Is anyone out there?

Hey, it’s no longer just about triathlons.  I started a new blog that will follow some of my new adventures and activities.  Check it out at http://outsidebrian.wordpress.com

 

See you kids outside!

Are those crickets I hear?

Sorry, it’s been so long since I’ve posted.  As they say, sometimes life happens.   I have many reasons for not posting lately, but it all really boils down this; I’ve been lazy.

I’ve been too caught up with work and working on the house and trying to get the occasional run in.  After all that, I just haven’t had the motivation to write a blog post.  But here I am and since I’m writing anyways I’ll give you a roll up on my life since Columbia;

two weeks after finishing that triathlon I did something really stupid.  I tried to run an ultra marathon (of the 50 kilometer variety).  I thought I would have my legs back in enough time and I’d be good to go.  I was wrong.  My longest run up till that point was a 23 mile training run, which was 4 weeks before the race.  Frankly, I wasn’t prepared enough and it showed.  Add that to the heat that descended upon the DC area that weekend, and it was a mixture ripe for disaster.  I won’t get into the gritty details, but after nearly passing out from heat exhausting at mile 16, quitting at mile 18, un-quitting an hour later (much to the dismay of the paramedics) and hating life for the next 13 miles and 3 hours, I finished.

It was without a doubt the hardest thing I’ve ever done and it have me a lot of respect for that kind of distance running.  Even though I lost about 11lbs during the race, became badly dehydrated, developed blisters the size of pancakes on my feet and lost 4 toenails, I still enjoyed the experience for the most part. And believe it or not, another race (for which I will be much better prepared for) is in the works.

Since then, I’ve taken a well earned break from training.   I’m still getting a few runs in here and there, but nothing more than 6-7 miles at a time (most are 4-5).  I’m going to do a few more races at the end of the year (Army 10 Miler, maybe another triathlon and hopefully a few trail races (half marathon or less).  But for the rest of the summer, I’ll be focusing on working, getting a few long runs in where I can and basically enjoying the rest of the summer.

Till we talk again, see you on the trail!

Columbia Triathlon

I’ll do a full write up later, but I summarize the experience by saying this was probably about twice as hard as the Nation’s Triathlon. The hills were a killer and as a result my times suffered. I finished in 3 hours and 4 minutes, which is actually better than I thought it would be.

Anyway, here’s couple of pictures from the event:

Back to the beginning

April 18th, 2009 was only a year ago, but it feels like a lifetime ago.  My living situation has changed, my job has changed (twice actually), even my car has changed.  While the same person on the outside (albeit a bit skinnier), the person inside has changed dramatically.  It’s interesting how much can happen in a year..  I think this to myself and I toe up the starting line at the Silver Spring Earth Day 5k this past Sunday morning.

A year before I was at the same starting line (ok, they moved the starting line to different street, but just indulge me anyways).   I had never been in a race before that day and I had no idea what to expect.  I had just begun my journey towards becoming a triathlete and I hadn’t a clue as to what lay ahead of me.

It may sound silly to you, because it does to me a bit, but I wasn’t sure if I could even finish this 5k race.  What if I had picked the wrong sport to get myself involved in?   I mean, I’m not a runner.  Just look at me!  I was built for football or maybe something like hockey.   What if I couldn’t do it?  Would I quit halfway through the race and subsequently throw in the towel on the rest of this silly quest to become not just a runner, but a triathlete?

But then I remembered something I heard once.  Don’t ask me where, probably a movie or something.  But it went something like this:  “Don’t be afraid of quitting.  Be afraid of finishing.”

I didn’t know what that meant until just then.  But like most moments of clarity, it came to me right then when it was supposed to.  And it means just this; Quitting is easy.  It’s simple to pack it in and head home.  Hell, you can probably even tell people you did it and they’d believe you.  You might even get out of there in enough time to grab an Egg McMuffin on the way home.

But if you finish, it means you can accomplish this, and who knows much more.   It’s frightening when you think about it because we never know what were capable of until we put ourselves to test.  If we don’t quit the results are usually surprising and sometimes scary.

If I finished the 5k then I could train for, and finish a 10k.  Then a triathlon.  Maybe an olympic distance triathlon.  And maybe next year I’ll be doing a few triathlons and maybe even an ultramarathon or two….  Ok, maybe I didn’t think that far ahead.  But I decided that it was okay to finish.  And though the rest of my journey was still unclear, for the next 30 minutes or so I only had one mission, and that was to not quit.

So I ran that 5k.  And I while I was out of breath at the end and I had to walk a few times, I finished.  And that one race, that took me almost 28 minutes, set everything in motion that is happening today….

Back to this past Sunday.  I ran pretty well, though I haven’t been training for short distance races, and manage to knock almost 3 minutes off my time last year.  I feel good through the whole race and think that I could probably even gone a bit faster.

After I finish the race I stop to turn around see people finishing behind me.   I wonder how many of these people are finishing their first race.   How many doubted their finish earlier this morning?  I want to go back and give them all fives but I think better of it.

Instead, I  turn to walk away and think of all the first steps that happened here today and it makes me smile.

It’s a new playlist for 2010

So I haven’t done this in a while and I thought I’d share some of the new music I’ve been listening to lately.   I have to admit that with all the running I’ve been doing lately I’ve started to add podcasts into the mix.  I won’t go too much into that in this post but suffice to say there is a wealth of really interesting and entertaining podcasts available out there for free download.  Maybe I’ll make that my next post….

Hmm.. anyways, here’s the music I’ve been rocking out to recently on my 10k tempo runs:

1. Three Little Birds – Bob Marley (This song helps me clear my head, get positive and get into the mood to run)

2. Let’s Get It Started – Blackeyed Peas (When this song comes on, it’s easy for me to get pumped up for the miles that lay ahead)

3. Young Forever – Jay-Z ft. Mr Hudson (blah blah blah something about living in the moment blah blah blah.  Jay-z takes a whimpy 80′s ballad and makes it cool)

4. Let’s See How Far We’ve Come – Matchbox 20 (A favorite from last year.  It reminds of the final weeks before my first triathlon)

5. One Day – Matisyahu (Inspiring song from a very unique artist.  Always make me feel positive)

6. Miley Cyrous – Hath Banger (Miley Cyrus and Notorious BIG?  Why not!?)

7.  Bad Romance  – Lady Gaga (Ok, i’ll admit, I love the GaGa.  Don’t take my man card away)

8.  Hitchhiker Joe – The Rugburns (Now that I’m about halfway through the run I need something to make me laugh and this fun tune from one my favorite obscure bands does the trick)

9. Uprising – Muse (I saw these guys in concert recently and they opened with this song.  Gets me psyched for the last leg of the run)

10. Turn the Page – Metallica (If you have this playing on your iPod you instantly become about 20% more manly.  Women, this may or may not apply to you.  Use caution)

11. Sinnerman – Nina Simone (Oh wow, the run’s almost done.  Time to turn on the afterburners and finish strong with this uptempo blues piece.)

*WARNING* if your feet burn off due to this playlist being so awesome, don’t blame me.

Off-roading – Lake Accoutink

I was sitting here in my office yesterday looking at the window as the rain beat against the window and I wished I could be outside running instead of working on IT proposals.  I stepped outside around 3:30 and saw the rain had subsided and it even warmed a bit into the low 60′s.  I ran back into the office to check the weather report and saw the rain was going to hold off for a few more hours.  Sounds like a great excuse to cut out of work early and check out a new trail I found on the interwebs.
Just a few miles south of my house in Springfield is the Accoutink Lake Park.  While not much of a park (there’s a pavilion and some canoe rentals, in addition to an old timey carousel), the trail that surrounded the lake looked to have some promise.  So I threw on my trail shoes and drove down to check it out.

I pulled in at the Danbury Forest Drive and jumped on the trail there.  For about 2 miles it’s pretty much all gravel trail running alongside a brook (or maybe a small creek – what’s the difference anyways!?) until you hit the park proper.  I emerged out of the woods onto a beach with a great view of the lake and a paved path to the dam crossing – which I suppose is what created the lake.

Running past the dam and back into the woods the trail starts getting more exciting.  While the main trail is pretty tame, there are detours aplenty and most of them are simple dirt trails with some pretty challenging/steep parts.  I took several of these.
I took one of these detours all the way to the end and looked down to see I had put in a little over 4.5 miles.  I took a minute to catch my breath and have a drink and then turned around for my run back.

By the time back I got back I was pretty sick of running on the big gravel trail but overall pretty pleased with the experience.  While not as challenging as the Potomac Heritage, it’s a nice close option if I ever want to jump out for a quick trail run.  And based on what I’ve been reading online, I think there are some option trails to be found that could make it a completely difference experience.

Till next time, stay muddy my friends.

On Running Form..

In an earlier post I talked a bit about running form and how mine is pretty much awful.  Ok, not pretty much…  it is awful.  But the good news is there’s plenty of room to improve.  Lately I’ve been using the drills in the video below to help me become a more biomechanically efficient runner and reduce my chance of injury.  I think it’s a good watch:

Changing it up

I’m no doctor, but I do play one on television. And the television doctor has diagnosed me with adult ADD.   I’m one of the most easily distracted people you’ll ever meet.  I’ve had to learn to live with this and it means having to really work to focus on what’s in front of me, limit the amount distractions around me and use little tricks to fool my brain into not diverting my attention to any new shinny thing that happens to grab my eye.  Well this goes for working out at well.

When I run, I usually have to put myself on a trail with little to no stops and I have lots of music or and audio book to keep my mind busy.   This works alright most days, but frankly it’s also really boring.  Even the best playlist ever conceived is no match for staring ahead at the same flat, paved road for 2+ hours.

There’s a part of me that’s really wanted to run an ultra-marathon (distances further than 26.2 miles) for a few months now.  I’m  impressed with people who can not only train  for something so physically grueling, but can also keep themselves from going crazy after being alone for many hours at a time.   I kn0w a lot of people who have run marathons, a difficult feat in of itself, find themselves just kinda zoning out during the race.  They get into their head and the whole race just sort of melts away.  I could possibly see doing this for an hour or two, but 4, 5 or maybe even 7 hours?  I thought for sure it would be one of those things that would stay out of my reach.

Well, I have a friend who just happens to run ultra-marathons pretty regularly.  Recently, while traveling with a group of friends I asked him more about these races and how he keeps himself sane.  He tells it’s actually very enjoyable.  Most ultra-marathons are run most on hiking trails and not only provide a significant technical challenge that requires you stay plugged in, but they also offer some of the most spectacular scenery you can imagine. Kind of liking hiking, but faster.

After hearing his thoughts on the subject I decided that while I would train for my triathlons this year, I would also begin training for an ultra-marathon as well.  The one I signed up for, the North Face Endurance Challenge 50k, is less than 3 months away. While I’ve been training on the local run paths for longer distances lately, I haven’t been out on a real trail yet.

So this weekend I asked that same friend if he wanted to go out and show me one of the trails he runs on.  He was more than happy to oblige and so Saturday morning we were standing by Roosevelt Island getting ready to hit the Potomac Heritage Trail for a 9 mile(ish) loop.

By the end of the morning my feet were soaking wet, my ankles were sore and my legs ached in places they never have before.  I’m also convinced my friend is part billy goat.  We started on the trail (which runs along the Potomac near DC) and headed towards the Chain Bridge.   By the time we got though the first mile we saw the trail had been partially washed out and we’re hopping from rock to rock, churning through mud and tripping over branches and brush that had washed ashore during the recent flooding we had.

The whole loop was pretty grueling in general, but I absolutely loved it.  I brought my iPod but didn’t turn it on once.  The trail was plenty enough to keep me occupied with conversation with my buddy (who talked more in that 2 hours that I had ever heard him say in the 2 years that I’ve known him) and incredible early spring scenery peppered in along the way.   Yeah, it was tough (tougher than it usually is because of the flooding), but very rewarding at the same time.

Maybe I’ll actually become an ultra-marathoner after all.

Lessons learned

I know it’s been a while since the last update but work/home life has been keeping me busy as of late.  I promise to update at least once a week from now on, okay?  Good…

So here I sit in the middle of March, training for the next Triathlon coming up in about 2 months, I’m reflecting on some of the lessons I learned from my first Triathlon and the training that led up to it.   I’ll admit that I’m not always the smartest guy out there, but I like to think that I learn from my mistakes and try not to repeat them.  The biggest mistake I made?   Not training hard enough for the run

Yes, the run really killed me at the end of the Nation’s Tri.  The fact that I manged to finish in less than 60 minutes is really pretty miraculous.  I pretty much hated every minute of it and to be honest I finished it strong out of pure pride.  Simply put, I was out of gas at the end.

Fix? I’m never going to be a great distance runner. It’s a fact of life.  No matter how thin I get I’ll never be able to get enough weight off to get elite speed.  But I can push myself further and faster.  That means

1. More miles. I need to push myself to run longer and further than I ever have before.  I need more endurance so when I get off the bike in Columbia, I’ve got some juice left in the legs.  Knowing me, the best way to train is by forcing myself with a goal. So I’ve signed for a 50k race in June (!).  So while I’m training for the Columbia, I’ll also putting in a lot of miles on the trail building endurance for a long distance running race.  If that doesn’t give me more endurance, nothing will.
2. More speed. Speed, speed and more speed.  Once a week I’ve been going up  to the local high school track and putting in time building up speed.  I’m training to get my 5k time down to 21-22 minutes, and so I’ve been doing temp runs around the track, 2 laps at 5k race pace, 1 lap at a slow jog.  Rinse and repeat 4 times.  Every run coach I’ve talked to said this is the key to building up the long distance speed I’m looking for.
3. Better form. To avoid injury and conserve my energy I’ve starting paying more attention to my form while running.  Active.com has some really good drills for triathletes in training to help even people like me run more efficiently and reduce the risk of getting hurt?

How’s it working so far? Well, this past weekend I put in a 12 mile run and didn’t have any pain other than some mild foot soreness.  So let’s keep our fingers crossed!

Coming later this week, I’ll write about some of the other mistakes I discovered my first time around, including how not to swim and why you should kill yourself on the bike.

And we’re back

You didn’t think we were done did you?

It’s been a few months since I’ve posted on here and lucky for you, because there hasn’t been much to talk about.  I’ve spent this time relaxing, getting a few workouts in here and there and even competing in a few races here and there.   But honestly, I’ve really spent this time getting caught up on all the stuff that I put off during the training.   Working on projects around the house, burning the midnight oil at the office and getting fat.

Yes, the holidays were good to me and my waistline is evidence of that.  I’ve put back about 15lbs of the weight I lost during my training and I enjoyed every last minute of it.

But all good things must come to an end and so that brings us back here.   As if I didn’t get  enough punishment last year doing ONE triathlon, I’ve decided to up the ante this year and compete in not one, not two but FIVE olympic triathlons (!).

The first one upcoming will the Columbia Triathlon in Columbia, MD on May 25th on behalf of Team Fight. That leaves me with only a short few months to get back in the training groove and whip myself into triathlon shape again.

The goal is to beat my time from last year’s Nation’s Triathlon (2:52) at Columbia and continue to improve all year long.  All the while I’ll be raising money for good causes and hopefully keeping the beer gut in check.  It’s going to be an exciting 2010, stick around for more updates!