BUSY BEE!!!!!!!!!!

The word “busy” is an understatement.  My days begin with a 4:55 am wake up call, and on most days I I get home between 7 pm at the earliest, and as late as 10 pm if I work out after work  as well.  Somehow manage to fit all my training in, but what is suffering is my sleep and really any other type of quality/chill time. There is just not enough hours in a day!

With that said, I am really enjoying my new job! I like the job itself, I get the flexibility I need, and I really like the people I work with.  I also get to travel quite a bit, which is awesome! I am going to Europe – Germany, Czech Republic, and Sweden next week, and I’ll be there for a total of 11 days. I’ll get to see my family while I am there, which ROCKS!  It really can’t get much better than that.  While I am super excited, I am also a bit uneasy about my training or the lack there of while I will be gone. I will make sure I get my running in, I do plan on swimming at least while I am at home (I should be able to squeeze in 3 swims), but I will NOT have my bike with me, and that freaks me out! My power is just getting to the point of where it was towards the end of the season a year ago, and I am ready to take it beyond that! BUT – 11 days of no bike?  What is going to happen when I get back?  I am not ready to take steps back, but would obviously rather move forward!  Duh! J I really just don’t want to lose the fitness I have gained so far!

There is also a lot more that has happened in the little triathlon world of mine. I will blog about all these in more detail as soon as I get a chance – maybe on the plane to Europe next week?  But for now this is what you have to look forward to:

·         I got a new toy – new super awesome, and super fast bike!  I can’t wait to take it outside! Name is still TBD, and I am taking suggestions …

·         My coach chased me to back to back personal bests in the pool – 1:23 and 1:26 for 100 yards! I know – slow for some of you but super fast for me and especially due to my recent struggles in the pool … my previous pb was 1:29 from back in November …

·         Aaaaaaand I am switching triathlon teams. I have been working with coach Jorge since June last year and have seen tremendous improvements across all three sports. My endurance has come a long way, and it still has a long way to go.  I am sticking with coach Jorge as he is launching his very own triathlon team – E3 Training Solutions.  For more details about the team, Czech out Jorge’s post:

http://jorgepbmcoaching.blogspot.com/

There will be a lot more to come about E3, but here is your chance to jump on board with one of the best! J

·         Non triathlon related – I will also be moving and leaving the city life behind me! It’s been fun, but it’s time to move on. It’s time to move closer to my work so that I can actually have time to sleep and pay attention to other things besides work/triathlon.  I currently spend anywhere around 3+ hours a day commuting, and I don’ t like it! My ass doesn’t like it! I really HATE it! Move should be finalized shortly, and I”ll share pics and info with all of you so you can come visit! I plan on setting up a nice training cave! J

Thanks for reading, and I hope to update you all with some more detail very soon. That plane trip is only 7 days away – just a day after the triathlon expo time trial, where I’ll test my power (bike power) against the best – the likes of Karen Smyers and the list goes on ....

Quick update and Hyannis 1/2 marathon

It sure has been a while since I last blogged! One main reason being, I now have a job again! The days when I could just fit in 3 workouts a day and still be able to sleep 8+ hours are over! My life of a pro triathlete wanna be is done – at least for now. My mission however continues! J

My new routine that I am trying to get into ROCKS!!!!! Or maybe not so much as 4:55 am alarm clock every morning comes way too fast! I get in either my bike or swim workouts done before I leave for work around 7 am. My commute to and from work can be anywhere from an hour and 15 min to 2 hours depending on the traffic! My bum hurts and my eyes cringe as I am typing the word “traffic”.  Then if I can’t squeeze my run in at lunch, I end up running when I get home which is usually after 7 pm, and the rest is history. Pack the bags for the next day, and do it all over again. Then there are days like today, when you just want to scream!!!!!!! I really just wanted to get to work on time but the idiot with the blue camry had other plans!

Needles to say, I made it to work an hour late after the lady behind me left!

Few things I learned today:

·         Meter maids in Boston only work when they want to! They give tickets 10 minutes after midnight for a registration that just expired on previous day, they will write you a ticket if you are 30 seconds after your meter expired, but when over 50% of the car is parked on a side walk all night and morning, they do not care!

·         A car even though illegally parked cannot be towed without a ticket or else whoever calls to tow the car has to pay $75!!!!!

·         It takes Boston police at least an hour to switch shifts, so if you are up to no good, anytime between 7 am and 8am is the time to do it! Just Czech your nearest Dunking Donuts!

·         Next time – I may not be as patient!!!!!!

·         And finally, I would really LOVE to meet the dumbass that “moved” my car into the SUV behind me even though I had my parking brake on, and then proceeded to back their car into me but still ended up being parked half way on the sidewalk! What was the rational behind their move?

Needles to say, weekends can’t come fast enough, which finally brings me to the Hyannis Half Marathon I ran this past weekend!

It was my first open half marathon ever, and even though I should have been excited to test my running fitness, I really wasn’t all that into it. The timing really just couldn’t be any worse. I had just started my new job 2 weeks ago, travelled much of the 1^st week, and spend the rest of the time trying to go to bed at a normal hour so that the 4:55 am (not 5:00 am) wake up call, doesn’t scare the crap out of me too much. I had just finally gotten rid of a cold, and so my energy levels weren’t exactly there. I mean what should I expect after 2 weeks of consistently getting anywhere between 5-6 hours of sleep. The weather forecast wasn’t exactly favorable, and all I wanted to do was sleep in! Not this Sunday.

Good thing was, the 7 am wakeup call actually felt like sleeping in! The weather condition however made me want to go back to bed! It wouldn’t be winter 2011 if we didn’t have another snow storm! In any case, I had my usual breakfast – bagel with almond butter and jelly roughly about 3 hours before the race start and then drove down to the Cape with my friend Rod. We got to Hyannis about an hour before the race, but the last stretch proved to be deadly! We ended up parking almost a mile away from the start so we could even make it to the start line on time. The start was about a mile away.  Minor glitch was – we didn’t have our numbers yet! My friend Jim picked them up for us but we didn’t find him till about 5 min before the race started! Being a rookie, I kept wondering, where the timing chip was, and since I thought they didn’t give us one, I started to think more and more that this race is just going to turn into a training run.

The race had close to 4,500 participants between the 10K, ½ marathon, and full marathon so the start was quite crowded. The weather itself really couldn’t be any better – you guessed it. It snowed, rained, and snowed on and off again pretty much the entire time except for the last 3 or so miles.  You gotta love running with soaking wet feet!!!! Is it spring yet?

None less my competitive drive and adrenalin took over, and off I went. The 1st mile was a mess of dodging people, and puddles! The plan was to run 7:30s or so for the first 3 miles, then drop it down and settle into race pace at 7:15s, and the last 3 miles bring it home! My running inexperience showed through very quickly! In triathlon by the time you get to the run, people are scattered all over the place and you are not being crowded. You don’t have to negotiate your route, or worry about getting tripped or tripping people. You don’t hear other people’s breath trying to either keep up with you or pass you. Since my first mile ended up being an easy 7:40, I decided to speed up … to hell with 7:30’s why not sub 7:10s!!!! Miles 2 through 7 were awesome! I wasn't really pushing the pace (okay – maybe a little bit), I was feeling great and I was running just below my targeted 7:15s. I only looked at my watch when I heard the beep! I kept seeing sub 7:10s and I was still feeling great.  I felt AWESOME and began to have thoughts of actually running sub 1:35!  

Then Mile 8 came, and my legs just decided to quit! I was in the hurt locker for the rest of the day. I was just trying to hold on! When I saw mile 8 click of at 7:30 pace, my positive attitude took turn for the worse! I started to play mind games with myself, and I tried to focus on the positive. I “tried” to follow a girl that went by me or at least keep her in my sights, but that didn’t last long! There were few rollers on the back end of this course – nothing major at all, but those bumps hurt! And no – you really can’t even call them hills! The mind games continued … It was at about mile 11 or so when we went by the BTT tent again, and that is where coach Jorge was! It was the last 3 miles when it was time to suck it up and as he put it go "nuts". He ran with me for a few yards, and yes – that actually gave me a bit of energy to try to go faster, but unfortunately that didn’t last long.  I went "nuts" but my splits didn't quite show it! No excuses, just a statement here – at this point my feet were soaking wet, and frozen, and my legs were hurting! My right quad and left calf felt like they were both about to cramp up, and I really couldn't wait to be done. I tried to keep telling myself that I feel GREAT, but my legs just didn't want to listen. I was pushing hard, but my damn legs were not moving. Totally 100% my fault and looking back at it now – STUPID, STUPID, STUPID mistake, I didn’t take in any nutrition at all. I was running out of energy fast! I was going to take a gel at about the 1 hour mark which is what I normally do on long training runs, but I didn't do my homework and had no idea where the water stops where. The idea of actually spilling any water on my frozen self was enough to make me run the entire race without taking any fuel in! Just call me STUPID!!!!! I could have used the extra kick for the last 3 miles to say the least.

I went through 13.1 miles at 1:35:45, but my official time is 1:36:20 (13.2 miles from my garmin) so roughly around 7:18, 7:17 pace.

Overall, as much as I was dragging the race, and it wasn’t the greatest timing, I am very glad I did it. I learned a few things, and I will never NOT fuel again! I mean I held on to that freaking gel long enough!!!!

I spent the winter really just building up my mileage while running at an EZ (7:45 – 8:00) pace. I have yet to do any speedwork, and last time I ran remotely close to my avg. pace was back in November in Clearwater. I believe as I keep running more and build my mileage, I should be able to keep the sub 7:10 pace for the entire race and one day I will be running sub 7s – I know it!  There is more work to be done folks and I am ready to take my running to the next level. J

As far as my splits go you can see, I hit a wall at mile 8 - gigantic wall, but I am happy that I let my pace slip to 7:20s and 7:30s and not any further. You can also see I kept trying to pick up the pace, but really wasn’t able to hold it for very long hence the toggle between 7:30s and 7:20s. Like I said – I was trying to speed up.

  

Mile 1: 7:40

Mile 2: 7:10

Mile 3: 7:04

Mile 4: 7:10

Mile 5: 7:09

Mile 6: 7:08

Mile 7: 7:06

Mile 8: 7:30

Mile 9: 7:22

Mile 10: 7:24

Mile 11: 7:30

Mile 12: 7:20

Mile 13: 7:32

Mile 14: 6:32

And how did I compare to the rest of the peeps?

Overall:             246^th place out of 2,689 (Top9%)

Females:           60^th out of 1,156 (Top 5%)

Females 30-39:  19^th out of 456 (Top 4.5%)

And if we went by the triathlon age groups:

Females 30-34: 11^th out of 245 (Top 4%)

And because I can, there were 54 30 year old chicks competing and I came in 3^rd! J

Sub 1:30 I am gunning for you! For now, I pretend like my legs are fine, when I can barely straighten them! My quads and hammies are garbage and I strongly dislike the foam roller or really anything else that is suppose to help speed up the recovery proces! I am living in the my awesome Zoot Recovery Tights!  Till next time! J

My Winter Escape!

I was supposed to start my new job back in January, however even the INS has been snowed in and the process for my visa to get approved is taking longer than expected.  As a result, I decided to take one last trip before the “freedom” ends, and I went to South Beach, FL. Now, I would rather go somewhere just a bit more tropical, but due to my visa/passport situation, I had to keep it to the continental U.S.  My choices were pretty limited but South Beach was warm enough and had just enough Vitamin D a.k.a  sun waiting for us.

We were lucky to get out of Boston now two weeks ago on Wednesday before the 1^st snow storm we missed rolled in.  Originally we were suppose to come back almost a week later on a Tuesday, but due to the GIGANTIC storm that affected or should I say “paralyzed” over 30 states, we were “stuck” in South Beach with 80 degree weather for 2 more days until Thursday night. I know – tough life! I must say that I was a bit “sad” I was going potentially to miss some historical snow fall, but at the same time I was really glad I wasn’t there!  Instead I got to enjoy some beautiful weather, great food, swim in an outdoor lap pool for the first time in my life, and get in lots of running on the beach!

Here is the awesome pool I swam in a few times! I am going to miss this one!

And here is what happened after about an hour of swimming and!  YES – I did have sunscreen on!

Let’s just say, I ended up swimming the rest of my sets in a bikini since these tan lines had to go.  I do have to remind myself that this was January! I honestly can’t even imagine what it would be like in the summer! 

I also had a few thoughts of open water swimming, but those went away very fast! Actually on the very first day, and my very first time to the beach, we saw a reef shark swimming along the beach!  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that was that! It really looks like me and the ocean are NOT meant to be! Not yet anyways!  There was also plenty other sea creatures we had the pleasure of meeting including a star fish, octopus, and lots of jelly fish.

There were ton of these around!!!!! Yikes!

This was one alive and we let it go once we took some pics!

Dead Octopus that I really didn’t want to touch, but did after all … and no, it’s NOT slimy!

I also got in lots of running, lots of beach running!!!!!  I didn’t have to worry about getting hit by a car because the roads were too narrow, slipping on an icy sidewalk because only every 5^th person decides to clean the sidewalk in front of their house, or whether I have enough layers on to stay warm.  Instead, I just had to make sure I had enough sunscreen on! I also left the music at home, as the sound of waves hitting the beach more than replaced the tunes! In the 8 days I was there, I put it a solid 30 miles(solid for me) including one long 12 mile run right on the beach. Here is a pic of where I ran to give you an idea of just how beautiful and peaceful it really was.  Aaaaand  I ran in NO layers … and my water didn’t freeze either! J

The map of my long run!

I never really knew how awesome running on the beach really was. The back of the beach consisted mostly of hard packed sand that you could run on, with some patches of very soft sand, which made up for the lack of hills. My calves sure got a great workout! When the sand got too much, there was always the option of an awesome wooden boardwalk to one side, and beautiful concrete path to the other side.

Here is the beach!

And if you got really tired, there was always this option!  J I think this is a South Beach special!

Besides running, and swimming, I did lots of yummy food eating, some shopping and of course dessert eating! Ice cream is my favorite!!!!!! The first one is a homemade brownie, with some homemade vanilla ice cream, homemade caramel and chocolate sauce … it was to DIE for! I had that one twice!!!! 

The second one  is a Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Sunday!!!!!!! Do I need to say more? :)

And then there was Happy Hour!!!!!!  :)

One and only thing I did miss was my bike. I must admit I was a bit freaked out about losing all my power and not riding for an entire week, but my coach assured me that won’t be the case. In all honesty, I wouldn’t even want to ride my bike in South Beach or Miami! The drivers here are insane, and that may even be an understatement!  I did find a bike though! I am not so sure it was functional, BUT it sure had an awesome “winter” cover! J

We had a great time, got some much needed Vitamin D, and I was finally able to get rid of my tri tan lines!  Now it’s back to reality, the good ol’ New England, and I go back to work next week!!! My life of wanna be professional triathlete is over for now! J

Till next time :)

On my way to becoming a swimmer!

Oh where do I begin!  Perhaps I should start with the most obvious: I am NOT a swimmer! I could always swim, but I didn’t grow up swimming! My swim stroke of choice was always breast stroke.  So when I jumped into the pool about 2 years ago, it was a cold wakeup call! Forget the time how long it actually took me to get in the pool! Brrrrrr …. Forget the time, and how long it took me to swim 50 yards! I was glad to make it the 25 yards there, and 25 yards back, and I couldn’t wait to hang on the wall so I could catch my breath! My rest periods between sets and those sets were definitely limited to about 100 yards at a time,  were just as long as the swim itself. I must say that was extremely humbling! I mean, I always thought I was in shape, so why could I not swim for longer than a minute without feeling like I was going to drown?  I quickly realized swimming wasn’t all about cardio. I mean how else do you explain to me that a person who looks like a couch potato  can swim about 10 times faster than me,  but can’t even run a mile? I immediately knew I was in for a treat!

I slowly got little more comfortable, and made myself swim 500 yards at a time.  I really only did that so that I had some sort of confidence at my first sprint tri. To show you how oblivious I was, I actually thought I for some reason had to swim free style the entire race or else I would be disqualified! Good thing that wasn’t the case as I have used breaststroke to get around the gigantic buoys many times since. Of course I don’t have the perfect breaststroke technique that the lady below has, but it would allow me to catch a breather so I could continue on with my slow poke free style if you could really even call it that and in process perhaps lose some folks that were trying to cling on to me for one reason or another! 

I have since completed 2 sprint, 3 olympic, and 3 half ironman distance races, and I am still waiting for the day when I will actually look forward to the swim part of a triathlon rather than dread it! Yes, I now can swim 1.2 miles without having to breast stroke, but I just can’t swim the 1.2 miles fast enough!

With that said, 2011 is the year when I will become a better swimmer! I have decided my outlook on swimming must change or else it’s just never going to happen for me.  I do believe that attitude plays a huge part in how well or crappy we perform, so as of 1/1/11 I am embracing this thing called SWIMMING! I am going to approach each swimming session with a positive attitude. I will not dread swimming and I am going to become a swimmer!!!!!!!!  The swimmer part may not be today, or tomorrow, or next month but it is going to happen! I have seen improvements in my swimming already every since I began to work with Coach Jorge, but I still have a long way to go. Below is my improvement in numbers, but I do have to say I actually FEEL million times better when I swim, and I don’t dread going swimming like I used to. Baby steps! 

Swim
	1,000 yards	200 yards	CSS/100 yards
June, 2010	17:52	3:22	1:58
August, 2010	17:11	3:17	1:54
October, 2010	16:50	3:05	1:48
January, 2011	7:58 (500 yards)	3:00	1:40

I actually look forward to swimming, and I believe that’s one of the most important parts to success. Sure there will be times when I’ll hate the pool, and I am ok with that. I do have love/hate relationship with swimming, but I am ok with that too. Those “hate” days make me work just that much harder during the next session.

I mean, there are days when I want to throw the power meter or my bike out the window, or when I feel like I simply can’t run any faster even though I ran faster with less effort just the other day. Being basketball player, I compare some of these days to the times when you go 10 for 10 from the field, and as long as the ball is thrown in the general direction of the hoop it will go in, and then there are days when one can’t even make a layup! And that’s just how it is – we all have good and bad days!  It’s how we come back from these physically tough, mentally challenging, perhaps not so successful sessions that counts the most!  So I know that if I can approach each training session with a positive attitude, one day I will get into T1 when there are still plenty of bikes left, instead of seeing T1 half empty!  J

My ultimate goal is to swim like Julie Dibens, but I know that it’s not going to happen overnight. Do I wish I woke up one day and swam like her? Sure! J I may never get as fast as her, and I think I am fine with that. Well – not really as I really want to swim fast, but realistically I know that if me and Julie played some bball, I would school her. She was a D1 swimmer, and I was a D1 bball player! She swam for 20+ years, and I played bball for 20+ years. I know it will take me a long time to swim as fast as she does, but I know hard work pays off, and I am willing to put the time in, and watch my times get faster and faster!  We are almost done with January, and I am going to swim probably just as many yards if not more as I swam back in October which is when I put in my highest swimming yardage in to date. I am like a walking chlorine machine, but I don't care! I may care when my hair starts to look like this, but not being a blonde that will hopefully not happen! :)

I have also done the underwater swim analysis back in December, and even though my times have improved quite a bit since last time I did it, and I have been feeling a lot better in the water, Mr. Dartfish (the viewing software) has confirmed I still have many flaws I need to work on, which is so easily said than done. From proper catch and pull, to my hand entry, and my body position, the list goes on. But guess what!  I see lots’ of room for improvement  and that means  once I actually improve my technique even more, I’ll just keep getting faster and faster!  Watch out Julie! :)

So I have been concentrating on my technique quite a bit, and have spent some quality time with my friends below:

I think the ankle locks are my favorite! NOT! If you have never tried those, I suggest you do! :)

I also do have to admit that when I use the kickboard, I barely move. So to improve my kick, I have been trying vertical kicking. Trying is the key word, as I tend to sink very fast!!!

When looking for some youtube videos of how to improve my vertical kick, and improve my chances of NOT drowning after 15 seconds, I came across this paragraph!

“Vertical kicking is one of the most under-used "secret weapons" in swimming. One reason it's under-used is because it looks more like aqua aerobics than swimming, and to do it without drowning you have to wear one of those funny-looking belt thingys. But don't be fooled. Vertical kicking is tough stuff. And if you decide to try it without the belt thingy, it is REALLY tough stuff. “

I have also been watching Mr. Smooth and plenty of other youtube videos on how to improve my technique/stroke.  I am determined to have Mr. Smooth’s stroke very soon! J

My desire to become a swimmer continues! It is extremely challenging, but I am starting to find joy in swimming! I mean, I have even been attempting flip turns!!!!!!  It’s by no means pretty, but just the fact that I am trying is a step in the right direction.

I had a bad day in the pool the other day. It was the day after I actually spent some quality time in front my computer screen watching all kinds of drills, and Mr. Smooth! J When I actually tried implementing them, I became way slower! What? That was to say the least a bit frustrating, but this is what my coach had to say:

“Anytime you change something mechanical, your efficiency suffers a bit, don’t sweat it. It is part of the process!”

So I’ll take it, and try again next time! I am adding the word “patience” into my vocabulary, and I am excited to continue this journey to reaching my full potential and becoming the best I can be. 

Maybe reading this book will help a bit? :)

Or better yet, maybe visiting the International Hall of Fame in Ft. Lauderdale next week may magically make me a fast swimmer? Aaaah wishful thinking! J

Czech in with me in June when I take on my first half ironman of the season at Rev3 Quassy in CT! I would love to swim around 32-33 min for the 1.2 mile swim which is almost 5 min faster than my fastest ½ iron swim of 36:41 at Timberman back in August, 2010.

Time to hit the pool! Catch you all later!  J

2010 Season in Numbers and What Can Coach Do For You!

I know I am bit behind, but here is a quick reflection on my 2010 season and how long I have actually spent training or racing. 2010 was my first real season of tri's. I completed 3 half ironmans, and one olympic distance race.

I more than doubled my swim and run numbers, and I almost tripled my bike miles from 2009 when I completed 2 olympic distance races, and 2 sprint distance races. I think it is very safe to say that the 70.3 distance is my favorite one of all, even though I have yet to complete the full ironman! And yes – that is in the plans as well! Due to my super competitive nature, I must do it right, listen to my coach, and toe the start line of a full ironman when I am ready to win and get myself THE ever so wanted ticket to KONA!!!! A lot of people tell me that I am ready now and that my first ironman should solely be for fun and to sort of “learn” the distance! Unfortunately, that is not how I work, that is not how my mind works! I am too competitive to just race for fun! Don’t get me wrong, I love to race, and I have fun when I race, but I enter every race with every intention to win! I race to compete, I do not just race to finish!  And yes, I may be ready to do an ironman now, but I know I am not ready to win it! There is a big difference!  I know it sounds so easy, but I know it is not, and I know it will take hours and hours of dedication, hard work and sweat for me to get there but mark my words I WILL GET THERE!!!!! J 

Okay, now back to 2010 and the silly numbers I am about to reveal.

Swim:  340,296.8 yards – 193.5 miles in 119 hours, which is almost 5 days

Bike: 4,129.54 miles in 224 hours around 9.3 days

Run:  876.36 miles in 113 hours, which is again almost 5 days

My 2010 swim/bike/run craziness J took me 5,199.4 miles in little over 19 days!  I put in enough miles to take me from Boston, MA to my little town of Benesov u Prahy in the Czech Rebublic, which is 3,891 miles away still leaving me with another  1,300 miles to spare! J

When looking back at these numbers, and days or hours it took to complete these miles, it doesn’t seem that bad, does it? I mean, I worked out 19 full days out of 365 days a year! That’s it? J Now to really put that into perspective, any one of us with full time jobs, we spend minimum of 40 hours a week or 160 hours a month at work, which translates into 6.7 full days of work a month or around 80 full days of work a year not including any vacation time. Now that’s CRAZY!

So in the end, in 2010 I swam/biked/ran 19 full days out of the year and I spent 80 full days at work. Oh there is something very wrong with that! Ha! I would LOVE to have it the other way around, but in the mean time, I must collect more speed so I could maybe one day become the oldest age grouper turn pro! Ha! We all can dream, right? J

Now if I can just keep improving every year like I did in 2010, it will all be a piece of cake! :) Thanks coach!

Here are my improvements in by far my weakest sport – swimming! I know, I know, I am one very slow fish, but believe me, I am working on it. I could post my underwater video analysis for all you to see, but that may scare some of you, so I’ll spare you the details and instead go with simple numbers that tell the story.

Swim
	1,000 yards	200 yards	CSS/100 yards
June, 2010	17:52	3:22	1:58
August, 2010	17:11	3:17	1:54
October, 2010	16:50	3:05	1:48

From my weakest to my strongest and that is biking! I have no idea why biking is my strongest out of the three, as I have never really biked or really been on a road bike until last year. I rode mountain bikes when I was younger, and biked pretty much anywhere. Bike was really more of a mode of transportation rather than working out as my parents did not own a car, and biking was much faster than walking! Perhaps my basketball background may have something to do with it as well. I can also tell you that if any of you out there are thinking about getting a power tap, you shouldn’t even think about it. It is one of the best investments one can made if you want to improve your power on the bike. I used to think I rode hard all the time, but I can tell you now, I was wrong.  I am learning how to push myself harder each time I get on my bike, and I have to say I never pushed myself harder than I do now. I have the numbers to prove it and numbers simply don’t lie!

Bike
	5 min	20 min	CP	Power/Weight
June, 2010	253 W	223 W	216	3.71 W/Kg
August, 2010	259 W	230 W	226	3.88 W/Kg
October, 2010	265 W	240 W	235	4.04 W/Kg

And last but not least my running. I just want to say that being a basketball player doesn’t make you a great distance runner! Yes, I ran a lot when I played bball, but very short distances, and very fast. The farthest I ever ran was 3 miles at a time, and that was probably once or twice a year during the offseason. I also swore after college that I would NEVER run again! Now here I am, with 876 running miles in 2010! And now the truth!

RUN
	Test	Distance/Pace	VDOT
June, 2010	20 min all out	3 miles/6:45 pace	48
August, 2010	15 min all out	2.3 miles/6:24 pace	48

           

2010 was a GREAT year! I ran my first ever ½ marathon as part of my first ever half ironman race, I qualified for the 70.3 World Championships during my first ever half ironman, I broke 5 hours during my 2^nd half ironman on a legit tough and hilly course, and I placed top 20 in my age group at the World’s with a time of 4:46:04. I have met some amazing people, and made some great new friends.

I found the best coach for me – Jorge Martinez (http://jorgepbmcoaching.blogspot.com/) of PBM Coaching (http://www.pbmcoaching.com/), and also a great team of fixer upper hands – a.k.a the best ART/chiropractor – Kate Kelly of http://www.activerecoveryboston.com along with massage therapists Samantha Cail and Joan Howe.  Thanks to these guys I was able to stay in one piece and healthy throughout the entire season, which is half the battle!

I am looking forward to what 2011 will bring! I am addicted to speed, and I am ready to WIN! J