Life of an Age-Grouper

The days following the Smith Point Triathlon brought with it reflection. I had a few major things to think about and find solutions for. My top priority was to figure out the cause(s) of my migraines. Then I needed to address my goals and training. Finally I needed to figure out where I lost my fire. All of these issues are related and there might even be a universal answer. I have a feeling that if I can answer just one of them then I'll be able to answer the rest.  My blood work revealed that I was Vitamin D deficient. The normal range for Vitamin D is between 50-70 ng/ml. Mine was at 29 ng/ml. I initially could not understand how or why I could be so deficient when I'm outside for hours on end. I also couldn't quite grasp how being Vitamin D deficient could cause or lead to migraines. Like most people I began to do my research and found that there is a link between Vitamin D deficiency and migraines (These are merely links to and not direct causes of migraines).  In ...

Race Goals : 1. Finish the race without getting a migraine. 2. Knock the race rust off. 3. Enjoy the race atmosphere. The Swim: The direction of the 500 yard swim changes from year to year based on the lifeguards safety concern for the current. With an out-going tide the Race Director made the call, we would be swimming in a clock wise direction. I made sure to get a lengthy warm up in since I hadn't swam in awhile and I figured it would be important to remember how. The water was calm and warm as I took my position at the starting line. I positioned myself far to the left in anticipation of the current and first right hand turn. Right before the start I glanced back and noticed a distinct separation in our wave, half was on the line the other, about twenty yards back. As the whistle sounded we were off. I was immediately a bit taken back and yet excited about how aggressive  everyone was at the start. With in 100 yards I took a right hand to the face causing my goggles to ...

One month out from my first race of the season and I was starting to salivate. I had finally started to develop some fitness since becoming a new Dad and I was very excited to celebrate it on race day. About 2.5 weeks out from the race we had our first heat wave of the summer and as expected I endured a migraine headache. I have dealt with migraines all of my life so this experience was nothing new or alarming. As the heat wave continued for the next couple of days I made sure to train very early in the morning to escape the heat however each successive day ushered in another migraine. This was becoming very aggravating because migraines absolutely tax my mind and body and leave me exhausted. As the initial heat wave broke so did my three day string of migraines, or so I thought. This heat wave triggered a wave of migraines for the next two weeks, I practically had a migraine every day. The flood of migraines brought my training to a screeching halt but what made matters even worse...

Just over 5 months into this experiment of balancing being a new Dad while attempting to chase my athletic dreams and the outlook is promising. I can happily say that the fourth month denotes when actual training began.  My sporadic exercise has transformed into training as Noah developed a solid routine and Melissa and I have started to figure out our roles as parents. The consistency and quality of my training has started to approach my standards resulting in a steady improvement of fitness.  Instead of averaging 9 hours of training per week I'm easily fitting in 12+ hours.  This increase in volume was exactly the shock my body needed as I very quickly began to lean out, and my confidence in myself and the ability to reach my goals sky rocketed.  My goals were actually becoming a reality. Month four seamlessly transitioned into month five. Noah continues to develop more of a set routine and Melissa and I are continually redefining our roles as parents. This mon...

Just over 3 months into this experiment of balancing being a new Dad while attempting to chase my athletic dreams and it has been trying.. The first month of being a Dad, training wasn't even a thought in my head.  Any urge to train was simply the result of habit and routine. I would redefine my "training" as sporadic exercise in a lucid state of mind. I would strongly suggest to any other new dad that is Type- A and possessing athletic aspirations to utilize the due date of your child as an "A-race". In other words,  build your fitness into this date as you would for your focal race. By doing so you can be mentally at ease with not training during that first month and make yourself believe it is a recovery block (trust me, you will feel like you just finished an Iron man). In addition go through your training logs and reflect upon your progress. This should provide you with comfort and a tranquilizer to put down down any training anxiety. The second mon...

Life of An Age Grouper was the chosen title for my blog because I thought it accurately represented my intended purpose, to chronicle my experiences with triathlon.  I thought it would provide a unique perspective from an average guy navigating through a brand new sporting adventure. A majority of my blog posts are regarding training or racing with a few interviews sprinkled in. As I re-read through my posts I don't believe they accurately align with my intended vision because they lack any depth into how triathlon impacts my life or vice versa.  I also don't believe that most of my experiences reflect a triathlete with an average life.  After all, for many years I was single, living in an apartment with no real obligations or commitments. I could essentially train 24/7 without impacting any aspect of my life.   Then I became engaged and soon after married. Married life had little impact on my training do in part to Meliss allowing me to pursue my pass...

Finding my ultra 1.3 Paumonok Pursuit 70k This past weekend the Paumonok Pursuit 70K was another excellent opportunity to learn what is going to take to go long, to find my ultra. I was part of a 5 member team and ran the first leg, 10.75 miles.  This distance certainly is not long by any stretch of the mind but presented an opportunity to learn and to be schooled on the nuances of ultra distance running. What I learned from my 10.75 miles in the trails: 1. Im learning from my mistakes and this time I ran in trail running shoes along with just one pair of socks. The trail shoes allowed for great traction on the undulating terrain that was blanketed with a fresh 3-4 inches of snow.  The effort, form and pace of those that wore running sneakers were truly handicapped.   2. Keep a "clean" distance between you and the runner ahead of you.  At the start of the race everyone was very keen on not giving the runner in front of them any breathing room. As ...