Well there were many a mile put in on the bicycle this weekend in completely different conditions. Saturday, Bjoern, Josie and I struggled to get 40 miles in at Lake Waramaug. Pouring rain, cold temperatures, brutal cutting headwinds blowing the bikes all over the place. It was more reminiscent of my Ironman New Zealand training rides than an early spring session. Josie's feet went numb at about 30 miles and that left Bjoern and I to duke it out for the last eight, I don't know what it is with this guy but he has sprint power in reserve. We ended up thawing and drying out over Pizza in Middlebury.
Today, I found out that a family function was canceled which freed up my afternoon so I took the bike out for a 66 mile love fest in the hills. It was nearly polar oppostie to yesterday, 60F a little windy but I was comfortable in shorts and shortsleeves. I rode up to Lake Waramaug, did three loops then descended back into Woodbury and capped it off with the ascent up Ben Sherman Hill or that lovely 7-8% grade. My quads and hams were screaming with each revolution, but I figure if I keep working the hills now I'll be better prepped for Providence. I decided to throw on the running shoes and got a nice 5k in on the Griskus run course, my first brick since February. I was bonking hard core and decided that packing it in early was a smart move. Tomorrow morning I'm thinking of an early morning run session as I need to start building my mileage. I also need to start a routine so I can fix my training around my classes. The swimming is easy but the running is a tad bit more tricky and the cycling looks like it will be limited to weekends until mid-May...granted it is stayling lighter longer on Friday so I can probably start commuting by bicycle,and save a little gas. This Summer I'm commiting to commute the 2 miles to the office by bike unless the weather is horrible figure that way I can also go right into training from the office...but regardless that's for another post. All in all it was a good weekend on the training front. If I can get my run legs back with the program I'm confident that I'll have a good summer season.
R.D.
Showing posts with label Run traning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Run traning. Show all posts
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
I'm not in high school anymore...more ALS stuff.
Last night I did my weekly distance swim session. 4000 yards ( warm up 500 on 7:30 500 pull on 7:30, 3x 1000 on 14:30 main set.) Now in the middle of the main set I noticed that during the second 500 of the last two 1000's my head would start to ache in my left temple. Now assumed it was my goggles were too tight so I adjusted them accordingly but the ache still persisted in the second half, making me believe it might have been lack of electrolytes that was causing the throbbing sensation, so it now seems I will be toting Gatorade Endurance formula with me every where. Now this is sad, back in the day, I could crankout 5000 yard practice on 2 swigs of water, I could run 10 miles in 90 degree weather at 9 min/mile pace holding a conversation with my teammates and not need a drink during the duration.....I think I've gone soft in my "old" age. It seems my age and thirst or ability to sweat are both on the increase, granted so is my speed. If someone told me in High School I'd be holding sub-nine minute miles on a twenty mile training run I'd laugh in their face... as it was I was barely holding 8:30 miles on a four mile training run. I kept running in College ( or the two years I had a "normal" co-ed life.) my runs were rarely longer than 6 miles, and that includes a 6 mile tour of Central Park. The years of college Athletics and the 1 year of purgatory between Fordham and Central in which I held 3 jobs and had a particularly short yet miserable time as a gas station cashier working 50+ hours a week, have made me mentally hard. In high school I was almost ALWAYS guaranteed that I would be swum at least once per meet and in track, except for NVL and state Championships I was assured a spot on the starting line for the 2 mile. ( In my junior and senior years I was ranked 5th in the Waterbury City Track and field championships, weird thing was they counted the Catholic schools , who had a majority of students from the suburbs with the city public schools...it was sort of irony that the Waterbury City Champion in the 110 high hurdles was a native son of Naugatuck....our best two miler and City champ was from the dirty water so he really was the city's best, but I digress.) At Fordham I had to fight to get a slot on our "D" Relay, for home meets, If we were swimming any team that matched up well against us I was usually swimming exhibition, riding the bench, or swimming the D lay. This lack of competition time helped me grow harder. I appreciated the times I was actually swum in my "signature" events, so if I had a lousy time in the 1000 of the 500 Free, I didn't gripe as much about not doing well as I did in High School, afterall I was swimming my events maybe 3 to 4 times a season, so there wasn't the pressure to do better than last time, or your need to get points, or qualify for states, it was just swim as fast as possible because you may not get another shot. After sacrificing health and sanity working in a "gas-n-go" for two months when I left Fordham, I got back into running and biking. I still remembered being on the day of the Pat Griskus Sprint tri, watching some of the locals come in for Gatorade and power bars...I had done the race in high school and made it a point to do it the following season. The end of that summer I got my current job at the bank and left the 50+ hour hell-hole, where my days off where not guaranteed ( I remember constantly being called in on my days off and being called in hours early...I tried using the "my dad borrowed my car"excuse and the manager replied " Where you live, I pick you up.") By the end of that year I had started Master's swimming was up to full time at the bank and ditched my other part time gig. It was last summer that I did my first two olympic tris as well as about 4 sprints, this year I did my first two half irons, ( I notice I keep increasing by pairs so does that mean 2 IMs next year.) and more races I have ever done in my lifetime. Next year looks to be about a 10-12 race season with a possible marathon, and/or local road race tossed in for flavor.
Well tonight I had an hour run on tap but that will most likely be cut out. I have research on an ALS project due Tuesday. 12 pages about how it's been 70 years since The Iron Horse was struck down and we still don't know crap on this thing although they now think it may be related to over exposure to electromagnetic fields...so if I get these disease in the next 70 years I'm blaming it all on Dell and suing for mucho dinero...which I will not be able to enjoy. Also they believe there are two types of the disease, an acquired type ( Electromagnetically or environmentally caused)and a hereditary type in which a there's a deformed gene on a certain chromosome and it cause the nervous and muscular system to fall apart after x number of years. In either case they're just beginning to crack the surface on this stuff. Another thing I've found out in doing research on this is there are at least 6 major charities and several neurology programs linked to ALS research yet each one seems divided and almost in competition with one another. Example You have the MDA ( muscular dystrophy association...*Jerry's Kids), you have ALSA ( Als association, *Kurt's Pitch to Strike out ALS,) ALSTDF(ALS therapy development Fund now ALSTDI Therapy development institute which was getting proceeds from the sale of team Blazeman gear from TriSports) (*=main charity) TeamBlazeman, then you have the universities competing with one another for research grants, so you have guys at Yale and John Hopkins med duking it out to one up one another for the money to do research. each of the groups is giving money to different groups for research and in essence you end up with 20 different researchers doing research on the same disease in completely different parts of the country /world and not alot getting done to find a cure. The same can be said for other diseases not just ALS just look at cancers, AIDS, MS, Parkinson's, you have so many fragments that no major progress can get done. What needs to happen is there needs to be one giant database of info and research, and one pool for funds for each disease, this includes public and private donations, that way research teams can compare notes and there would be one large unbiased source of funding for any research that could lead to a major break through...but alas I am living in a perfect world with out CEO's Drug Company Contracts, Universities trying to attract more admissions, insurance company and government agendas, and the cogs of modern capitalism. Competition brings progress, yet at the same time it can hinder it. Well that's it for my rant on Western Medical research and treatment, and well political bull shit...(.Duguay '20... running on the Democratic ticket unless I;m hit with " you're too conservative"bullshit in which I will run Libertarian.)..Well I'm hitting theboolsand hitting them hard.peace. Also if you have not done so and would like to give a donation to the War on ALS please click on the link or visit the web sites of one of the other associations mentioned..also if your an American Express card holder looking for more points and a tax deduction you can donate through GivingExpress, and also iGive.com also has links to donate. I encourage anybody reading this blog to give to the war on this disease, and as mentioned earlier it can be as little as $1 itwill help make a difference.
The ALS Warrior
R.D.
Well tonight I had an hour run on tap but that will most likely be cut out. I have research on an ALS project due Tuesday. 12 pages about how it's been 70 years since The Iron Horse was struck down and we still don't know crap on this thing although they now think it may be related to over exposure to electromagnetic fields...so if I get these disease in the next 70 years I'm blaming it all on Dell and suing for mucho dinero...which I will not be able to enjoy. Also they believe there are two types of the disease, an acquired type ( Electromagnetically or environmentally caused)and a hereditary type in which a there's a deformed gene on a certain chromosome and it cause the nervous and muscular system to fall apart after x number of years. In either case they're just beginning to crack the surface on this stuff. Another thing I've found out in doing research on this is there are at least 6 major charities and several neurology programs linked to ALS research yet each one seems divided and almost in competition with one another. Example You have the MDA ( muscular dystrophy association...*Jerry's Kids), you have ALSA ( Als association, *Kurt's Pitch to Strike out ALS,) ALSTDF(ALS therapy development Fund now ALSTDI Therapy development institute which was getting proceeds from the sale of team Blazeman gear from TriSports) (*=main charity) TeamBlazeman, then you have the universities competing with one another for research grants, so you have guys at Yale and John Hopkins med duking it out to one up one another for the money to do research. each of the groups is giving money to different groups for research and in essence you end up with 20 different researchers doing research on the same disease in completely different parts of the country /world and not alot getting done to find a cure. The same can be said for other diseases not just ALS just look at cancers, AIDS, MS, Parkinson's, you have so many fragments that no major progress can get done. What needs to happen is there needs to be one giant database of info and research, and one pool for funds for each disease, this includes public and private donations, that way research teams can compare notes and there would be one large unbiased source of funding for any research that could lead to a major break through...but alas I am living in a perfect world with out CEO's Drug Company Contracts, Universities trying to attract more admissions, insurance company and government agendas, and the cogs of modern capitalism. Competition brings progress, yet at the same time it can hinder it. Well that's it for my rant on Western Medical research and treatment, and well political bull shit...(.Duguay '20... running on the Democratic ticket unless I;m hit with " you're too conservative"bullshit in which I will run Libertarian.)..Well I'm hitting theboolsand hitting them hard.peace. Also if you have not done so and would like to give a donation to the War on ALS please click on the link or visit the web sites of one of the other associations mentioned..also if your an American Express card holder looking for more points and a tax deduction you can donate through GivingExpress, and also iGive.com also has links to donate. I encourage anybody reading this blog to give to the war on this disease, and as mentioned earlier it can be as little as $1 itwill help make a difference.
The ALS Warrior
R.D.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Let the Floggin' contiune until morale improves.......
If any phrase describes Ironman training this is it. This week I have the lovely chore of tying paper writing and training. So far this week I've gotten in a 2 hour trainer session a 3 mile run ( after an ice storm mind you.) and 1000 yards pool time ( for the 15 min. it was slow last night.) Tonight I have at least 3000 yards on tap. Tomorrow, with no foreseeable ice, sleet or white stuff on the Doppler, I might get in an eight mile prework run (possibly 12 if I can drag myself out of bed at 5am.) Tomorrow afternoon has a possible post work swim on the agenda ( 3000 yards.) Thursday, has the same ( 8 mile run or hour trainer ride, and an afternoon swim. ) Friday I have Masters, and my lovely trainer, Saturday, the long run or long brick ( either a 60 mile ride/16mile run or a 2 hour trainer/15 mile treadmill Odyssey. or just a straight up 16 miler . Sunday begins the new week with the hope of some warmer weather and some more cycling damn it. I would love to ride but it will most likely end up as swimming and the trainer, so I guess the next 2 to 4 weeks will be Run/ Swim phase with periods of Special High Intensity Training (SHIT) on the trainer, and the occasional long ride/brick if the weather warms up enough to allow it. I have now come to the rational conclusion that I am most certainly in the wrong climate, and I should move to an area with weather that is more suitable to my activities/personality upon graduation....Kona,HI ....ahh I can dream as I look at real estate listings that show I can buy a condo on the big island for what it would cost me to buy a farm in Southbury, yet on the island I am not hit with as high of a property tax, but the mortgage and insurance plus cost of living would probably kick my ass. on the plus side though I could most likely ditch the car and ride my bike everywhere, although this means taking my life into my hands as most of the island is the ghetto, the work of us rich New England Whiteys that came over took over pineapple plantations, overthrew a sovereign monarch, an pretty much turned an island paradise into a commercial venture...man I hate it when we do that.....my rant on how Europeans/ Americans of European Descent have gone off and wrecked nation states and entire cultures ( the Inca, the Aztecs, The Filipinos, the Hawaiians, the Bannana Republics we set up in Central America, then overthrow when they start favoring their own interests rather than those of American tycoons....I mean...their people....is now over. But no a warmer climate is hopefully in the future for this New Englander....and a violent overthrow of the current leadership is not in my plans. but no Hawaii with all of its possible ghettoness, looks lovely, California ( all the warmth, Ghetto and added bonus of earthquakes) is another place I'd long to hang my hat for a while, or the Arizona Desert ( warmth, drive 2 hours north I've got cold and snow, drive 2 hours back to Pheonix, I've got warm and dry.) might be alternatives to continued life in the Tundra that is Connecticut. (Despite the fact my parents say I'd miss having the cold weather....seriously if it didn't snow another flake up here I wouldn't cry...well ok I MIGHT MISS IT, just a little at Christmas, but I can't take 4 months of the crap.) Well those are my rants and ramblings for the evening. I've got some research todo and a practice to crank out.
The California Dreamer
R.D.
The California Dreamer
R.D.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Rocky IV Trainner workout.
Okay I have fallen into the cliche of Cold Weather Training Montages inspired by the classic movie Rocky IV, In the last two weeks I have been forced to run in sub-freezing temperatures, cycle in the same conditions ( and have finally resigned myself to the fact 2 to 3 hour trainner sessions will be the norm.) Luckily my local pools are indoor and heated, other wise I would be pulling the Parka to Jammer to Parka deck change, which is never fun. Well anyway, the "seasonable" weather has shown up Snow flurries and light sleet yesterday, more sleet, rain, freezing rain, this morning so the roads are dangerous enough in my ironclad subaru let alone on a tri bike with slick tires. Yesterday I cranked out a 90 min. trainner session on TBS to the movie Rocky 4 ironically enough. I really pushed in the trainning montage in which Apollo's Creed's trainer starts shouting, "There is no pain" and Rocky claws his way up an ice covered mountain after ditching his KGB escort, now seriously what does clawing up an ice covered peak have to do with boxing?( about as much as a boxing moive has to do with the Ironman. could be a witty retort.) Needless to say this session with a ready to go out and kick the world's ass kind of feeling. Went and grabbed dinner than decided hell, I'll try to put in another 2 hours, well I got 30 min. into the Motorcycle Diaries before my legs screamed "No mas." so in total I managed about 2 hours on the trainer, which according to Triathlete Magazine's all knowing gurus Paul and Roch equates to a 4 hour ride.( due to constant spinning and no coasting on down hills or flats.) As mentioned before the falling ice made geting a run in impossible, I might squeeze in some running time this afternoon before Class but we'll see ( it all depends on how good the walk ways are.) otherwise some pool time on a dead night seems a better alternative. The forecast for the rest of the week shows mostly cold and clear, with a chance of snow on Wed. and possibly Sunday into Monday. So I might not be a slave to the treadmill and trainer after all. We'll see.
The Count of Monte Fisto, the Master of Disaster, the terror of the tundra....
R.D.
The Count of Monte Fisto, the Master of Disaster, the terror of the tundra....
R.D.
Monday, November 19, 2007
It's a battle of man(kind) versus nature....
and mother nature has kicked my ass! Right now in the words of The Angry Runner " my legs hurt."
Yes this weekend I had grandiose of getting in a 75 mile training ride.( I did get in the miles but it was over two days, not in the one stomping session I had planned.) I also ran in the fischang-cicchetti 5 mile road race for the first time since 2002 and embarked on my mission to break 35:00, and prove I'm still hot fire. So here's the weekend wrap up.
Saturday: Wool Socks+ toe covers + $100 of cold weather crap still= cold F**king toes!
Pre Ride:
After the 4 hours of "joy" working the Saturday before Thanksgiving( or the day before the X-mas shopping binge). Needless to say I left for Lake Waramaug full of fuel for the ride. I called the Angry Runner to Get Claire's cell phone and also check up on him..( he had deleted all of his blogs on purpose I was trying a) to make sure he didn't get hacked alla Renee b) see if he was okay ( December 06 was a rough month for Angry as well as myself...one of the reasons I really don't like Christmas). after Shooting the shit, and discovering the valuable tax credit that is insulation, we made plans to meet for dinner after the bitch stomping ride. I stopped off at 503 Cycle Works in Litchfield to pick up a windbreaker jersey only to discover he didn't carry cold weather clothes. Since he carries the best array of nutrition this of Newington, I picked up two things of Clif shot blocks ( figuring they were not as high in fiber as the Clif bars or Larabars, which would have me racing to the out house after 10 miles.) I got a call from No-Wetsuit Girl who was hauling in from Mass. to ride with me, she was in Middlebury about 45 min. away. I gave her directions to the lake, ironically the same route as one of my 40 mile rides, and then took off for the State Park. When I arrived at the State Park on the far shore of the lake, I saw the parking lot full of cars. HEATsters coming to ride with me I thought, sadly it wasn't.It was a group of New England Hippies ( seriously what do you call a group of people with a VW bus circa 1967) holding an "Outdoor Thanksgiving". I like the concept and maybe might do it one of these days...if I move to an area where it's warmer than 35 degrees and there is no threat of snow over your head in the month of November. Any way I got to talking with one of the group, as she noticed me pulling out the Bitch Stomper and my array of cold weather riding gear. Shared the info that I 'm doing Ironman New Zealand ( seriously I think half the state knows by now.) the basic what kind of psycho rides in 35 degree weather, talk. No Wetsuit girl arrived , and immediately asked for the toilet, I pointed in the direction of the two little out houses ( in the summer they actually have flush toilets but because it is not a perpetual 60 degrees in CT the pipes will freeze in the winter so the DEP resorts to the centuries old waste disposal method, a hole in the ground.) after Claire ditched the excess water weight we geared up and hit the road. the Game Plan: 10 loops of the lake
The Ride:
The distance around is 7.89 miles we decided it would be wise to skip the "little" hills on the sprint course and stick to the fairly flat route around the lake. On the first loop as we took off Claire gave me the warning " If I'm going too slow for you don't be afraid to kick up the pace." Well I'm not going to leave someone who just drove 3 hours to ride behind, also we weren't going that slow, averaging about 17 miles per hour. We'd ride side by side and discuss random crap, Stem cell research, relationships, politics, religion, races we absolutely have to do before death. ( The Boston Marathon is on both our lists, it's a New England thing, if you run in High School/and or College in NE Bill Rodgers is elevated to Cult Status...and the only marathon that matters is run in Beantown. Everything else ( Hartford, NYC, LA..etc) is a qualifier.) On the "Front half "of the Lake (Route 45 ) we tucked into single file me grinding away in the areobars and Claire tucking into the slipstream. Then back to the side by side on the more deserted road ways the first three laps were good but the cold was starting to hit. The wind on the front half was finding its way in through the cleat and was freezing my toes. On the fourth lap I spotted an older gentleman riding up ahead. I looked over to Claire " let's catch him" after a quick acceleration, the neoprene free female and myself overtook the gentleman who latched onto Claire's back wheel forming a three person pace train. As we hit one of the tiny climbs on our route, the 40 something year old cyclist began a massive acceleration flying by me like I was standing still. My ego was a little more powerful than my freezing toes as I kicked into high gear and made chase. We descended through a series of tight switchbacks , pedaling like men possessed me hugging the aero bars and tucking like it was my job. A quick glance at the speedometer showed the tall of the acceleration 26mph on fairly flat road. As he slowed to lower his heart rate I glanced back at Claire pushing to catch up. We slowed back into our normal rhythm as the energetic 50 something took off as Claire and I settled back into our pace. By this time my feet were two blocks of ice attached to the crank. As we hit the "front half "of the lake We blew by the 50 something year old again...as well as a group of rec-riders. as we approached the State park I looked down at my watch it was 4:25 " I think this is our last loop" I said as Claire came along side. Somewhere within my frozen shoes, my feet were rejoicing. as We pulled into the parking lot i took a look at the computer 39.90 miles in 2:19 average pace 17.4 mph. Not a bad ride considering the fact both Claire and I were hypothermic.
The Post ride: They have a fleecy lining ...feel.
the ride was topped off by a stop to the Litchfield Dunkin Donuts, Claire got a hot chocolate I got my usual caffeine binge o rama ( Xl coffee, cream no sugar) As the feeling came back to my frozen feet, Claire revealed the fact that she was still freezing despite the heat being on full blast in her car. I non-chalantly started to brag about my cold weather gear that except for my feet had kept me relatively warm. Bragging especially about my tights. She asked if they had a fleecy lining which led to awkward moments # 1 and #2 Awkward moment # 1 I reached under the waist band and felt. " They do." I exclaimed in childish excitement. Awkward moment #2 I held out the waist band " Want to feel?" it was then that the inappropraiteness of the situation hit me.... Well after the infamous fleecy lining incident and parking lot change job...2nd time in one day the town of Litchfield has seen my bike shorts. It was off to Angry's homestead in the dirty water. After playing with the Angry's dog..seeing how jacked up angry was over Owens Corning Insulation, we decided to hit Nino's Resturante in Waterbury. ( Cannoli and loans with 25% 0r 2 broken legs interest are the daily special.) As usual Angry was a fox in a chicken coup as he started checking out every hot young thing in the place...which to my own confession so was I. During the course of dinner Claire and I kept trying to figure what was bothering Sir Angry. eventually by the end of the night Angry agreed to do the Cicchetti road race on Sunday if I called him when I got up and he could drag his ass out of bed. After the drive back to Angry Homestead ( I guess I should call it the Angry Compound.), Claire and I drove to the I-84 mixmaster I got off as she stood on and made her way Mass Bound. I arrived back at Chez Robert and retired for the night. I checked the Heat forum and one guy responded saying he would be riding at Waramaug on Sunday. left a reply. I would bitch stomp the Cicchetti and then go up to Waramaug for a second go round with mama nature.
Sunday: Sunday Bloody Sunday!
Part one: The 33rd annual Fischang Chicchetti Road race. Or the Angry Runner Returneth.
Pre Race:I woke up at 7 am and promptly hit snooze. Woke up again at 7:30 I figured if I got there by 8 I would have enough time to warm up. I never eat for this race because I have a bad habit of sprinting the last mile and going into linda blair mode. ( the first time I ran this race I puked green powerade 100 meters from the finish.) I called Angry " You doing this thing?" i asked. " I'm making oatmeal as we speak." Oatmeal Angry's power food...it was a good sign already. " The bitch of it is I burnt my first batch..and it's pissing me off." Angry was back to him old self. He would be racing to avenge Oatmeal. I showed up at the Waterbury Y at about 8:15 found Angry..shot the shit. I grabbed my race packet and went to warm up. After a nice 1/2 mile to mile warm up, I shed my long crap and Walked into the frozen tundra clad only in my New Balance flats, shorts and Tee, with my trust timex ironman watch. I did a couple of strides and caught up with one of my old Track team mates we shot the shit. Angry wished me luck and settled into the second row as I took my place on the front row, waiting for the gun. ( really good photo of this in the local paper...for once I was first page news ) the Gun went off at 9:00am sharp and the 275 of us were off on a 5 mile Odyssey
The Race: Is that a Kenyan?
my down fall in this race is in my zeal to get media attention I end up starting in the front and dying like a pig. sunday was no exception. As I was handily passed by a Kenyan road running super stud, a high school XC hot shot ( a chick), Half my Alma mater's ( Holy Cross High School) XC team, and a couple of nasty 40 somethings in the first mile. As we ran up the slight incline to the first split my time was 6:05, not as fast as I used to take it out but still a little too hard for a race this long. the second mile was my body's revenge for attempting to sprint the eventual women's winner flew by along with a couple of 30 somethings . On the plus side I was able to pass one of the over zealous XC kids who was steadily dropping down the overall like a brick. As we entered Hamilton park and the second mile split the time rang out 13:00 a 6:55 mile. the third mile is one of those gut check momments for me it was my rest mile. I was in no man's land, the faster runners were pulling away and the slower runners couldn't catch me yet. I made my way past the turn around and began to close on some of the guys beng dropped from the leaders' breakneck pace. At 2.5 mile I grabbed a single cup of water from the sole aid station...how I pined for the aid stations at every mile we had at the Griskus and the other tris, and the marathon. worse was feeling myself bonk...kicking myself that I should have at least had a powerade or a gu. the 3 mile split appreared. 20.02 a 7:02 mile my slowest of the race....it was time to go to work. I looked for the group ahead I could see a 40 year old in redrunning gear ahead he was my target...I would try to catch him. My legs started to burn slightly as I increased the pace. My stomach shouted up to me " What the Hell are you doing? Don't you know you didn't eat shit before this race." i didn't care I cracked out a mile at a slightly uncomfortable pace 4 mile split 26.28 a 6:25 mile The last mile it was no holds barred. It was quite literally run from the cops ( We passed the Waterbury PD on the way to the finish.) . I looked back a gray haired dude was closing in. As we hit the brick road 400 meters from the line He pulled along side. I surged, pulling a prefontaine. I was hurting but I was not going to let this soon to be retiree beat me. He tucked in on my heels saving energy for the slingshot. We hit Asphalt 200 meters to go he shot out wide left I got on his heels, my diaphram aching ready to expel food that wasn't there I got on my toes and pulled along side we hit the line at the same time. Overall time: 32:50 last mile split: 6:21 total pace 6:34/per mile I was 9th in my age group which was limped Open 19-29 counting all the XC studs and ex-college runners it wasn't bad. My overall place 31st out of 275 finishers. 5 seconds faster than the last time I did this race. 2 minutes later Angry appeared picking off a line of guys at the finish in his sprint . It was a good day but only half over.
Post Race. I shot the shit with Angry and some of the other Runners. Angry took off halfway through the raffle because the annoucer was just pissing us all off with his slow speech. The raffle ended, as usualI didn't win shit. I checked the result before the award ceremony. They don't give trophies for 9th place in class, and I was two spots ahead of a prize money position. ( 33rd race so 33rd, 133rd, 233rd position each win $33) so I left for the lake I had a ride to get in and a score to settle with the New England Cold.
Part Deux: Bobby and the Lake...as usual the Lake wins again.
I got up to Waramaug at noon. there were no other cars at the park so I wasn't sure if the HEATster was showing. I decided to give him until 12:30PM ( Actually he didn't show it was only after I got home I found out he had replied to my reply and he was going to be at his kid's swim meet, so he had to back out. It's all good.) I took a nice half hour nap..woke up a decided to kick this pig. i threw on two pairs of socks, my wool cycling socks and a pair of hikers over the top. I did one loop of the sprint course only to find it was littered with debris and narrowed by road construction. I did only 1 nine mile loop before settling into my routine around the lake. After 2 loops i pulled in behind a roadie. We drafted one another for a couple of loops before once again my feet froze and I had to bow out. 32.79 miles in under 2 hours. not bad but still a little short of the mileage I want.
Tuesday Update: Well with this morning's preview of coming attractions It looks like I' m going to be living on the (ugh) trainner. Seriously I think I'm living on the wrong coast. Okay that gripe aside it's supposed to be back in reasonable riding temperatures on Thursday and Friday...may be I can eek out a ride if the weather's descent other wise Mr. Carmichael's training DVD and I will be having a lot of early mornings together.
The Hot Fire Stud.
R.D.
Yes this weekend I had grandiose of getting in a 75 mile training ride.( I did get in the miles but it was over two days, not in the one stomping session I had planned.) I also ran in the fischang-cicchetti 5 mile road race for the first time since 2002 and embarked on my mission to break 35:00, and prove I'm still hot fire. So here's the weekend wrap up.
Saturday: Wool Socks+ toe covers + $100 of cold weather crap still= cold F**king toes!
Pre Ride:
After the 4 hours of "joy" working the Saturday before Thanksgiving( or the day before the X-mas shopping binge). Needless to say I left for Lake Waramaug full of fuel for the ride. I called the Angry Runner to Get Claire's cell phone and also check up on him..( he had deleted all of his blogs on purpose I was trying a) to make sure he didn't get hacked alla Renee b) see if he was okay ( December 06 was a rough month for Angry as well as myself...one of the reasons I really don't like Christmas). after Shooting the shit, and discovering the valuable tax credit that is insulation, we made plans to meet for dinner after the bitch stomping ride. I stopped off at 503 Cycle Works in Litchfield to pick up a windbreaker jersey only to discover he didn't carry cold weather clothes. Since he carries the best array of nutrition this of Newington, I picked up two things of Clif shot blocks ( figuring they were not as high in fiber as the Clif bars or Larabars, which would have me racing to the out house after 10 miles.) I got a call from No-Wetsuit Girl who was hauling in from Mass. to ride with me, she was in Middlebury about 45 min. away. I gave her directions to the lake, ironically the same route as one of my 40 mile rides, and then took off for the State Park. When I arrived at the State Park on the far shore of the lake, I saw the parking lot full of cars. HEATsters coming to ride with me I thought, sadly it wasn't.It was a group of New England Hippies ( seriously what do you call a group of people with a VW bus circa 1967) holding an "Outdoor Thanksgiving". I like the concept and maybe might do it one of these days...if I move to an area where it's warmer than 35 degrees and there is no threat of snow over your head in the month of November. Any way I got to talking with one of the group, as she noticed me pulling out the Bitch Stomper and my array of cold weather riding gear. Shared the info that I 'm doing Ironman New Zealand ( seriously I think half the state knows by now.) the basic what kind of psycho rides in 35 degree weather, talk. No Wetsuit girl arrived , and immediately asked for the toilet, I pointed in the direction of the two little out houses ( in the summer they actually have flush toilets but because it is not a perpetual 60 degrees in CT the pipes will freeze in the winter so the DEP resorts to the centuries old waste disposal method, a hole in the ground.) after Claire ditched the excess water weight we geared up and hit the road. the Game Plan: 10 loops of the lake
The Ride:
The distance around is 7.89 miles we decided it would be wise to skip the "little" hills on the sprint course and stick to the fairly flat route around the lake. On the first loop as we took off Claire gave me the warning " If I'm going too slow for you don't be afraid to kick up the pace." Well I'm not going to leave someone who just drove 3 hours to ride behind, also we weren't going that slow, averaging about 17 miles per hour. We'd ride side by side and discuss random crap, Stem cell research, relationships, politics, religion, races we absolutely have to do before death. ( The Boston Marathon is on both our lists, it's a New England thing, if you run in High School/and or College in NE Bill Rodgers is elevated to Cult Status...and the only marathon that matters is run in Beantown. Everything else ( Hartford, NYC, LA..etc) is a qualifier.) On the "Front half "of the Lake (Route 45 ) we tucked into single file me grinding away in the areobars and Claire tucking into the slipstream. Then back to the side by side on the more deserted road ways the first three laps were good but the cold was starting to hit. The wind on the front half was finding its way in through the cleat and was freezing my toes. On the fourth lap I spotted an older gentleman riding up ahead. I looked over to Claire " let's catch him" after a quick acceleration, the neoprene free female and myself overtook the gentleman who latched onto Claire's back wheel forming a three person pace train. As we hit one of the tiny climbs on our route, the 40 something year old cyclist began a massive acceleration flying by me like I was standing still. My ego was a little more powerful than my freezing toes as I kicked into high gear and made chase. We descended through a series of tight switchbacks , pedaling like men possessed me hugging the aero bars and tucking like it was my job. A quick glance at the speedometer showed the tall of the acceleration 26mph on fairly flat road. As he slowed to lower his heart rate I glanced back at Claire pushing to catch up. We slowed back into our normal rhythm as the energetic 50 something took off as Claire and I settled back into our pace. By this time my feet were two blocks of ice attached to the crank. As we hit the "front half "of the lake We blew by the 50 something year old again...as well as a group of rec-riders. as we approached the State park I looked down at my watch it was 4:25 " I think this is our last loop" I said as Claire came along side. Somewhere within my frozen shoes, my feet were rejoicing. as We pulled into the parking lot i took a look at the computer 39.90 miles in 2:19 average pace 17.4 mph. Not a bad ride considering the fact both Claire and I were hypothermic.
The Post ride: They have a fleecy lining ...feel.
the ride was topped off by a stop to the Litchfield Dunkin Donuts, Claire got a hot chocolate I got my usual caffeine binge o rama ( Xl coffee, cream no sugar) As the feeling came back to my frozen feet, Claire revealed the fact that she was still freezing despite the heat being on full blast in her car. I non-chalantly started to brag about my cold weather gear that except for my feet had kept me relatively warm. Bragging especially about my tights. She asked if they had a fleecy lining which led to awkward moments # 1 and #2 Awkward moment # 1 I reached under the waist band and felt. " They do." I exclaimed in childish excitement. Awkward moment #2 I held out the waist band " Want to feel?" it was then that the inappropraiteness of the situation hit me.... Well after the infamous fleecy lining incident and parking lot change job...2nd time in one day the town of Litchfield has seen my bike shorts. It was off to Angry's homestead in the dirty water. After playing with the Angry's dog..seeing how jacked up angry was over Owens Corning Insulation, we decided to hit Nino's Resturante in Waterbury. ( Cannoli and loans with 25% 0r 2 broken legs interest are the daily special.) As usual Angry was a fox in a chicken coup as he started checking out every hot young thing in the place...which to my own confession so was I. During the course of dinner Claire and I kept trying to figure what was bothering Sir Angry. eventually by the end of the night Angry agreed to do the Cicchetti road race on Sunday if I called him when I got up and he could drag his ass out of bed. After the drive back to Angry Homestead ( I guess I should call it the Angry Compound.), Claire and I drove to the I-84 mixmaster I got off as she stood on and made her way Mass Bound. I arrived back at Chez Robert and retired for the night. I checked the Heat forum and one guy responded saying he would be riding at Waramaug on Sunday. left a reply. I would bitch stomp the Cicchetti and then go up to Waramaug for a second go round with mama nature.
Sunday: Sunday Bloody Sunday!
Part one: The 33rd annual Fischang Chicchetti Road race. Or the Angry Runner Returneth.
Pre Race:I woke up at 7 am and promptly hit snooze. Woke up again at 7:30 I figured if I got there by 8 I would have enough time to warm up. I never eat for this race because I have a bad habit of sprinting the last mile and going into linda blair mode. ( the first time I ran this race I puked green powerade 100 meters from the finish.) I called Angry " You doing this thing?" i asked. " I'm making oatmeal as we speak." Oatmeal Angry's power food...it was a good sign already. " The bitch of it is I burnt my first batch..and it's pissing me off." Angry was back to him old self. He would be racing to avenge Oatmeal. I showed up at the Waterbury Y at about 8:15 found Angry..shot the shit. I grabbed my race packet and went to warm up. After a nice 1/2 mile to mile warm up, I shed my long crap and Walked into the frozen tundra clad only in my New Balance flats, shorts and Tee, with my trust timex ironman watch. I did a couple of strides and caught up with one of my old Track team mates we shot the shit. Angry wished me luck and settled into the second row as I took my place on the front row, waiting for the gun. ( really good photo of this in the local paper...for once I was first page news ) the Gun went off at 9:00am sharp and the 275 of us were off on a 5 mile Odyssey
The Race: Is that a Kenyan?
my down fall in this race is in my zeal to get media attention I end up starting in the front and dying like a pig. sunday was no exception. As I was handily passed by a Kenyan road running super stud, a high school XC hot shot ( a chick), Half my Alma mater's ( Holy Cross High School) XC team, and a couple of nasty 40 somethings in the first mile. As we ran up the slight incline to the first split my time was 6:05, not as fast as I used to take it out but still a little too hard for a race this long. the second mile was my body's revenge for attempting to sprint the eventual women's winner flew by along with a couple of 30 somethings . On the plus side I was able to pass one of the over zealous XC kids who was steadily dropping down the overall like a brick. As we entered Hamilton park and the second mile split the time rang out 13:00 a 6:55 mile. the third mile is one of those gut check momments for me it was my rest mile. I was in no man's land, the faster runners were pulling away and the slower runners couldn't catch me yet. I made my way past the turn around and began to close on some of the guys beng dropped from the leaders' breakneck pace. At 2.5 mile I grabbed a single cup of water from the sole aid station...how I pined for the aid stations at every mile we had at the Griskus and the other tris, and the marathon. worse was feeling myself bonk...kicking myself that I should have at least had a powerade or a gu. the 3 mile split appreared. 20.02 a 7:02 mile my slowest of the race....it was time to go to work. I looked for the group ahead I could see a 40 year old in redrunning gear ahead he was my target...I would try to catch him. My legs started to burn slightly as I increased the pace. My stomach shouted up to me " What the Hell are you doing? Don't you know you didn't eat shit before this race." i didn't care I cracked out a mile at a slightly uncomfortable pace 4 mile split 26.28 a 6:25 mile The last mile it was no holds barred. It was quite literally run from the cops ( We passed the Waterbury PD on the way to the finish.) . I looked back a gray haired dude was closing in. As we hit the brick road 400 meters from the line He pulled along side. I surged, pulling a prefontaine. I was hurting but I was not going to let this soon to be retiree beat me. He tucked in on my heels saving energy for the slingshot. We hit Asphalt 200 meters to go he shot out wide left I got on his heels, my diaphram aching ready to expel food that wasn't there I got on my toes and pulled along side we hit the line at the same time. Overall time: 32:50 last mile split: 6:21 total pace 6:34/per mile I was 9th in my age group which was limped Open 19-29 counting all the XC studs and ex-college runners it wasn't bad. My overall place 31st out of 275 finishers. 5 seconds faster than the last time I did this race. 2 minutes later Angry appeared picking off a line of guys at the finish in his sprint . It was a good day but only half over.
Post Race. I shot the shit with Angry and some of the other Runners. Angry took off halfway through the raffle because the annoucer was just pissing us all off with his slow speech. The raffle ended, as usualI didn't win shit. I checked the result before the award ceremony. They don't give trophies for 9th place in class, and I was two spots ahead of a prize money position. ( 33rd race so 33rd, 133rd, 233rd position each win $33) so I left for the lake I had a ride to get in and a score to settle with the New England Cold.
Part Deux: Bobby and the Lake...as usual the Lake wins again.
I got up to Waramaug at noon. there were no other cars at the park so I wasn't sure if the HEATster was showing. I decided to give him until 12:30PM ( Actually he didn't show it was only after I got home I found out he had replied to my reply and he was going to be at his kid's swim meet, so he had to back out. It's all good.) I took a nice half hour nap..woke up a decided to kick this pig. i threw on two pairs of socks, my wool cycling socks and a pair of hikers over the top. I did one loop of the sprint course only to find it was littered with debris and narrowed by road construction. I did only 1 nine mile loop before settling into my routine around the lake. After 2 loops i pulled in behind a roadie. We drafted one another for a couple of loops before once again my feet froze and I had to bow out. 32.79 miles in under 2 hours. not bad but still a little short of the mileage I want.
Tuesday Update: Well with this morning's preview of coming attractions It looks like I' m going to be living on the (ugh) trainner. Seriously I think I'm living on the wrong coast. Okay that gripe aside it's supposed to be back in reasonable riding temperatures on Thursday and Friday...may be I can eek out a ride if the weather's descent other wise Mr. Carmichael's training DVD and I will be having a lot of early mornings together.
The Hot Fire Stud.
R.D.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Fifa, Long Runs, Steve McQueen and cholera,
These four almost non related items are what made up my weekend.
Fifa World Cup 06 for my xbox took the boredom out of procrastination as I struggled to get 3 pages ( at post time I'm currnetly on 5 ) of my 8 page cholera paper done. Surprisingly I have made the U.S. a power in World FOOTBALL! ( yes I said it it's football.football football football you wankers.) the highlight of this video game football mania was me beating Germany 2-1 for the world cup..so yeah I was sitting around on the good black box of laziness for way too long.
On Saturday, after my plans for a long ride were dashed by a phone call from the boss lady. I went for a long Zen out/ hallucinogenic 13 mile run in the lovely cross winds. no for anyone who's read my comment on Angry's site, yes I am crazy I was running clad in my blue wind pants a long sleeve bike/ running jacket, with my fuel belt 4 bottle endurance clasped around my waist running my loop of the town. the start and the finish weren't so bad but the middle 3 miles where I was running past Scovils's dam were brutal. Wind kicked up off the water blowing me around with tremendous force and I gritted my teeth and plowed through it. About mile 6 or 7 I started seeing a vision of some buddist monk, whether he was encouraging me of taunting i'm not sure, all I know is if I'm seeing shit it probably means I'm not hydrated enough. After taking a few swigs of gatorade the Dali Lama disappeared and even more random shit starting going through my head, first I was envisioning Willie Nelson's whiny manager's interview slot on the Kona 2006 dvd. then I got scenes from the Rocky VI training video stuck in my head, by the time I finished my 13 mile run I had been through a whirl wind of visions, training montages, and tracks from my i-pod that I some how committed to memory. My head ...well it's a scary place to visit....and no to answer everyone's question I was not on drugs....
The cholera...or slim fast gone wrong as I like to call it, has already been mentioned. It's my medical Anthropology paper which is due tomorrow. and for the sake of all my readers who are not in the medical field I will not go into details all I will say is this if you've got cholera you should grab about 6 IV's of Saline, some, minocycline, the last six issues of triathlete , inside triathlon, and runner's world , a gallon sized jug of Pepto and barricade yourself in the bathroom....if that hasn't given away the effects of the disease nothing will.
So where does Steve Mc Queen feature in all of this random garbage. Yesterday, as I was procrastinating, I mean researching and working diligently on my paper I happened across one of my favorite you tube videos and quotes of all time. The video was from the movie Le Mans ( yes I have a thing for sports car racing especially the endurance shit, nothing like watching a group of 3 guys bitch stomp the hell out of a 911 for 24 hours, while about 70 other psychos are doing the same shit to other exotic marquees.) the most philospophical item I was able to pull from this 7 minute clip of Rock music, and automotive carnage came in the last two minutes of the clip. when he describes racing, it's similar to my view on triathlon. To qoute Mc Queen:
" Racing is important to those who do it well. Anything you did before or after is ..well...just waiting."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ORa-y0TkFA
R.D.
Fifa World Cup 06 for my xbox took the boredom out of procrastination as I struggled to get 3 pages ( at post time I'm currnetly on 5 ) of my 8 page cholera paper done. Surprisingly I have made the U.S. a power in World FOOTBALL! ( yes I said it it's football.football football football you wankers.) the highlight of this video game football mania was me beating Germany 2-1 for the world cup..so yeah I was sitting around on the good black box of laziness for way too long.
On Saturday, after my plans for a long ride were dashed by a phone call from the boss lady. I went for a long Zen out/ hallucinogenic 13 mile run in the lovely cross winds. no for anyone who's read my comment on Angry's site, yes I am crazy I was running clad in my blue wind pants a long sleeve bike/ running jacket, with my fuel belt 4 bottle endurance clasped around my waist running my loop of the town. the start and the finish weren't so bad but the middle 3 miles where I was running past Scovils's dam were brutal. Wind kicked up off the water blowing me around with tremendous force and I gritted my teeth and plowed through it. About mile 6 or 7 I started seeing a vision of some buddist monk, whether he was encouraging me of taunting i'm not sure, all I know is if I'm seeing shit it probably means I'm not hydrated enough. After taking a few swigs of gatorade the Dali Lama disappeared and even more random shit starting going through my head, first I was envisioning Willie Nelson's whiny manager's interview slot on the Kona 2006 dvd. then I got scenes from the Rocky VI training video stuck in my head, by the time I finished my 13 mile run I had been through a whirl wind of visions, training montages, and tracks from my i-pod that I some how committed to memory. My head ...well it's a scary place to visit....and no to answer everyone's question I was not on drugs....
The cholera...or slim fast gone wrong as I like to call it, has already been mentioned. It's my medical Anthropology paper which is due tomorrow. and for the sake of all my readers who are not in the medical field I will not go into details all I will say is this if you've got cholera you should grab about 6 IV's of Saline, some, minocycline, the last six issues of triathlete , inside triathlon, and runner's world , a gallon sized jug of Pepto and barricade yourself in the bathroom....if that hasn't given away the effects of the disease nothing will.
So where does Steve Mc Queen feature in all of this random garbage. Yesterday, as I was procrastinating, I mean researching and working diligently on my paper I happened across one of my favorite you tube videos and quotes of all time. The video was from the movie Le Mans ( yes I have a thing for sports car racing especially the endurance shit, nothing like watching a group of 3 guys bitch stomp the hell out of a 911 for 24 hours, while about 70 other psychos are doing the same shit to other exotic marquees.) the most philospophical item I was able to pull from this 7 minute clip of Rock music, and automotive carnage came in the last two minutes of the clip. when he describes racing, it's similar to my view on triathlon. To qoute Mc Queen:
" Racing is important to those who do it well. Anything you did before or after is ..well...just waiting."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ORa-y0TkFA
R.D.
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