A Tri Grows in Brooklyn

my training blog my training calendar my training reports Planned training log

inspire me (7)

Friday - July 25

Bike

1h 40m
30.00 miles
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I was going to see The Dark Knight today after work, but it was too nice a day, so I went for a ride instead. Glad I did that--weather was perfect and it was really nice. It's amazing to ride past the areas where the NYC tri was. You'd never know that any of the stuff had ever been there. Have a great weekend everybody! B: Granola, PB sandwich L: Gross Chinese food, which, in part inspired my decision to ride instead of sit on my ass in a movie theatre.

inspire me (6)

Thursday - July 24

Bike

1h 00m
17.00 miles
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Spinbike

Strength

1h 15m

Circuit training

Well that’s a pain. The Doc I wanted to see doesn’t take my insurance. Back to the drawing board. I’m soliciting advice from the Brooklyn Tri Club. I’m also debating whether to see a podiatrist or an orthopedist. Thoughts? Going to the gym tonight to do some strength work as well as a spin workout. I’m waiting for the registration for the Rhode Island 70.3 to open. Wondering what’s taking so long—the race was last weekend. Don’t IM’s usually open for next year’s registration the day after they run? I hope it’s not open somewhere already and I’m missing it, but there’s nothing on their website about being open to applications. This damn jellyfish sting on my neck has gone from welt to painful scab. My doctor gave me some cream to put on it, but I bet it leaves a scar. It’s on the back of my neck, so no big deal, but I would have been satisfied with the finisher’s medal as my only souvenir of the day. B: Granola L: Cobb salad

inspire me (9)

Wednesday - July 23

Depending on when my wife gets back from her trip, I’ll either: go to the gym, ride the trainer, or watch Project Runway, and hope this season’s bunch of hacks can redeem themselves from their lackluster performances from last week. Meh. Still not that impressed. When "it turned out better than I thought it would" is the best thing I can say about the designs, that ain't so good... I’m assuming that I’m eventually going to need to at least consult with an Orthopedist regarding my calf, and I’m pretty sure I’m switching doctors. My old doctor, who fixed my ACL, my plantar fasciits, and various other injuries is great, but he kind of misdiagnosed my knee issue last Spring and prescribed a PT regimen that was too conservative and didn’t focus on the core problem, which was a tight ITB. He also said to me, “Honestly, I don’t see it getting a whole lot better”, and on the contrary, my knee is absolutely 100% better after only 10 or 12 PT sessions. I think he’s one of those, “If it’s from running, the only cure is to stop running” doctors. The guy I want to go to is Jordan Metzl, who’s the medical correspondent for Triathlete magazine. He’s himself a triathlete and specializes in treating endurance athletes. So, my question is this: do I rest this injury for a month or so, then go see him if it’s not better (which I don’t think it will be)? Or should I go and see him sooner? Like, for example, now. Basically, I don’t want to spend two months resting this injury only to find that it’s something that isn’t going to get better with rest. WWBTD? B: Granola L: This gross grilled chicken Subway hero. D: Hummus and crackers

inspire me (4)

Tuesday - July 22

Bike

1h 40m
31.00 miles
18.60 Mi/hr

I'm waiting until the boy's asleep, and then I'm going to jump on the trainer. My wife's out of town, so I'm going to take this opportunity to set my trainer up in the living room in front of the tv instead of being relegated to the tiny office upstairs. So I can ride and watch the tour at the same time. Shhh......let's keep this among ourselves, shall we? I also uploaded some photos to my album from the NYC tri. They took about a zillion pictures, so some turned out pretty good. I like the Brooklyn Tri club uni, even though it has other colors besides black. B: Granola L: Salad, turkey sandwich S: Almonds S: Zone bar D: Salad

inspire me (4)

Monday - July 21

Bike

30m
7.00 miles
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Easy spin on the spinbike. HR never went above 100

Swim

30m
1500.00 yards
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Easy swim. No jellyfish in the pool, fortunately

I took the day off from work today. I have a doctors appoitment later, so I would have had to leave work early anyway, so decided to take a recovery day. Did a short, light workout at the gym. Conveniently,my appt is with my dermatologist, so hopefully, she'll be able to give me something for the welt on my neck, which doesn't hurt anymore, at least. I heard from some people in the Brooklyn Tri Club that some woman did the entire race in her wetsuit?! I can't believe it, given the heat yesterday. I'll have to look through the finisher photos and see if I can find her. Geez. B: Granola L: Turkey on ww

inspire me (9)

Sunday - July 20

Bike

1h 19m 56s
25.00 miles
18.77 Mi/hr

Garmin says I hit 47mph on one of the descents. Wow. Hit 41 on another one.

Run

1h 01m 15s
6.20 miles
09m 53s /Mi

Swim

19m 08s
1640.42 yards
01m 10s /100 yards

RR is up, but here's the condensed version (...Tanya.) :) Good swim. The Hudson River current is as strong as advertised. And I, too, got stung by a honking big jellyfish right in my chin, jawline, and neck. I have a silver-dollar sized red welt on the back of my neck still. it happened at about the 2/3 mark, and literally, just after I thought to myself, "Hey, this is going pretty well." Bike was tough. This was the only tri I'd ever done with hills, and it had lots of them. Under the circumstances, I'm pleased with my split. Calf locked up at about the 1-mile mark, and it was a full-on suffer-fest for 5.2 miles. Fortunately, walking didn't feel a lot better than running, so I just ground it out for the whole time. I think, given the calf thing, that I'm going to shut it down for the rest of the season, so no HIM in October. I need to get this right, rebuild my base over the winter, and come back strong in '09. I'm disappointed that another year's going to go by without my trying a Half, but I feel like this is a pretty triumphant note to go out on, since there were about 10 different times that I could have quit this race. In the end I finished EXACTLY at the MOP. Literally--I was 205 out of 409. Thanks for all the good wishes, everybody, and congrats to all of the BT'ers who went out there today. Conditions were not easy.

RACE DAY: New York City Triathlon

inspire me (4)

Saturday - July 19

At the Toyota Hybrid booth, I filled out a card dedicating my race to Lucy, and they're going to plant a tree in her honor. I don't know when or where, but I like the idea that it'll be out there. Hopefully, it'll be right next to a really pretty singletrack somewhere. Bike dropoff was pretty easy. I'm a little further from the swim exit than I'd like--about 400 yards. No, that's not a typo. But my spot is close to bike-out/in, just the way I like it. Funny thing--the transition numbers all have funny or encouraging little messages under the number. For example, "You Rock!", "Any Day's a Good Day for Spandex", "Who's the Boss? Tony Danza? No! It's you!" And my personal favorite, "Nice Rack." Heh. I also picked up my Brooklyn Tri Club uni, and it's really cool. My favorite feature is, on the back of the shorts it says, "Fuggetaboutit!" It's actually a little more comfortable than my usual kit, and, as much as I love my 2XU top, tomorrow is going to be no day to be wearing all black. Which I don't think I've ever said before. Today's agenda: Get up, make biscuits with the boy. Go to Costco. Consume mass quantities. Shlep bike and gear to race site. Check in and leave bike in transition. Pick up tri uniform on the way home. Go to sleep at a reasonable hour. B: Biscuits w/scrambled eggs & turkey bacon L: PB&J D: Spaghetti & meatballs