Getting Organized

I think it's safe to say that triathlon is not for the disorganized. 

First of all, in case you guys were not aware of this, you don't train for all three parts of a tri at the same time. With the exception of certain workouts (known as "bricks") where you practice two sports at a time to get used to the feel of it, you train all three disciplines separately. While that might make some people sigh in relief that they don't have to swim, bike and run every day, the reality is that you have to figure out your week with a lot of precision if you want to get all your training in there. That means running at tight ship at home and an even tighter schedule.

The last two weeks have been the first with full-on running and cycling and hopefully this week I can introduce swimming to the equation. It has been pretty interesting and quite honestly a lot of fun so far. Yes, fun. While it's easy to get anxious about changes like that, everything has fallen into place kind of naturally. Of, course I'm working hard to not over-do it. The worse thing you can do is to try to do everything at once. Here are some new things I'm doing.

I love the smell of running in the morning...

In the past I have tried to avoid running early in the morning. With the exception of some long runs, all my running usually happens in the afternoon/at night. I try to protect my sleep time as much as I can plus, I admit, there have been some mornings where I have woken up and said "no way" and went back to sleep so I avoid early morning runs. But, you can only cram so much in a week and if you intend to swim, bike and run enough you need to make more efficient use of your time. To be able to swim in the afternoons/nights, I have to run in the mornings. Pretty much all training plans I have seen have two days per week where you both swim and run. As I get ready to start swimming, I have cleared Tuesday and Thursday afternoons to do it so I wake up at 5am to run. It hasn't been as bad as I thought. In fact after running in the morning and taking a shower I feel refreshed and ready to go. It's the waking up part that sucks. We'll see if that sticks.

5:32AM??!!

The wonderful World of cycling

I'm enjoying cycling. I really am. It's a completely different feeling from running. So far I have been careful to acclimate properly by keeping the rides short. As I remain on the saddle for longer and longer, my nether regions complain accordingly but I think (hope) it's getting better. Apart from riding near my house I have been going to the linear park several times as I feel safer there (no traffic = good) and I went to "La Ruta del Ciclista" (The Cyclist's Route). It's a section of public road that the police closes on Sundays from 6:30am to 11:00am so that cyclists and runners have a "car-free zone". The road runs parallel to the beach so you get this breathtaking view while you ride. Awesome stuff. If you do the whole route and come back it's 10 miles. I was a bit nervous being my first time and being the new guy but not only did I find tons of people riding there but also people at all levels of fitness. I see myself going there regularly. I was surprised to ride the whole 10 miles in less than an hour. I'm cycling faster than I thought I would be. Believe me, I'm not complaining. There is one byproduct of cycling that I wasn't expecting but it's been great so far. Riding the day after a run really helps with my recovery it seems. It might sound weird, (how can you recover if you are working out) but I feel better the days I ride after a running day than on the days I don't ride. Interesting...

Isn't technology wonderful?

It has taken some tweaking but I'm getting my tech set up just the way I want. First, my Garmin Connect account. Garmin recently launched a new version of Garmin Connect that is very customizable. It allows you to get a pretty comprehensive glance at what you are doing.

If you own a Garmin device, I invite you to take the time to set up this page to your liking. Move things around, add and take off things according to your needs. Once you do, it will make your life so much easier. I have also linked my Garmin account with MyFitnessPal. Doing so sends my calorie consumption from MyFitnessPal to Garmin Connect and in return Garmin sends my workouts and calories burned to MyFitnessPal. Isn't that awesome? Plus, Garmin sends my workouts directly to both Strava and Beginner Triathlete. In the past I have talked about how much I like Garmin Connect but find their social component a bit lacking. Since I was having trouble with Dailymile, and since Strava seems to be the weapon of choice for cyclists and triathletes I'm sending data there. Having my info on these two sites lets me connect with other people and motivate each other.

So look me up in those sites if you want to connect. At Garmin Connect I'm TheFatRunner, at Strava I'm Frank Pizarro and uziel5000 at Beginner Triathlete. You can find me at Dailymile under TheFatRunner21. I still have not given up trying to make it work so we'll see. You might still be able to catch me there.

So multi-sport training is under way! What I still haven't started is an actual, structured training plan. So far I'm just logging time in all three sports. As the year moves further along and I set an actual race (and race date) then I can dive into one of those.

The Fat Runner in the The Machine

We start 2015 with a big announcement. As those of you who follow me on Instagram already got to see, I finally bought a road bike! It was a very long time coming and I can forget about buying anything for any occasion for the next several years but I finally got a bike. 

World, meet The Machine.

It's a Giant Defy 1 road bike. Right off the bat, let me say I love the name of the bike. Defy. Words to live by here in The Fat Runner. Here's a fun fact: Not being able to buy something right away gives you plenty of time to obsess about the details. And folks, I obsessed.

Bikes are expensive and at least in my case, not something you are gonna buy often. I wanted to make sure I was getting as much bang for my buck as possible. I wanted to still be in love with the bike 5 years from now and beyond. So I drew up a list of specifications of what I thought the bike needed to have in order for my conscience to be clean. What ensued was me diving off the deep end of the cycling world, consuming everything I could about bikes and how they are made and how they work. By the time I actually bought the bike, I knew more than many of the people in the bike shops about the models I looked at.

 Essentially, this was my list of requirements. There might be stuff there some of you might not be familiar with but that's OK, I'll explain things as they come up during the year.

1. Aluminum frame - Carbon fiber is like, THE material of choice for modern bikes but they are way too expensive. Aluminum is light and sturdy. Important in my case where the weight of the rider is an issue.

2. Endurance geometry - Different bikes have different shapes depending on the needs of the rider. "Faster" bikes have a more aggressive shape that makes you sit lower and further forward. Endurance (or sportive or comfort bikes among other names) bikes are not as upright as hybrid or recreational bikes but not as aggressive as the racier models. I thought this was important. Since I have no previous experience, I did not want to buy a bike that was too aggressive to the point where I just could not hold the position comfortably and end up not riding.

3. Shimano 105 - The components or groupset are the stuff that make the bike work. Brakes, shifters, crank, etc... bike manufacturers usually install these in groups so that everything works together. I knew early on that I wanted at least a 10-speed bike and at the bottom of that you have Shimano Tiagra which is very good but if I could swing it, I wanted the groupset above that one, Shimano 105. The higher the groupset, the lighter, smoother and more durable it is. From the time I started checking bikes out, to the time I actually bought it, there was a model change and Shimano 105 went from 10-speed to 11 speed. Score!

4. Carbon fork - Aluminum has a reputation for being harsh on the road. Most manufacturers work around this problem by installing a carbon fork. It's the thingy that holds the front wheel. This helps damp the ride which helps a lot, especially in longer rides. The Machine comes with a carbon seat tube as well as the fork. Bonus!

Right from the start, the Defy jumped at me. It really had everything I was looking for but it was at the very top of my budget limit so I tried very hard to find other options and try to save some bucks. I saw many bikes in the category and if you are shopping for one they are all pretty good. Bianchi Impulso, Scott Speedster, Cannondale Synapse, Trek Domane are some of the bikes you can check out.

But in the end, the Defy's reputation won me over. It's like the Honda Accord of bikes. It always seems to win it's category in magazine awards and it comes very well recommended so I decided to spend a bit more money and go for the "sure thing".

And so far I could not be happier. Road bikes look "weak". Even at this level, they are very light and streamlined compared to what you find at your local mega store so I was obviously concerned about it holding my weight. But I didn't need  to. Once on it, the bike feels sturdy and very stable. Riding this after riding my wife's mountain bike for a while last year, is akin to going from a Ford Pinto to driving a Ferrari Enzo. It's pretty amazing. I used to be afraid of shifting on any bike. The ensuing "rat-tat-tat... clank!" that came with it felt like the bike would brake at any moment but on this one, it just happens effortlessly. "Click." and that's it.

I will share more as I get more used to riding. You guys are in for a few laughs for sure as I talk about butt pain, cycling gear and many other things. Oh, and why did I name it The Machine? Well, in fitness in general and endurance sports -especially triathlon- in particular, people talk about "the engine", which amounts to your ability to propel yourself forward whether it's swimming, running or cycling. Well, if I'm "the engine" and engines power machines, then I'm the engine and the bike is The Machine. OK, it's a bit dorky but I can't help it.