Life of an Age-Grouper

The significance of tapering The focal point of a taper period or tapering is to ready the body, mind and spirit for a peak performance on race day.  This period of training fits roughly between your last Build period and race day.  The significance of tapering is to freshen your body, mind and spirit by ridding it of accumulated fatigue.  As fatigue vacates the body one should start to feel rejuvenated, energetic, sharp, snappy and excited to race. If one does not understand the significance of tapering, like most new endurance athletes, then ones athletic performance could be handicapped. Most new athletes or those making endurance sports more than just a hobby have a difficult time benefiting from tapering.  I believe that the major obstacle preventing athletes from benefiting from a taper is the way in which they view their fitness.  More often than not athletes associate their fitness levels with how hard they train or the level of fatigue they hav...

I believe, if I remember correctly, that the first time we met, roughly 5 years ago, was on a group ride on Long Island. We were headed out to Briermere Farms for a 50 mile ride, which happened to be my first group ride as well as my first 50 mile ride. We also embarked on a Timberman 70.3 adventure together as well. Since then we have kept in contact and cheered each other on through social media as we have attempted to tackle the world of triathlon and endurance sports. A lot has happened over the years so I'm glad we can finally catch up. Why don't we start of with something simple,    What lead you off Long Island to New Jersey? Back in 2010 I got a phone call from my friend (now boss) that they had a faculty position open in the Athletic Training Department at Seton Hall University and they wanted me to apply.  Once I got offered the position it was a "no brainer" for me because I had so many friends that lived in NYC and NJ, and I also worked at Seton Ha...

1. This past season was little different than previous seasons for you being that you jumped up to Ironman racing. Why the jump? "Two years ago I had done a half ironman called, Toughman. There was a number I had set in my head and if I was able to break 5 hours and 15 minutes I would “reward” myself with the punishment of doing an Ironman. I was actually able to beat that time by 3 seconds. So last year I decided to pretty much do nothing but Sprints and Olympics to almost take the year not off but, focus on shorter more intense stuff rather than dealing with endurance racing. This year I just bit the big one and decided to tackle the ironman and it has been an amazing adventure and Im really glad that I did it. " 2. There are plenty of legendary ironman distance races in the United States so why is it that you chose Challenge Roth in Germany to be your first? "There were a few different reasons. I wanted to do something special for my first one....

Since I haven't been able to train for awhile I decided to start interviewing my fellow triathletes again. The first round of interviews received positive feedback so here is round two! Ladies and gentlemen let me introduce to you, Rodger Rau 1 . Rodger I met you a few years back at a Ride N Shine workout and then on a cold winters ride along the North Shore. It was at this time I found out your very first triathlon was Timberman 70.3. Can you tell me how you became involved with triathlon and why you chose the 70.3 distance as your first triathlon? "It was August 2009 and I just finished a training run for an upcoming 10k race called ‘The Great Cow Harbor 10k” in downtown Northport NY. After beating myself up for 6.2 miles of hills, my wife Michelle, myself, and a few of her aunts friends decided to get some dinner. We all sit around a small table and began talking war stories of past races. I mention to the group that someone actually bet me I could not break 3 hours fo...

"Holy Hell" Every triathlon that I race I have a game plan for.  Initially my plans were just to finish.  Then they began to evolve as my passion for this sport grew.  No longer would just finishing be my top priority, my goals became specific and were related to time/splits.  Meeting these benchmarks gave validity to my efforts and fitness levels. Leading into this season I have the loftiest goals to date.  I know that I can be a sub 5:30 athlete.  I fully expect to complete the swim in 35 minutes if not faster, complete the bike under 3 hours and complete the run under 1:50.  I'm not sure how many athletes would actually disclose their goals like I just did, and I can't believe I just did but, I feel that it will hold me more accountable for my actions.  Do I expect to achieve this time at every race, no, but I will when I reach peak condition. Leading into Harriman 70.3 I had written down specific times/splits for the race and had a game ...

What drew you to the triathlon? Probably not the normal answer people would say. A lot of people get into the sport because they want to challenge themselves, or to lose weight, or achieve a specific goal. I did it to impress a girl.  I had recently quit smoking and started to go to the gym. I was putting on a little muscle and a lot of weight at the same time. I actually had fallen for this girl that was a marathon runner at the gym. I started running on the treadmill with her and we became close friends. I knew there was no way I could do a marathon but, let me try this triathlon thing.  I could do something small and give it a shot and maybe that would impress her. I ended up doing a triathlon, her and I don’t really talk anymore but at the same time its been a great thing in my life.  I did actually run into her at a park I was running at about three years ago and after seeing her I wrote her a thank you letter. I wrote her letting her know that I changed my entir...