He cut me!!!

So as of the last post, most of you all know that I recently got more ink on my left ankle. What I neglected to tell you all was probably the funniest part of the whole experience.

When you get a tattoo, they have to shave the area you are getting inked so that there is a clean and clear canvas for the tattoo artist to work with. This time for me it was the trickiest part of the leg to shave (and as a triathlete, I think I know a thing or two about shaving legs...) it was the ankle.

So I explain what I want and the artist looks at me and makes me roll up my pantleg and takes out the single bladed razor. It might as well have been a pink lady BIC razor. He shaves a small patch on my ankle and CUTS me!!!!! Seriously, let me repeat that, HE CUT ME WITH THE RAZOR AND SAID, "oops!"

Now a little background to the story is that I have taken pride in the fact that I haven't cut myself while shaving my legs in the last TWO triathlon seasons.... You may notice the little red mark under the inking in the pictures below. That actually hurt more than the whole tattoo and still is sore and red today (a week later) seriously the tattoo stopped bleeding before the cut did.

And the worst part is that he didn't even give me a discount on the price of it....after he cut me...

So anyway, it's healing. I did my first swim with it and the chlorine didn't affect it (you were right Erin...) and last week was a rest week and it's doing ok. Peeling a little, but overall I'm really happy with it. Anyway, that's all I have to say, just wanted to add that story. Take care all, cheers and I'll see you on the roads (now that the weather is better here in NY!) Cheers.

Sorry mom, it's permanent...

So everyone, I hope things are going well. Those of you that know me well enough, know that I have several permanent inkings on my body (I'm not going to disclose how many, because that would take the fun out of it! ) Yesterday, I added another. Yes, I caved in and now bear the mark of iron on my ankle.

I wanted to do this at a date closer to IMFL, but just didn't get around to it. Right now it is just a sole IM logo with a palm tree on the inside to represent my time in Florida, but I hope to add to it and eventually get a band around the ankle with subsequent IM finishes. Kind of like war medals around my ankle if you will. I figure each IM is significant and merit's some kind of "reward" and place in the history of one's life. So without further ado, here it is. It's still healing, so I apologize for the "glossiness" of the photo. (and for the "hair-pants"....it IS the "offseason" up here in NY and is STILL quite cold. I need all the warmth I can get!) The funny thing is that I haven't told anyone about it yet. I like to think that a tattoo is for you, if you get it just to tell other people about, then you're not getting it for the right reasons. As long as it means something special to you, it's ok in my book. I don't think any of my close friends or family actually read this blog, so that it why I am posting it here to begin with. I absolutely love it and can't wait to add another inking after the next IM finish. Take care all and I hope everyone trains hard. Cheers.

Ok sorry about that....

So the title of this post kinda tells it all. Sorry about that last post, that was a Mr. Negativity poking into Blogger and rearing it's ugly head. Since I got that out of my system, there have been a few "wins" in my world lately and I'd love to tell you about them.

First off, triathlon. Just saying the word makes me smile because I love it so much, and I love the training too. When you feel down, it's easy to let everything consume you and just wallow in your own misery for ever, but I think in triathlon's bigger meaning and purpose, it teaches you that you can do things that you thought impossible and you can get through those tough times. (sometimes it just takes a little mental fortitude...)

So in training this week (and I'm going to steal a bit from a blogland friend and fellow IMFL finisher, Bolder) we are going to start this post out with the numbers...last week was the first week of 2007 that I finally crested the 10 hour mark for training hours per week. Last year I think I was still cranking out nice 8-10 hour weeks at this time of the year and I bet it was slower than what I'm doing now (while keeping a moderate heart rate thru training of course.)
This graph above is how I kept track of my total training hours in preparation for IMFL. The first week of training was obviously January1st, 2006 and that is why there are 52 weeks listed on this graph. Week 44 was Ironman week and that is why is is GREATLY reduced afterwards.

The key was unfortunately cut off in this picture, but Blue is bike hours, red is running hours, and yellow is swimming hours. I came from a strong swimming and running background from high school and college sports and I decide the bike was my limiter and that is why there is a TON of bike hours put in to get me up to speed.

And all in all, I think it paid off. 2006 was my second competitive season of triathlon and I was able to do okay and finish an Iron distance race. I was pleased. Although in my narcissistic mind, I'm always thinking of ways to get faster and better and train more, so this year after a hard few weeks I had some "wins" in my training.

First off this week was a 90 minute bike session on the trainer indoors. Not an ideal ride, not my endurance ride, but just a nice spin, keeping it in HR zone 1 (the lowest recovery zone) I was spinning watching the Tour of Qatar on Versus and 60 minutes in I noticed I was holding in the middle of my HR zone (right on, yeah!) and averaging 23.2mph. Wow, I was kinda floored, but I could feel it in my legs. I have never averaged more than 22 on the trainer last year and I didn't mess with the resistance from year to year, so this is a HUGE win, because I was at the same heart rate, but going MUCH faster. Free speed eh? For those of you who wonder, I ended the 90 minutes averaging 23.4mph....not too shabby.

Second workout win for me was a pool workout. Before I had only done one session a week and I could get by on that. This year I'm trying for 2 sessions a week. I decided to do a short 2k workout with 2 x 1000's. no warm up, no cool down, just straight schwimmin. I hopped in and hit the wall in 13:47 after my first one. Not bad. The second I knew I would struggle to get under 14 minutes and decided to pick up the pace the last 200 yards and brought it to the wall in.....you guessed it 13:47. Pretty cool, it was nice to swim fast and not fade. I was again excited.

The last win for me was a hill workout that I have been doing at least twice a week for the whole year in the snow at a local park. Each week it is hard to run under 8minutes with all the slush and ice and crap around. This week, I made it back to my place in 44:47 (which translates to sub7:30 pace....)

So I guess the moral of the post is this, when life is getting you down, stick to what you know and love, it can only bring you joy. Keep at it, consistency is key and just know that your hard work will pay off soon enough. Take care and train hard everyone. Cheers.

A stroke of luck...

I don't know whether this stroke has been good or bad, but I feel like it has been luck nonetheless. Kind of like that amazing show LOST which is on ABC every Wednesday at 10pm EST...during that show, there has been an everlong battle between fate/destiny versus logic and reason. So I don't know if it has been luck, destiny, or fate, but things have been a little crazy lately. Call it strokes of luck or whatnot, but things have been interesting in the "Keep Moving Forward" world.

I haven't been online in a long time and haven't updated the blog in a long time for a variety of reasons. There has been a lot of things going on recently. First off, as many of you know, I have been looking for a job recently after my departure from my last place of employment (which was really Office Space, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise...) So since 2 weeks before IMFL I have been valiantly looking for a job and enjoying the increased free time to train more and get a lot done.

Secondly, I had a computer at my apartment and it has snowed a lot in Rochester, NY lately and I live in the middle of downtown so the roads and sidewalks have been all shitty and it's been very slippery and dangerous because of ice and bad road conditions. So it's been interesting to run the 30+ miles I've been logging weekly. But anyway, since there has been a little warm weather lately, the snow has been melting and my apartment is an old place and it has sprung a few leaks. Unfortuantely for me, my desktop PC was underneath said leak and now my monitor will not turn on. When I finally woke up and realized that I was getting dripped on, I found my computer was wet and my mouse was under a puddle. Not cool. So yeah, I still have a computer that is not working, hence how I haven't been online lately.

Also, another thorn in the side was this; I got a package from www.TriSports.com the other day. For those of you who don't know, last year I landed a sponsorship with them and they hooked me up with a sweet uniform and gave me uber discounts and all that thru the team. So, I was sitting at home and got a package from TriSports and i was all excited to get some good news and opened it up to find a FORM LETTER telling me that I wasn't chosen for the 2007 team despite a STELLAR season (in my mind). Also enclosed was a TriSports.com hat. I was a little miffed nonetheless. Unfortuantely I don't have any pics in this post as I am on a borrowed computer. So I'll apologize for that.

But anyway, I hope this fate/luck/destiny changes in a bit, things haven't been great lately. I don't know why I posted this, maybe it was just to vent. Here's to hoping 2007 gets better with age.

Watch your step, because I'm about to drop some knowledge on you all...

For those of you who don't know, last year was the first year I took triathlon training seriously. I had signed up for an Ironman race in Florida, forked over my $465 entry fee and wasn't going to let that money go to waste. Now I had raced triathlons before, just not so seriously. I had trained, but never with a purpose. It was always the month before a large race and I'd say, "hey I gotta get in shape, that RACE is coming up...". So needless to say, I learned a few things from last year and I hate to be cliche and get all retrospective on you all, but you better watch your step, because I'm about to drop some knowledge about what I learned in my rookie year.

First thing first, consistency is the key to EVERYTHING...I cannot stress this enough. To be able to get out there day after day after day, you need to be consistent in your training. Maybe this is a little different for shorter events, but I am focusing on the longer stuff right now (ie. half and full ironman distance races)

In the shorter races, the training is all about getting out there and going at XX intensity for YY amount of minutes with ZZ rest in between sets. And that's good if you want to do a short event, but in the ultra and long distance races, you just seriously need to get out there and get the miles in. Rain, hail, sleet, snow, or shine, you just have to make that daily deposit into the IRON bank. I have tried to be as consistent as possible and I put a lot of pressure on myself to get out there and train and just go. I use the 3 weeks of increasing mileage and one week of drastically reduced mileage. I wish I could publish my Excel spreadsheets of training logs that I used, but I don't know how to do that yet. Seriously, the only way to exceed even your own expectations is to just make training a priority in your life (this was a little easier for me since I don't have a wife, or family, kids or other things that might distract normal people)

The second thing I learned was that you should set achievable goals and even if you are hitting one of them in a race, sometimes it is good to push your body that little bit extra and see what happens. In several races last year, I got "the fire" back... In particular, Keuka was a large race where going into the run, I was like 6th or 7th overall...I ended up placing 3rd on the podium because I saw the two guys in front of me, not 50 yards in front, and I thought to myself, "is the next 8 minutes of pain worth it to get your first ever podium finish?" Long story short....it was. I almost threw up in the bushes shortly after finishing, but it was GREAT to shock the system and surprise even myself as to what I was capable of. I held 6:03 pace and the first mile of that 10k was a 5:52 I remember. Sometimes you need to dig down deep and see what you are made of. You may surprise yourself.

Now I know triathlons are getting REALLY expensive IRONMAN. And even the shorter races like sprints are breaking the wallet at $70 a pop, but if it is possible, race AS MUCH AS YOU CAN! First off, it's fun as hell, you meet tons of great people, you get lots of free swag and did I mention its fun?!?! That's the reason that I train so much is to get out there and have fun and not be suffering my arse off on race day. (I mean if you do it right, you will be in pain and suffering a bit, but I always race with a smile on my face...see photo below)

Lastly, the final piece of advice I will drop on you all is to buy a good bike. This is a great thing to do. I recently got into biking 3 years ago (ironically when I did my first triathlon) and I know I have improved by leaps and bounds. In several sprint races last year I was able to hold above 23 mph as an average for the bike leg, when in years past I was lucky to be able to hold above 20. At Florida this year for 112 miles, I even blazed into T2 with a 20+mph average speed for the bike.

Lance was not lying when he said it is all about the bike. Of course you should save some legs for the run, but blast the bike too. The BEAST (the '06 Cervelo P2C) is a great ride and I highly recommend it. Get a good bike fitting and an aero helmet too. (you will look like a dork, but your splits WILL be faster, I guarantee it.)

Well that's it for now, training has been uber consistent with me as last week was a 9.5 total training hour week (not counting the rock gym) and next week should be 10+, I'm feeling good about where I am now. I've been heavy on the run training and am at about 30 miles a week now running lots of hills in preparation for Lake Placid. We'll see if I get in, but I'm still going to be training like I'm already there. Take care everyone, I'm out, see you on the roads. Cheers.

You think your bike handling skills are good??

This video is one a buddy of mine had up as an away message and I watched it and it was a little trippy, but I got mesmerized by the fluidity of the riding. Just wow, great video. I can only imagine the cohones these guys have going up against NYC traffic with no helmets on. That's ballsy. Enjoy!

Why I tri.....

Ok folks, I want to give you all a little background on this entry by stating that I came in about 3 hours ago after running 6 miles in 9 degree Fahrenheit weather with a windchill of -3. That's right NEGATIVE three...

I don't know if many of you have ever experienced negative three weather, but if you have any exposed skin, it feels as though it is burning. This is a recovery week for me right now, but as I was running these 6 miles, I thought to myself, "the only thing I want to do is run faster so I can get these miles over with...my face is going to freeze solid!" Unfortunately I had to run them in zone 2 and that was 8 minute per mile pace this time of year. Not fun. For those non-math types out there, that was 48 minutes in the negative three degree cold.

Now a post without a picture is a boring one, so I ran inside after I was finished and grabbed my camera, take a gander at these two beautiful winter running "head shots":

Yes that is ice on my goatee...like a quarter inch of ice....

I guess the reason that I am smiling so much in the bottom photo is that I was the only one crazy enough to try and navigate the streets of downtown Rochester today. There were no other footprints in the street and I saw no one for those 48 minutes who was running. I guess I was the only one crazy and with enough dedication to run today.

It makes me smile because when I am in a race, I might think of today and know that the person that is right in front of me, or the person slowly gaining on me, probably wasn't out training today in the snow and wind. They were probably indoors watching TV curled up around a mug of hot cocoa. I can only hope that the memory of today makes me stronger when I need it the most.

This my peoples, as a Bolder person would say, is why I tri... I do triathlons not only to challenge myself from day to day, but to get out there and convince myself that if someone places better than me in a race, then they really earned it. They must have trained more or been out there TWICE as long as I was on the coldest of days.

Triathlon is my negative three degree day, its tough , but once you get out there and do it, you have the bragging rights forever. Cheers friends.