Just Catching Up...

So I just wanted to check in and let everyone know how things are going. I am still working out 4-5 days a week (O.K., usually four more oftentimes than five), including weights twice a week and 2-3 cardio workouts. In terms of weights I have been alternating between chest and triceps and back and biceps, with a couple of leg exercises every time (I have sort of given up on my abs). I am starting to regain strength on the bench press, although I still have a long ways to go to get back to where I was once (e.g., I am struggling to put up 205 lbs three times--at my peak, I could press 225 lbs four times). For cardio I have been doing my standard 4-mile loop around Hoboken (usually at a fairly relaxed pace), as well as the occasional 30-minute elliptical machine workout. My weight is a bit higher than I would like (seems like the story of my life) but is under control for the most part. It feels kind of weird knowing that I will not be racing at all in 2011 (the first time I will take an entire year off since I started racing), but I know it is the right thing to do considering Baby Chukumba will be here in a week or so. That's it for now...

If You Can't Take The Heat, Get On The Podium!

This past Sunday I competed in what is likely to be my final race of the season, the Metroman Triathlon in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Below is my race report.

Pre-Race
Going into the race I was feeling fairly confident. My training had been consistent all year long and I was really pleased with my performance at the Queens Biathlon in May. The day before the race I spent extra time getting all of my gear organized and packed, as I had to wake up at an ungodly hour (3:30 A.M.) to make sure I made it to packet pickup in time. The drive down to Asbury Park was quicker than I thought it would be, leaving me with ample time to pick up my race packet, set up my transition area, use the bathroom a few times, and even warm up in the ocean a bit.

Swim (750 meters)
The swim was in the Atlantic Ocean, my first ever ocean swim in a race. It was also a run-in start, which I have always been a big fan of (it just somehow seems more "authentic" to me). After diving underneath a few breaking waves I was able to get into a decent swim rhythm. Given the choppiness of the water (and my general rustiness) I decided to abandon my usual bilateral breathing and took a breath on every other stroke, as well as sighting every few strokes. It seemed like I hit the first buoy very quickly, and soon after was passing people from the prior wave (which is always a great feeling). Before I knew it I was heading back to shore--usually I feel like I am in the water forever, but in this race it felt like I barely got wet! When I hit the shore my watch said 14:3~, but my official time included a good 150 meter or so run to the transition area.

Transition 1
My first transition was fairly uneventful. Unfortunately the way the transition area was set up I had a really long run to my bike, but once I got there I felt like I was organized and efficient.

Bike (10.5 miles)
The bike course winded through the roads of Asbury Park, including several fairly sharp turns. I focused on staying down in the aero position as much as possible, while being aggressive (but safe) on the myriad turns. From the second I got on my bike I was passing people constantly--I had forgotten how much I love wave starts! I must have passed 50+ people over the course of the bike leg, and was passed by only three. The one mistake I made was not getting in enough fluids--between the turns and somewhat uneven asphalt, I just did not feel like I had enough time to pull my water bottle out of the cage, open it, take a drink, and return it to the cage (man, do I miss my Profile Design Aerodrink). I am fairly certain the bike course was long--even the fastest splits of the day were in the 21-22 MPH range, and given the strength of the field (more on that later) and the fact it was a fairly flat course, that just does not add up.

Transition 2
As always, I pulled off my "shoes in the clips, flying dismount," and sprinted back to my transition area. I racked my bike, slipped my racing flats on, and was off. At one point an official yelled that I had to wear my race number (I forgot to put on my race belt), and after hesitating for a second decided I would risk the penalty rather than head back to retrieve it.

Run (3.1 miles)
The run was a double out-and-back along the boardwalk. My legs felt great and I started off extremely strong, but within the first mile I knew that I was in trouble--there was little shade throughout the course, and the sun was beating down mercilessly. The fact I simply have not spent any time running outdoors this summer in these conditions certainly did not help. I ended up pulling off my tri top and heart rate monitor band, but nothing seemed to help--I was simply overheated (not drinking enough fluids during the bike probably caught up with me as well). I ended up taking 3-4 short walk breaks, but given my quick start and overall run fitness it did not kill my time too much (although I was passed by ten competitors or so). I crossed the finish line sweating like a whore in church and happy to be done!

Post-Race
Despite my walk breaks, I received a nice surprise when I saw the race results--I finished second in my age group! The other surprising thing was that I was only 42nd overall--which puzzled me until I realized this race was the official USAT Mid Atlantic Short Course and Youth Championship (which explains the eight competitors under the age of 20 who beat me, including a 15-year old girl who finished 8th). I guess I should have known something was up before the race when I saw the three kids wearing matching USA Triathlon singlets with their names on them...

All in all I have to say I was really pleased with my performance, especially finishing second in my age group. This is now three straight races in which I have been on or near the podium, so I guess that as I am getting older, I am getting better (or alternatively, everyone else is getting worse). As far as racing is concerned, this is it for a while--I am probably going to take 2011 off given the new arrival in the Chukumba family scheduled for late September. I will try and post every now and then, but I cannot promise anything! As always, thanks for reading!

Race Splits
Swim: 15:50 (top 42%)
Transition 1: 1:25 (top 13%)
Bike: 32:21 (19.5 MPH, top 15%--I am 90% sure the course was long)
Transition 2: 0:55 (top 26%)
Run: 21:56 (7:05 pace, top 26%)
Overall: 1:12:27 (top 22% overall, 2nd M35-39)

Conquering Big Blue

So this past weekend I visited my in-laws in Iowa for the long holiday weekend and was able to get a decent amount of training in. On Friday I went for a ride around Clear Lake, which normally would have been 14 miles, but due to some questionable directions turned out to be over 20 (half of the extra mileage was in to some pretty severe headwinds, and three were on a gravel country road). On Saturday we headed to a Big Blue, a quarry popular with local divers. I ended up doing six trips across the quarry, which I estimate is about a fifth of a mile wide. Considering the facts this was my first open water swim since my last triathlon and I was not wearing a wetsuit, I was really pleased--my stroke felt nice and fluid and I did not have much trouble sighting (with the exception of one trip, in which I mistook my target). The workout was definitely a nice confidence booster before my first actual triathlon of the season in just over a week and a half. On Sunday I rode around the lake again at a nice leisurely pace, and today I hit the weights for the first time in a couple of weeks. I will try and get a few more quality workouts in this week, and then it will be time to begin my taper.

One Solid Weekend

It is late Sunday afternoon and I am extremely pleased with the training weekend I just had. On Friday morning I hit the spin bike at my gym before work for a nice solid 40 minute workout, which may not seem all that impressive, except for the fact I returned home late the night before from a work trip to the West Coast. On Saturday morning I completed my strongest brick of the year--a solid 21-mile ride, followed by a 3-mile run at 6:49 pace. I had one of my best ascents ever of the brutal hill right by the George Washington Bridge--I rode out of the saddle the entire time in a nice easy gear, and rather than sitting back down after I crested the worst part remained up for the little rollers right afterward. My legs felt exceptionally good on the run as well. Today I hit the gym for a full body workout, my first weightlifting in a couple of weeks. Now I just have to get back in the pool again--it has been awhile unfortunately...

Catching Up

Once again I have been awful recently in terms of updating this blog, so I decided to just do a laundry list of new/possibly noteworthy developments over the last few weeks:

• After the bike computer problems I had during my last race, I decided to finally get a new one. I went with an entry-level wireless computer, and although it is really bare bones in terms of features (it basically only tracks speed and distance), I am already loving not having additional wires running over my bike.


• My training continues to be fairly consistent, including a weekly swim in which I continuosly do 100 yard repeats on the 2:15 (which is a great way to knock out 1,500-2,000 yards fairly quickly).

• I just took my bike to have the wheels trued for the first time. I am not sure what I did, but my back wheel in particular was wobbling all over the place, to the point where it was rubbing against my back brake. Not good.


• I just retired my three cycling jerseys, all of which I have had FOREVER. They were really starting to reek pretty bad, even after they just came out of the wash. Now I need to buy some new ones, one of which will likely be a Team RadioShack jersey (no, we are not going to start a "did he or didn't he" discussion), and will have to figure out a couple of others as well.


• I am still trying to figure out a race to replace the Olympic I was originally supposed to do at the end of June--given my fitness level and last couple of race results, I am really interested in how fast I can go.

That is it for now--I would love to say that I will start doing a better job of keeping this updated, but we all certainly now better than that...

Queens Biathlon Race Report II

On Sunday, May 16th I competed in my first race of the season, the Queens Biathlon. Below is my race report.

Pre-Race

I felt confident but cautious coming into this year's race--confident because my training had gone well and I felt good about my fitness (especially on the run); cautious because last year I was way too overconfident before this same race, and was ultimately disappointed with my performance. Race morning I packed up my car and got to the transition area nice and early. I did have a relatively minor mechanical issue--in reattaching my rear wheel I somehow screwed up the sensor for my bike computer, and thus was forced to race without it working at all. I stretched, warmed up a bit, hit the bathroom a couple of times, and was ready to race.

First Run (3 miles)

I intentionally seeded myself in the middle of the pack, so I was passing other runners constantly during the first mile. I concentrated on running a nice consistent pace, shortening my stride on the uphills, and opening it up on the downhills. I also decided to simply trust my run fitness and resist the temptation to "race" the other competitors or push myself too hard. Once again, the last hill into transition was steep and painful, and I decided to take it fairly easy. As I came into transition and glanced at the race clock, I was happy to see a sub-7:00 minute per mile split--all of my run training had paid off, and I had taken 1:10 off of my time from last year.

Bike (18 miles)

My first transition was a bit clumsy (at one point I dropped my helmet), but the time was a wee bit faster than last year. I was off on my first race ride on my new bike! Unfortunately I quickly remembered my least favorite part of this race--the bike course, which consists of a double out-and-back on a major highway. Heading out the wind is in your face, and on the way back there is a long, somewhat steep hill right before the turnaround (which connects to an even longer one to head back into transition). I passed a few riders, got past by a few more, and generally held my own. With the exception of the really bad hills I was able to stay aero pretty much the entire time. The one issue was that I did not have an actual water bottle for the race (long story), and thus, ended up sticking a regular old bottle of Gatorade into one of my cages. Thus, I literally had to take the bottle out of the cage, unscrew the top, drink, screw the top back on, and then place it back in the cage every time I wanted to get a bit of hydration. The "Triathlon Nazis" would have been so ashamed! I ended up taking 38 seconds off my time from last year, which does not sound like much, but given the conditions, I was pretty happy.

Second Run (3 Miles)

I had a very smooth second transition (17 seconds faster than last year) and was off on my second run. My legs felt SO MUCH BETTER starting out this year than last year--once again, all of my off-season running had paid off! I quickly caught up to a duathlete who I had been trading places with all through the race and asked if he wanted to pace off of each other, which he agreed to. Within the first mile we passed one racer and very soon after got passed by another. Aside from that, everyone ahead of us had too much of a head start for us to make up much ground. I faded a bit on the final hill and he opened up a small gap, but I was extremely happy with my time, which was 1:07 faster than my second run last year (and nearly as fast as my first one last year).

Post-Race

Needless to say I was very happy with my performance. I raced smart, raced hard, and left it all out on the course. I also learned from the mistakes I made last year, and improved in every single one of my splits to beat my 2009 time by 3:12. I ended up finishing 4th in my age group, which makes this two straight races in which I have been right around the podium. I could not have asked for a better start to my 2010 season, and am excited for the races ahead. Thanks for reading!

Race Splits

Run 1: 20:57 (6:59 pace)

Transition 1: 0:54

Bike: 53:33 (20.2 MPH--not amazing, but it feels nice to have a 2 at the start of my bike split again)
Transition 2: 0:30

Run 2: 22:14 (7:25 pace)

Overall: 1:38:08 (21st overall, 4th M35-39)

Back In The Pool!

So today started off just like any other training day. I woke up a little before 5:00 A.M. and got in a brisk four mile run around Hoboken (7:05 pace) before work. After I got home something extremely rare and noteworthy happened -- I actually did a swim workout! Yes, Virginia, my long swimming drought is finally over. The pathetic thing is there is a nice college pool three blocks from my house, so there is no good reason for my not swimming more (aside from sheer laziness). I ended up swimming ~1,600 yards, consisting of a 100 yard warm-up (probably too short I know), five 25/50/75/100 yard ladders (cut me some slack -- first time in the pool in like two years), and a 400 yard or so warm down. I was surprised that I did not feel too winded in the pool, although I am sure that my form was awful. I figure if I can consistently make it to the pool once a week between now and the end of the season, I should be in pretty decent shape for my race swims. Anyway, three workouts (and two blog posts) in two days -- not a bad way to start the week!

Good Training Week

So I had a really solid week of training last week, which was partially thanks to my sprained left wrist. I decided my weekly weight training workout probably was not the best idea given the circumstances, so I added another cardio workout instead. Thus, I ended up getting in about 60 miles on the bike (albeit, 14 of which were on a spin bike) over the course of three rides and ran three times as well (two four mile runs, and two miles on the treadmill after the spin bike workout). I definitely feel like I am getting my cycling legs underneath me, and given the fact I ran through last off-season, I am very happy with my running right now as well. I guess the true test of my fitness will come in my first race of the season next month, the Queens Biathlon. This week is off to a solid start as well -- I met up with an old colleague who is starting to really get into triathlons and did three loops in Central Park, which combined with getting there and back from the ferry was a good solid 22 mile ride. I am definitely kind of heavy right now after a weekend of eating poorly and boozing with an old friend in town -- I guess this post cannot be COMPLETELY positive...

Riding

Well the weather has finally started to be consistently nice here, so I have started to ride outside again. Last weekend I did an 18 mile bike/2 mile run brick workout, and today I did an early morning ~22 mile bike ride. I have continued riding my usual out and back along River Road towards the George Washington Bridge, and the descent just south of the bridge (the one I nearly lost my life and virtually destroyed my old bike on last year) continues to scare me. Aside from that, I am feeling really strong on my new bike and my fit feels pretty dialed in. I am definitely faster on the new bike as well--on flat roads I can pretty easily hold 21-22 MPH without really pushing it, and I am blowing other cyclists/triathletes off the road on a regular basis (not bragging, just fact). So all in all, I am pretty happy with where my training is right now. I am still carrying a few more pounds than I would like--for some reason I am having a very difficult time staying away from sweets, especially when I am at work. One other minor detail--I sprained my wrist pretty bad late last week playing soccer, which caused me to miss a workout. Not the end of the world, but I guess it just goes to show you why many serious triathletes generally avoid playing other sports...

Not Much Blogging, Plenty Of Training

O.K., I realize that the blog posts have been anemic recently -- between being crazy busy with my new job and the fact I cannot access this website from work, I simply have not had many opportunities to pen updates. The good news is that my training has been much more consistent. I have continued to get a couple of runs and spin bike rides in each week, as well as hitting the weights once a week. Most of my training has remained indoors as Spring has not quite arrived yet, although I have been running outside more often (including a four mile run this morning in which I ran the last two in less than 7:00 per mile pace). The temperature is supposed to steadily increase this week into the high 60s/low 70s, so I am really hoping that by next weekend I can start riding outside at least once a week. My swim training is still non-existent, but we are not going to talk about that.

I also signed up for two additional races -- the Queens Biathlon on May 26th (which I also did last year) and the Metroman Triathlon at Asbury Park on July 16th. Unfortunately it looks like I will not be doing the Stamford KIC IT Triathlon on June 27th -- I have a couple of other more important obligations that weekend (including my wedding anniversary). It's not the end of the world -- I will just try and find another race that fits into my schedule. That's about all that I have to report -- I will try and update the blog more regularly going forward, but I cannot promise anything...

Great Training Week!

Last week I was able to get in six training days in a row -- one weightlifting session, two bike rides (one spin, one trainer), and three runs. It felt really good to be able to get in that much training so early in the season -- I literally feel like I am ready to race right now, and I still have months to go before my first event. This morning I banged out five miles on the treadmill, starting at 7:24/mile pace and adding another 0.1 MPH every mile. I felt completely under control the entire time -- smooth and fluid, and barely breathing heavily (even in the last half mile, which I cranked up to 6:58 pace). I still need to figure out which races I want to do this summer -- two of the ones I was interested in have already sold out...

Back On The Trainer

So I have been keeping some really odd hours lately -- for example, this morning I woke up at 4:30 A.M. The better half and I had a really busy day planned, so I knew that getting to the gym was out of the picture. Thus, I did something I have not in a long while -- I retrieved The Black Knight out of my bike room and rode for 50 minutes on my trainer. I kept my heart rate fairly low and just focused on staying in the aerobars and riding at a nice, steady pace. It was definitely very different from the hard core, super-high heart rate spin bike workouts I have been doing lately. It also felt nice to ride on my actual bike, particularly given the fact I am still getting used to the new frame.

Training has been going pretty well the last few weeks. I have been getting in 2-3 runs (one of which is a really short one off of the bike) and 2 bike rides in pretty consistently, as well as a full body weightlifting session (chest, triceps, back, biceps, legs, and abs -- but fewer exercises of each than I would normally do). Oh, and I am currently 178 lbs, which is awesome for me this early in they year, and just 3 lbs over my goal racing weight.

Training Off To A Great Start

Well I am now nearly a month into my 2010 training, and I honestly could not be any happier -- all of the running that I did during last year's offseason has definitely paid off in terms of my overall fitness level. Yesterday morning I did a 40-minute spin bike, 10-minute treadmill run brick workout, and it could not have felt much easier (particularly for January). Today I did an easy 30-minute run on the treadmill. All I have to do now is get back in the pool soon (always a challenge for me), and I will be completely back in the swing of things. On a related note, I have signed up for a race -- the Stamford KIC IT Triathlon on June 27th. A buddy of mine who lives in Stamford did it last year and will do it with me this year, which will make it all the more fun. This race is Olympic distance, which will be my longest one of the year. I will eventually add a couple of TBD sprint races to the schedule, but it feels good to have one on the calendar to focus my training on.

I'm Back...

Well we are 12 days into the new decade and my triathlon training has started up in full swing! Last week I was able to get in two treadmill runs, a spin bike ride, and two weightlifting sessions, and so far this week I ran on the treadmill yesterday and did a quick brick workout (35 minutes spin bike, 5 minute treadmill run) this afternoon. They have these really cool new spin bikes at my gym -- they have computer displays that allow you to specify the type of workout you want to do and then track your heart rate and cadence, as well as directing you on what to do (e.g., seated climb, seated flat, sprints, jumps) and for how long (kind of hard to describe in words, but trust me, VERY COOL). As always this time of the year I am carrying a few extra pounds, but the nice thing is thanks to running through the fall and winter, my overall fitness level is much higher than usual. One other thing -- the "New Year's Resolutionaries" are at the gym in full force, but given the fact I was fully expecting them, they are not annoying me as much as they normally do...