Thanks!

Thanks for the emails and comments! Ironman was amazing. Race report coming as soon as I unpack and take another nap!

Love Ya!
-Jeff

Final Prep

Making some final preparations before I head out to New York on Saturday! Workouts have been short, easy, and fun, save the blazing heat and smoky air. I'm looking forward to acclimating to some humid but clean Adirondack air this weekend.

I probably won't be able to write from the East coast, but I look forward to writing a nice race report when I get back home. I'll also be able to write about my appointment at MSK with Dr. Moskowitz where I'll have a CT, and full checkup. This should serve a nice stamp prior to getting to the start line next Sunday.

For those who want to track me online you can do so on ironmanlive.com. I'm Bib 232.

For those who are coming up to Lake Placid the Spectator guide is essential to look at for road closures and best viewing locations:
Spectator Guide

I won't be moving too fast so you should have no trouble spotting a guy and bike that looks like this:


I'll also try to post up the address to our place in town so people can stop in and say hi, or use the facilities on race day.

Taper Time

IronMan is a mere 2 weeks away, and it's very difficult to believe it's July already. This week I was planning one last batch of large workouts, but after reviewing my training plan, checking in with some other Ironman competitors, and feeling quite fatigued on my long run on Tuesday I decided: my taper starts now! My brother reminded me that Ironman isn't an exam...you can't cram for it. So I figure it's better to start resting up!

With that in mind I cut the volume way back in the second half of the week. Today I did a nice 3 hour ride, with a short brick-run. It's funny that about 2 months ago 3 hours was the longest ride I could handle, now it felt short! The weather here was beautiful, and the smoke has pretty much cleared so the ride went rather well.

I fly back to NY next weekend so this week I'll do some final prep and packing, and drop the bike off to be transported to LP. Is it too early for pre-race jitters? Maybe it's just excitement.

Fairfax to Half Moon Bay

View Larger Map

Totally random thoughts on a really long ride:
- I'm a horrible route planner (see above).
- Early morning riding is awesome because you get to see lots of hungover people doing the walk of shame, especially when riding through the city streets.
- Getting lost is sometimes fun, but often leads to lots of extra climbing. Especially riding in Pacifica.
- Rte. 1 S out of SFO has some spectacular scenery, but you won't notice it if on a bike because you'll be too busy riding on the white line, simultaneously trying to not get hit by tourists in RV's, and avoiding riding into the culvert.
- Compact cranks are lifesavers for slow cyclists like myself.
- Motorcycles seem to hate cyclists even more than motorists, despite our many similarities.
- Sticking to a nutrition and hydration plan over a 9 hour ride is difficult, but I think I have things worked out for IM, and it involves force drinking a lot more.
- Never underestimate a tourists lack of driving ability.
- I would've posted some pix but between the fog and the smoke from local fires they would all look something like this:

Smog? Am I in LA still?

No help from mother nature this week as it seems that nearly all of Northern California is on fire. According to NPR there are hundreds of fires spread across Napa and Sonoma Valleys due to lightning storms this weekend. As you can see by this cool NASA satellite photo there are also two huge fires in the Sierras. Luckly prevailing winds go west-to-east, but its still pretty smelly and "cloudy" out.


This made getting a long run in a bit precarious. I put it off until this evening, and even relocated down near the coast where the winds are usually pretty high. NPR told me not to spend much time outside today, but an Iron-athlete has to get his long run in right? Luckily throughout my 2:15 run I didn't experience any difficulty breathing, or bronchial things. We'll see if how I fare tomorrow morning...

Firsts

Last week was my first Master's swim in about 3 years. Master's is a bunch of adults that do a coached workout in the pool. Up to now I've felt too slow to join, but at the mileage's an IM-trainee needs to swim it's awfully boring alone, so last week I joined the Tam Masters team. It was a bit disappointing in that they just followed a workout on a whiteboard, rather than having a coach dictate the workout. I'm thinking of trying a couple other groups in the coming weeks.

Another first: riding in 100+ degree heat. I headed down to LA-LA land this past weekend to get in some "time in the saddle" with Dan, and Ryan. Unfortunately it ended up being the hottest weekend ever. 95+ at the coast, where we rode up the Pacific Coast Highway, and easily much hotter than that when we turned up into Latigo Canyon to do a 10 mile climb. It's fair to say that I was well-done after that climb, and suffered pretty bad the remainder of the ride. Luckily I drafted off of them the remainder of the ride, and still got in 95 miles. Shout out to those guys for putting up with my slow butt.

Sunday was my first ocean swim in some time. Feeling pretty tired from the day before there was alot of floating, but we got about 45 minutes of swimming in. I also realize I need to work on my sighting, since I struggled trying to swim in a straight line. Regardless it was good weekend, and great hanging out with the SoCal homeboys.

26 days to Ironman...woo!

Recovery Week

After 3 weeks of building up volume it was time to cut back on the training a bit...as most endurance athletes can attest, this is one of the hardest things to do, especially with the thought of IM a mere 6 weeks away. However, a well rested body will be needed for some pretty hard workouts in the coming weeks, and if there's one thing I'm good at, it's sitting on the couch.

The week passed without much to note, but I did break out the mountain bike for the first time since December, for two reasons. One was the aforementioned recovery week. The second was that my knee was bugging me on my ride last week, so I thought I would switch it up this week, and try not to overstress the problem. I headed down the road from my new apt. to Tamarancho Boy Scout Camp, and rolled through their 12 miles of sweet singletrack. The last time I rode here I was a week and half out of a chemo treatment, so it felt good to feel good. I also completed the loop a good hour faster than I did last time. A nice confidence boost. Afterwards I tacked on a hour transition run, and besides a little heat, it felt awesome.

Another note, I visited a local Doc here to follow-up on my shortness of breath issues I had with at Wildflower Half. She felt that it was likely a bit of exercised induced asthma, possibly made worse by some allergens in the air. She actually called Cali the allergy capitol of the world. She recommended some breathing exercises, and prescribed a inhaler for anytime it might come back. That puppy is going squarely in the special needs bag for IM!

Mt. Diablo

For the past couple of years, while I've been riding the proverbial pine in the triathlon world, Mt. Diablo has sat quietly across the eastern horizon of the Bay Area. If you've been to the Bay maybe you've seen it's 3847' summit sitting off in the distance over the East Bay. Everytime I look at it I can hear it beckoning to go climb. Well this weekend I finally felt like my training has come along enough to try and summit it.

With 3 years of pent up animosity, my buddy Adam and I left Berkeley around 9am. We wound our way to the base, polishing off 30+ miles in about 2 hours. Then the fun began. 3239' in 11 miles. I felt pretty great most of the climb, but the last 3 miles hurt a little. My knee started to bother me a bit, and I still haven't invested in a compact crank, so the 38 tooth small chainring began to take its toll. The last .25 mi boasted a 13% grade, and I felt like I was going backwards, but I put my head down, kept pedaling, and the summit soon arrived, offering some great views:





After a break for snacks we began a 25 minute blazing descent! It was awesome. We cruised back through Walnut Creek where Adam jumped on BART to finish his ride. I kept riding, and instead of cruising over the Berkeley hills, took a wider, longer, and flater way home through Richmond. The sun going down over the Pacific was a nice end to a long day. The Bay bike trail lead me back home, for a total of 92 miles in all.

Pix and thoughts on the past week(s) events

Since I last checked in training has been going pretty smoothly. Two Friday's ago I regretfully said goodbye to Lake Tahoe and moved to a new place in Fairfax, CA for a new job. Fairfax is in Marin County, just north of SanFrancisco, over the GG Bridge. Starting a new job is a meaningful milestone for me, mostly because I remember reading the pamplet given to me about Stem Cell Transplants when I first arrived at Sloan Kettering over a year ago. I distinctly remember reading a paragraph on long-term effects of the transplant, and specifically something like "some patients may eventually be able to return to full-time employment". I realize how lucky I am, so I'm taking stock in this mini-victory for me.

Two Sunday's ago Garuna and I did Bay to Breakers, a 12k "race" from one side of SF to the other.


I've never in my life experienced a road race such as this
- An estimated 80,000 "runners"
- Over half of these are dressed in some ridiculous costume
- A good portion are half in the bag (read drunk)
- Many participant build a float to carry their beverages (read kegs)
- Several runners/walkers leave their costumes/clothes at home (ick)
- I personally haven't seen so much debauchery since Mardi Gras.

We started a bit late, and thus were caught with the floats and drinkers and didn't get a chance to run much until 3 miles into the race. We also had a canoe slowing us down:


We finally got running around mile 3, and finished up the 12k pretty strong. Afterwards we ditched the canoe, turned around and ran/walked all the way back to her car which was near the start line. Most people take the bus back home, but this turned out to be great training for IM (which I suspect I'll be walking a good percentage of). All in all we traveled a bit over 15 miles. Awesome!

Ride Around the Lake

Back September of '07 when living in Tahoe was just a dream, and Erik and I talked jokingly about the possibility, I always thought it would be cool to ride all the way around the lake. My lease is up at the end of May, marking the end of my full-time status in Tahoe, so I figure it would be now or never (at least for the foreseeable future).

With this in mind Team Cannondale (Erik and I) left the house in Tahoe City at 10:30am. It was a chilly 45 degrees, but the sun was out. We headed counter-clockwise around the lake, heading down the west shore first. The first 10 or so miles clicked by quickly, and we were able to shed some layers of clothing.

Somewhere along the west shore we hit a one lane construction area where we had to stop at a flag-man with about 7 other cars. When it was our turn to go we fell in behind the line of cars and proceeded to draft them at around 30 mph. Somehow I didn't notice the line of cars slowing rather quickly. Erik did, and slowed down nicely. I however continued at full speed into a stopped line of cars. About 10ft. before the last car I locked up the brakes, entered a full skid, and plowed into the back of a SUV, my face smearing across the back window. My bike and I fell to the ground, and I just started laughing! Amazingly I was fine. The driver and passenger jumped out with a deer-in-the-headlights look on their faces, and were happy to see I was allright. Their bumper wasn't allright, but they didn't notice in the frantic moments before they drove off! Woo.

After putting my chain back on the bike we resumed the ride. Around Mile 15 we began a 20 minute climb up to the cliff's overlooking Emerald Bay, and some stunning views.



The rest of the ride was relatively uneventful. South Lake Tahoe sucked, as the bike paths were spartan, and the traffic plentiful.

We endured another 30 minute climb, and then mostly rolling hills as we completed the circuitous route back to Tahoe City. All in all, 72 spectacular miles.
Erik beat me up the last hill before our driveway, claiming victory on the ride. He's headed to CU-Boulder at the end of the summer, so he jokes that CU trumps Cal, but I ran inside and grabbed my running shoes to bang out a 15 minute transition run, while he hit the couch. Advantage Cal!

Wildflower Half-Ironman

Reader's Digest Version:

- Wildflower is one of the largest triathlon festivals in the country.
- I had a great swim, completing 1.2 miles in just over 40 minutes.
- The 56 mile bike was beautiful! I struggled up a 5 mile long hill but finished comfortably.
- The 13.1 mile half marathon rolled through trails and gorgeous views, I ran and walked my way to a great finish.
- Total Exercise Time: 8 hours and 12 minutes.
- Post Race I'm feeling great.

The Nitty Gritty:

Last Friday Garuna and I headed down to Lake SanAntonio, CA located about equidistant between SF and LA, deep in farm country. We arrived in the early afternoon, and both of us were amazed to find a tent city filled with triathletes. It reminded me a bit of Woodstock '01, only with pasta and bikes. Pix from the festival:


We got all checked in, had a short pre-race swim, and made our way back to the campgrounds to set up camp and make some dinner. My great friend Ryan and his compadres from TNT and TCSD had staked out a campsite and it was great hanging out with them all weekend. Dinner and sunset were beautiful, off to bed!

The next morning I rose around 5am. I had a leisurely breakfast, and made some last minute adjustments to the bike before riding from the campground to transition area. Here's Ryan and I before riding down.

Unlike NAS Ironman races we actually get to setup our transition areas, which is always interesting because you can only imagine the chaos of 2000+ Type A triathletes trying to make sure every detail of their gear is perfect organized. You can feel the tension in the air. I just tryed to remain relaxed.

The race went off with a huge roar from the crowd. The pro's went first, and each age group followed in 5 minute intervals.

The first half of the swim I had some difficulty getting settled. My goggles were extremely fogged up, and I had some trouble sighting the buoys up ahead, but I managed to stay calm and keep on truckin', I hit the half-way point in 25 minutes. The second half of the swim we had a bit of a tail wind, I settled down a bunch, and came back in 15 minutes. I was really happy with this time, since my goal was to get somewhere between 45-50 minutes. Super happy about this.

T1 was smooth, and I put on my bike gear, got some love from Garuna, and headed off on the bike.

The first 5 miles were mostly uphill to climb out of the basin the lake sits in, and I liked the roads, views, etc, but was extremely cold from the swim. It took me almost 10 miles to get feeling back in the extremities. Miles 10-40 were amazing! I rolled through vineyards and amazing country, and it was great.

However around mile 40 things got a bit hairy. Miles 40-45 were entirely uphill. The grade wasn't too bad, but I started having a little trouble breathing. I've never had asthma but this is what it felt like. As a result I had to slow down pretty considerably. At the top of the hill I also got a flat tire! It took me about 10 minutes to change, but offered a chance to rest a bit. The last 10 miles were rolling, and my neck started to hurt a bit from being in the saddle for nearly 4 hours. The last mile was a screaming descent which was a lot of fun though.

T2 went smoothly as well, only complaint was that there wasn't much room left for my bike by the time I got back in. Here I am coming out of T2. Yes, that's an orange in my mouth.

The run was a bit frustrating. My legs felt awesome, and I felt like I could have cruised along pretty good, but at this point I had some serious trouble breathing. When my heart-rate went up I was limited to short choppy breaths, and had to slow, and stop very often. This turned out to be OK, since there were alot of hills, and I probably would've been walking them anyways. Minus the breathing I felt great, and mentally I was still pretty strong, but I was getting a little annoyed that it was taking such a long time to complete.

I buddied up with some other runners/walkers to kill the time, and make the miles go by quicker too. The last mile was almost entirely downhill, and it felt great to be able to run the entire thing. Nearing the finish line I got a bit emotional, as I thought a bit about how long it's been since I've been able to compete in this sport. I also thought about being in a hospital bed about 14 months ago, and how grateful I am to be here. The best part of the day was arriving at the finishing chute and seeing Garuna there cheering me on!


Afterwards I felt pretty awesome, however I was still having trouble catching my breath, so I stopped into the medical tent and explained the situation. The Doc's there gave me a couple shots with an inhaler, and after 15 or so minutes I felt good as new.

After taking a nice dip in the lake, we headed back to camp and spent the evening eating, and trading races stories over the campfire, it was the perfect end to a great day!

Thanks to all my supporters out there, I couldn't have made it to the finish line without you!

Recovery

This past week was my largest volume of training to date. Wednesday was a 3:20, ~50 mile ride on the American River Bike Path, followed by a 20 minute transition run. I actually felt really really good during this workout. Luckily the temps were mild, ~65', and the sun provided just the right amount of warmth. My neck had really been having a tough time adjusting to the new aero position on the bike, but this ride it seemed much better than usual.

My break at the turnaround at Folsom Lake:

Friday I managed a good swim, with the main set being just shy of a mile. Overall my swim is not as strong as I hoped it to be. My "muscle memory" isn't that great after taking nearly two whole years off of swimming. So I feel like I'm re-learning the nuances of the free-style stroke. Swimming is one of my favorite sports though, so I don't mind the additional time in the pool.

On Sunday, Garuna and I did a monster run. 1:45 was the total time, nearly 11 miles, and a thermometer nearly hiting 90'. We were better prepared than our last run in the heat, and brought a bunch of water, but we definetely slowed a bit throughout the run. Afterwards I felt like a limp noodle, but once I re-hydrated, and topped off the fuel reserves I felt pretty awesome.

This week the focus is on recovery since I have my first 1/2 Ironman on Saturday. Lots of time on the couch, and trying to eat and drink a bit more than usual since I know Saturday will be fairly taxing. Health-wise I'm monitoring things pretty closely, and am glad to report I feel great. My recovery times after each workout are getting better, and overall I feel like I'm getting much stronger.

Long Slow Distance (LSD) Run

The ski season is beginning to wind down so I finally managed to get a weekend off. Desperately needing some new tri gear, and having some social events in the area, I decided to head down to the Bay Area. First stop was at my favorite store for some mandatory gear for my 1/2 Ironman coming up in a week and a half.

Afterwards Garuna and I embarked on an adventurous run through the Presidio, the park adjacent to Golden Gate Bridge. We started off by running directly into a 60mph headwind, which is a silly way to warm up for a long run. Nonetheless, we didn't want to finish into the headwind, so off we went.

We navigated the trails around the park, and got in some good climbing (not sure the elevation changes), and managed to click off an 1:40 of running. I'm hoping it ended up being about 10 miles, however with the wind and hills I'm sure if was closer to 9.

This was by far the longest run (time-wise) that I've ever done. I'm happy to say I felt awesome afterwards. Post run we feasted on grapes, apples, oranges, sunflower seeds, and raisins, then followed up with some burritos! Yum.

Robbed!

Monday night my car was broken into and cleaned out! It was parked in Garuna's apt. complex is Sac. Apparently they jacked a screwdriver in the key lock on my door and broke in. They got away with all my bike tools, a tool box full of regular tools, my emergency kit with jumper cables, etc., my CD collection, car registration, and possibly some keys.

Who steals bike tools?? Be on the lookout for hoodlums with well tuned bikes.

Un"Bear"able Heat!

Another good week of training on the books!

My Monday ride was a 35miler over the Three Bears. I rode with my buddy Wes and he definitely put my in a spot of bother on the hills, however I felt pretty comfortable with the time (2:40) in the saddle, and the elevation gain (4482ft.)

Chris came into town to do some skiing on Tuesday, and we skied Wed-Fri, and made some sick turns. These pic's were taken during a hike along the ridge off the top of Alpine Meadows. It was great to have the lil bro in town, and give him his introduction to the High Sierra's.




We did a bit of swimming Thursday, and I am up to about a half mile of swim volume.

Sunday Garuna and I did a run along the American River in Sac. Unfortunately the thermometer topped out around 93'!! After about 25 mins of running we were both overheated and needed to walk a bit. We got the temperature down and managed to continue another 10 minutes to the water fountain on the bike path. Here we turned around, about 15 mins earlier than planned. We walked/ran the way back and the heat sapped nearly all the moisture and energy out of our bodies. Even though I didn't get the volume I had planned, we still managed to run about 7 miles, and it should serve as a good prep for the conditions for the WildFlower 1/2 Ironman which I'll be running May 3.

Post run nutrition was again provided by Garuna, and her Red Curry made for some serious recovery food.

Lessons Learned:
Pre-training nutrition and hydration is extremely important.
In-situ body temp needs to be kept low, maybe running with a waterbottle/fuel belt is necessary when temps rise above 80'.

March Wrap-Up

The month of March was exactly what I needed from a training standpoint, consistent, moderate base training. Each week I was able to get my long run, ride, and even a swim in.

My longest ride in March was a 2:20 min, roughly 30+ mile ride over the World's Toughest Half-Ironman course with Erik. It was nice set of hills, and some gorgeous scenery.

I ripped off a 1:20 min run, roughly 8 miles with Garana, on the trails that snake their way along the American River in Sacramento, CA. Beautiful scenery, and good company made the time go by quick.

Swimming still needs some work, and I'm working on building volume. My longest swim was 45 mins.

I ended the month with a recovery week, which featured a break from increasing volume, where I did a 30 minute run, and 45 minute ride. It ended up being a sort-of stressful week due to having to commute from SFO to Tahoe 3 times for interviews, but overall I feel ready to get some longer training in.

Overall my focus was on building volume, which I did, and keeping recovered, which I also had success with.

Of course I also got some great skiing in as well.

Here's some pix from the past week. The folks, and Garuna in town for a visit:


Pops and I on the slopes:

Relay for Life

Once again this spring my fraternity from RPI has chosen to participate in the Relay for Life. It's an incredible event that raises a healthy amount of money each year for the American Cancer Society.

Most of you know that last year my family, friends, and I participated in the relay, and it was great to see everyone staying up through the night to support the event, and survivors like me. This event was a major milestone for me personally, since I was only about 8 weeks post-transplant, and it was my first encounter with a crowd of any kind. I was able to make it through the night without catching any colds, or fevers, and it was a great time. I also felt very honored by the incredible support from my family, friends, and the current actives, all of which made appearances (and extremely generous donations).

I'm hoping we can show our generosity and donate a little money to help them reach their goal of raising $16,000 by April 19th. I know the economy sucks right now, and I'm poor as hell too, but a large donation isn't necessary just a couple of bucks to show you care.

Click here to view the team page for Pi Kappa Alpha / Mrs. Wisnowski
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RelayForLifeEasternDivision?team_id=216900&pg=team&fr_id=8107&et=Y5Gz1TovJC7P_GqoS89Vsg..&s_tafId=117496

Feel free to contact me with any questions, and also feel free to pass on the link.

Best,
-Jeff

A Great Week

This week's training was unbelievable. Tuesday I knocked off my first 2 hour ride. It was along the American River again, but 70' weather, smooth pavement, and no cars make this an appealing place to put in the miles.


On Thursday Erik and I rocked a nice 40 min swim down in Truckee. We were both are feeling a bit out of practice in the pool, but we managed to put in a few continuous laps, plus some drills.

Friday brought about 3"+ of new snow, so I did a couple of nice 20min. hikes off the lift to get some amazing skiing in. Luckily my boss is a skier and likes to give us 3 hour ride breaks during "work".

Saturday we put in a little 70 min run from the Alpine Meadows parking lot, dropping about 800' in elevation to the bottom of the access road, before turning around heading back up. The pain from the elevation, altitude (6800' ft), and weak lungs were masked by good company from Erik, and two stray dogs who kept up with us the entire time!

The best part of the week was coming home from work on Sunday to a phenomial meal cooked by Garuna. I wish I took a picture of the portobello mushrooms stuffed with chipotle mashed potatos, on top of a bed of leeks. I'm definetely a lucky guy.

-Jeff

A New Look

It's been a while since I've face-lifted the blog, so I figured it was due. I changed it up this time last year as I sat in a hospital bed, and I can't express how thankful I am to not be in one while I change things up this time around. The picture above is the speedskating oval in the center of Lake Placid. It's home to the transition area of the Ironman. You'll see my bike in the mix here come July!

-Jeff

Canadia Eh?

Just got back from an awesome trip to Whistler-Blackcomb Mtn which is located ~60miles NW of Vancouver, BC. This place is a giant ski resort, boasting around 7000' of vertical, and a decent base of snow for the year. I skied hard for 3 days, and loved every minute of it. It was great to ski with some good buddies from RPI who I haven't ripped with in years. Here's a pic of us hiking over into the Blackcomb Glacier:


Training has been coming along, I have been lucky enough to get down to Sacramento most weeks, so I got in a 20mile ride last week, and a 25mile ride this week, both in 70' weather, which has been amazing. I feel pretty great, and am focusing on staying well rested and recovered. I took some pics of my ride this week, which snaked along the American River Bike Path:

Running is also coming along with a 60 minute run last week, and hopefully another one on the books this week. Swimming however is lacking due to the availability of pools in Tahoe, which is to say, there are none. Lake temps are a bit dangerous at this point, but hopefully things will get rolling in the next couple of weeks.

-Jeff