Gotta Crawl B4 You Can Walk (and walk B4 you run) 365 Days to go

I'm in PT... again.
My first visit was when I tore my left shoulder.

(Spring of 2006)
Surgery and three months of PT.
A year later I tore my right shoulder.

(Spring of 2007)
No surgery, just PT. Lots of PT.
In the middle of PT, my shoulder began to tighten to the point that I could not scratch my own back.
That is called a frozen shoulder.
Four month later I unfroze it with the help of the PT and a golf club.
(A Golf Club?)
I used it at home like a folcrum to increase my range of motion.
Like I said, a golf club...and ice. Lots of ice. After each PT workout I spent ten minutes on my back icing the shoulder. Ice helps keep the swelling down. From there I did the rehab program religously. So religously that my son start to want to join me for my workouts. Then I hurt my hamstring. (Summer of 2007) 6 weeks of PT and no improvement, so back to the surgeon.

It's not your hamstring, it is your lumbar muscles.
(Lumbar muscles?)
Between L5 and S1
(Between where?)
Lower back.
Back to PT for 6 more weeks.
2008? No PT
2009? I pushed my running and my knees started to hurt.
Back to the surgeon.
Patella Tendonitis
PT?
PT
So what is PT?

Physical Therapy is learning to lift weights to stregnthen the limb that is weak (Hense the pain)
For Patella Tendonitis it is doing leg lifts...lots of them.
The Patella Tendon is like a rubber band that stretches over your knee. In my case, the I-T band was tight. It pulled on the quad muscles and that pulled on the Patella Tendons. So my knee pain was really a pain in the butt. (Literally) So it's 12 months to go and I'm being told to not run until the pain stops.
How am I supposed to train?
By being patient.
If I could rehab all the other parts of this body every year, I WILL be able to do this.
Until I get the green light to start running it's PT twice a week.
When I tell people my story, they ask me two things:
"Why does this happen to you?"
Well...
This happens to me, because my body type is not made for this type of exercise.

(So I use the PT to strengthen the weak areas)

Some people are naturally predisposed to succeed at this stuff. Then there is everyone else.

Why do you continue to do these races?
Because I enjoy them.



2009 NYC Triathlon
Finishing in 3 hours, 20 minutes
(12 minutes faster than the previous year)

Everyone Does it At Least Once - 370 Days to Go

I told myself I wasn't going to do it. I told myself I was going to be different. I told myself I was not going to fall over. Sure enough, on my third time out on my new bike I fell over.
I came to a light and unclipped my foot. Cycling shoes are clipped into the bike to give the cyclist more momentum. The only problem is that the cyclist has to remember to twist his (or her) foot, to unclip the shoe. I did that, without any problems.
When the light turned green, I tried to clip back in.
I was so focused on getting my shoe back into the pedal, that I lost my balance and fell over.
Nothing bruised, but my ego. My first reaction was to pack it in. Quit. Fold it up and stop trying.

That thinking last until I reached the top of the hill. DeGraw is not just any hill. It is 500 meters of incline at 9% grade. In other words, you cannot see the top of the hill from the bottom of the hill. By the time I reached the top, I was reminded of what I said after I finished my first triathlon. "No goal is too difficult to reach, no hill too steep". With that in mind, I continued on for another 30 miles. Besides, one of the best things about going up a hill like DeGraw, is coming down it, when you finish your ride.

Learning to Ride all Over...Again 380 Days to Go

I realize that I can not ride like I used to. If I want to complete an Ironman Race, I was going to need a real tri bike and that meant I was going to have to clip in and get riding shoes. Tri bikes come in two types: Full carbon and everything else! My Dad raised me to believe that you should never do a half ass job. If I was going to do this, I needed to go all in (yes I was going to get a full carbon bike).
Full carbons start at 3K and go up to 10K. There was no way I could afford a 3k bike. Maybe a 2K...maybe. Then a strange thing happened. Prices started to drop. I might be able to get a real tri bike. With dozens of brands, how was I going to you know which one to buy? Everyone I spoke to said the same thing, "You'll know. It will feel right." I thought it was the laimest thing I had ever heard. Then it happened. I walked into a store, tried a bike and I knew.
$ 1,800 later I was the owner of a full carbon tri bike. Next, I needed to get fitted. Yes, fitted to the bike. I've been fitted for suits, so how long could it take?
Ten minutes?
Try 2 & 1/2 hours.
First they measure your foot.
Then they measure the shoe you chose.
That alone takes 30 minutes.
Then you stand next to the bike
(When do I get to ride the thing?)
They measure standing next to the bike. Sit on it. Get off. Move the seat. Get back on. Get off, move the handle bars.
Move them again. And again and again.
(Both the seat and the handle bars can be moved in all three verticees-x, y, & z)
Three trips to the meter and two plus hours later we are finished. I had a real tri bike and it was custom fitted to maximize my performance.
Now I had to learn how to ride it. I had never rode a bike where the shoes were fastened to the peddles.

Can't There Form Here With That Bike -390 Days to Go

When I decided that I wanted to do "a" triathlon, I was thinking that I was going to have a one time experience, not a life style change. So I borrowed a friend's bike. It had been 20 years since I had been on a bike and a bike is a bike, right? WRONG!

I practiced for weeks riding up and down the NJ Turnpike (in rush hour traffic). I was the only thing that moved. I took great joy in watching the faces of parked motorist as I peddled bye. After the second flat tire, (due to highway debrie) I decided that this is not a good idea (as well as not smart).

I did the race in June. Using the blue mountain bike felt like I was dragging rocks behind me. Mountain bikes are not built for speed, they are build for durability...and this was a race. I needed speed. So after my second race, I bought a friend's "road bike". It was a red "Specialized" a brand that is synonomys with racing. I was excited to have a real racing bike (even if it was not my size). It was 4 inches to large. I spent the next year riding on a bike that was not the right size for me. As I would learn, size is everything when you are trying to maximize your speed. I was using energy to hold my torso up, that I should have been using for peddling. In addidtion I didn't have aro bars and I was not clipped in. Earo bars are handles that allow the rider to lean on his (or her) fore arms and give the back a rest. So I had earo bars put on. Once I did that I began to understand why I needed a better fitting bike. A propperly fit triathlete's body will be parallel with the ground. That way you are resting the muscles you don't use for biking. Looking at the photo, I wasn't. So some of my energy was going to keep my body up. When I did the Half Ironman, I was the only competitor without clipped in shoes. It was as if I were the only one with training wheels. After a while it just got embarrasing. It was time to clip in and if I was going to do that, I needed to get a bike that fit my body right.

What is a Triathlon? -399 Days to go

A Triathalon is a race with three events: Swimming, biking & running.

The first triathlon was held in 1978.

Triathlons come in many different sizes. Most people know the Ironman race that is held in Kona Hawaii every year. That is the Ironman triathlon. There are several Ironman races, but Kona is the world championships.

So what is the difference between an Ironman and a Triathlon?

Triathlon is the race.

Ironman is the longest triathlon.

Triathlons come in 4 major sizes:
Sprint (Swim .5 mile, bike 16, run 3.1)

Olympic (Swim .9 mile, bike 25, run 6.2)

Half (Swim 1.2 mile, bike 56, run 13.1)

Ironman (Swim 2.4 mile, bike 112, run 26.2)

The catch is, to doing these races is time.

You must finish the race before a certain time or they roll up the course behind you. You are disqualified. D-Qed. Done. Fineeto. Stick a fork in me, DONE. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

My record for an Olympic is 3:20:00
My record for a Half is 7:29:38
(Notice as I go farther, I go slower. That could be a problem...)
The Ironman has a cut off time of 17 hours. For me the challenge will not be the distance but the speed. Can I get fast enough to make the cut off? I have 399 days to find out.

In the Beginning - 400 Days to go

Twelve months of planning. Nine months of training and it was going to come down to one question: Was it enough? Had I done enough work to be ready for a Half Ironman? Swim 1.2 miles. Then bike 56 miles and finally run 13.1 miles. All of that had to be completed in under 8 hours. After that, it doesn't matter because you are disqualified. I had come out to the race course once a week, for four weeks before the race and rode the bike course. I estimated that I needed to finish the bike in less that four hours, fifteen minutes to still have time for the run. Each time I came out, I got closer and closer, but would it be enough? The bike wasn't my only worry. I had run well all summer, but my knees were beginning to hurt when I ran more than 3 miles. Now I was planning to run 13.1 miles, so I had taken time off from running. Once again, would that be enough? I arrived at 7 a.m. as the sun was coming up over the water. I finished a banana and half a cliff bar. and I felt ready. (This will come back to haunt me later) I parked and got my stuff set up.
15 minutes to transition closes, so I have time to pray. I decided long time ago that if non Jews are comfortable with crucifixes around their necks, then I was not going to be embarrassed to wear my "stuff" in public either. Besides, pre-race triathlete are so self absorbed, no one would notice me if my hair was on fire.
My wife and I decided that it was best for her to stay home with our son. Asking a 4 year old to wait around for 7 + hours while his Daddy does a race is too much to ask. I finish talking to Gd and I grab my wetsuit. Transition is closed, but the race does not start for 30 more minutes. I walk over to the volunteer table and finagle a cup of coffee. So glad that Coach Josh told me that coffee is not a bad thing. (Mind you I drink a pot a day at work and I have been consuming it non-stop for the last 72 hours. I am PUMPED!). Last bathroom break and then it head down to the water. Suit up, swim out and everyone takes off. I've learned to let people pass me. I find my rhythm and swim. Eventually I catch up to those people and pass them as they are losing their momentum. Except, I cannot find my rhythm. I'm swimming, but it is not smooth. DUH, I'm breathing on the wrong side.

(Wrong side?) I'm use to breathing on my right. I can breath on my left, but it confuses me. I've got my rhythm back and I reach the half way marker. Except it is not the half way point! Turn left and swim. At the next orange buoy, turn left and swim for the beach. I reach the

beach after 40 minutes and I am happy.

I hear someone yell out, "Today is racing day."

(Oh No, not the Backyardagins song. Now I have "Racing Day is Racing Day" on my brain. I have to ride for the next four hours with kiddie music on my brain?)

I have been so worried that I would take too long on the bike and not have enough time for the run. (The race has to be finished in under 8 hours or they roll up the road on you as you run)

It wasn't the easiest swim I had ever done and it wasn't the hardest, just the longest. Out of the water and onto the bike. The first 15 miles of the bike section was typical: People passing me. At 17 miles, we enter a 20 mile loop. Here I was jocking back and forth with other riders of my speed.So for the past month, I have been coming up once a week and riding the race path. My goal is to finish the bike in under 4 hours, because I fear that I

will need 3+ hours for the run. The bike course is 15 miles of hills, 5 miles of flat followed by 5 more of hills and then a 31 mile loop around the reservoir. (I took this picture during a practice ride) For the first 3 hours, people pass me, I pass people. Some times it is the same people, other times it is new people. At 37 miles I stop at the bottle exchange and squirt bottled

water into my water bottle. The whole stop takes under 30 seconds. I make it back to the last 15 miles of hills and two things pop into my mind: There are no riders in front of me and there are no riders behind me. Very eerie.

I still have another hour of riding to go, so stop thinking and keep peddling.

I finish the bike in 3 hours and 50 minutes. I am ecstatic. I am so happy that at transition I forget to grab my cliff bar. As I leave for my run, A volunteer offers me a banana.

"No thanks" I tell her. I will regret this later.

I have never run 13 miles before, so I walk a little, run a little. I run more than I walk, but I fear that if I try to run the whole knee pain thing might become a torn patella tendon.

(I learn later that the pain in my knee is caused by the leg muscles not tracking correctly. So the only danger was muscle fatigue.)

The miles pass quickly. I am feeling strong. I am feeling confidant. I am feeling hungry. I suck down a gel and I am still hungry. At mile 5, I pass the reservoir. Notice the red dot on the bridge. (Look closely at the photo, the dot is there)

At mile 6, I get a cup of Coca Cola (Yes they serve soda here). Ok, hunger subsides a little.

Mile 7 and now I am passing the red dot on the bridge. As I pass the miles 8, 9 & 10, people call out from the side lines and I respond to them: "Looking good" They tell me

"Not smelling to good." I reply

"Almost there" (A typical lie)

"Almost where?"

"It's all down hill form here." (A new lie, but still a lie)

"Really? Too bad my toes ain't wheels."

As I pass mile 11 & 12, I get compliments on my Tri Kippah.

(Funny, no compliments for the tri-tzitiz this race.)

I enter the park, one mile to go and I sprint. I wanted to finish under 7 & 1/2 hours and now it comes down to this last stretch. I can see people cheering for me, but all I can hear is the sound of my heart beating in my chest.

7 hours, 29 minutes and 38 seconds and I am a TIM MAN (Half an Ironman)

I start to think about entering an IRONMAN race in 2010...

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