And so it begins...The 2010 Pat Griskus Olympic Triathlon Race Report

Well this year I've Age Grouped up. I'm no longer in the "I just came here from a kegger." Age Group. While I was hoping my first Foray into the 25-29 Age group would have been at a half Ironman, circumstances and the fates had a different plan. And so for the first time since 2007 I kicked my season off at the Pat Griskus Olympic Triathlon in Middlebury, CT. For all of you who did REV3 we race out of the Quassy Amusement Park but this course is just a tad more forgiving. If the race name sounds familiar it should. I do the Griskus Sprint every July but when the schedule of the Patriot Half in Freetown, MA changed last year I decided to shoot at the longer distance. This year with scant resources and scant training I rolled into Middlebury just hoping to get through the race in one piece, hopefully in the top half of my AG and try to gauge where I'm at at this stage in the game.

The Swim: 23:51
The swim for this race is somewhat easier than the Sprint as it is a point to point loop instead of a straight out and back. Still the dash to the first buoy might as well have been the Ironman. It was a really chaotic jostle for position, and I found myself stuck in traffic for a while. After the first buoy I broke a little wide and found some free water and began to close in on the leaders. By the third buoy I had found my rhythm It took me half the swim to reach the chase pack but I managed to get out of the water in 8th place nearly 3 minutes behind the leader in a time of 23:51.

The Bike: 1:16:59
I had a really quick time in T-1 as I had really loaded up both my calves and wetsuit with suit juice so I could yank it off fast. I had just had my cleats redone on the pedals so I was able to do the whole preclipped pedals mount maneuver which also helped save some time. The only thing that might have cost me was I forgot to take my Gu's out of my transition bag and as this was an Oly, I didn't mount my bento box to the frame. As I pedaled out I sort of realized thhis mistake and decided I was going to have to take my calories from Gatorade as I had no substantial nutrition. The first mile was kind of hesitant as I slid my feet in my shoes. I know I'm going to have to work on this for next weekend's sprint and the Griskus Sprint coming up in July. Once I got in I developed a pretty good pace. I lost some positions on one of the major down hills at mile 4 but I was surprised at how much my power climbing had helped me develop. For some of the major climbs at mile 6-10 I was leap frogging with a guy from my age group, an older guy on a guru and a kid Chris on an Orbeca. The older guy and the kid on the Krestel got away from me on the descent and Chris got around me on Weekeepeemee Rd. ( probably the ancient Indian word for many pot holes.) Weekeepeemee is dangerous as most of the road is pitted and patched but it is also a downhill so it turns into a risk vs. reward area. You can make up a lot of time going aero and hammering but just as easily find yourself going over the bars. The course marshalls sent us up a detour as one of the sections on the course was covered with pea gravel. The detour took two miles off the bike course but sent us up a brutally steep grade. I managed to get around Chris again and tried to climb the best I could. My lower back was killing me and I was really needing a Gu/ Hammer Gel/ Banana some sort of nutrition. We were rewarded with a much shallower grade up Flanders Rd. Once we were directed back to the Original course and then the descent down Rt. 61 ( where Josie had crashed last April.) I managed to stay infront of Chris on this section and pulled away as we went back up Middle road Turnpike and up the familar hills of the last 4 miles of the Sprint course. It was about this time I got passed by the women's leader. So I made it my mission to keep her in sight. I got passed by a kid from Georgetown on the final climb and managed to limit my losses. I had started the bike in 8th and maybe lost about 20 spots which for me isn't great but isn't horrible either.

The Run: 41:32
I managed to execute my dismount perfectly and got in and out of Tranasition really quickly. Josie was working as a transition marshall and was screaming for me along with Robin Griskus and some of the other race directors. I started the run really hard granted part of me felt like I was running on an empty tank. I managed to catch up with and pass the kid from Georgetown on thhe downhill at the first mile marker. He caught me by the turnaround and would run the hill together. We passed some volunteers and I made a comment about more cowbell. That seemed to give a little light hearted ness to the situation. We talked about pace and strategey and how sweet that beer was going to be at the finish. As we ran up the hill I knew my opening pace had been too hard as I got a wicked side stitch. I managed to keep Mike from G- town in my sights at the turn around at the park, but he left me in the dust as we began loop 2. The second loop I find tends to be a little better as you have more targets to try to catch. Indeed I was starting to regroup and was feeling a little bit better at the bottom of the hill. People kept screaming I was flying and crusing on this run but I wasn't feeling it. My legs felt like lead, I was bonking hard core, essentially I was just hoping to match the 42 minute run I did here back in 08. At the aid station before the uphill. I caught Marc from Staten Island. Marc and I had swapped the lead in the 20-24 AG last year at Park City. We touched base real quick and then I was past and started cranking up the hill. The entire second loop I noticed I kept gaining ground on the women's leader. If I could just get up to her and around I might salvage 42 minuutes. I also nooticed the guy directly in front of her had a "C" on his leg the symbol for the 25-29 AG. I had to pass him. As I ground up the hill the gap got closer and closer. At the top I managed to get around the guy with the "C" on his calf and set my sights on Cassie Maximenko the women's leader. The gap dwindled and as we approached the park I was on her shoulder. Part of me thought " Maybe I should back off and let her celebrate her victory as there is not another chick in the same zip code." The other part of me was thinking about the dude I just passed I didn't want to get punked at the line yet again. I kicked it into gear and got around Cassie, she kicked right back and got me by a foot on the timing mat. I looked at my watch 41:45 ( I had hit start in T2). It was my fastest 10k ever.

Total time: 2:23:57 66th overall 10th out of 27 in AG

Looking at the stats from the race which also was USAT's Northeast Regional Championship I'm pretty pleased with my performance. I did take away a few lessons that I sort of already knew:

1. Take gels with you on the bike!
2. Pace sensibly
3. In a short race it's alright not to use every one of the aid stations, you don't always need water or gatorade every mile.
4. Practice the barefoot mount as it might have cost me 30sec.-1 min. in the opening mile.
5. Ride more.
6. Lift more.

Likewise I have made some major improvements:
1. Big gear work on the bike means more climbing power.
2. Work on transitions pays dividends.
3. A properly executed dismount is not only a thing of beauty but quick and pain less.
4. Lift more.

I still have a somewhat long training season ahead and I'm hoping to do a late season Iron or Half..so hopefully I can iron out some of the bugs and get my first AG win since 2007. It's been a while but if I can pull a 10th in the midst of a meltdown, what am I capable of when everything is together.

R.D.

Homelessness, Stress, and I want to compete damn it....

Well the past three weeks have been an emotional roller coaster to say the least, I've been thrown through the ringer and on top of it all I just want to sign up for a couple races and get some primal rage out of the system.

Three weeks ago my parents lost their house. A friend of the family offered us a place to crash while he vacations on the coast for the summer so that was an exceptional act of kindness on the part of him and his family. I'm still planning on moving out but to know I've got a semi stable roof over my head while I scrounge together a security deposit is a good thing. I've had some anger and resentment building and it was approaching a head but thankfully I didn't do anything too rash.

Josie got married last weekend and found out she is expecting a baby girl.


After Josie's wedding my car's battery died so I was left car less and homeless in the same week. Without the car ( which was storing my bike) there was no way I was going to get to the pool or go for rides so my training nosed dived as did my endorphins leading to a massive break down on Tuesday night.

I spent some time with the GF but I had a mini melt down mid-week. Seriously this girl should be up for the medal of honor for having to deal with my crap. essentially my breakdown was I felt unworthy of her. The breakdown went along the lines of she comes from a decent fairly stable family. She has worries that would be considered more or less normal. She cute, she's smart, she's emotionally stable what does she want with a freak like me that's homeless, car less and living off the stop and shop 2 for $0.89 Ramen Special, when she could have a strong, stable, financially secure gentleman ( read : Angry Runner.) that could buy her anything her heart desires annd give her the time attention and stability every girl should have. So essentially I just sort of broke down because I felt like she could do better than me. Which led to a whole long tearful conversation which I will not discuss here but essentially that girl is a keeper.

My plans to keep my perfect steak alive at the Patriot Tri came to a violent end as I looked at the bank account this morning and there was no way I was going to swing the $200 entry fee. I still have meek hope for the Griskus Olympic but I've got to see what hits the account overnight. Despite all the crap that has happened to me in the last 3 weeks I still want to race. I'm a triathlete it's what I do. It's in my blood. For too long I've sat round as a whiny bitch I've got nothing left to lose so I should go out and make my competition pay for my pain and pay dearly.
People have always marveled that I can take the beating of half and full ironman's pretty well, essentially it's because the physical doesn't hurt as much as the mental. I mean you run a marathon your legs cramp tough shit. I'd rather run 3 marathons back to back than to try to keep the stoic face and try to keep it together on the outside like I've had for the last couple of months. People speak of mental toughness, I'll be the first to say I'm not mentally tough I just know I've got to get up in the morning and go to work, and try to do something. I sulk, I bitch but I got to keep moving though I feel like I can't. There were days still are days I look at my situation and feel hopeless, but I still get up and still keep doing what I have to do, because nothing is going to change if I sit on my butt crying and watching CSI dvds all week.
So I really want to compete this year...maybe because it's an escape of the torture daily life has become or maybe it's my way of "sticking it to the man" I've got talent and somedays it feels good to know you just laid the smack on the guy with a $10k P-4, a $200/month training plan, personal massuse, thearpist for his cat, and the executive challenge grab bag hanging from his handle bars. It makes the ramen taste a little better and go down a little smoother on Monday afternoon.

R.D.

Moving Out

"It seems such a waste of time, if that's what it's all about, Good Luck Moving up cause I'm moving out!"- Billy Joel.

Sorry for the delay in posts but life has been kind of hectic. My family is in the middle of losing our home and he have been for the past several months. Right now it's getting down to crunch time and I have some major stuff to mull over. As my parents are desperately searching for a place as a result of the poor economy I too am finding myself in the market for a place. Part of me is like maybe I should stay with them until I figure out my Navy hitch, the other part is like Dude you're 25 put on the big boy pants find your own place, you've got your own messes to deal with and if you stay with Mom and Dad you're going to be dealing with their crisis as well as your own. I don't mean to seem like I'm bad mouthing them but I've got scant resources that can barely support myself let alone 5 other people. My mess with my parents is complicated they really are sweet caring people but some of the things that have happened over the past 4 years have sort of soured the relationship a tad. They took me in through my college years and while I may gripe about this that and the other thing they did keep a roof over my head until I got my degree. Part of me wishes I could help them more but I just don't have the resources at this time. Likewise some of my prior aid and personal poor choices ( some high rolling when I couldn't afford it) have left me in my own jam that I'm slowly clawing my way out of. Essentially why it may not seem the wisest move to go tack on more bills to my already straining paycheck, piece of mind maybe worth the extra cash. The piece of mind of knowing that I am responsible for my own destiny, and not "along for the ride." I've made my mistakes and this might be another one but I can't keep living the same old slag anymore. So for the first time since 2005 I'm thinking of going out on my own for success or for failure I have to try. I have several doubts and several fears but the life I have been living for the past two years hasn't been mine. I've found myself regressing into a pit of fear and doubt I thought I had cast behind me years ago. I've found myself becoming a person I don't want to be not because of my parents but because of the constant stress of being helpless to help them, helpless to change them, helpless to prevent the mess we're now in. Essentially I can only offer so much and while they to have helped me in my life I feel that there have been times they have not helped themselves. I don't want to cast blame on them I don't understand all the crap they've been through, I don't know how difficult it is to raise children work a job you are good at but hate, then get crapped on by your employer and let go after 23 years. Maybe I've been too hard on them but to sit for two years and not try to find anything seems hard for me to swallow. Like I said I haven't been in the house day in day out I don't know their struggles I don't know what's been going on behind the scenes so how can I possibly judge. But when I keep hearing the same old song and dance and nothing ever changes how can I keep faith. When I came back from my first attempt at college in 2005 with my tail between my legs I was given the ultimatum you have 1 month to get a job. I took on a crappy gig at a convenience store while I searched for something better and in the month I worked at that place I realized I was better than the crappy hard work, long hours, lowing paying gig I was in. I got a chip on my shoulder and got myself the hell out of there and into a stable better paying position with the bank. Now I'm finding my self with my pre- 2005 attitude feeling hopeless that I somehow deserve this bad crap , that people's faith in me is misguided that I'll be nothing more than what I am, a broken down, somewhat smart, struggling bum. That I didn't help enough that I still need to help more, that I didn't give absolutely everything, that how dare I do this to them in their hour of need. Doubt has tried to consume me But I can't let that happen. I've got to move on. I've got to move up, I've got to move out. I have done what I can do and now I've got to start on my own path. because the longer I stay in the present situation the more stuck I will become. So I'm taking the deep breath, opening the door and starting down the road...the first step is always the hardest.

R.D.

Welcome to training camp./ How you know the Girlfriend's a keeper.

Well back in March as I was training for my current position I was informed I had a week of carry over vacation time that I had to use up so I decided to use it this week for a min-"get my butt back into half Iron shape training camp." So the next seven day will be full of hard core mileage as well as doing some of the nagging little things that I haven't been able to do over the last few weeks. Yesterday the camp kicked off with a 55 mile training ride. I was hoping to get a 7 mile brick run in with it, but I learned the hard way a man can not subsist on toast and power bars alone. Today I have a nice little late afternoon half mary run planned and then tomorrow a swim before driving out to RI to visit my sisters. The last two weeks my hectic work schedule hasd thrown a wrench in my training plans, as has the fact that I've started dating again. ( I can just hear one of my old coach's words ringing in my ears... "girlfriends are run killers.") I will say this this girl is a keeper. She lives in Massachusetts just outside of Hopkington and when I went up to visit got the grand tour of the BAA Starting line...one year I'll qualify for that damn thing...she seems not to mind my jokes on shaving legs, nor the fact that I spend more time in a pool on a bicycle, or running than what would be considered healthy by most sane people. The only draw back why does she have to be a Red Sox fan! In any case all is well on that front, now I've just got to get my training in gear so I'll be ready for my first half of the season.

Tally Ho!
R.D.

Aging up

Well Thursday I turned 25. The Big-2-5, a quarter century. A silver anniversary as it were. This now means I'm out of the realitive comfort of the 20-24 bracket, and am beginning a journey into age groups where 4 months salary couldn't even by the aero helmet that some of my competition has. Essentially the margin for error is getting slimmer, the times are getting faster and competition is getting more intense. I've got three words for it BRING- IT-ON!!!!

This year I'm caught in a debate about which races to do. I'm sort of doing 2-3 locals. No Rev, but I'm tossed up about what my second half iron of the season should be. Here's what's on the platter.

Providence 70.3: I've done this race since it's inception. I know the course, got the finisher medal. It's closer to home and I know I'd have excellent crowd support, only issue is do I really want to front load my season again. If I do Providence then I will have done all my long distance stuff at the beginning of the season, tapped all my resources at the beginning of the season and will essentially find myself in the same rut as 2008 and 2009. Broke and bored after the second week of July. Likewise no Kona slots are at stake and in my "less competitive" age group last year I was still about mid-pack. I know Clearwater is a longshot, so essentially do I want to chuck down $250 for a headsweat and an Amica medal?

Halfmax National Championship Myrtle Beach, SC: This is an unknown. My 5:03 at Providence was good enough to get me qualified for my current age group. The problem is travel wise Myrtle Beach is going to cost more than Providence. The plus side is it's in October so I have time to save and piecemeal. Other plus side it gives me motivation to train through August and September. The other plus side unlike WTC's share the wealth quota that has fewer slots scattered at more events, this one has a motherload to ITU Long Distance Worlds next year. Essentially the top-16 in each Age group qualify for worlds. Likewise Worlds in 2011 is on US Soil. Part of me is thinking no contest but still gas and a hotel in Myrtle Beach for 4 days still adds up. Especially as crazy crisises always tend to rear their ugly head when ever I try to save up.

Essentially I'm torn, I'm leaning toward S.C. but the common sense is screaming don't do it Bobby, granted it also tends to scream that as I'm flying down hill at 40 mph too....

Tossed up.
R.D.

Getting Back

Well yesterday the weather was absolutely perfect for a ride so I did my usual Middlebury to Waramaug loop, excpet I did it with no stopping or bathoom breaks. I didn't have a bike computer so I rode completely oblivious to speed and distance. In one way it's kind of a down side in that I can't chart my exact distance or guess my pace and progress. In another it allows me to just focus on the road and riding by feel. So yesterday I spent most of the ride crusing at a comfortable pace and doing big gear work on the climbs. There were several other riders out but we were all at various stages of riding. I managed to have some targets at the lake as I was passing some rec riders as I did my two loops. Even managed to have two guys draft me for about a mile. The ride back I was surprsed how long I was able to stay in the Big ring on the climbs back. I know my speed must have been in the single digits but my legs needed the power work. Also discovered the art of peeling bananas while riding. The low point of the ride was hittng a couple of massive potholes on the descent back. For all the guys out here I will say the following "aluminum hurts." I had wanted to tack on a run after the ride but my back was pretty shot from all the "power climbing." I know that if do Rev3 I'm going to have to put in a run after one of these hillolicious rides soon but we'll sees how that plays out. Right now I'm definitely committed to Patriot especially since I'm sort of dating a chick in the greater Boston area. Likewise I have a Rev 3 pre ride this weekend just to try to see if it's worth entering. I tend to do better on flat courses than I do on climbs but part of me sort of wants to do the local half. All in all things are still moving along as I'm trying to figure out some life stuff and gather my paper work for the Navy, but I fgure I'm going to try to have a little fun this summer. If I don't do the Rev I might try to keep my Providence streak alive or spend the money on some shorter local races. Part of me would like to try long course nats since I already posted a qualifying time at Providence last season but we'll see how things go. Happy Training to all and Also Congrats to Pro Bree Wee in here Ironman SA finish.

Working his legs back into shape.
R.D.

Back to the Grind

Well last weekend was sort of a crappy one for training but I managed to kick off a nice little week of run focus. Over 26 miles from 2x 7 milers and a 13 miler in the begining of the week. This week I've only been doing one workout a day, one of them was a group ride with the Waterbury YMCA Tri Club. The rde wasn't bad but I will one thing I never thoght I would: I'm glad the race directors of the Pat Griskus Olympic Tri set the bie course up the way they did. Don't get me wrong the course is brutally hard, but having done it in reverse I would rather climb some of the narrower twisting sections of the course at 7-10 mph instead of trying to descend them a 40 mph with a pack on my tail. This weekend's supposed to be nice so hopefully here will be some more bike foucs.

R.D.