Gobble Gobble

I guess it is the time to give thanks as this is my second "feel good" post of the week. My friend Bree Wee is collecting gently used shoes and shoe boxes stuffed with goodies for her holiday project Spreading Aloha to the Marshallese. Old running shoes are still perfectly wearable, simply take out the insole, and throw them in the wash. They come out clean and looking brand spankin' new, and perfect to donate to Bree's project. The previous link will give you all the info you need and where to send the stuff. If you're in my hood, bring the shoes or shoe boxes filled with goodies to me and I'll ship them to Bree for you.

And I had to post this video my brother showed me just tonight after we stuffed ourselves with turkey. My nephew (age 6) and niece (age 3) have been spectating a lot of cross races lately; both of their parents (and on one occasion, their uncle) race cross almost every weekend. Well look at what skill the two of them picked up from watching all the cross races. This video cracked me up, and it's so cool that they want to be like their parents.

Do A Cyclocross Race...Check!

The night before the race, my brother called me and said, "You know, it's supposed to be pouring down rain tomorrow. Do you still wanna race?" I told him I was 100% committed. Driving to the race, it was pouring down rain and I kept thinking to myself, this is going to be real cyclocross. Bring it! I was really excited.

Race prep involved a quick tutorial on cyclocross bike shift levers, ONE dismount and mount practice, and a warm-up of about half a mile. I placed myself in back, way back, we're talking 5 places to last. It was kind of cool to go into a race with no expectations. The plan was to use the first lap as a warm-up, learn the course, and get a sense of what cyclocross is all about. If I felt good, the plan was to see how many places I could move up from my 5th to last starting position. My first lap was pretty mellow, and I didn't make a concerted effort to race or pass guys. You see, in my head, I designated myself as the guy who was going to suck the most technically. But as the race progressed, I kept seeing all these guys bite the dust (mud), while I somehow managed to stay on my bike. Also, there were sections that you had to run with the bike, and hell no was I going to let someone pass me running. My confidence grew as the lap progressed. By the start of the second lap, I learned a few things, and I decided to be more aggressive. Any time I saw an opening, I would actively work to pass guys. I attacked the hills, the asphalt sections (I'm a triathlete, asphalt is my turf), and all of the run sections (once again, I'm a triathlete, running is my thing). My increased aggressiveness led to two minor tumbles, both while following too closely to the guy in front, and when he went down, I went down. Halfway through lap 3, I had pretty much passed all the guys I could, and I decided to just take it all in and enjoy my ride to the finish.

Post race, my brother asked if I wanted to race the following weekend. I told him that if I placed in the top 24, then I would race because that would mean I get called up. Cyclocross is all about good positioning at the start. Guys who finish in the top 24, get priority or "called up" when lining up for the next race in the series. I finished in 26th, something to think about. It was the best $35 I have spent in a long long time. $35! The last time I paid $35 to race a tri was back in 1990. Congrats to my brother and his wife for racing, it was a family fun-filled morning. Oh, and my favorite thing about cyclocross? The dismounting and mounting-it looks so cool, especially when you're totally in sync and it's just fluid. Who knew?

Bread & Butter Swim Workout

I do about 80% of my swim workouts solo, and unlike most swimmers, I can do really boring sets over and over again. It might have something to do with me liking to ride the indoor trainer more than outdoors, and the treadmill ain't bad either. I'm a big fan of the looooong straight swim with some hard efforts or descending 500's. I think I got this from Mike Pigg, who I used to swim with when I was in college. He taught me the straight 5000 swim set, descending by 1000's. He also taught me that if you set the clock just right, you can check your 100 splits while taking a breath, and being the OCD person that I am, I really look forward to seeing my split every 100 (I liken it to waking up on XMAS morning). During my sabbatical, I bumped into Javier Gomez and it was reassuring to learn that he too is a fan of the looooong straight swim. So here you go, my bread and butter swim workout--do this 3-4 times per week and I guarantee that ironman swim will feel short:

2500 free straight swim, check splits every 100, broken down as: 500 warm-up, 500 every 4th 25 (or 50 if in 50-meter pool) is fast, 500 every 3rd 25/50 is fast, 500 every other 25/50 is fast, and 500 maintain best average per 100

800 flutter kick, check splits every 50, keep consistent or descend by 200's if feeling good

5 x 400 with band, pull buoy, and paddles: #1-3 on 4:50, 4:40, 4:30 (short course) or some descending interval with about 10 seconds rest (#3 is basically touch and go), active recovery on #4 on 5:00, last one best one on #5

200 warm-down

Oh yea, this is cancer awareness month. My mom would have celebrated her 60th birthday this month had breast cancer not taken her life 19 years ago. Take a moment to reflect on someone whose life is/was affected by cancer, and do whatever it is that you are moved to do. I'm taking this moment to remember my mom, Victor Mazzarelle, Stan Silver, and Kathy Wampler-West.

Ironman Envy

Because I've spent this entire year chasing the (still very much elusive) perfect ironman race, I am in awe of what I saw on Saturday in Kona. For those athletes to execute what they did, in the most pressure packed race, not to mention the grueling conditions, is something I have yet to achieve, and something I am still only dreaming about. In fact, my quest for a Kona slot is going on 11 years now. How sweet will it taste next year *wink*. Thank you Hawaii competitors for stoking the fire and making my Sunday run that much easier to execute. Special props to my teammate Rachel Main, who smashed her PR by 20 minutes with a 10:08 to finish 8th in the world in her age group.

This weekend also saw the redemption of my six year-old nephew in his second triathlon. In his first race, he had a bit of a panic attack. But like all champions, he found a way to succeed. That meant some swim lessons with his uncle and a more focused mindset the second time around. You can see this focus in the picture of him on the bike. The little dude crossed the line in first place, but since he checked in with the wrong finish-line volunteer, he officially placed 2nd. No worries. His younger sister, all but four years-old, saw her brother do his first race and begged to do the next race. Not yet a swimmer, she improvised and kicked her way through the swim, and finished like a champ. Thank you knee-biters for giving your uncle a bit more motivation for his upcoming two ironman races.

Home Sweet Home

No more counting of days, the sabbatical is finito and I'm home. In every other trip I can remember, I always looked forward to coming home to my own space. This time around, not so much. I guess they have a name for it, the travel bug. Looks like I may be leaving again next week for another adventure down in SO CAL. To be continued. My nieces and nephews rock and they make coming home damn fun.