tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67417425451351617302024-03-04T22:45:02.055-08:00Colin Riley Professional Triathlete and Triathlon CoachColinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-12088793417098404972018-12-31T10:33:00.000-08:002018-12-31T11:13:24.569-08:00Salming Running Shoe Review: Race 6, Speed 6, Distance D5 <span style="background-color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">As a member of the Snapple Elite Triathlon Team,
I have had the privilege of training and racing in Salming Running Shoes in
2018. I've logged nearly 900 miles of running in 2018 and Salming has been
there every step of the way! Salming has an amazing lineup of running shoes
from the lightweight racing flat, Speed 6, to the more traditional and more
cushioned shoe the Miles. And you won't be missed on the race course as the
entire Salming line has some great color combos!</span></span><br />
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<b><a href="https://www.shopsalming.com/collections/mens-running-shoes/products/salming-race-6-men-safety-yellow"><span style="font-size: large;">Race 6</span></a></b></div>
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Simply put, the Race 6 is a phenomenal racing flat! It is light (6.3 oz for US size 10) but has just enough of a sole where I don't feel like I am running barefoot. This keeps the feet protected without beating them up too much. </div>
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<u>Optimal uses</u>: 1 mile road races, 5k and 10k (including sprint and Olympic distance triathlons), and for more efficient runners half marathon and potentially even full marathon. </div>
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The Race 6 was my go to race shoe all season long from the Cincinnati Flying Pig Half Marathon, guiding at sprint triathlons, downhill mile race (4:36) to my PR at the Steelhead 70.3 running a 1:26:00 half marathon! </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.shopsalming.com/collections/mens-running-shoes/products/salming-speed-6-men-blue-lime">Speed 6</a> </span></b></div>
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The Speed 6 is a great versatile shoe! It is fairly light coming in at 8 oz for US size 10. So not quite as light as the Race 6 but still great for tempo runs, speed workouts, and transition runs off the bike! I've kept a pair of speed laces in the Speed 6 all year so it has been my go to when I want to get out the door quick. </div>
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<u>Optimal uses:</u> For less efficient runners that don't want something as light as the Race, the speed will be great for shorter road races and triathlons. Using a lighter shoe on race day will help you hit that next PR! For more efficient runners that don't want to go quite as light as the Race model, the Speed 6 will be ideal for marathons and Ironman triathlons. </div>
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<b><a href="https://www.shopsalming.com/collections/mens-running-shoes/products/salming-distance-d5-shoe-men-gecko-green"><span style="font-size: large;">Distance D5</span></a></b></div>
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The Distance has been my go to training shoe all year long. Surprisingly it weighs the same as the Speed 6 at 8 oz for US size 10. So it is still a relatively lighter shoe compared to a lot of the typical trainer shoes out there. So if you're used to a a more traditional running shoe, you might be better starting off with the <a href="https://www.shopsalming.com/collections/mens-running-shoes/products/salming-enroute-men-blue-atol">Salming En Route</a> which comes in at 9 oz for US size 10. </div>
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<u>Optimal uses:</u> For more efficient runners, the Distance is a great everyday trainer. For less efficient runners, it would make a great shoe for marathon and Ironman racing with more cushion than the Race but still lighter than most trainers to reap the benefits of a lighter race day shoe. </div>
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Interested in trying out a pair of Salmings?! Use discount code: Snapple20 for 20% off your order and set a new PR in 2019!</div>
Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-46788171466422884372014-11-10T13:08:00.001-08:002014-11-10T13:37:41.507-08:002014 Age Group NationalsIt's been a busy few months since Age Group Nationals in Milwaukee! I've been to Canada and Arizona for a couple races with Aaron and have been busy with work too! I wanted to get this race report up a while ago but better late than never, right? I definitely had high expectations going into this race this year after coming out on top last year.<br />
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On Thursday night, Amanda and I headed up to the Chicago area to stay with my mom for the night. Friday morning we woke up and got in a short bike/run workout and then packed the car back up and left for Milwaukee so that we could get there in time for the practice swim in the lake. After that we picked up our race packets, got our bikes checked in, got checked into the hotel, relaxed for a little while, and then met my family at Carrabbas for dinner (that's where we all went last year and after the race I had last year I figured lets stick with that again!). Dinner was good and it was great seeing and catching up with my family. Amanda I headed back to the hotel, finished a few pre-race items, and called it a night.<br />
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Drive to Chicago</div>
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Bike check in the day before the race</div>
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Panorama shot of the race venue</div>
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Race morning rolled around pretty early but with all of the different age group starts, we had a good 4 hours or so till our waves would start. I had my standard breakfast in the car on the way over to the race, a banana, a Peanut Toffee Buzz Clif Bar, and a cup of coffee. I got set up in transition and had brought the trainer with me in hopes of spinning out the legs for a few minutes (like I did last year). However, a USAT official came up to me saying I wasn't allowed to use it, which was a major bummer. There's something about a short bike warm-up that really helps me have a better race, especially for a shorter race like an Olympic, you have to be ready to hit it hard right from the start. I didn't let it phase me though as I have raced well without a bike warm-up. After transition closed, we still had over an hour and a half before our wave started. I met up with FFT Pro Development athletes Justin and Mike as well as another FFT athlete Lane and his family. We got in a few pre-race group pictures and then hung out for another 30 minutes. About 30 minutes before our wave was set to start, Justin and I went out for a 15 minute run warm-up and I could already tell it was going to be warmer than last year. It wasn't supposed to be too hot but the sun was shining and the temps were rising!</div>
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Everything all set-up race morning</div>
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Amanda and Me before the race</div>
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A little Beet Root Juice before the race</div>
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Relaxing and getting the legs loose</div>
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<b>Swim: 19:50</b><br />
The water was chilly but not too bad for a full wetsuit (low-mid 60's?). We were able to get in the water for a few minutes before the start. The gun went off and it was go time! I knew I needed to get out fast and get with a group. Justin and Mike ended up leading our group out of the water by about 2 minutes and then there was a handful of us that came out all pretty close to each other. My swim was right around the same time as last year (although the course was slightly different this year).<br />
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Coming out of the water</div>
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T1: 1:56<br />
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<b>Bike: 56:06</b><br />
I knew I needed to hammer the bike to catch up to Justin and Mike as well as the other athletes in the age groups that started before and after me. The bike felt like it was going well and although my overall average was still pretty good (26.6 mph), it was about 55 seconds slower than last years bike.<br />
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T2: 0:58 - as I came into T2, I saw Justin heading out on the run. I knew that he had been running well in training but knew I had a chance to catch him too.<br />
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Heading out onto the run!</div>
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<b>Run: 35:01</b><br />
This a great fast run course right along the lake! There are a couple of out and back points so you can see where some of your competition is too. I knew I was running in 2nd place in my age group behind my teammate Justin. At the first turn-around a little over a mile in I thought I was starting to catch him. I kept plugging along feeling pretty good. I was approaching the final turn-around and saw Justin running strong heading the other direction back toward the finish. I had calculated he had probably over a minute on me and it would be hard to catch him in the final 2 miles. I knew I needed to stay focused and continue to run strong as I was still competing against all of the other age groups out there too.<br />
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Coming down the finish!</div>
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<b>Total: 1:53:49 - 7th Overall, 2nd 25-25 Age Group</b><br />
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My Family! So happy they were able to be there!</div>
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Me and Amanda after the race Me and Amanda with my nephew and niece!</div>
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Me and Justin - 2nd and 1st in the 25-29 Age Group</div>
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Overall I had a pretty good race but not quite where I would have liked to have been, especially after last year's race going so well. Races like this though become fuel for the fire and have me excited to train even harder this offseason so that I can come it in 2015 and have my best season yet! </div>
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Thanks for reading! I hope to have a few more blog posts coming in the near future about the Chicago Marathon and about being a guide for Aaron Sheidies, the 2014 ITU World Champion for the blind/visually impaired! </div>
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<b>Clermont Draft Legal Challenge - Clermont, FL - March 1st and 2nd - </b>Earlier this year, my <a href="http://fastforwardtriathlon.com/">Fast Forward Triathlon </a>teammate Mike Pelechaty and I drove down to Florida to get in some early season racing. We raced 2 sprint distance draft legal triathlons in Clermont. I've done this race a few times before while living down in Florida and have enjoyed racing the draft legal style when I get the chance. We were able to stay at one of my family members houses in Florida, which happens to be about 15 minutes away from the race. Thanks Jack and Trudy for letting us stay at your house again!!<br />
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Gotta love the Palm Trees!</div>
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Getting ready for a pre-race ride the day before the race</div>
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No trip to Florida is complete without a trip to Publix!</div>
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Friday night Dinner - Whole wheat pasta, sauce, and some onions, peppers, and mushrooms! </div>
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Mike cooking up the dinner</div>
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Pre-race warm-up ride from Jack and Trudy's house</div>
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Race #1: This was my first race of the year and there were definitely some cob-webs to get out. During the swim, there was a large patch of fog that moved over the lake, which really through me off and made me feel like I was swimming out in the middle of the ocean. I had a slight panic attack but knew I just had to keep swimming. After a not so great swim, I pushed hard on the bike but it was a little too late as there were already a few solid groups on the bike in front of me, which was a little too much to make up. I ran well to finish out the race.<br />
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Swim: 13:33 - 39th overall<br />
T1: 1:17<br />
Bike: 30:32 - 31st overall<br />
T2: 0:31<br />
Run: 17:22 - 10th fastest run<br />
Finish: 1:03:14 - 21st overall<br />
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Getting loose before race #1</div>
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After the 1st race - happy to be done with that one and move onto race #2</div>
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Tommy and Mike after race #1</div>
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Mike and Me</div>
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Me and Tommy</div>
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The finished product for night number 2 - pretty much the same thing with some spinach thrown in</div>
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Race #2: This race went much better starting with the swim. With draft legal racing, if you don't have a good swim, it's hard to recover. I came out of the water right around a bunch of other guys and knew I was in a good place. I rode hard and worked with a few others along the way as I made my way up to the main chase pack during the 3rd lap of 4. This pack was not working well together and we were losing time on the front group. Multiple times I would get to the front and hope a few others would want to go with me, but everyone was just happy sitting in the pack. At the end of the last lap, I made a final surge into transition. The run was much hotter and overall times were a bit slower. My legs were definitely feeling a little fatigued on the run after racing yesterday and a hard ride during this race.<br />
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Swim: 12:39 -16th overall<br />
T1: 1:13<br />
Bike: 29:12 - 5th overall<br />
T2: 0:29<br />
Run: 18:30 - 18th overall<br />
Finish: 1:02:02 - 12th overall<br />
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<b>St. Anthony's Triathlon - St. Petersburg, FL - April 25th - April 30th</b><br />
Amanda and I drove down to St. Pete for one of our favorite races and places to go! We ended up renting a nice Gulf front condo for the 5 days we were there. Saturday we did the usual pre-race bike, run, and swim workouts, went to packet pickup and bike drop-off, stopped at Publix to get some food for the weekend, and went back and got dinner going. We ended up having a couple of Kashi pizzas with a caesar salad. We got everything ready for the race and called it a night.<br />
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Getting in a little ride the day before the race</div>
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Me and Amanda after checking in our bikes</div>
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Race morning rolled around bright and early. The day before at Publix I came across a bottle of Beet Root juice, which as of recently is one of the latest sports nutrition trends and something I had been wanting to try. There's a rule in sports nutrition that you shouldn't try anything new on race day (which I still recommend and advise and follow the rest of the time) but I went ahead and tried the beet root about 90 minutes before the race (as it peeks about 2 hours after ingestion). So it would be peaking a few miles into the bike.<br />
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Wasn't too sure about this bottle of Beet Root juice, but the stuff works! </div>
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(Luckily I've found a good alternative so I don't have to drink so much)</div>
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The race went great! The swim was very challenging with a lot waves that at times were difficult to swim through. It was wetsuit legal for the amateurs which definitely helped staying on top of the waves. I came out in a good position and after a quick T1, was ready to hammer the bike. There were a couple guys in front of me and after a few miles I was sitting in 2nd. I kept pushing hard, eventually catching and passing the guy in 1st. Unfortunately I couldn't put any further distance on him and he came into and out of T2 right behind me.<br />
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I wasn't sure who this guy was so I didn't know what kind of runner he was. He sat on my heels for a half mile and then put in a surge that I couldn't keep up with. I stayed strong the rest of the way and even picked it up on the way back during the final couple miles, but wasn't able to catch him. I was happy to finish 2nd overall amateur though.<br />
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Swim: 21:56<br />
T1: 0:59<br />
Bike: 57:06 - fastest amateur bike split<br />
T2: 0:45<br />
Run: 34:46 - 2nd fastest amateur run split<br />
Finish: 1:55:30 - 2nd overall amateur<br />
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One of the many gorgeous sunsets</div>
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Sunset, beach, and palm trees - doesn't get much better</div>
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Another sunset from a different night</div>
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Me and Amanda watching the sunset outside our place :)</div>
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Our view of the intercostal from dinner at the Salt Rock Grill</div>
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Dinner at Salt Rock Grill</div>
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Mini Golf after Dinner</div>
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I take mini-golf very seriously :)</div>
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<b>Fast Forward Triathlon Team Camp - Boone, NC</b><br />
In May, I drove to Boone, North Carolina for a training camp with my Fast Forward Triathlon teammates Mike P, Kristen L, Justin G, and Kristen's friend Shannon as well as FFT head coach Eric B. I arrived at the cabin 1st and after Eric and Mike arrived, we headed out for an easy shake-out ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway (great place to ride, with rolling hills and minimal, friendly car traffic!). We saw Kristen and Shannon out riding/running. After the workout, we got dinner ready which was Kristen's delicious cornbread casserole and a spinach salad and some delicious brownies for dessert.<br />
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The cabin we stayed at was pretty awesome!</div>
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The main area right off the kitchen</div>
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Gorgeous view from our cabin - pretty much the middle of no-where</div>
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Downstairs in the cabin</div>
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One of the many gorgeous views along the Blue Ridge Parkway </div>
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On Saturday, we did lactate threshold testing all morning, then went for a short swim at a nearby pool, and finished off the day with an easy aerobic trail run. Needless to say, it was a great day of training and we were ready for another dinner. That night we made some delicious homemade pizzas...and some more brownies.<br />
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Eric loading up his pizza with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, among other things</div>
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Sunday was our big endurance day. We drove out to Moses Cone Park where we ran the day before and headed out for a 56 mile bike out and back along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was a gorgeous day with some great climbing and great views! Right after the run, we did an hour transition run with some tempo efforts thrown in. All-in-all, another great day of training. That night, Mike made an awesome quinoa vegetable dish.<br />
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Justin ready to head out for the ride Eric also ready to roll</div>
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And Mike, ready to hit the Parkway </div>
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Half way through our ride on Sunday </div>
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On our way back</div>
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Attempting a quick photo-shoot along this bridge</div>
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Short break, last stop for the day</div>
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Some more of the great scenery we got to enjoy throughout the ride</div>
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One of the better pics we got riding over the bridge </div>
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Eric got some great pics of everyone running down around the lake at Moses Cone Park</div>
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(Photo Credit: Eric Bean)</div>
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One of my favorites that Eric got down at the park</div>
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And a very special THANK YOU to <a href="https://www.rudyprojectusa.com/">Rudy Project</a> for the helmets, glasses, and bag that arrived to the cabin while we were at camp! Thanks for keeping our heads and eyes safe and protected! </div>
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<b>American Triple-T Ohio - Portsmouth, OH</b><br />
If you've read any of my blogs before, you probably know that I love the American Triple-T Ohio! It is actually 4 triathlons over 3 days and is always a great weekend of racing/training that is a big fitness booster going into the rest of the season. This is the 5th year I've done Triple-T and the 2nd year in a row I was racing with teammate Jared Milam, a Pro Triathlete I met a few years back at this race. Last year we won the male team competition and were looking to repeat. Usually the weather is on the warm side for the weekend, especially for Saturday afternoon and the run on Sunday. It was the complete opposite this year and the coldest it has ever been at Triple-T and probably the coldest I've ever raced in (Lubbock, TX for collegiate nationals was a close 2nd!).<br />
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Race #1 -Friday Night - Super Sprint - this race is mostly a formality but its still fun to go fast and get the weekend started on a good note.<br />
Swim: 4:04<br />
T1: 1:00<br />
Bike: 10:14<br />
T2: 0:43<br />
Run: 5:57<br />
Finish: 21:58 - 3rd Overall<br />
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Race #2 - Saturday Morning - Olympic - it was COLD this morning (Low 40's air temp!!)<br />
Swim: 19:21<br />
T1: 2:22 - I took the time to dry off, put on a jacket and gloves, etc<br />
Bike: 1:10:51<br />
T2: 0:51<br />
Run: 39:40<br />
Finish: 2:13:04 - 3rd overall<br />
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Race #3 - Saturday Afternoon - Olympic - still cool out, but pretty good racing weather. This is the 1st team race where those racing as a team have to start and finish together and are allowed to draft on the bike together. Its also in a different order than normal - Bike/Swim/Run<br />
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Bike: 1:10:55<br />
T1: 2:59<br />
Swim: 21:20<br />
T2: 2:33<br />
Run: 44:45<br />
Finish: 2:22:32 - fastest team time - 2nd/3rd fastest overall<br />
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Start of Race #3 - common theme of the weekend was arm warmers, toe covers, and CEP compression sleeves </div>
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Finally trying out the Compex after race #3. Also drinking some Tart Cherry Juice which is supposed to help with inflammation</div>
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Jared enjoying some cereal while using the Compex</div>
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Race #4 - Sunday Morning - Half Ironman - VERY COLD weather (in the upper 30's at the start!!) - By far this was the coldest race I have ever done! Obviously with the outside temp being that cold, the water temp had also dropped a few degrees and was probably in the upper 50's. Saturday morning I took the time to put on a jacket, and although at times I got a little warm, overall I was fine and never over-heated. It was DEFINITELY colder than Saturday morning from the actual temperature to the ride down to transition area (you could just tell it was colder), and the slightly colder water temp, I decided to go ahead and wear arm warmers and a jacket along with gloves, toe warmers, and compression sleeves. This turned out to be a lifesaver (literally), as my teammate Jared decided not to wear a jacket and just had arm warmers on. We started the bike together and about 5 miles in, I could tell he wasn't doing well. He was becoming borderline hypothermic (due to the cold water + cold air temp + zipping down some of the large hills at high speeds) so we stopped and I gave him my jacket. I was cold but I had built up enough internal body heat at that point and I knew he needed it more than I did otherwise he wasn't going to be able to continue on and probably would have ended up in the hospital. We plugged along a few more miles and he started feeling better but it had definitely taken a lot out of him. We had built up a pretty sizable lead on the male team behind us but at this race anything can happen. We knew we just needed to keep pushing forward, get through the bike, and run a steady half marathon to hold onto our overall lead. Jared started feeling good during the 2nd half of the bike so I just sat in on his wheel (drafting is allowed between teammates during the 3rd and 4th race at Triple-T). We came into T2 and the guys that we were racing were out ahead of us on the run. We new it wasn't over yet and had some work to finish things off. After a steady 13.1 miles which included Jared literally pushing on my back on a number of the uphills, we finished behind the guys we were racing but were close enough to them that we held onto our overall lead by a combined 20 minutes.<br />
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Swim: 23:02<br />
T1: 3:46<br />
Bike: 2:50:29<br />
T2: 1:17<br />
Run: 1:34:19<br />
Finish: 4:52:54 - 1st Overall Male Team<br />
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Heading out on the run</div>
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Me and Jared coming in toward the finish of the run</div>
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Amanda heading out for her 2nd lap on the run</div>
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Jared and I after race #4! 1st Overall Male Team! </div>
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Me and Amanda after race #4</div>
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Outside the Shawnee Lodge where we stayed all weekend</div>
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Jared and I sporting our finishers shirts, medals, cycling caps and winning belt buckles! </div>
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If you made it to this point, thanks for reading! I'll be working on part 2 very soon, so stay tuned! </div>
Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-70226546935806823072013-09-20T13:17:00.003-07:002013-09-20T13:17:50.120-07:00ITU Para-Triathlon World Championships, London, EnglandAs many of you know, I had an incredible opportunity to guide visually impaired triathlete Aaron Sheidies at the ITU Para-Triathlon World Championships held in London, England. I met Aaron a few years back at a handful of races (Hy-Vee, Steelhead 70.3). Earlier this year, after the news that triathlon would become an event at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio, Aaron started looking around for guides that would be able to keep up with him in the shorter distances. I expressed interest and a few months later it became official that I would be his guide for the world championships in London. I had never done any guiding before so before going to London, I went out to Seattle to train with Aaron for a few days. Here is the day-by-day of the trip.<br />
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<b>Thursday:</b> I left from Cincinnati early Thursday morning and was out to Seattle by mid-late morning. This was my first trip out to the Northwest and I took in the new scenery as I took the train toward downtown from the airport. I met up with Aaron, made it back to his place, and we got ready for our first ride on the tandem. We were out on the bike for about 2 hours but a good part of the ride was me getting used to the tandem and practicing some of the technical stuff such as getting started together. That night I ended up making some cheese tortellini with pesto, shrimp, and spinach which really hit the spot after the long day of traveling and the 2 hour ride. I called it a night early having been up since 4 am eastern time.<br />
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<b>Dinner Thursday Night: Delicious!</b></div>
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<b>Friday:</b> Aaron had to work so we got up early for a 45 minute run with a couple 800's on the track at race pace. The rest of the day I relaxed at his place getting a few odds and ends done and walked to the grocery store to grab a few things. After Aaron got off work, we ran down to a near by lake for our first swim. The water was a bit chilly (~high 60's if I had to guess) especially without wetsuits but wasn't too bad after we got going. We swam for about 15 minutes, allowing me to get the feel for swimming next to him with the tether at our hips and learning how to become more in sync with each other. By the end of the swim, we had found a good rhythm. That night we met up with some of Aaron and Brittney's (Aaron's girlfriend) friends for some pizza. I devoured a delicious mushroom and garlic pizza on a wheat crust!<br />
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<b>Saturday:</b> We had planned to wake up, have breakfast and get in a little brick workout followed by a another short open water swim. Aaron has 2 tandems and we wanted to ride the one we were going to use in London. He had gotten a new cassette on his back racing wheel and the the gears weren't adjusting quite right so we decided we needed to take it into a shop before really doing any riding. The shop didn't open till 10 though so we changed up our original plan and decided to swim first. We ran over to the lake, this time with wetsuits, and did another 15 min swim with a few race pace starts and efforts mixed in. We ran back from the lake and got the bike ready to go. We rode down to the shop and Aaron explained the situation. They were kind enough to work on it right away. While we waited, we decided to go grab a cup of coffee at Starbucks (you can't come to Seattle and not get a cup of coffee from Starbucks!).<br />
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<b>Starbucks coffee break mid-ride</b></div>
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We rode around Green Lake getting in some good efforts. We rode back to the house and made a quick change for the run. We ran a hard 2+ miles right from the start and did an easy 5+ minutes to cool down. The rest of the day was spent running a few errands, packing up the bike, and making sure everything was ready to go. We had a nice salmon, sweet potato, and asparagus dinner (all on the grill) and called it a night. </div>
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<b>Sunday:</b> We decided to get up early and go for a short easy 30 minute run before the long travel day to London. We got to the airport and through security with no problems, grabbed some Starbucks, and waited for our first flight to Chicago. In Chicago we met up with Amanda B. I got a global rental phone since my iPhone 4 wasn't compatible in London but I hadn't gotten a chance to get it before I left for Seattle. As they started boarding the plain, I frantically started figuring out what I needed to do to activate the rental phone. I ended up getting it done but would definitely recommend doing that before you're about to board your plane. It ended up not even mattering though as when we got to London and I tried to charge it, the charger wouldn't work. Oh well. I was never in a situation where I needed a phone. On the plane, we got a pretty decent vegetarian dinner that was a curry rice dish with a mini salad, a roll, and a little dessert. Not too shabby for airline food. After eating I attempted to sleep but didn't have much luck. I was in and out a few times but I don't thing I ever truly fell asleep. The crying baby didn't help either. </div>
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<b>Monday: </b>Before arriving in London, we got a little croissant and a dish of fruit along with a cup of coffee. Again, not too shabby for an airline. We arrived in London at 5:50 AM local time when I probably would have been going to bed in Seattle (9:50 Pacific time). We made it through customs without any issues and grabbed our luggage. The girls took the cheaper train into London while Aaron and I took the bus service recommended to him. There were a bunch of triathletes from the US and Australia that were taking the bus too. Luckily we really didn't have anywhere to be as we ended up being on the bus for about 2.5 hours while the bus driver maneuvered the enormous coach bus up and down the tiny London streets. At first it was rather entertaining but eventually it became a little irritating as they literally didn't know where they were going. We went by the same spot multiple times and the passengers started telling the bus driver way to go; never a good sign. </div>
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We eventually made it to the hotel we would be staying at Tuesday-Sunday but were only there to drop off the bike before heading for Salisbury. We made our way over to the tube (the underground train system) and each got a 1 week pass which ended up being the deal of the week. London is not cheap! But we were able to hop on and off the tube and get around pretty easily with our Oyster card/tube pass. We made it to Waterloo train station and took the train up to the small city of Salisbury. We dropped off our luggage at the small bar/restaurant/hotel and found a little something to eat and a little coffee to keep us going through the day. </div>
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<b>My macchiato, a nice strong espresso with a little milk, from Costa, the Starbucks of London</b></div>
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<b>Mushroom pizza for me, ham and pineapple for Aaron from the local bakery in Salisbury</b></div>
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We got on our Stonehenge tour bus that took us over to the ancient site. Here are some pics!</div>
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<b>Me and Aaron at Stonehenge</b></div>
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<b>Amanda and me at Stonehenge</b></div>
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<b> Headstand at Stonehenge, why not :)</b></div>
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<b>Amanda and me in Salisbury</b></div>
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<b>Huge cathedral in Salisbury - home of the Magna Carta too</b></div>
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Aaron, Amanda, and I went and got a bite to eat at a local restaurant. I had a tasty falafel burger with some tomato and avocado. We went back to our little Inn and called it a night. Although there were a few times throughout the day where I wanted to fall asleep, I fought it hard in hopes of re-setting my time clock. It worked pretty well as the rest of the week I was good to go! </div>
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<b>Tuesday:</b> After a good night sleep, we got up and went into the "downtown" area of Salisbury where we had some breakfast and coffee. I had my first English breakfast (vegetarian) which included an egg frittata with spinach and feta, baked beans, mushrooms, and tomatoes with an Americano (most places don't really brew coffee, which is interesting). The breakfast was definitely different, but tasty and filling. We took the train back in to London and checked in at our hotel. We met up with some of the team and went for a little run through Hyde Park. We checked out some of the race course and ran on part of the run course. That night we went and checked out Harrods, the giant multi-level, ridiculously expensive store in London that carries pretty much anything you could think of. We found a pub near there and grabbed a bite to eat. I had some sort of vegetable risotto dish that was pretty tasty. </div>
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<b>Wednesday: </b>We got up and had breakfast down at the hotel. They had a make your own muesli which for me included uncooked oats, apricots, banana chips, slivered almonds, sunflower seeds and some "semi-skimmed" milk as they like to call it (aka reduced fat or 2% milk). We headed out for a ride which was rather interesting. A lot of Hyde park is no biking allowed and with signs posted saying there was a 50 pound (~80 dollar) fine for biking where your not supposed to, so I was a little cautious. So we decided we would try the main streets to get over to the race course. Bikers in London are crazy! They do whatever they want, weave in and out of cars, going to the front of the lane. We were a little more cautious than that. We eventually made it over to the course area where we were able to ride on part of the course. We were only about 15 minutes in and getting ready to practice a U-turn when I shifted down and all of a sudden there was a loud noise and something was definitely wrong. The derailleur had been placed on wrong and ended up breaking and causing the chain to go into the wheel, breaking 5 spokes. We walked the bike back to the hotel, talked with the team mechanic, and made our way around the city to 2 different bike shops finding a new derailleur and some new spokes. We dropped that stuff off with the mechanic and headed back down to the race site to get in a short swim in the Serpentine, where the race would be held. The water was a very brisk 61 degrees! After our swim, we walked over to Imperial College where we had an anti-doping seminar. That night we found a nice Italian restaurant near by to get some dinner. I had a "fungi pizza" aka, mushroom pizza (I guess this is the 3rd time I've talked about eating a mushroom pizza on this trip...). </div>
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<b>Aaron, Brittney, Amanda, and Me</b></div>
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<b>Thursday:</b> The derailleur had gotten fixed but there was still an issue with the back wheel as the spokes we had gotten at one of the shops were too short. After scrambling around Thursday morning, including a short run down to the race site to see if any of the bike shops at the expo would be able to help, we decided to borrow one of the coaches wheels and just stick with that through the race. We went out for a ride, practiced a bunch of technical stuff including 180 turn-arounds and getting in and out of our bike shoes in sync. After the ride we had a couple hours before a team meeting so we went and did a short river boat tour on the River Thames. Here are some pics!</div>
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<b>Me and Aaron in our "C Different with Aaron" shirts</b></div>
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<a href="http://cdifferentwithaaron.com/">http://cdifferentwithaaron.com</a></div>
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<b>Me and Amanda at Big Ben!</b></div>
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After our meeting, we took a short nap. After all of the running around we had done the past day or two with the bike and with the race coming up on Friday, it was good to let the legs rest a little extra. After our nap, we headed down to the race site for our pre-race briefing and packet pickup. After that, there was a swim course familiarization where we could swim on the exact swim course with the buoys set up. We did 2 laps of the course (1500m) with a good race pace start effort at the beginning of the 2nd lap. </div>
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<b>Walking over to the swim - Don't forget a swim cap when the water is 61 degrees!!</b></div>
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That night we met up with some of Brittney's friends that live in London at another Italian restaurant. You can't go wrong with pizza or pasta before a race! I got a penne pasta with marinara and pesto sauce, delicious! We took the tube back to our hotel, and called it a night. </div>
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<b>Friday (Race Day):</b> Our race didn't start until 2:05 which meant we had plenty of time to sleep in, eat some breakfast, and get over to the race site. We ate down in the hotel. I had some oatmeal with a little milk, some peanut butter, some banana chips, and some dried apricots. I wanted to eat something that would sit well but would hold me over through the race. After breakfast, we went out for a little ride to get warmed up and practice a few more turnarounds. Our ability to be as efficient as possible on the turns and turn-arounds would be important for us to have a strong bike. We gathered our stuff and walked over to the race site with the girls.<br />
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We arrived at the race site and had to go through the ITU check in. They verified our uniforms (including size of name, country, and other logos!), measured the tethers for the swim and the run, and checked the bike. I had my usual Cookies n' Creme Powerbar about 2 hours before the start of the race and snacked on a few cola gel blasts during the final hour before the race. We took the bike over to transition and got our stuff set up while we tried to figure out the movement of the the transition area. The Sprint World Championships were going on so they didn't have our portion of the transition area completely set up yet. We eventually figured that out and made our way back to the athlete lounge to do some last minute race preparation. We went for a ~1 mile run warm up, got our wetsuits on, and made our way over to the starting area.<br />
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Going into the race, Aaron knew he was going to have some competition that he had never faced before. A guy from England, David Ellis, that was formerly a Paralympic swimmer. Here is how the race unfolded:<br />
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<b>Swim: 10:38</b> - 36 seconds down from Ellis<br />
The swim went well. We got out quick with no issues. About 100-200m in, Ellis and his guide were right in front of us. We were on their feet for a few strokes before they took off and we lost contact. The rest of the swim was smooth.<br />
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<b>T1: 2:18</b> - 15 sec slower than Ellis<br />
There was a long run out of the water that was technically part of the swim before we actually entered the transition area. On our way to the bike, we both wiped out on the grass/mud and fell to our backs (probably lost about 10 seconds). We got up quickly and got through T1.<br />
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<b>Bike: 34:02</b> - 19 seconds faster than Ellis<br />
The bike course was 3 laps and VERY technical with five 180 degree turnarounds and multiple other turns and S-curves. Needless to say, it was hard to ever really get going other than this one long straight away that we had in each direction on all 3 laps. The ground was also wet which resulted in me as the one steering the bike, a little more cautious. That morning when we went out to ride and check out the course, we saw at least three people go down at various points on the course. And countless others had the same result throughout the weekend. To me, its not worth going down and I'm going to ride a little more cautious that risk going down. During the bike, there was one British team in front of us and one behind us and although people were trying to tell us where we sat in the 6b category, it was hard to tell if we were in fact in 2nd like we were or possibly in 1st. The 6a (full blind) individuals started 5 minutes before us so they were mixed in on the course with us along with some of the other para-athletes.<br />
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<b>T2: 1:34 - 10 sec slower than Ellis</b><br />
As we entered T2, I looked over my shoulder and could see Ellis and his guide heading out of transition. I knew with a good run we were within striking distance.<br />
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<b>Run: 16:27 - same time as Ellis</b><br />
As we started the run we quickly found a good rhythm. The course was 2 loops and flat and FAST! About a half mile in, we had a long stretch to go down and I could see them in the distance. I couldn't tell how fast they were going but thought we had a chance to get them if we kept up the pace we were going. I saw them make a turn and timed it to see how far back we were. It was about 40 seconds. A good amount but still seemed possible to catch them. We made our way through the blue carpet and the announcer said something along the lines of "The Americans are looking strong, will they be able to close the distance on the Brits?". On the 2nd lap, I could see they were still pretty far ahead and knew it was going to be tough to close them. We stayed strong the rest of the way, made the turn for the finish, and coasted in to a 2nd place finish.<br />
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<b>Finish: 1:04:57 - 2nd place in the 6b category</b><br />
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After the race we went back and showered before coming back to the race site for the category 1 and 2 para-athletes which includes those that are an above knee amputee or those that are wheel-chair bound. Talk about inspiration! That night we went to a nearby pub and had some fish 'n chips!<br />
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<b>Dinner at a local pub - Me, Amanda, Brittney, and Aaron</b></div>
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<b>Saturday: </b>We had breakfast down in the hotel and unlike the other days earlier in the week where I made my own muesli, today I had eggs, mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, along with a big slice of fresh baked bread with some jam and honey. Pretty tasty hotel breakfast! Aaron and Brittney had some laundry to do for the rest of their trip so Me and Amanda went to a nearby Costa to grab some coffee. </div>
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<b> Saturday morning coffee date at Costa - A cappuccino for me and an Americano for Amanda</b></div>
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After that, we were going to go check out the Olympic Park, but after reading some poor reviews, we decided to go check out the London Tower. We took a tour through the tower and looked around the giant ancient fortress. We also got to a see a changing of the guard while at the tower which was pretty neat. After the tower, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a Pret a Manger, a little coffee shop with a huge selection of different hot and cold sandwiches. After eating, we walked across the street to the awards ceremony which was being held in Trafalgar square. </div>
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<b>Awards Ceremony - Me and Aaron with the Brits who took 1st and 3rd</b></div>
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After the awards, we ate at this Mexican restaurant. I had some veggie fajitas that were pretty good. We made our way back to the hotel, Aaron and I disassembled the bike and we called a it a night. </div>
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On Sunday we traveled back to the states. We flew through Washington DC which was a little crazy as we had to go through customs, claim our baggage (including the huge bike box), exit customs, drop off our luggage, and go back through security. I'm 100% for keeping airports safe but it seems like a very disorganized and slow process that could somehow be more efficient. Especially when you have multiple international flights arriving at the same time. Our flight ended up getting delayed out of DC but had it not, we would have been running to catch our flight to Dayton. </div>
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I had an incredible time guiding Aaron and am very thankful for the experience. I can definitely see myself guiding Aaron again in the future (if he wants me to :) ) with two ITU races in North America next year including the Chicago race in June and the World Championships in Edmonton as Aaron prepares for qualifying and racing in the Paralympic Triathlon in 2016. </div>
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As for me, my season is over. I'm having a hard time accepting my season being over as I feel very fit and would love to continue training and racing. At this point though, there aren't too many other races that I can just hop in and do. I'm taking some easy down time though and will soon begin preparations for next year. I have no idea what my plan will be for next year. I would love to get in a 70.3 or two. Now that I am working, hopefully money will become less of an issue and I can dabble in the half-iron distance next year. It has been a great year of racing for me. </div>
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If you made it this far, thanks for reading! </div>
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Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-1958911642062062162013-09-06T10:02:00.003-07:002013-09-06T10:02:46.712-07:00Hy-Vee Triathlon: 5150 US ChampionshipsIt's been a busy few days since the Hy-Vee Triathlon this past Sunday. From traveling back to Chicago and Cincinnati after the race and then getting ready for my trip to Seattle and London, there hasn't been much free time to sit down and write a race report. Last week Amanda and I left for Chicago on Thursday after I got in my brick workout. We went and visited with my sister, niece, and nephew when we got in to town. On Friday, we spent some more time with them before my mom got off work and we could leave for Des Moines. We have some good family/friends that live near Des Moines and they were nice enough to let us (Me, Amanda, my mom, and George) stay at their house for the race. We got into Des Moines around 9:30 and called it a night shortly after.<br />
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After getting a good night sleep, I got up, had my usual pre-workout breakfast (banana, Powerbar, and cup of coffee) and got in my usual pre-race workout. I rode for about 25 minutes with some race pace pickups, ran a mile with some light pickups, and hopped in the nearby Copper Creek Lake for a few minutes. Overall, I felt good and ready to race! We stopped at Hy-Vee to grab a few things for dinner before heading to the mandatory race briefing. After the meeting we dropped off the bike and went back to the house and got dinner going. I had some pasta and marinara sauce with some sautéed kale and spinach that the girls were having with their pizza. After dinner, I got everything organized and ready to go for the morning including putting on my race numbers.<br />
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Earlier in the week, I had been checking the weather and it was looking like the race could potentially be much hotter than some of the other races I've done this year (Best of the US was in the 50's and Age group Nationals was in the 60's-70's) so I began developing some strategies that would help keep me cool. The really hot weather ended up not being an issue and instead there was a 30% chance of rain/storms all morning. I woke up race morning and checked the radar to see a pretty big front moving through the area with some possible storms mixed in too. I began thinking, will the race be delayed, changed to a sprint (like it was a few years ago), or cancelled all together! It was looking like there would be some storms from 5-7 but then it would clear up. I had a feeling there would be a delay and had a little extra breakfast to hold me over. With bikes being in transition the night before and athletes not allowed to bring them out on race morning and also no trainers allowed in transition, I decided to bring an extra bike (unfortunately I personally don't have a road bike so I brought a mountain bike my mom had). I had planned to hop on the bike for at least 10 minutes just to get in some biking before heading over to the race. I find I race best after a good solid bike warm-up and when I don't get a bike warm-up in, I come up a little flat on the bike. I only ended up biking on it for about 5 minutes as it was raining and we were ready to head to the race.<br />
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On our way over we were checking Facebook/twitter and the weather and found out the race was delayed 45 minutes and it looked like it was clearing up and the rain was going to stay south of the race. We got parked around 5:30 and transition was now open until 7:20 so I had plenty of time and decided to wait in the car for about 10 minutes before heading over to transition. I got everything set up in transition and eventually made my way over to the other side of the lake where the swim start was. I got in the water for about 5 minutes to warm-up. The pro men and women started and then we had about 10-15 minutes before our wave started. I hopped in the water for another minute or two and lined up for the start.<br />
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Male Age Group Elite: Right before heading down to the water</div>
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<b>Swim: 20:24 - 11th in division</b></div>
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The swim wasn't neither good nor bad. I new there were a couple of guys that would be out in front and that I just needed to swim as hard I could to minimize the distance between us. I found some feet early and ended up just sitting in on a couple guys. In years past I have gotten out with the lead guys only to fall off after a few hundred yards and end up leading a 2nd pack. The top few guys swam in the 18:40's so I was about 1:40 down from them and only about 20 seconds back from the next main group that trickled in. I came in 11th out of the water and made my way up to transition. </div>
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T1: 1:37</div>
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<b>Bike: 58:34 - 25.4 mph - 7th in division</b></div>
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My bike has been very strong this year so I new I needed to get to work and try and close the gap on the guys ahead of me and try and put some distance on the good runners. Coming out of the park, there were a bunch of volunteers telling us to slow down so I listened to them as I made the turn out of the park and saw 2 guys had gone down. The course was slick with the rain from a few hours earlier. I pushed hard and made my way to the 1st turn-around and could see I was in 8th place or so. I passed a couple guys and was sitting in 6th. We made our way into the windy part of the course. I made a right hand turn and felt my back tire almost skid out. From that point on, I took most of the turns pretty cautious. I'm sure I lost some time on the turns by taking them overly cautious but to me it wasn't worth going down. There was another sharp turn coming up and more volunteers telling us to slow down. As I made the turn, there was another guy down on the ground. Apparently 8 or so guys and gals, including some of the pros in front of us, had gone down on that turn. I was now in 5th place and new the 4 guys in front of me. We got out to some more open roads and I was hoping I could not worry about the turns and just focus on riding hard and close the gap on the guys in front of me. I pushed hard but just couldn't seem to close the gap on Justin, Brian, Davide, and Adam who all out rode me. I made my way into transition and knew I had some work to do to hold onto a top 5 finish. </div>
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T2: 1:07</div>
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Heading out on the run</div>
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<b>Run: 35:18 - 9th in Division</b></div>
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I came out of T2 and headed toward downtown. I could see Justin in front of me and knew that there were at least two guys behind me that could out-run me and were coming. I passed the 1st aid-station and grabbed a bottle of water, took a few sips, and poured the rest of it on me to stay cool. It wasn't that hot but I still wanted to stay cool. I kept plugging away and made my way to the 2.5 mile turnaround mark. I could see I was still in 5th place but the good runners behind me were closing in. About mile 4, I was passed by Steve Mantell, who finished 2nd at Age Group Nationals, 8 seconds behind me. I wasn't sure if I would be able to stay with him but was going to try the best I could. He passed me and I hopped right on his heals. We were definitely running faster that I was alone but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I felt smooth and relatively comfortable as we slowly made up some ground on Justin. We made it to mile 5 and I was still feeling good. We passed near the finish area which meant we had about a half mile to go, a short out and back on the bike path/road. We made it to mile 6 and I felt good and decided to make a move. I put in a big surge, passed Steve, and shortly after passed Justin. At this point I was in 4th and just needed to hold on. At one point I thought I maybe had gone too early but I made my way to the blue carpet and held on to 4th place! </div>
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<b>Finish: 1:56:59</b></div>
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From left to right: Me (4th), Brian Duffy (2nd), Adam Webber (1st), Davide Giardini (3rd), and Justin Metzler (5th)</div>
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Overall, I'm happy to finish top 5. This is no doubt one of the, if not the most competitive olympic distance age group race in the country. </div>
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I'm currently in Seattle, WA training with visually impaired para-triathlete Aaron Sheidies for a few days. We rode yesterday for a couple hours on the tandem bike which took some getting used to. This morning we ran about 6 miles with a couple 800's on the track at race pace. I'll definitely be documenting the rest of my trip here and our trip to London for the Paratriathlon World Championships! Stay tuned for a full recap from our trip in a couple weeks! </div>
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Thanks for reading! </div>
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Hy-Vee Results: <a href="http://edge.raceresults360.com/hyvee/7n8ofP/results#/results::1378485608311">http://edge.raceresults360.com/hyvee/7n8ofP/results#/results::1378485608311</a></div>
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Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-39151561854721413692013-08-14T19:24:00.003-07:002013-08-19T08:31:59.873-07:00USA Triathlon Age Group National Champion!!This race report is coming a few days late as I have spent the past few days doing some final studying for the Registered Dietitian exam which I just took, and can thankfully say I passed! Rewinding to a week ago, I was doing some final race preparations and getting ready for the trip up to Milwaukee, WI for the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships. When I found out this race was going to be in Milwaukee this year, I knew I wanted to be there as it would be within driving distance of Cincinnati or Chicago.<br />
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Thursday, Amanda and I headed to Chicago after she got off work to stay with my mom for the night. Friday morning came and I got in my usual pre-race bike/run workout before heading up to Milwaukee. We went straight to the race site to get in a short swim in the lake. The water felt great, nice and cold, but not too cold. I tried out my new Orca 3.8 wetsuit for the 1st time and it felt great! We went and got our race packets, went back to the car to get the bikes, and took them back over to transition before heading back to the hotel for a little downtime before dinner.<br />
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<b>Amanda and I the day before the race</b></div>
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We went to Carrabbas for dinner where we met up with my family. I had a good whole wheat spaghetti dish with marinara sauce that had some spinach, mushrooms, and artichokes in it too. This capped off my usual 3 day carbohydrate load which I have found to be quite successful over the past few years. Back at the hotel, we got things together for the race, went down to the pool hotel to watch my almost 4 year old niece play in the water, and called it a night shortly thereafter.<br />
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Race morning rolled around with a wake-up call around 5:15 am. The first wave was going off at 7:30 but my wave wasn't scheduled to go off until 9:08 am. This meant we had plenty of time before the race but also meant that I needed to adjust my usual nutrition plan as I wouldn't be getting done until after 11. So I had my usual banana, then had a Oatmeal Raisin <a href="http://www.powerbar.com/harvest-energy">Harvest PowerBar</a> during the car ride over to the race site. The harvest bars have about 5 grams of fiber in them which was just enough to hold me over for the morning. We found a good place to park not too far away from the transition area and headed over. With the bikes being checked in the night before and not being allowed to be brought out for a morning warm-up before the race, I deeded for the first time, to bring a trainer into transition with me. There's something about getting in a bike warm-up that just seems to help me have a better race, especially when it comes to Olympics (and sprints) where you're going hard right from the get-go. Tommy and I set up the trainer at the end of our rack. He hopped on for 10 minutes and then I got on for 10 minutes, riding mostly easy with a couple short pickups. Transition closed at 7:30, we walked back to the car to put the trainer and a few other odds and ends back in the car, and I grabbed my coffee that I hadn't had a chance to drink before. The race was delayed about 15 minutes which pushed my start time back to about 9:23. Amanda, Tommy, and I found a place to sit in the shade for a while and I drank my coffee and had my usual Cookies N Creme PowerBar.<br />
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45 minutes before the start of the race, I went for a short 5 minute run warm-up with Tommy just to get the legs loosened back up after sitting for a while. We checked our bags and got our wetsuits on and headed over to the start area. I ate a pack of PowerBar Cola gel blasts just to get a little something else in during the hour before the start. They sent us down the ramp which meant we had about 10 minutes or so before the start. We were able to get in the water for a short swim warm-up. The time had come and it was ready to race!<br />
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My plan going in was to give it everything I had and not leave anything on the course (seems like an obvious strategy, I know). But, with the format of starting with your age group versus going head-to-head with the other age-group elites like most other races I do, you have no idea where you are amongst the other racers so all you can do is go hard and leave it all on the course.<br />
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<b>Swim: 19:49 - 67th Overall</b><br />
The swim went pretty well. I had pretty clean water right out of the start but saw a couple guys from the right and left getting out ahead. I didn't worry about that too much and stayed close to a couple guys most of the way. There was a slight head current coming back but nothing too bad. Overall the swim was pretty uneventful. I exited up the steep ramp and made my way to T1.<br />
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<b>T1: 1:46 </b><br />
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<b>Bike: 55:13 - 1st Overall - 27 mph</b><br />
My bike has been strong lately and I knew that's where I needed to really get to work and go for it. Right out of transition I started riding hard and quickly found a nice rhythm. I made my way up the first little hill and enjoyed the fast descent back down. The bike course was pretty well spread out and only a few times were there ever a group of people near each other. I continued riding strong, going through my aero bottle of Powerbar Perform relatively quickly and glad I had another half bottle on my frame that I ended up going through before the end of the bike. I came down the bridge and got ready to head into T2.<br />
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<b>T2: 0:55</b> - coming up on my bike rack, there was only 1 other bike on my rack so it looked like I was sitting in 2nd place in my age division as I started the run.<br />
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<b>Run: 35:09</b> - 19th Overall - 5:39/mi<br />
I felt pretty good at the start of the run but wasn't sure how I would respond after the bike split. I started getting a slight cramp in my medial quad and decided to take a PowerBar gel before getting to the first aid station, a little before 1 mile into the run. This is something that I have incorporated into my racing this year that seems to really be helping. The run course was gorgeous, right along the lake for the first 1.5 miles before heading up to the main road, which was still right along the water. I found a nice rhythm and kept plugging away. I finally made my way to the final turnaround which was right around mile 4 and knew it was a straight shot all the way in. I wasn't sure if I had passed the guy in my age group or not until I came up on a guy and saw his race number around mile 4.5. At that point, I was pretty sure I was sitting 1st in my age group and started picking up the pace. I hit the 5 mile mark and just told myself to get to the last aid station, and then mile 6 and at that point I was still feeling good and through in another surge. I could finally see the finish and pickup up the pace even more to finish strong.<br />
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<b>Finishing Strong! </b></div>
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<b>Finish: 1:52:54 - 1st Overall! </b><br />
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<b>All smiles after the race!</b></div>
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When I crossed the line, it appeared I had the fastest time thus far but there were still the 30-34's and 20-24's (along with the 17-19's) that started behind me. There wasn't anything that I could do about them though and I had raced hard and just had to wait and see what happened with them. I talked with my family and Tommy after he finished, and went and cheered on Amanda as she finished to a new PR! The guys that finished 2nd and 3rd OA came from the 20-24 and 17-19 age groups and were just seconds behind me (8 sec and 14 sec, respectively), they both have bright futures ahead of them!<br />
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<b>Me and my family after the race!</b></div>
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We went back to the hotel, showered, and relaxed for a bit before heading to the awards ceremony.<br />
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<b>1st place overall! </b></div>
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<b>Thanks <a href="http://www.shopcompex.com/">Compex</a>, <a href="http://www.rudyprojectusa.com/">Rudy Project</a>, <a href="http://www.jaybirdgear.com/">JayBird</a>, and <a href="http://www.bodyglide.com/">Body Glide</a> for the SWAG!</b></div>
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After the awards, Amanda and I headed back to Chicago and decided to get a Lou Malnatis Deep Dish Pizza for a post race celebration! </div>
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Thank you so much to my family for being there to support me, to my coach Alex McDonald with <a href="http://fastforwardtriathlon.com/">Fast Forward Triathlon </a>for helping me get prepared for this season and this race, my individual sponsors <a href="http://www.powerbar.com/">PowerBar</a> for keeping me properly fueled all season long during training and on the race course and <a href="http://www.brooksrunning.com/">Brooks</a> for the great running shoes and gear, as well as FFT sponsors <a href="http://www.racermateinc.com/">Computrainer</a>, Rudy Project, and <a href="http://home.trainingpeaks.com/">TrainingPeaks</a>. Also thanks to <a href="http://www.gofastmultisport.com/">Bob Duncan's Go Fast Multisport</a> for getting my bike ready to go for the race! Thanks <a href="http://www.usatriathlon.org/">USA Triathlon</a> for putting on a spectacular event. The race course was perfect and the race venue was very well set-up and organized. I would definitely recommend this race to anyone for next year! </div>
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I'm letting my body recover for a few days this week before picking things back up for a week or so before tapering back down for the Hy-Vee Triathlon over Labor Day weekend in Des Moines. It will no doubt be another great test and I'm already looking forward to it! And after that, I'm excited to announce I will be guiding visually impaired triathlete Aaron Scheidies at the Paratriathlon World Championships being held in London in conjunction with the age-group and elite world championships being held there. </div>
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It was great seeing so many of you this past weekend at Age Group Nationals!</div>
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Thanks for reading!</div>
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Colin Riley, MS, RD (only because I can officially use it effective today!) </div>
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<a href="http://www.usatriathlon.org/news/articles/2013/8/081013-agnc-olympic-distance-results.aspx">http://www.usatriathlon.org/news/articles/2013/8/081013-agnc-olympic-distance-results.aspx</a></div>
<br />Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-19758069583405101142013-07-16T18:46:00.001-07:002013-07-16T18:46:48.760-07:00Evergreen Lake Triathlon Race ReportThis past Saturday I raced in the Evergreen Lake Triathlon near Bloomington, IL. I decided to do this race last minute (registered on Wednesday night!) after talking with my coach, Alex McDonald. This race is always really competitive for being a relatively small race in the middle of Illinois usually drawing a handful of pros and top age groupers. The race does have a nice $3500 prize purse to the top 3 males and females which makes for an exciting race. I have done this race multiple times before with my best finish coming in 2011 (5th place overall). After a great race at Leon's Triathlon, I felt confident going in and thought I at least had a chance at the podium.<br />
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I left Cincinnati Friday after doing my usual swim, bike, run pre-race workout and made it to the race site in good time. I picked up my packet, called Olive Garden to place a to-go order, picked up my order, ran into the grocery store to grab some bananas and a few other snacks for the night, and headed to the hotel. The rest of the night I relaxed and waited for my mom and George to get to the hotel so I could get to bed. It's always nice having my family at races to cheer me on.<br />
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Race morning rolled around, I had my typical Banana, Cookies 'n Creme PowerBar, and a cup of coffee and headed to the race site. I got set up in transition, took the bike out for a nice 15 minute warm-up with a few pickups to race pace and made sure everything was good to go in transition. There was apparently a swim warm-up that I missed while out doing my bike warm-up so I did a few arm swings to try and get loose. It was a non-wetsuit swim so I had on my Xterra Speed Suit that I got a few years back.<br />
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Just before the start of the swim</div>
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Swim: 21:21 - 5th OA</div>
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Pros Brian Rhodes, Brooks Cowan, and Thomas Gerlach were racing as well as Adam Zucco and Fast Forward Triathlon teammate Mike Pelechaty. I knew Rhodes, Brooks, and Mike were all good swimmers and Adam and Thomas had similar swim abilities. We were all lined up and took off at the start. I was behind Adam and Thomas initially before making a move to try and swim with the other 3 guys. Unfortunately, they got out too quick and I wasn't able to close the gap and hold on to their feet. This is something that has happened multiple times before. If I can just get my top end speed a little quicker and be able to hold on with these top swimmers, I would be in an even better position coming out of the water! I'm definitely making progress though as I didn't lose too much ground on them compared to previous years. About 1/4th of the way through the swim, I got passed by collegiate champ Michelle Mehnert so I tried hopping on her feet only to get dropper after a few strokes. I held my position the rest of the way and came out of the water in 5th overall (4th male). </div>
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Coming out of the water, headed to T1</div>
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T1: 0:52 - Pretty quick transition, had to get my speedsuit off which cost a few seconds but definitely worth wearing it! </div>
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In T1 getting the helmet on</div>
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Bike: 55:31 - 1st OA</div>
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I knew I was going to need to bike hard to try and close the gap from the swim and maybe even get some time going into the run. I passed Mike and Michelle pretty quickly, and closed in on Thomas. I passed him and could see the other 2 out in the distance. I stayed calm, rode hard, and slowly closed in on them over the course of the next 5-10 miles. I eventually passed Brooks and then Rhodes. Thomas was close behind me and he, Rhodes, and myself went back and forth a few times over the final 5-10 miles and came into T2 all together. Thomas got out of T1 ahead of me so I out split him on the bike by 2 seconds to claim the fastest bike split. </div>
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T2: 0:39 - Quick transition and ready to pop out of T2 in 1st until I dropped my gel and decided to turn around and grab it. </div>
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Run: 35:26 - 3rd OA</div>
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I came out of T2 right behind Rhodes and Gerlach and quickly passed both of them. I knew I needed to get going as Brooks and another competitor, Justin Roeder, could likely out run me. I felt good early on and tried to stay relaxed while keeping up a good solid pace. I grabbed a cup of water going through the 1st aid station took a small sip and poured the rest of me. It wasn't overly hot out but it was sunny and beginning to warm up so I knew keeping the water on me would help me stay cool. I took my gel shortly after that, around 1.5 miles in, and shortly after got passed by Brooks. I tried to stay with him but he opened up a nice lead over me. The course features 2 out and backs so you are able to see where you are and where the other guys behind you are. I made the first turn of the 1st out and back and could see Gerlach not too far behind me along with Rhodes, Roeder, and Zucco. It's always hard to tell how much time you have on them and how hard those guys behind you are running. I knew I needed to keep running hard to hold off the attack behind me. I trucked along and started feeling some fatigue around mile 5. I knew I was close so I just kept up the pace, getting water at the aid stations and pouring it on me to keep cool. I was starting to close in on Brooks a little bit but I think he was starting to let up as he had another race the next day and knew he had it wrapped up. I held onto 2nd place and a very solid performance. </div>
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Nearing the finish! </div>
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Finish: 1:53:51 - 2nd OA</div>
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Right after the race</div>
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Adam Zucco and I chatting after the race</div>
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FFT Teammate Mike Pelechaty and Me after the race</div>
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Top 3: Thomas Gerlach (3rd), Brooks Cowan (1st), and Myself (2nd)</div>
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I've got about 3.5 weeks until USAT age-group nationals which means about 2.5 weeks of good solid training before tapering down the week of the race. I haven't raced nationals for a few years so I'm definitely looking forward to it. </div>
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Thanks for reading and happy training! </div>
Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-35336314063006380912013-06-04T14:55:00.003-07:002013-06-07T05:55:56.819-07:00Best of the US Championship/Leon's Triathlon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This past Sunday, June 2nd, I competed in the Best of the US Amateur Championship race which was held in conjunction with Leon's Triathlon in Hammond, IN. I have raced in the Best of the US Championship race three times before, finishing 9th in 2008, 8th in 2009, and 3rd in 2011. I hadn't raced Leon's Triathlon before though so I was excited to race what is dubbed the "Worlds Fastest Triathlon". I was also excited to race coming off of the American Triple-T and not having any other races planned until August.</div>
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With the race being in Hammond, IN (right next to Chicago), I was able to stay with my mom. Race morning rolled around and I headed to the race with my mom and sister. The drive into Chicago isn't all that bad on a Sunday morning at 6 am when there isn't any traffic. I had my usual banana and Cookie Dough <a href="http://www.powerbar.com/">PowerBar</a> along with about 10 oz of coffee on the drive to the race. We got to the race site in good time and I decided to hop on the bike for a quick warm-up before taking the bike into transition. The forecast called for temps in the low 60's with dropping temps into the 50's. While I was warming up and setting up transition, the temperature was cool but not too bad (low-mid 60's). I ate a few PowerBar Cola Gel Blasts and sipped on some PowerBar Perform drink while setting things up in transition. Shortly after exiting transition, there was a big gust of wind and with it came much colder air, and the temperature had to have dropped 5 degrees almost instantly!</div>
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Pre-race photo, right before the temps dropped! </div>
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Sporting the new FFT 2XU Distance Tri-Suit</div>
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I headed over to the stage where they were having an opening ceremony with the National Anthem and a few other things. We headed over to the start of the swim and were able to hop in the water for a short swim warm-up. The swim wave included all of the Best of the US athletes along with all of the Leon's Amateur All-Stars which made for a pretty big swim wave and what would be some competitive head-to-head racing! Luckily we had quite a bit of room for the in-water start so it wasn't too chaotic. </div>
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The gun went off and a few guys got out pretty fast and I wasn't able to hang with them. I ended up leading one of two groups. The water was a little choppy, but I felt good. I came out of the water in 6th or so, which was about what I expected. Toward the end of the swim, I could feel my feet were pretty cold and going a little numb. But that didn't stop me from a quick transition as I exited the water, made my way to T1, and grabbed my bike. </div>
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I passed a few guys pretty quickly and then a few miles in, made my way to 2nd place. Adam Zucco was in 1st place at this point and I knew he was strong on the bike. I tried to keep him in sight and not let him get too far ahead of me. I continued to ride strong throughout the 2 lap bike course. It was a little chilly on the bike but really not too bad. The wind was pretty strong though and at times I would get blown side-to-side. With a few miles to go, I got passed by Matt Payne, who had previously won the Best of the US race in 2011 when I took 3rd. I knew he could bike and run strong so I just tried to stay near him the final couple miles. I entered T2 just behind him. </div>
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Coming in off the bike, headed into T2 - in 3rd place</div>
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We came out of T2 together and made the move on Adam who was just a little ahead of us. I sat on Matt for a few strides, I felt good, and decided to make the pass and go for it. I came up on Adam and took the lead of the race. At this point, I was feeling great, but knew there were a handful of guys behind me that could run me down. My medial quads started to cramp a little bit before the 1st mile so when I got to the mile mark and there wasn't an aid station, I decided to take a PowerBar Orange Dreamsicle gel. I washed it down with some water when I got to the first aid station about a half mile later. I was feeling good and kept up the good pace to the turn-around. I made the turn and saw Matt, Adam, and Dan Stubleski all not too far behind. I picked up the effort slightly as I knew they were all trying to run me down. I made it to mile 5 still in the lead and still feeling pretty good. I wasn't really sure how far back the other guys were so I picked up the pace a little more. I made it to the final turn before heading into the park and through in another final surge to finish strong.</div>
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Right before the finish - <a href="http://www.brooksrunning.com/">Brooks</a> T7 on the run!</div>
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Swim: 18:31 - 10th OA</div>
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T1: 1:20</div>
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Bike: 57:48 - 4th OA</div>
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T2: 0:57</div>
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Run: 33:27 - 2nd OA</div>
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Finish: 1:52:05 - 1st OA</div>
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Breaking the tape at the finish! </div>
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Overall, it was probably the best race I've ever had! I handled the cold and wind to ride strong and run even stronger. Thanks to my coach Alex McDonald with <a href="http://fastforwardtriathlon.com/">Fast Forward Triathlon</a>! It's great to see all of the hard work I've been putting in over the past several months (and years) come together at this race. Congrats to Matt Payne, Dan Stubleski, Adam Zucco, Mark Harms, and the other guys that were out there racing! </div>
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A few articles from the race:</div>
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<a href="http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/recreation/outdoors/top-leon-s-triathlon-finishers-like-it-cold/article_e7b91f9f-5de9-5170-a40a-f4a37bece0dc.html">http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/recreation/outdoors/top-leon-s-triathlon-finishers-like-it-cold/article_e7b91f9f-5de9-5170-a40a-f4a37bece0dc.html</a> (video post race interview too!)</div>
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<a href="http://www.trijuice.com/2013/06/colin_riley_and_kirsten_sass_crowned_as_new_best_of_the_us_amateur_champions_at_leons_triathlon.htm">http://www.trijuice.com/2013/06/colin_riley_and_kirsten_sass_crowned_as_new_best_of_the_us_amateur_champions_at_leons_triathlon.htm</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.bestoftheustriseries.com/">http://www.bestoftheustriseries.com</a></div>
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There is also going to be a televised broadcast on Comcast Sports Net over the 4th of July weekend. I was interviewed before the race and they were filming the entire race. Should be fun to watch!</div>
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The next race I have planned is USA Triathlon Age-group Nationals August 10th in Milwaukee, WI. I may try to hop in a race before then but I'm not 100% sure yet. </div>
Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-58391372220457848682013-06-04T09:35:00.001-07:002013-06-04T09:35:26.490-07:00American Triple-T Ohio Race ReportThe American Triple-T Ohio is a very unique triathlon experience. The "race" consists of 4 triathlons over 3 days. There is an option to race as a 2 person team, which I did, with Jared Milam.<br />
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Race 1: Super Sprint Triathlon - Friday Evening<br />
The first race is a very short 250m swim, 6k bike, 1 mile run. It's a fun little race to kick off the weekend. I like to push the pace a little but not get carried away as there is a lot of racing the rest of the weekend. The splits for all of the races didn't get recorded unfortunately as their was a malfunction with the timing system. This is supposed to be fixed for next year.<br />
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Finish: 21:00 - 2nd OA<br />
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Race 2: Olympic Triathlon #1 - Saturday morning<br />
The 2nd race is an Olympic distance triathlon with a slightly longer run (6.55 miles verses 6.2 miles). The race features a 2 lap swim, a tough bike course with the famous and dreaded Thompson Hill, and the same challenging rolling hill, rocky, trail course that we run all weekend long.<br />
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Finish: 2:08:03 - 3rd OA<br />
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Race 3: Olympic Triathlon #2 - Saturday afternoon (about 5 hours after finishing the first Olympic)<br />
This race is unique in that the order is switched up from the traditional swim/bike/run and instead is bike/swim/run. This is the first race where if your doing it as a team, you get to draft on the bike together and have to finish together too.<br />
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Finish: 2:13:33 - 1st OA with teammate Jared<br />
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Race 4: Half Ironman - Sunday Morning<br />
This is a challenging half ironman course with many hills and 2 loops on the tough run course from Saturday. Jared and I had a pretty good lead going into the male team competition, but anything can happen. I ended up getting a flat somewhere on the 2nd loop. Luckily, it wasn't an entire tire blow-out like I have had happen twice before during this same half-ironman race. I was able to fix it in about 5 or 10 minutes. I had a new Co2 adapter that I had never used before and didn't know how it released the Co2 into the tube. That cost me a few minutes until I finally figured it out (lesson learned).<br />
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Finish: 5:04:19 - 11th OA with teammate Jared<br />
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We held on for 1st place team, despite the flat on the bike. A great weekend of racing/training. If you are looking for a challenge or just a great weekend of training, I highly recommend the American Triple-T Ohio! Thanks Shannon Kurek and HFP for putting on a great event! Thanks to Bob Duncan for the quick break fix prior to the race and Tom Swallow and Swallow Bike Works for the quick tune-up right before the race!Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-30368511637282494712013-06-04T08:45:00.001-07:002013-06-04T08:45:07.591-07:00St. Anthony's Triathlon Race RecapIt's a little late but I wanted to write a brief recap about my first 2 races of the season. After finishing my dietetic internship from Western Kentucky University on Friday April 26th, Amanda and I began the drive down to Florida. We stopped in Atlanta Friday night and stayed with my Aunt Kim. Saturday morning we got up early and met Lauren for some coffee and a local Starbucks before getting back on the road for Florida.<br />
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We went right to the race venue, picked up our packets, got in a quick swim, bike, run workout, and headed to our friend John's house who let us stay with him for the weekend. Race morning rolled around, we headed to the race site, and got set up in transition. Bikes had to be in transition the night before which makes for an easy race morning, however, I also prefer getting a bike warm-up in when possible. There's something about spinning the legs on the bike before the race starts that seems to help me have a better race. No bike warm-up though, so I got in an easy 10 min run with some light pick-ups. I headed over to the swim start, got in a short swim warm-up and was ready to go. The pros went off and we were getting ready to start when the race director came up to us and said the swim was going to be shortened. I wasn't totally surprised as it had been really windy all morning and some of the waves were pretty big out in the bay. So the swim was shortened to a 750m swim or so with a long run over to T1 (this is also what happened 2 years ago when I raced St. Anthony's). The swim went well and I came out in probably 5th or 6th. I passed a few guys early in the bike and was able to see that I was sitting in 3rd behind Adam Webber and Jake Ryner, 2 guys I have raced before. A handful of guys came up behind me on the bike around half way through. I came into T2 in 5th and was hoping I could put together a good run. Unfortunately, the run didn't go so well and I came up pretty flat coming off the bike. I got passed by a few guys out of T2 and then a few more along the way. Around mile 2 or 2.5, things started feeling a little better and I thought I was going to be able to close in the handful of guys that were not too far ahead of me. I felt good for about a mile before I things started to unfold again. At that point I was sitting in 10th place or so. I did what I could over the final 2 miles and came across the line, happy to be done. (no pics from the race)</div>
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Swim: 9:59 (~750m)</div>
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T1: 3:16 (long run to T1 included)</div>
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Bike: 58:57</div>
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T2: 0:52</div>
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Run: 37:30</div>
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Finish: 1:50:32 - 11th OA Elite Amateur</div>
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This was not where I wanted to be and thought going in I should have been right near the top 3. It was good to get one race under the belt though and move forward on to the rest of the season. </div>
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After the race, Amanda and I got some Starbucks iced coffees and went and walked along the beach and then went to Crabby Bills (Amanda's go to restaurant in St. Pete from when she lived there) for dinner!</div>
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American Triple-T Ohio and Leon's Triathlon Race reports to follow soon!</div>
Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-45225725466760024322012-12-19T18:45:00.003-08:002012-12-19T19:05:09.987-08:00Early Season UpdateIt's the middle of December and I'm in my 8th week back of training since taking 2 weeks completely off. I ran the Cincinnati Turkey trot after only 3.5 weeks of easy training after the 2 weeks off and managed to run a 35:41 10k (5:46/mi) good for 50th overall. I've been getting in about 10-12 hrs/week of training the past 5 weeks and I'm taking this week a little easier. Swimming has been so-so thus far as I ended up taking almost 4 weeks away from the pool after only one swim during the week of the duathlon and then an extra week off with an ear infection after my 2 weeks off. I'm starting to get some speed back and working on technique and form quite a bit. I'm already starting to feel pretty good on the bike and have really been enjoying the <a href="http://www.racermateinc.com/">computrainer</a>. It'll be nice to have the computrainer from the beginning of the season this year so I can really dial in all of the training! I've got all of my target wattages and so far things are going well. As for running, I haven't really had too many structured workouts but overall I'm feeling good and looking forward to what's ahead.<br />
<br />
As for next year, I am planning to race age group again and hold off on turning pro, for now. As far as races go, here is what I am thinking:<br />
<br />
American Triple-T Ohio<br />
Copper Creek Sprint Triathlon<br />
Evergreen Lake Triathlon<br />
Age Group Nationals<br />
Chicago Triathlon<br />
Hy-Vee Triathlon<br />
Dallas US Open<br />
<br />
I'm hoping to have something before triple-t, but not sure what yet. I might do a Rev 3 race as well and maybe a running race or two.<br />
<br />
That's all for now. Looking forward to the next couple weeks, spending time with my family, girlfriend, and catching up with friends back home in Chicago. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone out there!<br />
<br />
My yearly totals for swimming, biking, and running will follow soon!Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-61569949240605948792012-10-23T19:32:00.000-07:002012-10-29T18:46:23.146-07:00RJ Corman Duathlon and End of Season Recap<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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On October 13<sup>th</sup>, I competed in my final race of
the 2012 season, the RJ Corman Duathlon outside of Lexington, Kentucky. The
race consisted of a 5k run, 16 mile bike, and another 5k run. Living in
Louisville now, I was able to drive to the race the morning of with Amanda. We
got to the race site right around 6:30 when packet pickup was opening. I
grabbed my race bag, got body marked, and got everything set up in transition.
The actual transition area was probably the smallest transition area I’ve ever
seen for a race with less than 100 people racing the duathlon (there was also a
5k). With such a small field, the whole race morning was very low key and easy
going. After getting set up, I was able to take my bike out for a quick 15
minute warm up. It was a gorgeous morning, a little on the cool side, but
pretty much perfect weather for a duathlon. I headed over to the start area and
got in a short 5 minute run warm-up with a couple short pick-ups. It was a
pretty small field but there were two pros (Nick Waninger and Mike Hermanson)
and another guy, Jeff Buhr, who I met that morning but knew he would be right
there as well. </div>
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Pre-race ready to go!</div>
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Start of the race!</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Run #1: 16:36 –
5:21/mi – 2<sup>nd</sup> OA</b></div>
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The race started and the three guys I mentioned took off at what
felt like a dead sprint (not literally, but faster than I wanted to get out). I
went with them for the most part, staying a little behind them, knowing that I
wasn’t going to hold a 4:30-4:45/mi pace for the whole 5k. I came through the
mile in 5:12 and was just a few seconds back from Jeff and about 10 seconds
back from Nick and Mike. I slowly closed the gap and ran with Jeff and Mike for
the next mile and half, and getting just ahead of them coming through the first
5k. Mile 2 was 5:23 and Mile 3 was 5:30. </div>
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Around 1 mile in</div>
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About 3 miles in</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">T1: 1:26</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">–</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1<sup>st</sup>
OA</b> – The funny thing about the race was that after we crossed the 5k mark,
we had to continue running another ¼ mile or so to get to the actual transition
area (so in a way it was the smallest yet longest transition area at the same time). </div>
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Finishing the first 5k</div>
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Transition run to the transition area</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bike: 38:25 – 24.99
mph – 1<sup>st</sup> OA</b></div>
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I got on the bike quickly and new I was going to have to get
to work and hopefully put some time on Nick, knowing that he can out run me. As
I was getting situated on the bike, I could see Nick not too far ahead of me. I
closed the gap over the first few miles and kept pushing the rest of the way.
The course was a nice mix of some up and down hills and an out and back on an
airplane landing strip. I could see Nick and Jeff toward the end of the bike
and wasn’t exactly sure how much time I had on them. I knew I needed to finish
the bike strong and have a good run to hold them off. </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">T2: 1:16</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">– 2<sup>nd</sup> OA</b> – Nice quick
transition with the same run back to the where we started the race and the
official start of the second run. </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Run #2: 16:56 –
5:28/mi – 2<sup>nd</sup> OA</b></div>
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I felt great at the start of the run. I was focused and in
the zone and started thinking I had a chance to hold off Nick and Jeff. I
stayed strong all the way to the finish and came away with the win! </div>
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About to cross the finish line!</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Finish: 1:14:41 </b>-
I was very pleased to get the win and end the season with a great race. </div>
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The 2012 season has been very
successful. It started off with a PR at the Miami Half Marathon in January running a 1:17:32. Then in March I raced the Draft Legal Challenge finishing a disappointing 16th place after getting knocked off my bike coming out of transition and having a rubbing front break the entire first lap of three laps. Then at the end of March I was fortunate enough to spend over a week out in Santa Barbara, California training with my teammates from Fast Forward Triathlon and finished the week with a local sprint tri finishing 4th overall after a long/hard week of training. At my first big race of the year I placed 7<sup>th</sup> at USAT collegiate
nationals (the top 6 were or are now all now racing professional). Other races included an overall
win at the 2<sup>nd</sup> race of the American Triple-T Ohio (unfortunately had
some mechanical issues during the 4<sup>th</sup> race, but was able to finish
out the weekend), 2<sup>nd</sup> overall at the Copper Creek Sprint Triathlon
(behind pro, Daniele Bretscher), an overall win at the Naperville Sprint
Triathlon (my hometown race), a 5<sup>th</sup> place finish at the 5150 Hy-Vee
Age Group Elite race in one of the most competitive age group Olympic distance
races in the country, and a win at the RJ Corman Duathlon. </div>
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A HUGE thanks to my family (mom,
sisters, brother in law, etc) and girlfriend for their continued support
throughout the season. And another HUGE thanks to all of my sponsors. I know I
say this a lot, but I truly would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for
them. Thank you to Alex McDonald, my coach with Fast Forward Triathlon, who
helped me have my most successful season yet. Thank you also to PowerBar for
keeping me fueled all season long. Nutrition is truly the fourth part of the
sport and having the nutrition to fuel before, during, and after makes all of
the difference. Thank you to Brooks for keeping my feet happy with some of the best running
shoes (The Ghost as my basic trainer, the PureFlow for tempo and track workouts, and T7 for racing, to name a few) and awesome gear to keep me cool in
the summer and warm in the winter. And thanks to Computrainer, one of the many
sponsors of FFT. This was my first season utilizing the Computrainer and I
absoluetly loved it. Having the computrainer, I was able to dial in my bike
training and take it to the next level. Most of the races I did this year, I had the
fastest or 2<sup>nd</sup> fastest bike split of the entire field, and I know
that is from the high quality workouts from FFT and having the Computrainer to
help push myself well beyond my comfort zone.</div>
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I’m currently in the middle of my
“mandatory 2 week rest” (coaches orders). I’m enjoying the time off, letting my
body and mind recover from a long season. I’m looking forward to starting
things back up soon and gearing up for an even better 2013 season. I’m still
figuring out what the plan is for 2013...more to come on that later. </div>
Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-52937879458915319702012-09-06T18:59:00.000-07:002012-09-06T19:36:21.415-07:002012 Hy-Vee Triathlon: 5150 US ChampionshipsThis past weekend I competed in my 7th consecutive Hy-Vee Triathlon. This is hands down one of my favorite races out there. The race is very well put together and draws a ton of incredible competition from all over the country. There's some pretty nice prizes for the top 5 overall as well as Mini Cooper to the overall champion. I drove up to Chicago Friday with Amanda and then on Saturday we drove to Des Moines with my Mom and sister after we got in our pre-race workout. <br />
<br />
Race morning rolled around. I had my usual banana, Cookies and Cream Powerbar, and cup of coffee for breakfast right after waking up at about 4:30. We headed to the race site and got everything set up in transition. Bikes had to be in the night before which always affects my normal warm-up routine as I usually prefer to spin out the legs in order to make sure they're ready to go for the bike during the race. Instead, I did a short run warm-up with a few short pickups. There was also no swim warm-up and the swim was wetsuit legal.<br />
<br />
Swim: 20:12<br />
The swim was OK. I had an OK starting position and got out alright. I was right there after the first buoy, and stuck on someone's feet for a while. At one point about 1/4th of the way in, the water got really shallow to the point where everyone was standing up and doing dolphin dives. I wasn't expecting that but made the best of it. After that, I slowly began to drop back as my shoulders got a little tight and had a little bit of GI discomfort. I ended up leading the 2nd group the rest of the way in.<br />
<br />
T1: 1:28<br />
<br />
Bike: 56:45<br />
The bike went really well. I had the 2nd fastest bike averaging 26.2 mph behind the eventual winner, Dan Hedgecock. The course was a little technical during the early stages and then opened up a little more after about 5-10 miles in. At about mile 20, my chain actually dropped, but luckily I was able to get it back on without having to get off the bike. I felt really strong throughout the whole bike and moved up into 3rd place coming into T2. I knew I needed to be in that position coming into transition knowing that there were a lot of fast runners in the field.<br />
<br />
T2: 0:49<br />
<br />
Run: 35:58<br />
The run was pretty decent. I came out of T2 in 3rd, with Dan Hedgecock and Adam Webber in front of me, and Drew Scott right behind me. Drew passed me right at the start of the run and I tried to hand with him as long as I could but didn't quite have the speed to do so. So at this point I was in 4th and knew I needed to run strong to hold on to a top 5 placing. I held onto 4th until about mile 4 when I got passed by Jake Rhyner. I kept plugging away and made it to the 5 mile mark. At this point, there was an out and back so you had a good chance to see where everyone was at. Once I made the turn of the out and back (about 5.5 miles into the run), I saw a fleet of guys coming for me and knew I had to pick it up if I was going to hold my 5th place spot. I made it to the steep hill right before the final turn to the finish line and was still holding 5th. I picked up one last time down the blue carpet and held onto 5th place!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Nearing the finish line!</div>
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<br />
Total: 1:55:10 - 5th place overall<br />
Going into the race, my goal was to finish in the top 5. I thought it was a reasonable goal but knew it wasn't going to be easy given the deep field racing. A huge congrats to Dan for winning and the rest of the field for putting up some great results. Congrats to my fellow FFT teammates Brian Duffy and Jay McCurdy as well. Overall, I was really pleased with the result. I know there's room for improvement in the swim and run (and the bike too). As of now, I don't have any additional races planned but that's still up in the air. I also qualified to race as an Elite/Pro and am contemplating that as well.<br />
<br />
A huge thanks to my coach, Alex McDonald, of <a href="http://fastforwardtriathlon.com/">Fast Forward Triathlon</a> for providing me with high quality workouts that challenge me to become the best triathlete I can be. Thanks also to <a href="https://www.brooksrunning.com/">Brooks </a>and <a href="http://www.powerbar.com/">Powerbar</a> for your continued support in my triathlon endeavors. Having the right shoes, gear, and nutrition make the world of a difference. And thanks to the sponsors of FFT including <a href="http://www.racermateinc.com/">Computrainer</a>. I have been doing a majority of my riding on the computrainer and have learned to push well beyond my comfort zone, taking my biking to the next level! <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Me and Amanda after the race<br />
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A huge thanks to my Mom and sister, Manda, for transporting us around, cheering us on, and helping out in anyway possible! </div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Manda, Me, and Mom</div>
Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-61094399673136458592012-06-26T15:47:00.000-07:002012-06-26T15:47:51.391-07:00Copper Creek Sprint TriathlonThis past weekend Amanda and I went to Des Moines for the Copper Creek Sprint Triathlon in Pleasant Hill, IA, just outside Des Moines. This is the 3rd time I have competed in this race, the first two times were in 2009 and 2010 where I finished 6th and 5th, respectively. This is a fun and challenging sprint race which also has a nice prize purse for the top 3 which brings out some good competition. We got in late Friday night to my sister's house in Des Moines. On Saturday we went to the race course and got in a short swim and bike and picked up our race packets which included a free pair of CEP compression socks!<br />
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<br />
Race morning rolled around, I had my usual banana, Cookies N Cream <a href="http://powerbar.com/">PowerBar</a>, and cup of coffee, along with a few PowerBar Cola gel blasts about 30 minutes before the race started. I got in a good 15 min bike warm-up along with a short 5-10 minute swim warm-up prior to the race.<br />
<br />
Swim: 9:35 - 4th OA<br />
The swim was 750 meters and went very well. I got out well and had a person on both sides of me heading toward the first buoy. We rounded the first buoy and then I settled in right on the feet of the one of the guys in front of me. I was able to maintain that position through the whole swim and finished the swim with four others all within a few seconds of each other. <br />
<br />
T1: 1:06 - I transitioned well and started the bike right with another guy in first place<br />
<br />
Bike: 29:22 - 2nd OA<br />
I went back a forth a couple of times in the first couple miles with eventual race winner Daniel Bretscher but a few miles in, he pulled ahead of me and I wasn't able to pull him back in. I didn't let him get too far ahead though and didn't get passed by anyone else, although there were a handful of guys not far behind.<br />
<br />
T2: 0:26 - I entered T2 in 2nd place and headed out on the run<br />
<br />
Run: 17:35 - 3rd OA<br />
I knew Daniel was a great runner and also knew there was some good competition behind me. I could see Daniel most of the way and kept trying to close the gap between us but was unable to do so. At the turn-around I was able to see the other guys weren't too far behind. I kept pushing hard the final mile and a half and held onto 2nd place overall!<br />
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Finish: 58:04 - 2nd Overall!<br />
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Me, Daniel, and Patrick on the podium </div>
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Amanda got 2nd in her age-group</div>
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Me and Amanda after the race</div>
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Overall, a great race, a nice confidence booster heading into some tough training over the next month, and some good family time with my sister Rachel, brother-in-law, and niece and nephew! </div>Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-7271991902620354932012-06-03T17:44:00.001-07:002012-06-03T19:47:46.374-07:00American Triple-T Ohio Race ReportA few weekends ago I competed in my 4th American Triple-T Ohio which is comprised of 4 triathlon's over the course of 3 days. The race starts with a super sprint triathlon Friday night, 2 Olympic distance (run's are actually slightly longer at 6.55 miles) races on Saturday, and a half-ironman on Sunday. This was also my 3rd year in a row competing as a two person team with Adam Brown, a friend from back home. 2 years ago we won the team title and last year we were 2nd. We new the competition was going to be tough this year but figured we had a good chance at top 3. My girlfriend Amanda was also racing her first full triple-t Ohio and we were lucky enough to get a room at the lodge just minutes away from the transition area.<br />
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Race #1 - Friday Night - Super Sprint - The first race is really just a warm up for the rest of the weekend. It consists of a short 250 meter swim, 6k bike, and ~1 mile run (maybe a little shorter based on some of the "mile" times).<br />
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Swim (+T1) - 4:57<br />
Bike (+T2) - 11:05<br />
Run - 4:59<br />
Total - 21:02 and 5th overall<br />
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Finishing Race #1 </div>
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Race #2 - Saturday Morning - Olympic #1 - The 2nd race went really well. I swam well, started off the bike strong going back and forth with a few people until I had to stop for probably about a minute going up this steep hill (Thompson hill) due to a rubbing front break. I literally stopped going up this hill, got off my bike and tried to pull the break pads off the wheel the best I could. That didn't stop me though from having a great race. I rode strong the rest of the way and caught back up to 3 guys that I had been riding with before having to stop on the hill right as we entered T2. I felt great on the run as I ran side-by-side with Jared Milam who ended up being the overall individual winner of the weekend. All of the races start in a time-trial fashion and I started a few minutes back from the first few guys. I crossed the finish line in 3rd but ended up with the overall fastest time with the time trial start.<br />
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Overall Time: 2:05:39<br />
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Unfortunately there are no splits for this race <br />
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Race #3 - Saturday Afternoon - Olympic #2 - The 2nd Olympic on Saturday is a unique race in that the order is switched from the traditional swim, bike, run. This race goes bike, swim, run and is the first team race in which those competing on a team are allowed to draft on the bike and must finish together. I felt real strong biking and ended up leading most of the bike. Most people take the time to put on a wetsuit as your legs are more susceptible to cramping coming off the bike and going into the water. The water felt great as the outside temp was pretty warm and I ended up swimming well. Adam was right behind me the whole swim and we made it through T2 and ran steady.<br />
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Bike - 1:08:18 - 7th OA<br />
T1 - 1:16<br />
Swim - 19:43 - 3rd OA<br />
T2 - 1:29<br />
Run - 46:01 - 15th OA<br />
Finish - 2:16:49 - 7th OA<br />
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Race #4 - Sunday Morning - Half Ironman - Going into the final day, the team competition was pretty close. We were about 5 minutes down from the top guys and a little over 2 minutes back from the 2nd place team with a pretty solid cushion over 4th (~20ish minutes I think). The goal was to try and close in on 2nd and at least maintain 3rd place. The swim went well (was most likely short considering the split...). The bike is 2 laps and about 18 miles into the bike, my back tire blew out, which was literally the exact same place my tire blew out during my first triple-t 3 years prior. We ended up putting a tubular tire that Adam had with him on my clincher wheel and rode the next 9 or so miles into transition. When I got to transition, I got off my bike, ran to transition to grab my car keys, rode down to my car, switched out my wheels, and headed out on the 2nd lap. It took me about 20 miles to catch back up to Adam who decided to keep riding. We made it into T2 and Adam wasn't sure if he was going to run but we started the run. He ended up doing only one of two laps of the run and I finished out the 2nd lap on my own which made us ineligible for team rankings since we both didn't finish.<br />
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Me and Adam at the start of the swim for the Half Ironman</div>
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Swim - 22:39<br />
T1 - 1:15<br />
Bike (+T2) - 3:16:39 (tire blow out)<br />
Run - 1:47:50<br />
Finish - 5:28:24<br />
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Finishing up on Sunday</div>
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Overall, it was a great weekend of racing with great people. I already booked a cabin for next year and will be back and ready for a great race!<br />
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I took a nice a week off after triple-t as a little mid-season break and am looking forward to picking things up and getting ready for the Hy-Vee Triathlon over the next few months.Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-84019241130283175222012-04-24T22:03:00.000-07:002012-04-24T22:03:42.121-07:00Collegiate Nationals 2012This past weekend I competed in my 5th and final Collegiate Nationals. I traveled to Tuscaloosa on Thursday with the UD Tri Club and went to Olive Garden for dinner with the FSU Tri Team. On Friday I got up and had breakfast, made a quick Publix run, where I met James Haycraft and picked up my new pair of Shimano bike shoes thanks to <a href="http://www.insideoutsports.com/">Inside Out Sports</a>, and then went down to the race site for our pre-race workout and packet pickup. My pre-race workout consisted of a 25 minute bike on the course, a 7 minute run, and a 10 min swim in the Black Warrior River with a few pickups in each discipline. We went back to the hotel and relaxed for a little bit and then went to the free pasta dinner on campus.<br />
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Going into the race, I did my standard three day carbohydrate load. With nationals on Saturday, I started my carbohydrate load on Wednesday and kept track of everything I ate over those three days with an app on my phone. At 175 pounds (79.5 kg) I was aiming for 635 (8g/kg) - 795 (10g/kg) grams of carbohydrate per day. On Wednesday I took in 770 grams, on Thursday I took in 677 grams, and on Friday I took in 784 grams.<br />
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Race morning came and the women started at 7:30 and the guys at 10:30. All week there was a possibility for rain but it ended up being pretty great weather (60's and overcast) for the race with no rain. It was fun to see the girls start and I was able to watch them a little bit while trying to stay off my feet and get ready for my race. At 9:15 I hopped on the trainer we set up at our tent so I could get in a bike warm-up before the race started. After that, I grabbed my wetsuit and headed down to the river to get in a short swim warm up before the race started.<br />
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The swim: 20:17 (1:15/100 yd) - The start of the swim on this course is usually pretty crazy as you have over 100 people crammed into a very small space holding onto a dock. Luckily this year it wasn't too bad and I got out pretty fast to avoid getting kicked and hit around. About 1/4 of the way into the swim, I got kicked on the wrist and my Garmin 310XT fell off my wrist. I would highly recommend NOT wearing your Garmin during the swim portion of a triathlon. I know of another guy this happened to and its just not worth losing a $300+ watch...after that I was pretty upset about having lost the watch, but just accepted it and moved on knowing there was nothing I could do about it. Overall, the swim went pretty well. I took advantage of a couple of drafts and think I swam pretty smart.<br />
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T1: 2:13<br />
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The Bike: 58:54 (25.3 mph) - As I mentioned before, I got new bike shoes the day before the race, and I am 100% positive that they helped me have the solid bike split that I did. I took the first mile to get situated and from there pretty much hammered the rest of the way. I took advantage of the downhills and tail winds and held my ground pretty well on the uphills (where I have struggled a little bit in the past). I finished with the 3rd fastest bike split behind my Fast Forward Triathlon (FFT) teammate Jay McCurdy who split a 58:44 and Karl Kahsar who had the top bike split of 58:37 (only 17 seconds ahead of me). I came into T2 in 5th place and had made up a lot of ground on the bike.<br />
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T2: 0:38<br />
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The Run: 35:50 (5:46/mi) - I came off the bike and felt pretty decent. Knowing that there was a lot of great runners behind me my goal was to maintain a solid pace and hold off as many guys as I could, knowing also that the guys in front of me are all great runners and it would be difficult to catch them. The first couple miles are pretty hilly and tough and my medial quads on both legs started to cramp during the first mile. I have had this happen before so I knew that the only thing to do was to push through it and hope that it subsides, which it usually does and it did. I got passed just after coming out of T2 by Ryan Bice (who had the top run split of the day) but otherwise, I did not get passed the rest of the run.<br />
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Finish: 1:57:49 - 7th Overall and 3rd Graduate. I was very pleased with another top 10 finish and finishing 7th overall especially considering how competitive and deep this field was. Every year I have competed in nationals I have placed better. Back in 2008 in Tuscaloosa I was 25th, then in Lubbock I was 21st in 2009, 18th in 2010, and last year back in Tuscaloosa I was 10th. The atmosphere at nationals is outstanding and has always been a favorite race of mine, for the competition and the camaraderie that comes with competing with and against your friends and fellow athletes, many of which you have the chance to meet and come close to over the years, makes collegiate nationals a truly unique and fun race/weekend.<br />
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Congrats to my fellow FFT teammates Jay McCurdy who finished 8th overall and who motivated me to have the great race that I did. Jay and I went back and forth on the bike multiple times and I knew he had the ability to run me down which motivated me to run that much faster. Congrats also to the girls, Hallie Blunck, Erika Erickson, and Kathrine "Moose" Warren on finishing 3rd, 6th, and 7th in the women's race.<br />
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Thanks to my Coach Alex McDonald of <a href="http://fastforwardtriathlon.com/">Fast Forward Triathlon</a> for pushing me in the months leading up to the race. I am looking forward to building upon this race and having a great 2012 season.<br />
<br />Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-61002444572839073072011-05-30T17:21:00.000-07:002011-06-22T14:36:02.107-07:002011 Update: First Marathon, First Duathlon, First Draft Legal Triathlon, and a Few Other Races!It's been quite some time since I've last updated the Blog. I guess school, training, work, and everything else that life throws at us makes it tough to stay on top of things like this sometimes. 2011 has started off great in terms of racing (and really everything else as well). I completed the Disney Marathon (my first marathon) and ran 2:56:40, which I was very pleased with for my first marathon.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621149150951921250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIMepqPbMxp0WaMOMQhuV8M76OJO39POxCCMlCiYSzGujK5d_Fv4FQqG8RnBZaKt3itrXnFzjEuExVbIgJQEUuZXNGL9bTLiXiz6MD5EVMnb4Y5iOc3Z0O7TBDTWWTrHztx-N1MzOllqPr/s320/Disney+2.jpg" /><span style="color:#cc0000;">Mom, Me, and Manda after the marathon<br /><br /></span><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 213px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621155558333463362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYPpvZ5gX5LxJQIRoJfip-leauE_iECzuFCn6ESrrQGJOQM2aq5s8VZNt4Xoeh25XhHrmT2DA65i62stmc6ffSNIAGhdhyphenhyphenB9I2aGiuvU9kAymoRgV0bIMPhBGoCNsz0KegLxpZ3rpl8QJ4/s320/Disney+3.jpg" /><span style="color:#cc0000;">Finishing my first Marathon!<br /></span><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">Then in February I competed in the Chilly Willy Duathlon which consisted of a 5k run, 10 mile bike, and 5k run. I came in 2nd place overall and it was a great way to get the feet wet into multi-sport racing so early in the season.<br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621148800385489282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWB6k_BFqb0GEUJQ_vNiFUjxB5wrtH5PCKSJtr3hFRaVtaJgeh-6bp3TmnrzQXknXhb7S4HT1hvYZJy1CSXc0LXJ8IkYgKfpoCwmJvsVM8NZGIms1zb_cb6aesKd-I6svB9bDHcST05bt/s320/DU.jpg" /> <span style="color:#cc0000;">Peter, Javi, and Me after Chilly Willy<br /><br /></span><br /><br /><div align="left">In March I went to Clermont, FL twice for races. The first race was the inaugural Draft Legal Challenge Sprint Triathlon. This was my first opportunity to participate in a draft legal triathlon and I loved it! It was a 3 lap bike course and I spent a good amount of the first lap going close to all-out in order to catch up with the 2nd bike pack but was able to relax (slightly) once I caught them. We kept working hard the rest of the way and made a little ground on the lead pack. I came into T2 in 4th place and felt really strong on the run, running with a couple other guys I had biking with. I ended up finishing 4th (and missing my elite card by one place) but a blast doing this race and definitely want to do more draft legal racing in the future.<br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621148555316559826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0Lmx-8BP0XAbfOPEadRuLWtdcK0LbxAIIz-bVglhb0w5Q8Qf8HHd84qKZAWI31Urmr7ZRNgRfP2c_Cv6VYiKjAfxQcsxv_1HCXqeW9iYfLp3oF86xQ7XgHRRYgLd6aI-xPNP0DBENqoY/s320/Draft+Legal+2.jpg" /></div><br /><div><span style="color:#cc0000;">Amanda and Lauren came to watch the race! </span><br /><br /></div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621148338301716850" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1jhMPu2IcV3qkXJ_7yWQCv2u6QCanW3T1j0oWDJgQs-ARq6YxleRF5kAP6_rpZzm1Cpea9kc_cVFN67hIZFAMKpunOQoqkbAvLlW7ht8L-zw8p05yCXtBxloHUseQXkcwa4QTngye2No/s320/Draft+legal.jpg" /></div><br /><div><span style="color:#cc0000;">Peter, Javi, Tommy, and Me<br /><br /></div></span><br /><div align="left">The next race in Clermont a few weeks later was the Great Clermont Triathlon. This was intended to be a tune up for Collegiate Nationals which was 2 weeks away at the time. I came out of the water in first place but quickly got passed on the bike. I wasn't feeling it on the bike and just felt totally flat. I came into T2 in 3rd place and had some work to do on Thomas from U of Miami who through down a killer bike leg. The run was a 2 loop out-and-back and I was feeling good so I could tell I was closing in on him each time I saw him. It wasn't till about a mile or so to go that I passed him but then I was in first place and kicked it in and held onto first overall.<br /><br /></div><br /><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 213px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621147231892898754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3b_jEwHFEKl1ZMQf4BTbHlYegQTS4nxJKItVkpQGF4tc-_aM25yoslcGNWeQ2XDvtExFOnu-D6QARiqzcsNv8EI5B6cLqykUwJtCwX1gKltMMc8AUqFmNMs9oAOOAjBqbRbBysC0v1qjh/s320/Clermont.jpg" /> <span style="color:#cc0000;">1st out of the water at Great Clermont<br /></span><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">Next up was the first big "A" race of the season, Collegiate Nationals in Tuscaloosa, AL. I had pretty big goals going into this race, hoping for a top-5 finish (or at least a top 10 finish, something I had not done at this race). The swim was pretty standard, pretty rough start and took me a little while to get going and I came out in a decent position, on the bike, I rode pretty well, and the run was pretty tough with a couple of big hills over the first few miles. I finished in 2:00:41 (21:15 swim, 1:01:03 bike, and 36:59 run) which was good enough for 10th overall! It was a great weekend of racing and hanging with the FSU Tri Noles.</div><br /><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 202px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621146264624725890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPrl8wrQQIU26HRNv6J8bIF2EQGq8F3Eg5aG3KHe4WyzXfb8xmzcqo66-hcM8GYRzjeiPZqEaElW_P8lVFkRHOQoVGwYrMRDbO3xMaXrOQ9NLR1S38uYfYgjbCbhqOqf7G-33P4cqc9WT/s320/FSU.jpg" /></div><span style="color:#cc0000;">FSU Tri Noles after the race!<br /></span><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">I ended up doing the St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Petersburg last minute and it turned out to be a great race! (Thank you to Jennifer Hutchison on helping me get in last minute!) They had to shorten the swim due to major waves at the swim course but it turned out OK. The swim was 1000m with a long run (quarter-ish mile) to T1. I came out of the water feeling pretty good about my swim but not really sure where I was at. I passed a few people on the run over to T1 and headed out on the bike. It was a nice flat bike course and I didn't really get passed or do any passing of anyone else so I was still not really sure where I was at. Side note about the race: This guy was drafting on me (literally right on my wheel), I told him to stop but he continued to. He backed off when a few race officials came our way then got right back on me. I was so angry! We went around a turn and he crashed hard. I guess you get what you deserve....don't DRAFT!!! :) Back to the race. I came into T2 and saw that there were 3 bikes on the racks so I knew I was in 4th place. The run was an out and back and I was feeling pretty good. There were a bunch of pro women in front of me because they started a few minutes before we did so I just kept going after each of them and slowly made my way into 3rd place overall (age group). With about a quarter mile to go this guy tried to make a move on me, I sped up a bit, then slowed down knowing it was too soon to kick. He passed me, I sat on him for a few strides, then with just a couple hundred meters to go I took off and held him off. This was the hardest I have finished a race in a long time and it was a good experience knowing that theres almost always a little more to give. I finished 3rd overall Age Grouper and qualified for my Pro/Elite card! I'm not going to take it immedietly as I still have a lot more work to do to get to the ability where I can really race with other Pros out there but maybe at the end of this year. My times for the race were: 12:21 swim (1000m), 59:03 bike (40k PR), and 35:18 run (10k PR) with a finishing time of 1:51:11. </div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 228px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621146494078694482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisbnm1LKrb2nPSVidh6tAreApc094n1tXNylGEo806iCz0gSHxlnfOFbyxnDGMijV7ZBcyeYpRuzkZgB8f1YjgBXn8v30mY07ytmcpuorVVED6Pk2b-aRGdiCJDEseNbtfnsuGIp6NqW0a/s320/St+A%2527s.jpg" /> <span style="color:#cc0000;">Javi, Me, Alexa, and Amanda after St. Anthonys<br /></span><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">And my most recent race was the American Triple-T Ohio, 4 races over 3 days and over 140 miles of racing! I did it again this year with a teammate (Adam Brown, who with last year we won the team title). The race is a super sprint triathlon Friday night, 2 Olympic Distance triathlons on Saturday, and a half ironman triathlon on Sunday. We finished 2nd overall this year as a team and had a great weekend of racing. </div><br /><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 213px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612702276645707746" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLjBsfJ5KMHqpcd9zduwBIkDjXhF2QGr7bV-8RQaU4j23XQsGUJNe40BGnsrSzPE67WPmvv27i5kvOzrsGr78qqnrNmu-rlELLU2Ok-_X-gg6VvCyQ6bz3fHbVkRqNl1BDU13eqZAwaqJF/s320/247083_1785534484817_1433160146_31750291_7059134_n.jpg" /> <span style="color:#cc0000;">Before the start of race number 3 (bike, swim, run)<br /></span></div><br /><div align="left">I don't have any races planned for a while but am looking forward to the Hy-Vee Triathlon and the Best of the US triathlon Championship in September and then another draft legal triathlon at Myrtle Beach and the other Triple-T in North Carolina in October. </div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">Shout out to PowerBar and Brooks for their continued support! Check out the Vanilla and Chocolate protein (not pictured) for an extra boost to your post workout recovery...the stuff tastes awesome too! And the oatmeal raisin energy bites are great pre, during, or post workout and taste awesome as well! I finally got the new Brooks T7 as well as a few pairs of shorts (HVAC and Infiniti) all of which are great products. The shorts are incredibly comfy...I would highly recomend them if your looking for some new running shorts!<br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621158259449051698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5brUYlXAO_SgxHbfRDZpHtVKiRTQ1PORRBxw_epw12-aH02EtV9uBGs6fwOb8KOdemUgyTSz0b7YsOxDg-djLKKny2B_h5qGcD80uM0-lVohSwwWKJdrTNtoauSed1bjz1_exNMTLl3zB/s320/powerbar.jpg" /><span style="color:#cc0000;">Lemon energy blasts, oatmeal raisin energy bites, cookies and cream and vanilla performance bars, Ironman Restore and Ironman Perform!<br /></span><br /><br /><div align="left">Thanks to my Coach, Tim Edwards and North Coast Endurance Coaching (<a href="http://www.ncecoaching.com/">http://www.ncecoaching.com/</a>) on a great start to this season!</div></div></div>Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-91704119591117086352010-11-22T10:56:00.001-08:002010-11-22T11:21:08.223-08:00Thank you sponsors!With the triathlon season over, I just wanted to take the time to say thank you to my sponsors PowerBar and Brooks. <div><br /></div><div>This was my first year being a member of PowerBar Team Elite and it was great having their support to keep me nourished throughout my 2010 triathlon season. Some of the products that I came to enjoy included the Orange Recovery Powder, the Smoothie PowerBars, the PowerBar Protein Plus Dulce de Leche, and the new IM perform, just to name a few. I'm excited to have their continued support through my 2011 season which will start right off the bat in January while I take on my first marathon, into April with the USA Triathlon Collegiate Championships, and numerous other races throughout the year. </div><div><br /></div><div>I would also like to say thank you to Brooks who just recently began supporting me in my triathlon endeavors. I have been racing in the Brooks T6 for over 3 years now and love it as a racing flat! I have been training in the Brooks Glycerine as of recent and I am excited to start training in a little bit lighter of a shoe, the Brooks Ghost in the near future. I look forward to hopefully racing the Disney marathon in the Brooks ST Racer or Brooks Launch as well!</div><div><br /></div><div>Training Update:</div><div>My marathon training has been going pretty well. I have continued to up my miles gradually and am up to about 40 miles a week right now. I have gotten in a couple of solid longs runs although I am struggling toward the end of them and am hoping that over the next 7 weeks I will be able to become stronger in those final miles. I have been going to yoga a couple of times a week and am keeping up some solid swim workouts. I am not biking a ton right now but am trying to get in at least one good, solid ride each week! This Thursday (thanksgiving) I will be competing in the Naperville Turkey Trot 5k and am excited to try and run a 16:30 PR. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's all for now! </div>Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-56920104760431764432010-11-12T08:45:00.000-08:002010-11-12T08:53:58.307-08:00PowerBar Nutrition Talk at FSU<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; ">On October 12, I gave a nutrition talk to the Florida State University Triathlon club that I am now a part of. The talk was about basic triathlon nutrition including pre, during, and post workout nutrition and hydration. There were about 30 members in attendance and I brought in some PowerBar Orange Recovery Beverage and some Chocolate energy bites. The talk went really well and everyone seemed to enjoy the samples. A number of people had questions for me to answer and overall we had a really good talk and conversation regarding nutrition in the sport of triathlon. I wish I would have had more time to request product but the idea for the talk came up a little too late. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiukAEoRmNaOhmsgNEtG2I2jW_CzcCvMqdryxGPTwUqW5KxOsxLRvnEmi4m8vShbi1aN92N2ayFWzi7-XpTjT8t3bVGt2q2EY7eOy7jjPcf8r7VxzT48ZVm0jwcye1Ooqy77ez1G4jI-md5/s320/FSU+nutrition+talk+3.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538706015516883026" /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" >PowerPoint Presentation and samples of PowerBar Orange Reocovery</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></span></div></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7rjTacMrnzHyO0VJJQweGrS46e8e5j3svW_jDPzAm58m8taLkmQx_2Rs7-bEoyYyFSmRUH-Jkqmwd0PR7cv1PYqWE4ETwcO95DYv2QuoQCqRL2Qn8dtaGm1ay0blcm83MRzu6O_KJdav3/s320/FSU+nutrition+talk+2.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538705721099726914" /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 17px; "><br /></span></div>Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-14375061639127261882010-10-27T08:12:00.000-07:002010-10-27T10:23:17.667-07:00End of season recapI have had a few races since my last post and overall the season ended on a pretty good note! I raced the Tarpon Springs Sprint Triathlon in Tarpon Springs, FL, Age Group Nationals in Tuscaloosa, AL, and Suncoast Sprint Triathlon in St. Petersburg, FL.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tarpon Springs:</span>The Tarpon Springs Triathlon was part of the Florida Collegiate Conference series so myself along with a couple of the FSU guys went down to compete and represent FSU. The race was out on this little peninsula (and by little I mean it consisted of a parking lot and small beach) and ended up going very well for me and the FSU team! I finished 1st collegiate and 2nd overall, Tommy Barton finished 2nd collegiate and 4th overall, and Javier Zamparelli finished 3rd collegiate and 6th overall! I came across the line in first however got edged out by another competitor who was in a later wave by only 9 seconds...I was bummed by that but still very happy with the 2nd place OA finish and for FSU going 1, 2, 3 in the male collegiate division! Abby Thornton from FSU also competed and did very well as did my girlfriend Amanda!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDcTsAqUGQNE8trd-UNszdpDh7AK_RAyFyo6uSGm6ZBqmQKWk_TJcj67d3RbXwa59nIh-iHyuYkLzMM3NlC7CdG0lYW_f4k3QMB7Z2HvR7gcmAcF-QjgSSz8tlkM7HD6HdIOnq-uy1rEdm/s1600/Tarpon+Springs.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDcTsAqUGQNE8trd-UNszdpDh7AK_RAyFyo6uSGm6ZBqmQKWk_TJcj67d3RbXwa59nIh-iHyuYkLzMM3NlC7CdG0lYW_f4k3QMB7Z2HvR7gcmAcF-QjgSSz8tlkM7HD6HdIOnq-uy1rEdm/s320/Tarpon+Springs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532748847946911538" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Javi, Me, and Tommy post race at Tarpon Springs!</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Age Group Nationals:</span><br />Age group nationals was in Tuscaloosa, where collegiate nationals was in 2008, so I was familiar with the course. I again traveled with some of the FSU guys (Tommy, Austin, and Javi). We got there Thursday evening, stopping at Olive Garden on the way. Friday we headed down to the course to get in a pre-race workout. We biked some of the course and were able to get in the water briefly too! We saw a lot of the pro's who were getting in a swim too! We picked up our packets and had lunch, dropped off our bikes, and attempted to relax the rest of the night.<br /><br />Race morning rolled around and we got transition with plenty of time to spare! The swim went really well as I came out of the water with Tommy. We were both back and forth on the bike the entire way. The bike course was PACKED and I ended up getting hit with (in my opinion) a very dumb "drafting" penalty. Anyway, me and tommy came into T2 right together and set out for the run. Tommy took off as I struggled for the first few miles trying find some sort of groove. It was starting to get really warm by this point. The run course is quite challenging with a couple of good hills. A few miles in, I was passed by this guy I decided I would try to stick with him as long as I could. He pulled me along for the next few miles and we went back and forth in the final mile. My finishing times were as follows:<br /><br />Swim: 20:20<br />T1: 1:17<br />Bike: 1:00:15<br />T2: 0:43<br />Run: 37:59<br />Finish: 2:00:42 7th in AG, 22nd OA--> 2:02:42 10th AG, 32nd OA with Penalty<br /><br />Congrats to Tommy who finished 7th in the Age group, Javi who finished 18th, and Austin who raced well too! Me, Tommy, and Javi all qualified for 2011 worlds in Beijing! After the race we got to watch the Elites race and then attended the awards ceremony. Congrats to Tommy who had the FASTEST combined transition times in the entire country!! Side note: I found out a few days after the race that had bronchitis and an ear infection so I'm sure that didn't help things.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNI3SK-lEKOTb0w8CTbO60O79K8JiV42Emz2zfP4AnWYJDgDTaynBlGchY_Pvp-LzoJ7iiqXXvC2WhmB4eSy4MQ130pL9grqeo9_06ta3FVFJLF9SxfdQXXFhZqTNpOr16EvarnAliiOpW/s1600/Age+Group+Nationals.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNI3SK-lEKOTb0w8CTbO60O79K8JiV42Emz2zfP4AnWYJDgDTaynBlGchY_Pvp-LzoJ7iiqXXvC2WhmB4eSy4MQ130pL9grqeo9_06ta3FVFJLF9SxfdQXXFhZqTNpOr16EvarnAliiOpW/s320/Age+Group+Nationals.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532763522407221378" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Javi, Me, and Tommy before the race!</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Suncoast Sprint Triathlon (Last triathlon of 2010): </span><br />The Suncoast triathlon was in St. Petersburg, FL at Fort DeSoto (a gorgeous peninsula). This race was another Florida Collegiate Triathlon race however this time I was representing FSU alone since FSU was putting on their own race, Tri the Rez. I got to Amanda's Thursday evening and we picked up out packets and got some dinner at Panera (Love the new Mac 'n Cheese...yum!). Friday I checked out the course; I rode the 10 mile bike course and got in a short swim. Race morning came around with an early 4:30 am wake up. The race was scheduled to start at 7 (however it has not been getting light out until at least 7:30). We got to transition about 5:45 and I set up my area and headed for a short bike warm up (in the dark) and a short run warm up along the beach.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">The race was delayed about 30 minutes (because it was dark....I wasnt overly surprised...). The collegiate wave was first to go off. The swim was 1/3 mile and was wetsuit legal. I came out of the water in first (possibly a first for me) and quickly transitioned to the bike. I led the bike the entire way and entered T2 (while almost hitting 2 ladies and their strollers who were not paying attention right before T2). I headed out on the 5k run which was on sand on the way out and paved trail on the way back. I came across the line in first and felt very happy with my race. I finished 4 minutes ahead of the next collegiate and had to wait and see about the overall as I knew there were a few good guys in later waves (including the kid who had beat me at tarpon springs a month before).<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7d7T2dETUwevL6UKmUlV2t_56gqxjmJyw5yb0AlSam4519TdRa7Kww1uErRgBIAPo2oUQczSQdSgRYoqAy0cQShMrO4BDPsICCms7bxBxeirKWI97_USTGTE36gj0Lmk2wJwd33x_01W/s1600/Suncoast+Exit.php"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7d7T2dETUwevL6UKmUlV2t_56gqxjmJyw5yb0AlSam4519TdRa7Kww1uErRgBIAPo2oUQczSQdSgRYoqAy0cQShMrO4BDPsICCms7bxBxeirKWI97_USTGTE36gj0Lmk2wJwd33x_01W/s320/Suncoast+Exit.php" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532774423688576386" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Coming out of the water in 1st!</span><br /><br /></div>The whole run I just kept telling myself to keep going and not settle (thank you Tommy for the words of encouragement)....it paid off as I came away with the overall victory! It was a great way to end the season! Amanda finished 18th overall female and 2nd in her age group!<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Ll66tqsjQ8t6ueLAdUBA3V0ENL3Vuxi9r_BGAJO9kuqgmWVGHactHsOHIj83Lc4_1nGwylm8WLyok7vB7f8EWG8zMB6OX7BwGLZOpXGgRDyXwb3VO6ouVC2YWA8GiYv4RSq1BUs8b0p0/s1600/Suncoast+Tri.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Ll66tqsjQ8t6ueLAdUBA3V0ENL3Vuxi9r_BGAJO9kuqgmWVGHactHsOHIj83Lc4_1nGwylm8WLyok7vB7f8EWG8zMB6OX7BwGLZOpXGgRDyXwb3VO6ouVC2YWA8GiYv4RSq1BUs8b0p0/s320/Suncoast+Tri.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532773692352774530" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Me and Amanda with our awards. 1st Overall and 18th overall female!</span><br /><br /></div>After the race me and Amanda went for an hour run (I wanted to get in another run since I was going to be taking the week after the race off/easy). So we ran and then stretched and through a frisbee on the beach for a little bit and then treated ourselves to an Iced Coffee which hit the spot!<br /><br />Recap: This season was pretty successful. Me and Adam won the American Triple-T team. I raced really well at Steelhead 70.3 and won the Naperville Sprint Triathlon along with the recent Suncoast Tri.<br /><br />Next up: I am hopefully going to be coached by Tim Edwards this offseason who just started his own coaching business, North Coast Endurance Coaching (ncecoaching.com). I am planning on doing my first marathon (Disney, January 9, 2011) and am looking forward to having a run focused couple of months. Being in Florida I am really looking forward to training outside all year long and doing a few early season races and be ready to go for Collegiate Nationals next April!<br /><br /></div></div>Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-10315397430525158912010-08-28T14:09:00.000-07:002010-08-28T14:49:36.864-07:00Naperville Sprint Triathlon<div align="left">The Naperville Sprint triathlon was just one week after Steelhead so I took the week pretty easy leading up to it. It's always fun to do this race! This was my first triathlon ever 5 years ago. Race morning rolled around and I got into downtown Naperville. I decided to hop on my bike and warm up a little bit before headint to transition. I got checked in and set up, went for a short run, got my swim stuff and headed to the water. I was unsure weather to wear my speedsuit or not but after a short warm-up without it, I decided to wear it (my jersey has a lot of drag in the water). The race has a time trial start with 4 athletes going every few seconds. I started in the 2nd group in hopes of avoiding as much traffic as possible. </div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="left">I came out of the water in 3rd place overall (and had the 3rd fastest swim). I transitioned to the bike and was in 2nd place. A mile or 2 into the bike I took over the lead and was pushing hard knowing that there was some good competition behind me. The bike is a 2 loop course and at the start of the 2nd loop there are a lot more racers on the course starting their first lap. I got passed about this time but made sure not to let Jason (the guy who passed me) get too far ahead. I kept him in sight the rest of the way and passed him with less than a half mile left in the bike.</div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 215px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 298px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510576581428962338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkKJtXfP1m0xiBYk-iSewFhYgrb7dDnmkV3o6qfk-3ukC5sWfk2rDlHHtSqCWYN9_2uiC1oVD6GXyojOt5YcJoh9-yUDhurjLBwTE4_PaVExx9o3_9a8ddAsBU5-FY_NJUE38qct-kgo9/s320/Me+on+the+bike.jpg" /><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ff0000;"><strong>Coming down Aurora Ave on the bike (Picture by Brandon Gittlemen)</strong></span><br /></p><br /><p align="left">In T2 I turned down the wrong aisle and couldn't figure out where my stuff was! Always make sure you know where your going in transition! Me and Jason came out of T2 at exactly the same time and unlike last year at this race, my running legs felt good! We battled it out the entire way and with about 100m to go I pulled away and crossed the line in first! At this point I was estatic but still not totally sure if I had won since everyone starts at a different time and I knew there were a couple of really good guys behind me including fellow PowerBar athlete Ryan Guilano. </p><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 215px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 281px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510577829940762482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVeHx15NyHIM9Gz4r8175t7CUNOLwA-aY2L6VThjOJOUqrgkZLuLOHu570mkGgpMDDJ02mukyGOe_Xd06dr84_UhdOtE_Kl1_rZqumEZ587cNhDvqMV4uX2j4xO97fdNHizlXCFKw4rUNz/s320/Me+and+Jason.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ff0000;"><strong>Me and Jason on the run...stride for stride the entire run! </strong></span><br /></p><p align="left">A little while later they posted the results and it was official! I was so happy! The race couldn't really have gone any better. My finishing time was 56:37, about 15 seconds faster than last year and apparently the swim was a little long....My swim time was 5:55 (3rd OA), bike time was 30:57 (2nd OA, 26.5 mph), and my run time was 16:50 (4th OA). </p>Next up is age group nationals! This will be the first time I am doing this race and very excited about it! Training was a little down for a few weeks after Naperville as I was getting ready to move down to Florida to start Grad school at Florida State University. Between packing things up to leave, driving down, and looking for a place to live training was a little difficult. Things are back on track now though and I have my own appartment here in Tallahassee and have started training with the FSU triathlon club!<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510579994348995794" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_25Ob_HhyulXL7y0hj6GXF9H2gbjOscrbXJiVY_S04FNDYPghzd2OgiMVKT55igrnebg9yESxnMqREgvSiUhxbJJR1JtbHblHBgTGhdU8tOjubRLBh4dFlPCG0lTDYg9CmaZA0dGj6nrc/s320/Living+Room+and+Kitchen.jpg" /> <p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ff0000;"><strong>My new appartment in Tallahassee!!</strong></span></p>Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-87573055498255534432010-08-01T12:23:00.000-07:002010-08-28T14:50:02.394-07:00Evergreen Lake and Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon Race ReportIt has been a little while since I've posted and I have a few races to catch up on so here it goes...<br /><br /><strong>Evergreen Lake Triathlon</strong><br /><br />I competed in the Evergreen Lake Triathlon in Bloomington, Illinois, an Olympic distance triathlon on July 16. Overall the race didn't go quite as planned. The swim was OK but the 82 degree water really got the best of me and I couldn't really get going and my shoulders were pretty tired most of the way. The bike was the only positive part of the race. I felt really strong and kept a solid pace throughout the slightly longer than normal 42K bike course (normally 40k for Olympic Distance races). I got to try out the new Ironman Perform drink by Powerbar (I went with the Orange-Mango flavor and loved it!). I made the transition to the run and wasn't too sure how my legs were going to respond after an aggressive bike leg. The temperature was warming up and soon after starting the run I knew it was going to be a long, slow run. I kept going the best I could and tried to increase my pace every once in while but my legs just did not respond well. I finished the 10k in 42:21, almost 7 minutes slower than last year on the same course which was pretty dissapointing but most of the run times were unusually slow. My overall time was 2:10:09 which put me at 13th place overall.<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 321px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 202px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510558434840254674" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBtKuhLErMd2jxtN_EYkDEYhLgUCCcjLXAO0jQqM6ph14pjqB-WGkapWBnWQcNC89O1G9WGUiI_NQ05r-isVM8YybmnTLQAvLZtOvhLlE2EmDP4YLWhJg2vtTPphoAI_VNL5sSusWxDOwu/s320/Swim+Start.bmp" /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ff0000;"><strong>Before the start of the race (In my Xterra Speedsuit)</strong></span></div><br />I was originally hit with a position/drafting penalty of some sort (which I didn't find out until the next day when the results were posted online...after some investigation and contacting USAT, the penalty was revoked...lesson's learned, 1. always check the results while at the race and 2. always follow up and stick with what you know is right). I was ready to move on from this race and focus on my next race, Steelhead 70.3 Half-Ironman 2 weeks later!<br /><br /><strong>Steelhead 70.3 Half-Ironman</strong><br /><br />After a not-so-great race at Evergreen, I was really hoping to race well at Steelhead, a Half-Ironman in Benton Harbor, MI on July 31st. I headed up the night before the race to pick up my packet and got dinner with Amanda and her dad and aunt. The restuarant had a pasta bar set up (as they have a high demand from all of the triathletes eating out and wanting pasta the night before the race) which worked out really well!<br /><br />Race morning rolled around and it was a wet, cool, soggy morning, not quite what I was hoping for but Amanda and I rode over to the transition area from the hotel and we got all our stuff set up. My wave wasnt scheduled to go off until 7:54 although we had to be out of the transition area at 7 (when the Pro's went off) so I had a little time to kill and try and stay warm before I had to to walk down to the swim start (a mile away...the swim is a point-to-point 1.2 mile swim with the current).<br /><br />I did a short swim warm up and headed to the start. The water temp was pretty perfect at about 70 degrees or so (maybe a little less). Anyway, I felt great in the water! I had a nice long, strong stroke going the whole way. I lost the top couple guys after the first few hundred meters but then this one guy with the same colored cap passed me so I decided to stick with him; and that I did the rest of the way. I came out of the water confident and feeling good (minus the tough uphill run on the uneven sand from the water to the TA) and ready to start the 56 mile bike!<br /><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 130px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 178px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510565071815938002" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6o0B-Iib4ooxutJq0xdQQ-OVQ0OI_g6Y5bQljhQjIdj8KXQ9Mp-Ril9kJmTJJ9eFkVE8lXJhkqjgjbr6DpSc7mQDkLjB-3wz2NneT7WNAYdhqobxFw1LJQ6r9z4Huxityl5cRENRkKwjC/s320/Exiting+Water.jpg" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ff0000;"><strong>Coming out of the water, heading into T1 </strong></span></p><p align="left">I got going right away and was feeling great from the get-go! The rain had let up but the temperature stayed cooler. I plugged away the entire time and ended up biking a 2:17:00 (24.5 mph average) which I was really happy about! At the very end of the bike I started cramping a little bit and was really nervous that it was going to affect my run...luckily there was no sign of cramping as I started the run otherwise it could have been a long, slow 13.1 miles. I felt strong running and averaged about 6:30's the first 4 miles or so. I slowed up a little bit but maintained a solid pace throughout. I ended up running a 1:29:13 half-marathon (6:48 average) which I was very pleased with. My finishing time was 4:16:00.</p><p>I really wasnt sure where I was amongst the other guys in my age group and you can never really know how your doing overall (as everyone is starting at a different time) but I was very happy with how I did. Unfortunely I missed qualifying for Clearwater by 53 seconds (2 spots in my age group, I was 3rd). </p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 321px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 234px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510567519872669154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZAXRqPoKVFmGyeJvTTu0OiHfPIQ92TDPkgXERA0xaa1zSqGuP4xtLhpeDGjB-CpdUfGb8hgWTzvaI_3YgOw3ybKOncjCp7xkq_B-8kI59FPQKBsVsaKJNTXCtG7XXNZ0S4LWZjtwGR488/s320/Me+and+Amanda+Post+Race.jpg" /> <p align="center"><strong><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ff0000;">Me and Amanda after the race!!</span></strong><br /><br /></p><p></p><p>After I got done I waited for Amanda to finish (she did extremely well...way to go Amanda!). We went down to the water to soak our tired legs, got some food (and POP...haha :) and enjoyed the rest of the day and evening in Benton Harbor! My mom along with Mr. Bachman and Amanda's Aunt were there to cheer us on...it's always nice to have some family at the race to cheer us on!<br /></p><p align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510568324048395410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZCluUerjTSHb-eYS8K3q3sCAptAzjeW7y7kFIE_aicF_h__ihBY8fzmpdYwEjtnTyq52ACDDEI7bEjS9zp_SuIEKMNQh66eP_5KhtPSAEZT7fZZWkCsDCqyfK9SWnAKr9w7p4qk1RwtG3/s320/Me+and+Amanda+Post+Race+2.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ff0000;"><strong>Me and Amanda after the Awards Ceromony<br /></strong></span></p>Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-45181941763958780702010-06-23T11:56:00.000-07:002010-06-23T13:12:19.379-07:00Copper Creek Sprint Triathlon and Hy-Vee Triathlon Race Reports<div style="text-align: left;">On June 6th I competed in the Copper Creek Triathlon in Pleasant Hill, IA (Just east of Des Moines). The race is a sprint triathlon but offers nearly $5,000 in prize money so there is definitely some good competition that comes out to race. The race overall went really well. The swim was wetsuit legal at 75 degrees so I went ahead and wore my full-sleeve Vector ProX2 from Xterra and I came out of the water in 4th or 5th. The bike was OK. Legs didn't feel great but I came in on the bike in 6th place. Heading out on the run I was feeling good and was going to give it my all to see if I could crack into the top 3. I quickly moved into 5th and moved into 4th about a mile in of the 5k run. I got passed by Jason Maurice, who I had previously passed to get into 4th and had gone back and forth with on the bike. I hung with him hoping that we could work together to finish strong, and that we did as it came down to a sprint finish. He out kicked me finishing 4th and I finished 5th.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS0Q0Ry4PJBjMJK2rkNDPG_jWKvWuQDEIBqw9_opdo_N24esIUCzGVvvWGt8qI0Psv_YGyJVVxsXKRULs1Hg-afF8edVzgPE5VzwHal7rdlGhBXi0WVFOKgiuM-0eEXge3gjofGGFU5rLN/s320/100_2822.JPG" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Practice swim the day before the race in my Xterra Vector ProX2!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">My sister, brother-in-law, and niece live in Des Moines, so I was able to stay all week with them, help them out with Ava and get some open water swims at Raccoon River Park where the Hy-Vee Triathlon is. The new PowerBar Team Elite gear was finally available and I was able to have it overnighted in time for the race (pictures below!). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjxxsdHLZVwd8hrdBajhSaN9zfvxJb1C_f3JIm0T96Iz4EUtOnmOO6kp5Bg9Q82ft3o4bYWpGFI1aqhUvJmrDfhdH2K2z4ZVCRwGh0s-GPKwPb7Rw9ETUYccW03sm-BqXtWrjvs114AWSk/s320/Ava.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">My niece, Ava, trying to eat a PowerBar....too cute!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">This was the 4th year that I have done the Hy-Vee Triathlon. Race morning rolled around and about 45 minutes before the start, it was announced that the race was going to be a sprint triathlon due to a strong storm that was expected to move in. At that point I was definitely disappointed as I had planned on competing an Olympic Distance race but I quickly got over that and made sure I did everything I needed to do get me ready for this race. The race was wetsuit legal but with it being a supposedly 400 meter swim, I decided against using a wetsuit in hopes of gaining some time in transition; I went back and forth multiple times about what to do...it was a coin flip decision. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The swim started with a time trial start. The swim was OK. I'm pretty sure it was longer that 400 meters and maybe should have worn my wetsuit; oh well. The bike felt good, unlike last week where I just couldn't really get going. The run also felt pretty solid. I ended up running a 16:57 5k which I was really happy about and finished 8th place overall behind some really good competition! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDXj-d4ygcKjGK0wzXQdPxCU2OQzPH15yKf_cB1uw1c82U5Lp4lcthvdQ4JM3zqRhckINvs7mMuyDKydyMlCnjep1NHHCZ9IKKc5lqyoBbYAopB34J1jNbFCL-MDwFAYb_jNlH1KfAqu3/s320/100_2912.JPG" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Sporting the new PowerBar Team Elite Gear before the start of the Race</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkl6frinsyO03jHv4EKQXOrOs4SurZ7d80z8yKXcpBVySSE5Mp4Wvou4FsXRnmV8QBsi_MPvN4-6k2OzcVUHQt2Zcd6a8vpiFz8pSH_xOeQ4nTtJadfYBFAuIMXquZ3GRdnWHJmZ9riC-s/s320/100_2945.JPG" /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Manda, Me, Rachel, and Mom after the race</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyQWbytGN2r21CsHj37wHZsZEW435Qq5q32sa2Lr3BLfQixrRLgiKjDP0nnmmSHB8FzC40Dab7hO570YHrWQ7OhLlgfuuMXfKz-mzdILWGJH0FUAIcQWAoU1e3ySDIQLtkGEoptvl4UEH/s320/100_2948.JPG" /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">Me with Aaron Shiedes and his guide. Aaron has only 20% of his vision and finished right behind me during the race. Great guys!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">After the race I got a free massage and ended up helping out at the PowerBar table/tent with Steve Rosinski, a fellow team elite member, when the storms finally rolled through. After the storms cleared up, we were able to enjoy the rest of the day, getting a bunch of free SWAG (stuff we all get) from all of the sponsors that are giving stuff away and were able to watch the women's and mens Elite races. Emma Snowsill won the womens race after an impressive run and Tim Don won the Men's race also after an impressive run. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1qm5aO2AzjWtjcoe9Bnr-gkPmm4UiWtYBO7GSs1IcNbrW_4wHdvwU0nmZebli76X_bt_rWy4p06DJosGT23ZoHcz8oOYVKkOatds2KwkL9bj-7rmfXIWzgTE237SxAGoWzWPtgKsv99tm/s320/100_2949.JPG" /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">All of the SWAG from the race: One of the great things about the Hy-Vee Triathlon!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK8Ql9K9jOheUyX4icKngavOxWha8pZSjnjXLK42hWRpIGSvIeGu00rO_59tX8t1D8HvlJR4gB1q4scPLJ6haB7NF3GxQCu6-eO2q7r5Hx5_WDCXepZxY-LEqzH8GRa0CXgZx3y9_6t12W/s320/100_2975.JPG" /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">The Pro's riding through Hy-Vee Stadium</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">Currently I have a nice 4 week break until my next race, the Evergreen Lake Triathlon in Bloomington, IL. I have already gotten in some good quality workouts including a solid 72 mile ride with some good tempo work where I tried out the new PowerBar Ironman Perform drink, a 14.5 mile hot and hilly run both down in Cincinnati, along with a great swim workout just this morning. Hopefully these next few weeks continue to go well so I can race strong at Evergreen and carry that into the rest of my races planned in 2010!</div>Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-19259618110253674312010-05-28T21:48:00.000-07:002010-05-30T14:43:38.358-07:00American Triple-T Race Report<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0IkSrQudfvtc_mxQ6_dPsqRNaUl-Mz1bn8hTTNwVADaRft5OU03hK8BwEq3knuTGpWfZJ-g310Sctj5Mybz87rRQKD22jxTsKpga0yp36dsiSKVxi1t1AEzrQoo0MvfkyFmnSWzVbbv8/s1600/Cabin+Picture.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0IkSrQudfvtc_mxQ6_dPsqRNaUl-Mz1bn8hTTNwVADaRft5OU03hK8BwEq3knuTGpWfZJ-g310Sctj5Mybz87rRQKD22jxTsKpga0yp36dsiSKVxi1t1AEzrQoo0MvfkyFmnSWzVbbv8/s320/Cabin+Picture.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477178130253392066" border="0" /></a><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC4Me0CNVZTg1VOEzvBR8X247bf9EfG1mkjZY03O970jBBvkpH9MPG2Ru2aHsIiyf7hm5pQTa_dGr9fO6g2PFRmedjdCzmhvHDHoXPP9zpf-iWnQPvhEjpglyi9u0xSB_Q6ax2ndYvRajL/s1600/Cabin+Picture.jpg"><br /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Our Awesome Cabin Before the Half-Ironman On Sunday!</span><br /><br /></div>Last weekend I competed in the American Triple-T, a race that consists of 4 races in 3 days; a Super-sprint Friday evening, 2 Olympics on Saturday (Morning and Afternoon), and a Half <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ironman</span> on Sunday. The total distance of the races equals roughly an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Ironman</span>. The courses are all very challenging with a lot of hills on the different bike courses and the same out and back rocky trail for the run course. The race is held in Portsmouth, Ohio in southeast Ohio. <div><br /></div><div>The race can be done with a teammate where drafting is allowed on the bike during the 3rd and 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">th</span> races. I teamed up with Adam Brown and we ended up taking 1st place overall in the team division. </div><div><br /></div><div>The first race went well and I finished 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">th</span> place overall. This race consists of a 250 meter swim, 5 mile (or less) bike, and 1 mile run; just enough to get the legs ready for a fun weekend ahead. I was lucky enough to stay in one of the cabins right in the park just a mile or so away from the entire race site with a bunch of great people!<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The second race went really well and I finished 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">th</span> place overall in that race as well. Our cabin took 3rd, 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">th</span>, 5<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">th</span>, and 6<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">th</span> overall which was a major accomplishment! Between races we went back up to the cabin and took a nice 1.5 hour nap. Race 3 was the first "team" race with a slightly different order than the typical swim-bike-run. This <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Olympic</span> distance race started with the bike then goes to the swim and then finally the run. Me and Adam raced well taking the whole thing nice and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">conservative</span> and finished 5<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">th</span> overall.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uOpDv4p7-iXxOekxD6qDX9jCW7IKrksVV04rrAVyW9XE1ioVScE7-UY2oayq2RzzTtAsFpEj1kwV3HLed8TsJooJWPXc7ieggHNhhJ2o-ENJ3qZv4dcUCWqd7W3DO9z0wg1HxEXfEMvE/s1600/Adam+and+Me+on+Muscle+Stim.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uOpDv4p7-iXxOekxD6qDX9jCW7IKrksVV04rrAVyW9XE1ioVScE7-UY2oayq2RzzTtAsFpEj1kwV3HLed8TsJooJWPXc7ieggHNhhJ2o-ENJ3qZv4dcUCWqd7W3DO9z0wg1HxEXfEMvE/s320/Adam+and+Me+on+Muscle+Stim.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477179574954717458" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Adam and Me getting our recovery on Saturday night before the Half Ironman!</span><br /><br /></div><div>Sunday rolled around and Adam and I had a pretty good lead going in so the goal was to keep things nice and steady to make sure we could finish the run strong and steady. We finished 7th and 8th overall for the Half Ironman and took home the team title!</div><div><br /></div><div>HFP racing does a fantastic job of putting on this weekend of races. There is great food after all of the races and everything is very well organized. This "race" is unlike any other in the country and is definitely a very unique, challenging, and fun race experience with great camaraderie. I would definitely recommend it to anybody looking for a challenge!<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://www.powerbar.com/">PowerBar</a> for keeping me fueled over the entire weekend. PowerBar Endurance Formula kept me fueled on the bike, PowerBar Recovery Formula helped me make sure my muscles recovered quickly after each race, and the PowerBar Smoothie Bars, energy bites, and gels kept me fueled before and during the races!<br /><br />Thanks to Xterra Wetsuits as well. This was the first race I was able to use my Vector Pro X2 Wetsuit and it was great!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAWXpEOK2THTcqzYyi2xxtpgYuW6WzvzmQ52N258wD7t3hKowP-q7fgzEKfsoPH2H5ExSXe1FlXd2a39gH0nYba1J6-Pt8stq_cRes5SOt2TbHmVHlWfdqKZ3xR_TK07Mg8bIp1HJzI8Af/s1600/Awards+Ceromony+with+Cabin.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAWXpEOK2THTcqzYyi2xxtpgYuW6WzvzmQ52N258wD7t3hKowP-q7fgzEKfsoPH2H5ExSXe1FlXd2a39gH0nYba1J6-Pt8stq_cRes5SOt2TbHmVHlWfdqKZ3xR_TK07Mg8bIp1HJzI8Af/s320/Awards+Ceromony+with+Cabin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477178521839640322" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">At the Awards Ceremony: After 140 miles of racing, were all still standing and smiling!</span><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div>One week until the Copper Creek Triathlon in Des Moines, IA and 2 Weeks until the big Hy-Vee Triathlon also in Des Moines, IA! Very excited for both of these races. Race updates to follow after each!<br /><br />Happy Memorial Day to everyone. Thanks to all of those that serve in our military and keep our country safe!<br /></div>Colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741742545135161730.post-17079265955120964812010-04-30T00:17:00.000-07:002010-04-30T01:50:22.785-07:00April 30th: A Day of RemembranceIt is amazing how fast time flies. As I write this, I am trying to finish up my last project of my undergraduate career at the University of Dayton. Today, however, marks the 4 year anniversary of the day my dad died. As some of you may know and others of you may not, my dad suffered from alcholism and struggled with it for many years. This is the reason why to this day I do not drink, and never have, as I know I possess those same addictive qualites that he once did; this is one of the major reasons why I love the sport of Triathlon as well, because I can transfer those qualities into a sport that I have come to deeply love and become quite competitive at. It is those qualites that have helped me become the triathlete that I am today and will continue to carry me into the future.<br /><br />I wish he was still here to see me compete and to be here this weekend to see me graduate. He was always so proud of everything I did, as well as my 2 older sisters, and I know he would be very proud of me this weekend for graduation and for my all of my successes in triathlon thus far.<br /><br />Today is about remembering my dad. All of the good times that we had together; going to baseball games, going to baseball card shows, watching our cleveland sports, going to cedar point, and so many other things. It makes me sad to think back to four years ago when he passed away the day before my sister's college graduation and how he won't be there for mine. However, I know he will be there in spirit.<br /><br />My mom and sisters, brother-in-law, and niece are coming into town today for my graduation weekend. It will be good to all be together on this day, something that has not happened since four years ago.<br /><br />I just want to end with a few words: You never know when you might lose a loved one so make sure you tell those people in your life how much you love them and how much they mean to you and enjoy the time you get to spend together, even when they may get on your nerves, because once they're gone you will miss them more that ever. Do it today for me, in remembrance of my dad, but do it everyday or everytime you talk to someone special in your life; life's too short not too.<br /><br />Dad, I love you and miss you each and every day...forever you will be remembered and in my heartColinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924715501530884212noreply@blogger.com1