I earned the shirt and the medal.

The short story was the temperature was mid 30s while I waited in the parking lot with 10-15mph winds, rain, sleet and snow in the air and the weather didn't really improve from there.  Even so, I finished the Disney Half Marathon in 2:42:54. Even better is that I can still walk afterwards.

Long story to follow when I return to NY to warm up a bit.

Do you view a race as a final exam or a reward for putting in the training?

This weekend I'm going to Florida to possibly attempt some of the Disney Half Marathon. Confidence is low that I'll even get to the starting line let alone the finish line. My knee is, if anything, getting worse. I had to stop a bike workout the other day due to the pain and now it hurts almost all the time (as compared to before when it only hurt while running). The PT is wondering if anything else in additon to ITBS is going on. I have a follow up appointment with the ortho next week.

None of this stopped me from squeezing in an outdoor run (albeit a slow 2 miles) yesterday to celebrate the 37 degree heatwave in RockStarLand. Luckily Florida is always warm. Race start temperature is predicted to be...........29 degrees with rain? What kind of joke is that! (Hey Floridian weathermen: when it is 29 degrees precipitation is normally whiter than rain).

My main goal at Disney is to have fun and not injure myself. I had the same mindset when I ran the Dorchester Half Marathon last April after I tore my calf muscle diving out of the way of a nanny pushing a stroller with an infant in it through the end of a 15k race in Central Park. It took me a long time to recover from that injury but the Dorchester race ended with me happy even though I bailed after a painless 5 miles (my original hope was a painless 3 miles).

I also had this mindset when I did the Montauk Century in 2007. I was recovering from shoulder surgery and managed only two training rides coupled with a few spin classes beforehand. My plan was to do most of the ride before my body started complaining (somehow I thought I could easily do about 80 miles) and then limp it in. My body didn't really listen on that day (ok, when does it listen?) and I had a long way to limp in. I finished that century, it was much harder than it should have been, but I was glad I did it.

I read somewhere that some athletes view a race as a final exam while others view a race as a reward for training. I've never viewed a race as a reward and almost aways view a race as a exam (an "A" priority race is a final exam). That may mean something is wrong with me but I wish I could go into any race with the mindset of a race being a reward. So where does that leave me with the Disney Half? Reward or exam?

I don't have anything really to prove with finishing or not finishing this race and have bumped it down to a "C" priority. I have other half marathons already on the calendar for later this year that are more important to me. I'm not really viewing this race as a exam since, at best even if I finish, I hope to get an incomplete with more walking than running. I don't view it as a reward either since I really haven't put in the running training I would have needed to in order to make this a  reward. I think the best compromise for this race is to go for the reward of an incomplete.

This probably wasn't what they were looking for as an answer to the final exam or reward question but I'll make it work for me. What is the reward for training? I don't know but I bet it is a question on some final exam.

20 things to remember on weigh in day.

1. The naughty and nice list isn't just for Christmas. Which are you on this week?
2. Thin socks weigh less than thick socks.
3. Shoes don't matter since you take them off before you step on the scale.
4. Wear pants that don't need a belt.
5. If you find "Sansabelt" pants in the closet, throw them out.
6. Never wear a sweater while weighing in.
7. The added weight of underwear is not worth not going commando.
8. Don't eat beforehand.
9. Drink as little water as possible when you take your morning vitamins.
10. There is a limit to how many times you can go to the bathroom before a weigh in. Find that limit. Every time.
11. Haircuts are optional (but can't hurt). Shaving is not optional.
12. Hair gel is not encouraged.
13. Cutting your toe nails beforehand won't change anything but cutting your fingernails might.
14. Doing a workout before a weigh in can be viewed as cheating (unless you do it before every weigh in) since the weight lost from sweat loss will vary on the workout intensity.
15. Leave the jewelry off.
16. Blow your nose.
17. Feelin' lucky?
18. The meal after the weigh in should not be a considered a celebration requiring copious amounts of celebratory sweets.
19. The number on the scale is more like a compass than a destination. Both are required for the journey.
20. This isn't your last weigh in.

Today is body composition Thursday and I weighed in at home. My scale is evil. It said there is more work to do.

Ungoals.

There were a few goals that I considered setting but elected not to.

The first of these "ungoals" was setting some amount of annual mileage. I took a look at TrainingPeaks and it said in 2009 that I biked 2192 miles (a mix of trainer and on the road), ran 455 miles, and swam for just under 50 hours. It is hard to gage these numbers since I missed a bunch of time due to various injuries, some more impactful than others (an unstated goal is to not get hit by a car again). My inkling is that all the distances will go up and the ratio will change slightly in favor of little more in the run and swim categories even though bike will still win (by a lot). I'll track the mileage this year but the grand total at year end should be "enough." What numbers are "enough?" Thinking about this will only get me into trouble so I'll leave that to CoachBikeMike.

The second of these ungoals relates to swimming. Swimming is more frequency based rather than distance based. I'd love to have 3 swims a week but I figure that will shake itself out as time goes by so it doesn't warrant obsessing on it. I'm not a good swimmer. I'm probably an OK swimmer but if invest a ton of time at it I'll be.......still not a good swimmer. I may cut a few seconds off my swim time but in the scale of things, this isn't a big deal. If I can get through the swim without any additional exertion than now, that would be great but real triathlon race improvement should come from the bike and run.

The last ungoal has to do with my blog. During last year I posted 125 blog entries. That is a little frightening to me since I really didn't have any expectations of what I would do and what I would get out of blogging. For years in school I was told that writing was one of my weaknesses. Then magically people began to say I wrote well. I still think I often write unintelligently and am amazed when something I write actually makes sense (somewhat like monkeys coming up with Hamlet - OK maybe not that bad but at least like monkeys coming up with the script for an infomercial). That hasn't stopped me yet and this blog seems to be taking on a bit of a life of its own. I've gotten more that I expected to out of the blog but I don't want to set any bloggy goals on content, followers (thank you to the current 19 formal followers), comments (although always welcome), and frequency. This way the drivel that comes from my mind to my fingers to the screen can flow uninterrupted. Is that a blessing or a curse? Only time will tell.

Old movies, hugs and cuddles.

My wife has had a hard drive camcorder for a few years now. She was one of the early adopters of this technology and for the most part I believe that she has been happy with her camera. The downside of this technology is that when the hard drive fills up she has to make space by transferring some movies to either DVDs or to one of our household computers. Just before Christmas she realized that the hard drive was filling up and in order to film all the expected Christmas festivities, a review of what was on the camera's drive with a corresponding clean up effort was due.

This has not been a common occurrence as there were a few years worth of movies on the camcorder. My wife had to watch them all to see which movies should be kept and archived vs. which could just be deleted (you know those - the kind where the inept husband gets control of the camcorder and takes a movie of his foot for 25 minutes). After she viewed many of the older scenes she commented, "I was looking at the old movies and.....you were really fat, I don't mean that in a mean way but you were really fat."

It sounded harsh, much harsher than she meant it to be, but I didn't need to look at the movies. I know I was fat. In fact, I know that I am still fat. Less fat perhaps, but still in the fat category.

It sounded so harsh that my girls started laughing (as Rodney Dangerfield said, "now we know why tigers eat their young") . They then felt the need to pipe in with unsolicited comments of their own regarding my body composition changes. They were on a roll but I recall them saying (while laughing almost hysterically):

• My body used to be mushy. Now I have muscles and my muscles aren't as mushy (let me pipe in here-there are many, many parts of me that are still mushy but there are other parts that do have muscles).
• There are parts of me now where they can feel bones under my skin. This never happened to them before.
• I used to be warm to the touch all the time. Now there are times when I'm cold.
• They said that these observations are most noticeable while giving me a hug or cuddling.
• They said, amid laughs, not to worry that they weren't going to stop giving me hugs since I'm not as mushy.

I'll run the risk of getting less mushy, but I won't give up on hugs and cuddles.

Happy New Year.

Goals for 2010

Those who have been following my blog or know me from some other way already know that I am very goal oriented. I'm very demanding of myself and believe strongly that if I set attainable, yet aggressive, goals it helps motivate me to be my best. Goals also must be measurable (simply getting "better" isn't measurable and is more akin to a resolution) and relevant.

The first goal I set was to be at least 10% lighter for 2010 Eagleman 70.3 in June than I was for 2009 Eagleman 70.3. This means weighing no more than 226 pounds on race day and translates into losing about a pound per week. It won't be easy but I think this is attainable.

Is 10% a good improvement in Functional Threshold power (FTP)? I think I'd be happy with that so put another goal in the books of FTP > 305 watts.

This "10 percent in 2010" improvement goal concept seemed interesting to me. The first two goals, weight loss and power, while interesting and measurable really are there to support health and ultimately performance so I decided to see what this means in terms of my race performances. I took my PR times, did the math, and came up with this:

• 5K 29:57-10% = 26:57
• 4M 42:34-10% = 38:18
• 5M/8K 55:30-10% = 49:57
• 10K 1:08:16-10% = 1:01:25
• 15K 1:44:19-10% = 1:33:52
• 1/2 Marathon-10% = 2:16:03
• Olympic Triathlon 3:44:57-10% = 3:22:45
• Half Iron Triathlon 6:59:57-10% = 6:17:57

I looked at these goal times and feel that some are a little of a reach while others are a big reach but I decided to go with them with a few caveats:

• Most of these distances aren't what I would call "A" race distances.
• It is probable that I won't run all of these distances this year. Others might be raced only once. Still others will be somewhat frequent. Some of these distances/races may just be training days where I want a free shirt and water along the way or just want to run with someone.

I also know that a 10 percent improvement year on year is unsustainable. Fortunately (or unfortunately) my performance to date and my physical state, I think, gives me a shot at these so 10 percent in 2010 is it.

But these times, while nice, got me thinking and questioning which goals are most important. I know that keeping injury free, increasing strength, increasing flexibility and having fun can all be goals unto themselves but are they are very difficult to measure objectively. I also figured that missing some (or possibly many ) of these race time goals isn't going to make or break my season. So what will make this season a success?

Then it came to me. The most important goal for 2010 is for both me and my family to believe that I have a reasonable shot at training for and finishing a full ironman distance race in 2011 (full disclosure: I'll be a half century old in 2011). That means that I've improved my fitness. I probably would have reduced my injuries and I'll be having fun. So, if we all believe 140.6 as doable and probable, I will sign up for a late 2011 race in 2010. Which one doesn't matter (yet) but a the biggest goal of 2010 will be my evident my by 2011 race calendar.

Rock on.

My new bike

My new bike is here! I think these pictures could count as bike porn (a term that I credit to Big Daddy Diesel) and I may need a cool name for my new bike like Mel came up with for her new wheels ("The Animal"). Here it is:


Specialized S-Works Transition, SRAM Red, Zipp 808/404 MAX racewheels, Quarq Cinqo power meter, Speedplay pedals, Profile Design CobraWing base bar with T-mag aerobars.


I joked with one of my friends that they must have wanted it out of the bike shop since they were spending so much time cleaning up the drool that was on the floor near it.

A New Month Resolution

Rockstar Research has found an 88% failure rate for the general public's New Year's resolutions. I believe, though, that success rates for goals are higher (or lower percentages) and that there is a big difference between a goal and a resolution. I define goals as having concrete, measurable results that are very objective to measure success (or failure) while resolutions are much more subjective. Resolutions are softer and less tangible. There will be fails in resolutions that are OK but over time resolutions will change behavior, hopefully for the better.

I'm sure that there are a bunch of reasons why people's resolutions fail despite their most noble of intentions. Maybe the resolutions are too lofty. It is difficult to dramatically change behavior that quickly, cold turkey stories aside. Maybe they are not defined right, slipping into the goal category instead. Maybe it is just as simple that in order for a resolution to have significance, it is probably hard.

I don't normally set resolutions but I've decided to set a couple. I'm not going to set them for the length of a year but instead I figured if I started with a few resolutions for just the month of January (a new month resolution) I can see improvement and adjust if necessary.

The two I've decided on for January are:

1. Reduce the amount of soda I drink. I am a soda-holic for lack of a better term. I mostly drink diet, caffeine free soda but I drink a lot of it. I've been known on some days to have soda during breakfast, lunch, dinner, and in between. For January, I'd like to get to the point that some days I don't drink soda at all and other days to just have it with one meal. I'll replace the soda with something healthier - the favorites going in are water, iced tea, or an occasional fruit juice.
2. Increase my strength and flexibility. I do not consider myself physically strong. I started Lisa's sponsored 100 pushup challenge two weeks ago and I'm progressing but slowly (I didn't start week three of the program but went back to week one, column 2 instead of column 1) . I want to continue this program to the conclusion of doing the hundred. I know I might not get there by the end of January but I also want to continue my flexibility program (now called physical therapy for my ITB issues) by introducing some sort of regular flexibility activities.

That's it. Two resolutions. I do have a whole bunch of goals in addition to these resolutions that I'll post within the week but the resolutions are set..... at least for the first month.

Sugoi Brand Champion

I recently received an email that started:

Our SUGOI team has reviewed your application and would like to inform you that you have been accepted as a SUGOI Brand Champion! We believe that you will be a great ambassador of SUGOI and will make us proud in your athletic and personal endeavors. You are an incredible individual, and SUGOI is dedicated to making incredible apparel. We think you’ll agree that together, we make a great pair.

What is most cool about this is that I use a lot of Sugoi stuff already. I belong to 3 triathlon teams, all use Sugoi for their custom uniforms. Almost all of my tri shorts happen to already be made by Sugoi and my favorite piece of workout clothing is my Sugoi custom Team-in-Training RS Cycling jacket (I don't think RS stands for Rock Star but then again, it might).

One of the unexpected by products of losing weight is that since old clothes some how magically stop fitting, I expect to turn over most of my workout clothes this year. I'll let you know which works best for me as the journey continues.

That's what Christmas is all about

"And there were in the same country shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them! And they were sore afraid ... And the angel said unto them, "Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings o great joy, which shall be to all my people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ, the Lord."

"And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and good will toward men."

"That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."- Linus Van Pelt




My daughter Courtney was very excited that she found this ornament and gave to me as an early Christmas present. Every time I see it I'm sure I'll remember her excitement. Although she didn't recite Luke like Linus does, this is also what Christmas is all about.

Merry Christmas.