Why do you buy product "X"?

"X" as in fill-in-the-blank product.

So I received the 3rd edition of Lava Magazine in the mail. Other than being a complete ZIPP advertisment edition (nothing wrong with this! just noting the obvious), they did write an article on the most widely used equipment @ Kona (page 38).

Some of the winners?

Cervelo held the title for most widely used frame @ 468. Runner up was Specialized @ 113 frames
Zipp wheels DOMINATED the field with 1910 wheels to HED @ 255 as the runner up.
Continental Tires was another big winner @ 704 tires vs runner up Vittoria @ 193 tires.

So why were these frames, wheels, and tires used more than other companies?

Is it marketing? (plain old advertisement?)
Word of mouth?
Are these products actually more superior to their competitors?

Regardless of your sport, why do you choose the fitness products that you use the most?

Let's do a quick poll:
What kind of bike frame do you use if you ride a bike?
What kind of running shoe do you use?
What kind of workout clothes do you use? (tri, running, cycling, swimming, weigh lifting, etc)
What kind of nutrition do you use?


Do you choose your items because everyone else uses em?
Are you a person who tries out everything but then will settle on the best item?
Does cost affect your item's purchase?

For me, I ride a Cervelo because, yes, I am a lemming and the price can't be beat, and the bike fit me, the price still couldn't be beat, and the frame looks F-ing cool and doesn't scream that I am a fatass tool riding a superior bike frame that I shouldn't be riding.

I use Mizuno shoes because they were the first I tried on, they fit, and I haven't had any issues with them in the 3 years that I have been seriously running.

I use Pearl Izumi cycling and tri clothing because I have always used them. I guess it is a legacy thing?

I have used Zipp wheels before because they were the easiest to get ahold of. I think they are a great product and if I am the limitation, then the wheels clearly win, no matter what brand I use.

I use Gu exclusively and sometimes gatorade. I use Gu because I love the flavor (Chocolate Outrage baby!) and it gives me just enough energy without spiking my blood sugar.

What about you?

Solid Run in Central Park

I had a great run this morning in Central Park. The 40 degrees and sunny temps made this ideal running weather. I mostly had the park to myself this morning! Is everyone still away?

I am racing a 10K in 7 days in Central Park, so this morning's 10 miler in Central Park was the last long run leading up the race, and also more course recon. I have ran around that park so many times, but I rarely visit the top of the park where the good hills are. It is always a good reminder how that one hill going counter clockwise up towards Harlem can really bite you. I did the top loop 3 times to reacquaint myself with that hill. I felt the best and fastest towards the top, so the amount of running that I have put in over the past 5-6 weeks is really starting to pay off. I am feeling more and more myself again!

Here is this morning's run:



I was proud of my splits. I stayed pretty consistent.
10 miles in 1:20:00 (flat!) for an 8:00 min/mile pace:
Mile 1: 7:59
Mile 2: 8:06
Mile 3: 8:05
Mile 4: 7:59
Mile 5: 7:53
Mile 6: 7:54
Mile 7: 8:19
Mile 8: 7:59
Mile 9: 7:44
Mile 10: 8:01

My current stand alone 10K PR is 47:22 for a 7:38 pace that I set just over a year ago. I think with the "Herd" effect from these Central Park NYRR races, that I am hoping to set a new PR next Sunday.

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving and you were able to get outside for a Turkey Trot or long run to burn off those excess calories!

6:44 to "Bad Romance"

Whenever I am in the "this sucks big time" zone, aka I am going REALLY fast or just pushing it because my body is about to crap-out, a Lady Gaga song ALWAYS pops into my head.

Why Lady Gaga?

Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps because her tunes are uber catchy? I don't hate Lady Gaga's music, nor do I go scrambling for her new songs. They just love to pop into my head.

But it's not like the entire song goes through my head. NOPE! Just a main verse becomes a broken record. Like for example this morning @ the track when I did my stand alone mile, during the first two laps all I heard was:


"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"
"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"
"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"
"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"
"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"
"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"
"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"
"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"

That would drive you insane, right? RIGHT!?!?!

When starting the third lap my breathing got really heavy. So I concentrated on my breathing. Sorry Ms. Gaga, but you got the boot. So instead what I heard?

"Hee Hee, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
"Hee Hee, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
"Hee Hee, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
"Hee Hee, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
"Hee Hee, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
"Hee Hee, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
"Hee Hee, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

Everytime I did a "Negative Ghostrider" tower flyby of some unfortunate "track walker" I could just hear their thoughts, "WTF is this kid doing this early in the morning and WHY THE F is he making such funny noises!"

The best noise of the day?

The signature Garmin "BEEP!" that said you are DONE!

And a 6:44 showed

:)

Have a good GOBBLER GOBBLER day everyone!!!

What do you think are the biggest issues in amatuer endurance sports?

With the Boston Marathon filling up in record time, WTC constantly sticking its corporate foot in its mouth, and us regular folks almost needing to volunteer to volunteer to volunteer to sign up for an Ironman branded race, I am really curious about what you all think are the biggest issues affecting us mere amateur endurance athlete mortals?

Let me state some obvious ones here lately in the "endurance world news"

• Boston Marathon Filling up in record time
• Should the standards for BQ-ing be raised to make it harder to BQ?
• WTC creating a deluxe/entitled club, then killing it
• Cost of races
• Signing up to volunteer for an Ironman 18 months in advance
• Signing up for an Ironman 12 months in advance
• Is triathlon only for the rich?
• Does the average triathlete really spend $22,000 a year on this sport?
• Is the boom of triathlon a mere fad (the new golf)? Or something here to stay?
• Are running races getting too big? (NYC Marathon) 
• Is the marathon just a bucket list item nowadays?
• Are slow marathoners athletes? (I think yes....)
• Are there too many unqualified coaches out there?
• Are you purchasing flashy equipment to go faster (aka buying speed)? Or is it really for the ego boost to look cool?
• Do people train with too many "gadgets?"

I can't list everything here because not everything affects me. What else do you think should go onto this list?

Do you have any reactions to a topic listed above? If so, I wanna hear it! (leave a comment)

*DISCLAIMER!* I am a very unbiased person. The above list in my opinion is just a mere current events list of mainstream amateur endurance sports. I may or may not have a position on each topic and I am neither saying anything is "bad" or "good."

The "Off" Season has been renamed to be "Eat A TON Of Pastries" Season

This weekend marks the 4th weekend in a row that a yummy pastry has been somehow been involved in/during/after a weekend run or ride.

This is also the 4th weekend in a row in what is called the "off season."

Off season?

Pastries?

Are you following my logic here?

PASTRY SEASON!!!

Out of these four weekends, three of them I have gone to the Pleasantville, NY farmers market where there is this bakery that shows up that sells these incredible apple tarts. They also make blueberry pie! I love me anything blueberry so I finally broke down and bought a blueberry pie. Oh so good!

Taste Tests have been positive. More might be needed ;)

I met up Kristin @ The Lazy Marathoner again for another ride in her territory. This time she introduced me to another bakery up along the Hudson, this time in Nyack, NY @ The Runcible Spoon.

I walked in craving something blueberry, took one look in the first case of goodies that I saw, and found this:

Will it pass my taste test?

I think so!

They called it the Berry Berry tart. AMAZING! It had cranberries and cherries as well as blueberries. Oh thank you Triathlon Gods! haha!

I told Kristin we should do the trifecta: Fort Lee to Bunbury's to The Runcible Spoon back to Bunbury's and back. I think I would die from shear happiness!!!

Posting this because...

It has amazing cinematography...
Amazing scenery...
Amazing music....
But most importantly, AMAZING bike skillz!



Danny is no man, he is a bicycle GOD!

Going Camping and Speed^Squared

Thanks to the 201Ironman blog, I was informed of some Lake Placid Ironman training camps next May and June, done through FiremanIronman.com. I am going for the May camp since I will be doing a June camp up there with my coach. It will be a small camp with only 50 people, but I am already excited for it!

Its gonna be quite the weekend! 112 miles of biking + a 10K run on Saturday and a 20 mile run on Sunday, with a possible swim of the course thrown in if the water temps are high enough. Broken Ironman anyone 8 weeks out from race day? Yowza....I guess that is why there is the suggestion of large amounts of alcohol to numb the pain? haha!

But before I keep going on and on about next May, I should mention my day so far. It involves lots of speed.

I have been hitting the track 1X a week for the past three weeks. I like the track! It is a great break from running on the streets and you can see finite distances in front of you.

This morning I did a 2 mile warmup, then a 5K on the track followed by a 1  mile cool down. I have ZERO track lingo knowledge, so bear with me here with my archaic lingo. I did 4 laps of taking it easy on the "curved parts" and hit the gas on the two straight away sections. Is there a proper name for these parts of the track?

Then I alternated between doing an easy lap of the track followed by hitting the gas for half the distance of the track for 4 laps.

For the last mile, I hit the gas for 4 laps straight and wound up with a 7:07 min mile. Was hoping for a faster time, but I will take it!

Good run!

Then at lunch I hit up the pool and did a quality speed workout:

500 WU
2 x 100
4 x 50
8 x 25
300 EZ
2 x 100
4 x 50
8 x 25
100 CD
-----------
arms fall OFF! hehe

For this swim, it wasn't the speed that got me, it was the super short rest that I got between intervals. So the building fatigue finally did me in.

Good swim!

I am starting to see glimpses of my Summer form once again. Looking forward to next season!!!

Riding for Blueberry Croissants

Met up with fellow blogger Kristin @ The Lazy Marathoner again for a ride, but this time on one of her routes, to a destination that Lance Armstrong tweeted about @ a place called Bunbury's Coffee Shop, located in Piermont, NY.

OMG! They make the BEST Blueberry Croissants! Sorry I didn't get a picture, as I ate both of them waaaay too fast! haha! Anything blueberry is a friend of mine. Stick a slice of blueberry cheesecake in front of me? You have just made yourself a new life long friend! :)

We are smiling because we just stuffed ourselves with yummy pastries AND its 60 degrees out in November!

What I didn't know and soon found out is that this route that we took is cycling Mecca for NYC riders.

So we started out from Strictly Bicycles in Fort Lee, NJ which is just across the GW bridge. From there, you head north to either Piermont or Nyack or even Bear Mountain and back.

When we arrived at Bunbury's, the secret was totally out. For a 60 degree day in the middle of November, EVERY cyclist from NYC was heading to this place, as evidenced in this picture.

There were even more cyclists and bikes behind me, across the street, AND down the street @ another place.

There was no room on the two bike racks supplied, so I left mine propped up against another store front. More and more cyclists showed up and soon found my bike buried. haha!

My bike is the white one in the back with the yellow computer and red saddle

Upon leaving we had to get my bike un-buried, so we gently moved some bikes out of the way. Kristin said that we didn't want to commit a "Pee Wee Herman"....I responded with, "Good idea. I can't dance!"

So I now declare the phrase "Dangling the carrot out in front" distasteful. Sorry Jeff! It is hereby renamed to be:

"Dangling the pastry out in front."

Jeff, Good news! DanglingThePastry.com is still available! ;)

Running for Apple Tarts. The run through the "Rockies"

So for the 2nd weekend in a row I have discovered some new running terrain. AKA another:

"WHY HAS EVERYONE BEEN KEEPING THIS RUNNING SECRET FROM ME!!!!!!"

I present to you Exhibit A: The Rockefeller Park Preserve.

Look at that network of trails!!!!

I met up with fellow blogger, Regina @ Chiu On This, and my super runner buddy, Belden, and we knocked off an 8 mile run through the MANY trails that make up this gorgeous park! We had one deer encounter, and saw many LARGE cows that are served up across the street at Blue Hill @ Stone Barns, a very tony restaurant which I sat a few tables away from Jon Stewart. Still one of the best meals I have ever eaten.

And speaking of food! After the run we headed into Pleasantville for their weekly Farmer's Market. This bakery from upstate always shows up and they make these Paris Apple Tarts. So good! Sorry, I don't have a picture of one because I ate two of those too fast AND a cinnamon swirl Danish. I was bonking towards the end of the run so I deserved those pastries! haha!

Finally, here is what we ran inside the park. I barely scratched the surface!

The What are you Watching post?

Happy Friday!

Getting too cold out to ride during the week now and with work heating up as much as it is getting out for a lunch time ride is no longer possible.

Sooooooo, time to break the trainer out (more on this later, I am no longer using the Kurt Kinetic. I "upgraded").

Don't know about you, but I can't ride the trainer unless I have something good to watch. This is what will be getting me through this winter:

The Walking Dead, AMC
I loved the movie "28 Days Later" and this is basically a slower paced version of it with its own twist. Been reading that this show is based upon a comic book that is still on going, so I can cheat and read ahead (I won't) but it shows that this show could be around for a few seasons.



Conan! , TBS
Conan is back! He is feeling a bit rusty in his first few shows but I am sure he will find his old rhythm from the old "Late Night" days. I did get the opportunity to see him live in NYC before he moved out west. My stomach got a workout from laughing so hard!!! Too bad that Max Weinberg is no longer with the band. Bummer!



What shows/movies have you discovered that help you get through a trainer or dreadmill session?

Swimming & Coaching

This "off" season has turned into quite the swim season. I haven't been putting up huge yardage at all, but my swimming motivation has never been higher! Weird, right? I guess testing out all of those pool toys finally paid off?

Last night I did a decent swim. Nothing too crazy, but I hit some consistent times that made me happy:
500 WU
200 Kick
2 x (4 x 25 EZ, 50 HARD)
100 EZ
5 x 200 on 3:45
100CD
------------
2200 yards

I was coming in on the 200's anywhere between 3:00 & 3:05, so I was liking my pace AND! I wasn't going full gas for any of them. I will say this again (I probably sound like a broken record), but using that Hydro Hip is paying off HUGE dividends! Being able to rotate properly feels OH SO GOOD in the water.

And now for some cool news. I will be doing a 6 week swim clinic with my coach during December and January. A brick run will follow the swim. I jumped on this opportunity because not only is it a swim clinic during the winter, which is a hard time to maintain motivation in the pool, but working one on one with my coach just helps build that relationship.

My last coaching experience went sour but I am ready to get back with a coach since I am attempting a distance that is a WHOLE new ball game.

Speaking of this coach. Who is he? His name is Eric Hodska, a bunch-of-times Kona qualifer & finisher. I say bunch-of-times because he has been more times than I can figure out! haha! But more than being a Kona qualifier and finisher, he has an educational background in exercise science and has been coaching for the past 20 years. So not only does he preach the good athletic word, but he backs up his preaching with incredible results. He won his age at Lake Placid in the ultra competitive 30-34 men's division with a time of 9:24:XX. Talk about fast!

Eric has also coached a number of his athletes to qualify for Kona. My goal for Placid is NOT to KQ, but because he has gotten others to Kona shows that he can push me up to the next level.

One thing that is going to be hard for me is "letting go" and allowing someone else to make my workout decisions for me. I have no doubt that Eric will do a great job for me.

Now I just have to do the work!!!

The Nerd Report: Heart Rate Monitor

Nerd: "an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person; especially : one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits <computer nerds>"

Wow, I never actually knew the correct definition of what a nerd is. For my own sanity and self preservation, I am going to go with the 2nd half the definition,  "one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits <computer nerds>"

Can I help that?!?!? Not really, after all I do computer graphics for a living.

Did you know that Dr. Suess created the word "nerd" from one of his children's books, "If I Ran the Zoo?" (source)

ANYWAYS! (huge tangent anyone?)


I need to "nerd" out on the Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) for a bit. So my coach has me running 5 times a week right now to accomplish two things: Get one speed run a week and to progressively build back up to the 90 min run. The other three runs are for volume and should be done without killing myself for the speed run and long run.


What have I been doing? Going too hard on the three easy and shorter runs. What has this been accomplishing? Making me NOT recover in time and properly for my speed run and for my long run. What did I just do to combat this? Break out the HRM to slooooooooow me down.


I use power on the bike, and I especially use it to slow me down on long rides so as to not burn my legs for the run. This method works PERFECTLY.


Can't use power on the run, so what other tool can I use to slow me down? The annoying heart rate alarm on my Garmin. Boy is that thing annoying! But it works! So this morning on my easy 4 mile run, I set the heart rate max and off I went. Going up hills is where I set the alarm off the most, which meant I had to run up them painfully slow.


This was ok though! It was a nice and relaxing 4 miles and I don't feel beat up like I always do from running too hard on an easy day. I felt smoother and learned that the hills do more damage than the flats. Fortunately I only need to wear this thing on those easy runs since on the speed and long run days, I can just run for running sake.


Nerd report over and out!

Weekend of cold, but fun!

Yeah, fall has arrived, especially fall temperatures. But I didn't let it keep me from getting outside.

Yesterday I did the abreviated version of The Ride for the Donuts, riding only 40 miles this time.

I ate 4 this time :)

After the 40 miler, I needed to get into a quick 3 mile run. Quick it was! Dropped a 3 miler in 22:35 for a 7:32 pace. I felt Pure.Awsome. after that run.

But I wasn't done yet with the running for the weekend.

This morning I headed up with my super running buddy, Belden, to the Croton Aqueduct Trailway at the Croton Gorge Dam. Regina @ Chiu on this posted about this place last week. Since it is nearby for me I figured I should give it a try.

WHY HAS EVERYONE BEEN KEEPING THIS SECRET FROM ME?

haha!

This is not only a SUPER incredible place, but also there is a trail here that I could run all the way down to NYC and back! This also makes three good running trails available to me in my area.

To get from the parking lot to the top of the dam, it is a .9 mile switch back uphill run. Talk about super hill climbing intervals! The run down makes you feel like an animal cuz you can haul @$$ down it.

After 8 miles, including two switchback climbs, I called it a day.

Since it was a such a beautiful (but cold) morning, I figured I should take some pictures of this place with my crappy cellphone camera. Enjoy! The light was incredible this morning!

 

Your hips drive your swim; Finish Hydro Hip product review

I am going to do another product review for the Finis Hydro Hip.

Why two reviews?

I knew that this thing helped right off the bat of using it, but I had NO idea that it would make me faster while working MUCH less hard.

I was always told that you swim from your hips and that your hips drive your rotation and keep you balanced. See, I didn't know what it meant to rotate from the hips. I had never felt the sensation and feeling of rotating from the hips. I thought body rotation was rotating your upping body to get your arms out of the water. WRONG!

You rotate from the hips and not only does that get your arms out of the water stress free (no load on the shoulders), but it also adds propulsion because you are getting full body anticipation and movement in your pull. Pull = propulsion.

Think of it this way:

Take a ball, and without rotating your body and ONLY using your arm, throw the ball. How far did it go? Probably not far.

Now try throwing that ball again but ONLY with your arms and your upper body. Keep your hips square and stationary. How far did the ball go this time? Probably a bit further.

Now throw the ball a third time and get your hip rotation into it. How far did the ball go this time? The furthest most likely.

This same concept is true with swimming. The more body/hip rotation you get into that pull, the more "OOMPH" you are going to get = more propulsion. Your pull is not just your arm, it is your whole body pulling your arm through the water.

So the Hydro Hip gave me that sensation of what it meant to rotate from the hips. I am swimming only 1500-1750 yards a workout right now (yay offseason!) and I am noticing that I am hitting faster times without working as hard for them. What did I change in my stroke? My hip rotation. Or rather I added proper hip rotation to my stroke.

My super swimmer buddy, Bob, said it best, you never want to swim flat, you always want your body to be rotating\ through the water.

If you don't know what it means to have that sensation of proper hip rotation, give the Hydro Hip a try.

The 20 Most Brutally Honest Realizations of Race Day

Happy Friday!

Gonna be brutally honest here about what occurs on race day:

#1: You never sleep the night before your A++++ race
#2: Taking a dump prior to the race start is a necessity (why do you think the porto-potty line is so long...)
#3: Timing that dump is critical to race day success
#4: You always see two types of people in transition: The overconfident type and the scared shitless type
#5: Peeing in your wetsuit is a necessity (why do you think everyone is just standing around in the water?)
#6: When lining up at the start line, all you want to do is quit the sport
#7: When lining up at the start line, all of the tall people intimidate you (I am a short guy @ 5'7")
#8: Coming out of the swim basically completes the day; that hard part is over with
#9: Your legs feel like utter crap starting the bike; why are they iced?
#10: Passing the dude with the full aero diskwheel/helmet setup is awesome
#11: Farting on the bike happens. EVERYONE farts!
#12: You feel like a rockstar hitting the dismount line off the bike. You have the look of a rockstar.
#13: Spectators think you are a rockstar
#14: The first mile of the run SUCKS
#15: Seeing a fast mile 1 run split completes the day
#16: The nervous talker on the run REALLY is annoying
#17 The last 100 yards staring at the finish line feels like it takes an hour
#18: Crossing that finish line is the best thing in the world
#19: You always think you just won your age group
#20: The next morning's soreness is worse than any hangover

So there you have it. Observations of three complete seasons of racing. Feel free to add any of yours!

this blog is now its own domain! http://www.swicyclorun.com

I am jumping on the bandwagon like a few other bloggers (The Daily Sweat) and making this blog into its own domain:

http://www.swicyclorun.com

Don't worry! The switch should be seamless. Anyone still going to http://swicyclorun.blogspot.com will automagically redirected or will see the same exact content.

Important!!!
If you are NOT a follower through the "Follow" gadget on the right side of this blog, but you follow me through google reader or some other reader, either click that "Follow" button and become a follower (I will give you a prize if you are my 100th follower!!!...its like caller # 9)...or! update your reader to follow http://www.swicyclorun.com

No worries if you are already a follower. But let me know if something goes wonky!

Apparently in the switch I lost my "Triathlon and Running blogs that I follow" lists. This is easy to replace, but annoying.

So google has really stepped it up over the last few months with better spam control and now this. I turned off my CAPTCHA (the word verification) when you post a comment to this blog. I have had ZERO spam since the new spam controls were put in place. Have you? If not, I would turn off your word verification as *I think* it is no longer necessary!

Also, I am seeing some kickass traffic tracking features under "Stats". Tells me my page hits and where people are being directed from as well as other traffic features.

If you want to go from yourblog.blogspot.com to yourblog.com, do this:
After logging in via http://www.blogger.com
- click on settings
- click on Publishing
- look for custom domain info. Should be right there @ the top

It is $10 but super quick and easy. Doing this gives you access to Google Apps and a whole slew of other things that I am discovering.

Let me know if anything is wonky by either visiting http://www.swicyclorun.com/ or http://swicyclorun.blogspot.com/

I can use the feedback!

P.S. I finally finished up my Race History page. Takes awhile to do all of those links! LOL! Recipes are next....

Looking towards 2011

Through meeting with my coach and thinking 2011 over and over and over again, the good old brain finally settled on a plan for 2011.

2011 will be broken into 3 parts:

1. January 1 to May 1
2. May 1 to Lake Placid on July 24th
3. Post Lake Placid

The reason for May 1st as a date for the monumental split? It is roughly 12 weeks out from Lake Placid. And what is so important about this 12 weeks? It is the Ironman specific training block...aka the 100 mile training rides, the 18 mile runs, etc. I don't want any major racing to impede these efforts during this period.

Before May 1, I can race my heart out. I can do lots of short running races up to the half marathon distance. I can do a Half Ironman during this period if I want to. Speaking of which, I will be signing up for Ironman 70.3 Texas soon. Is this formally called Lonestar? This race takes place in flat-as-a-pancake Galveston, Texas on April 10th. I hear there is some wind on the bike to keep the course honest. I have also heard that the same folks who put on Timberman and Mooseman also put this race on. Yay for Keith Jordan @ Endorfunsports!

I plan to keep the racing down next year. I did a lot this year and it took its toll on me by Timberman. I want to enter Placid feeling totally fresh. I don't want to put anything written in stone for next year (other than Placid and this Texas race) but if all of the stars align, we are looking at this:

End of January: Manhattan Half Marathon
Mid February: Silvermine 25K in CT
March 21st-ish: NYC Half Marathon (If I get picked in the lottery again)
April 10th: Ironman 70.3 Texas
June 4th: Mooseman International or Tri Ridgefield sprint
June 22nd-27th-ish: Lake Placid Training Camp
July 24th: Ironman Lake Placid

And that is it. I am sure a bunch of the 4 and 5 mile NYRR races will get filled in there in various places, but they are like "F" level races and more like speed workouts in a super cool venue.

When signing up for the lottery for the NYC Half Marathon, it asked me my expected finishing time. I went bold and put down 1:35:00. I did a 1:47:xx @ Timberman this past year and with some Ironman training, I am going to make this 1:35:00 a goal!!!....oorrrrr a goal to shoot for :).....7:15 average to do that. Dang!!! haha!

Success in the pool and the Giveaway winner!!!

Before I announce the winner of the Finis Forearm Fulcrum, I should share some pool adventures. Well, adventures is hardly what occured more rather just a good short quality workout.

I am finding my speed from this past season is staying put, even though my overall endurance is shot. I am VERY happy about this. So tonight I did:

500 WU
200 Kick
300 Pull
2 x 50 EZ
5 x 100 on 2:00, Main Set
3 x 50 CD

The 5 x 100 on 2:00 was where that speed was showing up. I am NOT a fast swimmer, but I AM proud of holding a sub 1:30/100 pace for each of the 5 100's. Considering 18 months ago anything faster than a 2:00/100 pace was a victory, I never dreamed of sub 1:30. I think I am getting too much rest now on the 2:00 interval. I am scared, but excited to lop 10 seconds off of my base interval.

Good swim tonight.

So now for the winner of my latest blog giveaway!

Congrats to Luke @ The Super Fatlete. You were randomly chosen via random.org since you were entry #3 out of 40.

I don't have your email address, but I left a comment on your blog to shoot me an email with your mailing address. Congrats and enjoy the Fulcrums!