My First Half-Marathon

Today I checked another milestone off the list, I completed my first half marathon. I plan on doing the same thing again in June, of course I will be running the 13.1 miles after swimming for 1.2 miles and biking for 56 miles. Today was the first half-marathon of the NYRR Grand Prix Half-Marathon series. During the year, a half-marathon will be held in each of the five boroughs of New York; Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Manhattan.

Most running events bring with them an assortment of colorful characters and neither the 30 degree chill nor the prospect of 13.1 miles was enough to deter Larry the Lighthouse. Although neither Wendy the Windmill nor Suzie the Sailboat were anywhere to be seen. I guess if I have one goal, I should have a better time than the guy running with a giant lighthouse on his head. I passed Larry as I begun my second lap so, I'm confident in reaching that goal for today. Although definite props to Larry for running with a lighthouse on his head. A friend saw him this year at the NYC Marathon and I don't think I could have completed a marathon dressed as a lighthouse.

Overall I felt good during the course of the run and while I ran the first half at a slow pace, I decided to pick up the pace during the second half and came in at about 2 hours and 20 minutes which averages out to a 10:41 mile pace. I still was running strong at the end of the race andfelt good afterwards, although the bagels were all gone. I knew I should have grabbed one as I started my second lap! A little soreness around the knees later in the day, but my leg muscles were not sore at all.

The best of the race is the chance to run with and see the various friends that I have made with team in training over these two seasons. It's great to have such a supportive group and really makes a difference both on race day and just doing the training. Keep your eyes peeled for some more posts about who the various people in TNT are.

Goofy Challenge

One of the things that happen after doing a triathlon is you start hearing about other races that seem very cool, especially if they are destination races. A destination race is on that people go to for the destination, just as much as the actual race. Now, some of my friends probably don't understand the idea behind taking a vacation and racing at the same time. However they also thought that doing more than laying on a beach in Costa Rica was strange.

I have this year pretty planned out with several triathlons including the Capital of Texas Triathlon in Austin, Texas, the Tupper Lake Tinman Half, Nautica NYC Triathlon, and the Montauk Mighty Man Half in New York. However some races have come up that I think will have to go on the schedule for next year. 2009 will be my marathon training year with plans of doing the NYC marathon, possibly the Paris marathon, and the Goofy Challenge. Of course there will be some triathlons on that schedule as well.

The Goofy Challenge takes place at Disney World in Florida. As the back of this years medal says "2 days, 4 Theme Parks, and 39.3 Miles." The Goofy Challenge is to complete the Disney Half-Marathon on Saturday and then the Disney Marathon on Sunday. Sounds like a good challenge, and of course you get the cool medals. Above is this years Goofy challenge medal, plus you get additional medals for the half and full marathon. Anyone want to visit Disney in January of 2009?

Polar bears join the TNT Triathlon team

Well, maybe not, although this guy would probably have enjoyed this past weekend in New York with the arctic air blast that hit the city this weekend. While Saturday's GTS was practically balmy with temps in the low thirties, this morning was damn cold. The arctic air blast had outside temperatures in the low twenties with wind chill even lower.

As a result, I decided to forgo the outdoor training on Sunday for an indoor yoga class and an hour on the bike at the gym. With an overnight low of sixteen and a high of thirty, tomorrow doesn't look much better.

Alot of people may ask, why head out to train when the weather is so cold. Of course these are the same people that may object to training when its hot as well. This all comes back to motivation, to continue training when the weather may not be optimal or when you may not be feeling optimal. One source of motivation are your fellow teammates. It's easier to make the effort to get out there when you know that other people will be there and counting on you to show up as well. Personally, I look forward to the group training sessions to catch up with friends and have a good workout.

Another source of motivation comes from our honored teammates. The honored teammates are cancer survivors who provide a real life connection to the very people that the money we raise for the Leukemia Society help. Many of them train with us for events, sometimes while they are currently undergoing treatment including chemotherapy. Its hard to complain that you are tired, when the guy or girl next to year is training just as hard and battling cancer. So what's a little cold weather after that.

And if this weather keeps up, the polar bears may be joining the run sessions after all. The main question is, how is he on the bike?

Dropped some LSD this afternoon ...

Once again for those of us with the more experimental college years, I am referring to Long Slow Distance runs with the emphasis on slow. The purpose for this type of training is to build up your base by keeping your body out of the anaerobic training zone and solely in the aerobic zone. Of course for me, the only way I am able to make any distance is on the slow.

So today's workout was planned for two five mile loops in Central Park at a 12 minute pace. I have never run 10 miles before so I was a bit concerned about the distance. But I finished the distance in two hours and did not feel like crap afterwards. So I think I will try for the first of the NY Road Runner half marathon grand prix this year, which happens to be the Manhattan one on January 27.

Swimmin, ridin and runnin

We have had fantastic weather in NY this past week which has been great for training. Especially since most of our training is outdoors. Temps in the fifties when we ran earlier this week and a beautiful day yesterday to ride across the George Washington Bridge for a ride up 9W in NJ.

Things are getting busy here in training land. This past week started our official swim training. Since I was busy on Tuesday night when the beginner/intermediate session is held, I went to the Monday night advanced session. While, I was pleasantly surprised at how good I felt and was not totally exhausted at the end of the hour, I also am not fast enough for the advanced session. The end of the night involved a half mile swim to be completed in 20 minutes. While I did not think that I would finish within that time frame, I did manage to complete about 10 laps out of the 16 within the 20 minutes. So my plan remains to attend the beginner/intermediate workouts.

Due to the unseasonably warm weather, the coaches have tried to take advantage of biking opportunities when they can. The Saturday session was changed to include an optional bike ride across the GW bridge into NJ up 9W. Its a very popular ride for cyclists in the area with many riders heading up to Nyack to stop and grab coffee and a muffin at the Runcible Spoon. I believe the trip over to Nyack is about a 4o mile round trip from the NJ side of the bridge, so I haven't made it there yet. Yesterday's ride was a 30 mile round trip for me from my apartment to our turnaround point on 9W and back. It was a good ride, although I definitely was feeling it later in the day. I'm sure later this year or Spring I'll be up for heading out to Nyack for a muffin. I've heard they are worth it.

Later this week will be more swimmin, bikin and runnin. For today I plan on dropping some LSD with some other training buddies. Now for those of you who may have spent your college years not inhaling and in other experimental pursuits, I'm referring to a long slow distance run and not other activities. In this case, a planned 10 mile run in Central Park with some other triathlon training buddies. Looks to be another great day for running outside, sunny with temperatures in the mid to upper forties.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year everyone. Goodbye to 2007 and hello to 2008. Among the more traditional new years eve activities of parties in homes, restaurants and homes of random strangers that I took part in last night, I also got to experience another New York tradition. No, not the times square ball drop, I think given a choice of standing in times square or root canal, I would take the root canal. At least it would be less crowded. Rather, I took part in the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run which is put on by the New York Road Runners.

This is a four mile run that takes place in Central Park on New Years eve. The park is the site of huge party for New Years that includes a costume contest and music before the race and continues after as well. At the stroke of midnight, the starting gun goes off along with the fireworks and the hordes of people ringing in the New Year with a nice run around the park.

Another nice touch is the addition of a champagne station at around the second mile mark in addition to the water station. Although, I believe it was the non-alcoholic variety.

Midnight Run in Central Park (102nd St. Transverse)

Here's wishing everyone a happy and healthy new years!