IMLP

Many of my friends are up in NY right now ponding pavement getting ready for a monumental feat. To all of them, enjoy the pain b/c you feel none of it in the end!

Up Next= Witch City

I am going to finish up my tri season with the Witch City on August 2nd. It will be only a few short weeks after that when my youngest son will be born. Last night our dog Belle was up and pacing around the our bedroom and my wife said it was b/c she can sense something. I said great, what? So for the rest of the night I lay awake while my wife falls back to sleep hard and think to myself, he will be here before we know it! I am really excited because There is nothing tighter than two brothers.

This morning was a tough speed session in the pool. Who was there to join but, my brother!

Pow Wow Traithlon

I just gotback from a trip to Ct. where we vistited the family this vacation. Sorry for the delay in the race report.

July 11th Powow triahlon. 9th overall and 2nd age group.

I must say that I was pretty happy with my performance on Sat. The swim at Lake Gardner is always tough. I don't know why Ihave trouble with it but I do. I took off in the first wave. There was no Elite or Pro wave which put most of them in with me. Guys like Dean Philips and Janda Ricci-Munn leading the charge make things daunting. I realized that they were in a class by themselves. After a pretty un eventful swim I exited the water and found my bike. Got rolling but noticed my wheels sticking. After about 1:45 seconds I figured out the problem and moved on. I was pissed that I wasted so much time in transition.

Out on the bike I just hammered. I knew I was not going to come close to catching the leaders but I wanted to get as much ground back as possible. About 4 guys passed me in transition b/c of my bike mess up and I soon caught them and moved on. I was holding a good pace and next thing I knew the bike was over. I was looking forward to the run b/c I had my new newton's and was ready to race in them. I made more headway on the run. At the 1 mile mark I saw Dean coming at me and shortly after Janda. There was another racer just ahead of me who I knew I couldn't cathc but wouldn't let pull away either. I was happy with my pace and the shoes were good. I didn't notice my usual pain in the knee or hip. I was cruising along. I finished in 1:06. Despite the slowest T1 in my career I knocked off 3 minutes on a Sprint. I will take that anyday. It could have been 4:30 if I checked my bike!!!!!!

The sun is out!

The sun finally made an appearance! The outlook is good for Saturday's sprint at the Powwow triathlon. There is going to be some serious athletes there! Gotta love it when the local pros throw their hats into the local race scene. I am sure that this is going to a class act event. I will let you know how it goes!

New Tires for my feet; NEWTON DISTANCE

Well, I did it again. I switched to a new pair of shoes again. I know that I said i was going to stick with ZOOT but after my half ironman I noticed significant breakdown on a shoe that only had 22 miles on it. I called ZOOT and was treated like a leper. I like reading reviews and research on products and have always come across Newton as something to look into. So I did. I called Newton and spoke to the marketing directer Tory Oakland for about twenty minutes on what the shoe would do and how I would benefit. I posed several questions and she had the answers. I returned the ZOOTS and ordered the Newton Distance racer. I knew what to expect when I out them on and followed the rules that applied about "breaking into" the shoe.

My first run was a 3 mile jog. Felt good. My second run was the same one, nothing different. Then I decided my next run would be a little faster. Not race pace but quick. I liked how they felt. As light as my ZOOTS. more cushion.

Yesterday I decided to got out for a 40-45 minute run in the Newton's. I was thinking of an easy cruise in the warm sun that finally blessed Massachusetts. What did was something I never did before. I was planning on a 5.3 mile run. I hit my turn around at 17:41. I was bit hesitant to continue at the same pace because of the myth that Newtons cause calf problems. What I did do was think of when I was going to hit the "sweet spot" that had been reported for this shoe. Well I hit it all right. I had a negative split of 16:10. The thing was, I didn't feel the shoes at all. I cruised in without any issues. I am going to keep monitoring the shoes. I have only run for 5 times on them. I will be charting my miles, HR and time with pace for the next two weeks.
I will be in touch.

Happy Birthday America!

This has been a low key week for me, I participated in a class act event last weekend and bouncing back from the 175 mile ride for a cure for MS. It was a great trip and my sister Caitlin and her boyfriend along with some other close friends did it as well. I am starting to gear up for another race. The Powwow up in Amesbury on the 11th. I think it is going to be a great race. I have been doing some good trainging and will add some speed intervals in all of my workouts this week.

I want to express my gratitude to all of the men and women who help keep our nation safe. Americas birthday should be celebrated by all but if it were not for the original patriots where would we be. Happy Birthday America, be proud of your heritage because no matter where our ancestors cmae from they worked hard for the ability to have a free life. I know that we all take that for granted sometimes.


God Bless the USA!

Patriot Half Race Report

The Patriot Half Ironman was my "A" race for a long distance triathlon this year. I put together a 16 week training program that included at minimum 7 workouts to 12 workouts per week. I broke down my workouts into swim, bike, run and CrossFit. I learned from last year that I need to incorporate a good amount of strength training into my routine to help maintain proper form and muscle density to handle the load of long distance training. The following is a report of the race weekend.

Friday, June 19:

We departed Swampscott Ma to head down to Freetown MA and check in to the race site to pick up our numbers and check into the hotel. After that we (Marty, Vin Brendan and I along Mr. Mis) went to the Olive Garden for pre race meal. On the menu was tossed salad, Chicken Parm and about 10 breadsticks. Also had a couple glasses of wine. After a serious laugh session we retreated to the hotel and checked over our bikes and prepared our bags for race morning.

Saturday June 20

0400: Wake up call, turned on coffee and started eating. Two bagels with peanut butter a banana and 1/2 a power bar. I wanted to get in about 800 calories before 5 AM. This would help set me up to take full advantage of the fuel I would store for the pre-race and race time execution. After a complete check of equipment we headed of to the race site. The weather was supposed to be wet and drizzly but we woke to a little fog and muggy air. By 0600 the fog was leaving and the sun began cook the moisture to a humid thick atmosphere.

At the race site bike is racked shoes and visor are out and. All equipment is good to go. I took my bike out on the course for a quick warm up.

0700; National anthem, wet suit on and in the water for race start. There were about 50 men in my group and about 500 total participants. The horn blast and we are off.

Swim; Water temp was 68 and felt good. I was able to clear the middle pack and sit right behind the lead group. They were about 20 yards ahead of me and after about 500 yards we caught the wave in front of us. The course was a counterclockwise rectangle. After the first turn the lead pack pulled away just a bit but I knew I was swimming better than expecting. The swim was about 1/10 th short. out of the water in 22 min. T-2 was smooth. The sun was bright and was heating up.

Bike; I was 7 or 8 guys back at the start of the bike. No big deal. I knew that I had solid training and this would be my strength for today. I quickly got into rhythm and started climbing through the field. The one problem with the bike course is that there was too many turns and climbs close to each other. This created its own cause for packs and groups. I was able to get away and push my first lap 29 miles in 1:13. The second lap was much of the same thing. I was a bit disappointed in how much drafting there was. I did a lot of work to get away form the group but at mile 33 they consumed me again. There really isn't much you can do but try not to get a penalty. I was able to pull away agian but know I was concerned that I was out of my comfort zone. I was taking in about another 400 calories of liquid on the bike. I knew I was hydrating properly because my body was absorbing everything. I came on the second lap with a bike split of 2:31 for 58 miles. I was in the top 3 for my age group at this time.

Run; I started the run with some heavy legs. I was not sure how well I was going to do with the final stage of the race. I hit mile 1 at 6:54. Quads were cramping but I felt that I could get through it. Mile 2 was 6:45. I was running a bit to fast for the 13.1 mile trip. The sun was hot and the air was thick. The run offered very little shade and I was the only one out there. I couldn't see anyone in front of me. I passed 4-5 people at the start of the run and was trying to catch anyone ahead of me. I held around a 7:00-7:10 min mile until mile 9. There I hit a brick wall. I got a painful cramp in both quads so when I tried to stretch one the other would intensify. After about a minute I was able to start running again. I was caught by two other guys from my age group and tried to hang with them but at mile 10 they pulled away. I was able to chug through the miles stop for water and gatorade at the mile markers. The last mile I was able to pick up the pace and some energy to finish with a time of 4:39.

It was a very deceiving course. Tough. The bike sucked you in because there was the ability to gain speed and push yourself. I did, and think I suffered a bit on the run because of it. I was psyched that I finished with a personal best. Beat it by almost 15 minutes. This is recovery week and I look forward to some fast short races next month. Congrats to Marty, Vin and my brother Brendan who all beat their previous best times as well.