Who will win Kona?

well I'll admit it I'm a tri addict/ pundit. I spend my hours at the office between customers and projects scouring Slowtwitch and Xtri and now with Rutger Beke succumbing to a foot injury I'm debating on who my picks for Kona will be. So with out futher ado here are my favorites, dark horses and sentimentals.

The Men's Race

Favorites.

Macca (AUS): Ok no brainer Chris "Badass" McCormack is at the top of my favorites list. Insane run split, not afraid to take crazy risks when everything goes right you end up with a victory lap marathon like 2007 if it doesn't well...just check out the 2002 You Tube Highlights.

Craig Alexanader (AUS): If Macca's off this guy is on. Last year his insane marathon split ( and his ability to tackle the cruel Hawaiian heat) gave him the victory he's fast he's strong and you know he's going to kick ass and take names.

Terrenzo Bonzone (NZL): Ok I have to put a kiwi in here and sadly it's not Cam Brown. Bonzone finished second in his 1st full Ironman in Taupo in March. He's got a solid run and bike split and he's been testing out the Shiv with Macca in the lava fields. Granted Taupo and Kona are completely different races....

Normann Stadler (GER): He's training with Chris Carmichael, he owns the fastest Kona bike split ever, and with Sindballe retiring the only real threat he has to his lead in to T-2 is Chris Lieto. Unlike Lieto's track record he has been able to hold on through out the run beating Peter Reid in 2004 and Macca in 2006, last year it looked like he was going to do it again until he cramped up in the lava fields but still he took a suck it up pill and finished 12th a far cry from his 2005 flat f**king tire meltdown.

Dark Horse:
Andy Potts (USA): Ok the Ironman isn't won in the swim but still Potts held on the finish 7th in his first Ironman after leading the swim. I think he can shatter the myth the the Ironman can't be won by a stellar performance in the swim ( granted you really do need a bitching bike split to build a coushion.)...the question is will 2009 be his year.

Sentimental Favorites:

Cam Brown (NZL): This guy has finshed consistently in the top-5 and as high as second. He's not getting any younger and I would love to see him win this thing once before he rides into the sunset.

Chris Lieto (USA): With the arrival of Andy Potts last year and his inability to handle the Kona Heat Lieto dropped from second overall to oblivion. The preceding year he led a good chunk of the marathon only to succumb to the heat in the energy lab where he lost the lead the Macca, and then highest American rights to Tim DeBoom. Put in two heart wrenching losses to Craig Alexander at Hawaii 70.3 and Boisie 70.3 and I can't help to feel for the guy. Seriously if he rolls into T-2 with a 15 min. Lead and manages to beat Crowie in flat out sprint for the line I will be one extremely happy camper.

The women

Favorites:

Chrissie Wellington (GBR): Got a flat tire lost 10 minutes on the bike and still managed to comeback and spank the women's field. Seriously the last Chick to win by that much was a Doped up Nina Kraft...who then got the title stripped from her. Add to it she's an absolute girl scout who was aiding starving kids in the third world before she took up this hobby and it's hard not to cheer for her.

Dark Horses
Ok here's my list of the runner's up.... I mean people who might have a shot at Chrissie

Belinda Granger (AUS): She won Hawaii 70.3 she has a fast swim a fast bike, and a solid run. Seriously if Wellington's drive train explodes in the Lava fields she'd be a contender.

Mirinda Cafree (AUS): A shit load of 70.3 wins and a victory at REV3 I'd take her seriously.

Dutch chick who was 2nd in 08. I would like to put up the chicks who were second last year but I have no clue how to spell Valvendarlarken or what ever her name is...but all I know is she set the day's fastes bike split in 08, again if something happens to Wellington she'd be right in the thick of it.

Sentimentals:

Bree Wee (USA): If this thing was scripted this would be the perfect feel good story for the NBC highlights...well ok she could be battling lifethreatening illness, or have been orphaned at bith.

She lives in Kona, she trains on course, she's a mom, she's been through divorce, it would be the first USA win in Kona for the women in Godknows how long and for it to be a local I think the island might just explode.

Natascha Badmann (Sui) She was unbeatable, then there was food poisoning then She crashed, she trashed her shoulder, they told her she would never race again, she came back last year and came about 15 miles short of finishing. This year she's in better form, and seriously I would love to see a photo of her passing the new Golden Girl at mile 25 of the marathon with that trade mark smile...granted age is starting to show....and the era of the Swiss Miss might be over.

Nina Kraft (Ger): ok I know we're supposed to forever shun dopers and wish death and plauge upon their houses but it's been 5 years. She's done her time, it's easy to understand why she did it and she did come forward quickly, there was no long drawn out proceedure she came forward, she confessed within 24 hours took her whacks and came back. She's good in the heat, she's won IMKY and IMFL she was battling the likes of Badmann a Lori Bowden in their haydays...I would like to see her win, just once, so she could prove that she was always capable of winning and didn't need the goddamn EPO to do it.

Alrght those are my picks I know I left off some great athletes I know I started some contorversey with the last pick, but there's my list. Where's yours?

R.D.

Today we ride for tomorrow we die...

or go back to work...whatever is less permanent...

I went out for a tune up ride with Josie from Hartford to Granville Mass. and back again. About 56 miles. Most of the ride is pretty uneventful. There are a lot of stops and traffic lights as you make your way out of Hartford ( along with a lot of switch backs I was having Providence 70.3 night mares at this point.) You pass through West Hartford, shoot past Uconn Law School and then it's out on to roads you only know by Route Numbers Route 183 through Bloomfield, then 189 you stay on it on what looks like a limited access high way with exits and merge lanes, it reminded me of the drive out of Auckland back in March where there were bike lanes along Route 1 and warnings to cyclists to mind cars merging on and off the high way. Then you're out in Bumpkin Country....as noted by the crushed beer cans of Busch Light and Pabst Blue Ribbon in the shoulder. As we rode out I noticed that while the rode looked flat I was really having to push to stay above 16mph. We approached the State Border and hit a couple of rollers, then as soon as we passed in to Massachusetts we got the biggest and longest whiff of Cow Dung. As we passed by a fairly large dairy farm. As Josie put it "Massachusetts stinks!*" We rode through the rollers to a little farm stand and then turned around to head back. As we flew back into Bumpkinville....I mean Granby, CT the reason we struggled so long to get out there became clear...we had been going gradually up hill the whole time and now were reaping the benefits of the descent. The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful but all in all Josie looks ready for Redman this weekend.

So that was it for me, I better go before the Barista makes me buy something.

R.D.

*this reference refers to The Western, MA town of Granville and one particular stretch of road passing said dairy farm and not the whole Commonwealth...granted I would glady use this phrase in reference to one Major League Baseball team located on Yawkey Way in Boston. GO YANKEES!!!!

The trainer is back...

Well last night I was feeling fat and lazy and after picking up my kid sister from cheerleading, there was no time to get my planned swim workout in. So as I sat in my room watching TV the weather too dark and crappy to go out and get an evening run in I decided to break out my trainer. Now yes I don't have a race coming up for at least 5 months. Yes I know it's boring as hell, but I had recieved a copy of the 2008 Ironman DVD from the same friend who got me the Timex hotline number so I figure it would be a good way to christen it and give me a repreive from adding to my growing gut. I managed to get a half hour in on the trainer working the big ring ( I believe it was big ring 23 but I'm not positive.) I just figured I would work a high cadence for a while. In the grand scheme of things this workout was probably piss in the ocean but watching the DVD sort of rekindled my passion for Ironman.

Needless to say this has set off World War 3 in my head as rational adult dull boring money grubbing me, faces off against crazy, psycho, spend it all and go for it me. It's never pretty, especially not for my check book. So I plan on keeping my training up...whether there is a race or races in the future is yet to be determined.

RD

I'm back..

Well ok I'm using my Alumni privlegdes at CCSU to access the inter web...hence the reason for my non existent blog. This week was hetic and involved moving 2 sisters to Newport, moving one sister back from Newport, one of my Golden retrivers keeling over, being broke, still not having any luck on the job front and having one bud come up to visit from Nashville, essentially my life has been a country song. People keep asking me if I'm going to race, hell one of my friends managed to get me an inside line to a sponsor. Part of me is like yes I want to call and get sponsored and race to my hearts content. The other is like dude, you've got bills to pay, jobs to find an apartment to get...etc...give up the stupid tri crap already...hell you haven't raced in a month and other than gaining 5 lbs. and about 50 gray hairs, nothing really horrible has happended to you...So I'm seriously up in the air about 2010...hell I'm up in the air on where I'm going to be living in 2010. Alright enough of my sprial....

Claire is getting ready to kick mas ass at Cozmuel. Bullet kicked some serious ass at Plymouth Rock, and Judi, John Hirsch, and my training partner Tony L decimated Louisville. Reading their stories has made me want to get back into hardcore training and do an Ironman again in 2010...Hopefully the fates will allow that to happen. As of now there is nothing on tap. I'm batting around the idea of the Hartford Marathon but I'm just not really sure if it would be wise on the fiscal front. Plus my training has been hodge podge granted I'm back up to doing a 12-15 mile weekly long run. The last few days I've sort of slacked off on my training granted I was driving back and forth to Newport, on both occasions. So tomorrow I'm hoping to get back into to a stable training routine. I rode with Josie on Monday taking full advantadge of good riding weather. She is definitely ready to tackle Redman.

Again my apologies on my slack blogging hopefully somethings will work out I'll get myself a stable and real job and hopefully have my own place and stable internet connection soon.
Until then happy blogging and training people.
R.D.

I'm alive but my net connection isn't....

Well for those people left that still happen to read my blog....I'm sorry. My parent's intenet is currently down at the moment and my corporate minions have blocked me from the blogosphere at work. Apparently posts on my weekend 70 mile rides are inversely proportional to my checking account and credit card refferal capabilities....or something like that.
Irregardless, there will be fewer blog posts for the time being. I'm still racing I'm still training and I'm still trying to follow when ever I can get my self to an unblocked computer.

Currently my life is revolving around running and trying to get a job with Trek. The postion with Trek is doing travel logisitics...this should be cake for a guy who spends every waking moment planning and replanning where to race his next ironman right. So I'm sending in my cover letter, fine tuning my resume and writing my reference letters ( the people I aksed to write them for me gave me the ol' you write it we'll sign it routine....which is kinda frustrating because I have to sned this app via email.) so hopefully this will go well and I'll be sporting the Stomper 2.0 a sexy fast TTX time trial get up next season...after training out west, down under and in the old country... So hopefully....hopefully this will go well.

On the race front part of me was considering either doing the Hartford Marathon or Nutmegman...my legs really aren't looking forward to the hills on the bike so I'm thinking I'll save myself some dinero and just run Hartford. But we'll see Also good luck to Judi and my buddy Tony from HEAT racing in Louisville this weekend. Kick some ass take some names and may a cold front pass through the night before the race and make the heat tolerable. Also to anyone rocking Ironman Canada good luck and kick ass.

Also if I con't get to an internet connection before then Bullet Good Luck at Plymouth Rock.

Alright the college student next to me really wants her laptop back.

Living in the Dark ages
R.D.

Now I know How Chris Lieto Feels: The Park City Mossman Race Report.

Well my 2009 tri season looks to be done. Today was the Park City Mossman Oly in Bridgeport and ironically enough it was the first race I signed up for when I got back from New Zealand. ( Figured if cash became an issue as it usually does I wanted to have an August race.) So this morning I drove out at 5am to tackle CT's fastest Oly. I got to the race site about a half an hour before Transition closed so I didn't do much of a warm up. Things have changed since the last time I did this race. While it's still a multi loop run and bike the swim course has been lengthened so it could all be done in one shot. My times are all estimated as I haven't been able to find the official results and I'm trying to remember off of the sheet I looked at this morning.

The Swim: Lots of Changes
This year unlike year's past they sent the "older guys" infront of the kids so I went off in the second wave about 5 minutes behind the leaders. Races on the Connecticut shoreline always tend to be hit or miss with the tides and today was another miss. You could seriously run to the first buoy. Several guys took this strategy but I'm not one to run in humidity and neoprene so I dove in when the water was knee high and began to swim. I was amazed at how fast we caught the first wave. At the second buoy. After that the swim was pretty uneventful. I came out about 3rd in the wave, and it looked like I was in a good spot to retake my 20-24 age group title. My total swim time was 18:08 about 3 minutes slower than the fastest guy in the group but I figured that the flat and fast bike course would allow me to make up time as there were no climbs to upset my mash in the big ring rhythm. I managed to get my wetsuit off pretty quick and got on the bike and began to hammer away.

The Bike: This week's sign of the Apocalypse...
I love the bike course at this race as it's flat and multiple loops. There are a few turns and rough pavement but for the most part it is ideal for time trialing. I kicked the stomper in to the big ring and just hammered like Miguel Indarain. This guy, Mark from Staten Island came along on the 2nd loop and we began to swap the "lead" for the next three loops. I would lead one half of the loop and then he woould lead the other. We each tried to break away and build a lead only to have the other wear it down. I asked "What's your 10k time?" "About a 42." he answered crap this guy was about my pace so I was going to have a real race on my hands. We came around to enter T-2 and I did my sexy barefoot dismount, and I finally figured out how to do the one leg over the rear wheel thing. It would have gone off flawless except for my worn cleats. I ended up having losing a shoe, thankfully the volunteers at this thing are awesome. My bike split was about a 1:07 and I averaged 22.3 mph. I was really happy with this split because I never and I mean never average over 21 mph on the bike.

The Run: Now I know how Chris Lieto Feels...
T-2 was a comedy of errors as my Yankz lace came un hooked and I spent about 30 seconds reconnecting it. Mark took off in the lead and I doggedly followed. I got passed by a kid from our age group as he cooked along. ( come to find out this kid won my age group at the Griskus and would win here as he threw down a 15:00 swim and a 35:00 10k I'm just shocked I managed to make up that much time on the bike.) He caught Mark at the first aid station as I soldiered along trying to catch him As I passed him at the turn around we both sort of looked at one another and talked about the kid Bib 154 who had passed us. "I really hope he's a relay." I stated..."All I know is he's flying. " Mark said as I got around. seriously if this were Kona this would have been the Sindballe Lieto conversation once Normann Stadler had run past. We had led the Age Group off the bike and now were getting picked off. I knuuckled down as I saw some older guys ahead and figured if I could pick them off I would be in business. We got to the turn around and I was passed by two guys from team Tri Fitness. One of them had a 23 on his Calf. I tried to hold with him but got dropped after 400 meters. The rest of the run I seemed to be in no man's land. I passed a few more people but no one from my age group. I figure from my recollection of the bike Split that I was in 3rd in my AG so I would be getting on the podium all I had to do was defend at this point. I still dug deep as I could hear foot steps rapidly approaching from behind. I came down the finishing chute and was caught by a relay runner but nothing really to worry about. My 10k was about a 43:48 and my overall time was 2:10 after subtracting the stagger. I looked at the results and I had pegged 28th overall and 4th in the AG. I'm still trying to figure out where this 3rd guy to pass me had done it, but for all I've been through in the last month it was a good day.

Granted I think i'm going to talk to John Hirsch and Chris Lieto to get in on the support group for guys who have been in the lead on the bike only to lose it on the run.....

R.D.

I'm Alive..

And no I'm not chowing down on the deceased members of an Urguarian Rugby team...

Ok refrences to the movie Alive are done for the night so pass me another hunk of co-pilot and settle down.
Well this week is hectic. After chilling on Shelter Island with Bjoern and the Crew at Sunset Beach...seriously the staff parties heartier than a bus load of guys from a Tokoyo office on Karaoke night. It was back to the "Real World" this morning first I had to pick up my new insurance policy for my little Red subaru. Another six months of Premiums in Progressive's pocket , but at least I'm covered. Wednesday I need to be out of my Grandpa's place which means I will be couch crashing as I attempt to find myself a career to replace the job. I won't bitch about my job, it's been pretty sweet, but I need more challenges, than getting screamed at by an old lady because I gave her 2 20's and a 10 instead of 3 10's and a 20. I've reached the point that I want my career to be just as fulfiling as my sports, that I want a challenge and I want to meet it. I want each day at work to be an adventure not the same old slog. I want to be a mover and shaker...I'll cut the rhyming out before I get a size 10 wing tip tossed at me. Essentially I don't want to get paid to check the BBC or file signature cards that I have filled n times before because I'm bored out of my mind. Also I want a pay grade that will hopefully elevate me from Calcutta beggar, to say, Boy in da hood. Yeah I know alot of random movie reffrences..bear with me.

So anyway in the midst of all this job seeking, arrangement making, moving packing madness, I have a little Oly in Brigdeport this weekend. Also my HEAT membership has expired I do need to renew but I'll cross that bridge later....like once I get the more pressing expenses taken care of...like my student loans. But needless to say Park City this year is going to be for the enjoyment of it. I love to race but my mind has been elsewhere lately so I'll see how I do. If I win my Age Group I'll put in for team Timex. Because quite frankly my results this year haven't been to steallar save for a Podium at the Griskus and an 8th in my Age Group in Taupo. So maybe some boosters like that will increase the likeihood of sponsorship. Well that's it from here I've got bags to pack, bills to pay, cover letters to write and a little taper week training to crank out for Park City.

Tally Ho!
R.D.