Archive for the ‘bike’ Category
March Madness Race Report
Yesterday was the March Madness Biathlon in Central Park. First the vitals:
- Overall time – 1:28:08
- Overall place – 197/376
- Age Group – 26/41
Splits:
- Run (2.3 miles) – 19:41
- T1 – 1:00
- Bike (12 miles) – 46:10
- T2 – 1:42
- Run (2.3 miles) – 19:32
History of Central Park Biathlons:
- 9/16/2007 – 1:24:45
- 3/30/2008 – 1:26:17
- 3/28/2010 – 1:22:44
- 3/27/2011 – 1:28:08
As you can see, it was not my best. Actually it was my worst. But I was sort of expecting it because I haven’t been on my bike much, I was sick last week, and have had a few nagging injuries. With the negative stuff out of the way, I can say I really had a great time. There is NOTHING better than being in the transition area of a triathlon or duathlon and just taking it all in. Even yesterday, when it was 28 degrees before the race, everyone was so upbeat and excited about racing. It really was a great time.
As far as my race goes, I went out a bit tentative on the first run, and then settled into a consistent 8:30-8:45 pace after cat hill. I found I was able to catch quite a few people that must have charged up the hill and then found they could not sustain it for the full 2.3 (I’m calling it 2.3, although the official distance is 2 miles) distance.
I blew through T1 very quickly. It helped that I didn’t need to change my gloves. I only needed to get my helmet on and get on my bike.
I was surprisingly consistent on my bike on the 2 loops. My best time for a loop around the park is just under 20 minutes. I completed the first loop yesterday in 22+, and then was also pretty strong on the 2nd loop, just a hair slower. The only problem I had was at the top of harlem hill the 2nd time around, when my chain came loose and then got stuck really badly. An experienced bystander thankfully was able to help me get it loose. I lost about a minute in total.
I had a little trouble in T2. The bike rack I was assigned to was a little low to the ground and I could not secure it with my seat. I needed to use the handlebars. I unfortunately forgot this when trying to rack the bike, when I went for the bike seat. When I realized my mistake, I had to get the bike all turned around again, which took some time. Also, with my frozen feet, I was a bit slow getting through the transition area.
I did well on the last run. It literally took about 1 mile for me to gain all feeling back in my feet because of the cold. But once I got into my groove, I really was able to set a good 8:30-8:45 pace. It felt like I was picking people off one by one. I probably passed about 20 people in total on the run, and only got passed myself 3 or 4 times. The finish is in front of the boathouse parking lot on the way down cat hill, and so this remains the only race I regularly run where the finish is on such a sharp downhill. It makes for a fast finish for sure! This downhill finish is even better than the downhill finish of Coogan’s.
Interestingly, the first run and last run took me exactly the same amount of time. My official time shows a 9 second difference because the start was not chip timed, and it took me 9 seconds to get to the start.
All in all I had a blast again, and can’t wait to do this race again another time. And yes it was cold, but interesting enough, I went back in my running log and saw that when I did this race in 2008, it was also the same 28 degrees at the start! So perhaps not so unusual. Afterwards, sampled a muscle milk (yuck) and picked up a few Zico Coconut Waters, which were the perfect recovery drink.
Next up, 13.1 New York on Saturday morning…
Flat Tire in NJ
Got a flat tire on my bike ride today in NJ. You can see the incompleteness of my route in the picture. This was not supposed to be a point-to-point ride 🙂
I’ve been trying to ease back into biking, in the lead up to the March Madness Biathlon, which is coming up in 2 weeks. I decided to try and ride at my weekend house in NJ. I just love riding my bike out in NJ. There are limited traffic lights, limited traffic, and lots of country roads with shoulders and room to ride. It is so refreshing not to have to first get somewhere, like Central Park or West Side Highway or to the outer reaches of Queens or Brooklyn, before getting into a good riding rhythm. I can get right to it practically outside my door.
I intended for this to be a 12 mile loop. I was a little discouraged by the fairly strong wind, which I was riding into to start. That would mean I would be with the wind to finish up and I was really looking forward to that part. However, I would never get there. About 6.5 miles into the ride, I could hear the telltale sound and bumpy ride indicating a flat tire. My first thought was that this would not be a problem because I have my patch kit. This would be a good practice for tire patching, and I’d be back on my way in no time. My second thought was that I forgot to bring a spare tube with me, so that if I had a problem patching it, I would be stuck.
I got the tire off, and the tube out, fairly easily, and found the problem spot. Unfortunately, when I dug into my patch kit, I found that the rubber cement was in bad shape. My kit is old, I think almost 3 years now, and the glue was just mostly dried up. I did the best I could, but after 30 minutes, 2 attempts to ride, and running out of CO2 to pump it up, I knew it was a lost cause. My wife doesn’t drive, and so I needed to call a cab to get picked up (how embarrassing).
Anyway, lesson learned. I always need to have my spare tube with me, and need to make sure my patch kit is fairly fresh. Although the ride was short, it was a good one, into the wind, and tending uphill, so a good workout with an elevated heartrate. Looking forward to getting out on my bike again soon…
First Ride of the Year
While I will run in just about any weather condition, and usually enjoy myself, on the bike I’m a bit of a wimp. I don’t like riding in cold weather. I don’t have the right gear, and having my extremities cold is really annoying, and so I just bide my time until the weather warms before I get my ride of the year in. I wasn’t planning to ride my bike today, but the day was much warmer than I expected, in the upper 50’s, and I had time in the afternoon, so I took advantage.
It worked out nicely because the reality is that I need to start getting on my bike. I have the March Madness Biathlon coming up in 3 weeks, which includes 2 loops of hilly Central Park. I’d like to get a bunch of bike training in before then to have a strong showing on the bike. Then it will be time to focus on my planned tri’s, Red Bank Triathlon on May 15 and then down the road, Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains. Since it was my first ride, and I didn’t have a whole lot of time, I just went to East River Park, which is flat, to do some intervals. What I wasn’t counting on was the (seemingly) gale force winds blowing out of the south. At least it seemed that way. Consider this – my hard intervals heading into the wind were only at about 12 MPH, while my hard intervals coming back with the wind were in the 22-23 MPH range. Those are speeds I’d expect to see when working on the tough hills in Central Park, not on the flats in East River Park.
It was about 10.4 miles in total. I really enjoyed myself and hopefully it is warm enough that I can get out 2 times per week. In the early weeks I expect to keep all my rides to 1 hour and slowly work in hills leading up to the Biathlon.
I enjoy comparing to prior years to see comparisons. Here are my first rides of the prior years, since I bought my bike in June 2007
- March 20 2008 – 4.1 miles up and down 1st and 2nd Ave
- March 7 2009 – 13 miles – to Central Park and a full loop
- March 8 2010 – 10.3 miles – loop to Queens and Brooklyn over Queensboro and Williamsburg Bridges
Turning the Page
Yes, yes, I know, late again with my race report. Still working (in theory) on my Chicago Marathon race report. The short version is that it was a great day, a great race, hot, sunny, with lots of walking late in the race, and super glad it’s done!
Time to turn the page, and my attention is now fully turned to my next major race, the First Light Marathon, on 1/9/11. This race is happening, as plane tickets are purchased, and hotels are reserved. Looking forward to a couple of days in New Orleans, and then a fresh marathon PR (hopefully) in Mobile on race day.
I don’t really create training plans, except to ballpark the dates and distances of my long runs. I was originally planning my first long run last weekend, but then had a chance to go for a fun (leaf peeping) bike ride up to Piermont with some twitter friends. Couldn’t pass that opportunity up and so postponed my first long run a week, to this week. Of course, forgetting that, I was thinking I might drive out to Eisenhower Park for the LIRRC 5 miler on Sunday. Unfortunately, I’ll run long this weekend instead, and have to put running in a LIRRC race off to another time.
Met with the group (@dnorton, @bklynrunner, @jenbolstat) by 8am, on a perfect day for bike riding, warm (not hot) and very little wind. Meeting spot was the George Washington Bridge, and we headed over the bridge and up 9W about 16 miles to Piermont. After a stop at Bunbury’s Coffee Shop for some awesome muffins, we headed out for a look from The Pier, which has an awesome view of the Hudson River. Then turned around to head back. The hills are a bit nastier on the way back, but managed to get through it. The ride was much easier with friends! I took the subway to and from home rather than add the necessary 20 miles to bike the round trip – no sense in pushing things if not currently training for anything on the bike.
Then yesterday I decided to join up with Josh and his crew for speed work. They informally meet for speed workouts in Central Park each Tuesday. Now that I am also speed working, and the day worked out for me, I decided to be a little social and meet up with more folks I know through Twitter but had not really met before. @speedysasquatch led the way, and I was joined by @sharonpaige, @magdalenafox and @herroyaltallness. I was arguably the slowest of the group, but no matter. Did my best to keep up on the 6 x 800 meter workout at the Great Lawn, which was followed up by a blast of core work which I’m definitely feeling today! I believe I won the ‘dirtbag’ award afterwards, as both the newcomer, and the dirtiest of the bunch after literally using the dirt and lawn (and surrounding acorns – ouch) to support the core work. In all, ran about 5.3 miles (I think because I forgot my watch/GPS at home) – good work.
In other news, since the marathon I have been dealing with some pain in my right heel/foot. Nothing major, noticed it early, and a regimen of ice twice daily seems to have done the trick, so I’m feeling back to full health. I’m looking forward to my long run this weekend, continuing speed work, and working my way back into the shape required to NAIL a 4:30 (really 4:22 PR) marathon in January.
Marathon Fever is in full swing, as the MCM folks get to strut their stuff on Sunday! Good luck to you all…
19 Days to the Chicago Marathon
19 days to the Chicago Marathon! And I have a lot to talk about today…
1) Mostly had a rest day yesterday, after the 20 miles on Sunday. Felt good, no unusual pain or difficulties. I did have a softball game last night, which was fantastic. I had a particularly good game and great contributions to help my team to a hard-fought 6-3 win. In fact, I ran the bases 3 times without injury and was able to turn on the ‘burners’ when needed. Playing softball does worry me, and has caused me problems in the past, in the hip and/or groin area, due to the cutting and sprinting and sudden movements. However, yesterday was just very fluid, natural, and injury free!
2) Followed that up with a nice bike ride this morning. Still in recovery mode from the 20 and did not want to run. A nice easy bike ride was, however, perfect. 9.9 miles around the Manhattan greenways, cutting across 20th St. So flat terrain, no hills. The ride did not tax my sore muscles, although I felt it in my quad in the last miles. My legs are still a bit sore today, but I plan an easy recovery type run tomorrow, and then hopefully some harder runs through the weekend, before my taper technically begins.
3) Last night, I received in the mail my Chicago confirmation and guidebook. I honestly was not caring about this at all, and had internally been scoffing at the people posting their MCM bib numbers, as if it really means anything other than artificial early excitement so far from the race. However, I have to say, I got caught up myself, as my bib number is awesome, for ‘me’… My number is 11971. Really just an ordinary number, until you consider that my birthday is 1/9/71, and so this is about as perfect a number as I can get. 1971 is my birth year, 1-1971 is my birth month and year. If you exclude the first 1, 1-9-71 is my birth date. And, to top if off, my mother-in-law’s birthday is 11/9! So, I am viewing this as good karma, and the first sign that my Chicago Marathon experience will be awesome!
24 Days to the Chicago Marathon
24 days to the Chicago Marathon! My goal was to ride my bike this morning, and run tomorrow morning, but I didn’t get the ride done.
My plan was to be out the door by 5:30, go to Central Park for 2 loops, and be back by 7am, when it would be time to get Katie (my 9 y/o) ready for school.
Couple of things happened. First, last night, I noticed some discomfort in my hip, a recurrence of nagging pain I had last year. Not serious, but one of those little signs the body gives to slow down.
Second, at 5am, simply could not get up. Well, I could get up, but my personal trainer constantly preaches time to rest and recover and to get enough sleep – essentially the importance of recovery. Since I am seeing him today at lunchtime, I decided an extra hour of sleep was called for, and skipping the ride would keep me fresh for the lunchtime workout.
I preferred to sleep until 7, but it turned out my wife was sleeping in too, and one of us needs to be awake to make sure my 14 y/o gets up (by 6) and out of the house (by 7) on time. So I got up at 6, got freaked out by some things at work, and worked from 6 to 7.
It is a sad state when getting up at 6 is sleeping in, but it is what it is. My hip feels better today, and I’m feeling well rested. Depending on how intense my personal trainer session is today, I may or may not ride tonight, and definitely plan for a 4-5 mile run in the morning. Then off day Sat and 20 miles (last long run) on Sunday!
Previous entries:
Back on the bike
I’ve been meaning to get back on my bike for quite awhile. I did a ride in late January, but have been unable since then. February was rough in terms of cold and snow and conditions just didn’t allow for me to ride outside. Also, the last 3 weekends were dominated by races or long runs, and I was afraid to ride outside and mess myself up for critical runs.
But, I’ve got the March Madness Biathlon in less than 3 weeks, which entails 2 full loops of Central Park (plus 2 miles before and 2 miles after, both of which include UP cat hill!), and I need to get going on the bike. Last night was perfect to get out. The temp was 55 degrees, at 9pm, absolutely perfect.
So, pumped up the tires, rounded up all the gear, and went out. My course was the reverse of my favorite 10.3 mile medium range run, namely, up 1st Ave to 60th, over the Queensboro Bridge, down Queens to Pulaski Bridge, through Greenpoint and Willamsburg, over the bridge and back up 1st Ave.
The other interesting factor are my elbows. They were both in a lot of pain at the end of the bike season last year. I saw my doc twice, and did a bunch of rehab in the gym. My left elbow is completely better, and my right elbow is much, much better. The right elbow will hurt if I sleep on it incorrectly, which will make it achy for a couple of days, but lately I’ve noticed it not hurting as much. And on the ride, my left elbow was totally fine, but the right one was achy. It seemed totally fine after the ride. So, for now, will try to limit my rides to an hour or so, continue rehab in the gym, and hope I can keep it under control.
I believe my elbow problems could be due to my bike fit not being right. Will try to get to a real bike shop for a real fitting, and get everything properly adjusted.
I have been concerned I won’t have enough miles under my belt before the race, but, when I last did this race, in 2008, my first time on the bike was only 10 days before the race, and I only got 34 miles in ahead of time. This year, I’ll have twice as many days, and should be fine…
In other news, Rhode Races (Providence Marathon) is in 54 days!
Great long bike ride yesterday
Only 13 days till the New York City Triathlon! Nervous about it in generally, and most specifically, nervous about the swim. Since the pool I go to has been under renovation for the last 2 weeks, its been 4 weeks since I have last gone swimming. Pool supposed to be open again as of today, so I should still be able to get 4 swims in between now and race day.
Thanks to all the bike riding I’ve done lately, the tri distance of 24.4 miles does not scare me at all anymore. Yesterday was my longest bike ride ever, at 36.5 miles! See the main course here. At the end I was really beat and didn’t feel like biking through the streets of Queens and Brooklyn all the way back to the city. So, I hopped on the A train, took it to Fulton St, and biked another 2.5 miles from downtown Manhattan back to my apartment.
It was a great day for bike riding, although a little windy. Headed over the Manhattan Bridge, through downtown Brooklyn and then down 3rd Ave to the 68th St pier. Took in the sights for a moment, and then followed the path along the Belt Parkway around to Coney Island. Picked up a corn dog, and then followed the bike path all the way around to Flatbush Ave and took a right turn to Rockaway. Brief stop at Riis Park to admire the beach, and then heading back to Queens by the long, long, long way of Cross Bay Blvd. All in all, a great ride, and I’m hardly sore today, which is great news. Took a few pictures, which you can check out on my DailyMile profile.
Was quite active over the last week. Had good longish runs (6 mile range) on Thursday and Saturday, and rode my bike to and from softball on Wednesday.
On tap for this week is the gym and pool today, running tomorrow, softball (bike ride to/from again?) Wednesday and then time to start my taper into the triathlon…
One last note, so very thankful for the low humidity July. Really making for nice training weather at a time of the year where that is usually not the case!
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!
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.
4:30 or Bust: A Quest for Marathon Mediocrity 