Faster Than Piven

Wearing Gunnar Optiks while training for the 2010 Nautica Malibu Triathlon

I’ve been a HUGE fan of Gunnar Optiks since I first discovered them at the MLG Pro Championship in Florida earlier this year.  Shortly after that I got my first pair, and I’ve been loving them ever since.

I’m super proud that they are sponsoring Faster Than Piven this year for the 2010 Nautica Malibu Triathlon! I’ve been wearing my on every ride that I’ve done during my training regiment, and they’ve helped a lot.  I don’t just use them on the bike though…I actually wear them primarily when I’m working.  The amber lenses are really helpful for my eyes (I’ve got those light baby blues) and my headaches from staring at computer screens all day every day have practically gone away.

We’ll be giving away a couple of pairs of these uber-cool glasses over on our Facebook page, and YOU might just win one of them! Even if you don’t, may I suggest you head over to their site and pick some up? You won’t be disappointed.  These are, without a doubt, the best glasses I have ever worn.  Jennifer from Gunnar also let me know that you can get them with a prescription, so you know I’m going to be doing that!

Thanks to Gunnar Optiks for sponsoring Faster Than Piven! If you would like to help out, go over to our donation page and drop a couple of bucks into the kitty…all money raised goes to the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and is tax deductible!

That is how fast I went on my bike today.

With the Nautica Malibu Triathlon just a week away, I thought that I had better get after it a bit.  Today I went on a 25 mile ride, my longest to date.  It was also my fastest to date….I hit 51.4 miles per hour at one point.  I might have gone a little faster, but at that speed I honestly didn’t want to look down at my computer much.  I leaned over my aero bars and prayed that I wouldn’t get a flat tire!  Going that fast on a bike is pretty exhilarating.

It was also one of my hottest rides.  By the time I got home at 11am it was already 93*…and I had been out of water for the last five miles of the ride.  I knew I was starting to dehydrate when I got cold chills on my last hill climb.  Not a good sign.

But…and here is the cool part…I did the first 18 faster than my goal pace for the triathlon, and that included 5 miles of uphill climbs, which there will not be on the Pacific Coast Highway! At mile 18 I was at 57:20, almost 3 minutes ahead of my true goal pace.  I was pretty excited!

So, with a week to go, I’m feeling pretty good about the bike.  The run, on the other hand; I haven’t even started to train.

I started training for the 2010 Nautica Malibu Triathlon just a couple of weeks ago.  Since this is my first triathlon, I didn’t exactly have professional equipment at my disposal, so I’ve been training for the biking portion on an old beach cruiser.  Yep, a beach cruiser…built for comfort, and that’s about it.  It was not comfortable, however, trying to pedal up hills or for long distances.

All of that changed this week when I picked up this little beauty…a custom built Cannondale triathlon bike.  I’ve done a few rides already, and the difference is incredible.  I went into training on pace to ride the 18 miles of the course in about 1 hour and 20 minutes, and as of my third ride on the new Cannondale I’m on pace to do it in 1 hour and 1 minute.  Pretty good improvement!

So…equipment obviously makes a big difference, but it’s still no substitute for good ol’ fashioned hard work.  To that end, I’ll push “publish”, suit up and go hit the roads.  It’s on, Ari Gold!

Of course, “this town” is just Oak Park, California.  Not much to own.  But today I think I did a pretty good job.

After a half mile swim at the gym pool (in just about eighteen minutes), I hopped on my bike and headed for home the long way.  It was 10 miles to get home, and about 7 of that was uphill, with about 2 miles being *really* uphill.  It was brutal.  But, I made it and got home feeling pretty good.  Once home, I met up with my studly 12 year old son and we went back out and cranked through another 12.27 miles.  We went on a flatter route but he said it was still pretty hilly.

After a pretty good morning of exercise we headed over to Zuma Beach in Malibu, where I will be racing against Jeremy Piven in just a couple of weeks (even though he doesn’t know we’re racing).  No exercise here, but a good amount of lounging in the sun and boogie boarding. Oh, and visualizing Ari Gold’s imminent defeat.  Of course, I still haven’t been running…I’ll probably want to think about doing that sooner than later.

Today was a good day.

This Is Roughly How Crowded The Swimming Lanes at 24 Hour Fitness Were Today

After work I took a dip in the pool.  As I swam laps at 24 Hour Fitness, bobbing and weaving around folks that seemed to think the lap pool was actually just a backyard pool in which they could leisurely float in the middle of a lane, I realized that I was indeed defying physics.

About 10 laps into my 32 lap swim, I realized I was swimming uphill.

I reasoned with myself as I kept crawling forward that it’s actually impossible to swim uphill. Water always remains flat…right? But somehow my muscles were telling me that I was indeed swimming at an incline. How else could it have been that difficult? How else could my muscles have burned like that?

The man that I was sharing a lane with continued to doggy paddle and cut in front of me now matter which side I swam on, but I persisted.  32 laps later, I had completed my 1/2 mile swim.  I looked at the clock: 18:29. Not too shabby, considering I had been dodging Titanic survivors for most of that time.

29 days to go.

I went back to work after 5 very nice days off…and worked like I just had 5 nice very days off.  It was exhausting, and I came home tired.  I didn’t want to do anything active beyond finding my way to the couch.  But that isn’t going to make me faster than Piven…so out I went.

I hopped on my bicycle (a beach cruiser, mind you…not a road bike) and hit the road. My legs objected immediately, but I pushed forward with classic Foo Fighters helping me out.  As I was cruising down Kanan Road (it has a pretty good pitch) I realized, as I was passing cars, that I still didn’t own a helmet; I lost my last one in a tragic radiator accident.  So, halfway through my trek I stopped at the local bike shop. $54 and 10 minutes later I emerged with a little protection.

I finished out my (mostly uphill) 9 mile journey feeling just a bit safer.  So, mission accomplished…I rode half the distance I need to in a month, and my bald dome will probably stay safe.

My reward for a job well done? A nice two-finger scotch.  Tomorrow is another day of training, I won’t give up.

Goodnight.

Me training for the 2010 Nautica Malibu Triathlon by watching my kids play in the pool

I’ve never run a triathlon.  Hell, I’ve barely even run a regular race. But when I set my mind on something I’ve got to do it…and this “it” is the Nautica Malibu Triathlon.

Here is the problem…err…challenge: the triathlon is in exactly 30 days, and I haven’t trained a single minute for it.

I signed up for it when registration opened, and it’s a good thing because it filled up that morning.  Sure, I really did intend to train…but you know how it goes.  Life got in the way.  So did pizza. And beer. So yes, it’s my own damned fault that I haven’t trained, but here we are…August 11th and I’m completely out of shape.  Here’s the tale of the tape:

• Height: 5’11.5″ (really? I couldn’t be just 1/2″ taller?)
• Weight: 199 (phew! Just made it under the big 200)
• Current Running Pace over 4 miles: Yeah, right.  I have to make it 4 miles first. For fun, let’s just say 45 minutes
• Current Swimming Pace over 1/2 mile: probably about 30 minutes
• Current Biking Pace over 18 miles: Well, I did my first 9 mile ride today in about 40 minutes, so let’s say this is 1 hour 20 minutes
• Training Diet: Rockstar, Cheseboro IPA and Nature’s Path Cereal
• Daily Training Routine: help clients figure out how to do the impossible, chase four kids around at night, think about working out

I have nowhere to go but up!

Jeremy Piven Rocking the 2009 Nautica Malibu Triathlon

So let’s get to the name of this site…why Faster Than Piven?  It’s simple, really.  I think most people set out to simply finish their 1st Triathlon, but that sounds like a goal for underachievers.  So I picked another goal, one that is very likely impossible.  I plan on doing the entire course faster than Mr. Jeremy Piven.  Why did I pick him?

• He’s ridiculously fast.  Last year his co-ed relay team finished the course in 1:39:36.8.  Sure, he had the help of Rodrigo Acebedo and Linda Baltes, but that really shouldn’t stop me from doing this faster than them. I don’t know which leg he did, but no doubt he freaking dominated it.
• He loves sushi
• Nothing would be cooler than beating Ari Gold at something
• I have practically no chance of actually doing this faster than him, therefore I must try

More details in future posts about what the next month holds, but a preview:

• I need to drink less beer -or- get sponsored by a beer company if I hope to succeed (ahem…Ladyface Alehouse…cough…)
• I must start exercising
• I am going to look for corporate sponsors to raise money for charity.  After all, the Nautica Malibu Triathlon is for a good cause.  You didn’t think this would be all about me, did you?
• You will be able to follow these adventures on Twitter and Facebook

Stay tuned…