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!

Wheeltags Secret Agent

So, I just found out that I was selected as a secret agent for Wheeltags, a decal company that makes cool stickers for bike wheels. They come in many sized, ranging from a traditional bike wheel to the deeper rim race wheels, and even disk wheels. My role will be as a rep for the company, and I will be able to offer anyone interested a 50% off code on any of their products. Since I can't post the code, you will have to contact me for the information. The link is http://www.wheeltags.com/

Getting closer...

I have not updated the blog in awhile, partly because work and life have been really busy, and partly because of the self-indulgence that has been noted on some of the forums lately regarding triathletes who blog about their workouts. I guess it can be pretty dull to read how far, fast, sweaty, etc someone is, or what new gear they just got, or what race they are peaking for, or tapering for, or just got back from, etc. So, I had lost interest there for abit. But, now it is final exam time, and I am trying to find some convenient excuse to not grade the pile of papers sitting in front of me, and this looked like the best option with the least guilt.
The running has been going very well lately. There was a stretch after the last post where I started to get some associated shin pain, and I thought for sure I was headed towards shin splints. But, ironically, I stopped wearing those Asics Cumulus shoes, put the cardboard Gel-Kayanos back in the rotation, and miraculously my shin pain went away. Hmmm. In my never ending quest for better running shoes, I picked up a pair of Saucony Grid Sinisters on ebay for a song, and I have run in them once for a short tempo run and they felt good, but I am not holding my breath that they will continue to feel good after proclaiming the Cumulus as the next coming of the sneaker jesus.
Oh, and as for the Slowtwitch 100/100, I am chugging along and am currently at 71/79 with 3 weeks left (from today!). Legs are tired, but not dead. I have done a few tempo runs lately, but I plan on building the speedwork after the final day of the 100. I don't have any races on the horizon until June or July, unless CB talks me into Devilman in May (Brrrrrrr). I have not been swimming lately, just focuing on the running. Once this period is over, that will pick up as well. But honestly, I get more time off the run than off the swim- I am already pretty decent in the swim by comparison, but my running is woeful. Thats it for now- maybe I'll post more after exams and comments are done and in- before we head up to Maine for a short vaca...