A long overdue blog post on Florida 70.3, a race I had been looking forward to for months.  For the first time in my triathlon career, I had actual goals going into a race rather than “meh, I’ll simply race hard and take what comes my way.”  My goal was to compete for the Top 10, win the amateur title and throw down some solid splits, somewhere in the 4:05-4:10 range.  Certainly a new realm for me to enter, but an advance in my maturity as an athlete that was only natural.

Arriving in Orlando on Friday, my man Andrew Hodges met me at the airport and we headed off to meet up with his family, who was gracious enough to house my rambunctious self for the weekend. Nothing too eventful happened leading up to the race and (for once) I slept well for the couple days prior to the race; I felt ready.

On race morning it stormed once we arrived in transition, apparently an oddity for a spring Orlando morning.  The showers passed by race time and we were prepared to start the race on time.  With only a slight delay, the race went off as planned, with a couple thousand insane individuals beginning the swim at slightly after 6:30am.  Being the last wave of 25-29 (of three waves!) I was looking forward to tracking down folks all day.

I felt pretty solid during the swim, having spent much time working on it this season.  However, exiting the water, I glanced at my watch and saw a high-29.  #(*&$!!  Unhappy me.

Clearly I looked far to rested exiting the swim, likely doing a lackadaisical job of pushing the pace.  Oh well.  As is typical, I moved on and prepared to crush the bike.

The bike went well, though I eased up too a couple miles earlier than I should have, which probably cost me about 30-seconds or a minute.  Error number two.  But on to my strength, the run.

Enter damage control.  Living in Chicago, the weather had not cooperated well (from a warmth standpoint) and I felt crappy during the entire run.  Fortunately, the weather was not too hot (only low-80s) but with my solid run last month in New Orleans (about 5-10 degrees cooler) I expected to be ready to crush the run course.  Alas, I crossed the finish line with a 1:24 half, a disappointment.

Overall, I ended up finishing in 4:15, good enough 2nd in my age group, 3rd amateur and 19th overall.  Certainly nothing to be ashamed of but a new experience in this sport for me, a disappointing finish.  Again, a natural evolution in athletics (and life).  Inevitably races go well and races go poorly and it is important to take away learning lessons from the race (and other life lessons), executing in a superior fashion in the future.

“I’ve missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot…and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
—Michael Jordan

Keeping my head up and learning from my mistakes is crucial to succeeding in the future.  Entering a “new realm” of disappointment presents two choices:

• Curling up in the fetal position, feeling sorry for myself and talking about everything I “could have been” for the years to come
• Looking critically at myself, identifying the weaknesses and improving for future opportunities

I choose the latter.  Every time.  No hesitation.

After the diatribe above (and a look into the craziness going-on in my head), I’d like to (as is tradition) end with mad props:

• Timex Teammates Kirill Kotsegarov and Andrew Hodges, finishing 6th and 8th Pro, respectively.
• Timex Teammates Kelly Fillnow and Shannon Coates, finishing 1st and 4th in the Female 25-29 age group.
• The Hodges’ family, gracious enough to host my rambling self over the weekend.

To end, here is a picture of the awesome (and extremely good-looking, save the bald dude) Timex crew that housed the race…

Until next time, peace…

So my last visit to New Orleans was spring break of my junior year in college, where I was helping clean-up after Katrina in addition to visiting the French Quarter for extended periods of time in the evenings.  In addition, I was turning 21.  Naturally, I figured I should return to New Orleans for a fun race, taking Monday off from work so I could spend another evening in the French Quarter. Little did I know that the race would mean so much more.

While warming up for the Holy Half Marathon the weekend before (training weekend at Notre Dame) I was informed that the town where I went to high school, Mapleton, Iowa had been utterly destroyed by a tornado.  With 60% of the town demolished, I sat around in Chicago, wondering what I could do.  While out to dinner with a friend on Tuesday evening, I thought “fund-raiser”, especially given the parallels drawn between New Orleans and my hometown each being (virtually) destroyed by a natural disaster.

Now I want to point out that the idea of a fund-raiser is a HUGE under-taking for me, because I’m absolutely horrendous at asking for donations.  In an attempt to “legitimize” my ask, I came up with a matching program: I would contribute $70.30 at the outset, kicking things off, and would match every dollar donated to the local charity (set-up to benefit those who have lost their homes) until $1,250 was reached.

36 hours later, I was shocked to find my initial goal was reached (I suppose I’m too hard on that “lack of legitimacy” of social media as a business model; after all, it can be utilized as an effective tool by its users).  After I matched the initial $1,250, over $2,500 had been raised.  To encourage more donations, I’ve pledged to contribute $250 more if $5,000 is reached.  As of writing this sentence, slightly over $3,550 had been raised, an amount I’m thrilled with.  All donations will go directly to people unfortunate to lose everything in my hometown, with nothing taken out by the local charity.  In addition, 187 members were “fans” of my group on Facebook, less-than 200 hours after its set-up!  I’m planning to leave the page up for another week for (potential) further donations, but after that will conclude my efforts.

Now, contrary to my ramble-like tradition of epic blog posts, I will keep the section on my race short, in favor of the fund-raising efforts I will continue once this post is complete.

Once down in New Orleans, the race went quite well (outside the swim being cancelled).  I finished 2nd in my Age Group (M25-29) in my first “aging up” experience.  In addition, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was the 2nd amateur overall and finished 21st overall among a pretty deep pro field.  With a bike split of 2:17 (in 25mph winds) and a PR half-marathon (open half-mary’s included!) of 1:17, I was happy with my performance, finishing about 1:30 behind the amateur victor.  Though I didn’t get a chance to showcase my improvement in the swim, I’m pumped to crush it at Ironman 70.3 Florida in slightly over three weeks.

Before signing off, here is a quick picture of me on the bike:

Yes, I love Notre Dame.

Lastly, as is customary, mad props:

• Mapleton, Iowa.  Though there are many things I DO NOT miss about small towns, I cannot help but be proud of where I’ve come from and the FACT that when things are tough, folks buckle down and help each other out.  It is something I will take with me through my entire life
• All people generous enough to donate time, money or awareness to my Mapleton relief effort; it is appreciated deeply
• Timex teammates Andrew Hodges and Jackie Arendt, who made the trip to race in New Orleans.  Hodges made the decision to not race (recovering from an injury) and Jackie finished an impressive 15th in her pro debut

Alright folks.  That’s all I’ve got.  A blog on Ironman 70.3 Florida awaits (in a few weeks) for anyone patient enough to actually read my ramblings.

Until next time, peace…

In preparation for my up-coming race season, I figured I would have one fun “epic” training training weekend prior to the actual start of the triathlon season.  My first race was the Oschner New Orleans 70.3 (blog post to follow) on April 17, so the prior weekend I headed off to one of my “homes”, Notre Dame (a.k.a. the greatest place on earth).

Friday

On Friday I did a crushing swim work-out, 4400 with 5×400 at a soul-crushing pace with a targeted 15-20″ rest.  I hit splits of 4:48, 4:48, 4:49, 4:53 and 4:50 on a 5:10 send-off during the main set, which was a fantastic workout for me in the pool.  My swim has come a long way since starting tris about 10 months ago, but I have much left to do before I’ll feel adequate.

Following the swim, I hopped onto the trainer for an easy 40′ spin, just to mimic heading onto the bike post-swim.

Saturday

On Saturday morning I headed off to Notre Dame for a long ride, excited for the prospect of visiting my old stomping grounds.  Heading off from the Bookstore (where Bookstore Basketball was being played, the largest 5-on-5 basketball tournament in the world, with over 700 teams this year!), I headed out north of town into Michigan.  After an hour warm-up (including running into an old friend, Terry Martin, a professor at neighboring St. Mary’s College), I began my repeats, 30′ at tempo, 30′ at harder-than-half-Ironman pace and 30′ at tempo (no rest intervals).  Holding my heart rate at 150-154 bpm on the outside tempos and 156-160 bpm on the harder-than-half-Ironman interval, I was zonked.  Recovering for a half-hour and then heading back to campus, the ride totaled 240′ and about 85 miles.

Once back to the Bookstore, I quickly took off on a 20′ tempo run, running the first half at half-Ironman effort and catching a split at 5:35 on the only available mile split (whoops, a little too fast!).  After the cool-down, I met up with some friends for some beers and headed back to Claire Podgorski, my good friend who was unfortunate enough to offer her place up for the weekend.

Sunday

On Sunday I ran the Holy Half Marathon, a marathon that has been put on since 2005 at Notre Dame, with all proceeds going to charity.  The three South Bend charities benefiting from this-year’s race were the South Bend Center for the Homeless, Michiana Down Syndrome and St. Adalbert Elementary.  A great race, with over 1,000 participants this year!

Here is a picture of the start (I’m the guy at the far left in all red and wearing a hat):

The race went quite reasonably well, considering I was racing half of the race at half-Ironman race pace, then revising  expectations, seeing how I felt (given the up-coming New Orleans 70.3).  My first 6 miles had splits of 5:36, 5:49, 5:46, 5:55, 6:00 and 5:45, at which point I decided to dial it back and cruise to the finish.  Crossing the tape with a total time of 1:20 in the 85-degree heat (a HUGE change from our recent 40-45 degrees!) and finishing second, I felt quite good.  A solid last weekend of races before the up-coming 70.3.

As is customary, mad-props:

• Claire Podgorski, my good friend who put up with hosting me all weekend. She is a hoss
• The group of friends meeting me out for brews on Saturday night, including Stephanie Severyn and Tim Bossidy (along with Claire).  Always a phenomenal pre-race idea (NOT!)
• Notre Dame, the best place on earth
• The roads / cycling around South Bend, which makes me REALLY want to move out of a big city into a rural area

That’s all I’ve got for now.  I’m out like a light.

Until next time, peace…

To conclude my first season rockin’ triathlons, I was fortunate enough to race somewhere with beautiful weather, warm water and gentle sunlight (in retrospect, probably could have come up with a better description, but I write stream-of-consciousness so onward we go), Clearwater, Florida.  Knowing that this was the last year that the 70.3 World Championships would be held in Clearwater, I was happy to get a shot at such a screamin’ fast course and (hopefully) a wicked fast time.

Renting a condo with Timex Teammates Bruce Gennari and Andrew Hodges a ten-minute walk from transition was a phenomenal decision on their part (experienced vets), as it allowed for slightly more time in the sack on race morning.  After pounding a banana and bagel with some Justin’s Nut Butter toppage, I was off to transition.

Once in transition I pumped my tires, checked my bike about 17.8x, and then concluded that staring at “Ketchup” (my red Orbea Ordu of course; and yes, I have a yellow road bike named “Mustard”) wouldn’t do much good so headed out of transition early and quickly threw on my Aquasphere wetsuit to stay warm.  As I was the last wave, I got to see the Pro waves finish the swim, with my man Andrew Hodges looking solid.

Stepping up to the water for swim start, I was ready to rock.  I’d worked hard on the swim and felt I was prepared to knock ‘em dead.  The gun went off and I quickly got pummeled by numerous flying arms and legs in the vicinity.  A visual:

Eventually, things settled down and I found a rhythm.  Exiting the water in the mid-28s, I was happy, as it was my best swim split of the year.  Entering T1 at 29:05 and in 17th place in my Age Group, I knew that the bike was bound to be insane, as the course was flat and there were lots of fast folks.

About 10-15 miles into the bike, things began to tighten-up, and escaping those near me was not feasible without significant effort, so I made the tactical decision to look down at my speedometer and hold back if I couldn’t hold the current pace without jumping into my LT HR range.  Again, I will provide another visual:

Staying patient and conserving energy on the bike was key, as I still threw down a PR bike split of 2:10 and headed into T2 in 14th place in my Age Group.  Much work to be done.

Heading out onto the run, I tried to push myself to a limit never experienced before.  Ripping through the first 3-and-change miles in just over 5:50 pace, I felt good but had no idea where I was place-wise.  The only solution was to continue killin’ it and hope that it all played out in the end.  Getting passed at about mile 4 of the run by a fellow Age Grouper Alexandre Ricard, I tried to hang onto his pace and was glad I did.

Making it over the Causeway the 4th time took some digging to find the energy, but once cresting the top, I tried to open my stride up and let gravity work its magic.  Finishing the last 3 miles at under 6-minute pace (after dropping to 6:10-6:15 for the middle portion of the run) felt great, and I was fortunate enough to creep past on a couple of my Age Groupers right near the finish of my 1:19 half.

All-in-all, I ended up finishing 44th overall, 13th amateur and 4th place in the 18-24 Age Group (6th was a mere 16 seconds back, with 10th just outside 2:15!).  I felt pretty solid about the result, a good finish to a good year.

Now, to the most important section of my posts, MAD PROPS:

• My coach and former Timex Team Member, Mike Lavery.  Without question (providing he continues to be willing to put up with my crap) Mike will be returning as my coach in 2011
• Timex Teammates Andrew Hodges, Bruce Gennari, Trista Francis and Kim Hager, who all threw down siiiiick (that’s alotta i’s!) races
• Timex Teammates Ian Ray and Cindi Bannick who provided incredible support during the race
• Doug Berner and Tristan Brown for putting up with me all season (and to whom I owe some brews)
• Buddies Brian Duffy and Morgan Anderson (coached by Lavery’s fellow FFT Coach and Timex Teammate Eric Bean) who finished 5th in M18-24 and 2nd in F18-24, respectively
• Local Chicago triathlete Marc Robertson, who was gracious enough to stay in Florida following IM Florida (the week prior) and provided support on the Causeway

That’s all I’ve got for now.  Hope that everyone has great Holidays with family and friends!

Until next time, peace…

Chicago Triathlon 2010.  The hometown course.  One I know well and a race that is pancake flat.  Unlike Timberman, a race which had dominated me one-week prior, I expected Chicago to be a walk-in-the-park course-wise.  As usual, I was wrong; the day was the hottest of the year in Chicago.  Thrilling.

The swim is in Lake Michigan, which is always choppy.  Coming out of the water in 22:30, I sauntered along the lakefront to transition, a jog of about 1/4 of a mile.  With time check coming into transition, my swim ended up being 24:11, which put me in 38th place overall.  Aaaand once again, much work left on the bike and the run.

Turning to the bike, I threw down a split of 1:00, the 21st fastest of the day.  Considering that my legs were just shot from the trashing at Timberman, I had nothing to complain about and headed south along the lakefront onto the run.

The run ended up being the strongest leg of my day, with the flat lakefront giving me the ability to just let my natural rhythm set in.

Yes.  I could’ve zoomed in closer, but I figured rather than punishing readers with a photo of me, I’d show some of the sweet Chicago skyline.  But, that’s neither here nor there, so back to the race.

Finishing the run in 35:55, the 4th fastest split of the day, I ended up placing 6th overall in the Elite Amateur wave, with a final time of 2:03.  Considering the heat and the half-Ironman a week prior, I’d say I am quite content with my finish.

As is traditional, some serious mad props to give out.

• Kaleb VanOrt, a classmate of mine at Notre Dame.  Kaleb dropped a ridiculous 32:38 on the run (yes, 5:15 pace) en route to a 1:54 finish, good enough to garner the Elite Amateur title (and would’ve placed him 5th among the pros!).
• Timex Teammate Christine Anderson and her brother Gavin.  Christine finished 6th in the Elite Amateur wave (sounds awfully familiar to another Timex Team member on this day) while Gavin finished 2nd to Kaleb.  Great races by both!
• My little brother Matt, who competed in his second triathlon.  Though he DNF’d due to some stomach issues, I’m expecting a crushing XC season from him, given that he is only 16.  And, in his first triathlon ever (a couple weeks prior to Chicago) he finished 5th overall among solid competition.  Not a bad start for a young’un!

I’ll leave you a picture of my brother and I pre-race.

Yes.  He is more jacked than me.  But then again, that isn’t exactly saying much ;-)

Until next time, peace…