Finally, I'm relieved to know what I'm going to be doing next year (beside of course training my butt off!). Today I received my acceptance to the UB Chemistry PhD program! I'm pretty excited, they have more professors working in inorganic chemistry than most schools, so I'll have a lot of options as to projects I can work on. One that I'm interested in is making nanoparticles for use as MRI contrast agents. I've been working on a little side project for a guy at Ceders-Sinai making some nanotubes for that use, and I've found myself wanting to dig a little deeper into it. We'll see I guess. So that's a weight lifted off my shoulders. Amanda is taking me out to dinner tonight to celebrate! Though, this means a little bit of workout shuffling. Other than that, I'm trying to make some slow progress with my thesis. Another bit of good news is that I'm going to be able to teach for the first half of the summer, so I'll still have a paycheck then! It's funny how things have a way of all coming together to work out. So now my personal life checklist consists of finding an affordable apartment in Buffalo, that's easy to get to UB from, allows dogs (Preston will be living with me), and is easy enough to run/bike from. Hopefully I can find somewhere that fulfills all those criteria. If anyone knows the Buffalo area, and good places to run/bike, I'd love to hear them!
Unfortunately school in Buffalo means that I won't be seeing Amanda every day, which sucks. She's going to be beginning her Grad program at the Warner School at U of R. She's really excited about it! What a way to start a marriage though, having to move to places an hour apart. I know that it'll be a struggle at times, but I'm sure that it'll be fine. In the end it's worth accepting a little bit of time geographically separated for us both to be able to do what we really want to do. She's trying to get a graduate assistant ship in res life so she has free housing, or otherwise she may move in with a friend of hers if she can. The other con will be limited water polo. There's a Niagara Falls Club, but they're pretty bad, and I'll have enough on my plate with tri training, and PhD studies. So I may limit my polo playing to coming back for tournaments and scrimmages.
On to training! Things have been going well! I'm loving seeing the improvements that I'm making every day. This really hit home from me on Sunday. I met some of the team in Pittsford for a group long run. We all started out kind of together, but I ended up running with Turbeau. That kid is quick. I was proud that I was able to stick with him through it. It's almost surreal running along at an endurance pace that's faster than I was running for 5ks last year. Then kicking it up a notch for the last 30 tempo sub 7min/mile. That's crazy fast to me. It just continues to excite me for the season ahead! Last week I struggled some with my bike rides, I just mentally didn't have it. I suffered through every minute, even though it wasn't anything tough. Then things turned around Thursday. I went for a short, easy ride around the block, and I felt amazing! I then rode my bike to and from school Friday, in addition to my actual bike ride workout. Those rides completely rejuvenated me, and I rocked my long ride Saturday. All along I've kind of hoped that I could do Placid in around 11 hours. This was kind of a best case wish. Sunday as we're heading back to the cars after the long run Mary tells me she thinks I can definitely go under 11. Lets hope!
After the long run Sunday the team met at Bruggers in Pittsford to hang out and get a group picture (because Mary now writes for Xtri.com, find her first official column here!) I also had the pleasure of meeting a bunch of my teammates! The ones I got to talk with the most were Mark (who has to be one of the nicest guys I've ever met, so check out his blog), and Kim (also known as pregnant Kim or kimword Kim, who is hilarious, and she and her husband, another one of the nicest guys I've ever met, are swimmers. So plus 10 cool points to them!). We also got our awesome new visors, and water bottles! We're definitely going to be representing Train-this out there with all this awesome gear!
That's all I have for now! Off to pick up Amanda and get some yummy chinese food from Bamboo House!
123 Days to go!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Johnny's 5 miler
I was excited all week for Johnny's Runnin' of the Green today, and I'm happy to say that everything panned out well! I've never written a race report before, but I think now's a good time to start.
My parents arrived at our apartment at about 9:40 (I have awesome parents, and they try to make it to as many of my events as they can!). We decided to take only one care, they said they didn't mind waiting for my second lap through the course, which made me happy. It's always nice to not have to drive yourself home after a race.
The race plan given by Mary was to run the first mile hard, but at a sustainable pace, then run the rest at that pace +/- 10 seconds.
We arrived at the start about 35 minutes early, and I found Mary, and Alexa and the rest of the team. We all went out for a quick warm up run, and Mary made fun of me for wearing pants, and arm warmers, and a second shirt, but was comforted to learn that I was planning on running in shorts. I had expected it to be cooler than it was, and was thinking that I may need my arm warmers, and hat, but after the warm-up, I decided I definitely didn't. I went to line up for the start, and was pretty near the front. I found Amanda and wished her luck, then tried to get closer to the front. Didn't work. Everyone that was along the side was pushed in towards the front, pushing me back. Oh well. The gun went off, and I stood still. Finally everything started moving, and I started my watch as I actually crossed the line. I worked my way through the first mile as well as I could, but it wasn't easy. Everything cleared up a lot towards Ford St, and I hit my stride really well. I actually had to force myself to dial it back, when I felt like I was pushing it too hard. I crossed mile one with a pace around 6:40 (btw, that's not much slower than my 5k PR pace, so something in this training is definitely working!). So my pace for the race would be 6:30-6:50.
For the most part, I felt really strong, and fell into a good rhythm. I was able to catch myself when I was pushing it trying to race a little too much and settle back into my pace. I also did really well not checking my watch (this is normally a compulsion for me, so you should be impressed). I saw Turbeau heading back as I passed the U of R football field, and gave him a little cheer. He doesn't really know me, and was definitely in the zone, so he didn't seem to notice. I hit the turn and felt amazing, and used the downhill to pick up a little free speed. A little while later I passed Alexa heading up, and gave her a cheer, she looked really good. Then I saw Mary, and cheered for her (I like cheering!).
At that point I started looking for Amanda. She's been working hard getting ready for this race, and has been doing really well. She also had some pretty big goals, she wanted to go under 45 minutes, which is huge for her. I saw her as I passed by the football field again, and gave her a big smile and cheer. She looked great, really really strong, and she called out to me that so far she was averaging 8:40s. That made me really happy, and put some more pep in my step as I refocused on the finishing miles. Checking my watch at each mile, I was happy to see that I wasn't straying too far from my pace range. I just felt in the zone, and I'm hoping that becomes a familiar feeling as the season goes on.
One thing that I'm really happy about is that besides being out kicked in the last few feet by some kid with super long legs, no one passed me after mile 2. I usually take things out a little too fast, and end up slowing and getting reeled in towards the end.
I was happy to get a good cheer from the fleet feet crew (Thanks Ellen and Shawn!) as I passed by Corn Hill Landing, and started picking up the pace for a strong finish. I saw my parents jsut before the finish and gave them as big a smile as I could as I passed. I ended up crossing the line at an official time of 33:21, and a watch time of 33:04. Good for an average pace around 6:40s. It was good for an overall place of 100, and an age group place of 12. Which is great for me in running races. I'm not the strongest runner, but I'm getting there!
I went back and found my parents, and began looking for my friends, and Amanda to come through. I kept looking back at the clock, and then as far down the road as I could see trying to spot her. The minutes passed 41 minutes, and I started getting nervous. I could see way up the street, and I hadn't seen her coming yet. Then I noticed her, she had unzipped her jacket, and hidden behind someone! She came through 42:48 for an 8:34 pace! I was so proud of her! I went and congratulated her, and we went and found my parents again.
I started to look around for the rest of my team to head back out for our second lap. I couldn't find them though, I eventually gave up, and started off on my own. I'm really bad at finding people in crowds. I finally saw them just before the turn around. I ran back nice and steady. I didn't really look at my watch at all, and as a consequence, I pushed it maybe a little harder than I should have. I think a lot of it is a consequence of racing, the cool down pace just felt so amazingly slow, that I had trouble maintaining it.
All in all, it was a very successful day! After the race my parents took us out for lunch (free meals are always welcome!) and we headed to Webster, because we found out that an adoptable dog that we have thought about looking at was at the Pet Smart there. She was so cute!!!! If she's still available after we find out exxactly what our grad school plans, and housing situation will be next year, we're definitely getting her. Preston needs a sister/friend. Plus, how awesome would it be for both of us to take our doggies for runs this summer? Amazingly awesome. That's all I have for today. I'm quite proud of myself, and super proud of Amanda!
134 days to go!
My parents arrived at our apartment at about 9:40 (I have awesome parents, and they try to make it to as many of my events as they can!). We decided to take only one care, they said they didn't mind waiting for my second lap through the course, which made me happy. It's always nice to not have to drive yourself home after a race.
The race plan given by Mary was to run the first mile hard, but at a sustainable pace, then run the rest at that pace +/- 10 seconds.
We arrived at the start about 35 minutes early, and I found Mary, and Alexa and the rest of the team. We all went out for a quick warm up run, and Mary made fun of me for wearing pants, and arm warmers, and a second shirt, but was comforted to learn that I was planning on running in shorts. I had expected it to be cooler than it was, and was thinking that I may need my arm warmers, and hat, but after the warm-up, I decided I definitely didn't. I went to line up for the start, and was pretty near the front. I found Amanda and wished her luck, then tried to get closer to the front. Didn't work. Everyone that was along the side was pushed in towards the front, pushing me back. Oh well. The gun went off, and I stood still. Finally everything started moving, and I started my watch as I actually crossed the line. I worked my way through the first mile as well as I could, but it wasn't easy. Everything cleared up a lot towards Ford St, and I hit my stride really well. I actually had to force myself to dial it back, when I felt like I was pushing it too hard. I crossed mile one with a pace around 6:40 (btw, that's not much slower than my 5k PR pace, so something in this training is definitely working!). So my pace for the race would be 6:30-6:50.
For the most part, I felt really strong, and fell into a good rhythm. I was able to catch myself when I was pushing it trying to race a little too much and settle back into my pace. I also did really well not checking my watch (this is normally a compulsion for me, so you should be impressed). I saw Turbeau heading back as I passed the U of R football field, and gave him a little cheer. He doesn't really know me, and was definitely in the zone, so he didn't seem to notice. I hit the turn and felt amazing, and used the downhill to pick up a little free speed. A little while later I passed Alexa heading up, and gave her a cheer, she looked really good. Then I saw Mary, and cheered for her (I like cheering!).
At that point I started looking for Amanda. She's been working hard getting ready for this race, and has been doing really well. She also had some pretty big goals, she wanted to go under 45 minutes, which is huge for her. I saw her as I passed by the football field again, and gave her a big smile and cheer. She looked great, really really strong, and she called out to me that so far she was averaging 8:40s. That made me really happy, and put some more pep in my step as I refocused on the finishing miles. Checking my watch at each mile, I was happy to see that I wasn't straying too far from my pace range. I just felt in the zone, and I'm hoping that becomes a familiar feeling as the season goes on.
One thing that I'm really happy about is that besides being out kicked in the last few feet by some kid with super long legs, no one passed me after mile 2. I usually take things out a little too fast, and end up slowing and getting reeled in towards the end.
I was happy to get a good cheer from the fleet feet crew (Thanks Ellen and Shawn!) as I passed by Corn Hill Landing, and started picking up the pace for a strong finish. I saw my parents jsut before the finish and gave them as big a smile as I could as I passed. I ended up crossing the line at an official time of 33:21, and a watch time of 33:04. Good for an average pace around 6:40s. It was good for an overall place of 100, and an age group place of 12. Which is great for me in running races. I'm not the strongest runner, but I'm getting there!
I went back and found my parents, and began looking for my friends, and Amanda to come through. I kept looking back at the clock, and then as far down the road as I could see trying to spot her. The minutes passed 41 minutes, and I started getting nervous. I could see way up the street, and I hadn't seen her coming yet. Then I noticed her, she had unzipped her jacket, and hidden behind someone! She came through 42:48 for an 8:34 pace! I was so proud of her! I went and congratulated her, and we went and found my parents again.
I started to look around for the rest of my team to head back out for our second lap. I couldn't find them though, I eventually gave up, and started off on my own. I'm really bad at finding people in crowds. I finally saw them just before the turn around. I ran back nice and steady. I didn't really look at my watch at all, and as a consequence, I pushed it maybe a little harder than I should have. I think a lot of it is a consequence of racing, the cool down pace just felt so amazingly slow, that I had trouble maintaining it.
All in all, it was a very successful day! After the race my parents took us out for lunch (free meals are always welcome!) and we headed to Webster, because we found out that an adoptable dog that we have thought about looking at was at the Pet Smart there. She was so cute!!!! If she's still available after we find out exxactly what our grad school plans, and housing situation will be next year, we're definitely getting her. Preston needs a sister/friend. Plus, how awesome would it be for both of us to take our doggies for runs this summer? Amazingly awesome. That's all I have for today. I'm quite proud of myself, and super proud of Amanda!
134 days to go!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Thursday night update-o-rama!
I'm pumped for Johnny's on Saturday. Lately I feel like I've been hitting my training pretty well. I'm feeling faster on the run and the bike. The pool is a bit different. I'm not disappointed with where I am, I'm just having trouble often feeling the water properly. I've noticed that my stroke has changed some. I can tell that my elbows are consistently higher, and I feel good when my form is good. But when I start to get tired, the mechanics start to slide, and these are the time I really feel things slipping. It just feels like I have no traction, it's the swimming equivalent of walking on ice if that makes any sense. This was my first week of tempo! I'm pretty excited for the rest of this block. I'm pretty happy with my first tempo bike ride. I felt strong, I felt fast. I'm proud of being able to maintain the best effort intervals. I'm excited to go fast! I'm excited for what's ahead, and to see just what I can do.
On the real life front, it's the beginning of a new quarter. I'm back to teaching Gen. Chem. Labs, which is a bit of a bummer, I prefer organic. But on the bright side, I only have to teach one section during the week, and then the power lab section (two straight days for those who couldn't schedule a regular time). Also, I'm glad I only have to do two tutoring hours. This should leave me quite a bit of time to work on my research, and really get things wrapped up. There's just a couple small obstacles I have to overcome, but from there it should be easy to wrap up. I'm also excited for the rest of the only course I'm taking. It's all about photochemistry, and the interaction of matter with light. It's the stuff that really interests me, and stuff that I'd like to do more work with in the future. Finally, a class that I really really want to take!
That's about all I have for now. I'm looking forward to seeing all the TTers that are going to be at Johnny's Saturday. The "pub crawl" as Mary calls it (not a pub crawl at all) involves running the course a second time after we finish the race. I'm hoping we get to wait a few minutes at least before we head back out, because I'd like to see Amanda finish. I know she's going to do great. Well that's all that I have for now. Bedtime!
136 Days to go!
On the real life front, it's the beginning of a new quarter. I'm back to teaching Gen. Chem. Labs, which is a bit of a bummer, I prefer organic. But on the bright side, I only have to teach one section during the week, and then the power lab section (two straight days for those who couldn't schedule a regular time). Also, I'm glad I only have to do two tutoring hours. This should leave me quite a bit of time to work on my research, and really get things wrapped up. There's just a couple small obstacles I have to overcome, but from there it should be easy to wrap up. I'm also excited for the rest of the only course I'm taking. It's all about photochemistry, and the interaction of matter with light. It's the stuff that really interests me, and stuff that I'd like to do more work with in the future. Finally, a class that I really really want to take!
That's about all I have for now. I'm looking forward to seeing all the TTers that are going to be at Johnny's Saturday. The "pub crawl" as Mary calls it (not a pub crawl at all) involves running the course a second time after we finish the race. I'm hoping we get to wait a few minutes at least before we head back out, because I'd like to see Amanda finish. I know she's going to do great. Well that's all that I have for now. Bedtime!
136 Days to go!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
She ran so fast, and she ran so far!
Here's to the end of recovery week, and the beginning of strength block number 2! I had the luxury of my recovery week lining up with my break week from school, so it was a true recovery week! I went in to the lab a couple times to get some research done, but mostly stayed home and relaxed. Watched Phineas and Ferb on netflix, a lot.
I had a swim test yesterday. I was happy with my results. I didn't get to be one of the billion members of my team who lowered their T-Time though. Not that I particularly want my T-Time lowered. I know that sounds bad, but I feel like my current T-Time is a good fit. I think moving it down the next notch would leave me having to puke at the end of longer sets like 5x200s. I'm pretty close to that next level though. I just need to lower my average for those 2x400s a few seconds, so maybe in a month or two I'll be there, who knows. I also always seem to have trouble pacing those 400s. I take the first 100 out too fast, and I know that impacts my finish. If I could just slow that one down a few seconds, I think I would see my overall time drop. Maybe it's just mental though. Yesterday I felt amazing taking out the first 100 of the test. I felt smooth, strong, and was really feeling the water (something that had been lacking lately). I also didn't wear the drag suit (which I don't for my swim tests, just every other time). Anyways, I felt amazing, then I made the mistake of looking at the pace clock as I came into the 100yd turn. I love RIT's digital pace clocks on the sides of the pool, but sometimes I think I'd be better off not knowing. I went into the test with a plan. I'd hold one pace, that I know I can maintain for the first 300, then let loose on that last one. Didn't happen. I went into that turn and saw I was running 7 seconds faster than that pace. Seven seconds may not seem all that significant, but it's like 11% faster than planned. That got in my head, well, I let it get in my head. And I'm sure that made that last 400 hurt a lot more than it would have otherwise. Anyways, I'm happy with the results, but I know I can do better.
The true highlight of my recovery week cam Thursday, when I got a massage! Thank you Amanda! She bought me one for valentines day, and I decided I wanted to wait for my next recovery week to use it. It was definitely worth it. I've always thought of massage as more of a luxury relaxation type thing. But I really see it's value from a body maintenance perspective now. Apparently swim/bike/running for like 16 hours a week takes its toll on your musculature. The massage really helped smooth things out. Since the summer, I've had this nagging pain in my shoulder, that is fine when I swim, but keeps me from catching and throwing all the well in water polo. Thursday night at polo after the massage, pain free. Completely. Yay! Now I just need to slowly work back to shooting for real.
Today was another great part of the week! I mentored for No Boundaries this morning from GVP, and I convinced Amanda to come along so that she could go for a short run after. She loved helping out with the program. After, she wanted to check out the course for Johnny's next weekend. I was thinking that it would be a nice easy run around 10min/miles or so. Nope. She killed it. Took it out pretty slow from GVP through U or R, but she kept creeping up the pace. By the time we got to Ford Street we were running 8:40s, and then we went down past Corn Hill and turned around, 8:30s. Back over Ford St, and along back towards U of R. I look at my watch 7:56. WHAT? Where did this girl learn to run? I know she's been at the gym like crazy lately, but I had not idea she could do that! She ran the last two miles right at 8s. So much for an easy run for me, I was definitely in zone 2 for the last two miles. I'm excited to see how she does next weekend, and at the half marathon a the end of next month. Her goal is under two hours, I think she's going to nail it. She was pretty excited about her performance today, and the title of this post is a little song she made up about it. Next weekend you should ask her to sing it for you.
That covers pretty much everything I have to talk about. Other notables are I'm super pumped for Placid Training camp, and our new team water bottles and visors that are coming soon!
141 Days!
I had a swim test yesterday. I was happy with my results. I didn't get to be one of the billion members of my team who lowered their T-Time though. Not that I particularly want my T-Time lowered. I know that sounds bad, but I feel like my current T-Time is a good fit. I think moving it down the next notch would leave me having to puke at the end of longer sets like 5x200s. I'm pretty close to that next level though. I just need to lower my average for those 2x400s a few seconds, so maybe in a month or two I'll be there, who knows. I also always seem to have trouble pacing those 400s. I take the first 100 out too fast, and I know that impacts my finish. If I could just slow that one down a few seconds, I think I would see my overall time drop. Maybe it's just mental though. Yesterday I felt amazing taking out the first 100 of the test. I felt smooth, strong, and was really feeling the water (something that had been lacking lately). I also didn't wear the drag suit (which I don't for my swim tests, just every other time). Anyways, I felt amazing, then I made the mistake of looking at the pace clock as I came into the 100yd turn. I love RIT's digital pace clocks on the sides of the pool, but sometimes I think I'd be better off not knowing. I went into the test with a plan. I'd hold one pace, that I know I can maintain for the first 300, then let loose on that last one. Didn't happen. I went into that turn and saw I was running 7 seconds faster than that pace. Seven seconds may not seem all that significant, but it's like 11% faster than planned. That got in my head, well, I let it get in my head. And I'm sure that made that last 400 hurt a lot more than it would have otherwise. Anyways, I'm happy with the results, but I know I can do better.
The true highlight of my recovery week cam Thursday, when I got a massage! Thank you Amanda! She bought me one for valentines day, and I decided I wanted to wait for my next recovery week to use it. It was definitely worth it. I've always thought of massage as more of a luxury relaxation type thing. But I really see it's value from a body maintenance perspective now. Apparently swim/bike/running for like 16 hours a week takes its toll on your musculature. The massage really helped smooth things out. Since the summer, I've had this nagging pain in my shoulder, that is fine when I swim, but keeps me from catching and throwing all the well in water polo. Thursday night at polo after the massage, pain free. Completely. Yay! Now I just need to slowly work back to shooting for real.
Today was another great part of the week! I mentored for No Boundaries this morning from GVP, and I convinced Amanda to come along so that she could go for a short run after. She loved helping out with the program. After, she wanted to check out the course for Johnny's next weekend. I was thinking that it would be a nice easy run around 10min/miles or so. Nope. She killed it. Took it out pretty slow from GVP through U or R, but she kept creeping up the pace. By the time we got to Ford Street we were running 8:40s, and then we went down past Corn Hill and turned around, 8:30s. Back over Ford St, and along back towards U of R. I look at my watch 7:56. WHAT? Where did this girl learn to run? I know she's been at the gym like crazy lately, but I had not idea she could do that! She ran the last two miles right at 8s. So much for an easy run for me, I was definitely in zone 2 for the last two miles. I'm excited to see how she does next weekend, and at the half marathon a the end of next month. Her goal is under two hours, I think she's going to nail it. She was pretty excited about her performance today, and the title of this post is a little song she made up about it. Next weekend you should ask her to sing it for you.
That covers pretty much everything I have to talk about. Other notables are I'm super pumped for Placid Training camp, and our new team water bottles and visors that are coming soon!
141 Days!
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