Update from beyond

I have been totally remiss in posting to this blog- mostly because I had better things to do, not because I had nothing to post.  In fact, since that last post, significant changes have happened in my life.  Not most important, but most personal is that I was diagosed with two herniated discs in my neck this spring just before the triathlon season, and as a result, have not raced and am rethinking my approach to racing.  It was a blow, since I had just purhcased a Cervelo P2, built it up in the basement, and had everything set to have a screaming season this spring/summer.  Alas, it was not meant to be.  But, the good news (for me, anyway) is that I am back to running and biking, and my swim is getting better, but I have to make adjustments.  I just sold my P2 and bought a Soloist Carbon frame, and I am building that up in the hope that I can race it in a more comfortable position, but I have to wrestle with the reality that I am no longer going to be at the point end of my age group.  We will see how that plays out.

My son is living the dream at Grinnell College in Iowa, playing ultimate frisbee for the "Grinnelliphants" and make a bold and so far successful transition to college life.  He comes home in a few weeks, so I will know more about how that is really playing out when we have some face time.

My daughter Phoebe continues to shine at Peddie, playing varsity field hockey this fall in a new role as center midfielder, and she recently scored her first high school goal- she is fantastic and fun to watch!

My daughter Bridget is off to a fast start in her final middle school year before (hopefully) coming to Peddie. She is also playing field hockey when she is not hanging out with her friends or watching "How I Met Your Mother" on Roku...

More to follow- just a snapshot for now...

Catching up

I have been remiss, as usual, in posting to the blog. So, here are some updates. I am 31/50 in the 100 runs in 100 days challenge on Slowtwitch (I took 15 days off due to illness and xmas in December, so that accounts for most of the missed days). Running is going well, building slowly, waiting to target speed. Training updates are boring, though, so I will cut to the cool stuff:

My son and I are building a bike in the basement for him to use in his next race, which is in April. We are still waiting on parts (and, I went ahead and put the headset in), but once they get here, we will get started on that- which should be fun. Next, my wife and I are heading to Scotland for a 9 day trip as our 20th anniversary present to eachother. It should be cool, literally and figuratively- since we are traveling in early March, and the weather will be, well, scottish! Also, my buddy Chris and I will be holding another youth tri clinic at the above race the weekend before it happens, and we are in the middle of planning that, along with a possible cross country camp this summer here on campus. Other than that, just trying to stay warm in this weird winter weather this year...though I can't complain, since I love the snow. Thats it for now- more to follow.

Remember me?

So much for new years resolutions, and so much for writing on the "interweb" with the thought than anyone actually reads these self-absorbed musings. Yes, it has been awhile since I last posted, and a lot has happened, some of it related to triathlon, but most of it entirely outside of the sport. I did begin my long-awaited sabbatical, and I had some interesting plans to both train like a mad man and do significant research into learning issues. First stop was to a conference at Landmark College, which was pretty cool, and then to the USAT coaches certification clinic in D.C., which was also very cool. If you check facebook, you'll know that I am now a level 1 coach, and I have helped run two very successful clinics this spring/summer- one for adults, and one for kids. But, the mos significant event was on April 17th when I found out that my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a long spring and summer of surgeries, tests, waiting, more surgeries, more tests, more waiting, but now, finally, we have some closure on the first phase of her battle, which is that she is cancer-free, her genes are not involved, and with only one minor surgery on the horizon, it looks like we may be moving out of the woods and into the light. Was there triathlon mixed in there? Yes, but to be honest, I don't remember much, and it wasn't particularly successful. Thats ok, since what needed to be successful, a healthy wife, was and is. So, thats it for now- but I have much more to share...

2010 USAT Nationals

Last night, I was reading on Slowtwitch about the various disgruntled USAT musings, and something stuck out, so I did some digging, and I realized that based on my race at the NJ State Triathlon last July (placed 5th out of 71 in my AG), I qualify for the 2010 USAT Age Group National Championships! Wuhwhat! Now, they are in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and I have zero interest in going there, and they are on September 25th, when I am working, so that makes it an even easier choice. Still, its pretty cool to be in the top 10% of my age.
On Friday, I will be getting online to try to snag a spot at the Baltimore USAT coached clinic to become a level 1 coach. Not sure how that is going to work out, but I am psyched to give it a try. Staying in Baltimore will be cool, too.
Looking forward to my sabbatical, even more so now as I am shooting to qualify for the 2011 USAT nationals, which will be in....Burlington, VT! In August! I can totally do that, and I will push myself to try and qualify. The new pool will be opening soon, and that will be very interesting to see how my shoulder is doing. My left hip is really sore from all of the running I am doing, but I am up to 25/29 runs, almost 1/3 of the way through the 100/100 challenge. I am thinking about shooting for the full monty, but we'll see how I hold up to injuries. Bought a pair of K-Swiss K'ona running shoes, and they are pretty sweet. I have been trying to adjust my stride to more midfoot/forefoot, and wearing more minimal shoes, like my Nike Frees, so we will see how that experiment works out. Finally, I am trying to cut down on the crap I ate over break so I can lose some unwanted lbs. Sort of a wake up call to stand on the inlaws scale and see how far it was tipping in the wrong direction. Thats it for now...

2010- a New Year!

I am ringing in the new year with a new push to post to my blog more regularly. Not sure how this is going to work, but I do want to change up my postings so that they are not always about triathlon. This one, though, will be. I am in the beginning phase of this years 100/100 challenge, currently running at 16 days out of 20, having missed 4 in a row when I was up in Maine taking care of my dad when he had mack surgery. Its been cold, adding a challenge to this year's deal. One other note before I sign off is that I will be on sabbatical, and one of the objectives for the time off is to get my USAT level 1 coaching certification. More on that as it gets closer, more next time. Just letting anyone who ever reads this thing know that I am still alive and kicking...even after my rotator cuff injury this fall...

Lactate Testing

This week I was a lab rate for Chris' advanced exercize phisiology class, and they did two rounds of lactate threshold testing with me. We did it on a stationary bike with a powermeter and did a 3 stage protocol. The first test set was screwy, which we think was a result of some bad blood measure strips for the measuring mechanism. Today, we did a second test, and it went off flawlessly. Very interesting experience, and it showed that my cycling LT is between 150-160 watts, which seems low, I guess (thinking of the big dogs who can hold 250+ for a long time). My LT HR seems to be about 135-140 when cycling, which seems about right. As I work with the numbers, hopefully I will have more specific details about my training protocol, too. Pretty cool to have this, and to have it done for free...

Gold!

Finished up the Slowtwitch 100/100 challenge on Tuesday with my 90th run, putting me at the gold level for the contest. I was originally shooting for 70 runs, and then 80, but I was able to reel in some runs at the end to climb up to the gold level, which is cool. The last two runs were hard, though, and my legs and back were tired on Wednesday. So, to follow the concept of periodization, I am taking a week off from running and then starting up again this week. Swam again on Friday, an easy 1000, and I went for a nice ride at the end of last week. So, now it is time to being to ramp up and even things out. I have lots of time before my first race in July, so that is good.

We start our lacrosse season, and that is going to be a challenge on two levels. From a training standpoint, I will have much less time in the afternoons and on weekends, which will require some creative training choices. On the other level, I have a pretty big squad, 26 kids, and a divergent talent level, so I will have to coach at a high level for the kids to have a good season. Lots of behind the scenes juggling of new players and experienced ones, all of whom want playing time. More to follow- but we did lose our first game 11-4, which isn't terrible given we have a goalie and two defenders who have never played before, but the other team only had 9 players and played man down the whole game without subs- but, then again, they were all very strong, and I was playing everyone equally, including kids with no experience. So, all things being equal, it was a good day!