A long time over due!

Well hey there sports fans, long time! Thanks to a few little setbacks in my racing plan from last year, this will be my first post since March of 2016. In late May, at a training camp (2 miles into the first ride) I had a tiny crash which broke my collarbone, punctured a lung, bruised (maybe broke) some ribs and suffered a slight concussion. Go big or go home; right?   

Day after the crash in the Hospital

Taken Right after the crash

Jamestown Int!

Addison Recital

My doctor and I decided to not go the route of surgery which would have included inserting metal plates to stabilize the bones, because he felt the injuries would heal on their own. I was all for going that route as I didn’t love the idea of surgery. This did cause the healing process to take longer, but in the end I think it was worth the time. By mid to late August I was back training. Well to be honest, I was on the trainer within two weeks and running by late July; I didn’t get into the pool until August. By September though, I was back running 5K’s and a beer mile (so much fun!).

Rock-n-Roll Va Beach 5K

My going away from VA Beer Mile

During this time i went through some major personal changes. In July, my stepson welcomed his second child, Jaxon.  I got divorced and decided, in mid-September,  to move back to my hometown in NJ. Training was off and on during this time, especially after my move, as my new house needed many restorations.  By late January, things got back on track. Also during this time, I was honored to be selected as an ambassador for Base Performance and Salming. Good things started to come my way in 2017!

Since returning to NJ I have reconnected with old friends and met a lot of great people. I have been lucky enough to find a great group of people to train with who are part of the LBI Tri Club. The community here is awesome just like the amazing group of people in Virginia. They already have been helping me push my limits and I have been introduced to the cutthroat Strava section arena that live in Ocean Acres.

This year I have a few races planned that I deferred from last year.  I signed up for some great looking events here in NJ as well and I will be racing the Chicago Marathon. The plan for Chicago is not only going after another Boston qualification, but a time that will insure me a bib! Along the way this year, I have entered some events last minute and I am sure that trend will continue as the year progresses.

Speaking of last minute entries, in late April I signed up for my first cycling time trial: 13 miles of all-out cycling. How could this be my first time trial you ask?  Well, this is my first solo bike race since 1980-something. Yup, I’m old! I was a bit nervous for this race but also very excited to see what I could give this race.  With no run after, I knew I could push hard since. This was also a special race because the newest sherpa to #TeamAdam (she started using this hashtag), my girlfriend Lori, would be getting a glimpse of what a race was like, as well as learning some sherpa duties.

I arrived to the race site early and got my trainer set up for a warm-up, 30 minutes spin, mixing in some quick ramp ups and recovery then a sustained effort at just under race pace. Once that was done, Lori and I made our way over to the startline. Getting up on the starting deck (not sure what it is called) was interesting. There was a clock in front of me counting down after the last rider left and a gentlemen holding my bike as I clipped in. The time wound down and the green light illuminated. As the guy let go of my bike, I didn’t know what to expect and almost rode off the side of the ramp. LOL. Once I survived that, I was off and I went out hard. Too hard actually. I pushed the pace really hard over the first 5 files and I caught a lot of riders, but about mile 7 it started to catch up to me. The next 5 miles had a few small inclines that hurt much more then they should have and I went into pain management mode. I stopped watching my watts and concentrated on heart rate until I saw the sign for mile 12. At that point I pushed everything into the red until I crossed the finish line. It was awesome as I got closer because I could see Lori off to the left, and that gave me an extra burst to finish strong.

Final: 0:30:50

When it was all said and done I took third in the Cat 4-5 division, set a new FTP by almost 20 watts and held an average of 25.7 miles an hour. I got a nice bottle of wine and a great breakfast with Lori after, so win-win in my book.

As Memorial Day approached Coach Adam had given me a swim-bike brick workout to do over that

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weekend. Logistically, with the holiday and living near a beach town, this was not going to work out too good.   It was then when I came across a sprint tri in Hammonton NJ. After talking with Adam, this was not only going to be a good alternative, but a good way to shake the rust off. I have not completed a triathlon of any distance since September 2015 (Ironman 70.3 Augusta.). I got my bike all ready, packed my transition bag and headed down on Saturday morning. Once I got my packet and transition set up, I found Lori, who was able to stop by to see the start of the race. After we talked a bit and I got my warm up done, we headed down to the lake to wait for the start. My Xterra vortex wetsuit felt great, but I was feeling nervous. Getting in the water for a quick swim really helped calm my nerves.

This swim was a quarter mile, so the plan was to attack the first 100 meters hard, cruise the next 200 and go hard over the last 100. As the horn went off for my wave, I was sticking pretty close to the plan. I went out hard and got in front of the group. There were two guys ahead of me and one guy who started off wide and made a beeline for the buoys, practically running me over to get there. By the time I hit the turn buoy, my arms and quads were feeling very heavy and I decided to stop kicking for a bit. I didn’t want to lose too much momentum so I picked up the cadence with my arms. Shortly after the turn, I started to feel better and just attacked the rest of the distance to shore.

Swim - 5:47 19th out of 222 overall

Coming out of the water

As I came out of the water I felt smoked and started to worry. I struggled to get my wetsuit unzipped and down around my waist. I was also walking trying to catch my breath. I saw Lori after a moment and I heard her yell to me to get moving; so I did. (Already she knows to kick me in the ass when I need it). I ran into transition, got to my bike and proceeded to fumble around getting my wetsuit off. It got stuck on both heels and it took forever to get it off. I got my helmet on and headed to the mount line.

T1 – 1:50

leaving T1

On my way

I hopped onto the bike and just could not think. Normally I put my feet on top of my shoes, which are already clipped on and start pedaling but for some reason I tried to put my feet right in the shoe. Stupid, as without momentum I almost fell over.  Quickly I realized what was wrong and started to pedal. After that things clicked, feet into shoes, strap pulled down, took a drink of my Base Performance Hydro and I was off. My goal for this ride was to have a good ride but not push too hard like I have done in prior races. I wanted to save a lot for the run. I took the first 5 miles fairly easy, I was about 15 watts under my target range but riding mostly on a downgrade so the speed was up. About mile 6, I found my watt range and just started picking off riders. I caught one guy I knew was in my age group as I had him in my sites since we left transition and just kept pushing. When I hit the turn-around, I could see he closed the gap a bit so I hammered it out of the turn and put a nice sized gap between us for the rest of the ride. My quads were hurting but my breathing wasn’t labored and I was feeling pretty good.

Bike: 31:50 12th out of 222 Overall

Going into the second transition I was feeling much better than the first. I did struggle to get my socks on, almost falling over a few times then slipped on my Salming Race 5’s. Once that was done I ran the wrong way out of transition. I had to turn-around, run the length of transition and head out onto the run course.

T2: 1:07

The run started off okay. I kept the running pace a bit slower, as my goal was to try to negative split each mile. I also wanted to give my quads a bit of time to get happy. They were not so happy coming off the bike. I took some Base Electrolyte Salt to help my legs and keep any cramping at bay. About the time I got to the first mile marker I was caught by the guy in my age group I had passed on the bike. I did get passed by a few other guys but he was the only one I saw over the age of 45. I picked up the pace a bit to keep him in sight hoping maybe he would tire or I would get a second wind. As I made the turnaround, my watch beeped to alert me I hit the second mile, I was pleased to see I was 16 seconds faster that mile than the last. I quickly performed the “Otstot” hat turn (This video will explain that best: https://youtu.be/kvB2RW9i7w0) and gave all I had left. I never caught the guy who passed me but I did catch a few younger guys, and I was able to go 10 seconds faster than the last mile (meet my goal) and crossed the finish line feeling like my old self again.

Run: 21:16 43rd out 222 Overall

Final: 1:01:47 3rd 45-49 Age group, 22nd overall.

This was not only my first race since 2015, it was my first sprint since 2012. I set over a 5 minute personal record with this time and made the podium in my first race back. I am pretty happy with that. Lori was only able to stay for the swim but it was great having the support and a photographer for the start of the race. I learned a lot from this race which will help me going into my next race, especially practicing the art of taking my wetsuit down, performing the “flying mount” onto the bike and getting my socks on quickly.  Speaking of the next race, it is the Escape the Cape Olympic distance triathlon in Cape May, NJ. This will be fun as the swim start is a jump of the back of the Cape May/Lewis Ferry! This race is one week after the Hammonton Sprint and will be the next post to come out shortly. Wish me luck!

A big thank you to Base Performance and Salming for all their support. I also want to thank the Snapple tri club and all of their great sponsors. Coach Adam Otstot and all the hotshots for always having my back. The LBI tri club for welcoming me back home;I can’t wait to train and race with you this year.

Thank you as always to my family for all your continued support and a huge thank you to my beautiful and amazing girlfriend, Lori.

I can’t wait to see what happens this weekend in Cape May!