It’s funny how some of the best pre-race strategies can become completely irrelevant during a race. I had traveled up to the race with my friends Showky and fellow Timex teammate, Ian Ray. The night before the race I was mentioning my previous cramping while racing and how my plan was to take 800mg of sodium/hr this time. I spent 15 minutes playing with a tic-tac container to hold about 12 endurolyte tabs. Well, once I got about 20 miles into the bike I realized that I had left my container in my race bag, nice. Fortunately, it was a pretty cool day and I was lucky to finish up the bike in 2:20:19 without cramping. It was a three minute PR for this course and I had almost matched my target power output.
T2 was pretty smooth and I was out onto the run course curious to see how my legs would respond to my recent training load. I settled in and focused on my turnover. The run course is an out and back 2 loops. As I  came thru the turnaround at the halfway point of my first loop, I saw the 1st Place bike approaching with Andy Potts right behind. It’s amazing to see these phenomenal pros race. Andy came up on my shoulder and he asked if I wanted to run with him for a little bit. He was starting to, relatively speaking, shut things down as he had +8 mins on second place with 5k left. He was nice enough to let me hold on for dear life for about half a mile, before he cruised in with a 1:14:14 run split and almost 10 minute margin of victory. I know this is going to be his first year racing in Kona, but I’m very excited to watch him race. He is such a tremoundous talent.
After surviving my little mid-race speed work, I settled back in. At mile six, I started to feel a bit fatigued and decided to start the cola shots at the aid stations. This was an immediate boost and helped to carry me for the remainder of the run with good consistency.

I crossed the line with my run PR of 1:21:20 and 4:14:01 overall time. I was pretty psyched as it was a 10 minute PR for the course and put me in 7th place overall, 1st amateur. Thanks for reading and hopefully I didn’t bore you to tears.

I felt pretty relaxed race morning. I was more curious than anything else to see how my off season training was going to translate into my first race of the year. Coming out of the northeast winter I had not done any open water swims and three outdoor rides so far this year. However, I’ve had my most productive winter training to date.
I was in the 3rd M35-39 wave, which was the tenth wave of the day. Due to the narrow start area, athletes were not permitted to do swim warmups. The amateur waves were allowed to enter the water 3 minutes before the start. I hit the water and tried to stick my face in and I had a hard time catching my breath. You never really get used to sticking your face into 60 degree water. I took a few strokes and tried again and I slowly adjusted to the temperature. I positioned myself near the front and tried to stay relaxed and get ready for the horn. A few moments later we were off and any anxiety quickly faded away. I settled in and tried to find my rhythm. I had a good swim focus block of training in February and I really felt stronger and more confident coming into the race (relatively speaking as I do not come from a swim background). I swam within myself and felt very comfortable during the swim. However, one of my biggest weaknesses while swimming in open water is gauging my effort (it’s an obvious statement but something I need to learn to do better). The swim itself was pretty uneventful and a good warmup for the effort to come.
I made it thru the 1st transition with a steady flow and out onto the bike course. The first 40k went by really quickly and felt really good. However, then the hills and wind hit and my first taste of lactic acid buildup in my quads for the year and oh yeah a heart rate probably pretty close to 200. Oh boy, I didn’t remember the course being that challenging while riding it on my trusty computrainer during one of my numerous indoor riding sessions (I have definetely got my money’s worth out of my trainer, I ride it almost to a fault). While negotiating the hills, I tried to stay as even as possible, but I started to develop some tightness in my lower back and I found that when I did hit the flats, I needed to stand up and stretch my back quite frequently. This is a little annoying but not anything serious. My caloric intake was better then previous races as I got 3 powergels and 1.5 bottles of endurance fluids in during the duration of the bike. The end of the bike into transition is unique as they have you ride your bike all the way to the back of the bike racks before dismounting.
Once I figured out where to hand off my bike I was into transition and shortly onto the run. My legs felt great and I focused in on finding my rhythm. I tried to stay within myself as I did not want to come blasting onto the run only to crash and burn later. Another thought that kept creaping into my head was that it would be a long run and even though I felt really good at the start, I would go thru some lows as well and I wanted to have something left when that happened, in order to hopefully stay as consistent as possible. I believe I was able to hold, roughly 6.05 pace for the first half of the run, but as I came thru the first 10k, I felt my effort becoming more strained. Cola, chased by a shot of water, became my fluid of choice over the remainder of the run. The simple sugars had an immediate impact and I was able to stop any bleeding around 6.20sh pace. I think about my 3 boys a lot while racing and while going thru tough sections of a race, I draw a lot of energy from those thoughts and the sacrifices my family makes in order for me to continue my little addiction. Another source of positive energy that I tap into during races is the phenomenal support from my teammates and team management. The Timex multisport team has been an absolute privelege and pleasure to be a part of and I am truly lucky to be part of such a great group of people. I’m really looking forward to the 2008 racing season.
Results: 4:25:31 8th AM/2nd AG

Race morning was beautiful, in the mid 50’s as we were mulling around transition. The sky looked clear and the wind seemed to have quieted down from the previous day’s strong gusts. As I awaited my swim wave start, I felt excited for the race to start. I had done a much higher frequency swim training (without the volume) and I did not have the anxiety level I usually do prior to a swim start. Once the horn went off for my wave (5th wave on the day) I settled in and found a good pace heading out to the turnaround buoys.
Once we hit the turnaround, the sun was right in our eyes and it made for a tough swim back to shore as sighting was extremely hard. However, after a bit of zig-zagging my way into shore, I exited with a 28:31 swim, a new PR by over a minute.

I quickly made my way thru transition and onto the bike. I was excited to get on the bilke and really get the race going. I settled into a comfortably hard pace as I didn’t want to come out of the gates too hard and blow-up, but at the same time I wanted to try to make my way towards the front of the amateur race and get clean road. I felt fantastic on the bike and settled into a good cadence for the start. I was carrying 2 gatorade endurance bottles and 1 flask of 3 powergels mixed with a little bit of water. I was caught off guard by how few aid stations there were on the bike and by mile 30 (2nd aid
station) I really wanted and needed some water, so I could take my gels down and let my stomach process appropriately. However, as I came into the aid station the rider in front of me managed to knock 10 bottles in a row out of the volunteers hands without grasping one of them, which left me completely empty handed. I was a bit distraught, but that’s racing, so I put my down and knew I still had 1 gatorade endurance bottle left.

By this point of the bike, I had managed to get thru the majority of my 2 age group waves and up towards the front. This was pretty cool, because now I was riding all by myself with the next rider about a half mile ahead. I was able to really focus on my own race and not get caught up in the pacing of others as they surge past to stay legal, only to slow as they do get in front. At about mile 40 (I think) we made a right hand turn right into a good headwind. Doug, team timex’s master mechanic, had helped me set up my spedometer the day before the race, but I had ingeniously switched my monitor over to kilometers per hour rather then miles (oh well not a big deal). As I hit the wind my pace
went from 45 kph down to 37. I put my head down and tried to stay aero and consistent. The wind was hard but nothing like the winds in Kona. It was a little tough because by that point in the race my lower back was a bit fatigued and I needed to stand up a few times to stretch it out. Finally at mile 48 I spotted another aid station. Now I was by myself and grabbed the first water bottle they offered. I took down a bit of gel and washed it down with the water, phew. I felt good and headed in towards T2. As I came over the bridge about a half mile from transition, my friend Chris yelled that I was 11th in my age group. I still wasn’t exactly sure what that meant as I had gone off in the 2nd 35-39 swim wave, 5 minutes behind the 1st.

I came into T2 and the volunteers grabbed my Trek TTX bike (love that thing). I headed for the changing tent and quickly thru my racing flats on. I cramped a little bit in my calves and hamstrings as I was trying to put my shoes on, but it was not anything severe and I thought once I got moving it would go away. I was stiff as I headed out on the run, so I tried to settle into a comfortable pace. My plan was to run comfortably hard for the first 10 miles, then see what I had left. I passed my friend Chris again a little after the 1st mile marker and he said I was in 6th place. I must have passed a few in transition and at the
beginning of the run. I was starting to feel really good at this point and I picked up the pace a little bit. I was able to hold around 6 minute pace for the first 7 miles, which enabled me to pass another 4 guys in my age group. I was feeling pretty strong at this point as I had just gone past my family and a few friends. So I had a big adrenaline lift from seeing everyone. Then a guy in my age group went by me at least 15-20 seconds faster pacing than I was at the time. Then a guy in the 40-44 age group went by me. It’s a very funny thing, no matter how good your feeling, when you start to get passed, it
really does draw mental energy out of you. I tried to get myself back together and dig a bit deeper, but I was starting to go thru a little down patch as well. At the next aid station, I grabbed a cola (sugar) and itbrought me back up a bit. My pace had slowed to 6:20s. I hit the bridge andthe 11 mile mark as a younger athlete ran up along side of me and mentionedthat I should start tucking in behind other runners to shield myself from the wind. He was definetely right, I had been flaking out and running out in the open, which was wasting energy. I thought to myslef, that’s a great recommendation and I tucked in behind him as he was running a little quicker at the time. It worked out well and paced my over the bridge. Once I got to the top of the bridge, I knew I only had about 1.5 miles to go, so I started to pick up my pace. I finally looked at my watch as I ran past the 12 mile marker and it read 3:59sh. My soft time goal coming into the race was to go
under 4:10, so I picked up my pace a bit more as I thought sub 4:05 might be possible. That time wasn’t quite attainable but I finished running hard and completely thrilled.

Total time: 4:05:05
Swim: 28:31. // Bike: 2:11:06 // Run: 1:21:26
M35-39 3rd place, 13th Amateur
I’d like to thank my family and friends for all the support during the year and on race day.  I would also like to thank Team Timex and sponsors for the fantastic support all year long. It’s a true privelege to be part of such a great team. 

I get out of the water and start the little over .5 mile run to the bikes.  About halfway there I remember why I had initially wanted to wear sneakers for that part, my feet are killing me, until they go numb.  Oh, the joy of running barefoot.  I get to my bike and I’m pretty excited to try out my new Trek in my first race of the year.  I hop on and it feels great.  I rode my TTX even
though Alcatraz is better suited for road bikes.  I like the way the bike handles and feel that it is light enough for the hills, while being super nice on the flats.  The bike goes well until I get into the park at the halfway point.  At that point of the course the road is very bumpy and all of a sudden
my seat sinks into my frame.  Now this is the second time this has happened to me in a race and you would think that I’d know better, however I guess I was just too cautious when tightening the post as I didn’t want to collapse it in. So, now I look like a circus clown pedaling my bike.  Luckily the remainder of the course is pretty hilly, so I was able to just climb out of my seat.  I’ll chalk it up as another learning experience, luckily not a costly one as it probably would have been much worse if it had happened on one of the steep decents.
I finish up the bike and head out on the run.  Now the weather is perfect for running, overcast and cool.  I really enjoy this run, as you get to cross paths with the pros on their return back on the single track section.  Andy Potts comes flying past first, looking very strong.  The interesting thing
about the first race of the year is that I find it very hard to go into the red zone.  It’s hard to suffer early in the season. However, this is one of the most unique races I’ve ever done and it’s a privilege to be out there.

Results: 3rd 35-39  13th Amateur Overall

I’ve found the need to add the rollerblades in order to save time, while still getting a decent aerobic workout as part of my commute. The train leaves my station at 4:40am and usually gets to 125th street in New York around 5:35am. I then exit the train with my rollerblades on and make a comical decent down the stairs to the streets below.

Then it’s about 15 blocks of interesting early morning activity until I enter Central Park. Once in the park, it’s a very enjoyable skate down to Columbus Circle, where there is an Equinox, that has a 25 yard pool. I’m usually there around 6am and then can get a quick 30-40 minutes of swimming in. It’s not the ideal workout, but I make it part of my early week schedule and I’m able to still be at my desk by 7:15am.

Cheers,

Chris

Name:

Favorite Pre Race Food: Pasta

Favorite Post Race Food: Hamburger and fries

What’s in your MP3 Player?: Best of the 80’s!

Biggest Pet Peeve: There’s just not enough time in the day

What would you do with $100,000 if you won Hawaii?
I would put it towards my kids college education.

Anything else we should know about you?

• I’m the father of three wonderful little boys
• I played Ice Hockey from age 5 – 30.
• My friend Christian McEvoy is going to run across the country this year to raise money for cancer research.