Back to the Pat...

Well I've signed up for the 2012 Patriot Half Iron in Freetown, MA on June 16. This will be the first time I've competed there since 2009, which was probably one of the best years for me competitively. While I was going through it 09 seemed to be an off year but looking at it in hindsight, it was the last year I sort of had some stability in training, work schedule, and life in general. Now things have started to calm down again, and while last year was a little over ambitious and I am trying to focus on getting myself back into hard core competition, and every year that I've done the Patriot good things have usually followed.
This year will be different than when I enter the Pat in 08 and 09. In those years buoyed by strong results in the previous year's tris I went into the Elite/ Open division to try to compete for a check...and promptly got smoked on the bike. 2008 actually went well I carried the #1 bib and set the day's fastest swim split. In 2009 I had a gearing miscue on the bike so I sort of fell out of contention pretty early indeed Speedy Claire was able to cross beating Bobby off her bucket list ( although I asterisk this as she was only doing the aquabike and didn't have to hold me off on the run.) granted I did throw down a pretty nasty run split, which would have put me higher up overall if I threw down my typical 2:45 bike split instead of a 3:00. This year I entered as an age grouper only because the competition has gotten exponentially harder, Karim from the Waterbury Y tri club won the 25-29 AG last year throwing down a 4:35 the best I did here was 4:55 with a short swim and speedy run in 2009. So my goal is to go under 4:45 and hopefully show myself as a serious competitor instead of a survivor like I was last year at Providence and Louisville.So the game plan for Patriot this year is to work the bike and the run. I'll still swim 3x a week but since I know I'll be able to do a sub 30 swim split pretty easily I won't have to throw doen the 5200yard death workouts I did for Ironman. 3000-4000 yards per workout should be plenty, granted they should be a quality 3-4k. My running is coming along and I'm hoping the Newtons will add some ammo to the tool kit. The bike is where I need to put my work but it's hard. Most coaches state that you need to do at least 100 miles a week to show improvement and at last check I still have a 9-5er, rent to pay, a relationship to maintain, so going out for 3x50 milers a week maybe out of the cards especially if i want to keep a job, keep the girlfriend and keep a roof over my head. So I may have to resort to the trainer and Good ol' coach Troy and Chris Carmichael shouting at me to get out of the saddle and try to unleash my inner Lance. So 2012 is starting to shape up after the Waterbury Y tri club kickoff and raffle on Feb 21 I'll have a better idea of what my season will look like.

RD

Trying to plan a season

The Old Bobby is coming back...is this a good thing or a bad thing?



Ok for the first in nearly two years I'm trying to plan out a season. Last year was crazy as I was trying to figure out if the Navy was going to take me, plus some crazy life issues. Now I've signed up for another Ironman. Now this time my Ironman will be different. In 2008 and 2009 Ironman New Zealand was my season opener. I essentially spent four months training with no races on my schedule. This year Ironman Kentucky is toward the end of my season, which now means I have to give thought into what races I should enter as qualifying for Kona is my ultimate goal. Now in a normal year I usually do 2 halfs, 2 olympics and 2 or 3 sprints. I know my body is capable of doing 3-4 halves but with the Ironman I have to watch my finances as well as my body as doing 140.6 miles in the peak of my season is a whole new ball game.

So 2011 has my inner coach fighting the inner accountant.
Initally I was planning on doing the Rev3 half at Quassy and the Patriot half. The positives to these two races is Patriot is $50 cheaper than most of M-Dot 70.3 races and Rev3 is in my own backyard so that cuts out a hotel. . Essentially I would spend the first half of my season building base and then work on going fast for the mid portion of it and then maybe race Montauk or Long Course Nationals to close it out. I wasn't planning on being able to get into an Ironman but when I saw that Ironman Louisville still had spots after Christmas I figured I would go for it.
So now I need to try to break my season down to be at optimal performance for August, which now has me wondering if I should break my season down further. Enter my inner coach.
My inner coach is saying well Rev3 or Patriot would be a good option and I should do Providence 70.3 as it falls in mid-July and would give me a good last warm up before Louisville. The problem Providence is more expensive than Patriot, and would require at least a one night hotel stay, and from experience a hotel for 2 nights in Providence would cost me the same as 4 nights with a rental car in Louisville.
I consulted another area athlete who has her degree in this stuff, essentially her call was play it by ear, and if I decided to race Providence to use it as a training race. $500 between race entry and hotel for a weekend in RI sounds like an expensive tab for a training day, so it looks like I maybe creating my own LD training race in mid July. Likewise I do have some shorter distance races that I usually do on the schedule. The Griskus Sprint like always, is on the list and my goal for that race is to try to top 15 as I was in the top 25 last year. I may go back up to Holliston and race my girlfriend's hometown Sprint, granted they shortened the distance, and I was thinking about going back to Park City to avenge a disappointing finish from last year. Ideally I want to do 5 races the thing I need to decide are which ones.

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.

Breaking the Sound Barrier: The 2009 Patriot Half Race Report

Well I finally did it I busted down that wall and got a sub 5 hour half. Part of it is due to a shorter than normal swim and a blazing fast run split, imbupart to an error on the bike.

I risked life and limb driving through Providence and then South Shore Mass, via Fall River put my bank book in the red, but I made there and back. I crashed at the camp the night before the race and took advantage of staying on site to get a swim and ride in. The only draw back to staying at the camp: No internet and no TV, so I was rocking to my i-pod before I passed out a 10:30. I woke up at 1:00am to shut my light off and then woke up for good at 5am. I showered threw on my sun screen then my War on ALS tats and made my way to my car. Since Dunkin Donuts was only a mile down the road I hopped on the bike for a quick warm up, something didn't seem right as my rear brake was rubbing. Got my self my traditional pre Patriot breakfast an iced coffee and Crossiant and rode back. I grabbed my gear and as I was getting ready to walk over to transition one of the guys who stayed with me at the camp asked for some pins, he forgot his race belt so I lent him my spare and then made my way to the mechanic. Apparently the rear wheel was little skewed so she tightened the spokes and The Stomper was ready to rock. John Hirsch was there and ready to rock the elite wave as were 7 other men and 5 women. I bumped in to Claire BadassMofo at the water's edge before entering the swim corral. Several jokes about being rounded up like sheep and one cattle prod reference was made. As we were sent over the mat to await the swim start.

The Swim:I think we're a little short.

Last year I had the day's fastest swim split so I was hoping to repeat the performance. When the gun went off I cut through the group to the inside, sadly I went a little to far to the inside, as I was about 10 meters left of the lead two (Ray and John) I got close to John's feet at the third Bouy but sighted too far inside on the return leg. The managed to open up about 30-40 seconds on me. I hit the beach and as I ran into transition on of the volunteers warned me to watch the turn into transition. I saw on guy on the ground in pain (Ray), figure he had cramped up on the run up, so I ran past slipped out of my wetsuit and got on the bike as a sea of explatives came from transition. Apparently Ray and John both tore into T-1 sided by side and slipped on the grass. John managed to hit dirt Ray got a foot full of metal fence post and would require some stitches. Hence the sea of explatives.
Looking at the splits I'd have to conclude that the swim was a little short as I pulled a 19:56. Now I'm fast but I usually average a 26, but whatever, measuring a swim course isn't an exact science, some years it's long some years it's short...doesn't really take away from the overall enjoyment.

The Bike: Hmm maybe if you put it in a higher gear.

I got out on to the bike course in second overall. I seemed like it was going to be a good day as I was pedaling almost effortlessly, then the first place woman got around me like I was standing still and then the third place man. As we got to the down hills where I normally make up alot of time I got passed by Craig from Tri Sports. Then another rider and another. I looked at my speedometer I was planing on holding back the first loop but I was only hitting 28mph on a down hill last year I was going 30-35mph. I choked it up to nutrition so I choked down a gu, I got passed by the third place woman and she opened a gap on me, then I got caught by 2 age groupers. I wolfed down a milky way bar figuring I really needed sugar, followed by another gu. As I looked at my split as I passed the camp I was only averaging 19mph....what was wrong with me. I put my head down to try to get more areo then noticed I was in the little ring on the front. It was my Aha moment...I kicked it into the big ring and pushed the big gears, I needed to make up time if I wanted a 2:45 bike split, and a chance to break 5 hours. I managed to gain back some time catching and passing the third place woman by the 45 mile mark, but the damage was already done. I watched 2:45 pass on my bike computer at about mile 56 with 2 miles left to the camp. As I got ready to pull into T-2 I slid my feet out of my shoes to do my dismount unfortunately my right shoe unclipped and nearly hit the asphalt. So I scouped it up and rode the last quarter mile with my barefoot on the pedal and my shoe in my hand. My sexy dismount was spoiled again.
Bike Split 2:53:54 I managed to get my average up to 20.1mph which means my second loop had to be in the mid 21mph range. Claire said later she can cross another item off her bucket list as she pulled a 2:35....you win this round Speed Racer.

Run: If you bike like a bitch you better run like a rockstar.

I was livid and determined to break 5 hours on this day. My bike had sucked but as I threw on my shoes and spun my race belt around I tried to talk myself down to eath and focus on my "second strength." " Alright Bobby you're a good runner, knuckle down run a 1:40 and make this sub-5 thing happen." I passed the third place woman like she was standing still and asked for a time check on tenth overall. The course marshall thought I was asking for bib 10 and told me the leaders were at mile 4. The aid stations all had flat coke this year and for this my gut was thankful. I managed to pick off some of the faster cyclists as I went went along sadly I was getting caught by some faster ruunner types. One young guy from Team Psycho went by. And then I was in no man's land for a mile as I looked ahead there were acouple of runners who looked to be slowing up. I got passed by another "Psycho" and Dave from Granite State Tri Club. I managed to keep up with Dave and ask what pace he was trying to hold "7:00-7:15" So I decided to stick with him for a while.We were able to havee a somewhat labored conversation as we checked splits at aid stations and began to reel in some runners. About mile 7 a 25 year old came around...Dave and I had held 6:30's for the past two aid stations and I figured maybe I could afford to kick up the pace for a little bit. I held with the 25 year old for about quarter mile. We hit a slight hill and he checked out and I looked back and shouted some encouragement to Dave, he was about 200 meters back. I hit mile 8 and began to reel in some more runners. By mile 9 I had caught the second place woman "Next Woman is about 20 minutes back." I told her "Not really much I can do about it now. But keep going you're flying." She said as she hobbled along. Mile 10 I hit the next aid station and was catching a few more runners. By the last hill at mile 11 There was only one person in sight but he was too far ahead to catch in only 2 miles. The last two miles were kinda uneventful, except for getting passed in the final stretch by a member of team Aquaphor. I crossed the line shouting "Freedom" Part of the Blazeman Warrior thing. and looked at my watch. I pulled a 1:38:21 Half Marathon only 1 minute slower than my best Straight Half Marathon. My overall time was 4:55:23. Good enough for 53rd overall and 5th out of 8 elites. I finally broke the 5 hour barrier. Now if I can have a miistake free bike in Providence I might...just might have a shot at that Kona slot. But overall it was a good day.

R.D.

1 day out.

Well in about 12 hours or so I begin my odyssey to Massachusetts, to begin my 2009 tri season. Money's a little tight from some unplanned expenses so that has me a little on edge, and racing wise I'm hoping my run training's been good enough. I've been averaging between 16-24 miles per week for the last three weeks I even ran a 5k in my racing flats last night to see how they felt. I've got to load them with baby powder because I need to save time where ever I can on Saturday because I want to Podium in the elite division and fully finish in the top 20. A tall order when I look at my competition. Tonight has just been a chill out night. No training eat some carbs, watch some ITU highlights, listen to some angry stuff on the i--pod. Tomorrow I'll shave and then make the long drive out. Part of me is really hoping for a good result, but worst case scenario it will be a good training day for Providence. I already have my plan in place. Go for bragging rights on the swim. Stay strong on the bike, and run like a man possessed. Part of me is thinking of taking the first 7 miles more conservative than normal but I know I have a hard time kicking it up the second half of races. The tempo runs with Tony have helped because on Sunday I was going at 1:45 half marathon pace for 11 miles. The nerves have hit but right now I have more important shit to be nerveous about. This is supposed to fun. This is why I punch a clock for 6-8 hours a day, to pay to do this. The past week my mind's been in a really dark place, part of me was really considering just loafing this season and calling it quits until today at work.

One of my co-workers asked me if I got paid to do this. I sort of laughed annd explained at most races I compete as an amateur so there's usually no dinero in it for me. One of my other co-workers chimed in "So why you do it?"
"Because I enjoy it."
Her response "How do you enjoy it if it doesn't make you money?"

For a second I had to think...I ended up pulling one of Macca's interviews out of my memory banks. He talked about younger pros just being in it for the pay check and for him how it's the win he cared about the checks are a bonus. I guess that's where I'm at. I sit around money all day, I worry about money all day, I deal with people that worry about money all day. For me sport is a welcome break. It's something I do for the pure fight. It's something I have to work at. And while on Saturday I'll be racing in the elite division the rest of my racing season I'll be going for nothing more than bragging rights, maybe another Timex watch, a couple of Free water bottles and hopefully the honor to throw down some coin and race on the Big Island.
To be cliche I'll quote Bon Jovi: "You live for the fight when it's all that you got."

R.D.

Patriot Triathlon Scouting Report...

Well I just went through the Elite Men's division of the 2009 Patriot Triathlon in East Freetown, MA. Those who don't know they offer an open division ,usually to try to attract local pros, and wannabes like me, who maybe if the planets cosmical align in the right position and everything goes right might bring home a check.

Well as went through the list of guys in the Elite division I saw two familiar faces:

Ray Botelho who won the elite division last year and John Hirsch, the national Champion of the People's Republic of Block Island, and 10th at Ironman Louisville last year.

Now I knew I was going to lose to Ray but still had a remote shot at the remaining check, with John in the field it looks like I'm racing for the paper weight for third. Part of me has thought about emailing the race director and going back to the age group ranks, but I seriously hate having to swim around guys from the previous waves,Plus my age group goes last wave so there are tons of people all over the place and the sun is usually pretty high in the sky on the run. Besides Patriot is a race that I do to push myself, and see where I stack up with New England's best. Plus with Providence being A+++ priority I don't mind having a 58 mile tempo ride with little to no traffic. But enough on me here's how I think this thing is going to go down.



John, Ray and I are all within about a minute of each other on the swim. My plan is to go hard and see if I can't throw down the day's fastest swim for the second year in a row.



The bike is where John and Ray go bye-bye and battle for glory.



I only know the times of one other dude in the division, Craig Sheckler, everyone else is unknown quantity, but Craig threw down a 4:49 here last year and looks to be at my goal pace on the bike and run. So if I can stay in front of him on the bike or at the very least hold on to him I will definitely bust the 5 hour barrier and hopefully hit my goal of 4:45.



My strategy this year is different than last year. While I fully plan on throttling the swim, I'm going to break my bike leg into quarters, go hard the first half of the two loops and tone down the second halves to try to keep my legs somewhat fresh for the run. Figure I average about a 2:40 so if I can go between 2:35 and 2:45 I'll be happy.

The tempo work with Tony has me confident that I can break 1:40 on the run. But I know I usually end up going about 1:45. This year I need to hammer the run. Hopefully they'll have flat cola at the aid stations although last year they didn't bring it out until late in the race, and needless to say I was suffering through the run.I can't explain it but for some odd reason Coke works for me.

All these plans look well and defined on paper but once you actually get into the race it's amazing how it doesn't stick to a script. A key competitior getting a flat here...a bad night of sleep there, a missed water bottle, the leader deciding to hammer fest the bike and the rest of us driniking the "kool aid" and trying to gun after him. I guess that's why we run the race...nothing is certain until we cross that finish line.

Trying to get pumped.
R.D.

Work, Class, Train, Papers, Sleep, Repeat.

Alright to explain a little bit on the April Fool's post....I'm not becoming a Catholic Priest although at one point I was realistically considering it ( no lie, just ask Angry Runner.)... the no wife/girlfriend/ sex ...ever and do what the bishop tells you to do even if you don't agree with it clauses really didn't appeal to me. (Especially the latter due to my stance on gay rights/ separation of Church and state.) It's not for everybody so my hats off to the guys who do it.

Alright that out of the way, my life is starting to get back into routine post spring break and post New Zealand...I'm starting to get a little more sleep at night, my workouts are starting to get scheduled around courses, and I'm getting back into order. Life is starting to get into balance...the sad thing is...now the papers are coming due....I have a proposal to crank out for my 25 page thesis, a five pager on late Wiemar/ early Nazi Germany, A memo for law, A ten pager for my modern Germany course, get things organized with my professors and deans so hopefully I'll be handed my degree and not an empty envelope in May....meet with my advisor just in case I have to comeback in Sept. which also means filing financial aid just in case.
All that is a little confusing....but we wouldn't be UConn's bastard sibling....I mean the wonderful Connecticut State University system if it weren't for our bureaucracy.

I renewed my USAT membership for 2009...now I just have to enter one more race to make it worth the $40. They got rid of the online processing fee but instead jacked up the annual fee...seriously I looked at the registration for Tri NZ $5NZD That's $2.50 USD for a memebership...granted NZ has ACC so if some psycho motorist takes you out...the state covers your medical bills ( well this they cover anyway.) and damages although this means you can't sue....Cat seemed to look at me perplexed when I commented on a dude I knew at Fordham.He got hit on his entry level Trek and upgraded to a pimped out version with the proceeds from his suit...mental anguish pays dividend$! Also apparently you can insure your bike down there ( similar to auto insurance),but anyway $40 is seeming like it's a little ridiculous.

I'm going to wait until my next check to sign up for Patriot...I'm planing on going as an elite again to try to set a blistering pace in the swim, also it will be a good hard tune-up for Providence, and it's always nice to have a clear road on the bike....if I can manage to place I'm not going to lie a $300 or $200 check would be sweet, but even an overall top 5 or top 10 would be a huge morale booster.

Still have to sign up for the Griskus Sprint...then the season after Providence is up in the air. I have Park City to keep me motivated... if I make Kona then all resources will be pooled to that...if I don't Niantic might be a fun race to do again, and the Hartford Marathon...or just the marathon...or maybe the Redman full? or just pool up for my next Ironman. Haven't thought about that yet but 09 looks to be better than 08.

Looking ahead.
R.D.

IM New Zealand Update and other 2009 tri ramblings.

Well I was not able to put my entry in to Ironman New Zealand Thursday morning, since a majority of my pay went to bills. ( Somewhere in North of Boston, my destiny is probably shouting..."see, see it's a sign! you're not supposed to go!" ) So I'll try again on Nov. 13 hopefully there will still be slots, also that week will be host to Bob's Hardcore sufferfest culminating with a century bike ride that Sunday.. ( wooooo..oooooo,Claire come down and ride with Bob that weekend this is your destiny calling...wooo..oooo.) crap did someone hear something...man it sure is drafty here in Newport...Yes Angry Newport be jealous... Today doesn't have much going on I'm down visiting my sister and some friends so we'll go out for breakfast and then I'll probably tack on some run mileage before driving back to the C-O -double N. Yesterday I did a 20 miler on the stomper, I wish I could have gotten a little more in but, 20 is a good start, figure next weekend will be back to back 60 milers. I figure even if IM New Zealand falls through ( ie sells out in the next two weeks.) the long distance base mileage done this winter will pay off, because absolute worst case scenario I'll replace NZ with Rev3 in Middlebury and just begin training for Arizona. Also I want to try to earn some prize money at the Patriot this year but because it's been moved up to June 20, so there might be a larger pro field, but I'll play that by ear, besides I like having clear water on the swim ..and after beating the winner of my age group by about a half an hour I don't want to go in a slaughter a bunch of Half-iron virgins...also on the same light if he drops the same amount of time I did over the course of a year he might be riding along side me saying " how do you like me now ...bitch!" So yeah Patriot 09 is going to be interesting, as I try to keep my streak of finishing everysingle one of them alive...( my streak at Nutmegman died with my derailleur malfunction.) Whatever Ironman or Ironmans I do in 2009 I'm feeling that it could be a great season. 2008 was over ambitious but I've learned some more important lessons ( and I know somepeople are like "you didn't learn anything if you're going back to NZ.") Hence my domestic schedule is a little less ambitious No Eagleman and $400 expenses for hotel food and gas, RI 70.3 is up for debate, depends on where it fits in and if I've done Rev3 or not. The Griskus Olympic is probably off the schedule unless it's CT club championships if I do Rev3,
so that's $70 in the bank, the Griskus sprint is a guarantee. So in essence except for the Griskus and the Patriot and IM Arizona my schedule is clear. So I have my plans set, my backup plans set, and my backup plan for my backup plan developing.

So close yet so far.
R.D.

The Patriot Triathlon, a tale of the good, the bad and the ugly.

Well On Saturday July 5th I competed in the 2nd Annual Patriot ( longer than half iron) Triathlon, as most people know Speedy Claire was racing and it was my first race as an elite. Now a lot of people looked at me crazily when I decided to enter as an elite, but I figured it was worth the gamble, if I won the Elite Division I would win $300 if I was second $200 3rd a picture with the guys taking home cash and 4th or lower I'd be the smuck taking the picture. There were only 9 guys in the elite ranks so a top ten was assured, I showed up to the race expo early on Friday to claim my gear, and get a quick swim in. I was shocked when I looked at my number. Popping out at me on the front of my run bib a huge black #1. #1? No way, I'm good but I'm not that good, oh man I don't know how to take this. One part of me is thinking cool this will be a great psyche up, another part is thinking now I have to go fast because I will look like a total poseur if I finish in 107th like last year, the other part is having replays of DeBoom passing a kidney stone in Kona in o3, Stadler's Flat F**king tire fiasco of 05 and his orange puke all over his bike from 07, what did these two star crossed triathletes have in common they wore bib #1.



Trying to keep the curse of bib #1 out of my head I began to BS with some of the Volunteers and other racers, gave Claire a quick call, then stripped down to my HEAT shorts and went for a swim. Now this lake was warm, they had measured the temp at 76 degrees 2 degrees below the no wetsuit mark, I was going to practice sans wet suit just to be ready for a no wet suit swim, which might work to my advantage. I couldn't go out to the first buoy due to some powerboaters and jet skiers tearing up the calm waters, so I resigned myself to swimming between the start buoys and the last buoys at the finish They must have been the grand total of 100 meters apart but 200 meters after a long car ride isn't too shabby. My stroke felt pretty good because I went hardcore on the swim practice last week, so I was hoping for a good result. After BSing with Jonas a frist timer from New Haven it was off to Claire's place, I will say only one thing Boston Traffic is crazy. NYC is turn your blinker on and go, Boston is look for clear asphalt and make a break for it. I could write about the commute but that's for another post. Long story Short I got to Claire's place ate, crashed, we got up, got to the race site,after I missed the exit again this year. Anyway Claire went to register and I went to set up my rack. For some odd reason I thought that they gave the low numbers to the elites because it looked all of us red cappers were on the front rack. After a some quick BS and finding Raf I went off in search of a toliet The ones by the swim start were ten people deep, I spied the ones at the end of transition and made my way over with my wetsuit half on. When I got there there were 5 age group ladies waiting for the next empty portolet. " Do you mind terribly if I cut infront of you , my swim wave goes off in 6 minutes." I asked doing the pee dance the girls let me ahead and I was able to relieve myself , then make a mad dash for the swim corral a few ounces lighter.





The Swim: ie the good or Bob-o goes out like a champ.

In the swim corral the other elites and I started to size one another up. Most of us were pretty friendly, one guy, Tom and his wife entered in the elite wave to race together, One kid Mike would couldn't have been much older than me was a bike and run phenom so he was just looking to survive the swim another guy was doing this a a warm up for Placid and wanted clear water and roads for most of his long training day, the rest of us were looking to do battle for the overall. I took a postion at the front and inside so I could power ahead, and since there were only 12 of us elites including the women I decided that the inside was the way to go. The ten second countdown went of then the air horn then the sound of splashing and stroking...my first elite race had begun. As I approached the first buoy only one chick and a guy in a flaming red Pro-motion wet suit were in front of me. The thing is they were going outside so I glued myself to the inside of the course by the 3 bouy I was on their feet and as we made our way down the cross leg I glued my self to the fast chick's feet and let her lead the way.When we made it to the last buoy on the cross leg both of us stopped for a second trying to get a bearing on the return leg buoys Pro motion dude and I spotted them first and had a good old fashioned drag race, I was going to be first out of the Water I needed to be first out of the water my manly worth rested on it. At the second buoy I surged going so hard I thought that the crossaint I ate on the ride up would rear its ugly head and become fish chow. Luckily it didn't the last buoy came into sight but it took an eternity to pass, seriously I must have taken 20 strokes and sighted 4 times and got no closer, finally after what felt like forever I reached the boat dock ripped off the cap and goggle and started on the wetsuit, as I ran to T-1 the first man out with the day's best swim split.

27:58



T-1 No time to lose!

I got into T-1 with a 20 second lead..not as much as I was hoping for but then again I was with elites, just having the lead was a big deal.The wetsuit came off the cycling shoes went on, as did the helmet, my race number, and I was off. 1:31



The bike: Let's just say Volunteers are like all other human beings some good, some bad, and some you wonder how they made it this far.

The guy in second ran along side as we tried to find the mount line which had been washed away in the deluge of rain coming down on us, funny this year in Halves I haven't caught a break, either heat and humidity, or a down pour, irregardless we got half way up the driveway and mounted, the best sight in the world was that police motorcycle leading us out granted the new leader was gone in a flash, following the less soaked piece of asphalt created by the motorcycle.

We got to the Route 140 interchange and shockingly I was greeted by two cars tunring infront of me. ( Note to race director, Please put a cop here next year.) Needless to saw it was about this time the women's overall leader showed up, and got around, then we leap frogged, that was about the time the good cyclists started showing up. One Gentleman (Bib #3) came by and was going about my pace So he became my target rider I took off in pursuit of him and the girlie chick was toast. Me and bib 3 began to leap frog at one point I thought I get an overtaken penalty ( I also had a bit of Bike envy he had a fully pimp Felt B-12.) because we were going the same pace with different strengths, on descents and short power climbs I was quick, but at turns or shifting savy ascents ( the grand total of 1 hill at the bottom of down hill turn) he was more proficient, but I digress The good cyclist began to show up starting with Mike and a dude in a full lime green jump suit, then another full pimp rig flew by at about the 20 mile mark. I managed to dust bib #3 for a little bit but he caught up as we began loop 2. Loop 1 went well and it looked like I might be able to finsh the bike in the top 5 , my strategy of turning this thing into a hammerfest might work.... Loop2 turned into a loop of doom and gloom I didn't really drink much on loop 1 and I only ate 1 GU, so on this loop my body began to scream for fluid and sugar. The first 5 miles went well, bib #3 came back and we started to leap frog again, he was feeling a little fresher and my semi roasted butt, then Bib # 9 Jason from Trisports got into the fray, it became a 3 way leap frog between a kid on an entry level tri bike and two middle aged warriors on high tech equipment. needless to say the warriors won, by the first aid station the two guys were barely in my sights and after the rough bombed out stretch they were gone, my legs were shot and the rest of the ride went into survival mode. I had tried to go out hard on the bike because I know my half marathon isn't in the same zip code as most of the elites, it was a gamble that didn't payoff.
Bike Split 2:45.16.


Now I'm going to go on my good, bad, ugly rant about the volunteers on this bike course, the first aid station the guys were pretty good, but sadly all they carried on loop1 was water. Also at some of the intersections some of the guys they had out there were in the zone. Usually there was at least one person making sure that you stood on course, but at some intersections I was asking straight, right, or left, just to make sure. The guys at the bottom of the steep hill were good and made sure everyone got through safely. Aid station #2 was ok although on the first loop they were kinda of disorganized, but by the time the age groupers got going they were in full swing. Also there was one intersection that a couple of guys got mis directed then they had to make up a mile that they had been directed off course including Mike (who would go on to finish second.)

T-2: Shoes, belt turned around, visor on, trying to find the running legs. T-2 split 1:31

The Run: Let the suffering begin!
At the pre race meeting we were told that there would be flat coke on the run. Now some people ask "flat coke?" After two and a half hours of sipping Gu2O or HEED, or Gatorade, the body starts to revolt against anything fruity flavored, so I took off on the run expecting salty caffinated goodness to be awaiting me at the second aid station, ( I didn't take anything leaving transition) I was told I was in 7th and 6th was only a minute ahead, I tried to settle into a quick race pace I hit the first mile at 7:25 and was passed, my legs felt like crap and there is no other way to put it I felt like crap and ran like it. I hit the second aid station no coke I figured ok maybe every other one, gulpped some HEED ( at least it was watermelon flavored and not lemon lime so the stomach could handle it.) The humidity was getting intense so I was expecting a rain shower to come along and cool things down but it never came, another runner got around, I tried to keep pace but was soon dropped, 3rd aid station no coke, maybe at mile 6 , In no man's land for the next 3 aid stations age grouper Jamie comes along side huffing and puffing I mutter something about my knees feeling like garbarge and he's looking strong and try to keep pace with him I do so for a couple miles then get dropped, I have never felt this bad on a run well ok I have ( Eagleman). Another elite or age grouper comes along at about 9 miles and passes me Jamie takes off after him and I'm back in no man's land where I stay for the next 2 miles. at the aid stations it's the same story, no coke, I take a gu to get some more sugar into the system finally mile 12 shows up I get into Braveheart mode and decide to up the pain threshold a little bit, I start to really push the last mile I break the tape in 5:03.36 My half Split was a 1:47.39 my run was about average but it hurt, penance for going hard on the bike.

I could go on about the post race but this post is way too long already, needless to say I feel like I made a Douche bag out of myself ( while still in a hypoxic state) I mentioned something about the race leader riding in the wake of water created by the motorcycle and called it drafting not the illegal sucking wheel kind of drafting by using the bike to block the wind. which I had to clarify before I got my ass kicked, ( seriously the elite winner bicepts as big as my calves, one punch and I would need dentures. Also upon talking with him he was like dude the motorcycle wasn't even worth it, I nearly got off course 3 times following it.) I need to come up with a term for trying to ride in a dry line, needless to say karma got back at me and I sliced my foot open on a tent post so all in all I felt like an ass. Met up with Claire and Raf post race and we sat at a table with a bunch of the run volunteers, for as hit or miss as the bike course was the run guys were spot on. I just wish they got the soda there quicker. Claire won her age group and was shocked. Raf was third in his division, he's doing Placid next week so it should be interesting to see how it turns out. I found out the time of the kid that won the the 20-24 age group a 5:44, I felt glad I went elite I'm all for winning my age group but I don't want to win by a huge margin, first I don't want to embarass anybody, second I needed to really push myself to see what I could do, and how to strategize a race, not having to worry about how I fared with all the other 20 somethings. this race report is way too long and way over due but I needed to get it out there I should have the Griskus Report up on Wed. and the RI 70.3 on Thurs.I'm running a week behind due to travel so please bear with me. Also I couldn't get any of the photos to up load so check them out at Capstone photography.com enter bib #1

The Road Warrior
R.D.

Race Reports coming soon....

Next week you'd better have a jumbo mug of coffee ready as the Patriot Tri, Griskus Sprint and RI 70.3 race reports will be gracing the pages of Of Triathlons, God, and Random Crap.

Because of the busy race schedule I apologize that I haven't posted them sooner but it's hard trying to catch a break between work and traveling it's been nearly impossible to sit down and write. I did the Griskus sprint last night and finished in 1:08.16 4 min. faster than last year and good enough for 27th overall, the official race report will state where I finished in the age group.....let's just say I was happy with the result although I got beat by some dude from Hong Kong.

RI 70.3 is this weekend I'm opting not to stay in a hotel so I'm just going to drive down on Saturday and Sunday, figure $50 for gas is cheaper than $200 for a hotel. Although another part of me is saying just to scrap it, as some other expected and unexpected expenses are beginning to pop up.

As for the racing season after RI it is all based on Finances, if the money rolls around for Nutmegman great, if not I can live not doing it. Same with Park City and Niantic, I'd like to do them but they are a luxury at this point.

I figure the race reports will take up a lot of time during my rest week, I'm also going to continue looking for a part time job, to try to supplement my income, I've got bills to pay and future dreams I want to finance so this might be a wise decision, it always seems I run into a dilemma when I have money I never have time to do what I want and when I have the time I never seem to have the money. Well that's enough from me back to the grind.

R.D.

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.

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.

An Ode to the Snooze Button

So there I lie in restful slumber my training plan torn all asunder, morning swims and work out plans destroyed by my weary hands. Every morning repeats the scene promises of hard work destroyed to dream, each night I make a solemn vow and still I sleep in any how. The alarm goes off a 5AM, and then 5:30, 6, and 7. And then I realize I need to get to work and hit the snooze button like a jerk. So will I ever get a morning workout in, because my sleeping in has become a sin. I guess I can blame it on the Celtics win and celebrating for Ray Allen! Why I worte this all in rhyme IDK but this post has become a waste of time. Maybe my next post will be a hiku but quite frankly I have better things to do. I have long rides to ride, longs runs to run, with some 4000+ pool work added in for fun. Aww who am I fooling with all that crap, I'll probably lie down and take a nap. The snooze button sadly has become a good friend, but if I dream of racing glory that will soon have to end. The NBA finals are over Boston tied the Lakers their noose so for staying up late I have no more excuse. No more bad mouthing Kobe, or laying hail to the big 3 Paul Pierce, UConn's Allen and some dude named KG. so that's my crappy attempt at a poem I don't care if it sucks, and if you don't like it you can shut the ( Blogger Edit) UP!

Alright all the crazy rhyming scheme aside I really do need to stop sleeping through my early morning workouts. The last few days I've only managed 3500 yards in the pool and a 9 mile run. Today I'm hoping the weather stays clear enough that I can ride to Waramaug and back, I'll also try for at least 3000 in the pool. Since I'm not racing tomorrow I'll most likely do a long run and another swim. Saturday I'm hoping to get the bike out for a couple of hours after work , but that's tentative due to work and weather. Sunday I have a long brick planned, in Middlebury/ Washington, then Monday just the a long day at the pool ( possibly doubles.) The Patriot is just over 2 weeks away so I really want to work the next 10 days then give my self a mini taper into my Hell Week, and what might realistically be my last set of races until late August, and my last qualifying race for Clearwater. If I can get First or Second in the open category that means a check and gas and hotel money for Rhode Island 70.3. The Griskus sprint, after how I felt on the First lap of the run and the fact I was able to surge with confidence, I might get my first age group medal there in 5 years, and maybe I'll win something in that god forsaken raffle ( come on Carbon fiber bike frame be good to bobby.), Well those are ramblings for the moment.

The Slave of the Snnoze Button.
R.D.

Pat Griskus Olympic Triathlon Race Report.

There are several reasons why I decided to do Connecticut's hardest Olympic Distance Tri, a week after Eagleman. The first is it's a tradition, every year since 2006 I have used this race as my "season opener", it was my first Olympic race so it holds a lot of nostalgia. The second or rather third reason is it is Connecticut's best of the US qualifier so it attracts a massively competitive field. The 2008 edition also held another more practical reason why I was racing, it was my trial run, for Hell week, how would my body hold up after a half ironman, when I would try to ask it for all it had again. I was about to find out.

I arrived in transition after picking up my bags the night before ( and flashing the Ironman New Zealand T-shirt.) I set up next to a new HEATster. I met Gary, Raf, and a few other guys and Ken " Mr. Invincible" Davidson, from Shoreline. Now for those that don't know Ken D. he is BADASS! 4 years ago Ken broke his collar bone and 3 vertebrae in a horrific bike crash, he came back a year later, and last year conquered the course where he was nearly killed. we had swam masters together for a year, and sort of have a competition within a competition between each other, when ever we're racing. Irregardless, I got my stuff ready because I was in the first swim wave, and unlike some towns that come to a stand still when there is a race in town, Middlebury, CT had complained about our PA system, so until 9 AM there would be no PA and the loudest Volunteer had to use his vocal chords to corral us to the swim start. Tom Wilkas and crew went through their normal pre race spiel on how they've put this race on for 7 years and haven't had to Emergency Evac any one. The first wave took their spots for the start. I set up far wide hoping to avoid the crushing masses at the start.

The Swim: That's the way uh-uh I like it uh-uh!

An air horn went off to signal the start and after a quick dash, I was in water deep enough to swim. I began to pull away with a group of 5 guys and by the first buoy we established ourselves as the main contenders for the first leg. One guy broke away at the turn while the rest of us drafted and paced off of one another. Unlike Eagleman there was no wrestling. I stood a little wider, and the other competitors gave a little more room. There were no Kona slots at stake, just bragging rights and a a cushion on the bike, so there was no need to get dirty and break out the brass knuckles. The second bouy went well, 2nd and third place broke away a little so as I rounded the corner I noticed glare on the water. I tried to keep 2nd place directly infront of me. I noticed as soon as I got out of the glare zone we were on a direct line to the last bouy. I noticed the pack was starting to thin out. 1st place was gone 2nd was pulling away, 3rd was to my left and 5th was tucked in on his feet. The approach to the beach seemed to take for ever, I would take 5 strokes sight and the bouy on the dock didn't seem to get any closer. The third place swimmer caught up to second and finally after what seemed like and eternity I hit the beach. A volunteer in the water called out my split as being 24:54...I was a little slow on the run up to transition as I hit the mat at 27:09 40 seconds slower than last year.

T-1: You ever just have one of those days.....

When I hit T-1 I pulled off my wetsuit. Once again I was a little slow getting it off the ankles. I lost about two slots then got on my bike. My plan was to do the bare foot slip in like I did in Maryland, but as I mounted and began to pedal away, one shoe flipped upside down and snapped off. " Shit!" I muttered to my self I got off the bike ready to toss it to the ground so I could grab my shoe. " I'll hold it I'm an official." Tom Wilkas, the race director said to me as he took hold of the Stomper and I grabbed my shoe and put it on. I thnaked him grabbed my bike and slid my foot into the other shoe as I rode away. I had lost at least 10 spots and had added at least 2 min. to my bike time, since I had already crossed the timing mat. T-1 time: 1:19.

The Bike: See elevation Profile below.

Yes that is a really steep hill at about the 15 mile mark, but I'll get to that. As I left the Amusement park/Transtion area the road was going gently down hill. The asphalt was smooth as glass, and I was able to kick it in the big ring and really hammer, granted I got passed by Heaster Wolfgang ( or I think it was Wolfgang, all I know is he was wearing a tri fitness jersey and had incredible bike handling skills.) and a member of Team Timex on his pimped out Trek TTX. Then we turned to the side roads I was determined to try to take as much of and advantage on these flat/down hills as possible. I was getting passed by maybe 2 or 3 people but not the endless parade of cycles that had streamed by in years past. At least not until mile 3. As seen in the profile mile 3 goes down hill in a hurry and it also has some of the most treacherous corners on course. I'm usually on the binders so I can make the corner ( although one year in the sprint race I wiped out half way down the hill in the wet.) My brakes squeeled some GU2O must have spilt on the front caliper they squeeked half way down the hill as I tried to burn whatever was on them off. I made the first sweeping left hand corner and let off the brakes then feathered them for a sharp right hander then let go in the turn and coasted spinning my legs forward and getting no tension on the chain. I got passed by only 2 riders better than last year. We made our way down the back roads before shooting across route 6 and up route 47. At this point the road was starting to roll just a bit but not too bad. As we approached the Route 47 Route 132 junction we took a right and went on to Route 132 and toward the merciless hills of Bethlehem ( Claire and I have ridden 47 toward Washington). Not the suffer fest began. The first couple of climbs weren't too steep. I managed to take them in my 23 on the rear cog ( yes sadly I did not throw down on a climbing cassette so I man handled these hills with a 12-23 if anyone wants to get me an early X-mas gift a 10 speed Ultegra 12-27 would be greatly appreciated) I spun most of the way up getting out of the saddle occasionally. Each hill took more and more out of me. I magaged to get around one of the guys who passed me but now noticed the stronger cyclists were showing up. The riders started their parade past this crazy swimmer type. At the 10 mile mark Ken D. showed up and got around he could tell I was suffering as we made our way up the deciever. On 132 there are 3 major climbs, 2 back to back past a dairy farm and a few bed and breakfasts, I like to call these the sisters, the third hill is the deciever, when you start descending thinking the worst is over you are suddenly hit with this wall that you have to spin up, and then the descending begins. When I got to the top Ken was already kicking it into the big ring and cruising at full tilt. I had gotten passed by 2 others and kicked it into my big gear and began to coast down trying to follow Ken's line. I was aero for a little bit then got into the bull horns, there was a tight right hander coming up. I wowed way up for it and turned on to Weekeepeemee Rd. the most pox scarred piece of pavement in Litchfield County. Seriously, this thing looked like it had just survived a meteor shower, artillery barage and some 10 year old's failed mining attempt. I was going down in the bull horns, as I coasted a long two morons in their rice burners decided to visit some friends on this road forcing me to stay wide right, needless to say I hit a pretty big divet and nearly popped a front tire, if I can't have kids in 5-10 years I'll know why. As soon as the cars passed I was abel to go back to traversing the mine field, staying as close to the right as I could to let other faster/more daring/ skilled/insane riders past. We made a sharp left on to some pretty senic side road. I swear, it looks like a scene out of the Tour or the Giro, the road curves up and you're riding past this farmer's field and decrpid yet scenic little house. I got passed by the women's leader at this stretch. The road continued to curve up then it leveled off as you took a left on to Flanders Road. Now Flanders is decieving, the road looks flat but it is gradually going up hill. As you near the sumit you pass the Bendictine Abbey of Regina Laudis ( if you see any cars with hot chicks turning in there scream at the top of your lungs " Don't do it. Not Yet!")I think that this part of the course was added for a reason, at this point of the ride you are so hypoxic or so sick of hills you are either having a religious experience or are bargining with the almighty that you will donate you zipp wheel fund to the starving kids in Africa as long as you don't have to climb another hill.Finally you reach the top and are rewarded with a bottle from the aid station ( I didn't take) and turn right on to Route 61, the road goes down in a hurry and you find yourself reaching speeds you never thought possible on a bicycle, then it rolls a little bit and then it goes down hill with several curves, I mixed between the aero bars and bull horns as I sped through some of the more technical turns then shot accross route 6 on to the last stretch of heavy climbing. The women's second place rider went by as did some dude on a trek as I tired desperately to climb. Finally we crossed onto Middle Road Turnpike and the grade lessened as we took on the last part of the sprint course. One small hill, a speedy descent and I got around the trek. Another hill and the trek got around and once again I passed on the descent, finally the last hill the half mile grade with that damned smiley face. I got into the smallest gears I could muster determined to stay seated the entire climb, I got around the trek again and one dude on a Specialized with aero wheels, the second place woman was still about 200 meters up the road. I got out of the saddle to summit it Then quickly kicked into the power gears for the descent, I was passed by the Specialized, as we screamed toward the turn back on to route 64. There was a little bump on which the dude on his trek got back around as I slipped my feet out of my shoes and prepared for the descent back to transitition. I slowed up for the right hander back into the park and got passed by 2 other riders. I dismounted and ran into transition. I threw on my flats and race belt along with a visor and took off for the run. Bike and T-2 time: 1:25.06. 2 min. slower than last year.

The Run: The base is strong but the legs are weak.

As I headed off on to the run I passed a few of the cyclists that had beat me in at the same time I was passed by 3 or 4 faster runners. My legs felt like lead the Half Iron the week before combined with the Mountain Stage bike course had taken a huge toll, yet despite all this my breathing was fine, my lungs felt great but my legs just couldn't turn over. We started down the hill and I passed 2 guys one of whom stopped to "water the grass". At the aid station I took water and gatorade, the water went over my head and the gatorade went to fuel my tiring legs. One guy in a heat jersey got around me. I kicked it up, I wanted the honors of being the first HEATster across the line ( although I lost that to Wolfgang....I doff, my timex visor in respect.) I surged on the hill where I lost an age group podium in the sprint last year. We got back to flat land and the turn around at the park and I was caught by Gary, we decided to pace each other and reel in some of the runners from the Shoreline Sharks. My sights were set on Ken, he usually got me on the bike but I would often re pass on the bike, sadly that would not happen today. Gary and I kept a good pace, I made the comment about my shorts chafing, ( they don't have a normal cycling pad, like most zoot products, but rather a recessed soft fleece pad, they're great to ride in but the raised seams can hurt like the devil in the run.) We got down the hill again and down to the flat turn around. We started back and at the aid staion Gary accelrated we passed a few guys including one dude from Shoreline, but my tired legs could not keep up with Gary, as he acclerated up the hill like a house on fire. I kept him in sight as we summited but he continued to break away. Then reality hit as the shoreliner I had just passed made an attempt at a come back, I kicked it up a knotch and got around him as we turned down the finish chute, thankfully it wasn't long because I don't know if I had the legs to beat him in a 100 meter dash. I finished in 2:36.19 about 20 sec. faster than last year. My 10k split was 42:49 almost 45 seconds faster than last year.

I didn't medal in the age group as most of the studs came to play. 1st was a 2:15 low 2nd a 2:15 high 3rd a 2:16 4th a 2:26 and my self at 2:36. the most inspirational athlete in this race was John from Milford. John lost both of his legs to a bacterial infection 4 years ago at age 17, since then he has been racing in a hand cycle, and experimenting with prostetics. He had swum on a relay last year and this year was doing the whole enchilada. He was leaving T-2 shortly after I finished, he became the first person to finish any of the Griskus races using a hand cycle and push chair, quite an accomplishment considering the brutality of the race. He finished in about 3:30, which I found out after the race that he is using for a trial run to his first Half Iron in Providence on July 13, also he still managed to beat some of us more able bodied competitors, can you say BADASS! I could go on about the post race, but nothing really special happended I met a fellow Zoot Gu guy, another Blazeman Warrior, caught up with the HEATsters, guzzled some brew and met up with a CENTri guy, and oh yes, like every year dropped $5 on raffle tickets and still didn't win crap. I'm begining to think that I'll win the Sprint race before I win anything in that darn raffle.Well that was Saturday in Middlebury. This week will be devoted to long training miles, and hopefully reversing my Middlebury Curse on July 9 in the sprint after seeing how I stack up with some of New England's elites on July 5th at the Patriot.

The Latic Acid Filled Warrior

R.D.

Water, water everywhere.....

Apparently I've done something to tick God off, ( damn it I knew it was because I really have no pro- choice or pro-life stance, and I support civil unions and Civil marriages for homosexual couples ( separation of church and state!), stem cell research ) but in any case I went to the Y last night and got a 3000 yard workout in. Now this was the first time in almost a week I got in the water. I wasn't too rusty, and I managed to hold 5X200 on 2:50 holding between 2:40 and 2:45 on all 5. I went over my Pepere's ( Quebecois for grandfather) homestead played a few hands of cribbage, grabbed some dinner and then went home to get some sleep. I descended in to my basement which suddenly had turned into an indoor swimming pool from yesterday's deluge...this included my room...nothing better than walking in expecting to crash at 12:30AM and finding your room looking like it could have been on the sound stage for the movie Titanic. Well I had 3 options, "sleep" on the couch ...in which sleep is in quotes, my dogs would be whining for the door every 5 minutes, the second was suck it up and sleep in the puddle, that was once my domicile, the third sleep at Pepere's. Well the choice was obvious, I packed what I needed for the morning and drove the 2 miles to my grandfather's house. I slept like a rock. On tap for Today, Bailing..bailing and more bailing, maybe an evening run.

The Water Logged Warrior
R.D.

Edit #1: Upon checking my email and the registration list at the Patriot, I have decided to take the leap and enter as an open category athlete. I figure the potential of a $1000.00 payday, is worth the embarassment of blowing up. The course is flat and fast, and I've definitely have gotten more miles on the bike this year. My running is steadily improving and If I could pull a 1:37 half marathon on minimal training after a long and hilly 56 mile ride...then I feel I could definitely go 1:37 on that course...perhaps even faster. With a little more than a month to train for it, I've already started increasing volume, in hopes I'll have a descent Eagleman. The Griskus, well at least for the Olympic race I'll be doing it in Jan Ulrich Mode with my 12-23. Hopefully by the end of the summer I'll have a 12-25 or 12-27 for my hiller courses. My training runs have felt like crap the last couple of times out, but with all the stress I've been under I'll chalk it up to that. Granted they have still been pretty quick. So all in all that's all that's going on as of 11:00AM

Upon reading my homie Bjoern's Blog he's a little psyched and a little nerveous as he prepares for Switzerland 70.3. Anyone wishing to leave him advice or encouragement click here

Well I did have a mussy gushy post, but that ain't my style...

Well Originally I had posted an Ode to friends to say I have been around some pretty cool people in my life, but that was just way too emotional for even for a sap like me. Don't know if I'll be posting much positive crap in the next few weeks..stuff is starting to improve but the last couple weeks have seen me on the verge of emotional and financial collaspe....for some odd reason I'm the only 23 year old in the world trying to raise his parents..... I seriously feel I'm too damn young to be dealing with this shit...but whatever, I've been too damn young to deal with a lot of the shit in my life. I've decided as soon as Chrissie is done with exams I'm going to start commuting by bike...the price of gas is too damn ridiculous, that and I need the training miles, besides I only live 2 miles from work, and 10 miles from the Southington Y. The Waterbury Y is closer but would put myself and my bicycle in great peril trying to commute to it... my rims would be gracing some low rider wal-mart beach crusier and my frame would be sold at the nearest pawn shop...riding to Southington I just have to worry about being taken out by a rabid soccer mom speeding in her SUV or an ADD teenie bopper wondering what just cracked the valance on her new acura....but then again I was dealing with big rigs on NZ route 1 so soccer mom is a piece of cake. ( crap those could be infamous last words.)

Well that's all that's gone on here. Eagleman is in 3 weeks, my speed on the flats was good and my base is surprisingly high despite the fact that I haven't really ridden as much as I would like. My running is feeling good, I've got a 7 miler on tap tonight followed by a swim or vice versa.
The swim is good although I've been feeling sluggish in the water. I chalk most of that up to my mental state for the last week
Angry is back from the mid west....with no cougars caught....Claire kick serious ass at her Half Iron finishing second in her age group and 4th female overall...also surprisingly close to my Half Iron time at Nutmeg last year.....she might succeed in that beating one of my splits afterall...which if that happens I will be renting a set of Zipp 808's for the Patriot..which speaking of which I foundout requires a pro card to compete in the open, but upon talking to the race director they don't enforce. I have decided that if I make it to Kona or Clearwater at Eagleman then I will race for cash at the Patriot....after all airfare to Kona..doesn't grow on trees..that and if they offer a swim prime I want to take a go at it. So yes if I am Hawaii or Florida bound this fall..I will be taking a crack at a check on 4th of July weekend.
So those are my random ramblings of the day.

R.D.

I've got my sponsorship kit and I'm in the Patriot Half.

Well I just cast the die for the Patriot Half Ironman, as an age grouper...ugg all those people to pass on the swim......Also my Credit card company will love me next month......my paycheck for the second week of May gone....or at least most of that rebate check...but I should have enough miles for a frequent flier miles to fly to NZ for free next year.

In lighter news, Zoot Gu finally mailed me my livery for the 2008 season, and it isn't the flamboyant baby blue/pink/flaming mardi gras yellow, that I thought it would be, although it isn't as nice as my HEAT Flames..the guys at Zoot did a good job. I also recieved my nutritional supplies for the year : about 4 crates of Gu (2 Chocolate Outrage 2 Strawberry Banana) two canisters of Gu2O ( 1 lemon-lime and 1 orange) along with more Gel Flasks and waterbottles than I know what to do with...the visor and socks are on the way, although I think I'll keep using my Timex Headsweat...it's sort of my signature Clothing Item.

Last night I managed to crankout a 5 mile run on the Cheshire Rail trail. I regret not bringing my headlamp, granted I sprinted the last mile because I thought some " nesting Swan" might want to have it out with me. I did it in about 43 min. Not breaking the sound barrier but not really slouching it either, so it was all good.

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

To go elite or to go age group, that is the question....

Well I was looking at the results from Last Year's Patriot Half I was an hour and 4 minutes off the overall winner's time. 35 min. of that gap was from the bike split the other 27 coming from the run, and 2 from the swim. Now upon analysis of my training and equipment one must remember, my longest ride pre-Patriot was 48 miles, my monthly long run was 12 miles, and I was swimming 3300yds. 4x a week. Also I did the swim in a $50 surfing wetsuit rode a 23lbs. Road Bike, and had to ...umm...ditch some clif bars and their wonderful overabundance of fiber.... on the run. Anyhoo...the cranium got to working ( on something over than Victorian England.) I train like a beast, I've got better gear, I've steered clear of clif bars for the last 3 months ( shot bloks are a different story, guys at Gu I'm telling you a semi-solid chewable would be great...call um Gu-bers....) Patriot offers an elite, open catagory, which unlike most races you do not need an elite licence to compete in. It qualifies these entrants for the cash prizes, which is a bonus, but the one draw back, if you race as an open competitor you cannot be eligible for prizes for the age group and your time only counts toward the overall. So in essence my poll for this week is do I take a shot at the Patriot Half in the Open Catagoryand potentially a pay day, to see where I rank with New England's elites, or do I continue my reign of terror in the 20-24 Age Group for a bike jersey, nice trophy, and beers from the guys at HEAT? Realistically I have nothing to lose, I'll be competing in my age group at the Griskus, RI 70.3, and the rest of my races. So do I take a gamble or keep the status quo?