Life of an Age-Grouper

If you answered, Yes, then you might be missing or forgetting about an important aspect of training. I don't believe that a person can have a bad training session. Every athlete goes into their training session expecting to be 100% successful.  Our goals for that specific session might be predetermined my one's self, a training plan or coach. The success of the session is determined by reaching or surpassing those goals (speed, pace, wattage, heart rate etc.)  However what happens when you can't reach your physical goals? Does it mean that you failed? Does it mean you just wasted your time? Or ruined your training plan? Or dare I even say, lost fitness? Absolutely not.  Athletes often forget about the mental aspect of sport. They forget that mental strength is just as important if not superior to physical strength. When the body isn't firing on all cylinders athletes must remember they can still become a stronger athlete, a more dangerous athlete if they c...

Andrew Starky. "Starky" has been an athlete I have enjoyed watching race and follow. He is not your prototypical pro triathlete; he is 180lbs in top form, he lives and trains in the mid west, Chicago I believe, all year round, he doesn't have a race kit littered with sponsors and endorsements (although I suspect he would enjoy the financial backing), he doesn't hide his strengths and isn't afraid to talk about his game plan.  His game plan is probably the number one reason why I'm a fan.  He goes hard, as hard as he can, from start to finish and he doesn't care if he blows up in the process.  He is quoted as saying that he has the "thinnest playbook" in professional triathlon, swim as hard as a he can, bike as hard as he can, then hold on for the run.  This game plan never changes, everyone knows about it yet he still wins.  It probably helps that he is a top swimmer and arguably the strongest cyclist in the sport( "Mr. 402"). If you d...

Damn, it's been a long time and thousands of miles since our first interview. A ton has happened in your life since we last spoke or should I say since I last interviewed you? Last time we talked you had just left your job as a teacher to start something new....working at a bike shop. Is working at a shop everything it's cracked up to be? Ha. Well, I will focus on the positives here and say that I was able to meet and form great friendships with some really awesome people. It was good to spend a year in the bike industry and get a glimpse into how a shop is run (and realize more about how a shop should be run); in addition, my friend/ co-worker Paul taught me a lot about basic to intermediate bike mechanics and really the importance of understanding how things work, Without that time in the shop I probably wouldn't have ever had the opportunity to be an athlete ambassador for Liv/Giant- an experience that also afforded me the opportunity to meet more awesome pe...

This past weekend was an exciting weekend for me.  I had a friend's wedding to celebrate as well as some very fun training to tackle.  I had a blast at the wedding on Friday night and was eager to get out Saturday on my bike and crush a race specific session. My original plan was to take off from Rocky Point but on my way there I realized I had forgot my Garmin so I turned around to grab it.  After getting over this slight annoyance I got myself together and decided to head out from Stony Brook. I headed out East on 25A from Stony Brook on a beautiful, warm fall day. The warm up was for 30 minutes slightly below race pace.  The exciting part of the session was the 1:30 at race pace then 30 minutes above race pace.  No sooner had I began to lift my effort than shit hit the fan. I had just made it past Rocky Point and was feeling great.  I had past a few cyclists on my way out there which was to be expected since its a very popular road to cycle on. ...

The amount of incredibly bizarre setbacks I have had to endure for the past year and a half had me salivating for this past triathlon season. I wanted more than anything to just race this season and that is exactly what I did. I was able to get in 4 races this year; Harriman Olympic, Rev3 Quassy Half, Vineman 70.3 and Toughman Half. Each race offered their own unique challenges and had their own personality. I could see myself doing these races again in the future however with so many races out there, next season I plan on challenging myself on completely different courses. Besides just signing up for races I had very specific goals ranging from the super short term (daily, weekly) to season long. There is no secret that my passion for triathlon lies at the 70.3 distance and my goal split times were geared toward this distance. One of the only ways that would allow me even deem this season a success was to reach my goal split times. I wanted to complete the swim in 35 minutes, compl...

Toughman Half Westchester NY Sunny, low 80's Toughman was my last scheduled and focal race of the year so needless to say I wanted to put an exclamation point on the end of this season. Race morning I parked my car in the train station, which is a mile away from transition, instead of at the race site in fear of being stuck there until the last finisher crossed the line.  In hind sight I could have parked at the race site since they offered a different exit route. On the shuttle ride over to the race I rehearsed the race in my head and tried to stay focused on me rather than the pole the driver just hit our the fact that I wanted to get to transition quicker than the buses  snail pace.  On the short ride over there something was missing, a feeling, an emotion, that rush of race morning. Then I stepped into transition. Boom.The adrenaline started to flow, my game face was on and I was all business. I took care of the normal transition routine of setting everything ...

As usual Lake Placid has come and gone and all the talk revolves around the Placid Experience.  I would be lying if I said I wasnt jealous or didnt want to share in those experiences and the energy of Placid.  I was able to watch numerous friends and familiar faces cross the line this year via Ironman Live's video feed and just as in years' past, I got goose bumps.  140.6 athletes (Pros to 17th-hour age groupers) are one-of-a-kind and truly inspirational.  For the past few years I have talked about going up to Placid as a spectator to get a taste of the Experience and each year I find myself on the couch watching it on the computer from my apartment.  Hopefully next year I will be able to get up there and get a taste of what Ironman is all about. "So when are you going to do an Ironman?" Im asked this question all the time.  My immediate response is, . . . "NEVER".  Which is then followed by a discussion revolving around, "why not".  I view the ...