Precious assets

I have never been faster and more dedicated. Since I got my Iphone on January 1st I earned an exceptional personal trainer. In the midst of training and planning for 2009 season, this device has made me a better athlete, all by allowing me to follow training principles that I have neglected in the past.

Time. It all starts with better time management. More organized, I am finally able to plan my days and save more time for training and rest. Now I do not have to choose between my different activities. I even have more time to watch tv!

Training Journal. I have kept an account at Buckeye Outdoors for the last few years, mostly to keep track of my races. Now I can log my workouts instantly and analyze my week from anywhere. During my rest I can compare my performance and engage on challenges with other athletes in the website.

The third training principle I have met this month is "what can be measured can be improved". I can use GPS technology through Imapmyrun and Imapmyride apps and have detailed and reliable info about my outdoor workouts, even for walks. I can even send a Twitter update of those activities.

Nutrition. I can finally keep real-time track of my food intake, using the app from livestrong. I am still making daily mistakes, but at least I can control my calorie intake and my weight pattern.

Dedication. I recently found many friends who care about the same goals and ideas, with whom I can talk endlessly about running, triathlon and endurance sports, joining Runcast.TV and Racenation online communities. They help me to stick to training, and give me energy to push forward, by telling their stories or challenging me. Twitter keeps me online with my friends, during training or rest. To keep this blog has also helped me to organize my ideas and goals, at least once a week.

It was really a good resolution to have started listening to my body, my mind and my friends at the dawn of 2009. Those are my most precious assets.

Hero of the week:

Lance Armstrong, putting public his life and sweat, defending a noble cause.

Quote of the week:
“Don't feel entitled to anything you didn't sweat and struggle for.” Marian Wright Edelman.

Healthy thoughts

I just briefly mentioned on previous post another reason to dislike New York: the large amount of people smoking over you. Probably this is just an impression resultant of so many people crowding Manhattan, but the fact is I am not as exposed to cigarette smoking here in LA. Even worse: for the whole 26.2 miles of the New York City Marathon I had at least ten times smokers throwing their air pollutants over the runners; approximately at mile 25 there was a guy smoking cigars at the race course! Maybe I am being too sharp, but that came to me as a disrespect to all runners, not to mention public health.

Talking about health, the day before New York City Marathon I had a trauma to my right shin caused by my luggage, and that created a very painful shin splint, felt only after the race, until two days ago. For the first five days after the race I could not walk properly, and only now I have stretched enough and recovered my balance. A wonderful realization was to learn that exercise accelerated my recovery, through spinning and treadmill training, avoiding excessive load on the legs. It is always nice to see that my body takes better care of itself than I do.

Mental health was another issue this week. The concerns of being injured, together with pain at every step lasting more than three days threatened my sanity. My plans on running Pasadena Marathon this weekend were put aside, even because the race was sold out while I waited to register after my recovery was evident. The urge to sit and plan my next year schedule has started to cause me nightmares, and this probably will make me busy next weekend. Only the idea of a new sprint triathlon in two weeks (the Turkey Tri) and Vineman Ironman 70.3 on next July can make me forget my current frustrations and push me forward.

Talking about happiness, the current streak of victories of the Trojans and the NY Giants have an important role, but what fills my soul and blows my mind is Brian Melekian and his journey to Ironman Arizona. To read the posts on his blog is always inspiring, even though his numbers show me I still have a lot of work to do. Now he just launched his online coaching website. It is an honor to know he reads my blog. For all these next days and during the race on November 23rd you can bet all my good thoughts and strong energy will be with him.

Feeling well again comes together with the joys of the Holidays, and the hope of an even better year. Tomorrow I will participate for the second time in Run for Her, a 5K race to raise awareness and funds to support ovarian cancer research, as part of my sprint triathlon training. I have started again to be able to plan ahead and project goals, and this is my healthiest state of mind.

Next races: Run for Her 5K (11/16/08), Turkey Tri (11/30/08), Surf City USA Marathon (02/01/09), Vineman Ironman 70.3 (07/19/09).

Hero of the week: Lance Armstrong. He is the inevitable hero; well-accomplished, gifted and well-spoken. Above any criticism and all the media, he is able to catch the public attention to important issues and his cause. He managed to be a landmark to whom athletes compare themselves, for better or worse...

Quote of the week: “If you leave the smallest corner of your head vacant for a moment, other people's opinions will rush in from all quarters”

George Bernard Shaw.

Here to stay!

Did you notice how many triathletes have blogs nowadays?

That is one of the many reasons I decided to start my own. This is a very good way to commit myself to my training, to save some time for rest (out of work, out of training), to make new friends, to talk unlimited hours about what we love, and to pay tribute to all my heroes.

Love; that is the motto of my life, and that is what I will try to write about. We all love multisport and to face challenges on a daily basis, this is written in stone. But I am talking about the feeling that moves all our bodies and minds against water, wind, pain and hunger. We do what we do because we love ourselves, and we love to be happy and healthy for our loved ones, to laugh, smile and cheer with our friends, in the name of all those who can not go out there with us. And that feeling has no limits, and always pushes forward.

That is the reason of the name of this blog: I am constantly preparing myself for the days to come, and does not matter who you are, what you do, where you came from, we all have more road work ahead, no end in sight.

I can finally brag I am a triathlete, after completing three competitions in three weeks: Kaiser Permanente LA Triathlon (09/07/08), Nautica Malibu Triathlon (09/14/08) and Long Beach Triathlon (09/21/08). I am very proud of my achievements, and I will talk about them in another time. To this date, I have ran 16 marathons and one ultramarathon, but nothing was a bigger challenge than to learn how to be a triathlete. Now I am six pounds lighter, eating healthier than ever, and loving this new lifestyle. You can follow my public training log in www.buckeyeoutdoors.com under tripleS.

Next races: Long Beach International Marathon (10/12/08); ING New York Marathon (11/02/08).

Hero of the week: Brian Melekian. That guy is living the dream. Brain tumor survivor, he spends his days training, preparing for Ironman. You can follow his blog at http://brianmelekian.blogspot.com/. Recently, he showed my newest dream bike: Cervelo P4. You can see pictures and comments at http://www.roadcycling.com/reviews/Cervelo_Debuts_The_P4_at_Interbike_002452_printer.shtml

And video at http://reviews.roadbikereview.com/interbike/2009-cervelo-p4/.

Quote of the week: If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or Fight Like Hell.

Lance Armstrong

This was my first post of an entire life to come. Please talk to me at tripleStalks@gmail.com.