Long Run, Long Bike, Great Memorial Day

Saturday I started the day off with a long 14-mile run. I headed up to Challenger Park where I met Dylan Jaedtke and ran with him for about 8 miles, then headed back home. I have made a lot of great friends through running and Dylan was one of the first. It is awesome that I can come home and many of my friends are still out there putting in the miles of trials and we can share that together. I suppose there will be a day that we won’t be able to run together anymore (hopefully many years from now) but we will always have great memories to share.

After the run, my mom and I went to the CIF-SS Finals meet at Cerritos Community College to join my father in timing the meet (Royal Results) and to watch Royal Highlanders Travis Edwards and Robert Davis. Travis was 5th in the 1600m with a new PR of 4:12.97 and Robert Davis ran 1:55 and change in the 800, also setting a new personal record. Travis looked really good and I think he has a 4:10 in him in the next couple weeks.

Sunday I went on a 40 mile bike ride, my longest yet. I went into Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park and was able to ride over 30 of the miles on roads with bike lanes. Later in the afternoon I met up with Dustin Patterson to do some lifting. Dustin has gained 10 lbs of muscle easy (mostly in his arms and chest) since I last saw him. He bench pressed almost twice as much as I did and I am still sore today.

I started Monday off with a workout at the track: I had 6 800’s planned. After a 2-mile warm up and 6 strides, I started off. I thought it would be pretty good if I could average 2:20 with a lap jog rest. 2:22, 2:20, 2:19, 2:20, 2:19, 2:16. I felt pretty good so after another lap jog, I ran 2 x 200 in 29.9 and 28.9. Happy with the workout.

Spent the rest of the day in Ventura with family and good food. I wanted to ride the triathlon’s bike course while I was in town, but forgot to bring my bike shoes! Kinda bummed about that… I am sure I will find my way out to Ventura again before the race.

Wedding

My brother is getting married on Saturday and I am the best man. I am really excited for him and my soon-to-be sister-in-law. We are heading up to Davis, Ca on Thursday and will be pretty busy until Sunday. My parents, girlfriend, myself, and some other friends will do some wine tasting in Napa Valley after the wedding. Should be a great, long  weekend!

Now I need to start writing my best man speech!

Some great words…

Remember that you’re not out to impress anybody, you’re not a time, ranking or statistic. You are simply a person reaching for something better. A person reaching for something real, visceral and pure. It’s easy to get lost along the way. It’s easy to get wrapped up and lose sight of what’s right in front of you. So, if you’re one of the dedicated few like me and you can relate to these ideas, then take a step back for a second. Put your sneakers on. Go for a run on your favorite route and take a look at who you’ve become. Be immediately present in that run, even for just moment if you can. Take a deep breath, kick up the tempo a notch and say to yourself, “Live it up”.

– Anthony Famiglietti

The Good Life

Last Saturday’s KROQ Weenie Roast was awesome! Weezer came out in Snuggies and played a great show. Kings of Leon and the Travis Barker-DJ AM duo were great as well. My sister and her boyfriend were able to join us up on the lawn at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine.

Training

Training continues to be good and tough. I have started to swim with a masters swim group Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The coach has me doing a lot more kicking and other stroke work than I have ever done before. I am getting more and more comfortable in the water each passing workout and have come to realize that my butterfly needs a lot of work!

Saturday I got a 13 mile “long run” before the I left for the concert. This was my longest run in about a month.

Sunday I took the day off and went to the beach with my girlfriend, and my sister and her boyfriend. We had a great time near the Huntington Beach pier…. LOTS of volleyball going on there.

Monday – Got back to work with a fartlek in the morning that consisted of 5-4-3-2-1-1-2-3-4-5 minute intervals with half recovery. The total run was just over 10 miles. Later in the afternoon I biked 28.6 miles and went to the pool for 2000 yards that evening. Swimming after eating barbecued pulled pork at Famous Dave’s isn’t the best idea.

Tuesday – Swam with the masters group in the morning for 2000 yards and then ran 9.66 miles in the afternoon.

Wednesday – 10 mile run in the morning, a hard 3000 yard swim that consisted of 2 x 2 x 300 yard repeats at goal race pace, and 30 mile bike ride in the afternoon. Total of about 3 hours and 50 minutes of pretty hard exercise. Still felt pretty good at the end of the day too.

Thursday – Masters group swim of 2350 yards with lots of IM stuff. 3 mile tempo run in the afternoon with some of the Royal High School boys… 8 miles of total running.

Friday – Easy, hilly 10 mile run in the morning then a 25 mile bike ride. I quickly changed into my running gear and headed out the door at 5:30 mile pace for half a mile, then finished an easy 5 mile run. The running felt pretty weird, but a few minutes after I slowed down to an easier pace I felt back to normal.

The plan for the next couple of days is to get in a 14 mile run tomorrow and a long bike ride on Sunday. I will be meeting up with my old friend Dylan Jaedtke (who is training for next week’s regional meet in the steeplechase) for tomorrow’s run and will hopefully do Sunday’s bike ride in Ventura either on PCH or on the course for the Breath of Life triathlon.

Triple Crown

My teammates completed the triple crown at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships on Saturday. Shout outs to Ahmed Osman for winning the 10,000m and Dave McNeill for winning the 1500m and 5,000m.

22 Times Around the Sun

…that’s how much I have ran in my day.

Haha, just kidding of course. Today is my 22nd birthday. So far I have celebrated with a 10 mile run on a old, familiar route and a 3000 yard swim that included 22×100y (not a coincidence). I will continue to celebrate tonight at Ruth’s Chris Steak House. I can’t wait.

I picked up some new goodies for the triathlon/birthday gifts yesterday. I finally got some road shoes (I have been biking with mountain bike shoes/SPDs on my road bike) and some awesome Speed Play pedals. I also picked up a pair of DeSoto Tri shorts and a Zoot Sports visor. Since my hair is getting longer and I will soon need to run with a headband, I thought I might as well add a little extra sun protection.

The new gear

Training has been awesome this week. Let me give a little recap.

Monday – Ran a hilly 10 miler in the morning (6:54 pace), swam 2200y, and then ran a few more miles in the afternoon. I commuted about 5.5 miles between home, swimming, and running.

Tuesday – 32.38 mile ride in the morning just over 95 minutes. In the afternoon I did a fun, short little workout with my old high school’s team. 4×400s on 3 minutes @ 64. 63.5, 64.7, 63.8, 63.9. A little jog, then 6×250 with 150 jog @ 37.7, 38.9, 38.4, 37.7, 37.3, 36.0. Then they did 10×150, so I opted for another 4×400. 63.5, 62.0, 64.2, 60.5. Tried so hard to break 60 on that last one but started to tie up the last 80m or so. Worked out to be a little shy of 8 miles of running.

Wednesday – Another hilly 10 miler, this one a little easier pace (7:22). 2300y swim. Then an easy 5 miler with the high school boys. Again, commuted on the bike about 5.5 miles.

Thursday – Met with a masters swim group that I am going to check out more extensively next week (1800y). Biked a little over 20 miles, picked up the gear I mentioned earlier, and then drove to the high school for another workout. 15 minute tempo @ 5:20 pace. Nice work Travis . 8 miles of running total.

Big Sky Championships

My teammates are in Missoula Montana for the Big Sky Championships this weekend. I want to wish them all good luck. NAU has the oppurtunity of being the first team to have male and female triple crowns in the same year (both teams have already won cross country and indoor track & field titles).

I’m on the CrackBerry

Yesterday I replaced my old phone with a BlackBerry Storm. It is a really cool phone and I am having fun learning to use it. I will be able to post from it when I don’t have time to get to a computer.

Today was another nice day in Simi Valley. Probably a high of 75. I went for a 32 mile ride in the morning which is my longest ride in a long while. A couple hours later I was on the track at my old high school running with the boys. 4×400 6×250 and 4 more 400s. My last 400 I was hoping to go sub 60 but I really locked up the last 50m or so. Not bad considering I haven’t done anything fast since my race at Sun Devil Invitational.

Tomorrow I will hope to get in some run mileage and get into the pool.

And… I am seeing Weezer on Saturday at the Weenie roast! I am really excited about that.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Summer

Summer is finally here! I made it through finals and I am back home in Simi Valley breathing the the thick air and enjoying the good life.

Wednesday I had a break from finals and did a “triathlon day.” My roommate Kam Holbrook and I went for a 28 mile bike ride down to the Sedona overlook off of highway 89A. Awesome views. After the bike ride and a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich, I headed to the pool to get in 1800m. I swam a ladder of 50, 100, 150, 200, 150, 100, 5o. Pretty tough. Ate some more food then went for my last run with the team until next season, an easy 7 miler. I was beat.

89A going into Sedona

View from Sedona overlook

Me and Kam

Thursday I went for an easy 5 mile run in the morning wtih teammate Joe Withers (he had his last race of the season on Saturday so he was tapering) and then 1300m in the pool before my final. I made it to my final with about 5 minutes to spare. I think I still got an A?

Friday, my girlfriend Tina and I headed out to summit My Humphrey’s (12,633 ft). There was still a lot of snow on the trail and we got lost several times on the way up. Tina unfortunately got light headed and seemed to suffer some altitude sickness at around 11,600 feet. She told me I should go on, so I made it to about 12,100 feet before realizing that I had just left my girlfriend all alone on a poorly marked trail over 11,500 feet above sea level. I still got a great view. Next time we will make it all the way up together.

Tina and I before the hike

Butterfly

So close to the summit

Agassiz peak

Looking West

Saturday I finally made my way back home to Simi Valley. It is always nice to be back home. My parents and I enjoyed some great food at Limon’s Latin Grill (Flagstaff, Az isn’t known for its sea food) then we watched some old home videos.

Yesterday my sister and I made my mom breakfast before she had to leave at 9AM to catch a plane for business. Then I biked up to Challenger Park and ran through Bus Canyon. Everytime I am come back to Simi, it seems like this is my first run. The runs here are just as hilly as I remembered. I biked back home after the run, dropped off my running stuff, and biked for another 13 miles or so (probably ~22 for the day).  Yesterday was the first day I tried using the aerobars… I actually felt pretty comfortable in them, although I think I still need to make a few adjustments to make me more aero. It can be a little sketchy when cars are zooming by a couple feet away and I’m trying to tuck into a good aero position. I’ll have to practice more.

I finished off the weekend with a Mother’s Day barbeque with family. I ate a lot of food and enjoyed some good beer. Life is good right now.

Getting My Head Wet

The semester cannot end soon enough. Somehow, four out of the five classes I am taking have a final project. This wouldn’t be so bad if the projects replaced final exams, but that is the case for only one of my classes. I just need to make a push these next few days and it will all be over. It can’t be as tough as training, right?

Since I am running less right now, I have found some time to get into the pool a few times and in the weight room. Each session in the pool is better than the previous, which is encouraging. I can only hope this trend continues and my progression doesn’t stagnate. I did a measly weight session with teammates Will Porter, Kam Holbrook, and Myles Kloer. Kam and Will have been encouraging me to “get my swell on” with them. Three exercises later and we were off to dinner. Sadly, I have been quite sore from benching 115 lbs and curling 25 lbs. Ouch.

In 5 days I will be done with finals/projects and preparing to hike Mt. Humphreys with my girlfriend. More on that to come…