Going For Goofy

No Judgment Week

2012-01-29T22:36:00.000-08:00

An account of last week:

I started the week with no judgments, or at least that was the goal. My inner critic - rife with complaints of 'not fast enough!' and 'not strong enough' needed to be muzzled. So committed to the idea of a week without that nagging voice. Each workout I did, be it run or bike or walk, was about the pleasure of ability. That I am able to to these things, was the focus.

The results: I biked farther this week than I have in months. I ran for the pure enjoyment and achieved the runner's high. I walked to and from work without concern of my pace (yes - even that gets me sometimes!)

Fittingly on Friday, my boss and I had a lesson in this 'no judgments' philosophy...

~~~

See, I work for a wonderful woman. Not only is she an admired leader in our field, but she's also (outside of work) a runner and sports' enthusiast. We connect because we know the value of working hard, taking on challenges, and appreciating the commaraderie that is attained through competition.

So, my boss, who is ever-on-top-of-things but also quite absent-minded when it comes to 1) Keys 2) Cell Phone 3) Wallet 4) Sunglasses, was headed off to London on Saturday. She's there now. But last Friday afternoon, mere hours before she was to head home to prepare for the trip, she did the unthinkable.

Balancing her blackberry on top of her coffee cup while opening a door ... she managed to drop her phone into the full cup. And kill it. Dead. That's right. Hours before going abroad, she executed her key communication tool.

And as her assistant, I could have cried. I could have berated myself and her. I could have stressed. But instead, I rode the 'no judgments' train of thought I had practiced. With the help of my superstar colleague, I tracked down the IT/Phone people on the studio lot. I got them to replace the phone ASAP. I handled the seemingly stressful moment with aplomb.

And when she returned to the office to face me - the bearer of this stress - she winced in hopes I hadn't blown a glasket. I hadn't. Instead I laughed, and she laughed. We both wrote the mistake off as simply that - human error. And she said, "Just trying to keep it light around here!"

~~~

Why do I bring up this ancedote? It just seems fitting. I spent all of last week trying to 'control' myself and 'control' my environment. But once I let go and just enjoyed the ride things got easier and better. And when it came to work, my ability to roll with the punches (or coffee plunges) was ulitized too.

May your runs for the rest of the week be uncontrolled ... and fabulous.

No Judgments. Just Go.

2012-01-22T11:58:00.000-08:00

I got on my bike today for the first time in a week. That’s on unusual these days. In an effort to allow myself some rest/cross-training and mental refreshment, I’ve taken a more multi-sport approach to my workouts. One day of running, another of Insanity, another of biking, sometimes just walking for the day. And rest.

So to be out on my bike this morning felt new and fun. And because I have not cranked out countless workouts on it recently, I started the workout without any expectations. During the first few minutes of the ride, a phrase came to mind: “No Judgments. Just Ride.” And it got me thinking…

Despite my experience and my various athletic trades, there are times when I don’t want to put on my shoes and go out for a run. And it’s not because I’m being lazy. It’s because I’m scared.

Yes. Scared. It is hard to admit, but sometimes I don’t want to go out for a run because … what if I’m bad at it? What if I run slower than normal? What if it’s a ‘bad run’?

There are some of you that will shake your head at these irrationalities and hyper-intense insecurities. But I’m sharing because I know there are others out there who have tiny voices that say, “Yeah, me too.”

Even though it’s just one workout. And even though it is for no one else but myself. And even though, in the larger scheme of life it is only a tiny action … there is, sometimes, this threatening mass of “failure” that can hover just on the edge of my mind. As if making the decision to put on my shoes and go out for a run opens the door for that possibility in all of its seemingly-but-not-really fatal power.

Maybe it’s that we are a little more sensitive than normal. Or that we push ourselves harder than anyone could ever push us. That there is some ill-forged and misunderstood cause/effect relationship between berating ourselves and achieving what we set out to do. In other words, if I beat myself up enough, then of course I will work harder, do better, achieve more and … then what?

If I step back – as an athlete and as a coach – and follow that train of thought, it gets derailed. As it should! Because it is a train of thought full of judgment and lacks compassion. And for me, it is the exact opposite of why I run and bike and swim and walk.

So on my bike today I told myself this – yes, consciously I spoke to myself: “No Judgments. Just Go.” I will, for this week, run without judgment of myself. Bike without expectations. Follow through my Insanity program without worrying about tangible progress. It’s not a matter of taking a more “relaxed” approach. It’s a matter of ceasing my concern of being judged – most importantly, by myself.

Insanity Fit Test #2

2012-01-21T19:23:00.001-08:00

Finished Insanity Days 8, 9 and 10 - each a challenge either with cardio, strength or balance ... and Day 10 included all three! I woke the next day feeling sore. Because of my coaching schedule (which included the Goofy Challenge a couple weeks ago), I have not been doing Insanity every single day. However, I did make it to the second Fit Test of the program.

The Fit Test is the benchmark against which we measure improvement. You have 1 minute to complete the given exercise. Scores are recorded every two weeks or so to evaluate progress. Here, again, are the results of my first Fit Test, taken on Day One of the program which for me was Decemeber 24, 2011.

FIT TEST ONE

Switch Kicks (russian kicks) - 100
Deep Jacks (squat jumping jacks) - 41
Power Knees - 61
Power Jumps (squat jumps) - 30
Globe Jumps (box jumping) - 6
Suicide Jumps (burpees) - 10
Push Up Jacks - 17
Power Planks - 39

Today I took on the same round of workouts with the following results:

FIT TEST TWO

Switch Kicks (russian kicks) - 121
Deep Jacks (squat jumping jacks) - 48
Power Knees - 97
Power Jumps (squat jumps) - 42
Globe Jumps (box jumping) - 10
Suicide Jumps (burpees) - 16
Push Up Jacks - 21
Power Planks - 58

Progress all around! Do I credit Insanity? My renewed dedication to my cardio regieme? Luck? Doesn't matter, really, what the cause is. I'm just grateful for the effect - Mostly, I'm happy to have an avenue in my life, fitness, to which I can point to concrete evidence of growth and accomplishment.

Cheers to this!

Goofy Weekend and Insanity Day 8

2012-01-10T22:28:00.000-08:00

I'm grateful to have completed Insanity Workout #8 right before I hopped on a plane for the Goofy Challenge - 13.1 miles on Saturday and 26.2 miles on Sunday in Walt Disney World. As the unofficial coach of West Side, LA Team in Training, I completed the half marathon in 1:56:14 and the full marathon in 4:06:57.

A recap of the weekend's workouts to come soon. Until then, I leave you with the sunset over Lake Buena Vista, FL. An image I am blessed to have seen first-hand, the sunset over the Swan and Dolphin hotels.

"You get in before sunrise and you get out after sunset and you go home, eat and collapse. While you're aware of the ratings, you aren't prepared for the response of the fans." - Parker Stevenson

The New Year

2011-12-30T19:34:00.000-08:00

Some commercial came on the television today, and the voice over caught my ear, "Instead of looking back on the year, why don't we look forward toward the future?" A good idea, I thought to myself. What does 2012 hold for this kid? A timely question, I'm sure.

Because 2011 held so many personal changes for me (new job, new living situation, different athletic choices were some of those fresh challenges), I am entering 2012 with a solid base. Not athletically. Not occupationally. But humanly. I feel that I stand on solid ground. For someone (me) who has always sought "more" and "better" and "faster" in the future tense instead of the present tense ... that is a positive change.

Because my blog relays my athletic endeavors, I'll limit my '12 musings to the endurance world. At present there is one unexpected but exciting wrench thrown into my world as of yesterday.

In my heart, I am a coach. Working with folks to tap into their potential - athletic and otherwise - brings me great joy. And I've seen joy on the faces of those I've worked with. So while my own, personal athletic goals are important to me, I really get more pleasure out of helping others.

Coaching Makes Me Smile

Me and Traci at San Diego Full Marathon 2010
Last week I was approached about a coaching opportunity for this upcoming Spring/Summer. I'd planned to take time off from coaching to focus on my Ironman Canada training. But after some thought and reflection on what makes me happy, I have decided to forgo the Ironman-2x dream and return to as the Head Run Coach for one of the LA Chapters of Team in Training. This Summer group will be a new group for me - a new set of faces and a new staff to work with. And that is extremely energizing.

When I started running 5 years ago, I would not have believed that I would get such joy out of 1)Marathon Training and 2)Marathon Training that had nothing to do with me!

Alas, the beginning of 2012 finds me in a very content and potentially fulfilling place as an endurance athlete: teaching others, learning from others, and ultimately leaving my sneaker-prints along many miles for a good cause.

So suddenly, my August 29th, 2012 is free. I will cheer on the TNT Ironteam from the sidelines. And I will hopefully reflect on another life-changing (for many) season with the Greater Los Angeles TNT program. San Diego and Alaska half and full marathons - watch out, the purple people are on their way!

Insanity: Day 6

2011-12-30T14:12:00.000-08:00

A whole free day meant some quality exercise time. I'm due for another rest day - maybe Sunday or Monday. But today was a "work" day.

40 minutes of hills this morning, with 875 feet of elevation over 4.7 miles. The cloud cover coming off of the Pacific Ocean kept the temps comfortable. After the run, I had to do some late Holiday shopping for one of my best friends who is back in town soon. Prior to shopping, I downed 2 whole breakfast burritos from a deli down the street. Monstrously delcious.

Shopping wiped me out, so I faceplanted on the couch. I knew I had to get in Day 6. But I didn't want to. I just. didn't. want. to.

But keeping the promise to myself means taking the action long after the thrill of making that commitment wore off. So, on goes the DVD player.

Day 6: Cardio Abs
The first bit of good news is that this workout is only 16minutes and 30 seconds long. There is no warm up or stretch. There is just abdominal work. The second piece of good news is that you do not do a single crunch or sit up during the workout. Of the 14mins of abs (2:30 cooldown/stretch), we did multiple C-sit moves (twists, bicycle) and high and low plank moves.

The workout was challenging during those 14 minutes, but it did not bowl me over like yesterday's Pure Cardio workout. Maybe I'm just getting used to the Program, but I've noticed that even in this single week of training, my recovery time is getting quicker. Maybe that's in my head, but then agian, it doesn't really matter as long as it is real to me!

Followed the workout with a bike ride down to the beach and back. Half of the bike path was clear and sunny while the other half - close to the water - was under the marine layer. The air was cool, the ride was nice. About 45 minutes of leg work.

Takeaway from six days of Insanity - it will make you mentally stronger and able to deal with the challenges of muscle confusion. It will make you tired. It will probably be worth it.

Insanity Day 5

2011-12-29T11:02:00.000-08:00

Back in LA and enjoying the reverse jetlag - I'm up at 6:30 without a problem, and since it's vacation, that means I get to sip some coffee and amble into my workout without worrying about getting to work on time.

Sunrise from my Balcony
I haven't ridden my bike in over a month, so I decided to ease back into riding with an hour workout along the Balona Creek Bike Path and the strand along Dockweiler State Beach.

The Strand
The workout was enough to wake me up and warm me up for the next Insanity workout. I took yesterday off completely because I was exhausted from traveling. The day before was the Cardio Recovery Workout. So it has been two days since I've gotten a tough workout in.

Insanity Day 5: Pure Cardio
Once again, the workout did not disappoint in the pain-and-punishment section. We did the familiar warmup circuit and stretch. During the stretch Shaun T admitted that he was nervous about this workout because it was "pure cardio" and really tough. It was kind of nice to hear the instructor concede his humanity!

The main set was 17 minutes straight. You only took a break when you needed, and then jumped back in. Each move was 1-minute long, and the torture included mini-sprints/pivots, squat jumps, switch kicks, burpees, power knees, frog jumps, scissor kicks and push up jacks. All in a row, as many as you could do. No stopping unless needed.

"I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm trying to make you better." -Shaun T, mid workout

I did this workout with my HR monitor on. My HR got up to 172 at its max, which is not too far from the top of my range. I recovered quickly during the 7-minute cooldown stretch and was back to the mid 90s by the end of the workout.

Blurry shot of the DVD in progress
I'm finding one of the greatest parts about these workouts is the yellow timer down at the bottom of the screen. It counts down the entire workout (30-45 minutes) as well as the time for each indivdual drill and set. It's much easier to push yourself when you can see that you only have 15 seconds left before the moves change up or you get a water break.

All-in-all, I'm really digging this program!

Insanity: Day 4

2011-12-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

Today's workout was split into two sections. My morning consisted of a 6-miler on the treadmill to shake my legs out from the resistance work yesterday. I woke up feeling much less sore, and the run took any extra aches out of my muscles.

This evening I just completed Day 4's workout - Cardio Recovery.

Much like the interval/rest dynamic in Insanity workouts, the great structure of the program also allows for a "rest interval". That was today's workout - a 33-minute session that reminded me of yoga.

Focus was on deep stretching, ab work and muscle work. No water breaks. Shaun moves from one exercise to the next with a few 10 second rests during which he explains the moves.

Anyone who does yoga will be comfortable with this workout. Other than a couple sets of squats, lunges and advanced leg lifts, maybe of the moves feel like yoga poses. 75% of the workout was stretching, the other 25% was body-weight exercises: planks and the aforementioned squats and lunges.

I didn't sweat, my heart rate didn't climb and only briefly did I wince in lunge-induced pain. This was a great break from the traditional high-intensity workout. And tomorrow (after the 13hrs of traveling back to the West Coast), I look forward to Day 5 kicking my butt!

Insanity: Day 3

2011-12-26T10:53:00.000-08:00

Went to bed last night, sore. Woke up this morning, sore.

But soreness is not injury. Soreness is the recognition that you've done some good work. And there's 57 more days of work ahead. To what end? To what reward? I'm not sure. But this is a fun challenge regardless of the outcome.

Before I took on Day 3 of Insanity, I went for a run around our town lake, the shores upon which my family's home sits.

The Lake
It was colder than I'm ever used to running in, but the windy and the clear air were nice. I looped around the lake, and through a couple different neighborhoods, up a big hill and then home. Maybe 800ft of elevation over 4.5 miles. That was my warmup.

Onto the 40-minute workout with Shaun T. and the crazy fitness folks behind him.

The focus of the workout today was Cardio Power and Resistence. Meaning, you do a lot of deep jumping (squats, power jacks, globe jumps, power jumps) and a lot of pushups (three or four variations). There was a bit of kickboxing in there too.

The first 29 minutes of Day 3 were either 1) Warm Up, 2) Stretching or 3) Water Break. However, that's not to say they were easy. The 10-minute warmup is easily the equivalent of other "normal" workout DVD main sets. And the stretching for me today was crucial. The past two days have tweaked right hamstring, lower back and core.

When your muscles are sore, you are hyper-aware of how you engage them during a workout. So it was easy to feel just how much my sore core was engaged in today's workout.

Like Day 2, the main workout is 2 circuit. Each circuit is made up of three or four exercises that you complete over the course of 3 minutes. These are meant to really raise your heart rate and push your muscles into unocmfortable places. Then you are given a 30 second break. Then you do that same circut twice more. After a 30 second break, you move on to circuit two. You finish with a cooldown and stretch.

My quads and core felt the workout the most today. I definitely stopped and rested at points when I saw my form go. But once you correct your form, back to work!

It takes about two weeks to see real results, so I'm not expecting to be able to bench press a car anytime soon. But as I said above, if nothing else, this is a new and different challenge. And paired with a little running, it's a sufficient workout for this endurance junkie.

Insanity: Day 2

2011-12-25T09:11:00.000-08:00

I will have to invest in a sweat-proof keyboard because writing these recaps right after I do the Insanity workouts will surely cost me hundreds in short-circuited electronics.

For the past four years or so, I've logged double-digit miles on the treadmill on Christmas Day. I'm usually months into marathon training and the peak workouts fall around the holidays. But thankfully this year, I am not. So I've saved myself 3+ hours of hamster wheeling while watching CSI repeats.

Instead, I did Day 2 of the program. Since the Fit Test was Day 1, this was the first real workout - a 45-minute High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) session broken up into Cardio and Plyometric circuits.

About 10 minutes of "warm up" and stretch- deceiving high intensity. I was sweating by the middle of it.

Two circuits (each repeated three times) made up the workout. Lots of squat jumping, core work (push ups with various leg movements) and some "fast feet" drills that reminded me of college preseason way too much.

It was awesome. So unlike endurance training or anything I've done in a while. Compact in its time - 45 minutes. Yet it really feels effective. If you can push through a little pain, then you should give this a try.

Hopped on the treadmill for a cool down mile, but I was warmed up and not flat out exhausted that I cranked out a nice tempo pace. Walked to cool down.

Tomorrow will be a long run outside in the chilly CT air, and then Day 3!

Insanity - Day 1 - Fit Test

2011-12-24T13:47:00.000-08:00

Remember how the first day of school used to feel? It was easy to wake up at 5am, hop out of bed, put on the new clothes and ride the bus? Everything was slightly new and your little body was running on an adrenaline kick. Everything was interesting and nothing was difficult.

Insanity Day One is much like that ... except for the "difficult" part.

The first DVD consists of two segments - Dig Deeper and the Fit Test. Dig Deeper is an introduction to the program, its philosophy and the four main movements that are incorporated into training.

The face of Insanity is Shaun T. He's ripped, he's encouraging, and he is very nice to look at. No offense Bob Harper and Billy Blank... but Shaun T wins my vote for cutest workout video dude.

After the introduction, you are run through a battery of 8 tests. Each are 60 seconds, and you get 30 seconds of rest. The goal for each is to see how many repetitions of the exercise you can do in that minute.

Biggest issue I had right away: SPACE. This is the kind of workout you need atleast two arms/legs lengths around you free. Our workout area at my parents house has a treadmill, bike, elliptical and weight bench. It's great for all those exercises, but I definitely had to pay attention to not hitting things with my arms and legs as I lunged around.

Nevertheless, the Fit Test kicked my butt. I found myself doing well on some workouts (switch kicks, power planks) and bad on others (globe jumps, suicide jumps/burpees). At the end of the 25-minute session I was exhausted! I had warmed up for a mile, and the cooled down for two. I had no desire to push my cooldown pace faster than 9:30/mile. I was beat.

Here are the results for the first day of Insanity!

1-mile warm up and video-guided warm up
Switch Kicks (russian kicks) - 100
Deep Jacks (squat jumping jacks) - 41
Power Knees - 61
Power Jumps (squat jumps) - 30
Globe Jumps (box jumping) - 6
Suicide Jumps (burpees) - 10
Push Up Jacks - 17
Power Planks - 39
2-mile cooldown

Going Insanity

2011-12-24T13:31:00.000-08:00

I'm reaching the end of the 2011 Winter Team in Training Marathon season that I'm coaching, and 2/3 of the group has already completed their events. We've got a small but mighty group headed down to Walt Disney World for Marathon Weekend - the half, full and Goofy Challenge races.

Though I'm not an official race coach, I do have a bib for Goofy and will run both races, most likely at a casual, enjoyable pace, as I have not trained properly to "race" it. In fact, I've been off a training schedule for a while. I complete the weekend miles with my team, but my midweek workouts have been stale. I've needed a change up from running.

Daylight savings has left me little time to take my bike out - curse you darkness! I just recently (ie. the day I left for holiday brake) purchased a new bike trainer (on the cheap side - Cycleops Mag). I loathe the trainer as much as I do the darkness. But my tummy's growing and my brain is itching to do something else ... Enter: Insanity.

Insanity is a 60-day high-intensity, cardio workout from Beachbody, the company that distributes P90X. Focused more on aerobics rather than on lifting, Insanity provides a guided workout with a "reverse interval" style. Shaun T, the leader, pushes you during a 3-minute lung-or-muscle burning exercise, and then allows you 30 seconds rest. This style of training goes on for the entire workout, about 45 minutes. There are 10 or 12 DVDS, I can't remember. But they are all a little different. So in the same approach as Tony Horton's muscle confusion method, your body is constantly challenged day after day.

After informally polling the twitter community about the My friend and teammate Petty loaned me her set of DVDs. I've been putting off doing the workouts because I did not want to see how out of shape I am doing HIIT training. I can run forever, slowly. It's much harder for me to move quickly over short bursts of time. So I packed the DVDs in my carry on for home, and whipped them out on my second day here.

For the next 60 days, I'm going to blog my progress with the program. Either day-by-day or every couple of days. No before and after pictures ... or maybe just awesome after-pictures :) But definitely a chronicle of what it's like to do the program and if its worth the time.

It's exactly what my mind and body need to shake them up.

Holiday Run

2011-12-18T21:49:00.000-08:00

For me, the holidays means trading in light long-sleeves for heavier winter running clothes and braving the inhumane (20-degree) temps of New England. There are few foes more persuasive to talk you out of an outdoor run than Father Icicle.

So, to counter his nastly, chilly presence, I'll share my most recent ipod playlist in hopes that the crooning of Drake, Lupe Fiasco, Usher and others get you out the door and running through whatever winter temperatures you may face.

Creator - Santigold
Man in the Mirror - Adam Levine and Javier Colon
Headlines - Drake
Show Goes On - Santigold
Yead x3 - Chris Brown
Where Them Girls At - David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj
More - Usher
Maybe - Sick Puppies
Soul Survivor - Akon and Young Jeezy
Otis, N in Paris - Kayne and JayZ
Tonight, Tonight - Hot Chelle Rae
We Run LA - Dr. Hollywood
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz (old school, cool down)

Run fun and enjoy!

Hawaiian Dreams

2011-12-18T20:39:00.000-08:00

I posted part of this quote on twitter the other day, and it attracted a lot of retweets, so I thought it was worth a little more exploration. And since it was voiced by one of my favorite athletes and inspirations, Josh Cox, I am all-the-more ready to talk about it.

Don't lose sleep over what you can't do; don't waste time complaining and making excuses. Each of us have been entrusted with a unique combination of gifts, truly unique - unlike anyone else. Find your gifts, cultivate them, be relentless, surround yourself with positive people who work hard, ignore the critic, & work your butt off to make your dreams a reality.

-Josh Cox, professional endurance athlete.

It's the last sentence of the thought that strikes a chord in me - find your gift, invest in it and invest in people who recognize it. The only power naysayers have over you in the power implant doubt in your mind. They cannot make you say, do or believe anything. Their words must first penetrate a wall that you fortify. And if you strengthen that wall enough, then their words fall short. Their criticism die out. And your talents, passionates and gifts continue on.

I recently returned from a trip to Honolulu, HI where I witnessed 10 of my amazing runners cross the start and finish lines of the city's annual marathon.

Waikiki Beach
Each one of them ran 26.2 miles in one day. Each one of them wore a purple shirt that symbolized their commitment to fighting cancer. And yet, each one of them possesses unique gifts. They are not all the same. Some are outspoken, others taciturn. Some shy, others outgoing. They have each found their gift - the power of touching others' lives - and through this season, have cultivated that.
Diamond Head in the distance. They climbed it twice.
To see them literally "work their butt off" and cross that finish line was the kind of feeling any coach aspires to feel. They turned their marathon dreams - because as well all know, when we get obsessed with running, we dream in marathon miles - into reality.

And as a coach, for me to see them do so is that same, blessed dream-to-reality metamorphisis.

Whatever your gift, athletic or otherwise, put your trust in it. Have faith. Invest in yourself. Watch yourself transform. Watch your gift grow. Reap the benefits. Make your dreams into your real life.

A Reflection. For Lisa Kelly.

2011-11-07T16:00:00.001-08:00

On Friday, November 4th, 2011 I took this photo while walking to work. It was the day after Lisa, my friend/TNT participant/sparkplug-and-smiler, passed away.

Silver Lining
As a coach, it is my goal ... and really, my passion ... to get people to believe in themselves enough to attempt amazing feats. Marathons, ultramarathons, ironman events. 5K races for new runners. 10K races for athletes who thought 3 miles was their limit. It's a selfish indulgence for me to guide people as they take steps to change their lives.

But Lisa didn't need any of my coaching. She was already a warrior, an athlete, a daring doctor-triathlete-social-butterfly. I met Lisa probably four or five months ago at a brunch among friends. We knew each other from twitter, and through our friend Lori's generous offer to teach Lisa how to aquajog, the three of us and another mutual friend, Marquis, gathered together after the workout to dig into some good ol' vegan bacon and tofu-eggs. LA life for four daring non-vegans treated us well.

The table at the restaurant was not big enough to contain Lisa's smile. It was a miniature thrill to get the chance to finally meet a twitter friend in person. We bonded over talk of the Malibu triathlon, biking through Griffith Park, and the mundane task of aquajogging while recovering from injury - at the time, Lori's a pelvic fracture and Lisa's cancer. After that brunch, I knew Lisa would fit in well with our West Side Team in Training group. I may be biased, but I do believe there is something about the people from the West Side TNT team that stands out. Current participants and alumni alike - they have a giving nature and friendly disposition about them. I wasn't wrong about Lisa. A few weeks later, she's was there at the first practice of the season, ready to start her half-marathon journey.

As a coach, I enjoy being on the "giving" end of the relationship - to give my advice, guidance, time and experience to my participants. But with Lisa, I found myself more often than not on the "receiving" end. With such love and enthusiasm for her friends, for endurance events, and for new challenges, Lisa gave to me a continual fire from which to draw my own inspiration. Match her sense of adventure - her love for travel. Match her attitude - her appreciation for health and the ability to even be running. Match her generosity - her ability to connect with others on many levels.

It is always too soon when a friend or family member leaves this world and leave us all behind. There is an empty place at Coogies Restaurant on Sundays. There is an empty space in Group 4 where you would run. There is a silence in your online presence that screams to many of us. But as far as you have gone from us, Lisa, know that what still remains is that you will ALWAYS be in the Team.

If you would like to honor Lisa's memory and her efforts to complete the 2012 Walt Disney World Half Marathon, please make your donations to her fundraising website.

Sorry New England...

2011-10-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

...but it was a pretty nice weekend over in Los Angeles. Saturday's morning bike ride was followed by some exploring alongLeo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu and some rockin' seafood (ie Fried Things from the Sea) at Neptune's Net.

Sunday's 16 miler with West Side LA TNT was also a beautiful day.

East Coasters, feel free to live vicariously through these pictures, and laugh at us when The Big One hits.

The Habit of Catching Sunrises

2011-10-11T09:36:00.000-07:00

If you spend enough time around the running/tri community on twitter, you inevitably catch some amazing photos of nature - the kinds of pictures people snap along their workouts. Catching a great view from on high during a hike or the twilight off the face of a lake is one of the most enjoyable things I gain from others' timelines.

A while ago, I wrote about the meaning of getting up early to get a workout in, and visual reward of a mountain view that can accompany that sacrifice. Today, during my morning ride, I had a different reflection on my habit of catching sunrises.

Sunrise over Los Angeles from the Ballona Creek Bike Path
The sunrise provides a clean slate, a new start to the day. There's something fresh and new and promising about the beginning of something.

Same goes for races - I think it's why some of us keep going back to the same distance over and over again. Because when the clock says 00:00:00, you get to start fresh. You get another chance to experience that race again. And in that fresh start exists so much potential...potential for whatever you want in your life, athletically or otherwise.

The moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours. No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies before you, absolutely anything may happen. And the fact that it practically always doesn't, matters not a jot. The possibility is always there. -Monica Baldwin

After today's ride, I see the morning alarm clock a bit differently. Yes, one the one hand its still a symbol of the sacrifices I'm willing to make to push myself. But it also now has this new meaning. As long as the sun keeps coming up and I keep rising to meet it, then the world is what I make of it. And if a bad day comes along, there is another sunrise soon enough.

The Miles Stay the Same...

2011-10-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

...It’s the Runner that Changes.
A pint’s a pound the world around, and a mile has always been and will always be 5,280 feet. Been that way since before I started running, and will be when I unlace my shoes for the last time. The consistency of this distance, and any distance made when you string together a bunch of of those – 10, 15, 26.2, 140.6 – is striking.

I swear that the mile I used to run for pre-season volleyball in college is not the same distance as the mile I run to warm up before I lifted during IM training. And neither of those are the same as the mile I ran in elementary school gym class (wearing jeans, no doubt), or the mile between 25.2 and 26.2 I ran in San Diego ’07 for my first marathon.

But they are. All those miles are the same. It’s me that has done some changing. I’ve only been a part of the endurance community for a little over five years. In that time I’ve amassed a resume of triathlons, running events, century rides, and a handful of years coaching. The intensity with which I trained was, like anything else in my life, fixed and fiery. Being able to reflect upon my achievements with quantitative data – distance, time, heart rate, elevation – meant a lot to me. From these abstract numbers I tapped into a source of persistence that was unawake for the first 22 years of my life. Those numbers fueled me. The mile was my gunpowder, my gold.

Westridge Canyon on a trail run one morning
But this past year, things changed. Not the miles. No, they are still each the same distance. It was the runner who changed. After I completed IM Coeur d’Alene, I stood at the top of a mountain of achievement. And when the rush of adrenaline and pride and finisher-medal-shine wore off, I didn’t know what to make of myself. I can’t go much farther. I can’t go much faster. And really, I didn’t want to. While I was feeding that one part of my life, I felt the rest of myself atrophy.

After four years of go-go-go and no-stopping-me-now … I wanted to stop. To burn and break away from what everyone envisioned me as, and from what I inadvertently twisted my identity around – being a badass runner and coach.

It was both easy and hard to “take time off” from the sport and get to know myself as not-a-runner. Funny, when you workout as often as we do, your brain goes into an automatic and easy stream of thinking. Yes, anything and everything runs through our heads as we run through the trails. But what didn’t go through my head is, “Who am I when I’m not running, when I’m not ‘a runner’?

The prospect of investigating such an existential question is scary. But for me it was necessary. So I took away competition from myself, for a while. I still ran, but I did not maintain marathon conditioning. I still biked, but did so minimally. I dropped out of speedwork and capped my weekdays miles to 3-4 each session. I slowly peeled away the one-dimensionality of who I presented myself as.

The runner changed. With work, and thought and controls and huge amounts of faith I have found in my life, and in what I can only consider a power from something larger than myself – the universe perhaps – I changed. When you take away a major part of your life, there is a fear that you'll be left with a black hole of nothingness, in which no talent or skill or passion will ever fit.

But that's not true. Something comes along to fill the void - a challenge or opportunity ... or an opportunity disguised as a challenge (favorite!). Sometimes we can define it and sometimes its better left undefined and appreciated for whatever unnamed entity it is.

I’m still goofy, a bit awkward in unfamiliar situations, and hard on myself. I still let my overly articulate mouth run instead of speaking my feelings frankly. But that’s me and will always be me. It’s changes like letting people closer to me, into my life, that have replaced the endless miles I used to run on weekends. Instead of logging another set of 9, I’ll go out to dinner with friends. Instead of working through lunch at work, I’ll read a book. I’ve learned to crawl out of the mind that I live in when I run, and use the time I’ve given to connect with people. I've learned the discipline of slowing down.

So now when I go for a morning workout – same stretch of miles I always do – they look and feel different. Sometimes after 4 miles, I’m tired and want to stop. And I do. It doesn’t make me less of an Ironman. It doesn’t make me less of a coach. I’ve learned that it makes me more of each simply because it makes me human. And you know what? For as long as I’m here, the miles will be here, too. So given that, I’m free to keep changing.

Race Report - Disney's Wine & Dine Half Marathon Relay

2011-10-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

It's a yearly tradition that my mom and I take a trip down to Walt Disney World - more recently around Marathon Weekend time - and spend a week or so at the parks, at the pool, and sometimes running the events of the weekend. Since 2007, I've covered the half, full and goofy challenge courses, and my mom has done the half marathon twice.

Since I am coaching the West Side LA TNT team at marathon weekend this upcoming January, my mom and I decided to reschedule our trip to Wine and Dine weekend. It coincided with the 11th annual Wine and Dine Half Marathon. And for the second year in a row, Disney offered a a relay race option.

EPCOT - Center of the Wine and Dine Festival
Since Mom didn't want to run the full 13.1, we decided to do the relay race. The major appeal of this race for me, beyond the relay part, was that this is a nighttime event! The race covers three parks (Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and EPCOT), and with a 10pm gun time, you get to trek through the worlds while they're lit by Main Street Electrical Parade floats, street lights and colorful strobes. Quite unique race conditions that I was really looking forward to.

Packet Pick Up/Expo
Packet Pick Up/Expo

And since we were there for a couple days, and the 8.3-mile leg of my race wasn't all that long, I decided to throw in the Mickey's Halloween 5K Race onto the schedule as well.

OVERVIEW of Race Day, Saturday Oct 1st:

4:15am - Alarm goes off
5:00 - On the bus to the Animal Kingdom for the 5K
5:25 - Arrive at AK, wait for race. Watch dancers and DJ.
6:50 - Get in corral
7:00 - Race
7:30 - Raced, medal-ed, back on bus to hotel
8:30 - Breakfast
9:00am - Head to Hollywood Studios and EPCOT for some park fun.
2:00pm - Back to the pool to rest
5:00 - Dinner
7:15 - Board the bus to Wide World of Sports Complex (Start Line of half marathon)
7:30 - Arrive at Start
7:45 - Split up with Mom (relay runner #1) and head to Animal Kindgom (Relay Exchange)
8:00 - Sit in AK Parking Lot for 3 hours, watch race on big screen TV
11:20pm - Mom arrives! Off on my leg of the race
12:30am - Finished the half marathon! Reunite with Mom, party in EPCOT
1:45 - Leave EPCOT and walk to hotel
2:30am - Head hits the pillow for the end of an epic race day!

MICKEY'S HALLOWEEN 5K - The Race

The race started and finished in the parking lot right outside the Animal Kingdom. It's a giant stretch of concrete perfect for corralling a couple hundred racers and their spectating families. The shuttles ran from certain WDW Hotels (more on this in the "pros and cons" section) from 5am-6am. Since we are a bit paranoid, we hopped on the first shuttle - 5am - and arrived ridiculously early at the start line.

Biggest disappointment of the 5K experience? No coffee!! Usually Disney provides a cash-only concession booth that sells coffee, bagels and the usual continental breakfast works. But I guess they didn't think the 5K was worth it. Mom and I were really bummed. Temps were nice (upper 60s) so we sat on the bleachers and watched a few runners dance (well ... move awkwardly to horrible party music like 'Cotton-Eyed Joe') for about 90 minutes.

The event got moving about 15 minutes before the start. I haven't raced a 5K in years, and didn't really know what my strategy - if any - was going to be. I decided just to take it easy the first mile and see if I could push myself for the final two miles. There were about 800 participants (runners, walkers, kids included) in the family-friendly event. I positioned myself at the front of the pack and crossed the line about 5 seconds after the gun went off.

I've never run a race where I can always see the leader - this was my first! I stayed ahead of the pack and slowly picked off 15-20 people over the first mile. We wound around the parking lot and into the Animal Kindgom where the park was empty except for the very friendly staff lining the streets to cheer us on. If you've run any WDW race before, you know that the cast members that come out for the events are very supportive.

I look like a linebacker
At mile 2 I picked up my pace knowing that I was was of the first couple of women in the front of the pack. I picked off 2-3 more girls, and decided to push myself enough to see if I could break 24-minutes. About a year ago, I threw down at practice-5K-time of 21:03, but I am nowhere near that conditioned right now. So I shot for a sub-8 pace.

After passing Expedition Everest, we headed on a short out-and-back train track and toward the finish line. Cross the line in 23:58, and my mom counted me the 10th female overall. I was very happy. Such a fun, quick race.

WINE AND DINE - PRE RACE

After the 5K, breakfast and hitting up the parks for some food and rides, Mom and I spent the remainder of the day at the pool.

Pool - lots of time spent here
I took a short nap, as did she, and then we strategized our dinner plans. Since neither of us have run a race at 10pm at night, it was questionable when/how/what we were supposed to eat. We agreed that 5pm would be enough time to digest without getting too hungry before we ran. Mom's start time was 10:10pm, and I would be starting between 11:15pm and 11:30pm.

We grabbed some food at The Fountain in the Dolphin (our hotel). It was a fabulous veggie burger (and mom's salad was good). Then we headed back up to the room to prep for the race.

Salmon Salad
Veggie Burger
Mmmmmmm....
We took the shuttle from The Boardwalk Hotel over to the Sports Complex, the start line for the half marathon. The Complex is also the packet pick-up location for the race, so we had been there the day before. Though Mom was nervous, having never done a race without me running next to her (and standing next to her in the corral), I had to leave at 8pm to catch the shuttle over to the relay exchange. So we said our goodbyes and I ventured back to the Animal Kingdom to wait for Mom to run in a couple hours later.

Team Conlon
I had the chance to chat with some amazing guys on the shuttle and while waiting at the exchange. John, an FBI agent six years into his 20-year contract, was on vacation with his family. His wife was running the first half of the race, and would be arriving just before my Mom was planning on completing her 4.3-mile leg. A fellow Ironman, Ty, was there with his very fast son - who Ty predicted would arrive at the exchange after a 30-minute leg. I also had the chance to talk to a TNT participant (whose name I didn't catch) about her experience with the program after her friend passed away from leukemia.

Over the course of the waiting period, I kind of forgot I actually had to run when my Mom showed up. I sort of fell into a denial that I had to get up off the pavement, stretch my legs, and put in a solid workout. But when the first relay-ers arrived and handed off to their partners, my adrenaline kicked in and I was ready to run.

After a couple hours of waiting for the race to start and then my relay partner to arrive, Mom ran into the exchange at 11:20pm. I spotted her and ran up to her (no baton passing necessary at this race) and pointed her to her finish line. Then it was my turn.

Here comes Mom!
Because she runs at a slower pace then I do, I merged with the runners going the full 13.1 miles and found myself passing them quickly. I don't say this to imply I am any sort of speedster, but rather that I was fresh and used to running quicker, so it 'swim upstream' easily. As the race went on, I climbed up the group at a 8:20 pace, and held that through the race. I never felt tired - the night time sights were enough of an entertaining distraction to keep me moving!

I was not carrying my camera, so the pictures I have taken are either snapped during the daytime, or during the night on a different day. I didn't think I was quite safe enough for me not to trip while taking photos and running in the dark. But thank you to Brightroom for providing the race shots.

Running at Night!
One of the most memorable sights was an enormous, green-light-bulbed Turkey (who, in my head I dubbed "Queen of the Turkeys") at mile 9. This giant float was a part of the Electrical Parade. There were clucking sounds coming out of it and crazy techno music. Quite a strange and cool sight to see.

The first three miles of leg #2 took me from the AK to Hollywood Studios by way of a long, slightly rolling highway. We ran past people on stilts in colored-light costumes, some cheerleaders and crowded of disney cast members. Strobe lights and music everywhere.

We entered Hollywood Studios around the 4th mile (Mile 8 or so in the half marathon), and I got a kick out of running down Sunset Boulevard...because I have run down the real Sunset Boulevard in LA at night. It was a weird moment. The course took us through Pixar Place, Aerosmith's Rockin' Rollercoaster and on the set of Indiana Jone's Stunt Spectacular.

Pixar Place - daytime

Sunset Boulevard - daytime

Sunset Boulevard - daytime

Entrance to Aerosmith's Rockin' Rollercoaster
We exited the park near the Fantasmic arena and took the path toward the Boardwalk. This section of the run got particularly crowded. I slowed down to try and manage myself among the numerous runners trying to share the narrow pathway in the dark. With few lights along the way, this was one of the more challenging sections of the course - just had to go with the flow.

Pathway to Boardwalk - daytime
Once we hit the Swan/Dolphin bridge and moved toward the Yacht and Beach Club section of the Boardwalk, things spread out a little.

Entering the Boardwalk
Boardwalk - Yacht and Beach Club side
View across the marina

Nice to run on wood instead of pavement for a bit
I knew we were almost done when we climbed the small hill up to the back entrance of EPCOT. From here - miles 12.5 - 13.1 of the full race - the course was nothing but music, strobe lights and cheering. You could hear the crowd cheering, you could barely see the pavement with the lights flashing in your eyes, and you could feel the participants picking up the pace for the final kick.

Back Entrance to EPCOT during the daytime
There was no long stretch to kick down near the finish line. It just kind of showed up right around a corner. Surprise - you're done! But that was fine by me. I ran in with 1:09 on my watch, putting Team Conlon at 2:19 for the day. I had no expectations or goals for either of us, and was happily surprised with pulled off such a great performance - 99th out of 538 relay teams.

EPCOT was open to finishers, spectators and families from 12am - 3am after the race. So I reunited with Mom and we headed into the park to hit up the various food booths participating in the Wine and Dine weekend. After an hour of walking around, we were both spent, so we walked back to the Dolphin and called it a night. And slept in until 9am the next morning.

PRO'S and CON'S OF WINE AND DINE RELAY

I would absolutely recommend the Wine and Dine half marathon (relay or non-relay) to athletes looking for a great night race and unique running experience. The temperature was perfect at 10pm - mid-60s and the course was well-lit and entertaining overall. Disney is #1 in customer service, and that extends to the races that they put on. Everything runs very smoothly, there was plenty of water/food and friendly volunteers to cheer us on. And the post-race event was very cool. Although Mom and I did not partake in any rides after the race, many of the most popular EPCOT attractions (Test Track, Soarin', Maelstrom) were open for riding. The race is only 11,000 people, so the post-race festivities were not overly crowded or line-heavy.

Disney also offers great transportation throughout the weekend. Though the Wine and Dine guide says that you can only take the transportation if you are staying at one of the sponsored hotels, turns out that if you can walk your way over to the hotel (ie. like we did from the Dolphin to the Boardwalk), then you can hop a shuttle there. So no need to limit yourself to the options that they suggest.

My criticisms are minimal. I wish the 5K had a coffee counter - and that's only because I have a slight caffeine addiction. And the waiting time that surrounds the actual events is long but necessary. Because of road closures and safety, I was at the relay exchange over 3 hours before I actually ran. It was a long time to sit in a fairly empty parking lot. I'd bring a book next time and check it with the bag before I ran.

Other than those two small complaints, it was a wonderful experience. This will not be the last time that we head down to WDW for the Wine and Dine race!

Post Race Treat on Monday

Questions? Comments? Feel free to leave them below or hit me up on twitter @goingforgoofy

Wine and Dine Relay Complete!

2011-10-04T15:05:00.000-07:00

Mom and I completed the Wine and Dine Half Marathon Relay at Walt Disney World this weekend. Team Conlon placed 99th out of 538 teams! Amazing feat for us considering Mom thought she'd finish in last place.

I just got back from Florida today, and I'll be typing up my race report and, separately, my vacation report tomorrow.

Until then, enjoy a shot of our vacation playground for four days.

Wine&Dine Half Marathon Relay - Fun Run

2011-09-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

At the end of the month I’ll be heading down to Walt Disney World for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon relay with my mom. It’s an annual tradition of ours to go to Disney World, and since 2007, we’ve been going over Marathon Weekend. My first half marathon was the ’07 race. The following year I completed the full. In 2009, I completed the Goofy Challenge and my mom completed her first half marathon there. We took 2010 off and returned last year to again do the half together. I walked the full marathon the next day with my friend Chris.

Because this year I will be coaching the West Side TNT group through the half, full and Goofy challenge races, my Mom and I decided to go for a shorter trip in Sept/Oct and do the relay together. With my lack of strict focus on running these days, and her busy work schedule, neither of us felt it necessary to run the whole 13.1. So we signed up for the relay on Sunday night, and I also signed up for the 5K on Saturday morning.

Halloween 5K Map

Half Marathon Relay

As you can see, the courses at Disney are full of magic – through the parks, past the attractions and among the cast of characters who line the streets to cheer you along. I love the Walt Disney World races in particular because they draw such a diverse crowd. Whereas in trail running, you get a lot of “runners” and “endurance junkies”, Disney races tend to bring together people who just want to have fun and enjoy the sport. The “third wave” of marathoners, as The Penguin calls it.

For years there has been controversy over whether a runner is truly “a runner” based on his or her time. There was even a New York Times article a couple years ago that chided anyone finished a marathon in 5hrs or more.

Having coached some amazing people who finish 26.2 in +5 hours, having run with my mother, who in her late 50s completed her first 13.1, and having refocused the philosophy of my life on “the discipline of slowing down” I think what Disney offers (for a price, no doubt), is a wonderful addition to the endurance world.

Suffice to say, I’m ready for this running vacation!

Back to (Iron) Life

2011-09-12T16:13:00.001-07:00

Over the course of next couple days, I'll recap where I've been and what I've been up to during my nine-month absence from the blogging world. Short story of it all is that I just had to scale back my focus on endurance, and channel that energy into focusing on the rest of my life - what it means to be balanced, happy and healthy.

I got a new job, moved to a very different part of Los Angeles, met a whole bunch of new people, and really focused on getting outside of my comfort zone and opening myself up to the world. It has been worth the effort. My time away from "competing" has sacrificed a couple seconds off my mile time. But it is worth the calm, serenity and spirituality I never thought I would find, but did.

But now I'm back!!! I'm coaching the 2011 Winter TNT season with a wonderful co-coach and two amazing assistants. We are training our participants for the 2011 Santa Barbara International Half Marathon, the Honolulu Full Marathon and the Walt Disney World Marathon weekend, including the half, full and Goofy races.

Personally, I've got a challenge on the books for next year. Only 348 days until IRONMAN CANADA.

I've signed up to do the race with the Greater LA IronTeam because, frankly, training for an Ironman alone was very tough on me. And I want to meet some new people. So why not spend 10-20 hours a week with some charitable crazies?

Training begins in November.

Arizona Rock 'n Roll Marathon

2011-01-26T21:49:00.001-08:00

Post to be updated further, soon. Until then, enjoy the sunrise over the desert. Magical start to the wonderful weekend!

2011 Goofy Challenge Race and Disney Vacation Report

2011-01-13T15:09:00.000-08:00

Since 2007, my Mom and I have gone down to Walt Disney World (FL) for the annual marathon weekend. The 2007 Disney World Half Marathon was my first-ever endurance event, and so this weekend holds a special place in my heart. I returned in 2008 to complete the marathon. In 2009, I participated in the Goofy Challenge (half on Saturday and Full on Sunday), and my mom ran her first half marathon. We skipped 2010 for no reason and, really, and were lucky to do so because it was 20 degrees and snowing.

We returned this year so that I could do Goofy again, and my mom could do the half marathon. So Dad made our travel plans and sent us on our way - me away from work for a couple days, and Mom away from the snow in CT.

I arrived on a red-eye from LA on Friday morning at 5:30am. I was the only one (as usual) on the Magical Express bus from the airport to the Polynesian Resort. The entryway is gorgeous ... and empty at 6am. Luckily my room was ready, so I caught a few hours of sleep before my mom arrived.

Polynesian Lobby Flora

We went over to the Wide World of Sports complex to pick up all of our packets and tickets for the weekend. Since I signed my mom and I up for the Half Marathon Race Retreat, and the Spectator Package (for her) for the full marathon, we exited the expo with more bags, tickets and fliers than I've ever gotten at any race. And I have to say, though the Goofy Challenge is one of the most expensive race weekends, they give you a lot of great stuff: three medals, three shirts, a ticket to the Magic Kingdom for Monday and a sleeve of Clif ShotBloks (among other tiny samples of race food).

Disney's Wide World of Sports

Pre-Half Marathon dinner was at Les Chefs France, at EPCOT. We wandered around the park for a bit (covered 7 miles or so) before going to dinner. Mom got the short ribs and I had the scallops. We protein-ed up and headed off to bed early, 8:30pm, to ready for our insanely early wake up call.

Mom at Epcot on our walk to Dinner at Les Chefs France

Sculpture on one of the Italy Walls. Looks like Dad.

DAY ONE: HALF MARATHON

Since I had my blackberry alarm on California time, our 2:45am wake up call on my phone translated to an 11:45pm alarm. That's right, screw jetlag, I had to get up when many of my friends in LA were still out at bars.

But getting up for the race was no problem. Adrenaline took care of that. We dressed and grabbed our bags, headed for the monorail that would take us to Epcot. For anyone thinking of doing any of the WDW races over marathon weekend, it's a bonus to stay at one of the hotels on the monorail (Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian) because you can avoid the parking fiasco (or having to deal with the courtesy buses).

Mom waves goodbye to the room

Monorail to the Start Line, 3:20am

We arrived at 3:30 and grabbed bagels at the race retreat. It was nice to get in the warm tent. The starting line temp hovered around 45 degrees - cold for this west coaster!

Breakfast in the Race Retreat Tent

It took about 35 minutes to walk a mile to the start line. There were 27,000 runners and walkers in the half marathon, and everyone seemed to want to go over at the same time. Chaos in the form of a crawling mass of people.

When we got over there, we entered corral D and met up with my good friends Brett (@runnintbird) and Chris (@Run2SaveLives). They, too, were doing the Goofy Challenge. I've known Brett since '08 when we did the Alaska Marathon together for TNT. And I've run under and coached with Chris for TNT since '07.

Us at the Start Line

Brett (@runnintbird) and Chris (@Run2SaveLives) at the Start

Gun time 5:35am! Fireworks for every corral! Disney knows how to put together entertaining races.

I prefer races that start with fireworks

Here is the course for the day. It was cold but mom heated up quickly. Holding a 12:00/mile pace, we made our way away from Epcot and along the flat road that leads us into the Magic Kingdom.

There is a lot of Disney course support (cheering, bands, music) along the way. And the first set of family and friends crowds gathered at the TTC at mile 3.5.

Transportation and Ticket Center

The Contemporary [California Grill dinner]

After a quick dip under the waterway of Bay Lake, we headed into the Magic Kingdom.

Entering the Magic Kingdom

We ran down Main St. and past the castle. We took a right toward Tomorrowland. These two miles are why you run the half marathon!

Tomorrowland

The Teacups, appropriately blurry

About to run through the castle!

We ran through the castle and into Frontier land around mile 6.

Splash Mountain

You exit the park around mile 6.5 from a staging area. Every year they park a pirate ship there, and people stop to take pictures with Captain Jack Sparrow. I should note that there are characters all along the course for pictures. We didn't stop though, I think Mom wanted to get the race over with!

From the Magic Kingdom, you head back to Epcot almost the same way you came. But before you get onto Disney World Drive (I think that's its name), you run past the Polynesian, the Grand Floridian (interesting fact: we ate at The Grand Floridian Cafe three times in five days!).

The Golf Course across from the Grand Floridian

Sun rising over the Polynesian

Mom started to get tired on the way back. We took some extra walk breaks and, like we always do, just kept going.

After scaling the overpass at mile 10.4, we entered Epcot for the final miles.

Heading into Epcot, final mile

Last Water Stop, Mom's ready to be done

Epcot Interior

I would not let her walk the last half mile. She may or may not wanted to disown (or unbirth) me right there. But my goal was for her to finish under 3 hours. With the help of MANY twitter friends, I cheered her on to the finish line.

Just .1 to go!

The Finish Line!

We finished in 2 hours and 55 minutes! Mom was happy, and even more than happy ... she was relieved!! Second half marathon in the books!

We went to the race retreat tent for a well-deserved breakfast.

Mom in the Race Retreat

I want to thank all of the twitter folks who cheered on my Mom at the end of the race. She flinched a smile through her grimace each time I read the supportive tweets. Thank you so much:

@melissaborek
@IronGirl11
@TurtlePower1
@DOllarBillRS
@bamabarbie06
@Jenna_Sangria
@davehewett1969
@ChrisHancock11
@teresapruns
@SeeSkibbaRun
@PalmettoRunner
@NYCe

...for your tweets to my Mom.

DAY TWO: FULL MARATHON

As I mentioned in my last post, Chris has a stress fracture in his tibia and could not run the full marathon. He was registered for Goofy long before the injury appeared, and he decided to complete the races. I decided to walk the marathon with him.

Since we would be completing the marathon much, much slower than our comfortable race paces, Chris decided to use the walk to kick off the Hope Next Exit raffle. As we'd walk, we would tweet our progress, take requests, and do whatever we needed to in order to raise money for Chris' personal mission to beat cancer.

I can't describe how deeply important this commitment is to my friend - I'm not even sure his own words can convey his determination. Sometimes words just aren't enough. He has very much dedicated his life to ridding the world of this disease, while (as a TNT coach) helping others discover their potential. And for that, I was grateful to be a part of another effort to raise money. That, and I'm one of the few people who can laugh with/at him for 6 hours at a time.

Thought about buying this outfit to wear for the race. Chafing inevitable

Chris thought about wearing his normal clothes

So another 2:45am EST alarm, and I'm off to the start line at Epcot. Brett - who would finish the race in a smoking, personal best 3:42 - met up with me, and we shared a blanket. Thank you Delta, and Colin (@runwicked) for the suggestion.

Brett and I as Running Red Riding Hoods

I bid goodbye to Brett (Corral B) and met up with Chris at Corral D. While waiting, we had the chance to see Lisa @bemadthen and Dre @drefrench as they got themselves ready for their race.

When Chris and I got into Corral D, we spent a great 15 minutes with Kimberly @kimberlyrunner who is one of the amazing runners I follow on twitter. K, it was a pleasure to meet you!

And then, fireworks! And the walk begins. Here is the course for the day.

Here we go again!

The Disney Characters bidding us good luck

So when you run a marathon, and its 39 degrees at the start, you wear clothing that you eventually shed along the first couple miles. Turns out, though, when you WALK A MARATHON you have no desire to strip down. I was in shorts and a tshirt and a blanket. Chris was in shorts and long-sleeves. We were so cold we could not tweet.

So as we walked along, and as other runners undressed, we started picking up the disgarded clothing ... and bundling up!

Thanks for the gloves, Stranger! Hope you don't have a communicable disease!

It was cold. We held a 15-minute walking pace (tough!) that we widdled down to 14 minutes as we booked it. And still, everyone ran past us. But we have no egos - just jokes.

Epcot before dawn

View from Mile 3

Chris used to be a club promoter. I believe Bruce Springstein sings about moments like these...Glory Days...

Chris + Disco = Crisco

The sun did little to warm our hands, which would act like claws until Mile 9 or so (2.5 hours into the race)

Mile 4 Sunrise (Epcot ball on the far right)

Around Mile 7, we started planning the two requests we had gotten from twitter world. For $150, our friends Lori @LJ3000 and Javy @javier1280 asked me to sing "Like a Virgin" (Madonna) as we walked. And for $100 Roz @rozbatson asked that I do 5 cartwheels in a row without taking out other runners.

Mile 7 - Me Planning my Cartwheels

There was a stretch along the course before the Magic Kingdom. And after a face-plant practice move, I went for it...and almost hit the pole.

After that embarassment, we booked it into the Magic Kingdom. By now (Mile 9) we are realizing just how tough it is to walk 26.2 miles.

Approaching Space Mountain, Mile 9

Again, this is why you run/walk this race!! It's a cool moment.

Main Street, USA - Magic Kingdom

After the Magic Kingdom, met up with my Mom, who fed us pretzels. After sleeping in and recovering from her race, she came out to support us at Mile 9 (TTC) and Mile 13 (Grand Floridian), and then met us at the finish line!

Mile 14

The course took us through a wooded section of the resort. So it was time for the next challenge: Singing Like a Virgin to a very silent marathon crowd. At least Chris and I had fun. And my apologies for your ears.

Clearly we kept ourselves entertained. And this entertainment included playing "Gotcha!" with the Port-a-Johns. When I snapped this picture, the girl next to me laughed. And another girl looked at me like I should be banned from Disney World:

Peek-a-Boo

We headed past the Waste Treatment Facilty - thank you, Disney, for once again showing me this - to the Animal Kingdom. Chris saw an owl he had to take a picture of ... as we all do during marathons.

Is it spelled "H-O-O" or "W-H-O"?

Through the AK we went. Donations started trickling in to Chris' TNT website. This became less of a race to 26.2, and more of a race to get $580 worth of donations via the raffle tickets.

So the hardcore tweeting began. My arch and his achilles were acting up. But like good endurance athletes, we bit our cheeks and danced/walked/hobbled along. It was around this point where we started running a bit. Though Chris wasn't supposed to run, the time on our feet (close to 4.5 hours now) was really affecting our legs. It was time to wrap up the day.

Mile 19 - Stiff Legged Dance

Donations began to pour in. To be in such a positive place, to be with such a great friend, and to be doing something to fight such a horrible disease made this whole experience untouchable.

And a HUGE THANK YOU to Lori @LJ3000 who, from across the country, spread the message through twitter and facebook, and gave up sleep to cheer us on!!

Tweeting to #beatcancer

Mile 23, donations coming in!

About 15 minutes later...

We did a 1-minute run / 3-minute walk through the last 7 miles. Lesson: It is VERY HARD TO RUN after walking quickly (13:55 pace) for 5 hours!!!

Our last request came from Fern, who donated to Chris and asked us to high five each other at Mile 26 and tell each other that 'we done good'. And that, we did!

For our cheerleader Fern (@sitbones): We done good.

The Finish Line

Upon crossing this finish line, Chris raised over $1000 to #beatcancer

Goofy Looking Walkers and their bling

We met up with my Mom and Javier at the finish. Javy was supposed to run Goofy as well, and his training was cut short by walking pneumonia. But his is a #beatcancer warrior with a huge heart, and though he couldn't do Goofy, he'll have plenty of energy to co-coach the 2011 Summer TNT Marathon Team in Los Angeles. And he'll do great!

So ended Goofy Challenge #2 for me - such a unique race experience that I will be forever grateful for living. Mom and I walked over to Todd English's bluezoo after the race. It is one of our favorite restaurants.

Sun setting over the Boardwalk, heading to dinner at bluezoo

We ate well. Here's the appetizers.

My Beet Salad at bluezoo

Mom's Scallops over Short Ribs at bluezoo

That night, we headed back to the hotel and caught the last sights of the Magic Kingdom water parade on Bay Lake.

Is that you, Chris?

And finally, we enjoyed an extra three days at the parks.

A non-race shot of Epcot

Toy Story Mania Queue

And I saw a place that was freakishly close to my LA home...

Toluca Legs Turkey Stand at Disney's Hollywood Studios

Rode the Tronorail

I told Mom that there was a cult following for Dole Whip treats. And, though she had never even seen one, she decided we had to have one. So after two days of scouring the parks, we found one, and ate one, right in our hotel. It was worth the hunt.

The rare and magical Dole Whip

Our final night found us at the Magic Kingdom, where we caught the tail end of an afternoon celebration.

Disney Parade, Old School Style

On our way out of the Magic Kingdom on our final night

We headed to the California Grill for dinner - another one of our favorite restaurants. And before we headed upstairs, I snapped some shots of the title mural on the Grand Concourse of the Contemporary Hotel. One of my friends, artist Bob Logan loves her work, and I promised I'd send him some pictures.

Shots of the Mary Blair Tile Mural in the Contemporary's Grand Concourse

Below are some (poor) snaps of our wonderful dinner at the Cali Grill.
It was a perfect meal to end a great week of vacation.

[Overexposed] Triple Cheese Flatbread with Tomato and Arugula Pesto

Conundrum, Rutherford 09 - slightly sweet

Hearts of Romaine with anchovies

Mom's Filet with Potato Grantine

My Scallops with Puree Root Vegetables and Apple Slaw

Pecan Tart with Chocolate Weapon and Maple Ice Cream

And the next morning, I hopped a plane to Los Angeles to restart life in the real world. Mom was unlucky enough to be stuck at Disney an extra day, care of a Northeast snowstorm that cancelled all the flights back home.

We tracked our mileage and food at Disney, and here are the final statistics:

Dinners:
Le Chefs France, France/Epcot
Artist's Point, Wilderness Lodge
Le Cellier, Canada/Epcot
Todd English's bluezoo at The Dolphin
California Grill, Contemporary

Miles Covered:
Friday: 7.1 walked
Saturday: 13.3 run and 5.0 walked
Sunday: 26.2 walked and 3.5 walked
Monday: 6.7 walked
Tuesday: 7.8 walked

Total: 69.6 miles in 5 days!

Thanks for reading about the weekend! For more information about Chris's personal mission to #beatcancer, check out his blog And for more information about my escapades ... well, keep reading this blog.

Going for Goofy Next Weekend

2011-01-02T20:08:00.001-08:00

My twitter handle @goingforgoofy was birthed in 2009 when I first completed the Goofy Challenge at Walt Disney World.

And I kept the name because, truthfully, I am a little goofy. And I search for some goofiness in everyday life. Sometimes I think a little more "sideways" than other people, and I attribute that to an innate goofy spirit.

Next Thursday night I will board a red-eye (#3 in 4 weeks!) to Orlando. I will meet up with my Mom (Hi, Mom of 2009!)

We will vacation for six days at Walt Disney World, and during our weekend there we will complete the half (together) and full (just me) marathon.

But this year's race will be different from any I've ever run. The half, as stated, I will complete with my mom. Together, I am confident we will do so in under 3 hours. Despite some setbacks in her training, she has put in the time and gotten the important long runs in. I look forward to our pre- and post-race retreat package as well! Mom and I do NOT skimp on anything when we go to Disney.

Up until a couple weeks ago, I'd planned on running Sunday's full marathon at a chill pace. It would be a cruising of 8:30min/mile or so with stops to snap pictures. But then my friend, Chris, had a setback in his training.

Chris was my first marathon coach, my recent co-coach and triathlon "advisor" so to speak. And most importantly, he is one of my closest friends. Living in California, away from East Coast-based family, Chris is one of the central members of my California adoptive family. This is a guy who took 5 days off work and family to travel to Idaho with me for my first full Ironman. He dealt with my psychosis as I grappled with 140.6 miles, and to this day, still deals with the fallout :)

For those of you who don't know why Chris's twitter name is @Run2SaveLives, please read. I cannot due justice to the reasons why he has dedicated his life to wiping out cancer. His own words - about his father, daughter and family - will shine some light on his quest. Post-Goofy, Chris will complete the 2011 Lavaman Tri with Team in Training on his way to full Ironman #3 - IM Wisconsin in September.

So when Chris fractured his tibia, and was banned from running - including the Goofy Challenge - I was bummed. But he decided to stick with the races, and is choosing to walk them. And I because friendship will trump footsteps any day, I am privileged that he's letting me walk the full marathon with him. No chill running. Just a day of booking it, step by step, through the Happiest Place on Earth.

We are both Team in Training coaches, and we guide half and full marathoners in Los Angeles along their own journeys. We advise experiences runners, novice athletes, runners, walkers, and anyone who wants to believe that they can push boundaries and change their lives. I'm excited to walk this marathon because, for the first time in my five-year running career, I will understand what it takes to "not run" a marathon - that persistence, drive and heart it takes to WALK the event.

I could not be more excited to get myself over to Florida. No doubt I will be on twitter all day with race reports from myself, my mom, chris and a host of twitter folks listed below. I look forward to meeting you all and sharing the 2011 Half/Full/Goofy Experience!

Tweeps at Disney - follow them for updates on the weekend!

Chad @unlessyoutri
Jennifer @jenn_if_er
Colin @runwicked
Kristin @kristincool
Javier @javier1280
Lisa @bemadthen
Andrea @drefrench
Bonnie @bonnieg88
Brett @mrbrettyoung
Stan @goofy57runner
Jefferson @therunningman23
Elizabeth @fiftyforbilly
Brian @RunJBadRun
Lee and Isis @RunningCouple
Michael @AZ_Michael
Kimberly @Kimberlyrunner
Lynne @duckyislost
Dee @deeFSU
Jenn @DisneyGirlinNJ

10 Miles in Connecticut

2010-12-30T19:51:00.000-08:00

The most serious charge which can be brought against New England is not Puritanism but February.
- Joseph Wood Krutch

I planned on a four-day vacation in CT to see my family, but the #snOMG storm of 2010 cut my trip short by a day. It wasn't the February grey I remember growing up under, but a couple days of chilly weather renewed my appreciation for Los Angeles.

Home

Thankfully, my mom and I planned to do her final long run for the Walt Disney World Half Marathon on Friday. We ran 10 miles around a nearby town that, according to my mom, is much flatter than where we live because it is in the CT River Valley.

I brought my blackberry along the two-hour run so that I could capture New England in the frigid (read: 30 degree) weather. Below are some of the shots I captured.

Half of our run took place at a new community trail along the CT River

The trail along the river and into the woods was mostly gravel - good for the knees

Where I grew up, this part of New England, is very quaint and congregational

Nature, up close

The Connecticut River

Open Spaces

We headed into a more populated area for a couple of miles before returning to the trail

We returned back to the car, conveniently parked at Panera. Bagels and coffee before heading home

Next weekend, my mom will run her second half-marathon. She started running about 6 years ago, and completed her first one, also at WDW, in 2008. After the half, and after I complete the full (more later on how I will be walking the full with my good friend, Chris), we will vacation at Disney for another couple of days. The perfect week!

20 Miles in the Rain!

2010-12-20T20:35:00.000-08:00

Encouraging folks to run long distances, like 20 miles, is a tough challenge. There are doubts, concerns, and fleeting worries that stand in the way of completing the goal. Throw in some insane California weather - Rain Rain Rain!!! - and it makes for a tricky Sunday morning.

But that was the challenge of this weekend. Our TNT folks training for the PF Changs Rock 'n Roll Marathon on the third week in January had a 20-mile run scheduled. I knew I needed to lighten the mood a little.

Across the twitter-verse, my friend Lisa was in Texas, longing to be in Los Angeles (don't know why though, given the rain!). I had joked a while ago that we should "Flat Stanely" her for one of our runs.

"The only way to have a friend is to be one." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

In the words of Joey Tribiani: "Put your hands together!"

So for our 20-mile workout from Santa Monica to Brentwood and back, we brought @bemadthen along for the ride! Below is the picture journal!

What a suprise, look who joined us!

Wow, look at the size of this Pringles can

Channeling Rhianna - Umbrella, ella, ella, ella...

Go Team! 4 miles to go!

Swim time!

Choppy Water in Santa Monica. Let's get back, BeMadThen!

Lori, Tom and Louise's victory tunnel

Westside!

Post Run Ice Bath!

For those of you who joined us on the journey via twitter, thanks for playing along!

2010 Honolulu Marathon

2010-12-19T19:51:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I was in Honolulu, HI to coach four Team in Training participants to their Hawaiian Marathon victories.

The best things in life aren't things. - Art Buchwald

It was an amazing day. I was joined by my close friend, Lori, who assistant coached the race for the seven hours we were out on the course. Lori is training for her own personal best marathon this January, and she is on track to be the top fundraiser for all Team in Training participants across the nation. Her story and her website is here.

Pictures speak a thousand words. So enjoy the ramblings below.

Hilton Hawaiian Village Lobby

View from our room - Upgrade!

Chilling by a palm tree 5 hours before our race day wakeup call

Two of the Four Superstars

The 4 TNT Superstars - $500,000 toward cancer research and a cure

The Starting Line Festivities

Mile 6, about to climb Diamond Head

Another view from the top of the volcano

Beauty of the course

Heading toward mile 9

Gorgeous Tree, Mile 18 or so

The "wow" moment - to be in this presence...

The sky as we climbed Diamond Head

Another sunrise shot, never gets old

Sky on fire

I call this the "Runrise"

Lighthouse at the top of Diamond Head

Silver Linings

Lighthouse at the top of Diamond Head

Mile 24 is a sweet view

View from Mile 25 - Top of Diamond Head

A Great Group of Marathoners in the Afternoon

A Great Group of Marathoners at Night

Me (in my Punk Rock Racing Shirt) and Lori celebrating the day at the Tapa Bar

Post-race eats! Ahi Sandwich

Pure Joy

2010-12-02T21:50:00.001-08:00

I’ve been in philosophical, writing mode for the last couple of posts. As a remedy, I invite you to meditate on an image I entitle, “Pure Joy”

Thanks, Mr. Huckabee, for the laugh.
I've had a couple of morning runs that feel something like this photo. But they obviously don't look as awesome.

I’ve started up my American River 50 training. The midweeks are simple: Tuesday – 9 miles. Wednesday – 5 miles. Tuesday – 9 miles. My weekend workouts range from 2-4 hours of running per day, though on Saturdays I tend to hit the bike for a portion. After the holiday break, I will be much more exclusive to the running gods. I’m psyched to get back on a schedule, as I haven’t really paid attention to one since IMCDA.

I’m running my midweeks at a 7:30-8:20 mile pace, between 5-10 miles. This week found me at around 8:20 for 10 miles and 7:50 for 5 miles. I’m not too concerned with pace, because the last time I training (Winter 2009/10) I was running a 9:30 pace, and we finished the 50-mile trek just under 10 hours. So, barring injury and illness, I’m setting myself up for another nice finish. The point of this race being completion, not competition.

Busy at work and with life, so little else to update on for now. Keep on soldiering on, my friends.

"Green and Blue" Friday

2010-11-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

Ever since I've lived away from my home in New England, I have returned for the few days allowed by the Thanksgiving holiday. But not this year. With a tight work schedule, and at the mercy of the airlines, I decided to remain in California for the break.

"There's a world out there, and you've got to look at both sides of the mountain in your lifetime."
-Bill Janklow

And if I'm going to do something different - it might as well be really, really different. While other took to the box stores in honor of Saint Black and his holiday, I traded the usual snow-covered lawns and mercury-plummeting temperatures for some milder weather and oceanic sights (oceans, mountains and valleys).

The blackberry cameras (mine and Brett's) could not capture the aura of the landscape along our 11.5 mile La Jolla/Sycamore Canyon hike. But nevertheless, here are some snaps from the day.

First part of the hike was through the flat basin. Very pretty trees. Lots of colors.

At the end of this section there was a fork in the road. We went left. The mountain bikers we met at the base of a hill we approached called it "Hell Hill". They told us it was about a tenth of a mile. They lied. It was almost half a mile and just under 1000 ft.

La Jolla Canyon trail marker and view of the valley from the top ridge

Rewarding views of Boney Mountain and the rest of the Santa Monica Mountains

We started to see the ocean to the West. So we went that way.

Made it to the ocean view

We descended a winding trail and ended up about a mile and a half north of our start point. The stretch of PCH we walked back to the trail head.

The Thanks-Giving Post

2010-11-24T10:44:00.000-08:00

We’re on that page of the calendar where we are reminded to be thankful for what we have…and perhaps what we don’t have. Family, friends, food and fortune all constants on what should be an ever-growing list of gratitude.

"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves"
- Sir Roger Bannister, first runner to break the 4min/mile barrier

It goes without saying, though I will type it anyway to set the stage for this post, that I am thankful to be able to run, and thankful for all that I have in my life that has come to me through running. Running itself, the movement and motion, I love. The friends I have gained through this shared passion are priceless. The places I’ve been (Hawaii and Alaska especially) that I have seen on foot are memories branded in my mind. The moments I’ve shared with people – from casual post-work jogs to final marathon miles – I would not trade away. And the sense of satisfaction I experience when I complete a workout that I doubted I could … that, too, gives me purpose.

I am thankful, and I am curious, too. I have been wondering lately: What if I couldn’t run? What if someone took away running from me? What would I miss? Well, the above recollections are just that, moments that have passed. Moments that no one can take away from me. But what of the future? What if you were told today to hang those shoes up by their laces and, essentially, sit your life still?

Some views, like this one from a team run in Palos Verde, CA, would not be imbued with the magic it is when seen on foot.

Some food, like the Egg eating the eggs on our Halloween Run, would not taste as good.

I might not speak as frankly as I do to others.

I would not get others to believe that they are capable of amazing things. And then we both lose out.

But maybe I would devote my life to something more … something better. I could volunteer more, write me, work more, and create a different kind of change. It’s an interesting idea to entertain in an alternate, surreal reality; to ask, who would I be if I did not run? And then deduce from that, who has running made me? And what have I made running? More than just the motion, assuredly.

Thoughts to chew on in between mouthfuls of stuffing.

Happy Thanksgiving, my first in Los Angeles. Pictures from tomorrow’s Topanga Turkey Trot 15K later on.

Cheers.

Unconventional Preparation

2010-11-18T10:33:00.000-08:00

As a sophomore in college, I had to complete a natural science class requirement. I’ve never been really passionate about sciences and math, so I took one of those fancy-pants humanities-type math classes called, “Introduction to Mathematical Thinking”. It’s the kind of class that should start with a hug and end with you looking in a mirror and saying, “Yes, I am special. Yes, I can do math.”

Okay, not really. But it was a soft class in my otherwise rigorous academic schedule. We learned about the history of cryptology, codes and World War II. We discussed math-as-philosophy and math-as-religion. And I even got to write a paper about math, which was a pun-filled punch piece called, “Seven Ate Nine.” My best friend and roommate, Darcy, loves it and, to this day, I send it to her on her birthday.

Why do I tell you this? It all comes down to the final exam of that semester. I don’t remember what we were being asked to answer. All I knew was that I didn’t want to study for it. I’d rather spend time living amongst my English-Film-Philosophy-History class notes than staring at numbers and graphs and funny symbols (no offense to People Who like Numbers).

So instead of studying, I took an unconventional approach to my exam preparation: I didn’t. I just didn’t study. At all.

And on the day of the test, I put on my giant, red hoodie – the kind of clothing that is socially acceptable only on college campuses and only before 11am – and jeans. I walked across campus with my iPod in my ears, and I played R. Kelly’s “Worlds Greatest” on repeat. Lyrical gems from that song include:

Yeah,Uhh...Uhh...Yeah...
It's the world's greatest, Yo.
It's the world's greatest. Come on.
World's Greatest, Ever.
-R Kelly

I bobbed and weaved my head along to the song, built up my confidence with Mr. Kelly’s melodic motivation, and took the test.

And I got an A.

Okay, so that’s not how it is supposed to happen. You aren’t supposed to mock a test and still get rewarded. As a (older, maybe-wiser) runner I now know that I can’t just show up to a start line, bob-and-weave to my music and expect to be a champion. There’s a lot more to a race – a test – than confidence built upon a 3-minute song.

But that’s not the point of this recollection. What I take from this tiny memory is that there isn’t always a singular way to success. I’ve training for marathons for years. I’ve trained for ultras, triathlons and century rides for a while as well. And frankly, the day-to-day and week-to-week has grown to be a bit formulaic and stale.

Right now, I have the Goofy Challenge on my schedule for the second week in January. I’ll run the half with my mom and the full with my friends. This will be my second Goofy. My first Goofy (2009) was a practice in disciplined training. I put in my workouts. I stayed strict to the schedule. And I had a wonderful time.

This time around, I’m playing it a little more fast and loose. I don’t have any time goals, and I refuse to put pressure on myself to get in “X” amount of training miles. Granted, I know I can run 26.2 tonight if I had to. But physical conditioning aside, I am at a point in my training life where I am loosening up the limits, the reins, the hard lines in the sand, if you will. I’ve spent a couple years pushing myself with the stiff stick of discipline. For the next two months, I am letting that rod bend. I am taking a chance and bettering myself by relaxing.

I will train, I know I will. I will get the time on my feet and put in the miles and make it happen. But I am not going to do so with any pressure. This is my “World’s Greatest” approach. This is the perspective I need at the moment, so that down the line, come ultra time, I can hone my focus back in.

Today I went out for an 80-minute run and came back with just under 10 miles on my legs. And part of those 10 miles were run to the tune of “The World’s Greatest” which, in turn, inspired this post and inspired me to embrace this philosophy through race day.

So here’s to unconventional preparation, and the road it will take me down through January. It’s an experiment in training and in life. And my goal is to just enjoy the nonchalance of fun running along the way. I’m sure I will report back the results of this approach, and I am crossing my fingers and hoodie-ing myself up with the hopes that I will get an “A”. But until then, I’ll just keep running and humming:

I'm that star up in the sky
I'm that mountain peak up high
Hey, I made it.
I'm the worlds greatest
And I'm that little bit of hope
When my backs against the ropes
I can feel it, mmm.
I'm the world's greatest
-R Kelly

Fear

2010-11-13T18:41:00.000-08:00

HIGH SCHOOL

When I was a freshman in high school, I had a horribly difficult experience in Spanish class. I was placed in a sophomore advance class (yes, yes, overachiever...) but was ill-prepared too take on the challenge. My professor, Mr. Tom Gray, dubbed himself "El Tigre" and prowled around the room practicing his Socratic teaching style. Each morning he would ask, in a threatening and comical tone, "Do you have any last words...in English…before we begin?"
It was a painful school year, but I learned more in that one class than I had in six year I'd been in Spanish classes.

For my college essay, I wrote piece that described how, despite my daily fears of being singled out and failing to answer the question correctly (oh, the horror!), I learned to choose trust over fright, and try to find my way.

“Just when it looked as though the world was about to implode, Mr. Gray gave a comical smile and remarked in our familiar dialect, I know it’s hard to learn a new language. But trust me, one day my drilling will pay off.” Out of half hearted faith and sheer terror, I trusted the lanky man. As the year progressed, I started noticing that he was sticking to his end of the deal. I began to catch some of his bulleted phrases, shooting some of my own answers back at him." - - excerpt from the essay

ADULT LIFE

I was lying in bed the night before Ironman Coeur d'Alene, and I was paralyzed with fear. Chris had dropped me off at my hotel, and I knew the next time I'd see him, we'd be driving to the start line. All I had left to do was to wait out 9pm to 3am in fear. I could not fathom the distance. I could not grasp that my 6-hr brick training had prepared me for workout that could last between 12-17 hours. The longest race, to that date, was my ultramarathon - and that was just under 10 hrs. Where was I going to find the strength the give that much more?

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. - Ambrose Redmoon

As athletes, we put ourselves into situations that pit us against "Overwhelming Obstacle X" frequently. Call it your first marathon, your first Ironman, your first 5K or your first bike ride. Call it an open water swim, or the open water swim washing machine. The mountain. The sharp descent on the bike. The tiny voice in the back of your head that tells you that you shouldn't be there. Everyone else belongs, but you.

After a couple of minutes lying in that hotel bed staring at motivational quotes and messages from my friends, I became very lucid. I realized that I was living a moment of facing my fear. I was feeling the fear, and I had the recognition to talk it down. Many times, I think, we don't realize that we have overcome something great until we are gifted hindsight. I was lucky enough to have an in-the-moment this-is-scary realization. It's awe-some ... I was in awe. And then, I slept.

And in the morning, I smiled. I swam, ran, biked, and smiled more. I enjoyed the 140.6 miles of defeating that doubt. And, as Redmoon so eloquently says, courage is not the absence of fear - we are never going to be without the fear of SOMETHING. There will always be monsters in the closet in the back of your mind. Sometimes they are in your face. But the recognition and realization that there are things - confidence, support, a mission, a dream, the potential for greatness - that are so very much more than the fear itself, is the victory. That is what courage is. That is what success is.

May your road wind you away from facing many of your fears ... but not too many. The Spanish language is beautiful. The views of Hayden Lake, Idaho are magic. The storm before the sunset is what gives the sky its color. Your list of what-if's and if-only's will be accomplished if you choose it see them through, but they will be all the more brilliant if they are shaded and toned with a touch of fear.

I Have Not....

2010-11-11T20:07:00.001-08:00

Running, biking and swimming are powerful actions, in that the rush of confidence and focus that provide during the workout and upon completion helps us, athletes, channel a level of greatness in the rest of our lives. Admit it: after a long run, a strong swim, or a killer bike ride, you feel like you can take on the world. Sometimes that world is "work life" or "family commitments" or "friendships". I think, at the core, that is one of the common threads among us endurance junkies: The proof that we can endure anything.

But there are these other things - goals, or what you will - that we have NOT done. We have NOT completed. We have NOT met...yet. Because much of the journey is in the experience and not the result, that is OKAY. It is OKAY to not know everything, have completed everything, achieved everything. Funny thing, the companyI work for just released a film the address what happens when someone gets what they want. Okay, so it is a "family film" ... but it is nevertheless an interesting notion.

So for you, dear reader and friend, and those who occupy both spaces, I give to you a list of my yet-to-do's in hopes that you can relate. And in the hope that you accept that just because you have not completed "X" yet does not mean it is not in your immediate or distance future.Not Yet Achieved...I HAVE NOT...

Completed an Ultraman

Qualified for the Boston Marathon

Written a book

Run a sub-20 min. 5K

Coached a Boston-qualifier

Run a sub-45 min. 10K

Had an office space (not cubicle) at work

Completed the Comrades Ultramarathon

Competed or completed in a 70.3 IM event

Won the affection of a man that wants to marry me

Broken the 12-hr Ironman finish

Started or completed a 100-mile run

...and these are in no particular order. And they are not my flaws. Each is a ray that makes up a sunrise of a horizon in my future.

Having an exciting destination is like setting a needle in your compass. From then on, the compass knows only one point-its ideal. And it will faithfully guide you there through the darkest nights and fiercest storms.
-Daniel Boone

A Quick Note to Friends

2010-11-09T22:20:00.000-08:00

NOTE: Updated with more photos!

Today’s short post has nothing to do with distance or speed or accomplishment. It has to do with the in-between. The moments and steps we share with others that propel us to personal records, amazing moments and perspective-altering experiences.

“What is uttered from the heart alone, will win the hearts of others to your own.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I have lived in California for, officially-as-of-August, 4 years. Funny, in the first 10 months or so, you would not believe I would have lasted in such a foreign country. There were too many non-protected left-hand-turns on the road, too many stilettos at lunch, and too many pairs of sunglasses hiding eyes...

But I am an endurance athlete. And endurance person. I endured. I learned that two cars go on the yellow and make the turn. That sneakers are okay for lunch...dinner and breakfast too. And that if you can get someone to take off their sunglasses, you already know them that much better.

I am better for it. I can unequivocally say, “I belong here.”

And I am better for it because of the friends I have made. I can only hope you, Dear Reader, can empathize. There are a few people in my circle who provide perspective, who make me feel comfortable on the West Coast, who know and love for me for who I am, as a runner, athlete, coworker … human. It has taken months, maybe years. But I very much love and appreciate them, too. I will not call them by name. It is not necessary. They know who they are. For you, Reader, for taking the time to read my words, and for you, Friend, who takes the time to share my life: Thank You.

I have no further insight. Just gratitude

Weekend Worked Out

2010-11-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

Santa Monica Pier
7 hours of quality training in this week. Quality for both mind and body. Nothing forced, nothing pushed, nothing cut short. Got done exactly as much as I wanted to, not a step more or less. This is something I can say rarely, because many times I do push too much or I sell my motivation short and cut out a workout (at least, recently I have). But this weekend the schedule seemed to come together comfortably. And as an athlete, that is all that I can ask for. Give me the opportunity, or let me create the opportunity, and I will aim to follow through.

Saturday consisted of a 3-hr bike at a zone 1 pace, which put me just over 50 miles in that time frame. About 2,500 feet of climbing, but my legs didn't really feel it. I followed it up with a 1-hr run at a 8:20/mile pace. Also light, but more of a zone 2-3 run because my body was worn from time in the saddle. Felt very good after this brick - felt like I was focused and in training again. I don't start up AR50 or IMCDA training for another 8 weeks or so, but putting in some longer workouts makes me think, at least a little bit, that I am laying a foundation for some serious focus and miles. Plus, always good to get used to time-in-the-saddle.

Sight of Sunday's Practice Start
Sunday's workout at 6:30am was with the team - I can't believe we are 16 weeks into the season. There were three options: 8, 16, and 20 miles to tackle, depending on which race participants are signed up for. Though I had the legs for the 20, I pulled back and stuck with a couple of participants going 16, and I'm glad I did. No need to overdo anything. My hips are a bit sore tonight from all workouts.

Where We Practice
The run was a slow pace for me, and my feet and legs are barking at me for the 3-hr left-right-left. But it was very important to me to see everyone who had never run 16 miles before finish this workout. These are folks who started the season not having run more than 3, 4, or 5 miles. It is a testament to their dedication. And I admire that.

Oddly enough, I've been snapping a lot of landscape pictures while out on my runs. Something about the sunsets is fascinating. So included for you are some SoCal sunrises and sets, and a couple of shots from along the route today.

It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment - Marcus Tullius Cicero

Rambling Week Update

2010-11-04T20:51:00.001-07:00

I’ve gotten back into my training this week, having logged just over 23 miles during my midweek runs. It’s about comparable to my American River workouts for most of that 3-month season. Daylight saving is plaguing me as it is plaguing most of you – my mornings are darkness and evenings even darker. I hate the bike trainer, so until I have to saddle up for IMCDA training, I’m laying off my bike workouts to the weekends. And the pool … well, I suppose the pool will always be there for me. But I can’t say I’ll always be there for it.

Speaking of weekends, I’m in late to work tomorrow thanks to a cool boss who is appreciative of “smart” working in place of “pretend working when nothing is happening.” So I’ll hit up the bike tomorrow morning for a ride before I go in. I’ll be staying late for some meetings, but a couple hours in the saddle will take the place of a night run.

Saturday is a bike day, and I hope to complete something in the 80-mile range. Warm temps and nothing-to-do’s have me stoked for an enjoyable ride. On Sunday, our Honolulu marathon participants are running 20 miles, and our AZ half and fulls are running 10 and 16. So I am bound for a fairly big mileage day and a fairly hearty breakfast afterward. This week, however, I won’t be dressed as an egg.

My fellow coach and I after our 12-mile Halloween run
Yeah, this is an update-on-me post that is kind of lacking in the philosophy department. All I can say is that I am happy to be running regularly. No injuries (knocking on wood) and no reasons not to. Today’s 2-a-day workout was a good reminder that I am lucky to be able to do what we do: run.

And as a runner, an athlete, a worker, a person ... I can ask only for the opportunity to find my potential, take advantage of opportunities, and "burn, burn, burn" so that I live my life to its max.

I want to be all that I am capable of becoming. --Katherine Mansfield

Coaching, and the Off Season

2010-10-31T21:51:00.000-07:00

I will admit that my posting has been sparse, but it is not because of a lack of motivation. In fact, I have embroiled myself in another project – potentially, someday, a novel which I will share with you. So my writing has been practice, but it has been on the offline pages of a cheap CVS notebook. A notebook that has brought me some great peace of mind.

But I do owe all those who read an update. And it has been a weird couple of months. Many of you know that I am coaching the winter season for the West Side Chapter of Team in Training, the marathon team. I don’t mention it all that often on this site, as I like to keep my personal and professional lives a bit separate. But TNT is a blend of those two worlds, so I figure it is okay to mention.

Coaching and not-training for myself is new territory. After CDA (which I am now over 4 months out of) is a different time. A different tempo. A different world. I don’t train for me. Very rarely do I run, or bike (or even more rare swim) with the intent of bettering myself. Right now my sole focus is my team. With my assistant coach, I have vowed to get each participant to the start and finish lines of their events.

Last weekend was the LA Rock n Roll Half Marathon, the first of three event weekends of the season. Half of our 50-person team competed and completed the event. Like a mother hen, I tried to watch over them– coach them – through the course. I am happy to say that all of our participants who started the race found their finish lines.

And along the way, I was gladly greeted by the faces of some West Side TNT alum – Marvin, Maura (who inspired me to post!), John, Byong, Bally and Amanda, among others. It was a great reminder of the “family” I have created for myself while living on the west coast.

That said, not training for my own goals is a bit of a challenge. I want to be faster, stronger, better, and more experienced. But week after week I am reminded of a cause greater than myself – beating cancer, teaching others, inspiring those who need some hope. Sure, I could improve my bike average from 17.4 mph to 17.6 mph with more training. I could run a 5K sub-20 mins if I really focused. But at the end of the day, my times mean very little. It is feeling of accomplishment among my athletes and friends, and the motivation to continue our quest that means more. Really, it does.

All that said, I have decided to take the Summer ’11 season off from TNT. It will be the first time in 4.5 years that I step back from Team. I will take a break from our cause (physically, though not emotionally or financially) and really evaluate my role as a coach/runner/fundraiser/advocate. In my downtime, I hope to inspire others in their quest. I will train for my own events with THE MISSION at heart. And with my own personal missions as well.

The minor details that I leave out are as follows: I am averaging 17.4mph on the bike without much work, though I have to keep it up 2x/week to maintain. I have managed a 7:40/mile pace as a steady state run, and I’m proud at my ability to hold that for +8 miles. If I were to race a half marathon, I’d like to believe that I could PR and break 1:45. I have not been to the pool in a while. Yeah, I don’t care much for it.

And I leave you with a quote that I have been re-reading for a while:

The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.
- Charles Swindoll

A Quick iPod Snapshot

2010-10-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

Ideas to fresh up the iPod Playlist...(here you go, Bonnie! Enjoy.)

The Expected (High Energy)
Jason Derulo – Ridin’ Solo
Matchbox Twenty – Let’s See How Far We’ve Come
Drake – Over
Flo Rida – Club Can’t Handle Me Now
Taio Cruz – Break Your Heart
Drake – Forever
Cee Lo – F You
DJ Khaled – All I Do is Win
B.O.B/Rivers Cuomo – Magic
Paper Tongues – One More Mile
The Who – Baba O’Reilly
All American Rejects – Move Along
Nelly – Number One
Fall Out Boy – Sugar, We’re Going Down
Coldplay – Viva La Vida
Jason Derulo – In My Head
Taio Cruz – Dynamite
50 Cent – Ayo Technology
Whitesnake – Here I Go Again
Linkin Park – Bleed It Out
One Republic – All The Right Moves
Kevin Ruldolph – I Made It
Iyaz – Solo
Jay Sean - 2012

The Unexpected (Surprisingly Motivational)
U2 - One
Sara Bareilles – King of Anything
Mumford and Sons – Little Lion Man
Go West – King of Wishful Thinking
George Michael – Faith
Rod Stewart – Rhythm of My Heart
Dispatch/One Fell Swoop - Elias
Marc Cohen – Walking in Memphis
Jon Bon Jovi – Blaze of Glory
Dashboard Confessional – Vindicated
Brooks and Dunn – Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy
OAR – Shattered
Styx – Come Sail Away
Coldplay – Violet Hill
Scarlett Pimpernel Soundtrack – Into the Fire
Our Lady Peace – Somewhere Out There

Warm Up/Cool Down (Low Energy)
Matt Nathanson – Little Victories
Matt Nathanson – Come On Get Higher
Eric Hutchinson – Rock and Roll
Five for Fighting – The Riddle
Beach Boys – Good Vibrations
Whitney Houston – One Moment in Time
Boyz II Men – I Will Get There
Tom Petty – Won’t Back Down
TI/Rhianna – Live Your Life
Bruce Springstein – Born to Run

An Evening Quote

2010-10-03T22:20:00.001-07:00

There is much to catch up on in the world of ultras/IMs/training. I've inadvertently gotten back into my training routine after a couple months of taking it "easy" so-to-speak. Spent 8 hours this weekend on some swim/bike/run stuff. All enjoyable, if not tiring.

I'll have more details in the coming week, but for now, a quote that I thought to be very poignant and relevant to the endurance world, and perhaps life in general, accompanied by a picture of the tree branches along my running route.

“Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.” - Anon.

Getting Wildwood

2010-09-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

I spend most Saturday mornings sitting in the saddle, climbing, cruising and pedaling around southern California on my bike. The distances vary, as do the locations. But the act of riding is pretty consistent.

Enter: Brett. Brett and I were TNT teammates together over two years ago when he lived out in LA. He's since moved to the midwest, but we've stayed in touch, and each time his work or family bring him out to SoCal, we make a point to see each other. Or, rather, he makes a point to see me, and I scramble to try and make time to hang out.

So with Brett in town this weekend, we took a hike up Wildwood Canyon in the foothills/mountains of the San Fernando Valley. Of course I could bump my bike ride (33 miles in 100 degree heat!) back a couple hours, and I am so glad I did. We spent 2.5 hours trailing up and down the mountain. Saw a deer, some lizards, and a lone tree at the top of one of the climbs.

I'm a creature of habit, intensely. But when I am goaded out of my shell and I change things up - like a cross-training hike - I am always glad I do it.

"It's fun to be a little bit different in the world, to make a few new trails of your own." -Dennis Weaver

Enjoy the pictures from Wildwood Canyon:

Snaps from this Weekend

2010-09-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

Taper weekend had me working out 6 hours over 2 days instead of 9 or 10. Felt kind of weird. But some pretty pictures came from taking it easy.

Saturday: Planned a 60-mile ride in the morning before going into work, but a flat tire along a new route set me back. I changed the tire but neglected to thoroughly check for thorns, and there was one stuck in that popped my only spare. A very lovely old man came by and insisted on helping me. Alberto, thank you. I headed home with only 30 miles in my pocket. Ran a quick 5.5 tempo run before heading into the office.

Sunday: TNT practice took me 9 miles (8 run / 1 walk) and followed it up with a 17.5 mile ride up Mandeville Canyon with my friend and future St. George IM-er Louise.

No huge numbers to report. Will save them for this upcoming weekend. In the meanwhile, I'm logging sub-8 min runs regularly. I have some fire in these legs.

Pictures from my climb up Griffith Park to the Hollywood Sign

Top of the Mandeville Canyon climb

Santa Monica in Fog

Inadvertant Taper

2010-09-17T19:31:00.001-07:00

A short, pictureless post is appropriate for this week - it's been insane at work and a bit busy in Team in Training world. Naturally, it's turned into a taper week because I haven't found the time to get as many workouts in.

I'm working the weekend, but can get in a fair amount of biking and running. Maybe some swimming! Hope to post some pictures this weekend!

I leave you with a comedic quote appropriate for Hollywoodland:

One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important. -Bertrand Russell

Hope

2010-09-12T22:04:00.000-07:00

The moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours. No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies before you, absolutely anything may happen. And the fact that it practically always doesn't, matters not a jot. The possibility is always there. ~ Monica Baldwin

Reminder: You Bring This Upon Yourself

2010-09-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

There will be days in the future where I bitch and moan about my training schedule. I will whine about some part of the sacrifice. What I had to give up in order to achieve my goals.

That is when I will revisit this post. This is my choice. The pain. The glory. The test of what is truly inside of me.

The day after my birthday - the first day of the new year - I will return to Sacramento. And next June, I will return to the shores and streets of Idaho.

American River 50 Miler - April 9th, 2011:

Ironman Coeur d'Alene - June 26, 2011:

There is more to us than we know. If we can be made to see it, perhaps for the rest of our lives we will be unwilling to settle for less. -Kurt Hahn

Persistence

2010-09-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

Your decision to be, have and do something out of the ordinary entails facing difficulties that are out of the ordinary as well. Sometimes your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay with it longer than anyone else.

-Brian Tracy

More Open Roads

2010-09-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

I went running with my mother this morning and brought my phone along for some more pictures of Connecticut.

The Lake. It's still there.

Beginning of our run

Colors of summer along the way

Signs of old New England

I think that I shall never see
A billboard lovely as a tree.
Perhaps, unless the billboards fall,
I'll never see a tree at all.
-Ogden Nash

Back to LA this weekend.

Open Roads

2010-09-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

I have taken a long holiday from Los Angeles and traveled back to Connecticut to visit my parents. The downtime have given me the opportunity to run and swim at my leisure along the roads and in the lake where I grew up.

When I grew up here in the 1980s and 1990s, the town consisted of 4,000 people and one stop light. Today, it's about 6,000 people and three stoplights - the two recent additions were not here last Decemeber.

A quiet, country town with its open spaces and leafy canopies - this is my gym for the week. I went on a recovery run with my phone and took some pictures along the route. My phone's camera could not capture the picturesque landscape as it were in reality, so these little pixels are all I have to share. Here it is: rural Connecticut.

The lake in our backyard- great for an open water swim

The Shady Running Route

The opposite side of the lake

Blish Park - the site of childhood sandcastle contests

The Marlborough Barn - the town's most famous landmark

Saddler's Pond and Local Store - New England at its quaintest

From the porch, looking up

"And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything." William Shakespeare

15 Songs To Push Yourself To

2010-09-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

Half of my running workouts I do with my iPod. So I spend a good couple hours a week plugged into the music as I bob and weave alongside traffic or down the park trails or up some hills. After years of listening to the same music in the same order (once again, hello compulsiveness!) I’ve recently embraced the “shuffle” function for each of the four playlists I run to.

The list I keep going back to these days is my pre-IM one. The day before the race, Chris and I sat in the Java Coffee house in downtown Coeur d’Alene. I think I ended up lying around on their comfy couches for at least 2 hours. With my giant headphones on, I played this set of tunes over and over again.

Music should be something that makes you gotta move, inside or outside. - Elvis Presley

Now these songs are imbued with even more memory and context. Fragments of lyrics speak to me. They are mantras. I mutter a lot of Drake’s words when I need to push myself. I quoted Rhianna and Drake on facebook in the early morning hours that Sunday. U2 reminds me of the swim. I associate it with liberation, freedom and feet in my face. Taio Cruz was the last artist I heard before heading to the beach. He was my sendoff guy. I still dig the song. I sang Magic to myself in the final miles of the bike. And, as usual, I sang One More Mile during the last three miles of the run. Sun setting, fans cheering, abs aching and smile stretching across my salty face.

No wonder I keep going back to it.

Music is personal, of course. And I’m first to admit this isn’t the most musically insightful collection. This isn’t “art” per se. But they get me moving and that’s what counts. Maybe these songs will work for you, maybe they won’t. If you are looking for a little variety in your digital world, here are some high-energy selects for you:

Heart of a Champion - Nelly
Find Your Love - Drake
Got Money - Lil Wayne
I Made It - Kevin Rudolph
Beautiful Day - U2
Ridin’ Solo - Jason Derulo
Solo - Iyaz
Dynamite - Taio Cruz
Magic - B.O.B featuring Rivers Cuomo
Happy - Leona Lewis
Trinity - Paper Tongues
Run This Town - Rhianna/Jay-Z
Over - Drake
Forever - Drake
One More Mile - Paper Tongues

Wasted

2010-08-29T20:44:00.000-07:00

Provactive title, no? Well, at least I hooked you for a moment. Until I tell you this isn't about booze, it's about being tired. Okay, half of you, see you later!

For the rest of you...

I’m not the hardest working athlete out there. Far from it. And I’m not here to convince you otherwise. Wouldn’t matter anyway. Endurance athletics – the running, the swimming, the biking, the hours, the miles … all of it, are personal. Incomparable to others on many levels, despite the numerous times we reveal our race finishes.

Anyway, I start this post with that caveat because I’m tired. Exhausted, actually. My hip is sore when I press on it. My legs don’t really want to run. And my brain is tired of staring at my Garmin.

Why? Because for the last eight days, I have pushed myself. “Crash Training” sort of. Not volume for me, but for pace. I’ve pushed my limits a bit this week with the aim of making pace/speed gains in the coming weeks. I don't have a defined goal in mind, but it would be nice to hold a 7:40/mile pace for 10 miles. Abstact maybe, but I think it is attainable.

It started with the Cool Breeze Century, and finishes with today’s run. Sure, I didn’t put in huge distances (no run over 13, no bike over 50 post-Century). But the little pushes, little forces, add up over the week’s end.

And at the end, I’m feeling it.

So I offer to you a peek at the past week’s work – a summary of the eight days that have brought on this mini-exhaustion. What my life is like outside of the moments you see me, work with me, or read my tweets. Emily-on-the-daily.

My drive home. The daily commute
Granted, my day job (approx 10 hrs/day) has not been crazy. And our West Side Team in Training team has settled into a nice rhythm. So I’ve been able to fit this all in without sacrifice.

WORKOUTS:

Saturday 8/21 – Cool Breeze Century
Bike: 101.3 mile / 6:10:20 /16.4 mph with about 5000ft gain

Sunday 8/22 – Long Training Day
Ran 12.2 miles / 1hr 55 mins
Walk 4.2 miles / 1hr 17 mins
Swim .9 miles/ 30mins

Monday 8/23 – Recovery Run
Ran 3.6 miles / 30 mins / 7.2 mph

Tuesday 8/24 – Brick Workout
Bike 22 miles / 77 mins / 18.1 mph / 4 hill repeats
Ran 2.5 miles/ 20 mins / 7.5 mph

Wednesday 8/25 – 800 Meter Repeats
Ran 5.1 miles / 44 mins / 7.5mph

Thursday 8/26 – Two-a-day Recovery Session (AM/PM)
Ran 3.25 miles / 30 mins / 6.5mph
Biked 11.1 miles / 40 mins / 16.6mph / two hills loops

Friday 8/27 – Tempo Run
Ran 8 miles / 1hr 3mins / 7.6mph

Saturday 8/28 – Long Training Workout
Bike 46.14miles/ 2.6hrs / 17.9mph with about 2500ft gain
Ran 8 miles / 1hr 6 mins / 7.2mph

Sunday 8/29 – Team in Training Practice and Lactic Acid Workout
Ran/Coached 2.5 miles / 25 mins / 6 mph
Ran 9.55 miles / 90 mins / 6.5 mph
Walked 3.3 miles / 56 mins / 3.5mph
Swim 2000 yard / 40 mins

TOTALS:
Time: 22 hours
Distance: 244 miles
Calories: 5.6 lbs

Looking at these totals and at the summary of the week (by the way, I never analyze it in this form…), I think my sleep and nutrition are the culprits of my exhaustion. I haven’t tweaked my food or sleep in any meaningful way, and I should have. When you push more, you require more – more of everything.

DIET:

My breakfast has been cereal, coffee and a bagel thin (those skinny bagels) since work has limited scrambled eggs to once a week. (Note: my work provides me free breakfast. It is where I make up a lot of my paycheck, usually in the eggy form.)

My view from breakfast
My lunch is the same every day, in a compulsive kind of way: Cucumber, tomato, cheese, mustard and arugula on two pieces of pretzel bread, and a Caesar salad.

My dinner varied, but mostly revolved around lettuce and Paul Newman’s delicious salad dressing.

I snack throughout the day, as our PA can tell you. I eat nuts, crackers, trail mix, fruit and the occassional piece of chocolate.

SLEEP:

I sleep 5-6 hours a night, depending on the day. Sometimes 4 (if work is busy) and sometimes 7 if I miss my alarm.

Clearly I am no model of perfection-as-an-athlete. Maybe there isn't such a thing for us amateurs and age groupers. I'm not paid to compete. I do it for ... well, "fun" is not the right word. But I'm sure many of you know what the actually means.

But I also recognize that I’ve got work to do if I want to be a great athlete. So going into this upcoming week, it’s my goal to get some more protein into my diet. Drink more water. And when I return to CT for a 6-day vacation over labor day, sleep is a huge priority. As is spending time with my parents, of course.

Until the next lightning stroke of inspiration has me writing up a storm, may your workouts bring you happiness.

Final Thought:“Sometimes the most urgent thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest” - Ashleigh Brilliant

Cool Breeze Century Ride 2010

2010-08-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

A recap of the Cool Breeze Century Ride up in Ventura, CA. Thanks to the Channel Islands Bike Club for putting on the event.

Friday Night:

As work was winding down Friday afternoon, I started to have some event jitters. Predictable. I always get them. Mostly, I fight an internal urge to just stay home and stick to my routine - running or biking my normal routes. But these jitters were centered around my recent crash, I think. I'd run all week. I avoided my bike. Hadn't ridden since Saturday's 40-miler.

So I decided best thing to do would be to head to the park after work for two sunset loops up and down the hill. The same loop I crashed on. Face the fear, and keep on going.

Once I got out and there going, I found my stride (or pedal... push... rotation... whatever), and 11 miles later I was ready to pack it up for Cool Breeze.

Saturday 4am:

Alarm Clock. Coffee. Toast. Gear. Drive the 101 for an hour.

Saturday 5:30am:

Checked in and met Chris in the parking lot. His team left from their hotel, but since he was on a tri bike (and too fast), he didn't ride with them. We checked in, drank coffee, waited for the start.

Imagine the peacefulness of a quiet parking lot at dawn. Now imagine the TECHNO MUSIC that he's blasting from his car. Can you see the grin in the car reflection?
At 6:35, we set off for "an easy 100" as was described to the twitter community. It's cold, maybe 60 degrees (cold for californians!). The sniffles set in for a couple of miles.

The Starting Line

Miles 1-30:
The course takes us north along a bike path and then spits you out on an extremely uncomfortable, unpaved piece of gravel known as the 101 highway.

It was like riding a jackhammer (that's what she said). So bumpy that I lost the barplug that got loose from my accident. Nevertheless, after 14 miles along the gorgeous, albeit marine-layered coast, we headed inland to smoother streets.

Map of the entire route - 102 miles through Carpenteria, Santa Barbara, Goleta, Summerland and Ventura
We were definitely pushing the pace for the first 30 miles of the ride. Averaging somewhere in the 18-19mph zone on the flats (of which there were many). We skipped the first stop at mile 14 and went right on grinding away.

At one point early on (mile 25?) a pace line past us in poor form. They swarmed. So Chris attacked. He hit the pedals and re-passed them at about 25 mph. And little, old me was left to ride behind their line for a while. Once I hit a wide stretch of road that was safe to pass, I played catch up to Johnny Rocket and caught back up with him a 5-10 minutes later. The nickname jackass may or may not have been uttered. Or yelled.

Miles 30-54:

The second rest stop was right after mile 34. And that's when the hills showed up.

Elevation Map. Notice the "bump". Also know as a "bitch"
The course was advertised as a 3800ft gain for the century, but my Garmin made the case for 5000ft total at the end of the day. I'm inclined to believe my watch, and my quads, may they rest in peace.

Mission Canyon
Lots of climbing through the middle section of this part of the course. It was then that I decided to play idiot biker and start snapping pictures on the move. My apologies for my negligence ... but you're welcome, for the shots.

The two major climbs we hit were close together. The first was through a field-like area. Reminded me of Idaho. It was three "turns" up. So you climb, then flatten out and turn and face another hill...and repeat once more.

The second section took us through a State Park area. From the top you could see down into the valleys and to the marine layer that still covered the ocean.

Top of Mission Canyon
The descend was pretty amazing. Switchbacks around tight corners and past beautiful houses. Not unlike Latigo Canyon in Malibu. Saw some big ass wild turkeys. I didn't take a picture because I was eating a Clif Bar. So here's a picture of a Clif Bar.

Yum
We came back down to sea level, and before we hit the lunch stop at mile 54, we rode the section that the race organizers described as "junk miles." Those flat, uninteresting miles that we needed to do to hit the 100 mark.

Fortunately, they were flat and deserted, so I took a couple photos.

Wide Bike Lanes!
<Empty Streets
Fields
Mountains
Chris over my shoulder
We got to the Goleta Rest Stop in 3hrs and 20mins. Although it was somewhere in the 10am hour, it was still time for lunch. And by lunch, I mean cookies and a PBJ sandwich for me. And by lunch, I mean this delicacy for Chris.

2 sandwiches, a cookie, brownies, tomatoes ... and olives
Though we had gone fast early, my legs were holding up nicely. Happy to report that Latigo and Griffith Park training had served me well. Most of the course was flat or downhill from here on out. Time to go back to Ventura.

Somewhere in that man there are olives and chocolate in very close quarters

Miles 45-85:
This is the fun part - through Hope Ranch and Santa Barbara. The course winds up through the archway-gated community of Hope Ranch. I think Oprah has a house here. It looked like a giant resort. Very beautiful, very un-LA.

Nice stretch of road inside the community
Pretty sights
Chris over my shoulder
From here, the course hooked up with Cabrillo Drive, which is a familiar stretch of road right along downtown Santa Barbara. Not only is it a busy and popular stretch of street, but it is also the Santa Barbara News-Press Half Marathon course which we've run and coached at.

From Cabrillo Drive, we hopped onto the bike path that runs past the Four Season.

To the right, ocean. To the left, swankiness
More clouds over the shoreline. It's about 11:30am by now
After another quick rest stop at mile 70ish (for phone calls and cantalope), we head to the final rest stop. Between miles 70 and 84, Chris found some "energy" and motivation to pass along messy pace line and jerk cyclist. He took off. Fast. Once I got around said paceline/jerk, I took off. This time he got farther away from me, and I chased for a good 8 miles.

I uttered another "jackass" to Chris, but upon hearing his reasoning for taking off, my wide eyes were settled. He passed the jerk to send a message. Message sent. We resumed our casual pace to the final rest stop, mile 90. The popsicles there were okay. Not great, but okay.

Miles 90-101.3:

The final, largest straight stretch of the course runs alongside the 101. With big trucks, speeding cars and all. Though there is a definite bike lane, breakdown lane, and cushion to move around a bit, it is still a bit unnerving to bike.

And our nerves were not without merit. Unfortunately we passed a very bad accident between two Cool Breeze riders (about 20mins ahead of us) and a semi truck. One of the big ones. Reports I've read say the truck inexplicibly (at time of reporting) veered into the bike lane. It did not make contact with the riders, but caused one rider to veer to her right and slam into her partner. They hit the guard rail. Broken bones and head injuries, but very, very thankfully no injuries. UPDATE: The Ventura County Star reports that the truck did make contact with one of the riders. Thankfully, they are both recovering and in good condition.

When we passed, I couldn't look directly at the scene. I know there were stretchers and people lying down, eyes closed. It was a huge bummer and pit in my stomach to end the ride that way.

Finish and Post-Ride Grub:

We crossed the line at 6hrs 10mins and 37sec, although it's an arbitrary time since it's not a race and we were not racing. Just out for that easy 100-miler.

Chris' family greeted us at the finish and snapped some pictures. I quickly found food and dove into my favorite salad.

I have a favorite salad, Cesaer, and I will eat it under any circumstance
All in all, a very fun day. Love the early start because it means I have the rest of the day to catch up with the real world. The course was a bit hilly in sections, but the views were worth the challenge - as they always are. I felt really prepared and never hit any low moments. I'm happy with a 16.4 average. Did it faster than last year, by 0.4mph, so that's a tiny victory. And that I am healthy and capable and got to spend the morning in good company will always be celebrated. Thanks for a great ride, Chris!

After downing the grub, I packed up the car and headed back to LA (traffic very easy despite the mid-afternoon rush).

Sunday Post-Race:

Sunday was a long day, including three workouts. 7.5 miles with the Team in Training group out in sunny Santa Monica. Coaching pace dictates that I go from a 9min/mile to a 19min/mile over the course of the workout. Was nice to shake the legs out. No ill effects from the ride.

After the Team workout, I headed to Griffith Park for a dusty, sand trail run in 94 degree heat. It's good for my soul, I tell myself. My throat begs to differ, and for water. Ran 9 miles at a 8:49/mile pace felt good for the first half and tough for the second. Sun+sand=tiredness. But I could have said "No, not today" and I didn't. I chose to face the workout. Got it done.

Jumped in the pool after the trail run. My rib, which bothered me only slightly during the ride and run today, spoke up loud and clear. Little yells from the ribcage during 1500-yard mini-workout. Resting it tomorrow.

A very productive, high-mileage weekend. And I leave you with a picture of the three-layered tan as proof:

Didn't Right Said Fred say 'I'm too sexy for my tan lines'? No? Oh.

Planning and Priorities

2010-08-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

I was reading through some archived posts over at Loving the Bike. I found Darryl's blog through twitter, and it has become one of my favorite reads and resources for all things cycling.

I was really engaged by the “Priorities” post from July, not only because time-management has been on my mind, but also because there was an awesome poster at the bottom, courtesy of Despair.com

I love that poster's quote. And I’m about to go to lunch and map out a hypothetical AR50/IMCDA spring training plan for myself. Still haven’t signed up for AR yet, but this is another step.

The Invincible Idiot

2010-08-18T10:55:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I wrote a post describing the final, long bike ride I would complete before the Cool Breeze Century Ride. I posted pictures of the Pacific Coast Highway, and shared with certainty my intent to ride all 90 miles along the coast.

And then Thursday night, 36 hours before ‘pedals up’, I got into a bike accident. More specifically, I caused a bike accident.

Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth. -Mike Tyson

The details: Thursday night I got out of work with just enough daylight left to take to the park for a quick hill workout. I planned to scale the 600ft climb three times on my bike to get some quality quad-shredding in. The loop that includes this hill traces the park and the LA Zoo right alongside the road and is just over 5.5 miles. I normally ride it in about 18 mins and 30 seconds.

Well, on Thursday I wanted to push myself a little faster. I hit the road around 6:30pm and logged the first go ‘round in 19 mins. A good warm up. I blasted out the second loop in 18:17. A nice increase despite some protests from my legs.

I set out to do the third loop in under 18 minutes. Why not? What’s the harm in pushing a little harder … she asked herself about 2 minutes before the crash.

See, along this loop there are multiple stop signs. And to the invincible idiot riding a bike around them, they are just suggestions. Yes, I was being one of the arrogant, annoying LA bikers who cruises along with only a shrug toward safety and the law.

About one mile into the final loop, I raced around a corner at 25mph. I was grinding and smiling. I saw a stop sign ahead at the four-way intersection. I figured I would just ride through it with the cars that were going straight, in the same direction I was.

I took a gamble that the timing would be right.

It was not.

Sort of what the accident looked like...minus the mountains, mountain bike, flying off cliffs and sunshine

About 10 feet in front of the sign, I saw the car. It was in the opposite lane, heading toward me. It turned left, crossing my lane, as it headed into the parking lot to my right.

I grabbed my brakes hard. Fishtailed. I knew it was too late just moments before I slammed into the hood and bumper of the car. Over it I went! 25mph to 4mph in 6 seconds. My garmin confirmed it. And the 15 other cars at the stop sign also bore witness.

I went tumbling, lost my bike (unclipped somehow) in the process, and scratched up a poor, unsuspecting teenager’s car. It was admittedly and clearly my fault.

But I was very lucky. I got up, a little in shock, and checked myself out. No major cuts, road rash or bones sticking out. I looked fine. Though I hit my head, my helmet protected me. I got my bike. Looked basically untouched. The bar plug popped out, but I popped it back in.

The driver emerged, and a cop joined us. But she didn’t want to exchange insurance info (despite my insistence) and the cop said as long as there was no damage or injury we could do whatever we want.

So I bid her a better evening, got on my bike, and kept riding. 10 minutes later I got back to my car, called my friends and (at Chris’s urging) went to the ER – checked out clean, no broken bones or concussion.

Suffice to say the experience left me a little surprised and sore. So I chose to skip PCH on Saturday and bike closer to home. The whiplash from the smackdown, plus some rib bruising, cut short my 90 mile ride to just 40 miles. But I was okay with that – I brought this on myself.

In the past week I’ve dealt with some lingering rib pain, but little else. I was able to run 21 miles Sunday and 13.5 miles Tuesday. In fact, this accident has allowed me to get back in touch with my running roots and routes a little more than normal.

I can’t swim yet, but will hit the pool next week. I’ll get back on the bike for one last pre-century ride tomorrow morning, just to make sure I can still stay balanced and safe on two wheels. I can, of course. It’s a mental workout.

And what lesson do I learn from the crash? Slow down. Don’t be an idiot. My boss's advice?

"Maybe you should take some time off working out. Go home and eat a pie.”

Yes, I walked away relatively unscathed. Yes, it could have – should have – been much worse. I think I’ve spent my get-out-of-jail-free card. I can’t count on any more of those. Safety is going to take a front seat for a while, perhaps at the sacrifice of some speed.

Here’s hoping all goes smoothly this weekend and I return to LA with a few pictures of beautiful Santa Barbara/Summerland/Goleta.

This Weekend's Peak Ride

2010-08-12T13:09:00.001-07:00

I get up every morning determined to both change the world and to have one hell of a good time. Sometimes, this makes planning the day difficult. — E. B. White

I am staring at the final peak bike ride before Cool Breeze. It will be a 95-mile or 6hr trip out in Malibu on Saturday morning. Though I’ve done many workouts in the 5+ hour range, I’ll admit this one is definitely one of the longer ones. And writing about it here helps me commits to and focus on getting it done. Not sleeping in. Not forgoing the magic in those miles.

So how do I go about preparing for the 6-hour, Saturday sacrifice? Well, first, I stop thinking of it as a sacrifice. It’s a celebration. My legs work, my lungs work, my bike is in good shape, and I’ve got a chance again to ride one of the most beautiful stretches of pavement in the country. That trumps a 4am alarm clock buzzer and Westside traffic any day. I’ve got as much time as I need to tour the Pacific Course Highway and people-watch.

I’ve decided to start at Pepperdine, head north to Latigo canyon and climb that first. It’s a winding 10-mile 2,000ft ascent through some amazing vineyards and valleys. There’s a 3-mile descent down Kanan Road that I don’t love as much as the climb, but it’s always cool to hit about 40mph on the bike. Just got to watch out for rocks.

After Latigo, I will continue north past the Three Bitches – which are much harder to come back on – and past Zuma Beach (below). Won’t be too many people there on my way out. Many more beach goers and triathletes will populate the parking lot on the way back.

Past Zuma, I go north along a quieter stretch near Sycamore Canyon, the giant sand dune, Pt. Mugu and Thornhill Beach. Past the Big Rock (below) that sticks out over the ocean. I love this part – it’s always so calm and quiet, and the bike lines are generously wide.

Past the rock a couple miles is the La Posas exit. I’ve never gotten off the highway and continued further into Ventura County, so that will be a part of my adventure this weekend. I’m not sure where the road leads but it looks like mostly flats and farmland (below). I’ve seen cyclists coming back on it, so it’s probably pretty ride-able.

When I turn around, I’ll head back to Zuma after this, do one more loop to the Las Posas exit, and make the 25-mile trek back to Pepperdine. Well, that’s the plan at least.

I’m prepared for a little bit of mental resistance – the same I had last weekend. But I know to just keep pedaling. No matter how slow, how frustrating, just keep moving forward. The early climb up the canyon will help counteract the part of my brain that says, “Stop now.” I love climbing mountains.

I sometimes regard this marathon-length training sessions as my own little crusades against complacency. The goal is always to finish, and the aim is to finish feeling a little bit stronger than yesterday. I like knowing that I’ve put the effort in, and that the strength I will gain from these campaigns is earned. I’ve been training , semi-focused on Cool Breeze, for months now. Sometimes tedious. Sometimes thrilling. And all very real. A slice of life on two wheels.

Here’s hoping for no flat tires or spirits.

The Gray Ride

2010-08-07T22:19:00.000-07:00

A couple snapshots from my bike ride along the Pacific Coast Highway this morning are peppered through this post.

The Churning Waters of Malibu, CA

Got myself up at 4:30am to head out to Malibu for a 6:15am start time. It was a chilly 61 degrees at the start of the ride, and that definitely affected my mood. I was riding solo, a little tired from two Friday workouts where I pushed my pace. I wanted to ride, but the reality of a long day was dawning on me...appropriately at dawn.

From Big Rock, looking south toward Thornhill Beach in the distance. Mile 24.6

To step back for a moment. Had you asked me 4.5 years ago what I'd be doing with my life, "biking Malibu at sunrise" would not have made the list. As an east coast transplant and someone who hates the timed mile, it's still a wonder to me that I am here in Los Angeles. That I am challenging myself to long distances. That I am actually pursuing that Hollywood dream.

These thoughts cropped up during the first 25 miles of the ride, and made it a challenging one. Any time you question your potential and ability/ambition to live up to it, you open a can of worms. Big can. Lots of worms.

But at mile 24.78, I packed away the can. I decided to embrace the life I had laid out in front of me today. All 56 more miles of it.

Marine Layer over the Mountains of Ventura, CA. Mile 55.

I completed a couple loops - along one of the most beautiful stretches of highway in the country - in 4hrs and 41mins. I went almost 82 miles. And then I swam 3K. Because I could. Because this is my California life. Some days it's gray and I question how the heck I end up here. But most of those days, I can pull my head from the clouds with some affirmation that the marine layer of life will burn off, and I will truly find my place on the road.

Finish Line of Today's Ride

Final Thought:

"Even when it's raining, it's still fun." -Stone Gossard

So What’s Next? Not an Easy Answer

2010-08-06T14:16:00.000-07:00

It’s funny the way endurance training works. You’re forced to plan 1 or 5 or 12 months ahead of your race in order to prepare. The question of “What’s Next?” requires just as much math as is does consideration of personal ambitions. The calendar only has so many months, and it can be a tricky dance between what I want to take on versus what I can realistically manage.

Since we are inching out of the summer of 2010, I’ve started to piecemeal a race schedule together for next year. I’m already signed up for the Goofy Challenge – where I will run the half marathon with my mom (followed by Disney vacation!) and the full alongside some good friends and twitter folks (@goofy57runner @MrBrettYoung, @maddyhubba, @jenn_if_er, @petfxr … and others. Please @reply and let me know if you are going!)

But this schedule looks beyond Goofy (January 8th and 9th, 2011) to the summer season. Why so far out? I only have two races on my radar. Two big ones.

American River 50 Miler April 2011

Ironman Coeur d’Alene, June 2011

Both of these races are cornerstones of my personal athletic life, and of this blog. I am officially signed up for IMCDA 2011. In truth, I’ve been signed up for a while (two weeks after I completed it this year), though I kept this information to myself in case I thought it an impulsive decision and I wanted to back out. I have decided it is not.

I will train to be a repeat Ironman. I can’t expect to capture the awesomeness that I experienced during my time in Idaho this year. But I will train with the hopes of creating equally awesome memories next June.

The AR50 is the wildcard in my schedule. Also happens to be the day after my birthday. It’s a sentimental race for me. It was my first (of two) ultramarathon. It was proof to me that I could accomplish something I really wasn’t sure I’d success at. It taught me Focus. Persistence. Patience. Returning to the beautiful American River course in Sacramento would mean tapping into those treasured disciplines again.

The debate I am waging – to sign up for the AR50 in addition to my day job, training for the IM and coaching TNT – is a very careful one. I’ve never had to so thoughtfully consider my race schedule and how it affects my life. Maybe this is a sign that I am finally an adult (…who still eats Dunkaroos).

The volume of my day job is greater than it ever has been, which is a good thing for me professionally.

The time I dedicate to coaching is very important to me as well – I do not cap any hours I spend doing that. And I need to consider how my race schedule may affect everyone who is a part of my TNT family.

The distances I aim to complete require much time and effort to prepare for. That’s why I choose them in the first place. While I have gotten a bit stronger and faster, I train by minutes not miles. So being extra fit or a little slower doesn’t change the amount of time I spend training.

The root of this debate is a familiar topic in my writing – the balance of life and happiness. Can I balance all four of these challenges successfully? What does ‘balance’ mean? What does ‘successfully’ mean? Will I be shortchanging any of my training, my participants, my co-coaches, my social life or my health? Or can I transcend what I perceive are limitations and prove that I really can have it all?

That's the key to having it all: Stop expecting it to look like what you thought it was going to look like. -Cindy Chupack, Sex and the City

I work because I like making movies, I enjoy being productive with a team, and life isn't free. Bills and such.

I coach to share my love of sports, honor the people who inspire me, and help find a cure for blood cancers.

I train for triathlons to challenge myself and show others that they, too, can do what is seemingly impossible.

I run because it makes me feel whole and in tune with the universe – yes, hyperbole! I want to do all of these tasks, and I want to work to better myself at each of them.

What I am risking by taking on so many challenges at once is the change at shortchanging one or all of them. Failing at them. It would be a failure to not give each the attention they require. It would be a failure to not “be present” – to be engaged – with each challenge in their moments. It would be a failure not to complete either race (though a bigger failure not to start, some may argue). And it would be a failure to miss an opportunity to inspire someone else.

We can learn a lot from failure, of course. But it is shortsighted to set myself up for it? Or is this another perceived limitation? A barrier that is not even there?

There are boundaries to navigate: only 24 hours in a day, the necessity of sleep, and my arch nemesis known as LA Traffic. But there are sacrifices that I can make: TV, mindless internet surfing, maybe even writing. All sacrifices in a search for deeper joys and personal satisfactions.

I’m very conscious that this is a philosophical post centering on a superficially small decision – pay the race entry fee for the AR50. Tape the calendar to the fridge. Get going.

But, as I am sure any dedicated athlete experiences, the races are always more than just miles on the pavement. It’s a way of living. This is what I debate. This is what I chase. Not the finish line banner and a telling digital clock. Not medals or jackets (though both are good reminders). I chase the pattern of discipline. And I chase in hopes that others join me and we create a common thread together.

The AR50 sells out in the winter, but as a planner, I will give myself through August to decide, and then I’m in or I’m out. And once that’s laid down, off I go with my goal or goals in sight.

Fire can cook you food or it can burn your hand. Depends on how you wield it. Same goes for ambition. Harness it correctly and it will take you to a reality that is beyond your imagination (…I sound like Gene Wilder in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). But mishandle it and you will get very, very tired.

So in short time, I will have a full answer to “What is next?” Until then, I've got mountains to eat for dinner.

4:00 AM

2010-08-03T14:48:00.000-07:00

What are you dedicated to? What is your goal? And what lengths do you go to – would you go to – to achieve it? Is it a goal that can be measured and quantified? Or is it a way of living and being, a success that can only be revealed in hindsight?

These aren’t questions that cross my mind daily. Not in the least. There are too many excel sheets and final draft documents taking up room in my brain. But recently, after a spout of 4:00 AM wake up calls, I got to thinking about the decisions we make in the name of progress.

A clock that reads 4:00 AM is a symbol of dedication. It reminds me of waking up each morning to get in a run when I was training for the American River 50. It reminds me of getting up and heading to the gym to swim and run in preparation for IMCDA. Currently, it signifies rising on the weekends to go biking in Malibu (Sat) and get in a training run (Sun) before TNT practice.

Admittedly I do not do the most smiling or laughing before the sun comes up. My motions are slow, infantile. Coffee helps the cause, but like anyone else, in the 15 minute window when it hasn't kicked in, I'm all angry-eyes.

I don't jump out of bed and onto my bike. I trip and fall into it more often. I put my spandex on backwards once or twice before getting it right.

I leave my apartment without my watch, have to go get it. Then I forget my HR monitor. Back and get that. Get my bottles or socks I've also forgotten. It's a lame, zombie dance until I wake up. But I can't let it stop me. Progress in the face of ...sleepy-face.

4:00 AM is not a time. It’s a pattern of behavior. Perseverance exemplified. Choosing immediate discomfort for the reward of a much greater feeling later on. I will get out of bed because I promised myself I would. I am determined to bank time on the bike/pavement/pool before my other obligations come calling. Because ultimately, persistence makes me happy. And a happier me means that I am better at helping others.

So what is your 4:00 AM? Is it a medal from a race? A picture of a finish line? Is it a pair of goggles by your gym bag? A coffee mug? A picture of your family? A pair of socks?

Whatever little sign, memento or time of day captures your own sense of determination, take it and plant it in sight in the most figurative and literal ways. See it clearly, live it as best you can, and keep moving forward.
Because there is a whole lot of living that goes on at 4:00 AM.

Final Thought:"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves." Sir Edmund Hilary

Latigo Canyon: In order to get this view, you have to climb 10miles/2000ft at 5:30 AM. It’s worth it.

A Short Post for Others...

2010-07-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

A couple things are happening this weekend:

Our first Winter 2010 Season practice for the West Side Marathon team is happening! I'm excited to meet the many new heroes that I'll come to call friends and family in the coming months.

For these new, soon-to-be half and full marathoners, some inspiration:

"If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning." - Gandhi

My good friends Dash (@dashnash), Peter (@peterhvu), Rachel (@chaibot) and the IRONTEAM from greater LA are competing in the Full Vineman Triathlon (Ironman) this weekend. The three mentioned, and many of their teammates, are doing an IM for the first time. I am very, very excited for them - Sunday will change their lives. They will be Ironmen. I can't wait to hear about their experiences when they return.

For the soon-to-be Ironmen, my favorite quote goes to you guys.

"It always seems impossible until it is done." - Nelson Mandela

Sunday is also Isabella's Day. She is one of the reasons I run. Well, she is a third of one of the reasons I run. Her father, my friend Chris, is an amazing writer (and friend, coach, person). And his post about her and this day is here. If you read nothing else from my website ever, please click on this link and read her story.

For Chris and Crea, and for anyone looking for the good in times of despair...

"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning." - Louis L'Amour

Man vs. Machine

2010-07-25T20:52:00.000-07:00

My friends and colleagues sometimes (lovingly, I’m sure) refer to me as a ‘machine’ when it comes to all of the athletics stuff I do. I can understand why some people at work think I’m a bit crazy. These are the people who don’t spend their off hours running, biking, swimming and hanging out with other athletes. My endurance friends, too, occasionally call me a machine, and I laugh because little do they know how similar I am to them.

This weekend, though, I felt more ‘man’ than ‘machine’ during my workouts. Partly this is because I put in some short-but-tough speed sessions and hill work into my weekly runs. Four pace-pushing workouts in a row rendered my quads tired and heavy. Lead legs syndrome.

Another part of this equation could be that – at 1 month out from 140.6 – I still haven’t taken a +3 day rest period. I’m young. I love to run. Much of my social life and mental health depends on it! I’m reluctant and uncomfortable to step away from it for a long time. So now I am harvesting what I’ve sown.

The Weekend Workouts

On Saturday afternoon I started my workouts. I got in a nice 1-hr swim, 3200 yards. Felt good to be back in the pool. And while that was a fairly fast pace for me to hold, I actually felt pretty relaxed – like I was cruising – through much of it.

I followed the swim with what I thought would be a 3hr run. It would take me nicely into the evening. But about 2 hours in, my legs decided they had had enough. My pace slowed, even slower than the LSD pace I was trying to keep (around 9min/mile).

I just wasn’t enjoying the beautiful weather. I was focused on my discomfort and mental fatigue. So I shut it down 7 miles short of my goal. All man. No machine.

Sunday was another late start – 11:30am – and I was looking at 70 miles on the bike around the valley. The temps were cool and the sky was blue. I set off at a nice, easy clip. But the first 40 miles didn’t come as easy as they usually do.

Maybe it was still the weekly speed work hangover holding me back. Maybe it was because I haven’t done a long ride solo in a bit. Probably had a little to do with the lack of calories I was carrying (and ate that morning). My brain was asking my body why I was even doing this.

What am I training for? Why 4 hours of riding? What’s the point?

All these questions and aches caused me to pull over, grab some more water and think about whether I wanted to finish the ride or pack it in...

The sky above my water stop. Scene of my contemplation

The Lesson

When a machine breaks down, it just stops. No amount of negotiation, convincing, pleading and dealing will get it to start up again. You can’t pep talk the TV to get rid of the snowy static. You can’t trick a conveyor belt to continue spinning. Swearing at the broken treadmill won’t make its dashboard light up.

I thought about this as I got back onto my bike. Maybe it’s okay to be “man” and not “machine” this weekend. Because you can’t talk a broken machine into doing those last 30 miles. But you can talk a man into doing them.

We are, to a great extent, defined by our choices. I could be the person who makes an excuse (I’m tired) and heads home. Or I could be the person that finished out those 30 miles. No one else in the world cares what I choose. Just me.

At mile 51, the point at which I could have rolled back onto my home street, I told myself that excuses don’t build character. They weaken it. And when the sun sets on this day, that’s all I get. It’s gone. Maybe there would some magic in those last 30 miles. Maybe there would be some revelation of potential that I’d miss out if I didn’t finish.

It’s only 30 miles. I’m healthy, capable, and I have nowhere else to be.

I threw my ego, pride and the data I was tracking aside, and I rode. I committed to finishing what I started, what I aimed to complete.

Man can be convinced. Negotiated. Pleaded with. Persuaded. A tired and broken man can fix himself even when his own brain conspires against him.

When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."

I was not a machine in those last 30.1 miles. I finished the ride in 4hrs and 10mins, a little under 17mph. I stayed a man, a slow one today. But that’s okay. Because I finished it. A human. Flexible, teachable, and perfectly imperfect.

Winter Season Kick Off 2010

2010-07-23T22:36:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning, after a swim workout, I will head over to Pasadena for the Team in Training Winter Kick Off 2010 season.

I'm nervous about meeting all of the new faces. I'm excited about the upcoming months of training and the friendships that they will build. And I'm enthusiastic that maybe this season will be the last one. Maybe after these months we can say, "We have found a cure." And we will finally rest.

But until those words are said, we will keep on fighting.

Tonight's Final Thought:

"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour is that moment when he has worked his heart out in good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle, victorious"

Vince Lombardi

A Short, Leg-Shredding Workout

2010-07-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

The struggle for me is never the actual workouts I do, but the compromises I must make to get them in. I have trouble sometimes reconciling my love for long workouts with the reality of my schedule.

Now I’m using the word “struggle” here liberally. Like one someone hasn’t eaten for six hours and they say, “I’m starving.” No, you aren’t. You are hungry. You’re not starving. It’s hyperbole, so pardon the dramatic language :)

Anyway, It’s hard to accept that a 60-minute workout is “worth it”. The hassle of preparing gear (prepping my bike, collecting my swim toys, tracking down my HR monitor for one of the watches) seems like a pain in the ass if I’m only going to be sweating for an hour.

Yesterday I was faced with this challenge. I’d packed up my bike, swim gear, and running clothes all in my car – which has become my locker room on wheels – I even do a full change in there occasionally. But my coworker was out sick, so I saw my workload doubled and my usual quitting time evade me.

I was faced with two choices: Take a rest day (which, admittedly, I am entitled to this week) or cut my workout down. The sun was descending, casting it’s final colors on the rock faces in the park. I wanted to enjoy those colors. So I hauled myself over to the park, unloaded my bike, helmeted up and promised myself a quick brick workout.

The Park
Since time was short, I agreed on a 40min bike and a 20min run. And if I was going to go so short, hell if I wasn’t going to push the limits of my legs.

There is a 5.5 mile loop around that park that includes a +500 ft climb over the course of a mile. It’s a great climb and an even greater descent.

The Hill
I usually incorporate the loop into my longer (+4hr) rides and runs to get a little incline work in. I’d never ridden it at sunset, so doing the loop was a great excuse to see the SF Valley from on high.

I usually average just under 17mph on longer rides that include the hill. But I found my cycle legs quickly and committed to blasting out two loops (11 miles) as quick as I could. I flew around the flats at about 20mph, climbed at about 12mph, and took the descent at paces between 28-36mph. It was amazing. 37 minutes later – the ride was done. 17.6mph. My quads were screaming a little. My calves were talking to me.

And my mind was saying, “Let’s blast out 20 minutes of running.” So I threw the bike back in my car. Swapped clipped shoes for my Sauconys. Hat for Helmet. And I took off. I headed back for the hill, about a mile away from my car. 20 minutes is not enough time to get into a running rhythm for me, but the ride helped me click into the run pretty quickly.

I was 7 minutes into the run when I got to the bottom of the hill. I was going 12minutes out and 11 minutes back – 23min run total. I had 5 minutes of climbing. Time to play mind games. How high could I get up this hill before having to turn around? Can I get to that sign? That hydrant? That tree?

I booked with the incline will enthusiasm. A hunter on the hunt. Eating hills for dinner! I climbed about 400ft before the watch hit 12 minutes.

But I didn’t relax on the turnaround. Time to book back down. Trail runners know that the descent on runs is what kills you – and your quads. I jumped roots, navigated rocks and divots, and made my way back down to the base at a cool 6:45/mile clip. I kept up my pace in the 1 mile flat run to my car. Called it a day when I reached minute 23. Logged 2.75 miles in 23 miles, or about 8:23/mile. I don’t think I’ve ever done that with such a hill in the middle.

Legs shredded. Head happy. Only 60 minutes, but I made the most of it.

The lesson from the workout (because there are always lessons from workouts. Every moment is a teachable one, as someone recently said on twitter) is you do what you can with what you have. Sure, I could have used more time. Could have used more miles. But I am always going to want or need more – that’s the struggle. Fight to get in what you can, and as long as you give it what you have – a little leg shredding included – you will end up with a happy head too.

Final Thought comes from Josh Cox, one of the top distance runners in the country. It's this attitude that I try to follow, that will get me to get out the door, lace up and work hard under whatever circumstance.

"Never give up. Don't let your dreams die. Bleed, claw, sweat, & scrape to make them a reality. The world needs your passion."

One More Mile

2010-07-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

In my previous three workouts (bike 90 minutes, run 50 minutes - flat course, run 50 minutes - hills) I’ve noticed an interesting trend. About halfway through the workout, when I decide to negative split it, I push myself hard and wonder, “Can I work so hard that I vomit?” So I push and push and push … And with detached curiosity, I monitor my gut. So far, I am 0-3. No vomit. But definitely some rumbling.

It’s a new development in my training. I like endurance events – the longer the better - that’s what she said – because they allow you to plod along for hours on end, with little concern for a rapid, feverish pace. So in my training, I do a lot of plodding to the tune of zone 2-3 heart rate. Once in a while I amp it up to a zone 4-5 workout. But I never stack them on back-to-back days.

So this recent kick to push my heart rate to the infamous zone 6 (read: like an 11.0 earthquake) has me intrigued. I’m not sure where the no-holds-barred, let’s-dig-deep-and-find-the-speed-demon is coming from.

Admittedly, each of my run, bike and swim average paces have become faster since IMCDA. I don’t know if I credit a mental shift or better health (read: sleep!!). I’m really not sure.

All I know is that when my iPod hits the right song three-quarters of the way through my run, I feel my feet flutter faster and my body moves quicker across space and time. Now, I’m not the fastest runner, but holding a 6:50-7:15 pace for more than a couple miles is definitely a noted change.

During these kicks, my brain goes to my current mantra: the lyrics from Paper Tongues’ One More Mile. I repeat over and over again, “Girl, it’s just a mile / it’s not that far / You can somehow” and off I go. My abs tighten up. My chest gets stiff. My arms swing furiously and I bound along – the front-foot striker that I am – toward some undefined finish line.

It hurts. But it’s a good hurt. The kind of hurt where you feel your muscles breaking down, sacrificing themselves in the name of fulfilling potential.

I ran. I ran until my muscles burned and my veins pumped battery acid. Then I ran some more. - Narrator, Fight Club

Not a picture of Edward Norton…
Time comes to a standstill as I dodge past cars, bushes, bikers and my own limits. Nothing touches me but the pavement below. I'm a machine - channeling my bike chain or the joints in my lower body. Effort in equals effort out. I escape.

And when the workout is over, I’m drenched in sweat. My head is pounding. My lungs are crying mercy, and I’m smiling one of those dopey, doped-up grins. Because somewhere in those last couple miles I scratched the surface of that potential. The Boston Marathoner. The sub-20 5K-er. Kona. The runner.

And in the tomorrow that follows, I hope to be a little faster. A little braver. Dig a little deeper and find a little more. To do it all again, for one more mile.

Final Thought: You learn you can do your best even when it's hard, even when you're tired and maybe hurting a little bit. It feels good to show some courage. -Joe Namath

Running in [Social] Circles

2010-07-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago I posted about the solo nature of my athletic pursuits. Much of my focused training happens by myself. On my own time.

But occasionally, and more so recently, I’ve gotten to share my training with my friends.

But first, a week’s RECAP:

I am fully back into running, biking, and weight training. I am about 65-percent back into swimming, but that is a choice I’ve made – to shorten my time in the pool. The stress of waiting for a lane is not always worth it.

Monday was an easy 3.5mile run. Tuesday and Wednesday were both two-a-day workouts that included 2hrs of running/swimming and 1hr of biking/running. Thursday was 2.5hrs biking/swimming/lifting. I aimed to spend Friday getting some quality (running) hill repeats in. Short and sweet for the legs.

Friday afternoon, as work wound its way down, I impulsively offered up a light post-work run to my friend Kelly. This was instead of my own solo speedwork. It isn’t like me to deviate from my schedule-plan-routine, but I hadn’t run with Kelly in a while (she is a TNT alum/teammate, and we run once every couple of weeks together), and given a big bike ride in the AM, I thought my legs better served by a lactic shakedown run, not a build-up.

She was free and joined for the workout. So I finished off the day with good conversation and an easy 3-miler around the park.

Saturday morning was slated to be a 4-hour bike ride along PCH if I could find the motivation to drive myself out there. On Friday afternoon my friend Chris offered for me to join him on a 60ish-mile ride along the same route…so long as I could show up ready to ride at sunrise. No problem. I work well in the pre-dawn hours.

For the second time in 12 hours, I ditched the solo plan for friends. Good choice!

What would have been a long (but beautiful) multi-hour ride in Malibu turned out to be just that but with better company than just myself. Hills are a little less steep when your riding partner starts swearing at them. Carbo-pro doesn’t taste as bad at 7am when you are with--- No, wait. That incomplete thought is not true Drinking it before 9am is never pleasant. Not sure friends can change that.

Now for some REFLECTIONS:

"Do not underestimate the intimacy of running, and the people with whom you share your miles" Kristin Armstrong

I count myself very lucky to have friends like Kelly and Chris with whom I can workout, hangout and chat during training sessions. They are each very funny, thoughtful people. Very easy to talk to. Sometimes we talk about work. Sometimes about Team in Training or coaching. Sometimes about some ridiculous story from our pasts.

My effort going into a workout - a 60-mile ride or a 30-minute run in these cases - gets cut in half by the good company I share. It’s socializing-on-the-move. Talk out the day, the week, the life you’ve lived.

But even more noticeable to me is what is not said. Or rather, the silence and stillness that I share when I workout with a friend.

"True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable" – David Tyson Gentry

I have plenty to talk about with Kelly, Chris and my teammates/running partners. I have plenty to say to anyone, frankly (a positive quality for a blogger).

But sometimes on a good run or ride you just let the miles roll over you. You fall into a rhythm, a cadence, and a silence that betters the whole experience.

It’s not that I don’t want to speak to the person next to me – whose legs are probably pounding like mine, whose trying to kill the hill just like me. It’s exactly the opposite. The silence between two friends who are working at something is not a buffer. It’s a bond.

During the silences, I am in my head. My pragmatic side is focused on the road or trail; talking through a random problem or appreciating the scenery.

But on another level – maybe emotional, maybe social, maybe soulful – I am attuned to the ephemeral thing that we call “friendship.”

Lately I’ve been quietly regarding the quiet spaces within the workouts. That I can huff and puff or cruise along besides Kelly or Chris in total comfort and appreciation for just being friends, means more to me than whatever miles we put in that day.

And when the words to come back to the conversation, it’s as if we didn’t miss a beat. Because really, a conversation is not only an exchange of a bunch of sentences. It is made up of all of the pauses, gulps, and stutters in between. All those imperfect sounds that make us sounds better than those robotic GPS voices.

Much of the above is true with my friends and teammates with whom I run each Sunday. I spend those mornings talking with a variety of friends – different ages, different stories, different lives than mine. We are all moving forward along our route. Sometimes we suffer together. Sometimes the dialogue is derailed by a challenging stretch of street. And during the good stretches, we fly down the road and speak with the enthusiasm and optimism of a marathoner who can see the finish line.

A couple of my friends. San Diego Marathon 2009
People who face challenges together grow close by necessity. What sets my friends apart is that we choose to face these hills, miles and occasional meltdowns together time and time again. Not necessity. Not obligation. But for the accomplishment. And for the friendship.

The Greatest Accomplishment

2010-07-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." Ralph Waldo Emerson

The above quotation comes from my friend and teammate, Lori who offers as much insight and encouragement to her friends as anyone I know. I thought the quote she posted today was appropriate because I’m in an interesting place in my non-training that has gotten me thinking about who I am. Hold on, it’s about to get philosophical!

The first conclusion I have drawn comes from a self-evaluation of my training. I ask myself, what have I done this week for workouts? How much? When? And did I enjoy it?

I can open up Fitness Journal and take a look at my graphs – they answer the first three questions. The website, however, won’t answer that last one. And the last one is the most important one.

The difference between the workouts during the past two weeks and those that preceded them in the six months leading up to CDA is not the volume. I’m putting in very similar hours and distances as I did in the pre-peak training weeks. Approximately 16 hours each week, with just over 110miles on the bike, 35miles of running, and 2-3hours of swimming.

Admittedly, I’ve stopped going to the pool at 4:45am, and instead I put in a little less time during evening workouts. I try to get the long weekend workout in (+3500yards) though. The pool is just a pain to pack for.

The difference between these current workouts is that I do them because I love the sports. Not because fear or doubt or a deadline is forcing me to put the work in. But because I actually enjoy what I do.

To be myself is to be in motion. Or, as I tell myself when I run sometimes, I feel most alive at 150 beats per minute.

I am a prime personality for scheduling and deadlines. I thrive on them. And I was lost in the two or three days after the race, when I took down the training calendar and put up my “hair cut appointment” reminder. Less fun training for a hair cut. Grow. Rest. Grow. Wash. Grow.

So on that third day, I decided to do whatever workouts I wanted to do. I wasn’t questioning my motivation. I wasn’t trying to maintain that impossible race shape. I was really just trying to figure out who I am within the lens of my athletic life.

We all live in a world that is constantly asking commitments from us. The day job, the night job, the family, the friends, the necessities of eating and sleeping, and okay, showering.

The “World” isn’t always asking us to be who we are not, but nor is it forgiving in its limits. There will only ever be 24 hours in the day.

One of the greatest accomplishments, I think, is figuring out who you are – what heart rate do you live at – and keeping that in sight. Emerson’s observation is clear – we must “constantly” try to be ourselves in the face of forces that tempt us, goad us, and challenge us to do otherwise.

I’m lucky that I like the sports I do. I’m driven by goals (some arbitrary numbers, others personal satisfactions) and I certainly owe a significant amount of my social life to each team I have been a part of my entire life.

But at the end, when the race or the season is over, when the calendar is off the fridge and the short term goals have been satisfied, I haven’t lost my way. I keep-on-keeping-on trying to be myself. Swim. Bike. Run. Think.

Full-Contact Life

2010-07-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

Caveat: I wear many hats. I am a coach, one who will go whatever distance and provide whatever support to get my team across that finish line. I lift weights so I can throw them over my shoulder if need be. But I write this post from the point of view as a single athlete and my own training/racing experiences.

With the exception of the IMCDA swim start, there is very little contact made between triathletes. On the bike and on the run, it is generally the norm to keep to oneself. Marathoners and cyclists, too, can train and race without physically or mentality affecting other people.

Having basically trained on my own for the Ironman, I have an acute awareness of the lack of contact one can have with other athletes and the physical world outside of the trail/pavement/pool that comprises the day's workout. There is a part of endurance athletics that embodies a total singular-ness. Because at the end of the day, it is your body and it is your goal. And you alone are charged with getting to that finish line. You alone control the controllable and adjust to the uncontrollable.

I have been involved with endurance sports for the past 4 years (though I have been involved in ‘team’ sports / soccer, volleyball, basketball, golf, javelin for much longer.) And the lifestyle that I describe above was perfectly in tune with the way I have lived my adult life out here in Los Angeles. I have led a very low-contact life. I have my job (and my friends/coworkers), my Team (close friends, inspirations), and my athletic pursuits (my own). I thrive on routine and usually stick to those basic elements around which to build my day. (No, Mom, I still don’t have a boyfriend. Yes, Dad, you can be happy about that.)

During these four years, I amped up my training, excelled at my day job, and grew as a mentor and coach within Team. I stretched myself socially, but only a bit. And I never really put in the effort to break through that realm as I had in other parts of my life.

The Ironman changes people. And 2 weeks out from Idaho, I’ve noticed how it is changing me.

Just as I had to accept that the swim portion of the race is a full-contact sport, I now see that, unavoidably, life is a full-contact sport. You cannot hope to do the Ironman swim without touching anyone. Without being kicked. Without kicking back. Without affecting others’ paths. Without having to adjust your own.

Turns out that the same is true in life. I cannot hope to cruise through life like I do an empty lane in a lap pool. Life isn’t about following the straight, black line and breathing regularly. Because at the end of the day – at the end of a pool session – you don’t get anywhere. You count up your yardage and you head home.

The real progress and the real thrill come out in the open water, among competitors and friends. Helping. Being helped. Getting whacked in the face by a rogue hand. Doing some hitting yourself. Literally swimming with the rest of the world. Life is a full-contact sport. I’d be kidding myself if I believed that faking it in a pool is in any way an equivalent.

Now I’m not writing this reflection from a place of mastery. If anything, I am slightly behind on working my way to a more full-contact mentality. I’m a creature of habit and personal space.

But this revelation, for me, is like the first lap of the 2.4 mile swim. I’ve gotten through the bodies, the splashing, the confusion of figuring out which way to go. I can now make more sense of the course. Now I find my balance, remember what I have been taught, and take it buoy-by-buoy, and join the masses in the gigantic synchronized swim.

"It’s a beautiful day. Don’t let it get away."
– U2 Beautiful Day
(The song I sang to myself during the swim portion of the race).

Random Quote Generator

2010-07-08T23:23:00.000-07:00

If I'm out on a long ride or run, after I've thought all of the thoughts I've had to think through, my mind attaches itself to a mantra or phrase that I end up saying/singing/silently shouting to myself for the remainder of the workout.

Motivational words are very personal. When I see certain words, I'm affected. Someone else looking at the same words or phrases would not be. And visa versa. Motivation tends to be loaded with the baggage we bring to it.

Nevertheless, I've come across a bunch of quote lately that piqued my interest. And so I will share them with you. Some of these comes from my time with Team. Others I stumbled across on the internet. And some are from years back; their origins are lost on me, yet they are still inspiring. Enjoy.

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt

"The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher." -Thomas Huxley

"It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired you quit when the gorilla is tired." -Robert Strauss

"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another." -Walter Elliot

“Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow.” Dan Rather

“It's not what they take away from you that counts: it’s what you do with what you have left” Hubert Humphrey

"Know how sublime a thing it is to suffer and be strong." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"Winning is not about headlines and hardware. It’s only about attitude. A winner is a person who goes out today and every day and attempts to be the best runner and best person he can be… Winning is about struggle and effort and optimism, and never, ever, ever giving up." -Amby Burfoot

"You are in a relationship with running. A love-hate relationship. Running kicks you out of bed and into a cold, hard world. Running calls you at all hours of the night. Running gets you up at the crack of dawn and keeps you at practice long after play has left the building. Every day with running is a question of your commitment, and running’s not afraid to ask. Yes, my friend, it is a complex and torrid affair. It is a constant balance, a balance between joy and pain. Work and play. A balance between love and hate. Everything we do is geared toward tipping the balance." - Some Shoe Commercial ... whose brand I don't recall.

An Open Letter to Those Considering Team in Training

2010-07-05T23:19:00.000-07:00

In January 2007, I attend an info meeting for the Team in Training marathon team in Culver City, CA. And I had no idea what I was getting into other than these purple-shirted people promised that they could get me to run a marathon. Ha! Had they read my high school essay on the despised “Timed Mile”?

I was still fairly new to Los Angeles, having lived here for only 5 months. Despite the city’s best efforts to overwhelm me with its not-east-coast culture, I decided to take on the challenge of running my first marathon. Why not? Living in LA was difficult enough. Why not try and run across the entire city?

I came to the program a veteran of 1 half marathon (Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL Jan 2007). I remember finishing that race and thinking, “Damn, how do people do this twice?!”

[Left] Post-Half Marathon

Nevertheless, my ambition got the best of me, and I committed to a full marathon, to fundraising $2500 and to seeing through an accomplishment I thought impossible.

Why TNT? Well, it’s really hard to say exactly. Cancer runs in my family, although there is a there is a survivor in my family, without a cure, cancer's presence still looming. And my mother is a pathologist, specializing in hematopathology (blood diseases), so my connection to the causes serves her life’s work. It’d be a gift to help cure it. I am just one person who wants to help out someone who needs help – and TNT provided an outlet.

I didn’t know at the time how much TNT would grow into my west coast family. How much helping those who fight against cancer would become a part of my life. How much my teammates and colleagues would mean to me.

After 3 season as a participant, 1 season as a mentor, 2 seasons as an assistant coach, and 1 season as a co-coach, here I am at the brink of season number 8. The head coach of the Greater LA West Side marathon team. And I write this not from a place of pride, but from a place of enthusiasm, reaching out across the web to encourage anyone who has a slight interest and desire to join me in this journey – whether you are in Los Angeles or not. We are one big family. Corny? Yes. True. Yes.

See, Team in Training is more than purple jerseys. We are more than the “Go Team!” cheer. We are more than a group of individuals who gather each Saturday or Sunday to log our miles, share our frustrations of the week’s workload, complain about chafing, rejoice in conquering extreme distances, and cheers over giant plates of eggs, bacon and toast.

Eight season has taught me that we are greater than the drug, Gleevec; we are greater than the over $1 billion raised to fight cancer; we are greater than the 13.1 or 26.2 miles that stare us down on race day. We are all these things and more. We are a collective of individuals who, through our fundraising and through or dedication to walk and run down the miles before us, can actually make a difference. We change lives – others' lives and our own.

I’ve experienced it. Laura, Nick, Krissy, Phyllis, Kyle, Stevie, Chris, Javi: These are all people dear to my heart. People who I call on when pushing my body beyond the brink seems like a crazy idea. Before my time with TNT, I never considered facing the challenges of running (and biking and swimming) long distances. 26.2 – are you kidding me? 50 miles, running? Why would someone do that? 140.6 miles of swimming and biking and running … and no one is chasing you … and you are paying to do this?

I never thought I had it in me. TNT has given me that perspective, that focus and that drive.

[Left] Three and a half years after that half marathon, the Ironman Finish Line

It is my turn to reach out to you, wherever you are in the country, and encourage you to seek out an info meeting, talk to a campaign manager, and see how TNT could fit in your life. Not just for you. Not just for the patients who will benefit from your effort. Not just for your teammates who will draw motivation from your smile. But for anyone who has ever had the flicker of hope and potential in them – what if I could … what if I did … wouldn’t they all be surprised if it just … - do it for us, and do it for those people.

I’m not trying to shill this experience on you. It is way too personal for me to sell it out like that. I really do mean what I write. It is life-changing. I have an Ironman medal from Coeur d’Alene that I owe to my coaches and teammates from the West Side over the past three years. I promise you that you can be there too. At whatever finish line you have in mind. You can experience thesetriumphs too, if you just give it a chance. Lace up those shoes and don that purple shirt.

Final Thought:

“It always seems impossible until it’s done. - Nelson Mandela”