The Duh Report, And Other Odds And Ends

There are things along my journey towards ironman that I think should be plainly obvious to me, but yet have struggled immensely to grasp.

For instance, training for ironman takes time. A lot of time. It takes a supportive family. When I finish (hopefully) Rev 3 Cedar Point, I am taking that medal and putting around the neck of the person who really deserves it more than anyone else on the planet—my wife. She put up with all the weekend bike rides, with my crabbiness after I get the kids in bed because I am thinking about:

° How I did not train as much as I was suppose to
° Whining about how frackin' tired I am all the time (no sympathy from her there)
° How sore I am from swimming, biking, and running more in one day than I have up to that point in  my life.
° How I will have to turn off training for a while come 13 September and remember how to be a composer and musician again.

Then, of course, there are some things that I could have never have anticipated. Because my first obligation is my family and work, there have been times when I have had to make the easy, but painful choice between training or spending time with my family. Given the choice, I am always going to choose my family, even it means I will not be able to feel my quads for weeks following ironman. This past Friday, I was scheduled to do a run/bike/run. The run was suppose to be 1:45, followed by a 45 minute bike ride, followed by a one hour run. Seriously? Get real training schedule. As it were, Luca had two afternoon baseball games. So, I ended up fitting in my workout in between his game, truncating each section a little bit. Okay, to be honest, I only ended up running about 15 minutes of my second run. The legs were fine. My nutrition was solid. I felt pretty good conisdering how hot and humid it was. The first one was at 11:00, the second at 3:00. Could I have gone out early in the morning, say 5:30, 6:00 and been done in time for his first game? Sure. But burning the candle at both ends has me spending some quality time with the wifey talking until 11:30,  midnight. One thing I seriously have to work on this next month is getting my butt to bed early—real early—and trying to start up my early morning routine again.

However, there are quite a few things that I have really enjoyed about training for ironman:

° Eating an insane amount of food  at all hours of the day.
° The camaraderie of training with people that make you work harder.
° Improving technique (my swim technique can only get better)
° The conversations I have with people when I explain to them.."Yes, it is all in one day."

Adam and I had a nice two mile swim on Wednesday followed by an hour bike ride. We then decided that we should take advantage of Wednesday night all you can eat sushi at one of our favorite sushi bars.

Our sushi chefs, Maria and Julia made us some hand rolls first. Too delicious!

 The ever shy Maria getting ready to slice and dice some avocados.

Julia did 99% of our rolls.

Two hand made hand rolls= YUMMY

Then, it was time for the smörgasbord. Yes, I successfully worked in the work smörgasbord AND and an umlaut in the same post. BONUS points.

I can not even remember what everything was, but man, was it delicious!

In the spirit of all you can eat sushi, Adam and I thought it would be almost offensive—like eating dinner at an Italian household—if we did not ask for more rolls after this. So, we shared three more rolls between us (in addition to the three we had after the hand rolls, and before this beautiful array of culinary art.

Adam posing with his new best friends. This is the face of
a sushi-drunk human. Did I mention ladies, he single?

OTHER NEWS: Did I mention I am also transitioning into a new gig? Check this place out! Isn't it just beautiful?

Okay, this is  not the building I will be teaching in, but it is right
next to it. 

Not a bad view of the campus from my blimp, eh?

Okay, go ahead those of you not in the know. Where is  

this mysterious new campus I will be teaching at

starting this fall?

Okay, I am off to the lake for another disciplined two mile swim. I did a 2-miler Wednesday with Adam. He finished before me, but it took me about 55 minutes. At least I know I can go the distance now, and the time. 

Okay, more exciting news coming soon. I have a meeting scheduled with Aquawoman. 

Train Smart!

5 Observations

A couple of observations this week:

1) Girls talk way more than boys. Seriously, I know what I am talking about. I have three girls. Like their mom, I sometimes think they just talk to hear themselves talk. Please don't be offended ladies. I love my wife, and my girls. They are already excellent at bossing each other around, the boys, and anyone else with ears.

2) My wife has this amazing knack of calling me at work to ask me questions regarding work around the house. This usually requires the purchasing of some large ticket object. She finds this especially convenient while my mind is preoccupied with grading papers, or I am with a student in my office. She'll ask something along the lines like "What are we going to do about those trees that need to come down? I got two estimates yesterday, they can cut them and grind the stumps for twelve hundred dollars. Should I go ahead with that. As I am totally blindsided and unprepared for this—and only half paying attention—I say "Yeah, sure... go ahead. Whatever needs to be done." Then I get home and we have a new piece of bedroom furniture or something. "Don't you remember us talking about this... I called you. I asked you about the tree, and you said... '...whatever needs to be done.' "

3) My friend Kelly can not help but notice that I do not have one picture on my blog with me wearing a shirt. Apparently, I am completely incapable of wearing one. Wait, I DO wear a shirt—a tri top—in several pictures. What is Kelly talking about? I'm a big guy. I sweat a lot. When I go out for a run and it is bazillion percent humidity, I do not want to wear a shirt.

4) When training for Ironman (which is by far the sickest thing I have ever done in my life) I can eat anything and still take off weight. I woke up this morning and had two bagels with lox, and a banana. Today, for lunch, I ate a pound of pasta with pesto. Here is my daily eating routine:

Breakfast at 7:30
Snack at 10:00
Lunch at 11:00
Snack at 12:30
Lunch #2 around 1:30 (depending on if I have a afternoon workout scheduled this could be earlier or later)
Dinner at 6
Graze on fruit, vegetables, cookies, cereal, leftovers from dinner during the week from 7:30 until bedtime

4) Minor league baseball games and beers with a friend is one of my favorite summertime activities. I don't do it often, and I am drunk off of one beer, but I don't mind. I barely even pay attention to the game. On a Tuesday night home game during the summer, you can treat yourself and three of your friends, kids, relatives, enemies to three tickets to a Rochester Redwing game, four hot dogs, four drinks for $30.  Of course, I do not eat hotdogs, but still, what a great deal.

5) It is important to swim consistently while training for Ironman. Failure to do so could result in catastrophic results, if not drowning. What could be more catastrophic than drowning? Missing the swim cutoff completely. That would spoil my day.

What are your seemingly benign observations this week?

Train Smart!

Ramping Up During A Recovery Week: Great Fun!

Only FIFTY days left until Rev3 Cedar Point Iron Distance, but who's counting?  Me. Every day, minute, and second. Nothing like running a HIM and throwing yourself back into the fire to prepare for an iron distance event. I did some serious work during recovery week—if you can call it a recovery week. I managed a 12 mile speed workout, two open water swims of about two miles, a hundred mile bike, followed up the next day with a 14 mile run. Yeah. Feeling good. Thank goodness today is a rest day. I am resting, and hydrating. My legs felt surprisingly well on my run for beating the heck out of them on that ride the day before.

The week was also filled with a lot of family and job related activities. This past weekend, Luca participated in four All-star baseball games over three days. It was a family event. We had a picnic during his afternoon game Friday, and the wifey brought a sheet pizza to his second game on Saturday. This pizza was consumed with great vigor after my hundred mile ride earlier that morning. I am also amazed at the appetite of my four year old twins. How is it that little girls can eat so much food? Don't worry, we packed plenty of veggies to accompany the gobs of yummy melted mozzarella cheese and delicious pepperoni and mushrooms. For dessert, Alaina broke out a watermelon and we cleansed our palettes.

Here is how it went down:

Traveled south into the wind. Averaged around 17.5-18.0 m.p.h.  Then we travelled east. Felt a little better. We had moments when the wind died down and we were cruising at a nice 23-26 m.p.h. pace. Then we rode around Canandaigua Lake. We traveled south along the west side of the lake first. Not blazing fast. A lot of spinning here. We were all really looking forward to the big payoff; diving down from the bluff to the east side of the lake. It is a decent four mile descent and really fast. You can easily go over fifty m.p.h. (80 km.) on this stretch of road if you do not value your limbs, or teeth. Personally, I value both my ability to stand upright and my chiclets, and start to consider how tightly I put that skewer back on my front wheel after getting it down from my roof rack any time I am going over thirty miles per hour. I mean, seriously, at 30 m.p.h. you may as well kiss your sweet cuspids goodbye and sign yourself up for a lifetime of permanent dental work if you crash at that speed. Okay... better not to even think of that. The worst part—I did not have to think of it at all. Adam plotted out a fine course a couple days prior to our departure, but how was he to know that the fastest part of our day was going to be the slowest because the road was ground up awaiting resurfacing? So, I rolled, er, moseyed on down (yes, I used the word moseyed,) this steep decline at the speed of a constipated tortoise. I was not about to wreck my rims, break a spoke, get a flat, or fall on my butt by trying to defy the bike gods on this day. They have spoken. Let these Crankskins fools not go fast down a hill on this day. And so it was. To be honest with you, I never really go  more than I am comfortable with, even in a race. I am sure I could handle my ride just fine, it is my children that I think about. They need their daddy, and I need to be there for them.

Riding north along the lake ended up boosting our daily average nicely. On our way back, we stopped in the town of Canandaigua to see a couple of friends who were racing a two mile open water swim in the lake that day. What kind of imbecile does this you ask? Alexa, that's who. I also met up with a couple of super Aquaman type swimmers who I am convinced have gills behind their ears like Kevin Kostner in Water World (the finest film ever made about post-apocalyptic water covered Earth.)

Okay, this weekend I am taking a trip to the triathlon Mecca of the east coast. Need a hint? Think 1980 Olympics' Miracle on Ice. Going there with Adam to volunteer for IMLP. The goal was to volunteer so that we could both get in line to sign up for IMLP 2011. However, life has a funny way of derailing you—sometimes for the best—and making us adjust our trajectory. I have not mentioned anything as of yet, but I have accepted a position to teach at a small private institution that shall remain nameless for the time being, but it is exactly the right opportunity at the right time, and I am thrilled to be a part of the faculty. Of course, I would love to run Placid next year, but performing well and maintaining an active career trumps any desire I have of competing in another iron distance event for the foreseeable future. Like I said, I will not tell you were the new gig is (and please don't spoil it—all you in the KNOW,) but isn't the campus just lovely? I mean check out that quad. I haven't seen a quad like that since Greg LeMond in the 1989 Tour de France time trial versus Laurent Fignon (who arguably has a far cooler name.)

If the blog posts seem few and far between these days, it is because outside of my family and work obligations, I am trying to fit in the miniscule amount of time I have left over to train. 

On the docket today: A lazy 45 minute swim and half hour run. Yawn. Barely a workout. Of course, I am suppose to have a 5:15 bike on Saturday. I don't see that happening. Story at eleven. 

Train Smart!

22 Minutes Faster: A Musselman Weekend

Wow—what a weekend! In my imaginary life, the week before running a half ironman would be relatively stress free, with no surprise or interruptions in the ebb and flow, or banality of everyday life. Such was  the case for me. Yeah, right. For those of you who do not know, I am a composer, and also serve, and share the role of artistic director for many arts performances throughout western New York and elsewhere. It is a position that I love, but it takes a considerable amount of time to organize some of these concerts. This year, I worked again to bring the arts to the Musselman Triathlon by organizing the second Musselman Arts Triathlon—a series of concerts spanning twelve hours in which musicians, dancers, and visual artists collaborate in performances. A lot of planning went into this event from so many people. It is used as a benefit for the Smith Opera House, which means that every performer donated their time and talents to come here and perform in this great space for free! How cool is that? It takes a lot of nice people—and a bit of the ole' Jedi mind trickery to b able to coax people into coming and performing pro bono.

One of the highlights of the Arts Triathlon for me was having a performance by South African pianist Pierre van der Westhuizen of my piece Stress Test. Pierre and his beautiful wife Sophia work at a smal lliberal arts college in Ohio. Here they before minutes before Pierre is scheduled to play my piece watching the fireman's parade go through town with their adorable baby, Jean Pierre. 

The week before, Adam and I also had two jazz performances in sweltering heat at the alumni house at the university. Then, following our Thursday gig, we drove forty-five minutes across town for a tech rehearsal for the Nazareth College Dance Festival. We packed up tons of gear, only to find out that we were not rehearsing in the space that we were performing in, and we ran only ran through the piece once, lasting only 15 minutes. Friday was crazy as well. I had guests staying in Geneva, but had folks coming in front out of town to perform who I had to get keys to. I wanted to get into Geneva early Friday to relax and start decompressing from my crazy week, but I also had to pick up my cousin Danny and his girlfriend Jocelyn from the airport. Danny came from Miami to run the race with me. So, I picked them up at 4:30, we stopped home to get all my gear and say hello to the wife. Danny brought his bike from Florida, but it was packed in a box and we threw it in the back of my small Toyota Camry. The rest of the car was packed with gear as well. So, Danny and Jocelyn had two sit on each others lap on the way down to Geneva. It was almost comical, but everything worked out.

The week my father passed away, I had to bring my bike in to the main man over at crankskins.com for a little pre-race bike therapy. I am chatting with him about everything that had gone down the last couple of weeks. As I go to put my bike back on my roof rack, I notice he put a very special piece of bike bling on both sides of my seat mast. Before I trudged up the steepest climb in the course, I kissed my fingers and tapped dad on both sides. I felt like her was with me there the whole time helping me.

Look who came down the day before the race and got to watch part of the Arts Triathlon. Alaina danced with BIODANCE during one performance, and I got to perform with her at the end with my very own Be Here Now Ensemble—an improvisational ensemble. I can not tell you how absolutely rewarding and beautiful it is to work with Alaina. She is a far better dancer than I am musician. I loved being able to perform with her. Good job partner!

In between performances, I met Adam and Alexa next door for some much needed grub. I had to wait so long for my chicken sandwich that I ended up getting it for free. Bonus! We sat down for dinner at a joint next door to the Smith The whole town was crawling with athletes. You might wonder... what do elite athletes eat the evening before a big race? Please Mark, show me how they are constantly aware of their nutritional needs. My new friend here from Virginia was scarfing down some potato skins of course:

The Arts Triathlon was a  huge success. The event culminated with a performance by my ensemble, Be Here Now. The ensemble is made up of musicians and dancers who are able to improvise and create pieces "on the spot." Throughout the day, artists were painting a backdrop in the back of the Smith Opera House stage. It was an incredible undertaking. Here is my fellow co-artistic director (and painter,) Cherry Rahn in front of the finished product.

My other lovely co-conspirator in this whole operation, Donna Davenport, is deathly shy, but she posed for this picture.

What made the Arts Triathlon especially rewarding for me was having so many different types of musicians performing and dancers and artists performing with complete abandonment. This shot is of some jazz musicians jamming alongside some conservatory students from the Eastman School of music that I invited up to play at the end of the performance. That is Adam on the left ladies with the white Zoot hat he ourchased the day before the race to throw ice in as he was running. He's still single, but rumor has it he has been on a date with a very grumpy, moody, future Ironman who shall Alexa remain nameless.  

As far the actual HIM, I really should have no complaints. I subtracted 22 minutes from my time last year. Here is how it went down:

SWIM: Eh. Not remarkable really. With all the chaos the last four weeks, I have had less time to dedicate to this discipline. I did enough training to get it done, and that is exactly how it felt. It's funny, midway through my training I was feeling really positive about my swimming—and I was getting faster. I know the reason for the gradual decline—time—not a lot. More, it is easy to put on the appropriate shoes and get out the door for a run or bike. When it comes to swimming... I have to check the pool schedule, then make sure it is going to coordinate with the kid's schedules, the family itinerary, etc. No excuses, but, if we move again, it is going to be next to a lake!  I felt fairly good until around the mile point, then I was getting super warm in my full wetsuit and started thinking about doing a keg stand underneath a water faucet. I was also steamy in my suit. This is one swim I would have preferred a sleeveless suit. Time: 38:31"

BIKE: Needed about 5 miles to rehydrate and get my heart rate under control again after transition. I took the first five miles easy, then gradually started to pick up my tempo. I felt great the whole way through. I think that I did make a critical error during my bike however. I don't think I drank enough. I brought 80 ounces of fluid with me, but I think I could have used more. I also think that my mixture might have been a bit too salty for me. I was really thirsty for water on the bike. I got one 20 ounce bottle at the bottle exchange/aid station, and one near the end. It was not nearly enough, as I found out on the run. Some suggested that perhaps I mashed it too hard on the bike. I don't think this was the case. My heart rate was never really that high, and I felt fine the whole ride. I averaged 20.4, but I averaged 22 on the course when I went out and just rode an open 56 three weeks ago. Still, something to consider. Perhaps I can try slowing down during training a bit and seeing how I run afterwards. Time: 2:45:08


RUN: Well, I had two runs really. The run up to mile six, and the run after mile six. I think this is where I made another critical error. I felt dehydrated off the bike. I got my fuel belt on and started to run. I took a swig and it did not satiate me in the least. I could feel my stomach starting to cramp already during the first mile. I knew I was in trouble. When I got to the aid station, I sucked down two cups of ice water and through some ice on my head and sponged off my back. Still, I felt pretty fatigued. Right around mile three I heard Adam behind me saying "I'm coming for you Mark." I laughed. He had me. He asked if I was okay, and I told him I was just dehydrated and he went on running, well... jogging, steadily. It took me about five miles, but I finally felt like I was rehydrated between miles five and six. I threw down a lot of water, GU Chomps, and electrolytes. I pretty much ran sub 8's from mile 7 to the finish. That will give you some sense of just how slow I was averaging in the beginning. I totally expected to run around a 1:50 half on this course. I was really disappointed. Time: 2:07:55


Okay, I know, I know... 22 minutes is a fairly significant improvement in a year. I need to somehow find a way, especially now with Ironman looming in my immediate future, to make swimming a staple of my diet.  Last year following the Musselman half, I said that I wanted to run a 5:30 this year. Next year, I am going out on a limb and say I want to shave that time down to 5:15. I absolutely know I can do it. I've gotten faster, and smarter about my training. I might actually work with a coach next year who can help me improve my training efficiency. I need someone to be able to look at my schedule and say "How the heck are you even able to train a little bit?" and then help me devise a plan for success.
TOTAL TIME: 5:36:08  41/91 AG (But it was one of those only five seconds separated 37/91 AG from 41/91 AG) Darn... run faster at the end next time Mark!  Read those calves!!

All said and done, I had an unbelievably fun day. I enjoyed—with the exception of the steamy wetsuit in the canal—every minute of my race. I even had a good time taking in fluids. It helped  inform my strategy for Ironman in September. Only 58 more days to go!

Train Smart!

Therapy, The Zen of Red Wine, and Dehydration

It has been hot this week. Real hot. Dangerously hot. Hard-to-train-with-this-heat hot! Don't get me wrong, I love the heat. Thank goodness, because it has been in the nineties and at least 50% humidity all week. I think my body is still recovering from the last couple of weeks of stress. I can feel it in my training, my mental state, my motivation, my stress level.

At times like this, I always like to remind myself that no two people are hard-wired exactly the same. I am constantly reminded of this in my daily life. Sometimes, it is in the form of witty t-shirts like:

There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those that understand binary, and those who do not. 

Sometimes, I am reminded in the form of age-old adages like:

There are two kind of people in the world: those that think there are two kinds of people in the world, and those who do not. 

My father would sometimes remind me that not everyone appreciates Picasso; not everyone understands contemporary music, (heck, I knew that one,) not everyone like pasta (which I think is just downright ludicrous!)  I remember, one time, I was having a conversation with my father about wine. Since my father imbibed in a decent glass of red with dinners most evenings, I would often try to gain some insight into what made a good bottle of wine. I'll never forget the age-old wisdom he gave me once: "You know what the best bottle of wine is?"  Pause. I shrug my shoulders. "The one that you like," he replied.

The past week has been incredibly difficult trying to negotiate my father's death.
Fortunately, I am also at an extremely busy time in my life. I am surrounded by a mountain of new projects. I just agreed to write three new solo violin pieces for a recording project in January for my friend Jo Nardolillo. I will have updates on my progress as I get underway to write these pieces. This weekend I am racing the Musselman HIM in Geneva, NY, and I am also one of the directors for the Musselman Arts Triathlon—a twelve hour concert of live music, dance, and visual art. This weekend month also marks the one year anniversary of my blog. I can not believe I have been writing this for a year! Did I mention that the concert that I helped coordinate, and am playing in until 10:00 p.m. is the night before the triathlon? Remind me NEVER to do this again!

Luckily, the training—albeit spotty with everything going on—has been incredibly therapeutic. Going out and beating the hell out of my body for two or three hours leaves me with little angst when I am through. Not to mention that I have found solace in my long runs, thinking about my father, asking him for help with everything from handling the heat, to my stride. I know he is out there with me, and it gives me special comfort. The training has been a way of channeling my sorrow into something positive. I am not sure how I would manage without it.

I DID beat my body up a little too much on Tuesday however. It was about 93 degrees and 50% humidity. So, I decided to go out for a run during the hottest part of the day—not smart. I brought nutrition with me, but I was toasting during my mile splits. After I was finished, I jogged over to the soccer field that was being watered by one of those industrial strength sprinklers that was about nine feet tall. I let it pour over me for a minute or two, but I had to jog just to keep up with it moving—ineffective. Finally, I ran back to my office and took a shower in the locker room. I hydrated that night, or so I thought. We hosted some friends from out of town and I drank a beer and half a glass of wine (as well as a lot of water.) I went out for a swim Wednesday and my stomach was really wringing. It felt like I had a sharp, stabbing pain. I thought that I might have acid, or an upset stomach. I got out to the first buoy and had to turn around I was in so much pain. The way back home was excruciating. Painful. My stomach hurt for about three hours. Finally, I arrived home and had a glass of Gatorade while I sat upstairs in my bed. Ah... that had been it all along—DEHYDRATION!  Woah!  The obscenely hot run the day before, the beer at dinner, and the diminished fluid intake the following day, all led to a debilitating day void of any training.

So, today, I am getting things together for the triathlon and the Arts Tri. I am a little stressed out, and unfortunately, the stress takes some energy away from preparation. It is draining. I am picking up my wife's cousin from the airport tonight. He is coming in from Florida, and we will be running Musselman together—great fun!

Looking forward to an extremely busy weekend. Here goes nothing!

More soon. Train Smart!

Moving Forward With The Obi Wan Effect

As busy as I was this week with arrangements for my father's funeral service, there is something incredibly  therapeutic about putting down words that helps to relieve some of the loss. It is difficult internalizing everything—at least for me—and trying to make sense of it all.

One thing is for sure, those of us who have lost a parent understand how difficult this is. I liken the experience to a first-time parent. Before having children, everyone tells you that your life is going to change, that you will never understand the capacity to love another human being until you have a child of your own. I know that is true for me. I understood for the first time just how much my parents love, and had sacrificed for me when Alaina and I welcomed Luca into this world. I specifically remember one remark a college professor made to me in graduate school after I commented on what a beautiful picture of his children he had on his office bookshelf. "Yeah, it's crazy, you would step in front of a train for them." When Alaina was pregnant with Julian, I almost felt guilty thinking how could I possibly love another child just as much as Luca, but I do. I love each one of my children equally and appreciate their uniqueness, and special gifts that each bring to our lives that enrich them.

The realization that my father will not physically be present in my life is still sinking in. It still feels very surreal. I don't think anyone who has not experienced the loss of a parent can truly appreciate just how difficult it is. You join a special fraternity on that day—one in which we will all ultimately become part of.

I would look to my father for guidance for just about everything. Suddenly, I am forced to live my life making decisions based on what I think my father's guidance would have been. I am thankful that my children all had the opportunity to stay over his house and spend time with him the last couple weeks he was here. What is amazing about the whole process, is that suddenly, some things become very apparent. Lessons that you thought you understood, now hit home with a clarity and realization that seem more profound. Family is the most important thing in our lives. No greater evidence is needed than having an older generation of extended family around that can empathize with our family.

Even though my father is not present on Earth,  I have already experienced a great deal of the 'ole Jedi experience that Luke shared with Obi Wan and Master Yoda. I was out for an OWS (open water swim) on Wednesday. The water was quite choppy. I could hear my father's voice, helping me along. He speaks to me and I answer as if him because I know he is with me. I swam the buoys as I do every time I go out for an OWS. When I got to the turnaround, I said "Okay papa, help me motor back." I could see him nod and give and a Hmmm... you really learned how to swim pretty decently look on his face. You know, with the bottom lip slightly protruding. Body language is incredible, isn't it?

Thanks to all of my blogger friends who have shared their condolences, both publicly and privately. It was so wonderfully uplifting to me and my family.

Needless to say, the training has been quite inconsistent this week. I fit in a run here, a swim there. It's okay. Life happens. Amazingly, I just won an entrance into the Rev 3 triathlon at Cedar Point on my friend Kelly's blog! It has been a whirlwind week full of emotions. Thanks for having this drawing Kelly. I am super excited. I guess I ought to start ramping up the training, huh?

Nine days until the Musselman HIM. Super excited about the race and the Arts Triathlon beforehand. More on that soon.

Train Smart!