One foot in front of the other.
Strong Island Rookie Triathlon
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Since I did my first triathlon a few weeks ago, I have become addicted. Yes, it was a singularly painful event, but it was such a rush. Now that I am back in NYC and I am looking back on the event, I have done some analysis of what I can do in and out of the race to make myself better. The first of these things is slimming down a bit.
Right now I weigh about between 207 and 210 lbs.. Ideally I would like to get down to about 185-190. However, as you may or may not know, I a fairly muscular guy and I refuse to lose mass, so my goal is to make the mass I have or will gain, more lean. This will take stress off of my legs and joints and make every event I participate in that much easier, even the Richmond Marathon. Here is the rough outline of the workout I will adopt beginning today:
Monday: A.M. 2 hour bike ride down the west side bike path (this always takes about 2 hrs.)
P.M. 1 hour lifting; 1 hour treadmill run (this will change to road running once I get back into it.)
Tuesday: A.M. 2 hour ride, down to 70th St. and then to Central Park to do “The Loop” no fewer than 4 times.
P.M. Swim, no fewer than 1400 meters (building 100 m a week.)
Wednesday: A.M. West side ride.
P.M. 1 hour “light” lifting; 1 hour treadmill run.
Thursday: Off
Friday: A.M. Central Park ride.
P.M. Swim (1400+.)
Saturday: Saturday Morning Clown Ride (to Nyack, NY and back, approx. 55 mi.)
Sunday: “Hard” lift; 1 hour treadmill run.
I am sure this will change, based on how my body reacts. I will also fine-tune it to get the most out of each workout. Check back in the coming days for details of the workout. I will try to do a post on each portion that includes all the nitty gritty.
During the Redondo Beach Triathlon this past Sunday, in the bike leg of the race I drafted for about 30 seconds. It has since been brought to my attention by Jeff of Road to nowhere that drafting may be illegal in some triathlons. So, I checked the official USAT rules (USA Triathlon) and Jeff is correct, at least for age group racing.
Drafting is basically where one rider rides very close behind another. The advantage of this is that the front rider creates a “hole” in the air and the rider or riders following fit into that “hole”. This makes for a smooth and easier ride for the rider in the back.
Drafting is not only allowed in cycling, but is, in fact, the norm. In triathlons however, the USAT states that only athletes in Olympic qualifying and professional races may draft, thus allowing them to ride close together in packs. In age group racing, which is what most races are (like Redondo), USAT rules say that riders must maintain a distance of at least three bike lengths between them and the rider in front of them.
I would like to say that I was not aware of this rule prior to being told by Jeff (Thank you!!) and I am really sorry that I performed an illegal maneuver, no matter how brief.
San Diego Rock ‘n Roll Marathon
Redondo Beach Triathlon results
Bobby crosses the finish line at clock time 5:18:27 (click here for the video!)
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Here are the details:
First; about 3 days before the race I was riding a bike to the store. The bike has SPD pedals, but I was wearing flip flops because it was just to the store and back. Somewhere along the way the pedal rolled and I cut my the high part of my heel (almost near the bottom of my achilles). No real damage, but there went any hope of not wearing socks.
Days before:
I kept up regular, but lesser workouts up until the Friday before the race (race was on sunday). During the day on Saturday, I went to the check in/clinic they had for the event. Got to take a look at the course and so on. On Saturday night I had a big plate of penne with pears in a gorgonzola cream sauce. Went to bed at 10 pm.
Race day:
I woke up at 5 am, had two eggs with cheese and a banana. I wanted to be checked in and in the transition area by 6:15, but made it at about 6:20. I had plenty of time to set up my transition area just right. I was wearing a one piece tri suit by TYR, and a Zoot Fuzion, full wetsuit (which I will never do again, I’ll explain later). I had two bottles of water set to hose the sand off my feet and everything ended up working out just right.
The start:
The day was overcast, so not so hot and the water was about 62 (f-ing cold). I was in the 3rd wave, which I think was the biggest (34-14 y/o). I got near the front of the group.
The swim:
Had a clean start and got into the mix right away catching multiple feet hands and elbows to my face and other parts. I am sure I also returned the favor. It took me about 5 minutes to pull out in front of the big pack. There was one guy that just took off and ended up out of the water about 30 seconds ahead of me. I pulled way out and I think I was third out of the water for my wave. The reason I will never wear a full sleeve wetsuit again is that it created resistance to my stroke. I had to work harder to get my arms out of the water and this ended up killing my breath. And let me tell you, I am feeling it today.
Coming into the breakers was fine. I caught a couple nice wave that gave me a great push, but I also caught one that broke under my legs and almost flipped me. Once i was standing, I had about 20 yards of water to run out of, which was SOO hard. Once out of that, I had about 75 yards to go to the transition. The real problem was that the entire run up the beach really was UP the beach. By the time I hit the boardwalk into T1 I was in so much pain. I got to my area ok, took a drink of FRS and got my socks and shoes and helmet, etc. on. I then tried to get on my bike before they reminded me that I had to run out of the transition. All in all, I think I was in the transition for about 45 seconds to a minute.
The bike:
I was riding a Cannondale R5 with Look Keo Sprint pedals. It is a road bike and not a tri-bike per se, but it did a great job, and since I train on my own road bike anyway, it is what I am used to. I did rather well on the bike and I believe I only lost about 4 places to guys that were definitely seasoned triathletes and riding $5,000+ tri-bikes. I took advantage of drafting and using it even passed one of the guys that had passed me. I made it into the transition very well and got my cycling shoes off and my running shoes/hat/glasses on in about 30 seconds.
The run:
I was using Yankz for my shoe laces so I saved a lot of time with that and the fact that I had socks on made my shoes go on even faster. The run was a 2 mile course, that was on a lot of boardwalk, which was nice and easy on the legs. However, running is by FAR my weak point and I lost probably about ten or so places to guys that were crazy fast. At mile one there was a set of about 5 stairs that burned like hell. Just beyond that was a water station. It was at that water station that I discovered the bad side of drinking water from a cup while running (I choked). I also dumped the remainder of my water on my head, forgetting the fact that I had a Nike Dri-fit hat on and it would push away any water that hit it! Oh well. The final 30 yards included a hill (up) which sucked and then a nice sidewalk.
My official time was 52:48 and I finished 6th in my age group. I am not sure about my overall place, but I will let you know once they post that info (if they post that info). Overall, I was extremely pleased with my performance. I need to work on my running, no doubt, but I hung in there and it felt awesome to finish.
I just got back to Bobby’s apartment after completing the Redondo Beach Triathlon. I finished 6th in my age group (30-35) in a time of 52:48. That’s all I know right now, but I will post the official results and links and such soon.
At 7:30 tomorrow morning, my start wave (wave 3) will begin the Redondo Beach Triathlon!
Check back for the results!!
So, as I spoke about on my last podcast episode, I’m back! So is nipple chaffing!
The problem I run into is that I get going, only intending on going for a short-ish run and that turns into me going for close to an hour…hence the nipple chaffing. I am now keeping a stick of Body Glide in my gym bag constantly to hopefully alleviate this problem.
Anyway, in less than 48 hours I will be driving across the US from NYC to Logan, Utah with my wife and my dog in three days. The problem is that I have to get in my workouts!! My goal is to run every day once we arrive at our destination (1 night Moline, IL; 2nd night, somewhere in Wyoming) given that it’s not too cold and that I can motivate myself to even THINK about running after having driven for 15 hours+.
On top of that, it will be three days that I am out of the pool and not able to swim. This is important because, as I said, I have the Redondo Beach Triathlon on June 8th. ANOTHER problem is that, the morning after we arrive in Utah, I fly to San Diego to lend my moral (and if needs be, physical) support to Bobby as he runs in the San Diego Marathon. As soon as my plane lands, I am heading to the hotel and then to the race course to run, with Bobby, however much of the race he has left.
SOOOOO…..focus. I have to be focused and intent on my goals. Off we go!
THE ARGYLE AVENGER!!
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SO,
Sorry for my extended absence, but I am now back and running…literally!!
After taking three weeks off I began running again on May 6th. I think that was a day later than I had planned but, I was traveling all day on the 5th and thought that I would give my body, which was still recovering from TWO simultaneous infections, the day off.
That being said, I have been riding pretty consistently during my running hiatus and thank GOD for it. What I have figured out, which I may have mentioned in my last podcast episode, is that it was my shoes that were hurting me. Not my running shoes, mind you, but my every day shoes.
I became very fond of my Vans slide-ons. They were easy and comfortable. They also had ABSOLUTELY NO ARCH SUPPORT!!! Thus, my arch was collapsing from being on my feet in those shoes for so many hours in a day. So, once I figured that out, I began wearing stiff soled shoes with plenty of arch. I don’t have a particularly high arch, as a matter of fact it’s pretty much right in the middle of flat and high. Since my change in footwear, ALL of my problems are either gone, or on their way out the door!!
Today will be my third run back and I am excited to get to it. It will be a treadmill run (gotta take it easy to get back) and I am aiming for about 35 minutes.
Check back soon for BMP: Episode 6!!
After a short absence… I’M BACK!! Running 30 min’s today, I am now SLOWLY rebuilding toward my previous runs. Check out the episode (number 4 even though I say number 3 at the beginning of the show) below.
Links to check out:
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Welcome to episode 2! Hope you enjoy!
Go check out: Running with the Pack
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So, I know I haven’t written in a few days, sorry! I am now in Virginia to do Lucia di Lammermoor with Virginia Opera in Norfolk, Virginia. That being said, we have been in rehearsals a LOT since I got here. I have, however, been running rather consistently.
Unfortunately, my Ipod Nano was messing up and I had to restore it, which basically means I lost all the info stored on it, which included my Nike+ calibration. So, the mileage of my runs has been even more questionable thn usual. I also went and got a pedometer, which I have not yet calibrated yet. That said, the run I did yesterday was an outdoor run.
I ran for 54 minutes wearing both my Nike+ and my pedometer (which I kind of guessed at the calibration). At the end of the run my Ipod said I had run 5.97 miles and my pedometer said I had run 7.5 miles! That is quite a difference!! I will recalibrate them both over the next couple of days.
Anyway, I will put the graphs for all my missed runs on the “Run Graphs” page. 
My feet hurt.
That pretty much sums up today’s run. I did continue my streak of increasingly longer and longer runs, albeit barely. Today, from about 15 minutes in, my feet started bothering me. I did keep my eyes off the clock, which came as a surprise when I hit 1 hour and the treadmill automatically went into “cool down” mode, where it drops the speed to 4 mph.
Another thing is that the treadmills I have been running on WILL NOT go for longer than 60 minutes (not including the 2 minutes for “cool down”). I tried entering 90 minutes and below and nothing. I think for my next treadmill run, I’m going to pause my Ipod workout and stop the treadmill when it hits an hour and restart it. Hopefully this will only take about 30 seconds or so.
I also discovered today the “nipple factor” in longer runs. When you are doing a long run, wearing a loose shirt, rather than a compression shirt, the shirt begins to rub your nipple raw. So I bought some New Skin rather than use medical tape or band-aids which may come off with sweat. New Skin is a “paint on” covering that acts as a bandage. Check out the fun pics of
Sorry this is a day late in getting to the blog, but I have been INSANELY busy! Anyway, my run yesterday was fantastic.
I have found that the “wall” I have been hitting comes in what I think is the first ten or so minutes. For now, this is good because I know for a fact that I have just begun and only have to get going. My hope is that I train well enough to not hit a wall in longer distances. From what I have read, it is possible to avoid if you train properly.
About the run itself; yet again, the treadmill said I went 6.66 mi while the Ipod said 6.48 mi. I managed to keep the digital display, including the clock covered until I hit 50 minutes. This, I have found is key for me in that I focus on the “road” ahead rather than how long I have been running. The problem with this, is that once I start road training, I want to know my split time for pacing reasons.
This week has seen such great gains in my running. For the last run of the week I did what worked on my last run. NO LOOKING AT THE CLOCK. This has helped me so much. So much that I ran for an hour today and NEVER looked at the clock.
What kinda sucked is that the treadmill I was running on only lets you run for an hour and then it goes into a “cool down” cycle where it drops back to 4 mph that accounts for that weird little dip in the run graph. Oh, and the calibration STILL sucks!Ipod says 6.08 mi.while the treadmill says 6.5. Oh well!
Anyway, BIG shout out to Keith and the Girl for being my running soundtrack and keeping their shows coming. They have no idea who I am but I have been a listener of theirs since before show 100. Thanks guys!!
The title kinda says it all. My run today was absolutely amazing! I was just cruising along and probably could have gone for twice as long as I did! That said, I ran for what my Ipod says was 4.68 miles, but which the treadmill said was 5 miles (that pesky calibration again!).
Anyway, I was literally cruising and it was amazing. My new shoes are WONDERFUL!!! Hopefully I will not regret upping my distance so quickly when I wake up tomorrow morning!
Since I have Nike+ (plus) shoes/Ipod, and have been using it now for a while, I am going to do my best to start putting the graphs of my runs into my posts. Some of them may come up a bit after the fact because I don’t always update my Ipod or my runs every day.
So, keep a lookout for some cool graphs and such!!
F.Y.I. The calibration when running on a treadmill is somewhat less than spectacular, so if I do an outside run and you see a sudden spike in my pace, it’s because running on a road or track is far more accurate and thus shows a much faster pace. Here is an article about the Nike+ calibration issues.
I really do love being sore. I love it, that is, as long as it is a result of a nice, solid workout. Today however my feet are a bit sore. I think it’s because of the new running shoes that I just bought. They are Nike Zoom Jasari+. They really are extremely light and flexible, but for whatever reason my feet are killing me! The shoes I had before this were Nike Air Zoom Moire and I adore them. They were like wearing slippers. I have a feeling that I may have to return my new shoes and get a pair of the Moire’s, oh well!
Anyway, aside from that, today was a swimming day for me and a good break for my feet. It’s amazing how much swimming helps with every aspect of exercise! Running presents basically no cardio or breath challenge to me because of the work I put in in the pool. However, up to now, I haven’t run as much as a marathon, so I’m sure I WILL indeed hit a cardiopulmonary wall at some point.
Tomorrow, I am aiming for a 4 mile run. I’ll let you know!
Thanks so much for visiting my site! My name is Brandon Wood and I am the social media manager and a customer service rep for Newton Running. This site and podcast follow my adventures on the way to competing in and training for all kinds of endurance events, especially triathlon and running. Click the "About Me" tab for more info!
Who: This contest is open to anyone and everyone in the U.S. and Canada (also APO)! Tell your friends!
What: Stuffitts! I have spoken about these simple yet awesome shoe savers in the past. Click here to read more about them. I cannot say enough how great they are!
When: Starting NOW! This is an ongoing contest that will be every month, or until every person on the planet has nice, fresh smelling shoes!
Why: Because Stuffitts are awesome! The folks at Stuffitts are being SUPER generous and I also want to give you guys something that I think is a great addition to any athletes arsenal!
How: On the last podcast episode post of each month (example: Episode 99 on June 28 HERE) entrants should leave a comment (however long you'd like). On the following week's show (the first show of each month) I will draw, by random number generator, one winner! That's it!
Good luck!
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