Why the Swim Matters-230 Days to GO

"I could totally do the swim at the Ironman. How long is it?"
"2.4 miles."
"How many meters is that?"
"Almost 3,900."
"Oh...how many pool lengths is that?"
169 pool lengths...in open water.
"How many days do you get?"
"2 hours & 20 minutes."
"Oh never mind."
That's why they say that you cannot win on the swim, but you can lose.
(Huh?)
If the race starts at 7 a.m., you have to be out of the water by 9:20 or you get disqualified.
(So arrest me.)
They take your timing chip.
(So?)

As you run past the crowds on your way to the finish line, that chip tells the announcer which athlete is approaching. 

Imagine being stopped at the finish line and being told that you're disqualified.
(You've given this a lot of thought)
The fear of missing the time cut off is why I swim every Monday morning.
(Do you swim that distance every week?)
For the first three months of training I will swim 1,500 meters sets and focus on my form.
(Who cares about what you look like?)
Form is where people lose time. The more streamlined you are in the water, the faster you go.

This was the picture that explained why my swim time dropped from 1:50 per 100 to 2:06 per 100 in August of 2015.

(What am I looking at?)

The bubbles as my hand was dropping. My form was collapsing, because I wasn't keeping my arm outstretched.

Triathlon swimming is all about your form, not your strength

(Don't you strength train?)
I do but, being physically strong will help you maintain your form.
(Does it work the other way around?)
No, it does not work the other way around.
(Won't having big muscles get in the way?)
I'm not building muscle mass, I'm building endurance strength. The longer I can hold my fore arm straight out, the less drag I create.
(The faster you swim)
You are learning.
(Thank you)
You're welcome. 

Just a Marathon - 250 Days to GO

The original marathon is a legend.
No one is really sure if in 490 BC, Pheidippides actually ran all the way from the Battle of Marathon, back to Athens.
No matter, at the first modern Olympiad, in 1896, it was decided that the run should be 25 miles. 
(Thanks guys).
That was the olympic distance until the 1908 olympics in Great Britain.
(Uh oh, I don't like where this is going)
That year, the finish line was 1.2 miles ahead of the King's viewing box & you had to finish in front of the King.
Hence, the modern marathon distance of 26.2 miles was born
(Thanks guys).
For the 3rd year in a row, I competed in the NYC Marathon.
Each year that I have run this race, the distance has seemed a little shorter.
(Compared to an Ironman, running just a marathon must have been easy for you)

Thanks, thanks a lot. 
Truth is, any race is difficult if you actually race it.
I grabbed a bus from the Meadowlands Sports Complex at 6 a.m.
I was at the race start compound by 7 a.m.
(Is that when you started running?)
No, my wave wasn't scheduled to start until 11 a.m.
(What did they expect you to do for 4 hours?)
After morning prayers, I hung out with friends. 
(For 4 hours?)
I had celular reception.
At 10:30, they started lining people up in front of their corrals.
From there, each wave started the short march to the start line at the Staten Island side of the Verrazano Bridge.
Most triathlons have 2-3,000 competitors, so there are 4-6 starting waves.
The NYC Marathon has 50,000 runners, so the start requires funneling groups of runners in waves, based on their run speeds.
You enter the gate of your wave. You follow the flow of the crowd around a bend at a shuffle pace. It's like exiting a concert or game at Meadowlands or Madison Square Garden. One minute all you can see are the people in front of you, the next, you are suddenly at the entrance to the Verrazano Bridge. You are running across this massive structure where cars normally travel.

Mile 3 - I was across the Bridge & running in Brooklyn. That was when I started to overheat in the Ironman costume

(You didn't...you did)

I did. I wore the costume again.

(Why?)

Kids dig it.

Mile 6 - The suit had cooled down & I was in the zone;  I was focused. Then I heard, "Go Ironman". The kid must have been 8 years old at most, so I ran over & hi fived him. I heard the chant from a few adults too.

For the next 6 miles, block after block. White kids,black kids, hispanic kids, even Hasidic kids.

"Go Ironman."

I made sure to hi five them all.

I even let the little kids tap the helmet.

Brooklyn became Queens, Queens became Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Mile 15- I saw this sign & I had to stop:

After the sub 6 hour marathon at Ironman Lake Placid 4 months ago, I knew that I could beat last year's finish time.

So, naturally, I announced before the marathon start, finishing under 5 & 1/2 hours was my goal.

(Naturally).

I was making good time according to my watch as I crossed into the Bronx. I was averaging 12 minutes per mile.

That was the pace I needed to keep to finish in less that 5 & 1/2 hours.

(How do you run for 5 & 1/2 hours ?)

Question for another time. I have a story to finish.

A few blocks passed the 18 mile mark I looked down at my watch.

DEAD!

(Dead?)

Blank face. My rechargeable Garmin Fenix 3 was dead.

I was flying blind. I no longer knew how I was doing on time.

As I crossed back into Manhattan, I asked a few runners,

"Hey what time is it?"

They kept telling me how long they had been running.

(So?)

So 50,000 people did not start running over the Verrazano Bridge at 11:02 a.m.

With 5 miles to go, I was going to have to gauge my pace on my memory of what a 12 minute mile felt (Feels?) like.

At mile 24, I got my answer: it was 4:08.

I was going to have to run 2, 11:45 minute miles to make it before 4:32 pm.

By the last mile, I was going all out. I was nearly spent, but I wasn't leaving anything on the course. I sprinted across West 59th & back into the Park towards the finish. I was sucking air as I headed north.

I saw the clock as I crossed the finish line & I knew...it was 4:34. I was 2 minutes late. 

I tried & I failed to finish in under 5 hours 30 minutes.

But, that's ok. I did my best & ... 

(PING!)

I looked down at my phone. 

Somehow, I thought I had started earlier than I actually did.

PT 2016- 265 days to GO

After completing an Ironman Triathlon, a smart man would rest.

Not being very smart, 10 days later I participated in a 175 mile charity bike ride.  

On day one, at Mile 60, nearing the summit of a 6-mile incline my left quad cramped out. Laying on the ground, trying to stretch it out, I found my whole hip cramp out.
(Were you slithering like a snake in the dust?)
Pretty much
Once I stretch that out 
(You called for the SAG wagon and called it a day)
I got back on my bike the road another two miles till the other side cramp out.
(That was when you called that wagon and called it a day)
No, my friend came by and offered me a muscle relaxing cream.
I was impressed that it didn't taste as bad as I thought it would.
"Dave you know that cream is topical right?"
(Did your tongue go numb?)
No & I finished the hundred twenty miles of riding. Then I threw in a 5k run when I got off the bike
(Then you called it a day?)
Then I slipped into an ice bath.
The next day we rode another 55 miles.
(Then you called the season quit)
Three weeks later I competed in Half Ironman Maine70.3

Three weeks later I competed in Half Ironman Atlantic City70.3. 

I had 3 athletes competing, I had to go

 

(Because you have a death wish)
Because I enjoy racing
(Yup, a death wish)
The next week, I started to notice a tightness in my hamstring.
(The butt muscle?)
The muscle that connects from your tush to the back of you knee.
(The lower butt muscle?)
My PT reassured me it was just tightness... and with great intensity started to loosen it up.

There is nothing enjoyable about having a grown man rub the knots out of your hamstring muscles.
There is nothing enjoyable about having your PT twist you into a pretzel shape.
But with 6 days to go to the New York City marathon there is great joy in knowing you will be ready.
(And that you have a death wish).

The Unfinished Journey-275 Days to GO

Reset the count down clock, we're doing another Ironman in 2017.

(I'm shocked)

Yeah, I know. 

(You're never going to stop, are you?)

I need to take a break in 2018 for my kid's bar mitzvah.

(So you are changing the every other year schedule)

Yup, plus I felt like I had a unfinished business at Ironman Lake Placid.

(Unfinished? You set a new PR! You finished a 140.6 mile race in under 16 hours!)

But, I did poorly on the bike.

(Poorly? You rode 112 miles in under 8 hours.)

At one point I had to stop to catch my breath.

(So you could have done better on the bike)

I felt that I could have done better at everything.

(Is there a point where you will be happy?)

14:59:59

(What if you don't achieve that goal?)

I shaved an hour off my marathon. If I shave 30 minutes off the bike & another 15 off the run, I will be there. 

(Are you capable of a 1:25:00 swim, a 7:30:00 bike & a 5:45 run?)

The motto of Ironman is, "Anything is possible on race day". 

The trick will be time.

(You mean seeing your family)

Yes. 

(How are you going to train more & not become, "Mommy, who is that man in spandex?")

You'll see, I have a plan. For now I have to get through the NYC Marathon.

(You, Mr. ADD. You can do one thing at a time?)

I can stop thinking about Ironman training right now.

(Says the man who just told us he plans to do another Ironman 11 months from now)

Shuddup.