Life of an Age-Grouper

For the past 3 weeks Matt has been asking me the same question, "Are you feeling any fatigue?"  My response every time has been an emphatic, "NO", followed by some phrase like, "that's all you got, bring it, don't hold out on me, I feel great, Let's goooo, etc, etc"  Looking back I should have asked him why he was asking me that question so often?  Oddly enough when you are feeling great and making progress there is little proper reflection and critique.  In reality one should be looking even closer at those sessions that you nail to the point of over analysis. So taking some of my own advice, here is my reflection of the past two months: For the past two months I have trained hard 7 days a week.  I figure that I have hit 95% of my training goals and without a doubt have improved my fitness and knowledge of triathlon.  Within the past 2 months I have only had 2-3 scheduled days off (I trained anyway) and have only missed 1 training session ...

What was the biggest or most embarrassing noob mistake you have made? "What mistakes haven’t I made really? It wasn’t even a noob mistake, well I guess it was. I should have learned this along time ago. It happened to me at the Carl Hart Fall Duathlon, I was having a great race. I had a great first run, first onto the bike, I was coming off the bike in second with a very manageable gap to Brian Wolf, this guy is a fantastic cyclist, a complete monster. I figured if I could get off the bike within 45 seconds I could run him down on the last run.  So I came screaming in off the bike, it was kind of rainy that day, transition area is grass, I hope off my bike, and immediately hit the ground. The bike goes one way and I go the other. It was just a matter of not doing the basics; I didn’t slow down into transition.  I just thought I would save some time and come screaming into transition, hop off the bike and be gone. Slow and steady in that situation always wins the races. ...

Matt Wontz is a USAT Certified coach, a stud age-group triathlete and fortunately for me,  my coach.  His interview offers a unique perspective on triathlon.  He talked about everything from his earlier years in the sport to the triathlon culture of Long Island.  You might want to read this two part series a few times to make sure you don't miss out on anything, I know I have read it several times already.  How many years have you been involved in the multi-sport world? "Well I have played multiple sports for many years. Specifically multi sport, let’s see, 5 years.  Five years of multi sport participation, definitely not racing because that’s not the case." With that many years in the sport I’m sure you have rifled through a ton of gear.  What is your running shoe of choice?  What is your bike of choice? What is your wetsuit of choice? "We’ll go in order of operations for the day. My wetsuit of choice is currently the Blueseventy Helix we...

From my very first Sprint race in Southold I was immediately aware of the variety of athletes there.  Triathletes come in every shape, size and age.  I distinctly remember reading the back of a man's calf (where your age is displayed with marker) 71! This guy was 71 years old and racing triathlon, amazing. I can only hope to be particpating in the sport until 71.  As my triathlon career develops I'm no longer shocked by the single 71 year old rather the numerous triathletes in that age range competing in and completeing everything from Sprints to Ironmans races.  These older athletes not only provide inspiritation but also provide a unique insight into the sport.  Here is my interview with, Ron Matsui, my Dad.  "Can you tell me about your athletic background and love for the game of tennis?" "Well, athletically I would say that it started obviously with High School sports, playing on varsity teams but not necessarily tennis. As a "young athlete" I wa...

There are more people invovled with triathlon than just the athlete racing.  With so many people involved in the sport there is bound to be different perspectives on it and I plan on providing you with several different persepctives on the sport I love.  The first person I thought to interview was my wife because without her I wouldn't be able to pursue my triathlon goals. Here is my interview with  Melissa: (NM) "Alright Babe,  I don’t believe I'm mistaken when I say that before you met me you probably had no idea about triathlon? With that being said how many years now have you been associated with triathlon?" (M)  "I would say about three and half" (NM) " Since you are not a triathlete I figured you could offer an interesting perspective on the sport.   In your opinion what is the most interesting, enjoyable,  or amusing aspect of triathlon?" (M) " Watching you cross the finsih line and seeing the happiness and excitement in your he...

Everyone always says that the best bang for your buck in triathlon is getting a coach. After working with Matt for slightly over a month, I now echo those sentiments.  Matt has lived up to my expectations as a coach. He has met with me several times outside of training just to talk shop, we have met up for multiple workouts and his knowledge and insight into the varied aspects of triathlon are invaluable. During one of our first pool sessions we busted out the GoPro and video taped my swim from every angle.  He pointed out areas of concern which I could immediately address.  He did remind me to only focus on 1 or 2 aspects because trying to fix everything at the same time would be overwhelming.  A few things that I have been focusing on are, my reach ( keeping my arms straight and parallel as well as reaching for the end of the pool), completing my stroke (early catch, and extending my triceps through the follow through) and hip rotation (it took a while to figure ...