Activities – Strava Logs (not linked as URLS on purpose, please copy and paste if you are strava stalking me ? )
Monday
https://www.strava.com/activities/517356401
Tuesday
https://www.strava.com/activities/518145697
Wednesday
https://www.strava.com/activities/518931986
Thursday
https://www.strava.com/activities/519901382
Friday
No formal activities, rest and travel day
Saturday
Activity 1 – https://www.strava.com/activities/520988746
Activity 2 – https://www.strava.com/activities/521325828
Activity 3 – https://www.strava.com/activities/521478668
Stats
Saturday morning pre-activity weigh in 193.2
Saturday post activity weigh in 191.3
Sunday Morning weigh in 191.7
Targeted Activity and Focus Points
SWIM
Pool on Saturday was good. A fellow swimmer is training for an IM in TX, and he asked me how the swim was. It was a 4 x 500 more or less and felt alright, but I can feel the not being in the pool. Still 48 mins or so and that’s where I need to be.
BIKE
Feeling pretty good. Today I was able to be about 40% in aero. That being said, being under 195 lbs is a game changer as my gut is no longer an obstruction when I am in aero. The winds were tough again, but overall a good simple and fast for me ride at 17 or so MPH overall.
RUN
A lot of mileage. extending things. Playing with not having my compression calf sleeves or not. My runs M-W in NYC Central park were great.
Weights and Strength
Weekly Reflections and Focus
Thoughts from the week
While running through Central Park on Wednesday, I had occasion to witness a few unfortunate events while running. The first event happened about 200 or so feet in front of me when an elderly gentleman on a hybrid bike decided to veer off his line and the unsuspecting recreational citi bike rider collided with him. The gentleman hit the deck quite hard. Then as he got up, pejoratives frothing from his shaken state and jaw, he proceeded to attack and accost the spanish speaking recreational rider. After two good shoves I and seeing that others were in process of intervening or looking for NYPD, I decided to continue on and maintain a consistent pace. I needed more distance so I decided to cut across the north traverse and double the Harlem side hill section. As I was climbing back up another mature cyclist, 10 – 15 years my senior, was head down in drops while riding. The curious thing about the Multi-Use Path in Central park is that it is mainly a single flow direction, counterclockwise, with only runners and cyclists able to go clockwise. While this cyclist was in drops, head down – poor form in MUP environment and not a ‘closed- Course’ condition, another cyclist trying to navigate the runners on the inside lane and he was splitting the bike lane the best he could, crossed paths with this head-downer. Of course, head-downer was surprised and got all out of sorts. He wasn’t wrong but he was no where near right. In fact climbing head down is poor form unless you are elite or pro and riding with proper support. It Effectively renders the cyclist blind in the moments the head is in the downward facing position. Pejoratives were slung and this time I was a bit frustrated and spoke up ‘Hey bud, go easy on the pejoratives’…..
‘What was that?’
“Hey, just go easy on the pejoratives.”
“Who the !@#$% are you? He almost @#$%^ killed me!”, and on and on he rambled over 80 percent of his language betwixt with jumbled pejoratives tooled in multiple derivatives of the multi-functional ‘F-Word’.
He carried on for a moment or too, with me offering simple words of, “just go home and cool off. You are safe, he is safe.”
“He was wrong!” He exclaimed.
“Well I said I don’t think he is going to be educated with your current attitude”. Again the re-tort of ‘Who the f@#$%^ are you?’
“Look buddy, I spend almost as much time if not more than you in the saddle” – pointing to my shirt (IRONMAN St George, – Swim, Bike, Run). “The fella was doing what he could on a multi use path, your head was down, you were blind.”
“Well f@#$% you!” – he said.
My favorite, part of the exchange that occurred over the approx .25 miles while I was still maintaining a sub 8 min/mile pace and he was struggling to stay clipped in…. I poked, “go tell your friend Donald how you feel”. Blank stare. Donald Trump, I am sure he’d love to here your story.
“I hate the bastard!”
“Well if the shoe fits dude, just go home and cool off, come back and find your smile.”
True enough, all that happened over a quick 2 minutes about 5-6 miles or so into my run.
I have really been concentrating on active mind focus and being engaged to the point where I can just cruise in my run and feel but ignore the various stresses that my body is encountering as I prepare for endurance mode. I finally signed up for the May 7, Ironman 70.3 that will be held in St. George, Utah. I wait until just before the no bib cutoff so I don’t have to worry about event insurance and the like. Liz and I toyed with going to Marseille, France and I competing in the event there, but with the addition of Juniper, we will let that option, at least at this point, just fade away.
It was a good active week. I did the math and here are some following activities that are occurring while I am in NYC.
My typical distance from hotel to subway or central park is essentially 1.2 miles R/T. Then my R/T walk from subway station 1 to the office I currently work in is approx a mile. I did the Central Park run 4 times this week (~5 miles). I did the subway to office walk 3 times (~3 miles). Then I did the hotel to subway walk 3 times (~3.6 miles) and I ran ~25 miles total in 4 runs. That Yields an approximate total of 36.6 miles not counting the walks in airports. That’s a lot of mileage in 4 days.
Anyway….Good luck in your own adventures where ever it is you are found. Improvement is important to me and I am seeing mounds of it. It all starts with one foot in front of the other and repeating it over and over again. For me I have been accountable to my wife’s declaration of no more Ironman’s unless you get to this weight, by this time.
I find that sometimes, setting goals are too big for folks. Tasks yield the accomplishment of goals. So, lately I suggest to folks to forget about the goal and accomplish the tasks. These are smaller steps that will make the goal achievable. Further, it pays to have someone that will help keep you accountable along the way. This someone may be multiple people, but they should be both encourages and also realists that will at times identify the negative but work with you to overcome that. I do not believe that SUPER positivism is the only way. I believe in the concept that there is opposition in all things, similar to polarity and that balance is what provides structure and measurement. Sure, it is not a one size fits all formula, however, like diet and lifestyle, it may be discovered and the themes and principles may be applied and adapted to each person.
Our other challenge this week has been Dennis and his tonsillectomy. All in all things went well, but Liz was right. She and he do not come out of anesthesia well. I have only ever had oral surgery for my wisdom teeth so I have no skin in this game. Liz did well in supporting him as he came out. A little 10 year ball of emotions and pain. The doctors and surgery support staff praised how well he did. However, he was just a fun ball of emotions as he recovered. pain was finally managed and he was able to come home. he has been over dosing in electronics, and his brain is a funk of junk. We keep soldiering on.
#triathlonlifestyle #swimbikerun #trilife #triathlon #Checkin #roadtoimca2021 #triathlonlife #ironmantraining #familybalancetri #triathlontraining #2016 #triathlete #triathlonmotivation
