Sometimes X-mas comes late

So folks, I caught a lot of flack from people for that last post there that I was complaining about the IMFL rankings not being as high as I would have hoped. I understand that the Lake Placid and Florida Ironman races are not easily comparable as Florida is as flat as a pancake and IMLP looks like a rollercoaster. I can understand that the times would not be comparable. But I still feel as though a 10:31 ironman deserves more than a 81 point ranking. I got an 88 point ranking for running a relatively slow 2:14 in an olympic distance tri this past year and the 2:07 that I ran in September only netted me a 84.6XXX ranking. So, in their eyes, running faster on a relatively similar course will get you a lower ranking? I'm just saying that I think maybe the ranking system might need a little fine tuning.

However, to brighten things up a bit. I logged on to check out the rankings today and to my surprise, the preliminary 2006 year end triathlon rankings were up! Preliminarily, I have a 88.3963 ranking, good for 77th out of 840 in the male 20-24 age group which sneaks me into All American Honorable Mention status!!! Whooo-hoo! I'm pretty excited to see that as I was no where NEAR that kind of a ranking last year and working your tail off for 12 months is finally showing on a national basis. This was the only picture I could find...and as we all know, a post with a picture is more interesting to read :) It's kinda like this, but not really:

Pulling out the 2005 rankings edition of "Triathlon Life", I ended my 2nd season of triathlon with a 81.6450 and was ranked 173/532 in my age group. There were no honors last year, I was just another number. This year it was a secret goal of mine to get into at least HM status, and it appears that I snuck in. Turns out I was the first New Yorker in my age group, so I can say I am number one in my age group in NY right now :) - I like to think of all the positives that can be construed out of this ranking!

Well, it wasn't only me that performed well this past year, there were many many others who got honors from their hard work. (Specifically, the top 10% in each age group! - top 5% get AA honors and the next 5% get AAHM honors) So congrats to everyone for a stellar 2006 season.

Other notable fast friends from the Rochester and Buffalo areas include those who made All American status; Curt Eggers (he is ranked 4th in the 50-54 age group! - sick!), his wife Mary Eggers, and Carl Johnson. Notable friends that hit All-American Honorable Mention status include; me :), Joseph Meyer, and Joe Niezgoda. (which ironically, we were the top 3 spots in the Score-This!!! multisport series this year...) If there is anyone I missed, I'm sorry, let me know and I will add you in later.

So congrats to everyone who had a stupendous season and my hopes are for 2007 that it be faster and better than 2006. Train hard and I'll see you on the roads. Cheers.

My Christmas gift didn't come thru

So I had said in a previous post that the Christmas present that I wanted the most was that I wanted to finally get the USAT rankings for Ironman Florida. To my surprise, today was the first day that they appeared on the website.

Unfortunately, as I was hoping that the rankings would catapult me above the current 88.3963 average that I currently held, they did not. To my chagrin, I checked the rankings website today and my 10:31 at IMFL was only good enough for a 81.9543 thereby not being one of my two best races.

It's funny because this year, a 10:31 at Ironman Lake Placid was good enough for around a 93.XXXX which would have really thrown my average rankings up there. I've found it is extremely hard to get above a 90.000 in upstate NY without travelling around to some of the really LARGE championship races around the country (which in part tends to be a burden on the wallet). I'm just ranting, anyway, this is it, my official USAT ranking for 2006 will be a 88.3963.

Here's to hoping that it will be enough to crack into the USAT All-American Honorable Mention status! (Disclaimer: Rankings will be finalized in mid February 2007) Cheers.

First day back in water since IMFL

Just like the title says, it's been over 2 months since I have touched water with the intention of doing laps in it. Rachel and I went to the Webster Aquatic Center for a short little 2000 yard workout today and boy I can already tell, my arms are going to be super sore tomorrow.

This was the first workout back and I kind of just sloshed thru the water feeling VERY VERY slow but also feeling good to be getting back into racing shape. I recently sent out an email to the tri-buddies around here alerting everyone of the next installment of the Hammerfest mile swim races. (The next one is on January 27th at 2pm at Nazareth College.)

These Hammerfest races are something I created with the help of my friends and it was a reason to get everyone off of the couch in the wintertime and back practicing their most "favorite" discipline of triathlon. Its just a mile swim, but it seriously kicks the crap out of everyone that does it, mostly because they are held in the off-season. People have posted some serious times as well, check the bottom most part of the sidebar for last years best times.

Since the next Hammerfest is in 20 days, I better make like a guppy and get my arse in the water a few more times to kind of "tune up" before the Hammerfests begin again. Till then, I hope you all are enjoying the off-season, planning for 2007, or putting some serious base miles in for those early season races. Take care.

It's for the kids people, for the kids!

So, the 2007 season is almost upon us and a lot of you have probably started training/shedding off the unwanted pounds from the holidays like I have. I'm not doing much right now, but it's enough to jump start the year. I just did a 12 mile hilly run at Cobbs hill yesterday and have been logging a consistent 6-7 hours of working out a week. Nothing too strenous, but enough to get my lazy butt off the couch and doing something.

Speaking of doing something, I'm running a trail race 5k this Saturday which was supposed to be a snowshoe race, but the 50 degree F weather we have been having kinda nixed that one. So they turned it into a trail race, fun times. The next "race" I have on my schedule is an indoor triathlon on February 4th, 2007 at the Metro Center YMCA. This one is special to me because it helps out the "Invest in Youth" campaign for the YMCA and raises money to send underprivleged kids to camp for the summer.

I did this race last year and it is really a fun time. It's a typical indoor triathlon and you swim for 15 minutes in their pool, have a 5 minute T1, spin for 15 minutes, have a 5 minute T2, and then run for 15 minutes on their indoor track. They count and keep track of your distance that you have covered and allot points to each person based on the distance you went. The highest cumulative points wins. Last year I was ousted by less than 3 points... and my crotch KILLED me for about a week afterwards because I was on the spin bike hauling ass so fast. I think I tore part of my hamstring... The results said I went 8.3 miles in 15 minutes, which by my calculations is over 30mph. (I think the bike wasn't calibrated to real world distances...) This year I plan to place exactly one position better :)

But the reason that I am typing this post and letting so many people be aware of this is that I am looking to raise some money for the campaign this year and by default, get my $30 entry fee paid for... :) I'm looking to do my part and raise over $100. So, if you would like to donate to help the Invest in Youth Campaign, please send me an email at travisjearley at yahoo dot com, or you can even paypal your donation to me at that same address. It's for the kids everyone and I'm doing what I do best by swimming, biking, and running my little butt off for them. Do your part too. The money needs to be in by January 28th, 2007, so if you plan on getting a break on your taxes by donating, do it early. Thanks.

If anyone else is racing this weekend, good luck and stay warm. Thanks for reading.

Am I REALLY that impatient?

I know I can get a little antsy when waiting for things to materialize and finally come about. This applies in a number of things going on in my life right now. First, let me tell you about the reason that I was thinking about writing this post. Rankings.

Yes that's right, anyone who knows me, knows I am a numbers guy through and through. Take the numbers of races that I competed in this year and I was able to accurately predict how I would do in some, almost down to the minute. (case in point - Timberman 2006. Two weeks before the race, I said I think I can go a 4:40 - ended up going a 4:43 which was a 10 minute PR from 2005)

Anyway, the rankings.... they haven't come out yet for the Ford Ironman Florida race and it's been like 6 weeks since the race and I'm getting a little anxious about them. Not that they are going to be bad for me, but I'm anxious to see how I get ranked for them. Most races that I do are small local triathlons with 50-250 people in them and this was the first tri that I have done with 2000+ people in it. The small tri's get ranked on a base of 83, or 90 and the bigger the races are, the higher the potential rankings could be. They go up to 95 and 98. Ironman will be ranked on a 98 scale for sure (using the old ranking system logistics of course- now with these newfangled "pace-setters" it kind of throws a monkey wrench in the equation.)

So, my national ranking right now without IMFL in it is an 88.3964. Last year I was around an 82 or something, but this past winter, I busted my ass on the bike and actually LEARNED how to ride fast and bought a new cervelo P2C and was able to maintain a speed of over 20mph for any ride. (including IMFL) :) So with a little bit of work, I vastly improved my ranking...to what, I am still not sure of. I think the top 5% of the age group nationally get the honor of being named an All-American and the top 10% get Honorable Mention. I think I am right at the cusp of being in the top ten percent in my age group in the nation, but I'm not sure. Last year HM honors stopped at 87 or 88 points when ranked nationally so I'm secretly hoping that IMFL catapults me into Honorable Mention status. It would be cool.

Regionally, I am ranked #1 in the 20-24 age group for the Northeast Region. I am a full 2 points above the second place dude. I'm hoping that bodes well for the national rankings. The thing is there are not as many LARGER races in this part of the country as there are in other parts. (like Memphis in May, Vineman, Wildflower, any races near Boulder, CO) I feel like if I was in another part of the country, I would have a more accurate depiction of how I was ranked.

So, I'm antsy to wait for the rankings. I'm also antsy for x-mas. I mean, who isn't antsy to get stuff they have secretly wanted all year long, but never had the scratch to afford? Come on!!! I'm like a little kid...seriously. If you leave presents around me long enough, I'll shake them and try to unwrap them when you aren't looking! :) Bad I know, but I get excited :)

I'm also antsy to go rock climbing again, but my fingers are getting a little torn up (you just don't get callouses on the fingertips from triathlon) and my arms and shoulders are massively sore....However, I kinda like bouldering, the technique is fun to learn and it's challenging enough for me, so I like it. So, being that it is 12 days left till Christmas, I'll leave you all till next time. Don't unwrap too many presents and I hope everyone gets what they've wanted. (for me, it's rankings....oooh and a nice pair of Zipp 808's....hahahha yeah right!) Cheers.

Need some motivation?

This is an amazing video about Ironman that you should definitely check out. It's about 2 minutes long, but well worth it...

Off-season cross training?

So I figured that December would be a good time to put down the gallon of ice cream and get my lethargic ass off the couch and begin training a little for next triathlon season. It's been a month and three days since IRONMAN Florida and quite honestly, I haven't done much :)

I can say with a straight face that I haven't been into a pool/ocean/lake or rather touched water with the intent of swimming in it since the race. Not that I don't like swimming, I think I am one of the sole random triathletes that actually LIKES getting into the water and hammering the shit out of my arms and legs for a workout. Masochistic I know, but aren't we all? I have nothing against swimming and once the season draws nearer I will have no problem with geting back in the water. No big deal, I like the solace and the "me-time". But since Florida, I haven't been in the water, just had no desire to go to a pool and do laps. I might next week, we'll see. Maybe I'll start up organizing those Hammerfest Mile Swims again. Afterall, I hear they are kind of a big deal.

So, this week with the start of December I think it is about time to put down the beer bottles and being getting myself onto a schedule of doing at least SOMETHING every other day (if not at least 5 times a week). I ran several times but it has turned awfully COLD lately and the snow is finally starting to stick around again...and you all know how much I love snow

But on Monday this past week, two buddies of mine convinced me to cross train in an unusual manner. Not that it unusual for me to rock climb (I own my own harness, shoes, rope and chalk bag) but unusual for me to consider this a workout. As my last few years have had workouts of just running, swimming or biking. We climbed on Monday and let me tell you, my forearms are still in a WORLD of hurt... I haven't climbed in 2+ years and it was rough.

I'm not a graceful climber and I'm sure I could learn a lot of technique. I know I tend to "muscle" my way up the wall or boulder, and my lats, forearms, trapezius and tons of other little musles paid the price. We all got a membership to the Red Barn at the RIT campus. Seriously, it's a barn that they have turned into a climbing gym. It's awesome in there and right now even though I can only get up 2 and a half routes of the hundreds they have in there, I still have a blast. I'm sure it sill become easier.

It's kind of cool to be able to cover 140.6 miles in an ironman triathlon and that's do-able, but being able to climb up a 10 foot wall to the ceiling above crash pads using only the rocks with while tape to the side of them seems almost impossible. Amazing how something new kicks your ass, I love it. I just hope my arms and back can recover in time to do it again on Friday. I'm using it as a strength training exercise for Ironman.

But don't worry, I'll begin fully training 6 days a week come January in preparation for IRONMAN USA. But for the holidays, I suppose I can sneak in a few last Guiness and random beers and shots and enjoy my time at the rock gym. In January, I guess it will be time to shape up. Cheers