Wow, It's March

Happy March

I can't believe it's March already.  Crazy.  I have my first triathlon of the season this coming weekend - the Desert Triathlon Olympic distance in La Quinta, California.  La Quinta is out in the Coachella Valley about 20 miles east of Palm Springs.  Weather.com says that it's going to be in the 80's out there this weekend.  That's fine with me as I bet that puts race time temps in the mid 60's.  Perfect.  Well almost perfect.  Because I'll also bet the water is going to be freezing.  From last year's race report:

"There was no way that the water was 65 degrees as advertised. No chance at all. Maybe 60, probably 59."

Well at least this year I am going out there with a full sleeved wetsuit.  Worst case, I'll just have to deal with face freeze.

February was a weird month for training.  Sure, it's a short month.  But more importantly, I didn't ride 3 of 4 Saturdays - one due to the Surf City Marathon and two due to rain.  So my bike volume is way down.

Yet despite a relatively light month volume wise, I finish February really tired.  My legs especially are feeling it.  I'm not injured and thus not in any real pain, but I'm sore and overall I'm feeling a bit lethargic.

I'm guessing it has something to do with an increase in running.  Though January and February where up a manageable 20% against the previous two months in terms of running volume, I noticed that my running in the middle two weeks of February was up 35% over the previous two weeks.  This is mostly due to the fact that I needed something to do when I couldn't ride.  My overall run volume for the month would have been about 110+ miles had I not been so tired in the last week.  And this Sunday, when I did get a chance to do a longer ride, I suffered big time.

So my plan is to take it really easy this week, and use this Sunday's race as a launch for my final 12 week push to Hawaii.

Here's a couple of other "rules" I'm going to enforce going forward:

• Take a day off every week.  I've been known not to do this.
• If I'm tired, I'm tired.  I'm not going to force anything.  I'll either slow down, cut back, or get some more rest.  It will all work out in the end.
• Swim more.  I need to.

Speaking of recovery, I'm also experimenting with a few things.  The seed of this experimentation is due to my tummy.  Over the last 6 weeks, my stomach has been really pissed off during workouts.  Some days were OK, but some days were really awful.  In fact, I'm still surprised that I made it through the Surf City Half without a visit to the porta-potty, considering that every other long run I've done lately has required a detour.

One thing that I've noticed about my body as I've lost weight and got into much better shape is that (perhaps ironically), it is more sensitive to change.  So when I sat down and thought about what might be causing the GI issues, the one thing that stood out was the big canister of whey protein I got for Christmas.  It's the first protein supplement I've ever used and I was using it almost every day.  And it's the one big change I've made to my diet lately.

So it's time for some trial and error.  First off, I've switched to soy protein.  Google "soy protein vs. whey protein" - there's quite a battle going on as to which is better.  Both camps make impassioned arguments, but the one thing that consistently came up was that whey protein is absorbed faster by your body than soy protein.  Also, there are a few amino acids in whey that are not found in soy.  But I've been taking an amino supplement for awhile so I'm pretty sure I'm covered there (just need to double check).  Bottom line?  I'll take the slightly slower absorption if it means I can stop doing long runs with a roll of toilet paper looped through my fuel belt (yes, I did this).

Even though there was an unplanned bump in terms of run volume, it's not really an anomaly.  I need to step it up for June, so the soreness is something that needs to be dealt with.  More experimentation - I'm also trying a Glutamine based supplement.  Glutamine is key when it comes to protein synthesis as well as muscle and tissue repair.  In other words, Glutamine is pretty much a major key to recovery.

Essentially, I have invented my own recovery drink.  For the past couple days I've been mixing the soy protein and the Glutamine with 16 ounces of water and downing it right after my workout.  I have high hopes.  The problem is it tastes like crap - as it stands now it tastes like watered down vanilla mixed with something else I can't identify but I know I don't care for.

Maybe I'll experiment with flavorings this weekend.  And if I get it right, I'll call it Liquid Tough.

EARTHQUAKE!!!!

It's funny how I was talking about earthquakes in my post about pro cycling a few days ago, because we had one this morning at about 4:15 AM.  The first (and really only) shock must have been pretty strong as it woke Mary and I up.  Ian and the dogs kept sleeping.  I suppose it's nice to not have an ingrained sense of responsibility once in awhile.

It turns out it was not that big, only a 2.7 magnitude, but the epicenter was only a mile and a half away.  TRI714, did you feel it?

No Seriously, I'm Stylish.

Stylish Blogger Award, Midday.

TRI714 nominated me again like the day after I posted the last seven random things about myself, the bastard.  So here's seven more.  Oh yeah, I need to thank him.  So thanks Craig.  Both for tagging me and dropping your crank arm on the road so I could run it over last Sunday.

1)  The first time I ever got "action" was after a Flock Of Seagulls show in Boston.  It must have been 1988.  She was a Northeastern University freshmen brand new in town.  I was in a punk band and wasn't afraid to let people know it.  Go Figure.

2)  I've never sold a vehicle through a private sale before.  TRI714 found that odd when I told him today.  Apparently, that's not how California natives roll.

3)  I'll soon have a 2002 Toyota PreRunner pick-up truck for sale.  It's red with only 67K miles and it's clean.  Call me if you are interested.

4)  Nike can suck it.

5)  I've never been to Alaska.

6)  To my sister Catherine - remember that book you asked me to return to the Jersey City library like 10 years ago?  I still have it.

7)  I'd like to run on a treadmill for 23 hours and 55 minutes.  That way I'd step off knowing I could do 24 straight hours, but still be showing mad respect for EMZ.

I nominate everyone who disagrees with "4" and people who have been to Alaska.

2011: Me And Pro Cycling

Since I've become involved in triathlon, I've become a pro-cycling fan.  And it's funny - even though I've gone to plenty of triathlons as a spectator, and have watched triathlon, swimming and running events on TV, they don't hold the same thing for me that cycling does.

The first time I watched pro-cycling on TV was in 2009.  It was in mid July, so it must have been the Tour de France.  I remember liking the commentators right away.  I also remember being drawn in by the fluid motion of a hundred tightly bunched riders dressed in all sorts of colorful kit moving at 30 + MPH like one.   But after about an hour, we had an earthquake.  And after an earthquake, the web browser is immediately pointed to the USGS Earthquake page and television is changed to the local news channel.  The Tour was forgotten.

After that, I never did get around to watching any more cycling that year.

Fast forward to 2010.  I was surfing through the channels one Sunday in April and Versus was showing Paris Roubaix.  I don't remember how much time was left on the race, but by the time I tuned in Fabian Cancellera had broken away from the pack and was on his way to winning.  It was the same commentators that I had heard the year before, and I quickly learned that their names where Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin.  As the cameras followed Cancellara to the finish in Roubaix, I was struck by how he made going fast look so easy.

From there, I watched everything I could find.  In May, Ian and I drove up to Big Bear to watch the finish of one of the Tour Of California stages.  The lead riders blew by us in a flash, but it was thrilling.  On TV, I watched The Tour of Romandie, The Giro d'Italia, The Tour de Suisse, The Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana.  The voices of Phil and Paul became an inseparable part of the coverage.  These guys love working together and they love cycling; as a result they added so much value to the broadcast.  It's truly a chemistry that you don't find very often these days when it comes to TV sports coverage.

I learned as much as I could about the art of racing.  I wasn't so much into a team, but I got into riders - Cavendish, Chavenel, Schleck, Hushovd, Nibali, and so many others.  And since every good sports fan has to be a hater too, I chose Contador.  It was a great summer.  I loved it.

But that love was not without guilt.  As I dug deeper into the sport, I uncovered how screwed up the sport is, especially when it comes to doping.  I'd always been aware that there was an issue with doping in cycling in the sense that one picks up on stuff like this from here and there.  But I had no idea how deep the problem ran, how long it been around and how it had evolved into a conspiracy of doctors and science.

I went into the winter knowing two things.  One was that I could not wait for the 2011 season.  The other was that I wanted to come to some sort of understanding about doping.  Well, the 2011 season is here.  But I have have yet to come to an understanding about doping.

You'd think getting a grip on the doping thing would be easy - it's wrong and that's the end of the story.  But what made it more confusing wasn't all the dirt that came out in the off season about who got caught doing what and when, but how the UCI, WADA, and all the national anti-doping are unable to deal with the problem with any consistency.  It's almost to the point where (and I don't REALLY mean this) doping should just be legalized, the cost of such programs should be an accepted line item on a team's profit and loss statement and the athletes should just be able to what they please.  Because then you'd have consistency.  It would be a messed up, dangerous, and unsportsmanlike consistency, but a consistency nonetheless.

I don't usually do this, but I'm just going to bury my head in the sand and enjoy the 2011 cycling season, warts and all.  I'm looking forward to the mid-summer's night routine of staying up late with a bottle of mineral water watching the day's DVR'ed action.  And I'm looking forward to taking Ian to the Tour Of California again this year.  Because even though a cyclist's guilt of doping isn't mitigated by a lack of proper oversight on the other side of the equation, it will take both sides working together to solve the problem.  But both sides are so far off, and there's nothing I can do about it.  So I won't make it my problem, and I'll watch cycling for what got me into it in the first place - the fluid motion of a hundred tightly bunched riders dressed in all sorts of colorful kit moving 30 + MPH like one.  It's all I can do.

Four Things For The Third Day Of The Week

For anyone who missed Saturday's 12 hour live video stream of my bikes sitting in the living room, here are a few screen shots to give you a little peak of what you missed.

Most of the time it looked like this...

But once in awhile it looked like this...

Today I did a run/bike brick.  It's been awhile since I've done one.  I'd like to think that I'm a pretty good runner off the bike, but I forgot what it's like.  I have to force myself to slow down because even though I pedal at about a 100 RPM cadence, I don't run with that kind of turnover.  So the first 1/2 mile of any run off the bike is a combination of my body thinking I am running really SSSLLLOOOWWW and then looking at my Garmin and seeing a pace (and thus a heart rate) that is way too high for where I am in the workout.  My legs still think I'm on the bike.  It happens every time.

To make this an honest to goodness brick workout complete with a speedy transition I wore a 1 piece tri-suit.  But it was too cold for just a tri-suit and tri-suits by themselves are only acceptable in certain contexts, like races.  They are NOT something you wear for solo mid-afternoon bike rides or runs.  I feel really strongly about this, so I wore a cycling jersey on top for the bike and switched that out for a tech tee for the run.

Running in a tri-suit takes some getting used to.  First there is the chamois pad - there is not much too it, but I'm aware it's there when running.  Then there is the overall concept of having a snug one piece suit on.  I don't notice on the bike since I always wear cycling bibs anyway, but when I run, it's a different story.  In the last few months I've definitely got used to straight running clothing.  So the tri-suit was weird for the first few miles, but once I got into the groove everything was fine.  Which is good, because that suit is back on official duty in 2 weeks.

Last Friday while I was making a left turn onto Wilshire Boulevard in the pouring rain, I heard an email beep into my phone.  And despite being in the middle of a left turn and despite the rain, I grabbed my phone and checked it.  I REALLY need to stop doing this.  Anyway, the email was from the Odwalla Triathlon Team saying that I had been excepted for the 2011 season.  I don't know too much about the details yet as the first team call is next week.  Being a part of a team has been on my bucket list for awhile so I'm stoked I was selected, and look forward to being a part of the team in 2011.  More on this as I know more...

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know my story.  And if you know my story, you've probably picked up that I have a strong desire to give back whenever and wherever I can.  Recently, I found another way to do so.  As of today, I am a coach with coachmetriathlon.com.

CoachMe Triathlon is a national online service that matches athletes with coaches.  Given that this is my first foray into coaching, I'm hoping to get matched with either beginning athletes or athletes with a few races under their belts that are looking for some improvement.

I don't ever want to forget where I came from.  Obviously, I don't wish the drama I went through on anyone, but if there is a chance to help athletes that are at a level that I was at not all that long ago, I'll be thrilled.  I can't wait to get started.

If you are looking for a more advanced coach, not to worry.  CoachMe has coaches of all experience levels, including USAT level I, II and III coaches.  Please check them out if you are looking for a coach.  And if you happen to live in Orange County and would love to be coached by the guy responsible for the first ever interview with EMZ, then my coach ID is M2011-229767.

Seriously Warm And Fuzzy

It all started yesterday when I upgraded to Firefox 4.0 Beta.  Once I installed it, my homepage defaulted back to a mozilla.com page.  And on this new homepage was a link to Firefox Live, which is a page dedicated to streaming live video of Firefoxes cubs in their habitat at the Knoxville Zoo.

Mozilla has put together a pretty impressive set-up.  You can watch the feed from any number of angles, including "Cub Cam - Frolic", "Cub Cam - Snooze" and Cub Cam - 360 Cute".  I started with "Frolic", but didn't see anything.  When I switched over to "Snooze" I saw one of the cubs, but it quickly moved out of the frame.  So I started to experiment with "360 Cute",  using it to triangulate where the action was and then switching to the other cameras as applicable.  I stayed on the site for an hour.

It's an hour of time I'll never get back.  But that's OK - I don't want it back.  Because watching Firefox cubs basically do nothing was oddly entertaining.  And as the site's tag-line suggests, Firefoxes ARE seriously warm and fuzzy.  I like me some warm and fuzzy from time to time.

But the problem with my brain is that it wanders.  I started wondering how easy it would be to set up my own live stream.  A quick Google search answered that question and within 5 minutes I had an account on ustream.tv and was streaming video of me talking to my boss on the telephone.  True, not that exciting.  But the video feed is only part of the equation.  You also need an audience and an event.

A big part of success in social media is leveraging the crap out of all your assets.  I have this blog, which has a bit of an audience.  I also had my crack team of web marketeers - Jeff from Dangle The Carrot, Mandy from Caratunk Girl and Kovas from Midwest Multisport Life to start a blistering Twitter campaign.  "Blistering" may be an overstatement, but then again hype is a-ok when it comes to marketing:

@17281posse @jeffirvin Beavers on Bikes? Life Altering Event Happening http://www.theroadmultisport.com Sat 10 AM to 10 PM PST! Please RT!

The event part is easy.  Following the logic that hype is a-ok, creating an event can almost be an afterthought.  All you have to do is convince everyone that the event that took you 5 seconds to think of is pure awesomeness, perhaps even life changing.  Don't believe me?  Search YouTube.  Anything goes.  Everyone is Spielberg and mediocrity is regularly rewarded.  And I have mediocre down.

So perhaps for the first time in blogging history, I have created a Bike Cam.  For the next 12 hours, you will be able to watch my bikes sit in my still as unfinished living room.  I have also strategically placed the dog beds in the shot.  So if you park yourself in front of your computer all day and/or check back often, chances are you'll get a glimpse of Natasha and Joe.  That's my seriously warm and fuzzy.

Please spread the word.  Let's see if we can take the wind out of the sails of those damned Firefoxes, at least for a day.  PS - sorry about the commercials.


Free live streaming by Ustream

EMZ: 14 Questions About 24 Hours

EMZ

Everybody knows EMZ.  But if you don't, you must be living under a rock.  Here is a straight up, indisputable fact:  EMZ is a major force in the blog world - so if you don't read her yet, I suggest you do.  Here's the link.

EMZ announced earlier this week that on May 7th and 8th, she will be running on a treadmill for 24 hours straight.  The run is a charity benefit for the Sojourner Center.  The Sojourner Center is a shelter for victims of domestic violence and is located in Phoenix.

I'm 100% behind her on this one.  In fact, when she puts up a donation page, I'm first in line.  Yet I still can't completely come to terms with this.  I'm not sure if it's the "24 Hours" part or the "treadmill" part, but this thing is gnarly no matter how you slice it.  So I asked myself "Do I really know EMZ?  Do I really know what kind of person can run on a treadmill for 24 hours?".

I consider myself a decent runner, but even after 24 minutes on a treadmill I am done.  So the answer to my question was that I have no idea what it takes.  Because I just can't relate.  And I suspect that 99.9% of the World's population can't relate, either.  Running nowhere for 24 hours.  This sounds like a really bad anxiety dream to me.

This means that EMZ is virtually in a class by herself.  The .1% class.  The baddest, toughest, strongest and arguably craziest people out there.  There is another term for this - Legend.

Suddenly, I saw EMZ in a whole new light.  It took me a few days, but I finally worked up the nerve to e-mail her.  I asked her if she would be available for an interview.  After hitting send, I sat and stared at my in-box for what seemed like hours.  But it was only ten minutes, and she replied with this:

I'm
Freaking
All
Over
This

Sent from my iPhone

So I was in.  But I still had to ask the right questions.  I sat down and thought about it, and then paced around my office and thought about it some more.  I wanted a tight set of random questions (if that makes any sense) laced with a few curve-balls to see how EMZ would react.  The goal was to discover whether or not EMZ was truly tough as nails with a really nice shoe collection.  And so, the interview:

The Road: Why a treadmill run?

EMZ: why. freaking. not.

Why not a 24 hour death march across the desert without water?

I have spoken with the Pita and I will do this in 2012 when my personal insurance policy goes up.

Well, I know you could do it (the death march) and I hear the belt buckle is sick.

did someone say buckle?  Do you want to see my buckle?

Are you capable of murder?

If someone broke into my home and stole my buckle.  Maybe.

Do you think you will be capable of murder after 24 hours on a treadmill?

If someone says, "your body was just made to run 24 on a treadmill" when I hop off.....yes.

What will you be wearing?

As of now, my wedding ring. Ideas will be accepted as well as sponsors [aka, free crap].  I totally down with wearing anything you guys send me/tell me to wear.  Most offers will be accepted, except for any bikini's Mr. Manly.  I'm all for a fake abs tattoo.

If I put together an ultra marathon which consists of 7000 laps around the swing set at (my son) Ian's school, are you in?

Do. I. get. a. freaking.buckle?

Can you think of a cool name for my race?

"I'm a swinger"
"I swing 7000"

Vintage Corvette or Vintage Bentley?

These are for tri-hards. ;)  67' Chevy Impala

If you had to be an animal what would it be?  Any animal easily referenced to endurance or speed is off limits.

Pygmy Marmoset [yes, I'll wait while you google]

Who would play you in a movie about you?

Uma (Thurman) [sing it . . . ewwwww dreamweaver . . . ]
or
Cameron Diaz [annoying as heck but endearing]

Who would play me in a movie about you?

Ray Liotta

Who do you think I would get to play you in a movie about me?

[this question sucks] Alicia Silverstone, Pam Anderson [I kill myself]

Paris or Barcelona?

S p a r t a !

That's Me - Stylish

The Hot Legs Runner tagged me about a zillion years ago as a Stylish Blogger.  Thank you thinking of me and I'm sorry this took so long.

Here are 7 incredibly insightful things about me:

1.  Even in 1977 I had a sense that Han Solo was the coolest.  All the other kids wanted to be Luke.  Losers.
2.  I will allow my son Ian to be an LA Angels fan if he so chooses, despite my Boston heritage.
3.  I've lived in Alabama, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, The UK, and California.
4.  I've always wanted to be an air traffic controller.
5.  I'm actually a Swiss citizen.  My mother is French/Swiss and lived in Bern. She met my father in the early 60's when he was CIA station chief at the US Embassy.  He had to come home after he was caught by the Swiss FIS managing some Bernerland Bank AG accounts that funded anti-communist activity in East Berlin.  I've also heard (but was never able to confirm) that he was involved in an operation that was manipulating Nestle's production lines in an attempt to help Little Debbie Snack Cakes get a toe-hold in Europe.  When he came back to the US, my mom came with him.  So as a result of my mom I was able to get dual citizenship in 1989.
6.  I just made up # 5.
7.  I think Kovas is cool.


Since I am so far behind the curve, I'm not going to tag anyone.  EMZ, for example, has probably had to come up with at least 210 unique things about her to cover all her Stylish Blogger Award nominations.


Have a fun Thursday.

Exercise Is Good For Your Brain

If you read my post Sunday, you know that I am getting myself off of Celexa and that exercise has been really helpful managing the withdrawal symptoms.  What I didn't mention was that even though my doctor said it was OK to stop, he didn't know that I was going to try quitting cold turkey.

You can Google "exercise and mental health", and the information you'll find in the countless articles essentially point to the same thing - exercise does wonders for mental health, with the leading theory being that the release of endorphins during exercise is what makes you "feel good".  I now know this to be true, first hand.

Without getting into the chemistry, when a patient stops taking an anti-depressant, it's a huge shock to their system.  In other words, with it's new found "freedom", the brain can very easily jump on the express train to Crazytown.  And remember, I didn't step down my medication - I straight up stopped.  So not only was I on the express train, the train had no brakes.  But I didn't realize this until yesterday.

The side effects of withdrawal were completely manageable on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I think this was the case on Friday because it was the first day.  Saturday and Sunday were work-out days including both high volume and intensity.  But yesterday was a swim day, and a lazy one at that.  In fact, it was essentially an active recovery day.  So I didn't sweat it out, pound the pavement, grind the gears or do anything remotely as strenuous as I did over the weekend.

And mentally, I was a complete wreck.  Ask Kovas and Chris K.  Ask the empty half gallon carton of ice cream that was full yesterday but is now in the recycling bin.  Ask the poor Expedia customer service rep I was berating at one o'clock this morning because there was a problem with a travel reservation for one of my employees.  Since I couldn't sleep, I figured there was no better time than the present to call her.

But just because I'm temporarily crazier than usual doesn't mean I'm not realistic.  It was time for a strategy shift.  I briefly considered making sure I could either run 10 miles or cycle 50 miles every day for the next few weeks to guarantee a huge daily endorphin fix.  But I quickly realized that wouldn't work.  Instead, I called my doctor, explained the mess I had gotten myself into and asked him to help drag my ass out of it.  I didn't get a lecture.  He actually said that some people can just stop.  But it looks like I'm not one of them.

So I'm back on the Celexa - half my old dose for 2 weeks, and then half of that for another 2 weeks.  And then (in theory) I'll be done.  In hindsight, I see the wisdom in this.  Hopefully, I'll get some sleep tonight and not crazy dial any more toll free numbers.

By the way, I rode 42 miles today.  I figured it was a good insurance policy.

Kickin' The Habit With Some Exercise

My doctor and I decided that it was time to ditch the Celexa.  Celexa is an antidepressant, and I have been taking it for a couple years, from the days when I was having panic attacks and all sorts of other unsavory episodes. 

Like most drugs, there is a period of withdrawal that your body has to go through.  With Celexa, some of the most common symptoms include vivid dreams, dizziness, and mood swings.  I read somewhere that one of the ways to mitigate the withdrawal symptoms was to exercise.  Since I've been known to "work out" once in awhile, I was hoping that kicking my 20 milligram a day Celexa habit would be (relatively) easy.

Well for starters, exercising didn't do crap to curb the vivid dreams.  But this hasn't really been a bad thing.  I've had 3 super vivid dreams over the past 4 nights, and every one of them would win an Oscar if they were made into films and the members of the Academy were required to vote while tripping on acid.  Here are some previews - in one there were zombies and in another my Grandmother's attic was the size of an aircraft hanger - a very big aircraft hanger.  And I'm now intimately familiar with Tokyo even though I've never been there.

But as far as the waking hours, it's been mostly OK.  I've been tired and a little dizzy.  But the exercise is helping - except for a few minutes during Friday's swim where I felt that if I lifted my hand just a little bit more out of the water I'd be able to touch the ceiling and then a momentary moment of panic while riding on Saturday (for a split second I was convinced that I didn't have the legs to climb a freeway overpass), it's been good.

On Friday, I swam 2000 yards.  600 yards was freestyle and the balance was drills.  I've been really working on making my whole stroke count with a long reach and a deliberate and strong pull.  It was recently pointed out to me that I wasn't getting the benefit of a full pull, especially with my left arm.  Instead, I was letting it sink to much and drift in before I started pulling.  So I am working on that.  But despite some technique gains, I never did manage to touch the ceiling.

Newport Back Bay

Saturday was the weekly OC Velo ride through Irvine and Newport's Back Bay.  Since a bunch of the club was in Palm Springs doing the Tour de Palm Springs, it was a smaller group, but a good ride with a faster than average pace.  But I've got to warn you guys - never ride on the flats with TRI714 unless you are up for pain.  During the run-in to the HB pier on Coast Highway, we got a pace line going.  I was up front so I got my first turn to pull early on.  I did a couple minutes at 25 MPH.  Sufficiently happy with my effort, I drifted to the right so I could fall to the back of the line.  The next thing I know, Craig shoots by me like a rocket.  Technically, the trick with a pace line is to fight the natural tendency to speed up when it's your turn to pull.  But 25 MPH was clearly too slow for Craig.  Fair enough, but as riders started going by me I realized that I had no idea how many people were on the line.  I also realized that if I didn't immediately get on the wheel of the last rider I would be dropped.  Guess what?  I missed the last rider.  But thank God for traffic lights - I was able to catch up when they stopped and I don't think anyone noticed.

Saturday's cycling route

Bolsa Chica State Beach

Today was a double session with a 9 mile run in the morning and another 2000 yards in the pool in the afternoon.  The run was fine.  I did a loop from my house down to Bolsa Chica, north along the beach path, and then back to the house.  It's funny how the route is exactly 9 miles.  My right foot was a little sore because Ian decided to start the day by jumping out of bed screaming "Broadswords at dawn" and then immediately jammed his left heel into my right toes.  Also, I had a few "brain zings" during mile 6, presumably a result of the withdrawals.  But I did the run in Zone 2 with an 8:20 average pace, so I can't really complain.

Sunday's run route

For the swim, I swam 700 yards free, did 800 yards in drills, and then did 10 x 50's focusing on nothing but reach and pull.  I counted my strokes with every length.  It used to take me 22-23, but today I was doing 20.  So yeah, some improvement.

Happy Monday...

Kovas Is Alright

Some Photos For Friday

I was biding my time on Google Images and thought I'd share a few pictures I thought where cool:

Surf City Marathon runners:  It wasn't too long ago where this oceanside course wasn't quite as scenic.  I'm guessing this was taken looking north near Seacliff, where you turned inland towards the park.

Once upon a time, there where no carbon frames and the tarmac was terrible.  Apparently no one had thought of saddle bags yet either given these guys have extra tires draped around their torsos.  Tough looking?  Perhaps.  But clearly not aero.

The original speed suit.  I know there looks like there is a chamois pad in the crotch, but sadly I'd guess that's not the case.

A Lockheed Constellation flying over Manhattan in the 1930's.  There is something about this plane that has always caught my eye.

Dork alert, I've always had a thing for abandoned railroads.

Still one of my favorite places on Earth - The ridge of the Presidential Range, White Mts. New Hampshire.

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

In 2009, I ran the Surf City 5K in 27:58 averaging a 9:00/mile pace.

In 2011, I ran the Surf City Half Marathon in 1:39 averaging a 7:35/mile pace.

I've lost over 50 pounds in the last two years.  I've run at least 1600 miles and cycled at least 5000 miles.

Yet I still have "chubby face".  I'm bummed.  Surgery may be the only option, and while I'm at it I should do something about the chrome dome.  It seems that the unintended consequence of taking care of myself is that some vanity has slipped into the equation.  That said, I am kidding about the surgery.  Given spending choices, I'd rather expand on my bike arsenal.  Which is also vain I suppose.

2009

2011

P.S.  I'm not looking for sympathy comments.  Well maybe I am a little bit.

Me v. Fedex/Kinkos

OK, I'll admit that my behavior today at Fedex Kinko's was a little out character.  I feel bad about what I said to the store employee, as he was just doing his job.  That said, there is a policy I am bringing into question, which is the policy that Fedex Ground packages can't be packed in Fedex Express materials.  This is stupid.  So stupid, in fact, that I've never met a driver who cared what my package was in.  Yet, there seems to be one person who takes this policy very seriously - the Color Copier Guy.

After I'm done with this PDF I'll shove this monitor up your A**.

INT. DAY - FEDEX KINKOS

A busy Fedex Kinkos.  It is buzzing with the day-to-day commerce of those who just need a few copies, a couple of pages faxed or help with an ambitious Valentine's Day card project.  Customers move about under the watchful eye of the tonal blue golf shirt wearing employees.  Fedex Kinkos is THE nexus of incremental technology services, and these men and women are the gate-keepers.

PATRICK enters through the front door.  In his hands are 3 envelopes, all marked as Fedex Express packaging, and all with Fedex Ground Airbills.

Patrick is acutely aware that these packages are improperly packaged and thus sneaks to the left side, drops them amongst the other outgoing packages, and even moves a larger box over to conceal his a bit.  When he is done, he begins to retrace his steps towards the door, staying out of sight as much as possible behind the self service copier bank.  Twenty feet from the door, he hears a voice call out.

COLOR COPIER GUY:

(Speaking loud.  It's contextually obvious he's talking to Patrick)

Hey, are these packages express?

Patrick continues to move towards the door, with a slight uptick in his speed.

PATRICK:

(mumbling)

I dunno dude, they are not mine, I'm doing someone a favor...

COLOR COPIER GUY:

(loud)

Hey, these are ground packages.  And they are improperly packaged.  I'm gonna need you take them back and repackage them.

Patrick slows and turns towards the counter, though he continues to back towards the door.  He notices that everyone in the store is already staring at him - copies, faxes and Valentines cards momentarily forgotten.

PATRICK:

I can't

COLOR COPIER GUY:

Why?

PATRICK:

Because they are not mine

COLOR COPIER GUY:

Well who's are they?

PATRICK:

My friend's.  Like I said I am doing him a favor.

COLOR COPIER GUY:

Well I can't ship them.

PATRICK:

Well I dunno dude, return them then.  I'm just the messenger.

COLOR COPIER GUY:

Can't do that.

PATRICK:

OK, well what do you want me to say?  Throw them away?  I'm not taking them back.  I don't have time.

By this point Patrick has stopped 5 feet from the door.  The store is quiet.  Patrick's arms are tucked in behind his back to suggest that even if he wanted to take the packages back he couldn't due to a lack of available carrying capacity.

COLOR COPIER GUY:

You need to take them.

PATRICK:

Look man, I don't know the deal with my friends account, but MY driver takes MY packages all the time regardless of packaging.  He doesn't care.  He's moving and shaking and getting it done.  Small infractions don't bother him.  As a matter of pride he is unloading and loading that truck everyday.  That's his thing.

COLOR COPIER GUY:

I understand your driver may do that but it is the policy of...

PATRICK

(cutting COLOR COPIER GUY off)

Policy?  Do you want me to tell my friend to change his policy and use UPS?  He probably spends fifty grand a year with you guys.  Do you want to be the guy responsible for fifty grand in revenue going bye-bye?  Do you?  Seriously dude, don't worry about it.  Doesn't the copier need a new magenta ink cartridge or something?  You need to get on that instead of show-downing with me about packages that neither of us really care about just because you think my friend screwed your bosses out of twenty five cents in free packaging.

COLOR COPIER GUY:

Hey!

Patrick turns towards the door and walks out.

PATRICK:

I gotta GO!

FADE

Goodbye iPhone, Hello HTC Aria

After cracking 3 screens (which I got really good at changing), my iPhone finally died for good last week.  Specifically, the earpiece stopped working so the phone was useless.  When I took off the screen to have a look, it was immediately obvious what was wrong - The whatever wire that joins to the whatever connector that makes the earpiece work was completely cracked apart.

Since I recently upgraded my wife's phone to iPhone using my number, I had absolutely zero wiggle room in terms of a deal on a phone.  I think the best I could do was $500 something for a G3, I don't remember the exact amount because I stopped listening at "5".

So I logged on to Ebay hoping to find a better price on something used.  But even there, any G3 that was being sold by someone I would consider buying from was over $300.  Still too much - I have a way of going through phones and I just couldn't justify the money.

Since I avoid any Windows or RIM based devices like the plague, my other option was the Android OS.  A few people told me they thought that Android was good, but much better through Verizon than AT&T.  Unfortunately I'm stuck with AT&T.

Well, the marketing folks at HTC will be pleased to know that their sponsorship of the HTC - Highroad Professional Cycling Team paid off in America, at least once.  Because even though I am usually dubious of marketing and sponsorship schemes, I have to admit that I felt just a little bit better about my decision to switch away from the iPhone when I found out that the AT&T Android phones where made by HTC.

My new phone is the HTC Aria.  I got it for $200. It came today so I have not had too much time to play with it, but my initial impression is that it's OK.  To the good, the resolution on the screen seems much better than that of the iPhone.  The phone also runs faster, as in the applications open up lightning quick.  And since Android is open source software, the features on the phone seem, well, more "open".  That is to say, there is not a stylistic continuity cross-application or an "i" this or an "i" that to be found.  And even though I am a die hard Mac guy, this is a little refreshing.  You can also create custom scenes which will pre-load different applications depending on what scene you have the phone set to.  This could come in handy - during the week it's all about email, but on the weekends it's all about Twitter for example.   

That said, it's not as operationally intuitive as the iPhone and many basic functions require extra button pushes or key-strokes.  Unfortunately, that mitigates any benefit from the faster OS.  And the Aria is smaller than the iPhone, so it's going to take some time getting used to a more cramped keyboard.

But for $200 bucks, I think I'm going to be good.  And besides, I'll probably loose it or break it within 6 months anyway.  Because that's how I (unfortunately) roll with phones.

Ladies Night At The Road

Jennifer from The Running Artist sure knows how to get on my good side.  Consider this comment from yesterday's post about the Surf City Half Marathon, for example:

Jennifer said...

Wow, you did great! But yikes, Bret Michaels has some smokin' hot legs! He he.

Andreas Raelert

The way I read her comment, "he he" is essentially the same as "wink wink".  As in she immediately recognized that though both Bret and I have a preference for bandannas, given the context of the photo she understood that it was actually of me.  Plus, Bret isn't bald, which is another huge give away.  On a side note, I'm actually thinking of switching to the Andreas Raelert look, but for now it's bandannas.

But back to my point.  Following this logic, I thought it safe to assume that the legs she is referring to are also mine.  And if you don't mind me saying, I have to agree with her.  OK, OK - I'll step off my high horse for a second.  Perhaps I should say that I think they are my best feature, at least to the extent that endurance sports are concerned.

So wanting to give Jenn (or anyone who thought the same but for whatever reason didn't come out and say it) more of the good stuff, here's another shot of the bad boys, this time compression sleeve free.

This picture was taken just before my recovery run today.  Sure, there's a day of stubble on them, but you gotta admit they are looking sweet.

But endurance sports are all about learning something new as often as you can.  So if you ladies have any insight or tips on how to make them look sweeter let me know.

The truth is, I'm still a little bummed that neither Chris K or I got more write-in votes for the Hot & Hunky Endurance Calendar, so I am ramping up to be a serious contender in 2013.  I wanna be in that sucker.

Not at all into this post?  You can exit to Midwest Multi-Sport Life here.

Note: Sarcastic Font assumed throughout, except for the last paragraph about Midwest Multi-Sport Life.  Oh yeah, and the paragraph about the calendar too.

Surf City Half Marathon - The Report

Mary got a cool photo of Bret Michaels

As a triathlete, It's hard to write a race report about a running race because there is only one sport to talk about.  Specifically, there is no swim, and the swim is always good for at least one solid paragraph of self deprecation.  But today it doesn't matter, because the cool story has little to do with my race.

Rather, it starts Friday when TRI714 picked me up and we headed down to the race expo to pick up our race numbers.  Craig is also a member of OC Velo, so it was nice to get a chance to hang out with him lycra free.  Craig ran the half marathon.  After the race he told me he had some trouble with blistering and thus finished a little slower than he had hoped.  But I guarantee he finished with his head up high, because that's the kind of guy he is.  Good job, Craig.

Saturday I went back to the expo, this time to meet up with Racing Dawn and Chris K.  I'd never met Dawn, online or otherwise, until yesterday.  Dawn's got a cool story - she's been running a marathon a month, and had flown in from Salt Lake City with her husband to bag another one.  She finished in 4:25...how awesome is that?

After coming off an injury, Chris K chose Surf City to qualify for Boston.  After 18 weeks of hard training, he did just that with a time of 3:29.  Legend status has been achieved.  I actually think the hardest part for him will be thinking of a new blog name.  Maybe we can help out - www.bobsgymhoneys.com is available.  Shall we take up a collection so we can buy the URL for him?

But the coolest part of the story?  It was all the tweets, blog comments, and Facebook wall posts I got after the race.  Many of you where following my progress online.  I didn't expect this.  But picking up my Iphone to see tons of congratulatory messages BEFORE I even posted anything was simply awesome.  Thank you.

As far as my race went, I'm very happy with it.  I play-listed two hours worth of Social Distortion on my Ipod.  My bib number allowed me to line up just behind the elites so I started with the gun.  And then I enjoyed every second of the race.  I'd been publicly saying I wanted to come in under 1:45, but privately I was gunning for a sub 1:40 finish.  So when I saw that the 1:40 pacer was just ahead of me around mile nine, I dug just a little deeper, passed him and maintained the pace to the finish.   Final time - 1:39:14.

What a great weekend.

Surf City Half Marathon

The race is hours away.  I've never "raced" anything more then a 10K.  But I've run high enough miles to know that barring the unexpected, the race should go fine.  Still, this isn't a training run, it's a race.  So there's more pressure.

I finally met Chris K today.  First we met up at the race expo.  Racing Dawn was there too.  We all had a nice visit and then walked the expo a bit.  I was looking for a plain white bandanna or relatively wide head band.  I couldn't find anything close.  I would have thought that a plain white headband would be a fairly easy catch.  Nope.

Chris K bought an EFX bracelet.  I'm dubious about almost everything, but I did the "with" and "without" balance test and I must admit there is a difference.  I'm sure that in a few years we will come to find that the the cosmic energy emitted by the hologram makes you sterile, because it's all just a bit too mystical to me.  That said, I'm still taking the chance - I have a necklace that someone gave me awhile back and I'm going to wear tomorrow.

Me, Racing Dawn & Chris K.  Kovas had to go use the bathroom.

Later on, Chris joined Mary, Ian and I at Sebastiani's, one of our favorite restaurants.  It quickly became clear that I eat way more than Chris does, and I actually felt self conscious about it.  It was like I was completely ignoring one of the basic tenants in the quest for elite athletic prowess by eating (some) calamari, (most) caprese and (all) chicken pasta - a/k/a too much.  But every bite was so damned good, and I'm no elite anyway.

Besides, if I finish the race tomorrow in under 1:45 I reckon I didn't do anything wrong anyway.
 

Worst. Day. Ever. (That ended really good)

I'm going to steal borrow a few blog formatting tricks from my main lady EMZ tonight.

Today was a TOUGH DAY.  There are a few things on the go that are wreaking havoc to my idyllic life of work, training, hugs with the FAMILY, blogging and working on EAP.  And the worst part is that everything is mostly out of my control.  I'm not really used to that. 

I KNEW is was going to be a tough day, before the day even started - when I woke up at 6AM to go ride, the little motivation I had was lost when I saw it was a little windier than normal.

Oh, yeah - and my I-Phone is now Jacked.  It was a FREAKIN' bad day.

But then Ian and I went to his first T-Ball Practice.  And the coach asked me to run the ground ball fielding station.  I have not put bat to ball in 20 years.  But I sorta/kinda got it back quick enough and put 3 groups of 3 kids through practice.  It was a blast.

"Let's see your stance!"

"Glove on the ground!"

"Get after that ball!"

"Fantastic Job!"

And of course the occasional "Hey (every kid at one point), you still with us?"

Good times...

Hood To Coast Poster Winners

So I just used random.org to pick the two winners of the signed Hood To Coast Movie posters, and the lucky folks are:

Jill from Run With Jill

Anne from Asthma And The Gift Of Running






As The Road is all about full disclosure, here's the back-up:

Oversight was provided by this guy from from Pricewaterhouse Coopers, LLP.  I just offered him a moist energy bar and he scowled at me.  Not the friendliest guy I've met.  Maybe PwC are the lead auditors for PowerBar.

Congrats, guys.  Email me at 17281posse (a) gmail.com with your shipping address.

January Wrap Up

Back of the FJ Cruiser This Morning

I can't believe January is already over.  I've still got a Christmas sweater sitting neatly folded in the original gift box.  And the Christmas lights, though off the house, have still not been moved the additional 4 feet from the garage floor to the shelf.  But then again, that's a pretty big project and may be better suited for when the days are longer - like July.

After the big December storms, Southern California was treated with a clear and somewhat warmer than normal January - the temperatures were hitting the high 70's at the middle of the month.  So that made for a lot of quality training outside.

Of the 31 days in January, I trained on 24 of them.  Of the 6 off days, 5 where scheduled for rest and I was sick 1 day.  All totaled, I ended up getting in just under 44 hours.

I'm pretty happy with the volume for a couple of reasons.  First off, my body feels good, and I'm back to the "almost lean" state that I had managed to get to before Thanksgiving.  I think a lot of this comes down to keeping most of the running in Z2 so I was able to burn off some excess fat.  Secondly, I was able to put up these numbers with little or no conflict with work and family time.  Everyone seems happy.  So if they are happy, then I am too.

A couple of the January sessions will be fondly remembered.  There were a pair of 12 mile runs along the beach that where perfect, and then there was the legendary Santiago Canyon ride with OC Velo (TRI714 knows).

That said, there are a couple of things missing.  I need to be swimming more for one.  Secondly,  I need to find a way to get into the gym at least once a week, even if it's just for a stretching or core session.  I could even do this at home.

So all things considered, I'm giving myself an "A" on volume and a "C" on variety.  Does this sound about right?