Day 5 - Mt. Lemmon

Once again, the day started with a run, this time in Saguaro National Park. Once again, we were running as the sun came up over the mountains. It's hard to have a bad day when you start it this way.

Everyone here is hooked on Jamba Juice which, combined with some Brueggers bagels, has become our standard breakfast.

After this, it was back to the hotel and change for the big part of the day - Lemmon. To ride Mt. Lemmon is a great accomplishment. To ride it the day after Kitt Peak, with more riding plus two 90 minute runs first thing in the morning is huge.

The spin over from the hotel took about 30 minutes and soon we were at mile marker zero. Only 27 uphill miles in front of us. I gave the advice to keep a steady tempo and not overwork it, at least until theres 10K left. These guys have put in some great volume and it's important to not fry yourself from this camp, but instead make sure you absorb the training. They are all listening which is odd. I always have a few who's egos get the best of them and they blast the first part of the week only to be spent midway through camp. These guys are getting stronger as the week goes by.

I was alone a few minutes into the ride - I wanted the guys to ride their ride today since everyone is feeling the fatigue from a full week and the last thing they want is their coach looming over them for a 27 mile climb. It was a perfect day and I settled into a comfortable tempo. I'll admit my legs didn't feel that snappy today, but they felt good enough. Afterall, it is very early and before this week, I hadn't ridden more than 1 hr at a time in a few months.

The weather was perfect - sunny, warm, and low winds. the views were spectacular and I stopped a few times to snap some pictures. There were some other riders going up that I came across, and quite a few heading down. Near the top, it was getting cooler so I put on a long sleeve jersey. There was snow at the top and many of the sightseers were out of their cars in their t-shirts, having snowball fights. From mile 0 to mile 20 is a steady grind, then it rolls until mile 25. Most stop here at the mountain top little town where there is this dirty little pie shop that we hit last year and that people rave about. The true ride though finishes at the ski area which is a right hand turn and two more steep uphill miles. In fact, these two miles are the steepest of the day. I made it to the top and gave John Brennan a call to see how the tracking went with MyAthlete. Gus came rolling up caked in salt and dazed! He did great though and said that he felt strong for the most part.

We rolled back down to the pie shop and waited in a very slow line, only to find out that they were pretty much out of pie. The pie might be good, but the place is pretty gross, so we shot a few blocks up the road to the Cookie Shack for a huge cookie and some fluids.

This descent is great. There is the climb back out from the small town, then you begin and the turns are big sweeping s turns with just stunning views. At one point, I was trapped behind two harleys and two cars, and when I found the opportunity, I shot around them. I had a blast although 20 miles of descending in the drops tightened up my back a bit, but the spin back to the hotel loosened things up. I reminded the boys that Mt. Lemmon is one of the most famous cycling climbs in the US, and that they just did it. Some of them have done it twice now since they were here last year. That's pretty cool.

Another amazing day - when you get the opportunity to do the things you love with like-minded people all day, how can it go wrong?

Cheers,

EH

Day four in Tucson

We once again began the day with a run. We went back over to Sabino Canyon, but this time to run the Seven Falls trail. It was a cool morning - perfect for running. The sun here is strong and as soon as it pops up over the mountains, you can feel the warmth. It would later heat up towards 80 degrees by the afternoon.

The Seven Falls trail is an out and back trail that heads right up the middle of a canyon, leapfrogging a flowing river. It's a bit rocky, and mostly uphill on the way out, and your feet will get wet at some point, but it's absolutely stunning. Because of the terrain, you aren't running at a fast pace although your heart rate is elevated the whole time. We put in 90 minutes, and finished near a flowing river gorge. When I fell on Sunday, I did a number on my right ankle. I didn't sprain it or twist it, but I banged it hard against a rock and cut it open. The wound doesn't hurt but there is a lot of swelling. I have the cankle working on my lower right leg. So at the end of this run, I took off my shoe and soaked my foot and ankle in the ice cold water. It felt great, and as I sat there waiting for the other campers to roll in, I couldn't help but think about how fortunate I am to have the opportunities to explore and see some of the places I've seen. I thought about how many run the same routes all the time, not venturing out or trying some different things, and about how they are truly missing out on a lot.

I picked up a pair of the new Zoot running shoes and I absolutely love them. I ran today with no socks for the 90 minute runs and had no blister issues whatsoever. They are responsive like the Newtons, but offer a bit more cushioning. Plus the drain holes really work, as I tested this out by putting my wet foot back into the shoe after soaking it and ran the last mile back to the car. They are better than the Newtons, in my view.

After some breakfast, we made the drive out to Kitt Peak. The road out is a straight shot right through the desert for 45 miles. There's nothing out there. Kitt Peak is a 12 mile climb up to around 7000 feet where there is an observatory. It's a great climb with an average grade somewhere between 8 and 9%. The weather was perfect - sunny and in the 70's! everyone did great, keeping a steady effort the whole way. After 5 miles, I suggested to stay seated for 3 min then get out of the saddle for 1 min and repeat this the rest of the way up. The great weather conditions made it perfect for bombing the descent, and after that, we rode back to Tucson and through the city. We arrived back just before dinner time making it a nice long day in the saddle.

At dinner, that fourth day of camp haze was prevalent. Campers get more quiet, yet they seem relaxed. There's a tiredness there that endurance athletes actually enjoy feeling - It's evidence that they have been working hard.

Tomorrow is Mt. Lemmon. We'll be sporting the myathlete devices again if anyone wants to check out how we're doing. Sign on to:

MY ATHLETE Tracking www.myathlete.biz/track ironman ironman123

Cheers,

EH

Tucson 08' Day Tres

Today was a big day. I am in the process of turning Jeff into a Starbuck's addict. He placed his own order there today. This can be quite intimidating, but he handled it well. He was a bit nervous at first. I could see the beads of sweat accumulating as he rehearsed his order while in line. But he focused and came through, which was quite empowering for him.

The other big happening was that Bruce was the MVP. He's supposed to do a write up so I'll let him fill you in on the dirty details that earned him the coveted mvp spot. In the best interest of the campers, I won't reveal certain information without there consent. To be honest, I still don't know what the hell went on, but the imagined images are haunting.

We also trained quite a bit. We started with a run once again in Saguaro National Park. The sun was out and bright early on and it was absolutely amazing in the park. We ran on single track trail through the rolling desert surrounded by cacti with jack rabbits scurrying everywhere. Some mountain range was our backdrop. We covered a little over an hour of running, before hitting Jamba Juice and Brueggers. We did a great ride out to Colossal Caves on a rolling course. The weather was perfect today - sunny and right around 70. Returning from this, we hit the pool and swam. I videod the group in the water although they are not allowing me to post these videos on here.

It was another great day of training. Tomorrow we hit Kitt peak - an 11 mile climb that is a grinder. I'll be wearing a myathlete tracking device if anyone is interested in tracking me - so will one of the group. I need to get some sleep - the days are getting very busy and I'm beat. By the way, jeff had his garmin on for the ride yesterday where I mentioned in that blog that we did a climb that I guessed was 18%. Turns out it was 22.5%!!!

Cheers,

EH

Tucson - Day Two

I'll post some more pictures and maybe some more video later today. We're in full training camp mode now and free time is scarce. We're having a blast here, even though it's been cold, but today it's going to be sunny and 70, and tomorrow through Friday it's going to be 80.

I'm still on eastern time and was up at 3:45am on Day two. We did a deja vu, heading over to Starbucks and then back to Sabino Canyon to run the telephone line trail. Jeff Molson didn't get here until Sunday, and I wanted him to start out the camp like the rest of us. Besides, I don't think I could ever get bored with this run. There's a road that winds through the bottom of Sabino Canyon which is beautiful and where you see most runners. Two days running the telephone line trail and we saw a few hikers, but no other runners. Maybe the mountain lion scare is the real deal? I'll take my chances - the trails are far more appealing to me then the roads. The run was just as exhilarating as the day before, and 1 hr 37 min later, we were done.

After some breakfast, we headed over to Trisports to do some shopping, then we got some more food and headed out for a ride. I want to keep things on the easier side since we will be riding Kitts Peak on Wed and Lemmon on Thu. We did find a nice steep climb though - probably an 18% grade. It was a short one though and the rest of the ride was rolling hills. Everyone is doing great at staying controlled and not cooking themselves for the next day thus far.

We changed quick and headed over to the pool for an easy swim. The pool is big and outdoors which is the best! They have a high dive board there and I gave the guys an option; they could do a double flip off the high dive and get out of swimming, since they weren't overenthusiastic about getting in the water. The air temp was cold, in the 50's, so I think they seriously considered the option, but no one bit.

I gave Jeff M. the mvp award. Besides the fact that he brown nosed all day, he really deserved it. He had a major low back operation in November. They surgically cleaned up a lot of fragmentation of his discs. His comeback is extremely impressive, even though he can get frustrated thinking back on what he was doing a year ago. I reminded him at dinner that he needs to focus on what he's doing and not what he isn't.

We found a great gelato place after dinner which I think we'll be frequenting each day for the remainder of this camp.

There is a lot of laughing going on at this camp, and even though we are training quite a bit, everyone seems relaxed. Bizarre how strenuous physical activity can be relaxing to some?! This makes it obvious that we are here doing something we love.

Cheers,

EH

Tucson Day 1

Many times you'll hear people comment that it takes them a few days to relax and adjust when traveling. For me, it takes one workout.

I was up this morning at 3:45am. My internal clock, although never quite right, was reading 6:45am. I did some computer work, adjusted my bike for the 40th time since being here, and soon enough it was 6:15 - time to round up the troops and head to Starbucks, then to Sabino Canyon.

It was a cool morning, yet the sun was coming up over the mountains when we started the run. There were some big signs at the Canyon warning about Mountain Lions. I told Gus not to worry - that I hid a big raw steak in the back pocket of Bruce's vest, so we were fine. We headed for the telephone line trail, a single track trail that snakes around 30 minutes uphill, then traverses along cliff sides following the ridge of the mountain range. We did this run last year but the upper part of the trail was closed at the time. Even still, I commented how this run was definitely one of the best runs I've ever been on, in terms of scenery, adventure, and challenge. This year the full trail was open and it reconfirmed that this really is one of the best run courses that I have ever done. With the sun peaking over the jagged mountain tops, it was really beautiful, and 10 minutes in, I was relaxed from the travels of the prior day.

Your footing has to be sure since you are basically running on the edge of a cliff. We kept the pace easy and chatted and enjoyed the surroundings. For a big guy, I'm pretty light on my feet. However, I was telling Bruce a story while bounding over boulders and I turned to see if he was behind me and my foot caught a rock. Down hard I went. I was carrying a small video camera in my hand that almost went over the cliff - I guess better the camera then me. Man, I wished I caught the fall on tape, it would have made for a good laugh I'm sure. Bruce took the camera and got the shot of me in the above video. Anyway, we ran on and the 1 hr 45 min later, we finished our first session of this camp. Sam Mcglone, second place woman at Hawaii this year, was just beginning her run on the road at Sabino Canyon as we finished up. There are a ton of athletes out here, many world class. This run was the perfect way to kick off the week, and it certainly allowed us all to relax and adjust and know that we were in for a great week.

After breakfast, we did a nice three hour ride out to Colossal Cave and kept the pace relaxed. I wanted today to be an easier day to adjust to the time change and travels. It was cold here today!!! It probably never went out of the 50's and it actually rained on us a few times. Must be one of my camps. The weather is supposed to get better each day though, so hopefully by Wed, we'll get some of that upper 70 to 80 degree weather. The good thing about the weather here is that these fronts move through so quickly. Last year I mentioned how I never rode longer than 90 minutes on the computrainer when preparing for this camp. this year, I never road over an hour. I did do a lot of strength work over the winter though and some great quality on the bike, even though I rode only two to three times per week, but I think it payed off. I felt absolutely comfortable on the ride today. The true test though will come on Tue or Wed when we ascend Mt. Lemmon. It wasn't bad enough that I crashed while running, so Bruce went down in the first 1/2 mile of the ride. He was wearing so many clothes that something got caught or tangled in the drivetrain and boom, down he went right on his hip. He was fine though. Amazing, first two groups of teenage boys that were walking by stopped to see if he was ok, then a car that saw it happen turned around and came back to check on him! This is a friendly bike town!

We went back out for Mexican food tonight and had a lot of laughs at dinner, and now it's time for an early bed. Gus is living up to his reputation for eating a ton of everything in site. I'm going to see if we can actually make him gain weight this week. Considering all the training ahead, this should be a fun task.

Cheers,

EH

I'm in Tucson!

Tell the average person that you are paying money to go to a location where you will be pushed hard, where you will run countless strides, pedal for hours on end and swim back and forth and back and forth and back and forth, ... I'm sure many that have attended a training camp have done so with their friends and family. They've tried to explain what they were about to participate in only to get the typical responses of "Are you nuts???" and "You're paying for that???" No worries - these people will never get it. And let's be honest, most of us like when people react that way.

I awoke at 3:15am today so that I could get to Laguardia on time for my flight out here to Tucson. My daughter was really upset about me leaving which makes me question whether this small part of my business is worth it. It also made the flight out here seem longer than it should have. As my plane was coming into Tucson, it flew directly to the south of Mt. Lemmon, giving me a great view of the one road that snakes it's way up this famous climb. Then, my mood started to switch. I was excited thinking that we would be riding up and down that road over the next week quite a bit. There's something about pushing ourselves through the simplicity of these three exercises that makes us feel more alive.

We checked into out hotel which is close to Mt. Lemmon, Sabino Canyon, a Starbucks, a Jamba Juice, a Trader Joes, and great mexican food. Now I'm trying to remember why I wouldn't want to be here.

This week, we'll train 6 to 8 hours per day, go out to great dinners, drink a few beers, tell some great stories, have a bunch of laughs and create some great memories. I'll offer out as much information as the campers can handle before duct taping my mouth shut. I'll go home reenergized and feeling fit and motivated and I'll feed a lot of that back into my family and business. Remember, this sport we do is just a metaphor of who we really are. Right now, who I really am is one tired sob who can't wait to hit the telephone line in Sabino Canyon tomorrow morning for a 90 min run.

Peace - and good night!

EH

I got nothin.

I started my blog out of the suggestion of some clients. I found it kind of odd that people would want to hear about my happenings. It seemed like a very self-absorbed thing. I try to post at least one blog a week, in the odd chance that there are some people out there tuning in - for all I know it may be one person, but I have been getting some responses as of lately which is cool. But regardless of who reads this, I kind of enjoy it. It's become a personal journal of my past. Just keeping a personal journal on my computer may be the more modest, less self absorbed approach, but I know that I'd get lazy. The thought that maybe even one person out there may be checking this out holds me accountable to try and put something down here. Most of my posts are about experiences or thoughts that I come across, usually while training. I try not to force anything, which leads me to this post. This week, I've got nothing. I could make something up for the sake of staying on top of this weekly commitment, and try to inject some humor, wit, or something poignant, but I'm just not feeling it. So instead of laying out an opinion that I have to dig deep into finding, I'm just tossing out nothing instead. Sorry. I head out to Tucson next week, so I'll try to make up for it.

Stating The Obvious

When you are riding in cold, wet weather, it sucks. No need to mention it to your riding partner.

Train slow and you’ll race slow.

Air travel sucks.

You won’t lose fitness by missing a day or two of training, especially if you are sick.

Speaking of being sick, if you are then stay home! You aren’t being a trooper by coming to work, you are infecting everyone else.

If you want to lose weight, don’t eat so much.

Television is a waste of time and productivity. But it’s entertaining.

Without set goals, it’s hard to move forward.

Many of us try to convince ourselves that we are stepping outside our comfort zones when we know we truly are playing it safe.

At the end of a long, hot ride, there’s not much better than an ice cold coke. Except for an ice cold beer.

Winter will end.

tech hiatus

My kids had their winter school break this week, so we headed way south. We were able to escape the northeast to 85 degree sun with a slight breeze every day which was just what the doctor ordered.

Besides the warm sun and crystal clear ocean, the next best thing was that I committed to turning off my cell phone, and not using my computer while I was there. I had my laptop with me and did write a few things during the flights but I didn't open it at the hotel.

You know what - for a week, it was great! I even stayed clear of current events. I've been caught up in this political race yet I didn't open a newspaper or turn on the news. The only TV I watched was Phinneas and Ferb on the Disney Channel, I think with my kids.

A week was the perfect amount of time. I have some friends that are real tech geeks - I mean they are slaves to their gadgets. It's an easy trap to fall into nowadays. Escaping it for a week is actually really nice. It makes you think about how tied we are to our stuff, and maybe simplifying is actually a good thing. I do realize though that this technology allows me to run a business. However, again, unless you are the president, one week won't kill you. It was actually quite annoying to see a lot of guys on their crackberry's and cell phones while on the beach.

Me, I was playing endless rounds of diving catch in the ocean with my son, and it doesn't get much better than that.

Cheers,

EH

Derby Biathlon

My parents read my last "20 years ago" post and sent me this picture. It was from the Derby Biathlon in 1991. Scooter, that's a steel Specialized Allez. I may have even had Suntour components on it!

Cheers,

EH

20 years ago

1988 and I was a lost college kid, searching for some direction. I was a business economics major although I wasn't really into it. As I was walking to one of my classes, I noticed an advertisement for the Southern Triathlon on a bulletin board in Engleman Hall. Sign-up for the race was in the Exercise Physiology lab in Moore Field House. I remember thinking "Exercise Physiology? That sounds pretty cool!" That day, I signed up for my first triathlon and switched my major.

The Southern Triathlon was a .5 mile pool swim, a 10 mile bike, and a 5 mile run including a killer hill at the 3 mile mark. I had three months to prepare. I had some decent swim ability from swimming in high school and a season in college, so I figured I wouldn't have to swim much. Man, thinking back now, I have always had the terrible habit of blowing off my swim training, relying on my limited youth swim experience. I began running in the field house on the indoor 200 meter track. I'd run 3 miles, 3 times per week. I was also hitting the weight room hard. I went through high school a small, insecure kid weighing only 145 lbs at 5'9" my senior year. The ironic cruelty of this was that I began growing the summer after my senior year! By the end of my freshman year in college, I was 6'1", 185 lbs. At the beginning of my training for this triathlon, I had bulked up to 210 lbs and I was able to bench press 315 lbs a few times. Man, how times have changed.

I began riding twice per week, riding the 10 mile bike course. It was a rolling course through the westwoods section of New Haven into Hamden. I kept this routine rolling until the week before the race. That week, I went out and ran the run course to make sure I could do it. Then, the day before the race, I rode the bike course twice! Yes, that's right, I did 20 miles, my longest ride ever at the time.

Race morning, I was nervous but excited. There were maybe 100 people racing, and we started in waves with about five per lane. I led my lane and came out of the water in 5th place behind some swim team members and my friend Tim Sweigart who I trained for this event with. I rinsed off in the shower, through on my running shoes, a heavy cotton sweatshirt, my Vaurnet sunglasses and my skid lid, and took off on the course. Pat Duggan, an All American swimmer and very good triathlete had a big lead, but I reeled in everyone else, and Tim and I came into t2 together in second place.

I experienced my first dead-leg run feeling in this race. At the top of the big hill, Tom Hromas, another experienced triathlete, came by Tim and I, but we managed to hang tough and place third together. We celebrated that afternoon by drinking a few to many beers back in the dorm.

I had seen the Hawaii Ironman on ABC's Wide World of Sports, and like so many others out there, I was intrigued. The thought of doing a triathlon stayed with me, especially considering my father was also a nut and began training towards something. At the time, he didn't know what. At a time in college when I was acting quite irresponsibly and immature and enjoying the social aspects that an undergraduate program offers, the training for and racing in this small triathlon really turned my focus around. To say this event came along in a timely fashion would be a significant understatement.

I continued to train after this race, but found that without a worm dangling out there I'd become complacent. I'd still train but I'd do the same things instead of reaching. This showed to be quite a metaphor. I next raced the Milford Triathlon with my father. They had cancelled the swim because of the weather and made it a biathlon. I raced fairly well, placing in my age group and then went on to race the Southern Triathlon again the next year and won it.

Then in the early 90's, I started racing more frequently, competing in the CT series sprint races and some olympic distance races. This was a time in my life where I certainly enjoyed the training, but I was all about competing. How I raced and placed was my primary focus. I guess this is quite reminiscent of youth and athletics.

20 years later and I'm still racing and still driven to excel, yet my focus certainly has changed. Well, maybe it's only changed just a bit.

Cheers,

EH

Someone got a new toy!

Sunday - Cleveland Winterfest Camp

What most people don't realize is that their personality and energy directly and indirectly affects any group situation they are involved in. Regardless of how many people are in the group, if you are a negetive person, it will drag the group down. If you are a positive person, it will lift the group. This is just a fact. Most of us are to caught up in our own being that we don't take a look to see how we may be affecting our surroundings. The group we had at this camp was very positive. they were encouraging and supportive to others and even those who were more shy were laughing and smiling quite a bit. This is what creates a memorable and positive experience and one that you really want to be around.



We finished dinner after a very long Saturday and then I posted my previous blog and caught up on some emails before heading down to work on Scooter and Angela's bike positions, finishing after 10pm.



Sunday, we headed out at 7am to a great pool that Ange, with the help of Aimee, nailed down for us to use. Everyone did a group swim session while Baker and I videotaped each individuals swim form. I filmed them from underwater with a camera in a waterproof bag for filming, while Baker shot them from above. After everyone was videotaped, Ange and I worked on swim form with the campers and put them through some more fun intervals. Then, we ended the pool session with relays. The last relay, each person had to swim 25 yds underwater. If they came up for a breath, they had to wait 3 seconds before resuming. There was certainly some interesting underwater form! Henk, the Belgian, found the loophole and swam freestyle without taking a breath. It came down to Jeff and Liz, the two fish of the group. Liz had a slight lead going into it, and although Jeff might have her beat in regular swimming, I think her dolphin kick would have been hard to match if they were neck and neck. Her speed 4 feet down from the surface was quite impressive!



We rinsed off quickly, put on some running attire, and made the short drive over to the trail system in the metroparks. We headed out on this great singletrack for a long run. It was a hilly, scenic, out and back course that I really enjoyed. Many had a difficult time with the ice. What's interesting is that the previous day while videotaping run form of each camper, I noticed that many were striking down very hard. I left comments on their dvd to listen to their running and try to run quitely, landing softly as though running on glass or ice. Now you have to use a bit of caution when running on ice and safety and injury prevention is most important, however, it's a great running drill and opportunityt to learn to land more flat footed and softly. I headed out with J, Jim, Brad and Baker. They all did great - Baker is such a sandbagger. I always tell him that he's a good runner but until he believes it himself, his talent won't come through as often. On the return trip, I took off to try and catch some of the others and spend time running with them. I saw Ben in the zone listening to his tunes. This guy is a trooper - he had a 101 degree fever and still plowed through the weekend, not wanting to miss anything. Same for Eric and Aimee who were both quite sick and still did a hell of a lot. I'm not advocating training while sick, but these three signed up for this camp and didn't want to miss out and they partricipated with no complaints! I then ran with Mike for a bit who seemed to be really enjoying the day and the experience. That attitude is infectuous. Next, there is a great series of switchbacks where you can see across in the winter and see who may be ahead or behind you. Henk, Doug and Jeff were up ahead and I yelled that I was coming for them. I ran a bit with Hank and Doug and they also seemed to really be enjoying the moment. Jeff picked it up, but I caught up and ran in with him.

Ange took the ladies out on the road because of the ice, but I hope they come back when it's thawed a bit and run in this great singletrack section. There were some great climbs and descents, some river crossings, and a very cool pine forest to run through. I preached the benefits of trail running upon everyones return. When I was training for my first IM in 96', I did most of my run training on the roads. I then found the trails in Trumbull and started doing most of my runs, especially my long runs, in there. I was amazed ho much better I felt the days following my longer runs. The quality of all my runs certainly increased. I give credit not only to the more forgiving surface, but also the more enjoyable surroundings. There is something much more mentally uplifting about running in trails versus roads.

From here, we said our goodbyes to the campers. They all seemd to have a great time. If they didn't, they certainly faked it well. Hopefully, they all also learned something, and will carry some of this energy with them into the next month of training. Winter can be a dreary time but this camp showed that it doesn't have to hold you back. We drove back to Scott and Ange's, showered quickly and finished packing, and then headed to the airport.

My trip home was my own version of "The Amazing Race", trying to make it back to my home in time for the kick off. I was able to get the very first seat on the plane, meaning I was the first one off the plane. I took carry on bags and I was through Westchester Airport and in my car within 5 minutes. I made it home just in time. After watching the game, maybe I should have taken my time.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Winterfest Camp and a special thanks to Ange and Scooter for hosting this event. I know their basement will probably never smell the same way again.

Cheers,

EH

Cleveland Winter Camp

I told one of my PT clients earlier in the week that I wasn't going to be available on Friday due to the fact that I was heading out to put on a winter camp/clinic. He responded "very cool, some warm weather will be nice. Where are you heading?" "Cleveland!" I brought Baker out with me who bitched and moaned something to the fact of "you have Tucson, Palm Springs, and I get to go to Cleveland!"

Baker flew from Bradley and I flew from Westchester but we both arrived in Cleveland around 8:30am. Angela picked us up, along with the Aussie doctor out of Atlanta, Trephina. We grabbed a coffee and before doing anything else, we had trephina change clothes in a public restroom, and I had Ange, Trephina, and Tina do a short warm-up run before some heart rate testing out on the damp, cold roads. We then made our way back to Ange's to try and get some bike testing done on the computrainer with some of the athletes attending. This made for a very busy day, although it would save us some time for Saturday, which would be even busier.

After a quick lunch, I worked on Ange's, Trephina's, Tina's, Mike's, Mary's, Brad's and Jeff's bike positions. I made some radical changes, including removing a 3 cm spacer from under Ange's stem! Then we did HR testing on the ct which is always a bitch but for some reason very satisfying upon completion. We actually didn't finish up with this until after 7pm, which made for quite a long day considering we were up at 3:30am.

We have, once again, another very cool group of people attending this year. Besides Scooter and Ange, we have 16 other campers ranging from newbies training for their first 1/2 to more experienced athletes looking to qualify for Hawaii. They are all extremely nice, and most importantly, they are showing signs of good senses of humour which is necessary when dealing with myself and Baker. We tormented the campers right out of the gate and I was sure they'd hate us by now, but they seem to want more?!

It's always great coming out to see Ange and Scooter. They started as clients of mine, but have turned into very dear friends. I still need to convince them to move closer to CT.

Saturday started with 6:30am coffee and bagels and introductions, followed by more bike fitting and then more bike testing. We then did a 2 hr 15 min indoor bike session on the trainers where I led them through drills, cadence work, steady state intervals, climbing intervals, star intervals (I call out one name and they have to maintain 105+ rpm's solo and jam for 1 min), ... One of the campers, Jay, had so much sweat pooled under his bike that he must have lost 10 lbs!

We followed up the ride with a brick run outdoors and then Baker video taped run form. We took a quick lunch break and then I ran them through a specific strength and core routine that Baker videod as well. All the campers will go home with a dvd of their swim, bike and run form as well as video of the strength and core routine. Following the strength routine, we had a meditation class led by this guy Todd that Ange and Scooter use here which was great and well needed. The campers were whooped and I even heard some snoring during the meditation session.

We just finished dinner after another very busy day. The campers really put it out there today, especially during the tesing.

I'll try to get more into the blog tomorrow instead of just listing the agenda and what was done, but honestly I'm pretty beat. Tomorrow looks to be another busy day before I catch a flight home and race out of the airport to make the kickoff and watch my Patriots (I've been a life long Patriot fan in a household of Giant fans so lay off) kick some ass.

Cheers,

EH

Lisa and I threw a small engagement party for our friends Gus and Laura on saturday night. Turns out we actually like the two of them (Laura anyways), so when we heard that they got engaged, we thought it would be a cool thing to do. We had a really fun time and hopefully, Gus and laura did as well although that could be questionable. We had a sit down dinner in our dining room which gets used twice per year. Baker was at one end of the table and I was at the other, and those that know the two of us well know that we can key off each other pretty well when together. In fact, Baker had a girlfriend in college who was a very good friend of mine, yet hated Baker and I together. Pretty soon the engagement party turned more into a roast. Everyone was laughing quite a bit - in fact, I think Kenny is still laughing. Well, Gus and Laura may not be laughing now, but they certainly were that night, even though most of it was at their expense. We even had Gus's mom rolling. After having a bit of time to come down, I'm sure she hates us - or at the very least, thinks a bit different about her sons choice of friends. I'm also amazed how much a bunch of fit, athletic people can drink! The Cleanse must certainly be over.

Lisa and I finished cleaning up about 1 am'ish and after 4 hours of broken sleep, I awoke to meet whoever showed (Ken) for my Sunday am run. Ray showed as well and we did a nice 1 hr 45 min run through the trails and single track.

Turns out it was a fun weekend with a bunch of good, close friends laughing hard and having fun - something to be very appreciative of.

Have a great week everyone! I'm heading to Cleveland on Friday to host a winter tri camp with Ange. I'll post again before there hopefully, but definitely from there.

Cheers,

EH

Spirit of the Marathon

Spirit of the Marathon

Being the endurance geek that I am, I jumped at the opportunity to see a film devoted towards marathon running last night. I went to see Spirit Of The Marathon at the Stratford Cinemas, a documentary that was being shown in selected theaters throughout the country for one night in January (last night) and another night in February.

Big Rocks and my sister Laura accompanied me to the theater, amusingly along with 100 or so familiar faces from the area running community. I commented to Marty Schiavone as we entered the stadium seating theater that this had to be the fittest viewing audience in movie history.

The movie followed six people preparing for the 2005 Chicago marathon. Two elites, Deena Kastor (the women’s American record holder in the marathon and Olympic bronze medalist), Daniel Njenga (a Kenyan residing in Tokyo who is a 2:06 marathoner), a husband and wife, a divorced woman training for her first, another young woman training for her first, and a 70+ year old guy who has run many and is doing this one with his daughter – her first. I have to admit that my expectations were low, and had flashbacks of the disappointing triathlon movie “What It Takes” that documented more about a whining Peter Reid than it did about what it takes. Having 12 hours now to reflect on the movie, it was decent, I’d give it 2.5 out of 4 stars.

I enjoyed the coverage they did of Deena. They showed her training, mostly with other young guys, and she always looks as though she’s hammering. They talked about her 140 mile training weeks, and showed her drive. They also showed her dealing with a small stress fracture in her foot. She mentioned how she was out on a training run and something just didn’t feel right and she just stopped right there. The doc told her that if she had ran a few more steps, more than likely she would have done quite a bit of damage. They showed her running on an underwater treadmill and doing quite a bit of strength training. She’s an extremely hard worker and her personality was likable.

The coverage of the average Joes who were training was ok. Basically, one woman was a solitary runner, the divorcee used the camaraderie of her training group to cope, the guy in the couple situation appeared to be a bit of a whiner, but he and his wife both met their goal the following year of running Boston. The old guy was humorous and displayed in a nonconventional way how running marathons has become part of him, even though he commented often in the film that he was done after this next one.

The Kenyan runner really caught my interest. There are so many talented Kenyan runners and they all appear to just be personalityless machines, however, that’s not the case. The problem is that we just don’t have many opportunities to learn about them. No one really follows marathoning because not only is it a participant sport, but there is also very little known about the Kenyans and Ethiopians that seem to win all the races. This guy they followed, they briefly showed his life in Tokyo and it appeared that he held down a real job besides running. I wished they showed us more of that. They also followed him back to Kenya where he’d return often to visit family and to train. Running is your out as a Kenyan. If you are a good runner, you can make some cash that in Kenya, where the average annual income must be sub $100, puts you in the upper echelon. They showed how rampant crime is there and how this poor guy Daniel’s brother was attacked by thieves at his home where they killed his wife and child and burned down his house, and he didn’t even receive money yet from Daniel! I instantly found myself routing for this guy when they eventually got to coverage of the race.

Finally, they portrayed the Chicago marathon in a light that makes me want to try this one, regardless of the fiasco that occurred there this past year. As I watched there race coverage and how they showed the families of these runners waiting for them at certain points on the course as spectators, I couldn’t help but think of how valuable My Athlete is going to be. Once again, while observing the race, there are two very common similiaraties amongst the fastest runners, both male and female. They were all very lean, and they all had a very quick leg turnover. The quick leg turnover is not to be confused with stride length. In fact, sometimes stride length is shortened initially to achieve a quick turnover. Watch a video of elite runners and you'll understand more why I prescribe those turnover/strike down drills of 90+/minute. It's a pretty easy formula. If you want to run fast, get skinny and turn over those legs 90 times per minute.

I arrived back home around 9:30pm to find Lisa sound asleep on the sofa. I took a comfy seat next to her and surfed the channels, looking for something entertaining and allowing me to decompress from the adrenalin that hits every endurance athlete when they view a film on endurance training and racing, no matter how good it may be. I surfed no further than Cinemax. The channel was only 15 minutes into Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a 4 out of 4 star film.

Cheers,

EH

2008 Polar Plunge

Thanks everyone who participated in or donated to the 2008 Plunge. Kathleen and Jacob were extremely thankful - Kathleen easily showed her gratitude through her emotion all morning. This years Plunge was bizarre. The air temperature was cold at 28 degrees, but not as bad as it's been in other years, yet the water was definitely the coldest I have witnessed yet. I ran down to the water and dove in head first, full of energy and adrenaline. Yet, that frigidness hits you like a brick wall and turns your energy into slow motion. My brain was still racing, yet my body was not responding quickly. Channel 12 News showed up AFTER we were already out of the water!

Once again, I'm truly grateful for all of your support and dedication towards my charitable events. Even though we are raising awareness and funds for a very tough situation, the morning was still lots of fun. Last night at The Bar in New Haven with a bunch of you was also certainly lots of fun! I'm curious as to whether Dangle took home that box of gummis from the bachlorette party.

Thank you.

Cheers,

EH

One year ago, ...

One year ago, I was doing heavy squats on a very early morning and my lower back gave out and went into such bad spasms that I didn’t get out of bed for five days. I still remember it very vividly, and if I ever forget about it (which I won’t), I have this blog here to remind me of it. I have worked with quite a few people going through back issues and thought I had a very good understanding of exactly what they were feeling. Until you have experienced this pain yourself, you cannot fathom it. In hindsight, I’m glad I went through this. It gave me a much better understanding of what many of my clients with back issues go through, and some better ideas on how to work with them. It also taught me that no matter how fit we think we may be, there are always some vulnerable spots to work on. This injury affected me to the point that I give it a bit of thought every single day. I constantly think about my posture, and if what I’m presently doing may create further issues with my lower back and SI joint. I have not slept on my stomach since I had this back spasm occurrence last year. After 39.5 years of sleeping on my stomach, that’s certainly a tough habit to break. I’m finally getting to the point where I’m comfortable sleeping on my side. I have worked hard on my core strength and found new torturous exercises with Swiss balls, medicine balls, bosu balls, and kettle balls. The one area where I have been lazy is working on my flexibility. I have made some efforts, yet considering the focus I put into all other areas, I would rate my effort towards flexibility as lame. So I have said it before and I’m announcing it again because I feel more obligated to get it done when I write about it that I will give a serious effort to improve my posterior flexibility in 2008.

Yesterday morning, I did one of my favorite new sessions. I put on my 28 layers of clothing and headed out on my MTB early with a headlamp on. I ride the Monroe trails down into Trumbull, hit some of the single track in Trumbull, then ride back home at a higher cadence with a bit of tempo mixed in. I did go down hard though while riding over some steel sheets that were placed over a huge hole where they are repairing a small bridge. The steel was frosted over and my wheels slid right out from under me similar to how I went down on my ride to VT in September. In fact, this right hip has literally taken a beating! I’m fine though and was just a bit more cautious for the remaining part of the ride. It seems to hurt a lot more when you fall at 40 then when you fall at 20.

This past week in CT was incredible! January, and I was able to ride outside one day in shorts! On one of my rides, I ran into Steve Badger, a friend and talented cyclist, who was out for a ride. He said he’s been logging some decent mileage and that “it’s go time now!” How true in that now is the time to lay that foundation for the year. Greg Welch once commented in an interview that the year he won Hawaii in October, it was because of the training he id between January and March. Training should be mostly in the B zone or aerobic and with lots of focus on technique, but in my opinion, there’s no such thing as junk miles during this pre-season phase.

Many of my clients have been on my Cleanse two week nutrition plan, including myself and Lisa. I have everyone do this at the beginning of the year to rid themselves of some bad nutritional habits they may have or may have picked up through the holiday season, and to establish new ones. The Cleanse is certainly not easy, but man it works – and it really makes you aware of what you are putting in your body, and what makes you feel healthy. I am down about 9 lbs and I just feel so much better. I am excited about pizza and beer though next Saturday night, after the Plunge. Usually I catch a lot of bitching from my clients while they are on The Cleanse. The typical “I’m starving, or this is too hard, or I feel weak, blah, blah, blah.” This year, it hasn’t been that bad?! Either it’s getting easier for most or they have learned that I’m not very sympathetic during The Cleanse.

I go this Tuesday to meet a new general practitioner and get a physical. I was seeing my pediatrician as my gp until he retired about 10 years ago. I haven’t had a doctor since, which is stupid, so I finally researched and found someone. I haven’t had a physical since I was maybe 18, so this could be interesting.

Cheers,

EH

What a year, what a year!

Way back in 1994 right about this time of December, I was reflecting back on the year. The year was decent, yet seemed status quo with the previous 4 years. I made a decision then that I was going to make each new year stand apart. That at this time every December, I’d be able to look back and feel solid about the uniqueness of my experiences from that year. I’ve lived up to this thus far. This past year was certainly one that I won’t forget, and not just because I keep a journal of special events and also this blog.

2007 began as my last in my 30’s. I made a quick trip out to Cleveland for a few days in January to spend some time with Scott and Ange – this was Ange’s Christmas gift to Scott. Yes, I also can’t figure out why someone would actually want to spend time with me as a gift?!

Lisa and I took the kids to Disney in February where we had a blast, and I certainly am not a big fan of crowded amusement parks, especially when you can find more exhilarating adventures in nature. My kids were at the perfect age though and my daughter was in her prime princess stage, so it was priceless. I highly recommend the ride “Soarin’” in Epcot.

I held my first Tucson training camp in March and as I stated in my blog reports, I had found my winter training place. The riding there was incredible, and the Mexican food was better than actually being in Mexico. I’m stoked thinking that in two and a half months, I’ll be climbing Mt. Lemmon once again.

In April, Baker and I headed up to Northwest CT for a bit of reconnaissance training and course scouting. This is always a good time, even if Baker tells you different.

May hosted my seventh CT camp which is always just an incredible experience. The camps are a lot of work, yet I probably enjoy them as much as the campers. There is always something memorable from each one of the CT camps. One thing I certainly remember was the view from the Appalachian Trail on that soggy Friday morning, 45 minutes up and into a great run. Another is the dejected group early on during the Saturday long ride, and me lecturing them to shut off their emotions and just ride, and all of them following suit to not only ride well, but laugh about it at dinner.

June was my daughters 4th birthday and later in the month my first Lake Placid Camp. Some specific memories were taking everyone attending off the LP course for some great trail runs, the climb up Whiteface on a cold and rainy day, the crazy amount of athletes riding the course on that Saturday, and a couple of the campers riding 30 miles further in one session then they both ever had before. I also remember a solo Sean heading out in the afternoon to ride Whiteface because he missed it that morning due to technical issues with his bike, and returning back into LP at sundown with a huge grin on his face. I remember thinking “that is what these camps are all about!”

July – wow! It started with the eve of my birthday actually, June 30th, where Lisa through me a great surprise party up at The Bar in New Haven. The next morning, I awoke early and ran 40 miles commemorating my 40th birthday, having my family, my father, Baker, Gus and Brennan all join me for portions of it, followed by leftover pizza and beer at my house. It was an amazing day – sunny and in the 70’s. Later that month, Lisa took me to France for the Tour finale and to ride the most incredible rides I have ever experienced. I can still picture clear as day the climbs up the Port D’Bales, the Col De Peyressourde, the Col D’Aspin and the Tourmalet. I remember vividly leaving the town of Luchon by myself after almost oversleeping one morning to tackle three of the mentioned climbs. I remember sipping champagne on the final day from the balcony overlooking the Champs. I can still see Lisa’s hair whipping around atop the Eiffel Tower, or cool little lunch place where the two of us ate in St. Emillion, or the way my shoes squeaked loudly while walking through the Louvre.

August was a couple of fun trips with the kids – up to RI to play in the surf, then later to an indoor water park for a few days where no matter which way I got in the family raft ride, I always ended up going down backwards and getting the most wet. Then we went to New York City where they screwed up our room at our hotel and to make up for it gave us the nicest suite I’ll ever stay in. My kids had a blast and will hopefully forget soon how nice that suite was. I managed to sneak in a solid performance at the Timberman ½ IM and qualify for the 70.3 worlds in November.

September was my sons 7th birthday which again was a cool bike ride where he attacked my tired legs and sprinted for the park benches and signs on the trail to the park. The previous weekend, Baker, Kenny and I did a great Vermont ride, tagged with prototype My Athlete units. I remember the woman in Northampton talking to herself and Kenny thinking that she was on a Bluetooth headset. I also remember doing shots of patron later that night and laughing a lot.

October saw another opportunity for me to get to Kona, only this time not as a participant. I represented My Athlete and helped John out at the expo, rode the course tagged with a unit, swam again at Hapuna beach, ran down the mountain from the condo daily to swim at the pier and then back up it, and ate some great food.

November, Big Rock’s and I traveled down to Florida for the disappointing 70.3 World Championship race. Enough has been said about this race in my recent blogging.

Here we are in December! I'm really fortunate to have the opportunities to train in some amazing places. Reflecting back now, I did a massive amount of climbing on my road bike this year, starting with Kitts Peak and Mt lemon, then up and down the best climbs in the Berkshires including a few 18 to 20% grades, then to Lake Placid and Whiteface Mountain, before heading on to The Pyrenees!

But the things I remember best from this past year are the cool experiences I got to share with others. Here are some of the more vivid memories: Seeing my daughters face light up when we first entered the Magic Kingdom and she saw the princesses performing. My son and I spewing with laughter after getting drenched on the river ride at the Animal Kingdom. Running with Scooter in the Cleveland winter and resolving all of life’s problems in that one hour. Driving around Tucson in Brian’s truck with Molson, Gus, and Bruce in the back seat, the five of us laughing non-stop. The exhilarating descent from Mt. Lemmon with Jim Spinner. When Gus, at the top of Kitts peak where it was about 40 degrees and I’m wearing shorts and short sleeves, removes two winter skull caps in a dumb and dumber moment. Baker and I, frozen to the bone on a cold and wet 5 hour ride, shivering in some small shack/convenient store in upstate NY, joking how we were stuck in some scene from Hostel, or sitting at dinner that night sucking down a few Guinness and retelling the days stories. Brennan, Molson, Kenny, Baker and I heading out to the Irish pub after all the tired campers headed in for the evening. Hanging out on top of Whiteface Mountain on that foggy, cold Friday morning, thinking that everyone else turned early and left me for dead up there. Running with Steve out to Alpine Lake on the last day of LP camp even though I told everyone to turn at the 1 hr mark so that we’d all be back in 2 hrs (it took us 1 hr 15 minutes to reach the lake and was so worth it!). Being surprised by Lisa and a bunch of great friends at the birthday party she threw for me. Running the 40 miler the next day and having a bunch of friends show up for the hell of it and sharing in my experience. Eating cheese, a baguette, and wine for dinner one evening in Mercues with Lisa, or seeing her face when we walked up the subway steps after taking the bullet train to Paris and seeing right in front of us The Arch D’Triumph, or later that evening, walking through the Paris streets with her at midnight to the Eiffel Tower because we could see it lit up from our restaurant we were at so it had to be close, right? Playing “what would you rather do?” with Lisa on the drive with the family from Lake George to NYC (the kids had their headphones on in the car). Spending the day in NYC and then getting back to our lucky upgraded suite to have Kate announce “Ahh, back home at the Tipton!” (parents that have kids in the Disney channel years will understand this). Crashing hard in Westfield, MA on the ride to Vermont and Baker getting me ice packs while Kenny fixed my bike. Having one to many beers and then some chilled Patron that night in VT with Baker and Kenny, laughing at some really funny stuff and thinking that we had to get up the next day early and ride back to CT. Eating at Huggo’s in Kailua with Brennan. Riding with Brennan up to Hapuna and then floating in the waves there. Hanging out with Big Rocks for the weekend in Florida and watching a lot of Seinfeld and drinking a lot of Jamba Juice (any adult that's given the opportunity to spend time with their father should jump at it.) … Lot’s of fun here. I can only hope that 2008 is near as fun. I’ll certainly be trying to one up this year!

Thanks a bunch everyone for participating in an amazing year. Baker, you poor bastard, we aren't done yet! Prepare for some more torturous adventures this year. I know you wouldn't have it any other way.

Cheers,

EH

Off-season Blues

It seems that many people out there are stuck in a funk right now. I’ve witnessed this occurrence annually during December. Giving some thought to it, I’ve concluded that it’s about being stuck in limbo. There is a real end of the year/season depression that affects most of us – for sure it affects the driven, type A triathletes.

Think about it; you finished your last big race or goal of the year maybe a month or two ago. You rode the adrenalin from that experience for a week before entering the down phase – the post big goal mood where you miss the process and the fact of a major event looming in the near distant future. You are supposed to be in your off-season and enjoying the downtime, yet you feel lousy. Lousy about your lack of motivation, about your lack of focus and direction, about the extra empty calories you have been consuming which now have you wearing your belt one notch bigger. Welcome to the end of the season depression!

Most will counter this by singing up for a big race in the coming year. Chances are though that this big race is either in the summer or fall. Some set them for spring, but that even seems very far off. If you start focusing on a big summer or fall goal now, chances are that you will be burnt by late spring.

It’s ok to feel a little lost at this point. The key thing though is to not let too many bad habits creep into your daily routine. Gaining an extra 5 or even 10 lbs in the off-season is not that bad. Gaining more than 10 is. Taking some down time and resting up is a very good thing. Taking too much down time and doing no exercise for an extended period is not a good thing. Training now like you did six weeks out from your “A” race last year is a very bad thing. This is a time of year when most people fall mentally and physically out of balance.

Let’s take two scenarios: We’ll call example one Dick. Dick is the guy who is all or nothing – no grey. He trained like a nut for a Fall IM last year, got himself in fantastic shape and had a great race. Then, after the race, he took his recovery week off, and then took another week off, and then another. He still is justifying in his head that he just did an IM. In fact, that IM was some six weeks ago now. Dick feels lousy about the fact that he can’t get going right now. It’s cold out, and there isn’t much day light savings which adds to his arsenal of excuses on why he skipped his training day. Dick signed up for IM Galapagos, but that’s not until August, so he knows he shouldn’t panic about missing a day or ten of exercise right now. Problem is, he can’t stop thinking about the fact that he’s doing nothing every minute of the day. That plus he’s shopping for a new wardrobe to fit his new off-season shape.

Then there is Jane. Jane is the one who also did a late year big race and did ok. She wanted to do better but felt a little tired and drained going in and was dealing with some nagging little injuries. She vowed to do better at next year’s big race and jumped right back in. She took one day off to recover and then began doing daily double sessions, justifying that because they were at a low heart rate, they were fine and active recovery. Then, two weeks post her big race, she’s hammering away again. She’s not really terribly motivated, but the race 10 months away plus the fact that she’s paranoid about gaining 4 ounces which will surely happen in her mind if she misses even 10 minutes of a planned session are what drive her. The problem here is that her training sessions feel dull and off and she feels mentally at a low.

If any of you are reading this and thinking “the bastard is talking directly about me!” know that I’m not. These two scenarios are extremely common, and ones that I have witnessed in many, so don’t feel isolated.

So what do we do to get out of this funk? Here’s my solution;
First, be honest with yourself. Quit justifying things. We live in a justifiable society. It’s much easier to justify why we do something than admit that it may be wrong and that there is a better way.
Next, find your balance. If you normally train for 14 hours per week during the prime season, then cut this in half during this time of year. BUT, aim for 50% of what you normally do, not 20%. Effort wise, don’t go balls to the wall, but don’t just crawl along either. Balance.
Next, try something different. Run with some friends if you run all alone. Hit the trails. Try cross country skiing or snow shoeing. Play a weekly pick-up basketball game or indoor soccer game and count this as training. Take some classes at your gym. Get off the beaten path. Soon enough, you’ll only be swimming, biking and running, so switch it up right now.
Very important, set some short term goals. Select a few 5ks in January or February that you want to race and set a reach time for these. Set a goal of knocking 15 seconds off your best 500 pool time by mid winter. Plan a goal of doing 10 chin-ups, 50 push-ups and running a fast mile by March 1st.
Sign up for a winter training camp or warm weather excursion. Where you know you’ll need to be in somewhat decent condition to avoid feeling like crap there. That plus the motivation of getting a break from the winter cold if you happen to live in cold weather areas.

The way one thinks is a very original and strange thing. When negative thoughts are overpowering the positive, it’s up to us individually to do what we need to in order to flip this mindset. Stay positive this winter and you’ll enter the spring in better condition and in a better frame of mind.

Cheers,

EH

Winter Riding

Yesterday was a great December day. It was overcast here in CT and in the 30's. I had a small window in the afternoon to sneak in a ride so I met Greg Pelican and a few others at his shop in Bethel. This was my first ride since the 1/2 IM worlds last month, besides a couple of 30 min easy sessions with my son Ryan on the trainer. I rode my systemsix (pictured) which is probably my most favorite bike that I've ever owned, and I have certainly owned plenty. I even like it better than the Supersix.

We rolled along easily, heading from Bethel into Ridgefield. Greg and I wanted to check out the area where they hold the Ridgefield Triathlon since we are planning on developing a racing/training series here in CT and want to tie it in with this race. The roads around this area are very scenic, rolling through countryside and past many small lakes and ponds. The pace was conversational - It's December and now is the time to just log some base miles. I left my power meter and heart rate monitor at home and just enjoyed being back on a bike. The air was chilly, yet felt good on my face. I left my booties at home, so I took two plastic bags and put them over my socks. Then I took some of those disposable hand warmers that you can pick up almost anywhere and lied them inside the plastic bags over my toes against my socks, and shoved my feet into my cycling shoes. This worked great and I had no issues with cold toes.

When November comes around, most give up on outdoor riding. As a coach, I often hear from people that they hate the cold and would rather ride indoors on the trainer. I feel that as long as there is no snow on the ground, you should get outside. Besides riding indoors being boring, you are missing out on the opportunity to experience roads in a totally different manner than you typically do while riding them in your more intense and focused spring/summer training. As long as you dress correctly, you can ride outdoors down to 20 degrees.

Soon enough, March will be here and I'll be riding in Tucson on some long, warm roads. Man, that is a great feeling coming from our winters here in the Northeast. I want to have some base going into this so that the riding is more enjoyable. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, the air, the company yesterday and I'll be making an effort to get outside and ride this winter whenever possible, even if it does take me 30 minutes to get dressed for it!

Cheers,

EH

Respect

Last week, I met with a new coaching client who is training for an Ironman. He mentioned that he was excited to work with me, yet truthfully, a bit scared. The reason for the timidness was that he had heard that I put my athletes on a pretty aggressive schedule.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for the Ironman distance and the Ironman experience. I want all of my athletes to show up on race day knowing they are ready to tackle the distance. I want them confident that they are there to "race" and I'm also very proud of the ease in which my athletes recover from an Ironman. Of course, this is a relative thing, but most of my athletes feel pretty good in post race week.

This isn't about defending my coaching style but more so defending the respect of endurance events. Let's take marathons for example. Doesn't it seem that there are a lot of people showing up at marathons not really prepared to run a marathon? Look at the debacle at Chicago. Yes, most will say that was a result of the freakish hot weather on that day, but it was in the high 70's to low 80's! That's hot for a stand alone marathon, but for most IM competitors, that's the average IM marathon temperatures. Running out of water on race day in Chicago was a huge faux pas by the race director, but I think the bigger issue was that most weren't prepared properly. Look at the staggering amount of people participating in marathons each year. I think that most people would love to have "finished a marathon" on their life resumes and don't take into account the training and preparation involved to do one well. Well meaning "run" the marathon. Time is mostly irrelevant because there are all different abilities, but I think a marathon should be run. The news and tabloids were filled with pictures of Katie Holmes the day after she "fast walked" the NYC marathon! Tom was so proud. Give me a break! There are a lot of coaching programs now stating that "you to can complete a marathon in just 10 weeks of training". Not if you don't have a solid running base built before beginning those ten weeks. I don't feel there is a respect for the distance and if I get flamed for stating this, so be it.

Now, you are beginning to see this filter into Ironman races. I have been asked frequently if I'll be racing an IM again next season, to which I respond "I'm not sure yet". I have to much respect for the event to not show up at the starting line in my best condition ready to race. I no desire to do an IM just to do one. I could set a date to cover the distances from my house if I felt I needed to prove to myself that I could still cover the distances.

Endurance races are just that - "races". Anyone who has prepared well for one and raced one knows that the event deserves the respect of showing up at the starting line fully prepared. If you want the label but aren't really interested in doing the work, you need to question what your principals are to begin with.

Cheers,

EH

Equality?!

A few weeks ago, I was heading down to Greenwich around 5:15 in the morning to see my first pt client like I do five days a week. I was cruising down rt. 59 in Easton, thinking about the day ahead, when in the pitch black across the street, headlights quickly went on. The car swung out and made a u-turn and the flashing lights atop the car suddenly appeared. The cop approached my window and asked me if I knew why he pulled me over. My response of "speeding" in an irritated tone probably wasn't the best approach. Then, to further seal the deal, I said "come on, it's 5:15am, I drive this daily, and besides deer and you, there's no one out here!" He took my licence, registration and insurance card back to his cruiser and returned after what seemed to be a long time - I know he was just sitting in his car probably listening to the radio, just to piss me off further by making me wait there. Anyway, he returned with a $185.00 speeding ticket.

This morning, my wife left the house at 5:15am, heading out on a quick business trip. While heading up Cutlers Farm Rd at a quick pace, she was pulled over by a police officer. The officer asked her if she knew why he pulled her over to which Lisa responded "I've never been pulled over before, I don't know what to do." He asked her for her licence, registration and insurance card, and she fumbled nervously through her wallet and handed him a credit card instead of a licence by accident. He joked with her saying "are you trying to bribe me?" Then told her to relax and to drive slower and that he was just going to give her a warning, although had he given her a ticket, it would have been $200.

A warning! You can bet that if that was me or any other guy in the car instead of an attractive woman, he would have written out that $200 ticket! Dangle, can you back me up here?

My gym that I belong to has been jam-packed this week thus far. People must have over-indulged over Thanksgiving. I prefer to exercise at home, but with my kids there, I'm not nearly as productive, so I joined this place and do my strength training there. There's this one annoying guy that follows me around the place. He talks to me constantly - whether I'm in the middle of a set, or even when I'm wearing headphones. Whatever exercise I was just doing, he does next. The other annoying thing there are the old guys who shave and comb their hair, butt naked in the locker rooms. Do woman do this? Lisa insists they don't.

I posted a holiday wish list on my home page - it's products I had the opportunity to test this past year and ones that I like. I've been trying to simplify lately since there is too much technology and things out there to get that can just lead to being less productive in other areas. However, gadgets can also be fun.

Cheers,

EH

Following Clearwater, I took a week off. That's right, I did absolutely no training. I think it's important at the end of the season to take some downtime. I know many that are so paranoid of missing a day of training, let alone a week. These athletes usually plug away year round. They also usually race ok, but not quite to what they are capable of. They also typically battle some small injuries constantly. This is very common - as I mentioned, I know quite a few who refuse to take downtime. Some view this as a strength. I view it as the opposite. The body needs periods of time to rest and rejuvenate.

I started back up again with some training on Monday. My training for the next month or so will be very unorthodox. I feel it's important to continue to work on your aerobic base, yet to do some different things. Soon enough, we'll be back in the thick of swimming, cycling, and running. Now is a great time to do some different activities that elevate the heart rate, work some muscles and connective tissue through different ranges than you normally do, and have fun! One of my favorite off season sessions looks like the following:

30 min run in B zone (Z2)
Then, 5 rounds of:

1. 20 push-ups w/ feet elevated on swiss ball
2. 20 double crunches
3. 20 deep squats on bosu ball flipped upside down
4. 20 supermans
5. 2 min of hitting the heavy bag
6. 2 min of jumping rope

I go from 1 exercise to the next with no rest and repeat the circuit 5 X's. It's a killer! Try this out sometime, and listen to some pumping, loud music while doing it. I guarantee that by the fourth circuit, your legs will be shaking big time during the bosu ball deep squats. You will also feel a soreness you haven't felt in awhile the next day.

I do plan on getting out tomorrow am for a long run. I need to create some caloric deficit before I overindulge later in the day!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Cheers,

EH

Take The Good With The Bad

OK, I'm done whining about the cheaters in Florida. I'm still a bit bitter about the race - I actually don't even consider it a race. That was in no way, shape, or form an accurate depiction of who was fastest. Some have said to me "you still had a solid time." I don't even consider it valid. My time on that course had I raced from point A (swim start) to point B (run end) would have more than likely been different. Doing the math in my head beforehand, I felt ready to do a 28 swim, 2:08-2:10 bike, and 1:19-1:21 run.

Anyway, back to the point of this post. I still had a positive experience believe it or not. My focus this year was more on my trip to France. Then, I decided to try Timberman and felt really good about that experience. After qualifying for the 70.3 World Championships there, I gave some thought to racing in Florida. I decided to for the following main reasons:

1. I wanted another late season goal to train towards. Something that would provide motivation to stay fit and in race shape, and so that I would train hard and consistent until November. For me, without that goal, I tend to feel lost in no mans land. I always keep myself in somewhat decent shape, but there is a difference when I'm training towards a key goal. In 2000, my key goal was IMLP and I didn't plan much else for the rest of that year since Lisa was pregnant and due in October. I felt lost and lazy not having a late season big race.
2. Since 1998, I try to drag my father with me to one destination race each year. It's been a great opportunity for me to reconnect with my father as an adult. We always have a fun time and learn a bit more about each other.
3. I wanted to test myself against the best in my age group.

All these things were accomplished, plus the weather was beautiful in Florida, I ate at some really good restaurants, I got to hang out with some good guys like Ed and Mark, I turned Big Rocks onto Jamba Juice, I was able to test out the My Athlete units further. It's all good! Well, almost all good.

For the rest of 2007, I plan on staying somewhat active at a much lower key level, with mostly running and strength training and maybe even jumping in a few 5K's.

On another note, I don't know if anyone reads my dribble here. Seems to be a few. I never get any responses and Scooter informed me that it was a pain in the ass to register to leave comments, so I looked into my settings and what do you know, I was able to switch it so that it's quite easy to leave comments and you can even remain anonymous! Maybe I'll get a few.

Cheers,

EH

Very, very frustrating!

I really tried to set myself up mentally for this race, and the frustration I may encounter on the bike with packs building up. I guess I didn't do well with the mental preparation on this part. It was unbelievably awful!

Let's start with the beginning: Boring stuff - I awoke at 5am which was nice since our hotel was right next to the transition area. I woofed down 3 chocolate frosted organic toaster pastries, which are my new race day breakfast. They are somewhat healthy pop tarts. The benefits for race day is that they pack a lot of calories (200 each) and lots of carbohydrates. So it's easy to get in the caloric requirements necessary for longer races. I then walked down and got body marked, put some air in my tires and bottles on my bike and then headed back up to the room. I had a frappacino and a coffee and stretched for 15 to 20 minutes and relaxed. Then, I put my wet suit on in my room and walked down to the beach. It was great staying this close. I usually hate being in the hub but this hotel was so big that you didn't notice the things that usually annoy me like nervous athletes everywhere, lousy race morning music, and the announcers voice blaring through the audio system.

My wave was second to last!!! The pros went off at 7am, my wave went off at 7:55. I talked for a bit with my friend Bruce Gennari before the gun sounded and we ran down to the beach and dove in. There were 400 40-44 year olds in my wave which is a lot for a shoreline start, but I had a good starting position and was one of the first ones to hit the water. Bruce was right to my left and I thought for a brief second that maybe I'd see if I can sit on his feet for a few hundred meters. That lasted for maybe 2 meters and that's being generous. Bruce was first out of the water in my age group in 23 minutes (he was third out overall I think, even amongst pros, but that's not surprising, he's been first out of the water overall in Hawaii a few times). I came out in 28 min and change. My shoulders felt tight in the swim and I didn't feel fast, but that was expected.

Onto the bike, I thought that this is where I'd make my move. For the first 15 miles, I was motoring by athletes quickly, and felt strong. Then a British athlete rode up next to me and said that each time I passed someone, they were jumping on board. I turned around to see that I was pulling a train. The rest of the ride was a nightmare. Right away, I put in a huge effort, going into the red for a few minutes. I turned to see I had a gap and settled back into my pace, only to get swallowed up shortly by the peloton. I made about nine or ten more huge efforts, way into the hurt zone, trying to lose the group but I knew it was useless. I just couldn't sit there and not try. The long roads had a coned off section for the cyclists to ride in and I rode quite a bit outside the cones, in no mans land by myself. I actually, in disgust, thought about quitting! But I'm not a quitter and I can't preach to my kids that you finish what you start and not follow suit. I had a bunch of the drafters coming up to me and telling me that my efforts to get away were inspiring! Can you freaken believe that!!! These are guys cheating, and complimenting me on riding fair! I know that many will say that there was nothing they could do but that is bullshit. When someone passed me, I'd drop back and allow the rider space, only to have three or four others come around and fill that space. I was averaging 26 mph and there were woman age groupers hanging in the peloton! I don't want to sound as though I'm putting myself on a pedestal and claiming that I was the only one not cheating in this group. Mark Foster was also in the group and was also making efforts to get away. He rode as clean as possible and should be proud of the way he raced. I really don't thing there was anyone else in the group that made an effort. As I rode up over the cause way at the 56 mile mark, I saw my dad and yelled to him "never again!" as I shook my head. I was letting my temper get the best of me and I wasted a huge amount of energy during the ride. At one point Mark said to me "you'll get em all back on the run." The problem was that my legs were toast from trying to break away.

I started the run feeling really shot, like my legs were just dead weight. I stopped at the one mile mark and took a nice long pee and contemplated the day thus far and decided that I was going to run. Not jog or run/walk, but run. The first four miles were very slow, but then I started coming around. I started banging out a few low 6's, pace wise. I ran pretty steady for the rest of the race. My legs were shot, but I managed a 1:26 1/2 marathon. My goal for the run was a 1:20 to 1:21 and I know I had those 5 or 6 minutes in me if the race was a steady, consistent, fair effort. The most frustrating thing was that I finished 7th in 4:10, in back of some competitors that I usually beat.

What did I learn? For one that I'll never race in Florida again. This is not the location for a world championship race. I'll bet there were a lot of p.r.'s today! I also learned that there are a ton of athletes out there with no integrity. A lot of these packs could have been avoided.

Oh well, enough bitching. I'm usually quite optimistic and I know that I complained an awful lot in this report. Sorry about that - I guess I needed to vent. I just really wonder what most of these athletes do after the race, when they look back on their day - do they convince themselves that they raced well and had a fair race? I just don't get it.

It is now the off season and I'm looking forward to some sushi and some beer tonight and to going home tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who may read this.

Cheers,

EH

Go time!

Tommorrow afternoon starts the beginning of my offseason!

I'm looking forward to getting out there tomorrow morning and hitting it hard. I plan on entering the offseason spent, drained, and yet at the same time, on a high.

Today was a typical day-before day. Breakfast, easy bike ride with a few pick-ups, lunch, check bike in, get other athletes My Athlete devices, stretch out for a bit, dinner. Nothing too special.

The bike feels good although it was skipping around in my easier gears - 18 through 21. I couldn't dial it in, so I waited in line at the race expo mechanics station where, when I finally got there, he turned the barrel adjuster maybe a quarter turn and told me to go try it out. I figure it doesn't matter. If it skips, it will only be in the first 2 miles when going over the cause way and on the return trip in the last 2 miles.

I have some allergies or something stirring about - very similiar to what I felt like last time I was down here in Florida which is strange. I'm relaxed though and ready to roll.

My plan is to get through the swim and then take the first ten miles fairly hard on the bike. I want to reel in the fast swimmers. This course is flat and there will be packs and if I settle into a steady effort too early, the fast swimmers could stay away.

Hung out with Big Mark Foster at dinner which was fun. He's a great guy and always fun to catch up with.

OK, that's it for now. As the backyardiggans say (those who have small kids will get this): It's racing day, it's racing day, today's the day we race. Actually it's tomorrow, but I'm ready!

Cheers,

EH

Thursday

I fell asleep last night a bit after 9pm, with a bit of help from some Tylenol pm, and besides awakening a few times briefly, I didn't get up until 7am. I can't remember the last time I lied down for this long!

My father and headed down to the beach to get a swim in. the wind was blowing again and the ocean was very choppy, rolling in diagonally northwest. The swim is a clockwise rectangle and the current was pushing us far out to the left. I'll swim again tomorrow to see if this stays consistent, and if so, plan accordingly for race day. It was cold out this morning here - probably in the low 50's. My back was sore/tender while swimming which was odd. It may be rebelling from lying down for so long.

I'm anxious to see how things go on Saturday. I'm not nervous and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. Usually, I have some butterflies going into a race. My training for this 1/2 was very unorthodox - mostly out of experimentation. I have been in this sport for a long time and have studied training and exercise physiology and one thing I have learned is that you need to switch things up occasionally, not only for physical benefits but also mentally. To be more specific about what I did different, since Timberman in August, I have only ridden over 2 hrs on four occasions - the Vermont ride and while in Hawaii. Most of my rides have been in the 90 minute range. They have all been intense though, and instead of riding junk mileage for the sake of logging in more weekly mileage, I didn't ride on those days. On average, I rarely rode over 100 miles per week. However, once again, I payed close attention to my wattage, HR and rpm's on all rides and rode with some decent intensity. I did quite a few rides on my computrainer as well. Same with running - I reduced the volume and ran closer to goal race pace more often. We'll see if this works for the 1/2 IM. For an IM, you need the volume. If you have been in this sport for awhile, most likely you have built some accumulative base. At the beginning of the season, it's important to re-establish your aerobic base, but the longer you have been in this sport, the shorter the amount of time you'll need to re-establish this at the beginning of the season. Then, you can focus more on quality.

The day seemed busy but has been mostly lazy. We swam, had some breakfast, relaxed a bit. I received through FedEx the My Athlete devices from John and his tech guy Eric, and I charged them for a bit and then tested them out to see if John could get a lock on each device (which he did). there will be five of us racing with them on Saturday. Then Jimmy and I headed out to Jamba Juice, Borders for a bit, then Starbuck's, then I received a call from Chris Swift and Ian Ray that they had arrived - they were driving Chris's RV down from CT with a bunch of our bikes on board. So I got my bike now. One bummer is that I forgot my cable on my bike that connects my power meter to the sensors, so I'm racing without my powermeter on Saturday. Oh well. I then stopped at a tri shop and tried out the new Zoot running shoes which are really, really nice although not available until 2008, and now I'm relaxing and catching up on some work before heading out for an easy 30 minute run. Then we are meeting Ed Sparkowski out for dinner.

There are triathletes everywhere down here today, and a ton of foreigners.

We need a Jamba Juice in CT!

Cheers,

EH

I'm in Clearwater!

Arrived here this morning on an easy, uneventful flight from Laguardia to Tampa. Big Rocks joined me on this little adventure.

I haven't written in a bit, but I'm back. I'll be posting each day from here.

We are staying at the Hilton and from our balcony, we can see the swim course. I usually like staying away from the hub of the race but here in Clearwater, this is going to be a real plus. Hell, I can wake up 10 minutes before my wave goes off and still make the race! Speaking of waves, I don't know which one I'm in yet, but it's one of ten. Looks like the only hill on the course is the causeway that connects Clearwater Beach to Clearwater.

It was cool here today! Probably in the 60's and the wind was really blowing. I hope the wind blows on race day like it did today.

After checking into the hotel, I went over and did race registration and picked up the things I always forget like a race belt and water bottles. It feels great to already get this stuff done and out of the way. We then went out for an easy run to clear the junk out of the head and legs that accumulates during flying. It was perfect running weather.

A quick shower and then we went to a great dinner that BR found online. It was about a 15 minute drive from here. I like to have a steak 3 nights out from a big race. The protein, iron, and b-complex vitamins are well needed. I had some tuna sashimi as an appetizer and a nice filet for dinner. We washed this down with some frozen yogurt for dessert and now I'm going to just relax and try to get some uninterrupted sleep since my 4 year old daughter has made that impossible lately. I'm looking forward to getting in an ocean swim tomorrow morning.

I'll be a bit more interesting tomorrow, hopefully, but for now, it is what it is.

Cheers,

EH