November 13, 2009

NYC marathon race report

“Run the first 20 miles with your legs, and the last 6.2 with your heart” - This was a sign that I saw on the NYC marathon course that really helped me out along the way. To say the race was easy would be a bold faced lie. Coming off of surgery to install a plate and some screws in my left clavicle in the beginning of August, and trying to race a marathon in very early November would pose a challenge. But a test I was up for.

I got cleared to run 8 weeks before the November 1st race date and started easy. I knew I could only log so many miles without getting hurt or injuring myself by ramping up too quickly. Once race day came, I had two solid 18 milers under my belt and a few 40+ mile training weeks. Nothing too much, no speed, no base, just whatever I had NOT lost from mending my broken bones and road rash on the couch for the last 2 months.

Race morning was a blur. I woke up like a shot and was ready to roll. I was secretly pretty nervous as I really didn’t know how my body would react to the lack of training I had subjected it to. I knew I could get to 18 miles, but after that, I was on thin ice.

After a few mix-ups and realizing I was waiting on the wrong platform, I successfully navigated the NYC subway system and made it to the Staten Island Ferry. On the subway, I was boarding my train along with everyone else still in their Halloween costumes coming home from whatever parties they were at the night before. It was crazy times. I was scheduled for a 5:30am ferry, but I made it to the terminal at 5:40am and had to sit around to take the 6am one. Onboard I saw the sun rise and statue of liberty shine bright as the sun was coming up behind it. It was really a cool start of the day.

I entered athlete’s village and sat around for what seemed like forever. It was 7am when I finally had gotten my coffee, a bagel and a Gatorade and I decided it would be good to have breakfast (partly to keep warm and partly for something to do) NYC hosts a generally international field and someone said it was easier to get in the lottery internationally than it was for a US citizen. I was in the middle of a group of people, when I finally found a place to sit and eat breakfast that no one within a 25 foot radius of me, spoke English. It was amazing and just really cool that everyone was partaking in a common goal…get to that finish line. Our corrals were loaded and ready to go by 9:15am and the first wave went off at 9:40am. We all watched as the elites in the box in front of us got introduced and I nervously made some jokes and the usual. The gun went off and from the start it was just wild. Not as many people on the course as I expected (I guess I just really expected it to be wall-to-wall runners) but just spectators everywhere. The first bridge you go over is the biggest hill in the entire course and it has a pretty good view from it. We all scrambled up and I think I hit the first mile marker in 6:53 or so. I was feeling okay.

About 2-3 miles in, I saw a guy in an Ironman Louisville jersey that I ran up to and started chatting with. Turns out he was from Buffalo and we know a lot of the same people. He even dropped the name Joe Meyers and I told him that guy sucks (haha, just kidding Joe!) We ran for a ways together and were having a good time just chatting about how ridiculous of a spectacle this race is.

I was feeling okay and passed thru about the mile 6 or 7 mark and spotted a few people I knew on the left hand side of the course. Erin Mullaney jumped off the sidelines and ran alongside me for about 100m and snapped a photo as depicted below. It made me laugh and I thanked her for the support. Another mile or so up the road, I spotted Kim, Jessica and little baby Ozzie in the crowds and they cheered loudly as I passed on thru. I forgot to hand off my highlighter yellow gloves to them, so I tucked them into the waist band of my shorts and soldiered on.
Hitting the half marathon mark in 1:26:58, I knew I was in for a good race if I could just hang on to the pace that I was currently running. I knew that even slowing my pace a little I would still be in good shape to crack the 3:10 goal that I had set and maybe even faster. I was starting to feel a little sluggish and had to remember to focus on the task at hand instead of being distracted by waving at spectators and seeing the sights of the City. At mile 16 or 17, you pass over a large 1.5 mile bridge and you go from throngs of screaming spectators, bands, and all the liveliness of New York City, to pure silence. The only thing you hear is the person next to you breathing. It’s eerily calming and a needed change of pace. You can hear the crowd on the other side of the bridge far before you see them and you come off in the Bronx somewhere. After a short stint there, you finally cross into Manhattan and make your way to Central Park.
I strolled thru my safe zone of 30k in a little over 2:05 and it was virgin territory after this mark. I’ve always said that, “weird things happen after 20 miles in a marathon” and without the proper training for this race, I knew it was probably going to be true. I stopped for a quick #1 relief at a porta potty around this time and was back to the race in a flash. I’ve never done that in a marathon before. Miles 20-24 were quite uneventful, but I thought that we entered into Central Park at like mile 20, so I was a little delirious and confused why we weren’t in the park. I slammed the third gel that I had at mile 23 and we entered Central Park around mile 24.
This is where things got interesting. I was REALLY starting to fall apart and finally made my way to the 40K checkpoint (approx. 24.8miles) and split thru in 2:49:30 and did some quick math in my head that I needed to run the last 1.4 miles in less than 10 minutes if I wanted to break 3 hours. I honestly did not know if I could do that at this point in the race. My left abdominals were cramping real bad and I was shuffling towards the finish line. I saw the clock counting down in front of me and was passing the “800m to go” banners and just needed to grit and get this race done.
I clomped thru through the line in a gun time of 2:59:58 and a chip time of 2:59:35. As I crossed, I tried to pull out the neck of my shirt to expose the scar from the clavicle surgery that was at the beginning of August. I was overcome with thoughts of, “F@%K surgery, I’m back!!!” and might have squirted out a tiny tear as I crossed. It was pretty emotional to get to that line and I put myself thru hell to do it. I was mangled. EVERY single Red Cross volunteer that saw me, came up to me and asked me if I was okay because I was loopy and looked like shit as I grabbed my medal and space blanket. I was pretty dazed and they hand you a feed bag and you have to walk like 2 miles until you get to your UPS truck with your number on it and all of your dry gear. I finally made it and despite the bitching and complaining about having to walk so long, it was good for my legs and I really didn’t feel too bad in the days after I returned home. Celebratory NYC style thin crust pizza was consumed and I was a happy camper. I had completed a goal that I didn’t really think was possible and ripped off another sub 3 marathon (third one out of four stand alone marathons)

So that’s it, I’m back to swimming, biking and running (obviously) again and eager to get back the fitness that was lost over the last few months. I have full range of motion with my shoulder and only slight pain whenever I wrench it or move it wrong. Turns out the only thing I lost with the IMLP accident was time. Make the best of it friends. Talk to you all again soon, cheers!

October 26, 2009

Run for Hospice 10 miler race report

So let me start this out with saying that I don’t believe I am in good shape right now (at least for me...) I’ve had about 2-3 months off after crashing in Lake Placid for the Ironman in July, am still recovering from surgery after they installed a plate and 6 screws to hold my left collarbone together and just got cleared to run about six weeks ago. So naturally, I decided it was time to race and test my fitness!

This race is a nice one in the Rochester area, a gem if you will…if you register and hit the early bird special for the 10 miler, you can get in for $18, which is insane. 5k’s cost more than that. It’s a ridiculous post race spread too and was even sponsored by Tim Horton’s, Chili’s, Montana Mills Bread Company, Vitamin Water, Macaroni Grill, along with a few other great, but small Rochester based stores like Jim Dalberth’s and Tri Running and Walking. There’s just great support for this race.

My friend Phil’s dad organizes the entire thing and it’s in like the 14th year or something like that, it’s been around forever. It was started in memory of Helen VanPeursem and all proceeds go to the Hospice in which she passed. There’s a 5k that couples with the 10 miler and seems to be the reason everyone comes to race. A ridiculous payout to the top male and female runners often guarantees fast times. This year the top 6 men were sub 15 minutes.

Race morning for me is always fun, I try to say hi to Pete VP whenever I can that morning (he’s always running around like a chicken with its head cut off) and there are ALWAYS people that you know there. My good friend Paul Glor who is now the head XC coach for my alma matter, Churchville-Chili, brought his entire team to volunteer the aid stations and he even got a chance to run.

It was a brisk day and I had just gotten back from a vacation in Mexico and really hadn’t run too much down there, so I had no idea how I would fare today. I think I told Matt Kellman as we were warming up before the race that I thought I was capable of anywhere between a 65 and 80 minute run for a total time (quite the broad range!) He told me he was planning on a fast race and I knew he would.

Gun went off and I settled in next to Coach Glor and Paul and I hit the first mile in 5:54, a little bit fast, but felt good. We meandered around the course talking a lot and catching up. We passed thru 2 miles in 12:04 and for the next 3 miles, we hit 6 minute splits evenly at 18:04, 24:04 and finally 30:05 thru 5 miles. At this point, it was becoming a little hard for me and I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold that pace until the end. I told Paul to go after it and he successfully bridged the gap up to a faster crew in front of us.

From 6 miles on, I was in conservative mode and trying to hang on at a little slower pace, but not blow up. I hit 8 miles and knew I could make it to the finish and was doing okay holding my own. My lungs were burning and I just had to concentrate on getting one foot in front of the other. I hit the line in 1:01:53 good enough for about a half minute PR from my time in 2007 (don’t know how the hell that happened…) and good for 8th overall and 3rd in the age group. Not too shabby and I even snagged a $15 gift certificate to Dalberth’s to take a tad off of a pair of shoes. Definitely a fun race with good friends and a good way to get a tempo style run in for a fall marathon. I’m just trying to keep my fitness up enough for NYC marathon in about a week now.

I highly recommend the Run for Hospice 10 miler to anyone looking for a cheap way to race a fun one late in the season. You’ll definitely get your money’s worth and will benefit a great cause. But now sights are set on leaving for NYC this Friday and “tapering” (I put quotations there because I don’t feel I’ve done enough to taper, but we’ll see). My goal is simply to qualify for Boston again (sub 3:10) and anything more than that is icing on the cake. I’m just hoping the two 18 miler’s that I’ve been able to sneak in as prep will be good enough to get me to the finish line! Only time will tell, but I’ve got to get out there and get some leaves under my running shoes now! Enjoy an Oktoberfest and don’t forget to smell the leaves. Cheers.

September 29, 2009

Quick update

For those who wonder, I'm still kicking. Been a little busy as of late because of sorting out insurance dealings with my primary insurance and excess coverage (provided by USAT - thank you to those who recommended that to me!) and dealing with putting forth a crash replacement claim to try and get a discount on a new Cervelo bicycle frame. Apparently, my handlebars spun around during the crash and cracked a nice split in the top tube of my bike, so I am in need of a new frame. All in all it's coming to be a long drawn out process for everything and a pain in the neck!! :o)

Speaking of literal pains however, I'm doing okay. Saturday was exactly two months from the date of the crash and I seem to be healing well. My road rash is all healed up and is scared pretty nicely everywhere on my body. I still have a large patch about the size of a half dollar on my back that has been described to me as a "very deep abrasion" that looks like it is healing from the bottom layer out, but seems to get better daily. The 8 inch inscision scar on my left clavicle is better and not as grotesque looking. (honestly looked like a horror movie) As of the last orthopedic visit, the plate is only bending slightly so it's a race against whether or not I can heal faster than the plate can bend. Still haven't been cleared to bike or swim yet, but each day I feel more solid and together.

Other than that I've been staying busy volunteering, visiting friends and family and pretty much doing what I normally do. I was cleared to run about a month ago and am still signed up for the NYC marathon on 11/1/09 so I'm going to try to complete that. I still haven't decided if I want to chase a lofty goal of qualifying for Boston during that race or not. (somehow I don't think that 9 weeks of prep after 2-3 months off is enough training time...) But we'll see if I just got to race it for fun or to get a BQ.

I had the opportunity to race a 5k with my sister on her birthday this year which was absolutely amazing. No one in my family really does anything too athletically so I'm kind of the weird black sheep when I say things like, "Mom and dad I rode my bike to Buffalo and back today!" and they don't really understand. Dad is getting better (having been to 4 IM's now...) but I haven't been able to actually share an endurance event with anyone up until Jenna and I ran a 5k in Victor. It was her first 5k and it was SUPER hilly and she finished in sub 10 minute miles which made me so proud! :o) I ran alongside her the entire way and her boys Jakob and Noah even came to the finish to cheer her on and help support along with their daddy Dave. It was awesome. A fantastic day.

I wish I had some more pics or something to post, but this one is going to be very blah. The computer at home here acts funny and doesn't always pick up a wireless signal, so I have to type fast when I can. Expect some good pics and a better repot next month. Until then, I'm just getting back into the swing of things, so get out there, crunch some leaves underfoot and enjoy the nice crisp weather. (and an Oktoberfest beer or 12 :o) haha!) Take care friends, see you out there! Cheers.

August 26, 2009

IMLP 2009 race report

It’s been about a month now since the race and I’ve kind of let things slide recently and not kept on top of the blog. Most likely it has something to do with not having internet at home and also Blogger.com being blocked at work. No worries though, I finally have found some time to get my thoughts down on paper.

This race for me was something that all of us don’t want to have happen, but sometimes fate can rear its ugly head and make its own decisions for your day. To preface this race report, I felt like I was honestly in the best racing shape of my entire life (corny to say, I know, but I truly believed it) I had put all of my eggs into one basket and held off on racing a lot in 2009 in an effort to be ramped up and geared up for race day. I knew my running was RIGHT where it needed to be, I was swimming faster than I EVER have in practices and I was feeling like I was finally at peace with the bike. Some days it felt like rider and machine were one. Hills really weren’t as bad as I remembered them to be. I was extremely prepared and I was ready to race. Sometimes things don’t work out the way you want though, such is life. It’s all a series of experiences that you get to grow and learn from. My father came up to Placid with me again this time around and he has been a staple in my Ironman experiences. I truly enjoy the camaraderie and support he gives and I look forward to spending quality time with him on the ride there (we always have driven) and for the entire weekend. We made our way up on Friday morning and it came up on the trip to the ADK’s we were jokingly referring to our accommodations at the “Ritz”. Due to my lack of securing a reservation somewhere, we stayed again at the North Country Community College dorms. Hey, so sue me, it was a bed to sleep in and that’s all I was really concerned with.

Well, we arrived in the North Country about 3pm on Friday, went over to registration at the gym and got all that fun stuff taken care of. I tipped the scales at a whopping 163lbs, but I wasn’t too worried because I knew I was in good shape. I got an obligatory extra swim cap and had to actually ask for an extra one instead of stealing one like I’ve done the last three IM’s.

My dad and I were going to head out to dinner the night before the race with a friend from my high school that was really close to my sister. The plan was for Amy to come pick my dad and I up and show us a good place to eat since she lives in Saranac Lake. Amy drives up and 2 people pop out of the car and my sister Jenna had made a surprise visit to watch me race!! This was REALLY a surprise and was cool because the only person in my family that has seen me in an IM is my dad. I was floored.

All in all, everything else was pretty status quo and set for the race. We had dinner, I had a nice dark beer (I can’t even remember what I had) and the only variable was that I was getting a pair of race wheels delivered the night before the race at midnight. I was getting them on race morning and would have to swap over a cassette and computer magnet that morning. Not a big deal, I was going to get to the transition area at 5am when it opened and have all the tools I needed with me.

The wheels were sweet that I ended up using. My buddy John from Philly was originally going to come up and sign up for 2010, but got stuck on rotation in a hospital where he works and had to send the wheels up with someone else. They were a 2009 set of tubular Zipp 808’s complete with ceramic bearings and were wicked fast according to Mr. Hunter. I was stoked to use them as I’m a big fan of bike speed :o)

Race morning came and I was up and ready to roll. It’s funny the things you remember looking back on it. I remember always being so amped when I wake up and thinking that I have a lot to get done before getting in the water. I remember dad was slow to wake (hell, who wouldn’t be slow to get out of bed at 4am?!!?) but got up and we were at the T-area by 5:15am or so.

I got the wheels from my friend Sarah and in a flash, swapped cassette’s and magnets and adjusted the brakes and everything was good to go. Time was 6:15am now and I had filled all my bottles (went with one bottle on the bike and a Profile Design aerodrink) after the debacle of launching bottles off the back of the bike in Wisconsin last year, I wasn’t about to chance that again. I exited transition, found my dad, threw on my wetsuit and headed down to the water with Kim. She looked pretty shell shocked (as can be expected for your first IM) but I was just freaking giddy. This was my day to play and all I had to do was just get out there and have fun. I was smiling ear to ear and loving every minute of life. Things were good. I entered the water and we both split our ways. I headed over to the dock in Mirror Lake and trying to get a spot as close to the cable as possible. I had started in the same place in 2007 and even though it was physical there, this was the place to start. I held on for several minutes and made some fun jokes like I always do. “I found a warm spot!” is one of my favorites and gets everyone laughing. A guy that was at the NCCC dorms that I had met the day before was hanging on to the dock right next to me (I’m sorry I forgot your name…) and he had been to Kona before so I thought I was in the right place.

They shouted the 2 minute warning from the loud speakers and I made my way to the starting line about 5 feet from the dock. I looked to my right as I was treading water and noticed 2 familiar faces, Dana Woody and Bruce Gianniny. These are two friends that I swim with at the RAMS (Rochester Area Masters Swimmers) and are two incredibly gifted swimmers. Bruce and I kind of agreed to be blockers for Dana to keep her safe and wanted to draft off each other in the swim.

2.4 mile swim - 56:00 - 5th in the M25-29 AG/65th overall
The gun went off and it was the usual Ironman roughness of some physicality, but nothing too extreme. After about a minute I was in the clear and things were good. I was pretty relaxed and finding my stroke. Close to about 3 minutes into the swim, I was breathing to my left side and caught a glimpse of a familiar stroke to my left. It was precise and deliberate and I recognized it immediately as Bruce’s stroke. Perfect. He was on a roll and swimming fast and I quickly jumped on his feet to draft off of him.

About 7 minutes into the race, I pulled along side Bruce and we swam side by side for a while. I was in a giddy and goofy mood enough that immediately I dove underwater and looked straight at Bruce and waved. He looked directly at me and I saw lots of bubbles come out of his mouth and I knew he got a kick out of it. I surfaced and smiled to myself. I know we all try to go as fast as we can sometimes, but there is nothing wrong with having fun too! I truly believe that. I figured I could spare a few seconds and besides, how many times do you get to swim side by side in an Ironman with someone that you train with regularly?! It was great.

I kept by Bruce and I knew he would be gearing for a great swim split, so I could kind of pace off him. We made the turn, no worries and headed back to shore. As we were about 100m from the beach on loop one, I noticed the clock and it was a 27:XX and that meant that a 55:XX might be possible. How sweet would that be? I saw Bruce about 2 body lengths ahead and as I stood up and sprinted thru the timing mat, turned left and patted him on the back as I ran by and dove back in. I think I might have said, “Good swim, keep it up!” or some other similar words of encouragement.

Lap 2 was uneventful, Bruce took off and I tried to hold on. Dana was nowhere in sight. As I was about 100m from the shore I tried to look at the red LED clock they have set up with a running time to get a hint of where I was. I was seeing a 55:XX and I knew I might be able to sneak out under 56. I started sprinting when it got pretty high up there and apparently my chip crossed at 56:00. Why couldn’t I have been a second faster? Haha! I just wanted to break 56. It was still a 13 second PR from IM Wisconsin, so I was happy.

I entered the wetsuit strip and began yelling for my friend Doug Mauro who I knew was volunteering. I found him, got out of the wetsuit in a jiffy and was running the ¼ mile to the transition tent. I saw Bruce about 15 feet ahead of me and ran to catch him. We ran arm in arm for a few seconds and I congratulated him on a great swim. We were working the crowd and honestly this was the coolest thing in the world for me. I mean, you race with friends yes, but how often do you get to race, literally, side by side with them. This was the high point of my day!

Transition 1 - 4:19
Nothing special here, just flew in, grabbed my stuff and on the way out, I heard someone yell, “Travis!” and I turned around to see Bruce looking at me and he yelled out, “good luck!” I told him the same and went out to grab my bike and ride.

Bike - approximately 61 miles out of 112 and DNF
I was ready to roll, the only thing was about 3 miles in, I looked down and my odometer was reading 0.03miles for total mileage for the day. Looks like that wouldn’t be working for the day. No worries, I’d seen this happen before and it seemed to work out pretty well! I was rolling with the punches.

I was feeling good and going along, the out and back on the first loop was fun, I saw Joe Meyers a few seconds back and saw a lot of people I knew. I was going quick and split thru the first loop in 2:45. Doing the math in my head this was a little fast (20.3mph average) but I was feeling like I hadn’t biked at all and papa bear wasn’t even that bad to climb. I was having the day I’d wanted. I blew thru town, saw many people I knew and headed out for loop 2. I was taking salt and accidentally ripped off my race number from my belt and while riding, I reattached it via safety pin. I was proud of myself. Jason Frank passed me about a mile later and he was a guy that was 3 minutes ahead of me in 2007 and I knew who he was. I introduced myself as the guy who was next to him on the podium that year and he said he remembered me. I don’t know if he did or not, but it was cool.

All hell broke loose after that. I passed Jason by again and was blazing towards the descent. They just repaved the road and it made it SUPER fast. I was going like a bat out of hell and I wanted that great race too. At about the steepest part of the descent my front wheel started to wobble a tad. I immediately went from my aerobars to my brake hoods for balance and braced my knees on the top tube to help calm the wobble. I was going fast. I tried to brake lightly at first and the wobble kept on getting worse and worse. I was scared shitless and the last thing I remember was that I thought to myself, “oh shit, I’m going to lose it…and I’m going fast. This will not end well…”

I woke up in an ambulance and it took me a few seconds to get my bearings. I thought I had a dream and I couldn’t figure out why I was where I was. The paramedics were great and they told me that I’d been in an accident and to just lay back because we were going to the hospital. I was asking a lot of questions as they were cutting my jersey off like, “hey this is my favorite jersey” and “please don’t cut my heart rate monitor chest strap, it’s expensive” also “but I have a marathon to run” and “can we put the bike in here? Those wheels are really nice and they aren’t even mine!” They told me my bike would be in transition waiting for me and I then took off my HRM chest strap myself. I looked at my hand and realized there was a lot of blood and at that point just laid back and let them do their job. I arrived in Elizabethtown Community Hospital and they x-rayed me, said I had a broken collarbone and then gave me a phone to call someone to come get me. My emergency contact for the race was my dad and I had put my own cell number down and given the phone to him race morning. I called and called and there was no answer. I left what would be some pretty ridiculous messages “I don’t know where I am, but I had a bike crash and I’m okay, just a broken collarbone. Can you come get me please?” but my dad never got them because my phone was on vibrate and he never felt it ring… My sister luckily got a message (I remembered her number by heart luckily) and they came to pick me up.

I don’t remember leaving that hospital; they just bandaged me up, gave me a sling for my left arm and sent me on my way. I have no idea what time I left, but I know that when we picked up my bike from transition, it was dark and most of my friends had already finished. It was bittersweet to see them and I was really out of it. I spent the night at Amy’s place in Saranac Lake and I accidentally dropped my phone into the toilet at her place. It never dried out and that’s why I didn’t get a lot of messages. If you left a message and I never responded, the reason I didn’t call you back is I never got the message! I also lost all of my phone numbers, so if you are reading this and have my number, please call or text me your name and number so I have it! :o) My sister drove me home the next day and my father followed. Every bump in the road was painful as the sling didn’t really restrict too much. We stopped at a McDonalds in Watertown, NY for lunch and I looked pretty bad. While waiting in line, this guy behind us was looking at me really funny, so my sister told him that I cut myself shaving. It was great. Even in my drugged up and painful state, I still explained that I was in a bike accident and was going like 50+mph downhill. He asked if it was a motorcycle accident, I repeated bicycle and I still think he thought I was joking. Oh well.

I have absolutely no recollection of the crash at all, which is probably a good thing. I honestly have no idea how fast I was going when the side gust that came and caused the speed wobble in my front wheel hit. My good friend and training partner Joe Meyers had a max speed of 68.1 mph there that day and with the freshly paved descent and wicked fast wheels I was riding on, it was probably similar to Joe. I have absolutely no memory from thinking I was going to lose it, until waking up in the ambulance.

Aftermath
I went into surgery at Strong Memorial Hospital on Wednesday (thank you Mary Eggers for pulling whatever strings you did…) and now have a plate and 6 screws in my left collarbone. I have a large nasty scar that reaches my back and a LOT of road rash. I estimated that about 15% of my body was covered in road rash after the crash. It kind of made it hard to sleep because it didn’t all immediately scab over and I was sticking to the sheets for a long time. I don’t think I have actually slept thru the night since the accident because of pain or just rolling over and hitting something. But hey, such is life...

It’s now a month after the accident and all of the road rash has healed (mostly). I have been restricted from anything really with my left arm for about the next 8 weeks although I have been cleared to run as of about a week ago. It’s just weird to go from exercise every day to couch potato in a flash. The realization that I have is that I am truly lucky to be alive. The hill that I crashed on had oncoming traffic to my left and a river to my right (I would’ve had to have slid thru a cable and steel guardrail…but since I was unconscious, that might have gotten nasty) I’m truly lucky to be alive. My gear and equipment is all really jacked up, but that can be replaced. The funny thing was that the race wheels I was borrowing, only had a scuff on one of the decals and that was it! I was REALLY happy to not have to replace those for John. But this was a learning experience and I’m just happy to still be breathing at this point. There is a nasty thread HERE from Slowtwitch.com that explains some other peoples view of what happened. I have to immensely thank Bob Stocks for putting his race on hold to pull me off to the side of the road so no one else hit me or I didn’t cause any more accidents. Thank you to everyone who sent gifts, dropped a card in the mail, or called to ask how I’ve been doing. I really can’t begin to tell you how great it feels to have the support that you all have given me. I’m really just overwhelmed with it all. I spent a few weeks living at my parents house immediately following my surgery and they took care of me which I am ever grateful of. I’m back to my own apartment as of about 2 weeks ago and have returned to work full time too around then. Things are back to normal it seems for an ordinary human being (I can do all the normal daily activities of life) but not to normal for me yet. It’s going to be a long hard road to recovery, but I’ll be back soon enough, don’t you worry. The good thing is, I WILL be back. Honestly, if this broken collarbone and some road raash is all I have to deal with, in the grand scheme of things, it's not that bad. It could've been MUCH worse, I know.

Cheers and sorry to make this so long friends. Thanks for reading though. Also, thank you to anyone who wrote a card, made a special effort to call/text, dropped off or mailed a gift. It seriously means so much and put me in the right mindset. Thank you all. But for now, take care and I’ll see you out there soon! (I’ll be the one volunteering for the remainder of the 2009 season!) :o)

July 30, 2009

6 screws and one big plate....

is what is holding my left collar bone together at the moment. (Thereby making it really hard to type) So there will be no race report just yet until the road rash taht's covering about 15% of my body heals enough for me to sit at the computer for longer than a few minutes at a time.... Not is just a big long road to recovery. Cheers friends, thanks for all of the support!

June 20, 2009

Nothing fancy - just a quick note

Hey friends, just thought I would drop a few lines here about whats been going on training wise for IMLP. Things have been good, I've been healthy and my body feels like it is in the best shape that it has ever been. I'm on a rest week this week, but I have 2 more weeks of build until I hit the infamous taper time :o)

I've traveled up to Lake Placid twice since the last update, once on Memorial Day weekend and once just this weekend past. Both trips were beneficial for completely different reasons and I did not feel the same after either. Unfortunately I have no pictures to post, just stories to tell...so let me try to paint a picture with words.

Memorial day was a good trip, I was able to take the Friday before off of work and made it up to LP by 2pm to be on my bike and riding a loop by 3pm or so. It was sooooooo nice to be back in the mountains, as they are something I truly miss. It just felt comfortable, like that old pair of running shoes that has 400+ miles on them and you slip on after a long hiatus. It just felt right, like being with an old friend you haven't seen in ages. It was comfortable, made my heart happy and was just right...

The bike on that Friday was good, Joe Meyers and I blazed it around the bike course and I might have taken it out a little hard, but I was feeling good on the hills and he caught me in the last 2 miles back into town. (great work on his part because at like 30 miles in, I looked back on a climb and he was no where to be found) I ran off the bike for about 30 minutes and felt great. Still too cold to swim (and I had already gotten my swim in on Friday morning) on Saturday we woke up and hit 2 loops of the bike course to get a realistic feel for pacing/nutrition/the hills/etc. That ride was good, got some things dialed in and became more attune with the course. I paid a great deal of attention to landmarks that I was going to hit and look for on race day. Good recon.

Sunday's run was fun, it was a long run day and I wanted to hit the out and back on River Road to recollect and remember those "rollers" along the river. Joe and I started off together and I had to do a pit stop at 3 miles in. He took off and I did my business and was about 3 minutes down, but within the next 3 miles, I caught up to him and blew past him because I wanted to run and that is generally my strong suit. Finishing up the run, it didn't feel like I had ridden 112 miles the day before. I hit 22 miles at 7:20-7:30 pace which woulda put me right on for a 3:20 marathon. I was wrecked afterwards, but the following week was a rest week, so it was perfect.

Overall at the end of the Memorial Day trip, I felt good about the course (might have had something to do with the stellar run I had on Sunday) But I just want to be able to have the run this year in Placid that I know I am capable of. I felt good and relaxed about the race and wished it was the next week. Luckily, we still have 6 weeks or so from today to race day...

Last weekend was a different story, staying with the Graney's it was a blast at their house. Good times, good people, and lots of laughs in between HARD training. That was the end of a "bike week" for me and I wanted to ride 2 loops of the bike course on both Saturday and Sunday also running 4 miles for a transition run after each day. I swam well for the first time in a wetsuit this year and it felt different, fast, but just different from being unrestricted in a pool. I took a moment at the far end of Mirror Lake to stop the watch and float and look around and soak in the energy of the mountains. It really is spectacular up there and when racing and training sometimes you get "laser lock" on the road and you forget that there is energy to draw upon in the mountains and land that you are racing on. It's beautiful and always fills me up, so i recharged for a minute or two and went back to shore.

Day one was fine, normal 2 loops of the course. day two i bonked about mile 60 after passing thru the first loop and when I got to the out and back, I skipped it and went into the store and bought a slice of pizza and a coke. I watched my overall average speed plummet, but I made it back in one piece after another 100 mile day. BRUTAL. Probably the hardest day on the bike I've had in a LONG time. But that was the end of a 21+ hour training week. (I hit 17,18,20 ending with Memorial day and then it's been an average of about 19-20 hours each week with some big miles in there.

I felt a little unsettled getting trashed by the bike course last Sunday, but I feel like I REALLY know the hard parts of the course now and know where I can push and where to cruise. I'm kinda itching to race as I haven't done a triathlon yet this year, but as a close friend once said, you have to let it be a slow burn and not race too much before the big dance. Store it up and rip it on race day. So I guess we'll see what happens in July... I'm nervous, but excited for it at the same time because I know I've been putting in the work. I'd like to bike a similar time to 2007, but rip a MUCH faster run, so we'll see what I can muster.

For now it's a rest week and I have MUCH to catchup on, so I have to run. I'm gonna try to post a TOP 10 list in the near future and that one should be MUCH more interesting than this post. :o) Until then, train and rest hard folks, I'll see you out on the roads. JFT and cheers.

May 12, 2009

Medved madness 15 miler trail race report

I had the opportunity to run a 15 mile solo trail race last weekend on May 3rd that I did back in 2007 as well. In 2007 it was a first year race and everyone got lost in the middle of it because some moron out walking his dog thru Mendon decided to pull down all the markers that had been hung in trees signifying the course we were supposed to follow. Regardless it was a blast of a race (good friends, fun trails, mud, water, competition…I mean what else could you ASK for?!) and I was stoked to be able to do it again.

That morning I woke up and wasn’t feeling all too excited to race. A little nervous and jittery to be exact. I knew there was to be some stiff competition from a guy that I normally swim with at Masters who is also an excellent trail runner and even on the EMS national adventure racing team. We both had an eye out for each other and knew we could give one another a run for our money.

Well, I got to the race site early and picked up a packet and mumblings were going on about how Jeff Beck, a former SUNY Geneseo teammate of mine was there and Neal Holschute was also present at the race site that morning and ready to rumble on the trails. I first encountered Neal from his days at Williams College in Massachusetts (I doubt he remembers me) but GXC travelled every year to do the Williams Invitational mostly because those guys were sick competition. Neal was wicked fast even back in college. So with the “wonder twins” at the race site, I kinda figured we would all be racing for 3rd place…

We all get to the start and Mort’s giving his normal pre-race chat explaining that there are 3 distinct loops and to follow each color for each loop thru the woods. They had bright colored trail ribbons hanging from the trees so it was easy to spot the trail when it was properly marked. Gun goes off and we’re all joking and running. The usual crew of T$, Matthews, Hatch, Howland and the rest of the folks were there, along with some other good competition including Matt Keefe and Kurt Spacher. We went out at a moderate pace and by the time we hit the single track, Jeff, Neal, Jim Mollosky and I were pretty much separated from the rest of the race. We gapped it pretty quickly. Jeff and I were catching up over the first few miles and he said things were going well with coaching in Fredonia and was inquiring about Ironman Lake Placid to see if he was going to be up in the ADK’s the same time as he was scouting for JOTC. Turns out he’s gonna be, so I hope he pops by to check out the chaos of IM.

Anyway, back to the race, about 3-4 miles in, it’s getting a little hard for me to talk so I let Jeff and Neal pull away (well I actually didn’t LET them, they just kinda ran easier and much faster than I was) and I slowed up a little. Jim was caught in a gap between the twins and I so he was in no mans land. We finished the first of 3 five-or-so-mile loops and went thru the pond and got thoroughly soaked very quickly. I almost lost my balance in the water and it was a little cold so I’m glad I kept it upright!

Loop two was nicer, a few more rolling hills and turns and a little more single track (if memory serves me correctly. About a mile in, I hear someone coming up on me and I look back and it’s Jim Mollosky from Buffalo, NY who was ahead of me prior to the start of loop 2. I thought he had changed his shoes after the pond (would have been smart) but he had just followed the pink ribbons instead of the orange ones for the 2nd loop. He went a little out of the way it seemed and he was kinda pissed about it.

We were bombing thru loop two and suddenly out of the blue we saw Jason Urkfitz, Matt Keefe and Kurt Spacher coming TOWARDS us in the woods. This made me very uneasy because I was feeling good and have a tendency to be directionally challenged. We ran for about another mile before we realized that they were the ones going in the wrong direction and we were okay. Made my heart jump a bit though…and I was upset that they had made the wrong turn (we’ve ALL been there before, I have MANY times) But, Jim and I were running along for about 3-4 miles and I let him soft pass me a few times and I did the same to him to see where his legs were. I know Mendon pretty well and when I realized that we were getting close to the start of the 3rd loop, I put in a surge because I thought I could hold a higher pace than he could over the next 10k-ish loop. I was running scared on the 3rd loop. As I said before we were all racing for 3rd place and I was in it right at this moment. It was my race to lose at this point. I knew that for the 3rd loop Mort was going to take us up the side of Cardiac Hill again like in 2007, so I was saving a little extra mojo for that in the tank. I kept on trying not to look over my shoulder too much to gauge where Jim was, but I could feel that I really couldn’t shake him. I was throwing everything that I could at him and trying to accelerate around turns so that I was out of sight and out of mind.

Somehow I managed to hold him off and was able to sneak in for a 3rd place overall finish behind Neal and Jeff (Jeff was less than a minute ahead, but he apparently lost a shoe in the mud pit near the 12 mile marker - so I’m sure at that point he eased up) But yeah, Jim came in about a minute in arrears to me and it was an overall REALLY fun and muddy run. The post race BBQ and festivities are always a blast there and the sun came out and we all got into dry clothes and relaxed over food while soaking up the vitamin D. I met some cool new folks, hung out with some old friends, had some fantastic food and stayed there laughing and joking pretty much until about 1-2pm from an 8am start of the race. All in all a great day. I ended up winning a pair of Darn Tough socks and a gift certificate for 3rd place overall which was nice. Medved always puts on great races and I know they’re all trail geeks at heart who love to just get out there and play like I do.

Disclaimer; I was pretty BROKEN after this race for a few days. My arms were already sore from demolishing Brian Matthews’s garage and swinging around a sledgehammer for the majority of the previous afternoon. That combined with a REALLY fast and long trail race made for a pretty broken body for this tired soul. I’ve recovered and will likely get the details up of the last few weeks of training whenever I can. Until then folks, JFT and get out there regardless of the weather and play. I will be… :o)

April 30, 2009

ING NYC Marathon confirmation


(Sorry about the "grainyness" of the above image. It was really small when I had to cut and paste it from the website)

For a while now, I've had a goal to experience all of the large marathons in and around the United States to see how I liked them and just to be able to say that, "oh yeah, I've run that one...it was fun!" This year seemed like a perfect year to be able to swing in the NYC marathon.

It was a nice flat, fall marathon. Sounds perfect after Ironman Lake Placid and will give me adequate recovery time. (I ran Philly in the fall of 2007 after doing IMLP that year too) So I did a little research and wanted to see if it was possible to get into the 2009 ING NYC Marathon.

Turns out it is a lottery system because so many people apply each year to run it. But the nice thing is that if you can hit them, they have automatic qualifying standards. For my age group you just had to run a sub 2:55 marathon within the past year and a half. Tomorrow is the cut off for registration for auto-qualifiers, so if you are thinking about it, do it today!! :o) I got an auto qualifying time by running a 2:53 in Boston last year and just snuck under the standard and into this race.

I just got my confirmation email and my name will appear in the participant lists soon :o) My goal for this marathon is to PR, but seeing as how that is sub 2:53, that might be tricky. We shall see though. I still think I am capable of a sub 2:50, so only time will tell. Wish me luck in the fall, but for now it's still prime time for Ironman :o) Sit back and enjoy the show ladies and gentlemen. This year in Placid, there's BOUND to be some fireworks! Cheers and JFT folks, I gotta run...

April 15, 2009

Spring Forward 15k report

So as most of you that read this regularly already knew, I had to take what I like to refer to as “forced rest” two weeks ago because I came down with a bout of bronchitis.

I’ll start out by saying that I’m not really a fan of doctors… I tend to NOT want to go to them even when I am deathly ill. This instance was no different. I’d taken a rest week the previous week and trained outside some on the bike and come down with what I thought was the general spring time sniffles and coughing. Well after the rest week, I still couldn’t shake it (despite my attempts to drown myself in Vitamin C…)

Yes it does have 1000% DV of your vitamin C…and it tastes good to boot!

So about a half week later when I realized that I hadn’t gone to a full day of work in 3 days because I kept leaving early or coming in late in order to rest, I reluctantly went to the doctors. Turns out he diagnoses me with bronchitis and gives me a Z-pack (?) of some antibiotics.

The last day of the antibiotics was race day for the 15k. No fun. I still wasn’t feeling well, but still wanted to test out the legs to see if maybe my 2 weeks of “taper” as I was referring to it at the time, would pay off. I had some ambitious goals for the race, I had wanted to break 55 minutes, beat a great competitor who constantly gives me crap (and I return it…) Mr. Carl Johnson among other goals that I had already figured in my head. Spoiler alert!!! That was not my day…

The race started off and it was a little chilly. I made a last minute decision to take off the fleece lined tights that I was going to wear because the sun was out and I knew as soon as we hit the hills; it was going to turn steamy. I had on a pair of radioactive yellow/green gloves, a thin winter hat, and long sleeves. It was a good day to run.

The race went off and I flew thru the 1 mile mark with Matt Keefe (local GVH runner) in about 5:38. We laughed and tried to back off, but I ended up going thru the 5k split in about 17:30 or so and knew it was going to be tough from then on. About mile 4-5 my power seemed to wane a bit and I remembered a conversation that I had before the race with this guy who told me he raced once with bronchitis and it turned into full blown pneumonia and he was laid up for 2 months, so I was okay with backing off a tad because I definitely didn’t want to share his fate.

Around that 6 mile mark Mr. Johnson decided to soft pass me and we hit the 10k in 36:3X, still pretty quick. I passed him back, but he is like the energizer bunny of runners, he’s always right there and I gave him some motivation as he went by me again. From there on in, I didn’t want to push too hard and kinda held back. I really could’ve killed myself out there and ran a smoking fast time, but by the time I hit the finish, I was thru in 56:33 and that was good enough for 10th overall and 3rd in the age group.
It was a RROY (Rochester Runner of the Year) series race, so it attracted some deeper talent. I’m happy with my placing and all being sick, but I know if I had been healthy I would’ve been under that 55 mark and likely broken my college 15k PR. Oh well, there is always next year.

But that’s the story of the Spring Forward 15k. For anyone who cares, I’m back and healthy again too. I just did a 15:49 training week last week and for the first time in 2009, I made it to all 3 masters swim practices that week :o) It’s hard getting out of bed that early to jump into a cold pool… Now that the weather’s nice, I hope you all have been enjoying the roads and trails and getting out there to JFT. Cheers folks, I’ll check back in later on.

Bert's Grand Opening!!!

Stop on by! They will have a bicycle "flea market" next door with all sorts of surprises and absolutely EVERYTHING will be on sale in the store. If you haven't checked it out yet, now is the time to stop in to see dealers and reps from all the product lines in the Henrietta Berts location. 100 Jay Scutti Boulevard, right down the street from Marketplace Mall. See you there!

March 28, 2009

Ramblings and Ketchup

Yeah, so it's a lively Saturday night and I'm just catching up on old blog entries and relaxing a little bit. This week was a rest week and a significant reduction in volume as compared to previous weeks. (Last 3 before were 13/13.5/15 hours total - even WITH a trip out to Las Vegas the weekend BEFORE the final four tournament...long story)

But things have been pretty good lately. The sponsor for this year BERTS bikes, opened up a new shop located on 100 Jay Scutti Boulevard (same plaza as the BJ's wholesale superstore and right by Marketplace Mall) and they are officially open for business. If you haven't been in there, I highly suggest checking them out and stopping in to say HI. They have a massive wall of bikes (Four high!) to the right when you walk in and a little something for everyone (triathletes included!!)

On the plus side of things, Berts FINALLY threw a jersey my way (a bike jersey....but it's a start, at least it is something with their name on it so I can show my support!) and I actually wore it today on a nice training ride. They are apparently getting together some slick looking triathlon uniforms for me and the Egger's (I assume) and I'll post some photos of those later on when they arrive.

Other than that, things have been pretty status quo around here. I'm still kicking and will have some fun packages coming in the next few weeks from the sponsor that I'll be sure to post about when it arrives. But other than that, just laying down some good solid base IM training in prep for Ironman USA coming up in less than 4 months. (take 2) I'm finally doing intervals and structured bike training, so we'll see if I can hang with the guys in my age group this year on the bike. I have a very ambitious goal of breaking 10 hours at IMLP and it will take going fast on the bike AND the run to do so.

The Spring Forward 15k run is coming up in about a week or so and that's usually the race that gets the lead out of the legs and sees how the base training went, at least running wise... I went a 55:08 there last year and I would really like to see if I can bust open a sub 55 there this year. (that would beat my college 15k PR - and I'm self coached!!!) :o) So we'll see what happens. I was about 15 seconds behind Mr. Carl Johnson last year and that would be a big bonus to be able to squeeze out another W against him this year, but we'll see. He always knows I'm rearing for him and I'm calling Frozen Assets a fluke....for now.

Well it's about bed time for me (well maybe not...) but I want to be done, so I'm gonna head out. Train well and rest even better friends. I'm stoked that the sun is shining and we're all back out on the roads again (my neighbors really appreciate that...) I'll see you in the sunshine. JFT friends, cheers!

Snow Cheap #6 (finale) race report

So as not to miss the entire month of March, I will throw a little post your way on the blog to let everyone know whats been going on. First off, the Fleet Feet Snow Cheap Winter Trail Race Series is over. The last race was some Wednesday back a few weeks ago and it was a blast as per normal.
Since daylight savings time hit, we really didn't need the headlamps for this one. The thaw had hit, and it was a nice night for a run. I don't really remember too much about it other than people telling me not to screw it up before the race by placing 2nd. I am somone who does not really like to let people down so I usually just replied with, "I'll try my best!"

I know I like to "front run" at some of these smaller local races...most people that race with me know that too. That night, my friend Alan decided to give me a little brief scare and BOLT off the start line and play with my head saying things like, "you don't want any blemishes on your perfect series" and crap like that. Within the first 1/2 mile, I had passed him and never heard anything from him again. Other than that, I don't remember too awful much. It was a fun technical race and I was ready to roll. I had just come off of a rest week and was playing around and just bombing thru the woods.I ended up winning it and sweeping the entire series. It didn't matter whether it was a snowshoe or trail run either. I placed first in all 6 races in the series and it was a cool thing to be able to stick to my goals and guns and do something that i thought I wouldn't be able to pull off. Winning a single race is something that as long as you play your cards right and have the ability, it's pretty simple. The whole series racing thing is a different beast all together!!! :o) And I like it! :o) The first few races are easy, then suddenly you have a target on your back and EVERYONE is after you... it's intense. I'd like to focus on series racing sometime down the road.

February 28, 2009

Grand Pre-Opening tonight!


So there is a grand "pre-opening" tonight for the Rochester superstore for my title sponsor this year. It's supposedly a wine and cheese type event with the "big wigs" in the city of Rochester in attendance. I'll let you all know how it goes (and when the new Bert's in Henrietta is open to the general public...) Cheers! :o)

February 23, 2009

Snow Cheap Race #5 report

Just had to throw a photo of this in there. This is my college roommate of 3 years wearing a GXC shirt that on the back reads "Streaking our way across the US" because the men's and women's Geneseo XC programs often made it to Nationals and they had a tradition of streaking in the new states trying to get all 50... as you can see most of New England was already filled in. But, I digress...To let you all know, the streak is still alive. I truly believe that it shouldn't be, but I was lucky with a few things last Wednesday night.

The race was a trail race due to lack of snow, so I left the Crescent Moon's at home and brought the Kahtoohla's with me to Cobbs Hill on that evening. I was already in rough shape as that last week I crested almost 14 hours of training. So needless to say my legs were pretty smoked at the start of the race. Now the kicker of the evening came when a light snow started to fall around 5:15pm for a 6 o'clock race. Who knew that this dusting was going to have such an effect on the race?
Turns out that this dusting made a nice little blanket over all of the markers/cones that were out on the course. This added a new dimension of fun to the race as we were now tracking to see if we could even LOCATE a cone, let alone follow a trail.

The gun went off and we clomped around thru the base of Cobbs and immediately went up the nice big dirt hill leading up to the reservoir. I was letting Kurt Spacher take the lead but quickly realized that the entire group was bunching up because we couldn't locate a cone in the newly white field. There came cries of, "Anyone see a cone?" and with so many people it sounded vaguely reminiscent of a hash with other folks joking around and yelling out "beer near!".

Kurt and I tromped along though and managed to make it into the woods. Kurt was leading and on a sketchy, icy section of downhill he took a slide and his feet went right out from underneath him and I swear I almost saw his head bounce off the ground. He quickly clambered up to his feet as I passed, but I was asking him, "Man are you okay?!", and "you took a really hard hit there, you okay?" and I think he must've believed I was trying to get inside his head and freak him out, but I was genuinely concerned.

I led for a while after that and we made it out onto Washington Grove and had to walk to locate the markers for a bit. There were no headlamps in the woods behind us as we had distanced the field by a bit then. We finally located the trail again and took off. I passed Kurt in the woods and we just kinda went on until the switchbacks.
Again, as soon as I knew we were hitting the switchbacks, I turned up the heat once more and started going. I was scared to slip on the icyness, but I had faith in the kahtoohlah's and knew the spikes in them would keep me upright. I heard Kurt being a little more ginger after falling for a second time down the switchbacks and I just pumped it into the finish. This was win #5 for the series and there is only one more race left. Lucky for me, the penultimate race comes immediately after a rest week and will be a good night to see if I can sweep the whole Snow Cheap Series. (my goal from the beginning) This was a good one that I didn't think I was able to win at the start and likely probably shouldn't have, but conditions and equipment allowed me another small victory for the year. :o)

It's a rest week for me and it couldn't have come any sooner. The last 3 weeks were 12, 13.5, and 14 hours respectively so I could use the rest. Take care folks, now's the time of the season to hone in on the base miles and stay healthy. Don't overdo it, but still I implore you to get out there and JFT! Cheers.

February 12, 2009

47.....

So last night, I'm about to hop on the bike in my apartment and spin for a little bit. I have my heart rate monitor on and just punched the start button to get it warmed up and ready for me to start my workout.

I'm standing in front of my closet getting a bike jersey out to wear and I glance down to see a 47 on the screen. I thought it was broken.....

Until I walked into the kitchen to fill up a water bottle and it jumped up to a 55. :o) God I love getting a few months of base training under my belt in the wintertime :o) Happy training folks, get out there and JFT folks. Cheers.

February 10, 2009

Snow Cheap Race #4 race report

Well as you probably know by now, race #4 in the Fleet Feet Snow Cheap Winter Trail Race series is in the books last week on Wednesday evening. I was getting jazzed up to run it as I left work a little early to make sure I got there on time and didn’t get stuck in the ridiculous rush hour traffic. I was a little more nervous than normal at this race because I knew if I won the race that night, I would automatically clinch the entire series with 4 wins out of 6 races.

I got there right around 5:15 or so for a 6pm start and changed, picked up the packet, got the timing chip and chatted with a few folks. There was a nervous energy in the air and I saw Kurt Spacher there at the lodge before the race and we decided to go on a little warm up together. (Kurt’s been the one who has been chasing me down each race and I’m just waiting for the day that he blows by me and I can’t respond)

We headed out for a short 3 mile or jaunt down the street and chatted a little bit, he brought up the fact that a little birdie told him that I once ran a sub 2:00 half mile and I told him that was many moons ago and I was lucky to still have a sliver of that speed left. Maybe that’s the edge that I needed that night.

The race was another snowshoe trek thru the grounds around Cobbs. The “gun” went off and we tromped thru the now ankle deep sections and some where on trail shoes and some were snowshoeing thru the drifts. Race Director Greg put us up the “Rocky Hill” immediately and it was a good test to see who had legs that night.

There started out with a few of us out front but it quickly got whittled down to me and Kurt bombing thru the woods. I have a headlamp that is none too luminous and Kurt’s is about a bright as daylight. We were bombing thru the woods and I kept hearing him breathe over my shoulder and his lamp was flickering behind me as his head moved around. It seriously looked like a bad horror movie behind me (partly because I was running scared and partly because the “strobe” light behind me illuminating the woods)

About a mile and a quarter in, I eased up a tad. We were going uphill and I wanted a little reprieve. Kurt made a move to get around me and he went. I kept my sights on him and he only had the lead for about 4 minutes. We went up to the top off the reservoir and there was some deep stuff there and he was slipping around on his trail shoes. I took this as an opportunity to re-take the lead and went around him.

Unbeknownst to us, the course doubled back on itself and we were running the opposite direction of the people coming up the trail. We both eased up, Kurt was about 20 feet behind me and we both timidly went down the trail and I called out to see if we were going the right direction. I had no idea. I think we both eased up because neither of us wanted to go too far down a trail in the wrong direction. Suddenly, I saw cones on both sides of trees and realized that the course doubled back on itself.

It was at that point that someone yelled out, “good job, just down the switchbacks and to the finish” and in that instant, both of our efforts went from about a 5 to an 11 on a scale from 1-10. I knew the only chance I had to finish this race in first was to make it to the switchbacks in first place. So I gunned it for the trail. I had a little more traction than Kurt in the corners on the switch backs and pumped them for all I was worth. I think I got a little time on him and at the end when we crossed over a dirt road, I thought I was going to bottom out and fall flat on my face. I just couldn’t get my legs in front of me fast enough!
I barreled into the finish and Kurt was a mere 3 seconds behind me. This was the closest one yet and I can honestly say that I didn’t think I was going to take it. It was a great fun race and I’m glad for the series. It’s a nice way to have a low-key race midweek and hang out with some friends and play in the woods.

I’ve always wanted to win a series race and there seem to be plenty here in the Rochester area for people to choose from. We have the Polar cat’s races, the Freezeroo, the Snow Cheap Series races and I’m sure there are others that I am forgetting too. But the Snow Cheap will be special to me as it was my first series win. :o) Still 2 more races out there, so I hope to see you all on the trails. Cheers and JFT folks.

January 27, 2009

Goals...we all have them...these are mine!

So I've kept this list of about the top 20 things I want to accomplish in this Chatauqua of the multisport variety. It ranges from things that I want to accomplish next year all the way up to goals that I would like to accomplish before I am too old to compete.

A close friend told me once that it was best to say goals out loud and tell everyone your plans because then you would be held accountable and hold yourself to a higher standard as well during races, life, etc. I feel that goals are something that trancend life and delve into realms that are able to be viewed in various aspects of your life not only the area that you are setting goals for. But enough philosophical stuff... on to the goals (just so I can hold myself accountable at a later date... :o) haha)

Without further adieu (in no particular order) my multisport goals:

1. Qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i
2. Get back onto the podium for an Ironman 140.6 event
3. Break 10 hours in an Ironman (60/5/5:30/2/3:22 = 9:59)
4. Break 2:00:00 in an Olympic Distance Triathlon (PR is a 2:05 currently)
5. Get into the 4:3x range for the half ironman distance
6. Run a sub 36 minute 10km run at the end of an Olympic Distance Triathlon
7. Run a sub 2:50 marathon in an open marathon
8. Bike under an hour in a 40km time trial
9. Run an open half marathon between 1:18 and 1:20
10. Swim a mile in open water in under 20 minutes
11. Run an Ironman Marathon somewhere between 3:10-3:15
12. Win the Musselman Half ironman triathlon in Geneva, NY
13. Swim between a 28 - 30 for a Half Ironman swim leg (never gone below 30...to date)
14. Win a triathlon straight up against Carl Johnson - he knows I'm gunning for him...)
15. Win the Score-This!!! Multisport Series one year
16. Become a professional trathlete by USAT multisport standards
17. Break 2:50 in the Boston Marathon (PR= 2:53)
18. Run a 15km run in sub 55:04 (college PR)
19. Qualify for the 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, FL (then don't go b/c too much drafting...)
20. Run marathons at all the major ones (Boston, Chicago, NYC, London, etc)

Those are a start for my multisport goals. In no way was that a complete list or was it set in stone. Actually if I do not even achieve one of these goals that I have set for myself and I tried my best throughout the seasons that I compete, I will be happy. I know that I am very fortunate to be able to race as fast as I do and compete and meet all the people that I do. It's a fantastic lifestyle and I'm thankful that I am part of it all :o)

And as an aside, I am in the start of a rest week and drinking a beer as I am typing this, so I understand that my actions right now are not that conducive to attaining all of these goals, but it's been an exhausting few weeks lately and I need the rest. So on that note, I have a beer to finish and swimming to wake up for tomorrow morning, so I'm off. Cheers folks, hope you've been JFT'ing and I will catch you all soon. Rest hard.

January 24, 2009

Snow Cheap Race #3 report

So last year during the summer of 2008 there was a series called the Dirt Cheap trail series which was like the little summer cousin of the Snow Cheap races. During those races, I would generally be in the lead and then blow it by taking a wrong turn on the course and just zoning out while running... this happened so much that I lost the entire series (one race in particular I went from 1st place overall to 9th...) and I earned the "Dora the Explorer" award for getting most lost in the series.
So this time around, and in the New Year, one of my resolutions was to NOT get lost in this series and not blow it again. Race #3 was a little different...
This was the first time around for a snowshoe run as we got dumped on the last few weeks and there was enough snow pack to be able to run on snowshoes. I was stoked to get going and race again. It was a good vibe as always for these races, basically it's just a mid-week low-key style trail race that everyone gets together and we all just have fun.
The race went off and we all tried so hard to keep our heart rates down as we clomped thru the snow. There were half of the people on trail shoes and half on snowshoes (it all depends on what series that you sign up for...I was snowshoe) We're going along and I'm just cruising and all of the sudden I catch a good gap, I think. I'm bombing thru the woods and the only thing I can hear is the crunch of my feet on the snow and my headlamp is so dim that it takes a little bit of effort to be able to see the cones and reflective tape.
I'm going along feeling good, hitting some of the big climbs and just bombing thru the woods. I hit a trail junction and I went straight. I've gone for like 45 seconds down the trail and realized that I T'ed into another trail with no markers anywhere to be found. CRAP...I was in the lead at this point and just knew what to do (this wasn't my first rodeo...) I turned around and raced back to where I saw the trail markers again. I hit the spot where I saw the left trail branch and I just missed the cones.
I looked and saw some other people that weren't to the spot where I was on the trail yet and I thought I still had the lead. I was going thru and still had about 1.5 miles left to go. I was heading up one of the big climbs and saw a headlamp up in front of me by like 300 yards. I thought it was just a person scouting the course and thought really nothing of it. I kept on racing thru the woods and wasn't really gaining any time on the light up ahead.
Now about 1/4 mile from the line we ducked back into the woods and I caught the mystery light. It was Kurt Spacher and he had finished 2nd the last two races against me. As I was catching the light I had a feeling of, "you know I could just let that person go...or if it's Kurt and I do then I'm going to be kicking myself for that forever" Luckily I didn't let it go and chased him down and was able to make a quick pass within sight of the line right before the giant leaf pile again :o)


I hit the line in first again and finished it off 3 for 3 in starts versus wins for this race series. I'm already getting antsy for the next one on 2/4/09. Good times and some monster climbs made for a good race and fun.

I've been keeping busy here with training (last 3 weeks have been 10, 13 and 15 hours) and have a glorious rest week planned next week. JFT at it's finest. Keep it up during the cold winter months folks. Be back with another report soonish. Cheers.

Snow Cheap Race #2 race report

Well I realized today that I've gotten a little tardy in throwing these race reports up on the blog, so I thought I should get a few up here...

Race #2 happened at 6pm at Cobbs Hill park here in Rochester on January 8th. It was one of those nights where it had been 40* F out for the last 3-4 preceding days and things were slippery as the melt afected what little snow pack that we had in Rochester at that time. Everything was slush.

The race was a non-snowshoe race (due to lack of snow pack) The start went off without a hitch and about 1/4 mile into it, we realized that the cones and markers were heading right over a massive leaf pile that when you ran over it you sank up to about mid shin.


It was a good race that was pretty well marked and pretty hilly too. There were a few climbs and an infamous log that we had to either go over or under (I went over) :o) It was a lung buster style race and the slush made things 10 times harder to run thru. I was able to front run and make it to the line in first overall for the 2nd race in a row...

January 10, 2009

RAMS 10k swim practice

So there has been this idea in my head for quite some time that I've always wanted to be able to say that I've swam a 10k. I don't know why, but in high school we'd always do practices that were like 6-7k and never really got up that high. In college, I only ran track and XC so I didn't swim for the blue wave at Geneseo.

Now after joining RAMS for at least a year now, they have done several really cool things for meets, relays, and practices. On Sunday January 4th there was an option to swim a 10,000 yard workout at RIT. I went.

There were about 20-25 of us that started out the workout and we pushed off at around 10am. There weren't going to be any REALLY hard sets today, it was all about just getting a ridiculous amount of yards in. We all started in good spirits and had some fun.

It was long (i'm not going to lie) and a lot of people bailed a little early, but that's okay. I was planning on the whole thing and wanted to prove to myself that I could swim it. Lori threw set after set after set at us and we swam it. Gradually the numbers dwindled to a point where we each had our own lanes. At about 8500 yards into the practice Lori throws this one our way: 4x(2x100's on 1:30, 1x50 stroke on :60) It wasn't that hard just the fact that I was feeling pretty good at this point. My triceps were cramping a bit, but all in all the wheels had not fallen off yet.

I swam each 100 somewhere between 1:09 and 1:12...it was insane. I don't know how I went so fast, but it just became what I had to do at that point. I guess I just needed an 8500 yard warm up! :o) After that it was a small cool down and we hit 10k. There were only 3 of us that finished, myself, Bruce and Big Jim.

That's me on the left and big Jim on the right after completing our 10,000 yards. I apologize for the paleness. It was fun and I wish they did it more than once a year. But the next big thing that is popping up at the end of the month is a one hour Postal swim. Should be fun, they keep track of your laps and you just swim as far as you can in 1 hour.

I still have to get a few more race reports up here, so I gotta run, but JFT folks...that's what the 10k swim is all about :o) Cheers.

A (not so) short list

There's been a lot going on in the house of "Keep Moving Forward" recently and I severely want to update you all, but I don't have the time right now. This is just a short list of the things to come (to keep you all on your toes) :o)

1. Frozen Assets race report
2. Ode to an amazing competitor
3. 10k swim workout report and thoughts
4. ADK trip report and what we did from Xmas to New Years
5. Snow Cheap #2 race report

So I have a lot of typing to do this weekend, and I would've done some before but the internet's been spotty here, and work blocked this site again so I'm gonna try to get a majority of it up this weekend... we shall see. I also have some monster workouts to do too...

But until then, keep checking back and I'll have some fun posts up here soon. Cheers and JFT folks!