Ironman Wisconsin 2011 – the race that (almost) never was
It’s been a while since I’ve posted, so I’ll give a quick update. I took the entire month of July off from racing to prepare for Ironman Wisconsin. I reluctantly signed up for Steelhead in the middle of August and had a good race, despite the fact that the swim was cancelled. And then it all started.
Two days after Steelhead, I was out on a very leisurely bike ride on a trail and took a hard fall when my front wheel hit a thick branch that was hidden between the shade and leaves on the trail. I first thought it was my elbow that was going to give me problems, but on the drive home from that ride, I knew my shoulder took the brunt of the fall. I went to the emergency room where they confirmed nothing was broken. I was told I needed to be in a sling for 2 weeks with no activity. I was able to ride indoors the next day and pushed my luck in the pool two days later. It was extremely painful but I figured I’d have time to work it out before Wisconsin.
That weekend, I had 100 mile ride on the schedule. My elbow was still really chewed up and I had a hard time in the aerobars between the road rash on the elbow and the pain in my shoulder with any pressure. I was able to finish the…
Categories: Events, Race Reports, Racing, Triathlons
New Year, New Strategy
You can imagine how depressed I’d be after spending 6 weeks without running and another 6 in a boot only to find out I was told I need ANOTHER 6 weeks in the boot. I mean, seriously, I’ve had friends who have had foot surgery come back faster than this. I don’t get it – I don’t feel like I even had a real injury! And with the boot means not just no running, but there are a lot of things I’ve had to completely stop: stair climbing, cross country skiing, push ups, lunches, plyometrics….need I go on?
So what is there to do? Aside from a lot of time on the bike and one-legged flip turns in the pool, I’ve now focused on changing the diet up a bit. I am now working on the Paleo diet – well, I’m trying! I cannot believe how wierd it is to not have bread, rice, pasta, bagels, etc. And I don’t think I’ve eaten this much meat since I even started this sport. I actually bought a WHOLE chicken the other day. It almost makes me gag thinking about it. But we’ll see how this goes – I’m game to try anything once. The real test will be to see what happens to my power numbers on the bike. Last time I made a drastic change to my eating habits, I just about lost all power on the bike. …
Categories: Athletes, Nutrition, Racing, Recipes, Triathlons
Phelps School Cross race report
Eastern PA was treated to some incredible weather this past weekend. What better way to spend a Saturday AM than with some friends / rivals on a TOUGH cyclcross course? No one was there to shoot any pictures, but here’s a video from last year to give you some perspective: Phelps Cross 2009 Men\’s Cat 4 on Contour
I was on the fence about doing this race. Last year the course didn’t suit my style all that much and wasn’t very technical. It had some LONG power sections that ate me alive. My friend Johan talked me into it, so we headed down to Malvern PA to check it out. When we prerode the course and saw the changes we were both impressed. It was a course that combined power with some climbing and cornering skills to really put the hurting on you! I was racing with Johan, my training partner that has put the hurt on me many times before on a bicycle. We were racing the Masters 35+ / 45+ which included riders from Cat 1 to Cat 4. They were paying cash back to 7th place in our 43 man field, but I wasn’t worried about that…I wanted to prove the ever accurate race predictor at crossresults.com to be wrong. Johan and I were predicted to finish 8th/9th respectively.
Temps were in the mid 50’s w/ bright sunshine for our 11am start. I had a 2nd…
Categories: Athletes, Biking, Race Reports, Race Results, Racing
Recap: 2010 “Sophomore” Season
It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that my 2010 season is wrapped up. I’ve even had two weeks of my post-season do-whatever-I-want awesomeness, [which really hasn't been that awesome]. Racing this year has been a blast! In my second season as a triathlete, I raced more and improved from last year. And, I felt strong in the run of practically every race, which made me happy.
I set some lofty goals at the beginning of the season, and although I didn’t make them all, I’m happy with the level I’ve risen. Anyway, it’s time to reflect on what racing in 2010 brought me:
* Two more marathons are checked off my 50×50 list (Utah and Michigan)- I BQ’d in both of these, too. Although I didn’t reach one of my goals (another marathon PR), I am still incredibly satisfied with where my run has made it. In fact, although I didn’t PR in the open marathon, I broke my marathon PR in the 140.6 distance by over 30 minutes. And, I also shaved off a minute from my previous best time in the 10-mile.
* I ran the farthest I’ve ever run before, in a training run no-less. Although I was registered for my first ultra, I bailed because of sub-optimal health/stress levels. The ultra world is still there, and I’m striving to make it a to-do for 2011.
* I broke 11hrs in the…
Categories: Athletes, Racing, Training, Triathlons
Rev3 Cedar Point: Race Report
Race morning had officially arrived. After a surprisingly good sleep, I was up, hit the bathroom and downed a bottle of EFS and some Clif Shot Bloks.
I decided that the whole day was going to be focused on two main ideas:
Take the whole day one mile at a time
Enjoy every mile of my only first Ironman
Those two mantras would end up driving me for the next 140.6 miles.
Other than a minor pre-dawn freakout in transition area. I was able to keep a pretty level head as I set up my bike, organized my transition area and filled up my nutrition bottles. I was pretty happy and surprised with my attitude. I’ve been a LOT more nervous for a LOT shorter races.
I’m not sure what it was, but I was just ready to race, get out there and start tearing up the course.
Heading over to the swim start and patiently waiting for the gun to go off. Sam was an amazing sherpa and helped me stay cool calm and collected up until the second I had to leave her and dive head first into the water. Just as I was starting to head through the start gate, she handed me her cell phone. It was my mom calling from Connecticut to give me some last minute last minute well wishes. Hearing how proud she was…
Categories: Biking, Live Tracking, Nutrition, Race Reports, Racing, Running, Swimming, Team, Technology, Triathlons
Saucony Kinvara Review
Last week I got a surprise in the mail, the latest sweet pair of running shoes from Saucony, the Kinvara.
These things are super sweet and I was pumped to get to test them out before the went on sale to the rest of the world.
Ultimately, what makes the Kinvara more than “just another running shoe” is that it is super minimalist but can still be worn for longer road races. It looks like a futuristic version of an ordinary training shoe, but are only .7 oz heavier than my racing shoes.
My Experiments With Minimalist Running Shoes
Before I get into the shoe itself, It probably makes sense to talk a little about my adventures with running shoes over the past year. For the last two seasons I rocked a few pairs of Asics GT-2140’s. It is one of the best selling running shoes out there, I never had any major problems with them. My main irk that I eventually noticed with the 2140’s is that it was physically hard making the transition away from them to any other shoe. During triathlons I also noticed that they can take on a TON of water if I am water over my head (which is the cast in most races). Running with five pound sponges strapped to each foot for 13.1 miles is NOT fun.
The 2140’s were essentially like two big comfy couches for my feet. They felt…
Categories: Product Reviews, Racing, Running, Training, Triathlons, Videos
Tags: minimalist running shoe, Product Review, saucony kinvara
Amica 19.7 Sprint Race Report
In the spirit of my first sprint triathlon in 4 years, I am going to try to make this race report as abbreviated as possible.
Amica 19.7 Triathlon: Newport, RI
.5 mile swim | 16.1 mile run | 3.1 mile run
Less than two weeks of recovery since Cedar Point and only one 2.5 mile run since then. And my quads were screaming the whole time.
Low expectations except for the fact that I was racing against Sam’s family. I know all the guys had secret aspirations to take down the newly-minted Ironman. I had no plans on letting them win.
Pre-race dinner with Sam’s family and playing with their dog. It decided it was done with play time and decided to use my hand as a chew toy, shredding my forefinger. Lots of blood and while cleaning out the wound and making guesses on the need for stitches, I passed out cold. Apparently having a low resting HR makes you more likely to pass out.
I texted pictures of the damage to my dad (an ER doctor) and he gave me the green light to race. Sam was freaking out and worried, as any good girlfriend would be, but I was psyched.
Time to finish up the 2010 triathlon season.
Race morning:
Wild wind and surf that would make for a better day of surfing than swimming. Swim: canceled.
Replaced by a .25 mile beach (quicksand) beach run.…
Categories: Athletes, Events, Family & Friends, Race Reports, Racing, Triathlons
Picturesque
…
Categories: Biking, Events, Race Reports, Racing
Wrapping up September
So September is finally over. Started out pretty rough but ended up being a nice transition into fall. Autumn seems to be getting the handle of this “Spanish Immersion” thing, we celebrated Lauren’s birthday and ushered in October with Autumn’s birthday.
My mom had us over for a nice family gathering to celebrate Lauren’s birthday on Friday, then we had a great party at Putt U mini golf with about 12 of Autumn’s friends on Saturday. Weather cooperated nicely. On Lauren’s birthday I raced my second cyclocross race of the season in the morning and we visited her brother and had a great dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in the afternoon.
The Whirlybird cross race was in held at Bryn Athyn College outside of Philadelphia. It the first time I had been there and it was a great venue for a cross race. This year was the first time it was part of the MAC series and there were several sold out fields. I raced the (B) Masters 35+ class which was sold out at 125 people! I was lucky enough to get a 2nd row call up on the starting line due to a decent finish at the first race…Nittany Cross. The start was tight, but opened up into a LONG straight section before hitting the first few turns. I knew my skinny legs wouldn’t have much for the strong power riders on the long straights, but just hoped…
Categories: Biking, Events, Race Reports, Race Results, Racing
The preparation has begun..
We’re less than two months from my first try at promoting a cyclocross race. We’ve got it up on BikeReg, we’ve got our website up and going and we even have some registrants already! Last year was my first year in cyclocross which is limited to a fall racing schedule. It’s an interesting sport in which you have multisport athletes that use it to stay in shape, road racers that use it to extend their road season and ‘crosser’s who train for this short season all year. It’s definitely not easy or clean, but it will put a smile on your face from ear to ear (after you catch your breath). It’s very addicting and the sport is growing like wildfire. If you see one near you, definitely go and check it out.
So I’m excited about the race on October 2nd. I rode the approximate course layout this morning and it looks awesome. Some fast sections, some slow sections and one heck of a hill which will likely be a run up. I’ve got lots of help from our local cycling team and we’re soliciting some sponsors now. We hope to make it enjoyable for the whole family with a kids race, vendors and entertainment. Of course I’m excited to race it myself as well. The first cross race of the year is actually a UCI race, the Nittany Cross about 15 minutes from my house. All…
Categories: Biking, Events, Race Schedule, Racing
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