Bonk!

I woke up yesterday and my legs were still sore from Sundays run. The plan was to go for a ride during the day, see how my legs felt and go for a run early evening when it wasn't so hot. Things did not go according to plan however. I planned my bike route to be almost entirely flat, which isn't so easy to do on the north shore of Long Island. I wanted to push myself and see how I could do on a flat course. Unfortunately I went out way to hard and bonked about 35 minutes in, with half of the route still to go. I thought I've bonked in the past, but after yesterday I realize that was my first true bonk. I could barely move my legs and was moving like a snail. Every time I tried to pick it up there was nothing in my tank to give. Eating an energy gel was out of the question, my stomach was bothering me and I wasn't sure I would be able to keep it down. Without being able to take in any calories I knew I would have to suck it up and slowly make my way home. Those last 8 miles or so were miserable, but I only have myself to blame. My legs just weren't ready for that kind of effort. And boy were my legs sore when I got home. Ice baths usually help me, but yesterday it didn't help at all. Sometimes it's more important to train smart instead of training hard. Fortunately a great nights sleep helps get rid of lactic acid and my legs felt a whole lot better this morning! On to the next training session!

Finito!

This past week was my final week of my undergrad years at Northeastern University. I had two projects to finish up and had no time to train. Next sunday I'm going out west with my family for two weeks and wont be able to do much more than a few runs while I'm out there, so this week it's very crucial that I have a solid week of training. I went for a run yesterday; my first one in probably two weeks. It wasn't great, but it probably could have been worse. I'm definitely feeling some soreness in my legs this morning though. I ran just over a 5k in 28 minutes. My goal is to train a little heavier on the run over the next 6 weeks before my next sprint race. At the peak of my run training last fall I was around a 25 min. 5k pace and doing that consistently. So I hope that I can get back to that level or better by August 8th.

SHARK! Oh wait...it's just seaweed

I went for an open water swim yesterday with my uncle Jimmy who has been competing in triathlons for a long time. This was my first "real" open water swim outside of my race two weeks ago. I went once last year, freaked out and only swam like 200 yards. In April, my uncle and I went out but it was so cold we just used it as the first open water day of the year and only swam a few hundred yards. Today however, we ended up swimming for about 30 minutes and my best guess for distance is somewhere around 1400 meters. It was great to get this swim under my belt. I remained calm throughout the swim and was able to get into a good flow. I did get a little freaked once though when I hit a piece of seaweed and stopped quickly before I realized what it was. I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer and swimming in the open water once or twice a week!

Hy-Vee Elite Cup

Huge shout out to the organizers of the Hy-vee Elite Cup and the ITU for having the race this past weekend streaming live on the internet. After watching two World Cups my day ended perfectly with catching the last 5K of the women's race and the entire men's race. Both events were highlighted by dominating runs. Emma Snowsill came from behind the lead group of six and went straight past them to run the last few miles on her own. Her run split was over a minute faster than the next woman and she made sure everyone knew she was back from her injury and ready for the season ahead. In the men's race Tim Don threw the hammer down right from the start of the run. He separated himself from the pack early and put a huge gap between him and second place and never let up. It was crazy how fast he was running and every step he took you could seen the pain in his face and knew he was giving everything he had to win the $200,000 prize for the winner. Now I'm no triathlon expert but I know a lot of the heavy hitters and I had never heard of Tim Don before so I looked up on Wikipedia. Two years ago at the Beijing Olympics Tim Don had a DNF being pulled out of the race by officials for being too far behind on the bike. Two years later he beat a field full of the big time players; Jan Fredeno, Simon Whitfield, Matty Reed, Jarrod Shoemaker, Bevan Docherty and Courtney Atkinson to name a few. Tim Don and Emma Snowsill absolutely killed it during this race and it was a huge inspiration to watch!

Back In The Saddle

Today was my first day of training after the race last weekend. I felt good enough to start training after only 1 day of rest but had a busy week and my next race isn't for 6 weeks so I figured it'd be ok to take a week off. For the next few weeks unfortunately, I won't actually be back in the saddle on a regular basis. I have 3 weeks of school left and had to leave my bike at home after the race. So my plan is to focus on the run for the time being since it's my biggest weakness.

The weather wasn't so great in Boston today so I went to the gym for a run. To say the least, things did not go so well. My right shin, which I've had some problems with in the past, swelled up and was causing me so much pain I had to stop after 15 minutes. This pain has always been around on and off for over a year. I think it may be shin splints but I'm not entirely sure. All I know is it hurts like hell and really affects my run training. I wasn't happy with just 15 minutes of exercise so I got onto the spin bike, but that didn't go so well either. Mentally, I couldn't handle riding on a stationary inside and got off after 10 minutes. Overall not a great day of training. But tomorrow is a new day and hopefully things will go better!

Race Photos!

Exiting the swim

Bike dismount

Finish line

Finish line again

Discussing the race with Warren

Great South Bay Triathlon

Sunday morning I woke up at 4am to ready my body and mind for the Great South Bay Triathlon. This was my first race with an open water swim and also the longest race I've competed in, so having my mind strong was the most important thing. I knew I was physically capable of handling the distances but mentally I was less sure.

I got to the race site around 5:45AM set up my transition area, got bodymarked, and started stretching for the race. At 6:45 I was in the water waiting for the race to start. I was in the first wave along with over 150 other guys, wading at our knees to start. Once the gun went off everyone headed for that first buoy. I swam the first 100 meters or so with my head out of the water trying to find some open space, but it was no where to be found. The entire 750 meter swim I was constantly surrounded by other swimmers; getting hit with flailing arms, kicks, and the occasional collision. This was probably one of the most uncomfortable feelings I've ever had. It was hard for me to get into any sort of rhythm and the conditions didn't help. The water was pretty choppy and I got plenty mouthfuls of water along the way. Going slightly off course after making the last right turn I headed into shore and ran into transition slowly getting my wetsuit to my waist. After a few minutes in transition I head out onto the bike course. I knew the bike leg would be my best one and I would have to go full throttle for the entire 11 miles. I felt great the entire time and kept my speed around 20mph, which was what I hoped for. The only problems I had on the bike were a bad water bottle transfer to my cage, causing me to stop and get it and when I ate an energy gel around mile 8. After taking the third gulp of gel I gagged and it almost came right back up! Thankfully I was able to keep it down and finish the bike course. Once out of transition and onto the run I realized how hot it was out. My legs felt fairly capable of running a solid 5k but I knew if I pushed it too hard my stomach wouldn't be able to handle it. So I tried being smart about it and kept a slower pace than hoped for. When I hit the water station at the half way point I stopped and took full advantage, dumping 4 cups of water over me to cool down and drinking 2 or 3. Once I hit the last half mile or so I picked up my pace a little bit and was able to muster up enough strength to sprint the last 100 yards into the finish line.

Happy to be done, I recieved my finisher's medal and immediately went for the food and water stations to get some energy back. Overall I was extremely happy about my race. Although the swim was mentally tough, I finished it faster than I thought, telling me that with better conditions and more open water experience I can go even faster. The bike was as close to perfect as I could have gotten, and while my 5k was very slow, I was still able to finish over 6 minutes ahead of my goal. I'll take a few days of from training and get right back into it to get ready for the rest of the season. With races tentatively scheduled for July 31, August 8 and 28, September 12 and October 12 and 24, I've got a long season ahead of me!

Great South Bay Triathlon: 750 meters/11 miles/3.1 miles

Swim: 13:39

T1: 3:09

Bike: 35:12

T2: 1:31

Run: 29:50

Total Time: 1:23:19

Visualization

Tomorrow (Sunday) morning I will compete in The Great South Bay Triahlon, my first sprint distance triathlon. I have previously done two super-sprint races with pool swims, but this race has an open water swim. For the past few days I have been going through the race over and over in my head and visualizing my tactics. I can see myself running into the water and navigating the swim course then running into transition for the bike. I see the plan I need to take on the bike to ensure I have enough legs for the run and I see my feet pounding the pavement and taking me to the finish line. As long as I can keep my nerves, stay calm and run the race I know I'm capable of, I'll be able to handle any problems that come my way.

I will update tomorrow after the race to let you know how I do!

Welcome to Tri To Change!

Hello Blogosphere!

My name is Marc and I became involved in the wonderful sport of triathlon in January 2009. I was looking to challenge myself physically and triathlon was something I had wanted to try for a few years. I played soccer and lacrosse from when I was a kid through high school, but left it behind me when I went to college in 2006. For two and a half years I didn't really do anything athletic and started missing sports. My uncle has done triathlons since I was a kid so I've always known about the sport and in 2007 I watched the NBC broadcast of the Ford Ironman World Championships and was inspired by Brian Boyle to try the sport. A little over a year later in January 2009 I started training. I swam, ran and biked as much as possible over the next 7 months and participated in my first super-sprint triathlon in August 2009. I was immediately hooked and competed in two duathlons during the fall of 2009, one in April 2010 and another super-sprint triathlon in April 2010.

This season, my main race is the Mighty Hamptons Olympic Triathlon in September 2010. I've created this blog to chronicle the lead up to this race and share what I go through in preparation. I've decided to do this race in support of an amazing company called BULA. Better Understanding of Life in Africa, is a Long Island based non-profit who strives for providing a better life for children in Africa. They have started a new project of building a school in Uganda and I will be raising money to contribute to this project. If you would like to donate you can click here.

Triathlon is a wonderful sport and through it we all can help those who are less priviledged and TRI TO CHANGE the world!