*-)- welcome aboard *-)-
just me. my current interests and stories for the interwebs.
Even with Garmin's latest iteration in their running / triathlon sports watches 935, Apple's Watch keeps on drawing me back in.
Check out Ray Maker's "In-Depth Review". If you ask me, $499 is a little steep. For now, I'll wait for the Apple Watch 3.
“I think they have all the ingredients for the games,” said Timothy Fok, an ANOC executive and International Olympic Committee member. “Not only the sun and sand, they live the games.”
The event, scheduled for 2017, is expected to feature about 20 sports, including triathlon, skateboarding, surfing, jet skiing, as well beach versions of soccer, track and football.
No better place to host than "America's Finest City!"
The first day of my trip consisted of three legs starting at 9am ending at 4pm in Oklahoma City where I ended up "napping" till 12 midnight. Call it the case of the Mondays where I have commute to work and am just all funked up for a little while. Napping doesn't help either but it feels so good! The gym at the Wyndham Garden isn't that great and I just choose to fill up on water instead of eating dinner. I know it's bad but I ran a 5k the day before, hardly got some sleep and need to catch up on it. I paid for it dearly when trying to go back to bed for the early 4am wake up call. The next morning consisted of only two flights (OKC-DTW-YYZ) and when I got to the Downtown Toronto Hilton, I found the energy in me and hit up the gym on Day 2 of the 3 day trip. The session was set for a brick and I successfully completed an "easy" 1.5 hours! Admittedly, the Downtown Toronto Hilton houses the best fitness center in our hotel system and this makes working out that much easier and more enjoyable. The swimming pool was closed for renovations, but the gym was clean and ready to be used! Hopping up on the bicycling machine for an hour, I ended up next to a woman who was running on the neighboring treadmill at a 10:00 min/mile pace. She was 2/3s into her hour of running when I started beside her. At the end of her hour, she took a break and surprisingly jumped back ont the treadmill for another hour!!! I think she was gunning for a half marathon distance but that was just awesome. That gave me motivation to up my effort level a notch. I found myself yawning here and there as I was still a little exhausted from the lack of sleep but I had the Patriots at Bills game to keep my attention.
I struggled a bit in the beginning but as I pedaled along and found my groove. I even hammered away hitting and sustaining 24mph for 1 minute intervals every 10 minutes. My calves are still sore and now quads and hamstrings are too. At about the 30 minute mark, I accidentally hit the reset button so I just guessed and added another 35 minutes for what I would know would be more than an hour. The entire time I was sustaining a 75-80 rpm cadence as well an average speed of 15.0 mph. All in all, it was a good ride.
By the end of that hour, I was soaked and dripping. I got off the bike, cleaned and anti-bacteria-sprayed it down, drank a cup of water then immediately hopped on the treadmill. I was thinking that I I could go for an hour but my calves weren't going to let me. I could feel a light cramp creeping in my right calf so I just eased on at 6.0 and then back down at 4.5 when I would feel it coming right back. I was able to finish 3.31 miles at 35:00 minutes with some light intervals. The last quarter mile I ran at 8.0 and got my HR to 174 bpm. Good stuff all around.
The crew met up for dinner and I enjoyed a good Salmon + Jasmine Rice Dinner paired with a side Caesar at Jack Astor's. Instead of alcohol, I found myself ordering water. I was thinking of grabbing a Canadian beer and catch the rest of the Chiefs at Chargers game but I just wanted to feel good about my workout.
Of course, today's already been filled with long flights; YYZ-DTW-MTY-ATL where the last two legs blocked in at over 6 hours! Now heading back home to San Diego on another 4.5 hr flight where right before boarding, I was running from E35, through customs, through security and all the way to gate B36! Gotta love the commute! Swimming tomorrow and apparently some hot yoga at Core Power?! I still have to find a Master's class or a group of sorts to help me out with my swim techniques. Any ideas? My schedule sucks so I can't dedicate myself to any set class schedule so unfortunately that's out of the options. I'll have more this week!
Amazon's Kindle Fire Android Tablet Unveiling is this Wednesday!
Here's a picture of my "Atlanta Airport" Mile. I didn't run from E - B but the total .50 miles of running was at almost max speed while pulling my rollerboard, flight kit and laptop bag! I was perspiring like crazy when I got a seat in the back of the flight and as I finish this post, I'm just not feeling cooler.
Getting back into the groove always proves to be difficult but this time, I'm really setting my sights on something big...something REALLY big. I'm talking about the Oceanside Half Ironman at the end of March 2012. Granted, I'm coming up with a workout regiment and can't wait to join up with the San Diego Tri-Club, but my schedule has already taken a turn for October making it difficult to partake in any of the activities. Here are two runs from this week. I'm still sore in my calves as well as my left foot from when I sanded / buffed over it so we'll see in the coming month if and when I can actually work things out. More or less, I think I'll be able to do my biking and running at the overnights while I'm out and the swimming, I'll have to do when I'm in town at the local 24 Hour Fitness or maybe join up with the YMCA. Does anyone know what kind of skill set you need to have in order to join a Masters' swim course? On a scale from one to ten, I give myself a six in swimming competency. I need to work on my form and breathing. (I guess that's an understatement). I also have a picture of me breaking my 60 minute 10-K barrier at the 2011 Cow Harbor Race!
Monday's Run
I really thought that 2011 would be the break out year for me after my first Sprint Tri, but seeing where I was going in my lack of motivation and training, I ended up sticking to the sprint distance instead of racing the Olympic. My biggest hurdle is yes, still the swim portion, and I thought that the bike and the run would be easy...I was wrong. I'm also just going to keep this a "short" race report. Pre Race: Leading up the race, I wasn't able to get any swim lessons in and before the Wednesday prior, the last time I went for a good swim was about a year ago during the last Sprint Tri. I felt good in the pool at 24 Hr Fitness and actually even "trained" a bit in breathing every three strokes technique. I was loose and pretty confident. I was running here and there but a 5K to me is just not that daunting to where I felt the need to train. I also had a good 25 mile bike ride the Labor Day Monday before w/ my Uncle Romy and once again, I was glad to have my legs still with me. I only completed one training brick and that was all indoors at a hotel gym so no, nothing indicative of road conditions. The expo was about 20% the size of last years which was disappointing and the vendors had little of whatever inventory to sell. From what I was over hearing, the prices were just too high for this race so many didn't care to participate. Shame on Competitor because I was really looking forward to it. I did happen to find another good tri top and short from Zoot replacing my 2XU stuff from last year. I spoke to Stephen from One Tri in Orange County, CA and he was awesome. Full of information and knowledge, he was fun to talk to. What ended up in the swag bag was a lot less than last year's goodies. =(
I prepared well the night before by laying everything out but unfortunately, contracted the pre-race jitters resulting in 55 mins of REM sleep.
The Race: Driving down to the start was a breeze without traffic. My wife and I arrived with plenty of time and a good parking spot. I setup my transition area, met some new friends and started to prepare mentally. I was happy to have my family there with me for the start and even have the little one wake up for the event!
I was in the third wave and after some pretty awesome 9/11 ceremonies, off we dove in. I got into the water feeling good but once I started stroking, I found myself exerting too much effort. Either my wetsuit wasn't on all the way or what, but I couldn't get a descent stroke in with the suit forcing my arm ahead of me. Frustrating as it was, I was going nowhere. It's the same Xterra suit I used last year and haven't put it on since and it was rough. Once again, I did a combination of strokes and got out of the water almost 5 minutes later than last year. The transition was a lot faster with getting my wetsuit off and bike equipment on, but I found out that I should actually put on the bicycling gloves on first rather than fidget with them while riding so that slowed my down greatly. I also forgot to turn start my Garmin Edge 500 until .5 into the bike. I didn't train with aero bars so I wasn't going to put them on last-minute and still regret it. Cycling the last-minute updated 2 lap course, was "easy," but I couldn't find a good groove to really start mashing. Transition to the run was easy but even then, I must have started with my left foot because what I had in mind wasn't what my body was doing. Disappointing but it was a great race, I finished, and my wife, mom, sister and niece were there to celebrate the finish with me. I promise to make it worth while for them next year! Thanks for waking up early and coming out!
Conclusion: The theme to this year's sprint tri... Elijah couldn't get his groove back. From a lack in form, cramping and no good motivation, I wasn't prepared. I knew that going into it, but I didn't think I would suffer that horribly. Yes I still came in under my goal of 1:30 but the course was shorter this year. Yes, I'm also one year older, but it was frustrating. I'm definitely going to sign up for the 2012 San Diego Spring Tri Rock, not only because I have a 50% off coupon, but because I know that I'll be in a different mindset and want to perform. I'm still contemplating the 2012 Oceanside Half Ironman which gives me a good 6 months to train, but the only open slots are for those than can fundraise $650. Till then, here's to the Cow Harbor Day 10K Race on Saturday!!!
I might have forgot to mention that the night before, I had an awesome pre-race dinner at The Tractor Room with a Gage Caudell from Range Traveler. He'll tell you how we first met. I just know that I want his Leica M9-P but I'll have to may e just settle for the Sony NEX-7 in November for a fifth of the M9's price!
Here's a "candid" pic that he took on the fly.
And for those that do care, here is my Garmin Edge 500 Data. It's not accurate what so ever but maybe when Garmin releases an update to their 310xt, I'll have some better data.
Preface:I knew that I wanted to participate in a triathlon ever since I started cycling. The idea might have actually been planted in my head when I first found out that my AP Biology teacher, Mr. Rankin, was rumored to be an Ironman contender. Maybe it was after I completed my first 10K (Cow Harbor Race 2006), but that's all history. I will admit, that from couch potato to 10K taught me an important lesson in how sore one can get after a race like that, but it also started a chain of events that led to me to this.
First and foremost, I never really enjoyed running. Dating back to fifth grade, I was always a middle of the pack runner panting and breathing heavily and was the guy that insisted on walking around each of the four backstops that made up our track. I knew that I could swim since I was in the "advanced" swim class in high school phys ed. but it's been a ages (~14 years) and cycling extended distances with my Uncle Romeo and friend Ryan Espiritu forged the thought that hey, I just might be able to finish a sprint triathlon. My roommate for a short 2 months, Michael Mangan, another tremendous athlete, provided a little bit of encouragement to sign up, so I said, "Why not?" I also had another friend Kristen that was considering the goal. For my first triathlon, I set out two goals: To finish under 1:30:00 and not at the end of the pack; second to last would suffice.
I bought a book entitled Your First Triathlon
Training: I did a couple of bricks (bike workout followed by a jog or a swim followed by a bike) and began the slow and steady journey to getting into shape. That is until the month prior to my wedding when things started really piling up, I fell off the face of the earth. In other words, my training went from semi-existent to non-existent. I never really swam that much (laps in an apartment complex pool) or trained for that particular event and sporadically the occasional light treadmilling. I knew that I was just doomed from the start but I didn't give up on the idea. Essentially, you might as well just say that I did not train.
Day before: I decided that I needed a wetsuit primarily for the water temperature but more importantly, I knew that it would provide extra buoyancy. It's more than awesome that Xterra Wetsuits happen to be not only one of the best triathlon wetsuit companies but the fact that it is headquartered in San Diego fits into my procrastinating habit! I set out, tried one on and decided to rent last minute as the price tag proved to be a little steep. I missed the 40% off sale by one day and it was my first sprint tri so I settled on the Vector Pro. That same Saturday was the TriRock Expo and packet pickup so I went back downtown, grabbed my bike and I decided to head over .5 miles to the Embarcadero Marina Park.
I felt good after watching the him set up his mock transition area using my bike as his example and then that night, I laid everything out. I don't usually go that far but my nerves got the best of me so setup my own mock transition area. Every piece of clothing and race equipment I would be using, I checked it off using the checklist provided by Joe Friel with my wife calling out each item. I was a definitely nervous and then I found out that a buddy of mine, Renato Villena, was also racing! I had a buddy and that alone makes things a lot better. I put on the race tatoos (I got the age group one upside down, but I rocked it like it was intentional) and then went to sleep.
Race Day: I woke up, already packed and just threw on some clothes. I threw on my new 2XU Tri Comp Short and Vest which ended up being a little tight and as Ryan Espiritu would later say, it make him feel like he wanted cupcakes! I was lucky to have my wife drive me to the race where I met up with Ryan and we set out to find our cubbies in the transition area. We got there rather early but it was relaxing. Near the time of the race, we put on the wetsuits and made our way to the start. The swim portion was starting off in the water already along with a band on a catamaran to entertain (as part of the Rock 'N Roll experience) but I would later find out I would be able to pay any attention to them. My nerves were calm, the swim didn't look too bad, I was ready.
Swim: I would just sum this portion up by saying, I need to find a coach and go at this with A LOT more training and effort. If it wasn't for the Xterra suit, I would have probably drowned or panicked but there were times where I was just floating there and near the end, since there were others backstroking, I started to backstroke too! I got out of the water and was definitely exhausted. I didn't come out last, but definitely near.
I also recently read that I could train or find a coach at the UCSD Swim pool and am excited to venture out that way and see what kind of training schedule we could come up with.
Transition 1 into Cycling: Lightly jogging to the cycling portion, I saw and excitedly waved at my wife along the sidelines and got to it. I couldn't take off the wetsuit that easily and had to eventually sit down hence my really slow transition time. I got on what I needed and started to jog out with the bike. I got on thinking I was going to hammer, but then started to feel a light muscle twitch on my left calf. Along with that, my Garmin cadence monitor decided that it wasn't going to work either (off by 1mm???)! Oh well, but I did see my mom on the way out and that gave me yet another boost of confidence! Thanks for the support guys!
I could feel my rhythm but it definitely wasn't fast enough. I was getting passed up by some of the ladies in the 25-29 group that was in the wave behind me but the last thing that I wanted to do was cramp up. The course was longer than I thought but I got through it and then made my way to the running portion. There were quite a few bands along the way to keep me entertained at the rather slow pace. I also made a decision that day that I should at least get some clip-on aero bars. I could have really used the more aggressive position or at least the "rest" position.
Transition 2 into "Jogging and Finish:" As I made my way to the cubby, I saw my fans (Ryan and Adelle + mom) grouped together and was able to start running. Handing them my bicycling gloves on the way out, I started to see the light! My legs surprisingly felt good and off I went. I neglected to put the watch strap adapter for my Garmin Edge 500 so I just ran with it in hand. (I've lost it since) Around 1.5 miles is usually when I start to tire a bit, but I was on pace with a couple of individuals that made it a pleasant run. One young lady told me that I was setting a good pace for her but I insisted that it was her that I was following. She eventually finished before me, but I was proud. Apparently, I would end up with a pretty good 5K time. When we reached the turn around point at the USS Midway, I could feel my mind take ease and my body start to relax but I kept on chugging. As I continued on, I kept on the lookout for the tatoos of people in my age group and felt relieved knowing that there were at least a couple of people behind me. Coming to the finish, I pushed it a bit more and saw my supporters cheering me on. I thought that I was done, but I still had yet to go around the bend for what felt like an eternity! I finally crossed the finish line and eagerly grabbed my first Rock 'N Roll medal, some coconut water, hugged it out and took some pictures. It was a great experience and I cannot wait for the next one wherever it may be. You can count on it to make this my yearly event!
Here are some links and pictures to the festivities!
To see my official times, check it out in the gallery! [gallery columns="2"]
Now was the time to start an awesome overnight workout regiment. Staying at the Hilton in Downtown Toronto which has an awesome gym and accommodating facilities, I was determined to finish what would become my first hotel brick. The pool was pretty much full around 11:00am with the ensuing Caribana 2010 Festival going on and people checking in, but the indoor cycling machine and treadmill was available for full utilization! Sleep last night was almost a lost cause as I went to bed at 2:00am and woke up at 5:00am. Three hours of sleep wasn't that much, but at I was rested well enough to conduct one flight from Atlanta to Toronto. I knew that I needed some nutrients so I grabbed a quick airport breakfast of Corned Hash, Potatoes, Scrambled Eggs & a Biscuit somewhere on the Atlanta A Concourse then headed to the plane. I ate enroute, we landed smoothly, took the local shuttle downtown to the airport (25 minutes) where I took a light nap, checked-in, got to my room and quickly put on workout clothes.
I did so because I knew that if I laid down for just 1 minute, I would fall asleep. I got on the indoor cycling machine and started hammering. I set the timer at 1 hour knowing that I could at least get my 20K/12.2 miles in and around 30 minutes, I started really hurting. I could feel that my lack of sleep wasn't contributing to the ideal body feeling but I kept on going. I finished w/ approximately 16.73 miles in 65 minutes (5 minute cooldown) but I have to say that the riding position is far from the real thing. Not sure if that's going to affect my actual rides but the workout did do a number on my thigh burn.
I had to refill my water bottle during the transition but in order to do so, I had to swap out the water jugs on the cooler. I took a little bit of a breather and started a light jog at 6.0. My legs were definitely a little mushy but I increased the pace to 6.5 and felt great! At mile 2.0, I hit a wall but I kept on going. I increased to 7.0, then to 8.0 at the last quarter and did a long cool down stretching at the same time. 3.63 miles total!
There was a point in the transition that I was going to skip the run altogether, but I was proud of myself that I kept on going. I even walked another 4-5 miles with the crew around Downtown! I have to head to bed early for a 4:50am van ride back to the airport so, goodnight for now. I might wake up early and do some upper body or maybe some early morning yoga streches in the room. Good times in training.
Getting out to perform another brick was a little bit more of a task than the first. Motivation wasn't necessarily high but I knew that I should do it up so I donned my Saxo Bank Cycling Suit and headed out. I put on earbuds this time w/ my iPhone Quattro set to shuffle my 'Recently Added Music' Playlist as well as drinking a full bottle of liquid. That wasn't the best idea, but for nutrition, I had half a Costco pizza, polish dog and a chicken caesar salad w/ diet coke to boot. Mix in a couple of samples from the Sunday Costco Buffet and that was it. I can't say that it was good energy, but nonetheless, I was ready. I didn't have anything else to work out. I was making good time on the bike ride but near the end of the last climb, a weird muscle that I've never felt on my back start to pain me a little. It slowed me down tremendously, but I kept on rolling. This ride was definitely a lot more "boring" without a pace setter w/ me (ala @juanrcm) but it was a good ride overall. When I got to the house, I changed quickly and for the first time realized how hard it is to actually change from bicycling outfit to running shorts with all the sweat in between. I almost didn't make the change because it was like taking off a wetsuit and putting on another wetsuit. Gross I know, but seriously sucks!
I stepped outside and started jogging forgetting to grab my new Garmin Wrist Strap for my Garmin Edge 500 GPS
Here are my Garmin Connect Maps from yesterday's brick.
As previously noted just a day ago, I signed up for my first Sprint Tri. More specifically, I signed up for the San Diego Tri-Rock which is just under 58 days from the publishing of this post. I have the bug and I can't deny it. Buying a couple of magazines tonight and reading the last two editions of Competitor Magazine San Diego Edition, I'm all about getting fit and doing it right. Well, starting off on the right foot at least. I thought that I could get off to a simple easy start w/ more magazines so I set out to Barnes and Nobles in Mira Mesa and picked up a couple more.
One of my friend's had a book entitled "Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance" by Matt Fitzgerald which looked good so I thought of picking that up too. Of course, the only one that they had in stock was on hold but I might as well just buy the book from Amazon anyways. I also found another book by critically acclaimed trainer, coach and athlete Joe Friel conveniently titled "Your First Triathlon" so I added that to the cart too. Expect reviews on adellelijah.com in the upcoming weeks.
Click on these links below to check them out via my amazon affiliate link!
Since I decided a couple of days ago to do this sprint tri, I thought that I should get a head start and do the bicycle and running portion of the race. Apparently this is called a brick with whom I was enlightened by Mr. Espiritu (@ly0n123). Today was the first full day that I was back in San Diego, so I made it my goal to do the 4S Ranch CC Loop (which conveniently happens to be a 20K (12.4 miles)) followed by a 5K (3.1 miles). I also got to ride with a new colleague, Mr. Juan M. (@juanrcm)who found me on Twitter as a cyclist in his neighborhood. I kept a great pace with a goal in mind to beat my previous 55 minute trial and riding alongside Juan made it easier and more enjoyable. Check them out here via my Garmin Edge 500 from Garmin Connect. note: I still have yet to pick up the Garmin Quick Release kit so that I can wear my G500 on my wrist instead of gripping it in my hand while jogging. Maybe I'll pick it up tomorrow at REI in Convoy.
I had a 10 minute transition which included changing my outfit + shoes and waiting for my sister. It all worked out in the end, but I copped out and only completed 2 miles. Here's my excuse if you care to know: It was getting dark and I decided that I should head in.
I still think that I did a pretty awesome job with it being my first brick workout and all. I'm going to be at Nite Moves SD tomorrow night anyways for a full 5K so I don't feel that bad. Come check it out!
If you're asking, I'm thinking about swimming tomorrow or sometime later in the week. Not open water just yet, but we'll see.
I figured that since I'm pretty serious with training for a Sprint Tri I have to enhance my personal motivation, so I took the next step and I committed myself. I signed up for the San Diego Tri-Rock Series which takes place on September 12, 2010.
This specific Sprint Tri includes a 500m swim, 20km bike followed by a 5K run. I'm not that scared but you can say that the swim frightens me a little bit. I was able to swim 600m the other day at the apartment pool but I was taking breaks here and there. My next goal this week is to really condition myself at the local YMCA or maybe the LA Fitness. I'm not sure how I'm going to do this but I have some time!
Time I have left to train for my first sprint tri: [fergcorp_cdt_single date="September 12, 2010"]
