Team Timex Blog » AC Morgan

What a great ride/swim on Saturday morning

AC Morgan — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 00:59:46 +0000

It was before 6am and my neighbor Scott and I were departing Darien, CT to Lake Waccabuc in NY. The roads are empty at that time and after the brutal heat experienced last week Saturday felt relaxing. This was going to be the 1st swim for us in 2010 at Lake Waccabuc. The past weeks heat has brought the Red Jelly Fish to Long island Sound – painful little things! The last time we had entered the Lake was November 2009 in 48 degree water – ohhh my God was it cold!

Back to Saturday. We rode to a small dirt trail, and carried our bikes down this single track to the Lake. We were fearful of the bike being stolen so we had to hide them in the brush. We unhooked our googles and hit the lake. It is 1.5m across. The entire time I spent eyeing these two swans making sure we did not become their pray – they litterally followed us the entire swim. Back on the bikes and off we rode back to CT. It was soo cool. No towels, just bikes, googles, and nutrition. All that and home to be with the kids before 10am.

Summer Solstice – my favorite day of the year

AC Morgan — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:04:37 +0000

The Definition: A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun’s apparent position in the sky reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes. The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, the apparent movement of the Sun’s path north or south comes to a stop before reversing direction.

Today a work stunk! On my favorite day of the year. Not to mention the day after a Great Fathers Day. I swam in Long island sound with a swim skin – 5:45 am – swam 1.2m with my next door neighbor. It was chilly but fantastic at the same time. Came home showered in the hottest shower possible. Got back in bed with heating blanket, because I was so cold. At noon I met my neighbor Scott again for a 75 minute run, It was humid as HE double hockey sticks. I felt like I was going to die. I ran for 80 min with ave HR of 152 – far from the moderate run my trainer called for. I get to work today and as I opened with it stunk. But as I have said many times before perseverance wins. Never, never, never give up. The best part of my day was a 30 min Long Island swim at high tide o Summer Solstice. It was beautiful!

No more indoor swimming

AC Morgan — Tue, 25 May 2010 00:39:55 +0000

For the past month plus I have been swimming in Long Island Sound. Yes it is between 48 and 55 degrees. Yes most of the time I find it difficult to find someone to go swimming with me. Yes I know that it is not smart to be swimming a mile off shore solo in these conditions. But it is SOO great not to be in the indoors. My 1st time in L.I.S. in 2010 - it was so cold I swam out to an island and had to sit in the sun like a seal to warm myself. The second time out I got what I diagnosed as Sea Lice. I had these red dots all over my body. The best was this weekend when I swam roughly half mile out in the fog and found myself between 2 fishing boats. Six fisher men with rods and bait and little oldf me right in the center of the feeding grounds. Not an ideal spot for a swimmer. I can not tell u how many Shark Week episodes went thru my head. But even with all these issues it still is so much better than beaing stuck indoors. Welcome Summer time!

Proud to be a triathlete

AC Morgan — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:59:27 +0000

A few weeks back the East coast was hammered but a storm. In Fairfield county power was out for 5+ days. Trees were down everywhere. No school for the kiddies. The place was a disaster – keep in mind I mean a disaster for Fairfield county. Not a disaster compared to what some areas of the world are going thru. But back to my point. I was going on my post work run. I was making special effort to run my all the electrician and tree teams out trying to get everything back to normal. I wanted to give them a thumbs up or a big “thank you.” To my amazement these people were shocked. They were so pumped. I got the idea that most of the greetings that had been receiving had been complaints. Then came the part that made me proud to be a triathletes. I passed a guy I meet 2 years ago on a training ride. We spoke for a minute and he said he was almost done, but wanted to make sure he thanked the tree team down the road behind me. For all the heat triathletes get about being self absorbed – that gesture made me proud.

The on the road salesman life style is far from ideal for me

AC Morgan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:53:57 +0000

I am lucky in that my professional responsibilities do not require me to travel a great deal. The idea of being on and off airplanes and spending the night in hotels is not for me. It is not what I was built for. I am a creature of habit. I get up at 4am get an hour workout in and then off to work. I log in 12 plus hours a day – a few dinners a week and that my normal work week. I am aware that my life style is not ideal to all. But its mine and I dig it. But as we all know life takes out of our comfort zones from time to time and the trick is to make the best out of it. The last week I was in SF for two nights and LA for 3. I experienced two great work outs in LA area that I thought I would share with you. The 1st one is well known and that is the Santa Monica stairs. They are great and the experience definitely makes one question why do I live anywhere but right here? The second experience is not as well known yet, but could be on its way. I went to Cross Fit Malibu. It took place in an old “army barracks” like structure. It was a class of 10 people of a variety of fitness levels – 40% were triathletes. We ran, pulled, jumped, dragged, and much much more. If you find yourself in Malibu – you got to check this out.

My final tri for the season

AC Morgan — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:53:42 +0000

Yesterday I competed in my home town sprint triathlon. It was a brisk 48 degrees out that morning. The water was warm, but outside was chilly. It is fun to compete in a local race where there is no pressure. You know that in 1:30 minutes the event will be over. Yet at the same time you do get the excitement of race morning. Going thru your check lists and getting mentally prepared. Race morning I decided to bag the wet suit. I knew it would be painful the morning of, but once hitting the water it would be the right decision. It would shorten my T1 time and get me out in front. My running has been poor recently and I am not a sprinter = so I needed any little extras I could get. Swim went very well. Go out of the water a sprinted to T1. I got out on the road in decent time. I tried to get a GU down and BLAHH – throw up! I could not get it to go down. I biked well – course was a bit sketchy in spots, but fun. I got into T2 and began to slow down. On my way out my right leg was numb. It too to mile two before I felt ok and had the sensation of both of my legs. Finished strong and had my entire family waiting for me at the finish line. All before 8:45am. Not a bad Saturday morning. My next event is Oct 18 a 3.5m swim in Westport CT. I will be sporting my wet suit for that event. :)

Long Island Sound Light House Swim Race

AC Morgan — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:19:32 +0000

For my entire life I have heard unconfirmed chatter regarding the “light house” swim race, but never has it been confirmed. Well last night I was eating dinner and at around 10pm I was informed the race was today. I was in! I got four other folks to join. Every swimmer had to arrange for a kayaker to follow them. At 1pm 48 of us jumped on two 24 foot boats and drove a mile out to the light house. The boats was so over loading I was waiting for it to flip – a bit scary. We jumped off and joined our kayakers. Someone yelled go and off we went. I felt like a teddy bear in a washing machine. It was rough. It was difficult to line up land so I had to utilize my kayaker – thanks Benno. I know have a better understanding why kayakas are mostly the color yellow and orange – easy to spot at sea. The waves were a solid one to two foot chop. Race went well and I ended up getting 3rd. One and two beat me by ~two minutes. I would like to win that one next summer – love to have goals. Great way to close out Summer.

Another dip into Lake Waccabuc

AC Morgan — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:40:37 +0000

I did it again. I am not sure what the attraction of this lake is for me, but its strong. maybe its the ideal of trespassing and breaking the law. The idea of pulling up to a location that you know nothing about and walking down a dirt path and walking into a body of water that is foreign. Not to mention there is not another human being in sight. The experience is awesome. One thing for sure its not the 30 minute drive to get there. But I awoke at 6am, after a failed attempt at camping with my 5 and 7 year old girls. I woke my neighbor and off we drove. Check out this google map. http://maps.google.com/maps?source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Lake&vps=1&jsv=174d&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=39.099308,64.863281&ie=UTF8&near=Waccabuc&split=1. We swam for roughly 1.5 hours this morning. I was sporting my new Aqua Sphere Kayenne goggles. They rocked! No leaks, no fogging, no issues. I am looking forward to the 1st snow fall to get a swim in!

Best swim of the Summer

AC Morgan — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:58:33 +0000

Its that time of the year in Long Island Sound – red stinging jelly fish! They are BIG this year. I have also noticed sea lice as well, an extra benefit. Someone suggested to me to swim in a near by lake. He provided me the name – Lake Waccabuc. He told me to park near the Church and follow a trail. I had no names of roads or cross streets or anything. After binged the location talked my neighbor into joining me. At 6 am this morning we left with not a lot of deals of what was waiting for us. We drove for 30 minutes and found a lake. We drove around until we found a church and parked in a no parking zone. We then proceeded to walk thru a field. Yes I too am guessing it was private property. We found this 1.5m long wide lake. It was gorgeous. I know its not wise to jump into a body of water with no knowledge, but we did. Iy was fantastic. From the water temperature to the rock face walls. It was a fantastic Sunday morning adventure. If ur in the neighborhood its a must swim!

It is starting to stay light out a little bit later

AC Morgan — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:53:50 +0000

While the amount of time I am spending working out has SLOWLY increased I have yet to get my bike off the trainer. I have now watched EVERY Kona Ironman that exists 3x plus times while biking. The old ones are classic – everything from the bikes to the hair styles. Hands down the best is the speedo with the mesh tank top – my favorite! I have incorporated yoga on Sunday afternoons into my workouts – mentally gets me prepared for the week ahead. I have also been using the treadmill much more than historically. The up-side is it keeps one honest and the down-side is it keeps one in touch with reality. I so am looking forward to an open water swim.