The Stretch

Travel and Ironman training don't mix very well.  By the end of my 17 day stretch on the road, I was freaking out about falling behind.

I know I really shouldn't complain about all the travel I do (waaaaah).  I am quite fortunate to have the opportunity to get out and see the world.  There's no question it is tiring and can be frustrating, but it's worth it. When I did get to train, my runs and swims were in some fairly glorious places. Here are some highlights.

Saturday, March 31st.  I arrived at my hotel in Tenerife, Canary Islands to begin a work trip.  I've been traveling via plane and taxi for 17 hours.  I changed into my running gear and squeezed in a quick 8 miles before meeting my work colleagues for dinner and drinks.  It was a bit warm, but I didn't mind. I followed a path along the coast for a bit, but it wasn't long enough, so I was forced to climb uphill (or up volcano?) quite a bit.  I made my way to the town center, which afforded a 2 mile stretch of relatively flat terrain and did a few out and backs there to finish off my run.

At the end of the coastal path.  My hotel is on the left.

Sunday, April 1st.  Open water swimming!  We visited a man made beach just outside the town Santa Cruz.  A rock barrier protected it from waves and such so the water was very calm and made for easy swimming.  Still, I was freaking out and only lasted about 10 minutes.  Why?  A) The water is deep and dark.  My mind kept thinking that a giant octopus was going to emerge from the darkness and pull me under.  B) There were fish and other sea creatures all around me.  I think they were watching me, wondering what the hell I was doing.  Sometimes they'd brush up against me-  at least I think they did.  I may have just been paranoid.  I realize I need to get over this.  I'll be swimming in the Hudson River, after all.

I return from my failed 10 minute outing, goggles in hand.

Monday, April 2nd.  I made up for my failure in the ocean by swimming for an hour at the hotel pool.  It was a curved pool, which was interesting because I couldn't swim straight.  Yet another thing I'll need to work on before the big day.

Wednesday, April 4th.  I arrived back in Brooklyn after traveling for 17 hours and decided to get some spinning done on my bike before heading out to coach.  I fell off the rollers.  I guess this isn't a highlight, exactly, but I do find it comical (not at the time).  Other than the 1.5 hours on an exercise bike at the hotel gym the previous Sunday, these 25 minutes would be the only time on a bike for the entire stretch.

Saturday, April 7th.  Santa Fe, NM is at 7,000 feet above sea level.  Did you know that?  I didn't.  It was a pleasant surprise.  I did a quick 5.6 miles with Mark on Friday. Emily and I met him and his wife there for the weekend.  Saturday morning we headed out again.  Mark turned back after about 4 miles to complete his 8 mile run.  I kept going, running along the Old Santa Fe Trail road, climbing about 900 feet of rolling hills and completed 16.5 miles.  It felt great.  This was is my longest run of the season so far.

Mark and Me on the Old Santa Fe Trail

Monday, April 9th. Emily and I had the best Thai food ever at a place in Vegas called Lotus of Siam.  If it weren't for this fantastic meal, the pool at the Aliante Station Hotel and Casino would have been the top highlight.  I spent an hour doing laps in this pool.  It felt hard and that made me pretty nervous.  I wondered if my lack of pool time was showing.  But wow, what a pool.  And the weather.  I ended up getting a nice tan.

Sweet ass pool.

Monday April 9th, Again.  After the pool, a $7.95 all-you-can-eat buffet brunch, and 15 minutes at the slots, Emily and I drove 5 hours to the Grand Canyon just in time for a 4 miler along the rim at sunset.  Yeah, beautiful. We were again at 7,000 feet and were rewarded with a challenging run.

Just before our sunset run.

Wednesday, April 11th. Visiting Emily's Uncle Gary, I somehow found myself in an hour long zumba class with them.  It was comical. My favorite part was the Ricki Martin Vida Loca routine.  Sorry, no pictures were taken.


Thursday, April 12th. Emily's Uncle lives in Oxnard, CA.  At sea level.  It's a pretty flat town, so I thought I'd stretch my legs a bit with a "race pace" 8.7 mile run. I use quote marks there because I intend to be faster than this 7:40 pace on race day.  I probably could have been faster this day as well, actually, since I finished the run off at a 6:30 pace.

Oxnard.

Saturday, April 14th.  Busted weekend of workouts.  Other than a short hike and dancing at a wedding, I didn't get anything done.  But hey, I had a great time catching up with friends and showing Emily Pasadena.

Monday, April 16th.  Back in Brooklyn and nervous about the pool.  My workouts were sparse and my struggles in Vegas put doubts in my mind.  I didn't want to go.  I think I never really want to go to the Upper East Side on Monday night at 8:30pm.  But by the time I'm there, I'm into it.  And practice went well.  Drills and pacing exercises were just what I needed to calm me and set me back on track.

So I now have five weeks before the Brooklyn Half and six weeks of no travel (well, no substantial travel, anyways).  I need to be diligent about getting my workouts done and take advantage of this relative calm.  I got a nice 26.7 mile ride / 5.3 mile run brick workout in on Tuesday and did my leg/core strength training on Wednesday.

Just need to keep this up...