Orlando Half Marathon

Things are getting cold in upstate New York, and the snow has started to accumulate. Bring on the winter! I was fortunate enough to get a long weekend trip to Florida, and the weather this time of year cannot be more perfect. Thursday night I drove to Massachusetts after work to spend the night at my Grandma's house, and we flew first thing in the morning on Friday. Nothing beats escorting your Grandma through the airport and getting to board early! We got the front seats on the plane, ideal for her to straighten out her bad knee as necessary and for me to kick out my legs and not get too stiff.

We landed in Orlando around 10am, meaning we got nearly an entire day's worth of sunshine. First stop was the Track Shack, the local running store that sponsored the event, where I picked up my race bib and t-shirt. When we got back to my parents' home in Deland, I made a cup of pumpkin spice coffee in their Keurig and went out for a gentle three mile run to loosen up the legs a bit. Eventually it was dinner time, and that meant mom's spaghetti and Texas toast, a classic. With a full belly I went to bed early for the 7am race start.

When 4am rolled around, my alarm sounded and I dragged my butt out of bed for a little breakfast and coffee (anybody else think I drink too much of the stuff?). At 5, my mom and I got in the car and drove down to Orlando and we were parked before 6, plenty of time to get down to the start and get a solid warm up jog in. I did a little bit of pace work and felt pretty good about trying to hold a 6:20 average. With twenty minutes until the start, it was time to empty the bladder one more time before the gun. Unfortunately, the line for the bathrooms was just a little too intense (between the half marathon and 5k there were over 5000 runners present and maybe 50 port-o-potties), and in the middle of the city you can't find a tree like you can in the woods. However, there are some less hidden bushes in Orlando, and I wasn't the only guy who saw these as a golden oppurtunity.

I made it to the start line with plenty of time to spare, limber legged, and ready to fly. Luckily, the race had seeding by minute per mile pace, so even with 3000 others starting at the same time, I never had to fight a crowd. The first mile had a gradual downhill, making it easy to find a good long stride early, and my GPS watch read 6:09. Nice! For the rest of the race I ran like a metronome, with mile splits ranging from 6:13 to 6:22. I was hoping to run a sub 1:20:00, which requires a 6:06 average, but based on my lack of experience in this race distance, I decided the run it a little on the conservative side so not to die too early. It paid off, and for the last tenth of a mile I kicked it in at a 5:38 pace, a strong finish! I came in with a time of 1:22:48, a 6:19 average, more than 6 minutes better than my fastest half marathon before then.

Post race meant time to take advantage of two important race sponsors, chocolate milk and Michelob Ultra. My entry fee included a free carton of milk and 2 beers. I had finished my chocolate milk and was onto the beers less than 20 minutes after crossing the finish line. After cashing in my two beer vouchers, I got in the line again to purchase more, and another runner decided he was already tired enough and was looking to give away his vouchers. Awesome! I enjoyed a total of 6 beers before 10am while waiting for the official results to be posted. My run put me in 30th overall and 8th in a competitive age group packed with college cross country and track stars from Embry Riddle, University of Central Florida, and even the British Royal Air Force.

It wouldn't be a complete Saturday if there wasn't a little bit of nightlife, so when we got back home I hopped in bed and slept off my first hangover of the day. I woke up, got dressed, and hopped in the car to drive out to Ocala and see one of my college roomates, Erin. Erin is living in Ocala training for three day eventing, the equestrian equivalent of triathlon, which is made up of dressage, show jumping, and cross country. It's a very cool sport that requires some serious versatility from a single horse. Whenever I feel like complaining about how expensive the nice bike parts are and what a bitch it is to transport a bike for a race out of town, I think about how lucky I am to not have to feed my bike, take it to a vet, or haul a humongous trailer to get it to a race. Erin and I relived our glory days in Gainesville, the huge college town and home to the Gators. As much as I love running in the perfect weather and sunshine, hitting the bars and clubs is infinitely more enjoyable when the weather rocks too.

While I was soaking up the sunshine in Florida all weekend, my college swim team was rocking out in pool at the Liberty League championships in Rochester, NY. The team had too many awesome performances to mention, but I want to take a moment to note a couple of sweet swims by my boys Nick and Peter, who both cracked 18 minutes in the 1650 freestyle in times of 17:58 and 17:59, respectively. Exciting stuff to see, and I can't wait to see how these boys do in the coming months and when they get a full taper in February. Keep it up, thorouhbreds.

Sometimes I miss my college days. It was cool being able to hit the bars recklessly most weekends and train with the coolest swimmers a guy could ask for. It's a blessing to still be in close proximity to my college swim team and running club. With that said, this Fall has given me a shift in training focus that my triathlon performance needed. With a solid 3 months of nearly exclusive run training, I'm more confident on my feet than ever. I look forward to getting back into triathlon season, and more than ever, I can look forward to getting off my bike and competing harder than ever in the run leg. For my competitors, count yourself lucky if you get start the run after me, because anybody in front of me after the bike ride is going to be hunted. I don't plan on holding on to dear life with running next season. I plan on wielding run fitness like a weapon. Time to get back in the pool and find my stroke again, happy training friends.

The Hero of Time

If you know who the hero of time is, this post is for you. If you don't know who the hero of time is, find an old school Nintendo 64 and play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The hero of time is somebody who does great things that transcend time itself. To be great today is not enough for the hero of time. There is an ideal to be great today, tomorrow, and even return to the past and be great back then. I am the hero of time. This is not a metaphor, it is a fact. Everyday I make it my goal to be a better person than I was yesterday, in all aspects of life. I am in the pursuit of greatness, and intend to find greatness in who I was yesterday, who I am today, and who I want to be tomorrow.

The hero of time goes through dungeons and temples, finds the tools needed to be great, and emerges stronger and wiser than when he entered. This is not at all different from diving into a lonely pool, stepping on a treadmill, or hooking your bike up to a stationary trainer. You test yourself physically and mentally, and finish with newfound strength and fitness, better than you were before. Strength can also be found from drinking red potion, which looks an awful lot like beet juice if you ask me. A bike is similar to a horse, beautiful and fast, and skillfully handled. And let's be real, the hero of time never gets laid, no matter how much he does for the princess. Sounds alot like a long training season to me...

The hero of time does not concern himself with his present troubles. There is too much riding on his success to be hung up on that. Instead he pushes forward, grows stronger, and fights harder than anybody has ever fought until the job is done. I am the hero of time.

A Humbling Race, and some Thoughts on God

Where has October gone?! Halloweekend is fast approaching, and I have bright red contact lenses, small cosmetic fangs, and elf ears ready to go. I’m going to be a blood elf, which only seems appropriate since I take blood for a living. It will be nice to cut loose and have a little bit of fun.

This past Saturday I woke up ready to set off on another race, the Great Pumpkin Challenge 10k. I was still getting back into the swing of run training the week leading up to it, and just getting over the knee pain. With nearly 3 weeks since my last long run and very little high intensity training in the same period, I knew I wasn’t in tip-top condition, but I felt good and was ambitious. How could I not be, since I had been win, place, or show at all three of the other running races I had been in this fall? I was humbled to find myself crossing the finish line in 8^th place overall, in a time of 39:57. I guess I should have seen it coming, given the low volume and low intensity of my training through injury, but it was really a big wakeup call. The half-marathon I’m training for is on December 1^st, and this certainly is not the time to be slugging!

Monday rolled around, and I was lucky enough to have the day off from work. I considered getting back on track with my running, but then made alternative plans. On impulse, I decided to wake up at the crack of dawn, pack up my bike and cycling gear and take a trip to Lake Placid. I know cycling fitness is a low priority right now, but sometimes you just have to enjoy the last bit of fair weather before the snowfall begins! My plan was to do one loop of the Ironman course, plus the climb up Whiteface, totally 75 miles and 8000 feet of climbing. This was not a training ride in the traditional sense, but more of a pleasure ride, where lots of picture breaks are taken (the Adirondacks are beautiful this time of year!).

The top of Whiteface was an experience of a lifetime. The road to the top is technically closed this time of year, but since I passed by a couple of maintenance vehicles and smiled and waved, I guess they don’t care if cyclists use it. This meant that I had the entire mountain to myself. Not a soul was on the road, and there wasn’t any snow yet for the skiers on the other face. I took the road as far as possible (up to 4,610 feet). When I got to the rough walking path, I set my bike aside and climbed my way up the rocks for the remaining 200 feet. Standing at 4,865 feet and taking in views as far as Vermont and Canada on a clear day like today, I let out a roar which echoed seemingly for minutes, and then a gust of wind slammed into me as I held my arms open and took it all in.

I don’t want to turn this blog into a place for debate of any sort, but I am going to go out on a limb here and tell you that I felt God in that moment. How I feel about organized religions is irrelevant. Just a couple of weeks ago I found myself in a really dark place, and I confided in a friend that the world is such a terrible place that God either does not exist or just doesn’t care enough to fix it. At the top of Whiteface I realized that in order to see God, you have to get yourself away from everything else. God doesn’t act in the hustle and bustle of city life, or even in the long hard training days when you feel alone. He is there when you close your eyes and get in touch with the world he has created, the things beyond humanity. When I really stopped to think about this I realized, it’s not that God doesn’t care, he just would rather we find greatness in ourselves instead. He’s not the parent who raises you and teaches you right from wrong. He is the parent who watches what you turn yourself into and either shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders, or takes pride in what you have become. Either way he loves you, but he makes you want to be the best version of yourself you can be.

I won’t rant anymore about my existential experience on top of the mountain, but I will say that being alone makes you think deeper, and the longer you sit alone with your thoughts, the deeper the rabbit hole gets. Today during a 2 hour 16 mile long run, I thought about my goals for next summer and what I want to be. I thought about what the upper limits of my own performance could be, and concluded that there are no limits but the ones we imagine. With this conclusion in mind, I have decided that being top three in my age group is a good goal, but I could dream bigger. Winning my age group and breaking 10 hours is a better goal, but implies that I just want to beat those around my age.

In 2010, I saw Logan Franks, 23 at the time, win the amateur race at Ironman Lake Placid and set the course record with a time of 9:20. There is no reason why I can’t do the same. The bar has been raised once again, and in 2013, I want to break the amateur course record with a time of 9:19 or better. Call me ambitious, and I will reply with a “thank you.” The slogan of Ironman is “Anything is Possible,” and I want to prove it. I am going to continue running hard this Fall to set myself up with a strong foundation for Winter training and Spring training/racing. I’m going in for the kill next summer. I will be the best version of myself I have ever been. See you out on the roads, happy training, be afraid.

A Rough Week, But at Least I'm Lucky

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, right? So when October gives you excruciating knee pain, hang up the running shoes for a while and hop back into the pool and onto the bike. After finishing September with a bang at the Run for the ROC 5k, where I ran a personal best 17:43, I soon found myself struggling to hit my running stride without a stabbing pain in the front of my right knee. I’m not sure if it was the relative intensity of track workouts, races, or long runs that triggered the pain, but the volume should not be the culprit giving my history of injury resilience at higher run training volumes in triathlon season, not to mention the absence of cycling and swimming mileage this fall.

Whatever the reason, I’ve had to adjust the past week’s training to a mere 1-2 miles of treadmill running until my knee pain was unbearable, and finish with a few pool yards or a bike ride. When this past Saturday finally rolled around, I had accumulated just 5 miles of running all week, and there was a morning 5k I had planned on running with my friends from the Skidmore Running Club. Unsure if I would be fit to race, I went to the race site early and alone instead of traveling with the club. This allowed me to get a warm-up in, decide whether or not I should race, and possibly bail without the other runners knowing I had even gotten out of bed should the pain be too bad.

After 3 miles of easy warming up, the pain was minimal, and I decided to have a go at the race. Even if I was reduced to a walk, the raffle prizes were sweet, so I figured it would be worth it. My friends and I all toed the starting line, and when the start horn sounded, we were all bullets out of a gun. For some reason, as always, the crowd took off at a wretched pace, as if everybody forgot how long 3.1 miles actually is. Nonetheless, I found my way to the front of the race in a matter of seconds, probably owing to the large hill at the beginning of the course (It can be difficult to book it up such a hill too hard and then find your stride quickly when it flattens). The rest of the race was relatively uneventful, which I always enjoy. The out and back portion allowed me to see my friends and give them all a friendly wave of encouragement, which was nice. Of course though, after the second mile marker, my knee began to hurt. With the out and back format, I was able to judge how far back the next runner was, and I estimated I had about 20 seconds at the moment. I tried running the numbers through my head to figure out how slow I could run with this pain and still win. My final conclusion was that it was better to finish it in strong just in case, because you never know what somebody else has in their tank. I pushed hard up to the last 200 meters or so, and when I was able to glance and see that there was nobody within the 200 meters behind me, I finally felt comfortable jogging it in for my first ever 5k win, with 34 seconds to spare before the second runner came cruising in. My college friend and new Running Club president, Kate, managed to pull of first in the female overall rankings as well, giving the Skidmore Running Club its first ever race sweep! Kate and I both won gift certificates to a Mexican restaurant, so I suppose we will be celebrating our victories sometime this week with enchiladas and margaritas.

I have to admit, I am not particularly proud of finishing a race anything short of my hardest work ethic, but some days I suppose you can only play the cards you were dealt, and this is what I had to work with on Saturday morning. I shamelessly will admit that I am lucky to have finished on top, but my grandmother always told me, “luck is always better than brains,” so I wonder if luck might be better than fitness? Since finishing triathlon season with Timberman, I have been on the podium at every race (except for cyclocross…) this fall. As much as I would love to take credit for these accomplishments, I think a little bit of fitness and a whole lot of luck is where it’s at. Hopefully my luck will continue into the rest of the fall and winter training, and I can get back to higher volume running for the OUC Half Marathon in December.

On another note, the 2012 Ironman World Championships also just happened this weekend, which naturally leaves me inspired to work harder and get fitter throughout the winter. Pete Jacobs decisively beat out fellow Aussies Crowie and Macca, who got far more media attention leading up to the event. This is Pete’s first title, and when asked about how he felt at the finish line, his words were “I’m in love.” He mentioned being in love with the sport, the island, the crowds, his support team, wife and kids, and nobody could have put it better. That’s what I feel when I train and race. Sometimes we lose sight of what matters most when the pain sets in, but we have to remember why we do it- for the love of the sport. It also helps to keep take note that, even though Oz has won the title for a 6^th year in a row, Germany and Belgium dominated the top 5 this year. Fair weather in Australia makes the major metropolitan likes of Brisbane and Sydney ideal training homes year round. Meanwhile, the Nordic folk in middle and northern Europe are either bundling up or taking the training to the indoor trainers for about half the year. Next time I ride and my toes start to get a little numb, I’ll just have to tell myself, “If the Germans are doing it, I can too.” I am going to come out of this winter with the strongest swim stroke, most powerful pedal stroke, and the fastest running feet of any season. Mark my words, when the race season rolls around this spring, I will be ready for it. And hopefully I will catch a little bit of luck too.

September: Cyclocross and Lots o' Running

So… September has been a fun month. After returning to Saratoga from Electric Zoo I made haste to jump back into being an endurance athlete. A few track workouts with one of my training partners, James, were some solid reminders that it takes hard work to get back to fitness. James is a great guy, and I love the hard work he puts into being an athlete day in and day out.

As my blog has probably already given away, I am addicted to training and racing. My second addiction may be a little less obvious, which is retail therapy. Yes, I love to shop until I drop, and September may be the worst month of my life when it comes to giving into said temptation. As far as clothes to wear out and about go, I could give a hoot. But when it comes to training and racing gear, especially bike stuff, I am clinically addicted. One of the best reasons to be a runner and leave cycling, swimming, and triathlon alone is the cash savings. If all I did was run, I would spend a mere $300-400 a year on race entries and shoes. In fact, since I can still fit into kid’s size running shoes, I spend about half as much money on shoes as my friends and training partners. When it comes to cycling, however, it seems frugality is impossible. This month alone I have bought a Specialized Tarmac with full Ultegra and a Dura Ace rear derailleur with an Ultegra wheel set, a pair of red stainless steel Speedplay pedals, and a pair of Gaerne Mythos cycling shoes. BUT in my defense, I paid nowhere near retail value for any of these items. The Tarmac is valued at $3700 new with all Ultegra components, and I got it for $1467 with a derailleur worth an extra $100 and a wheel set worth about $400 more than stock wheels. The pedals are worth $200 new and I got them for $110, and the shoes are worth $400 (and only sold in Europe), bought for $140. That amounts to about $3,000 in savings, and I would like to look at everything as a glass half full, even if my bank account appears 90% empty.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve still been putting in some hard work! I just finished my second 50+ mile running week. If you know anything about my resume as an endurance athlete, you would know that running is my greatest weakness, so when I tell you that on Saturday, September 22^nd I dropped a 38:20 10k (GPS says 6.1 miles, so probably closer to a 38:57), I promise that the effort is there, not just a ton of cash spending.

I also had my first go at cyclocross, the sport that is half road cycling, half mountain biking, and all pain and suffering. I turned my girl, Annie’s, old road bike into a cross bike with just a $40 investment in tires, and at the first Adirondack Cyclocross in Johnstown, NY, ripped it up! Yes, I may have been beaten by a few hotshots with actual cross bikes worth over $1,000, but I guarantee that nobody spent as little as I did to make it across the finish line in fine fashion. I finished 11th out of 20, which is satisfactory for my first attempt.

The highlight of the month, however, had to be this past weekend (29th-30th). It literally rained every hour of every day this weekend, but I still managed to get in a handful of running miles and show up for the Run for the ROC 5k in strong form. The race is sponsored by Saratoga Hospital to benefit the radiology oncology center, so there were a bunch of my coworkers present. The race also attracted a good sized crowd of Skidmore Running Clubbers (11 am start), so I had an opportunity to catch up with a few college friends as well.

After a thorough warm-up run, I made my way to the start, where I toed the line with a couple of familiar faces from some of the other local races. Matt Ingler is a gentleman who runs very similar paces to me, so I more or less knew what to expect from him. I have to give the guy a boatload of credit; He had run the Adirondack Marathon, possibly the hardest marathon course within 200 miles, the weekend before, and was gearing up for the Hudson-Mohawk River Marathon this coming weekend. Just a little 5k sandwich this Sunday morning! Shaun Donegan also showed up at the start line, making a fashion statement as always in patched up cut-off jeans (he took them off just before the start). Shaun is an animal of a runner who stands on a whole different level from me. This guy runs ultra-marathons, not because he is too slow to do well in shorter race distances, but because he is that jacked of a run. He came to the 5k Sunday morning after participating in the Ragnar relay, a 200 mile race from Saratoga to Lake Placid, the Friday and Saturday before. He would eventually win Run for the ROC in a time of 16:25.

But enough about Shaun! I felt great at the starting line and was ready to run relaxed but fast for the first mile, hoping to gradually build into a slightly more aggressive pace as the race progressed. I forgot my GPS watch so I don't have any splits, but I executed this race perfectly as planned. From the start, the runners around me looked like Olympic sprinters, as always. with no GPS watch to tell me my pace, I had to trust that they were going out too hard, as is very typical in local 5k runs. In the first mile I slowly worked my way through the dying crowd from about 15th or so all the way up to 4th, where I sat content for most of the second mile. In the second mile I began to creep up on Matt Ingler, and I knew we had a good race on our hands. We alternated between 3rd and 4th for quite some time, and ran stride for stride some as well. Knowing the course as well as I could have, I sweated it out with Matt until a sharp turn with about 0.2 miles to the finish, where I darted for a tangent run line, grit my teeth, and never looked back. I held onto my lead for the last stretch in front of the iconic horse track of Saratoga and came in with a time of 17:43, and 3rd place overall! Average pace comes out to about 5:43 per mile. Besides the time, this race felt great for me because it has given me the confidence that I can hunker down and dig when I find myself in a close race, something that has long been a recurring weakness in nearly all of my triathlons this season. I have to attribute my performance to a combination of lots of training miles, a little bit of cutting loose (this was also Skidmore's alumni weekend, so I may have partied a tad), and a disciplined pacing strategy. I can't wait to carry some of these lessons to my training and racing next summer in pursuit of Kona qualification.

Hope you all enjoy this blog, it was written under the influence of alcohol (don’t judge!), so hopefully you all had as much fun reading it as I had writing it. I'm taking the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist exam next weekend in New York. Hard to believe I'm still studying even outside of college. Happy training, thanks for reading!

Old blog, wrote it about 3 weeks ago and never got around to posting, EZOO!!!

Disclaimer: This blog post has absolutely nothing to do with swimming, cycling, running, triathlon, or anything health and fitness related. I have not made an attempt to exercise vigorously in nearly ten days.

Last Wednesday I got on a bus to New York to spend a week with Annie and go to the Electric Zoo music festival. It was three days of blast-you- face-off-awesome electronic dance music (EDM). The party was on Randall’s Island, giving the event a very wild, secluded feeling, and more importantly, it didn’t feel like we were in the city.

Every day we had to go through some security checks before entering. The guards made us open our bags, looked around inside, and let us pass when they didn’t see any illegal substance, outside food or drink etc. They failed miserably. Each day Annie and I brought in some bootlegged snacks so we wouldn’t have to buy a $6 slice of (bad) pizza or an $8 (puny) meatball sandwich. I know, sounds like we were a couple of serious badasses, but believe me, trail mix and oreos were not the craziest substances that people were bringing in.

The music and light shows were incredible. On the first day, Pretty Lights was epic and put on a great show. This first day was fun, and Annie and I got to enjoy some lesser known artists, but the event was definitely stacked for bigger names on Saturday and Sunday, which became very apparent on day two. Highlight of Saturday was Rusko, no questions asked. His beats are just way too good, and we managed to push our way to the front for his set, making the experience that much more epic. We also got to see Steve Aoki, who has come to Albany before and consistently puts on a great show. During his set, I managed to convince a couple of huge bros that they were too big and strong not to help me crowd surf, which resulted in about a minute of the most amazing view of the show and an enormous pain in my neck and back the following morning… pretty sure I landed on my head.

On Sunday, the lineup was definitely my favorite, with a couple of personal favorites like Excision and Flux Pavillion during the day, and the most amazing performance I have ever witnessed at the end of the night- Skrillex. I know it seems lame for me to say that my favorite show was the biggest star of the festival since most EDM lovers pride themselves on their “unique” taste in music and being fans of the most unknown artists, but let’s be real, Skrillex is huge for a reason. Song after song was everything I came for, and every huge bass drop just felt like a bomb of adrenaline in my face. Despite three days of nonstop partying, I couldn’t feel an ounce of fatigue, it was that good. After the show Annie and I skipped and hopped back to her home, making only one (critical) stop at the Gemini Diner for some much needed nourishment.

I know the point of this blog is to document my training and racing experiences in an attempt to make it to Kona, but having fun in other ways is just as important to the longevity of any career. I can honestly say that nobody enjoys training and racing more than I do, but even I can’t try to stay in peak fitness year-round. Letting your mind and body recover from a season of 3,159 cumulative training miles (I keep a very detailed log) is the only way to go from one season to another fresh and able to improve from year to year. It seems like two steps forward and one step back, but believe me, it beats trying to take five steps forward and crashing. The last three weeks has been exactly what I needed, leaving me hungry for training mileage and competition. The next three months I will be training for the OUC half marathon on December 1^st in an attempt to clean up my weaker running leg in triathlon. Today is my last day of goofing off in New York with Annie, see you all back on the roads and trails tomorrow when training begins again!

First week of the off-season

The off-season began on Sunday afternoon after Timberman, and so far has been a blast. Most people wouldn’t consider two races in one weekend after a season ends an “off” season, but that’s just what I did this weekend and could not be more pleased with. The thing is, we finish our main season at peak fitness for one particular race (Timberman, in my case), but our steady decline in fitness is not fully realized until a couple of weeks after this peak. So why not take advantage of the hard-earned fitness before it disappears?

I spent the entire week in serious R&R mode, only taking one leisurely mountain bike ride on Thursday. That night I registered for the Berkshire Bank Y-Athlon, a small sprint triathlon in Pittsfield, MA. My intention was to do a light swim and a light bike ride on Friday night, just so that I wouldn’t go into the race feeling like a slug. Never got around to either. I opted to arrive about an hour and forty minutes early on Saturday morning and take a nice, long warm up, seeing the entire two-loop bike and run courses. Somehow my lazy-to-race-day strategy paid off, and the race went well. I finished the half-mile swim in 12:14, second fastest in my wave (I later found out that a woman in the second wave went under 12 minutes, incredible!). Onto the bike I pursued the swim leader for nearly 12 of the 14.5 miles before catching him, and got off the bike in first with the fastest bike split of the day in 38:10. Leading in the first mile of the 3.1 mile run, I turned a corner and looked over my shoulder only to see Mark Snowise hunting me down. Let me tell you a little bit about Mark. He had won this race 4 years in a row, been to Kona, and beat me earlier this season at North Country Triathlon. He is a phenomenal runner, and amazingly, performs as well as he does at age 43! Mark is a stellar athlete, and I aspire to stay half as fit as he is when I reach my 40s. Knowing he is a faster runner than I am, I allowed the inevitable catch, and dug deep to stick with him stride for stride. We must have raced nearly 2 miles together side-by-side! In the final 400 meters or so, Mark began a stellar kick finish, and I chased after him as hard as possible, but he quickly put five seconds between us that I was unable to get back, bringing me in with second place by a mere five seconds. A race for the books!

After the race I got a chance to grab lunch and a couple of beers with my grandma, sister, and brother in law. When I recapped the race, the response I got from my sister was the classic “Talladega Nights” movie quote, “If you ain’t first, you’re LAST!” Thanks, Angela! But in all seriousness, it was a great way to spend a beautiful summer afternoon.

Sure enough, Sunday morning rolled around and I had nothing special planned for the day, so why not go up to Lake Desolation for the Luna Chix Splash and Dash? The race is a half-mile swim and 5k run, with no splits, no frills, and a lunch at Tinney’s Tavern following. I figured no matter how well the event went, there was a lunch included in the entry fee, so why not?! This event was far smaller than your typical endurance races, with maybe 50 or so participants. I got a nice long warm up in, put on my wetsuit (for the millionth time, it seemed), and was ready for a beautiful day of racing. Forgot to mention, it was an 11 am start, perfect for the lazy, Sunday morning bum! The gun for the swim went off, and for once there was very little physical contact because of the small field. Nice! I cruised away from my fellow swimmers and was able to enjoy the calm, fast waters all by myself, without any contention of other swimmers. It was probably the most uneventful (good thing) open-water swim of my racing career, and I finished the leg in about 11 minutes (no official splits, so not sure exactly how long). Not more than 30 seconds back was a girl from Hartwick’s swim team, a terrific swimmer even without a wetsuit! The run was mostly flat and very fast, and like the swim, went relatively uneventful. I think the 5k time was about 19:30, but it’s difficult to say for certain. I came back to the finish line with a good sized gap before the next runner, scoring my first ever win! I used to secretly own the claim-to-fame that I was the fastest person I know who had never won a race, but I suppose now I need to think of something else to call myself. After the event we all enjoyed a hard-earned lunch and a few beers.

Funny to have my first win come in the middle of my “off-season.” With that in mind, I can’t complain one bit about this past week. I’ve gotten to see my family a lot more without any regimented training, and the events I’ve been doing just for pure pleasure have been a blast. I know on paper my off-season seems somewhat physically demanding, but the mental rest and relaxation has been incredible. Not to mention, I’m going on a real vacation later this week, to NYC to see Annie and go to the Electric Zoo music festival. There really are some things you just can’t do while trying to be a serious competitor at big races, and for the sake of longevity in sport, the off-season is key. Don’t get me wrong, I love training and racing, but without a little time off it becomes very challenging to keep that fire burning. I’m planning to start a running and cyclocross season just after I get back from New York, and by then I know I will be itching to train and race again. Thanks for reading, see you at the races (but not for a few weeks!).

Timberman Weekend Recap, What a Blast!

Where to start! This weekend was phenomenal, to say the very least. I ended the triathlon season on a high note at Timberman 70.3, finishing in a time of 4:35:37, over 17 minutes faster than my fastest Half Iron before that (Providence 2011, 4:53:02). Start to finish, the weekend went as smooth as it possibly could have, thanks in large part to my amazing personal support crew, my mom.

On Friday I traveled to my hometown, Bennington VT, to cut some time out of the Saturday drive and have dinner with my mom. We indulged in one of my favorite high-calorie meals—big, greasy, spinach and pepperoni calzones. After dinner I made a beet and apple juice cocktail and got my mom to shave my head for the first time since I was 5 years old. Back then I the reason I wanted a shaved head was to look like Scotty Pippin, one of the big shot Chicago Bulls players from the Michael Jordan 90s dynasty. Funny how motivations can change, and I now shave my head to go just a little faster.

Saturday morning I woke up and had breakfast with one more beet and apple juice cocktail and we packed up the car and began our trek up to New Hampshire. The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny with just a couple of clouds, and the green and white mountain states looked so majestic my mom couldn’t help but pull over and take pictures. Guess there aren’t any mountains to photograph in Florida.

Once we got to the race venue, I picked up my packet and set out for shake-out bike ride to loosen up my legs and see some of the turns and twists of the course. I rode for a little less than an hour, and when I called my mom to pick me up, she was just a couple of miles behind me, so I was picked up super quick. I’m pretty sure the high-profile professional athletes shell out some serious cash to get support crew service like that!

After dropping my bike, we settled into our hotel room for the night and ordered some chicken and broccoli pizza. My mom could only eat two slices after snacking all day, leaving me with the job of cleaning off three quarters of a pizza (darn). After all the usual pre-race preparations had been made, I got the best night of sleep I could possibly have asked for the night before a race, a rare occurrence.

The following morning came, and with some breakfast and coffee in us, we made our way to the lake for transition set up. Everything went as smooth as the rest, and I even had plenty of time to do a couple of warm-up jogs and a good warm-up swim. My swim wave was the last to go off, leaving 50 minutes after the professional race start, so I never felt too rushed at any point. There was even enough time to listen to some Nero radio on Pandora! The last some I heard was the Flux Pavilion remix of Gold Dust, an awesome sound to be stuck in my head for the rest of the race.

The time finally arrived, so I hugged my mom and made my way to the swim start. As always, the last couple of minutes before the gun felt like an eternity, but when it went, all hell broke loose and everybody was fighting for an early position as usual. No matter how many times I race, I still get blown away in the sprint start of these things, and today was no different. As usual though, the eager beavers who gunned it in their first 100 meters came right back to me when I found my groove, and fell off my feet when they couldn’t keep pace. The start of these things would be so much nicer if everybody seeded themselves just a little smarter! The water got a little choppy in the middle of the lake, adding some time to the swim splits. I came in from the swim 3^rd in my age group with a swim split of 29:44.

Transition went well and before I knew it the bike course was underneath me. I took the time to get some fluids and fuel in me while still settling down from the rush of the swim and transition. In the best way possible, the bike course felt very uneventful. No cramping, dizziness, or anything like that. A few other guys in the swim wave before me were riding at about my pace, and after trying to drop each other for a few miles, we agreed to just work off of each other’s energy and accept the back and forth riding that would occur for the remainder of the bike ride. Despite a couple of significant climbs, the majority of the course was fast and gradual, allowing us to stay in the time trial position for most of it. I came zooming into transition with a bike split that had even myself taken aback, 2:24:29, with an average speed of 23.3 mph!

When I saw my age group’s bike racks, there were only two other bikes returned before mine. After the first two legs of the race, I had held onto 3^rd place in my age group. Running has been my biggest struggle in every race this season, and I didn’t expect today to be any different. After finding my stride about two miles into it, my hamstrings and quads both began to cramp. Didn’t really expect that either! I fought on knowing the run wouldn’t be the split I had hoped to get today, but hoping my first two events would put me in a place with a bit of wiggle room. On the second lap of the two loop run course, I was passed by a runner who made me look like a statue. Ouch. In the last half mile I was caught again, and even with the best finishing kick I could put together, I couldn’t stay with him. I held on for dear life to my pace to finish the run with a 1:37:01 split.

After checking and rechecking my math a few times, I celebrated, in full realization that I had actually finished the race in 4:35:37. Unable to stand when I succumbed to the cramps at the finish line, I dragged myself to a chair and sipped some water. The next stop was the beer tent. As the final race of my calendar, and a good one at that, I figured it was time to reward myself with a beer or two (or eight) while waiting for the awards ceremony. Age group awards go 5 deep in Ironman and 70.3, so the 5^th place I held on to was good enough to place for the first time in a 70.3. Maple syrup was my prize, yum! World Championship slot roll down followed the awards, putting me on the edge of my seat. When my name was finally called I couldn’t help but let out an obnoxious “WOOOHOOO!” and claim my spot. I had just qualified for the World Championship race in Vegas, how could I not?! Grinning ear to ear for the rest of the day, I set off for the ride back to Saratoga with my mom.

After getting home late the last thing I wanted to do was unpack my stuff, but with work the next morning I knew it had to be done. I don’t know if it was an exercise hangover or a regular hangover, but the next day I had to drag myself around the lab at work. Worth it.

It’s crazy to think that one moment can make so much pain and suffering worthwhile. This summer I gave up a large part of my social life and time spent with family to train and race. With so many mediocre results entwined with a few high points, I found myself wondering if I was truly cut out for long course triathlon at a competitive level. This single event has really given me a great deal of confidence that I do have what it takes to achieve my goals. Besides some of the fitness, I have to appreciate that I have the best support crew to get me to the start line of every race feeling strong. Now that I have ended triathlon season on a high note, I can look forward to giving back some of that lost time in the next few weeks to the people who matter. Thank you all for everything, especially mom, I would not be the athlete I am today without your undying support!

Healthy and fast in the home stretch, bees in my clothes?

After my first week of a two-week training taper, I am feeling fit, fast, and healthy. Today was the last long ride of the season, and only naturally it couldn't have been a more miserable one. I rode in and out of torrential downpours, and that was the fun part. Never tell yourself things can't get worse, because when you do, you find bees inside your jersey. When a stinging sensation became unbearable around mile 42 of my ride, I pulled over and quickly removed my jersey, only to find that the stinging sensation was actually two bee stings. After shooing the bugs away, I put my soaking wet jersey back on and finished the ride. Despite the eventful training day, I felt strong and relaxed on my bike today.

This training week has been fun, and naturally marked by faster sessions with slightly reduced weekly volume. Swimming, in particular, has felt real fast for this late in the season. On Monday, at the end of my 6x500s @7:20 workout, I dropped a 6:18 500. I've had college races in season where I swam worse! Then on Friday night I averaged 1:14 per 100 in a set of 10x100s @1:30, which is great considering I've had days where I struggle to keep them all under 1:20. Weekly totals came out to 9500 yards of swimming, 132 miles of cycling, and 30 miles of running. I feel good about the quality of the work accomplished this season, despite a markedly lower average weekly volume. I will taper one more week with confidence, shooting for about 7000 yards of swimming, 90 miles of cycling, and 25 miles of running, all followed by Timberman 70.3 this Sunday.

The Olympics are winding finishing up, with just the men's marathon tomorrow morning and closing ceremonies. It should be easier to get sleep once they're all over. Mo Farrah of Great Britain finished the games with an amazing double, winning the 5000 meters today after his huge win in the 10,000 meters. Must be amazing to win both golds in front of the home crowd. The Brits also did amazingly in the men's triathlon, where brothers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee took 1st and 3rd, respectively. In a new event, the 10,000 meter open water swim, American woman Haley Anderson snagged silver with a tme of 1:57:38- averaging 11:45 for each kilometer, the same time I went tapered in a single 1,000 yard split in a short course pool! Incredible!

Time to taper, sleep, and eat well. The hard work is done, now I look to reap the rewards of the hard pushed season in New Hampshire. See you at the races!

Fronhofer Tool Triathlon

5:10 am- The alarm goes off
5:12 am- The tv goes on so I can watch the women's Olympic triathlon while I get ready for my own race.

The Fronhofer Tool Triathlon is probably my favorite short-course race in the state of New York. This morning I was blessed with the chance to race in it for the 4th time, and I could not be more pleased with the results.

The two-loop, 1500 meter swim was a great way to start my day. As always, the start was hell in water, with arms and legs everywhere. I kicked somebody on my feet square in the middle of his chest, only to find out later it was my friend, John (sorry John). After the first lap, there was a short beach run, which gave me the oppurtunity to see the competitors ahead of me. There were three in a lead pack about 50 meters ahead, and two other swimmers running the beach by my side. The three of us swam next to each other for most of the second loop, but they seemed to be holding back and trying to coast off of each other's and my feet, so in the last stretch I pushed a little harder and got to shore as the 4th swimmer out of the water.

The bike course was a hilly one, just as I remembered it. Last year I crushed the bike course in an attempt to separate myself from a large pack behind me, and I paid for it with a slow run. With this memory all too fresh in my mind, I settled into my aerobars and cruised a little more on the conservative side to save some gas for the run course. After only a few back and forths, I was still 4th coming off the bike.

Anybody who knows anything about my triathlon career will tell you that running is my weakest leg. Today I came off the bike feeling better than usual, but my weakest link still showed when I was passed by one runner who was back and forth with me for awhile about 4 miles into the 6.2 mile run, and got kicked in the last mile by two strong sprint-finishers, including one of my training partners Kevin Miles. I left the venue satisfied with about a 2:10 finish, a new PR, 7th place overall male, and a solid age-group win. Official results are not posted yet, but I can't complain about my performance today.

The Olympics had some solid American performances today as well. As mentioned earlier, the women's triathlon was on live when I left home this morning, where Sarah Groff finished just off the podium in 4th. Later on, Galen Rupp put together a stellar 10,000 meter run in 27:30 for a silver medal, blazing fast!

Two weeks remain in triathlon season for me, which means I'm begining a long training taper for Timberman, where I hope to qualify for the 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Championships. The taper will not be as extreme as usual, since I didn't hit the training mileage I was hoping for in the past 2 weeks. This week came out to 12,500 yards swimming, about where I wanted to be, 165 miles of cycling, a little short of my targeted 200, and 30 miles of running, solid but not quite where I wanted to be. In this first week of my taper I'll aim for 10,000 yards of swimming, 130 miles of cycling, and about 35 miles of running. Wish me luck, see you at the races!

Fit and sick, a strange combination

I recently took a new job as a phlebotomist at a medical lab. It's a great job, I feel much more important than I did when I was just a lifeguard. However, working in a medical setting does have one major drawback- sick people. Drawing blood requires me to be in very close proximity with patients, and after a few weeks of working my immune system has succumbed to a significant head and chest cold. Nevertheless, the week's training has gone well, logging around 10,000 yards of swimming, 112 miles of cycling, and 50 miles of running. This morning I topped off the week racing the Turning Point 5k in Saratoga. I finished 3rd with a time of 18:31. I felt pretty good about it, but my chest cold definitely did some damage in the second and third miles. I think the jolt of racing helps put some life into the legs. Despite the sickness, I think I've managed to get some solid fitness and strength out of this week, especially with running. This coming week I would like to take the running down to 40 miles and crank the bike miles up to about 200 to round out my fitness for the Fronhofer Tool Olympic Triathlon and set myself up for a good taper to Timberman 70.3.

On a completely separate note, the London Olympics began today, and the games again have not failed to amaze me. I got to see bits and pieces of indoor volleyball, beach volleyball, handball, and archery. The array of different types of athleticism is just absolutely incredible. Archery in particular captivates me, how somebody can take a bow and arrow and hit an itty bitty target from across a huge distance shot after shot. Very different form of athleticism than triathlon, but so impressive.

I'm going to try and get some sleep. I have to kick this cold before racing this weekend, and I still need to get those big bike miles in this week, and that could mean riding in some t-storms by the looks of things...

The mission

Operation K13 is nothing short of the greatest physical challenge I have ever faced in my athletic career. The objective is simple- make it to the Ironman World Championship in Kona in 2013. At midsummer 2012 I can confidently say I am good at the sport of triathlon. However, good athletes don't make it to Kona, only exceptional athletes do. After a half season littered with mixed results due to illness and time constraints, I have registered for Ironman Lake Placid, taking place July 28, 2013. I also plan on competing in one or two of the early season 70.3 races that serve as Kona qualifiers. For now, however, the focus has to remain on finishing out the 2012 season well at 70.3 Timberman on August 19. Keep following my blog for updates and an occasional look at my training days. Lake Placid registration was the first active step in my run for Kona, so Operation K13 is now underway!