Thanksgiving Thankfuls

It seems like a popular topic in a lot of blogs is making a list of things you are thankful for during this holiday season, as it is the season of giving thanks. I put together my own list, of 100 things I am thankful for (in not particular order):

1. My family [always and forever].
2. Having a coffee maker with an auto-timer--mmmmmm. 
3. A warm rain during a jog.
4. DVR.
5. A nice pair of new socks.
6. My health and general ability to heal from injuries quickly.
7. Pain killers, as an aid to that ability.
8. Whoever decided to put applies in pie.
9. Traffic....going the other direction on the highway.
10. Having a girlfriend that accepts my humor and banter.
11. My blackberry.
12. Facebooks ignore feature.
13. Mountain Dew.
14. Everyday I have the opportunity to learn something new.
15. Bourgeois freshman year, second floor.
16. My Specialized road bike.
17. Deciding to get a king size comforter for my queen size bed.
18. My parents giving me the opportunity to get a college education.
19. Google and all its features.
20. The Bay State Triathlon Team.
21. Laura and her birthday planning expertise.
22. Sushi!
23. That everyone hates stores decorating for Christmas before Halloween.
24. Grampy Grunt, NYE '07.
25. Having a liquor store within walking distance of my apartment.
26. My families summer cookouts down in Plymouth.
27. The success of major league sports in New England.
28. Yahoo odd news.
29. The nuclear power industry for supplying me with a job.
30. GU.
31. Lawn seats at the Comcast Center.
32. Not having to commute to Boston for work.
33. Pirates Cove mini-golf--Hyannis, MA.
34. The Office.
35. www.hulu.com
36. To be able to share valuable experiences/lessons with my brothers.
37. Having friends that enjoy doing the same thing as me.
38. Tide to Go stain remover (Laura is thankful, too).
39. Memories of high school sports.
40. Netflix.
41. Gravity--making shoveling my driveway so much easier growing up.
42. A tall beer in a frosty mug.
43. When I break 100 over 18 holes.
44. The TD Bank Garden is located a a T station.
45. Standard transmission.
46. Champagne powder.
47. Stretch limos filled with friends.
48. Hiking through the Appalachians.
49. Having every other Friday off.
50. Fenway Pahk.
51. Living in the same building as the cafeteria for two years in college.
52. The Game Show Network.
53. The first run on a newly-waxed snowboard, after a night of snowing.
54. 24-hour Wal-Mart.
55. Root beer floats.
56. The Red Sox winning the World Series in '07, otherwise getting hit with a billy club was for nothing.
57. The man that paid for my toll-far that one time.
58. A full can of Brisk in the summer.
59. Having quick reflexes and agility.
60. Mechanical pencils.
61. Google maps on my phone.
62. Oreos and milk.
63. Wicker furniture at a Cape house.
64. Cape Cod.
65. Being able to learn things quickly.
66. My HDTV.
67. Indoor plumbing.
68. President Bush no longer being in office.
69. Being able to increase my 401K.
70. Avoiding the movie theaters when Twilight premiered.
71. Having a strong work ethic.
72. All the different flavors of tea.
73. Having no known allergies.
74. High speed internet.
75. Not being related to Paris Hilton.
76. That I don't have hours of homework to do anymore.
77. Online banking and bill pay.
78. Having more than one beverage to choose from in my fridge.
79. Spare time.
80. My hats.
81. Knowing how to drive.
82. I ran a sub-5:00 mile before I got to old.
83. Being able to hold my alcohol.
84. Washing my car on a spring Sunday afternoon.
85. Sticking my face in a warm pile of laundry; or just putting on clothes from the just-washed laundry.
86. Having a girlfriend that understands my obsession with multi-sports.
87. Experiencing the clear blue waters of the Caribbean. 
88. Getting an email that isn't spam or work-related.
89. Taking my shoes off after a full day on my feet.
90. Competition.
91. Bare-feet in the sand.
92. A fresh haircut.
93. My tent and -40°F sleeping bag.
94. Microfleece.
95. Getting packages in the mail.
96. The Olympics and World Cup.
97. Sweats on the weekend.
98. Central air during sweltering summer days.
99. Camping: fires, smores, stories, stars, ...
100. Pick-up games with friends.

Lactic Threshold

This past week started my first full week of base-training. Basically in the months of the off-season, as a triathlete, you want to build a good aerobic base of long, slow mileage in order to prepare for the hard training season in the spring. I spent the week either biking on a stationary bike, running at a slow pace, or doing strength training exercises. I have yet to get a membership at a pool (the pool I want to get a membership at is very slow in getting back to me, and they are never around when I have time), so that is why I haven't been swimming this week either.

Last season, I did little to no strength training along with my swim/bike/run training, so this is something that just adds to the mix. So far my strength training has been pretty fun, I was really into going to the gym in high school and the first few years in college, so it is something that is of interest to me. My strength training going something like this:

• Warm-up (1 set of each): 20 jumping jacks, 20 squats, 8 squat thrusts
• Group 1 (3 sets of each):  20 push-ups, 20 high knees, 20 dumbbell rows
• Group 2 (3 sets of each): 20 squats, 20 shoulder presses, 20 mountain climbers
• Group 3 (3sets of each): 20 crunches, 20 hyper-back extensions, 10 squat thrusts
• Group 4 (3sets of each): 25 v-sits, 25 calf extensions, 5 pull-ups

A lot of it is basic strength exercises, using my own body weight. But that is because as an endurance athlete, you don't want to be huge. I just am focused on getting lean and having a strong core.

On top of the start of this new strength training, I am also going to be training the next few months using heart rate zones to build me training efficiency. Last night I took an anaerobic threshold (lactic threshold) test that is going to help me determine those zones in my training at this point. The lactate threshold is a useful measure for deciding exercise intensity for training and racing in endurance sports, and can be increased greatly with training. The anaerobic threshold is considered to be somewhere between 90% and 95% of your maximum heart rate and interval training takes advantage of the body being able to temporarily exceed the lactate threshold, and then recover (reduce blood-lactate) while operating below the threshold and while still doing physical activity. The test consisted of warming up on my bike trainer for 20 minutes, and then spending the next 30 minutes at a "race pace" level, trying to maintain the highest heart rate I could for the 30 minutes (of which I used the last 20 to measure my heart rate). I barely made it before collapsing. I also have never sweat so much in my life, and even soaked through the two sheets I laid underneath my trainer. I ended up with an average heart rate of 185 bbm. 

I am really enjoying this sport so far, I don't know if I have said that before. It gives me the opportunity to try to be an expert in 4 different sports (swimming, biking, running, strength training), which helps me stay in the best shape that I can. It gives me something to look forward to everyday because I always have a different work-out every day, and it's never boring because I am not practicing the same sport everyday. That's it for now, I will update what the results of my lactic threshold test mean for the rest of my training season.

Just Du It

During the month of October, while the leaves started changing colors and the temperature started to get colder, I decided that I wasn't done with multi-sports for the year. I was already signed up as a relay for the Wrentham Duathlon with my brother, but I also wanted to warm up for that one and race in one as an individual entry.

Scituate Duathlon 
Run 2-miles: 16:20
Transition 1: 1:06
Bike 11-miles: 35:01
Transition 2: 1:34
Run 2.8-miles: 25:36
Total: 1:19:34

Up to this point, I had competed in four triathlons, so I was familiar with multi-sports, but I had yet to compete in the run-bike-run of a duathlon. Not to mention I hadn't trained much since Nationals at the end of August. Scituate was a beautiful area, the race location was directly on the ocean. On top of being out of shape, there was a storm that was coming in that created huge waves that barreled over the sides of bridges/streets that we had to run on. It was very cold, but very rewarding. It was a great experience, and for those of you that don't like to swim but would like to participate in a fun race, a duathlon is perfect for you. Most multi-sport races have lots of beginners who are just looking for a rush of adrenaline and to put a notch on their belt. I highly recommend trying a duathlon at some point in your life.

Wrentham Halloween Duathlon

Run 3-miles: 23:07

Transition 1: 0:39

Bike 11-miles: 33:47

Transition 2: 0:45

Run 2-miles: 15:08

Total: 1:13:29

Now this race was a lot of fun. My brother, Kevin, has been interested in the races I've been doing, and up to this point he has run a 5k and a 5-miler road race with me. We decided to double-team this duathlon, and we joined as a relay team; he did the running, me the biking. It was a great way to end the season. I had asked a few friends to come along and make their own relay team, so it was just a really fun race overall. Kevin, who is 11 years old, did a phenomenal job running as was able to come in shortly behind my friend. The fun part of this race was that it was the Halloween Duathlon, so there was a lot of people dressed up in Halloween costumes. The best one of the day was definitely the gingerbread man:

After the race was over, we mingled with our family (my Mom, Dad, Aunt, and Nana) and waited around for the awards. Up until this point, I had never come close to placing, but we thought we did fairly well this time around. We ended up getting 2nd place in the all-male relay division! The excitement on my brothers face was priceless, and I was very excited as well. I had my best bike split of the year, and my brother was hooked on duathlons. He now wants to do this race by himself next April.

It was so awesome having our families there for support. My family has been to every single one of my races, and I know a lot of my success has been because they have been there. I just want to let everyone know how important support is for someone you love. Knowing that I have the support from the people I love to train and race gives me the motivation to continue when things are hard and when I'm hurting all over. So remember, if you love someone, to give them as much support as you would love to get back from them.

Welcome to Fall, Now I Got to Catch Up

So the fall season is quite upon us, and it's been awhile since I have updated, but I have had a lot on my plate recently and I was on my training break. I don't want to update everything, because that would take quite a long post to describe everything with the attention that they all deserve. I will however, leave bullets for myself, and possibly update these at a later date. In the past month or so, I have:

• Moved into my new apartment in Waltham with my girlfriend, Laura; 
• Competed in a two duathlons (one as a single entrant, and one as a relay with my youngest brother).

I know it doesn't seem like a lot, so where has all my time gone? But those of you who have moved out, or lived on your own, know how much time/effort/energy it takes to live on your own. We (Laura and I) spent a good amount of time packing, shopping, spending time with our families, and then unpacking, organizing, inviting friends and family over as we were excited to show them all our new place. We moved in on Halloween, and now, November 8, we are all organized, unpacked, and running the ship more smoothly. We recently had a housewarming party with a few of our friends, and it went really well.

During the last few weeks of the triathlon season, I competed in two duathlons. Of which, I will post later, as I have pictures and would just like to give the attention of these events their due and own post. Since then, I have taken my triathlon training at a slow pace, and have even taken two weeks off to recuperate before I begin my 2010 triathlon training season training.

This past year, I pretty much was experiencing the triathlon lifestyle on my own, trying to see if this was something I would like to continue. I signed up for races, which forced me to train, but it was all on my own, as a training free-for-all. I had no idea what I was doing, but made sure that I got in the pool a few times a week, ran a few miles a few days a week, ditto for the bike. After the season, I realized that I love everything there is about triathlons: the training, racing, and general lifestyle that I have to embody just appeals to everything I want right now. I love having to follow a better nutrition plan, training my butt off, and just the motivation and energy I have after being in shape for so long.

So this year, I decided to get a coach to help me organize my work-outs and help me get faster. As a member of the Bay State Triathlon Team this past year, I was able to meet a lot of people highly dedicated in the sport, and one of them has offered to help coach me and be my mentor for the 2010 season. Erik Wells is a very motivated man, and recently qualified to race a pro this year. I have full confidence that he will be able to help me get where I want to get to in my triathlon career.

This morning started my 2010 season, I signed up for my first race for next year. I have a friend over in Colorado, and he has been bugging me to visit since he moved out there last winter. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone, and find a race near him. I found one, and signed up for it this morning. The race is called the Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon and it is an olympic distance triathlon (1.5km swim, 30 mile bike, 10km run). Colorado is a beautiful area, I cannot wait to visit my friend and race there. This is going to be a race of focus for me with my training.

So, this is my update so far, but I plan on updating on a more frequent basis on my training, races, and life.