Revolution3 Race Recap: Ouch

Turns out that Dom is right -- never give up! That certainly played true in my case for the Rev3 Half IM this past weekend, though I wouldn't discover that until AFTER the race.

Like everyone else (perhaps the rest of the TT crew will post their views of the race as well), I showed up with a bit of trepidation about the race and the course. I'd been over the bike course but not the run course, and while I'd heard it was bad, I figured "How bad could it be?" Well, after a decent (for me) swim and a good but not over-the-top bike, I found out. The run is a sadist's dream. After 3500ft of climbing on the bike including the wonderful set of rollers in the last few miles, the run starts out an an "easy" downhill for about 2 miles. My quads were shot at the START of the run, and the downs just killed (especially one steep decline that I had to kind of tiptoe down). THEN, you climb for about 4 miles to the turnaround and get to go down again. Yikes! While my legs had loosened up a bit and possibly the salt tabs, coke, gatorade, cera, etc. I took in was helping, I was clearly shufflling. But nothing prepared me for the nightmare of the last mile's climb. By that point, though, I knew I was in at least 2nd place in my AG (45-49) and, lo and behold, I spied another old guy in front of me at the top of the hill. While I was fairly happy at that point just to be finishing in second, I was a bit miffed to be that close and not be able to catch him.

After the race, while I was trying to find my lost quads and replace the patch of skin that had rubbed off my achilles, I found the guy ahead of me. Sure enough, he had me by 41 seconds. I had to leave the race right away, but later I received some news -- he'd been penalized (drafting?) and I'd won the AG! Suddenly the ridiculously difficult 4:54 effort seemed a bit more worth it, and I was quite happy I pressed through the pain of the first few miles of the run to finish as well as I could.

Congrats to the TT relay team, Val, Mitch (sorry) and everyone else that raced on what pro winner Matt Reed called the hardest course he'd ever been on (yet still managed to go 3:59 somehow - yikes).

TARGETRAINING Duathlon Series #4

We had another great day for a race on Sunday. The race began with Kim Driscoll using her running speed to take the early lead. She held the lead all the way into the first transition, but Eric Goodman who was close on her heels used a quick transition to get out first on the bike. Once Eric took the lead he never looked back. Chris Bartlett who was third coming off the first run, used a strong bike to stay within a minute of Eric heading into the final run but was never able to catch him.

Eric Goodman 0:12:27 / 0:26:26 / 0:15:01 / 0:53:54
Chris Bartlett 0:12:49 / 0:26:51 / 0:15:18 / 0:54:58
Kim Driscoll 0:12:20 / 0:29:56 / 0:15:12 / 0:57:28
Chris Kinney 0:13:57 / 0:30:17 / 0:17:45 / 1:01:59
Alan Masarek 0:15:13 / 0:29:13 / 0:21:22 / 1:05:48

*T1 and the Bike have been added together for the second split and T2 and R2 have been added together for the 3rd split.

Never Give Up

Racing is not always about winning, sometimes it is about setting goals, staying positive and giving it all you have. This weekend I got the chance to experience that first hand. I went to NYC to race the all-city classic mountain bike race on Sunday. It was a small but competitive field. After getting taking the lead off the line, I flatted less than a minute into the race...bummer. On the side of the trail, I watched the entire field pass me by. It took an agonizing 6 minutes to change my tire and get it aired up again. I was in last place. It is easy to get negative when things like this happen, and I admit I started to get frustrated. In an attempt to regain a positive attitude, I told myself that I did not come here to win a race. I came to the race to get in a great workout and practice my mountain bike skills for the upcomming Xterra Championship race in Richmond, VA. With this in mind, I put the flat tire behind me and started to race again. To my surprise by lap 4 (of 5) I was back up to 3rd place. When I passed into second, I was told the leader was 2 minutes up, I attacked. With 1/4 mile to go, I caught the leader and held on to take the overall win by 5 seconds. I consider myself a triathlete not a mountain biker, but this was one of the most personally rewarding victories of my career. Never give up.

TARGETBURN

If you are looking for a great workout with a mix of both cardiovascular endurance and strength training, then come check out one of our TARGETBURN classes. In the one hour session you will be burning up calories with interval training, body weight exercises, plyometrics, weight training and much more.

TARGETBURN Classes are offered:

Mondays 9:00am
Tuesdays 9:00am & 5:30pm
Wednesdays 9:00am
Thursdays 10:00am & 5:30pm

If you are looking for other class options then check out the full schedule on our website or give us a call at 203-227-6177.

Megan Kelly takes 2nd at Ridgefield Tri and sets PR!

Congratulations to TARGETRAINING Member and Swim Coach Megan Kelly who set a personal best at the Ridgefield Tri this Sunday and in doing so took 2nd place overall.

She actually went faster in the swim than last year :), was almost 2min faster on the bike (love it!), and had a PR on the run.