PURPLE STRIDE 5K AND MINI MIGHTY MAN TRI

It has been a busy weekend.  It all started on Saturday with working for NYCRuns in support of the Purple Stride NYC 2013 To Fight Pancreatic Cancer, in Riverside Park.  There was a 5K run then a 2K walk.  The event was the first NYCRuns gig after the bombing at the Boston Marathon, so security was tighter.  Bag checks actually involved checking the bags for anything suspicious.  In addition to two NYCRuns staff doing the checks, the Purple Stride people also had two private security guards standing nearby.  Then there were a few NYPD scooters in the area.  The runners and walkers were cooperative.  The only complaint I heard, not addressed to me but to a policeman nearby, came from a dog-walker who had to carry his pet's output in a bag in search of a trash-holder to dispose of.  New Parks regulation forbid garbage containers for the event.  Something else, which I would not label as a complaint, was that some walkers were surprised that the walking course was shorter than last year.  I don't know what the course was last year, but this year it was just north to 116th Street, up the hill to the highest path below street level, then back down to the tree mall level at around 103rd Street or thereabout, for about 2 km.

It was my second visit to Riverside Park and I got to explore the park a little more.  I actually traveled the entire 5K race course, not in one shot but at different times.  Some day I need to go north from 96th Street to see where the path no longer runs along the water.  For Saturday, after a long wait to make sure the trash got taken out, I went south on my bike along the Hudson waterfront.  Weather was perfect for riding, a bit cool but not too cold.  At around 72nd Street, cyclists were required to dismount and walk the bike.  I was going to keep walking the bike along the waterfront until wherever it's okay to ride again, but then I discovered that just not too far inland was a bike path.  It went below the elevated Henry Hudson Parkway all the way to 59th Street.  Not waterfront, but you still get glimpses of the water.  Lovely!  Cyclists, we don't ask for much, just enough room for two bikes in each direction, at worse one in each direction, enough room for passing.

The next day I found myself at the Nassau County Aquatic Center to volunteer for the Mini Mighty Man Triathlon.  A few months ago I discovered that NYRR will not hold the sprint triathlon in Flushing Meadows this year, perhaps never again, for whatever reason.  There went my hope for a sprint tri!  Luckily, through the power of social media, I discovered that the Mini Mighty Man just outside of NYC in Nassau County is similar to the NYRR event.  Pool swim followed by actual bike race and foot race.  There are sprint tris that involve stationary bikes and treadmills but I am not interested in those at all.

The ride to Nassau in 5 AM was wonderful.  There was plenty of parking when I got there.  After getting out of Meadowbrooks Parkway, I almost missed the left turn on Merrick Boulevard because the street sign was so small.  Luckily, a car ahead of me had a bike sticking out the trunk so I correctly assumed that it was a tri participant.  I followed that car and got to the place without any lost time.

I was assigned to Body Marking, Swim In, and Run In.  Armed with a marker, I wrote the triathletes' number on the left upper arm and on the left calf, then the age on the right calf.  It was a cold April morning so many people had many layers to remove to get the upper arm part done, but everyone was cooperative and nice.  The athletes came in all shapes and ages.  One little girl was only seven, then at the other end I think there was a 62-year-old woman.  Many people were fit and trim, but some people were a round at the middle, so it makes me feel more confident to give the tri a shot some day.

Eventually there were few people left to have body marking done so I went inside to help with the Swim In.  I came in just in time to pause for the national anthem, followed by a moment of silence, which I am sure was for Boston even though I didn't quite catch what the announcer said.  There were about 400 people total but because there is only so much room in a pool lane, the line moved very slowly.  We had to make sure people get registered as they walked across the timing mat, then that they only jump in with enough distance between swimmers.  Many people appeared to be veteran triathletes but there were some first-timers who were nervous.  Everyone got to start somewhere someday.  I ended up getting drafted for Swim Out as well, to make sure the pool was empty of event participants.  As someone who is out of breath after a 50-meter swim, these slow swimmers are still better than me.  Slowly they covered the entire 400 meters, even if they have to stop once or more times at the end of the lanes to rest.

By the time I got outside many runners were already finishing.  The bike transition area looked crowded with bikes so I suppose the bike race was over.  I came mainly to see the swim portion, as I saw one too many foot races already, so I decided to skip out.  I stayed out for a long time yesterday so it would be better to be home earlier today.

One day, perhaps before I turn 50, I will participate in a sprint triathlon.  I just need to improve a lot with swimming and get a better bike.  In the mean time, some time this year when NYC's bike-share program, CitiBike, finally gets implemented, I will definitely have my own little triathlon.  Hop on a subway to some pool, do 400 meters then jump on a CitiBike for some miles, return the bike then go for a run, finally take the subway home.  Anyone thought of that already?  A small benefit of living in a big city.

Greetings from Nassau County.

Step right up and get your body marks, triathletes!

Random finishers.

TRI BLOGS

I am steadily making improvements with my swim training for the 2013 NYRR Sprint Triathlon.  I really would like to swim 400 meters continuously but the most I can do right now is 50 meters.  I actually swim 450 meter total but it is not continuous.  I have to take a short break between each 25-meter distance.  I plan to increase the total distance by 50 meters each month, e.g. when May rolls around I will shoot for 500 meters total.  Luckily, I probably swim somewhat faster, or have shorter rests, because the latest swim outing lasted only 41 minutes.  The 41 minutes included a brief interruption when the lane I was in needed some maintenance or whatever and my son and I had to find another lane that did not have the maximum number of six swimmers.  The 41 minutes is probably not that great for the typical swimmer but compared to an hour for about half the distance back in October 2011 it is my Personal Record.


Ever since I learned that there are sprint triathlons, I knew that's what I want.  Just like a new runner shoot for a 5K race and slowly work toward a marathon (+40K), the sprint triathlon involves the shortest distances for all three legs of the sport.  The next decision to make is with what organization would I do the tri.  TriFind.com lists many events but I really hate driving so events in NJ and CT, or even in Upstate NY or out in Long Island, do not appeal to me.  As luck would have it, I recently discovered that the NYRR will have a sprint triathlon in a few months, June 30, 2012 to be exact.  The location of Flushing Meadows Park and Flushing Meadows Aquatic Center cannot be better.  The Aquatic Center is where I usually carry out my swim training.  Familiarity makes a big difference.  Besides, I don't think I am ready to swim in open water yet.  I am sure I thought the tri's swim portion is held in the lake of Flushing Meadows Park.


I might have seen announcements about the NYRR sprint triathlon before but I was not interested in the sport at the time.  Now that I want to participate in it, I discovered there is so little information out there about the event.  The official link in NYRR.org shows the map and certain rules but that's about it.  Being a blogger and a runner, I periodically read blog entries about race events and usually enjoy them.  There must be some blog entries out there about the NYRR sprint triathlon.  Sure enough, there are!  From reading them, I learned a lot more about the event:

• The NYRR sprint triathlon is a relatively recent thing.  The inaugural event was in 2009, just mere years ago.  I suppose PR'ing at foot races can go only for so long.  A tri is a natural progression, even if you have to learn how to swim or ride the bike.
• The event is capped at 500 participants.  Luckily, unlike the typical NYRR races, the sprint tri does not sell out shortly after registration opens.
• Tackling the tri in a relay team is actually allowed.  I am a lousy swimmer but not bad at running so I can team up with a good swimmer and somehow share the glory.  However, now that I enjoy swimming, I would not consider a relay team at all.  I think I can do the three legs by myself.  No sharing of glory, it'll be all mine!
• You will have to get up at 4 in the morning to be at the race site just to drop off your bike and get marked with bib number and age, etc.  Years ago, waking up at 4 was a rare thing for me.  I think I did it once just to be at some Black Friday sale.  Nowadays I can be up at 4:30 am to run 5K or 6K, so that aspect of the tri does not fazes me.
• Swimming portion is self-seeded, meaning swimmers are supposed to know their swim speed and line up accordingly, fast swimmers first and slower swimmers in the back.  I most likely will be in the last group, and will start my tri at 8 am.
• Getting a flat tire is a very real possibility and there may be nobody around to help you.  Being mechanically-challenged, I will need to get myself up to speed about changing inner tubes and such, should the need arises.  Emergency kit with hand pump, spare tube, etc. ugh, cycling makes running look so simple.
• Resting during the swim competition is allowed.  The swim course is 8 laps of 50 meters each.  If you have to, take a breather at each of the 50-meter mark.  It probably looks uncool to cling onto the side while other swimmers pass you by, but come to think of it, in foot races people walk when they are tired, so I think it's pretty acceptable.  I do plan to be good enough do the whole 400 meters in one fell swoop, but it is nice to know the option to rest is available.
• A common theme the bloggers refer to is the weird sensation of running after swimming and cycling.  I am still a runner who swims on weekends and occasionally rides the bike.  I really have to make sure I have a few training sessions where I actually swim, cycle, then run.  What I love about the FMAC, besides easy parking, is its hours.  On weekdays, you can swim as early as 6 am and on weekends you usually have until 9:45 pm.  Theoretically, in the summer, when my son does not have to catch a school bus early in the day, I can drive to the Aquatic Center with a bike in the trunk, swim, then cycle, and then swim.  I can even follow the same bike path and running path if I want to closely approximate the real event.

Nothing beats the real thing, but since I am not ready for the 2012 NYRR tri, I plan to volunteer for the event to get close to the action.  Then when June 2013 rolls around, I will be among the 500 triathletes!


Here are the blog posts I find useful and interesting.  Hope you agree!

http://dj-kiteboarder.blogspot.com/2010/08/nyrr-sprint-triathlon-race-report.html

http://brooklynrunning.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/nyrr-sprint-triathlon-2010-race-report/

http://losingweightinthecity.com/2011/07/nyrr-sprint-tri-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly/

http://inshapeoutofmind.blogspot.com/2011/07/nyrr-sprint-triathlon.html

http://asp00n.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/run-tri-harder/

FIFTY METERS OR BUST

Goals.  Dreams.  Targets.  Many people have them, surely not everyone achieves what they wish to.  Fresh from my mild success with running, I translated my enthusiasm to swimming.  My goal right now is to swim 1600 meters non-stop.  Unlike running, for a beginner swimmer, I cannot just swim anywhere but am limited to pools, or indoor pools, to be exact, during the cold months.  The places that I visited offer 25-meter pool so out and back then you would cover 50 meters, 2 trips = 100 meters, and so on.  Like running around tracks, I easily lose count of the trips but usually my son is with me and he helps with keeping track of the laps.  Today and last Sunday I ventured out in my own to do lap swims and, not surprising, quickly lost tracks.  I think I at least last week reached the new goal of 50-meter continuous swimming.  Today, I felt less energetic and mostly did 25 meters and rested then swam back. I did get a new achievement of 400 meters total, not continuous, of course, but a new personal record nonetheless.  Just a quarter of the way to my seemingly unattainable goal of 1600 meters, but the human body, especially an old one, becomes stronger and more efficient ever so slowly.

From what my son and other swimmers told me, I have to keep the face underwater, hold breath, and come up for air periodically.  It helps to wear goggle while underwater so I started to use one today, even though I still kept my head above the water.  So many things I am doing wrong with swimming.  The only thing that I can correct is to keep my palms closed while "paddling", instead of having the fingers apart.  It makes perfect sense and easy to follow. On another occasion in a shallow, open swim I will give a shot at swimming with the face in the water.

Swimming is not that much different than running. You start out with a short distance. You practice to get better and last longer. Eventually you can swim a really long distance without stopping. Of course, the big difference is that with swimming in some pools of certain depth if you stop swimming you sink.

Cross-town in the 20s

For about two years, I worked in an office building around 28th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.  From time to time, I would visit Madison Square Park and nearby areas.  It has been years since I visited the area.  I probably drove through the area but driving is the worst way to experience a place, especially in a city like New York, with the many reckless pedestrians, careless cyclists, and other lawless drivers.    Today, I had swimming exercise within walking distance of the area and had a nice walk across town, mostly along 25th Street and 23rd Street.

   

A noticeable change is the pedestrian mall at the intersection of 23rd Street, Fifth Avenue, and Broadway.  The motorists probably hate them but as someone who prefers walking, I love them.  In this photo, we are looking north along Fifth Avenue at the famous Empire State Building.

Looking south at the Flatiron Building.  Notice again the pedestrian mall.  There used to be just a small traffic island in the middle to separate Broadway and Fifth Avenue.  

I did something potentially dangerous today!  I visited the Garage Antique Flea Market!!!  No pack rat should ever step inside these types of places.  Luckily, I controlled myself and left empty-handed.  I did look around at booths that have books in hope of finding yearbooks for my high school (Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens, NY).  At a different flea market nearby, I did see a yearbook for some high school in Stamford, something about the 49ers on the cover.

I love vanity plates, especially those that are not too obvious, like spelling out a word exactly as you would find it in the dictionary.  Give me a chance to figure out the message, will ya?  At first I thought this plate is to be pronounced as "ee-balon", rhymes with "baloney", but the URL says it all.  Probably a dating or match-making service.

My membership with NYC Parks and Recreations grants me access to many recreation centers but so far I only use the Flushing Meadows Aquatic Center and Chelsea Pool.  At the end of my cross-town trek, I discovered the Asser Levy Rec Center.  Seeing its outdoor pool, I thought that was the only pool it has, but it does have one indoor pool.  My plan was to run south along the East River waterfront, cross the Williamsburg Bridge into Brooklyn, then onward to the "new" running trail near Brooklyn Park.  Alas, while stretching for the run, I realized I left my swimming cap and trunk back in Chelsea Pool's locker.  I ran back and was able to find it, whew!

THE JOY OF SWIMMING

I recently downloaded all the workout entries I made on DailyMile.com.  It is nice to store data in the Cloud but what if something between you and the Cloud breaks down?  It cannot hurt to back-up your data every now and then.

With the DailyMile data neatly downloaded in a CSV file, I was able to quickly filter the data.  Of special interest to me is the info on my swimming experience.  While I achieved some personal records with running, in December 2011, the first few months of 2012 were slow with organized races.  First the NYRR Manhattan Half became an untimed run, then the Valentine's Day Run by the Holidays Marathons (HM) group got cancelled because of, what else, permit issue.  All along I thought all HM races would be held in Tibbett Brook Park, but that was just my wrong assumption.  Other than one week of rest from running because of a foot injury, the new year saw me running regularly.  I still enjoy running but know that in 2012 I improved at swimming.  It is time to review my swim data.

I was never a good swimmer and still am not.  Swimming was something I would do while on vacation, in the hotel pool.  The next day my arms/shoulders would ache a lot, the price of leading the inactive life.  Last year, when I started swimming regularly with my son, on the first visit, according to the DailyMile data, I covered about 50 meters in 45 minutes or so.  There was much resting between the short trips from one side of the pool to the other. I vaguely recall that it was the pool width that I swam along, not the length. One good kick off the side of the pool and I would be about half-way across already so it was not really that much swimming. Yet I was tired by the time I got to the other side of the pool. During subsequent visits I would increase the number of "laps", or just the number of trips from one side of the pool to the other to slowly build up my endurance. Then Chelsea Pool was closed for renovation, if I recall correctly, and I finally made the trip to Flushing Meadows Aquatic Center (FMAC).

As noted in http://www.qaptainqwerty.com/2012/01/i-wanna-try-tri.html , I was still not that good at FMAC. Just by going there more often somehow helped me to get better. For most of January, I maintained a total distance of 200 meters per visit, non-continuous of course. But I am lasting longer and longer with this past Saturday reaching a new peak of 350 meters. From what little I read about swimming, a mile or two is the typical distance good swimmers put in per workout. I am not even a quarter there but if I can go from 54 to 350 in a few months, it seems possible.

date	activity_type	distance
10/08/2011	Swimming	54
10/15/2011	Swimming	76
10/22/2011	Swimming	82
11/06/2011	Swimming	200
01/07/2012	Swimming	200
01/08/2012	Swimming	200
01/14/2012	Swimming	200
01/15/2012	Swimming	100
01/16/2012	Swimming	225
01/22/2012	Swimming	300
01/28/2012	Swimming	300
02/04/2012	Swimming	350

I Wanna Try A Tri

Over the Dr. King holiday weekend, I took my son, J, swimming all three days of the long weekend.  Up to recently, these swimming trips are mostly for my son's sake.  He needs to exercise but does not share my love of running.  Or even walking.  He had a few years of swimming lessons and practice so he is good at it.  If I have the choice, I would not accompany him into the pool.  I can barely swim and quickly run out of breath so I can only swim a short distance.  A very short distance.  But if I do not swim with J, he most likely will not like the experience as much.  Beside, even though I am a lousy swimmer compared to J, since we only do open swim in shallow water, should some freak accident happens, I can be of immediate help since I am already in the pool.  Ideally, J's cousins should swim with him.  They need the exercise, too, either to build strength or to lose weight.  Unfortunately, they usually have excuses not to go and are thus unreliable partners.  Oh well, father-and-son team it is then!


The first time I got into the open pool at the Flushing Meadows Aquatic Center, or Flushing pool for short, I thought to myself, "There is no way I can swim the entire pool length!"  Luckily, the depth is only 3'7", so any time I felt tired I would just stand up.  If I get splashed in the face or take a gulp of water, I would stand up and the discomfort would be over.  I recorded the distance for my my swimming exercises as 200 meters or thereabout, based on the length of the pool (25 meters) and the number of times I "swim" from one end to the other.  In reality, I always interrupt the trip across the pool, because of tiredness, water splash, water-swallowing, or one of many other factors.  I definitely walked half of the time.


As a lousy swimmer, I always worry that if I do not move my arms fast I would sink quickly.  Somehow this past Saturday, perhaps thanks to the serotonin or adrenaline generated from my morning 16-km (10-mile) run, I was able to experiment with swimming slowly and calmly.  I was able to control my breathing and a few time almost made it across the entire 25 meters.  On Sunday, even though the pool needed maintenance so we only had half an hour to swim, it was not as crowded so I had more chances to slowly swim across the entire pool length.  I still felt tired afterward, but I was able to ignore interferences like water splashes from nearby swimmers.  Monday I did even better, completely and calmly covered the entire 25 meters.  I even soldiered on after taking a gulp of water.


Whenever I read beginner runners' declarations that they will some day run distance of x kilometers, I smile quietly.  Been there, done that.  I still want to do an ultra-marathon some day, something like a 60k, but that would be about it for me, as far as running.  I will still try to aim for shorter finish time, like less than 2 hours for a half-marathon or sub-4 for a marathon.  But how about something slightly different?  Like a triathlon!


I got the idea from a co-worker I've been exchanging workout stories.  He is a good swimmer and cycles often, but needs much work with running.  I am a lousy swimmer, probably not that bad with cycling, and pretty confident about running.  Just like a few years ago I did not think I had what it takes to run a half-marathon, never mind a full marathon, who knows how far I can swim a year or two from now?  Like running events, not every triathlon involves the distance of the Ironman.  There are sprint triathlons that involve short distances in swimming, cycling, and running.  On TriFind.com, I even saw one that measure the effort in set amount of time, like 10 minutes of swimming, 30 minutes of cycling, and 60 minutes of running.  I am sure I am far from being qualified for the swimming requirements, but I plan to work on it.  Definitely not 2012, not 2013 either, but who know, 2014?!  Check back in 2 years!

Sink Or Swim

I have to believe my Son more when he tells me things. He has not learned to lie or accustomed to lying, which I am sure is a good thing. He recently told me that he could swim unassisted by any flotation devices. Just a week ago he finally made a big leap at swimming lesson, literally. For weeks he would come home from swimming lesson looking downcast because he did not make the jump. His cousins, boy and girls, jumped into the pool but he didn't. Not being the typical Asian parent who push their kids hard, I just told him to try again next time and not to feel bad about it. Again and again he would not make the jump. Then one day he did it. He even said that the first few did not count because the instructors pushed him into the water. I later learned that the instructors did do that. It took two of them, probably because, at 100 pounds, he was too heavy for any one of them. He looked very pitiful, I was told, caught between his fear of making the plunge and at the same time also afraid of being tossed again. Somehow he went through with it and on a recent stay at a hotel, I witnessed him as a swimmer. Just last month when we went on vacation west of Poconos, he was swimming around with a noodle float. He let go of the noodle every now and then to submerge then came out of the water to grab for the float, but never swam without the noodle. This time he was a totally different person in the pool. He jumped in a few times, at first sort of just walked off the edge of the pool but near the end literally jumped in. He even reached for the bottom of the pool. He could swim on his stomach or lie on his back and paddle backward, for the entire length of the pool. I am so happy for him.

Growing up as a city kid, I did not know how to swim. I can sort of swim, but only briefly, at most the length of the pool. I learned how to swim from my cousins, on mother's side, during summer vacations in maternal grandmother's countryside village. There was a canal in the front yard of the fruit orchard where I stayed. I know I started with an inner tube but cannot remember when I started to swim freely unassisted. All my cousins already knew how to swim when they were little. They lived near the river and there were houses right on the waterfront, literally on the water. Not your fancy American version of waterfront, mind you. Garbage and such would go right out the window, and other orifices, into the water, but the country kids would start to learn how to swim by going from one column to another, right underneath these houses.

I will try to get my Wife sign up for some swimming lessons. I myself can use some proper training. It is a great form of exercise and a useful skill to have.