The Hills Are Alive!

Yesterdays Nutmegman Half Ironman in the Southern Berkshires of Connecticut was both as scenic, but also as grueling as expected and feared. I woke up very early in my hotel nearby, seems I can't sleep well anymore the night before the race. So, after quick shower and breakfast I headed to the race site. There we were greeted by bitter cold and low hanging fog, delaying the race start by half an hour, as we could not even see the swim course. Then, at 7.30 off we went. After a nice swim start I suddenly found myself in the fog not seeing any other swimmers. In the distance a volunteer in a kayak frantically waved and screamed that I had missed a buoy. Ouch, so back I swam joining the race.

Then onto the bike course and, immediately, a steep hill out of Kettletown State Park. And so it went, a three lap course that was either up or down, but never flat. The first lap was really the most difficult as I had a tough time to find any rhythm at all. The hills were mostly steep enough to get me into my easiest gear and out of the saddle. So, after three laps of this grueling madness I was quite surprised that I was feeling fairly light on my feet starting out my run portion.

The run started out with the same hill as the bike course and, more or less, also was mostly ups and downs. So, I tried to coast on my downhills and not kill myself on the uhills. OK, I admit, I actually walked sometimes on the steep uphills, a tactic that payed off as it allowed me to stay under 2 hours on the run and finish stong the last two miles.

Finally done with this adventure, 6.04.31, good enough for 29th place overall and a 3rd place age group finish.

For anyone looking for a tough, small and scenicely awesome race, this is definitely one to consider. As this was my last race before attempting IM Arizona I am feeling pretty good that I had to dig deep for this one.

Photos courtesy Ken Schultz

Nutmeg State Half Ironman coming up

Tomorrow I will head to Southbury CT for my last big test before IM Arizona. The Nutmeg State Half Ironman in CT is only held the second time around. Last year I was part of the inaugural race which was scenically beautiful but also insanely hard (the bike leg was simply not normal I'd say). This year the changed the race site completely, so I have no real sense what to expect, but I do expect the worst again (and the best as far as scenic beauty goes). I love the fact that this race is less than 100 miles from my home so it is a relatively stress free adventure to head up there tomrrow and back after the race on Sunday.

It is 5 AM and the alarm rings. Are you ready . . .

...to take the call and stumble out of bed, make some coffee, eat some granola and head out for a 75 mile bike ride on a wet Saturday morning? Yesterday, I am glad I was. The last couple of weeks have not been going well as far as my Ironman preparations are concerned. We were all busy with settling into the new home, family commitments, including my mother visiting from Austria, and the last couple of days heading to Atlanta for business. On top of it, I have been weirdly suffering from allergies, leaving me at times listless to train.

So, when the alarm did ring far too early for a Saturday, I was more then tempted to hit the snooze button and head back into sleepy land. But I did not and was rewarded with one of the most spectacular, only in New York kinda ride experiences. Crossing the Brooklyn bridge the fog and clouds remaining from the heavy rains the night before still enveloped Manhattan. Minutes later I rode along the West Side bike way and watched up close the early morning arrival of a cruise ship to the left while, to the right, the Empire State building looked spooky and awesome. And on it went one picturesque moment after another. I regretted not to bring along a camera, plus I had to make decent time to meet my friends from the Brooklyn Tri Club across the George Washington Bridge for the ride to Nyack.

The Nike Human Race 10K

Last Sunday's Nike Human Race 10K was one of the most bizarre running events I ever participated in. Let's start out by saying that I had a really nice evening at the run. Heading to the event with Roy and my friend Sigrid, heading up the East River on a little ferry to Randalls Island, finishing the run in Icahn Stadium, one of the countries premier track stadiums. enjoying a concert by the All American Rejects after the race; all good fun. But as a running event it was more or less a practical joke, no matter that it was held in twenty some cities around the globe. The course on Randalls Island was in no way suited for the thousands of participants. And I never had to wait several minutes to cross a footbridge while running a 10K. Guess thats what happens when a huge marketing ploy goes wrong. But, whatever, as I said, it was a fun evening.

Moving On

Finally, we moved into our new place!. It's only a few blocks from our old home, but over the last six months the sale, the new purchase etc. put a lot of stress on all of us. Now, finally we were able to move into our new home. The move itself went rather easy, though some nut stripped the mirror of my car while I as unloading boxes in front of our new place. So, after two solid workout weeks, last week was definitely a "recovery" week, but only regarding training, otherwise it has been a rather stresfful few days.

The Ultimate NYC Run - Park to Park

Today's long run (15.5 miles) was easily on of the most beautiful city runs imaginable. I started off at my home heading into Prospect Park for an easy 3 mile loop, then downhill towards the Brooklyn Bridge. In my head I timed this portion of the run so I could catch up with some of my friends from Frontrunners New York who at this stage were in the middle of their long run that started on the Upper West Side. Sure enough, as soon as I went onto the bridge I saw the first one of them. Taking a brief break in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge (about mile 7) I then enjoyed the great company of my friend Michael O. while we ran up the Eastside of Manhattan and Park Avenue. Today was the last Saturday of the New York Summer Streets project, so what is usually bumper to bumper traffic was just one big run and bike party all the way up to Central Park. Hitting both Prospect Park and Central Park in one run is sure something to remember.

Putting on some miles - finally

This was a good week, at least as far as my workout progress is concerned. Yesterday I was able to log my longest bike ride so far this year, with a solid 88 miles, about 55 of those with a small group from the Brooklyn Triathlon Club at a solid pace, the rest solo at a more relaxed pace going to and from the George Washington Bridge. Can't say it was all eas, but overall I feel very good about the ride. The rest of the week included a couple of solid mid-distance runs, a fast-paced interval bike ride and my weekly swim workout with Team New York Aquatics. Total: 11+ hours, finally this is starting to look like a real training schedule.