Long overdue...

So a lot has happened since my last post, which was forever ago. Sorry about that. I'll explain why I've been away.

A quick rundown of what's happened since Nation's Tri:
- I did Savageman 30.0 without a wetsuit. Beasted on the bike and run.
- I did Waterman's Sprint. I crashed. Cracked my aerohelmet, and busted my aerobars. That said, I got up and I finished the race.
- I stopped working out for a week, that turned into 3 weeks. It started with getting over the crash—I was really banged up—but was perpetuated by midterms and homecoming and halloween.
- I bought some Zipps (at a really good price), but I don't think I've earned them. So I am thinking of reselling them or returning them.
- I didn't do the Tough Mudder (it was homecoming) nor the MCM 10K (it was halloween weekend...)

My upcoming plans:
- start working out consistently again (I've gained too much weight in the interim)
- run the Veteran's Day 10K, Philly Half and the Jingle all the Way 8K.
- sign up for a half marathon in Feb (and a sprint)
- figure out what I am going to do next year
- figure out my race schedule

I've been thinking about joining the crew team for winter training. It'll be really really tough, but it will get me where I need to be.

I know there is no excuse for not posting since September, but I'm gonna try and start posting a bit more regularly. Maybe once or twice a week.

Nation's Tri Death.

Something sad happened on Sunday at my race; a 59-year old died about 5 miles into the bike. No one said anything/heard about it at all during the race. (Although I do remember overhearing someone talking about how they had to move to the side and stop because of an ambulance.) My prayers go out to the man's family.

via Everymantri.com

Nation's Tri Race Report and some.

I raced the Nation's Tri on Sunday. It was a lot of fun, and I hit my goals.

Goals:

1:10 for the bike and 1:00 for the run. The swim was cancelled due to the disgustingness of the Potomac River. Seriously, you don't wanna know what I've seen in it while rowing. Not cool. The canceled swim was perfect for me, as I had not been in a pool for a week (and even then it was not truly a workout).

Pre-Race:


A few of my friends were supposed to do Nation's with me, but they ended up doing a sprint tri in Williamsburg VA. Nation's is NOT a qualifier for collegiate nationals (in the spring), so they all did Patriots.

That said, I did know a few other people racing. A good friend that I haven't seen in a few years (I met him in Beirut in 2008). He lives in DC, and I saw him quite a few times my sophomore year but that's it. A few guys from Cyclelife USA were also racing.

My race started on Thursday. I went down to Cyclelife because I had a few issues with the Zipps that I had put on on Wednesday. I went down around 6:30PM, and ending up helping some of the guys get things ready for the race expo and staying till 2AM (including a midnight order of Domino's). Good night. I also took apart my bike and cleaned it.

Friday, I did no workouts. Ugh. I had one class, but I went to the room and I'm pretty sure it was moved but I didn't know where. So, I had no class! WOOT! I headed down to Cyclelife and went up to the expo to man their booth for awhile. Fun stuff.

I got my packet (with the swim cap!) and some race schwag. I bought 2 tech shirts and a cycling kit (I need more!). I talked to one of the Cyclelife coaches about my shin splints and he told me to start wearing compression calf sleeves. He said they weren't magical fixer-uppers, but that they would hold things together. So I got a pair of those as well.

Saturday, I did nothing. No working out! I racked my bike around 1, after getting my brakes tuned (they felt very loose).  I did laundry, bought an aero helmet, got a sports massage and stupidly stayed up until 2 AM (doing laundry, watching movies and getting stuff ready for the race).  Did I mention I woke up at 12?

Now the actual Pre-Race:

I had everything packed the night before including 5 bottles ( 4 water, 1 gatorade). I had all my gear packed in my rowing duffel. So getting things ready was not really an issue, I just had to unplug my Garmin 500, and put on my race suit and my heart rate monitor; get my water bottles and head out.

I had my alarm set for 4:30, but I ended up sleeping till 5:45. Luckily transition didn't close till 6:55. I showered, did my business, brushed my teeth, ate some oatmeal, got my stuff together and headed out at 6:20. I was gonna be late. I hailed a cab, and because of security concerns and the race itself the closest he could get me was on the other side of the Lincoln Memorial. So I got out and ran. I made it into transition by 6:50.

I headed to my bike, put a garbage bag down (all of transition was disgusting as it had been raining the whole week prior) and started to unpack. I taped 2 GUs to my bike. I put 2 water bottles and 1 gatorade on my bike, left 1 in transition and took one out with me.

The start of the race was gonna be a time trial start into transition. I left my helmet in transition, and did not put my bike shoes on (I wore my running shoes). I left transition with just a water bottle, my sweatshirt and Chocolate Honey Stinger.

I walked around the staging area looking for my two friends, but didn't find either! I did run into two Georgetown grads (one of whom was in my age group). I hit up the portapotties a few times (this is relevant I swear!), and boy were there a lot of them. Stupidly everyone bunched up on the closest ones, but there were no lines at the ones a 30 second walk away.

The race started at 7:10, after a beautiful presentation of the National Anthem. My wave (32, and the 3rd to last to go) didn't go out will about 8:20ish. So there was a lot of waiting around. As my corral started to move into the transition shoot, I had to pee. I couldn't just leave my wave, and there were no portapotties in transition. I told myself to hold it, and that if I really had to go I'd pee on myself.

My group got the whistle to go, and I ran into transition and to my bike. It was a long transition, and muddy. I put my sweatshirt down, got my shoes on and my helmet + sunglasses. (and turned on my garmin).

T1: 2:08 (SLOW!)

Bike:

The course was an out and back on Canal Road. It was a really nice course. Lots of shade, but very very narrow; the outgoing flow had to share one lane (same thing for the return leg).

The bike was good. Like really good. I felt really great despite needing to pee the whole time. Had the course been a bit larger and less crowded I would have thrown down some faster splits. I hit 36 or 37 on some flats. I was cruising. I got passed by a few (3?) guys on the way out, and one girl. She blew buy me, so I wasn't too downed by that.

Right before the turn around, this girl who was riding a P2 caught up to me. We basically played tag the whole way back. It was a lot of fun and we through down some fast splits. I let her pass me about .25 miles before the dismount line. I wanted to just let my legs spin out before the run.

I think I could have pushed it a bit more on the bike, especially if I didn't have to leave aero so many times.

Nutrition wise, I lost a water bottle while drinking from it. Luckily I had 2 others. I didn't finish either. I had 2 GUs. I need to drink more on the bike.

Bike: 1:09 (21.6 MPH)

T2:

My legs were kind of shaky, but I managed. I drank some water, had a GU, put on my calf sleeves, changed my shoes and headed out. Oh and I still had to pee. The run out was very very muddy.

T2: 2:50

Run:


I can't find my Garmin ANT+ connector, so I don't have any real data on my run. Anyways this is how I felt.

The course was basically my stomping ground; down Independence on to 17th to Constitution (and past the Washington Monument) and then back down 17th to Hains Point, and back to Ohio Dr.

I started out great. I felt good. Except I was thirsty. Really thirsty. (even though I had to pee!). I had some water at the first aid station.  (I'm pretty sure it was the first mile marker as well).  I saw a volunteer and asked where the bathroom was, she said a bit further down. At this point I was running with a guy from Atlanta (who I'm pretty sure was in my age group). As we crossed the street, a few of my crew friends started chanting my name! It really motivated me.

He was starting to cramp up. So we stuck together for a bit. As we got closer to the 17th street turn around I asked another volunteer where the bathroom was, and he pointed back to the Washington Monument (that I had just passed). So I ran back to the bathroom. There was a short line. UGH! 2 minutes wasted.

After the turn around, I saw my friends again and gave one of them 2 of the 3 gels I had in my back pocket.  I started to cramp up on the slight downhill, but I didn't think about it and it worked! I didn't cramp up the whole race!

As we rounded the bend to get to the straight shot down to Hains Point, I felt really really good. I hit up every aid station, and grabbed 4-5 cups of water. 2 were poured on my head, 1 was for swishing around in my mouth and then spitting out and the last 2 were for drinking. It worked. I had the gel at about mile 2.5, right before the portapotties and the little indent to my usual bike loop.

The rest of the run was pretty insignificant. At around mile 5, I picked up a guy in my age group and told him to push it and just keep pace with me. He did, and he thanked me for the motivation. At about mile 5.8 (right before the little bridge between the tidal basin and the Potomac), my friends appeared! They started coxing me (rowing term meaning to coach and motivate) it pumped me up, and I dropped the guy in my age group. I sped up to what felt like a sub 8 minute mile. It was amazing.

I crossed the line about 3-4 minutes later.

Run: 57 minutes (~9:10 per mile)

Overall Time: 2:11:28

The next guy came in at 2:11:29, and the guy in front of me came in at 2:11:27. Ugh.

Things I need to improve on:
- waking up earlier to get to transition earlier
- faster transitions
- more running!


This week is an odd week. I have Savageman on Saturday. Monday was supposed to be a rest day, but I had to lead a bike for the tri team. Ended up doing a nice recovery ride around Hains Point (1:30). I followed that with 1:30 of hot yoga. I felt amazing afterwards, and I was exhausted. Boy did I sleep well last night.

Today I did a bike hill workout out in Virginia with the tri team. Boy was it hard. I'll write more about it later. Time for me to eat!

I'll post some photos as soon as they come out.

Happy Training.

Wild Thaang is racked.

And I'm ready. Well as ready as I'll ever be. Tomorrow is my first Olympic. A special Olympic triathlon because it's now a biathlon (not a duathlon); they cancelled the swim because of the disgustingness of the Potomac river. I've rowed when it's been this bad, and let me tell you it's not fun. There are some stories around the boat house of shells finding dead bodies in to Potomac...

The cancelled swim really suits me because the swim was gonna be my downfall.

I have rented Zipp 404s on my bike, and I've been riding them a lot. I really really like them (duh!). Hopefully I'll be able to work something out with my LBS.

I'm not too sure how tomorrow is gonna go, but I'm gonna give it my all (within reason considering I have Savageman next week).

I'm gonna carbo load tonight and eat a lot of pasta. Maybe watch a movie. Or go out for a bit. (Gotta be social.)

I'm planning on being at transition around 5:30 to set up.

My packing list:

- Garbage bags (to put my stuff on, the ground is all muddy)
- Bike Shoes
- Helmet
- 4 Water Bottles (3 for the bike (2 with water, 1 with Nuun) and 1 for transition)
- GU Gels (Chocolate)
- Tape (to tape my GUs to my bike)
- Running Shoes
- Race Belt
- GU for run
- Bandana
- Sunglasses
- Towel
- Sweatshirt
- Sweatpants
- Banana
- Phone w/ Headphones (gotta play some pump up music!)

Is there anything I'm missing?

OMG.

I've got a surprise. It's amazing. I'm like a little kid.

You know....

when you're race is right around the corner when you can't stop thinking about it.

I'm going into this week thinking how little I have prepared for the swim and the run, especially in these last few weeks. Not cool. I'm gonna hit the pool everyday this week. And do an hour bike. And run. Yes, too much too late. But still, it's good for me. Plus I'm thinking long term.

Biking is gonna be my strong suit. I love it. I could bike for hours. My goals for this week's race is 30-40 min swim. 1:10ish bike. 1 hour run. I think I can do it. My legs on the run are gonna kill me. I haven't been doing much because my shins have been on fire while I run. Not cool. Not kosher.

I'm going to get my zipp 404s put on tomorrow. No I didn't buy them. I rented them! My LBS (CyclelifeUSA) rents them for a week! WOOT!

I've been doing a lot of biking lately. And drinking. Damn college life.

I'm still figuring out my schedule, and I'm interviewing for an internship tomorrow. So everything is still up in the air.

I know this was an all over the place post, but I promise I'll post again soon. 

Countdown...

School starts today. End of summer. End of just training. Ugh. Not cool. I still haven't figured out my schedule. I'm debating between taking 5 or 6 courses. (The fifth and sixth would be relatively easy courses; the other four would be moderate to hard.) I probably should not do it because of

1) the job hunt for next year (all the recruiters are coming to campus this month)
2) I am probably going to intern somewhere (so thats 15-20 hours gone)
3) I wanna do really well this semester (spending lots of time in the hell hole named LAU aka the library—it is actually an architectural nightmare)
4) I need to train because I signed up for a Half Ironman in March.

Ok I should probably explain. I really want to do an Ironman within the next two years. Like really badly. So I think doing a 70.3 is a really good idea. It's also a good way to force my mom to come see me race (she backed out of coming to see me race at Nation's).

I've done quite a few workouts since I last posted.

Irene hit on Saturday, so I decided to get my butt up early (after a night of some drinking at the college bar). I was up at 8 AM, and headed down to Haines Point. Boy was it crowded. The weather was great though! Cool and crisp, my favorite weather. Anyways, my workout was supposed to be a 2 hour easy zone 2 ride followed by a 30 min run. It was marvelous. I averaged 17 mph during moving time! woot.
The run on the other hand was a disaster. Not cool. It was supposed to be 20 min at 10K pace (aka 8:30-8:45) followed by 10min at an easy pace. I hit my targets; 8:22 and 8:45, but my shins were killing me. Painful. I ended up stopping 5 min into the last 10 min to just let my legs quasi recover. I'm pretty sure I now have shin splints. CRAP.

Once I got back home, I grabbed something to eat and iced my legs. They felt soooo good. Funny story. I got a keg tub from the local liquor store, it's this massive black tub. By the time I got it (and the ice) it was raining. So I cleaned out the tub, put some ice in it and proceeded to use a brita jug (w/o the filtration system) to fill up the tub. Fun stuff.

It gets better.

I hadn't really thought the whole process through. Now I was on the top floor of my house. The tub was very heavy when it was filled. I couldn't lift it to the sink to dump out, nor to the shower. I didn't even attempt to pick it up to dump the water out of the window (it was raining pretty hard). I ended up using the brita jug to dump the water out my window! WOOT!

Saturday night, I stayed in. I lie. I went to a friend's house for a bit. I didn't drink (that much), and then just went home and passed out. The next day I had plans with a friend of mine to go on a ride. He had just arrived, and had bought a tri bike over the summer. Before going on the ride we took my bike to get its 30-day tune up. Everything went as planned. Got back to campus and went for a spin to my favorite spot: Haines Point. We did 1:20 pretty fun. After that we went to Ray's Hell Burger. AMAZING. I had a burger and a vanilla milkshake. YUM.

Monday: I went back to see my swim coach at AU. I'm pretty sure I did something else, but I don't remember. I got drunk off of a few beers. Oye.

Tuesday: Tried to go for a run with a friend of mine, made it 1.6 miles. My shins were killing me. NOT GOOD. I did a baseline bike test that afternoon. Felt amazing. The test part, I averaged 20. Eh. Not good. TOO DARN SLOW.

Today: FIRST DAY OF CLASS! AHH. The beginning of the end. Holy smokes. Still trying to figure out my schedule. This morning I did 1:45 with my friend from Sunday. Haines Point once again. Felt good.

Tonight I'm going to do some run surges. Might go running with the Georgetown Running Company. Not sure. AHH.

Oh and the Half Ironman is in San Juan.

I promise to write another post by the end of the week!

Happy training.

Woah.

It's already Friday. Holy Crap. School starts this coming Wednesday. Nation's is in 15 Days. Holy SH*T! Hopefully I'm ready for it. I don't think it's gonna be pretty, but I'll get through it. The swim is gonna be the worst.

Speaking of swimming. I haven't really done anything in the pool since I hurt my shoulder. While I was at the beach, I swam. (I'm not sure if you can call that training...) So I decided to get some more lessons to improve my technique. I asked my tri coach and she recommended a swim coach up at AU. She's great. I've had two lessons so far, and I'm planning on having at least 3-4 more. WOOT!

Tuesday, I went for an intense ride with a friend who just graduated. We did the MacArthur loop, and our average moving speed was 18MPH. I'm pretty sure we held 22 for quite a significant portion. After that I had my swim lesson. And then my bike fit! WOOOT. No more shoulder/arm pain!

Yesterday called for another swimming lesson and a practice 10K. The lesson went well. The 10K not so much. I warmed up for about a mile, stretch at the boat house (TBC) and then continued to warm up. I started out at a 9:30, got that down to a 9:10, then an 8:10. I went all out. I was dropping mid 7s splits. I was cruising. Then my calves started killing me. I tried this trick I read about at Erica's blog; count to 100 and if it goes away you're golden and it's your mind playing tricks. It didn't go away. I slowed my pace to 8:40 for the fourth mile. And I just stopped. My legs really hurt. So I just walked back, and my shins still hurt. By the time I was about half a mile from home, my shins were feeling a bit better. Not sure what it was. I probably should have iced it last night. Ugh.

My sister flew in last night from LA. She was visiting our dad. She goes to Columbia, and might be going up today to avoid Irene. Hopefully Irene won't ruin my planned workouts.

Happy training.

Wild Thaaang

I've named my bike wild thaaang. Last week was a good training week. Got back into the rhythm of things. The wednesday group run kicked my ass, but it was good. My run splits are dropping, as are my bike splits.

Wild Thaaang and I.

My coach is scolding me for doing too much in the no man's land that is zone 3. Urgh. Whenever I do something, I can't go slower than what i'm used to. I just go to where is comfortable, and try and make it as fast as possible. (hopefully that made some sense.)

My bike baseline test went really well. I jumped from a 18.6 MPH to 20.6 MPH in a little over a month. I felt really good on the test, and probably could have pushed it a bit more. But that's neither here nor there. Another bike issue: I'm starting to get pain in my upper arm, shoulder and upper back because of how far forward the cockpit is. I can't bring it in anymore because I keep hitting the handlebars/my elbows with my knees. Luckily I have a fit appointment tomorrow.

I was supposed to do a baseline run test on sunday, but that didn't happen. I had gone up to my friend's beach house on saturday for his birthday. We didn't really do much drinking, but I had forgotten my running shoes back in DC (intentionally?). His parents left on Sunday, and my friend wanted me to stay longer. I was really anxious to get back to DC to start training some more, albeit he did have a good point that I could swim there (both in a bay and in the ocean!). I ended up leaving yesterday. Partly because of the training, but also because my sister is coming to visit soon.

How I spent my weekend...

Swimming wise. Just some ocean swimming. I'm gonna meet with a swim coach on wednesday, and then again on thursday. I've gotta ramp it up.


My first olympic is right around the corner! AHH. Time to HTFU.

Oh and if this doesn't motivate you, then I don't know what will.

(Via DCRainmaker's Google+ Stream)

Tired.

So. Wednesday was my birthday. I also got a new seat for my bike (I still need to name it; it has to be something that oozes sexy (but not sluttiness), speed and sleekness.)! I can no longer blame (future) infertility on my stupid fizik bike saddle.

I went to dinner with some of my good friends (all rowers) at bourbon steak. I had a porterhouse. Yum. Oh and a bunch of oysters. yuuuuum. We ended the night at the tombs, and closed it down. Great birthday.

Thursday, I did about 1:30 ride.

Friday, I was planning on doing a half century ride. I decided to take MacArthur out to Falls Road to River Road. I only had 2 water bottles because I found my aero bottle to be very annoying. I finished both my bottles before the ginormous hill that connects MacArthur to Falls Road. I had to stop at a gast station and buy a bottle of water. I had 2 gels with me; a Honey Stinger and a GU Choco. At this point I hadn't taken either; just water. When I stopped at the gas station, I checked my phone and a friend of mine texted me she wanted to "christen" her new bike with a ride at 5 PM. So I had to cut my ride short. At this point I was about ~14 miles into my ride. I decided to continue and just turn around before I hit the 25 mile marker.

River Road.Is.Hilly.But.So.Much.Fun.

I loved it. The hills were insane. The descents are speedy. I hit a max speed of 41.5 mph on one hill. Talk about a high.

My heart rate was all over the place. Same thing with my cadence. I had planned on going out to Seneca Road and go back to DC via Rock Creek Park. But I turned around about 2 miles before Seneca. Pretty uneventful, except for the random car passing me and not giving the required 3 feet. Schmucks.

I got home, and took a long shower and stretched. I went to Chipotle and had a burrrrriiiittto. Yum. And then I went on a 10 mile ride at 5:30, after watching an episode of Suits (which is amazing btw). 

Today I woke up at 9, went on a run with a good friend of mine. I had to run 9 miles, she had to run 6, so I was gonna be running the majority by myself. It was supposed to be an easy run at 9:26 pace. We left Georgetown, passed the Kennedy Center, around Lincoln and then around the Washington monument. We were cruising at a comfortable (for me at least; it was supposed to be a hard run for her) 8:40. Once we rounded the Washington monument, I split off and went around the Tidal Basin and back to the Lincoln memorial and Georgetown. I thought it would be longer, but it ended up only adding about 3 miles more. So I only ran 7 miles at a comfortable 9:13. (I think the actual split should be lower because I had to stop for lights and water etc.) UGH. I didn't know where else to run so I just went home. I know lazy.

That's been my Thursday-Saturday. I'm still debating whether or not I should do something tomorrow. I may just go to the pool. 

One thing though. I've been having some pain in my shoulder/upper arm when I'm in aero for extended periods of time. I think its because my cockpit is too long. 

Anyways thats it.

M.I.A.

Sooo I've been MIA! Sorry about that.

Last thursday I went to a friend's beach house on an island off of long island. I stayed till yesterday. It was amazing. Just a lot of fun. There are no cars, and you bike everywhere. Oh and in this particular town no shoes, doors were left unlocked, etc. It was a blast. thursday was margarita madness. I don't have to say that friday was a recovery day. Saturday was the lobster party = DELICIOUS and then some drinking. I'm probably gonna go back up there in a few days (it's my friends birthday on the 20th).

Anyways.

I ended up not working out. Well. I swam in the bay and the ocean. And did a lot of drinking...

That brings me to today. It's my birthday. I did not workout today...I'll resume workouts tomorrow.

plug your ears

Yesterday I went for an 1:10 bike ride with some intervals thrown in. Felt good. Except for down there. I really need to get my seat switched out. I think I need to raise the cockpit a bit as well because my neck is really strained. After the ride, I went for a short run with a friend. Overall good workout.

After working out went with my running bud and a tri friend to surfside. Yum. We were soooooo full, so we decided to walk back. Great idea. Except I think I was bitten by a bunch of mosquitos. Not cool.
My running bud is living with me for a few weeks, but I have another roommate as well. My RB and I watched shark week when we got back, and pumped up the sound so we didn't have to hear my roommate and his girlfriend play the bagpipes. Fun stuff. Not.

Today calls for a tempo run and some swimming. I'm gonna throw in some lower body stuff as well. 

Past few days.

Lots of things have happened in the past few days. The major one being that I am now the owner of a brand spanking new 2011 Cervelo P2. And boy am I ecstatic. It's soooooooo beautiful. And sexy. I still need to name it. I got it on Thursday (or was it Wednesday, pretty sure it was Thursday). I didn't ride it till Friday because I wasn't sure if I was going to return it to the bike shop all the way out in VA and get a bike from a LBS. After consulting with the loving mom, I kept the cervelo. The guys at my LBS were a bit bummed for a minute, and then they helped me get some accessories for my baby.

Friday, I wanted to ride my baby, but had to go to the LBS and get the stuff put on (Edge 500, aero bottle, wing + cages). And get the icky reflectors off. By the time I got out of the shop it was close to 11. I was planning on heading up to NY on a 2pm train so I could be in the city by 5 and get my name down for a spot at the Spotted Pig. (See what I did there?! Oh and excuse my horrible grammar.) Back to the bike. I figured I only had 30 min or so to ride my bike before I needed to shower, grab lunch and jump in a cab to the train station. 

I took it down to hains point, and boy was it fast. It felt amazing. Up until the 25th min, when my nether regions started to....ummm....go numb? I eased off the aero bars and the pedals and took it slow. I definitely need to get properly fitted at my LBS. With that I made my way home, showered and went to NYC.

(The Spotted Pig is amazing. I had dinner w one of my best friends as it was her last night in the city before heading home and then to London to see her boyfriend. Great food. Great wine. Great company. Although I couldn't really sleep because of some acid reflux. Ew.) 

Saturday:

Went to brunch at Bubbys in Tribeca with her before she had to leave for the airport. sooo good. and cheap. I still felt the acid reflux, but I ended up running through it. Literally. Well kinda. I did 6 miles on the treadmill for my long run. I felt great. I ended up averaging 8:14. WOO. In reality the average was much lower if you ignored my cool down. It would have been in the 7:55-8:05 region. 

Had a friends birthday party. Yum. Went to artichoke pizza at 2 AM and ordered 5 jumbo slices. Ate 3. Left 2 in the hotel lobby. Delicious.

Woke up in the middle of the night w more acid reflux. (maybe its like shark week and only comes around once a year?!)

Sunday (funday?):

went to bubbys again with my hungover friends (I wasn't hungover because I only had 1 bourbon and ginger). then went to a friends house in connecticut. saw captain america. (horrible ending btw.) watched entourage. slept like a baby.

Today: 

caught a flight back to DC. did nothing. slept a bit. watched some suits. went to shake shack for dinner with a friend. and then watched shark week. now its off to bed...

tomorrow calls for a long ride on the new beauty + run and then an afternoon swim + gym workout. 

annnnd break.

The weather today

was just plain amazing. Even though it was 90°F, it felt like it was in the 70s. Probably thanks to the downpour on Monday. There was hardly any humidity.

Today's ride was great. I'm getting better control in the aero position. woot! I got passed by a peloton...yea yea. I had the urge to catch up to them, but I didn't. Gotta follow the coaches orders.

After my bike (~1h, 16miles — easy pace) around Hains point, I decided to go on a run given the weather. Well, after having lunch/breakfast. And a few episodes of Law & Order. (Speaking of which this is kinda creepy A Revenge Plot So Intricate, the Prosecutors Were Pawns from the NYT.) Back to my run. I ended up doing my usual loop: across Key Bridge, down by Roosevelt Island, across Memorial Bridge and down the path to the left (back towards the Kennedy Center). I stopped at Thompsons Boat Club, and walked home/tried to cool down. It ended up being 3 miles in 26:46 minutes, not to shabby for me.

I made some rice, an egg and some frozen fish for dinner. I wanted to go to bed early (~9-10), and I was in bed by 9:30! WOO! But then I got a text from a friend at around 10. She lives above Georgetown Cupcakes...and is friends with the "cupcake bouncer" (I am too...but I guess not to the same extent.). She got some cupcakes. And she had some salted caramel, which are my favorite! Although, I am committed to Baked & Wired, I'll eat a free cupcake. I jumped outta bed and headed to her place. Scarfed down 2 cupcakes and talked to her for a bit (about the debt ceiling and how her passport is still at the UK embassy...and she can't go to Greece!). Now I'm home. And in bed. And I'm on a sugar high. Shucks.

yesterday

My coach had me doing a swim workout. I had missed 2 of 3 swim workouts last week, so I was excited to get back in the pool. It was a simple workout. I breezed through the warm up, and started the first part of the main set (1 x 200; I'm a n00b in the pool. ugh). I felt great. Then at about the 150 mark, I something in my left shoulder start to hurt. It didn't hurt that bad, and I finished off the piece. I rested for a few minutes and massaged it as best as I could. I tried to do the next part of the workout (5x100), but I was about 12.5 meters into the first piece and my shoulder just felt insanely weak. I massaged it some more, and tried to stretch, but even that hurt. UGH. So I got out, tried to do some hot/cold water remedy in the shower. And yeah that's it.

It's feeling a bit better, but I'm bummed I didn't finish that workout. I'll probably tack it on sometime this week. 

I'm thinking of supplementing my coach's plan with some more running (she only has me running two-three times a week) and maybe Major Armstrong's pull-up/push-up work out. I started yesterday (w/ the Armstrong workout) and I am starting to think that the set of 3 x max push ups in the morning really strained my shoulder.

Anyways. Today's plan is to do 1h or 1h30 of nice easy biking and some lower body stuff. Apparently it's an easy/rest week. Shucks. I really need to get on top of my workouts. I may go see a movie (Captain America). Or I may just create a list of companies I like (read: that I could work for). I really need to figure out what I'm going to do after graduation. My mom wants me to get a job. I'm not going to go back to Paris, and I think I want to be in NYC. Oh and I want to travel a lot. Not that I don't travel a lot already.

Great video.

half century ...

well kinda.

I woke up this morning after going out last night. Had a great dinner with some friends at Central and then hit up some Georgetown bars. I ended up getting a rower friend of mine drunk (I hadn't gotten him a shot at Tombs on his 21st as is customary at Georgetown). Well, we both got drunk. And then I had late night. A slice of pepperoni pizza w/ ranch dressing, parmesan  and red pepper on top. Amazing.

I got up at around 6:30 (after going to bed at 2:30....), but stayed in bed/tried to sleep till about 8:30. Boy was I hung over.

I got ready and went for a long easy ride (which I was supposed to do yesterday! UGH). I crossed key bridge and took the curtis trail to the washington & old dominion trail. It was beautiful. AND NOT HOT! Well it was hot, but not scorching. My coach wanted me to do 2:30, but I ended up doing 3:15. I did about 44 miles along the WOD trail. And when I got back to key bridge, I decided to just do a half century. I took the Mt. Vernon trail to the Jefferson Memorial and then just headed back to Georgetown.

Great ride. It ended up being 49, but what's 1 measly mile!

One complaint about the WOD trail is those annoying stop signs. SO MANY. They interrupt my flow. Ugh. I know selfish.

Definitely going to do it again.

Once I got back, I made myself breakfast, had some milk, carrot juice and water. Yum. And then slept on the couch while watching an amazing time trial at the tour de france. Cadel Evans is a beast.

Anyways. Now for the rest of my day: perhaps a long run on the treadmill and a swim. That sounds like a plan. Oh and I'm probably gonna go look at bikes again. Mine is a bottom of the line trek that I think I've out grown. Not to mention it's been making weird noises. I've got to decide if I want a tri bike or an aero road bike.

Mini-Update

Yesterday I ended up just doing a swim, track and upper body/core. Today's plan is long ride+short run, swim, and lower body.

Oh my Garmin Forerunner 610 is kinda falling apart. 

Today's training

So I was behind on my workouts this week because I was in NYC until Tuesday night stuffing my face courtesy of my mom being in town. I missed a swim, lower body, and a tempo bike + run. Ugh. Yesterday my coach had a track workout and a swim planned. I ended up doing an 1h30 brick. Today she has me doing a swim and upper body.

My plan is to do 2 swims, the track workout and the upper body today. I've done the track workout and a swim. Going back to the gym after I eat.

Tomorrow calls for a long ride and a 20 min run. I'll add a swim and lower body. That should get me back into time.

I know I'm not supposed to do this, but I feel fat as fook. So it's ok. Plus what else do I have to do besides read.

Exactly.

Fuz

Background

This is my first post. I've decided to start a blog about my training, racing, goals, qualms etc. Obviously I won't let it be restricted to just that, but that anything related to triathlons will be the main focus.

Some background:
I am a senior at Georgetown University. I'm in the tri club. I'm a (former) varsity rower. I use (former) because my status isn't very clear to me; I may try to rejoin the heavyweight or lightweight team depending on how much I weigh. Duh.

There are a few reasons why I decided to try my hand at tris. I'm pretty sure my dad did one or two back in the day, which kind of planted the seed. What really packed in the seed was when my friend DN told me he was planning on doing a triathlon. So the idea stuck; I wanted to do a triathlon. Then some kids on the crew team quit and even though I was the slowest guy I was left holding the short end of the stick. (You need multiples of 4 for a boat. The team dropped from 20 — 2 8s and a 4 — to 17. So I needed to find a way to stay in shape (read: get in better shape) besides erging (rowing machine). Erging is literally the bain of rowing. It is the worst thing in the world. Ask any rower. Most people do not do it right, nor do they do it for long distances (5k +) and certainly NOT everyday. It gets lonely. And monotonous. Ugh. And there are only so many times you can play the same songs. That said, erging is the best cardio workout ever. EVER. just insanely boring. 

So I signed up for The Nation's Tri 2011 (Oly)  and joined the tri club. Then I signed up for the DC Tri (sprint) 2011. And then a tough mudder (oct 2011). I thought to myself making sure I get myself into shape for these events will most definitely make me competitive for the crew team.

That was in March/April 2011.

I trained with the tri club, it was fun. The arrival of May meant finals, meaning no working out. After finals I went home for a week (Paris) before returning to DC for graduation (still no working out). Then I went up to CT, NYC, Boston for about a week (still no working out). Finally I came back to DC around June 3. I did some workouts, but I wouldn't call it training. It was horrible. I also left DC every weekend.

Then came June 19 and the DC Tri. I had a caught a cough in NYC (I went back up the second weekend of june) and I hadn't gotten rid of it. I had also hired a Coach (AM); she suggested I not do the triathlon if I wasn't feeling well. Everyone else I talked to said to do it. So I did it.

It was AMAZING. I loved it. Even though I hadn't learned how to swim at that point. I swam the whole course on my back. I didn't care. I loved the bike, I was passing people left and right: sheer bliss. The run killed me, but I still enjoyed it. My 2 goals were to finish under 2 hours and to actually finish. And I did both.

I signed up for a bunch of different races afterwards. I love it. And I've been training, and really giving it my all —albeit with some hiccups here and there.

Anyways I am signed up for:

The Nation's Tri (11/9) — Oly
Savageman 30.0 (17/9)
Giant Acorn (2/10) — Oly
Tough Mudder (22/10) — 10.1 Mile obstacle course
Philadelphia Half Marathon (20/11)


I may add the Marine Corps 10K, Jingle All the Way 10K and the Key West Tri (Oly).

Anyways that's all for now.

Fuzzy

Oh and about my nickname fuzzy. Well I came to Georgetown with an afro. Well not an afro, but close. Anyways some guy on the team started to call me fuzzy. And it kinda stuck. (btw his nickname is Porkchop. He's a good friend.)