Bike problems, but for once it wasn't me

Francis and I went out for a long ride today. We met at the Runners' Station and headed north. When we got to the GW Bridge, I slowed down realizing that the south side of the bridge was closed. As I turn around, I see Francis riding up with something in his hand. His rear bottle cage holder broke off a couple blocks back. The aluminum bracket broke. He removed one cage and mounted it to the downtube, stuffed the saddlebag into his jersey, and ditched a bottle. We went to the north side of the bridge and negotiated the annoying stairs and then headed north up 9W. When we got to the state line, we started the big descent. Francis was in front and as we came around the bend, I noticed he was motioning to slow down. I was doing about 40mph when I saw the first road flare. Several more called attention to a police car and an ambulance. They were loading a single cyclist onto a stretcher. It didn't look good, but we continued on the descent not wanting to linger and cause a wreck ourselves. We went through Piermont and then to Nyack making a quick stop at the Spoon to refill water.

We continued north and rejoined 9W and started the big climb just before Rockland State Park. About halfway up the climb Francis yelled for me to stop. I circled back and he exclaimed that his pedal fell off. It somehow came unscrewed. Luckily it was and easy fix, but it always sucks to have to restart on a big climb. We blew past Rockland State Park and continue north on 9W until we hit the 40 mile mark on Francis' computer at Haverstraw. We turned and headed south where Francis got a flat at the Upper Nyack High School. After changing out the tube, we quickly rode back to the spoon and topped off water before hammering back to toward the city. At the top of the climb and the state line, Francis once again had to screw his pedal back in again. Once back in New Jersey, we consistently hammered over 20 mph and got back to the city fairly quickly.

We parted ways at the Runners' Station and I headed back to Brooklyn. When I got to Brooklyn, I was just over 85 miles on the day, so I decided to ride around until I hit 90 miles. When I got home, I threw on some running shorts and shoes and headed out on a 3.5 mile run. The run was kind of tough, but I seemed to settle in to a pace after a couple of miles.

I had a pretty good sunday. I'm ready for my next long ride to break the century mark.

Strong Long Run

This morning I did 18 miles with our marathon training group. Despite the persistent, soft rain, the cooler temperatures made for a much easier run than the past couple weeks. We ran up the west side highway and then into the park for two extended bridle loops. It was wet and muddy, but I felt strong for the entire length of the run.

Wetsuit!

I picked this up today. Thanks for the hookup Shay!

Morning workouts

Yesterday morning, I made it to Lasker and swam for an hour. I got in a good workout, but I extrapolated my time and distance over 2.4 miles. I found out that I'm quite a bit slower than I was hoping. That pace would keep me well under the time cutoff for the Ironman, but I have a lot of work to do to get in better swim shape.

This morning I met Francis and NSQ in the park to knock out some mileage before work. We rode loops in the park and then hit the west side highway once the park was opened to traffic. I knocked out about 43 miles, and as NSQ noted, I seemed to get stronger as we put more mileage behind us. The legs are getting better, but man more miles need to be logged.

Help Greg Fight Cancer 5K

Tonight was the 5K to benefit Greg. Before I got there, I had read that there were 660 people preregistered for the race. That number sounded great, but I don't think anyone was expecting what happened when we go there. The turnout was incredible. They ran out of race numbers at 900 and the lines for on-site registration were so long that the start of the race was delayed for over 30 minutes! When I lined up at the start, I looked back and it was a sea of people as far back as I could see. There had to have been well over 1000 people. That kind of turnout for a race that was put together in less than a month is incredible. The course definitely wasn't flat. The course was two loops. The first half of each loop was down and the second was up. I ran at 20:4x, which is ok, but not that great. My time really wasn't what mattered though, it was the outpouring of support for Greg. He had come straight from chemo and walked over to the race, but he still looked great and was in good spirits. I got to talk to him for a good chunk of time after the race and he was very positive--something that will go a long way in his fight.

Wednesday Workout

1.75 mile warm-up...then i took it easy at the track workout. The workout was 5 X 800m with 400 recovery at marathon pace. I jumped in with the 7:30/mile group, which meant I did the 800s at 7:30 pace and the 400 recoveries at 8:30 pace. Next week, I'll jump back in and do an actual speed workout. I think I'm going to try and alternate wednesdays...one easy, one speed work.

Long swim

I swam at Lasker pool tonight for about an hour and fifteen minutes tonight. That's definitely my longest swim workout to date. I took a couple breaks and mixed in some breast stroke, but I was happy to see that I was able to swim for that long.

My legs felt dead most of the day. I tried to meet up with JC to work on my swimming, but I forgot I had promised to meet up with Sam to play some basketball. After fruitlessly searching NYC for a need for an air pump, we settled for going to see District 9.

When I got home, I went out for a quick 3 mile run and then jumped on the bike to do some repeats on the Williamburg Bridge. After my 5th repeat, I got a flat and had to walk 3 miles home. Awesome. I think my road bike hates me. That's the 4th flat in the last 4 rides on that bike.

Hot and Humid

We were a bit short on staff, so I paced the 9:00/mile group for our marathon training program. We did 16 miles up the west side, into Central Park, and back. Although the pace was easy for me, the heat and humidity took its toll. By the end of the run, I was fairly drained. I rehydrated, changed clothes, and then jumped on the bike.

Francis, Nate, YMC and I headed over the GW Bridge and took the back way up to Piermont. Luckily, Nate knew the way, b/c I would have gotten completely lost. The back way was a nice alternative to the usual ride up 9W. My legs were completely dead from the run earlier in the day, so climbing was next to impossible for me. I really struggled to do any climbing. YMC stuck with me and we took it easy on the way back as YMC and Nate picked up the pace and disappeared. I ended up riding a little over 60 miles, which was solid mileage, but it would have been nice to feel stronger.

I weighed myself when I returned home and found that I was down a little over 8 lbs from my morning weight. I need to hydrate a little better in the future.

Last night I crushed the track workout. I had a crappy day at work and decided to just run it out on the track. The usual 1.75 mile warm up to the track was followed by:

1600
1200
800
600
400
400

The last 400 wasn't part of the workout, but I decided to throw it in to leave everything out there. I did all the intervals at sub 6:00/mile pace, running a faster pace with each interval. The 1.75 mile cool down back to Paragon was pretty tough.

This morning I got up at 6:30 and met Bev at Lasker Pool in Central Park. I got in a little under and hour of swimming. I really like Lasker...not very crowded and I can get a better workout than at the gym pool b/c its a longer pool. I plan on trying to go regularly until they close it after labor day.

More from Badwater

Here's another cool link from cnn. Read it here.

A few things for your reading/viewing pleasure

Running is good for your knees.

Here's a cool Badwater story.

and "Performance." It'll only be funny if you are a cyclist.

The world is conspiring against my training

I got up at 5:45 am this morning and got ready for a morning ride. I got out the door and made it about a half mile from my apartment before my rear tire blew out. I didn't have a spare tube on me and since I was close to home, I didn't want to take the time to patch the tube. By the time I walked home, I knew I was going to miss the group, so I just decided to pack it in. I'm about to head to the track workout, so I'll get in a run during that. Hopefully I can get in an abbreviated ride after the run once I get home.

Swimming without head injury

Simple 30 minute swim workout, this time sans a fight with the pool ladder. Much more enjoyable. Much less blood. Bilateral breathing is finally coming along. Time to start increasing the endurance though.

Run, Run

Tonight was an easy ~5.5 miler with Run Club. My legs still felt a little dead, so I took it easy. Gary came out and we ran it together at a fairly easy pace. Mondays are easy...I like them.

Five Years Ago...

Sunday Run

I got up early sunday morning and met the Harriers in CP for a long run. My legs were dead, it was humid, and I felt like crap. Regardless, I got in a little over 13 sluggish miles at around an 8 min/mile pace. I felt fine on the flats, but the slightest increase brought out the fatigue from the previous day's ride. Running on tired legs, I need to get use to it.

"Long" Ride

Francis met me after work and we went out for a long ride. At mile 25, we decided to do a time trial up one of the most difficult climbs of the day, which pretty much meant our legs were dead for every subsequent climb of the day. We went up to Piermont and turned around there. Adding in my mileage to and from brooklyn and the riding I did to scout an elevated run we are doing on the 17th, I put in a little over 70 miles on the day. I've got a long way to go...

Blood in the pool

I went in for an easy friday swim workout, and decided to practice flip turns in the pool. I pushed off the wall and came off crooked. I was in lane 1, where there is a ladder about a body length from the end of the pool. I went head-first into the ladder. It hurt quite a bit, but I finished my workout. When I got back to the locker room, I noticed blood on my forehead. Apparently I was bleed in the pool for at least 15 minutes without anyone even noticing. Glad the lifeguard was being aware of what was going on.

Up early and riding

I got up early and met Maria for a few loops in the park. We started riding at 6:30. After 3 loops, she had to leave, so I picked up the pace and added two more loops and a short out and back along the Hudson. I got in a little over 40 miles before work.

During Run Club, I clocked an easy 5.5 mile run to complete the double.

I apologize for my laziness

I've not just been lazy here, I've been lazy with training. Although I have been training much more than posting, I haven't been training like I should. Yes, I'm admitting it. That was the first step. Now I'm serious. I have to be. Its time for morning rides. Its time for two-a-days. Its time for some serious mileage. Its time to drop the excuses.

Last night I did about 5 miles with Gary at Run Club and then hit the gym for a quick weight lifting session and then 20 minutes in the pool. My workouts were terrible, a result of my laziness.

I've got a lane at the pool reserved for this evening. Then a run. I'm riding tomorrow morning before work and I'll do the speed workout tomorrow night. I'm working on a long run for this weekend, a potential open water swim, and I've got a ride lined up on saturday afternoon with Francis. This should kick-start me back into a serious training regiment, which will carry me to the most glorious, immortal words in all endurance sports...Mike Reilly saying, "You...are...an Ironman."