Friday, October 28, 2011

When 1/2 > 1

We are heading out to Yosemite for a fun weekend for some medium hikes and way above medium views. If you have never been, put it on your list. Half Dome is incredible. The falls are spectacular. We are staying at the late 19th century Wawona Hotel, living the way John Muir envisioned life when visiting the park.
Hopefully a few runs will get snuck in, but if they don't it won't be the end of the world. This is a getting back to nature weekend, especially when compared to last weekends boondoggle. Hopefully I will have a few photos from the weekend showing how amazing the park is.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Taquito = Small Fried Burrito

Blogs are fun to read when you have some down time. I am treating the current book I am reading like a blog. Read a few pages over a burrito a couple times a day. Today my readers, you only have time for a taquito. Sorry, I had more important things to write.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Benefits of training with people who are fun to talk to.

Today's morning workout was a run with good people. Plain and simple. There was no specific plan I had other than finish with some hill repeats and a few jumps. But before that, I headed out with about a dozen OC runners of all ages and speeds. When you run with a group like this you barely know you are running. Someone has a funny story, someone has a sad story. People talk about work, about a great weekend. Past or future training.

And what ends up happening is you've ran 50+ minutes covering who knows (and who cares) how many miles. What you do know is you had a great time, refreshed some friendships and maybe made a couple new ones.

I admit to being a tad of a loner as an athlete, but this turned out to be my limiter as a PRO. Maybe I am more of a social athlete than I thought.

Thanks for the run guys and gals, let's get a group together for a ride...

Monday, October 24, 2011

How to make up for a bad training weekend?

The short answer is, don't!

One of the more dangerous (in training terms, not life or death terms) things athletes do is try and make up for missed training sessions. If you have x planned for one day and y planned for the next, doing x+y on the second day does not equal the two successive days of training. The reason is the compounding effect of training in terms of stress.

For many racers who have done a 1/2 marathon and a full marathon know, that marathon was more than 2 times as difficult/stressful as the 1/2. Imagine this scenario, would you rather run a 1/2 marathon 10 days in a row, or run 5 marathons, one every other day for 10 days? I suspect you would choose #1.

So let's take a look at my weekend. Life took over, I had a great time rooting for OC athletes on Saturday and had a great day yesterday. No training, no problem. Get back to consistency tomorrow and continue the progress made this off-season. What I won't do is try and do the mileage I may have missed the last few days.

Slow and steady wins the race. Lot's of baby steps is faster than a giant leap off a cliff.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Let the games begin!

This weekend is the second annual Olympic Club versus New York Athletic Club "ball sports" Olympics. It should be a fun weekend and hopefully the OC can have a better showing than last year when the big city lights seemed to distract the west coast athletes.

Let's take a hypothetical look how the Olympic Club will fare this weekend and how we would do in some of the other sports.

This weekend:

Men's Basketball: Since the NBA is not playing right now I assume Lebron is playing for NYAC.
Prediction: NYAC comfortably wins.

Men's Soccer (9:00am): Slight advantage NYAC if they bring ringers. I hope OC home field advantage gives them the win.
Prediction: 3-2 OC

Women's Soccer (11:00am): Advantage OC. Team is down a stud defender due to injury but should be able to out-score NYAC.
Prediction: 4-3 OC

Men's Lacrosse: I can only assume NYAC crushes the OC. East coast versus West. 'Nuff said.
Prediction: A lot - A little NYAC

Rugby: Sounds like both teams will have some recruits (ringers) playing so it should be a good fight.
Prediction: High scoring close game won by OC.

M&W Water Polo. If the OC does not win (we are in CA people!) then NYAC cheated.
Prediction: OC wins both (unless NYAC cheats).

Other sports:
Golf: We have a course and they don't, but I bet they have some members with pretty good sticks. Advantage OC but I bet NYAC would win.

Tennis: They have courts just like the OC but I bet they play more tennis. NYAC wins.

Handball: I hear the OC has a damn good handball team. I would assume NYAC is good as well, but I am going to predict an OC win.

Running: We have a pretty studly and rather deep team. Not sure about NYAC but I would assume they are solid since running is one of the few things you can do outdoors (cycling is tough in NYC). But we have Albert. Advantage OC.

Ski & Snowboard: OC

Squash: NYAC

Swimming: OC (no-brainer)

Triathlon: OC (no-brainer)

Cycling: OC  (no-brainer)

OC = 11 wins
NYAC = 5 wins

But that only assume NYAC doesn't cheat.

Go OC!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Shake! Shake! Shake!

We are very spoiled to be living in California. Great weather, great roads, fast training partners. Heck, last New Year's day I jumped on the ocean in the AM, ate a gourmet buffet and then was in the snow that afternoon. There are very few places on earth you can do that.

But today we had a small but solid jolt to remind the rest of the country why they are scared to live in CA. An earthquake shook the bay area centered in Berkeley. Nothing to worry about, but a good reminder that there are many things we cannot control. Mother Nature, Father Time, and Crazy Uncle Fault Line.

Things we can control? Training. It is still October but I am having fun getting some non specific training in. Ask @WillRiff what I mean.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Value of a training partner

Thanks to Will for getting me to the gym today. I probably would have gone anyway, but there is something about having a partner for the session. It almost feels like today did not count mentally, but I got the physical benefit.

Training solo exclusively is tough mentally. Training exclusively with partners may not be optimal as well. But get in a good mix of solo sessions and group sessions and you can maximize your mental and physical growth.

I will train again tomorrow, and probably solo, but today felt like a mental off day but I know I put in some good work.

Find an occasional partner. It will help your training, especially when you don't get the weekly races like we do mid-season

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Off season, or start of the next season?

As you spend your coffee breaks reading through triathlon, running or cycling news websites you will have noticed that the season is over. Lombardia was last weekend marking the end of the cycling season. NCNCA season effectively ends at the Giro in SF, even though there was a crit championship at the end of September which drew some heavy hitters. Kona was a week and a half ago (Maui XTERRA is this weekend). And on the running side we can probably consider the end of the running season to be NYC Marathon.
Running allows the most flexibility in a season because you need less hours to train and you can hit up a boring treadmill. While I have found some success riding indoors, some just say "no way, no how".
So what does one do in November and December in Northern CA? (I have no clue what to do in MN, but we are spoiled here so I will focus on what the locals do) The main debate is, do you follow the Jan Ullrich plan and get fat? Rest the legs from your key sports and find other activities? Cross-TRAIN? (Train vs. work out)? Or just continue the season and have it roll into the next rip-roaring come the spring classics?
The first and last are probably bad ideas, assuming you care about next year. If you raced in September at 168, you should probably not show up at Early-Birds at 184, or a lean-164. So it comes down to a more simple debate. Should you train during the "off-season" or should you just work out? I tell people I never use the word "workout"  as a verb. I will go to a workout (ie swim practice) but I don't work out. I train, meaning every training session has the goal of making me faster in swimming, cycling, running, or triathlon. There is nothing wrong with working out. It is very healthful, probably makes you better looking, raises confidence, but working out may or may not lead to going faster.
Let's take a look at a few of the physical activities I have done and will do this "off-season".
Running
I will run, of course. Some will be fun runs, some will be races, and others will be in-between. The goal may be to go fast, or to recover, or just to get the blood flowing but each run will be to help me run faster. Whether it was the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon last week, or a 30 min run before work. It is valuable.
Cycling
There are no races in the off-season, but there are rides. Each ride, again, has a goal. Mellow/fun rides on the weekend get the miles in and allow me to enjoy the great place I live and the pleasure of my friends' company. A ten minute spin after a run reminds my legs how to ride. Consistency will be key this winter to allow for a good 2012 season.
Swimming
Any laps I swim will be valuable. I have as solid base to live off of, but keeping the feel for the water for the tris I do next year is the goal.
Cross-TRAIN
My current key sessions for the fall/winter have been hills/jumps. Find a hard hill (~20 seconds), sprint to the top and then do squat jumps. Start with 5x5 and then grow each week. These are hard, they hurt, but they are valuable. Get the strength now so I can train the legs into running and cycling shape. Plus they have already helped. The hills this weekend were more comfortable than I expected.
YOGA
This may be the closest thing to working out I will do. But it lowers my confidence (I am terrible). Probably does not make me look better (see a 2009 Seventeen Magazine study on the sexiness of "athletes"). As long as I don't pull anything it probably makes me more healthful. But I am not sure it makes me faster. That being said, there is value in yoga. 1) Valuable time with important people. 2) If the work has been done on the above sessions there will be marginal gains. And marginal gains are valuable.
Skiing/Snowboard
1) Valuable time with important people. 2) Fun. No other value there.
Anything else I should do?
If I do anything else, it will be for fun.

And fun is healthful, mentally healthful. That is the key of the off-season. Be mentally fresh come January, but be fit. You do not need form, but be fit.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon

22,000+ women (and a few men) lined up to run the Nike Women's Marathon (and 1/2 marathon) yesterday. It is a fantastic event. Lots of pink, high pony tails and probably too much make-up for a running race but also a lot of great energy. Women tend to have pretty good representation at running races (compared to cycling and triathlon) but there is no race I have seen where their true personalities and confidence can be on display.
I am not sure if there is an intimidation factor at co-ed races or maybe it brings out a different type of runner, but we need more of these "women only" races to get the fire started for more women. It would be great to get more ladies off the elliptical and outside running.
My circle of athlete friends have no problem running a co-ed race of any kind but it appears many women do. And I hope more of these races can motivate them to sign up for another race soon. If you want baby steps into the co-ed racing world, I will see you at the Tinkerbell 1/2 Marathon in January at Disneyland.
My race yesterday unfolded without much incident. Since it is a women's race they do not want men near the front which is fine be me. Unfortunately there are too many non-sub 7 runners lined up in my corral, but then again, I went under the barriers to cut in line, so I guess I was a bit of a butt too. The start was about a quarter mile of dodging and weaving and sidewalk running to get some open tarmac but that was to be expected. The goal was to catch the lead women by the 5k mark and see what kind of pace they were running. After that, I would decide to push on ahead or let the ladies take the day, since it was, "their day".
It turns out the legs were feeling better than I expected and I reached the front in about 4 minutes and realized the pace was just a tad too slow, so I put in a pretty brisk mile to get out of sight and let their race unfold without me in the picture. At about 2 miles the pace car was with me and I called them back and told them to follow the race behind and just leave me to my run. They obliged and focused on there race that mattered.
For those who do not know the course it is by no means easy. The first 10k or so only sees a few brief hills but the over the next 4 miles you run up and over the Presidio and up and over Lands End by the Cliff House. This is where maybe 800 of the total 1000+ feet of elevation gain comes. Of course you get some downhills too, but they seem to never make up for the pain of those uphills.
My pace for the race as a whole felt pretty good. 5:56 average with a few fast ones early and a few slower miles later never put me too deep in the red and let me feel pretty solid crossing the line. 1:17:47 is a pretty good run for me on that course given my training. Thank you to the ladies on the course who cheered as we crossed paths. I know a guy running a ladies race is a tad lame, but I do it for my mom. This is her one big race of the year and we like doing it with her.
Mom busted out another impressive Nike Women's Half. With Jackson as a bad training partner she never got in many longer or harder runs, so seeing her spirit toward the finish line is inspiring.
Caroline put in an impressive run, dropping a few minutes from her summer time on a much harder course.
Kelly has been busier than ever (and that is saying a lot) with her new grad school schedule, so busting out a good run to kick off her Tinkerbell training is fantastic.
Dan ran a few minutes faster than he expected. If he can find some time to squeeze in a ride here and there as well as a few jump/hill intervals he can get back to his 1:35 pace no problem.

What is next? A recovery ride this evening. And back at the FRCC training plan. Add a few miles to get ready for the Malibu Marathon. Sub 2:50 is the goal.

Ok, back at it!

After my short adventure as a pro/elite triathlete I am back in the real world. As many of my friends and family know, I left a fantastic job at a great company to pursue a career racing triathlons. It was short lived, with me heading back to work part time and then full time and training sporadically this summer. Let's take a quick look back and a longer look forward.
May 2010:
Early May I won my AG at Escape from Alcatraz. It's a good long swim, which favors me, but I had a solid race, start to finish.
I left Franklin Templeton at the end of May to get the adventure started.
June 2010:
Honu 70.3 went well. Solid swim. Fast but maybe too hard of a ride. Painful and slow run. 2nd in the AG was disappointing but it was still and ok day.
July 2010:
Fun day at Trans Tahoe, but felt sick for Vineman 70.3 and DNS. Hindsight may say that this should have been evidence that racing for money was "for me" as I decided that a podium there was a negative for my "career". I did not have the confidence that I would win my AG. Bad sign now that I think about it.
August 2010:
H2C, one of the greatest athletic events I have ever participated in. Ran pretty fast too. 4:59 pace for 5 miles (downhill of course).
September 2010: Train on my own for Kona.
October 2010:
KONA! I went out a week early to aclimate. I had a great time with Albert Boyce, helping out his Coffees of Hawaii boat each morning. He is a seasoned vet in Kona and an all around great guy. Meet Albert, shake his hand, your life will be better.
Race went pretty good. Solid swim, solid bike, and go for it run. I went out way too fast for the win and I did not have the fitness or talent to maintain it so I blew a bit. But 9:18 is a good day in Kona. Top 100, and top 10 AG.
November and December 2010:
I joined Paulo Souza's Triathlon Squad. These first couple months were on my own at home, training under Paulo's weekly guidance. Running was the focus and I was swimming with MSJA. In December I swam USA Sectionals and was ~5% slower than my best times. Not bad for a 28 year old.
January 2011:
More training at home before heading to Las Cruces NM for the first training camp. It was a lot of work and I got fit. Good group of guys and gals and great training. Living in a hotel was not a blast, but it was ok for a couple weeks.
February 2011:
More training at home before leaving for Tuscon for the Feb/March 3 week camp.
March 2011:
This training was good as well. Pool time was strong, roads a bit shitty, and runs were making progress. It was in Tuscon I received a call from my current employer. He was a friend of one of my colleagues at Franklin and was looking for some part-time work to help gather some more assets. It was at this moment my mind began to switch away from triathlon. "Could it work?" "Could I do both?" I though yes, so I jumped at the opportunity.
April 2011: I get a job and Danny moves us to the city. I could (and still can) barely afford to live there but I am sure damn happy I did. My life 1 year later from when I left Franklin is way better, partly for reasons I will lay out, but mostly for reasons I will keep private. Those who know why, know why.
May 2011:
Enjoy my new life.
June 2011:
Have a poor pro Escape from Alcatraz, but an ok race otherwise. Enjoy my life.
July 2011:
Enjoy my life. Fun Trans Tahoe. Not a horrible Donner Triathlon. Enjoy my life. Sub 3 SF Marathon.
August 2011:
Enjoy life.
September 2011:
Enjoy life.
October 2011:
Enjoy life. Run Nike Women's 1/2 marathon.
What is next?
I have decided to focus 100 percent on my career back in the finance/investment management industry and let triathlon/cycling/running/swimming career go back to being an important hobby. There will be IMs, Marathons, and stage races in my future, but it has been moved down on my priority list. I want to be back at Kona, smiling. These sports are fun for the insane and I am insane. But I do not want to be worried about pressure from my self that is imposed for no reason. Family, friends and work are more important.
2012:
Oceanside 70.3
Boston Marathon
Escape from Alcatraz
IM CdA
Vegas 70.3?
Kona IM?
Other fun races such as Trans Tahoe? H2C? Cascade Classic? Spring NCNCA Classics? Hopefully!

Also, I would like to keep this think more updated. It keeps me honest and motivated.

Training in September and October has mostly been with Five Rings Cycling Center. I have a hill in San Mateo that I sprint to the top and then do 20 squat jumps. Repeat 20 times and then jog home. Also finish all these workouts with 8 strides. I will need to add some miles for the November Malibu Marathon, but also add a few long rides with the boys. Last Saturday was fun. Mellow ride and Blue Barn coffee. Rough life, I like it.