The Season's taking shape

Well Tuesday night was the Greater Waterbury YMCA Tri Club kick off meeting. Among other events going on that night was a raffle for free entries into the Rev3 Quassy Half and Olympic, The Pat Griskus Sprint and Olympic and the Hopkins Inn Triathlon at Lake Waramaug ( essentially the revival of the Lake Waramaug Tri on the original route.)

Let's cut to the chase my luck at raffles still sucks and I came up empty handed granted I really could have used that entry into Rev3. I was able to register for the Griskus and Waramaug Sprints with a one night only discount. So my season looks like this so far:

June 16 Patriot Half East Freetown, MA

July 11 26th annual Pat Griskus Sprint Middlebury, CT

July 21 1st Annual Hopkins Inn Tri Washington, CT

My hope is to register for Rev3 Half Quassy before entry fills up so hopefully that will be part of next week's pay well spent. As mentioned earlier all New England race directors decided to front stack all of their Olympic distance races before Age group Nationals in Vermont. So I'm not sure if I'll be doing an Oly this year. I've thought about Rev3 Old Orchard Beach but if I'm going that far North I'd rather race a half. If Quassy fills up then I'll definitely do Old Orchard as I want to do at least two halves this season, and if I have the cash and play my cards right, a full iron distance race to finish off the season.

Next year I'm hoping to either go back to Louisville or another WTC sanctioned event to try to punch my ticket to the big dance, but this year is going to be trying to rebuild to the level I used to be at. When I was hungry, when I could eat lightning and crap thunder, when my goal was clear, Big Island, Pro Card, Big Results. While the pro card maybe a stretch ( more of like a stretch, long bike ride and a plethora of performance enhancing drugs...I mean natural and legal supplements.) I'm hoping for some big results to get me moving in the right direction.

Training's been pretty consistent, the run miles are still a little low but I'll be putting up some big numbers in the next few weeks. But so far I have three races. They are pretty fast courses with pretty stacked fields so the training needs to stay consistent and my attitude needs to get back into that "I can do it because I'm hot fire. And I'll school your ass like Macca" mode instead of the "I'm a whiny coward trying to survive." mode. That's going to be the hard part.

R.D.

Welcome back to the freezer

Well today I decided to put tires to pavement. The temps were near 50F and Steph had left early for play practice so I had the afternoon to myself. Since the weather was nice and I had noting better to do I unhooked the Stomper from the trainer and went out to Middlebury. I hadn't ridden outdoors in Winter since 2009 so I dugout my tattered pair of wool socks and threw another pair of cycling socks over the top hoping that they would keep my feet warm as the only cycling shoes that had decent cleats were my tri shoes. I kept the route simple and did two loops of the Griskus Sprint bike loop. I took the first loop pretty tentatively as I focused on bike handling. It wasn't too windy and once I knew where the sand and pot holes were I was able to open it up. The S-curve at mile 3 and the turn on to Tomilson Rd at mile 4 looked like someone had dumped sandbags down, but there was still enough of a path that to fit the bike safely through. The fact there was very little traffic also helped. I did have an issue with the censor on my bike computer shaking loose on the second loop after hitting a pothole, so a mile and a half of the ride wasn't recorded. I was surprised I didn't bump into more riders but there were several runners. I finished the 20.50 ride in a little under an hour and a half averaging about 15mph. Not fast by any means but not bad for my first outdoor ride since August.

I got back to the car and threw on my Newtons and went for a 5k run down the Griskus Sprint Run course. I kept the pace moderate and I could feel that my feet are adjusting to the Newtons. I'm not ready to tackle any 10 milers yet but I have a feeling if I'm able to get through the next two weeks doing short runs between 3-6 miles I'll be able to get back into the high mile high speed runs. This week I've got some tough workouts on tap in the pool and on the trainer

RD

First run in Newtons and other training tales

Well yesterday I took my Newton's out for their first run. It went pretty well but until I fully "break in" the shoes I'm going to have to keep the miles low. I could really feel the lugs when I was going downhill, but not so much on the flats or going up hill. It also allowed me some time to reflect on my stride. My left foot seems to already land on my midfoot, where on my right foot I could still feel the lugs and it tends to pronate a little more. I know that as I get used to the shoes and my mileage increases, my stride will improve and I'm confident that my run splits will get faster this year.

I've also started getting back on the spin bike. My bike leg is what needs the most improvement and I'm hoping that I'll be able to get my cycling back to the level it was at in 2008 and 2009. The set that has been the most use to be has been 4x5:00 in big cog on the front with my 15 tooth cog on the back, working on getting my cadence up and building my endurance.

My swimming is back up to about 4000 per practice and the triathletes I'm coaching are improving and building up the yardage . that's more info for another post but so far I'm thinking that 2012 will be a good year.

R.D.

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

Two Steps away from being one of the cool kids

A few years back I had posted that the "cool kids" roll into triathlons with their Garmins, Blue Seventy Helix Wetsuits, rolling on their Cervelo P2s, with their Newtons. Well as I look the soles at my rapid wearing Pearl Izumi Syncro Fuels I realize that part of my income tax refund is going to need to go to running shoes. So I'm thinking about biting the bullet and buying Newtons. For years I've been tempted but I've decided not to spluge on them, but after analyzing my gait I think that Newtons maybe a wise move. I normally land on my mid foot with a little bit of heel landing as I fatigue. I've heard good reviews by some of my teammates and training partners at the Waterbury Ymca and I think that it might be time to get one step closer to becoming *gasp* one of the "cool kids." Does this mean I'll be rolling into a transition near you on a cervelo, texting on the newest i-phone trying to synch it to a garmin, while discussing how I'm better than half the people showing up to do battle and that my cerevelo that is factory speced like the other 200 in Transition is superior. Please I don't think I'll ever be that cocky, besides, my first smart phone and carbon frame are still a promotion and multi bonuses away. But if drinking some of the Newton Kool-aid might help me throw down a better run split, then hey I'll sip away.

RD

Finding the mindset

"that's why you see me walking round like nothings bothering me even though half you people got a fucking problem with me."- Eminem from "Till I Collapse"


In 2001 Peter Reid was sitting on his duff growing a beer gut after falling from the pinnacle of the sport. His former coach tossed him a tri mag with a training plan for completing your first Ironman highlighted , essentially stating don't let your melt down in Kona be the way you went out. Get back to what the sport is supposed to be: fun and a personal challenge. In October 2002 he finished second in Kona and a year later won his third and last Ironman World Championship.

On a more minor league scale ( I am nowhere near the league of Peter the Great) this year I was thinking of skimping on some races, just going through the motions of keeping in shape and getting some fitness back, until I bumped into one of the younger athletes from the club: My friend Chris Rinaldi. Chris and a mutual friend John Corbo remind me a lot of the way I used to be. Fire breathing warriors out there having fun and pushing themselves to the limit. The word can't doesn't exist for them. Sure there are going to be bad days but you just take them for what they are and keep going. As I shot the shit with Chris as he was finishing up a treadmill session it was amazing to see how he's progressed. 2 years ago I bumped into him and Corbo on a training ride and Alexei and I were giving them tips on training and riding. Now they're kicking ass and taking names dominating the 20-24 age group. As I talked to Chris I asked him about his goals for the season. He rattled them off: make nats, have fun doing it. We talked about finding sponsors and how he and John have racked up quite the group of backers and followers. We talked of races where the courses were fast, the podium spots obtainable and the post race beer plentiful. It helped me get back some prospective.

Louisville had been painful in more ways than just physical. I had gone in broke, and mentally out of it as my grandfather had died the week before I was due to fly out. My grandfather was one of the guys who didn't look at me like I was crazy when I said I was going to New Zealand for a second time in 2009 . Likewise he had shown up to every track meet in High School, rain, wind, snow, cold it didn't matter, he was there. When I went into Louisville I had spent most of the money I had tucked away for the race on getting my sister to the funeral from Rhode Island, as well as picking a set of new clothes for the funeral, and eating out because my heart just wasn't up to cooking , or essentially doing anything. Add to it one of my friends I was supposed to meet down there had been dragged on a last minute trip to Chattanooga and then a hurricane kept my friend Adam from being able to fly out it just added to the dark cloud over my head. My mind hadn't been fully in it Louisville, yet I still finished but I didn't have anything left to give for the rest of the season.

After talking to Chris and seeing his passion it's reignited my flame. My training has been harder and more consistent, and I've felt better doing it. I'm actually looking forward to the season I'm going to race a little more locally and put my Kona dream on the back burner for the season, I'm going to focus on going hard and building up my street credit. In 07 and 08 I raced like a rock star, and I want that feeling back. In 07 I wasn't worried about placing and in 08 I knew I was capable and 09 well 09 was still an ok year but it was an introduction to the real world. 10 and 11 I let the real world kick my ass, that ends in 2012. Do I think I'm going to pull a Peter Reid and win Kona in 2013...well stranger things have happened but winning in the 25-29 age group would be equally gratifying.

Getting back

Well the last few days have been spent trying to get my body back into racing shape. I had some vacation time left from last year so I took an hour and a half from the office and went for a 7-8 mile jaunt through Wolcott and the West end of Waterbury. It wasn't my normal old 8 mile town loop but it was still pretty decent. Last night I did a 30 minute session in the weight room before hitting the pool. Now given that I'm recovering from a head cold and my last swim was over a week, my form and fitness were pretty ugly. I mean snot rockets and gimped elbows ugly. My arms were already tight from 3 set of TRX Press ups with Kettlebell deadlifts in betwwen. Followed by squats, with push ups between sets with inclined dumbell fly presses, with triceps presses between. Round that off with 100 crunches/ situps and ball work and I had already put in a stellar workout. I managed to warm up with 600 swim 600 pull and 10x 50's drill swim with a 200 kick. My main set was a brutal 3x500's on 7:00 which was quickly bumped up to a 7:15 interval as I was coming in just over the 7 minute mark. Afterward I felt just utterly annihilated.
So today when my alarm rang at 5:30am I promptly countered with the snooze button. I decided to request some of my left over vacation time to try to get a run in while there was still day light. Since my parent's car is in the shop they borrowed mine to try to take care of some of their running around, hence I started my run from my parent's place. I managed to come up with a solid loop granted it was a little traffic heavy. I don't know what it is with running in Wolcott but it just seems different than running in Waterbury. It's not as congested, there's a little more space on some shoulders, not enough on others. While the city has some pros (sidewalks, streetlights.) there was something that made running in Wolcott just seem a little nicer ( granted nearly half my run was through the East End of Waterbury.) maybe it was that I was familiar with that side of town or the fact that the only people really out were other crazies like myself trying to get their runs or walks in before sunset. Regardless I managed to get it done in 1:12 which is making me think my route was closer to 8miles than 7.

Tonight I coached my swimmers at the Waterbury Y. Only Lori showed and I ran her through technique.She's bit the bullet and decided to do Timberman, so my goal is to fix her stroke and get her pool workouts to average between 2000-2500 yard. One of my swimmers from last year and her husband came down. She's currently going into her 5th month of pregnancy so killer workouts have been replaced with "however many laps I can get in." Since the rest of my crew wasn't there and Lori was done by 8:15PM, I decided to do a beat the clock 3000 yard workout. It wasn't too bad but it did make me realize how far I have to comeback. My main set of 10X100 yards on 1:25 was brutal in that from 100 #4-10 I was just coming in under the interval. I was pretty proud that I was able to finish the whole 3k in just over 45 minutes, as the pool was closing.

So fitness is starting to comeback and I'm trying to harness that "a day without a workout is a wasted day philosophy" that I had in 2008-09. Things are starting to comeback into place and hopefully after few weeks of steady solid training I'll start seeing some results.

Happy Training
R.D.