(Re) Commitment

So I need to update my training calendar, but needless to say, I have been training. The best thing about having an event you are shooting for is that whenev4444rrer the question comes up of whether I should go to the gym or work out, the answer is almost always Yes. I hadn't realized how rainy it got this time of year in the Bay Area, and it has made me really happy to be a member of a gym. Got on the x-country cardio machine this week and starting to lift weights, and got 2 solid swims in. This week I am going to start spinning in the morning.

I had my first injury for the first few days of this past week, but feel blessed that I haven't gotten sick yet. My calf turned to cement last week in the pool from an old tennis injury, and it took a few days to get it limber again. Overall, I can see noticeable changes in my physique and performance and am reminded of how wonderful exercising outdoors has been a part of my life.

SO, A word of disappointment:

If you train with TNT, they ask that you commit to your pledge amount by a certain date on your credit card, so that they aren't putting out a whole bunch of money and time if you aren't going to raise the money. It is called re-commitment. It makes sense but for triathlons (and the Wildflower in particular), this date is this coming Friday March 6th. And so I would have to put 3000$ on my credit card on Friday and then hope to meet the goal by mid-April. I already have multiple people who said they would donate, and an amazing shout out to Peter Rich for actually donating. But given that I can't afford to put 3k on my credit card this week, I have decided to just go forward training for the triathlon on my own and not raise funds for TNT right now.

Golden Gate Park

From Ramesh In Training

One of the best things about my new home in the Bay Area is running in Golden Gate Park. I try to do it as often as I can when I go into the city, because there is something really special about that place, and it seems to be best experienced by running.

I have basically stuck to the main roads every time so far, and every time I am completely happy. t's been about ten or fifteen times now. Getting to know the same routes is a wonderful part of running through natural wonder as I learned in Seattle. If there is something I am truly proud of in my life, it is how much time I have spent running in forests. I am glad this will only continue to grow here in California. Some of the best runs I have ever done were last year in the cypress forests in Point Lobos and along the Monterey Bay, and I haven’t even started exploring Marin by trail yet.

For now, when I go to Golden Gate Park, I park behind the Flower Conservatory and run down to the main road (JFK, I think) and follow it past the Da Young and then a creek starts to form along the path. The first time I got to that creek and waterfall, I was SO happy -- and every time since, the negative ions continue to fill me with joy. The sound of rushing cold water at your feet, and the amazing stands of eucalyptus take you far away from being in an urban center. The setting of the waterfall always reminds me of New Zealand. If you keep going, you get to a windmill and the ocean opens up with beautiful cliffs and crashing waves. Every time I see it, it really does fill my heart with joy. Here is the view:


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Here is the view down JFK in Streetview. You can see the route I did last time in my training map.



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Fists

SO, I am really trying to find ways to make this blog exciting, because frankly, the story of an Indian math teacher running and biking around and telling you what he is doing seems a little light on depth.

But here is the thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have my blog set up so that I can post things from my iPhone directly to it, like workouts, pictures and eventually maps, and am working on some short posts to explain how to do it through the iPhone and your Google account. I hope you guys are checking out how awesome my training calendar is -- it only took 10 minutes to set up with my Google calendar, and I can upload workouts to it from my iPhone when in the gym or after a run. It makes staying on training schedule so much easier.

Some people tell me my fundraising link doesn't work, but it seems to work for me. If you read this, try it and let me know if it works -- And donate money! It really is for a good cause. I found out the other day that a friend of mine has cancer -- sarcoma. He is really young and a solid person, and it sucks. I am going to see if I can make him one of my honorees even though he doesn't have blood cancer.


The other day I did a fist workout in the pool on my Half-Ironman triathlete cousin Karthik's suggestion, which entails swimming with your fists. It was interestinghow little force you can create off of your fists, and how it makes you use your core to keep yourself moving and afloat. On the first day of TNT group training we had to do a swimming drill called Balanced Body Position, where you keep your hands at your sides and breathe like a breaststroke and go all the way across using only kick. I couldn't do it for more than 2 or 3 seconds at a time before I got all spastic. I don't like breathing that way, and couldn't get enough thrust in my kicks to get deeper breaths. But I can tell how much more confident I will be in the water if and when I do learn to do it. Here is a link to the drill where they breathe on their side, which might be what I try next:



And I got new running shoes -- they're red (dark oxide, actually)! Been doing lots of night runs lately.

The iPhone and Albany Hill

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A pic from my run today.
From the bench u can see the GG bridge

I am experimenting with a few different free iPhone applications to track my runs and bike rides as I train, since I would like to see them in a map and track my times and distances. So far, I have been trying two applications: Trailguru and RunKeeper. Both have their pluses and minuses, but neither is nearly as accurate as necessary to be a meaningful training tool.

As an example, a few weeks ago I used Trailguru when a friend and I climbed up Cantelow Peak. As I waited for him for 5 minutes at the top, my altitude changed by by 50 feet without me even moving! The Trailguru said we had ridden about 4 miles when we had actually done 10, and when I would look at the maps it would make, it would have me riding through city blocks. In addition, I couldn't figure out how to upload the map data to a Google Map or use the Google Earth feed that they publish on your personal fitness account. This may be due to insufficient effort on my part, but the lack of accuracy in tracking my route made me none too enthused to invest a lot more time.

Today I used Runkeeper to keep track of my favorite "out of the house" run. Gilman to the Ohlone Greenway, then shoot down Solano and up Albany Hill to the park. A huge downside of Runkkeper is that it doesn't have the ability to take pictures while inside of the application (unlike Trailguru), which made it necessary to enter and exit. This did stop the clock when I wasn't running, making the final readout (3.92 miles in 35 minutes) pretty accurate. But the report that got uploaded was not the same as what was on my phone - I couldn't figure out how to export my map data on the first try, but I hope there is a way (just like Trailguru).

The picture above is the view of the setting atop Albany Hill -- the smell of eucalyptus at the top on a wet day like today was invigorating. From the bench (and the swing) you can look out over the Bay and see the Golden Gate Bridge. It is amazing at night, to see the city all lit up, which I have been doing the past week after work.

Runkeeper screenshot:


Trailguru screenshot:

Welcome

So, I did it. I signed up to raise $3000 to be part of Team in Training and things just kicked off officially last week. I have been back in training since the New Year, as a major resolution in my life was to get myself back to the physical discipline that I had lost for the past few years. In only a few weeks, I can already see it making a difference.

The event I am training to do is the 2009 Wildflower Olympic Triathlon down in Monterey County. It is a 1.5km swim in a lake(.9 miles), 40km bike ride in hilly terrain (26 miles) and a 10km run (6.3 miles) on both road and trail. The Wildflower is a big festival from what I can gather, and we will all be camping out together in the state park for the weekend; it is often called the Woodstock of triathlons.

I've done a few endurance events before, from the Vancouver Marathon in 2003 (3:49:55) and the Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day in 2005 (154 miles, 10,000 ft of climbing in 10 hours of riding), but have never completed a triathlon. To be honest, I am a little scared of the open water and one of the reasons I am excited to be part of TNT is to help gain some confidence in the swim section from the coaches and captains.

Being part of a team is great. People support each other, we train together and it is nice to see other people willing to push themselves to make their lives better while helping others. Training involves a lot of suffering -- I've been running a lot again (got up to 6 miles on the treadmill yesterday), and it hurts. Been hitting the pool again lately also, and by the end of a 30 minute workout my arms and back feel like Jell-o. But you have to fight through it, and I love it.

I am going to start posting pictures, training advice I get from TNT, information on Leukemia and Lymphoma and cool places to train that I find in the Bay Area as things keep going. Been exploring Tilden and Wildcat Canyon Parks by bike and foot, and have been seeing some amazing things. Am still learning how to post pics from my iPhone.

Working on getting my fundraising site pimped out, but here it is right now ...

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/wildtri09/rnarasiman

Please leave comments with fundraising or training tips. Or general positive encouragement -- getting to the Wildflower finish line isn't going to be a walk in the park.



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Training Map

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Slideshow of Training Pictures