Crossing To IM?

This past weekend was the opening season for cyclocross here in the Mid Atlantic. I have been using cross for years to extend my racing season, usually because I have been hurt and missed my season goals. Luckily this year I am healthy and my main focus Ironman Arizona is 2 months out. This does cause a dilemma for me because I have been racing and training for endurance triathlon all year, and although I do intensity and shorter races, none are quite like cross. I learned that the hard way at Charm City Cross this weekend! Years back cyclocross was just getting traction and the races were well attended, but nothing like the races of today. There are teams and racers that are only based on racing Cyclocross, and needless to say the cometition is much higher than just a few years ago. I tried my best to have a good start, but just didn't have the capacity or even the want to try to get up front early in the race. With 60 or so racers out there gunning for the first corner its easy to end up near the back of the pack... which is where I was! Luckily about 10 minutes into the race the pace slowed and I started to warm up. By about 30 minutes into it I was actually feeling good and riding with a local favorite rider who happens to be named Chris too... which made me feel like all of the crowd was cheering for me! With a lap to go I was still feeling like I was just getting warmed up so I really started to push the pace, and we were just dangling out of the top 10 so I felt with a good push we could both move up. Unfortunately I went too hot into an off camber and lost the front end of the bike and went down. After remounting it took me a few minutes to get going again and by that time the race was over. It was fun, but my road rash and sore muscles told me that this was something I will have to be careful of in the next few weeks. With the demands of IM training eating up most of my weekends, and another 1/2 Ironman race in a few weeks I can't commit to a season of cyclocross. I am going to do 2 or 3 local races maximum if I don't end up losing fitness for IM. This is crunch time for me and hopefully I can stay healthy and get everything right. I will be trying to get some more time in this weekend by doubling up at the Ed Sander CX in Buckeystown, MD. After that I will be getting ready for the Brierman 1/2 which looks like it could be a great Tri for me in the mountains near Frederick, MD. I will keep you posted and thanks for reading!

1/2 Way There...

This past weekend was the Diamondman 1/2 Iron triathlon in Bear, DE. It was a big test for my fitness and pacing for Ironman so I was hoping to have a good day. With hurricane Hanna moving through Saturday it was a great blue sky day for a race! I decided to drive up the morning of the race which was not a good choice having to leave at 4am.... luckily Mary did the driving and helped me with everything... thanks Mary! I didn't start very well in the swim because of getting to the line late, but surprisingly within 5 minutes I was having a good day. I am not the best swimmer, but I don't slow down so I tend to catch up as the race goes on. At the turnaround I caught on with a small group and got into a nice draft for the return. It was also good because we were going directly into the sun so sighting was almost impossible. Leaving the water I felt good and was ready for the bike; 57th out of the water is OK... The bike leg was a challenge! I have only raced 1 1/2 iron distance before so I wasn't sure what kind of pace to maintain... should I go all out on the bike? 56 miles would be a great distance for it, but then a 13 mile run? Maybe if it was an 8 mile run or even 10, but 13? I felt very strong and even though it was windy I was keeping a good pace. the course had been changed so we had to cross a large bridge which was a climb 4 times total. The first time was great out to the turnaround, and I saw the 3 leaders coming back. After that I thought I could catch everyone else. I kept my pace though and tried to get my nutrition right for the rest of the day which brought me to my first problem. I was thinking we would have whole water bottles for bike cages, but at the bottle exchange they were not the right size... I couldn't keep one with me on the bike. I made the decision to just try to get by with the 2 I brought which probably wasn't the best idea. That is what a test race is for though, right? Everything went well until the last trip up the bridge. By this time I was well through the field and passing people on their 1st way in so it was crowded... that isn't usually a problem, but the cars had backed up behind the groups of racers. Now I am trying to pass racers on the left while I have slow cars I am passing on my right! Scary stuff... luckily I was only held up a few times, but in the scrum I must have gone over a bridge seam too hard and my front tire began going soft. Luckily I was able to keep it going OK and finished the bike leg with about 30 pounds in there... that was close! I went into T2 6th overall and had the 5th bike time. Now comes the hard part.... I left T2 in 7th place behind a guy that I wanted to try to pace with. After a good first mile I began to come to my senses and let him go... I have to pace for runs like this! The course was on the C&D canal path by the water which was great, but I wasn't used to the crushed stone. By the turnaround point I was getting pretty happy; I had maintained a great pace and still felt strong... I thought I may even be able to negative split the run! Well, I was definitely ahead of myself.... by the time I got to mile 10 I was having a hunger knock and slowing down. I quickly went into survival mode... how fast do I have to go to stay where I am? Needless to say when you are thinking like that you are not doing well.. I was passed by 1 guy at mile 11 and 1 about a 1/2 mile out.... I had nothing left, but still was happy. Much to my sup rise I finished the run 21st, and ended up 9th overall! I also won the 35-59 age group with a time of 4:38:39 which left me happy! It was also the first race in my new kit for my team Sublime Athletics. I will be racing and promoting my coaching service and should have a website up soon. Next up is the Michaux Endurance series finals if I ever recover from this race. I will keep you posted and thanks for reading!

Honky Tonk Heroes Like Me...

No races for me over Labor Day weekend, but I did get to go to Nashville, Tennessee for some good times! Mary and I flew down to visit some friends for the weekend. If you have never been to Nashville you have to put it on your list of places to go! Music row and the honky tonk bars are just amazing and it is not your everyday musicians who perform downtown; most of them are session players, or people who are in the business just kicking up their heels for fun. On Saturday night I saw an awesome band called Here Come The Mummies. The lore behind the band is that they are all session performers who have contracts that keep them from performing with each other, or live at all. To get around this problem they take the stage in full mummy costumes from head to toe to conceal their identity. Nobody knows who they are, but as soon as they hit the stage it is impossible not to have a good time! If you ever get a chance to see them check it out! As for me I will be racing the Diamondman 1/2 Ironman this weekend in Delaware if a hurricaine doesn't hit; I will keep you posted!