Targetraining takes CT State Tri Cup

The Targetraining Tri club was out in force today. The team easily won the Connecticut Tri Cup.

Earning top 10 overall were David Yockelson, Katie Bottini, Kristin Budden, Megan Kelly, and Laurie Brannigan.

Congrats to Steve DeLisi, who for the first time won his age group.

Max Veiga took 4th in his age group, if not for the time penalty he would have been 2nd. Not bad for his first triathlon.

Lauren Carey was 4th in her age group. The new bike is working, good work Lauren.

Also earning points were, Cornelia Parchment-Horn, Eric Goodman, Marc McCoy.

The Targetraining relay team (with Whitney swimming, Carlos on the bike and David Booth running) won by 20 minutes. Carlos posted the fastest bike split on the day. Great work guys.

The downer of the day was the swim, with the low tide there was a lot of running/walking. Bloody feet were the days theme, post race the medical tent was packed. John Baxendale had to abandon due to a cut foot. Have a speedy recovery John.

Congratulations to all Targetraining athletes.

Full results are here.

Lake Waramaug Sprint Tri Recap

Last Friday a few TTers (Ed, Cornelia, Jared M) ventured north to Litchfield County for an evening sprint tri - Lake Waramaug. The trip north (with summer Friday traffic) took about 1.5 hours from southern Fairfield County.

All I can say is this - if you are lucky enough to have "summer Fridays" at work put this on your 2011 race calendar! The swim is in a beautiful lake - flat water and well marked. The bike goes around the perimeter of Lake Waramaug and by a vineyard - it offers breathtaking views and some tough climbing for the last 3-4 miles. The run starts out with 1 mile cross-country style (mix of grass and trails with some steep small hills) then the last 2 miles are on the road with some minor climbing. The course actually reminded me of a shorter version of the Escape from Alcatraz tri!

As for my race, I was very excited about the women starting in the first wave! YAY!!! I was able to get a good lead in the swim and although nervous about getting lost on the bike course since I was unfamiliar with it, was happy to have a police escort - so no worries there. After a few miles the first relay passed me - a woman who was flying! I tried keeping pace for a few minutes but didn't want to blow up (she didn't have to run). Good thing - the last 3-4 miles were pretty much all uphill - first a steep short climb then gradual stair stepping into T2. On the run the top guys started to pass me - I was still sucking wind from that bike leg! Luckily I ran the cross-country portion during warm up so knew what I had coming! I was very happy to see asphalt after the first mile and was able to hang on for 1st place and a new course record.

Housatonic Hills

Have not posted in a while so thought I'd share my Housatonic Hills experience. This was actually the race that got me interested in racing two years ago when I had the pleasure of marshalling the Pro race in 2008 when Justine Lindine won and Eneas took fourth. So it has been on the "to do" list for me since then.

Overall not a great day but had several positives to take away.

The day started badly when I lost my chain at the very first right hand turn as we made our way up the race neutral first climb. I hopped off and got it back on but for the next few hundred meters had trouble with several mis-shifts and other difficulty - thinking at one point the shifter was stuck and my day was over. I eventually got it underway but now had to practically sprint uphill to try and get on the back of the group. By the time I finally got close, we had reached the summit of the first climb and so as the speed picked up, now virtually out of breath and without the benefit any other riders to share the load, the peleton started to pull away. At the first flat part of the course I could see them getting further away. I tried all I could to catch up but to no avail, ultimately loosing visual contact along the way.

Knowing I was probably not going to catch back up but deciding that I would at least put in my best effort, I rode hard, passing a few people, never finding any other riders to work with and crossing the finish line alone.

The positive that I took away, and thank god for power taps, was that the data showed that I rode about as hard as I could setting new peak power records for 2,3,4,5 and 10 minutes and an overall power level that is 90% of my TT power output. So even though I can't say really raced today I take away a good feeling about having put in a performance where I gave it what I had.

The best part though was that upon returning home, my family was here with smiles and a big "Happy Fathers Day"!

So Happy Dad's Day to all of the other Targetraining fathers and I hope you had better luck if you were racing.

Saturday Ride Map

A Ride 44 miles 3,800 feet of climbing
B Ride 34 miles 2,800 feet of climbing

La Banca sets his sites on Newport/Bermuda regata

TARGETRAINING Member and multisport enthusiast Robert LaBanca, is taking part in his other athletic love (sailing) this weekend in the Newport Bermuda Regata.

Robert has been preparing for this event over the past month supplementing his endurance training with specific strength classes and personal training workouts. He is ready to roll and is setting sail Friday night June 18th.

You may track his progress aboard the Aurora at:
http://www.bermudarace.com/OntheRacecourse/RaceTracking/tabid/199/Default.aspx