Race Results

2013

Ordinary Mortals Triathlon, Pueblo CO - Sprint Distance  1:03:43  1st M40-49, 11th Overall

Short season this year (as with 2012).  Amazing how full-coaching doesn't always allow for a lot of training!  Hoping to step up my game in 2014.  Stay tuned.

2012

New York Triathlon Series Race #1, Harriman NY - Sprint Distance  1:20.09  1st Overall
Long Island Gold Coast Triathlon - Sprint Distance  1:00:29  1st M40-44 AG, 9th Overall


2011

Cedar Beach Triathlon - Sprint distance  1:16.42  1st M40-44 AG, 8th overall

My 2011 season was severely abbreviated due to a broken ankle in February, and I was only able to participate in one late season triathlon.  Hopefully 2012 will find me back in the game.


2010

North Face Endurance Challenge Trail 1/2 Marathon 2:06
Christine's 5K  18:03
Sleepy Hollow Triathlon - Sprint distance  1:08.54  1st M40-44 AG, 6th overall
Stamford Triathlon - Olympic distance   2:17.33  5th M40-44 AG  (2:00 penalty)
Gail's Trail Race - 5.5M  :40.39  2nd overall


2009

Health Net Triathlon - Olympic distance   2:14.28  2nd M40-44 AG
Park City Mossman Triathlon - Olympic distance  2:11.01  5th M40-44 AG 
Toughman Half Iron Triathlon  5:07.10  11th M40-44 AG  32 / 335 overall
Paine to Pain Trail Half Marathon  1:36.45  6th M40-49 AG
Mamaroneck Turkey Trot - 5M  :30.49  2nd M 40-49 AG
Gail's Trail Race - 10K  :51.00  3rd overall
Key West Christmas 5K  18:58  3rd overall, 1st in Masters Division


2008

NY Triathlon Series Race 1 - Sprint distance  1:24.34  1st M35-39 AG  16 / 285 overall
NY Triathlon Series Race 2 - Sprint distance  1:22.20  1st M35-39 AG  15 / 322 overall
Westchester Triathlon - Olympic distance  2:27.55  14th M35-39 AG  73 / 855 overall


2007

Windmill 10K  :42.04
Scarsdale 15K  1:03.48
Tarrytown 5K  :19.21
NY Triathlon Series Race 1 - Sprint distance  1:24.39  5th M35-39 AG  17 / 275 overall
Fairfield 5K  :18.54  3rd M30-39 AG
NY Triathlon Series Race 2 - Sprint distance  1:23.54  3rd M35-39 AG  17 / 268 overall
The Pavement Ends Trail Race - 5M  :34.30  2nd in M30-39 AG


2006

Jingle Bell 5K  :20.34
NYRR Manhattan 1/2 Marathon  1:41.35
Nashville Marathon  3:45:01
Healthy Kidney 10K  :43.51
Larchmont 5K  :20.07  2nd in M30-39 AG
NY Triathlon Series Race 2 - Sprint distance  1:32.20  16th M35-39 AG  78 / 408 overall
NYC 1/2 Marathon  1:35.44

Failure is Progress

A few months back I had an athlete racing at an Olympic distance triathlon.  He was racing in the men's open division and was on his way to earning his pro-card that day. He had a great swim, and he was in 2nd place a few miles into the bike leg.

He missed the turn for the Olympic distance race.  He continued on the half-iron distance bike course for 2 miles before realizing what happened.  By the time he made it to T2, he was too far behind to make the podium.  He wasn't happy, obviously.  But after chatting with him for a while, we moved forward and walked away from the event with a good attitude and some clear ideas on how to ensure that didn't ever happen again.

Call them setbacks, or failures, or what-have-you.  It’s important to fail.  Whether as a junior age-grouper when you were growing up, or as a competitive age-grouper racing with other adults at a 70.3, local Olympic distance triathlon, or even the annual Turkey Trot in your town.  Or both.

Not performing as well as one would have hoped at an event can be frustrating, of course.  But it's also a teachable moment.  A motivator.  It’s an opportunity to determine what didn’t go correctly and to plan – and more importantly, why?  Then, with that information, you can determine how to fix that limiter moving forward.

In fact, as a coach, I look forward to the occasional setback. Whether with one of my athletes or my own.

As a coach it’s frustrating when an athlete experiences a setback - or fails - especially in a race.  But it's going to happen.  Your athlete needs to understand that - and so do you, the coach.  It’s those times that, as a coach, we need to focus on the positives with the athlete.  Talk about what we learned from the experience and discuss how we’re going to go about resolving the issue at hand.

As an athlete, again, this is a teachable moment.  It’s hard to grasp that concept when you cross the finish line and are frustrated by your less than anticipated result.  But it happens to everyone now and again.  The pro’s….everyone.

A few years ago, a family in my community threatened to sue a school district because their son didn’t make the varsity baseball team.  Now, when I was growing up, you either made the varsity team or you didn’t.  And in some cases, if there was no junior varsity squad, it meant you didn’t play at all.

When I was growing up, If I didn’t make the team, then I worked hard to improve. I took that setback and used it as a motivator.   I learned right away that things aren't always going to come easily. They didn't. And they still don't.

At the end of the day, it’s about doing your best.  If that means you earned a trophy, or a personal best, or you left nothing in the tank at the end of the race and know you couldn’t have gone 1 second faster, then you’ve succeeded that day.

The point?

Work hard toward your goals.  Work very hard.  Those goals should be challenging, but attainable.  Will they come easily?  If you set your goals properly then the answer is of course: No.  They won’t.  But they’ll be achievable through hard work.  Will you have a setback throughout your journey?  More than likely.  Probably, in fact.  Embrace that moment.  Learn from it.  Don’t let it get you down. Become a better person from it.  A better athlete.  Be stronger from the experience.

But don’t give up.  

Triathlon and Nutrition

Sometime last summer, I wrote about the importance of nutrition in endurance sports, and how triathlon was not a diet.  I wrote that article shortly after speaking to a triathlon club in Manhattan, New York.  That club was comprised mostly of beginner / first time triathletes, and the influx of comments regarding "race weight", "leaning out", and "dropping weight" were troubling.

You're naturally going to become more fit, and toned, when following a properly periodized training plan.  Although you may very well add muscle mass and potentially gain a nominal amount of weight, you'll look better, feel better, and be in a healthier state.  But you need to eat properly throughout the process to ensure that your body is fueled and cared for.

There are lots of coaches and trainers out there.  Buyer beware.  I recently heard of one trainer who suggested that their client fast (not eat) until noon every day as it would improve their training.  This individual would train at the gym in the mornings, and then on some days would run later in the morning or early afternoon.   It was no surprise that their training runs had them feeling sluggish and fatigued.

As I state in my write up from last year, you can get away without eating before a typical workout first thing in the morning.  Barring a long ride, or run - or a high intensity training session - you'll be fine.  You do, however, need to refuel afterwards.

Your body needs to replenish its energy stores.  You also need to ensure that your blood sugar levels are maintained.   You don't need to eat a huge breakfast, but prudent hydration and nutrition is critical to your training and your overall performance.

Without proper nutrition and refueling, you run the risk of limiting the benefits of your training and in the long term risking your health.  You're investing a lot of time and effort, make sure you're getting the most out of it.

When in doubt, talk to your coach or trainer.  They should have some background or training in the nutrition arena, or will know a nutritionist to reach out to to address any of your queries.  If you're not comfortable with the advice you're receiving, get a second opinion.  Any good coach will give you some of their time to listen to you and help steer you in the right direction.

So You've Hired A Coach

So you’ve hired a triathlon coach (or a running coach, or a swim coach…pick your sport du-jour).  You hired them because you want to improve?  Because you want to get faster?  Or did you have a great race last year, and this is the year where you’re ready to really go after a podium finish?

Whatever your reason, you've done some research on him or her.  You’ve reached out to your coach of choice and had preliminary discussions, met in person, and talked about your goals.  You might even have had the opportunity to have a one on one session in the pool or at the track to determine if personalities and coaching methods fit everyone’s needs.

You then made the decision to hire them.  You and your new coach have talked about your plan, discussed your yearly training plan and targeted your “A” races, as well as your buildup races.  The two of you have talked about what your training is going to look like – when heavy load weeks will fall and when recovery weeks are built in.  You’ve paid your monthly fee, signed into your Training Peaks account, and had a look at your upcoming workouts.

And you then argue with your coach why?

You don’t do the prescribed workouts, and question the ones that you do decide to do.  You disappear for five days and wonder why things seem so much harder this week as compared to two weeks ago.  You don’t like doing long swim sets (or speedwork, or threshold rides) so  you change the workouts.  Or, you ride three hours when you’re only prescribed to ride 90 minutes. 

Why did you hire a coach?  Coaching is a lot of work, and your coach puts a lot of time into customizing your workouts.  He or she looks far ahead in the calendar and plans the training this week with a training session that is four weeks ahead in mind.  He or she determines where you need work (speed, endurance) and tailors your training to build you up where you need to be, and to enhance your abilities on top of that.  Your coach finds your weaknesses – your limiters – and creates a plan to, well, get ride of them.

And yet you argue / don’t do the workouts / change your workout / don’t communicate / etc.

If you hire a coach, it’s a two way street.  Effort from both parties is required.  Yes, it’s going to be hard work.  Yes, you’re going to dislike your coach, a lot, during repeat 400’s on the track.  You’re going to call your coach a fucking asshole when you see you have 3 x 800’s in the pool tomorrow.  You know what?  When those things happen, your coach is probably doing something right.

If you hire a coach, make sure you mean it.

Okay, end of rant.

What I really want to do is help you have a healthy and trusting relationship with your coach.  How do you do this?

• Be open and honest.  If all you’re looking to do is finish a race, and feel good at the end, be up front about that.  Don’t feel pressured to tell them you have lofty goals when that’s not what you’re really looking for.  Just because your friends are doing “X” doesn’t mean that’s right for you. Coaches deal with individuals of all levels.  Be up front with them, tell them what you want, and that’s what the two of you will work on – together.  If busting your ass during January isn’t your thing, let your coach know!  Coaching requires give and take, and being open and honest about what you’re looking to accomplish is always a winning idea.

• Communicate.  As your coach we want to, need to, know what your thinking.  If you’re looking at an upcoming workout and wonder “what the hell is this for?” then speak up.  That workout is most likely there for a reason, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be changed.  If you’re going to be away next weekend, just say so.  It’s not that big a deal – and workouts can be moved around.  Life, work, responsibilities…..all these things need to be taken into consideration when putting a training plan together.  Yes, your coach might ask you, depending on the time of year, to take your running gear with you on your business trip to Omaha, but that’s okay.  Running in new cities is fun.

• Be true to yourself.  You, the athlete, have to do the work.  Period.  Don’t think that just because you have a plan in front of you that things are magically going to happen on race day.  You’ve got a lot of work to do (depending on your goals) and you’re most likely going to dislike some of the training.  (See note above about calling your coach a fucking asshole).  If it’s not working out, or you realize you’re in over your head, or you made loftier goals than you realized….see #1 above.  Tell your coach!  Make changes.

Are those the only things that are required for a successful coach / athlete relationship?  No.  Are they a good start?  Yes. 

Coaches are there for you.  They want you to succeed.  That’s their job. 

Triathlon Swimming – Revisited

I wrote a blog post way back in 2010 about swimming techniques and mechanics to improve your speed and efficiency in the water.  And while those techniques and topics are indeed helpful, there was one topic of discussion where – I hate to say it – I was off base.

I talked about “front-quadrant” swimming and linked to an article on Active.com where it was discussed as well.  Let’s just say that while swimming techniques such as this (and some others) are massively helpful in a pool, specifically for swimmers, they’re not as helpful as you think for open-water swimming or in the sport of triathlon.

Triathlon is an interesting and complex sport.  Each leg of the race is tied to the others more than you realize.  And that relationship is never more apparent than between the swim and the run.

Things that make you faster in the pool aren’t always as helpful as you think for triathlon as a whole.  Utilizing stroke techniques and mechanics that are born and bred for pool-based swimming builds up muscle in your lats, back, and arms.  While you’ll surely become quicker in the water, you’ve added muscle mass to your body.

Muscle mass = weight.

This new muscle you’ve added to aid your swim is now weight you have to carry on the run (and the bike).  While you can potentially improve your 1,500 meter swim time, you very well might add that time back on your 10K run.

To get an improvement in one leg (the swim, bike, or run) you sometimes have to give up some time elsewhere.  Or, more importantly, do you find efficiencies in one discipline – maintain the time in a particular leg – yet do so without as much effort?  This leaves one less fatigued for the other legs of the race.

It’s complicated.  Finding that balance between disciplines is what coaches spend a lot of time doing.  The education in coaching never stops.  This is one of the reasons that I love triathlon coaching – I never stop learning.

To that point, Vanguard Endurance – the high-performance coaching group I’m now a part of – has regular Webinars on any and all topics relating to triathlon training, coaching, and racing.  In the upcoming month, I’ll be presenting a Webinar specifically covering the topic of triathlon specific swimming mechanics and techniques.  I’ll keep you posted.