The Mission

On Sunday the 24th, I will be participating in my first triathlon- the Syracuse Half Ironman, as a practice race.  This is a good time to reflect on how far we've come- me with the training, you with the supporting, and all the funds we've raised together..

I signed up for this ridiculous event for the team and the cause.  That’s the truth.  Sure, I had in the back of my head that I would do an Ironman one day, years into the future, but when the opportunity to fundraise for the LLS and get coached by awesome TNT coaches came up, how could I say no?  The GTS schedule seemed to fit well with the summer marathon season GTS schedule.  It seemed so convenient.  It seemed right.

Coaching.  Running out on the course to find TNTers in Lake Placid.

Let me tell you- there is nothing convenient about training for an Ironman.  I pretended that I understood the time commitment necessary.  Maybe I did actually understand and maybe this is just another case of me overextending myself.  I am an expert at spreading myself too thin.  But the argument that the training schedule was convenient is just ridiculous.  I struggle to fit full workouts in constantly these days.  I’m always tired (more than usual).   I’m not seeing family and friends enough and am breaking commitments, which I hate.  I missed mother’s day.  Sorry, mom.  I feel guilty for missing these things, like a baseball game with the guys.  Baby birthdays.  Helping friends move (especially when they helped me). Time with Emily while we were dating.  And when I miss a workout, I feel equally as guilty. Though I cannot simply blame the Ironman for all these things, it is obviously the primary sapper of time these days.

But you know what?  This was right.  It didn’t just *seem* right, it was right.  Yes, I signed up for this event, this summer here in NY/NJ, for the team and the cause.  This is the first time TNT created an Ironman team and there was no guaranty it would ever happen again.  I am constantly reminded of the importance and impact of our actions through friends and my fellow teammates have some amazing stories and survival and some tragic stories of loss.  I’m honored to be doing the Ironman with Team in Training.  It would mean much less to me otherwise.

So thank you, everyone, for your support.  Thank you for your donations.  Thanks for caring and being interested in this little journey of mine.  I plan on kicking serious ass in Syracuse on Sunday.  If that excites you into dropping a few (more) dollars into the fundraising pot, that would inspire me.  Though, I'm already pretty damned inspired.

Shelly (left) is currently battling leukemia and just completed her first half marathon in Lake Placid.  Amy, running in Shelly's honor, just finished her first full marathon.  They also raised thousands of dollars for the cause.

.695 Leagues under the Sea

There's only a slight chop to the water.  I can see the river bottom and some small fish swim by.  It gets darker and the fish get bigger.  Then there is only darkness.  And silence.  That's when the giant octopus tentacle ensnares me and pulls me under.

At least, this is what runs through my mind.  My fear of drowning on my own has abated, especially with this fancy wetsuit which is quite buoyant.  So now I only fear being dragged under by a giant sea creature.

Giant octopi in the waters of the coast of San Diego?

Lucky Lisa, who seems to win entry into the NYC Triathlon every year via raffle ticket, suggested we swim in the harbor while out coaching in San Diego.  We weren’t sure exactly where we would do this.  The Hotel we were staying at butts up against the marina, and I know there are some great beaches to the north, but neither seemed quite ideal.  As I was returning from my awesome 12 mile run that Saturday, I spotted a guy in a wetsuit getting into the water.

“Hey, good morning!  Is this a good place to swim?  I have to do this later today…”  The friendly man explained to me that this stretch of water alongside the marina was home to the swim course of a triathlon he was training for.  He advised me to stay close to the rocks because the boats aren’t used to seeing swimmers, and told me that from the spot where we stood to the last boat on the left was exactly 1.2 miles.  How convenient.

I told Lisa about the spot and we set out immediately after our short coaching gig that day.  Brian, Casey, and Amanda tagged along for their entertainment.  It was my first time swimming in the wetsuit and my second attempt at an open water swim.  I was nervous.  It was nice to have Lisa there and doubly nice to have the support of these fine folks.

We parked the car and I proceeded to put on my wet suit.  The difficulty of getting a wetsuit on is a frequently discussed topic I’ve found.  Before I could even pull into it knee-high, Amanda and Casey noticed something was amiss. 

“It should be tight.” There was a lot of space around my calves and behind my knees.  It was weird.  “This suit is too big.  It won’t keep you warm.”  

Well, maybe I just need to finish putting it on.  As I tugged it up, I realized the zipper was in the front.

“Oh shit, ha ha ha… I put it on backwards!”

Wetsuit is on.  Now how about this cap?

After everyone had a good laugh at my expense, I peeled the suit off and put it on the right way.  The fit was much better, but still, it was too easy.  Lisa uses plastic bags to get her legs in.  I hardly struggled.  Amanda described a tug-jump move to get the legs on.  Also, not necessary.  Knowing that the suit must be the wrong size, I decided to go in anyways.  I didn’t want to miss this opportunity and wasn’t too worried about being cold.

Lisa and I walked into the water together.  “Don’t worry about me.  If you want to take off, just take off,” she said.

“I won’t!  I’m gonna be too busy worrying about me!”

A good luck hug.

I did just that- took off- and it was a much better experience than I was expecting.  What a weird sensation, being so buoyant in the water!  I swam down almost to the boat on the left and back and ended up doing about a mile in about 45 minutes.

Takeaways…

• Yeah, the buoyancy of the wetsuit is no joke.  It totally removes any drowning-based panic attacks I may have had.  But my feet kept poking out of the water and kicking air.  I definitely need to adjust.

• I suck at sighting.  That is, poking my head up to see where I am at.  It is very disruptive to my already choppy stroke.  I definitely need to practice this.

• Swimming against the current is annoying.  Best thing I can relate it to is running against the wind.  I’m glad I don’t have to worry about that on Ironman day in the Hudson.

• Brian’s video was very helpful.  The coaches videotaped some of us in the beginning of the season so we could get the benefit of seeing ourselves swim, but I was never taped.  Immediately after watching, I could see that my head poked up too much when I take breaths.  I need to work on that.  But I did appear to glide a bit, so that’s nice.

• And yes, as it turns out, I wasn’t even wearing *my* wetsuit.  Ben at the TNT office told me the order came in wrong and the suit I was wearing was meant to fit a guy his size.  He is literally twice my size. The suit he gave me was all it was built up to be.  I felt like a stuffed sausage after putting it on.

Next stop… Lake Placid!

The following weekend, the summer marathon team headed up to Lake Placid to run their events and I joined them to coach.  What a great opportunity for some open water swimming on the Ironman course in Mirror Lake!  The course is outlined with buoys and a rope under water that connects them all.  A swimmer can literally just follow this rope by sight which makes it super easy and super fast (that, and the absolutely still water).

Minutes after the swim, pre-bike ride.

What a beautiful swim.  I still don’t have a watch to swim with, but I think it was about 50 minutes.  I got differing opinions on the distance- either 1.6 miles or 1.2 miles.  I’m telling myself it was 1.2 miles, just to be on the safe side.  But if it was 1.6 miles, that would be pretty rad. No lie.

I followed this up with a 47 mile bike ride in the hills, and came back for another swim with Lisa on Monday.  I was pretty tired from the weekend’s activities (I also coached/ran 18.5 miles on Sunday), but still apparently did the course in 50ish minutes again.

I want to give a big shout out to Lisa, who helped ease me into this whole open water swimming thing.  I’ve only had mild oh-crap-something-is-gonna-snatch-me-from-the-depths scares and I think I quite like this stuff.  Being in the middle of a lake like that and having only yourself to rely on to get you back feels, well, kind of awesome.  Finding efficiency, getting into a groove, putting in a good effort- it feels great. 

I think I may have even experienced swimmer’s high.

Feeling good after our swim in San Diego.

Runner's High

I have lost a ton of fitness.   I can’t blame the toe.  It’s life.  It’s work.  And I guess, it’s my amazing ability to overextend myself until I break.

After not running for 24 days, I raced to a 1:40:24 Brooklyn Half finish.  A month prior, I was dreaming of a PR and sub 1:30 time.  Instead I posted my worst solo half marathon time ever.  So I step back now and look at the big picture and get even more freaked out.  I’m not running a half marathon in August.  I’m doing a bloody Ironman.  And I feel like I’ve set myself back 2 months.  I did set myself back two months- one lost and one to make it up.

Working hard at the end of the BK Half.

What have I been doing instead of training? I don’t really want to get into it here. Although I use this blog as a journal of sorts, it is still the internet.  Plus I don’t want to whine anymore.  So I’ll stop now.  It was basically a mix of work and life.

One workout at a time.  That’s what I have to do and all I can do.  From experience I know that I can bounce back quickly.  I have that going for me and I’m lucky.  But there’s no wiggle room now.  No more injuries and no more missing workouts.  I have to escalate the priority of this training over all else.

Sounds selfish, eh?  Yeah, I agree.  But it’s true.  I’ve said this to a few people, but I cannot imagine training for an Ironman and being a dad.  Unless this stuff somehow gets easier (the way Syed can now rip off marathons, I guess), I would be a shitty dad trying to do this and be there for my kids.  Ok, but it’s only a few months commitment and I don’t have any kids, so what am I talking about?

My funk.  The Brooklyn Half helped snap me out of it.  It was my first race since September 2011, my first run since April 25^th, and well, I just love running.  I get no high from cycling.  Is there a cyclist's high or a swimmer's high?  If there is, I have yet to experience it.  But I do know runner's high and I had been dearly missing the therapy running provides me.  I needed this half, even if I wasn't ready to race.

I'm in San Diego now, waiting in a tiny commuter terminal at the airport using their free wifi.  Lisa, who is training for the NYC Triathlon, suggested we swim in the ocean while we were here for our coaching gig.  I found a spot while running and we ventured out together for my first ever swim in a wetsuit and second ever open water swim.  It went quite well.  No freakouts about giant squid.  And I covered about a mile with alternate side breathing fairly comfortably.  I still have things to work on, but I was happy with this outing. Brian, Casey, and Amanda joined us and documented the event thoroughly.  It probably deserves its own post so I'll save the details for later. 

Before the swim.

What else did I do in San Diego you ask?  I just witnessed the TNT summer season team rip the Rock 'n Roll Marathon and Half a new one.  They were awesome.  I am so proud I can hardly contain myself.   I love this time of the season, when every weekend is an event weekend.  Buffalo, last weekend, was amazing fun-fest of wings, running, and mist.  San Diego did not disappoint.  And I only hope that after everyone crushes those hills in Lake Placid next weekend, I don't get so drunk that I lose my bag of elk jerky (again).

I love this team.  Such great energy.  And such great friends made.  I'm one  lucky dude.

Completing leg #1 of the Relay for Team Turtle before coaching duties in Buffalo.

Team gets misted at Niagara Falls after the Buffalo Marathon, Half, and Relay.

Coaches supporting at Mile 3 of San Diego Rock 'n Roll Marathon and Half.

Big Smiles at mile 9 from Casey and Carlota, in San Diego.