Hill Repeats in Central Park

The twist… on my bike, not on my feet!  First time I’ve done hill repeats on my bike.

I only have 19 days till the New York City Triathlon, and think I need a little more hill work on my bike.  So, last night, biked out to Central Park, did 3 hard repeats of Harlem Hill, and then a full loop of the park, including the hill again.  In all, it was about 17 miles.  Feeling great today, with the exception of my constantly nagging knee and groin.  Good news on the groin is that I found a stretch online that works the exact muscle causing me the most pain.  Trying to do that stretch once a day.  Still keeping it firmly in check.  Tendinitis in my knee is not as bad as it had been, and I’m continuing to ice it, and focus on lower body exercises at the gym.

Had a couple of other good workouts over the last week.

Ran 5.9 miles over the Williamsburg Bridge and back on Sunday morning.  It was a beautiful morning.  About 66 degrees with low humidity.  The sun was strong though, and was tiring on the bridge.  I had to stop at a bodega for water, which would not be necessary in cooler temps.  The bridge was not too crowded, and it was cool to see 3 other runners both times I crossed the bridge.  Guess I wasn’t the only one doing that workout!

On Saturday morning, I did a long bike ride at my house in New Jersey, from Little Silver to downtown Freehold and back.  Came out to about 29 miles.  The return trip was done about 7 minutes faster, I think because of the wind, and also I think the return trip has more downhills.  Length of the bike portion of the olympic distance triathlon (24.4 miles) does not scare me at all anymore!  As I mentioned, I just think I should work on hills a little more.

Also got a run in midweek last week.  It was on Thursday night, when it kept raining on and off.  Rained hard for my first 2 miles, which helped keep me cool in the humidity.  Overall, had a nice 4.6 mile run.

Just trying to keep on keeping on, in spite of the ‘discomfort’ in my knee and groin.  Very excited about the upcoming New York City Triathlon.  Biggest issue for me is swimming.  I have not been in the pool since my last sprint triathlon in Harriman State Park 3 weeks ago, and of course, the pool I go has been closed for the last week for renovations.  It opens tomorrow, so tomorrow, I will need to go swimming!

June 2009 in Review

Running – while the number is not that high (43.4 miles over 9 runs), I logged my highest June mileage ever!  June, July and August are my lowest months, respectively.  Happy to get almost 2 runs in per week, along with all my other activity.

Races – 1 (Triathlon at Harriman State Park – 1:55:19)

Biking – 62 miles over 3 rides – need to get out on the bike more often!

Swims – 3

Gym workouts – 2

Softball games – 3  (2 wins, 1 loss)

Injuries – 2 (tendonitis behind left knee going away; nagging groin not going away)

Sicknesses – 0

Perfect end to a perfect weekend

Had an awesome weekend.  Was off on Monday so spent almost 3 days down at my weekend house in New Jersey.  Topped it off with a long 8.7 mile run Monday night – more on that below.

Friday, kicked things off with an early morning run to East River Park.  It is notable that it was my 3rd early morning run in the last week and a half, not counting an early morning trip to the gym.  Starting to make a habit of getting up at 5:30 to get a nice workout in before going to work.  Friday morning was a little rough because of the humidity, still trying to get used to the warmer weather.  My splits for the 4 mile run were 18:22 and 18:23, pretty darn consistent if you ask me!  I think negative splits are too much to ask for in the humidity, so nice consistent efforts will have to do.

Friday night, went to Citi Field to watch my beloved Mets get pounded by the Yankees.  Despite the score, I had a great time.  Citi Field is such an upgrade over Shea.  It was nice to experience batting practice from so many outfield vantage points, and to enjoy Blue Smoke and the other great food options, and just be able to wander around the stadium during the game.  Was even very comfortable during the massive thunderstorm that blew through before the game.  Plenty of under cover areas to stay dry.  The place also just has so much more character than the old dump…

On Saturday, dragged all our stuff out to New Jersey (lots of laundry), including my bike.  Had a simple BBQ (just burgers and hot dogs) and then went out to the beach.  On Sunday, started my day with a 23 mile bike ride (see course here), followed by a more complicated BBQ (steak, chicken, corn and hot dogs) and then another trip to the beach.  The bike ride was really fun.  It is nice being able to leave my house in NJ, and immediately go into long ride mode as there are few traffic lights to stop at and the traffic is light.  I’m preparing for the New York City Triathlon, so was aiming for a 24-25 mile ride to approximate the race distance, but turned around a little too early, and settled for 23 miles.  This ride used to seem a little hard to me, but after recently biking in Vermont and then at Harriman State Park, where they have real hills, this ride seemed like a piece of cake!

Monday was also very relaxing.  Was able to sleep in and take it easy until the drive back to the city in the early afternoon.  Monday was a beautiful day, with low humidity.

I had already penciled in a run for Monday night.  The decision was how far to go.  With the nice weather, I decided to go a little long.  Summer months are always lowest mileage for me, and my June monthly record was only 42 miles.  I noticed that 8+ miles would break that record.  My 6 and 6.5 mile runs would not be enough, and I really didn’t feel like my 10.3 mile 3 boro 3 bridge route.  So, settled for a route that I rarely run, and haven’t done in almost 2 years.  Down East River Path, up Hudson River Path, and across 14th St back home.  That route is 8.7 miles, and flat, so perfect.  Biggest problem is the trip across 14th St requires a lot of car dodging, and lots of stops at the avenues, but that is OK as I was not so concerned about time.

Even though the humidity was down, the direct sun bothers me and the heat bothers me, so I decided to wait until the sun was well on the way down before getting started.  Got out around 7pm, and picked up a bottle of Powerade to help me stay hydrated.  First part of the run was to and through East River Park.  It was so crowded with runners.  I typically run the park early in the morning or very late in the day when it is not that crowded.  Not sure if it was extra crowded because of the nice weather, but there were dozens of runners in the park, which was really nice to see.

Tried to hold back a little in the first few miles, but the pace was about 9 minutes per mile.  A little too fast.  At about 1 mile, I drank from the water fountain in front of the track at East River Park, conserving my Powerade.  Good thing because I felt like I needed to stop often to stay hydrated.  In fact, the Powerade only lasted until about mile 4.5, heading back up the west side.  It is still quite a ways up to 14th St from there and really wanted to find some water.  Luckily, I thought, there was a detour around the construction site just past the World Financial Center and I passed the Pick-A-Bagel in Battery Park City.  Perfect place to pick up a water.  First though, they did not have the medium sized squeeze bottle, just the regular small size and giant size.  I refuse to pay 1.35 for the small water, so kept going.  The Runners Station was closed, as they are only open till 6pm, but salvation was found when I got to pier 40, where they have vending machines outside.  Was able to buy a Gatorade and continue on my way.

While not overly hot or humid, it was hotter and more humid than I care for, and I was definitely starting to lose it as I neared 7 miles and 14th St.  Caught the light and crossed over West St at the bottom portion of 10th Ave before 14th St, then up 10th, to the turn onto 14th St.  I was quite suprised to see people standing on the high line tracks, as I forgot that it was open, and that it overlooked 14th St in that spot.  I was starting to get a little delirious at that point and decided to have a little fun with the tourists staring down at 14th St by pointing and waving to them.  I was also able to see the great improvements made to 9th and 8th Ave’s as well.  So much easier to cross 9th Ave, now that most of the intersection is a pedestrian square and car free.  On 8th Ave, there is now a protected bike lane.

Anyway, even though I was overheated and my belly full from too much Ade (Power and Gator varieties), I was aided by having to stop a couple of times at traffic lights across 14th St, and was able to finish strongly in just under 1 hour 26 minutes.  For 8.7 miles, this is just under 10 min per mile pace.  Not bad at all with all the stopping.

Yesterday, my groin injury was acting up so no running yesterday or today.  The pain that I have (which I actually DO NOT experience while running) seems to be migrating now to the pelvis area.  I think it is time to get it checked out by a professional!  In the meantime, will continue to build in trips to the gym and off days, and continue treating with ice and stretching.

Some day, I WILL do a half ironman

T minus 31 days till the New York City Triathlon.  Need to get a good bike ride in this weekend.

I’m really high on triathlons after having a great time at Harriman State Park 2 weeks ago.  I WILL do a half ironman some day – they seem so cool.  I’ve getting notices from the Toughman Triathlon in Westchester that is coming up and I’m jealous that I currently could not come close to doing it.  2010 may be too lofty of a goal, but come 2011, I will complete a half ironman!

Did a 4 mile run to East River Park and back yesterday afternoon, after my 13 year old graduated from 8th grade / Middle School in the morning.  The humidity was up, and I had a tough time ‘finishing’.  Managed to keep the pace just under 9 mins per mile, but likely would have stopped to walk in the last mile if it didn’t start raining.  I HATE running in the summer!

Regarding the graduation…  It’s funny.  I’m 38 years old.  I don’t feel old, and even I don’t lament my birthdays going by – they don’t make me feel old either.  Maybe I’ll feel different when I get to 40 in a year and a half.  But, yesterday, my 13 year old graduating middle school and getting ready for high school in Sept struck me in an odd way, and actually is making me feel old.  I don’t like that!

Guess I gotta keep running! And biking! And swimming!

East River Park Promenade

Thanks to The Lo Down, I see the next section of the East River Park Promenade is finally open for business!  This is the section behind the track.  Hopefully they can get on with the rest of it quickly.  I won’t use the promenade section much, as I use the main road for my runs, but the faster they get the promenade all opened up, the faster they can repave the rest of the main road, which is in a very bad state of dips, valleys and holes, and good for swimming after it rains.  I was ecstatic when they repaved the northernmost section in the winter, and hope the rest can be repaved by this upcoming winter.

I remember the uproar when they first closed down the promenade (Daily News Article), just before July 4, 2001.  Only been 8 years…

My weekend

Just a recap of my recent activities:

Friday – in the summer time, I get out of the office early on Friday and so took advantage of the extra time to go to the gym for a workout.  With my leg issues, I focused mainly on my lower body.  Little surprised at how crowded the gym was in the mid-afternoon.  Seemed as if many were regulars.  It must be nice.

Friday night my wife did a comedy monologue at Magnet Theater, the culmination of the improv class she’s been taking for the last 2 months.  Just prior to the class, found I had a flat tire on my car (second tire in 2 months), which wiped out our plans to head to my New Jersey house Friday night.

Saturday – got the tire fixed first thing in the morning, and then went out for a nice 4 mile run down to East River Park and back.  Run actually felt great.  My leg injuries kept themselves to a minimum, and I felt like I ran a pretty good pace.

Sunday – Father’s Day so didn’t do much of anything.  Just took it reaaaaal easy.

Monday (today) – got up early for a run.  Decided to run my 6.5 mile Lower Manhattan Loop.  It was very hard.  I think it was a combination of the humidity, and also just not being accustomed to running long distances in the early morning.  Had to stop and walk at about mile 4 and then stopped again to buy a Gatorade at mile 5.  Then, tonight, played softball.  We had a really nice come from behind win 9-7.  Our record is 3-4, and we are still in this thing!

Anyway, I may or may not get up early to go to the gym tomorrow.  We will see!

Triathlon Race Report

Sunday was the 24th annual New York Tri/Bi-athlon Series at Harriman State Park, run by New York Triathlon Club.  This sprint tri consisted of a 1/2 mile swim, 16 mile bike ride and 3 mile run.  All in all, I did really well (for me), finishing in 1:54:41.  I felt like my time was great, but, in sharp contrast to running races, it is a little hard to compare the time directly between races.  This is because the distances in sprint tri’s are always slightly different.  For instance, the race I did last year was a .9 k swim (more than a half mile), the bike was 24k (little less than 15 miles) and the run was 3.1 miles.

What makes me most proud about this race was that it was very hilly, at least for me!  The bike course had it’s fair share of hills, including a 3 mile uphill in the middle, and, the out and back run was up and down hill.  Passed lots of people on the bike uphills, and ran very strongly throughout the entire 3 mile run.  This was a great tuneup for the New York City Triathlon, 5 weeks from this upcoming Sunday.  Now I need to double the swim and run, and add 8 miles to the bike ride.

Anyway, back to the race and day.  I always like to get to races really early, so I have plenty of time to calmly get myself ready to go.  Race was at  8am, wanted to get there by 6:30, which meant leaving the house at 5:30.  Problem was that I picked up my visiting sister-in-law and family from JFK on Saturday night.  Knowing that, I took a 2+ hour nap on Saturday.  So, when I got back from the airport after midnight Sat night, I had a hard time falling asleep.  Probably ended up with 3 hours of broken sleep.  Considering the nap on Saturday, and just being generally pumped up, I was feeling better than expected, but I know my body wasn’t as rested as it should be.

At 6:30, there were already lots of people at the park.  Joined the crowd in picking up my number, and getting my bike and all my stuff to the transition area.  Had lots of time, so was able to leisurely eat, change, use the bathroom, and place out the items I’d need at the various transitions.  Swim cap and goggles for the start.  Bike helmet, socks and sneakers for the bike, and then my running cap and Gatorade for the run.  With about 20 minutes to go, got my wetsuit on and headed out to the lake for the start.

Wave start was about 100 people per wave.  My number put me in the 2nd wave, with at least 2 waves behind me.  Good in the sense that there would be people behind me coming out of the swim, but bad in the sense that I’d be passed by a lot of people as the later waves got started.  I made sure to start at the back of the wave, since I would not be going fast.  The horn sounded, and we were in the water.

The swim turnaround was a giant orange buoy a quarter mile out in the lake.  It seemed really far away.  As I settled into my ugly swim, ran into problem number one.  I found that I had a very hard time seeing in my goggles.  I had blue tinted goggles, which I thought would be good for an outdoor swim.  Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day, and the water was kind of dark.  As a result, I could not see at all, and the goggles seemed to somehow get fogged up.  After about 1/10 of a mile, I decided to ditch the goggles.  I thought it would be better to see clearly with no goggles, than to not be able see with the goggles on.  Then, the problem would be keeping my eyes as dry as possible.  I wear contact lenses, and was very afraid of losing one, or both.  At one point, I almost lost one of them.  So, I did a breast stroke and back float to get through most of the swim.  Once all the fast people passed us by, I was able to hold my own among the slower people out there.  Eventually, I found a nice rhythm, and was able to comfortably finish the swim portion.  Was also very thankful to retain both contact lenses.

Swim – 24:39

My biggest goal of this race was not to finish last in the swim, and I did not!  About 16 people had slower swim times than me.  It will have to do for now, but clearly that can be improved over time.  Transitioning was a little rough.  It was about 100 yards from the beach to the transition area,  on pavement.  The trip could best be called a lumber.  During said lumber, I was able to get halfway out of the wetsuit.  Once I got to my bike rack, got the rest of the wetsuit off pretty quickly and got my socks, shoes and helmet on.  Then, on the bike course.

T1 – 2:59

Started out with a pretty easy pace, without pushing too hard.  The early part of the bike is where I hit my second problem – trying to get rid of the excess air I accumulated in my body in the swim.  When I swim, I know I don’t breathe properly, and eventually feel like I need to let out an enormous burp.  I noticed this in my triathlon last year, and then again this time.  All of a sudden, I felt a big urge to burp, but couldn’t actually get it out.  Of course, I didn’t want to stop and get off the bike to burp, so tried to slow down, adjust my position, and figure out how to make the burp come.  I even tried patting my back (as best as one can pat themselves on the back) as one would do to burp a baby.  Eventually, in about the 2nd mile, on a downhill stretch, the burp did come.  Then, I was off to the races.  Eventually, I will hire a swim coach and learn to breathe the right way, to hopefully avoid this issue.

With the burp behind me, I started to push on the bike.  Early miles are flat to manageable hills, then about 4 miles in, there is a long downhill stretch, following by a 3 mile uphill.  To make matters worse, at the bottom of the long, and steep downhill, was a very tight u turn which takes you uphill.  I had been warned about this and so was able to downshift prior to hitting the turnaround.  If you forget to downshift, it will be really hard to get going up the hill, and some people lose their chain and have to stop to fix.  In extreme cases, people that don’t realize the turn is coming take it too fast, and wipe out on the turn.  As I said, I was prepared for the turn and did it really well.  The next portion, the 3 mile uphill was really, really hard.  As hard as it was for me, it was hard for everyone else too, and I was even able to pass a few people that really had a hard time with the hills.

I tried to take some time to simply enjoy the scenery in the park.  Parts of the ride were through wooded areas, with nice views of streams and rapids.  Lots of wild life about, and a deer actually crossed the road in front of me at one point.  Also passed several lakes, one of which was completely fogged over.  Just a beautiful scene all around.  The last few miles were mostly straight, and not so hilly, so was able to keep a nice pace to the end of the bike ride.

Bike – 1:01:10

Had a very fast transition to the run because my bike rack was very close to the entrance to the transition area.  Got my bike back on the rack, traded my helmet for cap, took a large swig of Gatorade, and was then off on the run.

T2 – :41

The start of the run was tough on the muscles.  Hurt for about the first 50 steps.    Then stopped at the water stop for water, and when I started up again, my legs felt OK.  Heavy, but OK.  First half mile of the run was a pretty steep uphill.  I like uphills, and do pretty well on them, so this didn’t phase me too badly.  Pushed up to the top of the hill, and then entered a bit of a downhill.  On the downhill, settled into a very steady pace.  Held back even a little bit, because it seemed like the rest of the run out was downhill to the turnaround point and I expected an uphill after the turn around.  Funny thing was, when I got to the turnaround point, we were actually going downhill.  Somehow I was confused, and thought we were going downhill approaching the turnaround, when in fact, we were uphill!  Wild.  With the mind playing tricks on me at a little sprint tri, I’d hate to see what kind of crazy things the mind will do when doing ironman distance races.  Anyway, the return trip was pretty easy, especially with the steep downhill the last half mile.

Run: 25:50

Felt great after the race.  After drinking some more Gatorade and eating a banana, cheered in a bunch of the people still finishing up.  Then the long drive back to the city, and a well deserved 2 hour nap in the afternoon.

Again, I was very happy overall with my time and experience.  I’m starting to become hooked.  I can see myself doing 2-3 tri’s per year.  Next priority is to work harder on the bike and practice uphills.

 

 

Transition Area

Lake at Harriman State Park

 

Back in the morning run routine

Got out for a morning run.  Hopefully today is the start of a good new habit of morning workouts.  Yesterday was the last day I needed to get my 7 year old out of bed at 6:30 and out of the house at 7:05.  That schedule was just not conducive to morning workouts.  My kids don’t sleep till 10:30 or 11, and then it is really hard to get up any earlier than 6am.  Therefore, morning runs have been scarce the last 3 years.  Katie will be at a new school next year, closer to home, so the new morning routine in Sept will hopefully allow for running or time at the gym.  It is also quite possible that I was inspired by Jason and Ari, who both wrote about morning running this week.  Some of my friends on dailymile also run and workout in the morning, which is great.

Anyway, back to today’s workout.  4 miles total, out to the bottom of East River Park and back.  Felt very sluggish, either because of not being used to the morning, or still shaking the cobwebs from my triathlon on Sunday.  In terms of injuries, my groin only bothered me at the beginning, and loosened up within the first half mile.  My ice and stretching is, I think, helping to keep the problem at bay, and I think it is finally starting to get a little better.  The tendonitis behind my left knee also did not bother me at all today running, although I still feel it when I press around the area with my fingers – will continue the ice treatments.

Total time was 37:16.  2nd half was slightly slower than first half.  That is a big sign that things weren’t perfect.  Normally, I negative split this course.  Should have happened today as well, since I was running into the wind in the first half and with the wind the 2nd half.  Rain was also a factor.  While it was light when I started out at 6:30, it got progressively heavier and I was soaked through by the end.

We’ll see if today is a one-shot deal, or if I can make it a habit again…

Triathlon Tuneup in the Books

I wish I had more time to write these race reports   Full report to follow. 

Yesterday I finished the sprint triathlon at Harriman State Park organized by New York Triathlon Club.  I had an awesome race and finished in 1:54:40, unofficially.  There was some kind of issue with the timing chips, and the official results are still not posted on the site.

The swim was rough, I was better than decent on the hilly bike course, and I rocked the 3 mile run.  Again, full details to follow later in the week.

Picture of the lake and the transition area.

Triathlon prep

In final preparation mode for my second triathlon ever, and my first of the year.  I’m running (I wonder, do you call it running, or something more generic, like participating?) in a sprint triathlon at Harriman State Park on Sunday.  I’m worried that I’m woefully unprepared for the overall event, the transitions, and the swim.   Just in normal pre-race panic mode.  Have been working on necessary preparations though:

1. Yesterday managed to get my wetsuit on and off.  Getting that thing on is not easy.  Once you get it on, it is then also not easy to get the zipper up.  Was able to remember the tricks from last year, and it went pretty well.  Feeling good then about getting it on and off.  Although, the wetsuit itself is NOT comfortable, so not looking forward to wearing it pre-race.
2. Completely cleaned my bike chain and drivetrain, then re-lubed it up.  That was a very, very, very messy job.  I’ve had my bike for 2 years, rode over 1100 miles, but have never made any attempt to clean the chain.  While it doesn’t look like new, it looks very clean, and is no longer totally black and gunked up.  I don’t know how much faster it will make me in reality, but mentally, I think it will be a big help.
3. Cracked open my “Your First Triathlon” book, by Joe Friel, for some last minute inspiration and preparation.  Bought the book about 3 years ago when I first had thoughts of maybe doing a triathlon some day, and then read through it last year when I was getting ready for my first.  This time around, just skimming the highlights, and it is helpful also from a mental perspective.

Otherwise, excited about the race.  Coincidently, found out that a woman who works in my office, and also a beginning triathlete, is participating in the same race, so at least I’ll have someone to commiserate with beforehand.  She is also not strong with the swim, so it may be a race between us to see who is last out of the lake!

Will try to make tomorrow a restful day, and cross my fingers for good weather Sunday morning…