2015: The Year in Review

I was 2 seconds away from naming this post "The Year of the Knee" because that's exactly what it turned out to be. But then my other "Year in Review" posts wouldn't match with this one so I resisted the urge. Just remember the unofficial title.

It was promising...

Back in January, I called 2015 the year of the athlete. After completely crushing all expectations in 2014 by both running my first marathon that January(Disney) and a positively huge Half Marathon PR in November (Philadelphia) you could say I was riding pretty high. You know how people say that you shouldn't go grocery shopping while hungry? Maybe it applies to planning future goals while being in a "runner's high" as well.

The Machine

I decided that it was time to aim high and finally try a tri. I have triathlon in the brain folks. I've had it for a long time now. This was gonna be the year and to prove it I bought The Machine and started cycling. I also talked about cross-training and to crown the Year of the Athlete, I would start 2016 by running The Goofy Challenge, which I signed up for.

First "big" ride

However...

In all this goal planning (which included some lofty mileage goals) I seemed to have forgotten that I had gotten into some serious trouble with my right knee and that even though the doctor cleared me to run Philly, it was essentially a patch job and I would have to return and deal with it. I didn't.

During the race in Philly, the knee was a total non-issue. Hardly felt a thing. So I guess I just thought I was gonna be OK but...

In March, I ran the Puerto Rico Half Marathon and while the knee did not give me much trouble, the bonk during the final 2 miles as the Sun (and heat) reared it's head let me know there was some work to be done.

We need more Half Marathons in Puerto Rico

It wasn't all bad

After the Half, things were looking pretty good. My wife and I both started to make changes in our eating habits that have been very positive and I finally started cross-training by doing P90X3. The short, but tough workouts are a good complement to a runner. I also found out that I enjoy cycling as much as I enjoy running. Even did a 40 mile charity ride that included the steepest hill ever and survived. I felt I was on the right track and finding balance. I even PR'ed at the 5K distance even though I hardly raced this year.

5K PR... those are hard to come by

Trying to do P90X3...

The past starts to creep up on you

By the summer though the wheels started coming off. I noticed my knee wasn't recovering after my runs and the pain became more prevalent more often. Afraid to put the Goofy Challenge in jeopardy, I decided to stop cycling and focus on running so I parked The Machine for the rest of the year. Then, I went on a mini vacation to take our girls to the Frozen Summer of Fun in Disney World and the 2 long walking days took a toll on the knee. It swelled for the first time through all this and that's when I really felt like it was serious. Obviously, any possibility of a tri this year went out the window as well.

I got to see 2 awesome friends while at Disney World

By this time, it was do or die with the Goofy Challenge so I have been training as best I can but it's been slow and painful. I missed some crucial long runs and fell short on others so I will go and just do my very best.

I know all this sounds a bit grim but overall, I have to say that I'm quite happy with my year. Things didn't exactly go as planned for sure but think about this: Here I am, trying to figure out how to pull off the Goofy Challenge. Here I am, thinking about the steps I have to take so I can continue running and hopefully cycling and swimming and accomplishing the goals I have set for myself.

Here I am realizing that this has truly become important to me.

What can be better then that? At any other time in my life, this could have been an excuse to stop. "I got bad knees. Can't do it." The old me would have said. Just seeing it written like that makes me shiver. I want to keep going. So I'm going to tentatively call 2016 the Year of Recovery. I want to do what I can to deal with this and if it means surgery or even an extended resting period so be it. I'll come back even better than before then. 

So here's to a good year and hoping for an even better one in 2016. Hope your 2015 was good as well and that you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

"My First Steps" Charity Ride

Interesting turn of events. Didn't expect my first "race recap" of 2015 to be about cycling but here we are.

Actually, this is not really a race recap as this was not a race, but it's the cycling equivalent of a race. Sure, there are cycling races but since I don't foresee me participating in any of those at this time, these group rides will serve the same purpose for me. They are a measure of where I am fitness-wise, just like when I run in races.

When it comes to cycling, I'm just barely getting my feet wet. Up until this week my longest ride had been 20 miles. While my behind might not agree with me, the miles I have put in so far have been relatively flat and easy. I try to put some effort into it and ride fast but up until now, I have been doing the running equivalent of a short, easy run.

Which is why I found it extremely weird when an old friend invited me to a group ride for charity, that I said yes.

He literally contacted me right after I had done my first (and longest) 20 mile ride. I thought about saying no. I did not know if I was ready for that. Not only the miles but keeping up with a group. He tried to ease my concerns: "Look, we are gonna try to keep the group together. 15-17 miles per hour tops. If you get tired, you can ride in the sweep van." The flyer said it was from Toa Baja (two towns from mine) to the town square of Vega Alta (my hometown). Could I stick with a group riding that fast? Could I handle the mileage? I was scared but I could tell he wanted the ride to succeed and help out this center for children so I said yes.

Captain's Meeting and registration

 Well, as it turns out, both my concerns were not a problem at all. I managed to stick with the group for most of the ride and I managed to ride the whole 40 miles without need to van of shame. The problem my friends, were the climbs.

The freaking,  Everest-like, who-the-heck-came-up-with-this-route, someone-get-a-defibrillator climbs.

See, I was invited to this thing under false pretenses. That route in the flyer was just half of the total ride and it said nothing about riding a Tour de France-level climb. Well, maybe it was not Tour de France-like but it might as well be to me. The guy who just started cycling a month ago. The whole thing started nice enough. We left Toa Baja and rode through "La Ruta del Ciclista" then headed to the town of Dorado. Riding in the peloton (the ride group) was no problem and I was maintaining 15 and 16 mph without much effort. When you see many cyclists riding close together like that, it's because they are working together to beat the wind. I couldn't really feel any difference while in the group but now I look at the data and see that where I usually averaged 14mph I was pulling out 15 and 16 mph without any effort at all.

Ready to head out!

It was a beautiful day and we were riding along the beach. Once in Dorado we climbed a pretty steep, but short hill. It was tough but it didn't last long so I put in some muscle and kept going. We crossed Dorado from east to west until we got to my hometown of Vega Alta where we turned south to get to the town square. It was in this part where I faced my first challenge. I don't know how long it was but we started to climb, and climb, and it would not end. My breathing got heavy, people where passing me left and right and I slowed down to a crawl. I ran out of gears on my bike. I just wanted this torture to end. After what seemed like forever (actually 9 minutes) I reached the top and we did our first stop.

First regrouping stop.

I looked for my friend and told him how hard that climb was for me. His answer: "Yeah, well it's gonna get a lot worse." What?

Turned out that first stop was just to regroup everyone after that climb so we could arrive as a whole group to the real stop which was the Town Square in Vega Alta. My wife brought my daughters to cheer me up. I was so happy to see them. While there, they had the official ceremony where they handed over the donation to the children's home. They were planning on donating $2,000 and ended up giving $5,000 so it was a total success all around. I was given a pack with 2 cup cakes which I ate and put in some new Gatorade bottles on my bike. I left my bottles at home. Rookie mistake.

Two of my girls cheering me on.

Before leaving the square, one of the organizers got on the mic and warned everyone about the upcoming climb and urging people to not quit. Famous last words. Not 5 minutes after starting back up we started to climb. And we did nothing but climb for the next hour and it was some of the steepest roads I have ever seen in my life. Actually I have seen them before. It's my hometown. I just always traveled them by car. I tried all I could to stay on the bike but on two occasions, I was forced to get off and walk up the hill. Not very proud of that moment but that's what you get for biting off more than you can chew. It sure didn't help to hear one of the guys in the support crew bragging about how the sweep van was full of people.

All this climbing spread out the peloton of course, so a couple of re-grouping stops were required to keep everyone together but eventually we made it out of the mountains and unto the main roads where we made our final stop at another gas station. We were 12 miles away from getting back but the climbs were over.

Final stop before finish. 12 more miles?!

After a quick descent, it was flat all the way back to Toa Baja. Would've been a lot easier if not for a bit of trouble I ran into. On the descent I was blocked by some people on the group who were going slower and I got separated from the peloton. When I reached the flats, I encountered some pretty fierce wind in the opposite direction and it slowed me down something terrible. Without the protection of the peloton I fell behind and fought the wind all the way to the finish. As if I wasn't tired enough from all the climbing. 

But, I made it. And I wasn't last either, even though I didn't arrive with the group. They were serving lunch for all the riders but I was too fried. I looked for my friend, choked him to death, then told his corpse to call me whenever they were doing it again. Thing is, I really don't feel that sore even now. It's not like after running the marathon for example where I could hardly move and instead of wishing to never go through something like that again, I'm actually angry enough at myself to go train so I can be able to do it again except better next time. Masochism is a terrible thing.

A Tale of Three Tubes

It was gonna happen. It was literally written that it was gonna happen and it did. I prepared for it and yet, got me pretty good anyway. I got my first flat tire.

You can't walk into a bike shop to buy a new bike and not have the conversation about buying the "required" gear you need to be able to ride that new bike. The helmet, padded shorts, etc... That conversation will invariably include the repair kit: Tools that, in case of a flat, will allow you to either repair the damaged tube or replace it with a new one so you can solve the issue without any assistance.

Reflective Surfaces: Always a good thing

Many people, for whatever reason, don't think it is important. Sure, the guy or gal at the store is trying to sell you something, but he/she is also talking from experience. Maybe people think back to when they were kids and don't remember many flats when they were riding or maybe they do and don't remember them being a big deal. I'm thinking that's because as kids, you never rode too far away from home. If you had a flat, you just walked back. But cycling as a sport can involve pretty big distances and if you are 10 miles or more away from your car or your house, that's a long way to walk with a bike in tow. Being able to do something about it is kind of important. If you are still on the fence about the repair kit think about this: What if you are in a race/event like a Gran Fondo or a triathlon? Get a flat without the proper gear and your race is done. It might take a bit of time to change it but I'm pretty sure a worse-than-expected finish time is a whole lot better than a DNF (Did Not Finish).

So, my budget when I bought The Machine included a saddle bag with a repair kit. Technically, it's a replacement kit I guess. I figured if I ever got a flat in a race, it would be easier (and faster) to just replace the tube with a new one instead of patching the damaged tube.

Make sure it's a snug fit. You don't want it dangling under there.

The saddle bag hangs snugly under the saddle and it was part of a kit Giant sells that also includes:

1. Three tire levers - to unseat the tire from the wheel.

2. Multi-Tool - Think, Swiss Army Knife but with bike tools.

3. 2 CO2 cartridges - To fill the tire w/o the need of a pump. Once you use one it's done.

4. CO2 Dispenser nozzle.

I threw in some tube patches just in case.

With the kit I bought 2 spare tubes. Yes, it is very possible you can get more than one flat.

So I was definitely ready for a flat if it happened and sure enough, last week I was stopping at a red light when I rode over some glass and pffffff... my front wheel deflated. I was not too far away from home so I pondered whether to spend a CO2 cartridge or just walk it back but then I figured I could use the practice. I had seen several videos on how to do it but you have to get your hands dirty eventually so better do it now.

Tubes - 1        Fat Runner - 0

It took me a while to unseat the tire for some reason but apart from that I think I did OK. After replacing the tube and seating the tire back in place, I connected the nozzle to the CO2 cartridge and it filled right back up. The kit came with some neoprene sleeves you put on the cartridges. I thought they were for grip but nope. Turns out that whatever process takes place that creates the pressure to inflate the tire, freezes the cartridge. Use them without any protection and it can freeze-burn your hand.

Tubes - 1        Fat Runner - 1

So, I packed everything up and rode home very proud of myself. That is until my next ride, when I found the front tire deflated once again. At first, I thought it was the CO2. That it's not meant to last or something like that so I inflate the tire back up. After getting ready, I go back out to get the bike and it had deflated again. Crap.

Tubes - 2        Fat Runner - 1

I take out the wheel and the tube and there is a tiny hole close to the valve. Obviously something happened and it probably involved me doing something wrong. Whatever, I took my remaining tube and replaced it yet again. I have a little electric air pump I have been using up until now and I had been noticing it was kind of hard to get the tires inflated to their required pressure (120psi) but thought it was just me. This particular time it was harder than usual and after several attempts I could not get it to inflate. After getting a little rough with the valve, I ended up breaking the valve on the tube. Pffffffff...

Tubes - 3           Fat Runner - 1

I had kept the original punctured tube so I dug that out of the trash, bought a patch kit and tried to repair it so I could at least ride that day and buy more tubes later. But, alas, after inflating it and getting ready to ride, it deflated again.

Tubes - 4           Fat Runner - 1

Trip to the bike shop. Found a shop that opens Sunday (Many shops don't. They are out riding) and the guy was kind enough to replace the tube for me. I also bought three more to have spares. They are about 5 bucks each so they are not that expensive (weird for something related to cycling). I explained what happened and he gave me some pointers for next time. Like to check that the tire is not pinching the tube before inflating it (I checked but maybe I missed something) and also make sure to not insert the tube twisted. That can also cause a flat. I think that's what happened the first time I replaced it.

Tubes - 5          Fat Runner - 1

So how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.

How do you change a flat bicycle tire? Practice, practice, practice.

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.