The Finances of Ironman....

When I first began this sport I never understood why people who were more inclined to do Ironman Tris opted out of a lot of local races. I used to think these guys were being "M-Dot Snobs." Upon doing my first Ironman and several races out of state I now have a new understanding for why alot of athletes would skip the East Bum Kill Sprint Tri and hug-a-thon. For some yes it interfers with the Holy Gospel training plan that if you don't ride X miles on X day you will die a most painful and horrible death. Madam Pele will open a fisure on the Queen K turning you and your P3C into a cinder, all becuase you didn't ride X miles on X day. For others it is the fiscal situation. We only have X amount of dollars Y amount of bills and Z set aside for race entry, travel and other entertainment, so for some of us if it comes down to a Kona qualifier Kona itself or the local races we all love and adore some times and heart breakingly we have to choose what's more important. For some of us it's that qualifier it's that magical shot to get to the Big Island and see ourselevs on NBC in December and for others the reward of seeing friends, family and the homies from the tri club at the local tri are what moves them. Some of us have all the luck and we have a really large Z amount tucked aside and we can race whenever our heart's content others of us have small Z amounts and have to focus it what is best for us. The 2008 racing season has been a painful lesson in this reality, that sometimes one's racing season comes down to the finance game not the training.





In my case I need to start planning for 2009 now....








October and November will determine the fate of my 2009 tri season and which races will be set in stone, which races were pipe dreams and what I can reallistically expect, I figure if I set my race fund aside then I will be better prepared and won't be forced to scrap at the last second, also I can focus on saving for summer courses and tucking a little extra ( tax refund) aside in case I get lucky and good and find myself on the Big Island, other wise my budget for the late season as well as future life goals or unexpected expenses will be prepared. Bjoern has arranged a homestay for Arizona, so my odds of doing a double have drastically increased.






Recently my training has been stepped up, I've actually gotten some weight sessions in, and yes Angry I have worked "the Chain", granted my hip abduction workout got some stares, and my squats are dreadfully weak.





My running game has entered the track workout phase, still try to get one long run a week , a track workout ( usually a threshold workout, speed work will come at the beginning of September.) and a moderate run between 4 and 8 miles usually hill work.





With the cycling I'm looking to increase from 2 sessions a week to 3 -4 sessions a week to improve my stamina, speed and handling skills.





Swimming is down to 3 sessions a week, my distance has sort of stagnated at 3000-3500 yds. per workout, that yardage will go up in the winter, but for right now it's good where it is.





The main focus of the next two weeks is to work my running and cycling so I can hopefully top 10 at Nutmegman, a lofty goal with the pro field, but my age group might be slim pickins this year with Bjoern in Europe and several of the Young guns frightended off by the horrors of last year, regardless I'm going as an AG athlete because the Real Deal pros are coming to this one, that and all the men start in the same wave...so any advantage of racing elite is pretty much eliminated, that and I really want to win the AG, and end the season right.

Oh yes I opted out of doing the financial advisor position, I might be kicking myself in 5 years but with everything going on right now knowing my pay is guaranteed makes life a little easier, plus the training schedule would be a conflict with my college schedule and I need that bachelor's degree to do anything profitable with my life. Speaking of which Central is determined to keep me for an extra semester and its pissing me off.

Well that's all that's happening in my neck of the woods.

R.D.

I think Map Quest hates me.......

Well upon trying to plot a route to Eagleman this weekend....I'm trying to avoid tolls and NYC traffic at all costs. ( the Tolls because this month is financial hell for me as it is, the NYC traffic well self explanitory...I don't feel like getting shot for cutting off the wrong person.) I found getting to Maryland won't be a problem, but on the way home Mapquest seems intent on making me take the Holland Tunnel and West Side Highway. I lived in NYC for two years I know how bad the West Side Highway Sucks, plus the toll for the Holland Tunnel is a whopping $8. Seriously why won't these guys just give me a route back to the Tappan Zee. I'm almost at the point of tossing down for Amtrak because at least I'd save on Gas and tolls. But irregardless, I might toss down the $5 for a map of PA, NJ, NY just to map out a better route. right now it looks like Eagleman is a go, my parents said they'd toss me some cash for gas, I might sell a few of my DVDs and some racing collectibles I've had since I was a kid, but it all depends. If my stimulus check comes in that would be a big help, but I'm not banking on it. So I'm trying to get myself in the mindset to take on the commute and the race...If I qualify for Kona, there might be a lot of photos of me shamelessly begging at the awards....and emails to every and any one with a house in Kona for a home stay. Bree Wee, I can cook and do dishes, just no diapers....but that 's going to be a hard task. Looking at the splits I need to not only break 5 hours I need to be close to breaking 4. I have full confidence that I can shatter the sound barrier on the bike, considering the course is supposedly flat as a pancake, the swim is in a slight current, but then again I usually swim in the out side lane getting blasted by the filter jets anyway, the run well I've been under alot of stress lately and I noticed that I tend to store alot of that pressure in my quads and calves I'm just hoping mental fatigue dosen't set in. Also the fact that is supposed to be close to 90F (32C) and I sweat like a Turkish Weight lifter in a wool sweater, has got me a little worried about the run, but then again it's not supposed to be as humid as originally thought, and the run is my second strongest leg. So essentially for the race I'm mentally and physically ready. It's just the logistics that are stressing me out. I any one has directions from Jersey to the Tappan Zee, please let me know, I really don't want the kiss of death from Don Fabrizzio after I cut off his black Mercedes at 79th Street.

The Neurotic Navigator
R.D.

Edit: Bjoern has his race report up. It looks like it was one hell of a day. Click here to see the post.

Snooze buttons should be banned....

Last night When I collasped into bed I did so witht he intention of getting up and running at 5:30AM, as usual 5:30 turned to 6...etc So when I got up a 7AM I woke up to a layer of the white stuff and a lovely ice coated under surface, ( my mom agreed to take my sister in after I dicscovered the roads in my part of town sucked and there was no way I would be back in time to get to work @ 8:30.) so I showered and began to walk to work...which is only a mile from the home stead....after 3/4 of a mile I was picked up by my mom and proceeded to get my car......( apparently the town plowed and salted when I was in the shower.....) Needless to say I felt like a complete tool this morning. Tonight if the roads remain good I will go to Masters and have my ass kicked into shape by the lovely Miss Stefanie( yes Angry has Trainer, I have Stef to fufill my Masochistic desires.) Tomorrow I have a ride planned, some forecasters are talking snow, others rain, others the end of the world....so I'll play that by ear, All I know is I need to run one final twenty miler and get a few more miles in the saddle....I'm afraid that my one 75 miler just won't cut it. Next week begins taper, if my lack of long runs and one to two rides aweek doesn't already count. So this weekend will be a reign of unholy distance, next week I confine my self to quality not quanity, no runs over 10 miles, and 1 to two hour trainner sessions, the swims will cut down to 3500 to 4000 yards. So the taper is insight after two more really long days in the saddle.

The Road warrior.
R.D.

Crusin' the blogosphere

Well as everyone knows expenses are coming to a head as I am 4 weeks out from flying to "the Land Down Under" ( wait Australia is the land down under does that mean NZ is the next to the land down under?) Rather than sit here and blabber on for a post on how I'm camped out next to my mail box waiting for an envelope with the CCSU logo on it and a check for $1900 green backs camping out within it, I decided to take a cruse down the blog roll and checkout a couple of mutually recommended blogs to lighten my "recessed" spirits a lot of other crap has been hitting the fan and I really don't want to discuss it, so as stated I took a stroll through the blogosphere and got a little lift from the following:

Cranky Runner, describing how's he's trying to become the Cranky Swimmer...don't worry dude you'll be cruising out laps in no time.

Angry Runner vs. the Angry Bird: Gives a whole new meaning to the Waterbury Bird Gang...
also you can raise a band of little tyrants, I'm perfectly content to let my blood line die out with me.

Pants, its a small world afterall.

Ken, please update your blog dude!

Speed, I was going to leave a comment on the Starbucks washroom thing then I got a line of customers and timed out, but the run sounded eventful.

Jodi...goes Goth?

Well in lighter news Yesterday was a productive "blow off steam" day of workouts. I managed to get in a 15 mile run and 4000 yards in the pool ( granted Stef put in a lot of kicking so my legs were nice and stiff this morning.) but I felt fast holding 1:15 on two sets of 4x100 yards on 1:25, and 2:35 on 3x200 yards on 2:50. Today I'll most likely hit the pool again, or sit my arse on the trainer, follow it up with some nice streching and collaspe.
Well that's it for me today.

Will train for Cash
R.D.