ING Hartford Half Marathon race report

Ok this year I had wanted to do the Hartford Marathon. A last minute entry into the Chesapeakeman Skipjack led to a lack of marathon run training going into early October.  After some conversations with my girlfriend and assessing my training; the full pull just wasn't in the cards this time around. I crushed out the mileage to do a half marathon and then some so I decided to "half ass Hartford." Part of me still felt like I was wimping out doing the shorter option especially when I went to the expo with my sibs to pick up my bib and goodie bag, but I figured if I was going to do the half then I was going to throttle it.

My PR at the distance was a 1:34 split in the 2009 Hartford Full Marathon , since then the best I was able to muster was a 1:38 at Savin Rock in 2010, I figured with the way I had been running in my half ironmans this year and with my Macca-esque chase down of Josie in the Chesapeakeman race ( where I made up 9:50 or a 10:00min deficit on the bike during a 10 mile run.) I was hoping for a sub 1:35 day, maybe even sub 1:30.

Race morning came early and it was cold. Steph and I drove into Hartford and when we made it to the Aetna garage the temperature was a balmy 30F. All week some of my friends racing with me from the Y tri club asked me what cold weather gear I would be racing in. When I responded a singlet and gloves I got the typical response of "you're nuts." I had a long sleeve tee in my bag but I had raced in colder without one so  I left Steph to unsuccessfully find a portolet. I did get a mini warm up in and figured I'd be fine. So I ditched my wind pants and long sleeves with the World's cutest gear sherpa, and made my way to the start.

As we queued up I looked for the 1:30 pace group and saw it was on the other side of the Orange netting separating the seeded runners from us Barbarians. In my haste to register I forgot to mention my race time and get a seed card. (For the half athletes looking to run sub 1:45 are placed with the elites where in the Marathon only runners who can break 3 hours are seeded.) Luckily I was right behind the divider and when the volunteers moved out of the way and took the fencing with them I was able to find the 1:35 pace group and got in front of it. About this time a guy named Pat in a black sweat shirt and tights came along side. "How fast you looking to run?" he asked  "1:30" replied, "Good I'll pace with you." We started developing our plan of attack as reps from ING, the State Police and Hartford Chamber of Commerce talked themselves up on the PA system.We were then joined by an elite looking chick with a nose ring and lime green shorts, I didn't catch her name but she joined the "unofficial 1:30 Pace squad." Essentially if the three of us could stay together we would go under 1:30.

The gun went off and the carnage began. The Half and full start together so the beginning of the race is mass pandemonium. runners with different paces and goals clogging the streets. Pat, green chick and myself darted through the crowd. I tried desperately to keep with them occasionally I was able to surge ahead. We hit the split mark about mile 2 and the marathon runners broke off and there was a lot more room to maneuver. I looked at Pat when we went through the first aid station. "I think we cooked that first mile." He nodded but was keeping the pace. As we made our way toward West Hartford he and green chick were history and I was left on my own. In my head part of me was like "well looks like I'm going to be running another 1:40ish half." I looked at the split at 3 miles 19:55 I decided to try to find a runner up the road and keep them in sight. The only one that had been consistently in front of me was a chick in a bright purple Block Island Sports jersey. So she became my first pacer. By mile 4 I looked at my watch and I was still going sub 7 so maybe 1:30 was still possible. I tried to focus on the fading runners to find targets I could catch and pass. I ran through one cheering section completely oblivious to anyone but the guy/girl I was trying to reel in. Mile 5 was slightly above 7 so I need to pick it up for mile 6. We went through the ING fan zone in this mile and as tacky as it sounds it actually was motivating. Having the screams of 100 plus fans can definitely get you to light the fire under your ass. I went through mile 6 in 6:44  then mile 7 in 6:47, I was starting to get passed by droves of runners but as I checked my splits it was because they were speeding up instead of me slowing down. Mile 8 was a little slower a 7:02 but it went slightly uphill and when we turned into Elizabeth park for miles 9 I managed to bring the pace back down as it was down hill but at mile 10 I was back above 7 minutes. I decided to push because I saw I went through mile 10 in 1:08, if I could hold 7 min miles 1:29 was do able. Mile 11 was our last in West Hartford as we made the turn onto Farmington Ave. I had tried to keep pace with Roger from HEAT ( Josie and I had raced with him at Chesapeakeman.) and it helped as I had gone 6:45 but now my quads and hamstrings were beginning to scream. In my head I kept saying to myself  "must go faster."  There were no mile markers so I didn't know how close I was coming to the finish. We ran past gas stations, the cathedral,  various shops, and more guys saying "you're almost there" than I care to count but it wasn't until he hit the train station that I knew we were almost there. I saw the the barriers and the mums in the dividers start, I saw the arch and I looked at the watch it was just hitting 1:29:30. I pushed and hit the line just after it crossed 1:30. No crazy arms in the air, or fist pump to celebrate, just a click of the watch and a well deserved PR official time was 1:30:28.... about 4 minutes faster than my 09 marathon split and 7 minutes faster than my best straight half.

I grabbed some water from the massive fountain and my foil blanket from the volunteers and made my way toward the far end of the finish chute. I saw Steph and we met up. She handed me my long sleeve T shirt and turned my foil blanket into a kilt. Doug from the Waterbury Y tri club came over, he had gone a little slower than expected but a 1:35 was still a PR for him. Alexei came in a few minutes later pulling a 1:38 on a sore knee in his first half. All in all it was a good day.  Now I have a few short road races coming up and 2013 to plan.

R.D.

First outdoor ride and What gives BAA?

Well Thursday I had an odd day off as part of my quarterly schedule. This week I was off Thursday, working Friday and Saturday and then off Sunday to go back in on Monday. But my quirky hours aside Thursday proved to be a good day to be out of the office. There were clear skies, temperatures hovering around 70 and a bike with a brand new chain and cassette chilling in the garage, my plan for the day was clear. I was riding and it was not going to be a trainer session. I spent about 20 minutes in the morning digging the end of one of my draw strings out of the waist band of my tri shorts, then packed The Bitch Stomper into my Subaru and made the now much shorter ride from Waterbury out to Middlebury to do some loops of the Pat Griskus Tri course. While part of me wanted to be adventurous and go and do my 50 mile Quassy to Waramaug route, I hadn't ridden outdoors in nearly six months and after this years brutal winter the roads were going to be pitted and most likely sand covered, so I stuck to the easy 10 mile loop through some "gentle rolling hills" and farm land. The first mile I was greeted by something that seemed missing on the trainer: a crosswind while going down hill at 30 mph no less. For a second I had to relearn how to handle a bike, as I felt the rear wheel going a little sideways and my bike being pushed to the right, just tried to go with it pushing left just enough to keep the Stomper from going off the road. The roads weren't too bad, there were only two rough spots, the bottom of the "s" curve and the right hander on to Tomilson road still had some grit which required me to coast at a lower speed than normal, but for the most part things went pretty smooth. The sufferfest spin Dvd's really helped this winter in that I focused more on climbing with a strong cadence rather than mashing heavy gears and I noticed that I was able to hold a larger gear than last season on the final climb at mile nine and I didn't need to get out of the saddle. Overall my speed wasn't too far off from normal either I averaged 16.2 mph for 20 miles. Not bad for sitting on an exercise bike all winter. I decided that since it was a georgous day to tack on a nice 8 mile run as a brick. My legs felt a little heavy as I tackled the opening 8 miles of the Rev3 Half run course. By the time I hit the dirt road portion of White Deer Rocks my legs had found their stride granted they still felt a little tight. I know if I want to do Rev3 and if I want to do well I'm going to need to work on running after hard climbing rides. All in all the run didn't go to badly as I popped my usual day dream of one day winning Kona and amuzed myself with the idea of one day being able to race pro. Ok yes I know that reallistically that neither may never happen but if it gives me the strength to push a little harder on a long training run then damn it I'm not going to knock it. And my time for the run was 1:12, not Crowie killing fast but good for the first brick of the season. And speaking of running, the Boston Marathon is coming up on Monday. So good luck to Mary the Iron Matron in the Patriots' Day classsic, and while I'm on the note of the Boston Marathon, what gives with the new qualifying standard? I had been surfing the HEAT forum and heard that the Boston Athletic Association ( BAA) had just lowered the time standards for the 2013 running of the Boston Marathon and put in bonuses for faster runners in 2012 ( ie the faster you run the earlier you get to register.) I'm not really opposed to the fast kids getting to sign up first, that's fair because hey if you run a 2:12 marathon you should be running in Boston, but did they have to make the time standard for guys under 35 3:05, I mean 3:10 was just starting to seem within grasp. Hell my girlfriend's mom even works in Hopkinton and she lives like 2 seconds away so I will even have a place to crash when I eventually qualify. If my Kona dream fell through this year I would try making a good attempt at a Beantown slot at the Hartford Marathon, but now it seems like that I might have to start training with Ryan Hall to even have a prayer at running Boston before I turn 35, granted even 3:05 doesn't sound that bad, but that's still 16 minutes I have to drop from my current PR but now it has to be 3:05:00 or under you don't even get the 59 seconds you used to. I mean I know it's Boston and it's a big deal but come on BAA , I think us New Englanders should get a break, I mean it's not like we're in Kenya or Cali where we have beautiful 50+ degree weather and mountains to train in all winter to prep for our qualifier and then the race, I think a New England winter is worth an extra 5 minutes because otherwise all your going to have is a bunch of college track kids, Kenyans, Ethiopians, and dudes from Cali towing the line in Boston, and I mean come on the Californians have the Frisco, Big Sur and LA marathons let us have NYC and Boston...please, pretty please? Well that's my two cents, happy training all R.D.

Getting back into gear

You have three options: Lead, Follow or Get out of the way.

Well this week I've been trying to get back into shape. I managed to get a 5 mile run 3500 yard swim, in on Wednesday and my run mileage is up at 18 miles for the week. Not much done in the way of cycling but I don't have any major races coming up until next year.

I had my Navy Physical, good news I'm healthy bad news I need a letter from a therapist I saw twice when I was in High School in order to get cleared. Essentially the Navy wants to make sure I'm not crazy, or I won't snap easily. Called the Therapist, she destroyed her records of my visits about 5 years ago so I need her to write a letter saying "yeah I saw Rob, essentially he was feeling a little socially awkward like any teenager and just needed to talk out some issues. I didn't put him on meds or anything so he's about as sane as the other applicants." Hopefully that'll be good enough to get me cleared. Also studying up for my ASTB round two. Reading up on my aviation knowledge and getting my math skills back up to par.

Tonight I flaked on my swim, but I decided to get my lift on. Seriously I've lost some muscle. I could barely bench 110 lbs. I managed to get up 4 reps then a set of 3 reps, I bumped down to 95 lbs. and easily pounded out 6 reps. I managed to get some decent reps out squatting 110lbs. ( 3 sets of 10). Also did some lat pulls, bicep hammer curls ( yes I know the muscle is the size of a baseball but it needs some strengthening so I can crank out some pull-ups.) Inclined Pec flys, and some leg extentions. Also managed 30 push ups and 120 sit-ups and crunches. Essentially I want to plan out my workouts. Next week is sort of a burnout, as I'll be on vacation in Maine with Steph for a few days. I do plan on getting some runs in but not much is going to happen on the training front. Next week I want to start planning my workouts so I'm hoping to set up at least 2 days of lifting, 3 swims, 3 runs and 3 rides. Essentially I'm going back into Ironman training mode because I need the fitness back.

Likewise I hope everyone sees the new link. My friend and High School Track teammate Chris is getting himself ready for 2011 Long Beach Marathon. It looks like it's going to be an interesting journey as this guy is a speedster.

Well that's all from me, I've got a drive up to York Beach awaiting me.
R.D.

New Pair of Shoes

Well I got myself a new pair of treads on Thursday. A pair of size 11 Saucony ProGrid Ride2's. I'm not sure if they're the right shoe for me but the initial runs have been promising. These shoes make me feel like I'm running on air. Seriously not sure if it's the build or the fact that my previous shoes are really broken down, but I've noticed a lot of spring in them. Anyway these shoes are cushioned but built for neutral runners. Normally I use a stability shoe so it's sort of an experiment as my stride has changed a little over the past few seasons and noticed my feet have been feeling a little tired using the stability shoes, also their size 11 instead of 11.5's ( the 11.5's had a little too much slippage in the heel.) Likewise it's a departure from my brand loyalty to New Balance, so I'm going to give them a try.

I ran a 10k in them Thursday night. Then on Sunday I went for a 4 miler on the Cheshire Rail trail. Steph had come up for the Labor Day weekend and we decided to run. We started off together and I managed to get way ahead so at the first high way crossing I doubled back, I caught up with her then ran ahead again to the end of the next segment. I managed to see her on the way back. She was like "you're already on your way back?" as I strode past. I got back to the highway crossing and doubled back to her at the turnaround. I had managed to get about 35 minutes or 4 miles in. We ran/ walked the last mile together. For Steph it was the longest she's run/ walked and hopefully she'll keep up with it.

On Monday I got the longest run in my new shoes in. I did my normal 8 mile loop in Wolcott. I managed to get it done in 1:12:36. I'm hoping to get another longer run into them and hope to compare times to see if a neutral shoe has been what I needed all along.

Likewise got my physical done for the Navy this morning I'll go into the bloody gory in another post, but things are beginning to fall into place.

Well that's it from me
R.D.

Did I Mention I'm not liking this no internet thing...oh yeah I've got a Half Marathon tomorrow...

WARNING RANT !please scroll down if you want to get to the good stuff.

Well I finally broke down and went to the library to put up some blog posts. I know what most people are going to say "Bob it's 2010, you have a lap top there's no excuse you shouldn't have access to the net." Well sadly my computer is a circa 2003 Dell that was around at the time Dell's were still good and a wireless card was one of those fancy add on thingies. Considering that most cheap lap tops have a wireless card I probably should invest but right now I've got bigger things to worry about (like the car payment, cellphone, gas, insurance,taking a chunk out of my hugundo debt, race entries) The pay raise kicks in next check so I won't be struggling as bad and maybe by mid April I'll have my race plans figured out and if I'm lucky throwdown for a $300 best buy special just so I can get some writing and finish up my Navy App. OK all that out of the way....

Here's the good stuff.

Well way back in February I signed up for the Shoreline Sharks (FREE) Half Marathon. Well I've only managed about 2 to 3 weeks of hodge podge training so I'm hoping my legs will hold up. I've done a couple of long runs over the last two weeks and did a 4 and 5 miler back to back on Thursday and last night. The weather's actually been good for the past week and I'm hoping it holds so I can get my self ready for my somewhat limited racing schedule this season. I'm feeling confident that I can break the 1:30 barrier tomorrow but if not I know it will be close. After this little half mary I've got one race as a certain on the calendar The Patriot Half ( yeah I guess since WTC started branding every thing as 70.3 they can call them halves again.) I'm going to try my hand in the elite corral again because my swimming is at the point I think I'll be able to lead out of the water , my running is coming back nicely, and I just need to work the bike the rest of the spring. I'm up in the air about Rev3 part of me wants to do it because it's the home town race and since I'm going to be OCS bound in July or August, (hence graduating in November) there's no real point to try to qualify for Kona or Clearwater this year. The other thing is do I really want to spend $250 on a race entry? The Griskus Sprint I'm not going to be able to make a decision on until May because that's when I'll know if and when I'm shipping out. If I'm not out until August I might sign up for it, if I'm out in July then it's a no go. I want to get back into Ironman but I won't know when I'll be able to. The coming months hold all the keys to my professional and athletic future. Also on the training for the first time since 2006 I'll be training solo. Bjoern is down in NYC and Josie's pregnant ( which sucks for her Ironman Lake Placid plans for 2010 but hey there's always 2011 and they always say mothers are the firecest competitors.

So that's all that's going down here.

Running toward the future.

R.D.

Half Marathon Sunday.

Well last week I started my gig at the company call center ( more hours and a raise, hey a guy's got to eat before he goes to OCS.) and unfortuately I caught the head cold that was going around so I spent most of the week laid up after my commute home. Today since the weather was in the mid to upper 50's I went for a run. Normally I do my little rink a dink 7 miler but today since I hadn't accomplished much and I've got a half marathon that I have to haul major ass at in two weeks, I decided to push the pain envelope a little. I cranked out a 13 miler in 1:38 on my route of death.
Why is it called the route of death you might ask? Let's just say this there is a 3 mile section on a winding narrow and BUSY road with no shoulder. I managed to survive pretty well even though I was sort of spaced out for most of it. I've had a lot on my mind. First the New job, then the Navy, my family's moving at the end of the month, one of my training partners is done for the season and it's not for anything bad, and I'm still thinking about some girl half a world away like every other thought.
Also this weekend was Ironman New Zealand so I was following Bonzzone's attempt to foil Cam Brown at my work station before relying on texts from friends to keep me in the loop. Likewise the women's race this year was a wire to wire battle as Jo Lawn reclaimed her title from Gina Crawford. (oh yeah and for the first time in 3 years it was sunny with no rain. I guess I really am the rain man.)
Alright so back to this 13 miler it didn't really hurt so I'm pretty confident that I might be able to crack 1:30 in 2 weeks, now it's just getting the mileage back up and blowing the dust off the stomper and starting to ride once again.

With the Navy thing my recruiter wanted to have me ready for March 15 so I could get into an earlier review board, but I'm shooting for April 15 so I can get a May review board which means I would be shipping out at the end of July beginning of August. Which means I get to race a little this season as well as graduate before Christmas. But the main reason is so I can study for my ASTB ( Aviation Selection Test Battery). Essentially this is the GRE for flight school. It has math, navigation and basic knowledge and mechanical physics in 5 neat little packages. I need to score at least 4 out of 10 on each section to become a pilot so let the studying like I'm in college again begin.

So that's all that's going on here.
R.D.

The fruits of Cat sitting

Well this weekend I spent my time up in Hartford house sitting for Josie and her Boyfriend as they frolicked in Puerto Rico ( so jealous the warmest it got on Saturday was 21F I just popped on the 2004 Ironman highlight show on their Tivo and curled up with their siamese.) I did drag myself away from the luxury that is cable TV to get myself to the Plainville Y and managed to get a 2300 pool swim in. I was hoping to go longer but a migraine cut it short. I stopped in on my folks grabed a bite and some motrin and made my way back to Hartford with my sister.

Sunday I really did want to drive down to church but the couch had arms and I set my head back down one bat of the eyelash it was 8:30am the next it was noon. Josie and Jon came back up I got paid for my duties. Most of the cash went toward my pile of bills but I smuggled some to buy myself some desperately needed equipment. First a new pair of New Balance 769's I lucked out in that they were on sale. Second a new Speedo Jammer. My old equipment had gotten so battered there was a hole forming on the crotch and I had been wearing 2 beat up grape hangers beneath it to keep "the boys" out of view. Tonight I christened the new equipment.

I got back from sports authority got into my running gear and my sexy new shoes for a dark five mile jaunt to the high school and back. The run was pretty uneventful excet that I nearly face planted when I tripped over part of a snow bank as I attempted to dodge a car. I managed to stay up right but I really tightened my calves.

Tonight I christened the speedo in the tight confines of the Waterbury YMCA pool. The tri cub/masters swim group had taken over 2 lanes The all girls' school's, Westover's, swim team had taken over 2 more lanes and there were some aquasizers using the other free lane. So the all the cool kids piled in my lane. I was determined to get atleast 4000 yards in , I had wanted to get 5000 but it was proving to be a difficult proposition in the cramped confines. So we organized a sprint work out instead. I had already gotten 2700 yards on the board, and it was going to be hectic to try to do any major distance work. We decided on 2 x 10 25's on :30 followed by 4x50's on 1:00 ( I did 5 on :45 and preceeded to have my balls busted by two of the slower guys...yes I am aquaman!) with a 200 kick between sets and a 200 pull to cool down. The aquasize lane opened up after we finshed the last set so we were able to spread for good cool down, but it had been a tough set for most of the guys in my lane. One Aussie in his mid 40's mitch held onto me pretty good on the 25's and a couple of 50's, one out of shape high school stud and one oof the day guards flaked after the second group of 25's and my buddy Dave a lawyer, who had been part of the masters group for years was the last of the lane 4 brawlers. Despite the crowding it wasn't too bad of a night and I managed to throw down 4200yds into the pot for this week tally in the HEAT virtual New Zealand swim.

All and all not a bad night.
R.D.

I'm Freezing / Working my butt off...

Well this december as I sat there looking down at the scale I got a major dose of what reality has been dishing out at me. On top of all the bills, drama and what the hell am I going to do with my life crisis, I noticed that my pants were starting to get a little tight around the middle. When I looked down at the scale one random morning and saw I had ballooned from my normal 165-170 to over 180 I decided to wage war on this battle of the bulge. I've gotten back into training for what I don't know but I want to keep the body that I fought so hard to get. So the last 2 weeks have seen me getting back into my normal mojo. The running has suffered due to this rather long New England cold snap but I'm stocking up on my "suck it up pills." I actually took one this afternoon and went for a bone chilling 7.5 miles.



Likewise I entered a swim yardage contest with in my tri club ( who membership was renewed by one of my training partners serioulsy if it weren't for these guys I'd be stuck to a chair is some dingy cubicle choking down Ben and Jerrys.) Last week my mileage was hovering at just above 7 this week I want to get it up to at least 10 miles , as it stands I'm heading to the pool for my 3rd consecutive workout and will meet my swim mileage for last week tonight if all goes well.

Last night's main set was pretty brutal:

3x [12x75] Set 1 Drill 50/swim 25 on 1:10 Set 2: Pull with paddles on 1:05 Set3: Swim on 1:00
I actually had to stop after 6 on the last set but knicled down to finish off strong.

Tonight wasn't as intense I only scrapped 3400 out but I only had an hour to get it done. Main set was 5x100 on 1:20 followed by 5x100 pull w/paddles on 1:25. Also I think the coach from the all Girls's School swim team is secretly crushing on me....I'm not vain...and she is my age... alright enough of hitting on the swim coach. Happy training everybody.

R.D.

Ironman New Zealand Update: My leg survived 18 miles bring on that marathon!

Well today I decided to take advantage of good weather and decide to put a little "insurance policy" in my legs. Stupid, too type A what ever I needed to know how my freshly healed Achilles would handle 15+ miles. I needed to know if I could run that marathon in Taupo or resign myself to walking with a glow stick. So I decided to loop it from home. the first sign of any discomfort on the 2nd loop and I could bail. Loop 1 went well. The pace was easy kept hydrated, and listend to the body. The hips were a little tight and all the pressure seemed to be in the front of my legs instead of the back. The second loop was slower and I decided to bail on to an easier loop( my legs were feeling tight and let's face it 18 miles two weeks out was risky enough.) I managed to complete the run in 2:41.29 or at roughly 8:51 mile pace, roughly the same pace as my marathon from last year. I stretched and iced, and took precautionary anti inflamatories. The ankle is feeling pretty good although after the Ironman I'm not running for a month, figure that will give it plenty of rest to before I tackle the summer season. I'll spend time in the weight room and on the bike post Ironman, getting myself into better shape. But that's for another time.
Right now I've gotten that pesky long run out of the way and now I can taper with piece of mind.

Feeling good.
R.D.

Bob-o Runs again!

Well after 4 days of hitting snooze, I finally got up and went for a pre work run. I initially wanted to go at 6:00AM but it was still fairly dark so I snoozed until 6:30 and then left on my 8 miler odyssey. This was the first time in nearly a month I ran my normal hilly route. I tried to pay heed to the advice of don't do any hills in your first week back but where I live that's an impossibility. The leg held up pretty well, still a little scar tissue in the ankle that I just can't make go away, but there was no pain. My legs are tighter than normal, probably because I'm coming off a nearly month long hiatus... I still managed to do the run in 1:18 not as fast as I'd like but it's still pretty good. I found that looking ahead instead of down, my stride improves also it helps to keep me focused on other things, instead of constantly looking at my feet to see how each one is hitting the ground. I tend to prefer about morning runs instead of evening runs is you tend to run into the sunrise, instead of the darkness. At about the five mile mark I pass a small farm at the top of a hill the way the sun hit it made feel bad I didn't have a camera because it was a stereotypical New England scene, absolutely gorgeous. As I started making my way back home the wind kicked up a little bit, but to horribly. So it was a good workout. Tonight I'll ice and trigger point after work, just to maintain my leg , that and I didn't have a lot of time to do anything be stretch before work this morning. So hopefully these "comeback runs" will continue to progress and I'll be able to throw together a half way decent marathon.

R.D.

Liberation! Ironman New Zealnd Update: Race numer in.

Today I rode 40 miles and for the first time in 3 weeks let my running shoes hit the pavement for a good 6 miles. The ride went pretty well although I averaged .2 mph slower than my 70 miler last week. Maybe it's because I didn't fuel properly but I couldn't feel it. Regardless the ride portion went well.

The run, well once I got over all the crap about " when you tendon snaps it's going to feel like someone hit you in the back of the leg and then unbearable pain!" I stretched out and start jogging. I took my run out very conservative as I ran the route of the original Nutmeg State Half Iron Run leg. I had to be going 9-10 min. mile pace keenly aware of any sort of pressure on my left leg. For awhile I looked down at my right leg, it seem to be just going along for the ride while my left leg was taking all the abuse...regardless I'll worry about that as my strength returns. As I shuffled along into the darkness, part of me thought about how much I had taken running for granted. It was something I could always just sort of do...well ok I'm not Prefontaine, or Rodgers Rop but I do alright..and except for this little bump and a case of Wrong F**king shoes in High School I've pretty much been injury free. I finished my little 6-7 miler in about 58 minutes, slow but no pain, or increased inflamation in my leg was a good sign. Tonight ice, stretch somemore, anti-inflamatories, and triggerpoint...then try again on Monday night another 6-7 miler at CCSU. It felt good to run again and hopefully it will stay that way.

R.D.

Also on a sort of related note my race number for the Ironman is in I'll be sporting number 122. Part of me is kinda glad for this it seems whenever I wear number 22 or 23 I always have a good race.

Returning to Running..kinda sort of...

Well yesterday, New England was hit by a big ol' ice storm, unlike Judi, I decided not to risk it on the ice and instead went to the Y and got on the dread...I mean treadmill. I decided to take it easy for the first 15 min. going 7 mph or 8:34 miles after 15 min I cranked it up to 7.5 mph or 8 min miles, I held this pace for the next hour. My ankle started to ache again at this point and after talking to the guy running next to me it seems to be a common aliment from using my gym's particular brand of tread mill. I managed to get in just over 9 miles in an hour and 15 min. Not bad for a first day back. I got the trigger point roller and unlocked my left leg... one of my training partners suggested I get a massage but right now I don't have the dough so my little brother and his skillz that killz will have to do. ( Mike I'm paying for your massage therapy school.)

I managed to get a weight session in with Alex after attempting to do regular dead lifts, it became apparent that my back couldn't hold a neutral spine, he proceeded to show me how to do dumb bell dead lifts to build leg strength, as well as planks and hyper extensions to try to get my back with the program, he also suggested some minor machine work because my back was so weak..row and lat pulls but other than than everything else was either core or free weight. including first half Turkish get ups with kettlebell...crap I'm starting to turn into Angry Runner, I'm drooling over kettlebells...

On the swim front last night was sort of a sprint night, lots of rest, lots of speed, 4600 yards of pain and goodness. Friday I have my usual pre-Ironman test an hour straight trying to give myself an estimate of what I can realistically expect for a split in Taupo.

Tonight trainer love and maybe a swim, tomorrow a run and swim. Saturday, they're predicting snow but then again don't they always. I would love to ride outdoors but' I'll see if it's feasible. Otherwise a snow run might be on tap hopefully 15 + miles but it all rests on my ankle and how it feels. Sunday if the roads aren't crap an after mass ride is up on tap otherwise it will be an aftermass trainer session. I have one week before the semester and I begin to juggle time between school, research, work, and this crazy Ironman thing...only good thing out of this Bjoern is back and I'll have someone to ride with. So for now I need to crank out the miles while I have free time. I just hope the weather will co-operate.

Praying for a freak heat wave...
R.D.

The 72nd Manchester Road Race Race Report.

Yes that's right for 72 years strong, some psychos have been lining up in downtown Manchester and getting in a nice 4.78 mile jog. In recent years the Field has topped 10,000 runners and this year by some "coercion" by a few of my customers I joined the huddled masses this Thanksgiving. Wednesday I went up to register and use my hard earned "winnings" from the Cicchetti to enter. After talking to the director of seeding ( Doug) I managed to talk myself into the 30-35 minute corral so I wouldn't be mowing over power walkers starting in the unseeded mob. Entry paid and seed card obtained and nearly dying most horribly on I-84 through Hartford I went out for coffee with my sisters and then home to try to get some shut eye before the race.


Thursday I woke up about 6AM to get to Manchester in time to catch the first shuttle to the start line. ( Figured I would park at the community college and ride over on the buses and avoid traffic and being boxed in until the race ended.) Well I arrived at 7:00AM and sat around waiting for the bus, I managed to talk to a couple of people,who like me, were doing this shin dig for the first time. I began talking to this fellow first timer, Jeff, as we waited for the first shuttle to arrive, he was meeting up with some friends before the start. The first shuttle showed up at about 8AM "Man this is cutting it close for a 9 AM start." I thought to myself. We arrived in "downtown" Manchester about five minutes later the bus parked in a lot about 1 mile from the race start. As we walked down I noticed people going in and out of the school where they were doing registration. I talked to Jeff to see where he and his friends were meeting up before the race, ( he had offered to stow my race bag in his friend's car.) I went into the school and found it was not only open but that there was a team of massage therapists setting up for business. I stripped down to my shorts and short sleeve Nutmeg State Half iron race Tee and a set of gloves ( after all it was a tropical 35F at 7AM) I bumped into No Bike Mike from HEAT who was also rocking the Nutmeg Half Iron shirt and shot the shit for a while before I went to warm up. I ran down to the Webster Bank lot and met up with Jeff, his friend Prospect Jeff (who will now be know as PJ) and Prospect Jeff's son Matt. I stood in the sun trying to stay warm figuring I had only 15 min. before race start. Then PJ chimed in " You do know this thing kicks off at 10am right?" Damn I has prepped to go an hour early. Jeff turned on the car and I was able to stay warm for another 15 to 20 min...on "company gas." I really had to pee, and the line to the portolets was curving out of the parking lot. Now I'm going to go on a rant about how runners seem to bred to using portolets, At the Nutmeg State Half Marathon I made a similar observation, that there were 500 people lined up for the portolets while there was no one even thinking of using any of the available flush toilets. So I jogged back down to the school, went into the nice warm clean rest room, ( past yet another mass of people waiting for the portolets in front of the school.) did my thing, and began to talk to this tri chick from Mass. Yevette, as I stood inside trying to stay warm until 9:45. at about 9:45 I made my way down main street to the 30-35 min. Starting corral, handed in my seed card ( a postcard with the picture of the race director standing next to some pro.) and tried to stay warm. The odd thing was I was standing right behind the Fox 61 mobile studio so I tried to wave to the camera a couple of times as the race commentators did their usual pre race jabber. Seriously I hate when non-athletes are the commentators, I mean even if someone is a recreational runner they know a little bit about the sport, but some times you end up with total Yutzes ( read Al Trautwig) destroying epic moments in athletic history with their commentary....also I hate it when Yutz runners ( read me.) try waving to the camera...so I guess it all came clean in the wash. Enough of all this pre race crap Let's talk turkey...trot.


The Race:

( Note the dude wearing bib 11675 staring at his watch that's me.)

At 9:55 they did the National Anthem, as runners continued to file into corrals. One kid in a Navy shirt was debating sneaking into the corral. I talked to him for a bit and foundout that it would blow for him to have to start in the back. ( He was a sub 30 runner.) As soon as the Volunteer's back was turned I was like " dude now or never." he snuck under the blue fencing and that was the last I saw of him. The Vollies removed the blue fencing seperating the corrals, 2 min. to go then the 60 sec. countdown, the gun went off and off we went. As soon as I hit the timing mat I started my watching, gluing myself to the kid infront of me riding right against the barricades. As we ran down main street, some bandits jumped in on this thing, and unlike Boston the race directors were cool with it. The first mile was pretty flat, a couple of bottlenecking turns, I saw No Bike Mike running by me, he shouted "come on Rob..time to get moving." We hit "the hill" at about the 1 mile mark I hit the clock at 6:11. We started up and I passed three guys wearing nothing but their sckivies and red white and blue body paint, I began to pass some of the herd as some of the faster runners who were bottlenecked in the back starting coming forward. the hill Continued up for about a mile and really slowed the average speed. I hit the 2 mile mark at the summit and my split was a 7:19! 7:19 more than a minute slower than my previous mile. We approached the summit of the hill only to be greeted with screaming crowds, bag pipers, Music Blaring and lots of signs bearing Over the Hill Jokes. For as gradual as the hill went up it went down in a hurry, I tried to control my pace but it seems everyone behind me had the "Shin Splints be damned" Angry Runner approach to desecending. I watched almost helplessly as about 10 of the people I had out ran up " the hill" were getting sweet revenge. We hit the three mile mark in about 20 min. my mile split was a 6:27 worlds away from the grind up the hill. It was about this point the kickers were coming forward...to explain what a kicker is, if you ran track in high school do you remember the bum that used to tuck in behind you for say 3 and 3/4 laps in the mile (7 and 3/4 laps in the 2 mile) and then on the last straight they just opened up and would lay waste to you like you had been standing still....yes these guys/gals have grown up and started running road races too. It was about this time some kid in black shorts and a singlet came along side and started to make his way forward I tried to keep Mike in sight but with all the passing and getting passed it was like rush hour in Hartford, with everyone zigging left and right in and around, eventually the pack strung itself out as I tucked in behind someone going my pace. we hit the 4 mile mark at about 26:30 a 6:34 mile. there was a little over 1k or .75 of a mile left and we were heading for down town, the crowds got louder, it was like being in a human tunnel because everyone was just going crazy. Dude in the black track get up was over by the side of the road "reliving breakfast." the pace had gone from fairly hard to "daddy stop the pain" in a little less than a quarter mile, I was now begining to feel breakfast making a reprise, and decided to tone it down a notch hey I didn't want to drive an hour plus back home with a sick Coffee and bagel and stomach acid combo after taste in my mouth. So the kid in his black singlet got his bearings back and decided to go until he puked twice, and he flew on by as I conservatively sprinted toward the Huge American Flag and the Start finsh line. As we approached the line we were told to fan out into one of six chutes, I was locked in a dead sprint with about 5 other guys, I couldn't really tell who won but I was pissed when I looked at the results and they put some kid who had the same time ahead of me. Official Time 31:29 Net time: 31:24. 363rd overall 107th in my age group.

In a field of 10,000 not a bad day at the office. I made my way through the finish chutes and back to the school, got a quick massage and got dressed in my "warm clothes". I bumped into one of my classmates, Ashley, and her boyfriend, told them about the massage tables, foundout that they had not made the official start. Apparently a few of the shuttles were delayed in getting to the start line and by the time they made it down, the volunteers were already installing the finishing chutes because the wheel chair racers were coming in and the elites were about 5 minutes away.So they jumped on course and ran it out. I managed to go back to the finish line area but I could find no sign of Jeff or PJ so I made my way back to the shuttle pick up and after about a 20 min. wait made my way back home for a hard earned shower, turkey and a nap. I think this might be the start of a new Thanksgiving tradition.

R.D.

Thursday's Run is being paid for by the Fischang-Cicchetti Road Race.

Well today I continued my entering races at the absolute last second trend. I decided to run the Fischang-Cicchetti 5 mile Memorial run. I will start by saying it was cold, not brisk, not nippy, no it was freeze your ass off cold. I actually did the unthinkable and nearly raced in tights, but decided that long sleeves, gloves and a hat were enough.

I ended up bumping into Waterbury's Ironman Al, and after shooting the shit got into postion for the start as always I position myself in the front line so my sexy ass will grace the sports' section tomorrow morning. The gun went off and it was a feeding frenzy for 5 miles through the ghetto. The first part of the race is through downtown past the revitalized part of East main street and the palace theatre and then up into the hood, before going through Hamilton park and then back the way we came. As I approached the first mile mark I was not expecting a PR in today's run because it was cold, it was like every 400 m my lungs were clogging up with phlem and I was hawking lougies, and I don't mean Phit, little ones I mean I was hawking huge freaking snot balls, that would have a pocessed Linda Blair asking me to be her unerstudy. The first mile wasn't bad but it wasn't as fast as I normally take it out a 6:30. As we continued toward the park I continued to breathe deep and every so often honk out a monster gob of snot. About this time the high school cross country kids were pulling ahead, and then Al , some chick in tights and Pat came up we sort of became a pace group for the next mile and a half. We hit Hamilton park and I unzipped my long sleeved jersey to get so air. My 2 mile split was 13:40 a 7:10 mile definitely slower than last year,but also last year it was 20 degrees warmer. We passed the aid station at the 2.5 mile mark and the volunteers we sitting down and there was still a full table of water cups, none of us were taking any fluids it was just too freaking cold. About this time Pat made his break, I tried to tag with him and Al was on my heels as we left poor chick in tights in No-man's land. we hit the 3 mile mark I made the comment "only 23 miles to go..."the three of us sort of chuckled and we sort of agreed that we perfered the slow cruel death that is the marathon compared to this high speed pain fest. Mile 3 split 20:41 or a 7:00 mile yeah PR out the window. Pat checked out I tried to go with knowing Al is a faster runner than I am and he most likely has a powerful kick so I figured unless I want to be edged out at the line, I might want to go a build a lead over these last two miles. I surged not looking back knowing Al was probably right on my shoulders 5k splits were being shouted out and again on hearing mine I sort of figured no PR but as long as I was in under 35 min. so I could seed myself at Manchester on Thursday that was all that would matter. Mile 4 is slightly down hill as we leave the park and go back into the hood. I hit the 4 mile mark 27:16, 6:35 mile definitely no PR today but definitely a sub 35 day. The course continued to go down hill toward the city green past the police station, I reeled in a Cross Country runner as I got passsed by group of 3 high school hot shots...oh to be 18 again. As I passed the Palace theater I could hear the sound of someone breathing down my neck, I knew it was Al but I wasn't looking back. The finish line was only 400 meters ahead, I turned on the after burners and hope I could eek out a little more. We passed spectators the line was coming in sight Al came along side as we lunged for the line I tried to hold my fingertips over the line infront of him but it was to know avail. I got snipped at the line by less than a second. Now how know how Ken Glah felt at Ironman New Zealand in 1990, when Pauli Kiru just barely beat him. Official time 33:56 the last mile was about a 6:40. After coughing up a pound of phlem ( for some odd reason I always end up dry heaving after this race.) I congratulated Al on a battle well fought and made my way to the Waterbury Y and the post race food. After not winning squat in the raffle I started catching up with some of my friends from high school, and some of the local running crowd. Suddenly someone motined to me " Rob they're calling you're name." I went up a recieved a check for $25 bucks. Because this was the 34th running of the race and I had just barely finished 34th I was rewarded with a $25 payday. So that $25 will go to the "Manchester road race" this Turkey Day. So that was my Sunday, not a PR, not my best placing but a good race considering the circumstances.

I think I can feel my toes again

R.D.

I think she's a keeper.... and other ramblings.

" Rob I could never make you give up training, I know how important it is to you..it's part of your soul."- the girl I'm currently dating/ seeing/ I don't know what people call it these days.



If that doesn't say keeper I don't know what else will...well maybe if she worked at a running store, her dad owned a bike shop, and her mom's a race director, her older sister was a massage thearpist.....well maybe in San Diego...



Nope I'm thinking my girl in Newport is a keeper although I'm sure I'll hear that girls in Newport are more trouble than the damned toll brigde.

This morning I managed to get in a 10 mile run after a late night date in Newport. I will say only one thing the portion of town I ran in had nothing close to a hill. Downtown, has a monster hill but I really didn't want to be running down tourist, and dodging BMW's and other finely crafted pieces of Euro-engineering, bent on my destruction. So I took off in the direction of Brenton Point State Park. Now seriously I picked the wrong sport to work on. Everybody and their brother was out on their bikes. I think next time I'm down in Newport I going to be rolling on the Stomper, becasue the bike culture is alive there. So this weekend was not a total waste training wise. Now I have a hardcore week of training and research ahead, hopefully I'll be in shape for next season although I've been getting scolded by one personal trainer/friend who says I should be working on my "non competitive" strokes and focusing solely on sprints next season...sort of a "go back to the minors" approach to triathlon. Work on winning the local tri for fun, then do like one big name race. Maybe that's the route I should go but I already know I'm more of a long distance guy,so what does 09 hold for me I don't know but I know there is going to be a least one iron,and one half.

R.D.