To the core, to Lance...an unbelievable day

Had a really great week, both training and at work. Seems like the Holiday lull is finally over, and things are starting to happen again. Today I had the opportunity to meet with Eric for a strength training session. It was a small group of 4, and extremely worthwhile. I would definitely recommend it for everyone doing any type of endurance training, especially triathlons. Eric showed me/us a routine of 12 core exercises divided up into 4 sets of three each. I was quickly shown how really weak my core section is, and how important it is to eveything I do. The overall idea is to do 10-12 reps per exercise with 3 sets per. When Eric demonstrated each exercise, they look easy, but they're all incredibly challenging. I've got some real work to do on the lunges, the V-ups I found almost impossible at first, and the double crunches. He made me a believer in strength training.

After a couple hours of talking, demonstrating and working on this routine, Eric took the 4 of us for a beautiful trail run, right out his front door. The weather was picture perfect, and we did a great hill climb in the snow, and then some hill repeats by the lake before returning home. All in all, a terrific 3 1/2 hours, and I met some new athletes, including Eric's sister. But it turned out to be a tad more costly than I expected. The price for the session wasn't the costly part, but after I came back showered and ate, I now had to get some 6 & 8 lb. weights, a couple of resistancebands, a physioball, and a new pair of Asics sneakers. Oh well, my contribution to the ailing economy.

It was well worth it, I learned a lot about strength training and the weaknesses I need to work on. I feel great, even my knee that I've had a low level gnawing pain with as of late, felt great all day. Now I need focus on doing this routine twice a week....Stay tuned.

After all of this, I was finally home by 4:30 and had a chance to see a great interview with Lance Armstrong and Phil Sherwood on Versus TV...catch it if you can. Say what you want, Lance is a class act. His priorities are honorable, and his response to questions concerning his teammates, especially Alberto Contador were great. Then I watched the last stage of the Tour Down Under, and the old man actually went to the front of the pack for about 30 seconds towards the end of the stage, really impressive cycling...it gives hope and inspiration to all of us, especially us older ones. Just a great day all around...Enjoy your week...

I'll have a 2 week cleanse with ice, please

Well, I guess I'm a day or 2 ahead of most on this cleanse since Marla and I started on Fri. the 2nd. Basically, we're done! No problem at all with me. I lost 6-7 lbs. total, and feel really great. I plan on continuing to eat better, and closer to the cleanse than I usually do. It may sound odd, but because I feel so good, I like it. Because of my heavy schedule and the crummy cold weather all week, all I could do was indoor exercises. Swim and bike. Again those Spinervals and the Lake Placid training DVD's are terrific. So, this morning, my outside temperature gauge read -0. I'm not sure what that means except it was freakin cold out. But the sun was out, so I put on the layers and did a really good 45 min. run. As you can see from the picture, I look like some clown out of Cirque de Soleil (if only I were in that good of shape), but I was dressed appropriately, and really never got cold. In fact, I was smiling most of the way, a) because I felt so good, and b) because of cabin fever, it was great to finally get out. A couple of drivers on their cell phones, drinking Starbucks came dangerously close, but I guess because of my bright outfit, saw me at the last minute. I don't think there is a more invigorating way to do a run.

Great weekend

For such a lousy weather weekend, I was pretty pleased with everything else. Had a great run yesterday for an hour...cold as hell, but like many say, if your dressed right, with the layers, it's really nice out. I'm still on the cleanse, it's day 10 for me and eating very well....I've lost 4 lbs. Today, I was looking forward to a strength training clinic with Eric, but because of the snow we're postponed for 2 weeks till the 25th. So, I did an hour on the bike indoors. I tried the other new DVD I got, Spinervals 2.0 Time Trial Special, again, I found this to be very challenging, and an hour well spent. It may not be as good as a CompuTrainer, but for me, it works well. Marla and I locked in our plans to head to Florida to watch my son Max play ball in March. We'll be there from Mar. 12-22, and be able to see 9 games, and hopefully see him pitch in 2. He's suppose to be the Friday night starter. The way the weather has been, I can't wait to get out of here. I think we'll also catch the Red Sox play Cincinnati at their stadium in Sarasota on that Thurs. the 19th. Last year we saw the Sox in Ft. Meyers play the Dodgers, and there's nothing like spring training. We're also planning a trip to Philadelphia in 3 weeks to visit with our older son Seth...should be great....all good things....

Cleansing the body & mind

This was the cleansing of the outer body at the Plunge on Sunday (thanks for the picture, Alan), and since I started the inner cleanse on Friday, I'm into day 6 already. Going well, with a lot of cooking help from Marla, who is dynamite at the stove in the evenings. Couldn't do it without her. And I think I'll need to buy some Beano....the gas index has risen considerably over the last couple of days...

Plunging and cleansing into the New Year

I don't have pictures, but about 20 of us showed up in Southport yesterday to do the annual Plunge, this year for Christine Greif. In May of 1997, Christine was hit by a drunk driver while on her bicycle preparing for a local triathlon. She sustained a traumatic brain injury that has left her with limited ability to walk, eat, speak or otherwise engage in normal daily activities. She was a scholar athlete at Avon High School and then at Dickinson College where she majored in English. Christine was the recipient of the Trinity Club Book Award in her junior year for her scholastic achievement and service to the community. Ten years later, Christine continues to suffer the severe effects of the brain injury which have made daily functioning incredibly difficult. So, every year Eric has a goal is to raise awareness and to generate some charitable funds to help offset some of the expenses. I would say we accomplished a worthy goal...although the water was freezing, and my feet didn't warm up for about an hour. Great job Eric!

This morning I spent about 90 mins. on the bike indoors. One of Marla's Hannukah gifts to me was a couple of DVD's by Troy Jacobson, one Spinervals, the other On the Road-Lake Placid Training Ride. I did the 2nd half of the 56 mi. loop, like Jay to Lake Placid. For me, it was great! It made the time go by very quickly, I did the ride this summer, so I know what it's really like, and if you follow his lead, you get a great workout. I would recommend it. Ah, and I started Eric's cleanse on Friday. So far so good...Marla is basically doing it with me, so that's a huge help. I'm peeing a ton...probably got up 4 times last night...

Tomorrow it's back to the grind...I'm actually looking forward to getting back into it all....

Happy New Year 2009!

Great to have everyone home for the Holiday. Seth is still teaching 7th grade English at Frederick Douglas school in inner City of Philadelphia. Max is starting his 2nd semester sophomore year at Florida Southern, and thinks he'll be the Friday night starter, an honarable position. Marla and I had a fantastic New Year's eve meal at Hola Martini's here in Orange, and I ran the Chili Chili 5k New Year's morning, a race that honored Dr. George Whitney, who turned 90 in Dec., and ran the 5k in 46:01...an amazing man! In spite of all the chanllenges, this is going to be a great year. I'm doing the Plunge for Christine Grief at Southport Beach tomorrow...should be around 30 degrees....and windy...whoa. Time to start looking for new car for Marla...she's leaning towards an Acura RDX...stay tuned.