Game 2 in NYC and Central Park was mine!!!

Got up early this AM and took on Central Park. I entered at 6th avenue and did a couple of loops around the south end of the park. I didn't realize the Park could be so hilly. Not ridiculous hills, just annoying enough to remind you that you are climbing here and there. After that we saw NYC in her Manhattan entirety. The bus loop around the city was fantastic. Saw everything from Rockefeller Center down to Ground Zero. So many emotions at Ground Zero will save for another blog another day. After doing that we came back to the hotel and chilled out for about an hour then headed down to Yankee Stadium in rush hour subway traffic. Yikes!!!!!!!!! Anyways seeing Yankee stadium and and the new stadium is always a treat. The history of that building and the aura of is just amazing. What made it all the better was that the Yankees got spanked. I should actually clarify that by stating when we left the Yankees were getting spanked. After 6 innings Ethan was ready to bail. He started at 9 this morning at the top of the Empire State Building, did a full day loop of Manhattan, and ended up at Yankee Stadium...He had had his fill. His quote of the day has to be when we were on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. "This isn't the tippy tippy top, I want to go to the tippy tippy top." This from a kid who is terrified of getting his picture taken with a team mascot (Mr. Met). Oh well on the whole it was a great, yet tiring success. I got a run in through CP and saw the other side of the city as well as the Yankees getting spanked...great day, great day.

Mets win 9-1, Beltran and Ethan steal show!!!

Got up a little late this morning and was going to tackle CP, but as I looked out my Hotel window a mass mob of runners was flying by out of CP. My pops had the tube on and it was the NYC 1/2 marathon. Going for a run this morning into CP was thus out of the question...I wasn't up to dieing a Salmon's death. Tomorrow my friends CP and I will have our moment.



Anyways we decided to have sweet continental breakfast then hop the trains to Queens to check out the sites. Ethan thoroughly enjoyed his train ride and when we finally came above ground he kept the car informed of the Empire State Building's location about every 20 seconds. When we got to the stadium Ethan burned through about 15 pictures on his disposable camera of just Shea and the new Citi Field. After being reminded that we still had to get pics of Jose and the Carloses he slowed down a bit and also reminded me that Pujols was going to be here and was going to be his first picture. After sitting under the Mezzanine during a pregame torrential downpour the weather straigtened out and we watched a fantastic game. Santana was sharp and the Mets bats were hot. Ethan went crazy when David Wright hit the games first homer, then Tatis and Castro followed shortly after that. It was awesome to watch him pop out of his seat, cheer, and actually understand what he was cheering for. After those fireworks Oma decided to take a break and she missed the best play of the day. Ryan Ludwick crushed a ball to dead center 411 feet only to have Beltran bring it back for a really long out. Shea exploded and so did Ethan. He must have talked about that catch 5 times from Queens to Times Square on our trip back...that is when he wasn't once again reminding the entire train car of the Empire State Building's location. "Thank you Ethan." Unfortunately Pujols ruined Santana's shutout bid, but I think it was for the best as Ethan really enjoyed watching his favorite non-Met get on the board with an HR. "Pujols is a power hitta huh dad."



After the game we went back to Times Square and fed our faces at the ESPN Zone. Ethan didn't eat much until Oma's angel food cake with strawberries and sorbet came out. After mauling her sorbet he decided to feed Oma her strawberries after she suggested he try one. After a quick stop in the restroom to watch TV while we....well you know what we did, we went to the world's most obnoxious Toys' R Us. Ethan rode in the monopoly car on the ferris wheel while I kept wishing I didn't order that Brownie with hot fudge. Tessa will have to come next time because I think the world's largest Barbie play house is in that Toys' R Us.



Well tomorrow is me and CP as well as a trip to the building that Ethan keeps us informed of. Oh yeah Yankee Stadium too. The Yanks have quite a test to match the show we got today, but I'm sure it will be fun anyways. Ethan tells me he is going to sleep until 9am tomorrow. He got up at "8:06" today, so I'll be content if he sleeps to 7:30. I think his nickname should be the rooster given that "8:06" is probably the latest he has ever slept by over an hour. Before I go Ethan says the Empire State Building is right over there and hi momma and Tessa.

NYC

Got up early this morning to get a bit of a longer run in (7 miles) and it felt good given I did a 5 mile speedplay run yesterday (1 mile warmup, 1/2 mile hard, 1/2 mile relaxed etc.). After the run Ethan and I finished getting ready for our trip to NYC. After watching Carlos Sastre tie up the Tour de France we headed off to pick up Opa and Oma and go to NYC. When we got here we got settled then walked down to Times Square and had dinner. Tried to eat at the ESPN Zone but it was chaos so we ate at Maxine's instead. Ethan had a window seat and was mesmorized by the giant TV's and the M&M store right next door. I asked him if it NYC was bigger than he thought it would be and his response "I thought it would be higher than the sky, but it's not." Who would have thought I would be more impressed than a 5 year old? Tomorrow is the day I have been looking forward to. Going to get up early and tackle Central Park. We had a stare down today from my 37th floor window and she knows I am coming with my saucony tangents in tow. After that it is off to Shea to watch the Mets sweep the Cards....Ok I know they are currently losing 8-7 in the 8th inning, but always the optimist.

Taking a little run in Central Park

Today I got up early and a late night storm with remnants this morning all over the place prevented me from taking the bike out. So I took the kiddos to DD so they could enjoy their favorite donut and oj while I relived the Mets breakdown against the Phillies last night in the paper. After that I dropped Tessa off to play with her cousin and Ethan and I got some pool work in together. He taught me how to dive and I tried teaching him to keep his butt higher in the water. Obviously I am not the greatest to teach that skill because I look like a giant L plowing through the water when I swim. I got some decent work in and then Ethan and I fired up the Weber to cook my all time favorite Cornell BBQ chicken. It is a white BBQ sauce that we have to home make, and it takes about 3 hours of grill time for it to be perfect, but it is worth every sensational second once you sink your teeth in.

Tonight was our 3rd installment of running with the x-country kiddos so I biked the 9 miles to school where we did 1/4 mile intervals on the track. The goal was to run them at 5k race pace and no faster. I did all 8 of mine at 1:25 with 2 minutes of rest in between. Since that works out to about a 5:40 mile I went a little bit quicker than 5k race pace, but it felt right and I wasn't pushing too hard. The varsity guys looked good again and went ahead and did 12 intervals. I would have done the extra 4, but another storm looked imminent so I hopped on the Trek and got my bootie home.

I guess I should explain the title of this post now. This weekend Ethan my parents and I are going to NYC to watch Johan Santana pitch against Albert Pujols on Sunday, then were going to watch Mike Mussina pitch against his old squad the Orioles on Monday. We are staying near Times Square so I am very excited about an opportunity to run Central Park. Runners World can really make a run through CP sound romantic so I have to test it out for myself. Maybe twice if all goes well. Tomorrow is supposed to be my off day, but I am already feeling an easy morning run in my bones. We'll see how it goes.

Waiting for Toogs blog about his Olympic Distance

Paul and Craig finished their 5430 on Sunday and I'm just awaiting their race breakdown. In the meantime I am still pushing forward to Sodus on August 17th. Drew and I plan on hitting the course one or two times before then and maybe I will be able to convince Paul to go for a ride with me while he is there. As for my training update, Sunday was very rainy with many thunderstorms so I went for a 5 mile run between fronts. It was hazy, hot, and humid. I don't like being that guy showing off with no shirt on, but after a while it became a necessity in dealing with the heat. Other than feeling like a fried egg, the run went well and was surprisingly quick for the conditions. Yesterday I think I was feeling both Saturday and Sunday efforts so I slothed most of the day, but after dinner I decided to go for an easy bike ride. I wish I could stick with my plans to go easy as I only wanted to ride about 17 miles, but I ended up going 26 miles averaging 19.6 mph for the ride. I just found a rhythm and was the most comfortable I have ever been in my aerobars so off I went. This morning I got up early and did the 5 mile trot again. Finally a run without scorcing humidity. The calf pain resurfaced and was radiating into the knee, but it did disappear as I pushed on so I am going to stick with the ice treatment and press on to August 17th.

Back on the stick!!!

Well today I got my act back together. It has been really hot here in CNY (90+ with our traditional hazy, hot, humid mix). Thursday was spent in the swimming pool with Ethan and his cousin Noah, then we played what seemed like hours of wiffle ball. Friday's goal was to get in a morning run before the heat then play it by ear, but I woke with real stiffness in my right ankle which I twisted a touch on Wednesday on the trails. So I went to the golf course instead and swang the club so much it felt like a workout. When I got home I hopped in the pool and swam laps for 25 consecutive minutes then played with the kiddies. It is amazing to watch their confidence grow in the water with each passing day. So today I had to get out and hammer it a bit. I went on my Liverpool loop (5.36 miles) with a goal of doing it in under 40 minutes. That's a brisk pace for me, about 85% of max, especially on a morning when it was already in the 80's and the air was moist. I ran comfortably for the first 4 miles but the home 1.36 were a bit tough as all I could think about was the water I wish I had, but was still 1.36 miles away from. I got home in 39:35 and ran for the kitchen sink. I swear there were palm trees and tiki torches surrounding that sink as I finally reached my oasis. After Kelly completed her run we decided to head out to Fairhaven Beach with Drew and his family. Of course Drew wouldn't let me come out his way without my bike, so we stopped at his house so I could bike out to Fairhaven with him while the wives and kids met us out there in the cars. It was only a 13 mile ride but it is quite hilly and at 12:30 in the afternoon was quite hot. We took it easy and then spent the rest of the day on the shores of Lake Ontario, with some time out on his boat in Lake Ontario. My kids have never been on a fishing boat before, and weren't really excited about it at first but once we got going I think they could have spent the rest of their lives out there. Tessa is in bed now but the smile is still on her face from riding in the front seat like the little queen she is.

Boilermaker pics in and kids are impressed

The Boilermaker pics are in. Across the top are Geoff, Kelly, and neighbor Ellen. Don't we all look great? Anyways yesterday I biked 18 in the morning the rested up to run 1/2 mile intervals with the x-country kids. We were running at 75% effort with a goal of just reminding our legs what it was like to run fast and to break their monotony of simply putting in base building mileage. The front of the pack did their 6 intervals at about 2:35 - 2:40. Where I was running I was aiming for 2:55 - 3:00 and I hit it everytime. It felt really good to let the legs just go and still know that if I had to hammer one I could at anytime. One thing I did notice from my run in the Boilermaker was that my legs just didn't seem to want to go fast. I've got to force the speed work. Anyways today is my typical Thursday rest/easy day, so I hit the pool and did some stroke work and some speed intervals. My legs are still thanking me for not pounding the road. Anyways here is my Boilermaker picture. I swear I spent the entire race looking for those guys with the camera so I would have a good pic for the blog. I posed for everyone and everything, and the one picture they post of me is one where I'm looking somewhere else. Must have been a bellydancer over there!!!!

Save it for tomorrow

For some stupid reason my legs still felt a bit sore and tired this morning. Therefore I decided to take a 5 mile stroll and just try and loosen things up. Finally a decision that paid off. While I was tight for most of the easy run, I could feel the legs getting better with each step. This is good because tomorrow is training run session #2 with the x-country boys. I need to be on the game with them tomorrow as we will be doing 1/2 mile intervals. I can't decide if we should do 6 or 8 of them, but considering it is preseason I will probably shoot for the 8 but require them to keep the pace down. We are in the base building phase trying to build up volume right now, while occassionally sprinkling in some speed. As their season progresses so will the intensity while we will start to back off on the volume a bit. I think to get my legs right I will go for a quick bike in the morning instead of my normal morning run. I had a better eating day today, but after my morning run I wasn't really that active as I had some other commitments I really wanted to tend to. Hopefully I can build on that.

Ouchy

After talking about how much I enjoyed the Boilermaker at about an 85% effort, I sure didn't enjoy today. My freaking quads are very sore and I don't like it. I guess that is what you get when you stand around at the finish line getting caught up in the excitement while waiting for your friends and totally neglect cooling down or static stretching. I am a freak about making sure I at least do an adequate cool down after any session, but that went by the wayside yesterday and now I remember why I am a freak. Anyways, I hopped on the bike today because there was no desire to run. An easy 23 mile cycle to try and get that lactic acid out of my legs. Legs do feel marginally better now...thank goodness. One thing I do have to refocus on now is my diet. I have had an insatiable appetite since the 70.3 tinman. I am back at my pre race weight and starting to even push the needle a bit further. Man I love that all natural Turkey Hill mint chip ice cream!!!! Just one more bowl please mom???

Boilermaker in the Books

Well after much debating I finally made a decision about how I was going to run the Boilermaker exactly one mile into the race. Nothing like being punctual and decisive...but then again that seemed to be the theme for the day. We had a caravan of racers (5 cars in total) leave our house a 5:45 to get to Utica, get our race packets and then race at 8 sharp. By time we parked it was 7:15 and by time we got our packets and our potty breaks it was 7:50. So much for a warmup. Anyways I got into my race corral and as I began my inner debate an entourage of people swarmed on my left. To my surprise the race staff decided to place NYS governor James Patterson in the race right next to me. "Have a good race Mr. Governor, but if I beat you I want a tax break." If I only I actually thought to say that at the time, instead I stood there and thought to myself how nice it would be if I had a similar entourage then maybe I could have gotten in a warmup run this morning.
Anyways when the gun sounded I put the Governor in my rear view and ran the first mile in about as fast a time as the 9500+ runners would allow me to go. I hit mile marker one in 7:35 according to my watch. At that point I felt really good and was quite enjoying the music and spectator shenanigans, so I told myself that was how I was going to run the rest of the race. Comfortably and enjoy the event. I could not have made a better decision as the people of Utica made it quite an enjoyable run. There were bands, bagpipes, bellydancers, German dancers, Leprechauns...you name they had it. I feel in my post run analysis I could have run the 15k in 65 minutes today, but I wouldn't have enjoyed the day as much as I did by finishing in 69.5 minutes. No regrets and even better no leg pain.
Now to the showdown between Kelly and Geoff. I felt bad we didn't get there with a whole lot of time to spare, but maybe that was to each of their benefit. The less you think about running the better I have come to learn. Well the race didn't last very long as Kelly pulled away a half mile into it and just kept expanding on her lead. They have not yet posted net times on the web, but I believe Kelly did it in about 86 minutes and Geoff in about 109 minutes. While it didn't turn out to be as much of a race as was highly anticipated, the fact remains they each did it and they each finished with a smile on their face. I am proud of both of them for picking a challenging race ro run and race and even more proud that they each finished and have the experience under their belts. I don't think this will be the last time for either of them as they each seemed interested in going back next year and beating this years time. I hope they do.
The only thing left on the race calendar now is the Sodus Point sprint triathlon. I am in need of a transition to focusing on a shorter event because all of this distance training is starting to wear on me. I can't believe I am actually blogging this, but I am looking forward to doing more speed work for the next few weeks. Bring on those quarter mile intervals and 1/2 mile intervals and massive hills. Once again great job Kel and Geoff and start looking towards the next race.

New Plan??

Drew just called and can't run the Boilermaker tomorrow due to a bum foot. Does my plan change? Do I go for the sub 70 15k? I put a 22 mile bike and a 30 minute swim on the legs today. It's late, we'll sleep on it and let the body make its own decision at gun time. Good luck to both Kelly and Geoff in their race to Canales. Once again I hope you tie. Time for some rack ops.

Rest Day, Weather Induced

I was going to go for a 20 mile easy ride on my freshly tuned bike this morning, but when I woke I just wasn't feeling it. I decided I would go for the ride when the wifey got home from work, but good ole mother nature determined that was not to be. I guess I needed to chill today anyway as my left calf really aches when running or pedaling. So in summary training today came down to watching le Tour this morning (Man I wish I got into cycling sooner in life), then when the weather did cooperate I hooked up the kiddie caboose to the bike and took Tessa for an enjoyable 10 mile pedal. Poor kid had mud all over her face when we got home, but it didn't seem to phase her as she kept asking me to go faster and not to stop. Oh to be 3 again. The last bit of my training for the day was a nice carbo dinner prepared by Kelly to get us ready for the Boilermaker on Sunday. Nothing like manicotti and spaghetti with a dusting of Frank's Red Hot to help bring in the weekend. Tomorrow is supposed to be a scorcher, so after taking a bike ride into B'ville in the morning to help time a local 5k event I hope to get into the pool. Paul this next sentence is for you seeing as you were upset about my 8 minute mile comment. Once I hit the pool I hope to do my 50 meter splits in less than 8 minutes..........Man I wish that comment were closer to be a joke than it were to being a reality. LOL

Easy Training Day, and Decision Made

I went out for an easy run this morning 4.72 miles according to my all time favorite website mapmyrun.com. I just cruised at 8 minutes for each mile, which sometimes for me is difficult because I get going and like to ramp it up. That is probably the reason I have decided to do most runs without the mp3. Between the Foo Fighters and Audioslave begging me to go faster, and the increased numbers of runners and cyclists being hit by cars here in Syracuse, I can live without the music. They just ran a report today in the paper here about how the population here in Syracuse is at its lowest since 1910. I'm sensing an eerie connection, so anything I can do to stay upright on the roads I am going to do.
My tri-mate and good pal Drew spent some quality time working on my bike since I am absolutely incapable of turning a wrench without breaking stuff. My bike is just a basic road bike, but it's my baby and Drew got her purring again. I can't wait to hit the roads tomorrow morning...minus music obviously. Therefore I think the least I can do to pay Drew back is to run the Boilermaker with him as planned previously. That combined with the fact I have some minor calf pain when I run is all the more reason to run comfortably and enjoy a race at a different pace.

First Day of Summer Workouts for X-Country Kids

Today was the Wednesday evening session for our high school and modified x-country programs. I love watching these guys develop through the summer, and actually being able to train with them. Once the season officially starts it is not impossible to train with the guys, but it is more difficult since I am also coaching, training, and teaching them. This years varsity guys are the first guys I ever coached in modified and they look awesome. NYS better look out because these guys are fast and hungry. They finished way above expectations last year and were disapointed with a narrow miss at sectionals, and I can already tell they aren't going to leave anything to chance this year. I'm also excited about this years modified crew. I have some promising 8th graders, and the 7th graders look like a strong bunch of young boys. Makes you wonder if B'ville has added winstrol to the water. Anyways I nixed my morning run so that I could run with the boys this evening. Just before I left I hopped in the neighbors pool (thanks Queenie) and swam for the 20 minutes I had. I wanted to run about 5 miles on the Beaver Lake trails, but meeting with the kids and chatting with their 'rents prevented that from happening. I was going to then do an easy 3 mile loop around the lake, but I felt so good I ended up turning an easy run into a pretty strong run. In fact sitting here now I still feel pretty darn good. Makes me wonder if my decision to take it easy at this weekends Boilermaker 15k is the right decision. If I actually thought anyone read this blog I would post a poll to help me deal with this quagmire. Do I bust a run at the Boilermaker, or do I stick to the earlier plan to enjoy the run with my tri-mate Drew? One thing I know is I will be an interested onlooker to the finish of the race between my wife and my brother. They have bet a dinner at a local Italian eatery on this race. I hope they tie and decide to buy me dinner!!!!

My First Blog

Well here goes nothing!!! I started in this wacky world of triathlon last year, and I have been reading personal blog after personal blog about training, tips, diet, etc. I thought it was time for me to join the conversation. I guess more so for myself than anything else, as I feel I can use this as a way to chart my training. Hopefully someone will read this blog and offer their own insights for me to improve performance, or just generally enhance the fun and entertainment I am already reaping from triathlon. For me that is the real key. I want to see steady improvement in my personal fitness, but I also want to enjoy every swim stroke, bike pedal, and running stride. That is not to say I don't want to endure the pain that goes with exercise, it just means I don't want my enthusiasm to wane or burnout. I like the way my training has made me feel, and probably more importantly I like that my son and daughter are aware of my interest in exercise. Hopefully, my modeling of this behavior will give them a lifelong interest in fitness and exercise.
Anyways to date I have 2 sprint triathlons and 64.3 miles of a 70.3 mile triathlon under my belt. The reason I DNF'd in the 70.3 had everything to do with in race nutrition. I had a fantastic swim for myself (I am a nonswimmer), I did what I wanted to do on the bike (except for the fact I ate a four course meal out there), then in my specialty I was unable to perform because of the solid food intake during the bike. Too many calories and electrolytes going in, body unable to digest and perform at the same time. I am over being upset about essentially training for an entire year to only screw it all up by eating when I knew the gels and gatorade were plenty to get me through. Chalk it up to rookie mistake. If anything it has made me more determined to attack that distance again.
My goals going forward are to make the swim less of a liability. I like swimming, I think I am a strong swimmer ie I can swim forever, but I just don't move through the water at a good rate of speed. I want to build on my improvement on the bike. I really have learned alot about cycling in one year (still much to learn) and want to continue that process. One of the things I truly enjoy about cycling is the opportunity to ride with friends either at a leisurely pace so that we can catch up on the gossip or at a rapid pace so we can see how fast we can go and for how long. Another interesting thing about cycling is meeting up with other cyclists and enjoying an almost instant comraderie. As far as the run goes I have averaged 7:14 per mile over 10 miles on a hilly course and 6:36 per mile for a 5k. By next year I would like to be at 7:00 flat on the same course and be under 20 minutes in the 5k. Most of all I want to do all that without compromising my duties as a husband, father, teacher, etc.