Sunday, December 15, 2013

SATURDAY RIDE/ HIT AGAIN BY A CAR/ ALOT OF COFFEE/ PERFECT DAY









I figured My Pics and descriptions will explain my Saturday.. I love this Sport so much, And Life is definitely too much fun that's for sure.. Been saying it for all my life I feel like..


5am Wake UP just so I can read and drink coffee before my 50mile Bike ride that awaits in 37deg temps with Rain and wind (felt like sub 30 if you ask me).




Went with a regular brew this morning, in my super awesome mug...




This Coffee shop is one of my favorites in South Charlotte.
 
Decided to Ride uptown and get a cup of Joe there. What a beautiful day!
 
Yep, the only cyclist out this morning.. Literally, no one was out and I don't blame them. There was a Running race going on so kudos to those runners who braved through the cold..
 
 
My bike (Bumble Bee) wanted to see farmlands and the city. But she definitely was hurting after a Car's side mirror hit me and knocked me down. Look at the left handle bar of Bumble Bee. Its not suppose to look like that :( but all my bones are in tack so Im Happy. The person didn't stop but I don't think they realized they hit me. So no hard feelings if your reading this and you hit me :)
 
 
I like to think She has more Character now :)

After biking, i did a 2mi swim workout. Then more hanging out..
 
Just another look of how nasty it was that day. This is post ride...
 
Being Silly and High on Life...







Or just being High on Nutella!

Finished it off with a great wine bar... Perfecto day if you ask me!


Monday, December 9, 2013

TRI TRAINING OFF SEASON

Hello my friends!!!

Yes, the off season is coming to a close. To me, its really where hard training begins. The taper weeks of races are like off weeks for me. My goal this off season was to enter 2014 feeling more fit, stronger, faster than I did going into last season.

After 8 weeks (2 more to go) of consistent training-Literally, my training log is ridiculously boring and monotonous-But, it is exactly what needed to be done to improve. And oh has it worked!!! Simply put - 35miles running, 15,000yds swimming, and 80miles biking every week for 10 straight weeks (of course there are workouts and all within those but you get the concept :)

My body is starting to feel it, but mentally it is even harder to maintain this consistency with no change and to include it along with my 40 hour work week. But honestly- I wouldn't change it for the world. These last 8 weeks have made me such a stronger person and I know I will have to dig deep to finish these last 2 weeks.

The best part- is how much fun I am having..... Every Saturday I ride with my buds- winter riding=not fast but just long cold miles.. Also, Rock climbing, going out on the town of Charlotte, just having fun..

Balance in Life = No Stress = Happiness














Filters Fast


Hammer Nutrition


Monday, October 21, 2013

LITTLE THINGS IN LIFE....

Lets be honest.. Some of you are "Die Hard"sport fans.. When your Football team loses on Sunday along with your fantasy team, and the team you really dislike Wins, Monday is a not-so good day for you.. Same goes with Baseball, Soccer, hockey etc.

Or

You run a race or do a workout that makes you second guess your training or your coach and You say to your self "How did I run a marathon at THAT pace and cant do THAT pace for a 10k" or "How can I run a 5k IF in my last workout I had to walk after mile 1?"

Have no Fear, All is NOT Lost...

So, for me- I realize that Life moves on (Of course). But, what that really means is, Hello... You get a second chance. And a third. And a fourth. And a fitth.. How awesome is that?
When I woke up this morning, I was super pumped.. Why? Because I was drinking out of a super awesome Coffee Mug my brother just picked up from Costa Rica on his honey moon. Yep, that's why I was pumped. Not b/c I biked 70miles yesterday or had 2 great run workouts on Saturday or that my swim this morning was awesome. NO, it was my coffee mug, my jeep top down, watching the Sun Rise heading to work that made me Ecstatic.

Point is people, When people say "Don't sweat the small stuff" find out what is YOUR small stuff in your life and don't sweat it. Life is awesome, so much exciting stuff is right before your eyes everyday.

Love you guys and keep taking advantage of all those chances we get in life... God is good...


G

Monday, October 14, 2013

VA TRAINING CAMP

Fall Training Camp  (This is the Summer Training Camp Blog http://tritheshore.blogspot.com/2013/06/sc-triathlon-training-camp.html)


8am - Friday the 12th of October
We left yesterday from Charlotte after work and arrived late last night. This morning, I sit on the porch this morning with a view that is breathtaking.. Basically, in twitter terms - #AmazingView #MountainLakeHouse #FallLeavesChanging
On tap- a 10-12mile run which is basically death in the mountains, a little strength workout midday, another 3mile run in the afternoon.... Gotta Love it!

Click on the pic, then scroll through them (they are larger that way)





12:45pm
- Well, we are having a Brunch right now..... Perfect weather... Chocolate Waffles, bacon, fruit, hammer power bars and COFFEE...
- The Run- 10miles in the Smith Mountain Lake Trails (3 of my favorite words- Mountain, Lake, and Trails)... Only 4 guys this run, but what makes these workouts different than the runs back home, we have no rules.. Attack and Surge at your pleasure is the only rule, and thats what happened.. Around the 6th mile is when the combo surges happened, 1 guy dropped on the first 2, then i got left on the 3rd. Mainly from this crazy runner who doesnt get tired.. Anyway, I will get them tomorrow for our 70mile bike ride of climbing ;)

8pm
- A must needed nap happened for everyone, theirs a little longer than mine.. During that time, I did a strength session/yoga on the dock for 45min. 
- We then hung out, ate alot and geared up for Run #2
- Chris, our fastest runner here, went 6mi to our 4miles but we pushed the pace pretty good. Mile 2 and 3 were under 6min pace, and for one mile- after .5mile we were at 5.20pace... Not sure why our legs felt ok, but they did. 
- Then, Dinner/ a prank on 2 of our guys in the woods that really messed up with their head ;) / hang out / Sleep

Saturday - October 12th

7.30am
- Last night during prayer for dinner, it was confirmed how awesome these guys are. God is very much apart of their lives and you could tell. On journies/training weekends like these, we all realize that at the end of the Day God receives all the Glory and Honor and we just need to show him an abundance of Gratitude...

-I thought I could beat them up this morning but couldnt. One more guy, Daniel, joined us last night at 3am from work and will be riding our 70mile journey today with us. So 5 guys ready to smash our legs, basically. A little chillier here this morning, but perfect Cycling weather... 

Over and out


Sunday - October 13th

6.30am
- First off, Happy Birthday to my Mom- If I have one ounce of the Love and Care she has towards others I will be a good man.... Oh and she is 63 (sorry mom, I like to boast about your age) ;) 

-Yesterday, there was no update since my fingers didnt have the strength to type.. 
So we start our ride and to our dismay... Its raining pretty hard, windy, and not a shade of blue in the sky for miles to see.. The first 5miles we all were thinking about going back to the house and sit by the fire.. However, we decided to keep going. I have never seen so much beauty in my life. It looked like pics from Scotland.. The mountains in the back of 100 acres of grasslands and farmlands... It was absolutely breathtaking.. I kept on saying, "Look left" , "Oh snap, look right".. 
So we got in a rythm until one our riders got a flat... After 30min (pretty slow change) of changing that sucker we rode 6 more miles up this mountain. We then turned around and could not wait for our Cafe stop at mile 45. Once there, we had coffee (some had coke) and ate a sandwich. It was perfect.



We then had a 2nd wind going home and took it all in. The weather let up for the middle 40miles, but then our last 15 were in a good downpour again.. Honestly, it made the bike ride so awesome.. I finished thinking 75miles at home where its not that hilly and no rain will feel like Nothing compared to this. 
(This is what its all about, putting yourself- during training- in circumstances that are extremely tough and mentailly get your mind over the barrier)
Inclunding stops, we were gone for 6 hours!..... So when We got home, we ate so much flipping food and drank a few bruiskies as well while the fire place was flaming in full force.. We just talked our way through the night and fell asleep at 8.50pm (Lol).

- Now I sit on the porch again, while everyone is sleeping, and just enjoying my coffee and God time as we shortly will be going out for another run... 

Noon 
That was awesome! There is just something about the last workout of a brutal 3 days of training... We hit up the trails again for 6miles but the last mile, we made it out on the road and got up to sub 5min per mile pace.. This time I hung with these Super Runners.. 
Anyway- the nice soft landing was great for our legs after yesterday... 
- We then got home relaxed some and then headed home...

- These weekends are awesome, its even more impressive that the other 4 guys are hitched and their wives let them do this with the young Single lad ;) but man, do we destroy our legs only to make racing that much easier.. 

Training Camp #2 Done!

Angels peaking through the sky while we were on the boat.....

Glenn passed out!



refrigerator water filters



Thursday, September 26, 2013

FRIDAY WORKOUT

Hello my friends,

Tomorrow, to jump start your last weekend in September- here are 2 options of a workout for you to do:

1) 5x (20situps, 20pushups, 20jumpsquats, 20jumping jacks)

2) Treadmill- Run or Walk - 5min easy, 4min at an incline of 2.0, 1min easy, 3min at an incline of 3.0, 2min easy, 2min at an incline of 4.0, 3min easy, 1min at an incline of 5.0, 4min easy, .30sec at an incline of 6.0, 4.30min easy.

Pick one or the other, unless your really feeling it and want to do both..

Have fun- I would love to hear how it goes..

Greg

Thursday, September 12, 2013

London World Champs

Photos then daily blog

Where i eat breakfast everyday with my bro

My bro always making a funny face

Transition

These buses are everywhere!

The Serpentine in Hyde Park (cold)

After I just did a practice swim, i was shivering so bad

Lunch on the Serpentine

Obsessed!


Trying to take pocs with as many teams. This is South africa


France

Mexico


New Zealand

The Bridge



Tuesday 9/10/13

12:15am

Everyone is passed out except 4 people on this plane. Those four are.... Me, a guy who is sneezing and coughing like no other, a woman who is next to a man Snoring like no other, and a kid super pumped to be flying on his own watching a movie at the time. 1.45hrs left until landfall. Cant wait to go to a coffee shop, do a swim in Hyde Park, and crash my feet for the night. Going to be one long but exciting day...


4:45pm

Holy Toledo! Longest day on my feet ever.. So, right now I have slept 2.5 hrs of the last 27 hrs and that total will increase until I hit the sack tonight. Our team coach told us not to take a nap or else we wont be able to sleep tomorrow. 

When I arrived in London, I hopped on a train- and walked my way 2miles through the city with 4 bags- 1 being a huge Bike Box.. Yep- pretty embarrassing. 

Also- its freezing here. Well freezing to a born and raised South Florida guy. I went for a swim around 2pm and forgot to bring my wetsuit. I guy said- man you get the toughest person award today. I then said- No, I get the Irresponsibly Idiot award. The water is 59 degrees!!!! I got a quick 500m in and jumped out shivering.
 

Side note- some triathletes go about their way of a "dont talk to me, im in the zone" attitude at these events, which is fine. However, for Me- not so much. I have met so many awesome foreigners that It really confirms my assumption on how great people are. 

This one British chick, Jess, my age actually had lunch with me after we met during our swim practice. I think it was because she felt obligated to be with me the next 20min to make sure I did not keel over and die due to hypothermia. 

Anyway- Tomorrow is race #1 and very excited! Also- I get to see my brother who got some Leave time from his military duties just to make it a brother bonding trip too. 

I will say this- the best bottle ever is my Filtered water bottle. On trips like this, I can drink any water form any place. Go to filtersfast.com to check it out

Wednesday 9/11/13

10:05pm

A long day thats for sure. But pretty exciting. Woke up and had a great breakfast and coffee with a view of Hyde park. As I walked over to the race start, i was definitely pretty pumped. As I got there, my brother informed me that he was here and was able to meet me before the race which was cool. I of course had a mishap right before the race. After warming up, I get to my bag to put on my wetsuit and tri top to find out it was not in there. Yep- I flipped out since the water was 62 degrees. I looked everywhere and could not find it. 15min from the start I ask the lady in Transition if there was a lost and found, after searching different bags she found my belongings. 10min before the race start I get my stuff on and hurry to the line where they needed us to check in. The problem- Me not getting in my proper nutrition and fluids 30min before. That came back.

Race
Great swim. We are talking about some awesome athletes and for 1000m so many of us were in a pack. Very exciting and very scary getting hit and punched and kicked. Anyway- it went well and had a good transition. I was ready to run. But not my left leg. The calf immediately locked up (I have issues with this calf for the longest time!) and I stopped and stretched. Walked, then stretched and had a split decision- either walk the race, get out as 12 competitors did in 30 and under, or do what I ended up doing. I sprinted for 100m and scary enough, The cramp allowed me to run still lingered but I was able to run and get a good pace going. Anyway- 3rd for USA for the 25-29 Age group out fo the 7 that made it out there. with out the cramp, 2nd was definitely doable, not 1st though :(

Thursday 9/12/13

6:05am

I was too tired last night to finish so here I am in bed doing just that. 
So after the race, my brother and I just did brother stuff really. We then walked to the Opening Ceremonies which was a 3mi walk from our hotel rather than take the bus. This was a great idea because we were able to experience the London Culture on this walk. Oxford St at night reminds me much of New York City. Packed 24/7 and they had all different strips whether it was China Town, a Las Vegas vibe, Shopping section, sports section, it was never ending and we plan on go there more tomorrow so we can see it all. 
Anyway, the ceremony was awesome and I made it a personal duty to introduce/talk to as many foreigners I could since I felt like I needed to show them Americans are fun and respectable and genuinely nice people. It was definitely a fun time and my favorite Women were the South African, British, and French (just saying :)

Today- I plan on running with the team at 7am, swimming at noon, and biking with the team at 2pm. My brother is going to crossfit at noon, and then we plan on walking the streets more. Tomorrow after Race #2, we will do the "touristy" site seeing events like Big Ben, the London Bridge, see the Spice girls (just joking), and the Guards.

Cheers
 
12.55pm
3mi run done and avery cold 500m swim done. These workouts were just to loosen the muscles up for tomorrow. My calf is absolutely killing me! But the environment here and atmospher is amazing so its all good. I am at this out door lunch spot on the serpentine called Lido that has amazing coffee. My brother went to go do a crossfit workout at a gym here which is kind of cool. Getting excited to race tomorrow. Should be fun and cold.

7.30pm

Ok. I have definitely been tested today and am very thankful I have passed. Why stress over things you cant control. Saw the team doctor and confirmed I have a Calf Tear from yesterdays race. Its not severe where I cant race so that's sweet..
Also, my race wheels are not in proper form to use from my crash 2 weeks ago so I am bumming one rear wheel from One guy and then another guy front wheel from another. One is not a race wheel but that is fine.
Other than that, My brother and I had a great day and just ate at a place called The Swan.
Honestly, this stuff excites me. I feel like its an additional challenge to overcome these obstacles. So, Ice/stretch/and pray a lot tonight to make sure tomorrow I can have a decent race. 

Friday 9/13/13

10:55pm

Race Simply Put
Swim - calf was ok, the turns were extremely hectic and getting kicked in the face was normal, and the temp was 61 degrees. Finished pretty well to keep me in contention

Bike - Front wheel rubbed the brake the hole time, gears did not work, Cold, rainy,  6 u-turns, 36 total turns, got my butt kicked on the bike, but some crashed (not me :)

Run - Calf hurt badly, but never stopped running. a 19.00 min 5k was all I had on that calf muscle.

No medals but great experience and cant wait to come back!

Then, went to Southbank on the Thames River. Now that was sweet. The London Eye, the Tower Bridge, London Bridge, and a hole lot of pubs in these awesome villages. Then my brother and I got lost on the double decker buses and went God knows where. Great day indeed...