TriandTravel

"Short" run today

2011-10-25T00:41:00.000-04:00

I've been working some crazy hours lately and after a few hours sleep this a.m. I admittedly got a late start to what I estimate would have been a 15 miler. I certainly mis-judged the time/distance/sunset ratio and found myself running alone and in the dark with little to no reflective gear or lighting.
I was about 2 miles from home when my wife, worried for me in the dark, came to my rescue and brought me home. I'd like to have finished the run but will say on the back roads of NH there are no street lights.
Getting excited for New York city!!!

Been busy!

2011-10-24T04:44:00.000-04:00

San Diego was a blast! We had a great time there. Since then we've been keeping busy, a week in Ft. Lauderdale followed by a week in Las Vegas. In and around all of this has been training for this years New York City Marathon coming up this November 6th ( day after my birthday!)
This race is special for me for a couple reasons. Its number 5 for me, its practically on my birthday and most importantly I'm running for a charity. I'm raising funds for Back on My Feet, an organization whose primary goal is helping those in need to get back on their feet and out of the shelters. Founded in Philadelphia in 2007 BOMF has expanded it reach to nine cities across the nation including; Washington D.C., Indianapolis and New York city.
BOMF and its founder Anne Mahlum have been featured in many publications and medias such as Runners World, Fitness Magazine, The Today Show, ABC and NBC nightly news shows. I am proud to be running for her and her cause.
The deadline to make donations to my personal fundraising page is November 2nd and can be found at: www.active.com/donate/BOMFNYCMarathon2011/ABrackett
Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Thanks to all that have made donations.

San Diego!!!

2011-08-01T21:45:00.000-04:00

I have fallen in love and her name is San Diego. Wow, what a fantastic city. The climate is nearly, if not, perfect with approximately a 10 degree differential---year round, averaging 74 degrees. 300 sunny days per year, virtually no humidity, plenty of beaches and what I deem to be a very clean downtown.

We spent 3 days in La Jolla which has some of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen, da very active downtown with plenty of shopping, numerous galleries and lots of fine dining.

Next, we stayed downtown in San Diego, one block away from Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. We were also in the midst of the Gaslamp district which along with shops, has approximatly 150 bars and restraunts. While here, we walked, (and bicycled) along Harbor Drive, the Marina, toured the USS Midaway, took a seal (duck) tour, went out to Coranado Island and the Silver Strand and even went to the movies. (Captain America was Awesome!!) We enjoyed Thai, Mexican and Italian foods as well as cupcakes (Heavenly Cupcakes on 6th) and a fabulous pizza at Basic.

We also met with a Realtor and yes, may be seriously considering a move in the near future.

Our last two days were in Old Town San Diego, and while it is a wonderfully historic neighborhood with plenty of sights and things to do, we soon found ourselves on the trolley back to the downtown area. We visited Pacific Beach (PB) and Ocean Beach (OB) and Balboa Park too!

The only real negative I can point out would be an alarming number of homeless people. As I am running the NY City Marathon this year for the homeless, this kind of hit home for me..no pun intended.

The other pain, literally, was a case of poison ivy I contracted from work just before leaving. So Itchy!

Otherwise, a phenomenal trip, and I can't wait to go back.

Don't forget to go to : www.active.com/donate/BOMFNYCMarathon2011/ABrackett to help me raise funds for the homeless.

Back to 5k

2011-04-21T18:52:00.000-04:00

I have finally gotten back to my 5k distance, though it wasn't a pretty one. I'll hang out here for awhile before building up too much more mileage. Man it's hard getting back what you've lost when you stop. I mean really... I just ran two marathons...26.2 miles like two months ago!

Though I wasn't going to do it, I am on the fence now about doing a few triathlons again. I had my bike helmet tricked out by a buddy of mine...wicked cool...huge celtic cross with like 52 skulls. I'll try and post a pic.

Thinking of doing the King Pine tri in May. Anyways, still running and loving it!

www.active.com/donate/BOMFNYCMarathon2011/ABrackett

Slow and steady

2011-04-17T15:58:00.000-04:00

Spring is finally showing itself, the sun is shining and I'm out running again. Donations are starting to come in for the Back on my Feet fundraiser and this years running of the New York Marathon. I went for a nice 2.5 mile run this morning, it felt great to be back out there. Anxious to build the miles and looking forward to the marathon. Once again, still looking for donations and these can be done at: www.active.com/donate/BOMFNYCMarathon2011/ABrackett

My thanks to you all.

Andy

Back from D.C.

2011-04-13T18:36:00.000-04:00

Four days of colder, overcast, and rainy weather followed by one day of bright sunshine and temps in the 80's. I did get out for a run or two and did a heck of alot of walking. Sandy got rather sick towards the end and is still not bak to normal.
I've spent some time tweaking the fundraiser site, sending out email blasts and twittering/facebooking about BoMF and the NYCMarathon. (www.active.com/donate/BOMFNYCMarathon2011/ABrackett)
Now all I have to do is get running!
It's a cold and rainy Wednesday here, (translation: no run.)but I've spent the day catching up on emails, and such. Next project: unbury the Harley! With gas prices soaring, I'll be riding that more.

Product review: Motorola Xoom--Totally rocks!!! I've been on the fence between ipad vs.Xoom. Both very similar, side by side they are nearly equals though in some of the product reviews I've read the Xoom did edge out the ipad by a fraction. For me it came down to the Android OS. I've been using this OS for the last year with the Droid Incredible and have simply loved it. It made sense to continue with the tablet.
Upon getting the Droid, my PC use seriously dwindled and now with the tablet it will see even less use. ( though I am using it right now)
The Xoom is user friendly, easy to learn and a blast to use. It works well with many, not all, of the apps I use on the Droid and by finally paying for my first few apps, ( up until now I have never purchased one) the tablet performs superbly.
I bought the quickoffice app which has worked well with my microsoft word on my pc, and I also bought a split keyboard app that splits the virtual keypad to work well with just my thumbs. This took a little getting used to but is great.

Quick note on Toastmasters: I gave my 9nth speech last night. It did not go well. In fact of my nine total speeches this one was the worst and my evaluator confirmed that. :-( Oh well, can't be a rock star everyday. Actually, in my defense, I did get in from D.C. at 1am that morning and gor up at 5am for work and then went to Toastmasters. No excuse but....

Anyways, that's the latest, please check out the fundraiser site!

D.C.

2011-04-09T08:26:00.000-04:00

Headed over for the Cherry Blossom parade in a bit. The Grand Marshall this year is "Brick", from "The Middle" (a favorite show of ours). So far this trip has been uneventfull, all of my relatives here are in fact not here, the govt was close to shutting down which would have closed all of the local museums and such and it has been raining. Today looks cloudy and overcast, but I'll still head over for the parade.

I did, however, get out for a run. I do love running in the city, theres so much activity, so much to see. I do hope to get out again today.

That, for now is the latest. Will post again later.

And so it begins...

2011-04-03T14:54:00.001-04:00

Well it's official. Training has begun. I have started running again, and just got back from a "short" 2 miler that might just as well have been 26. I have lost my "base". Two months ago I finished my second marathon in two months, fourth since 09 and now after two months of complete nothingness I am really starting from scratch. My fault, I have no one to blame, just saying.

And so I will continue to run and rebuild my strength, stamina, distance and times and in 7 months I WILL run the NYC Marathon and WILL finish. And God willing I WILL raise $5400.00 before Nov. 2nd. Please, visit the fundraising site and donate. Thank you.

http://www.active.com/donate/BOMFNYCMarathon2011/ABrackett

Quick note...

2011-04-02T14:36:00.000-04:00

April 1st, the day slated to restart my running /fitness mojo, came in with an all day snow event that found me once again seated behind the wheel of a plow truck. I know, no excuse. However, something did arise from this day that I also said I would not do again yet did anyways. I booked a race. It's a little event down in NYC called The New York Marathon...ever heard of it? Yeah, its a biggie, and one I've wanted to run for sometime. Of course it was sold out so I had pretty much written it off, until...I read about the fundraiser slots.

I had first read of Anne Mahlum in an issue of runners world a few years back. In 2007 Anne started a non-profit organization in Philadelphia to help the homeless of that area by engaging them in running as a means to build confidence,strength and self-esteem. This has since grown into an organization with chapters in Balitmore, Washington D.C.,Chicago,Dallas and Indianapolis that has a staff of 31, hundreds of members and thousands of volunteers.

Though I personally live in a small town, I visit many of these bigger cities to see the architecture, the museums, the culture and the cusine. These large cities are so full of life and history yet are home to so many homeless as well.

When I learned of this fundraiser, I jumped at the chance to participate, for now I had my shot at running one of the biggest marathons on my personal bucket list and could help to raise funds for a very worthy organization and do my part, as little as it is, for the homeless here in America.

There are many terrible things happening around the world, earthquakes,tsunamis, hurricanes and flooding, affecting many people, but there are still many people here at home that need help too.

My goal is to raise $5400.00 for this cause, and with all of your help I know we can reach this mark.
The website (that I'm still working on customizing) is: www.active.com/donate/BOMFNYCMarathon2011/ABrackett

Please visit this site and help me help the homeless. I will keep youposted of my progress, and thank you for your help.

Amdy

April 1st!

2011-03-29T21:22:00.000-04:00

This is the first day of my road to recovery methinks. I forsee a gym membership, quasi-ritualistic running plans, augmented by a level of cross training with a healthy dose of swimming in my future. This combined with a newfound desire to learn (physics of all things), music and writing will consume my time now. Of course there is still travel and I suppose maintaining some semblance of full time employment. Oh, and blogging,twittering,and facebooking too! Surely this will leave some time for movies, boating, motorcycling, Toastmasters and...SLEEP! Hmmm....theres also the home renovations, spring yard cleanup, mowing the lawn and the couple of auto body jobs I need to bang out (seriously thinking of dropping that line of work)

There really aren't enough hours in a day are there?

Well, I do hope to start something April 1st.

Still not quite there yet...

2011-03-25T19:44:00.000-04:00

O.k., So I still haven't strapped on the running shoes, but, it's getting warmer outside and the inside winter projects are coming to an end. The prospect of running is weighing heavily on my mind so I forsee a return looming on the horizon.

In other news...the next trip is fast approaching and may well be the kick in the pants I need to get out there. Headed back to D.C. again the second week of April for about 5 days. I was hoping to hook up with some relatives while there but it seems those plans have fallen through. I will need to keep my self occupied during the daylight hours of Friday through Sunday.

I will definatly try some running there in the big city...hmmm maybe the guided running tour! Aside from that, I will be taking lots of pics, and seeing the sights. Always looking for great hidden gems such as great bars, restraunts or other not to miss adventures.
we were trying to get there for the Cherry Blossoms, but it seems we may be a tad late by then. Oh well.

Next on the docket will be another trip to Cali....SAN DIEGO!!! Love that city! Will have to ride the coast too...Huntington Beach!

That's the latest folks, see you on the road ( if I ever get out there!)

Winter training (or lack thereof)

2011-03-09T11:27:00.000-05:00

After finishing with a new PR and a renewed sense of self worth, I have once again succumbed to my old ways and stopped running. I have always said, running (and excersise in general) comes easiest to those that have always done it. It is much more difficult, I think, for those that begin later in life no matter what personal accomplishments have been made. Some have lost tremendous amounts of weight only to fall prey to their old ways and regain it all back. Others may have kicked the smoking habit and find themselves smoking again years later. It is a constant struggle for one that has had to change their life, their habits, so drastically and try to maintain that change. I believe habits, good or bad, become hardwired in our systems and though written over or re-formatted, remain hidden underneath these new changes.

That being said, let me return to my current status as a runner/marathoner/triathlete. I will say that I do miss running. I enjoy the feeling of a really good run. I love the atmosphere of race day. I love tracking my mileage, attaining new distances or times, and exploring new routes. Apparently, I do not love these feelings enough to overcome cold tempratures, icy roads, rain, mud or my seemingly neverending supply of excuses for why I should'nt run.

If I were to think of my "racing" goals for this season, I would first state that I will not repeat last years mistake of "Book it and you will Run it" philosophy. This plainly just did not work for me and the bottom line was I lost a good deal of money in entry fees.

No, what I think I would like to accomplish this year is to get back to running...Period. I do want to run more marathons, and may even consider getting back in the triathlon ring too, but first I'd like to get to that point where going for a run becomes second nature or habit. I'd like my distance and speed to build naturally and not be forced as previously done. To date I have never successfully attained that feeling of being "ready" for a race or event and gone into many with a mental disclaimer of " This is just a training event".

I have many more marathons I'd like to add to my "race shirt", but for now, it's back to baby steps. Small runs, shorter distances and longer times. In fact this is the worst part of all of this, starting over...again. It's hard to believe that exactly 2 months to the day ago I ran 26.2 miles,and that was 4 weeks after running 26.2 miles. Now I'll have to move that decimal point and work at 2.62 miles.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

The latest..

2011-01-26T17:33:00.000-05:00

Well I tried to post from Orlando, and Cali come to think of it, and have had technical difficulties so again, it has been sometime since the last post.
So, think I mentioned that I completed the California International Marathon on December 5th. Considering the lack of true training, it went well and I finished at 5 hours on the nose. I have since completed the Disney Marathon in Orlando.
It's the second time I've run this one, it is such a fun race to run. I PR'd too! 4:54:15. Sure it's not going to get me into Boston, but hey, I've only been running a few years. I still lack a certain level of discipline to maintain a proper running regime. Anyways, I do enjoy it and look forward to continually improving.

In other news, I may have failed to mention thw Voice Over training I completed. It's a new direction I hope to be able to find some work in. I hope to one day get out of the back breaking manual labor fields and really enjoy doing something. You can hear my demos at: http://www.andybrackett.icanvoice.com/

That about covers things for now. Will post again soon!

Disney Marathon

2011-01-08T16:08:00.002-05:00

California International Marathon

2010-12-11T21:34:00.000-05:00

Well folks, I did it! I finished the CIM. I had booked this race to help kick start my training and get back in to the game. Unfortunatly, my head got in the way again, and I did not train as well as I should have. My runs were few and far between and my longest run for this was only 9.25 miles.
I went into this thinking that if I could just make it to the half without stopping then I could walk /jog the rest. I have to add that this was the calmest race I've ever had. No nerves whatsoever! The only glitch I had was not bringing my sunglasses as it was to be foggy with a 60% chance of rain.
The gun went off at 7am and we headed out. I made sure to take it easy at the start and not race too hard. This worked well for me this time and soon I was able to fall into a nice stride. I made it to the half at right around 2 hours and was feeling pretty good...other than I really did have to pee. I ended up waiting in a small line for nearly 5 minutes. This fact would come back and rob me of a PR at the finish. I kept running though til about mile 16 I think. It was around here that I felt a bit of a groin pull. so I backed off and walked for a bit. When it subsided, I ran some more. I continued this pattern and when I saw my time at mile 22 had the feeling that I could PR. Sadly the groin pulss kept persisting and I crossed the line (running) with a chip time of 5:00:56 a couple of minutes over my last marathon. I spent the next two days walking like Frankensteins monster, but was back to running within 4 days.
Seeing that I could do this, and feeling great now because I did I have now added the Disney Marathon in January. I ran this in 09 as my first ever marathon and finished in 5:15 or so, so I'd like to try and beat that time at least and maybe PR. To this end, I have been running, and added some saddle time on the bike tonight too. Who knows, this may be the start of something good!

I know...I know

2010-11-14T15:22:00.000-05:00

Yes...I fell off the blogging wagon again. It's been way too long since my last post. Let's talk about what's new. Well, the marathon is fast approaching and I'm way off track...again. Logic would dictate that I cancel and not run it, but the heart just won't accept that. So..I'll be headed to Cali for the Dec. 5th running of the California International Marathon. My plan? Simply too get in as many runs and as much distance as I can this month and treat the race itself like any other training run. Run it not race it. with any luck I won't hurt myself too bad and will live to run again.
To that end, I have recently purchased a new pair of Brooks Ghost kicks and have gotten some good runs in with em.
Next, I have completed training, cut a demo, and can now call myself a Voice Actor! A little side project I've been playing with and hope will take off someday. I think it will be fun doing voice over work. If anybody out there needs some voice talent let me know at http://www.andybrackett.icanvoice.com/ or voiceyourcreations@gmail.com. I'd love to work with ya!
Let's see...what else? Been doing some more travelling! Spent 5 days in D.C.! What a great trip that was! Saw alot of great places, went trhough the Smithsonians museums of natural history and american history, visited with some relatives, saw all of the war memorials and the national cathedral! Alot of walking and alot of pics! Also just went to Ft.Lauderdale for a week and took a day trip down to Key West! The International Boat Show was going on while in Lauderdale, and man were there some gorgeous boats! You know...the ones in the 29 MILLION dollar range! Wow!.
And even now, I'm writing from the lobby of the Marriott Albany in NY. We came out for one of Sandy's workshops, and to cut my demo. We've had great weather, and I have had simply the best time. I have to say of all our Marriott stays, this one tops the list. The service has been outstanding! The food terrific! I would gladly stay here anytime!
Hmmm...maybe a letter to Mr. Marriott is in order.

Well, that about covers it, I will try and post again soon!

6.2....

2010-09-07T19:44:00.000-04:00

Only 20 more to go! Things are shaping up for the December marathon. Ran a nice 6 miler today...with a negative split to boot! Had some aches and pains but was able to run through them and in the end came out feeling pretty good. If I can just maintain some semblance of discipline I'll be looking good for December.

Great Day!

2010-09-06T21:27:00.000-04:00

Had a great Labor Day. Started slow as we were both out late last night, but when we did finally get out we jumped on the Harley. Took a meandering ride down to Patricks Pub for a burger and a beer, then went to Stonybrook Farm to do some apple picking. Then rode a bit more and went to the movies to see Machete. Interesting film...
We toppped off the night with an ice cream at Flurries in Meredith and headed home. It;s back to work tomorrow :-(

Loving the Runs...

2010-09-05T10:57:00.001-04:00

I've got a few runs in this weekend, 5 on Friday and a nice 3miler with Sandy this a.m. Hopefully the mark of a new beginning.
Forgot to mention some trips coming up. We have a D.C. trip soon that will be a mix of business and pleasure for Sandy, ( all pleasure for me). She's never been, and I haven't been there since grade school. It will be good to see some of our nations greatest buildings and history. I also have relatives there so hope to see them too.
Later we're headed for Ft. Lauderdale for a week of sun and fun. I'll post more about that later. Gotta go!

What the?!...

2010-09-04T10:10:00.000-04:00

It's Labor Day Weekend? Where the heck did summer go? I'm not ready for this. Labor Day means summers over, fall's here and that next season....the one I really don't like is just around the corner.
They say time flies as you get older, and I'm finding that to be the case this year. Just yesterday I was getting the boat prepped for her maiden voyage and looking forward to Bike week. Now I've got to start thinking about storing the boat and pulling out the snow blower. Ugh.

In other news...
Running this year has been a struggle. It's all a mental issue. I've been decent as of late, but still no where near where I should be. I failed to run a single triathlon I had signed up for this year and think I may be out of those for the time being. I'd like to focus on running and to this end have signed up for another Marathon. This one in California. The California International Marathon which runs on Dec. 5th from Folsom CA to Sacremento. We'll stretch the visit for a bit and do some sightseeing and visit a reletive in Frisco.
I'm looking forward to extending my long run and maybe getting together with the winter run group. If I can maintain some sort of physical activity through the winter, then maybe we'll see about adding a small sprint here and there.

Also, I've been speaking alot lately. Having joined the Moultonborough Toastmasters Club last November, I have made incredible leaps in my public speaking. In fact I just recently presented a 25 minute speech to the Meredith Rotary Club which to date has been my greatest speaking achievment. This has tied in well with Voice Over training that one day may lead to a fun new career.

That's about it for now, my apologies for not posting more often. I will try to remedy that. Take care.

A shout out...

2010-07-12T19:44:00.000-04:00

...to those who ran Ironman Rhode Island this past weekend. Bob congratulations on your first half iron! Great job! Tom, I'm sorry yours didn't go as well, there'll be more I'm sure. Alex,Pete and Kim, kudos to you all! Iwas tracking you all online and you sure posted some great times!!

Unfortunatly I missed the Black Fly Tri so I don't know who all raced there but kudos to those that did.

Me, well I'm coming back into it. I've recently started a new diet regimen and have picked up my running game again too. Starting to feel good again and am actually looking forward to the T-Man sprint this year.I do need to get on the bike though but these things take time :-)

Again, great job to those that raced!

I'm Back!!

2010-07-10T12:19:00.000-04:00

In more ways than one. It seems as though I have fallen off the proverbial wagon as of late. I have not posted to my blog in quite some time, I have not run any of the races I had signed up for this year, and in fact, have not been doing much of anything productive in recent weeks.
I did travel to New York city over the Memorial day weekend. That was an incredible trip. We saw Bon Jovi live at the new Meadowlands stadium, toured Rockerfeller Center, saw the first of the season GMA Concert in the park,(Sugarland),had a lovely dinner with my wifes boss and her kids in SoHo, walked a great outdoor crafts fair,toured the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, all while staying at the luxurious Marriott Marquis in Times Square.
Training had fallen by the wayside, and had recently come in spurts...a swim here, a small run there and still no bike. I have not run two of the 3 Triathlons I had hoped to do, but do have my sights set on the last one, the Timberman Sprint. During this last week of blistering hot and humid weather I have gone out for three runs and have loved it. Just did a four miler today in the rain. I have also now set a new goal, or rather an affirmation of an exsisting one to run a full marathon every year and am seriously considering running the California International Marathon in December. Technically I have already fulfilled this obligation by running the Arizona Marathon back in January, but I have decided that January marathons are hard as my training wanes during the holiday months, and colder weather. We'll see how a December race fares as the temps are usually still runnable, and the only holiday to get by is Thanksgiving. So from now until then, my running goal is to run 26.2 by then. I will now probably add the 1/2 at the Hamptons race in October to aid in training.
Im other news, I have started my training in the Voice Over profession and eventually hope to make a career of doing Voice Over work in both the commercial and narrative fields.
That seems to bring us up to date. I will strive to post more often. Until then...

Neeewww Yoorrrk!

2010-06-04T21:21:00.000-04:00

Back from the big city and what a great trip. There is just so much to do and see there. We stayed at the Marriott Marquis right down in Times Square. Our room was looking directly at the New Years Eve Ball and we had a peek a boo view of the Statue of Liberty. We drove to New Haven, Conn. and then took the train in from there to Penn station. Times Square is just a few blocks from there. We took it easy night one as we were determined to get up early and see GMA's concert in the park. On Friday we got ourselves to central park to catch the Sugarland concert. They only played three songs but it was cool to see GMA behind the scenes. From here we went to 30 Rock for the NBC tour and followed that up with the cityline bus tour and the Top of the Rock view. Later that evening we would meet my wifes employer in Soho for drinks and dinner. We had a great time. Saturday, we continued the cityline bus tour seeing the uptown side of town. We stopped off to walk the Museum of New York which was interesting. The highlight of our visit, and the main reason for coming, was the Bon Jovi concert at the new Meadowlands stadium. Phenomonal show! One Republic opened for them and then Bon Jovi played for a little better than three hours. The new stadium (not that I ever saw the old one) was fantastic.
Sunday we opted for the tour of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. This was quite fun too. On Monday we walked all nine floors of Macys and then headed for 42nd street to see the Chrysler building, New York Public Library (both of which were closed) and Bryant Park. I also found a citysports to look for some Vibram five Fingers Bilkilas but they were out of my size. Then we found a huge outdoor crafts fair on Madison Ave. I don't know how many blocks were closed off for this but it was alot. We picked up a few items here and were headed back to the Marriott for dinner at the view when we were stopped by a vendor selling tix to a comedy show uptown. Yeah, it was a small club, the drinks were overpriced and we missed our planned dinner but the show was fun. There was four...? maybe five comics. They were all quite funny and it was good to laugh.
We did still make it back in time to hit the dessert buffet back at the View. Tuesday we took our time getting back to Penn Station for the reverse trip and eventually found ourselves back home about 8pm.
The new phones also paid for themselves with navigation features, happy hour locators, phone books, and the 8mp cameras all worked well for us. I even found a bic lighter app for the concert! I'll post some pics when I get them out of the phone:-)

Loved New York and Love the Droid Incredible.

Been awhile...

2010-05-22T21:30:00.000-04:00

So here's the latest. Let's see...I got my first lake swim of the season in yesterday. This was about the same time as last year, however, with this years earlier ice out I was hoping to be in sooner. At any rate, it was a great time. Warm enough to use the sleeveless wetsuit.
Today I ran with the Moultonborough Police Dept. as they participated in a town line to town line Torch Run for the Special Olympics. They had a great turnout and it was good to be out running again. We ran approx: 5.5 miles.
I've really got to get the bike out and get some saddle time in. It is still sitting in the garage with a flat tire. The first race is fast approaching and I'm so far behind the eight ball training wise.
The next road trip is coming even faster. We leave on the 26th for New York city. We're staying in Times Square and will be going to the Bon Jovi concert at the new Meadowlands stadium. We're going to do some touring and hope to go to the Statue of Liberty while there too.
Guess that's the latest. I'll send pics from NY!

Incredible!!

2010-05-15T20:38:00.000-04:00

Droid Incredible that is. We just upgraded our phones and have now moved from basic cell phone w/ a camera to Holy Gadgets Batman! This thing is well... incredible. Voice searching, google mapping, twittering, pictures, apps up the wazoo and oh yeah, did I mention it's a phone too?! it's only day one for us but we have had so much fun playing with them and getting used to the funtions. I've already downloaded maps of NY subways, conversion gadgets, and a game or two. I've learned how to speak a query into the phone, see the listings that relate to it, gotten directions to the place of interest and let the navigational tool give turn by turn directions to the destination. Could I have used this last year in San Fransisco, last month in San Diego, and can't wait to use it in NY city. What an amazing tool.

Big Lake Half

2010-05-08T20:45:00.000-04:00

Kudos and congratulations to all those that ran the big race today. Sadly, I did not. It was in my plans originally and is a race I've enjoyed in the past few years. This year I do not feel I was back up to that distance physically. I've been a little too lax in my training and am struggling with finding my "happy place" with fitness. Also, I ended up with some mandatory training for work today so either way it was not meant to be today. I've heard some results from some friends and say great job to all of them in particular "Big Bob" that has made extraordinary changes in his fitness levels over the last year and is going strong. Great job Bob!

By the way...

2010-05-06T14:18:00.001-04:00

I've finally been out running a little more consistently. Been working out again too and hope to hit the lake for a swim soon. Tried the Zoots again and just ended up bloodied so I'm done with them. Would really like to get into Newtons and some VFF's. I'll keep ya posted.

Funtimes, freebies, and bomb threats?

2010-05-04T22:34:00.001-04:00

Having recently returned from our trip to Newport Beach, California I will try to regale you with the highlights of the journey. We had a horrific flight plan for the trip out, starting in Manchester,NH flying to Cleveland Ohio, on to Houston Texas for a three hour layover and finally to Orange County CA. Having finished packing at nearly midnight and the alarm waking us at 3:20am I can only say that this was one really long day.

We checked in to the Marriott Newport Coast Villas and after seeing our room I made the decision to try for another room. Don't get me wrong, the accomodations are generally superb here, the villas are nestled among the bluffs overlooking the Pacific and denotes a very Spanish feel in style and taste. Our only hope was for a better view from the room, stemming from our last visit here where we did have an excellent view. A quick call to the front desk remedied this minor issue and soon we were in our new room with a simply outstanding view affording us an evening sunset from our balcony every night.

After a good nights rest we headed out for the Mission of San Juan Capistrano located just outside of Dana Point and not far from our villa. We signed up for the guided tour as well as the recorded self tour. This worked out well as the guided tour took us to a few places that the recorded tour didn't. What an amazing place. Though admittedly not overly religious, I have a strong respect and reverance of places such as this. I also enjoy the historical and architectual aspects and am amazed at the construction processes of the times. We were here for at least three hours before walking around the surrounding area a bit and grabbing some lunch too.

The next day we opted to have a little fun and visit Disneyland. We are frequent visitors of Floridas Disney World but have never been to the "original" family park. What we didn't realise was that there are two parks here, California Adventure being the second. This was a great day made better by the fact that our Florida DisneyWorld park hopper tickets were honored here making this a " free" visit. California Adventure is compareable to Disney's MGM park in Florida. Roller coasters, 3-D and 4-D rides, and the Tower of Terror were all fun but the scary ride for me was the Ferris Wheel! OK, we've all ridden a ferris wheel no big deal right? Well this one had an additional thrill. The cars moved in and out and swayed to near vertical positions that just about did it for me. ( Never been big on heights to begin with).

Disneyland proved to be much like it's big brother witht the most notable difference being the size of Cinderellas castle. Much smaller here.

Day three we stayed local as Sandy had some business clients to meet so we went to Newports Fashion Island and then went over to Huntington Beach. We llove this area of Cali as well. Something about the miles of beaches and walking/biking paths and all of the surfers just makes one feel alive and connected to the earth.

Thursday was an incredible day that rewarded us with some unexpected gifts. We wanted to see San Diego which is a fair jaunt away from Newport. ( about 75 miles) We headed out around 9am and started on the PCH to take the scenic route. By San Clemente however this road ends and we had to take the 5 the rest of the way. Californias highways are a bit different than our NH versions. I counted 8 lanes at one point. We arrived in San Diego at approximately 11 am and stoppped in the visitors center. Here we learned of the Old Town Trolley tour the departed from Old Town San Diego and stopped at 11 destinations throughout the city. This is an on and off tour which allowed us to do just that, get on and off the trolley where we wanted to. We opted to ride the whole tour through the first time in order to get an overview of the city. Wow! What a cool city. We definately needed nore time here. There's Old Town, the Marina and Bay, the Gaslamp district, Coronado, the USS Midway, Balboa park and...

That's right! The Padres home field, Petco Park. We decided to stay over when we discovered two things. 1, there is a Marriott right across the street with a view from the rooftop bar right into the stadium and 2, there was a game that night! We were able to stay on points and after finding our room on the 10th floor we headed to the roof. There was a local radio station doing a live broadcast for the game here and they were raffling off tickets to the game. We entered, and did not win. We did hook up with my cousin though and were enjoying the view and conversation until the radio dj's were leaving and offered us three free tix to the game! How cool is this! We went for a quick bite to eat and then the three of us went to the game. We had nice seats behind third base and nearly caught a foul ball. when my cousin had to leave us at nine we stated a bit longer but were getting a little cold so we left in the 7th inning to watch the rest of the game from the 21st floor conceirge lounge. What a great night!

Friday we toured some more of San Diego before driving back up to Newport to pack for the trip home. We did stop briefly at Aliso Beach to dip our toes in the ocean. Saw some fantastic waves here!

Our flight left at 8:10 am Saturday with layovers in Chicago and Philly before heading to Manchester. Here's where our trip took an unexpected turn for the worst. I noticed that the beverage cart was not coming out on the trip from Chicago to Philly. I thought it odd, as they announced that it would shortly after take off. No worries, an attendant did come around with water later. As we were coming in for landing, I noticed that it seemed every piece of emergency equipment was all lit up. When we touched down we taxied to the furthest point away from the terminals and shut down. Uh Oh. The pilot announced that this had been an interesting flight and that we've had a security threat and to remain in our seats until FBI agents boarded. Whoa. From my vantage point on the left side of the plane I could not see any activity but those on the right were talking of cops...lots of cops! One finally boarded and addressed us. He was armed and serious. We were told to keep our hands visible at all times and were guided off of the plane one at a time single file and led to awaiting busses. All carry on luggage and belongings were left on the plane. As I stepped off of the plane I got my first look at the manpower (and fire power) that was there to greet us. All of the rescue trucks were located approxamately 1/2 a mile behind us. The busses took us to a storage building somewhere onsite and eventually interviewed all 112 passengers...one by one. We were then brought back to the terminal to await the arrival of our carry on luggage that had to be run through the x-ray machines again. All told we were detained for 9 hours. We landed at nearly 7pm Sat. night and Got to the hotel at 4 am Sunday morning. United gave ud each $15.00 meal vouchers, a voucher for the room, and rebooked our flight before we left.

When we arrived back at the airport for our now 2pm flight home, the ticketing agent said there was no such flight, that we were not in fact booked on any flights and that all flights to Manchester were full! She went on to hand us the phone to call United ourselves to rebook a flight to boot! Our trip had officially hit the nightmare zone. After nearly an hour with ticketing we were booked on a 9 pm flight home meaning we would be spending an additional 9 hours at the Philadelphia airport. Instead, we played the stand-by shuffle and finally scored a last minute 4pm flight. End results we finally arrived home at about 9 pm Sunday night after meeting my sister, (and house/dog sitter) for dinner out.

We had a fantastic vacation, decent weather, scored lots of freebies but had one hell of a return trip. These are the problems we face now as a nation...and regrettably so.

well this trip has gone

2010-05-02T13:34:00.001-04:00

well this trip has gone awry. snafu with ticketing so still stuck in philly!

2:30am finally have our luggage

2010-05-02T02:38:00.001-04:00

2:30am finally have our luggage and are waiting for shuttle to hotel. fly home tomorrow.

wow. flight ended with a

2010-05-01T23:52:00.001-04:00

wow. flight ended with a bomb threat and we've been tied up since we landed.

Leaving Chicago headed for philly.hear

2010-05-01T16:55:00.001-04:00

Leaving Chicago headed for philly.hear it's 87 there. that would be the warmest weather yet this vacation!

one leg down 2 to

2010-05-01T15:39:00.001-04:00

one leg down 2 to go! next flight @ 430 to philly. Chicago is cloudy

Well, it's been an awesome

2010-05-01T10:15:00.001-04:00

Well, it's been an awesome week. We saw lots of great things but it's time to go home. Going to be a LONG day

wow scored free tix to

2010-04-29T23:23:00.001-04:00

wow scored free tix to padres game!

Headed to San Diego!

2010-04-29T11:54:00.001-04:00

Headed to San Diego!

Walking the pier at Huntington

2010-04-27T15:09:00.001-04:00

Walking the pier at Huntington beach!

we're going to Disneyland!

2010-04-26T14:10:00.001-04:00

we're going to Disneyland!

Toured the mission of San

2010-04-25T19:18:00.001-04:00

Toured the mission of San Juan Capitrano 2day. Really cool!

Here we go! Boarding for

2010-04-24T15:16:00.001-04:00

Here we go! Boarding for last leg to Orange County.

2010-04-24T12:22:00.001-04:00

11:15am Texas time. Next leg takes off at 2:45! Told ya it would be a long day. Wonder if we have time to see the city?

2010-04-24T08:23:00.001-04:00

Two hours sleep, 1.5hour drive to airport and an hour and half flight later and here we are in Cleveland. Getting ready to board for flight to Houston TX. Gonna be a long day!

California here we come!

2010-04-23T23:54:00.000-04:00

Just finished packing and taking care of last minute things before calling it a night. Alarm set to go off in a few hours and we start a 13 hour travel day. We have a couple layovers including a 4 hour stop in Houston, but, we got great prices on flights. Anyways, we are stoked to get away for a bit and I'll send a few pics when I can.

2010-04-22T20:53:00.001-04:00

Three months post marathon... still carry the "mark"!

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Jinx!!!

2010-04-21T18:45:00.000-04:00

Never wish an actor good luck, (tell them break a leg!), and never boast of how great a previous run was! I felt so good about my last run, that I decided to hit it again today. This time I opted for my ever trusty, race ready Zoot Ultra TT's. This is a shoe I've run all of my races in from 5k to marathon and though I've had some issues over the years, it's always been the one. Today's run started with some GI issues as I think I consumed too much water/heed prior to the run, along with a pack of sport beans. I wasn't more than a tenth of a mile in when I started burping, belching and might have Vurped once too. I figured this would soon pass and kept on. I was running a fairly slow pace as I thought I'd go a bit further today. This problem never did fully go away but did subside to a bearable level. The foot though! Did you see the pics?! This started fairly early on too, maybe a mile and half in. Yeah, I should have stoppped or turned around but I was looking for a certain place on my run for personal reasons, so I kept running. I've been reading about meditative runnning, and accepting running as a privledge as opposed to a chore, so I tried to just become one with the moment and forget about the foot pain. Overall I think it worked and I did 5.4 miles and was happy with my time to boot, but did I crack up when I finally saw my foot. I think it may be time to look at other shoes. I would love to get into a pair of Newtons and also Vibram Five fingers too. We'll see. Time to clean up the foot....

2010-04-21T17:38:00.001-04:00

The shoe looks just as good...

2010-04-21T17:34:00.000-04:00

That's it! No more Zoots for me!

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Slowly but surely...

2010-04-21T10:05:00.001-04:00

Finally went for a little run again the other day, and you know what? It felt good! I mean it really felt good, as in no orthopedic issues, no GI issues, no major cardiovascular issues...nothing! Lately it seems every run of mine has been associated with some level of one of these issues. And my last run was free of all of these. What a great feeling. Add to that the warm temps. and sunny skies along with partial company of my wife and dog and it truly was a great run. It's runs like that that make me feel that I can call myself a runner....(but don't call me Shirley)

2010-04-18T20:53:00.001-04:00

2010-04-17T18:51:00.001-04:00

Waazzzuuup!

A Granite State of Mind

2010-04-17T18:03:00.000-04:00

A Granite State of Mind

Finally saw this and it's a riot! Love it!

SNOW!??! Not again!

2010-04-17T11:27:00.001-04:00

Oh come on now, I thought it was over. Granted I have not quite been up to par with my running but this certainly will not help matters. Besides, the harley is ready to go, and I want to ride! Hopefully it's warmer on the west coast as we are counting off the days to vacation. Newport Coast here we come! I'll try to send a few pics from there. Until then....

Great ride today!

2010-04-04T19:54:00.000-04:00

Headed our rt 25 to Ossipee and south on 16 to Rochester. Got a little misplaced after taking wrong exit but finally found the landmark we were looking for (Dunkin Donuts). Here we met a nice biker that helped us with our travel plans. Thanks Charlie! He got us pointed down rt 125 to the Lee traffic circle were we then headed west to rt 107N. A nice jaunt through the hills and twisties back up to Gilmanton and then Laconia where we took 106/Parade road back to Meredith and rt 25. The temps were a bit cooler than yesterday, and the wind had picked up too, but boy we got some color today. Yes, truly a great ride!

2010-04-04T13:04:00.001-04:00

Here she is! Headed out to put some miles on.

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First bike ride of the season!

2010-04-04T09:26:00.000-04:00

Harley season that is. Picked up my new Road Glide near the end of last season and was able to eek out about 600 miles before the 20 day plate ran out. Unfortunately the cost to register the bike last year was a little out of my price range so I opted to put her away for the winter and dream of the day I would ride her again. April 1st was the day I was finally able to walk in to the Town Clerks office with my papers and about 20 minutes later I walked out with...well, more paper. Having decided to go with a vanity plate, (WAZUP), I left the clerks office with the oversized, handwritten, cardboard paper plate to affix to the back of my beautiful, shiny red Road Glide. I cannot wait for the real plate to come in.
Yesterday, Sandy and I were able to get out for a bit and enjoy a nice ride. The weather is perfect for riding and today ( Happy Easter by the way) we hope to go out for a longer ride, maybe down the Maine coast. What better way to Travel! See ya on the road!

2010-04-01T14:09:00.001-04:00

Great day for a run!

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Tri-ing,Travelling, & now Writing!

2010-03-30T19:53:00.000-04:00

I've recently entered a poetry competition and my poem just came up in the ninth round of the contest. You can see it here: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/dwt-poetry-competition-ninth-round/ and if you like it please feel free to cast your vote.
Thanks,

Singing in the rain...

2010-03-29T13:15:00.001-04:00

Well... running in the rain. Rainy days and Mondays used to get me down and I guess I'm still not a big fan of either, but at least I can still go out and run. The warmer weather is creeping in and I can finally say no ICE on the big lake! It surely won't be long before I'm swimming in the open water. All I have to do now is get out on the bike!

Warm weathers here!

2010-03-19T09:43:00.000-04:00

Hit my first run in shorts the other day! Finally, no more tights, long sleeves and hats. Call me a fair weather runner but I just hate running in the cold. Sure , there are certain moments and aspects of winter running that can be pleasant. There can be peacefulness and quiet serenity. I can also appreciate the natural beauty of new fallen snow glistening on the branches of trees along the road. There is also the slipping and sliding on ice. The struggle to find bare road surfaces to run on, or ( shudder ) the treadmill!
What I truly enjoy though is the warmth of a summer run. The birds chirping, sun shining and the sweat! Yes, the sweat. When the sweat pours off I feel the calories burning, the pounds melting and a kind of cleansing of mind, body and soul. I don't feel this on a cold weather run. In fact I don't feel the sweat at all until the end of the run and even then what I feel is cold.

Yes, my friends, spring is here! The temps. are rising, the sun is shining. It's a great day for a run!

trying to post from my

2010-03-12T21:47:00.001-05:00

trying to post from my phone now...

First swim

2010-03-12T11:26:00.000-05:00

Well gang, it's been awhile since my last post, so let me bring you up to speed. My running lately has been sporadic to say the least. I had a pretty good sized blister from the Half at the Hamptons, and still had some calf issues so I've really backed off on running for...well, too long. I've really got to get back out there. I did however finally go to the Gunstock Inn for the first swim since last season. I had fun, and did not seem to loose too much in regards to form and technique. I incorporated kickboard, fins, and pull buoy drills and overall enjoyed my time there although, the water was extremely salty! I felt as though I was in the ocean. I have a wicked gag reflex when it comes to salty water. The water was very hazy too. I'm guessing that maybe the water had just been treated as I do not recall it being like this last season. I will go again and see if it changes. Another plus to this day was the improvements to the gym facilities. Definitely way better! I like all the new equipment there now and tried all of it while I was there. If nothing else I would go back for the gym.

Racing schedule: Next, will most likely be the Big Lake Half Marathon. I've done this one twice now and really enjoy it. For Tri's, I originally had big goals in mind of running some 70.3's but have since come to the conclusion that I will keep things simple and manageable this year. I have signed up for the King pine sprint, the Mooseman International, and the Timberman sprint. We'll see how training for these events progresses and if time, fitness and finances allow maybe add something more.

We are six weeks away from the next travel date. Newport Coast California, here we come! Anxious to get away and do some 'sploring! Newport Coast offers a nice central local to base trips from, with L.A. to the north and San Diego to the south and plenty of places in between. I can't wait! How do we travel so much?
Timeshare! We belong to the Marriott brand of timeshare ( Marriott Vacation Club) and have been traveling thusly for nearly 13 years. Through this we have stayed in places such as: Orlando FL, Las Vegas NV, Scotsdale AZ Aruba, Hilton Head SC, Marbella Spain,and Newport Coast CA. We are already planning next years trips, as we can make reservations up to 13 months in advance, to places like St.Kitts, or St. Thomas, or maybe we'll travel abroad. The choices are endless! And we LOVE Marriott.

Well, that seems to cover things for now. I'll try to be more consistent from now on.

A few days off...

2010-02-26T17:41:00.001-05:00

...and I'm back to running. Got in 4 miles today. Ran through some of the local damage from latest storms. We received mostly small debris and some washouts from the rain. My left shin is still nagging me and today my right calf made it's presence known as well.
I've recently decided to take it easy this Tri season and have only booked a few races thus far, but our travel schedule is looking pretty good this year with Newport Coast CA., N.Y. NY, and a Fort Lauderdale trip booked! Trying to squeeze a D.C. trip in too!

Owie, Owie, Owie...

2010-02-21T16:27:00.001-05:00

Hampton Half- Done! It was rough. ( lack of proper training will do that ) Went in with a little pain in left shin but the mindset of just making this a long slow run day. We had a good number of GSTC members running this event today which made it fun. I tried to line up between the 9-9:30 pacers and when the race started I felt like I was running pretty tight to that. Shin pain dissipated early on and things were looking good. At mile one, according to my watch I had run a 8:30 mile! Oops! I backed off a bit and then Joe and Sandy came up on me. The three of us held together for a bit but admittedly they're a bit faster than me so I lost them a few miles later. At mile 6, I hate to admit , I had to use the loo. Lost a few more minutes there, but felt SO much better after that and actually picked up the pace for a bit. Fell into a nice pace with another runner that took me from mile 7 to 10. That was great! Then the motor went. GI issues, left knee pain and could feel a good blister coming on my right foot. I slowed to a crawl, walked a bit, stretched a bit and soon I was at mile 12. Thanks to Sandy who opted not to run the race but instead rode her bike around the course. It was nice to see her pop up every now and again and she really helped talk me through the last mile. Haven't seen the official time but it's right about 2:07. Not my best, but not my worst, and coming off of a full marathon with little training since, I'd call it good. We'll give it another shot maybe in May at the Alton Big Lake Half.

Three days to go...

2010-02-18T19:32:00.000-05:00

Half at the Hamptons is rapidly approaching and you'd think that coming off of a full marathon not even4 weeks ago that I'd be ready and raring to go. Not so much...as mentioned in earlier posts I took some time off for recovery and sightseeing and then got sick. I just recently got back to running and the old left shin pain is returning as well. I took today off and we'll see about tomorrow. Regardless, I will run on Sunday. It will be my " long run day", and that's how I'm looking at it. Training day vs. Race day. I'll try and post again before then.

The up's and downs of running.

2010-02-17T14:41:00.000-05:00

5 more on the books today. I went back to my usual route, a 5.2 mile loop that has some pretty big hills at the start. Luckily, uphills are most commonly followed by downhills. This route happens to end with a 1/2 mile uphill. This is a route I love ( by love I really mean NEED ) to run with my ipod. The right music, with the right tempo, can really help get you up some of the tougher ascents. Not only that, it can be just plain fun.

I have another route, a 7 miler, that starts with some of the same hills but continues up for a bit more before going on a long steady downhill before somewhat levelling off. However, what goes down must inevitably go back up so after hitting the turnaround at 3.5 miles I start the long and steady uphill grind. You learn alot about your endurance on this trek and if your really feeling good this course blends right back into the first loop making it almost a 12 mile long haul. Again, ipod recommended.

Really starting to feel back in the swing of things

2010-02-13T12:24:00.000-05:00

Got 6 miler in Thursday and another today. Today with a small group. Thanks Lisa,Jen, and Tom! It's nice to get out of the normal routine and run with a group. Conversation has a way of removing ( or at least masking ) the pain and suffering of a run. We took it slow today and just had a nice easy run.

Next up on the docket is the Half at the Hamptons next Sunday. Looking forward to this as it's a great course and one I've done twice before. I ran it in 08. It was my first 1/2 marathon and I had only been running for about 6 months. It...well it sucked to be honest. I was a rookie and did stupid things like taking off too fast at the start, and passing up the last water station. The weather was warmer than anticipated and I was overdressed which led to being kind of overheated...until the weather changed and it got really cold! I finished...barely in about 2 hours and 22 minutes that race. Later in the fall I went back and did the Hampton Rocking Half which was basically the same course. By this time I had run another 1/2, a sprint tri, an oly, the timberman 1/2 iron and the Reach the Beach races so I felt a lot better for this 1/2. I think that time was 1:54 which was a huge boost for me!
So, having run AZ a few weeks ago and being back in to running now I hope to have a fairly respectable race time again. Time will tell.

Two in a row!

2010-02-09T22:06:00.000-05:00

Got another run in today! Woo hoo! It's great to be back out there running again!

And here's our finishers!

2010-02-08T16:20:00.000-05:00

Here we all are at the post race concert watching the band Everclear play. Tom Sandy and I completed the marathon and Jill, Dawna and Brian completed the half.

Did I mention...

2010-02-08T16:17:00.000-05:00

...That I got to meet one of my favorite authors? Here I am with James Rollins at a book signing at the Poisoned Pen in Scotsdale.

2010-02-08T16:13:00.000-05:00

Race start from my point of view looking back to find Sandy. She's one of the small dots back there somewhere!

Some pics from AZ

2010-02-08T16:11:00.000-05:00

Here's a shot from a great mexican resturaunt in Tucson. Alittle cloudy but wow what a view!

Back from hiatus

2010-02-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

It's beeen 21 days since my last run. It's amazing how fast time can slip past. Not to make excuses ( much ) but in my defense, the first seven days post AZ Marathon I really needed to recover a bit. Battled some calf issues during that race, and also came out of it with a near falling off toenail. ( it never did fall off but is still very black ). We also used that week to do some sightseeing of the great state of AZ. Once back, we had a day or two of recovery from jet lag and I went straight into a week of working 3-11p. By mid week, or 10-12 days post race I finally came down with a cold /flu that I had until now avoided. That took me about a week to kick and brought me to the last few days where I've simply been battling my own head. Again I revisit the topic of training being easier for those that have always been active vs. those of us that are relatively new to the concept. It is an ideal of discipline and one that I have yet to embrace fully. Case in point; I technically have all the time in the world right now to actively train. I do not face the time constraints that most have, yet I cannot make myself get out there and do it. I love the end result, even love it once I'm out there in most cases but still find it most difficult to get out there. So, I self congratulate for a job done and look forward to getting out there and doing it again. For those following, the next event is Feb. 21st for the Half at the Hamptons, Hampton Beach NH.

We Finished!!

2010-01-25T16:44:00.002-05:00

What a great race! Haven't yet put together a race report but will try to recall the highlights real quick. Tom and I started the race keeping pace with the 4hr pace group. Unfortunatly, nature called as it had multiple times prior to the start, and we bolted for the outhouses just shy of mile 2. We were holding pretty steady at roughly a 9:30 pace. By the half we were starting to slow a tad and were both starting to feel "issues". My left calf was getting a knot in it, and had rubbed a spot raw on the back of my heel. Tom had some left quad issues. We ran as much as we could, taking the water stops to a walk. We always had the other in our sights, and tried staying together as much as possible. One thing we noticed was a lack of food on the course. Not that we were expecting gourmet meals or anything, but sometimes there are bananas or orange slices or such somewhere on the course. Nothing. Though we had gels, shot blocks, jelly beans and took water and cytomax, we were starving mid way through. Though I'm a vegetarian I could have killed for a cheeseburger during the race. Towards the end I was really feeling the big toe on my left foot and with 2 1/2 to go opted to take off my zoots and run barefoot. This actually felt much better and is how I crossed the line with a 4:56. Though not my planned finish time it was a 12 minute improvement from my last marathon. Sandy also beat her last time by a little while running with an achilles issue for most of the race.
We spent the rest of the week in AZ getting a trip up to Sedona, Jerome and Prescott as well as a trip south to Tucson in between rain ( and some snow ) including one of the biggest storms the area has seen in years. There was even reports of tornadoes touching ground within 2 miles of our villa. All in all it was a great race and a great trip! Will try and post a pic or two soon.

Countdown to AZ

2010-01-14T11:47:00.000-05:00

Well, we leave tomorrow, the race is Sunday. Hoping for the best but it seems Sandy and I are facing some issues. She's been plagued with a plethora of apparent overuse injuries from hip to toe. The most prominent may be a stress fracture in her right foot. She's bumming. I have fallen behind on training due to resting some left shin / calf pains and now may be in the early stages of a cold. Crossing fingers that it's not. Regardless, marathons for us at this point in our game are for fun, for the finish, not the time. We're certainly not fast paced racers on the long run. We were hoping to beat last years times though. As someone once said, "It's not the destination, it's the journey." We look forward to warmer climates, new scenery, camradrie and VACATION!!! Tom and his family look forward to showing us around Arizona and we can't wait. So, may your thoughts be with us on this trip as ours will be of you. I'll post as soon as I return and then we can look forward to the next event...Half at the Hamptons in February.

Let there be pain

2010-01-04T20:46:00.000-05:00

So, I've missed a few days of training already. What's up with that? I know! Well, we travelled for New Years, and had a snowstorm and started a new job so...( see, I told you I was king of excuses! ) Anyways, I've only missed two days so today I jumped on my bike / trainer for a ride and precursor to a run on the treadmill. I was shooting for approx: a half hour apiece, roughly 13 miles total. If you haven't guessed by now, that's not the way it worked out. The 10 miles on the bike was rough, it's been too long out of the saddle. As soon as I started the run my right calf started to lock up. I backed of a tad and tried to keep going but after a second jolt it told me I'd had enough. Bummer. I pumped some iron instead, so we'll call it good but I'm a little concerned with the calf issue. We'll see how it feels tomorrow and go from there. Any movements better than no movement!

A new year, a new beginning

2010-01-02T21:23:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are in 2010. Amzing isn't it? Sounds so weird...twenty ten. Sounds so futuristic. I suppose that statement is relative to your age. For me it sounds kind of Buck Rogersish, to you, well, you may be asking who is Buck Rogers? At any rate, January 1st marks a new beginning for the year, and new beginnings for us all. A time to set new goals, new resolutions, new promises. I set some personal goals for myself, among them trying to be more consistent with my training. I've already slipped on that one as I failed to get any PT in today. Trying to secure some steady employment is on the list as well, but trying to find myself as it were is just as important. My goal is to find something that I truly enjoy doing. There are race goals in mind too, this is about triathlon and such. So I hope to be up to par come race day, set some pr's and see some new places too. Arizona's first up for the PF Chang Rock n roll Marathon. Headed back out to Cali later on. Want to check out San Diego. Another NY trip is on the docket and maybe Rhode Island for a 70.3. Just some of the things on this years bucket list. Hope everyone has big plans for their year as well. wishing you all a very Happy New Year. Peace.

Back at it!

2009-12-28T16:45:00.000-05:00

Well, after a wonderful holiday filled with wonderous gifts, delicious treats, and just plain too much of everything, I am finally back in the training mode. The past week was full of overindulgence. I cannot tell you how many pies, cookies and chocolates I have consumed. It is time to purge. I opted to take the last week off from running to give my left leg a break and some recovery time, but now it's time to focus on the training. Arizona is just weeks away and the Tri season isn't far behind that. I was bound and determined to get out for a run today ( I know, sounds like I bailed ) and as the morning wore on the weather started getting grayer and soon it was spitting snow. As it got later the snow got heavier. ( Have I mentioned I'm a bit of a procrastinator? ) By 2:00pm we had about 2-3" collected on the ground. This was it, treadmill or road? Well, the thermometer says 42F so I choose road! I did a nice 6 mile out and back with my studded brooks on. I've always hated running in snow but the clocks ticking on the impending marathon and sometimes you just gotta get out there and do it! Feels great too.

2009-12-22T21:47:00.000-05:00

No run today. Wrapping gifts all day ( and eating TERRIBLY! )Tis the season I suppose. I'll give it the week and see if things improve on the fitness front. I fear things will be expanding on my front! So many temptations, so little time. I'm trying to watch what I consume during the holidays but it seems I consume everything I watch. It's the curse of the season. Tommorow is full of appointments, more wrapping, packing for the travel of the holiday. Which leads to more temptations, bad choices, and likely, a lack of running. A few more days and we'll be back on track, focus on Arizona, follow up with the Half at the Hamptons in February and on to the start of Tri season. Happy Holidays to all!

Logging miles

2009-12-20T11:28:00.000-05:00

What a great day yesterday! Got together with our informal running group for a nice long run. Sandy's and my goal was to run 16 miles which I'm happy to say was accomplished at 16.4 in 2:47. Cold and overcast it was made much more enjoyable with Lisa and Jen along. Group runs are always more fun! They had to take off a little early so left us at mile 10. Things got a little more serious from here on out. The miles started wearing on us, and there was less chatter to keep us going. I kept saying " I think this is the last big hill" and then we'd run into another one! What a welcome sight when we finally saw Lake Winni in the distance assuring that we were nearly done. We finished off a great day by sitting on the couch with a fire in the fireplace, watched NBC coverage of 2009 Ironman Kona and followed that up with a movie. Hope to get one more long run in before the big race, hopefully 20!

17F + 25mph winds =

2009-12-17T19:06:00.000-05:00

What does that come out to...like minus 40F? I gave the day some time to warm up from the 14F I saw on the thermometer this am. I guess 17 at nearly 1pm was as good as it was going to get so...off I went to run the block. The first mile and a half were freakin freezin. The next two and a half I regained feeling in most of my extremities but was still dealing with some calf / shin issues on my left leg. Finally, I approach the miracle half mile, which is really just the last half mile of my run, and back into a headwind. This part is all uphill and this time of year it is fairly ice packed so it really is a miracle I don't slip and hurt myself! I finished up with a walk on the dreadmill to cool down, and then pumped some iron before heading into the house which again meant facing the howling winds and bitter cold again but overall a great workout day!

Countdown to Arizona

2009-12-15T20:31:00.000-05:00

Five mile run today, beautiful 43F December weather. Temps. dropping tomorrow so may have to cycle on the trainer but still hope to get in a 16-18 mile run on Saturday. We'll see. As for the countdown, Sandy, Tom and I are running the P.F.Chang Rock n Roll Marathon in Arizona on Jan.17th.

Is it this hard for the pro's?

2009-12-12T14:39:00.000-05:00

Is training for endurance races this hard for someone who's always been athletic? I mean do they battle with the constant barrage of excuses my mind throws at me every time I know I should be out running, or biking, or swimming? Does the athlete who's been athletic since age 6 shudder at the thought of going out for a 13 mile run in 27 degree windy weather or does he laugh at the weather gods and say bring it on? I ask because at the age of 42, having been athletic for all of the last two years, ( and even that 's stretching it ) I love the feeling of being healthy, I love the anticipation of planning for a race season, and I love the excitement of race day, but can't stand the thought of running outside in the snow, or cold, or rain or... In my head I conjure up all sorts of cool training. New run courses, or a long bike ride, hill work or fartleks, but when my brain tries telling my body to get out there it resists! In my bodies defense, I will say that today my wife and I did brave 27f temps and high winds and got in a 13.5 mile run. This is not the norm however and I'm quite surprised that we did not roll over, crank up the electric blanket and stay in bed. Maybe I've hit a turning point...

What a year

2009-12-10T17:40:00.000-05:00

I was just looking back on this year and have to say that all things considered it was a GREAT year. Our year began with a trip to Orlando FL for the Disney Marathon and a week in our timeshare with our best friends, the Dawsons. It was a first marathon for Sandy and me. What a great event.

In May the wife and I utilized our timeshare and went to the Newport Coast for a week. What a trip. We saw L.A., Huntington Beach, Redondo as well as Newport Beach. Really loved the area and have already booked a return trip for 2010.

In July we drove down to Providence R.I. for the Ironman 70.3 to cheer on our good friend Tom Dawson. It was our second visit here for the event, last year we cheered on another friend and founder of Racing for Recovery Todd Crandell. It's on my list of races for 2010! Later that month we ventured to Lake Placid for the Ironman there. We had four of our GSTC club members running this one, and we had a blast cheering them all on.

In September Sandy and I again used our timeshare and went to Hilton Head SC. We had an awesome time relaxing, playing in the surf and pedaling on the miles of flat beaches.

October brought us an opportunity to visit San Fransisco! What a great place this is. Unfortunatly Sandy had to work most of this short trip, but boy did I cram in some sightseeing in three days. Alcatraz, Golden Gate park, ( and bridge )Haight /Ashbury, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, the Financial district, Market Street and the de Young Museum.

Last but not least, a week after San Fran, we went to the Big Apple, New York City! Again, a work weekend for Sandy and an incredible power tour for me. Empire State, Rockerfeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, the Intrepid Museum, the Garden, Times Square and had we known we could've done the NYC Marathon while we were there. Another one for the bucket list. What a great year!!

Taking the first step

2009-12-09T13:16:00.000-05:00

Taking the first step in any venture can be daunting to say the least. Over the years, especially the last two, I've taken many first steps. I've quit smoking, started running, gone semi-vegetarian, tried new careers, travelled to new places and most recently started blogging. I'm still trying to learn the basics here so please bare with me.
As for the name TriandTravel, I've chosen two things in life that I truly enjoy ( Triathlon and Travelling) and merged them into one entity that for me works on many levels. For instance, just "try" travelling in these post 9/11 days. It's getting increasingly difficult to travel with rising costs, declining jobs /incomes, and constant terror alerts.
On the other hand, it's my goal to start travelling to more triathlons. I'd also like to have a forum to discuss either of these topics, so look forward to future race reports, training trials and tribulations and ponderings from the road.