Yesterday I raced in my 4^th consecutive Eagleman 70.3 race.  This has always been one of my favorite races for two reasons, 1) it is pancake flat (my watch measured 140 ft of elevation gain on the bike and run) and 2) I always seem to race well.  I wasn’t sure what to expect this year because this was the first time in 3 years that I was going to race back to back weekends.  Last weekend I competed in one of the toughest ½ Ironman courses, Revolution 3.  I was very sore all week and had a slightly strained hamstring.  When I tried to run 20 minutes on Friday I struggled through it and nearly had to walk.  Not good.  If I can’t run 20 min easy I surely will not be able to run 13.1 miles at sub 6 minute pace.

  I flew to the race with my father Saturday morning and arrived at the race site at 10:30am and did all of the pre-race stuff, check-in, build bike, pro meeting etc.  We then checked into our hotel around 5:30pm.   All of the hotels around the race fill up so early and I am a huge procrastinator so I always have to stay 30 miles away from the race.  This makes for an early race morning. 

  On race morning the alarm was set for 4:15am for a 6:40am start.  Just before the start they called all of the pros out of the water to go over the timing mat.  The start was about 50 yards into the water.  I was about half way to the starting line, when I hear someone yell “GO”.  Some of the pros start swimming and some are still standing around.  The guy next to me was holding his goggles in his hands and I hear him say “Is that for real?”  Not the kind of start I was hoping for.  About 200 yards into the race I was about 10yds back from a large group.  I tried and push hard to close the gap, but can’t seem to.  I kept trying to put on surges to close the gap, but am not closing at all.  At the ½ way point the group was about 20yds up and I was beginning to think that I was not going to close it.  Just then I felt something brush over my elbow and upper arm.  Then it started to tingle really bad, I had been stung by a sea nettle (jellyfish).  I continue to swim along, but every stroke my arm stung more and more.  I finally exited the water in a time 28:24.  Not a good way to start the day.

  I hopped onto my Jamis T2 and wasoff trying to make up some time.  I felt pretty good on the bike and was settling into my pace.  I passed a few guys early in the ride and was riding in 10^th.  At about the half way point I checked and was averaging 275 watts and can see a group of 4 guys riding together in front of me.   I approach the group and immediately went past them quickly.  I surged for a bit and for about 2-3 minutes, averaged 330 watts.  I looked back and all 4 are lined up behind me.  I continued to push hard trying to drop them.  I averaged 315 (27.5mph) watts for the next 10 minutes and still could not drop them.  I looked back and they are all lined right up behind me.  I then settled back down and was riding 280-290 (26mph) watts for the next 15-20 minutes.  I kept looking back occasionally and sure enough all 4 guys were still lined up ride behind me.  About 1:40 into the ride I thought maybe I would race the “Pro” way and let someone else lead so I could rest for a few minutes and try another attack on the group later.  I the slowed down and rode at 240-245 (23mph) watts for about 3-4 minutes and surprise, surprise nobody took the lead.  I then figured I only had about 20 minutes to go until the finish and if we continue to ride this slow we would never catch the 5 guys in front of us.  So I again pushed the pace averaging 315 watts for the last 25 minutes.  Along this time I pick up 2 more guys to join my group.  So all 7 of us came rolling into T2 together.  Kind of funny how I rode 275 watts for the first ½ of the race and made up almost 90 seconds on the group and when I rode 292 watts for the second half of the race I didn’t put anytime into them.   My time on the bike was 2:11:34 good for the 4^th best pro bike time.

  I start the run and immediately felt the effects of pushing the bike.  About 800 yards into the run a group of 6 started to put a 10 yard gap on me.  I knew that if I lost contact I would be in trouble.  I surged to close the gap and just try to breathe and settle in.  We went through the first mile well under 5:30 pace.  I guess that was why it felt so tough.  Between the 1 and 2 mile mark a few more guys fell back and it was just me and two other guys.  I was now starting to settle in and it didn’t feel like a struggle.  We went through the second mile 5:32.  Shortly after mile 2 it was just me and one other guy.  I am now feeling pretty good and am cruising along.  Between miles 2-3 he goes from right on my shoulder to 30 seconds or more back.  Come to find out he had to take a bathroom break.  So by mile 3 I had about 30-45 seconds on the guy behind me and I was running in 4th.  I continue to cruise along running 5:40 pace with it feeling easy.  The course was out and back so as I approach the turn around I see that Michael Lovato was 4 minutes up on me.  That is a lot of time to make up in just 6.5 miles, but not impossible.  I also notice that the guy behind me was only about 45 seconds behind me.  I knew that the guy behind me was a very competitive Ironman racer so I figured he would not fade, so if I didn’t continue to push he would catch me.  My legs felt really good, the problem was I was having some stomach issues, which started with about 20 minutes left on the bike.  It was slowly getting worse and I was wondering if I was going to be able to make it to finish without a pit stop.  All along I was continuing to cruise along clipping off 5:45-5:50 miles.  Before I knew it I was at mile 12 with nobody in sight behind me.  I finished with the 2^nd best run time of the day with a time of 5:15:05 (5:44 pace).  My total time of the day was 3:58:12 good for 4^th overall and I finally placed in the money.  I was 1:20 behind Michael Lovato who came in 3^rd. 

  Overall it was a good day.  I was very surprised how good my legs felt on both the bike and run after a tough race last weekend.   About an hour after the race I was driving the 2 hour drive to BWI airport to board my plane home.  I got home shortly after 5:30pm just in time for dinner with my wife and two sons.   Just another weekend for the life of a working “PRO” triathlete.

I raced Rev3, ½ Ironman yesterday and can say that was the second toughest race (American Zofinger is the hardest!) that I have done.  The day before the race I drove the run course and I was very glad that I did.  I had heard that it was hilly, but I didn’t think it would be as hilly as it was.  There was one section called the “K-Swiss Mile” were it was a dirt road and all up hill.  The athlete with the fastest time up it would receive $500, very tempting but it was early in the run, 3.5 mile to 4.5 mile which would make the last 8 miles VERY painful.  Especially since the last mile was uphill.

  Race morning was very uneventful which is always nice.  My goal in the swim was to swim hard the first 500 yds and try and get with the second group of swimmers.  The gun went off and immediately my goggles started leaking.  Not good!  I had to stop a couple times and clear them and reseal them.  By the time I got that cleared up I was swimming by myself again.  I started to get into a rhythm and passed a few people about half way through.  Then with about 400yds to go the pro women started swimming by.  I jumped on the feet of a small group and finished the swim in 26:45 (15^th place for the pro men) about 4-5 minutes back from the leaders.  Definitely not the swim I was hoping for. 

  Starting the bike it took me about 30 minutes to get into any type of rhythm.  My goal was to avg 290-280 watts on the bike.  It seemed like whenever I looked down I was either 330 or 250 but never where I should be.  My plan was to stay patient and work the second ½ of the bike and the run.  I knew with such a challenging course I need to have plenty left for the end.  There was one section where it was down hill for about 5 miles where I was going 40+ mph the whole time.  I also knew that between miles 20-30 there was a 7 mile hill.  As tough as the course was none of the hills were very steep, most were long steady climbs.  I was able to sit and pedal up nearly all of the hills. The other thing that was nice was that the roads were all in good shape and were not too rough.   I picked it up for the last 15 miles to finish the bike with a time of 2:24:49 and in 9^th place, although Paul Amey(3x Duathlon World Champion, 2008 Florida 70.3 and Eagleman 70.3 champion) was right on my heels.

  Starting the run I had a terrible side stitch.  It made it even worse that the first mile and ½ was all down hill.  Every step was very painful.  I have been getting side stitches during most of bricks and even at my last race Florida 70.3, but they normally go away after a mile or so.  I was not so lucky yesterday.  It started to go away during the uphill K-Swiss mile but then came back on both sides shortly after.  The course is an out and back with a loop at the very end.  Near the turn around I was able to see the guys in front of me and many of them looked like they were really struggling.  I thought that if I pulled it together I might be able to catch some of them and move into the money (top 8).  At about mile 9 my side stitches started to go away so I started to pick up the pace.  On the long uphill I passed Leon Griffen to move back into 9^th.  I felt good for the last 3 miles but it was a bit too late.  I ran 1:19:57 for the 5^th fastest run.  Not super fast, but considering the way I felt I was happy.  My overall time was 4:15 good for 9^th a very disappointing day.  Luckily I race again next weekend a Eagleman 70.3 so hopefully I can redeem myself with a good race there.

  Overall this was a great race and I will definitely be back next year.  Anyone looking for a challenging, scenic, well run ½ Ironman should definitely do this.  The other thing that was great was that it took place in Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury,CT (www.Quassy.com).  All athletes and spectators got free admission to ride all of the rides and into the water park.  My oldest son Jack loves scary rides so it was perfect for him.  Although he is only 2.5 years old he was able to ride nearly all of the rides.  His favorites were the roller coaster, the pirate ship, tilt-a-whirl and paratrooper. 

It has been a while since I have last posted but am going to try to stay a bit more current now that the season has started.

  I just got back from my first major triathlon of the 2009 season, Florida 70.3.  Overall I was a bit disappointed with my result, but considering my training this offseason it wasn’t too bad.  I was 12^th overall with a time of 4:04:42.  Hopefully this can be a good race to build on.  It has been that way in past.

  I went down with my wife, Megan, and our oldest son, Jack (2.5 yrs) and was using the race as an excuse to take Jack to Disney.  For the second time in his short life I may add. We stayed at the Nickelodeon Hotel (www.NickHotel.com) which was a great hotel; unfortunately Jack is about 4 inches to short to go on the water slides.  Despite that Jack loved the hotel. 

  On race morning we driving to the race and I was driving the same way I went the day before to check in.  We were getting close when we noticed cops had blocked off the road going to the Fort Wilderness.   We were already a bit late so this was not good.   We now had no idea how to get to the race.  After driving around Disney for a bit we were able to find the parking lot near For Wilderness.  I had about 1 hour before my wave was to start and the parking lot was 1+ mile away for transition.  So as my warm-up was running down a paved trail in the dark with my backpack. 

    With the race about to start my goal was to try and stay with the main group.  When the race started I got caught behind some slower swimmers and lost the main group at the start.  After about 500 yards I found myself in a small group of about 3 other swimmers.  I swam in 3^rd at very comfortable pace.  I got out of the water in 30:04 and was 5 minutes down from the leader and about 3 minutes down from the main group. 

  Starting the bike I was with a few other guys, one being Alex McDonald.  I had a tough time settling into a rhythm and I let him and a few other go.  Hindsight being 20/20, I should have pushed a bit to stay with them.  There were 3 out and backs on the bike course so I could see where I was in the race.  There were about 15 guys riding together in the second group.  I have to say that they were riding very legally every time they pasted me going the other way.  I have done a few other races were this group tends to look more like a bike race.  I rode nearly the entire bike alone and struggled keeping my power numbers where they should be.  I was about 15-20 watts less than what I was hoping to ride.  Most of the time during the bike leg even if I struggle in the lst hour I seemed to get a second wind in the second hour, but it never seemed to come.  My quads were really hurting with 11 miles to go and the end couldn’t come soon enough.  

  I got off the bike and had no idea what to expect.  I had only done a few bricks all year and they were normally after 90 minute rides and were only 4-7 miles.  Also my legs were toast from the bike.  I started the run and felt really slow and tired.  I was hoping this would go away. I looked down at the mile marker and ran a 5:35, which was very surprising.  I felt just as bad during the next mile and it was again in 5:35.  I started to feel much better after that.  Miles 3-8 I felt great all in about 5:40-5:45 pace.  I even found myself holding back during miles 6-8.  My plan was to start pushing it at mile 9.  I looked down at mile 9 and saw I just ran 6:00.  I picked it up and started pushing; hoping to get back to 5:45 pace, the next mile was 6:00.   Then I realized that I was starting to fall apart.  My left quad was cramping along with my right calf.  I no longer focused on running 5:45, but just making it to the finish.  I don’t know what the last few miles were since every time I looked down at my watch I couldn’t remember what my watch read at the last mile.  I also had really blurry vision so it was a struggle to read my watch. 

  The combination of the heat/humidity and lack of training contributed to my slow finish.   My run time was the 5^th fastest of the day in 1:17:20, which was surprising considering my melt-down near the end.   My bike time was 2:13:40 (2 seconds slower than 2 years ago.)

A few weeks ago I received a pair of the new 2009 Zoot Tempo shoes.  I wish I could post a pic but I can’t!  Sorry.   I was only able to run in them a few times but I really like the changes from 2008.  The 2008 Zoot racing flat was one of the best shoes I have ever run in.  They seemed to roll me to the ball of my foot.  The only complaint of the 2008 shoe was the clip that held the lace.  This has been totally changed in the 2009 version and it works great.  The colors in the 2009 version are total different than 2008, yet are like nothing else on the market.  I believe the shoes are scheduled to be sold in late winter early spring.  Stay tunned for more details.

Well it is official now, my season is over already.  Thursday, 8/28 I had achilles tendon surgery (Topaz) done by DR Asherman at Orthopedics Associates.  My achilles has been bothering me for nearly 2 years so hopefully this will help so that I can run pain free.  The surgery was very routine and everything is healing as it should.   I have a giant foot splint that I have to wear all of the time.   I should be able to swim after about 4 weeks and may start running after 8 weeks.  There is no rush to get back at it since this is normally the time of year I am taking some down time.

So I was flipping through the August Triathlete Magizine and flipped to a page with the new Scott Plasma 2 bike and who is on the bike but me. It is kind of strange to be flipping though a magazine with people like Ficker, Standler, Alexander, Potts, and Snowsill and then Caiazzo. The picture was taken in March when I went out to Fort Collins, Colorado to do a photo shoot with Scott Bikes. We went to the wind tunnel and did testing on most of the top bikes in the industry along with the Plasma 08 and the Plasma 2 09. It was a great learning experience. The Plasma 2 is a great looking bike and if it rides anything like the Plasma it is going to be a great bike.

On July 26, 2008 I raced the Urban Epic in Portland Maine. This is the second year of the race which is put on by Tri-Maine. Also as a bonus Becky Lavelle is racing. They also offered $100 primes for the swim, bike, and run. I was initially hoping to get all 3 but when I saw that Derek Treadwell was racing I knew that I was not getting the run.

The race starts on Mackworth Island and we swim an S-shaped course to East End beach. We are supposed to go through 4 sets of buoys. Easy enough right? Not exactly! The elite wave was going first so, about a dozen of us started the swim. I knew that we would not have the current with us to the first buoy then we would have the current of the water flowing out of the Bay to take us to the beach. I got a great start and was on the feet of Becky and another fast pro woman from Canada. Things were going great. The first buoy was maybe 600-800 yards away. After we were about 200 yards away I started to loss there feet slowly. No big deal, I just told myself keep swimming hard to the buoy. I kept looking up and I was not getting any closer to the buoy and the two leaders were slowly pulling away. Keep swimming harder! After what seemed like an eternity, which it was I got close to the buoy. The problem was that I was a bit below the the buoy. I had to make a hard push to curve my body around the buoy. The problem is when I did my body got caught half way on either side of the rope holding the buoy. The current was so strong that I could get my legs around the buoy. After a bit of a struggle I get my legs around. I look up and the two leaders who were 25 yds up were 100+ yds up. I had lost major ground on them. I let the current pull me to the next buoy. As I was approaching the next set of buoys I had to make sharp right to try and make it through the buoys because the current was taking me way left of the buoys. As I was approaching the beach a group of swimmers appeared around me. By this time I was exhausted and just wanted to get out of the water. I came out of the water just behind 3 good swimmers from Maine, my swim coach Larissa Boddie, Catherine Sterling and Angela Bancroft. In the mini T1 and T1 I moved into 3^rd place. A ways down from Becky and the Tenille(the fast Canadian).

The bike was a real struggle. I had no power at all in my legs. I averaged 278 watts on the bike with a NP of 285. I also had many close calls with cars. After going through the first couple intersections with minimal traffic control I decided to slow down going through every intersection just so I was safe. I ended up catching Tenille at the half way point. With about 2 miles to go I was about 20 seconds behind Becky. Then I see she hoped off her bike. I wasn’t sure what happened but later found out she got a flat. My coach Kurt Perham gave her his rear wheel so that she could continue.

The run started and I knew that I had about a 6 minute lead on Derek Treadwell. I really wasn’t sure if it would be enough. This was by far the worst I felt in any tri. I managed to get across the line first and even carried Jack across the line. Here is the picture that was on the front page of the Portland Press Sunday Paper.

I ended up having the fastest bike, but only by the skin of my teeth. Below are the results. There are two divisions because after the race director saw that only 3 people in the elite wave(Becky, Tenille and myself) were going to make the 1st buoy he sent all the other waves straight to the beach.

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/08/me/Jul26_2ndUrb_set1.shtml

I raced a local sprint the past weekend, the Scarborough Sprint triathlon. This was the first year of the race and the race takes place near where I lived last year. The course went over the same roads I used to ride and run everyday so I was excited to race on familiar roads. The day before I was able to get out for my longest ride of the year, 4 hours. It was great ride from our house in Westbrook up to Sebasco Harbor. It was probably the best I had felt on the bike in a long time.

Race morning. The race has two transition areas which makes it a bit more stressful in the morning making sure that you put everything where it needs to be. I went for a brief run with my coach, Kurt, before the race and felt terrible! My legs were really heavy and I felt like I was working really hard just to jog. I try and not let that bother me too much and just hope that by the time I have to really run, my legs feel better. After the warm-up we went to the beach. The waves were huge! There were 5 foot waves pounding the beach. After getting in the water for a brief swim I was a bit nervous about the swim. Luckily it was only 1/3 mile. I was in the first wave, with a bunch of fast guys in the wave behind me. I knew that I would have to push to make sure I stayed ahead of them. They lined our group up and we were off. Luckily when we started there seemed to be a break in the waves. I was at the first bouy before I knew it. I was about 10th or so at the 1st bouy. Swimming to the 2nd bouy(and last bouy), I moved into 3rd. On the way back to the shore I moved into 1st. I ran across the beach and was the leader heading into T1. After a slow transition, I headed out on the bike in 2nd place. I had about a dozen rocks in my shoes from T1. I thought about stopping and taking it out but figured it was only 15m. The rocks shifted and didn’t really bother me after a few minutes. About 1-2 miles into the bike I pulled into first. My goal was to really push the swim and bike. I had pushed the swim and was really pushing the bike. I felt really good on the bike and averaged 26.8 mph, and 320 watts on the bike. I came into T2 not know exactly how far up I was on the people in my wave or the other waves. Just to make sure I kept the run pace fairly quick. I came into the finish with a time of 59:48. The next finisher came in at 1:05:55. Overall I was very happy the way I raced. I had the 2nd fastest swim, fastest bike and fastest run. I also felt really strong in all 3 sports. Now it is off to Racine to race the Spirit of Racine!

If someone had told me the night before the race that I would come in 2nd I would have considered that a great result. The way the race played out I felt this was the most disappointing races in my tri career. Because of top guys getting lost and falling I found myself in 3rd place with over 20 miles left on the bike. I was just 3-4 minutes down on the leader. I rode the two loop course very even. Even though there was a lot of climbing my VI was just 1.02. I averaged 277 and 279 watts for each of the two loops. I started the run 2:30 behind Daniel Bretscher and right with Chris Bagg. I never really felt that good on the run from the beginning but I was closing slowly. It was down to 2:00 after 2.5 miles and was down to 45 sec with 5 miles to go but I was unable to close anymore. I really had nothing in my legs. I guess that is what happens when you only run a handful of times in 10 weeks. I do take my hat of for Daniel he is strong runner and kept pushing not to let me close the gap. My achilles was very swollen and sore after the race so it looks like it is time to go to the Doc.

Overall the Spirit of Morgantown is a great race and I would highly recommend this to anyone. It is well run and is a great course. It is challenging yet not too hard. The only negative about the race is the swim is not in a very clean body of water. Other than that I can not say enough good things about this race. It is really ashame that everyone flocks to 70.3 races but independent races seem to have a tough time attracting racers. I have done a bunch of 70.3 races and this is just as good as the best 70.3 races! It is also much cheaper!

I was scheduled to be home at midnight on Sunday, but after many delays and circling around the Portland airport for 45 minutes we were diverted to Albany New York where we were put up in hotels for the night. After waiting in the airport all morning I did not make it home until Monday afternoon. It made for a very long weekend.

I am a huge believer in training and racing with power. I started training with power 3-4 years ago and started racing with it last year. Every year I seem to learn more about power and using it to its fullest. The other day I was doing a 1 hour 1/2 Ironman race pace workout. The goal was to maintain the watts that I wanted to hold for 56 miles or about 2:00-2:15. I finished the workout and avg 290 watts. I did a similar workout last year before Eagleman and avg 275 watts. The thing that concerned me was that I only avg about 24 mph. Last year at Eagleman I avg 277 watts and avg 25.6 mph. Could my bike and position be that much slower than last year? I then realized that when training maintaining a high power # is the goal regardless of speed. Although when racing the goal is to maximize speed while producing the least amount of power. When training vs racing with a PT is very different.

A few days after I came to this realization I was looking around the web and came across Joel Friel’s blog where he was talking about this very subject. I thought he summed it up perfectly, here is a portion of what he said,

“In key workouts one of our purposes is to stress the body with high power loads and high heart rates. Speed is not critical. Stress is. A race is just the opposite. The whole purpose here is speed. And if he can produce high speed with low power and low heart rate all the better. The idea is to keep stress as low as possible while riding as fast as possible. Doing so means he will have more in the tank for the run.”