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The last two days were a marathon that I was simply happy to get through. Slotting in clients amongst a Samsung 3D TV promotion and a super stressful audition made for some exhausting hours which were capped off with a 5 hour late night shift at my gym. I was finally lucky and caught a break today with only one client and a few errands to run.

During this time though, my grandfather

(notice any resemblance?) was on a journey of his own, one long overdue and well deserved. He is one of the remaining few WWII survivors and as such was asked by the government in conjunction with HBO (which was doing a promotion for their new mini-series based on the war in The Pacific) to fly to DC to participate in a wreath laying ceremony at the recently completed WWII memorial.This was organized by The Honor Flight Network which describes itself below:

“Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization created solely to honor America’s veterans for all their sacrifices. We transport our heroes to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to the senior veterans – World War II survivors, along with those other veterans who may be terminally ill.

Of all of the wars in recent memory, it was World War II that truly threatened our very existence as a nation—and as a culturally diverse, free society. Now, with over one thousand World War II veterans dying each day, our time to express our thanks to these brave men and women is running out.”

From the missives and updates emailed at steady intervals by my mother, it seems the trip was a special and memorable one. Steven Speilberg and Tom Hanks were both there to speak and honor the veterans. They were greeted at both the departing and arriving airports by volunteers only too eager to help and shake hands. A showing of Casablanca and a screening of the first episode of The Pacific was held for the men along with dinner. My cousin Courtney who lives and works in DC was able to attend some of the events and took some great pics.

Sal Citrano-WWII Memorial

Sal Citrano and grandaughter Courtney Yohe

It is comforting to know that we still have living tangible reminders of what happened 60 years ago that involved nearly the entire civilized world. Much about this subject has been written, portrayed and reenacted, but the lives and times of these men an women can’t be fully comprehended by those of us that weren’t there. As time and tide take more of them day by day, the opportunity to learn and most importantly thank them is dwindling rapidly. Its good that we are doing it now, for we are here to do it, because of them and their sacrifice.

I am often grateful for the beautiful weather that comes as winter fades and moves further and further north, until the mild weather encompasses even the topmost reaches of Maine. But, as we may not be out of the woods yet, (March is a long, uncertain month) I took the opportunity to get back on my tri bike yesterday as the temperature crested 60° in Central Park. (Details at the end)

This is only the second time I rode since getting my bike ergonimically fitted by Mike Sherry at Performance Labs HC and it felt great. I went for about 1hr and 15min which was enough time to ride from my place and do 3 loops around the park. I find the most difficult thing to be keeping a steady pace when I find other bikers passing me. The internal competitor inside wants to chase but the calculating athlete in me knows to keep it steady and stick to the training plan.

It took me a while to get my steady cadence down but I started feeling stronger during the second lap and was holding back by the third. A good sign. But in reality I should be running more for the next week and a half. I have the NYC 1/2 marathon on Sunday the 21st which wasn’t cheap to enter. So I had better make it worthwhile and get a PR.

The Ironman looms over each and every workout I do and even more when I am not working out, but should be. It colors everything I’m doing. Not necessarily in a negative way per-se, but its impossible to avoid. The uncertainty is what is most troublesome. I assume this is all part of the training. All part of becoming a stronger athlete. Lets hope.

Activity Type: Cycling
Time: 01:14:57
Distance: 21.56 mi
Elevation Gain: 1,290 ft
Calories: 1,589 C
Avg HR:149 bpm

Till next time.

While anthonybagnetto.com has existed in some form for 8 years now, the changes in communication on the internet and the rise of social networking has largely made “personal” webpages obsolete. Still it is good to have a place where I can post content I have complete control over and can also act as a portal to all other social sites on the web. As a reminder, you can find those links on the right side of my page.

Since my last update, September ’09, I have settled into my new apartment in midtown which has proven to be a very convenient location for both acting auditions, classes and my personal training clients. It has quite simply changed my life. Since the move I have been commuting on my bike nearly 95% of the time right up until the middle of last month when I broke down and bought a monthly metrocard. My first since July. The snow and weather was becoming totally unmanageable, even for my indomitable spirit. This, coupled with the fact that I broke my hand back in October after crashing on my bike, made me somewhat more cautious on the roads. This incident came a mere week before Kristin and I took a very enjoyable trip to Italy which the broken hand did not spoil.

The holidays were terrific and I have enjoyed the all the snow this year despite the occasional inconvenience. I have been training throughout the winter, albeit in a fairly unfocused manner. Despite that I managed to match my August 1/2 marathon PR in January and to crush my 4 mile PR in early February finally going under 30 minutes. Nearing the end of this month I will be beginning, in ernest, my training for the September 2010 Ironman Wisconsin. I am toying around the idea of blogging my experience from the beginning of training through race day for a couple of reasons. One is that I simply need to write more and another is to have a record of what I went through in case I’m ever stupid enough to try another one.

Till next time.