Second time biking

The rain temporarily stopped today, so I got out on my bike for a second time.  This time I did about 6 miles.  I'm not sure that my gears shift, though.  Anyways, it hurts my neck, maintaining that crouched position.  I also worry about being in that position with my herniated disc in my back.  The ride was fine, though.  I considered it a win simply that I didn't fall.  I did 6 miles and it was painless, other than the discomfort in my neck and back. 

It was a perfect atmosphere to bike today.  The roads were closed off because of flooding on the Potomac River, but my little portion was opened.  So, I got to ride alone, which was really nice.

My lower hip/upper thigh still hurts.  It better get better before the National Marathon on Saturday.

Run: 0 miles
Swim: 0 miles
Bike: 6 miles

Injury #1

Uh oh.  I hurt myself.  I went to Mexico to an all-inclusive resort (meaning that I could eat and drink all I wanted).  I got on the treadmill with probably a few too many drinks in me.  I felt a pain in my upper thigh, right below my hip.  The next day I could barely walk.  My MD sister says its greater trochanteris inflammation.  So, I haven't done any exercise in four days.  The biggest problem is that I have the National Marathon next Saturday, so I need to be healthy.  I don't think I have ever gotten to the start line of a marathon without some kind of injury.  Sigh.

I guess the lesson is just to relax on vacation.  Yet, I feel better on vacation whenever I work out.  In fact, I even try to time my vacations to coincide with marathons, so that I can participate in out of town events.  So, perhaps there just isn't a lesson in this.

Monday run: 6 miles
Tuesday run: 6 miles

Look out Ryan Hall

My Nike+ sportband says that I did 12 miles at a pace of 4:30 today.  The treadmill says that I did 6 miles at 9:40.  I'm gonna believe the Nike+ sportband and call Alberto Salazar to coach me.  Keep in mind, I still doubt that I could beat Meb Keflezighi, but I can crush Ryan Hall since he always chokes.

Run: 6 miles
Swim: 1 mile
Bike 0

iTunes Audible.com book review: Game Change

I listen to audio books when running to stave off the sheer boredom (plus, the last thing I need is to be alone with my thoughts).  As such, I have listened to a ton of audio books from audible.com.  The latest one I "read" was Game Change ( http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/products/ProductDetail.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1779199324.1267747467@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccckadejkjdleelcefecekjdffidfji.0&productID=BK_HARP_002102).
This was the best political book that I have ever read.  I really did not understand the 2008 elections until I read this book.  I have a tendency in life to assume that people in high places all have their act together and work each day on some master plan that they are simply executing.  This book, however, certainly proves that my assumption is wrong.  It was amazing to me how poorly some of these politicians managed their campaigns.  My favorite parts were: 1) John Edwards pulling Obama aside during a debate to tell him that he needed to bring his A game to take down Clinton; 2) the sheer honesty between Hillary Clinton and President-elect Obama when he offered her the Secretary of State: "I can't control my husband"; 3) Palin's debate prep: Lieberman prays with her after her meltdown; 4) McCain's disasterous response to the Lehman Brothers collapse, demanding a WH meeting in which he says nothing and even Bush wonders why he wanted to cancel the Presidential debate for this; 5) Palin's convention speech after her teleprompter broke. 

Run: 3 miles
Swim: 1 mile
Bike: 0

Nike+

Nike+ kind of sucks.  It is a sensor that you put on your shoe that measures how far and how fast you've gone.  In theory, it is amazing, especially because you then upload the information to nikerunning.com , which keeps track of all your runs.  Moreover, it even connects with Facebook to display how many total miles you've run, your fastest run, your longest run, etc.  The problem is that there is no precision.  The same run will register as 5 miles or 10 miles for me.  Granted, I don't care all that much about accuracy: I'm not looking at splits or really caring one iota how fast I go, just that I finish.  It is a bit demoralizing, though, to feel like a liar on your own Facebook page because you pushed yourself doing a 10 miler, yet Nike+ says you did 20 miles.  I know there are Garmin watches that track via GPS, but I am not looking to spend $500 on something that I don't actually need, especially since it equals the cost of my bike. 

Run: 3 miles
Swim: 1 mile
Bike: 0

Another Long Run

Another 18 miles today.  I feel fine now, but I am usually pretty rundown the day after.  Most people at work seem to realize that they should stay away from me the day after a long run.  Last week was almost a disaster because of my mood.  Anyways, the run was freezing, then warm, cloudy, then tropical.  Very strange.  I really enjoy running to the Washington Monument now.  This time I overshot my house on the way back and went further down the Potomac River, just to the edge of Old Town Alexandria, called Canal Place.  There is a small replica of the Washington Monument there, so it was inspiring to look at it, knowing that I had just run there from the real thing. 

My back is not great.  Neither is my left knee.  Speaking of which, it was interesting to read President Obama's physical report today: he, too, has a sore left knee from too much running.  Looks like he still smokes, though, so at least I have him beat on that score.

First Bike Ride

Well, I rode a bike today for the first time in years.  More importantly, it was the first time that I ever rode a bike with these shoes that clip into the pedals.  It was horrible.  First, it is impossible to get your shoes hooked into the special little pedals.  Second, even if you do get your shoes hooked in, then you have to worry about getting them unhooked so that you don't kill yourself when you stop.  I fell once, but it didn't hurt too much.  I kept practicing clipping my feet in and out, but I never figured out the secret, especially for my left foot.  It seemed like sheer luck whenever my foot would click with the pedal.  As such, I never even went on the bike trail.  First, I practiced on grass near me, right by an intersection where a million cars lined up at every red light, none of whom had anything other to do while waiting for the green light than to watch me look like a 5-year-old, trying to ride a bike, but with expensive looking equipment.  I won't even get into the shifting gears issues, as I have no idea how that works. 

This whole biking thing (is that even the correct terminology, or am I supposed to call it "cycling"?) is really a pain.  It makes this whole thing so gear centric.  The aspect of running that I most enjoyed was how easy it was just to put on shoes and just run.  Biking, however, requires pumping tires, putting on all kinds of unnatural paraphernalia, and tons of money.  For instance, when I bought this equipment, I told the clerk at the store that I could "only" spend $500 on a bike.  He looked astonished.  There was only one used bike in the store for $500, so he had no time for me at all.  I had to keep pressing him on what else I needed.  I even had to go back into the store when I realized he hadn't even told me to buy a tire pump.  I had to ask for a helmet.  I also had to ask for the shoes, which - even though I am a complete beginner - somehow entailed me having to go to an entirely different store because the original one was out of the "special" shoes that I needed.

Anyways, I hope to get comfortable enough on this bike over the next couple weeks that I can join a group.  This stuff is too complicated for me to figure out...drafting rules, flat tires, yada yada yada.  I had hoped to be able to bike to work each day, but it seems really dangerous.

Training while sick

It seems like I have been sick this entire winter.  It may have been because my 21-month-old started daycare in November and brought back everything from that petri dish.  Anyways, if I stopped training everytime that I was sick, then I probably would've missed 3 months of the last 4.  You would think I would have gone through every possible combination of the human cold at this point.  Anyways, it sure makes training harder, especially swimming.  I get rundown real quickly and it is hard to breathe.  Plus, given that I now have to run long to train for the National Marathon, I don't know if I'll ever get over this.

Yesterday (forgot to post)
Swim: 1 mile
Bike: 0 miles
Run: 3 miles

Hardest Part of Swimming

So far, swimming is the most difficult part to train for, primarily because I can't listen to an iPod.  The absolute last thing in the world that I need is to be alone with my thoughts.  Fortunately, I'm still somewhat out of shape, so my thoughts nowadays generally deal with how utterly exhausted I am.  When I get more fit, though, I can only imagine the big to do list of angst that I will conjure up each day.

Today
Swim: 1 mile
Run: 4 miles

Yesterday (forgot to post)
Swim: 1 mile

Are Treadmills Really the Same Speed?

I ran on a different model treadmill at my gym today and now I'm exhausted.  Everytime that I use any treadmill, I set it to 6.1 miles per hour, but today's effort on the new treadmill killed me.  I wonder who tests these things to make sure they are standard.  My run tracker said I did 8 miles, not the 6.1 miles reported by the treadmill.  Perhaps this treadmill was made by Toyota.


Run: 6.1 miles (or 8)
Swim: 1 mile
Bike: 0

Rest Day

Took a day off after the 18 mile long run yesterday. I have a badly herniated disc, so my biggest worry whenever running long is whether my back will hold up. It seemed to do well yesterday, but now it's a bit sore today. Long distance running is such a dumb sport: it is all about constantly managing little injuries to ensure that they don't flare up. I don't think I've ever been healthy getting to the start line of a marathon. Always shin splints, or busted toenails, sore knees, bad back, anything. Anyways, there is now less than a month before I run the National Marathon on March 20.

Running or Skiing?

Did the first outdoor run in weeks today. The snow still has not melted from the DC 2010 Blizzard. As such, parts of the run were totally covered in snow. The worst was the sidewalks because I'd have to keep stopping every block since the snow was piled on the sidewalk at each block. Anyways, there was a silver lining: I finally ran on the National Mall. How gorgeous! I haven't been to the Washington Monument since I was a kid, so I had forgetten how amazing it is as the center of the city. You turn your head one way and it's the Capitol where Obama was inagurated. Then swivel your head and you're looking at the windows of the Oval Office in the White House. Complete the 180 degree turn and your looking at the Lincoln Memorial. DC is truly a gorgeously powerful city.

Run: 18 miles
Swim: 0
Bike: 0

Cloudy Pool Water?

What does a really cloudy endless pool mean? I couldn't even see the end of my arm underwater today. I don't know if I'd prefer it have been caused by a chemical imbalance or by the person who swam before me. I guess I should stop thinking about it, but writing this blog forces me to reflect.


Swim: 1 mile
Run: 5 miles
Bike: 0

Endless Pool

My second one-mile swim today in an endless pool http://www.endlesspools.com/ . The pool is like a water treadmill, pushing water at you so that you don't do laps and have to worry about flip-turns, which will never happen at an Ironman. They have one at my gym, Vida Fitness http://www.vidafitness.com/ . I thought today's was really easy...then I finished and realized that I had set the speed 20% slower. Whatever. I just want to finish.

Treadmill Running

Getting ready to run today. I live in DC, so I have not been able to run outside for well over one week, due to the massive snowstorm. As such, I have not done a long run since the Arizona Rock n Roll Marathon, which was way back on January 28. My next marathon is March 20 for the National Marathon here in DC (assuming the snow has melted by then). Running on a treadmill is so monotonous. I find myself looking at the clock at least once a minute.

Introduction

This is an experiment to see if a 34-year-old, with one 20-month-old child, another daughter on the way, and a decade long smoking habit, can finish an Ironman. I quit smoking when my wife became pregnant with our first daughter. Since then, I've done five slow marathons, with a personal record of 4:25.

The hope is that I can find the time to train by melding it with my daily life. For instance, I hope to commute to work by biking, spending my lunch hour running, etc.

I've already paid the $550 for Ironman Cozumel. With nine months to train, we will see how it goes.