Rain Rain Go Away

...And don't ever come back! The weather over the past 4 days on Long Island has not been great. It's been cool and overcast since Sunday. I don't mind the cooler temperatures, in fact it's a nice break from the heat, but the rain has not helped one bit. I haven't been on my bike since last Friday! With less than 3 weeks until the race this isn't good. I've also only been in open water once this week, having to move my long swim into the pool. Doing 80 laps in the pool is not fun! The weather has also brought my spirits down and training has been a lot harder this week. This is just one of the many obstacles triathletes must face and I need to just power through it and not let it affect me. The weather should be clearing up by tomorrow and hopefully it will help raise my energy levels because I'm right in the thick of training and I can't afford to miss too many sessions.

Smith Point Race Report

Swim: My swim could not have gone any better. The swim started out in the water which made things better because it wasn't a mad sprint from the beach. I found myself at the front of the starting line because my friend Louie was there and I started getting a little nervous when I looked behind me and dozens of people were lining up. But I figured why not I'll just go hard to start and find some open water. Which is exactly what I did heading over to the right of the course so I could stay away from the pack. This was the best decision I could have made because I had nice clean water the entire swim and I only bumped into people right at the start. I swam at my pace and kept myself calm throughout the swim. Making the last turn and heading towards the swim exit I saw people getting up and walking in from 20 yards out, but I kept going right until the end and then got up to high knee out of the water. I felt great heading into transition and quickly got out of my wetsuit, into my bike shoes and headed for the bike exit.

Bike: The bike course overall was nice and flat with a slight incline going over and coming back on the bridge and a few short but steep inclines out on the course. I was able to get into a groove right away and keep a high pace. My legs felt great and my mind felt great, I knew I would be able to power through the course at high speeds. A little before the halfway point I passed Louie who had a few minutes on me. This was the same thing that happened when we raced in June and he was able to quickly catch me on the run, but I was going to do everything I could to prevent that this time.

Run: I headed into transition and was out in 40 seconds onto the 5k run course. I felt decent at the start of the run and knew I had to give my legs some time to get going. Unfortunately I left my watch at home so I wasn't too sure how fast or slow my pace was. But I hit the halfway point and Louie hadn't passed me so I knew I was keeping up a pretty good pace. I still felt strong but with a little more than a mile left Louie passed me. I headed over the bridge and down the other side prepared to turn left into the parking lot for the finish but realized the course kept going to a different entrance of the parking lot. This was a brain buster because I was ready to start picking it up for the finish line only to realize I still had a good distance left. But I pushed through and made my way to the finishing straight. With around 100 meters to go someone passed me and as I quickly glanced down at the back of his leg I saw 23 (his age) and I wasn't going to let someone from my age group pass me right at the end. I was able to somehow find a final kick in my legs and sprinted as hard as I could to pass him right before the line. (I found out right after the finish as we congratulated each other that it actually said 33 on his leg!) My run time ended up being 4:30 minutes faster than my last race which was a huge success!

In my short triathlon career, this was easily my best race. I went hard and fast throughout and didn't swim, bike, or run into any problems. Louie beat me by over 5 minutes when we raced in June and this weekend he only beat me by 42 seconds. My 5k time was 10x better than last time, and my bike and swim were solid and consistent. I can also tell there is still a lot of room for improvement for next year. Now it's time to increase my training over the next 5 weeks to prepare for my first olympic race in September!

Smith Point Triathlon: 500 meters/12.4 miles/3.1 miles

Swim: 7:21

T1: 1:19

Bike: 39:11

T2: 0:40

Run: 25:12

Total Time: 1:13:40

Race Week

This coming Sunday, August 8th, I'm racing in the Smith Point Sprint Triathlon here on Long Island. Since this race is only 5 weeks out from my 'A' race in September I've decided not to taper this week and to train through the race. My reasoning is two-fold. Smith Point is not my main focus at this point in the season and I've had a really good two weeks of training. My taper usually consists of taking the 2-3 days prior to the race off and that would have some negative effects on this training block before the olympic race in September. At the same time, I will still be racing this weekend and taking it very seriously. I've seen huge improvements in my running over the past 2 weeks and I think I can shave a few minutes off my 5k. I also have an open water race swim under my belt and I know how to handle it better now. Even though I'm training through this race, I'm also trying to be smart in my preparation for the race and I have taken down the quantity of my training to a point where it will still help for September but not hurt me for this weekend.

Race report to come...

One Year

One year ago today my life was changed by triathlon. I started training in January 2009 but my first race wasn't until August 1st; a pool-sprint triathlon with a 400m swim, 6 mile bike, and 2 mile run. While the race was short it was an amazing first experience for me and I probably learned more from that race - about triathlon and about myself - than I will from any other race for the rest of my life. I've learned so much throughout these past 12 months and I will continue to learn, but there is nothing and will never be anything like my first race. After that race I was immediately hooked on triathlon and hooked on pushing myself to levels that I didn't think I could reach. Triathlon has taught me to be more self aware, and more importantly that if I work hard enough I can do anything I want to. My hope is that someday I can return the favor and help other people see the amazing benefits triathlon can provide.