Silence... and a giveaway!

Sorry...

I know I've been out of it for bit but I can't seem to help it. It's the way it has been with me forever. When things get tough, I go quiet. This of course, is kind of stupid since the whole point of a blog is to share, especially the tough times, so that people can avoid the pitfalls and offer support where needed but, that is just the way the cookie crumbled and here we are.

First, there's the knee... again. There are no two ways about it. After Goofy, I'm gonna have to stop running, get it checked out and dealt with in some way or another. it is not gonna go away on it's own. I have wasted too much time giving it time "to rest" with no results whatsoever. In fact, I seem to get better when I'm running regularly. Something I have realized way too late and now I'm a bit behind on my training plan. I'm slowly catching up but it's gonna be close. No doubt about it. Do not worry though. I'm not harboring any thoughts of regular running as a recipe to get better. There is definitely something wrong and it will be taken care of... just not right now. If I ever intend to do a triathlon (a boat I missed again this year thanks to the knee) this will have to be solved for sure. Half-Ironman for my 40th birthday? We will see...

Secondly, there were a bunch of personal problems. This was the part that sent me into blogging hibernation. They were dealt with but I was sure going around depressed for a while there. At this point in my life, there are very few things that will push my buttons to the point of depression but oh boy, were they pushed. It happens. Not often but it happens.

Through it all, I ran. Maybe not with the same passion or determination and I surely missed a few here and there but I ran. Like so many times before I realized that running has become an important part of my life and that running actually helps deal with all the hard stuff. Even if it hurts -and it hurts- it is better than not running at all.

Ok, enough with the sad talk! Next week, as part of celebrating my return to Disney Marathon Weekend and (hopefully) tackling the Goofy Challenge I will be giving away... something. I'm not saying what it is yet but, it is something that helped me a great deal on my first marathon, especially in preparing for it and now I want to give the chance to a couple of people of having that same opportunity. So tell your friends, be on the lookout and get ready. The Fat Runner is going to do his first giveaway next week!

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 Year of the Athlete

New Year, new goals.

You know running has become an important part of your life when an injury makes you commit to running with even more resolve instead of making you back away. When the doctor said I needed to cross-train and that things were probably going to get better as I lost more weight, I started drawing up a strategy for the new year right there and there. Also, when he mentioned cycling as one of the best ways to train without big impact to the knee, I also knew it was time to finally find a way to pull the trigger and get a bike. You guys know I have been moping around and complaining about how expensive they are but I want to do a triathlon and well, they are pretty hard to do without one. So now that you met The Machine on my last post, here are my plans for 2015.

Weight loss moves up the queue

I have made it a point up until now, to not focus on weight loss. Obsessing about the scale has been my downfall in the past. So far it has worked to a certain degree. I have certainly lost weight and it has been slow which is good. I have also slipped a couple of times, especially after the Disney Marathon. All the while, I have just let it happen and in hindsight, it has worked to a point but circumstances have changed. As my running has improved and I get somewhat faster (a relative term if there has ever been one) the stress I put on my knee is greater. If I intend to keep improving without making things worse, I have to move things along a bit quicker. It will make me faster and it will help me run better.

It will also help me look a bit less ridiculous in running/cycling/tri clothing. I mean, why does everything have to be so... tight!

So, one of the goals for 2015 will be to lose 50 pounds. That's roughly one pound a week which is pretty conservative while still moving things along. I can't say I'm not concerned about this one but I have reached that point where giving this more priority will be crucial to move forward.

Revenge

After running over 700 miles in 2013, I fell way short of my goal of 800 miles for 2014. Yes, I had knee trouble but it still stings to not being able to achieve that one. However, I don't see any problems with upping the stakes this year. Some might remember that I intend to run the Goofy Challenge in 2016 so there are plenty of miles ahead in my future. While it's still not set in stone (there are some family decisions to be made. I'll explain later.) that I will be going, it's only sensible to proceed as if I am for sure. So, I think aiming for 1,000 miles this year is perfectly doable.Consistency will be key to making this one work but it will nice to get some payback on that missed 2014 goal.

And since we are cycling...

I'm new to this so it's hard to put a number here. The distances are greater and they pile on quickly. However, cycling is only part of the equation this year so it's not the only thing I will be doing. I'm thinking 1,500 miles but it's written with a pencil at best. It might need adjusting as I dive deeper in the cycling pool. If I go over this, great but if I fall under, that's OK too. Stay tuned.

Triathlon at last!

Well now that The Machine is here, it's finally time to aim for a tri. I have the training program set up and I'm getting acclimated to the bike. I'm thinking one in the summer would be awesome. I'm scared, but it's a good scared. The road to achieve this one is gonna be plenty fun.

Doing a tri this year has two purposes: The first is simply my goal of doing a tri. It's just something I want to do and the challenge appeals to my brain. It's such a technical thing that requires planning and training and it makes me giddy with excitement. The second is I want to branch out and cross-train. I truly think training for a tri will make me a better runner. Cycling and swimming will allow me to work on my cardio fitness without having to run all the time. Running on consecutive days has always been a trouble spot for me. I try to listen to my body and whenever I string together two or more consecutive runs, it just doesn't "feel" right. By cross-training, I get in more volume without stressing my joints too hard. At least that's the plan. 

Long term, I'm hoping by losing the weight, it will allow me to focus on running more often and therefore letting me achieve a goal I set long term, to run the Goofy Challenge, which means running the Disney Half Marathon and Full Marathon on consecutive days.

Racing, of course...

Notice I didn't mention any specific races. I'm still figuring out where and when to race and as soon as I have the dates I will share as always but I'm crossing my fingers to do at least two Half-Marathons this year. As I've mentioned before, they are a little hard to come by here in Puerto Rico as well as full marathons but hopefully I can do a Half early in the year and then another in the fall/winter as a prelude to the Goofy Challenge.

So in closing, three big goals for 2015: Lose weight, Triathlon and Goofy Challenge training. I think that will keep my plate full most of the year, don't you think?

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.