Big News

It has been an extremely busy spring. As you may know from my last update way back at the beginning of March, I had lots of races on the calendar. Sometimes, I get too busy training and racing to have time to stop and reflect on each race. I always make some comments about my races to my coach, but I would love to produce witty and informative race reports for each event. But alas, I am not actually that good of a writer. I occasionally have a burst of creative inspiration but mostly I have found that my race reports were stale and lacked the excitement of the first couple of ones I did when I got started with all of this. I decided it was time to write less and when I did write try to be interesting. Then I decided, if I can't be interesting or funny, maybe I should not write at all. In the end, I decided I would enjoy my chronicles later in life despite their dryness, lack of excitement or insightful commentary.

But before I go into all the race reports, I wanted to inform you of another development in our lives. No, we did not get a dog. Although we did get a cat. Our big news is that we are selling our house. That's right, it is time to downsize. We have a 2700 square foot tri-level house that is just too much house for us. The yard work has become cumbersome. It's not like I need the exercise either. So we put our house on the market and put a contract on a 1800 sq ft condo. We worked hard on our house to get it looking good. We got the driveway resealed and even put on a new roof.

So please, check out the listing and pass it along.

http://www.searchallproperties.com/listings/1921190/511-Ironington-Road-Richmond-VA

That's all for now. Next time I will fill you in on the races I have done so far this year. Just to recap, I have completed two 5Ks, one 10K, one 15K, 4 triathlons, and one supported 100 mile bike ride.

Thanks for reading.

2014 Race and Event Schedule

I have had my race schedule planned out for a little while now but have finally decided to commit it all to the blogosphere. It is a busy and ambitious schedule. I enjoy racing and having a full schedule keeps me motivated and on track.

Not all of these races are A races. In fact, I only really have one A race, some B races, a couple of B+ races and a C race. In the world of endurance sports, an A race is one that gets full preparation and dedication including a proper taper before the race. B races are less important races that are fun, perhaps challenging, and good training for future races. They usually do not include a full taper. I will rest before a B race but not do a full blown taper. To me, a B+ race is like a B race but is a race I would like to push myself a little harder in. Of course I always push myself. But a B+ race has a condition that makes it more meaningful to me than other B races. Below, I list all of my races and events as well as whether they are A or B races and what gives the B+ races a tad more weight in my emotional commitment.

1. Saturday, March 29th - Monument Ave 10K - C Race. Just another training day really. If I feel particularly good that day, I will see what I can do. Mostly I am doing this race because my work encourages us to run and actually pays our entry
2. Saturday, April 6th - Smithfield Sprint Triathlon -  300 meter pool swim, 10 Mile Bike, 5K run. B+ race. Last year I got 5th in my age group. Therefore I have made this a B+ race meaning I have high expectations and would love to make it to my first podium. 
3. Saturday, April 26th - Richmond Tri Club Sprint Triathlon- 400 meter open water style pool swim, 20K Bike, 5K run. B race. I did this race last year and it was a lot of fun. It is here in town which is convenient and I know lots of people racing. Hoping to go out and have some fun and beat last year's time. 
4. Sunday, May 4th - Monticello Man Olympic Triathlon- .9 mile swim, 24 mile bike, 10K run. B race. I did this last year and it was a challenge. It was windy and cold and I was not "happy" the whole time. However, I had fun overall and my friends are doing it again this year so it should be fun. It is a triple J event. 
5. Saturday, May 10th - Cap to Cap Century Bike Ride- 100 mile bike ride with supported rest stops on the way. Not a race. I would like to get as many 100 milers in as possible this year before my Ironman. Actually I would prefer to get some 120s in. That last 12 miles on the bike is always difficult. Of course, I am not sure how many I will get in. It all depends on what Coach says. 
6. Sunday, May 11 - Kinetic Sprint Triathlon - 750 Meter Lake Swim, 15.5 Mile Bike 5K run. I may have inadvertently told my coach this was a B race. But it is actually a C race now that I think of it. Mostly I am doing this race as a birthday celebration. I like to do something on the epic side for my birthday every year. A century bike ride the day before a triathlon is leaning in the direction of epic. Not quite there but about as close as I am going to get for a birthday celebration in May. 
7. Saturday, May 17th and Sunday, May 18th - Ironman Chattanooga Training Camp. Not a race. Just a training weekend on the Ironman Chattanooga course. I am not good at remembering terrain or routes but getting out on the course will be a big help. Since the course has multiple loops on the run and then bike, I can see most if not all of the course and get a good idea of the elevation and anything else that might help me train for the race.
8. Sunday, May 25th -Mountains of Misery- This one is also not a race. Although some people will seem like they are racing, I am going to take my time and enjoy the scenery. The MOM is a 104 mile bike ride with 10,000 feet of climbing in the mountains near Blacksburg, VA. 
9. Saturday, July 12th -Mini-Musselman Triathlon - 750 meter lake swim, 16.1 mile bike, 3.1 mile run. B+ race. I am doing the Musselman double so I would like to see how I compare to others doing the double.
10. Sunday, July 13th - Musselman Triathlon - 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run. B+ race. It will be neat to see how I compare to the other doublers. I have no idea what to expect.
11. Sunday, September 28th - Ironman Chattanooga - 2.4 mile river swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run. A race. All of my training and preparation is building to this day. I would love to go sub 12:30 which is an attainable goal I think. 

Well, I think that is everything. It is going to be a busy spring and a big summer of training. I am looking forward to the process of training and racing. I hope to learn more about what I am capable of and become a better athlete throughout the year.  Feel free to comment. Thanks.

Where does the time go? I think I actually have a pretty good idea.

Where does the time go?

February is almost over and I am just now getting to my first post of the new year. Why have I not blogged since December? Where did the time go? Well, I think I can partially answer that question.
In January, I logged 33 hours of training in my Training Peaks. That comes to more than 8 hours a week of training. And that does not include the time it takes to drive to the pool, or drive to the track, or drive to meet friends for a group ride, or driving to yoga class, or driving to indoor cycling class. I am not sure how many hours I spend driving to and from workouts, but it adds up.

For example, let's take a typical Tuesday in January. I would wake up at 5AM to get ready for indoor cycling class. At 5:30, I would drive to class which takes about 15 minutes. Then class would go from about 5:50 to 7. Then I would drive home which is another 15 minutes. After a quick shower and getting my lunch together, I would head off for my 20 minute drive to work. Work plus lunch and the drive home is another 9 hours. After getting home, I would immediately start getting ready to head out to track practice. The drive to the track was about 20 minutes or so. Track practice lasts about 1 hour and then I drive the 20 minutes back home. Once home, I would make dinner which usually takes about 30 minutes. Then we eat and relax for a few minutes which takes about another 20 minutes. Of course the evening chores need to be done after dinner. Cleaning up the kitchen, taking out the trash, etc takes another 15 minutes or so depending on how messy I was when cooking dinner. Finally, after cleaning up, it is time for some leisure time before bed. Usually, Melissa and I will watch a little something on Hulu but never more than about 20 to 40 minutes. During the commercials we catch up on our Facebook, Twitter, and all the other stuff we are plugged into online. Then it is time to start getting my gear ready for the follow morning workout. Then nighttime rituals mostly involving some kind of hygiene. Finally, it is time for bed. That does not mean sleep yet though. For I have to read for a while before I really am relaxed enough to fall asleep. If I am lucky, I would get 7 hours of sleep. Sometimes closer to 6 hours which is not optimal and even 5 hours sometime. Shhh. Don't tell my coach. I would like to work it out so I can get more sleep but that is a topic for another day.

So as you can see, preparing for, driving to, and completing workouts in addition to the daily chores adds up. While I would love to blog more, I just simply don't always find the time.

However, I am here now, blogging away about how I don't have time to blog. And it is really a first world problem isn't it. I am so lucky to be able to do the things I want to do. I have chosen this life and am privileged to be able to do it all. My wife is the most supportive person and my partner in crime. Together we try to squeeze out as much enjoyment out of life as possible.

Thanks for reading.

Daily Motivation

The other day, a fellow athlete who was set up on her trainer next to mine asked me how I managed to get up early for all the morning workouts again and again and again. She was on her third cycling class in 24 hours and I was on my third day in row of cycling and my fourth day in a row of early morning workouts. She was not a regular at this class and wondered how I managed so much early morning consistency.

I told her all my tricks to forcing myself out of bed in the morning to put in the work. And now I would like to share those habits here. The first thing I do is grab my phone and turn off the alarm that has ripped me from my slumber. Then I open various apps on the phone. The bright light of my iPhone helps start the process of waking me up. I have read numerous articles about sleep and they all say that any kind of light, especially the blue light from a computer screen or TV is very disruptive to sleep. Even the light from the alarm clock by the bed can be a hindrance to falling asleep and staying asleep. In this particular case, I use that to my advantage as I am actually trying to wake up. 

I look at Facebook and Twitter very briefly. I look at a few headlines, check the weather, and check my email. Then while still in bed, I post something on Facebook about the workout of the morning. The Facebook post seals the deal. Once I write it down, I feel like I have publicly committed to the workout. Sometimes I write something simple like, "up early to swim." Sometimes I go as far as write a short poem. The Facebook posts act as inspiration for myself. It is also nice to share with like minded Facebook friends who are also getting up early to swim, bike, or run. And hopefully, it is inspiring for others as well. I am sure I annoy some people with my daily posts about heart rate, t-max, high cadence drills, etc. But it is my Facebook so I will do what I want. If people are annoyed, they can ignore me, hide me, un-friend me or whatever they so choose. Hopefully though, my positive attitude towards working out will be infectious. I hope so anyway.

Another important tool for waking up early is to have a good evening routine. A few years ago, we cancelled our TV service. We still watch things on the computer but it is all on-demand with less commercials than regular TV. This has reduced our TV watching to a total 20 to 60 minutes a night. I almost always ice my kneees during this time and both Melissa and I catch up on our social media during the commercials. Less TV time means more time for sleep and for the other all important evening task that contributes to a successful early morning wake-up. This key task is really what can make or break an early morning workout session. And is really so simple. Before I settle in for the evening, I get all my morning workout gear together. That may not sound like a big deal but trust me, it really helps. Morning are foggy at 5AM. Waking up to any uncertainty can squash motivation.

Finally, another great tool for getting going in the morning is visualization. I visualize myself at the workout. I visualize all my teammates at the workout as well. I picture us side by side, working hard, grunting, groaning, sweating, and occasionally feeling close to throwing up. When I go the pool, I visualize all the strangers that I consistently see at the pool each week. There is "old guy" who plods along at a snails pace lap after lap with his feet dragging along nearly on the bottom of the pool. There is "pull buoy lady" who swims the whole time with he buoy. There is "fin guy" who swims with fins the whole time. There is "slightly overweight but still very fast lady" who always shows up about 20 minutes into my workout. And lately there has been two new friendly ladies who are training for their first triathlon. These folks don't know it but I treat them as teammates. They consistently show up at the pool week after week which I use as a motivator to get me there.

My final visualization involves the actual races I am training for. Putting in the consistent work will pay off on race day. I know that and I continually think about it. I want to be ready on race day. I want to be thoroughly prepared. If I think about my races during the early morning haze and later during my workouts, I get a little bit of extra motivation to shake off the cob webs and get out of bed even though my body seems to prefer staying horizontal. I also know that once I get the workout done and am at work sitting at my desk or in a meeting, I will feel good about my morning workout. I will feel a sense of accomplishment. Starting out the day at 8AM already having accomplished a hard workout is a good feeling.

I understand that these techniques will not work for everyone. But they seem to be working for me. Thanks for reading. Time to ice and relax and try to get some rest. After all, tomorrow morning will be here before you know it and I am pretty sure I will be doing a big workout.

Anniversary Trip to Italy: Day 10-12- Venice

After three wonderful days in Florence, we woke up and got a cab to the train station. We got there a little too early so we had to stand around for about 30 minutes but better early than late. The train ride to Venice was uneventful which is just they way I like it. Once we got to the train station, we had to catch a taxi to Venice. Important to note is all the taxis and buses that move people around Venice are boats. It was 50 Euros to get to the San Marco stop which was near our hotel. Right now, 50 Euros is the equivalent of about $70. It was an expensive boat ride. However, the taxi driver gave us excellent instructions on how to get to our hotel from the San Marco stop. Venice is a maze and we did not have a map. I was grateful for the precise instructions and tipped the driver (captain?) generously. When I go on vacation, I like to think I am working hard to stimulate the local economy.

Venice was fascinating. We got a map at our hotel which was mandatory for any trips outside the hotel. While in Venice we did a Venice Walking Tour which was very interesting and informative. We learned about how the city was built, the rising tides, the sinking city (it appears to have stopped sinking), the ancient history of the people of Venice and a little about the present day locals.

We also did a boat tour to the islands of Murano, Burano, and Torcello which are small islands in the Venetian Lagoon. In Murano we saw a demonstration of glass blowing. The master glass blower was quite the artist and it was fun to watch him create two pieces in a matter of a few minutes right in front of us. On Burano we visited a lace shop where all matter of elegant lace fabrics were made. I am guessing Joan Q would really have liked this shop. There was even a woman there on display while she made some custom lace fabrics.

Venice was super crowded. So many tourists like us. A few cruise ships came and went while we were there, dropping thousands of people off on the Island. At times it was just too busy to relax and enjoy. But in the evenings, the crowds thinned out and we were able to get around without bumping into too many people. Like in Rome and Florence, there was tons of shopping including lots of high end fashion.

Of course we had to do a Gondola Tour. We did a quick 30 minute spin around the canals. It was a group ride with 2 other couples and as you will see from my pictures, it was hard to get any good pictures as there was always someone in the shot. In fact, in most of these pictures, you will see that there are almost always people in the shot. It made us wonder how many other people's photos we must have been in. I could have cropped them but there are just too many so I took the lazy way out and just posted lots of them here as is.  I hope you enjoy them.

Here I am with the ever so precious map. Don't leave home with out it or you might never ever get back to your hotel again.

This is just around the corner from our hotel

Ponte Rialto-A famous bridge in Venice

One of the many pictures I took from the bridge

One of the many churches in Venice.

Melissa loves the Murano Glass

Our hotel room before we got settled

Gondola

Bus

Venice was very crowded with tourists like us. At times it was a little overwhelming

Doge's Palace

The buildings really could not be captured with one photo unless you did one of those panoramic photos and with all the people that would have been hard

Bridge of Sighs - Leads from the courts to the prison

This is the door to the building that our hotel room was in

You can see the Gondolier ducking as he goes under a bridge

Our tour guide for our Venice walking tour. She was very informative and funny too.

Residence of Marco Polo

Another shot of the Ponte Rialto

Outside the cathedral. The entire ceiling of the cathedral is a giant mosaic. These are little glass tiles covered in gold and another layer of glass. In the next few pictures I zoomed way in so you could see the little tiles

Lots and lots of tourists in Saint Marco's Square

Here you can see a bus pulling up to the bus stop

One reason there were so many people there. We saw several of these giant cruise ships

Another shot of the Bridge of Sighs

Artists at work early in the morning before the crowds

Since the government does not have the money to restore the ancient buildings, they get corporate sponsorship to pay for it and then display an advertisement. I thought this was an interesting ad.

Early in the morning, the boats all arrive with daily all the supplies. Everything on the island comes in by boat and all trash is carted away by boat.

A couple of buses at the busy bus stop. We watched all the commuters arriving for work and leaving to go to work.

Like I said, everything has to be brought in by boat.

Everything!

Empty rubbish boat

My buddy the pope.