The bar has been raised again.

In the Bob/Bjoern battle to break the magical 4 hour mark the bar has once again been lowered. I did a 5:03 at the Second Annual Patriot Triathlon ( 1.2 mile swim 58 mile bike ( no that is not a misprint it is a longer than half iron race but not by much.) and 13.1 mile run. ) The run was a little slower than normal ( a 1:48 instead of my normal 1:45 ) because I tried to haul on the bike since I went in the elite wave. I did own the swim and can officially saw that I lead the race for about 25 yards. In other news it was a good day for Speedy Claire as she won her age group. But I'll have a full race report coming soon.

Oh yes John people are afraid to ride behind you wen you are talking to yourself and punching yourself in the head.

Chillin' in Beantown then rolling back to the C to the O double N
RD

Edit #1: Ok I accidently hit the wrong key I meant to put up "break 5 hours" but the 4 slipped out...maybe someday..if I'm on roids.

Edit # 2 Upon checking Cool Running I seem to have posted the fastest swim time of the day ( although there was some interference with the chip mats so some times weren't recorded) of 27:58 my bike split of 2:45.16 was good enough for 46th quick and my run a painful 1:47.03 was 74th quick for the day when all was said and done I was the 10th guy across the line and after the adjustments for the stagger start my time held up for 37th overall.

Getting set for Patriot. Bob-o Jodi Smack Talk Round 2.

Less than 48 hours left before the Patriot, it's almost sad when I think that my first blog post was approximately the same time last year, and sadly my writing style has seemed to become that of a whiny bitch in the 12 months since then....boo hoo life sucks get over it, granted I write those whiny bitch posts mainly because it is a sign of weakness to show my fear outwardly, I usually keep to myself, don't say shit if I have a mouthful of it, and you can tell I'm stressed when I suddenly start snapping really easily example.
co-worker: Bob would you like a cup of coffee?
Me: Did I ask for a cup of coffee?
Co-worker: No....
Me: Then there's your answer....

..irregardless enough of my being a whiny you know what....

The Patriot is coming up and Ken made some comment about Jodi beinng able to kick Angry's and my combined asses in a tri..first off Jodi would beat Angry because A.he's a runner he lifts and he runs she could beat his ass in the Ironman but she would be toast if she signed up for races in his domain, throwing angry in the ironman would be like throwing a kenyan marathoner in the Ironman, it's taking a runner out of its natural competitive enviroment. B. He's had it with all the slotwtich browsing cervelo fan boys and has entered a more friendly arena..after all you don't hear guys before a road race saying "you're not a real runner if you don't use Newtons/ Asics/ insert brand here.../ completed a marathon/ qualified for Boston/ held 4:44/mile pace in a heat wave in Arizona."

As for me I'm not conceding but it would be close in her only straight up half so far she had about the same bike split and a faster run split than I pulled at Eagleman. I have her on the swim but the rest is a toss up. Also the fact that several crisises and the fact my training has been shot to crap only adds to her advantages, add to that she has a coach compared to my poor self trained, entry level equipped ass and she might take the cake, but I have an edge in mental toughness, the shit I go through in a given week makes my races seem like field days, I have often wanted to say that I feel like the sport's cinderella man, my financials fell to shit I've been at the point I have wanted to give it all up, and the next race could be my last so I am a very, very dangerous person when that gun goes off, because I want to go out with a PR damn it!

Ok trash talk aside the Patriot is coming up on saturday there are only 7 open division men none of whom raced last year. I know that there are some age groupers in the field that could obliterate my ass, but I'm still racing open, why? there's cash for the open division, I would love to be in the running for an overall win but if I can beat 5 of the 6 other entries I can leave with a check, also with most of the top pros tapering for Providence next week this could be my only shot to make a go at the overall, it's a gamble but it could be worth it, that and only having 12 people in the first wave can give me a shot of pulling fastest swim split. Also I might not be racing again after this month so I want to try to get some good efforts in before devoting myself to more important and profitable endevours ( school, work, more work, overtime.)....don't worry I'll still train I don't want a tripple bi-pass at 40 so I've got to keep the weight off somehow....besides I've actually had a few good workouts in the last week and if I can get some of my crap together I might have a shot showing up to a couple more clam bakes this season. That and a friend of mine's training for an ironman and another for a goofy challenge or some crap like that, long run and ride buddy is at their service. But for right now I've got two halves and a sprint on the table and I've got to light them up, afterall it would suck if my last race this season wasn't a PR.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Well my week leading up to Patriot has had some varied news from

Some good ( my Gramps lending me the money to drive up, only 7 guys in the elite wave and none of them from last year's race. )

To the so-so ( my creditors continuing to hound me for that damn stimulus check, seriously if it came in May like it was supposed to that would have saved me a lot of grief.)

To the Oh Shit ( Providence next week and I have to find a room for under $100 a night), to the reliving ( I'm not getting laid off !)

To the just plain why don't you just shoot me now how bout it ( they're talking that diesel might hit $6 a gallon and it could be one of the coldest winters on record, some of my friends have lost jobs, can't find jobs, I'd be really f**king screwed if I lost my job but I'm keeping my resume and the want ads within reach in case I do., to my sisters and my parents are at each other's throats, one of my sister's wanting to move out west with me , if I move out west if I can afford to, do my homework on rents, jobs, living conditions, taxes, laws, local customs, fiscal forecasting for the next 3 years, pay my debts down to a more sustainable level, finish college , find decent employment, needless to say this got into the you sound alot like mom and dad and if you put it off , you'll never leave, and the I can't wait until 2 years after college to do this I have to do it so I can go to grad school out there.)
so yeah there has been a lot on my mind.

One of my pipe dreams would be to move to the West Coast, somewhere where the definition of cold is 45 F, and snow is only something you see in Christmas movies. That's been one of the reasons cash and my hellish couple of months have had me so stressed out. Since my ancestors crossed down from Canada a majority of my family has settled and stayed in New England, part of me has always wanted to be different, in a family of Red Sox Fans I was the first Yankee fan, everyone likes chocolate ice cream, I like vanilla..etc....in essence I don't want to live like the rest of my ancestors settling in Connecticut, taking care of mom, dad, x number of kids, bitching about the snow in the winter, the heat in the summer, and how the State pension check seems to be coming slower every month, before croaking and being buried in the same cemetery as all the rest. But I'm also the planner, I have to make sure everything is set, I have contingencies and contingencies on my contingencies, one of those is realizing that I will be responsible for a hell of a lot more than I am now on my own and I would have to make sure that I make enough to support my bills plus this "little" tri habit that I've picked up along the way. I'm thinking that another couple of years of hard labor, smart job hunting or training and certifications would have me in a position that I might be able to make it. I'm seriously starting to look to teaching as a
serious option, but Connecticut's standards are so freaking high it would take me another four years of schooling and debt to be eligible to teach in the public high schools,and the pay in the private schools, well I'd be better off as a bank teller, hence one reason why I want to leave CT

So yeah that's what's been beating around my noggin for the past few weeks.

My mind is a scary place.
R.D.

Last hard day before Patriot

Well yesterday I was supposed to do a hard bike / run brick. Sadly my legs didn't handle the crash course in hill work as well as I would have liked. So I took the rest of the night off, good thing too because we had a huge thunderstorm roll through. So today I went long, since I'm staying at my grandfather's place to some severe water damage ( part of the reason my attitude been well not the greatest, I lost some mementos from my youth but it at least will give me an excuse to toss some of the things I could part with away.) my normal runs have had an extra 2 miles tacked on. My 4 miler to the high school became my 6 miler to the high school, my 8 mile hill workout became my 10 mile hill work out...etc. In any case I decided I needed at least one more long run before the Patriot so after Mass this morning I strapped on my sneakers and went for my cross town route. The run began as always with a new uphill section, then my harrowing crossing of the main road. I passed the town beach full to the brim, it was somewhat hot and humid, I need to improve in this type of weather so it helped. As I ran up toward the middle school I was thankful for the shade, Meriden rd. on the other side of town tends to have very little shade and I ended up using up one of my fuel belt bottles on this stretch. The third leg of the run took me down what I guess could be called the lack of Safety Section on route 322, cars own the road here, I have ridden this stretch on my bike been up against the guardrail and still gotten honked at to move over. Running it is no less perilous, granted it's a lot easier to go off road while running than it is on the Stomper. But irregardless, once you pass the golf course the terrain gets interesting and your legs may not forgive you. After about a mile of running on asphalt, gravel, uneven sholder, crushed rock and grass, a smooth even shoulder reappeared. I managed to catch a break from a guy on a harley at a four way stop and began my ascent to the center of town. The heat and humidity was sucking and as if the divine was reading my thoughts a quick torrential shower came down on me. The deluge and resulting sprinkles lasted about 15 min. as I made it through the center of town and past the high school. I managed my usual dart and bobb across Route 69 and then made my way up Beach rd. Through my old neighborhood and made it to my parent's place. I chilled there for a bit before had dinner with the whole fam and then made my way back home with gramps. The run took me 2:07.07 not record breaking but enough to boost my confidence a little. Most of my training this week will revlove around the pool, I might get a couple of rides and runs in but for the most part I need to get my swim in stomping shape. Upon looking at Claire's training logs, she should be blazing on the bike this weekend. Angry will be racing again this season, hopefully kikcing ass, and working soft tissue in the week following. So all in all I hoping to have a good weekend "up the pike" , I should be sorted out enough in August that I would be able to race Park City and hopefully Nutmegman, also within the next 2 weeks Alex will give me the go /no-go on buying the road bike, so all in all things are starting to look up a little bit.

R.D.

I see your challenge and I have three words

BRING IT BITCH!

Ok before I lose half my readership, or have people saying, damn it I like it better when he's sick and depressed, allow me to explain the title and the "colorful" saying above. This morning as I sat at my desk like a good little teller, hoping and praying the layoffs don't affect me, I checked an email from the race director of the Patriot Half. It went along the lines of you're currently listed in the open elite catagory, are you sure you don't want to age group it ( we give out nice stuff :) ) and if you are considering yourself elite then you should be able to finish this race in 5 hours or less. Well first thing that hit was the fear I have never broken 5 hours, I came painfully close at Eagleman 5:09, shit maybe I should bail to the AG.My training's been shot to shit, my psyche has been hit by the equivalent of 5 ten ton bricks, and I'm just in a really bad mood. Then I got to looking at the races results from last year the winner's time was in the 4:30's but last year also had a stellar pro field ( Holla John Hirsch!), I also realized that Eagleman was in brutal heat with little shade and that had the weather conditions been a few (20 degrees F) cooler I probably would have crushed the 5 hour barrier...ok I would have slid under the 5 hour barrier Indiana Jones Style, reaching over the timing mat for my visor at 4:59.59...but the wheels in my head got to turning and to try to pump my beleaugered ego back up I looked at the overall results to see where a low 5 hour time would get me. Well it would be in the mid 30's to low 40's overall, where I usuaally place, I looked at the lowest finishing elites from last year, one poor guy had a hell of a day, but a majority were top 50 most in the top 30, surrounded by a ton of age group studs. The bike course is 59 miles but it is similar terrain to Eagleman, a 2:40 or lower bike spilt could be a real possibility, the swim, I always do better surrounded by faster guys that and if there are only a handful of us then I won't get mauled a la Eagleman ( also I had 17th fastest swim split last year in a surfing wetsuit.) the run most elite guys are able to pull 1:20 and change, I've pulled a 1:37 after a 56 mile ride in a half marathon and most of the time average a 1:45, in essence If I want a check I have to Go Stadler Style, and bust my ass on the bike. Eagleman was the first time I used a surging strategey, that I tried to get aggressive on two wheels, instead of my usual sit in the bull horns, drink, eat and muddle through until thhe run. So my objective has been set I must break 5 hours at all costs.

On the training front, I managed to get a 3300 pool workout in on Friday, Today I kicked the crap out of my legs on a 100k ride through Middlebury- Woodbury- Washington, lets just say hills lots of hills. I averaged about 17.4mph sadly something's up with my rear deraileur, which is costing me two gears in the small ring at Patriot which is a big ring course this might not be a factor but if I want to be competitive at the Griskus I might need to have the handled....but I cross that bridge when I get there.

well that's it from da hood.

R.D.

Settling down......

Well as mentioned before the monetary deal has been my big issue, but the biggest of which will be resolved in mid-July, so then I should have some breathing space. The Patriot is coming up next weekend, the two days I took off due to some GI distress, haven't really built my confidence but at the same time I needed the rest so I guess it equals out. This weekend I'm planning for a long ride and maybe a pool session on Sunday. Today a long run is on tap depending on the weather and a pool session. My friend Alex has borrowed Enrico( my road bike) for the Griskus and is interested in buying for the $450 I'm charging for it complete with all the bells and whistles. It's an Entry level bike, but it has profile T-2 aero bars, a granny gear, good for those wall climbs, a reliable sigma computer and Michelin tires, and it's a hell of a lot more agile than the 10 speed he would be using. If he buys that would be a great help if not then at least he got some good quality equipment for his first tri is a fitting reward. ( He's racing as a First timer so no divisional threat there.) Bjoern sadly I can't get the ninth off, but if you need a ride to New London after the race I'd be happy to oblige. ( If you see a guy pulling a Clark Kent style change in Transition that would be me going from Bank teller to blood thirsty competitor.) Getting to the Patriot next week might be a chore but I should make it. I'm debating whether or not I should drop back into the age group ranks for this one, granted there are only 10 guys registered as elites and I figure a swim wave of 10 fast guys is what I need to keep myself motivated and at the front, that and $300 for first and $200 for second might give me some added incentive to hammer on the bike and run. So Patriot has become my go until I puke and go again until I puke again race...hopefully the weather and my stomach will co-operate. The Griskus, I have to send the race director an email to see if I can be put in the top swim wave ( yes they put all of us age group swim studs in our own wave.), afterall there is nothing like the psyche up of being in the lead for a few minutes. Providence hits on a pay week and hopefully my stimulus will come early, but irregardless I should have enough for gas and a cheap motel ( deperate plea to John Hirsch where is the cheapest, least shady joint to stay in Providence.) Next year I plan on fewer travel races, ie I will either do Eagleman or Providence but not both. The rest of 2008 still in the air, I might manage to get in Niantic and Park City, most likely Nutmegman but that could be all. If I make Clearwater, I might turn down the slot, just alot going on academically and professionally in November. As for 2009, no plans yet, some dreams, but no plans. I would like to get my coaching cert and try to make a little extra income off the sport, but we'll see. So that's all for me today I've got to get my subway panhandling jinggle down.

Bring himself back.
R.D.

The debate to quit or not to quit?

Well Today I was forced to call out sick from work as my body rebelled after a moderate night of training. I rode ten mile last night and ran 6 I would have rode longer but I decided to bail on the rest of my riding group after a quick drenching rain storm. ( part of me feels my collarbone intact, and my ability to be able to type freely takes precednece over training miles.) I was awakened at 3:30 in the morning with stomach cramps which kept me wake until 5:30 there was no way I was going to be able to function at work the way my stomach was so I called out. hence the second of my 4 vacation weeks has been spent. ( I used two sick days on papers, two days on flying home, one day journeying from Eagleman,)I have decided there will be no week of vacation for me this summer, I need the money and am an overtime whore so that takes precedent. I haven't thought about training today to recover, I might not train tomorrow to let my stomach settle back into a normal rythim after work. All and all I'm realistically thinking of scrapping any races after Providence, part of me feels like that's madness but the other realizes that Work and school are truly what matters, I have bills outstanding from the Hellish May that hit our house and quite frankly I find it hard to focus on racing and going fast with how the hell am I going to afford all this weighing on my mind. So for as short as it maybe 2008 was ok, I still have 3 races left, and still have yet to podium, I'm starting to think toward 09, whether I will race or enter a self imposed retirement, to coach, finish school, pay off debt and figure out what to do with the rest of my life. Part of me is aching to go back to New Zealand and finish a little unfinished business with the sport essentially I don't want to quit until I finish in Kona. Yesterday as I ran and group rode I remembered why I got into the sport and maybe the empty spot it would leave if I gave it up, but the other part of me knows that this world is made of dollars, cents, Pounds and Euros, that financial security means and makes all the difference in the world. Part of me chimes in after a training ride that that could have been 3 -4 hours working part time, $21-30, overtime at work, time spent on a thesis, the other part that remembers when I came back from NY working 70 hour weeks for crap pay, no life, I had the gas station and the video game shop, I gave up on going out with friends, considered giving up my sister's graduation party for overtime, I was called in on my days off without complaint, I was every employers dream come true and decaying on the inside. Then it happended some one came in buying gatorade and a powerbar, doing her first triathlon, two years previous that where I stood, my parents didn't get it, that I could take that money and save it for college, or gas money. I went to college for two years tried to become a D-I swimmer and instead became a D-I boozer, then the gas staion attendant, the following year I resolved to race again and did and now find myself here once again, I'm thinking like my parents did in the summer of 03 I could be spending the time and money somewhere else and then they responded when I told them that by pulling a total 180 " Don't give it up, if it brings you joy." They claimed that before tri I had no passion, I dabbled here and there and would pretty much dabble through life, but for once it seems I had found something I liked and acceled at. So now here's where I stand do I give up passion for money?
R.D.