I am now settled  here in Krabi, Thailand.  I love the first week in Asia as the time change puts me to bed early and gets me up before dawn.  It’s5 a.m and I am bright eyed.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am not much of a morning person.  As a child my parents let me stay up late to watch Johny Carson and the Honeymooners, so most nights I was up till midnight at least.  This pattern has carried into my adulthood.  During my 4th year of college, Coach Watts would drive to my condo to pick me up for morning run because I kept missing so many of them.  I would say, “Coach it’s not like I am not going to run, I just like to sleep in.  I just can’t  seem to get up, I sleep right thru my alarm.  So if I sleep in till 7 or 8 I will run then”.  He didn’t think that was very funny so he started calling me on his way to campus and would then swing by to get me.  Thanks G.W.!! 

So anyway I left last Sunday evening with a quick stop over at The Bike Boutique in Singapore to get my new Cervelo P4,  finally arriving here on Wednesday.    I met James Tuesday morning at the airport and we headed straight to the shop where the guys started working immediately on our new bikes.  It was great catching up with James!! We had a nice swim and easy run along the beach to wake our bodies up.  Wednesday morning we headed back to the shop and got a quick fit on the Retul System before packing our bike and heading to the airport.  It was also very nice to meet the guys at the shop and to see Alex again.  I love to visit Singapore and hope to go back soon. 

TBB Singapore

Me and Black Betty

It’s great to be back in Asia!  There is a familiarity to the way the air feels and smells, it’s like this most feeling with a touch of a smokey scent.  So here I am settled in for the 7 weeks…. Below are some photos from the symposium. 

Doug Rice and I

JT and I

JT and I infront of a Cervelo P4

Below are some photos from trip.

On Top Of The Foothills Parkway

 Crossing Deals Gap at the Tennessee/North Carolina state line, the Dragon is considered by many as one of the world’s best motorcycling and sports car roads. Anyone looking for an exciting highway will enjoy this stretch of US129

Over Looking The Dam Where Scene from "The Fugitive" was filmed

Mile Repeats At Camp Bosch

Getting In A Swim At Caesar's

 Camp ended a day early as I had to beat the coming blizzard!! I made it home just in time for another foot or so of snow.  Looking forward to heat camp!  I will be leaving for Thailand next Sunday but first I will be attending the  Sports Medicine Symposium  For Endurance and Multisport Athletes at Centra State Wellness Center in Freehold this Saturday so anyone in the Tri State Area, come on out for a visit!!

SD

In my 1976 Training Diary there is a photo of Jack Nicholson from ‘One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest.’ It’s a facial shot of him trying to pull out the drinking trough and use it to smash one of the barred windows to escape. One of the other patients said: ‘Don’t be stupid, you can’t do that.’ Jack replied, ‘Yes I can, anything is possible.’ He strained his guts out working at it for a few minutes with the veins sticking out of his neck. Of course he couldn’t move the bloody thing. They all said: ‘We told you that you couldn’t do it.’ Nicholson looked at them and said: ‘At least I tried, you bastards.’ To me that summarizes what I think about life.

Well I wouldn’t exactly say I learned something new, I guess I just got a bit of a refresher on some things. On tap was my first 20 mile run of the year. I started with a group of guys, which included some old teammates of mine, and several local runners who are getting ready to run the Knoxville Marathon. After 45minutes or so myself and Anthony Famigilietti, more on Fam in a bit, decided to leave the park we were running in and head out along the river and then towards his house where we would part ways. Well at just about half way I took another tumble and banged the same knee I hurt over the summer when I fell while trotting into the woods to take a slosh. It had been pouring on us the whole run and I stepped on a handicapped ramp that was painted yellow, needless to say it was like a sheet of ice. After a few rolls on the ground I quickly popped up and took a moment to gather myself. Fam thought I should jog home but after a minute or two I was able to carry on, I had blood pouring down my knee but no real pain so I finished my the run.

So what did I learn? Well, I know it’s time to get back into camp when the deamons of society and every day normal living start to creep in. I haven’t been with my teammates or Doc since late August and from time to time the pressures of society start to sap the motivation a bit. It’s not the training that is hard, I enjoy the training, it’s the keeping your eye on the prize and staying the course that gets tough.

For those of you who don’t know who Fam is, here is some info on him.  We were teammates together at Tennessee during the 1998-99 seasons.  Fam was 14:00 5k out of college and All American in the Steeple Chase.  Over the last 10 years he as lowered his 1500m PR to 3:35,  5k PR to 13:11, 10k PR to 27:37, and has won several national championships in the steeple chase.  For anyone who caught the steeple chase semifinals during the Bejing Olympics, Fam took his heat out from the start, running a gutsy race and qualifying for the Finals.  He faltered in the finals, maybe ran that semi to hard but it was what he needed to do to get thru. http://www.recklessrunning.com/

http://www.runfam.com/

Fam has had many ups and downs in his career.  I remember when he first got out of college and was broke  living in this tiny little apartment next to the Henly Street bridge trying to chase his dream of making it as a professional runner.  Over the last decade he has become one of the best runners in the nation and has created quite the buzz about himself with his self marketing practices which include his crazy hair cuts and facial har, his obsession with his art work, and  his latest move to make a documentary called  ”Run Like Hell” and creating a clothing line called Run Reckless.  Fam is now a married man and has chosen to move back to Knoxville to train for the next Olympics, leaving New York City where he has spent the last few years.

It’s been a while since I have had a chance to talk with Fam so we had lots to catch up on and he had some great advice to offer.  We talked training, nutrition, religion, relationships, and old friends.  But what I took away the most was his advice on how I should approach my overall outlook on my own journey of becoming a professional triathlete.  When it comes to racing, his advice is as follows: “When you go away to camp for weeks and months and then return  home to race, don’t approach the race as if you have to do well because you have been away and sacrificed time and money.  Just go and race just like you get up and train every day”.  Is this what got to me during Ironman FL?  “Possibly”, I thought.

“Don’t think of your financial situation as being broke” He said, “Just think of it as having no attachments to anything.”   “Great advice!” I thought.  “You run, you train because you love it and that is special, you are chosing this life so might as well hold nothing back.”   ”Man Fam is on fire today!”  I thought some more.  We continued our talk  as we carried on with our run eventually getting  to the top of Cherokee Blvd where Fam would turn left and head home and I would turn right and run down the bike trail back to Patricks Pad.  At this point in the run I was on fire, feeling great and really motivated about my future.  It’s been a while since I have sat pool side and listened to one of Doc’s talks that gets us fired up to tackle the days training so it was great to get some words of wisdom to reinvorgorate my training!!

Thanks for the run Fam!!

Below are some of my favorite quotes used to inspire!!!

The nine inches right here; set it straight
and you can beat anybody in the world.”

- Sebastian Coe (said while pointing to his head)

When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn’t matter. Am I tired? That doesn’t matter, either. At this point, willpower will be no problem.

I spent 7 years of my life living here and always enjoy coming back. Knoxville sits in a valley surrounded by the Great Smokey Mtns. We have a newly built aquatics center at the University as well as resurfaced track. The roads are pretty quite and you are constantly going up and down.

As I drove through the day on Monday the snow on the side of the road was not going away and as I crossed the Virgina border into Tennessee it started snowing. I started to rethink my idea of spending a month here and maybe drive another 10 hours south to Florida. But by this afternoon it warmed into the upper 30s and I was able to get in a good long ride, which included lots of climbing and getting chased by two dogs. The long range forcast looks good as it will get into the 50s starting tomorrow. I am staying with my good friend and former track teammate at UT Eric Bell, who is also racing as a professional triathlete. He heads off to Australia next week to join a group in Noosa so I will shift to my other good friend and former teammate Patrick Gildea’s home. Patrick is training for the upcoming Knoxville Marathon so we will get in some good runs together over the next few weeks.

More to come in the next fews weeks.

SD

The debate began back when I was a freshman at The University of Tennessee. Every morning we the skinny distance runners would run by the campus pool and the mens swim team would be swimming, up and down the outdoor pool. They would shout, “Running is easy!”, we would reply, “Swimming is easy!” Then again in the afternoon, the same routine. We would run by and laugh, “Look at them they are doing the back stroke, getting a tan, real hard!!”. Little did I know….

As my time went on at UT, I became friends with some of the swimmers, a few of us lived in the same apartment building so I was able to gain a better appreciation for just how hard they worked.   They had their fare share of slackers, those that would hide in the deep end on foggy mornings, just as we had guys that would jog home from morning run rather getting their run in.  We had gut wrenching track sessions in the heat, cold, rain, wind, whatever the elements, but that was only a few times week while it seemed the swimmers had hard interval sessions everyday.  We had easy days where we got to jog and have good conversation while tanning our backside, they had gorgeous spring days where the pool deck was covered with sorority girls.  Swimmers stare at a black line for hours on end, while runners run countless miles all while enjoying the great outdoors. 

It takes a kooky person to take up a sport like swimming, just as we have some strange birds that run.  Both take hard work  and a tremendous amount of dedication to be successful.  Maybe that is why out of all the athletes on campus, the swimmers and distance runners seemed to get along the best.  We threw the best parties and seemed to have the most fun on a day to day basis.   But the debate continues, which one is harder?? Over the next month I hope to find the answer to that question…

Holmdel Park

About mid way thru my run when the runners high started to kick in, I started to think about the transformation my body and mind has gone thru over the past few years as I have gone from a marathon runner to and Ironman Athlete. It’s been 3 years since I ran my first marathon in a disappointing but respectable 2:24:28. It was the Twins Marathon which was also hosting the U.S. championship. Going into the race I believed I was easily in 2:20 shape. After coming thru the half in just under 1:09, the group I was with began to split up and I found my self in 9th place with 2 other guys. After a short chat, the three of decided we all felt good and wanted to try and break 2:17. We went from running 5:20’s comfortably to 5:00-5:10 per mile. I felt incredible, even the increased pace was easy, that is until we got to mile 21, and then it was like someone turned off the switch. I began to slow and had to be sick. I still felt like I had some strength but I just needed to get sick. After stopping and taking in fluids, I carried on, not walking or jogging, I was still running but running a good minute slower than I had been. I was pleased to hang on for 11th place and finish with a descent depute but I knew I had much more in me.

Twin Cities Marathon

USA Cross Country Championships

There have been lots of ups and downs in my life since my first marathon, both athletically and personally but I will save that for another blog sometime. But here I am less than 2 weeks before I race Ironman Florida, which will be my 4th Ironman this year and I once again feel like a marathon runner. I am lacking a bit of speed that I had a few years ago but that could also be because I have put on a good 15 lbs of body weight since taking up Ironman racing. But I feel strong again, strong like I felt back in 2006, when every time I went out for a run, it was effortless, my body was on cruise control. This is what you are supposed to feel like when your body is in top form. All the little niggles disappear, you smash every session, you wake up everyday and don’t feel like you destroyed your body the day before, and a part of you doesn’t want to taper and race because you want to keep training like an animal because it feels so good to be in this kind of shape.

A few nights ago over dinner, family friend, who is a runner her self asked me how I do it, the Ironman that is. “Does it hurt the whole time”? “What’s the toughest part?” she asked. I tried my best to describe the feeling you have. It’s a much longer day than the marathon, you have to be patient like running a marathon but the last 10k, is just like running an open marathon. Your feet start to hurt; the pace gets tougher and tougher to hold. It all boils down to your ability to concentrate, accept the pain, and push on!

So the next day I am out doing a long brick workout, running along at 6:30 pace, and feeling great, like I could do it all day. I started to think how easy 6:30 pace should be in an Ironman, I mean I’ve run 5:30 pace for a full marathon, “No Problem” I thought, right? Wrong! Ironman FL will be my fourth attempt at trying to run sub 3 hour marathon off the bike. In my first attempt, I made it to 5k, my second I made it to 15k, and in my last attempt I made it 30k before the wheels came off. This time I am hoping to make it to 35k before it really, really starts to hurt. Who knows it could be uncomfortable as soon as I step off the bike but I am confident now that I have trained enough to be able to handle the full marathon. I am prepared to hurt, to hurt like have never hurt before and I will draw some strength from that October day when I ran my first marathon. The pain will come but I am ready to embrace it, ready to HTFU and run some guys down!

SD

P.S. Go Yankees!!!

Last Saturday night I had the opportunity to go see Bruce Springsteen in concert.  He is rapping up the final leg of his  tour which is promoting his latest album, “Working On A Dream”.  This was the 3rd time I have seen “The Boss” in concert and he and the band did not disappoint.  Bruce and The E-Street Band are playing what will be their final shows at Giants Stadium as the stadium will be torn down after the NFL Football season is over.  For those who are not familar with Giants Stadium, it is the home to the New York Football Giants and Jets.  Bruce has played over 25 shows in this stadium through out the years.  It is located in the swamps of jersey known as the Meadowlands.  Bruce and his family live just down the turnpike in Monmouth County, in fact many of my training rides go right past their estate. 

It was an absolutely perfect night for a concert with clear skies  temps in the 60s .With a big bright full moon over head my sister, brother, brother in law, and I danced the night away on the floor of Giants Stadium.  The band rocked out to many of their legendary songs such as Out In The Street, Born In The USA, Glory Days, Dancing In The Dark, Born To Run, Jersey Girl, and Thunder Road.  He also played numerous tracks off his new album, “Working On A Dream”.  Above is the video for the title track to this album.  When Bruce played this song, my brother in law Jimmy, jumping up and down with excitment must have turned to me 5 0r 6 times  and saying, “Scottie Boy, this is you, he is singing to you!!”  Infering I am  in deed “Working On A Dream”!!  I thought about this quite a bit yesterday as I was out on my long ride.  “Working On A Dream”, yes indeed that is what I was out doing, that is what  all of us at  Team TBB are doing, Day in and day out it’s work, work, work!  Yes we treat our training like a job because you must !  But is it really a job if you get up everyday and love what you are do?

It’s Kona week and I have watched over the world wide web as my fellow teammates have been training in Korea working on their dreams  while I have been home in New Jersey using them as motivation and working on my dream!  Work, lots of work is what it takes to make your dreams come true!!!  So on Saturday morning when you guys are treading water in Kailua Kona Bay, think about all the work that you have put in to get where you are at that moment.  Don’t take it for granted, embrace it!!!   You all have worked your arses off to get where you are!!  While you are out there racing your hearts out, I will be out my bike working on my dream!!!  Good Luck Guys!!! Go Team TBB!!

SD

Kyle and I on the way out of the inlet

September is by far the best month of the year at the Jersey Shore!!  We get about a dozen or so days that are just like today, temperatures in the low 70’s, blue skies, and a warm ocean.  It’s no wonder so many people from New Jersey and New York move to Florida as this is the kind of weather they get 6 months out of the year.  The rest of the year, the weather can be crap so when you get days like today, it’s best to spend them outdoors! 

Eric enjoying the ride!

Kyle and Eric catching another one

Erin with the first catch of the day!!

The Keepers

Headed Home!

What a gret day it was! Several times I thought how good for the soul fishing can be!  And wouldn’t you know it, what’s good for the soul is usually good for the body as tonight my back feels the best it has felt in weeks!!

SD