October 15, 2010
Thankfully, the Nantasket race was an 8 am start. I had spent a large portion of the previous night up late due to a loss in my girlfriend’s family and by the time I got home in bed it was about 1 AM. I debated even going to the race the next morning knowing I would have to be on the road by five thirty in order to get there on time.
My alarm went off at 5:00 and I slowly rolled out of bed. I ate my prerace meal and was out the door. The drive down was pretty relaxed, no traffic that early on a Sunday and I was about twenty minutes from the race site when I got lost for the first time. After 20 minutes of trying to find my way around, I found the race site and realized I had about 40 minutes to get my packet, rack my bike and get ready to race. I have never moved so efficiently before a race. I was all racked and set up with 15 minutes to go. I threw on my wetsuit and hopped in the water. WOW!! The water was cold. I guess I forgot it was September in New England and we had an ocean swim. O well, I finished warming up and got ready for the race to start. We got our pre race instructions and lined up ready to go.
We were off; the swim was nice and short with the first 100 feet really shallow. The first buoy was the turnaround buoy and I headed back to shore. I was first out of the water, I flew threw transition and was first out on the bike. Since I had not been down to the race venue I had no idea what to expect so who knew what the bike portion would be like.
The bike was short, but there were a large number of turns. I got passed by the second place competitor about halfway through the bike and held second place the rest of the ride. Due to the windy course I was only able to catch a glimpse of the first place rider after he passed me so I had no idea how much time I had to make up on the run. I wound my way back to the transition area, threw on my running shoes and started to head out on the run. On the map that we viewed before the start of the race, it looked like the run went along a sidewalk that ran parallel to the beach. As I left transition, I started to follow the sidewalk until I started getting yelled at and someone pointed me down a ramp. I followed his instructions and ended up on the beach. As a complete surprise to me, the run was a beach run!
Once on the straightaway, I could see that the first place competitor was about an eighth of a mile ahead of me. Running on the beach was very different. Not only do you have to watch out for holes, but if you can plan correctly you can avoid water and wet sand, making it easier to run. I went straight through the aid station at mile 1 and had made up half the ground number 1 had on me. I continued the chase until the turn around where I was about 10 seconds down. I finally caught him with a mile to go and was able to hold the lead from there. It was a great finish on a fast course and a good way to gain some confidence after a mediocre season. I was very happy with the result - especially knowing that I was competing in Austin at the Ironman Longhorn 70.3 at the end of October. It was nice to get a first place win under my belt this season.
August 1, 2010
I know it is late but here is the race report for the Pat Griskus Triathlon in Middlebury, CT. The race was a great chance to go spend the night in Connecticut with my cousin and her husband. My girlfriend Jillian and I headed down to Connecticut on Friday afternoon after we worked a half day. We ended up leaving New Hampshire at 2 o’clock and did not arrive until after 7 o’clock. It was an extremely long trip, and unfortunately we spent a large portion of the trip on the Mass pike.
When we arrived in Connecticut we caught the end of my cousins softball game and then we went to the grocery store. We arrived at my cousins around 8:30 and I had a small dinner and played mechanic on my equipment. In the morning it was a thirty minute drive to the race venue. We arrived around 5:30 at the venue and I started to prepare for the race. I finished getting setup, did a quick warm up and was ready to swim.
The swim started fast. The first 400 meters were very fast and I was surprised with the speed of some of the swimmers. After turning around the first buoy, the pace settled down and a group of five athletes went off the front together. I came out of the water in fifth and I left transition in third.
I hopped on the bike and I felt good. I caught the first place person within the first four miles of the bike and led from there. The course was extremely hilly and a lot of the down hills were rough. It was a fun ride around the lake, and thankfully at this race the water station still had. I finished off the bike in first, or so I thought, and was quick through transition. Then I was off and running.
I felt good on the run and took off from the transition station. The running course was two laps. On the way out it was downhill, and on the way back uphill. I realized after I had hit the turnaround and was climbing back uphill it looked as if someone from the second wave was trailing me. The second wave of athletes started three minutes after my wave, and if this was so, I would have currently been in second place (because the trailing athlete was less than three minutes behind me). I continued to push uphill and then finish my second lap. I was the first one through the finishing line and I had to wait to see who won. About a minute later Christopher Thomas finished. Chris had started in the second wave, and finished within three minutes after myself; which meant that he was the winner and I finished in second place.
As nice as it would have been to win, Chris is a great competitor. Overall it was a good race, the goal of the race was to get some race experience and work on my pacing. In the end I was a little behind on my pacing, but I was still happy with the result. Next up, the San Francisco Triathlon, which is my first draft legal race of the year.
May 24, 2010
After missing my first three planned races of the year due to injury, I was finally able to compete in the Memphis in May Triathlon on Sunday the 23rd. I arrived in Memphis on Thursday and was able to enjoy the warm weather down there. On Sunday, the age group race went off at 7:00 and the pro field did not go off until 10:30. The temperature was predicted to be about 85 degrees at the start of the pro race and would reach over 90 by noon. Along with the high heat, the humidity index of the day was in the mid to upper 80’s.
I arrived at the race course at 9:15 feeling good and made my way down to transition. I started to rack my bike and get ready; I got my run warm up in and was waiting for the official to check my helmet when I started talking to Karen Smyers. We were both amazed at how strong the sun was, and both agreed it felt much warmer than 85. She checked the temperature on her cycling computer and it read 95 degrees, this was in the direct sunlight, but still that’s hot! I went over to the lake to get in a brief swim and get ready for the start. The race was held in a time trial fashion instead of a mass start, athletes would go off one at a time with a ten second interval between. Athlete’s numbers were given out by age, the youngest was to go first. Being only 20, I was the youngest one there and got to go off first.
The swim was a single loop, clockwise triangle swim. After a swim time of 25 minutes in change at Nationals last year, I knew I would need to focus on this during the off season. I was happy with my swim yesterday coming in with a time of 19:02. I went quick through transition and was sixth onto my bike.
It was a couple quick turns out of the park and I was on the course. The roads were in decent condition and I was feeling pretty good on the bike. I was holding my position and making sure I stayed hydrated. At mile eight, I realized that I had not brought enough fluids with me. I had finished my water bottle by the time I went past mile 10 and was anxiously anticipating the aid station, which never came. The aid station had run out of water and Gatorade during the age group race and we were never informed of this. I was starting to feel pretty dehydrated, but decided to continue and keep pushing knowing that there would be some fluids on the run course. I finished the bike slower than I had wanted, only averaging 24 mph and finishing with a time of 58:41(the bike course was only 23.6 miles long instead of the normal 24.8).
Going through transition I got some Gatorade in my system and put as much water on my head as I could in hopes to cool off. My legs felt heavy heading out on the run, and only got worse from there. Before hitting the first mile marker I had already passed another pro that was hunched over on the side of the road not doing so well. Although the run went out of the park and along smaller back roads, there was very limited shade from the trees. Each mile seemed like ten, and I have never been so happy to see the run turnaround. I stumbled into the turnaround area and slowed down in order to intake some water and Gatorade. From there, the rest of the race was pretty much a blank. I finished the run in 45:18, slower than my average training pace.
I finished the race in 2:04 over ten minutes slower than my expected. I fell over the line and got taken to the EMT tent. I had a fever of 105 degrees and got to spend the next half hour covered in ice with an IV in my arm.
This race was hands down the hardest race I have ever competed in, and was happy with myself for not pulling out, which in retrospect might have been the smarter thing to do. I finished my first race of the year and am confident this will be a very successful season. Next up, Treasure Island Triathlon in San Francisco.
Obviously i didn't go fast enough
May 20, 2010
I arrived down in Memphis, TN last night around six thirty for the Memphis in May Triathlon on Sunday. The family that I am staying with for the weekend is located on a lake, and I get to wake up and eat breakfast overlooking the lake; it’s a great way to start the morning. The MIM triathlon is a great way to kick off my season and a great way to end the school year. I have built up a great base over the winter, but unfortunately, haven’t been able to do much speed work. After having IT band problems at the beginning of the season, and spending the last two weeks with gastritis, I was forced to take training easy. This race will be a great way to gauge my fitness for the start of the season and get my first race out of the way.
This is my view while i eat breakfast.
First time i have seen my bike with race wheels. It looks pretty good
April 18, 2010
I saw Dan Ferreira, a friend and Physical Therapist at S and W sports in Concord, NH last weekend and got some on the spot PT from him. He gave me some great strengthening workouts for my hip that have helped my IT band immensely. Although my running stopped me from going down to Texas last weekend to race, I competed in a local 4 mile trail race to work on some speed and strength. It was a great race, helped give me some confidence back in my running and my knee felt fine. It was definitely the dirtiest race I have ever been a part of, my shoe gut stuck in the mud at mile 1. It was an extremely fun race and I was happy with a second place finish. Thursday is the last day of 2 weeks of exams, and then only about two and a half weeks until summer.
April 1, 2010
April is finally here!! We have been getting rain the last 3 days in New Hampshire and even more roads have been flooded. Thankfully they say that the next few days are going to be in the 60’s and it is supposed to be 84 on Saturday! I am so thankful the warmer weather is getting here and I am hoping there will be less rain in April since we had such a wet March. Originally I was going to start my season off down in Texas at Collegiate Nationals and then down at St. Anthony’s Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Fl. Unfortunately due to the knee injury it was decided to push back the start of my season a month and start the season with Memphis in May. This decision was made due to the lack of on road running mileage during the off season. Because of this, my run really isn’t where I wanted it to be at the start of the season so hopefully with a strong run focus over the next month I can get a solid base in for the start of the 2010 season. The week of the 17th I will be down in Massachusetts to compete in the Wrentham Duathlon just to get some race intensity in before May. I am excited as this will be my first duathlon!
March 14, 2010
With exactly a month until my first race of the season, my knee is finally feeling one hundred percent. It has been a long wait for my knee to get better since the problems started back in November. I am looking forward to this upcoming week with spring break, some warm weather and the hopes that I will be able to get in some good training. I will keep you up to date as the first race of the season approaches.
March 2, 2010
So I know I haven't posted anything on here recently, so I figured with the season approaching I should probably start getting ontop of this. Finally the weather up here in New Hampshire is starting to warm up and allow some outdoor training. The weather came just in time now that my knee has finally started to feel better and I can stop running in the pool and get bcak on the roads. I am looking forward to April where I am going to start the season at Collegiate Nationals in Lubbock, TX. The week after that I get to race at the St. Anthony's Triathlon. I have heard great things about this race over the years and I can't wait to be a part of it this year. It looks like the pro field is going to be strong once again this year as well.
February 1, 2010
I just got in my new Quintana Roo CD0.1 and the bike looks amazing. I am excited to be racing for Quintana Roo this year, one of the leading companies in TT bikes. The bike looks amazing and I have been able to get a couple of rides on it, and it feels great. I can’t wait for the weather out here in New England to warm up so I can get outside for a couple long rides and see how this bike performs on the roads.
