My hips hate me....

Well the last two days I've been abusing my hips. Tuesday was a 35 mile ride on the Griskus loops. Yesterday I got out of work early and hauled to the Waterbury Y to focus on technique from my Yoda on the Kettlebells Alexi. I will say this I have felt the power of the clean and Turkish Get up and I like them. My weight session yesterday looked like this.

Squats :
1set 12 @ 95lbs.
2Xof 105lbs.
Yes I know I'm weak.

TGUs
10 with a 4kgkettlebell focusing on technique...need to upgrade to a heavier kettlebell. Just got to work on getting that foot back faster.

Cleans
10 each hand w/12kg kettlebell. Got to focus on using the hips more than my arms.

Back hyper extensions:
3x10 with 25lbs. plate.

60 Medine ball pass- throughs

90 crucnches.

I followed up my Weight room exploits with 4100 yards in the pool

Main set
4x 400 swim on 5:30 /200 pull on 3:00

Not a bad few days of training. Tonight a run. Tomorrow more weights and swimming.

Saturday a long ride don't know how far yet because I have to pack go back home and crash on my parent's couch for a while and figure out where I'm moving to. Hopefully I'll hear back from one of my jobs soon. I've got at least 10 apps out so hopefully something will come through. My degree requirements are officially complete so hopefully the interviews will be starting sooner rather than later.

Well that's all from the neighborhood.
R.D.

Dancing on the pedals....

Alright it's midweek and it's a little late to be doing a recap of my Staurday ride but it was just too awesome not to mention. I met up with Josie on Saturday to get my first ride since Providence in. (My burnout is almost cured I'm just having a hard time dragging myself to the pool.) We were going to do our 100k loop of doom, but the bridge on Nettlehollow was closed for repairs so we were left with 2 options.

1. Ride 47 into Washington which isn't necessarily a bad thing except for an 11% grade descent on a narrow road.

2. Go back down 47 the way we came and head on to 132 and do a loop of the Griskus Olympic course.

We decided to tackle the Olympc route, or as I have called it in previous posts Connecticut's Alpe du Huez. Coming off my success of pushing ridiculously large gears at Providence I decided to power up the climbs in the big ring for as long as possible. Josie took notice on one hill as she rode along side me..."Are you in the big ring?" "Yep", I said as I puffed along. She droped back in behind me so as I got toward the summit of some of the hills I was expecting to look back and see her right on my shoulder. I looked behind me and she was still grinding up the thing. know she's normally a better climber than me so I continued to attack the hills expecting that she would regain her prowess and blow by me like I was standing still. For the first time in a while I was really enjoying being in the saddle and I was hammering. The Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin in my mind giving the color commentary. "He is absolutely tearing this field to pieces, just look at the gears he's using he just oozes power." "This is the man of old we are used to seeing, taking no mercy on the hills, he's going out until he wins or cracks." Josie caught back up on Weekeepeemee Road, at one point I thought she had hit my back wheel when I heard a slight thud and rubbing sound. I pulled away on the decent and had about a 2-3 minute lead as I got to the top of the last hill. We made it back to the car and called it a day after 35 miles. Apparently the thud, rub sound I heard was "no ejecto technology" failing her for the first time as one of her water bottles got launched out of her rear cage.

I need to ride like this more often. Just attacking climbs like my life has no other meaning. So tonight I have a post work ride out on the same course. I'm hoping that I can get back some more cycling prowess as I ramp up for Park City, which will be a flat fast time trial.

"He's dancing on the pedals now and he will not be denied..."
R.D.

Back in training and to those about to Rock Lake Placid I salute you.

Alright I started training again because was beginning to feel a little fat and lazy and I still have one race I want to kick major ass at this season: Park City Mossman. Last time I raced there I won my AG so I want to leave the 20-24 ranks with a bang. I swam about 3000 yards on Tuesday but I still feel like I have "black line syndrome" So I just went through the motions to keep my fitness up. I got back on the road on Wednesday and pulled a 9 miler out. Tonight I'm in the air about if I should swim at the Y or should I haul out to West Hill and get an open water swim in, and tomorrow I have a 100k ride on tap. Don't know yet if I'm going to do any races this fall although the Hartford Marathon sounds tempting. Also the job search continues as I've sent apps to schools, insurance giants, my own company, and communications groups either looking for a second gig or a bump up the corporate ladder...figure if I keep applying I'm bound to get something. Getting myself established in life may not be easy but then again neither was getting my bachelor's or training for 2 southern Hemisphere Ironmans in the midst of brutal winters a full time job and heavy course load.But there is one common theme I finished what I started, and so this too shall come to pass.

A big shout out to Ironmatron, Kona Shelly, The HEAT wrecking Crew, and everyone else tackling Ironman Lake Placid this weekend. Use that 6 mile descent to the fullest, enjoy the day, and Hopefully the weather is better than last year...otherwise a little shower on the bike will help cool you off. Good Luck Go Fast and Remember you are badass because this is probably the 3rd toughest Ironman currently on the calendar!

Have a Good Weekend!
R.D.

Burnout is a terrible thing....

When I came back from Providence last Monday I was fried. I was shelled, nuked, roasted, cooked, spent, burned out, and extra crispy. I had made that race my be all this season so when my plans for it started to fall apart about 2 weeks ago I was sort of dreading going. I maned up and got through it pretty well, but when other things started hitting the fan I really got a case of the "I need to quits." So started typing the I quit post and posted two of them. I took the weekend off no training, I slept late, watched the DVD set of Epitafios, threw out a couple of job apps and sent an email to my Anth Professor, about should I start saving to come back. My professor got back to me. I passed so now I'm a department chair and Dean's signature away from my BA in history. Which means now I can work on my resume for a "career" instead of a "job". I figure a little down time is in order so some reduced traning and no thoughts of the swim, bike, run for a couple of days are in order. Essentally I've been running full tilt for two seasons without a break so a week or two off might be what the doctor ordered. Give me time to focus and realize that I'm a person who does triathlons, and that maybe my hobby has grown a little too unheathly for itself. Figure out some life stuff, eat some of the unhealthy stuff ( without worrying will this make me fat?) and just unwind. Essentially I just need a break not a long one but just some time to clear my head without worrying about the Jerk in the Expedition running me off the road. Essentially I need a vacation from my hobby and hopefully when I pick t back up I'll be able to do so with a renewed vigor instead of the same old slog.
RD

Thinking about hanging it up...for a while...

Alright I'm serious this time

I'm thinking about taking 2010 off.

No Ironmans

No Halves

No Marathons

No road races

Not even a Sprint tri/ hugathon.



Now before I get the flood of stop bitching you didn't do THAT bad in Providnece, RI 70.3 has nothing to do with this decision...well maybe the financial part of it.



I've sat down and looked at the check book and the bills...I owe a lot of cash and don't have enough coming in....and even less if I keep tossing it around on a "lesiure sport." I need to go to work tackle my issues and then when I have them partially resolved can I come back to sport. Maybe the reason I'm stepping away is because I feel lke Icarus, I findout I could fly with these spiffy new wings got too close to the sun and have crash landed in the Agean. Now I have two options wash off my wing residue and swim back to dry land or sit here and drown.

I've already had people tell me I shouldn't give up competing that it will kill me and other such crap. The thing is I feel this is a sacrifice I have to make. If I give up something I love until I get my act together maybe that will motivate me to work harder to straighten things out. My attitude the last few races has been in burned out crispy mode, I have a lot if issues on my mind and if I can't focus 100% on my racing then it's not worth it. As Pre once stated "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." I have one race left this season an Oly so I'm not really going to have to devote alot of mileage to it. Maybe somewhere between here there and the 2010 season I'll rekindle my flame and this will be a post I'll look back on and be like "man I wrote that!" Maybe I will take 2010 off all I know is right now I seem to be swamped by a sea of troubles and I only have a tube of silly putty worth of solutions. So I need to refocus, on life in general and my racing is very low on that priority scale.

RD

Rest Week and Regroup.

Alright earlier I had the I need to get a second job to save my financial life post. I deleted it just because it put too much of a negative twinge on things. I seriously do need to get a second gig ( I'm planning on staying at the bank for the time being as there is nothing that you can really do with a BA in History in this economy except maybe law school and even then unless you go to Harvard or Yale you really aren't guarenteed anything except a 7 figure student loan payment.)

So I'm looking at the battered retail sector to see if can find a part time gig to hold me through until I get over the "I should have majored in Accounting ,Engineering, or Medical Science Blues." and find that elusive job I can get with a History BA.

Part of my psyche is still reeling from the post tramatic shock of what this weekend cost me so if I'm a little on edge it's because I took a financial hit and am wondering if it was worth the effort and resources I put forward in Providence. I've decided a week of minimal training is in order to help my mind and body recharge, as well as to focus on the professional aspect of my life. I figure just do some work in the pool maybe break out the bike this weekend and then start ramping up for my last race of the summer in August. After that It's just going to be work, maybe look into getting my coaching cert, look at grad school, should I go for a Phd in History or settle for my masters in education...I don't know where to go from this point on but my racing is going to the back burner for a while.

RD

Providence 70.3 The Bloody, Gory, TMI edition

Ok most peope have read the last post and for the record I'm not too disappointed with my results from Providence but there are a few things I know I could have done better this time around... nutrition, line on the bike course, transition, not deciding to visit the "reading room" at mile 9 of the run. Also there are other things that are totally out of control...such hot fire superstuds showing up from the left coast and down yonder. But instead of focusing on what went wrong I'll probably focus on what went right. First off the bat Three Blazeman warriors came accross the line within in 5 minutes. Also on that note at there were at least 5 of us including the second place woman who did the log roll. Second except for a rather inopportune call of nature I was running on pace to set a PR in the Half Marathon...that is incuding the infamous College hill Climb and descent....if only I had eatten more solid food on the bike. Third accept for the Big Hill at about mile 45 I did all of the climbs in the big ring cranking out massive watts of Beefy New England power....now if I can just get this to translate into speed. Also I'm sort of sorting out the optimal way to fuel for 70.3 a man cannot compete on Gu alone..as it travels through you well like crap through a goose causing you to...well you get the picture...next year there will be some Gu chomps in the Bento Box as well. Without any further Ado the Race Report.





The Swim: Killer Waves Dude!


This could have dual meaning for this race. On the one hand it was a pretty chilly gray morning in Narragansett. The Ocean was frothy as a result of an over night storm system. At one point race control was offering a dualthlon as an option to the weaker swimmers. The other meaning for the killer waves is there were 15 swim waves. Us young guns under 25 went in the 15th wave about an hour behind the pros. We were lucky that the ocean had calmed down a little but it was still choppy. When the cannon went off I had chosen the inside line and watched as the faster pack of about 5 guys went by. By the 3rd Buoy I was in traffic from previous waves. The chop made it hard to sight as I had to stop twice to catch my bearings and also I ended up losing my swim cap about 25 meters from the end. All in all not a bad swim I did it in 27:04 maybe about 40 seconds slower than last year.





The Bike: What do I have to do to break 21 mph.


I hit transition a got my wetsuit stripped off back my swim gear bag and took off on the stomper. I ended up coming out neck and neck with friend Tony from HEAT. I decided my game plan was to keep him in sight for as long as possible. Sadly that lasted all of 5 miles. The ride was pretty uneventful. No one crashed infront of me this year...although I heard a couple of guys had gone down when I was in medical post race. I lost ground on the fast kids from my age group starting at about mile 15. 2 or three guys would get around I'd try to keep them insight or re pass for about a mile or two and then would get dropped like a bad habit. There were a few sections where the road was coned off really narrowly and I couldn't get around some slower cyclists, and found myself risking a drafting penalty, luckily these narrow section didn't last too long...but for some reason I just couldn't get my average speed over 20mph. The entrance into Providence was a little hairy with some tricky turns, rough pavement and railroad tracks...giving a new meaning to Rails to Trails. Sadly this also included another fairly long climb from the mall to the state capital which really hurt the average speed. I hit T-2 in 2:49:24 averaging 19.8mph nearly 5 minutes and 1 mph slower than last year.



The Run: Bust a Gut time.

I got out of T-2 in about 1:02. This year Transition was organized much better. I took off on the Run and Caught up to Gabe from HEAT we paced off one another until College Hill, a 7% grade Vertical wall, Gabe got around me and I managed to catch and re pass him on the plateau. Granted this means nothing as Gabe was on his second lap. I continued along at an insane pace trying to catch as many people with 20-24 on their calves. I managed to pick off about 10 of them and was making excellent progress until mile 8. About that time all the Gu and Fluids in my stomach started to make their presence known. I was left with a dilemma...sacrifice 5 minutes to use the bathroom at mile 9 or sacrifice 5 minutes fighting my body functions. I decided that The first option would lead to a more pleasant 4 miles and post race experience..and hence that was the one I chose. Granted it hurt when I entered the silver box knowing that about 10 of the people I had just passed were going to get back in front of me. After releasing some excess weight I took off like a bat out of Hell ,Hoping that I could eek out a sub 1:40 run split. I managed to pass a re pass some more runners as I tore down College hill for the second time. As I entered the finishing Chute one of the guys ahead of me dropped to do a Blazeman roll...I pushed a little harder to get sufficient distance on the guys behind me and then dropped to do mine. After I crossed and got my medal I met up with Bob and Mary Ann as yet another Blazeman warrior rolled across. 3 in a 5 minute interval...not a bad way to raise awareness.

My run split was a 1:43:06 nearly 5 minutes faster than last year. If I hadn't stopped to use the bathroom I'm pretty sure I would have matched my 1:37 from the Nutmeg State Half Marathon.
All in all it wasn't a bad day, 5:03:08 is respectable but there are still somethings I need to work on and iron out if I want to be a contender.

R.D.