First Tat and First ride of 2010!

Okay, THIS is how committed I am! I have etched my love of Triathlon permanently onto my left calf!

It's a very stylized, almost "tribal" representation of the Swim, Bike, Run events in Triathlon. No, it didn't hurt very much (Thanks, Greg at Monster Ink Sacramento!) and yes, I absolutely LOVE it! This is something I've wanted to do for years. For some insight into why I did it NOW, take a look at my other blog, Foot and Wine.

In addition to getting INKED this weekend, the weather in the Sacramento area was absolutely SUPERB! I was able to get in an AMAZING 45 mile ride on the American River Parkway! I was completely surprised at how strong I felt on my first real ride of the year. It really felt more like a mid-season ride than a first tentative step at the end of January. My change to a vegetarian diet in the third quarter last year helped keep my weight down in the off season, and strength training at the gym has not only kept my muscle tone, but actually put me right where I usually am in May or June!

So, for those following me for training tips, here is my plan for a productive off season:

1. STAY OFF OF THE FAST/JUNK FOOD!!!!! I changed to a Veggie diet to help keep me to this, and I can't emphasize enough how important it is to keep your weight down in the off season!
2. Build strength in the gym! The loss of muscle tone in the off season just means months of catching up to where you were the previous year. Take advantage of the indoor facilities of a gym to maintain or even gain muscle tone when the weather is bad. I do a full circuit to build balance and offset the fact that most of my activities work my legs.
3. Stay off the booze! The off-season corresponds with holiday parties and get togethers, with the attendant cocktails and beer/wine. Keep this to a minimum. (Okay, anyone who actually KNOWS me will peg this as absolute BULLSHIT. Still, it's my story and I'm sticking to it...)
4. Start the new training season as early as possible! Weather permitting, try and get out whenever you can to run, ride or swim! In Northern California, we've had a few weeks of terrible weather. I've still gone for runs in the middle of a storm and ran or rode every time there was a sunny day.

Well, it's now the beginning of February 2010 and I've started the new training season in earnest! I only have two events officially booked in 2010, the Big Sur Marathon on April 25, 2010 and the Vineman 70.3 Triathlon on July 18, 2010. I will add a few more local and semi-local events as I reconcile my work/athletic schedule. Some of the events that I plan to participate in include:

• Avenue of the Vines Half Marathon
• Hernia Hill Half Marathon
• Sierra Century
• Rock 'n Roll San Jose Marathon
• Tour de Tucson Century
• California International Marathon

Thank you for following my activities and rest assured that my updates will be much more frequent from now through the rest of the season.

Bad (and soaked) to the Bone...

Well, I learned today just how much I hate running on treadmills. It was the second day of stormy and windy weather here in Northern California and I needed to get my run in. Instead of a hot, boring date with a treadmill, I decided to brave the weather and run through the storm.

The rain wasn't "falling", it was shooting at me horizontally like a torrent of bullets! Each drop that hit my face felt like a needle. But I still ran through it. Dodging fallen tree branches and other debris, wading through puddles that flooded the streets and sidewalks. Enduring the stares of disgust and amazement from people driving by in their cars.

I felt totally Hardcore.

I looked totally Stupid.

I'm glad I did it, but if the weather is bad again tomorrow, I think I'll opt for the treadmill...

The Winter Blahs

This early in the training season, I'm still not completely ramped up and ready to go. The weather is unpredictable, which makes outdoor training hard to plan. One day, the weather is nice and I can get in a good run. Plans for a bike ride the next day get scrapped when a storm blown in or the temperatures drop so low that riding becomes just too unpleasant. To top it all off, the nice indoor pool at the gym has been closed for remodeling since November!

So, that leaves days like today where my "training" will consist of a circuit workout and treadmill run at the gym. I'm glad to have that option, but frankly running on a treadmill is the worst kind of torture for me. I can spend hours running outdoors and never get bored, but after 10 minutes of running in place, I'm practically in tears.

So, until the weather rebounds in a few months, I'm making do and trying to keep on top of my goals. It may make for boring commentary, but at least it's something!

First run in the new year!

After taking yesterday off to spend with my family, today was my first training run in 2010. I had to sneak out in the wee hours while the kids were still asleep, but an 18 mile run in the quiet of a pre-dawn Saturday morning gave me a chance to reflect on the year that has passed and look forward to my goals for the new year.

I took stock of my "wins" and "losses" in 2009 and realized that I had focused far too much on the things that had gone wrong and didn't really appreciate the many wonderful gifts that I had received over the course of the year.

People often compare running to life (and vice versa), but the metaphor that seems to work best for me is that life is an endurance event. To the uninitiated, it appears that the most difficult part of endurance sports is the physical demand that a long run, ride, and/or swim put on the athlete. In reality, the biggest struggle is psychological not physical. The mental discipline that you develop in order to push yourself through the pain, fatigue and despair of a long distance event can be applied to the daily struggles in our lives. If I had run a race the way that I lived my life in 2009, I probably would have recorded the dreaded "DNF", or "Did Not Finish" because I let myself be derailed by whatever temporary pain or setback I happened to be experiencing.

If I have an overall goal or "resolution" for 2010, it is simply that I plan to actually live the year as if I'm in a long race. When I feel that I'm starting to get overwhelmed by the moment and whatever setback I'm dealing with at the time, I will lift my head up and focus on the finish line and what I have to do to get there. Even if I'm the last to cross that line, I'll still cross it and move on to the next race.

Announcing my 2010 Charity Event!

In past years, I have raced across the desert for Leukemia, ran for Alzheimer's, and cycled down the California coast raising funds to benefit those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

In 2010, I'm kicking it up a notch and adding an Ironman 70.3 triathlon to the list! For those of you not familiar with Ironman 70.3, this race consists of a 1.2 mile open water swim, followed by a 56 mile bike race, then finishing with a 13.1 mile run, for a total of 70.3 miles. A key part of triathlon is the "transition" between events. This site takes its name from the first transition, from the swim to the bike, and is significant because the open water swim is often the most difficult and uncomfortable event in the race. Most triathletes struggle through it and hope to make up for lost time once they are back on dry land.

On July 18th, 2010 I will be racing the Vineman 70.3 in Sonoma, CA to benefit the Vineman Cancer Charities Fund. Over the last eight years, the Vineman Cancer Charities Fund has contributed to cancer research, to fight breast cancer and for cancer support services. Some of the organizations they have donated to are the Sutter Northbay Women's Health Center's Integrative Health & Healing Services and the Cancer Library and Health Resource Center in Sonoma County, as well as to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Commonweal and to UCSF for research into women's cancers.

Over the next 7 months, this blog will document the trials and tribulations of training for and racing in an endurance event. If past years are any indication, it will often be humorous, and sometimes painful. You will, however, be right there with me every step of the way!

Please click on the "Donate!" link on this page to make a donation to this cause, and check back frequently for updates on my progress. It's always more fun to race with friends, so thank you for joining my team!

James McDonald