on Day 50. The morning's hour run was at a nice, easy pace and was still a little of a struggle, at least for the first 30 minutes. Loosened up a bit after that but felt that I had actually run hard the day before. After traveling home later, I stupidly -- fraught with guilt about "only" an hour -- swam for 32 minutes that night. Actually felt pretty good if a little rough since I hadn't swum in the last 4 days.

IMAZ Day 52: ...and the more swimming, the merrier, I guess. But today was a REAL swim workout, though I didn't have a firm plan going in. I started with thinking of 4x1000, but that sounded too horrific to think about. OK, how about a long set of 250s? Sure...so I started thinking about 10x250 with 20 seconds rest, but that's only 2500 measely yards. Got through 10 of them and figured, "why not 12?", which became 14 of them. Added on 5x100 and a 200 warm down and ended up with 4200 yards. Not bad...and the pace on the 250s was OK (3:37-8 average for 12, a drop slower the last 2, 1:28-9 on the 100s).

Later today, 1-2 hours on the bike before the monsoons come.

IMAZ Days 46-49 plus Day 45 Epilogue on the track

2009-10-12T05:39:00.000-07:00

Busy days have delayed entries, but no more! Here's a summary of what's happened in the last 4 days, starting with an outstanding workout to close out day 45.

On the evening of day 45, I biked to a track - hard - to meet a partner for a workout which was intended to be way to fast for me -- 5x1200 with the 400s in the mid-80s and an easy lap rest. I hadn't done anything that fast in some time, and with most of my track work done between 6 and 7 min./mile, I thought it a bit foolhardy to attempt something that hard. Of course, that all went by the wayside once on the track and warmed up. 13 minutes of jogging, then go! The 1200s actually felt pretty comfortable as I hit 4:21/4:22 on each of them until the 5th. On the last one, I let it rip, hitting 82 and 82 through 800 and then a 79 last 400 for a 4:03 1200! Warm down and ride home that felt great. Totally surprised myself on those.

On day 46, I woke up without my brain. I arrived at the pool for my swim and just before getting into the water realized that I'd forgotten my watch. Combined with the absence of a pace clock, that meant that I would do an hour of drills. Fun. Accomplished that and then later that night, due to timing issues, ran 31 minutes at 9pm. Felt good and well recovered from the prior day.

Day 47 - massive brick. My intent was to ride 4-4:30 and then run 45 minutes or so. The ride felt very good, and I ultimately rode 81 miles on the day (75 or so prior to the run). The run was outstanding...40 minutes at 7 or sub-7 minute pace feeling strong. Back on the bike for a ride to coffee and then home for a total of 5:27 on the day.

Day 48 - not much..."only" a 50-minute run early in the morning due to time constraints, but even that run was excellent and my pace was sub-7 the whole way.

Day 49 - Back on track...I'm traveling, so I'm stuck on an exercycle, but finally, a hotel with a really good bike! iPod attachment built into the bike AND foot straps on the pedals. 80 minutes on the bike at >20mph (22mph for the first hour and 21 for most of the next 20 min.) followed by a 10-minute transition run on the (ick) treadmill that felt strong. Later today, more bike and more run, hopefully outside.

IMAZ Day 45: October Week 1 Summary

2009-10-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

Day 44 epilogue -- 30 minute run that felt good after taking about 7 minutes to loosen up.

For the first week of October, the first of a few weeks of REALLY high volume, average totals were as follows: >50 miles running, >200 miles biking, 10,000yds+ swimming. Hungry all the time. Fairly tired in the afternoons. Weight at 148. Still feeling pretty good, though a couple slightly sore spots resulting (I think) from Sunday's ride.

Today was just over 2 hours of riding for 38 miles...legs felt it but was able to pedal hard and help up on hills. Later will be near an hour running and MAYBE more bike.

IMAZ Day 44: Waterlogged

2009-10-07T05:53:00.000-07:00

Not unlike a century ride, a 4000yd straight swim is (for me) a daunting task. However, I know I have to get in some number of loooooong swims, so what the hell -- today was the day. It was supposed to be rainy anyway, so why not get the bulk of the workout in the water? I rode my bike in the drizzle to the Y (thus being both green and trying to loosen my legs up) and tried to get my head into the prospect of 160 laps. I swam in the "warm pool" as the good pool was overcrowded, but what the heck. I started off swimming pretty slowly, though I didn't care much about the pace as long as it wasn't egregiously slow. I was swimming 3:05s-3:10s for my 200s continuously, and while I couldn't really pick up the pace (a bit crowded but also no zip), I didn't slow much either. I actually hit the 2nd 1000 faster than the first but slowed the last 2 thousands. I tried to go by 100s in my head, though not from 40 down to zero -- I split it into groups of 10 (oh, the mental games we play). Finally, the last few 100, my form deteriorating but thrilled to finish! 61:38 for the swim, not fantastic, but not awful and felt not too wiped; swam another 4:00 warm down. However, when I got back on the bike (after waiting out some pouring rain at Starbucks, I was bushed. I stretched the ride out a bit as the weather cleared but was anxious to get home and curl up into a fetal position or something. But bottom line, the swim is DONE and in the books.

IMAZ Day 43: Tired

2009-10-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

OK, so maybe the century (and preceding/following days) took its toll. Today, I intended a 2 hour bike ride early in the morning and did do 1:50 (ran out of time) for 31 miles, 17 mph. It was OK, but I felt the hills and definitely had to make an effort to exceed (sometimes get to) 20 mph. The good news was that despite feeling a bit tired on hills (including the dreaded Palmer Hill Road in Old Greenwich), I was able to spin up them fairly evenly in the small ring. Minor positive, but what the heck.

This afternoon, I wanted to run an hour and figured today was a good day to test out the tempo run legs. I mean, I was already a bit tired, so why not check out how well I'd be able to do under those conditions? So my goal was to try and run 6:30s for a 6-miler on the track. I was on a dirt track which acts just like a trail in terms of comfort, though it does have a slight hill in it. Success! I ran 38:45 negatively (19:32-19:13) feeling strong right through the end (timed every 1200M and dropped the pace each one after the halfway mark). I jogged back slowly but was OK. I'd also warmed up 14 minutes on grass, mostly, prior.

All in all, a good day. My stomach was a bit off for the run but it didn't hamper the performance. I'm very positive about my condition as a result.

IMAZ Day 42: Century afterglow and back to work

2009-10-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

I woke this morning feeling pretty good considering yesterday's ride. Stairs were OK, legs not too stiff, maybe one or two very minor sore spots, but really not bad. Definitely happy with the nutrition plan, especially the endurolytes -- they absolutely take the "trashed" feeling away from the equation.

Today was a swim and a run, the run contingent upon how I was feeling after yesterday. As for the swim, I kind of felt like only swimming 30 minutes, but that didn't last long. I ended up with 50 minutes that included 3x500, a fast 250, 3x100 and lots of drilling because my form felt like crap (though shared a lane half the time, which usually throws me off a bit). Times were OK for the effort level.

Similarly to the swim, I only felt like a small run, but that also went by the wayside after starting. I ended up running to the track and doing a 3-mile continuous step down run, intending near marathon pace (7 min.). This became 6:50, which felt easy, then 6:37 and lastly 6:25. All felt good and smooth, which made me very happy.

This afternoon, I took a relatively easy 60 minute spin on the bike. I went high RPMs on big ring/small gear up the hills, loosened up around 7 miles, and picked up the pace quite a bit and felt good. 17 miles.

IMAZ Day 41: The Century is CONQUERED!!

2009-10-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

Today's primary goal was to get the damned 100 mile ride in.
I succeeded!
OK, I'm swallowing the lead and call me silly, but after two tries (and after not really having done one the last time around in 2007), I was tickled to have completed it...and more!
I started early in the dark and fog, having to stop and clean my glasses 3 times. By 7:30 (22 miles in) when I met my riding partner, it had fortunately cleared just a bit and it was light. We rode the next roughly 40 miles mostly together, not pushing the pace but not going easy. Avg. speed was in the mid to high 17s by the end of that.
At roughly 62 miles, I bid "adieu" to my friend and continued solo. I picked up the pace just a bit after the hills through Titicus as I decided to head to Armonk and Mt. Kisco, hoping I could turn before descending one particularly hill that would be nasty on the return. It was not to be. At 87 miles, though, I turned knowing that I had the 100 in the bag based on the return distance. I began to get happy feet (in the pedals).
My nutrition plan was working like a charm. I felt VERY good, no bonk at all. I had 2 large bottles of CarboPro and one small bottle of gatorade/water mix. For food, I had a nut/fruit bar and a Power Bar as well as 4 GUs (2 Roctane/2 Expresso Love). I also had my trusty Endurolytes and, after taking one each of the first 2 45 minute blocks, I took one every 3o minutes until the last 90 minutes when I took two at a time.
At 90 miles, I was feeling it. I picked up the pace and was now averaging over 18 mph. Descending hard and maintaining on the flats, I pressed on, counting each mile. I finally hit 100 (5:23) in Glennville and was totally ecstatic. Onward to home, stopping at Sarbucks at 103 and ultimately hitting 105 in 5:43 (18.5mph average). I felt really good!
After a dinner feeding frenzy, I actually ran 20 minutes just to feel it and to loosen up. I felt OK.
What a day! First 100+, done. One or two more to go.

IMAZ Days 39-40: Tired, hungry, but well trained

2009-10-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

Epilogue to Day 38 - got in a 26 minute swim, felt great. Afternoon must have something to do with it...I'm always more loose later in the day.

Day 39 - designed to make up for the shortfall on Day 38. Started off with 65 minutes of swimming that included a bunch of 200s, a 500 and ended with a 1000 in 15 minutes (trying to stick to 3:00/200). Felt pretty good, so good that I did a really nice 45 minute run in cool temps after. I just ran, not worrying about pace and felt really good, especially considering the workout the morning before. Later in the day, >1:40 of biking, not too fast but mostly steady and stayed in big ring throughout, maintaining on hills. Total for day: 3:30.

Day 40 - 2 hours running on trails. I dreaded a solitary run a bit, but it actually became somewhat zen-like, me and the pace (and deer, wild turkeys, geese, chipmunks, cows, a mule, hogs and a hedgehog). I ran easily, taking endurolytes every 25 minutes with a drink mix (it was a bit humid) and felt fine, even got a second wind at 1:30. Recovered VERY well and felt OK the rest of the day except for the fact I was STARVING most of it.

IMAZ Days 37-38...3 Hours per day, every day

2009-10-01T05:45:00.000-07:00

To finish Day 36, I ended up running 55 minutes in the evening. Too lazy to go to the trails, I ran over to a local dirt track and decided to run 5 miles on it. The goal -- comfortable running at about IM marathon pace, maybe a drop faster - 7 min. miles. Also, I decided not to look at my watch for the first 2.5 miles just to see if I had the pace in my head. 2.5 miles go by VERY comfortably and I had hit 17:18 - perfect, just under 7 min. pace. Of course, that's never good enough, so I decided to do step downs by 2 seconds each of the last 5 800s...so the 2nd 2.5 miles ended up being 16:22 for a total of 33:40 for 5 miles. Then I crawled home, content but a bit spent, though more from the day's work than that particular workout.

Yesterday, day 37, was meant to be primarily a bike day, and I fulfilled that. 2 hrs in the AM followed by another 40 minutes in the evening plus a 10 minute transition run. Felt good all around, and being on the bike practically every day is paying dividends, though my butt feels like it permanently has a bike attached to it (my bike probably feels the same about my butt). Feeling guilty about not swimming maybe as much as I can, but hey, there are only so many hours in the day.

So on to day #38. 48 degrees -- holy CRAP! Got out all the warm clothes and prepared for an interesting workout...ride to the track, 6xmile at IM marathon pace or a drop faster (one lap rest), then ride back (plus a bit). Glad I wore the cap and gloves...it was chilly and breezy! At the track, took off a bunch of clothes and got going. 7 minute pace felt like a walk, so after the 3rd in 6:41, I decided to pick it up just a bit. The last was a solid 6:09, also not much effort (I was focusing more on the last 400 for each of these anyway). After struggling to put my clothes back on and zip zippers and latch clasps with numb fingers, I rode another 40 minutes. Just over 2 hours, felt good, now starved. Note: I ALWAYS seem to be starving now.

Later: TRY to get in a swim.

IMAZ Day 37: Mo miles, mo miles

2009-09-29T06:25:00.000-07:00

Editor's note: yesterday ended with a 32 minute run, not the advertised 45 minute run. Sue me -- I was pretty bushed.

Today was swim day...I wanted an hour in the water but had no real plan. I wasn't sure I wanted to go LONG long, but did want 3500-4000 yds in some form, so I mixed it up. My shoulders were still a bit tired from the debacle in the Sound on Sunday, so I started off with 10 minutes of warm up and drills. Then, I decided to swim 2000 yds straight, counting by the 100s (I play funky mental games like this -- sometimes I count by 200s, 500s...today I went with the 20x100 plan). I felt OK but got locked into a pace that I couldn't change much - oh, I could go SLOWER, but I couldn't really shift gears to pick it up. Ended up 29:47 for that, not bad considering, and comfortable as well as evenly paced. After that, some easy swimming followed by 5x100 on 20 seconds, more drilling, and 300 or so w/d including a very comfortable 2:58 200. FOOD! COFFEE!

Then, back to, um, "work". Biked 63 minutes, mostly easy until about 40 minutes, at which point my legs had loosened up and I picked up the pace. Nothing really harsh, but maybe 10-15 min. at 22-23 mph feeling good. I was actually surprised at how good my legs felt after yesterday (and Sunday).

Later on today, I'll try again at a 45-60 minute run. The nice fall weather is just what the doctor ordered, though I'll have to start bundling up soon to ensure I'm not totally shocked by the heat in Arizona come November.

IMAZ Days 34-36: JWT and Beyond

2009-09-28T11:28:00.001-07:00

So Saturday, day 34, a BEAUTIFUL day, became an easier day than expected due to timing. I could only fit 55 minutes of working out, comprised of a 30 minute easy but steady run and a 25 minute spin on the bike.

Sunday, Day 35...the JWT olympic distance triathlon. Despite a teasing let up in the rain at about 5:30 am, it rained the entire race, from setup in transition to beyond the finish. While it wasn't POURING, it was pretty annoying. At least it wasn't cold. Into the water with the fourth wave and...I could barely see anything. I found my way OK to the turn buoy and then totally lost my way, became disoriented and pretty much swam in a circle trying to find my way back to shore. I felt fine -- I just couldn't see the buoys or the giant building on shore marking the exit. 25 minutes, passed, 30, 35 -- I finally got out of the water near 41 minutes knowing my race was over. I thought about stopping but then figured I was already wet and needed the workout.

I hopped on my bike -- which was without use of speedometer and odometer due to the magnet being knocked off on my way to the race earlier -- and took off. I powered through the early miles and hills, maintained focus on the bad hills and then really put the hammer down from 10 miles out and even more so later in the ride. I ended up with the 4th fastest bike split, though it may have been first amateur as 2 of the others looked like mistakes.

Off the bike, I hit the run flying. I felt great despite the hard ride. At about 2 miles, we turned on the boardwalk in Playland, and just as the nice volunteer lady was cautioning us as to how slippery it was, I slipped and bounced off of my right arm and hip. Joy. But I got right up and pushed ahead and kept pushing, for the most part, through the finish. I wasn't going all out because I wanted a little something the last mile if I saw anyone, though that was stupid as my competition was about 10 minutes in front of me due to my swim. Ultimately, I ended up with the 3rd fastest run in the field. That and the bike more than made up for the swimming thing. I chalked the whole thing up to a training day.

Day 36, today, I felt really good. Other than my bike legs being a bit tired, I was able to get in a really good 2 hour ride this morning and another 31 minutes at lunch; I'll end the day with a 45-minute run. Distance, baby.

IMAZ Days 32 & 33...countdown to JWT

2009-09-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of not tapering (much), I'm...not tapering much. Yesterday was a good example. Started out with a 45 minute swim that felt like I was in quicksand. Funny how it feels so rough technique-wise after not swimming for the better part of a week (due to travel). Muddled through 3000yds with a short tempo run of 26 minutes prior while my car was being "express serviced" (expedient use of time).

In the afternoon, an hour free led to the second workout...an 11 minute ride to a local track, then a "real" tempo run of a 4 mile stepdown. As usual, I intended to go near IMAZ marathon race pace and as usual, I went faster. But I felt great and ended up running 25:38 (6:24+) for the four miles, stepping down from 6:38 to 6:10. A short running warm down, then the easy ride home.

Today, I wanted to swim again to make sure I had a feel for the water and my stroke. MUCH better. Though it started out rough (7:32 for 500), between drills and 100s I was able to regain a rhythm and ended up feeling great (7:09 for 500 swimming negative). That was 40 minutes and was followed by an EASY (yes) 70 minute spin on the bike to loosen the legs.

MAYBE a bit more later, maybe not...tomorrow will be the only day that is anything like a taper. Maybe 30-45 minutes running? A short spin? We'll see.

IMAZ Day 31, first month done

2009-09-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday suffered from limited time to train as a result of travel and work. I was able to fit in a bike ride, but a good one, late in the day. 26 miles HARD averaging 21mph. I was THRILLED with that ride and felt great throughout. I was happier still since I'd ridden 90 Sunday and despite not being on my bike since, had ridden 2 hrs on exercycle over the last 2 days.

At the close of the first month, I'm very happy. My "bike legs" are feeling great, and despite my not yet having done a century (grrrrr), I'm feeling incredibly strong on the bike. My running also is going extremely well and I feel very strong there as well. I can compare it to preparing for last year's NYC Marathon and the point at which I was able to be out running for 60-70 minutes and pick up the pace at that point as if I was fresh. As for swimming -- I feel pretty good, though have missed a few swims due to travel. Still the swim is relatively insignificant in the IM, where the goal is to finish it comfortably, not go incredibly fast.

After this weekend's race (JWT Olympic Tri), time to redouble efforts for the next month. Need at least 2 rides of 100M.

IMAZ Day 30: Philly, part 2

2009-09-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

OK, with no pool and no desire to reacquaint myself with the exercycle (much), I figured a long run would be nice. So out of the hotel and toward Fairmount Park, site of the 3 Philadelphia Triathlons I'd done. Now as I was running, I realized the Art Museum was on the way. "Rocky" officianados will remember Rocky Balboa's historic run up the steps of the Art Museum. Well, in all my prior visits, I had never even walked up the steps. I decided to rectify that situation, so at about 20 min. into the run, I ran the steps. I did NOT gesticulate wildly up there. I STILL felt like a nitwit. Then continued run on trail alongside path in park, turned at 50 minutes and picked up the pace. I was running maybe 7:15s-7:20s out and dropped to mid-high 6 min. pace for the rest. I felt very good (did the steps again, too). Total run was 1:35. Later in the day, I had a chance to sneak in 35 minutes on the crappy exercycle again for a 2:10 total day.

IM AZ Days 28-29...so much for getting back on track (literally)

2009-09-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

Sunday: a 1:45 run that was stellar considering the ride on Saturday, closing with a mile or so at 7 minute pace (just a bit faster than intended marathon race pace for IMAZ).

Monday: In Philadelphia traveling, so limited options. 1:30 which included 80 minutes on a crappy exercycle (my favorite) followed by a 10 minute run. Still felt decent, but that exercycle seat...yikes.

IMAZ Days 24-27: Travelus Interruptus

2009-09-19T12:42:00.001-07:00

For those following this, my apologies for no postings the last few days -- work travel interfered with blogging, but fortunately, it didn't interfere with training (much). When we last left our hero, he was in Detroit. From Detroit, then, I went on to Minneapolis where I'd decided to rent a bike for an early morning ride on Wednesday, a day on which I had no meetings but had only to work on my own. Unlike the total nitwits I'd dealt with in Katonah, these guys were FANTASTIC. Located right on one of the several great bike trails that lead to/from downtown, the shop was helpful, fast and spent a bunch of time reviewing how the trail system worked and where to pick it up.

Wednesday AM, I was off. I was able to ride over 2 hours and then later that day, got in another (very) short ride back to the shop and then ran back to my hotel afterward. I felt GREAT across all of that.

Thursday AM, I woke up with a sharp mystery pain in my left thigh. I have NO clue what caused it, if I'd pulled something, maybe twisted it sleeping -- who knows? I ran on it for an hour (of course) on and off the trail system, and that was actually quite good, but then standing and sitting on it killed the rest of the day. However, by the time I'd arrived home on the plane flight, I could tell it was dissipating already.

Friday AM, things were much better. I was actually itching for the scheduled swim though not sure I was ready for a huge distance. I ended up with 4000yds, though, 2500 of which was a prescribed workout consisting of distances from 50-200 for the main set. After that, I swam two 500s and another 500 split into 100 easy and 400yds. Those last three were pretty good, though I could feel my form slipping from fatugue the last 400. Immediately after, I got on my bike for 45 minutes.

Saturday -- today -- was supposed to be 100 miles on the bike, NO MATTER WHAT. Well, sh-t happens, I guess. I had great company for the first roughly 65 miles, then struck out on my own. Unfortunately, at 81 miles, my rear wheel (disc) flatted. Now, I fortunately had carried a C02 cannister and inflater, and nearly used it successfully. Alas, I left it to run a bit too long and futzed with it enough to re-flatten it. Then -- a quick check of the bberry found a bike shop near by in New Rochelle. I went there, and after they could not figure out how to get the pump end on the disc, simply bought another C02 cartridge and reinflated myself enough to get back. I had a dream of continuing to 100, but lateness and the fact that the tire was getting flat again forced me to stop. Afterward, though, I went for a 15-min run and felt pretty good, particularly for having just ridden 5:15 (90M). Then had lunch a short while later. Still hungry.

Back on blogging track tomorrow.

IMAZ Day 23 - Running at (in) the airport

2009-09-15T06:40:00.000-07:00

It's always a thrill to try and run outdoors when staying at an airport hotel. I've had the experience at DFW, for example, of there being NO sidewalk or side of the road and having to leap onto grass or walls or whatever to avoid traffic and airplanes. Well, Detroit Metro was shaping up to be more of the same, though people at the front desk convinced me that there would be non-airport terrain to be found. I ventured out alongside the tarmac and the rest of the airfield, through a fairly creepy tunnel and out into open terrain and sidewalk!! Turns out I had a great hour of running, didn't get caught in jet wash and made friends with runway 9L/27R at Detroit Metro.

Possibly another entry later...let's see what Minneapolis holds this evening.

IMAZ Day 22 - Busy busy

2009-09-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

A 39-minute barely shows up on the rest radar screen, so today was a regular training day, albeit an action-packed one. I had to scatter a 70-minute bike in the morning, a 26-minute swim before lunch and a run on a treadmill at my hotel (travel week) at night. OK, I didn't HAVE to, but I wanted the two hours of time and I wanted to run yesterday. And swim -- you never know if you'll encounter a decent pool in your travels, and since most hotels have pools the size of postage stamps, I figured I'd get in a short swim (maybe 1600yds) before leaving. I also HATE the treadmill, but I was saving an outdoor run for the following morning. Feeling good post-race and in general.

IMAZ Day 21 - A sprint race???

2009-09-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

Because it's a Connecticut event and I like to support my team (TargeTraining), I decided to race the Westport Minuteman Sprint Tri. Basically, it's just under 40 minutes of redline pain, a fun event for neurotics. It's pretty low key, which is nice, but for me an interesting departure from the distance training I've been doing. Clearly, I didn't taper at all for this, so I was hoping my legs would spring back from the past week (and my slight cold wouldn't impede performance).

Success! Well, pretty much. It's a swimmer's race as the distances are 1/2M, 5M, 2M, which means the swim time is about as long as the run time. That explains why I was 2nd place overall and not first -- first place went to a strong swimmer. Good news was I felt GREAT in all three phases, and I was particularly happy that I was able to KILL the bike and run VERY hard. I would have been even happier if I hadn't forgotten where my transition gear was at T2...lost some time there.

Ran 40 mintues after the race and felt pretty good as well. So ends week 3, just under 18hrs/week average.

IMAZ Day 20 - Long ride before short race

2009-09-12T17:04:00.001-07:00

I wanted to go long today but was a bit undecided due to the race I'm in tomorrow. Well, it's only a sprint, so how bad can I possibly feel? Guess I'll see when I'm out there redlining it for 37-38 minutes. Anyway, I decided to put a good one in today, and while I wasn't expecting 90-100, I was looking for 70-80. I had no playmates, however, and it was drizzling most of the ride. I took a nice tour around Westchester, heading from West Harrison through White Plains and Greenburgh to 9A and through Ardsley to the Tarrytown lakes. Around the lakes and back over to 119 to Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow to Rt. 9 and 117. 117 over to Chappaqua and Mt. Kisco, and then the turn back through to Armonk. From there, over 22 to Bedford and Bedford/Banksville Road into Greenwich to Riversville in Glenville, up Sherwood and down Anderson Hill to 127 and back. In all, 71 miles in 3:55, an 18mph average. However, the last 31M were at 20mph average and I felt very strong. Once again, the nutrition seems to be working (CarboPro only for drinks, GUs, a PowerBar at 2 hrs and endurolytes every 30 minutes. Legs feel pretty good tonight -- let's see how they feel in the morning.

IMAZ Day 19, Part 2 - Short, sweet, late

2009-09-12T17:02:00.000-07:00

Due to lack of time all day, I decided - largely based on compulsion and guilt - to run for 20 minutes rather late in the evening in the rain. I hate going more than one day without running, so I ran in and around the grounds of my chateau, here. I actually felt very good, surprisingly. Shouldn't have worn the rain jacket, though - was sweating profusely (TMI).

IMAZ Day 19, Part 1: MORE swimming?

2009-09-11T06:15:00.001-07:00

Given yesterday's switcheroo, this morning became a swim. After having swum 4K yds yesterday, I didn't expect to have much in the tank today. I jumped into the pool and felt good for a lap but after that, I felt technically off just a little bit. I decided to try and do the following: 10x(100-200) with 15-20 sec. rest after each swim. It turned out OK, if a bit tedious; I'd originally thought of swimming just half an hour, but I decided to stick it out through the full 10. I averaged about 1:26-1:27 on the 100s and maybe 2:55-2:56 on the 200s. I had no real speed, though, and I felt like I was all over the lane in parts. But -- it's another 50 minutes and 3000yds in the books.

IMAZ Day 18, part 2 - rain induced ride

2009-09-11T06:12:00.000-07:00

Given the chance of rain for Friday morning, I decided to escape for a quick ride instead of a quick run for the 2nd workout, which also meant that tomorrow AM would be a swim instead of the bike (and possibly instead of a run due to the rain threat). Jumped on the bike in the afternoon and sped through 14 miles. It was WINDY, and with the disc on the bike, I was being blown all over the place. Still, I felt really good -- having had a day off the bike was a good thing.

IMAZ Day 18 - Paying the Price

2009-09-10T05:01:00.001-07:00

Well, I may have made it through yesterday's workouts in one piece, but this morning, my body said "Whoa." It wasn't TOO bad, but it was a slow walk to the car, from the car to the pool, and a lengthy contemplation at the edge of the pool about the workout. My intent: 3 or 4x1000, a nice loooooong workout. I shoved off and did the first 3 1000s (with easy 50 rest) in 15:00 each, give or take a second. Although that pace didn't seem hard to maintain, I could not go much faster. Indeed, the fasted 100 in each set was the last one as I tried to keep them to 15 minutes each. I started the fourth one but knew I wouldn't end up having patience to swim a whole 1000. I went 500, SLOWLY, and then mixed up a few 100s and a warm down to get to 4000 yds. I was really glad to have done that, though not pleased with my inability to pick up the pace. Then again, Tuesday's swim was fine and fast, so I'll chalk it up to the long day yesterday. Not sure what I'll be able to do later, though I'm guessing a short easy run will be in order.

IMAZ Day 17, Part 2 - On the Track

2009-09-10T04:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I was going to run anyway this afternoon, so why not throw in a track workout? Given the benefit of company, this figured to be a bit easier than slogging it out on my own on the track or the roads. However, the assignment was as follows: 6x400 with an easy rest. "Only six," I thought. Back in the day, I used to do 10-20x400 in 65 seconds, but then I was a miler with a real stride back then. So while "6" didn't sound like a lot, and the pace (intended to be low 80s) didn't sound that bad, I did wonder a bit how my tired legs would respond.

I took a REALLY long warm up - like 30 minutes, maybe a bit long, but my legs were pretty loose by the end of that. The quarters actually went pretty well, ranging from a first in 82 to the last in 74. The good news was that it wasn't really a strain to hit the speed, so I didn't feel bad or worried about it. A short warm down completed the day, a 3-hour training day, in fact. Not too bad.

IMAZ Day 17, Part 1 - Back to the Bike

2009-09-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

With a one day rest from the bike under my belt, I went right back to it this morning. The bottom line: 36 miles in 2 hours, with about 28 of that at 19mph average having been towed along by a friend, which was really useful particularly as it took me an hour to get my legs loose and turning over well. Highlight to come today -- massage - woohoo! And then, something that should NOT be done - a track workout after the massage. Oh, well. Sometimes you can't have everything.

Note: I'm now averaging just at or just under 18 hours/week training. Of course, big chunks of that are the long bike rides, but it's still considerably more than the 10-11 or so I'd been doing during the spring/summer racing season. But I'm feeling strong and I believe that on this training, I could have done a 4:25 half IM. However, I could not have trained like this and sustained it through now, so it's just as well. But it's a good lesson for next year. In particular, the biking volume and the intense/long brick workouts are making a big difference. I did not brick as much or as far this past season as in years past or as much as I am now. I can definitely feel the difference when I run now, both without a bike ride and after one.

IMAZ Day 16 - a break from the bike

2009-09-09T05:29:00.000-07:00

One (normal human working person) can't ride 50 miles EVERY day, and so today (well, yesterday -- didn't have time for the entry yesterday so I'm writing it this morning on Day 17...shhh) was "only" a swim and run day. 3600yds in the morning split up as 4x250, 1x1000, 10x100 and various drills and rests between and after. The highlight was the 1000, an easy 14:26 feeling very good and rhythmic. The run was about 12 hours later and run on trails, a welcome respite from the pavement (and tracks) I'd been on for a few days. It was simple - an hour run at about 7 minute pace, maybe a bit under in spots. Again, it was good because it was flowing and without that much effort, just a regular turnover. It was more humid than I'd thought, and perhaps some bring-along drinks might have been smart, but it was fine and I refueled with gatorade afterward.

IMAZ Day 15...the more (biking) the merrier

2009-09-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

Still feeling short-changed after not completing then century on Saturday, despite having ridden 46 yesterday, I figured that some more biking couldn't hurt. I set out for maybe 30 miles at a reasonable pace. That ended quickly as I felt pretty good out of the gate, riding 40 minutes to meet friends to ride further. THAT became a hammerfest as we basically attempted to pummel each other into the ground for the next 40+ minutes. I turned off as they were headed farther north, and I figured with 1:20 under my belt, I'd head back and be happy with about 40 miles. Well, one thing led to another, I met some other folks, and before I knew it, I was at 55 miles still riding. However, I felt GOOD; the pace had eased a bit and my legs still had juice, though I was out of drinks and GUs since I hadn't planned to be out that long. At 55, I separated and sped back, still feeling great. The end result: 62 miles, about 45 of which were at 19mph and which were 18mph average overall. This evening, I also was able to get out for a 35 minute run, and while it had some severe hills, I felt good. Thus, a four-hour day comes to an end. Tomorrow may finally be a break from riding after 166M in 3 days, though I think I'll miss it. But the focus for tomorrow is swimming, and if I get a chance to both run AND bike, I will, but another bike ride might have to wait until Wednesday.

IMAZ Day 14, end of week 2

2009-09-07T03:53:00.000-07:00

"I believe that what doesn't kill you makes you...stranger" - The Joker

I'm feeling pretty strange these days, then. After Saturday's tire and century mishap, I went for some retribution yesterday, attempting to make up for missing 100 by getting there on the 2nd day, plus some. It took about an hour for my legs to wake up, but around 20-21 miles, I felt great! I ended up with 46 miles at a bit over 17mph. Since I was already sweaty, I decided a brick was in order, changed and went out for a run. Since I was near a track, I decided to split up the run into a moderate warm up, a tempo and an easy return. After 20 minutes, I hit the track for a 4M run. I was able to run 25:36 (6:24) fairly easily and felt better than expected, though by the end of that 46 minutes or so, my legs were feeling it. Ran back for 1:10 total.

Though it's the third week of training, it's the end of the 2nd week of blogging...I had to look back - I THOUGHT I'd been going since Aug 20 or so! Anyway, yesterday completed a 17-hour week, and while I didn't get the 100 in (next week, perhaps, though racing), I'm feeling good about my progress. I also feel that - and I believe this was my intent in the back of my mind - I just didn't train nearly as hard as this earlier in the season. I trained hard pace-wise, but not strength-wise as I am now. I think that if I had trained this way in, say, April and May, I'd be able to go 4:25 for a 1/2 IM, that's how strong I'm feeling. On the other hand, I'd be TOTALLY burned out physically at this point, so it's just as well. Onward!

IMAZ Day 13...as lucky as it sounds

2009-09-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

So much for the century. I know, call me stupid, call me whatever, but when you go out for 100 or so, you need to take a spare tire EVEN if you have tubulars. I didn't and paid the price. 53 miles into the ride, which was going quite well, my rear tire exploded. Not just flatted - EXPLODED. No spare, nothing anywhere. Thank goodness my ride pals decided to hang with me til we got to a nearby (5 miles) bike shop that...abandoned me. Yes, Val's bike shop in Katonah sucks -- they ultimately refused to put on a new tire (not glued, even).

Will continue the ride tomorrow. I know that's cheating, but...what the hell. Will run also for good measure -- and try again maybe next week.

IMAZ Day 12, B side

2009-09-04T12:59:00.000-07:00

Found a bit of time to get in a swim. 2000 yards swum as 3x500 with 50-100 in between each plus a warm down. Swam the first negative in 7:18 (3:45-3:33), second negative in 7:09 (3:39-3:30), and the third positive (oops) in 7:07 (3:32-3:34). I mixed up the breathing patterns throughout and tried to reach and grab well with each stroke. Felt OK. 31 minutes total. NOW, on to the century.

IMAZ, Day 12: When you just don't feel like pullling on that wetsuit...

2009-09-04T08:32:00.001-07:00

The prospect of dragging the gear to the beach, the chill, whatever had me reconsider this morning's intended open water swim in favor of a run. Following someone else's plan, this was a tempo run, and since I hadn't run yesterday, I figured it was well worth the effort. A couple miles warm up, then 5x1 mile at 6:45 pace on a minute rest, a couple miles warm down was the intent. Actually perfect for IM prep and not too bad for Westchester prep, either. The workout felt really good, and the miles became a bit faster (shocking) and negative, running from 6:36 down to a final 5:59. Jogged the minute rest so it was a continuous run, which I like better for tempo runs anyway. 70 minutes total, felt good, ready perhaps for a swim later and - gasp - tomorrow's century.

IMAZ Day 11, Part 1

2009-09-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

Brief entry as the training day is not yet complete. Had to ride yet another crappy exercycle in my Detroit hotel this morning. Well, I didn't HAVE to; I could have run but didn't feel like it. Also forgot to pack a running shirt, so rather than scaring all of Motown, I decided to throw on yesterday's white t-shirt (TMI, maybe) and head down to the "fitness center". More like a fitness closet, at least it had an upright (vs. recumbant) bike. No pedal straps, though, my favorite. Spun for 45 minutes. Will ride more later here at home, I hope, and update accordingly.

IMAZ, Day 10 - Travel Day

2009-09-02T11:02:00.000-07:00

Back to the old pool at the Y this morning, for once not a bad thing as the air temp was in the low 50s and an open water swim (which will likely happen Friday anyway) might have been a TAD chilly (confirmed by others, actually). Showed up with no workout planned other than to swim somewhere between 3000 and 4000yds. Warmed up and did drills for 1000, then did 10x100 averaging about 1:23 on 15 seconds rest followed by 5x200 averaging 2:53 on 30 seconds rest (100 or so between the sets). Warmed down for 3500 yds total, an hour in the water. Not bad! Then a 30 minute run that felt pretty good considering the amount of running I'm doing. Had to get that in since a later workout would be questionable since I'm now in Detroit on biz.

Getting my brain wrapped around doing a 100M this weekend. Almost looking forward to it given the training thus far. It'll be more of a "time in the saddle" ride, not a hammerfest (I hope). Meanwhile, will have to find time to bike tomorrow (no clue when unless it's on - ick - an exercycle).

IMAZ, Day 9, Part 2

2009-09-01T13:42:00.000-07:00

Taking advantage of the beautiful weather (and a 90 minute gap between meetings), I ventured out for a run earlier this afternoon. I figured I'd end up at the track but intended to run a 3-miler at 6:30 pace max. Felt good getting to the track, then the first lap was 95 and felt easy. That, to me, means "stay with it". 6:18 first mile, then said "let's get to halfway in 9:30 or better and pick up". Picked up the pace and was 9:24, then picked up more to hit 2 miles in 12:26. Of course, THAT meant an even faster last mile, but I was feeling good and hit it. 5:57 with an 87 last 400 brought me in at 18:23 feeling good, though my left calf was a bit tight. Ran easy back home.

I live between 2 tracks and am a bit obsessive about running on them. But given the favorable temps and good legs, it was worthwhile. Still, I do need to back it down a little, though this workout had more of a focus toward Westchester (9/27) than IMAZ. Still, every run helps.

IMAZ, Day 9

2009-09-01T05:37:00.000-07:00

Despite a little nagging soreness in my mid-back -- which may have been from clutching the handlebars on my bike in a death grip during Saturday's rain ride -- things are pretty good. Today was an intended 2-hour bike ride at whatever pace, no preconceived notion, see how I feel. At first, my legs were a bit heavy, no doubt from lingering junk from Sunday's long run. But as the ride progressed, I felt pretty good. The group took it out a bit and I jumped at the first hill opportunity...and felt OK. We varied the pace through the ride but my legs were able to respond to all the terrain and speeds, so I was pretty happy. End result: just about 35 miles in 1:55. Later I'll run for 30-45 minutes -- again, no preconceived pace -- and see how THAT feels, though I have a feeling I'll end up on a track for IM race pace running for a while.

With travel tomorrow and Thursday, I'm not sure how to prioritize. Ride again tomorrow AM? Swim tomorrow and ride an exercycle Thursday AM in the hotel? Ick. I hate missing a swim tomorrow but I hate missing a ride more. We'll see.

IMAZ Day 8, Week 2

2009-08-31T05:56:00.000-07:00

Week 2 of IMAZ camp opened with a bang today. Feeling surprisingly good after yesterday's 2:16 whacko run, I opted for a swim/bike today. It's odd that most triathletes don't often do swim/bike doubles given that's the way the races are run; even I rarely do them, often favoring a swim/run double since it's easier logistically to do. But with a long swim as the focus today and no real need to run this morning, I chose the swim/bike.

I bundled up - it was a bit chilly - and headed for the Y and the short first ride. Unfortunately, the good pool at the Y is in the last days of maintenance and only the older/smaller pool was open. No worries, I figured, since I was intending to simply go long - hoping for 4000yds - and relatively easy. Of course, once inside, I found every lane doubled and had to ask people in a lane to circle. Again, I was intending to go easy, so wasn't worried.

I started the swim. Things went well and one person left after about the first 1000. During the 2nd 1000, I crashed hard twice with the other guy in the lane as we were still circling...this pool is a bit thin. Soon, he also left. I was swimming fairly easy, 15:00 1000s as I continued through the 3rd one. At 3000, I eased just a bit for the next 500, then got really bored and decided to mix up some 50s of mixed stroke and fast 100s. Again, the idea here was just to be swimming for an hour, so this was all OK. Finally, I finished, 4000yds in just over 62 minutes. Felt VERY good.

I dried off and took to the bike after a GU and some CarboPro. I felt pretty good except for any hill I happened to ride, still feeling the effects of yesterday's run. But I ended up riding about 16 miles total on the morning. I was happy just to get in the aero bars and spin after the swim and feel good.

Maybe more later? Who knows...but today is massage - YAY! - so maybe not.

IMAZ, Day 7. First official training week closes!

2009-08-30T08:03:00.000-07:00

I ran for 2:16 today (maybe 18 miles or so), the longest run I've done since before the NYC Marathon last year. Bad news - was only intending 2:00...well, originally 1:45, but decided to go 2 and then ultimately hit the 2:16 after getting a bit lost on trails. Oops. Good news -- between carrying liquids, GUs and endurolytes, I felt pretty good!

So at the end of the first week of long training, I have roughly 17 hours in the bank. I'm thrilled that I'm thus far not feeling any aches and pains or any of the stuff I'm used to feeling when I up mileage on the bike/run simultaneously. Guess the summer base helped a lot. I'm also recovering very well from the longish stuff thus far, which I think is a testament to fueling well during the workouts. Lastly -- I'm really enjoying the training, and I hadn't expected that.

Next week will be interesting as the weekend will include the first 5+ hour ride and work travel begins to pick up. But if it's anything like this week was, then I'm looking forward to it.

Some stats: I'm averaging just over 40M per week running, got up to almost 200M biking (a lot for me). Swimming needs to pick up a bit, if only in terms of long swims (i.e., continuous hour), though I've been 50-60+ for swim workouts. So...things are going according to plan so far.

IMAZ, Day 6

2009-08-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

Despite the threat of rain - actually, it was more than a threat, it was actually raining - early this morning, I decided that the suckiness of riding in rain was less than the suckiness of riding 3.5 hrs indoors. Thus, I struck out, enlisting the aid of two other brave souls, intending to get in the 3.5/30 brick that I'd planned.

Things were pretty good from the start; a light rain fell, but not enough to be disturbing. After casting aside the rain jacket (which raised temperatures excessively), things were pretty good and continued that way for about 2.5 hours until Mt. Kisco. At that point, on a nice downhill stretch, the heavens opened and we were poured on. At the turnaround, we stopped for a second to eat but took off quickly so as not to get too chilled. Back home for a total of 60 miles and 3:25 on the bike feeling really good and having pushed hard up all the hills.

As the rain had abated, I decided to get the run in and finish the brick. My nutrition plan training must be going well (CarboPro and Accelerade bottles today plus endurolytes, date/nut bar and 3 GUs) because my legs felt really good. Ran approximately race pace (7 min/mile-ish) for the run, felt good the whole way and ended with 40 minutes...4:05 total.

Hit the carb/protein recovery quickly (waffles, peanut butter, honey, etc.) and re-caffeinated. Now, on to the rest of the day!

IMAZ, Day 5

2009-08-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

Of course, it's right after I say that I'll post in the mornings that I'm swamped by work and can't post until the evening. No matter. Today is turning out to be a relatively easy day, thanks to a brutal schedule of meetings and inclement weather. This morning was a fun swim in the Sound amid the biggest swells I'd seen there this year, though they weren't that bad. They WERE enough to make sighting an issue, especially for the near-blind like myself. Mental note - prescription goggles next year. Swam for 50 minutes, felt decent, then hit the trails for a 20 minute, one-loop run, which in retrospect would have been two (and I'd have forgone the Starbucks Venti Iced) if I'd known what today was going to be like. The good news is that my legs seem to have bounced back well from the prior two days of hard biking/running.

Tomorrow doesn't look like fun -- I've scheduled a 3.5hr bike/30 minute run brick that will either be in rain or on the rack in the garage depending upon just how bad it is out. Neither is very appetizing.

For those of you receiving this a second time, btw, I found a mistake I needed to edit. Oops.

IMAZ Training, Day 4

2009-08-27T06:44:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to think it might be better to update these at the END of the day, but it's easier to blather earlier in the day -- just like training! Anyway, when last we left the screen, I was anticipating a run yesterday afternoon/evening. It did come to pass in the form of a track workout that I decided to make (or attempt) a 3-mile step down. Now, I LOVE tempo runs and love step downs, but perhaps I was biting off a bit much yesterday. I'd wanted to go 17:30 with a 5:55 first mile. So after a short warm up, I hit it. 5:53 for the first felt easy as did the next 800 (8:47 for 1.5M, right on). However, things started getting dicey at that point, and though I hit a 5:52 2nd mile, things were beginning to feel rough. The last mile SUCKED. I had to ease a bit the 3rd lap of it and ended up in 5:58 for 17:43. Not awful, but didn't feel good. Warmed down, went home and had a beer.

That had me viewing today's intended brick with trepidation. Maybe all the miles of the past week had come home to roost in my legs and today would be awful. But out the door at 5:40am, the weather was beautiful and encouraging. My legs WERE tight at the start and the first big hill was tough, but afterwards loosened up a bit and was able to maintain 20-21mph or better for a lot. Hills were TOUGH...didn't have my usual spring for them...but the rest of the ride ROCKED. I made it back to the track where I'd left my running shoes in 1:25 for 27.75M feeling good.

I was intending to run 7 min pace for 30 minutes in an effort to get used to IMAZ race pace. I decided not to look at my watch to get a better FEEL for the effort and not overdo it. I felt very good straightaway and locked into whatever pace it was. I took a drink at 2 miles and glanced at the watch -- 13:25! -- and felt great! I continued on and ended up 26:30 at 4 miles with a final of 4.5 miles in 29:40 (6:36 pace!). I was overjoyed, though dripping. Changed shirts and shoes, jumped back on the bike and went home. Total workout was a happy and very encouraging 2:03. Now I have the luxury of not working out again today, good thing since I'm still slammed by work.

Tomorrow: open water swim, MAYBE a run after. Let's see how the legs recover.

IMAZ Training Blog, Day 3

2009-08-26T14:28:00.000-07:00

First, let's close out yesterday; ran 40 minutes in the afternoon and while it was hot, it wasn't deathly hot and I had a good run. I felt a BIT sluggish as a result of the monring's bike ride, but ended up running fairly quickly on one of my pet courses. Then I kept sweating for about 20 minutes AFTER showering. Yuk.

Today was a rare Wednesday open water swim at Tod's Point. It was a beautiful morning and the water looked calm, but we had some swells on the return swim (we swim 2 laps around the buoys there) that made things interesting. I SHOULD have swum a third lap, but I figured that given the long swim Monday, 46 minutes today was good enough. Best news - no sea lice! Afterward, I did a 20 minute run, 18 of which was with company at a decent pace. Legs were good not great, but that's to be expected, I suppose. A shower and a Venti Iced Coffee (unsweet) helped after that.

After scarfing food throughout the day (lightly...still on portion control) and being totally swamped with work, I'll be heading to the track tonight to do...I'm not sure what. A 3-mile step down run sounds somewhat appealing, though that could give way to a ladder (ugh) from 400 up to mile and back down (double ugh). It'll be interesting to see how/if my legs respond tonight and then to tomorrow AM's early brick.

IMAZ Training Blog, 8/25

2009-08-25T05:46:00.000-07:00

Here we are, day 2 of the training blog! I have to say that I am still jazzed after both the weekend of (for me) long training and yesterday's approximately 4000yd swim (and relatively puny 25 minute run). I had wanted to add another run later in the day but scheduling didn't permit it, and besides, yesterday afternoon was MASSAGE, and my massage therapist doesn't think highly of people going and working out after she performs her magic. I can see that. So spent the day working (shouldn't be too much of a shock) and watching the family and siding guys do their thing.

So today, I wanted at least a 90-minute ride. Found some folks to ride with and ended up just over 2 hours and 38+ miles feeling really good! It took the better part of an hour to warm up, truth be told, but it was a really good ride with a strong close. I also have become, after a grand total of two rides with it, a huge fan of CarboPro. I'm finding that my legs aren't wasted well into the rides and that I'm recovering well (I'm also remembering to drink frequently regardless and take GUs/endurolyes regularly depending upon weather/time in saddle). It's weird that it has no taste, but I guess that no taste is better than bad taste (true for humans too, I think).

Later today, I'll run for about 45 minutes at a moderate pace. Tomorrow, I'd originally planned an open water swim plus a run, but given the torrential rains over the weekend, it seems the bacteria have other plans and have invaded the local beaches. Thus, I'll have to take stock of the situation later today and then figure out if it's a pool swim or not...the following run could be anywhere from 30-60 minutes depending upon time (and if I do it immediately after or not). I COULD find my way into a track workout Wednesday, but not sure at this point. Might save for tempo or speed on Thursday after another bike.

Thank heavens for coffee and peanut butter.

IMAZ '09, Self Coached: First Entry

2009-08-24T05:48:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why, but I've decided to maintain a blog record of my training for IMAZ '09. Not sure if anyone cares, but what the heck -- I figure if anything I put here can help, then it's worth it.

So...I've just begun the second week of IMAZ Training Camp here at Yockelson Manor. After a rough DNF at IM Louisville in 2007, I'd vowed to try again and do things a bit differently the next time. Among my errors in 2007: not anywhere near enough nutrition or salt on the bike as it was hot, windy and I couldn't eat the solid food I'd planned to consume; also, I'd only done ONE ride of 100 miles leading up to the race -- the IM was the first time I'd gone 112. Not smart. Despite exiting T2 at 6:55 that day, I bonked - hard - at mile 4 of the run and ran/walked/hobbled to 14 miles before calling it a day. This year, however, will be different.

After a VERY busy June/July race season (5 major races including two 1/2 IMs and Alcatraz), despite not training TOTALLY all out, I was fried mentally. An easy early August and some time off the bike helped reinvigorate my mind, and by mid-August, I was ready to get back into it. I opened camp a bit early, August 14th, but starting to eat better and swearing off ice cream. I'm now down a couple of pounds as a result, which is great. I also got in an early long-ish ride, 3.5 hrs on August 15th, followed by a 1:32-1:33 1/2 marathon run the next day. Good start.

This weekend was the official start of "go long or go home." Saturday was a run of 1:41, including a 5M tempo run on the track just below intended marathon race pace (ran 33:57, a drop quick). In the high humidity, it was tough, but I wore my fuel belt and took endurolytes and felt OK after. Sunday was great! 4.5 hours of riding for 80 miles including a 1:15 tour of the Westchester Tri course at 40 miles. I tried CarboPro for the first time during the first 2 hours and it was great! Between that and the additional gatorage/water, endurolytes, GU and fruit bar, my nutrition worked perfectly yesterday and I didn't bonk at all -- I was able to push >20mph at the end of the ride easily and felt fine afterward.

This morning was a first long swim workout...roughly 4000 yds of long intervals (something like 2 sets of 350-700-975 with 45 sec rest in between each). Went VERY well, then followed up with a 25 minute easy run. It took my legs 5-6 minutes to loosen up, but I felt pretty good when they did.

My philosophy, btw, for this go-round will be very similar to that of last year's training for the NYC Marathon. MORE long distance, a good amount of tempo, focus on nutrition. This year, I plan to do no less than four 5-6 hour rides and 2 hour or more runs. I will also do 3-4 3.5 hour ride/45-60 min+ bricks. I'll swim long stuff once a week and be in open water as much as possible. I'll have one bike tempo and one run tempo per week at least as well. That all forms the basis for the next 3 months.

So...welcome to this tour of my training. I'll try to update every day or close. My goal, btw, for IMAZ is a to hit 10:15, but truth be told, I'm training for 10 hrs or under. After this weekend, I'm more optimistic than before.

So much for branch banking?

2008-09-29T06:01:00.000-07:00

If your town is like mine, then you've watched the unbridled, almost comical expansion of bank branches on your version of Main Street over the past few years. As small shops have reluctantly given way to an ever more common set of bank branches and restaurants - which, ironically, are diametrically opposed in terms of customer traffic -- banks close early and don't retain customers in the area to go to the restaurants (with the ridiculous exception of CommerceBank that seems to be open 24x7). So in my town and its nearest neighbor have accepted a likely insane amount of rent from banks - that could afford it not long ago - to open up an ever expanding number of branches to "serve us better".

And then the banks imploded.

Now, WaMu is part of JP Morgan Chase (Bank of New York etc.); Wachovia today sold itself for $1/share to Citigroup. Who's next? Experts say the smaller banks (e.g., Hudson City, for example, which was smart enough NOT to be destroyed by greed oriented and risk ignorant lending practices) may have to sell themselves to be able to compete with the now three US majors. In either case, through bankruptcy or sale, branches will close. Redundant branches simply will not be retained. Jobs will be lost. And storefronts will once again be empty, victims of both the banking insanity and landlord greed.

I can see a branch or two closing in my town, the same (if not more) in the next town. What will replace them? Already, non-banks and non-restaurants have closed, and while Starbucks seems to be holding on, somewhat, lack of pedestrian traffic (from banks and stores) can't help and I guess we can't have more than, say, two Starbucks per block in the suburbs. More restaurants? Who can afford them (oh, several in our area are being converted to family friendly burger places since few have money to support an ongoing $100 per plate dinner out habit)? Wait! Nail salons! Nail salons seem to be immune to...oh, wait. Less expendable cash and less dinners...hmm, that doesn't bode well. Hardware stores? Less home refurbishment and less home building - nope.

Clearly, Main Street is being impacted by Wall Street. However, short-sightedness on Main Street has contributed to its own issues.

NOW I'm pissed...

2008-07-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

Oil hits >$140 a barrel and the price at the pump nears $5...OK, I took it in stride.

They closed one of my Starbucks locations. Big deal, there are 6 more within walking distance I can get to.

The swim is cancelled at the World AG Triathlon Championships AND they screw up the results, pretty much wasting the time and effort I put into the race. Sucks, but I had another race two weeks later and moved on.

But today, the fun folks at Hasbro and Mattel have really pissed me off. They have caused the shut down of Scrabulous, a Scrabble-like application on Facebook. Apparently, this is the second time they've done this - they killed a Google maps version of Risk last year (?). They'd threatened such action against Scrabulous since a suit was filed back in January, but everyone kept playing and the Indian brothers that created Scrabulous continued to play their hands (er, tiles).

Today, I signed on to Scrabulous and found a message telling me that it has been turned off. How else am I supposed to waste time between (OK, sometimes during) phone calls and work assignments? How else am I supposed to prove (or disprove) my intellectual superiority among friends?

This is a pretty dumb move by Hasbro/Mattel and flies in the face of what most organizations have learned about social networking and the nature of the Internet. OK, the brothers generate some $25,000 per month with Scrabulous. But - BIG DEAL!! How many times did I think of Scrabble before playing Scrabulous? Um....NONE!! Not in the last 5-10 years, anyway. So brighter minds might have approached Scrabulous more openly, tried to capitalize on their success, done cross-promotion, bought them out, etc. All this does is create ill will -- and TAKES AWAY SOMETHING I LIKE WITH NO SUBSTITUTE!

Basically, this sucks. I'd tell you the point value of "sucks", but my memory isn't that good.

Review of "The Dark Knight"

2008-07-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

Movie reviews are new for this blog, but what the heck. Since I wrote it for Fandango, I figured I might as well share it.

The Dark (and Long) Knight
It's not often a 2:30 movie can hold your attention throughout, but "The Dark Knight" delivers, largely on the purple shoulders of Heath Ledger's performance. Aaron Eckhardt (and some pretty good makeup) was surprisingly good, even Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine meshed nicely with Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne and Batman personas. OK, Batman's gravelly voice was just a bit annoying, but it was Heath Ledger's psychopathic Joker that drives this movie. Even when not on screen, you know he's lurking; you know he's going to be back and his mania pervades the way that all the characters act. The sound is edited well and while loud, punctuates the movie well; I got just a BIT tired of the "Joker" music that would accompany some psychopathic episiode of violence he would commit, but that's a nit. Physically, emotionally and vocally, Heath Ledger's Joker has to be one of THE best performed villians of all time. The good news is that the rest of the cast (even Gary Oldman) works, too.

US Olympic Committee to focus exclusively on 3-5 events

2008-07-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

Colorado Springs, CO: To help concentrate its competitive and marketing energies more precisely for future Olympic competitions, the USOC will eliminate nearly all sports from its ranks in favor of focusing more heavily on the following events:

- Swimming: 400 IM
- Track and Field: 100M
- Gymnastics: Balance Beam (women)
- Basketball: Men

Noting that recently televised Olympic trials competitions have had pathetic TV ratings (of course, track and field is being shown between 11pm and 1am on the east coast) and that most Americanscan't sit still for more than 3 minutes at a stretch, the USOC will narrow its portfolio to three specific events it feels are "draws" plus one that is always a joy...the US Men's "Dream Team" for basketball.

"If only Michael Phelps could fence, sail or wrestle", said USOC spokesperson Mitch Desmond. "Then we'd be able to keep these events and populate them with other US athletes." Indeed, the USOC feels that there are about 3 amateur athletes that viewers can actually remember and be interested in, notwithstanding an occasional interest in beach volleyball.

Athletes in "lesser" sports that will be eliminated were said to be exploring dual citizenship or defection in order to ensure their ability to compete in Olympic games going forward.

Amy Winehouse and Nelson Mandela - What's Wrong With This Picture?

2008-07-01T06:34:00.000-07:00

I can't be the only one that - having heard or seen the Nelson Mandela birthday concert - thinks that it is just a BIT incongruous that Amy Winehouse was one of the headliners for the man that pretty much ended Apartheid in South Africa, spent YEARS in jail because of it and then led his country and citizens forward.

OK, I realize she is an "entertainer" and I personally like her music, but after seeing 3/4 of Queen (plus a Freddie Mercury substitute - not sure whom it was - that was pretty good), Winehouse came on to lead the entire group of singers in a Nelson Mandela song. Not only could I not understand what she was saying, but her Michael Jackson-esque skirt grabbing (he grabbed something else, but you get my drift) and less than rhythmic swaying seemed just a bit...far gone.

I should feel sorry for her, you say, since she's been recently diagnosed with Emphysema, the result of smoking pretty much anything that passed near her lungs? Maybe, but not too much - it IS her own choice.

One would think, though, that a better representative could have been substituted despite her music chart leading status. I don't know...Britney wasn't available?

George "Malaprop" Bush strikes again

2008-03-19T10:26:00.001-07:00

It's been a while between posts, but this was too rich to pass up. Here's a quote from our wonderful President today:

"No one would argue that this war has not come at a high cost in lives and treasure, but those costs are necessary when we consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq," he said."

Now let's count how many strange and incorrect items there are in this short sentence:
1) "treasure"?? Was there treasure here or in Iraq? Was it gold dubloons? Is he a pirate?
2) I was stymied by that word, but then I actually read the sentence and noted that it SHOULD read that "No one would argue that this was HAS come at a high cost...", unless he feels that it has NOT come at a high cost, which could be the case if the treasure was, say, sand dollars or monopoly money and the lives lost were cartoon characters.
3) "When we consider the cost...for our enemies in Iraq"; should we not be considering the high cost of victory OVER our enemies in Iraq? Either that or he's sympathetic to how much Iraq is spending on the victory he is claiming we are approaching.

If I keep studying the sentence, I'd bet I can find a few more, though it could be a challenge given its length.

529 Plan Dichotomy

2008-01-22T05:08:00.000-08:00

What's a 529 Plan? It's supposed to be a sheltered, equities-based investment and SAVINGS vehicle for parents to save for their kids' college educations. And that's pretty much what it is until the market sits on the precipice of disasater and you'd like to make sure that your kids' future educational dollars don't disappear. Guess what? Designed so the account holders can't wheel and deal - or trade continuously - in their accounts, 529s unfortunately also don't have any GUARANTEED savings options. You'd think that the government would allow some CDs to be mixed in to ensure that the balance can't erode, but NOOOO! EVERYTHING is at risk. And since you can only trade ONCE per year in a 529, once you make your bed, you're stuck in it, at least for that year.

Stupidity Crisis

2008-01-22T05:06:00.000-08:00

Housing crisis?
There’s no housing crisis.
There’s a greed and stupidity crisis.
Let’s see…banks that historically were staffed by green eyeshaded guys that would scrutinize the lending of every penny that left the bank suddenly forgot how to do – or how to listen to – risk analysis and underwriting rules.
They created wonderful mortgage products that provided >100% of the value of a property, never taking into account whether the value of that property would rise or fall and severely underestimating (or ignoring) the actual ability of their clients to repay the loans.
They also created nice adjustable rate mortgages with huge rate escalations, prepayment penalties and a variety of other mechanisms to ensure that borrowers could not escape from the trap of ever-rising rates. Unfortunately, they also planned their financial well being around being able to reap the benefits of ever-increased payments.
But their clients either couldn’t understand the terms of the ARMs or they ignored them; their clients also didn’t think about what falling house prices might do to their ability to sell their properties and escape the escalation of their ARMs.
Meanwhile, brilliant investment bankers, looking for new and exciting ways to create money out of thin air, bought huge numbers of these mortgages (sub-prime mortgages, by the way, are now said to comprise 20% of all mortgages currently) and packaged them into securities based on the alleged predictable flow of money coming from the homeowners (these are called “asset-backed collateralized-debt obligations”, btw, though ironically, the assets don’t exist, the collateral is worthless and thus so is the debt, and all that’s left is the obligation).
By the way, a decent number of these ARMs were taken out by speculative investors that fully expected to be able to flip their properties before any rate increases might show up.
The bankers sold these securities to unwitting investors who also ignored the house of cards upon which they were built. Apparently, they sold quite a bit of them given the $10B write downs that several of the major investment banks have taken in the last couple quarters (we’re somewhere near $100B thus far with more exposure to go).
Meanwhile, rising interest rates and Father Time started to drive up the rates on the ARMs, and guess what? Their owners couldn’t make the payments and they began to default. Uh oh, no cash coming in to support the securitized loan packages, so their value suddenly drops precipitously (see: write downs). Meanwhile, the banking credit crisis created a need for cash, and as those who provided debt funding to the investment banks decided they wanted their cash back – suddenly – the investment banks didn’t have it.
Panic! Huge losses, overseas investment, stock markets plummeting, etc. Meanwhile, foreclosed homes are gathering dust and vermin, neighborhoods are being destroyed and people are even more poor than they were before (oh yeah, the majority of those targeted with sub-prime loans in the first place were minorities and the relatively poor; see various parts of Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; etc.).
…and we’re not out of it yet. It also appears that seemingly scrupulous bond insurers (e.g., MBIA) have also been caught with their pants down or, perhaps, their underwriting rulebooks closed. These guys insured the ridiculous securitized sub-prime loans such that the investors buying them could take comfort in their high rating. However, these guys also apparently ignored the basic reasoning for having sub-prime loans in the first place – that the people taking them out are CREDIT RISKS!! (There’s definitely a Sam Kinison routine in here somewhere.)
Now, because the investment banks have largely failed, the insurance policies come into play to the tune of roughly $500B. MBIA and company simply don’t have the cash to cover that bill, and unless the government steps in to “help”, we could all be screwed.

Epilogue...I actually wrote this about a week ago. This morning, BofA and Wachovia announced horrific financial results that caused international markets to plummet even MORE than they did yesterday; at 8 am, US Index futures were down significantly, indicating a multi-hundred point loss at the opening of the market. Great...

Dreaming of an Open Source Airplane

2008-01-15T12:23:00.000-08:00

Today, amid the ongoing financial ruin of the country, Boeing announced that it had hit further delays in building and ultimately delivering its 787 Dreamliner, the airplane it heavily promoted to compete with Airbus' even later A350.

To (presumably) reduce risk and defray costs, Boeing outsourced the manufacture of a significant number of components to a wide range of suppliers around the globe. Unfortunately, they did not deliver. Here's what happened according to the WSJ:

"To save money, Boeing gave unprecedented control over the development of key parts of the 787 to a wide network of suppliers world-wide. In many cases, those suppliers stumbled badly, leading to months of parts shortages and technical problems. Since Sept. 2007, Boeing has twice announced delays as the schedule has slipped from the original plan to deliver the first airplane in May 2008. In October, Boeing said that first delivery had been pushed back until November or December of 2008."

So, Boeing offered a carrot to numerous suppliers, many of whom apparently either misjudged badly or lied blatantly about their ability to deliver. To me, this is the major problem inherent with open source development - not necessarily the quality, but the fact that your open source developers are not locked to work in your schedule. Also, you have little or no control over what and how quickly they produce. So when it's a commodity function or product, outsource away! When it's a complex or critical program or product, I'd suggest thinking twice.

Tampa Bay Rays Exonerated in Mitchell Report

2007-12-13T11:41:00.001-08:00

WASHINGTON, DC: Today's release of the Mitchell Report, which names 50 major league baseball players that have been implicated in the use of illegal or unapproved performance enhancing drugs like steroids or HGH, exonerated the entire Tampa Bay Rays team from inidctment or suspicion of the use of any sort of performance enhancing substances. "It's a great day for Tampa", said the Rays' general manager. "Our performance speaks for itself and our players are shining examples of the ability to play major league baseball without performance enhancing substances." Yankees GM Brian Cashman, who had Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite and other players named in the report, commented that "...Tampa is pretty lucky; we may have over 20 championships, but we're now stuck with the scourge of performance enhancing drugs."

Political humor break

2007-12-08T07:46:00.001-08:00

Instead of disarming insurgents in Iraq, our friendly neighborhood "president" is busy disARMing dopey and in some cases, lying homeowners.

For more details on this, check out my Facebook group, "If you can't understand an ARM application, you shouldn't own a house."

Bill Clinton group to cut CO2 from NY housing...What a gas!

2007-12-07T14:01:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton unveiled a plan on Friday to make New York's public housing environmentally friendly by joining government and business to trim greenhouse gas emissions and energy bills.

Under the initiative, staffers will feed residents only foods that generate a maximum methane quotient of <.002Mppl, ensuring that all emissions maintain a satisfactory level of cleanliness. Additionally, public housing families will only be able to take cold showers, which will also reduce energy consumption in such residences. Heat will be turned up only to a maximum of 55 degrees in winter and fans will be supplied during summer months, but only one per floor to conserve power.

"These families represent an opportunity to make a tiny but interesting difference in the fight to help ease global warming", said President Clinton. "While my house in Chappaqua will need to maintain a consistent winter temperature of 70 degrees and be air conditioned in summer months so that Hillary can continue her campaign and I can help my old pal Al, these families will surely be happy to help out those much better off than they are."

Contacted on his private jet, former Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore noted that every little effort helps the planet. "If only there were some public housing up in the Arctic where the ozone is being depleted and the glaciers are melting. THEN we could make some progress," said Mr. Gore.

Marion's performance is tarnished; so are her medals

2007-10-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

SALVO, North Carolina: Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones announced earlier today that she'd returned her ill-begotten medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Sources stated that Ms. Jones asked her local postal authority for "...a small box with some newspaper for packing -- that would fit 5 medals, right? Do you have any tape?". However, IOC officials noted concern about the state of those medals, suggesting that perhaps a good degree of tarnish would have set in during the last 7 years. "We hope that while she's been injecting herself and using the Cream and the Clear, Ms. Jones has also been taking appropriate care of the Olympic medals. The rightful winners shouldn't have to polish them themselves." Ms. Jones would not comment on the state of the ribbons, though few of her friends believe that she's been wearing them around the last few years.

Revisiting Dossia - guess a good name doesn't ensure success

2007-07-16T05:18:00.001-07:00

A few posts back, I noted that Wal*Mart was participating in a healthcare-oriented entity called Dossia, whose mission it was to help deliver healthcare services faster and cheaper to the masses. It would accomplish this through the Holy Grail of electronic records, integration, etc.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT! Sorry, please try again.

Word comes today that Wal*Mart and its other Dossia cohorts - which include Intel, Pitney-Bowes, Applied Materials, BP and Cardinal Health - are suing its primary technology provider (Omnimedix Institute) for failure to do much of anything save create a prototype of the system. The two parties are now busy accusing each other of poor management, confusion, lack of delivery, etc.

OK, I applaud the effort to make obtaining services, maintaining records and (unfortunately) paying bills easier, but a consortium with members such as those listed above has long odds to succeed unless employees are dedicated to the effort, funds put in and managed, and roles and repsonsibilities (and milestones) are plainsly spelled out and tracked. ANY consortium of numerous players, particulary those from different backgrounds, is challenged to produce anything whether its providers screw up or not. While Omnimedix may well be at fault for not producing anything substantial despite the quarterly payments of $1.25M it was beginning to receive, one has to suspect that the road to blame runs on a two-way street.

I also suspect that if Dossia had taken its $15M (that it intended to pay Omnimedix), handed it to say, Accenture or IBM Global Services or someone, and said "create me a federated database for employee health records and make it work in, oh, 12 months" and then gotten out of the way, I daresay we might have seen some results, especially given the pedigree of the Dossia participants.

Martha Stewart in Hostile Acquisition of Rachel Ray

2007-07-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK: As profits fade for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and its current merchandising deal with KMart declining in value, MSLO took steps to buttress its revenues by launching a hostile acquisition of popular (if not overly chipper) chef Rachel Ray. MSLO offered $100M for Ms. Ray, the cheery host of numerous "everyday" cooking and restaurant shows, not to mention magazines and various other forms of media. "She's where we were before Martha went to the big house," said an unnamed source. "We need to recapture some of that swagger."

Ms. Stewart, no doubt putting some of her time in jail to use, threatened to snuff Ms. Ray's career if she didn't accede to the offer. "That b---c barely has a following compared to me, but that grating voice of hers seems to find its way into the kitchens of the women that I used to talk to," Ms. Stewart seethed. "If she comes along now, we can make some beautiful (but simple) things together."

Ms. Ray was taken aback by the offer and Ms. Stewart's attitude, but kept her perky smile and simply stated "Ya know, maybe she just needs a coating of EVOO to smooth her out a bit," she said.

A list of URLs that demonstrate that the world is warped

2007-04-24T06:55:00.000-07:00

From the bottom page of a Yahoo article...

Most Viewed: Entertainment
`Girls Gone Wild' founder sent to jail AP
Rosie takes aim at Murdoch at luncheon AP
Sanjaya reads Top 10 list on Letterman AP
NYC radio hosts suspended for prank call AP
Simmons says 3 epithets should be banned AP

So....
The radio suspension is the result of to dorky DJs presenting a bad imitiation of a Chinese accent during prank calls; Russel Simmons is trying to clean up rap; Rosie vs. Rupert Murdoch? Sanjaya on TV for longer than 30 seconds? And the 'Girls Gone Wild' founder is in jail on...a contempt of court charge.

A comedian commented the other day that with the Internet, there are no more lines for crossing - my addtion is that everything said or written finds its market of one, and though that statement has been meant positively for years, the fact that it's changed to mean that any individual can now take offense and react for billions to read instantly makes things a bit different. Singular voices now become lobbies; whiners now have platforms and many thousands of anonymous "ayes" to support them.

I'm not sure this is all good. Major retailiers like Home Depot, I read, are taking advantage of the voices on the Internet (or rather listening when they amass and taking action) to nip issues like poor service in the bud...clearly, this can have a positive effect. But where do we draw the line in the ability of anyone to have a major reaction - and potential impact - about anything?

We shall see.

Everyday Low Healthcare Costs?

2007-03-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

An announcement from Wal*Mart today (that you can find here ) noted that the mega-company would begin to work with partners and fund the Center for Innovation in Health Care Logistics, an organization designed to help drive down the cost and raise the efficacy of delivering healthcare. Clearly, this is an important topic to Wal*Mart since the company is funding the effort with...

$1M over 5 years.

OK...granted, it's just invested in Dossia, another healthcare consortium focused on electronic health records for employers/employees (WONderful play on the word "dossier", by the way; much nicer than the non-acronymable name above), but if the company were truly interested in this, one might think it would pony up...$5 million (picture Dr. Evil), maybe a bit sooner, even. But $200K per year is probably less than the cost of replacing the floor tiles in one super center.

I guess it's a start...

I've been blog-tagged

2006-12-19T14:04:00.000-08:00

I usually don't succumb to chain letters or e-mails, but this looks more like a socio-scientific experiment, so what the heck. Per an e-mail from a friend tagging me and the information
here, following are 5 interesting (I hope) things about me:

1) I have two different colored eyes
2) I'm a "regional class", sponsored age group triathlete planning to compete in the Kentucky Ironman on August 26, 2007
3) I'm BACK in the technology analyst world (www.the451group.com)
4) I spent a great year and a half at Lehigh University learning to drink, party and skip class before I was forced to finish my educational tenure closer to home at Pace U.
5) My first job (well, after 2+ years at an IBM Product Center, a wonderful dawn-of-the-PC IBM retail experiment) was working with a marine architect, ostensibly to computerize his office. When I found myself in the middle of the Long Island Sound one cold fall day on a boat taking a depth sample, I knew it was time to find a real job.

Tagging the following 5 blogs/bloggers next:

Andreas_Bitterer
Liz_Roche
Dan_Sholler
Stan_Lepeak
Nick_Selby

Senator Johnson's (Brain) Loss Is Republicans' Gain

2006-12-14T07:08:00.000-08:00

I can't write anything better than this article from Yahoo today:
----------
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson (news, bio, voting record) was in critical condition after undergoing brain surgery, the U.S. Capitol physician said on Thursday, an illness that could deprive Democrats of their precarious hold on the new Senate.
The party narrowly wrested control from President George W. Bush's Republicans in the U.S. Congress in last month's elections, gaining just a 51-49 majority in the Senate when it convenes on January 4. However, if Johnson, 59, were to leave office, Republicans could gain control of the Senate.
----------
I wonder if Senator Johnson's family is as concerned over the potential Republican windfall? Perhaps Yahoo and/or Reuters editors could have put at least a paragraph of space and perhaps caring commentary - if disingenuous - between the sad and (I guess) shocking news and its potential political implications?

Guess not. Brain bleeds, in and of themselves, are not newsworthy unless they have some impact on the red and blue, I suppose.

Sharon Stone Outraged At Britney Antics

2006-12-01T06:12:00.000-08:00

LOS ANGELES: As Britney Spears' continued journey away from marriage gains speed, there are those that, despite the singer's early days of just-under-the-surface-wanton-sex songs and acts, disapprove. Foremost among her critics these days is Sharon Stone, largely due to some of the recent photo ops that Britney and her new pal, Paris Hilton, have afforded the hordes of media trailing them. During the past week, Britney allowed what can only be called "open leg crotch shots" to be taken of her as she exited various autos and taxis sans underwear. Livid, Sharon Stone commented that "I was the original 'crotch shot' girl and I'll be damned if that little tramp will try to get better known than me for it!". Ms. Stone also fired a few barbs at Ms. Hilton and her attempt to drag Britney along for the ride by suggesting that "...I bet the next thing we see is some cheaps--t video taken in night goggles of Britney and Paris in some motel room together." Nonetheless, the press seemed content to continue to track the two ladies and their attempt to wear less and less clothing in public.

Wiggles' Loss is Jacko's Gain

2006-11-30T11:23:00.000-08:00

CANBERRA and LOS ANGELES: Agents for The Wiggles, the incredibly popular Australian children's group, announced today that Jeff, the yellow Wiggle, would be leaving the group for health reasons (a rare heart condition unrelated to jaundice, which had been the assumption given his coloring). Hours after the announcement, representatives of former Pop superstar Michael Jackson told reporters that Michael would soon be trying out for the role in the band. "The role of 'Yellow' is perfect for Michael's skin tone and bright outlook on life," noted one of Jackson's staff. "Plus, kids the world over LOVE Michael and he loves them right back - it's a great match," continued the staffer. Mr. Jackson was unavailable for comment, though sources suggest that he was already considering negotiating a swap with Wiggle Jeff for the purple outfit.

The French Go Linux In An Effort To Work Less

2006-11-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

PARIS: The French parliament announced that it would soon be switching from Microsoft-based server and desktop software in favor on Linux and open source alternatives in an attempt to maintain the levels of downtime to which it has become accustomed. "Why should we use software that doesn't fail and that keeps people at their desks working?", puzzled a French official. "Given the lack of desktop applications running on a Linux desktop, we can be sure that our staff will be free to leave their offices by 3:00PM every day." Officials also praised the fickle nature of open source alternatives to proprietary applications to run businesses, noting that the degree of uncertainty over upgrades and integration of modified code to applications would minimize the effectiveness of users across the country, guaranteeing less than a 35-hour work week.

Affection Starved Michelle Wie Targets Men's Tour

2006-11-22T06:08:00.000-08:00

KOCHI, Japan: Heading into another men's golf tournament in which she will allegedly play to make the cut and attempt to "win", Michelle Wie admitted that not only would she be even more of a fixture on the men's tour, but also that this is largely an attempt by her to plan for a future of wedded bliss and financial comfort. "Where else can I meet guys that make a decent buck?", Wie asked rhetorically. "I mean, only weird guys hang out at the women's tour, I don't attend classes at any school much, and forget the clubs in most tour cities." Despite the fact that Wie has yet to make the cut in any men's match, she noted that the week or so surrounding the events were great for "...mingling and mixing it up with guys that think like I do and like what I like."

Those on the women's tour were less sanguine about Ms. Wie's future. Several of the women professionals, some of whom transport their families on tour each week, snickered when they heard of Wie's real ambitions. "You know, screw her!", said one golfer who requested anonymity. "At this point, even if she COULD bring more money to the ladies' tour, who needs her big gawky self stomping around the course? She's never gonna win a tournament anyway." Sponsors, however, were more positive, with several noting potential future opportunities for sponsored dating excursions, engagements, weddings, possible reality shows and other vehicles for Ms. Wie.

Church Says It Could Do Without Elton John, Too

2006-11-13T10:56:00.000-08:00

LONDON: After Elton John made comments today stating that the world would be better off without religion and that religious groups have essentially done nothing to enhace relationships with gays and other groups, The Vatican officially noted that it didn't really need Elton John, either. "Besides, what's he done after 'Benny and the Jets' that was that good, anyway?" asked Archbishop Luigi Rotelli. "His best days are past and other than a concert here and there, who really cares what he has to say, the poofdah," continued Rotelli, using a colloquial UK slang expression for "gay person". The church also stated that Mr. John could pretty much forget about absolution - "He'd pretty much used up his chits in that department, anyway", said Vatican officials - and consigned him to eternal damnation for good measure.

Republican Planning Dealt Another Blow By Rumsfeld

2006-11-08T10:48:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON: In yet another stunning example of ineffective and inept Republican planning, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced his resignation today...at least two weeks later than necessary to avoid Democratic sweeps of the House and Senate, according to White House officials. President George W. Bush was heard to swear and exclaim that "Rummy was wrong AGAIN, dammit! He should have resigned weeks ago when it could have made a difference. Now that #@&$@$ Nancy Pelosi gets to do her stupid victory dance AGAIN!" Rumsfeld also reportedly stepped down as a result of an incorrect assumption that the newly elected Democratic House and Senate would put him to death over his somewhat cavalier and misguided handling of the unecessary war in Iraq. Political reactions were generally gleeful except for the President. Re-elected Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger even quipped that it was long past time for Rumsfeld to "...get OUT".

I Beat Lance Armstrong...So What??

2006-11-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

[Author's note: I ran 2:56:00 at the NYC Marathon on November 5th]

I wasn't going to create an entry about my NYC Marathon result from last Sunday, but after hearing "You beat Lance!" from EVERY single person I talked to about it, I feel the need to post. Basically, I don't care ONE BIT that I beat Lance. I may be the only one that feels this way, but that's the way it is.

Here's my thought process: my race, and for most of us, the marathon in general, is about personal performance and achieving a personal goal. Sure, many people race the marathon, and after all, it is a race (14 years ago as a competitive runner, I did RACE the Yonkers Marathon), but for most people, it's a race against themselves and the desire to finish in a particular time. My goal was a time goal: ideally, I'd run a 2:50. Realistically, I figured I could do 2:55. I figured I'd finish somewhere in between that and be quite happy, especially since I'd only focused my training on the marathon since October 1 (the end of my triathlon season). Regardless, I didn't care about anyone else in the race, including Mr. Armstrong. My focus was on hitting my times and achieving the 2:50-2:55 time goal.

I ran the race. I was on 2:50 pace for roughly 22 miles, but the wheels had already started to come off by 19 miles. The last 4-5 miles were a struggle to keep my legs moving at the same (or any) cadence and to not stop. But because of the pace I was on, I never saw Lance Armstrong. Turns out that between my fade and the fairly strong finish he was able to maintain, I was only 3:30 or so ahead of him by the end. But I couldn't have been farther from caring before, during or after the race. For me, by 24, I was thrilled simply to know I'd finish and finish close to what I'd expected to hit.

I would also say that I'm VERY impressed with Lance's performance, though I'm not sure what one would expect from such a driven athlete. The guy never ran more than 16 miles, apparently, had shin splints (common among those building distance/running effort too quickly) and yet broke 3 hours in his first try at the distance. Aerobically, the guy is obviously a freak; but pounding the pavement for 3 hours is very different from what he's been doing with his body for many years. He also has to have quite a pain threshold to finish the race as he did.

The big question would have been what I would do if it turned out that Lance was near me at the finish. As a competitor, the answer to me (and perhaps to him) is obvious - I'd sprint for everything I was worth. Maybe I don't care about beating Lance, but after about 3 hours of work, I'll be damned if I'm going to be beaten by Lance.

Air Force Confuses Cyberspace with Actual Space

2006-11-02T12:30:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON: Today, the Air Force announced that it would establish a new Cyberspace command (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061102/tc_nm/arms_cyberspace_dc_3) out of Barksdale AFB in Louisiana. Its mission would presumably be to guard said cyberspace against the "Axis of Evil" and other "evildoers" as our government's leadership has characterized enemies in the recent past. However, it appears that the Air Force has gotten its signals crossed and is unaware that cyberspace is, in fact, not "real" space and that planes, rockets, missiles, etc. really have no effect on identity theft, web based communications, or other potential issues that occur on the Internet.

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne noted that "...The threat is that a foe can mass forces that weaken the network that supports our operations." Still, Secretary Wynne seemed stymied when told that foes would not simply show up in cyberspace with tanks, guns, planes and traditional armaments to do battle. Indeed, when told that cybercrimes are typically undertaken by "hackers" that wage their wars from PC screens, Secretary Wynne asked the leader of the new command, Lt. Gen. Robert Elder, if this were actually true and if so, how his fleet of bombers and air-to-air missiles could possibly have an effect. Lt. General Elder quickly asked his staff to research the term "hacker" and sent a message to the Joint Chiefs asking if anyone else had encountered these foes within their commands.

Secretary Wynne also held out the option of attaching the Navy and Special Forces to the issues in cyberspace, noting that perhaps the SEALs or Rangers would be better equipped to venture into it.

Tom Cruise and MGM Form New UA

2006-11-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

HOLLYWOOD: Substantiating rumors that he is not persona non grata with the major studios, Tom Cruise has effectively been given a push to create his own studio: UA, packaged as a relaunch of the United Artists studio to the pubic but translated to "Unmarketable Artist" in LA circles (though the "A" has also been translated to other, less savory words as well). On the heels of a year that saw Cruise jump on Oprah's couch, defiantly support Scientology and fail miserably in MI:3, MGM felt that this course was the best for all parties. "We're sure that Tom still appeals to someone, somewhere", said a studio exec familiar with the deal. "But until we can turn those dwindling numbers into some real dollars, it's time to give Tom a bit more distance from us".

Cruise's appeal has been on the downswing ever since Jerry Maguire. Notwithstanding the flash of the first two MIs, the lightening of his hair in Collateral and other attempts at regaining the stardom he had way back when he was singing in his underwear, stardom seems to finally be passing Mr. Cruise by. However, Cruise feels that by going on on his own, "I'll get to make movies that REALLY appeal to the public". Just which public is anyone's guess.

How USA Today Destroyed the World

2006-11-01T17:32:00.000-08:00

How USA Today Destroyed the World

USA Today came on the scene with “McNews” – graphic images, color codes, and news chunks. Instead of the New York Times or The Wall Street Journal, the public, in particular the traveling public, is treated to all the news you can possibly digest in about 30 seconds, identified by primary colors.

CNN (and others over time) came up with news bites, short videos and continual images that must be refreshed and renewed constantly to make up for the boredom usually associated with a 24 hour news channel. Part of the result is the airing – nationally – of ANYTHING that could shock ANYONE and the basic sensationalization of even basic (or uninteresting) news items.

CNN again (and MSNBC and FOX and…): a crawl is added to the bottom of the screen image, further reducing news and information to roughly a 40 character summarization that skips most, if not all, the color from any issue.

Mobile communications via SMS – or “texting” as it is known – is the final nail in the coffin of the erudite. Given a 160-character limit, the visible user interface of a tiny screen on a mobile phone or PDA and the typing challenge of either a phone keypad of extremely miniaturized QWERTY keyboard, texting has reduced conversation to little more than a stream of consonants that barely resemble proper speech, let alone spelling and grammar. While “c u l8r” may be expedient from a mobile perspective, it doesn’t convey emotion, conviction, style or any other characteristic one might like to have when conversing.

Is it any wonder that elections and other important events or happenstances that require some amount of thought are won or lost today largely due to minute, fleeting phrases or gestures that happen to be captured by the ever abundant microphones, cameras, etc. that are out there? Why are we surprised when John Kerry, who has the unfortunate disease of being too intellectual and therefore subject to using compound sentences, makes a small faux pas telling a joke and is vilified for the errant phrase without a clear understanding of the original intent? And that his arch nemesis, the President, who subsists on and is marketed almost entirely with sound bites, zeroes in immediately on the small set of words and transforms Kerry into the Devil, and many Americans actually are willing to buy into this?

Every year, our country is spending less time thinking through facts and issues and more time simply reacting. It’s why elections aren’t being won not so much on character, but by characters.

PayPal spammers jolted by explosion at PayPal HQ

2006-11-01T10:28:00.000-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO: Earlier today, an explosive device of unknown origin broke a window at PayPal headquarters. In an immediate attempt to take advantage of the event, numerous scam artists known to be fake PayPal spammers called authorities to say that their offices also had been compromised. "Hey, man - a b*mb went off in front of my w&nd*w", said Omar Yotifa, a Nigerian businessman with claimed ties to PayPal. Michael Smithson of Newark, Delaware also noted that "...there was this big expl$si^N outside that broke all the gl*ss in my h#us*!" Authorities have no leads on either the real or spam-based explosions, but those with any information are urged to send their social security number, credit card and CVN numbers and home phones to www.imaschmuck.com.

Kerry Apologizes...sort of

2006-11-01T08:27:00.000-08:00

So here's the crux of the major election issue of the last two days (courtesy Yahoo news):

While campaigning in California on Monday, Kerry told a college crowd: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

Kerry's office said the senator had misread his prepared remarks. They said he had intended to say, "Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask
President Bush'.

So on the Imus show this morning, Kerry apologized...for telling the joke wrong (which really is what he SHOULD be apologizing for even as he should tell servicemen and servicewomen everywhere that they aren't stupid and are smart enough to know when someone IS calling them stupid. After all, Kerry was a serviceman himself -- remember the swift boat crap? Guess he's still not the swiftest of the swift boaties, but anyway...

This whole apology could be shortened to the following:

Kerry: I didn't say that those in the military are stupid...I said that Bush is stupid for getting the military into this predicament.
White House/Republicans: Tell the President and everyone else you're sorry.
Kerry: I'm sorry that George Bush is stupid.

Somewhere, Nancy Pelosi is ripping out her nicely tweezed eyebrows and other Democrats are plotting a way to make Kerry disappear for about 2 years and a week.