Expo and Packet pickup took place on Saturday. Jen and I slept in till around 8:30 or 9:00, and after a nice big breakfast we headed over to the Big Sur expo. I was very impressed with the vendor selection. They had an entire Asic's area (which I just loved). I didn't really buy much except for a pair of socks, but none the less I loved looking at all the new cool gear. I also got to chat with the Polar guys about new Tri watches that will be out on the market for next season. Sounds like some really neat stuff.
So after the expo yesterday we headed back to the hotel for a quick 20 minute jog and threw in a couple hard 20 second bursts just to loosen up the legs. Afterwards we headed back down to Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey for lunch. After lunch we found a nice bench near the shore and relaxed for about 30 minutes. It was really cool because there sea lions swimming all over the place.
After we left the wharf, it was time for our afternoon nap. I really think that rest the day before a big race is key to having your best day. I must of slept for a good 2 hours, before it was time for dinner. We drove to Carmel and found this quaint little Italian restaurant. Both Jen and I had pasta and it was really yummy! That about summed up Saturday. We slept, ate, slept, ate, and slept some more.
Now for Marathon Sunday!!! The morning started off super early at 3:30 AM. We had to be downtown by 4:00 AM in order to catch the buses to the starting line. There were massive crowds and it took about 20 minutes before we even got to board. Once we were on the bus, we had a 30 mile trek to the starting line.
Race morning went really quick. Jen and I got in our last 100 calories the hour before the race, and our last sip of Gatorade.
Now for the race......we'll actually you're going to have to wait to get the full race report, but here's a little taste of how my day went.
First off, I came through the 10K in sub 38:00, ran a 1:26 first half, and finished in 18th place overall (3rd AG 25-29) with a time of 2:55:59......not to mention I PR'ed by 9 minutes!!!!
I felt good through out the entire race, and was happy with my time given how touch the course is. The hilly, treacherous Big Sur Marathon, with its 560-foot climb at Hurricane Point, is considered one of the hardest marathons in North America, and I thought it was a piece of cake! That just makes me think that I'm in pretty good shape right now, and I'll even be better shape come June and July! Here's me after the race! The massive crowds gather at the awards ceremony.
Day 2 of our adventure started off again in Berkeley, but was quickly moved to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 along the San Francisco Bay. The Sea Lions are one of my favorite places to visit in San Fran. They sleep all day long, and occasionally bark making an "arf - arf" sound. A definite must see if you ever come here.
Fisherman's Wharf is filled with many unique little shops as well as famous chain stores. Beware because this area is a tourist trap (I admit we got trapped).
Both Jen and I are left handed, so we had to take a picture of our new favorite store. Left handed scissors, Pens, tape measures...you name it, they got it! Very cool!
Another one of my favorites is walking through the fish grotto and looking / eating the fresh fish. This stuff piratically came right off the boat. Jen and I were still full from breakfast, and I didn't think squid at 10AM would agree with the stomach, so I decided to pass today.
After Fisherman's Wharf, it was time to head on with our trip down to Monterey Bay. Monterey Bay is about a 2 hour drive south of San Francisco, but well worth the drive. The Penguins played the first hockey game of the 2nd round playoffs tonight against the NY Rangers so we just had to find a bar so we could watch the game. We drove into town and parked on Canary Row. Canary Row is about 5 blocks long with shops, restaurants, and more shops. The closest thing we could find to a sports bar was this place called Sly McFly's. We ate a late lunch here, and then cheered the Pen's to a 5-4 victory as they overcame a 3 goal deficient. Way to go Pens!!! I'm sure Jen was loving the fact that we were watching TV on vacation, but she knew what she was getting into when she married me right? Pittsburgh sports teams always come first!
So that about wraps up day two. I'll leave you with a nice shot of the bay and Monterey Peninsula! PS: Only 1 1/2 days till the marathon!!!
Day 1 in San Francisco was definitely fun! The day started off early as Jen and I both woke up around 5:00 AM right off of these roads that are very bike friendly. I had to go to work, and my goal for the day was to get to work around 7:00 AM, work through lunch, and finish up shortly after that. That's just what I did! When I got back to our hotel, I picked up Jennifer, and we were off on our journey! Our hotel was located at the Berkeley Marina right outside Cal University, and also situated right on the San Francisco Bay. Actually when you look outside our hotel room, you can see the Golden Gate across the bay. Very cool!!!
So our trip today set off form Berkeley across the Bay Bridge. We wondered if they ever held a race over the bridge, because that sucker is huge. We clocked it at close to 4 miles from end to end. So by now both Jen and I were starving, and headed over to this little town on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge called Sausalito. I've been here before, and love how quiet and quaint the town can get. After walking around in search for a good lunch stop, we came upon this little bakery and cafe. It was awesome sitting close to the water outside the cafe, and oh yeah, the food was awesome. After lunch we walked around and just had to stop here! Ice Cream straight from Hawaii. It had to be a good omen right as we're training like mad for Lake Placid. I decided to go on the light side and substituted ice cream for a yogurt cone. It was still very good!
After Sausalito we drove along some local roads and up to the golden gate lookout. It was Jen's first time up here, and is by far still one of my favorite scenic lookouts I've ever been to.
If you keep driving up the the mountain, you eventually come to the other side, and can go all the way down to the coast. The roads as you can see are very windy. I was wishing that I had my bike. After our car tour, it was time to see San Francisco at a little faster pace. We drove south along the coast and through the city until we came to the entrance to Golden Gate State Park. We parked the rental car, changed into our running clothes, and went on a very relaxing 40 minute jog. We ran past a old Chinese Pavilion, saw some amazing birds flying overhead, and even saw some very interesting people. The hippies! They must all gather in one centralized spot within the park in this small open field. We ran through that area rather quick mainly because they were all smoking (and not always cigarettes). We then ran past the conservatory and rose garden. We looked at our watches, and couldn't believe we are already done with our 40 minute jog. Time really does fly when you're having fun. After the run we headed back to our hotel. We drove up to the Berkeley campus in search of some good food. We decided to eat at this really cool sushi bar. The food was reasonably priced, and tasted good as always. We walked around near the campus and decided to call it a night.
By now both of us were still on East Coast time, and even though it was only 9:00 PM PST, it was past our bed time. We drove back to the hotel and called it a night.
Jen and I set off today for San Francisco. San Francisco is by far one of my favorite cities to visit. We plan on hanging out near the city through Friday night, and then we head south to Monterey. The Marathon is on Sunday, and we're really looking forward to it. Our flight leaves tonight at 5:30, which means we don't get into SFO till really late. More to come!!!
Since my 20 miler on Tuesday, every day has been a struggle. Wednesday was a really busy day. I was still in Manchester, and had a full day of work ahead of me. We (my co-worker Mike and I) woke early, and headed into the office. The work day flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to call it quits. The Penguins played Wednesday night, so I had to squeeze in my recovery run, and recovery swim in before the start. I ran first, then swam at the downtown Manchester YMCA. I really enjoy swimming out of town, mainly because even though it's still a lap pool, it's something different. After my two workouts, Mike and I headed to a local pub for the game. As it turned out, the Penguins beat the Senators, and swept the first round series. It's the first time we swept a series since 1992 (and we all know what happened in 1992).....okay, we ALL don't know.....but put it this way, the season ended with Lord Stanley's cup in Pittsburgh!!!
Thursday was yet another hectic day. We still had work to do, and had to catch our flight home by 1:30 PM. We went into the office around 7:30, worked till noon, and caught our flight just in the nick of time. Our flight took us through Philadelphia (my least favorite city to fly through). Surprisingly, we boarded 5 minutes early and departed on time. When we touched down in Pittsburgh it was 5:30 and I was anxious to get home for my long mid-week bike ride. Little did I know that as soon as we got onto the parkway we sat and sat and sat in gridlock traffic. Normally it takes me about 50 minutes to get home from the airport....tonight over 2 hours!!!
As I finally walked through my front door, the temperature outside read over 70 degrees but the sun was setting, and my chances of riding outside were slim to none. Great I thought. It's 70 freakin degrees outside, and I'm going to do another 2+ hour ride on the stinking trainer. I realized my fate, hooked the bike up to the trainer, and turned on the tube. Luckily Thursday nights are my favorite nights for TV. All of the shows that I like seem to air on Thursdays. I watched Survivor, My name is Earl, 30 Rock, and the Office. I called it quits after 10PM, and made my way to bed.
Friday morning started off early with a warm up 2 mile jog to the local track. Not only was I still asleep during the warm up, but my body was in no mood to do a speed / track workout. Plus my legs were extremely heavy from the 20 miler Tuesday, the long flight home Thursday, and the trainer ride Thursday night. Oh well, just get through it. Most of the time track workouts like this one are 100% mental. So after our run Jen and I hurried to get ready for work. My plan was to call it a day shortly after lunch, but instead I got pulled into a conference call with a supplier of ours at 4PM on a Friday. And to make it worse, the call was delayed 20 minutes. So by the time it was over, it was 5:30. After work I laced up my shoes for another run. Tonight was an hour negative split run, and my turnover was much better tonight than earlier.
Saturday morning, the alarm went off early (no rest for the weary) and Jen and I headed to the pool for 3300 yards at 7AM. We had a full day ahead of us so we knew we had to get the swim out of the way. We rushed home after our swim just in time for my friend Paul to pull into our driveway on his bike. We headed out on the bike and by the time we stopped for our first water stop we had 23 miles in just over an hour. We had a feeling we were going fast, but we also knew we had a tail wind that pushed us the first hour and the next couple of hours would be tough. To put it in perspective, there is no such thing as an easy course around here. We picked the flattest 70 mile course we could think of, and still climbed 6300 feet. The temperature rose to around 80 degrees today, and I knew that nutrition was very important today. I was drinking around 200 calories an hour, and about 200mg of sodium / electrolytes so I wouldn't cramp. We finished the ride in just under 4 hours, and averaged 18mph. Today was also a little brick workout too, so I transitioned for a 15 minute run. So to sum up Saturday, it was just plain HARD! After the long running week, 5 1/2 hours of training today was exhausting. To make it worse Saturday night was our running banquet in Bridgeville. We had about 2 hours to relax before we drove to Bridgeville, and what a drive it was. I had no idea that the Parkway was closed, and our 50 minute commute turned into a 1 hour 40 minute commute. We were a little late for dinner, but we made it. By the time we got home it was past 10PM, and time for bed.
The only thing planned today is a long swim, and another track workout (10x800's)....blah
We slept in till 9:00 AM, ate Jen's newly famous whole grain blueberry waffles with pure maple syrup, and drank 24 oz of my favorite batch of Dunkin Donuts coffee!!!
Sooner or later we'll make it to the pool.....most likely later. :)
Oh yeah so you all saw my busy week, and so far this week is no exception. Monday started off with a bang. I had planned on going outside, but last week I told myself I refuse to ride outside with multiple layers on. Well guess what. It was again only 30 degrees. Bummer I thought!!! So I climbed on the trainer and did a Coach Troy DVD. Those suckers never get old. Afterwards I got my car inspected (it was due 2 weeks ago) and got to visit mom and dad for about an hour. I had promised them lunch, but things were running late and I had to rush off to the airport instead. My friend Mike picked me up (he's working here with me), and we headed to PIT. I was so hungry as always, and ordered a ton of food at TGI-Friday's, but it took forever to come, and I had to leave half of the meal on the table or we'd miss our flight. Mike and I rushed to the gate since the board said the flight was "on time", but of course it wasn't. They finally boarded the plane about 20 minutes late and not even 2 minutes after everyone boards the pilot comes on the overhead speaker and gives us one of those office space talks. You know one of those talks that goes "Hello, Peter. What's happening? Uh, we have sort of a problem here. Yeah, you apparently didn't put one of the new cover sheets on your T.P.S. reports." But instead it was "Ummmm, ya, we sort of have a problem here. We were given a ground delay and we're going to be stuck on the runway for at least another hour." All I kept thinking was that salad and french onion soup I left sitting on the table at Friday's half eaten. Thanks again US Air. So after an hour of sitting on the plane doing absolutely nothing, we were off to Laguardia. We had a really big lay over so we had about an hour to kill in New York. I was still hungry so Mike and I went to this little Irish pub. We both ordered a beer and a cup of soup, and our bill came to $24.78. You have to be kidding me I thought. The soup was terrible by the way. It was one of those soups where you could just tell it's been sitting around forever. Our plane to Manchester was exciting. We flew on this little prop plane that couldn't of held more than 15 people. It was loud, bumpy, and an awful flight. Plus I think our flight attendant was smoking crack. She was all wired, and making very weird comments to the passengers. Now that I think of it, it was actually entertaining. We finally made it to Manchester, and found a local bar and watched the Pen's game. Pen's won AGAIN and are up in the series 3-0!!! I'm sooo pumped.
So today went well. Mike and I are staying in this Hilton Garden Inn that overlooks a minor league baseball field. Here's a picture from my window. There was a game tonight and I've been watching it on and off. I'm not a very big baseball fan, but it's sort of cool watching it high above the outfield.
So now for my big run of the day. My longest run of my training so far. The type of run that separates the men from the boys. Yep the 20 MILER!!! I've run plenty of 20's so far, but typically I'll run at an easy pace well off of my marathon pace. Today however was an exception. Coach wanted me to do the run in zone 2, and negative split the last couple of miles. As it turns out I was consistent every mile, and kept every mile within 10 seconds. Not really sure if I negative split the last couple, but I know it was close. I started to get a little sore about 17 miles in, but simply blocked out the pain and pushed on. If you're ever in Manchester staying in the city, I recommend running a variation of this route.
Wow, it's been seven days since my last blog post. For a while there I was on a roll with blogging almost every day, but for some reason (my typical too busy schedule) kept me from posting. So here's a quick recap of my week.
Wednesday: Well today was a very long day. Jen and I were up early (5ish) and headed to the pool for a 3100 yard swim. After the swim we both went our own ways and headed to work. Our Wednesday bike night rides continued with a smaller group than normal. One of our bike riders is training for Boston (next week), and didn't want to chance injury or crash, but we did have four people and managed to get in a solid 1:50 of riding. Wednesday night was the first Pen's game, which the won!!!
Thursday: Today was by far the hardest workout(s) I've done so far this year. The day started with a 60 minute easy run at lunch time, and then after work it was time to get serious. After work I warmed up for 30 minutes on the bike, then began a 1 hour step up interval meaning you step up a HR zone every 15 minutes. Here's my avg HR for each interval. Z2 = 145, Z3 = 157, Z4 = 162, Z5 = 171. After the 1 hour interval I cooled down in zone 1/2 for 29 minutes. After the bike I transitioned to a 20 minute run at 10K pace. OUCH!!! After the 20 minutes I backed off, and ran a total of 5 miles.
Friday: Tonight I had tickets to the 2nd Pen's game, so I had to get in my run at lunch again. Today's run was a 90 minute tempo run in zone 3...this was very hard considering Thursday's workouts. The Pen's won again, and had a 2-0 advantage against the Senators.
Saturday: This morning started off with a bang as Paul and I headed out for our 3 hour ride. It was very windy today, but we managed to have a really nice and dry ride. Paul was very strong today and actually dropped me on a couple of the hills and flats. Then again I had some really hard workouts this week!!! After the bike ride, Jen and I ate at Panara then headed to the pool for our 2500 yard swim of the day. Nothing special to report here. Now for our favorite event of the weekend. Beth and Oscar invited us over their house to watch the Clearwater race on NBC. It was a really cool race, and I really hope I qualify this year and I get to go in November. Oscar's friend Ben came over too, and he's just getting into Triathlon. It was really cool talking to a "newbie" and I remember when I was in his shoes. You have so many questions about the sport, and it's really awesome to see someone else with such drive and interest. Besides the Clearwater race, Jen and I really enjoyed just chatting about Triathlon, hockey, trips, and everything and anything you can think of. Again, we had a blast.
Sunday: What another long busy day. The morning started off early as today was my annual 5K/10K race at Oak Hollow Park. This is the 3rd year in a row where I directed and managed the race for the Pittsburgh Road Runners. The morning was a little chilly, but we still had around 25-30 people show up for the run. It was really fun to see all the runners challenge themselves on the Oak Hollow Beast. The hill is never ending. After the race, Jen and I went to the pool, and swam another 3400 yards. As soon as I got home, I ate dinner, then went out for a 12 mile run. Again very busy busy busy day.
Well that's all I have for now, I'll have to write more tonight after work....or after my 20 mile run. I'm in Manchester NH right now, and am looking forward to a long run in an unfamiliar town. Lucky I have the GPS!!!
Tonight was my first day back on the track for some solid speed work since my little flu bug that set me back for almost 2 weeks....and boy did I feel good. After an easy 20 minute warmup I jumped right into the main set of my workout of 10x800's in descending order. My only issue with the workout tonight was the other people that were out. Today marked one of the first nice plus 60 degree days in the Burgh, and the snow birds came out of the wood work. The walkers were everywhere. Not that there is anything wrong with the walkers, and I think it's great that they're out getting in some exercise opposed to watching Jerry Springer, but c'mon people. When you see people going all out, running for real, do not walk in lane #1. No matter how many times you seem to yell "TRACK", they keep walking and walking, and just don't budge! Anyhow, besides that nothing else really is new. I'm just really glad to be over my cold, and feeling close to, if not 100%.
The past three or four years I've never really slept in on the weekends. This was mainly due to the fact that I always would do my long runs (or rides) with a group of runners or bikers. However this spring has been a little different. All of my workouts, especially runs have been geared towards running a specific way, for a specific time, at a specific pace or heart rate. In order to do this, I've had to stray away from the group runs and do my runs on my own. This has some pros and cons. The one con that comes to mind is a 2 or 3 hour run gets pretty boring by yourself. The one pro that comes to mind is I GET TO SLEEP IN. So when Jen and I went to bed last night, we didn't set the alarm, and didn't roll out of bed till 8:30 or 9:00 AM. Once we were up, we weren't rushing. We at a nice long breakfast with tons of coffee. Once everything digested it was time to strap on the running shoes. By now it was 12:30 and the sun was shining and I was able to wear shorts and a T-shirt! Summer is almost here I thought!
Today was my first run that had a little intensity to it. Although not a very long run (only 14 mi today), it felt good to get back into the groove of things. I still felt a little congested and sluggish, but that's normal for being sick for almost 2 weeks I guess. Coach Kevin has really kept my hopes high telling me that taking 2 weeks off from this cold really wont hurt me. See I'd really like to break the 3 hour mark at Big Sur in a couple weeks, but now realize that even if I don't, no worries. It's not my biggest goal right now. Getting back to Kona is the main focus of my year, and my real race isn't till July (IMLP).
So to change the subject a little, today was the last game of the season for the Pen's. They finished 1st atop the Atlantic Division, and will match up against the Senators the first round of the playoffs. I'm planning on going to a game or two, and can't wait to see how far they go this year after a disappointing year last spring.
Also, I wanted to throw this out there for all you cable and high speed internet subscribers. If you've had internet and cable for awhile (typically more than a year), it's time to give them a call. There are so many offers out there that you should never pay full price for your cable or internet bill. For example, this is what I did today to save close to $500 dollars a year from my bill.
1. Do your research and see what the competitors are offering. (i.e. DirecTV, Verizon, Dish Network, etc.)
2.) Call Comcast (or whomever your cable provider is). There should be an option to "cancel" your service. Select this option (even though you have no intention of canceling).
3.) Simply tell the customer service agent that you were considering swithing to DirectTV or Verizon since they are offering a better deal then you currently have. Explain how you've been a loyal customer and deserve to get the same benefits and perks new customers get.
4.) Chances are the agent will place you on hold and once they return they'll have a offer for you. For example, here is how I made out! Current monthly Comcast Bill: Cable + Digital Pkg + DVR / HD + HBO = $94.88 High Speed Internet = $45.95 TOTAL = $140.83
New Comcast Bill (only took a 5 minute call): Cable + Digital Pkg + DVR / HD + HBO = $65.89 High Speed Internet = $34.99 TOTAL = $100.88
SAVINGS OF $39.95 / MONTH SAVINGS OF $479.40 / YEAR
Being struck with boredom this afternoon, I knew I had to get out and do something. We had already cleaned the house (well Jen did most of the work), my bike was somewhat clean from the ride this morning, and there was absolutely nothing on TV today to watch. I called my friend Rob, and he invited me to a pick up hockey game in Delmont. I haven't been on the ice since December, but figured what the heck. We had about twenty guys, and it was really fun just messing around for fun. It really took me back to the days growing up where we didn't keep score, we played hockey simply for the love of the game. Although I've shifted my interests more towards Triathlon, I still love hockey, and hockey will always be a big part of my life.
After another day of rest yesterday, it was time to get back in the saddle for my long ride of the weekend. This weekend was supposed to be a big one on the bike with a 5 1/2 hour ride, but due to this dang illness that just about killed me, coach scaled it back to only 4 hours. So this morning I met up with my biking buddy Paul and we were off. The temp this morning was a toasty 41 degrees. Not too warm, but defiantly warmer than it's been the other weekends I've been out, and best news of the morning was the fact that I didn't have to do the ride indoors on the trainer!!! :)
The plan was to stick close to home just in case I wasn't feeling good, but after we got into the ride for about an hour, I knew I could go the distance, so we did one of my favorite loops out to Twin Lakes. We didn't really ride a hard pace this morning, but then again I wasn't supposed to. We averaged mid 17's, which isn't too bad because there are so many hills around here.
As we rode mile to mile, I kept waiting for some hard core leg cramping to occur. I was shocked when I got home, 70+ miles in the bag, and the legs felt great. I could go for a run, but we'll save that for tomorrow!
Good thing I can do a lot of my job from home, because I was in no shape or form or was ready to go back to work. I had a little bit better sleep last night, but am still not 100%....not even 80% if I were to give it a scale. However, I really think I'm on the mend, but still am feeling really congested, and still have this nagging cough warehoused deep in my lungs. If things go well this afternoon I'm going to try and get on the bike for a little trainer ride.
So last night was my big public speaking debut. Haha. I really thought it went well. There was a lot less people than I expected, but it was still a decent size crowd of around 100 people. I started off the speech by showing the Ironman video "You will do this".
I continued on by drawing the parallel's between Triathlon racing and how hard work and dedication towards any goal can pay off. If my speech inspired just one kid in the room then I feel that my night was a success.
I"m really starting to think that I have something major wrong with me because I'm not getting better. My head is still congested, I'm blowing my nose ever 2 minutes, and coughing non stop. Today was the last day of antibiotics and if I don't start feeling better by tomorrow, I'm going to make another doctor appointment. On the flip side, Jen is now sick too (since Friday) and our house has been just a germ infested mess. The only good news out of this, is the fact that this virus we have must be immune to cat's because our fat cat Thai is still full of energy. I really think this thing would kill him if he were to catch it!
So today both Jen and I called off sick from work. Both of us our very committed to our jobs, and we really hate calling off, but I'm sure they understand. I went to work yesterday and got yelled at all day long until my one boss finally said to go home. Unfortunately I had an important meeting I couldn't miss from 3-4:30, so by the time I left work yesterday it was already time to go home. :(
As the day progressed I actually started feeling better (about 60% if I were to grade it), and I knew I just needed to get outside. I put on running clothes, laced up the shoes, and strapped the Heart Rate Monitor around my chest. As soon as I glanced down at my watch, I was shocked to see the readout. My resting / standing heart rate was 105. That's over 40 beats higher than what it should be I thought. Regardless I went outside for a very easy jog. My goal was to run 30 minutes, but after 8 I decided to turn around. I was running 10 minute miles, and my HR was 155-160. Umm, this is what my heart rate reads running 6 minute miles, WTF! I called coach after the run to give him a report, and he keeps assuring me that once I get better I'm going to be back on track, and won't even loose a beat. I hope he's right.
So the moral of the story is, although feeling a little bit better, I'm still sick.
I don't think I've mentioned this in my blog before, but tonight Jen and I are heading to Franklin Regionals High School ice hockey banquet. I was asked to be the guest motivational speaker, and figured this was a great opportunity to make our sport better well known in Western PA, and to show how dedication and hard work can make you reach your dreams no matter what they are. I just hope I can go 10 minutes without coughing or blowing my nose!!!
The massive crowds gather at the awards ceremony.
A hard days work pays off!
The massive crowds gather at the awards ceremony.
A hard days work pays off!
