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!