This, That, and everything in between

Just finished lunch here at work and had a few free minutes so I figured I would at least try to get something up here on the blog. I've realized that writing things for my blog really relaxes me and just genuinely makes me feel good. With that said I have not been posting much lately and I can definitely tell that I have lost a piece of me that I really quite enjoy. This is not to say that things haven't been going well in my life lately, because frankly they have been going pretty good.

Training in preparation for Ironman Florida was rocking and rolling up until this past Sunday when my body told me that I had used it to the max and that it was time to start recovering..time to ditch the fatigue. Prior to Sunday I have been very very happy with the way my training has gone. Unlike the leadup to Lake Placid I am currently running pain free and have been doing so since late June. Instead of my long run of 8 miles before Placid I have had multiple weeks where my run mileage is up in the 30's. No its not the huge number that some athletes put up, but I am not a season veteran with marathon hardened legs. I am still in my rookie year and have only one marathon to my credit. However, the legs have been feeling pretty good. I partially attribute that to some of the trail running that I did in Aug/Sept. Every Wednesday night in Aug and Sept I ran with some friends out in Mendon Ponds, where the trails are beautiful and the terrain is hilly. Putting on 12-13 miles on a Wednesday evening after having swam for an hour in the morning is a good day's training for someone like me who has to sit at a desk from 8:30-5:30. So with several of those weeks plus last months trainin which included some 5-6 hour rides with hard running right off the bike I feel like I am in as good a place as I can be at the moment. More speed and endurance will come as the years tick by but for now I am happy with the improvement and gains that I have achieved this year. Whether I have a good or bad day down in Florida it really doesn't matter. I am not going to let one day tarnish the past year. I have made to many friends and begun to many relationships for one bad day to cast a gloomy cloud over the whole thing. With that said...I am 100% confident that Nov 6th is going to be a great day. I am going to be racing in warm weather (a welcome change from the fall weather that is coming in the Northeast), I will be playing in the great wide ocean (no crazy mass start with 3000 people on top of each other), racing with friends, ang GOING FAST. I am going to stick to my plan BUT I am going to race...I am going to race IMFL and give it my best and see what happens. If I come up short..well at least I know that I pushed it to the red-line. I felt that I left a lot on the table in LP because of the circumstances. I raced smart in LP and came out on the other side smiling and injury free. But FL is the season ender..I want a fun race but I also want to know that it was my best effort at the level I am currently at. I can't wait to tackle this one!

Hmmm..what else has been going on?

I did a little 10 mile race on Saturday and had an extremely good time. Ran the race with negative split miles the whole way (or just about). Started out around 6:45'ish for the first 6 and then dropped it a bit at the end...ya know just for fun. This race wasn't about red-lining and taking home the championship. It was about making sure I could hit my paces and feel that they were easily obtainable...mission accomplished.

I also had my first real track workout last week. It was on Thursday morning in the wee hours of the morning. Me, myself, and I made our way to the Brighton highschool track before dawn and began to circle the rubber path. I had 5 by 1 mile repeats. I have never had the chance to do this workout and I must say I really enjoyed it. In one hour I ran about 9 miles or so and 5 of those miles were fast! They were fast but they weren't throw up fast, which is a good thing. Throw up fast will come..and most likely come when I have some training partners to push me. But they were fast enough for me to feel really good about where my fitness is..and doing them solo in the darkness and being done before 7am..well it just really makes you feel like you accomplished something. I highly reccommend this workout to all people..you don't have to be a triathlete to go out and run!

One other thing thats on my mind...my long lost London friends have begun to reunite. Thanks to the great CJ McCarthy from Boston, an email thread has been created and many memories from 5 years ago have been ressurected. Yes folks, it is almost the 5 year anniversary of when your's truly graced Great Britain with his presence. Many great moments occured during my time in the Queens country. Laughs, falls, cries, more laughs, beers, kavanaughs, bouncers, creepy british dudes, etc etc...I could really go on and on about this all. In fact I should try to recreate my London nights in new posts. I saw in my friends emails that some had kept a London journal. Unforuntely I did not keep such a thing..I was to busy being the freaking man. Anyway, maybe I can try to write some posts as if they were from the great year of 2006..back when it was cool to be a Mess of a College kid, roaming the streets of London and having an absolute ball....

AHHH memories!

and yeah..I used to be a good time (Believe it or not) I think my Mom has stopped following my blog so I will put this pic up for old times sake. If your reading this Mom..well I guess its to late..hahaha