Life of an Age-Grouper

It has taken some time and overcoming being too confident, excited, ignorant, naive and a noob but I have reached a point of enlightenment (not absolute enlightenment). Since Matt has started coaching me he has preached building aerobic fitness and that without a sound aerobic base your body will not be able to endure the high intensity and volume needed to be successful in long course racing. Fortunately I just came to realize was the true importance of aerobic fitness based on my recent reflections on my swimming. I have made steady progress with my swim that has become a catalyst for motivation. Every swim session I have schedule I go into it with the expectations of killing it, and there in lies the problem. I do the prescribed yardage and drills but I tend to swim faster than I should (at times way too fast). I obviously thought there was no problem with this since my muscular, aerobic and anaerobic fitness levels were increasing and my splits were decreasing. With in the la...

There are only a few things in life that get me really pissed off and in a bad mood. The first is being stuck in traffic. It makes me go crazy and think horrible thoughts. I could be in the best mood ever but the second I hit traffic my mood does a 180 and I'm ready to rage on anyone or anything. Secondly, I hate being sick. While I'm sick I'm only thinking about how much fitness I'm loosing and that I can't train, exercise or do anything productive. Here is the worst, most annoying and aggrevating feeling in the world, being tired. I'm not talking about feeling tired because you stayed out all night partying or because you had a bad night sleep. I'm talking about being physically tired to the point where you can't hit your marks while training. I hate, hate, hate having to rest or having a recovery week or having to, dare I say it? Take a day off. I want to be able to go as hard as I want, for as long as I want, when I want. It pisses me off when my b...

The following are confirmed races for the 2012 race season.  I will certainly be backfilling my schedule with some races as the season draws closer. May 19th - Harriman 70.3 June 3rd - Great Southbay with Dad July 12 - Vineman 70.3 August 7th - Smithpoint with dad August 21 - Timberman 70.3 This is a very short list of races however I have extremely lofty goals for all of them.  The two races that have all my attention are Vineman 70.3 and Timberman 70.3. You could call these "A" races or simply races that I plan to hold nothing back on.   The two races with my Dad are going to be great.  Last year he missed out on GSB do to a serious head cold.  Smithpoint will be new to both of us.  Both courses are flat and should be a lot of fun. The following are races that I would like to add to my schedule; 1. Century ride with my Dad (both of us are very eager to accomplish this) 2. Xterra - I had originally planned to do the Dirty Devil in NJ ...

Every person deals with adversity in their own unique way.  Some people adopt the "sink or swim" mentality while others gravitate towards "fight or flight."  Whatever the choice a decision is made and one must deal with the consequences.  When I'm overloaded with work I don't throw my hands up in defeat, I buckle down, increase my focus and attention to detail and become extremely efficient.  When I'm stressed out I don't take it out on others rather channel it into something positive, more often than not that outlet is exercise.  When something angers me my first reaction isn't to find a scapegoat rather to become introspective and figure out why I'm so bothered by it. As triathletes there are many times that you will face adversity and it is how you manage that adversity that will allow you to flourish as an athlete.  Most athletes can handle the stresses induced by training. We are willing to sacrifice our bodies to push it just a lit...

This past weekend I had a good amount of training to do, a 1 hour swim, an hour and twenty minute trail run and three hours in the saddle followed by a twenty minute transition run.  I figured this would be a great litmus test for Ignite Naturals' products. On Saturday morning I woke up early and decided that my swim and run sessions would only be fueled by GSH Ignite and Reload Energy Gels.  I helped myself to two scoops of the Coco GSH Ignite about 30 minutes before jumping into the pool. Starting with an 800 yd warm up, through my interval work, to the last lap of my cool down, my energy level never wavered.  I felt just as strong and energetic from my first stroke to the last.  As I exited the pool I was nervous that my current energy level would dip or crash or worse, not carry over to my run.  I would soon find the answer after a 15 minute drive to the trails. I threw on my watch, sunglasses, shoes and grabbed two Reload Energy Gels.  I hit start ...