Nick Brown

I rode into work today.  Its a 15.8 mile trip, and most mornings I’m in no mood to rush things.  Today was no different.  I cruised in at 121bpm as the world woke up around me.

Arriving in Coronado, I swam before heading into the office.  3200 meters, main set consisted of 10×50s on a fifty second interval.  I’d rather swim long than fast, so this was uncomfortable.

Work sucked, which is to be expected on Mondays.  Everybody was complaining about A/C.  Why don’t people let me know their shit is broke before the temperature gets into the 90s? After I told a bunch of our Nation’s most deadly warriors to suck it up and use a fan, I got to turn my attention to more important issues.  Like trying to make buildings appear instantly, for no cost whatsoever.  As you can imagine, I had little luck

In the afternoon I try to leave the office at 20 after to catch the ferry at Naval Air Station North Island at 40 after (It takes me from 11 to 13 minutes to get from Naval Amphibious Base Coronado to NASNI).  I desperately wanted to leave at 1620 today, the 20th of April.  Not that I would partake in any festivities.  (Its not the frequent urinalysis I get at work, Its the fact that I’m already ALWAYS hungry and I don ‘t need to add to my persistent munchies)  Work kept me from making the early boat, and instead I escaped at 1720.

The ride home was a bit breezy and warm.  My legs were tired from a good weekend.  Oddly enough, when I got in the door I felt the urge to run.  I changed into running gear (which is almost naked) and bounded down the street.  The fatigue I felt on the bike was instantly gone.  The late afternoon/early evening warmth felt great, almost cleansing.  As I descended into rose canyon, I turned east and ran a trail which only exists because the terraine on either side is to steep to develop.   I made a solid effort to run w/o looking at the Garmin, gauging my effort by feel (I would call it an “easy fast” pace).  The evening was cooling off, the air was quiet and I was happy.  Eventually my trail ended and I was back amidst the hustle and bustle of Genesse and Nobel at peak traffic hours.  I kept my focus on mainting my intensity and finished the 4.5 mile run feeling very good about life and all that it entails.  I’m also now convinced that moving north to the middle of nowhere will not be all that bad come September.

A few minutes ago, I looked into what the Garmin had to say about my run.  I’ve never seen HR data so steady.  The Garmin shows an almost a straight line, gradually increasing from 145 bpm to 165 bpm, regardless of grade or footing (my LT or AT or whatever is 174 bpm, I think…).  The run started by running down into the canyon, and ended by running up out of it.  I think its neat how my internal governor slowly lifted as the run progressed.

I know.  I’m a dork.

Time to turn in….tomorrow is another day.

Work keeps messing with my training plans.  First Tuesday;I ended up at work until 6PM and had to kick my own ass on my trainer late at night, alone.  Then today.  Again at the office until 6PM and I had to improvise a fartlek run instead of hitting the track w/ my buddies.

I ran my hour course at a slightly moderate pace and did 8 45 second pickups at what I gauged to be my mile pace.  The pace for the surges varied from 5:40 (one of the first ones up a slight grade) to 5:06 (perfectly flat section after I was well warmed up).  It was fun to run that fast, as even at the track I rarely dip down into the low 5’s.  Students on campus were looking at me like I was mad as I screamed by them.

Even though work keeps pushing my workouts into the evening, I haven’t missed anything yet.  (knock on wood).

This morning I did my “hour” loop with Chris.  8.4 miles in 58:45.  The intent was to take it easy, but aparently Chris and I are recovered and feeling pretty good.  About 20 minutes of the run was at more of a tempo pace.  The run was a bit sporatic; we took small detors to run through the park below my apartment and through the eucleptas forest behind the UCSD track.  All in all, a good way to spend the morning.

Less enjoyable was the swim after the run.  However, the antics at the end were pretty cool. Whitney (not Melinda) and I schooled Chris and Dave in a two man 4×50 yard relay.  Chris was blaming Dave’s turns for the loss but I sure did gap him on the starts…

Next week should be solid.  I’m looking forward to the challange of building up for IM Louisville.

Here we go.  Race Report.  Its a week late and these can be kind of bland so I will try to keep this brief.

The night before the race I had to get all dolled up in my choker whites to put on a little S-word arch for my buddy Bill Wohead’s wedding.  The timing was bad, as I would have preferred to be off my feet resting at home, but a buddy is a buddy and I was happy to be part of the event.  Even by taking two days off work, I still felt rushed with everything I had going on.

I spent the night of the race at the Simpson’s place in Oceanside, for which I am very thankful.  Having him to talk to calmed the nerves.  I couldn’t have picked a better person to crash with.

Race morning was cold, which made the 59 degree water feel warm for the swim.  Still, I had a hard time finding rhythm.  I started off the hip of Chris and Eric, but fell off their pace and ended up in no-mans land between groups.  Out of the water, I had a hard time moving through T1.  For some reason I am always pretty messed up after ocean swims.  I have trouble getting my bearings and my heart rate seems to peg as soon as I stand up.

Once on the bike, it took me about 40 minutes to calm down and start to feel normal.  There were two significant climbs in Camp Pendleton and the trip south seemed slow (probably the wind).  As soon as the course turned East (last ten miles?) the offshore breeze was at my back.  I felt like I had to make up time. I was happy to hammer along and was tangling with female pros.  In retrospect, not the smartest move.

The run was tough from start to finish.  The twice out and back course looked pretty fast and I would like to think that if I had played my cards right on the bike I may have ran well under 1:25.  I gutted out a 1:28 run split and finished exausted and with a very bloody right foot.

I love to run w/o socks, but if I get blisters or break skin I only ever notice AFTER I’ve stopped.

I finished in 4:34 and 8th in my age group.  It was a pretty solid race, though I think I could have squeezed out a few more minutes had I been smarter.

Afterwords, I had the chance to register for a summer Ironman.  I picked Ironman Louisville to give myself plenty of time to prepare.  While at least 20 people asked for every other M dot race, strangely only three of us asked for Louisville.  What do they all know that I don’t?.

It doesn’t matter.  Louisville will be my last shot at qualifying for Kona this year.  Even if the Navy gives me a slot, I want to feel like I earned it.

Loitering on societies periphery…I like that…..

I’m working on the IM 70.3 California Race Report.  I’ll finish it sometime this week.

Swam 2K easy today.  1000 warm up, 500 build, 2×100 “quick”, 300 cool down.  I felt really good, which is strange since my swim on Saturday seemed so rough.

My feet are tore up pretty good from the run on Saturday.  Next time I skip socks, I have to remember to put body glide in my shoes.

Yesterday at lunch I got 2400 meters in @ the Coronado pool.  The weather was warm and the sun was out.  The combination of the sun, warmth and 50 meter outdoor pool reminded me of YMCA Nationals.  The meet was always in the early spring and the Ft Lauderdale Florida location seemed so exotic after leaving frigid Pennsylvania.  Plus, I was always tapered and at the peak of my season.  I was happy to draw the parallels and had a pretty good swim.

After work came typical Tuesday trainer work, which I really just floated through.  Chris and I ran very well afterwords, I think we are both ready to go and excited.

Today I only worked a half day.  After escaping work, I got another swim in, very similar to yesterdays.

I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in Matt’s Shop, making sure the P2C is ready to go and goofing off.  I’m pretty excited about two days off, my buddy Bill’s weeding and Saturday’s race.