June has been a busy month, and I haven't been very diligent about blogging my training and racing, so this entry will serve as a synopsis of the entire month, light on the details.
June 9, 70.3 Eagleman
Sometimes races go great start to finish. Sometimes they are terrible all day. More often races have highs and lows, and you really can't say where you will finish until you get to the line. That was the case in Eagleman. On race day the famous winds of Maryland were non-existent and the heat and humidity modest. Shortly after the pros took off on the fast and flat course, my age group jumped in the water to await the start of what should have been a very fast race. The swim in the Choptank River lived up to it's name. Despite being a wetsuit legal swim in salt water, the choppy swells made for my slowest 1.2 mile swim of the year, clocking a 31:41, putting me in a sloppy 7th place in my age group into transition. Onto the bike, there was nothing to do but lock into the aerobars and find my groove. This was the flattest course I have ever ridden, and it had very few turns, making this a bike course that favors a well disciplined athlete. Being focused on not going too hard and tucking away to stay aerodynamic is mind-numbing, but I found it rewarding as I slowly picked off the six age groupers ahead of over the first 40 miles of the 56 mile course, and my 2:17:55 bike split brought me back into transition leading my age group. I left transition running side by side with another athlete in my age group, and in the first mile of the half marathon he put about a 30 second gap between us. Knowing my best chance of winning would be hoping he blows up later on the run, I stepped off the gas and settled into a comfortable stride, but the joke was on me. About six miles into the out and back my pace started to slip, and in the last 3 miles I was caught by three more age groupers en route to a 1:40:26 run split, clocking a total time of 4:33:39 and landing a fifth place finish in my age group, and once again my chance at a Kona qualification slipped through my fingers.
June 21-24, Long Weekend Training Trip in Lake Placid
With just one chance left to qualify for the 2013 Ironman World Championship, I quickly recovered from Eagleman and headed for the hills to focus my training on Ironman Lake Placid. I've said it once and I'll say it again- I want to win the amateur division at Lake Placid. To know the course like the back of my hand, I made the trek deep into the High Peaks for 4 days, with nothing to think of but training. Over the course of those 4 days, I accumulated 9800 yards of swimming in Mirror Lake, 185 miles of cycling on the bike course (plus a 3000+ foot climb up Whiteface Mountain), and 33 miles of running. Needless to say, I was wiped. To top the trip off, I raced in a Monday night sprint triathlon in Lake Placid, and snagged a second place finish. With all the arduous miles logged, its fun to throw a little speed into the equation and make the legs and lungs scream for an hour.
June 29, North Country Triathlon Aquabike
I wanted to practice my Ironman swim and bike pacing strategy in as close to a real race situation as possible. This race on Lake George gave me that and then some. The 2.4 mile swim was long, and poor sighting on my end had me swimming 2.66 miles according to my GPS watch. Fortunately in Lake Placid you can follow the cord, making Mirror Lake basically a giant pool and impossible to swim off course. My swim split was still 1:00:45, fast enough to be the first out of the water. After a quick transition I was onto the bike course. The Lake Placid bike course is tough, but this bike course was just plain brutal. The entire 112 mile bike course was either uphill (up-mountain?) or downhill. After a 5:35:29 tour of the Adirondack mountains, I came back down to the lake to win the aquabike division with a decisive 10 minute lead.
June ends tomorrow. July finishes with my biggest race so far. Ironman Lake Placid is a course I know and love. If you respect the mountains, they reward you with good finishes. Not necessarilly fast finishes, but good finishing positions when other break over the demanding hills and climbs. I'm looking forward to playing my knowledge of the course to my advantage. May the mountains be just.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Friday, May 31, 2013
Saratoga Duathlon, Big Win at Home!
If the first races of the season in Ocala and St. Croix were long and hot, the Saratoga Duathlon this Sunday was blistering fast and bitterly cold. For whatever reason, despite it being Memorial Day weekend, temperatures plummeted from the 70s and 80s to a high of 45 for the morning of the race. When the alarm went off at 5, it was time to bundle up and get some hot coffee in my belly. At the race venue, I had plenty of time to get a solid warm up ride and a quick run on the course. What I love about this race is that nearly every local within the multisport community shows up to test their early season fitness. Racing strangers is fun, but racing with friends is an absolute blast. At the starting line I saw a few familiar faces from the year before, including Kevin, a very fast recent high school grad bound for West Point this coming school year. At last year's race Kevin came in second, beating my fifth place finish by roughly a minute. If you were to bet on the race outcome, the smart choice would have been Kevin.
At 8 am, the gun went and the race started with the first 5k run. Like any 5k run, it seemed like everybody forgot how long 3.1 miles actually is, and if I had to guess, I would say there were 30 runners in front of me for the first half mile. Of those runners in front of me included Kevin and star runner Brian, who is always a serious contender in local 5 and 10k races. Biding my time a ways back from the leaders, I patiently let the vast majority of the runners drop like flies around the second miles, keeping the race leaders in sight. Brian finished the first run in the lead, with Kevin just seconds behind him. Roughly 20 seconds back from the leaders, I clocked a quick but controlled 17:50 for the first 5k, fast enough to give me the fourth fastest split.
Transition was uneventful. Shoes off, bike shoes on, helmet on, grab the bike, go. Now the fun part, cycling. I caught two of the three guys who ran ahead of me about 3 kilometers into the 30k bike course, including Brian, but Kevin had already broken away from these guys, so the chase was on. It wasn't long before he was in sight, with about 15 seconds on me. I spent the first loop of the 3 loop bike course reeling him in, and by the second loop I was right on him. I settled my pace just enough to go back in forth sharing the lead with him on the second loop, but knowing he runs faster than I do, it would have been foolish to try and come in with Kevin. When we started the third loop, I laid down some extra power and made a break at the first hill to put some distance between us. A few miles later at a turn I got to look back, and the move had worked. I came back into transition with about 50 seconds on Kevin, averaging 23.7 mph.
Unsure how far behind me Kevin was, I tried to get out of transition before he was in, successfully. On the second 5k run, there was an out and back turnaround, where I got to estimate my lead. Kevin came running at me strong, and it looked like I had about 40 seconds on him, meaning the race was far from in the bag. Running on fear, I moved as quick as I could, realizing that Kevin was obviously the only threat to my lead. The second time I saw Kevin, around 2 miles in, he had cut my lead down to only about 30 seconds. This was going to be close! Gritting my teeth and digging for every ounce of energy, I pushed and pushed and pushed some more, until I got to a turn with about 200 meters to the finish line. Knowing Kevin could have been right on my shoulder, I kicked it in and tasted victory! Just 23 seconds later, Kevin came in for second. That young man has some serious potential in the triathlon and duathlon world, and I cannot wait to see him grow and mature as an athlete at West Point in the years to come. My training partner James finished in 4th, dropping some serious time from his run splits. My friend Shaun won the relay race with his cycling partner, Jaime.
The weather has been terrible for every single race so far this year, and the duathlon was no exception. At first I though bad weather sucked, but I'm liking it more and more as the season progresses. Rain, cold, heat, wind, it doesn't matter. Bad weather doesn't ruin races, but rather gives you the opportunity to be positive when most people are going to be negative, a realization that can always be turned to your advantage. The next stop is Cambridge, MD for Eagleman. With any luck the weather will have cool temperatures and low wind, but if it doesn't, I'll still be ready to throw my best effort at the course. Anything that slows me down is going to slow down everybody else. The duathlon was a big win for me, but that doesn't guarantee success for the rest of the season. It's time to get back to work and be ready to hammer, no matter what the weather brings.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
70.3 St. Croix, Hard to be sour in such a sweet place
This past weekend I made my first attempt at picking up a Kona Qualification on the island of St. Croix, USVI. The trip was a blast! My training partner, James, Annie, and my mom all made the journey to the Caribbean with me, arriving late on Thursday night. On Friday, James and I got a taste of the salt water at the practice swim in Christianstead Harbor, returning to the hotel to kick it by the beach and kayak a little bit with the rest of the afternoon. On Saturday we got a look at part of the bike course, which we had some very mixed feelings about. On the one hand, it might have been the most beautiful cycling I have ever seen, circling the island and giving us mind blowing cliffside views of the coast. On the other hand, the roads were rough as hell and the topography made for some challenging, slow riding. After our ride we returned to the hotel, where we pretty much just kicked back to rest up for the coming day.
Sunday came quick. Alarms went off at 4 am, and we were race-site bound at 4:30. Stoked to compete, James and I racked our bikes, suited up, and made our way across the harbor to the beach where our swim started. After watching the professional men and women take off, our wave was the first amateur group to line up. We wished each other luck, got ourselves in the zone, and anxiously awaited the horn. When it finally went off, we rushed to the water and dove in. With the first turn buoy only about 200 meters into the course, it was a crowded pack with lots of rustling, so I tried to just keep to the outside of the main pack, it could be a long day if my face got kicked and my goggles got filled with salt water. When things finally smoothed out, I found my stroke pretty quickly, got into a groove, and worked my way up through the crowd who went out way too hard. For the last 500 meters or so, I found myself in between 2 other swimmers, just on their hips, a perfect place to get a little bit of draft on both sides! I exited the water in 30:47, my fastest non-wetsuit 1.2 mile swim. It was hands down the easiest part of the arduous journey that lay ahead of me...
After stripping my swimskin, cap, and goggles off and donning my cycling shoes and helmet, I rushed out of T1 and onto the 56 mile bike course. The night before the race we had gotten a large storm that brought some serious gravel and sand onto the roads. Sixty percent of athletes picked up a flat tire on the course, including about half the professional field. The race of attrition was on. My plan was centered around two words- patient and conservative. This meant not chasing after everybody who passed me early on the bike and taking the sharp, fast downhill corners easy to avoid a crash and try not to flat. It seemed to really pay off when I got to the infamous climb, appropriately named "the beast." The beast demands serious power to get through, averaging a 14% grade and maxing out at 21%. Naturally, a climb like this turns into a king of the mountain contest for nearly every guy on the course, but I humbly decided to put down just enough power to keep my bike moving in a forward direction. Shortly after the climb, I caught up with just about every flashy cyclist who decided to cook themselves up the beast. My conservative and patient approach didn't give me the sexiest bike split of the day, clocking an official time of 2:39:23, but it left me feeling like I had left enough in the tank to put together a solid finish on the run.
I was wrong. If the bike course wasn't tough enough, the 13.1 mile run course in 86 degrees and 90% humidity was downright brutal. Despite hitting my stride well for the first 3 miles, heat cramps quickly found their way to my legs, breaking the beautiful stride I had worked so hard to perfect all season. Knowing that anything could be happening in front of me or behind me, I had no choice but to trot my way as best as possible to the finish line. It was undoubtedly the most challenging run of my life, and I dragged my way home on a painful 1:50:44 run split to clock a finish time of 5:00:54. In a race where about 100 other athletes dropped out, this put me in 41st overall, and 2nd in my age group.
Bet you're wondering what happened to my training partner, James. He took a jellyfish to the face during the swim, could barely see straight, but still managed to finish the bike course before calling it quits and hitting the medical tent for an IV and some treatment for jellyfish stings. And here I thought the only safe place on the entire course was the swim! Not long after crossing the finish line, I joined him in the medical tent for my cramping. It was the worst cramping I have ever experienced in all of my athletic career, probably because I had 4-5 muscles cramping at the same time, all trying to pull my joints in opposite directions. After being force fed bananas and electrolyte drinks proved useless, I reluctantly let the medics give me an IV. Eventually they let me walk/crawl away to pack up my stuff and reunite with my mom and Annie.
At the awards ceremony, I learned that the guy who beat me for the age group took the Kona slot, unsurprisingly. I also learned that Richie Cunningham, the professional male who won that day, had been in the top 5, but never won in St. Croix, in his first 9 attempts. If at first you don't succeed, try and try again. This was just my first attempt at grabbing a Kona spot, and while an early season qualification would have been ideal, there are still opportunities yet to come. The race was certainly not fruitless. I had a great time with the people who matter most to me and picked up a little more experience in the pain cave to draw upon later this season. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to the pool for a swim set. There are some big training weeks ahead of me, and of course the next race, Eagleman 70.3, and I don't plan on missing a beat.
Sunday came quick. Alarms went off at 4 am, and we were race-site bound at 4:30. Stoked to compete, James and I racked our bikes, suited up, and made our way across the harbor to the beach where our swim started. After watching the professional men and women take off, our wave was the first amateur group to line up. We wished each other luck, got ourselves in the zone, and anxiously awaited the horn. When it finally went off, we rushed to the water and dove in. With the first turn buoy only about 200 meters into the course, it was a crowded pack with lots of rustling, so I tried to just keep to the outside of the main pack, it could be a long day if my face got kicked and my goggles got filled with salt water. When things finally smoothed out, I found my stroke pretty quickly, got into a groove, and worked my way up through the crowd who went out way too hard. For the last 500 meters or so, I found myself in between 2 other swimmers, just on their hips, a perfect place to get a little bit of draft on both sides! I exited the water in 30:47, my fastest non-wetsuit 1.2 mile swim. It was hands down the easiest part of the arduous journey that lay ahead of me...
After stripping my swimskin, cap, and goggles off and donning my cycling shoes and helmet, I rushed out of T1 and onto the 56 mile bike course. The night before the race we had gotten a large storm that brought some serious gravel and sand onto the roads. Sixty percent of athletes picked up a flat tire on the course, including about half the professional field. The race of attrition was on. My plan was centered around two words- patient and conservative. This meant not chasing after everybody who passed me early on the bike and taking the sharp, fast downhill corners easy to avoid a crash and try not to flat. It seemed to really pay off when I got to the infamous climb, appropriately named "the beast." The beast demands serious power to get through, averaging a 14% grade and maxing out at 21%. Naturally, a climb like this turns into a king of the mountain contest for nearly every guy on the course, but I humbly decided to put down just enough power to keep my bike moving in a forward direction. Shortly after the climb, I caught up with just about every flashy cyclist who decided to cook themselves up the beast. My conservative and patient approach didn't give me the sexiest bike split of the day, clocking an official time of 2:39:23, but it left me feeling like I had left enough in the tank to put together a solid finish on the run.
I was wrong. If the bike course wasn't tough enough, the 13.1 mile run course in 86 degrees and 90% humidity was downright brutal. Despite hitting my stride well for the first 3 miles, heat cramps quickly found their way to my legs, breaking the beautiful stride I had worked so hard to perfect all season. Knowing that anything could be happening in front of me or behind me, I had no choice but to trot my way as best as possible to the finish line. It was undoubtedly the most challenging run of my life, and I dragged my way home on a painful 1:50:44 run split to clock a finish time of 5:00:54. In a race where about 100 other athletes dropped out, this put me in 41st overall, and 2nd in my age group.
Bet you're wondering what happened to my training partner, James. He took a jellyfish to the face during the swim, could barely see straight, but still managed to finish the bike course before calling it quits and hitting the medical tent for an IV and some treatment for jellyfish stings. And here I thought the only safe place on the entire course was the swim! Not long after crossing the finish line, I joined him in the medical tent for my cramping. It was the worst cramping I have ever experienced in all of my athletic career, probably because I had 4-5 muscles cramping at the same time, all trying to pull my joints in opposite directions. After being force fed bananas and electrolyte drinks proved useless, I reluctantly let the medics give me an IV. Eventually they let me walk/crawl away to pack up my stuff and reunite with my mom and Annie.
At the awards ceremony, I learned that the guy who beat me for the age group took the Kona slot, unsurprisingly. I also learned that Richie Cunningham, the professional male who won that day, had been in the top 5, but never won in St. Croix, in his first 9 attempts. If at first you don't succeed, try and try again. This was just my first attempt at grabbing a Kona spot, and while an early season qualification would have been ideal, there are still opportunities yet to come. The race was certainly not fruitless. I had a great time with the people who matter most to me and picked up a little more experience in the pain cave to draw upon later this season. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to the pool for a swim set. There are some big training weeks ahead of me, and of course the next race, Eagleman 70.3, and I don't plan on missing a beat.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Season Opener- HITS Ocala
Last weekend was the first triathlon of the year, the HITS half iron distance in Ocala, Florida. It was great to get away from the cold and indoor training for a few days, brush off some cobwebs, and see my family for the first time in weeks.
The weekend started Thursday with a flight into Orlando, where I met up with my mom and Annie, who also flew in from New York. Once we got back to DeLand, where we were staying for the weekend, I got outside in the beautiful Florida evening air and loosened up the legs with a half hour run, followed by a delicious homemade spaghetti dinner. Friday brought more sunshine, so we took advantage of the weather and lounged on the beach in New Smyrna.
Early to bed, early to rise. Saturday morning we were awake at 3am and out the door at 4. At 5 we arrived at the park in Ocala, where I picked up my race packet and laid out my transition area. After a short warmup run, it was time to put on the wetsuit and head to the water, but I was wet before I got there... around 6:30 we were hit with a torrential downpour. So much for dry socks for the run. Fortunately, storms blow over pretty quick in Florida, and in about 15 minutes the sky was clear as if it never happened.
An abbreviated warmup swim and race briefing later, it was time to go. By the time the gun went, there was just enough sunlight to see the first swim buoy for us to chase after. The water was choppier than expected, but otherwise the swim was uneventful, just the way I like it. My swimming has felt just a touch off this season, so it was no surprise to clock a 30:10 split for the 1.2 mile swim. Into a smooth transition and onto the bike, there was time to make up but plenty of miles to do so.
Ocala flats made for a a great course to drop into the aerobars and hit the power hard. I spent the first 5 miles in my target power range and settling into a good groove, content with the beautiful Ocala scenery, until the second downpour. The rain was just as brutal as it had been before the swim, and now we were cycling through it. Awesome. The only consolation to be had from the weather was knowing that every single competitor was riding through the same rain. At target power, I began to pick off racers one by one. I was very content with my pacing strategy, until eventual winner Stephen Patterson went cruising by me about 10 miles in. Stephen is an incredible amatuer athlete I met last summer at the Skidmore College pool. He has been to Kona multiple times and never ceases to impress me. He is a model athlete whom I aspire to be near as good. With that said, after he made his pass, all I wanted to do was keep up with his cycling pace. Swaying away from my original power pacing, I found myself able to keep Stephen in sight on the 56 mile bike course with a time of 2:18:03, averaging a blistering 24.3 mph! But it did not come without a hefty cost...
Into second transition much sooner than anticipated, my goal was to run the half marathon course at least at a 7 minute mile pace. Knowing that I had pushed the power harder than planned on the bike, I was in for a world of hurt if I wanted to keep to that run. the first 5 miles of running went very well, with all splits in the 6:50-7:00 range. The next 5 miles were a bit tougher, and the extra bike work was really doing a number on my legs, so the pace slipped to 7:20-7:30 pace. Reasonable, I told myself, as long as I kept my legs moving. The last 3.1 miles were just absolute torture. Cramps began setting in, my stride fell to pieces, and all I could do was grit my teeth and dig my way through the now brutal heat (gotta love Florida weather!) while praying nobody saw the bullseye on my back. Over the course of the 13.1 mile run, which I finished in 1:39:31, I passed one runner and was passed by two, falling just one place back in the overall finish. I held on for 8th place overall in a net time of 4:30:59, my fastest half in the first race of the season!
Overall it was an excellent race weekend, and even though the race was not executed flawlessly, I couldn't be happier for my friend Stephen, who won with a time of 4:20:36. It's nice to have a low pressure race early in the season to test my Winter built fitness, but I do hope that I will ride more conservatively in my next race to keep the legs competitive come running time. With a month until the next race, 70.3 St. Croix, its time to get back to heavy training and prepare to race hard and smart. I'm already faster than ever, I have a detailed training and racing plan, and I'm just getting warmed up.
The weekend started Thursday with a flight into Orlando, where I met up with my mom and Annie, who also flew in from New York. Once we got back to DeLand, where we were staying for the weekend, I got outside in the beautiful Florida evening air and loosened up the legs with a half hour run, followed by a delicious homemade spaghetti dinner. Friday brought more sunshine, so we took advantage of the weather and lounged on the beach in New Smyrna.
Early to bed, early to rise. Saturday morning we were awake at 3am and out the door at 4. At 5 we arrived at the park in Ocala, where I picked up my race packet and laid out my transition area. After a short warmup run, it was time to put on the wetsuit and head to the water, but I was wet before I got there... around 6:30 we were hit with a torrential downpour. So much for dry socks for the run. Fortunately, storms blow over pretty quick in Florida, and in about 15 minutes the sky was clear as if it never happened.
An abbreviated warmup swim and race briefing later, it was time to go. By the time the gun went, there was just enough sunlight to see the first swim buoy for us to chase after. The water was choppier than expected, but otherwise the swim was uneventful, just the way I like it. My swimming has felt just a touch off this season, so it was no surprise to clock a 30:10 split for the 1.2 mile swim. Into a smooth transition and onto the bike, there was time to make up but plenty of miles to do so.
Ocala flats made for a a great course to drop into the aerobars and hit the power hard. I spent the first 5 miles in my target power range and settling into a good groove, content with the beautiful Ocala scenery, until the second downpour. The rain was just as brutal as it had been before the swim, and now we were cycling through it. Awesome. The only consolation to be had from the weather was knowing that every single competitor was riding through the same rain. At target power, I began to pick off racers one by one. I was very content with my pacing strategy, until eventual winner Stephen Patterson went cruising by me about 10 miles in. Stephen is an incredible amatuer athlete I met last summer at the Skidmore College pool. He has been to Kona multiple times and never ceases to impress me. He is a model athlete whom I aspire to be near as good. With that said, after he made his pass, all I wanted to do was keep up with his cycling pace. Swaying away from my original power pacing, I found myself able to keep Stephen in sight on the 56 mile bike course with a time of 2:18:03, averaging a blistering 24.3 mph! But it did not come without a hefty cost...
Into second transition much sooner than anticipated, my goal was to run the half marathon course at least at a 7 minute mile pace. Knowing that I had pushed the power harder than planned on the bike, I was in for a world of hurt if I wanted to keep to that run. the first 5 miles of running went very well, with all splits in the 6:50-7:00 range. The next 5 miles were a bit tougher, and the extra bike work was really doing a number on my legs, so the pace slipped to 7:20-7:30 pace. Reasonable, I told myself, as long as I kept my legs moving. The last 3.1 miles were just absolute torture. Cramps began setting in, my stride fell to pieces, and all I could do was grit my teeth and dig my way through the now brutal heat (gotta love Florida weather!) while praying nobody saw the bullseye on my back. Over the course of the 13.1 mile run, which I finished in 1:39:31, I passed one runner and was passed by two, falling just one place back in the overall finish. I held on for 8th place overall in a net time of 4:30:59, my fastest half in the first race of the season!
Overall it was an excellent race weekend, and even though the race was not executed flawlessly, I couldn't be happier for my friend Stephen, who won with a time of 4:20:36. It's nice to have a low pressure race early in the season to test my Winter built fitness, but I do hope that I will ride more conservatively in my next race to keep the legs competitive come running time. With a month until the next race, 70.3 St. Croix, its time to get back to heavy training and prepare to race hard and smart. I'm already faster than ever, I have a detailed training and racing plan, and I'm just getting warmed up.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Training Like a Scientist- Jekyll and Hyde
Winter training has been solid. Fitness is improving quickly and I am becoming more and more comfortable with regular, consistent workouts. This past May I graduated from Skidmore College with a degree in Exercise Physiology, very cool stuff, but I recently realized that I am rarely applying the principles I learned in college to my career, training, or further studies. With that realization, I am ready to change and begin training like a scientist. My most recent equipment purchase, a crank based power meter, has proved most useful in making this a reality. If it's good enough for Pete Jacobs, 2012 Ironman World Champion, it's good enough for me! I won't bore you to death with talk of functional threshold power, lactate threshold, aerodynamics, power to weight etc., but just trust me when I say that knowledge is power, and many of my early season fitness gains, particularly on the bike, I attribute to the use of the power meter.
As important as pacing and knowing your body helps you race, I'm still a firm believer that some performance variables are immeasurable. Specifically, no matter who has the higher FTP, the athlete who races with the most passion has the better race day. Period. For those of you who are not familiar with the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, here's a quick overview. Dr. Jekyll is a brilliant, upstanding professor of medicine and chemistry, but all the brains and academic achievement in the world can't fulfill his more primititive desires, which are dominance and sex. He proposes that human nature is a two sided coin, and that while we put on our proper faces to agree politely with society, there is a subdued side to every man that wants to break free, kill its enemies, and fulfill desire. Dr. Jekyll develops a medicine that brings this inner beast to life, allowing his primitive self, Mr. Hyde, to do as he pleases. Uninhibitted, Mr. Hyde gets everything he wants, without any regards to the well-being of other members of society.
There is no place where the lessons of this story are more real than in sport. This past Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens won the superbowl by thinking like Dr. Jekyll, then playing like Mr. Hyde. Without a smart and calculated strategy, the game would have easily been handed to the 49ers. With that said, if every move was overthought, especially on defense, the quick 49ers offense would have flown right by them everytime. The key is balancing emotion and arousal with caution and strategy, and releasing the beast as necessary. This is how I plan to race the 2013 season. Pacing will be carefully calculated, but when it comes down to win or lose, the beast has to come out. Sometimes you have to just grit your teeth and push harder than the competitor, no matter where the heart rate is or how many watts you're pushing. Nobody cares which racer has the highest lactate threshold, they care which one crosses the finish line first.
The first race of the season is fast approaching, HITS Ocala on March 23. The data will bring me to the starting line prepared and with a plan, but only the animal inside of me will be able to bury my competition. I'm trying to hit 12,000 yards in the pool, 200 miles on the bike, and about 40 miles of running for the next few weeks of training leading up to Ocala. Just know that when March rolls around, I will be ready. Will you?
As important as pacing and knowing your body helps you race, I'm still a firm believer that some performance variables are immeasurable. Specifically, no matter who has the higher FTP, the athlete who races with the most passion has the better race day. Period. For those of you who are not familiar with the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, here's a quick overview. Dr. Jekyll is a brilliant, upstanding professor of medicine and chemistry, but all the brains and academic achievement in the world can't fulfill his more primititive desires, which are dominance and sex. He proposes that human nature is a two sided coin, and that while we put on our proper faces to agree politely with society, there is a subdued side to every man that wants to break free, kill its enemies, and fulfill desire. Dr. Jekyll develops a medicine that brings this inner beast to life, allowing his primitive self, Mr. Hyde, to do as he pleases. Uninhibitted, Mr. Hyde gets everything he wants, without any regards to the well-being of other members of society.
There is no place where the lessons of this story are more real than in sport. This past Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens won the superbowl by thinking like Dr. Jekyll, then playing like Mr. Hyde. Without a smart and calculated strategy, the game would have easily been handed to the 49ers. With that said, if every move was overthought, especially on defense, the quick 49ers offense would have flown right by them everytime. The key is balancing emotion and arousal with caution and strategy, and releasing the beast as necessary. This is how I plan to race the 2013 season. Pacing will be carefully calculated, but when it comes down to win or lose, the beast has to come out. Sometimes you have to just grit your teeth and push harder than the competitor, no matter where the heart rate is or how many watts you're pushing. Nobody cares which racer has the highest lactate threshold, they care which one crosses the finish line first.
The first race of the season is fast approaching, HITS Ocala on March 23. The data will bring me to the starting line prepared and with a plan, but only the animal inside of me will be able to bury my competition. I'm trying to hit 12,000 yards in the pool, 200 miles on the bike, and about 40 miles of running for the next few weeks of training leading up to Ocala. Just know that when March rolls around, I will be ready. Will you?
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Winter Training
The holidays have passed and now its time to get down to business. I had a great time with the family in Vermont for Christmas, and a fun trip to New York to see Annie and go to a cool concert, but I have to admit I missed training and am very ready to get back to the grind.
My brother got me the first season of Spartacus on DVD for Christmas, and if you haven't seen it I highly recommend it. The show is violent and graphic, so don't watch it with your kids or Grandma. The story revolves around a man forced into slavery who becomes the greatest gladiator the Roman Empire has ever seen. Even though the Roman games are very different from triathlon, watching scenes of training and competing made me want to get out and train hard after each episode.
And that I did. My New Year's resolution is to never use the weather as an excuse not to train, and I have been true to it so far. Cycling is typically the most difficult sport to train for in the Winter, but I've picked up a few tricks already to make it possible. The indoor trainers to which you mount your bike are one obvious solution, but living in a shared apartment building and having a trainer louder than most vacuum cleaners, it is a little obnoxious. After shoveling a few square feet of ground outside my home, I mounted the trainer there, and with a good pair of gloves and a heavy sweatshirt, the cold is bearable enough to get in a solid workout.
The YMCA also makes training through the Winter feasible. With a pool open for lap swimming from 5am til 10pm most days, there's never a reason not to knock out a few laps. And there are enough treadmills to run a small cross country team, as well as a 180 meter track upstairs for faster paced running. I've also learned to love some of the group cycling classes, and my mountain bike shoes can clip right into the machines for a real cycling workout! John's class, the Sunday morning advanced cycling class, is hands down my favorite. Unlike the typical spin classes that cater to weight loss and toned legs, John runs a class that makes you fit for real cycling. His class simulates the demands of flat time trialing and low cadence climbing that you see out on the roads.
With that said, cycling outdoors is still my favorite workout. Today the weather warmed up to 36 Fahrenheit, practically a heat wave! With the sun shining, I suited up and got almost an hour of hard hill work in before my toes started going numb. This blog is not intended to endorse any companies, but I highly recommend base layers by Under Armour and Louis Garneau cycling warm gear. Today I wore a thin pair of UA glove and heavy LG winter gloves and my fingers loved every second of it. The biggest limiter to my outdoor cycling, my toes, had no complaints about the two pairs of socks plus LG neoprene shoe covers. And if you've ever hated the wind abusing your face and neck while cycling, look no further than the UA ski mask, which keeps the neck, forehead, and face content in cold weather.
If you've never seen What it Takes, a documentary about a few professional triathletes, I highly recommend it. There is a scene when Canadian Peter Reid takes his mountain bike out on the town through a mild snow storm for a three hour ride. This scene has always stuck with me, and while training in the southern Adirondacks I can't help but relate to Peter, a man who managed to win the Ironman World Championship three times despite having to train through cold winters in Canada. In the movie he said something to the extent of "I get home and think that was stupid, why would I do that to myself, but then I think about how none of my competitors are doing this, so I got a little bit of strength out of today that they didn't." Not a perfect quote, but you get the gist of it. I am going to do my best to emulate Peter's winning attitude this Winter, and emerge from the cold this Spring a step ahead of my competition.
My first race is on March 23, the HITS Half Iron distance in Ocala, Florida. I can't afford to wait until the snow is gone to be on my bike with such an early season race, so I will keep bundling up and pushing for fitness. Thanks for reading, stay warm!
My brother got me the first season of Spartacus on DVD for Christmas, and if you haven't seen it I highly recommend it. The show is violent and graphic, so don't watch it with your kids or Grandma. The story revolves around a man forced into slavery who becomes the greatest gladiator the Roman Empire has ever seen. Even though the Roman games are very different from triathlon, watching scenes of training and competing made me want to get out and train hard after each episode.
And that I did. My New Year's resolution is to never use the weather as an excuse not to train, and I have been true to it so far. Cycling is typically the most difficult sport to train for in the Winter, but I've picked up a few tricks already to make it possible. The indoor trainers to which you mount your bike are one obvious solution, but living in a shared apartment building and having a trainer louder than most vacuum cleaners, it is a little obnoxious. After shoveling a few square feet of ground outside my home, I mounted the trainer there, and with a good pair of gloves and a heavy sweatshirt, the cold is bearable enough to get in a solid workout.
The YMCA also makes training through the Winter feasible. With a pool open for lap swimming from 5am til 10pm most days, there's never a reason not to knock out a few laps. And there are enough treadmills to run a small cross country team, as well as a 180 meter track upstairs for faster paced running. I've also learned to love some of the group cycling classes, and my mountain bike shoes can clip right into the machines for a real cycling workout! John's class, the Sunday morning advanced cycling class, is hands down my favorite. Unlike the typical spin classes that cater to weight loss and toned legs, John runs a class that makes you fit for real cycling. His class simulates the demands of flat time trialing and low cadence climbing that you see out on the roads.
With that said, cycling outdoors is still my favorite workout. Today the weather warmed up to 36 Fahrenheit, practically a heat wave! With the sun shining, I suited up and got almost an hour of hard hill work in before my toes started going numb. This blog is not intended to endorse any companies, but I highly recommend base layers by Under Armour and Louis Garneau cycling warm gear. Today I wore a thin pair of UA glove and heavy LG winter gloves and my fingers loved every second of it. The biggest limiter to my outdoor cycling, my toes, had no complaints about the two pairs of socks plus LG neoprene shoe covers. And if you've ever hated the wind abusing your face and neck while cycling, look no further than the UA ski mask, which keeps the neck, forehead, and face content in cold weather.
If you've never seen What it Takes, a documentary about a few professional triathletes, I highly recommend it. There is a scene when Canadian Peter Reid takes his mountain bike out on the town through a mild snow storm for a three hour ride. This scene has always stuck with me, and while training in the southern Adirondacks I can't help but relate to Peter, a man who managed to win the Ironman World Championship three times despite having to train through cold winters in Canada. In the movie he said something to the extent of "I get home and think that was stupid, why would I do that to myself, but then I think about how none of my competitors are doing this, so I got a little bit of strength out of today that they didn't." Not a perfect quote, but you get the gist of it. I am going to do my best to emulate Peter's winning attitude this Winter, and emerge from the cold this Spring a step ahead of my competition.
My first race is on March 23, the HITS Half Iron distance in Ocala, Florida. I can't afford to wait until the snow is gone to be on my bike with such an early season race, so I will keep bundling up and pushing for fitness. Thanks for reading, stay warm!
Sunday, December 2, 2012
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.
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.
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