Life of an Age-Grouper

I usually only write race reports for triathlons but . . . The day leading up to the race I took off from work. This day off wasn't necessarily to prepare for the race but to get a lot of errands and misc stuff done ( life of an age grouper, right?) One item from my to do list was to find out about the race. As of Friday I had done no homework; I hadn't driven or run parts of the course, I didn't know the exact distance, I didn't know where or when to pick up my number etc. I began my research Friday afternoon and was able to find out I missed the day-before pickup and was able to download a PDF file of the race course ( hand drawn) Its settling to know exactly what your up against. The morning of I woke up at 6 to put down some calories and to allow myself time to get to the race site, pick up my number, warm up and enjoy race morning. ( I freaking love race morning. There is no other feeling like it. Hundreds of people focused, positive, motivated, the sun is r...

I have put together some solid weeks of training and finally had some long awaited breakthroughs. Despite making regular progress I feel that this past week I took a jump forward instead of the normal, single step forward. I went on a long, hilly ride with Matt this weekend with the main focus of dialing in my nutrition. I resorted to a 300 calorie per hour game plan based off of the method used on a Vermont training trip. The 300 calories formula worked great. After the ride I had plenty of energy and would have been ready to run. I still would like to get my nutrition dialed in a bit more before race day despite the solid day on the bike. Figuring out what my body needs to be successful at long course racing can be considered a breakthrough but what I deemed as a break through for that ride was how I felt on the hills. My climbing legs are coming back! I was getting nervous about there whereabouts. I'm nowhere near where I want to be but I was elated to feel confident ...

Instead of the usual Hecksher Park threshold test that I have done the previous two times I opted to jump on the trainer.  The main reason that I decided to jump on the trainer was do to the weather.  It was very windy this morning at my apartment so therefor it would have been tornado like conditions down by the water.  Usually I'm all about going out in adverse conditions but for test purposes I wanted to be in the most controlled environment as possible. One advantage of riding on the trainer is the ability to listen to music.  I set up a solid play list for the threshold test, re-read my notes on bike test #2, put some gas in the tank and saddled up.  Goals for the test, down blow up in the first 5 minutes, no major wattage spikes, maintain a high cadence and smooth speed.                                   Test #2                 ...

Text message conversation with Matt Me : Great day to crush a run test Matt : Hell yeah. Beautiful out there. Remember, run relaxed, it's about smooth speed not muscling through it. Me : Noted and filed Me : Smooth speed, I like that Matt: It's just like swimming, the more you fight the slower you go and more energy you use.  Have cue words like "quick feet", "smooth speed", etc. Relax and run!! And just like that I had my new running mantra, "smooth speed". I thought about this mantra all day long while at work.  I freaking love it.  After work I started my trek back to Huntington from Brooklyn thinking about and saying numerous times, "smooth speed". I'm not the type of athlete that can just show up and race.  I need time to mentally prepare for the race or in this case a run test.  The more prepared I am mentally the better success I usually have.  My mental preparations include; visualizing the race from start to fi...

I have been looking forward to this test ever since I finished the last stroke on my previous test.  If you read about my last Swim Test results than you know how those crappy results provided instant motivation to work harder and smarter.  Since that test I have continued to develop and perfect my technique.  I also realized the significance of each swim session is to reach Matt's prescribed goals not, to reach my arbitrary goals of crushing each swim session.   For this 1000yd TT test my goal was to avg 1:26/100yds (like last test) which means I would be going all out.  Matt's goal for me was to swim at a "constant pace and good effort".   Swim Test #2                               Swim Test #3 Total Time: 15:02                      Total Time: 14:45 100yds Split: 1:30             ...

In previous posts I have briefly mentioned that I have some fairly lofty goals for this season.  For the past couple of months I have thought about these goals in general terms but I had not actually thought about them in detail.  Yesterday as I sat at work my goals popped into my head again so I grabbed a pen and began writing. There is something about actually writing goals down that make them a reality and concrete. I didn't start writing down words like, "My goals for this season include . . .. " Instead what I began to write down were numbers.  I have discovered that my goals from my very first race to today have become very detailed. What was once a goal of just finishing the race has evolved into specific times for each leg of the race.  An important objective with establishing goals is that you should have to reach for them but also make them attainable.  With that being said I have established very specific time goals for the swim, bike and run that wil...

I recently had my second bike fitting by Paul at Bicycle Planet using Retül technology. We spent about an hour and forty five minutes gathering data and making a few small adjustments. Despite no major overhaul with my position, I am a lot more comfortable and Paul was able to eliminate, correct and speak to my pre-fitting concerns. I could get into all the exact angles of how open my hip is or the angle of my seat or the placement of my cleat on my shoe however those numbers are unique to me and my physical dimensions so they wouldn't be of much service for you. However I would like to discuss the significance of the bike as it relates to triathlon. As ones involvement in the sport increases one will realize the amount of time spent on the bike also increases. The amount of time spent on the bike is not specific to purely logging training hours but encompasses recovery, social interaction, a means to build fitness by eliminating the impact trauma of running and truthfully, e...