Jon's Jibber-jabber

It seems that the mid-Atlantic can't catch a break.  Some up and down temperatures this week allowed for a little outside running, finally. It was still cold on some of the runs with temps hovering just below 40.  But this weekend came with downpour rains that turned to surprise snow on Sunday for much of the area.   I am hoping that this week the weather begins the turn around.  The worst part is the middle ground when it isn't cold enough to snow significantly for skiing but it isn't warm enough to run/bike comfortably.   I managed to get through all but one workout but did have to cut the bike short on the trainer.  I am still not comfortable enough on the trainer to go over 40 miles. This week also sprung a few surprise work trips on me for the near future.  I suddenly have to manage a week-long trip to Madison, WI, a three day trip to St. Petersburg, FL and then a return to Madison for two more days in May.   I do like my work and would n...

As promised, here is my Monday post.  Monday is my typical rest day but since I was at a wedding this weekend, I moved my long run to today.  One of my good friends got married in the southern part of Maryland, just far enough away that we had to stay overnight at a hotel.  Needless to say it was a great weekend on the southern Bay.  This winter the pattern seems to be hot-cold-hot-cold.  The weekend fell on the hot cycle so today was back to the cold.  Today's high was a balmy 37 degrees.  By contrast, it hit 72 on Saturday afternoon. Thinking more about training, cold weather is usually the time that most athletes take a break.  Many hibernate inside and try to get miles in on the trainer and treadmill, or hit the gym packed with winter resolutioners.  I hear many stories about how the training just doesn't work or how people have fallen off the wagon during the winter.  Like I said last post, I happen to keep myself busy by skiing. ...

So it has been a while since I last posted.  Winter is a shift in focus for me and has been for over 10 years.  I'm a professional patroller as part of the National Ski Patrol and, as such, I work weekends at a resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.  I do a tremendous amount of tele skiing while working but that is for another post.  To get to the resort  it's a four hour drive from my home.  Luckily, I have a house in the area so I just take the weekend and stay near the resort.   That being said, my swim/bike/run training usually takes a huge hit.  This winter, with its cold and snow, was certainly no exception.   My one rule for the winter : don't get hurt. Our local tri club has competed (reasonably well) in the USAT Winter Club Challenge and this year I  signed up.   This program spans Dec - Feb and each month concentrates on a different aspect (swim, bike or run).  Clubs register their teams and compete in thei...

Today I completed my 6th marathon and second Marine Corps Marathon.  Coming off of a hard tri season, I didn't set any goals or expectations for is race.  I have Space Coast Marathon coming up in a month and the MCM would be a check-in run.   This year's MCM was nearly derailed by the government shutdown.  Due to the use of federal lands that were closed, if the government had remained closed the race could not have been run.   Last time I did this race it was 32 degrees at the start, so I expected it to be cold. That said, race time temperature was 41 degrees.  It was just cool enough to know the race wouldn't heat up but not too cold that it was uncomfortable.  I started slow and probably back too far.  I was well behind the 4:30 pace group at the start and I knew it would get crowded.   It is self seed at the start so you could really start anywhere.  About mile one, I noticed that I had hit the wrong button on my w...

So I have been bad about posting recently. I have been busy at work and my wife and I took a two week vacation, complete with a Disney cruise.   Today I completed my first half Iron distance race.  It was supposed to be a 70 (70.3 with the swim shortened to represent the 70,000 young adults diagnosed with cancer each year).  They had to shorten the bike by three miles for this year due to construction on the bike course.  I've also heard it was to meet NCAA standards on the Olympic course, which shares portions with the half.   But 67 is close enough to 70.3.  And it's a unique distance. Last year's race day conditions featured a high of 52 with rain showers.  The race staff warned everyone to prepare for cold temps.  Then came this week with its August-like tendencies.   Swim: the swim was organized in waves with a time trial start in each wave.  Basically, two people entered every five seconds.  It was probably the best thing abou...

So this post is a little contemplative. I have been doing a lot of research on cycling between buying my bike and researching the next bike purchase (for my wife). Of the three sports that comprise triathlon, cycling is the most complex. Swimming is just you. Running is just you. You can do both naked and barefoot if you really want. In order to cycle, you need a bike. It is a change of mind, coming from running, to rely on equipment in order to complete a race. For novice triathletes (including yours truly), the concept of equipment failures and the complexity of moving parts is difficult. In the beginning, it was intimidating. The more you understand about cycling, the more comfortable you become with the risks. Here I go on a little tangent. I promise I'll circle back. In epidemiology, the foundation of the discipline is a concept centered on the "epidemiologic triad" or "epidemiological triangle." Transmission of disease has three parts: host, agent, ...

Event: Ft Ritchie Triathlon and Duathlon Location: Cascade, MD Distance: Olympic (Sprint also available) Date: August 4th, 2013 This past weekend I participated in the Ft. Ritchie triathlon held in the Cacoctin Mountains in Cascade, MD.  Ft. Ritchie is an old abandoned military installation near Camp David and serves as the backdrop for this event.  This year was the event's fourth year.  This year, the race was sanctioned by USAT for the first time.  Cascade is about an hour and 45 minutes from Annapolis (one hour thirty minutes if I don't drive).  This would be my second Olympic distance triathlon. Swim : The swim course was in Lake Royer on the Ft Ritchie grounds.  The lake is small and is not open to swimmers or power boaters except for events.  The Olympic course was two 750m loops.  You had to run along the beach and down the pier in between loops.  The water quality was cloudy but surprisingly clean.  There was a moderate a...