The Chain Gang or a complete idiot explaining the lower muscle groups.

Alright, I've been getting a ton of screaming from Angry about using the terms "posterior chain" if I had no idea what it is/why it's important. So I will give the evolution of what I thought it was/ what it actually is.

Angry uses it in post.

What I thought it meant: Fancy word for ass.

Scolded, maybe there is more to it than the gluteus maximus (ok spelled wrong, but I haven't read in Latin in over 6 months, bare with me.)

Lift with Angry, see him do dead lifts, squats mentions that I should work the chain.

What I assume it to mean: Lower back, hips, glutes, hamstrings, essential the muscle groupings from the lower lumbar sections to the upper legs, essentially mostly covered by my tri suit.

Why I felt it was important: Well, after a series of long hilly rides constantly left my lower back in pain, my hips occasionally felt thrashed and like always my legs were rubberized, I figured working the lower back, hams, and glutes might help reduce injury risk and increase power out put and therefore speed, also working on it would prevent me from having to stand to throw on my running shoes in transition after mountainous bike routes. Granted I've been in the weight room the grand total of 5 times this season, this month and next I'm having Alex show me strength work outs to work the chain so I can become an unstoppable force...( Howard Dean yell here.)

Use it in post, find out I spelt posterior wrong and in my assumption forgot to include one major leg muscle group, the calves. Was again smacked by angry.

After a frantic email to my friend a personal trainer, searching the web for a strength site that could tell me more of the anatomy, I found that the calves are part of the posterior chain and therefore the importance of strenthening it for sport became clear: The posterior chain is the source of all lower limb locomotion and power, in essence it is speed, it is power, it is hobbling down the Queen K after 9+ hours of abuse, or down the 100m straightaway in 10 sec. or less. Work the chain and you will be able to run/ cycle/ swim/ lift/ longer, harder, faster. Work it and the core ( the muscles of the chest and trunk, pectorials, abdominals, obliques not really positive if the arms count in this one...will research and edit appropriately) and overall fitness greatly improves.

Ok so it wasn't a technical post with diagrams, pie charts and rudimentary Latin,but I proved that I get the concept of the importance of" the chain".

I'm putting on my crash helmet for the major beatdown I'm going to get for posting this one.
R.D.

Dare to Dream and take Risks?

Upon looking at my poll results, it looks like Ironman Arizona is in the cards if I can get a general entry slot in November, I've been crunching the numbers to see if a New Zealand/ Arizona double is in the mix or would be fiscal suicide, upon review I might be able to swing it if Catherine and Jo Ann could tolerate putting my hairy arse up for two weeks, if I make Kona, I will have to sell vital organs, my car and soul or my parents real estate gig will have to take off pronto ( granted it will anyway, the active adult community has given them 2 deals and at least 3 prospects) but my dad's promise rings in my ears " You earn a Kona slot and we'll find a way to get you there." Needless to say my escape from number crunching my bills and earnings, has been number crunching flights and hotels in Taupo, along with Flights, hotel, and rental car arrangements to Tempe and the Big Island, with my earnings. Bjoern said he'd be down for Tempe so splitting a hotel and rental car could make it a very, very, managable trip if we can both get general entry. Park City at this point is looking more and more like it's in the scrap heap, and I'm trying to tuck enough away for Nutmegman. I never thought I'd say I miss the sprints and olympics, but upon looking at my calendar and finding a majority of my races have been halves, I have to say I kind of miss the variety I had last year. For as stressful as 2007 was 2008 has been more so. I hadn't been able to really enjoy the time leading up to my races. Financial worries plauged me from the day after Nutmeg up until my flight to Taupo. Every race the worries would hit, do I have enough for gas, bills, hotel, food. I've only had one podium technically 2 if I went AG, but anytime I can get a shot in the elite I'll take it. I've found that my family and friends definitely have great faith in my ablities, for my realatives to pool resources and lend me cash to compete, it speaks volumes, especially in our situation.

All I can do to get through the montony of work and bills, is train and plan for the next race. To qoute from one of my favorite movies , Rudy, " Dreams are what make life tolerable." Most of my life I've been told I don't dream enough, I try to stay in the concrete, what I can do today, what I've gotten in the past. Recently I've been dreaming a little too much, but unlike a lot of dreamers I realize dreams are only achieved through hard work and follow through. I can't sit on my ass and expect to do a sub-10:30 Ironman and qualify for Kona , I can't sit at a desk pissing and moaning expecting it's going to get me out of debt and put a bachelor's degree in my hand. Positive energy goes only halfway, the other half you have to put out. With all the negative that's been circling in my life lately I've been trying to get upbeat, I plan, and I execute. I take some risks, put myself out there, I've almost thought of going for and FHA loan to buy investment property in popped bubble markets (even though they're cheap my debt to income sucks right now and I know it. So that will wait until I'm making more than $19k and pocketing $15k after taxes, 401k and benefits. It could pay dividends other wise I will have a vacation home in Florida....and California... and Nevada.... to sell/rent at cut throat prices.)

All the fiscal shit aside, one reason I have NZ for 09 is the fact I want to have one last crack at Kona as an 18-24 AG athlete, Tempe is game over for that AG ( granted I expect to be riding like Hell on Wheels because I will have more favorable training conditions.) because it's a qualifier for 2010 in which I'd be entering the slightly more competitive 25-29 bracket, against former collegiate swimmers and runners, also despite it's the 25th Anniversary, IMNZ is slow to sell out, where as IMAZ could be an equally expensive endeavor if I log on to my PC late and miss the General Entry ( then the debate is do I go with a community fund slot? or buy a training package with Entry and training camp from Multisport.com) If I don't get to Kona by 30 I'm giving up on the dream to go pro, because by that point I will have to be going pro speed to qualify in my age group. Part of me embraces risk, my parents tried to play it safe and ended up in deeper shit than if they took risks in their careers, in investment, in life in general. They have often told me to live opposite of the way they lived, maybe one of the reasons as I begged my dad to talk me out of IMNZ 09 he encouraged me to get my shit handled and do it. Indeed upon looking at the battering I've taken this year I'm not too bad off, a couple of things got /are getting paid late, had some major scares but by September I'll be all square, life will be back to normal, granted I'll still be crashing with Grandpa. Well I've gone on like Mac Beth, speaking "the tale of an idiot ,a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing."- Bill S. My hope for 09 is that by the time August rolls around I will have my degree in hand, and gainful entry level career, an emerging coaching business, and some 20 year olds pissing themseleves with fear on the big island, because my lycra clad prosterior chain will be making its way to the start line in Kona.

Paying his dues, bearing his scars and getting tougher by the second.
R.D.

Slyvain Chavanel Finally wins!, welcome to the blogroll, and professional development

Ok I had to get that out of my system. I've been following TDF since I was in middle school and to see this guy finally win was a joy. I remember a brave breakaway he led in 2003 in which he was caught at the bottom of a major climb by Lance Armstrong after leading one of the Alpine Stages from the opening km's (crap I'm turning into Phil Ligget), every stage this year he has been in a break and to see him finally win and his emotional reaction reminded me of all that is good in sport.

Ok random TDF moment over. Also Iron-Matron has been added to my blog roll, there are some others who have commented that I need to add so if it takes me a while I apologize. Also I put in an App with The Hartford or as Angry Runner will call them " The unholy Horde of Southington." Enemies of freedom, a road bump in his corporation's bid for world domination. Don't know what will come from it, but I figure if I want to improve my station in life/ finance I need to take action, and the worst case senario is they will say no, so nothing to lose. Went on a ten mile trail run with Justin, turned out pretty well although this guy can smoke my ass, seriously, he's well on the right track to qualifying for Boston. I was a bit humid, the fuel belt made an appearance, but it was a good session...not better than sex...but good. Speaking of which there were two girls sunning themseleves on the beach and I gave a cat call to which I was given an unamuzed look from under a pair of sunglasses. Irregardless, that's enough out of me

R.D.

How Cervelo became Evil...or at least in my opinion.

Way back in the day, 2003 to be exact as I was trying to do the college swimmer/partyer thing, I actually liked Team CSC, I actually liked Cervelo, why wouldn't I? They were a radical young company just starting out, offering decent priced products ( cervelo not CSC). Team CSC had a Tour war hero in Tyler "I finished 4th with a broken collarbone" Hamilton, I felt sympathy for Bobby Jullich who always seemed to have heart break, Fabian Cancellara was still some punk on the U-23 circut. Then came 04 Tyler left for Team SyntheticTestosterone.... I mean Phonak, won gold in Athens, then got busted for doping, he served out his ban and rode in obsurity for the rest of his career....what a waste..sadly a sign of bigger disappointments to come with Floyd Landis....to this day I think the Med. Staff at Phonak was behind most of the doping either that or my joke about free EPO with a BMC Time Machine wasn't a joke ( seriously Astana and Phonak two teams with the biggest doping scandals were using BMC's)...but anyway I digress, Tyler Hamilton broke my heart, I still liked a majority of the CSC riders until last year, when Zabriskie left, there were no Americans on their tour roster this year. Also everyone was drooling over Fabian " sex on wheels" Cancellara last year, I fail to see what's so special about him, so he rides an insanely fast time trial, let's see him average 50kmph up Alpe D' Huez , let's see him grit through 3 weeks with a busted collarbone and top 10 or just top 10 for that matter. Ok I'm jealous of his speed I'm man enough to admit it....I want time trial skillz that killz.....

Enough of the cyclists back to my beef with Cervelo while I was in a two year stint at Fordham and a summer of self detox in 05 Cervelo went from being a bike company that was anti-establishment, or the Anti-Trek ( yes after 1999, every kid and their brother was buying a Trek because "Lance rode one", heck the TDF could have been badged the Tour de Lance and OLN could have been dubbed the Lance Armstrong network, nothing against the guy, I love seeing Americans win but when he finally retired in 05 I was almost happy to see him go, now it meant there would be a tighter race ( although 03 was good on many levels.).) By 2006 that had changed Cervelo was the fastest growing bike at Kona, Transitions across the country were full of them, they had become *gasp* the establishment. Upon browsing and Slowtwitch it was like I was an unwelcome pilgrim in Cervelo Nation, if didn't use a Cervelo you weren't one of the "in" crowd... It was as if the hippies and rouge engineers were replaced by stiffs in suits bent on world domination...so what did I do... bought a bike from a more " established" company. I'll admit it I sold out when I started looking at Treks, Specialized, and C-dizzle but these guys were offering the financing I needed, sadly one of the reasons I didn't go with Trek was they didn't have anymore of the model I wanted /could afford in stock and I wasn't throwing down 2k on an aluminum Lemond. But I love my Stomper it has smoked many a person, and almost has me pledging unwaivering loyalty to Specialized granted I will ride anything with 2 wheels that I can get a good deal on.

Alright that was my rant I should have a shorter training related post this evening.

Fighting the man!
R.D.

Finally training with Peeps. TDF /Cervelo Smack.

Well after Tuesday's Dash and splash, I was hoping to get another pool session in yesterday, but tightness in my legs, shoulders, and my impeccable knack for bull shitting, threw a wrench into that plan, so I just chilled in the hot tub for 15 min. loosening my tight legs. Anyhoo out of the deal I arranged a training session with my friend Justin, doing my Holy Cross Hop Brook loop of doom that I did on Tuesday. ( It's about nine miles if there are any takers in blogger land, ahem Angry Runner!). For me it's finally good to be training with some other people granted I do lose some training time in catching up, but having someone there to help push the pace and share in the suffering helps to make the monotony of a long run, ride, or swim workout from hell pass a little quicker. For the past couple of weeks I've sort of been a loner. Haven't really talked much to people as I attempt not to spend un-necessarily, or at least not too much. Sunday I met up with a few of the HEATsters, and it felt good being around people again, granted I felt socially awkward as I tried to mack it with 2 girls who after about 5 min. I realized they weren't intersted, well it's probably better that they weren't. I can't afford a girlfriend, at this point, granted if I keep using that excuse by the time I can afford one I'll be a wrinkled old fart and "Gold digger bait."
Irregardless, it's been nice to actually have human contact that doesn't involve money changing hands over the past couple days. It almost makes me feel normal again, for a while I was begining to think the customary response to " Hi, how are you?" was " Cash ,Large bills!"

Sunday I'm riding through Middlebury/ Woodbury /Washington Claire you're supposed to be tapering so no coming down this week end, put your feet up and watch Cadel Evans smash Team CSC/ Saxo Bank's hopes of a yellow jersey, and dash Cervelo's clever marketing campaign for 2009, granted Cancellara will most likely win the TT , but all that matters is the dude in the Yellow shirt rides for someone other than CSC/Saxo Bank, a rides something other than a Cervelo..ok TDF rant over

Well that's it for now, one day I will explain how I went from being a fan of cervelo, when they were the anti -trek to being a sworn cervelo hater, and the only rider on CSC who's heroics I respected only to watch him fall from grace.
until then
Vive Cadel!
R.D.

I haven't been this sore since High School / Return to the polls.

Well after a long day at the office and a quarterly meeting ( in which we wre told not to fear for our jobs, the bank is secure well capitalized and will survive for the time being, also stock went up a buck yesterday Yoo-hoo!) I had decided that morning to toss my running shorts and micro tee on under my work clothes and after the meeting in downtown Waterbury, pulled a Clark Kent and high tailed it to my Alma Mater, Holy Cross in the West Side of the dirty Water.

My plan was to run an old 7 mile route from my high school track and field days, the memories came flooding back as I left the parking lot to risk my life and limb on Oronoke Rd., after the rapid descent of Oronoke I took a right and entered Hop Brook State Park. The run was on asphalt for a majority, but I was able to mix in some trail goodness, after spitting out on the wrong exit I ended up tacking on an extra 2- 3 miles running up route 63 and country club rd. I'll say it was a 9 miler Total time: 1:20.15

After the run I had a bottle of GU2O and it was off to the Y for a 3000 yard work out, the intial plan was 1000 warm up with 10x 20 on 2:50 sprint every odd 200. That lasted until my sugar craving body bonked on #6 I still did 10x200 but I did 1-6 every other 200 sprint on 2:50 followed by 4x200 pull on 3:00 I managed to hold under 2:40 on the 3 sprints just made the interval on the rest ones and all 4 pulls were at 2:45 or lower, all in all it was a good night in the pool, although it might have been better had I eaten something more than the mini pasteries and fruit they had at the meeting. Needless to say, I woke up tis moring with tight Hams and quads the calves are tight but used to the punishment. Today I had a ride on tap, but I might swap for a swim due to the adverse weather in the forecast, I've decided to skip on the track workout tomorrow, figuring I'll use the next two weeks as a mild build phase then drop the hammer in August. I want to use the next 3 to 4 months of decent weather as base and build toward a possible early season Ironman in 09.


R.D.
Also
I have a poll up on should I do an Ironman in 09?

Option A Do Ironman NZ again: It'll only cost me $2600 due to the arrangements I have with some friends down there.

Option B Sign up for Arizona in November, It'll probably cost me about the same amount, maybe a little less. Only draw back is if I qualify for Kona 2010, as a 24 year old and I bump up to the 25-29 bracket in April 2010 does that make my slot null and void?

Option C Enter the Kona lotto if happens great! If not take it as sign from the Almighty that a 2009 IM is not in the cards and focus on 5 to 6 local races.

Option D Skip out on an IM in 09, finish school, pay off debt, find a higher paying position, Your health will always be there but the first steps entering the professional world are vital. Also focus on getting that 10k sub 40.

Let the Assault begin.......

That's right in my never ending quest to lessen my debt yet train and race like an animal, this week has become an all out assault on my body and check book.

A$$ault on the check book:
Alex is paying the final installment on my road bike ( tear, sniff, I will miss you Enrico, may you help him as you helpped me...whiny emotional rant.) I get paid which means my creditors get paid, and now I've been hit with I have to pay my own insurance which now means $202, a month is now going to the wonderful people at Met Life and Casuality, one day I will have a better paying job..one day, hopefully sooner rather than later. Needless to Say Park City has gone from Probable to Doubtful, so August might just be a hardcore training month prepping myself for an all out assault on Nutmegman..the goal to break 5 at all costs. New Zealand 09 is looking really doubtful but then again New Zealand 08 looked really doubtful, September will bring some relief with my student loans ( my cards paid for gas and food at school so it is a school expense , that and I need to tuck away $1k for a winter session course, I need to graduate.... soon so I can work a 9-5.) ok financials and professional/ education rant done.... for now...

Assault on my Body:
Last week I sat around and got fat, to rest my legs after the rampage my 3 tris in a week took on them, I swam twice for a grand total of 5,000 yards. I ran 0 cycled 0 lifted 0 unless you count a bottle of coke. So yesterday began my "Bobby is going to train himself like his life has no other meaning than getting faster." phase I did a 3400 yard work out granted I shot the shit for a while with Ray, Alex and Josh, but I still managed to do half of my Pyramid of doom ( 8x 50 on :45, 5x100 on 1:25 , 2x200 on 2:50, 400 on 5:45 the second half would be descending down again.) I had wanted to run Yesterday but hosuehold duties cut into that, so Today I plan on going for a 6-8 miler once I'm released by my corporate masters at 6PM hopefully the meeting won't run that late and then a quick swim tonight at the Y. I had wanted to run this morning but I slept through my alarm, penance for that will be a 5AM lift and swim and an evening bike session tomorrow.

I plan on doing a track workout Thursday night if it isn't storming, I figure Bree's 10x 1600m on :90R ( I'll do it in the Art Rodriguez School of T&F start easy and descend by 5 sec. on each repeat until I'm sprinting my balls ..er legs off.) sounds like a good threshold/ speed session. Next week I'll do a longer long run, and a shorter track session, I'm just desperately trying to get my Half Marathon into the 1:30's Marathon into the 3:30's so I can be in better contention for an Ironman in 09 and decimate my age group by an insane margin at Nutmegman, I want to not only break the 5 hour barrier I want to smash it with a barbed wire coated steel chair and leave it crying for its mommy. Ok so my descriptive language lacks style and class, but I seriously want to break 5 before Bjoern does, insert picture of him and I pulling the Ken Glah/ Paul Kiru mad dash for the tape, alla Ironman New Zealand 1990.

Alright that's enough out of me today, I've got to go track down a VW bus, to drag behind me on my training ride.

R.D.