Life of an Age-Grouper

Rumor has it that you are a drummer in a wedding cover band, can you confirm or deny this rumor? Sadly, I must deny this one. Music was, and still is a huge part of my life and for a long time I played drums in a variety of bands. Many of the lessons I learned and habits I picked up from studying music translate well to training, racing and coaching. Last season was not an ideal year for you as an athlete. You had a hell of a time at the Harriman Half. Could you tell us what you learned as athlete from that race as well as a coach? You certainly put that lightly. Harriman was hands down the worst race of my career and I'm ok with admitting that. Everyone is quick to boast about their great races but rarely share their poor results. I truly believe you learn more from the bad races than the good ones. As an athlete I saw the importance of not being overly confident, being able to adapt your race plan and keeping your head on straight when your body is revolting against you. I also ...

"Don't run hard down that hill because you will pay for it later in the race". How many times have you heard that? Initially I preached it also. And for what it's worth there is certainly some truth behind it. Running downhill certainly beats up your legs. I certainly do not run hard downhills with the fear of not finishing a race strongly or just finishing period. As of two weeks ago my opinion on this has dramatically changed. Two weeks ago I was given a run session that required the same effort level on the flats as on the downhills. I knew immediately I would have to embrace running downhill and alter my original train of thought to achieve the goal of the session. I performed this session at the Old Westbury Campus which has plenty of rolling hills. Throwing caution to the wind, I focused and followed the game pan. At the bottom of the first hill I was expecting to feel my quads being torn apart. That feeling never came. At the bottom of each successive hil...

It has been two months since I started to clean up my diet and make it "greener" or more appropriately stated, colorful. The results are eye opening. Before I get into the details of the physical changes I want to be clear on some key points. First I train to be fast. My physical appearance is a result of my efforts to get from point A to point B, which more times than not are 70.3 miles apart. I do not train for “washboard abs” or to look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club. Secondly I'm an opponent of frequent weigh-ins. The numbers on the scale are just numbers and weight fluctuates too much day to day to be of any significance over the short term. At the end of the first week of each month I take what I call "my vitals".  On Saturday morning of the designated weekend I wake up and immediately take my resting heart rate. I then proceed to the bathroom, to measure my body weight (I realize what I wrote above) and body fat. The only rea...

A strength that has set me apart from other athletes from kindergarten to College was my speed.   I was hands down one of the fastest athletes on the field, court etc or the one with greatest amount of firing fast-twitch muscles fibers.   When college came to end so did my career with field sports, my speed and desire to run.   The years of punishment I put my legs through sidelined me for a few years. Then came triathlon and a new understanding and appreciation of how my body operates.   Now I run for endurance rather than for speed and my reliance on fast-twitch muscle fibers has transitioned to a reliance on slow-twitch muscles fibers.   With any type of endurance training there must be a relationship between your cardiovascular fitness and biomechanics.   Being deficient in any of the two will limit your endurance capabilities.   Through a lot of trial and error I have managed to drastically alter my biomechanics, specifically m...

I have a created the first half of my race schedule under the assumption that I will be able to swim. The true extent of the damage done to my shoulder will be glaringly obvious once I attempt to swim. Without further delay these are my confirmed races for 2013; Harryman Olympic - May 18th – Harriman State Park, New York Last year I raced the Half distance and had a horrible time. I wouldn't say my time was a direct result of the difficult course rather the explosion of babesiosis during the race. I’ve developed a true appreciation and respect for the Harryman course . This race offers an authentic test of one’s fitness at the beginning of the season. My reason for participating in the Olympic distance rather than the Half is because my shoulder is still a huge question mark. Rev 3 Quassy Half -June 2nd - Middlebury, Connecticut I have not heard one negative thing about this company and race. All of my friends have had rave reviews about it and always tell me, “you have...

For the past few years I have explored the limits of my physical capabilities and have found some answers while uncovering new questions. What I have found is that my physical limits are not solely limited by my physical attributes rather by my understanding of them. With all this new free time on my hands because of my accident, including a 3-hour commute on the LIRR to work 5 days a week, I have become an avid reader. At first I started to read non-fiction books then, books by professional triathletes, followed by books on triathlon specific training and coaching, then a huge stint on doping in professional cycling and finally on food. A common theme woven throughout these books was achieving ultimate physical performance. I certainly won’t be doping but my curiosity and interest was spiked with the consistent mentioning of the benefits of plant-based diets. For over a year I have been using Ignite Naturals’ nutrition products. Their products are based on organic ingredients ...

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....