A Call to Yoga

A call to Yoga from Sue!

Hi TARGETRAINING family:
Wednesday evening yoga is in full swing and if you haven't tried it, I'd love to see you. This one hour vinyasa flow class is a great way to support your athletic pursuits and even increase your longevity as an athlete. Yoga's applications to sport are influencing all levels of athletes. After practicing yoga, athletes have a reduction in injuries and improved stamina, plus they feel more relaxed. In summary, here are some ways you'll feel better by including yoga in your workout schedule:
Yoga makes you more flexible.
Yoga makes you stronger in places you didn't know were weak.
Yoga builds a superhighway between your brain and body.
Yoga teaches you to make your breath a conscious part of living.
Yoga reintroduces you to yourself.

In essence, you can focus on all the aspects of yourself- physical, mental and spiritual - in one place. I hope you'll join us.

Wednesday from 6:30-7:30pm

Namaste, Susan

Aldrich "Bike Fest" Gala

This past Saturday evening was the gala celebrating the opening of “Bike Fest” at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT. Rick, Matt and myself were in attendance with our significant others representing TARGETRAINING.

I must have ridden past the museum hundreds of times and never even knew that such an influential institution existed in my back yard.

About 5 years ago the current Aldrich Museum was built behind the original home of Larry Aldrich. The building itself is a work of art. The mission of the non- collecting Aldrich museum is to provide a venue for exhibit of up and coming and mid-career artist. Even more interesting is the museums drive to educate and develop programs for adults and children to help facilitate future leaders in the world of art.

Like all galas, it is always a challenge to focus on the art as the social aspect of such events is really what is stressed. But I can assure you that from what I had a chance to see, it is well worth a visit to Ridgefield to take in the “Bike Fest” exhibit. You will find many local artist, companies, and engineers on display. The evening was highlighted with stunts from BMX trick riders and performances from traveling Cirques du Sole entertainers.

We will be conducting a destination ride on October 18th for TARGETRAINING clients to The Aldrich to view the “Bike Fest” exhibit. We look forward to having you join us and developing a lasting relationship with this excellent institution.

The Glory of Courage

Sometimes it is enough to say that we made it to the finish line, or even just to start. I see countless examples of people’s exceptional courage to start and often finish events that for them was a daunting task. All too often we are shell shocked by stories of glory and conquest, and we miss the less glamorous foundations of success.

All year long I pursued a goal of making it to the world championship duathlon age group race in Concord, NC. After months of preparation the date arrived, ironically, all too quickly. In my training for this goal, I sustained a stress fracture in my left foot which did not allow me to focus on my running which was going to play a key role in the 10k run/40k bike/5k run event. I knew that I was going to be in trouble from the start, my warm up was painful and I hoped that I could make it to the last 5k of the race in a strong position and with my left foot intact.
With my wife and son in attendance I needed no further motivation to perform. The race began in rain soaked conditions and at the sound of the horn we began the 1st leg of the race at lightning speed. It did not take long for me to realize that my body was going to fail me. At the 1mile mark my stress fracture gave way and I snapped the 2nd metatarsal in half. With another 8miles to run and a challenging bike leg looming around the corner I focused on getting to transition where my families support would help guide me.

My world championship race ended just as fast as it began, but I finished and kept a promise to everyone that has supported me all year. I gave my best and as I stood on the podium receiving my bronze medal I was proud to be representing my country with my family by my side.

Bones heal and there is always another race around the corner, but the memories of the experience will stand the test of time. Thank you to everyone that helped get me to the start and finish line. The end of season has arrived for me just in time to focus on the beginning of something special, the expectation of a new sibling for my son.

"Southern Comfort" 2009 Duathlon Worlds report

It’s been a fun filled year of racing and training, all of which is culminating with this Saturday’s duathlon world championships.

Being held in Concord North Carolina I thought it reasonable to drive down to the race instead of flying which meant that I could bring my wife and son down and introduce them to some southern hospitality.

After a few dozen renditions of Baba Black Sheep and the best of Raffi, all thoughts of world championship stress melted away in the 90 degree Virginia sun well into our 12hr car ride. Fortunately we did not have to tackle the entire trip in one sitting, as we were fortunate to stay with family in Washington D.C.

There is nothing better than visiting family while on a road trip. Arriving to welcoming arms and a home cooked meal beats any hotel stay hands down. We had a lovely time catching up with the Longworth side of the family and were ready for a reasonable bed time when the alarm bells went off as Caden’s froggie went missing! Lets preface this by mentioning that he has never fallen asleep without froggie in the 30months of his life. An all out APB went out for froggie and at midnight we had lost almost all hope, when Caden with a big grin on his face, calmly went over to the desk in our guest room and pulled him out of a drawer. Nice one…

Concord greeted us with familiar sights and smells as we passed through the standard strip malls and mazes of fast food and chain restaurants. To top it all off, the site of this year’s race will be the Lowe’s Motor Speedway. I must say that this is one interesting venue. We will be racing on and throughout the Nascar track and other various motor sports venues. This place is huge and the bike course was set up in a fun and exciting fashion. The roads are immaculate and the course is super fast, but highly technical. Not for the faint of heart.

We were able to escape the carnival atmosphere of Speedway boulevard, and found a welcoming local restaurant that even featured local ingredients. It was a great comfort to dig into my Cajon grits and shrimp meal full of creamy goodness. This evening froggie was sequestered to the crib, so we anticipate no late night hide and seek games.

Some Training Race!

Hi all, sorry it's taken me awhile to post about last Sunday's race, but I was waiting to see if Dom would first :). So last Sunday was the Westchester Toughman in Croton on Hudson (go here for the course maps: http://www.westchestertoughman.com/Course/coursemap.html). I had all intentions of using it as a training day, only pushing on the swim and bike, because I wanted to be fresh for my "A" race, the Westchester Tri (Sunday the 27th). Dom had similar intentions. Then I found out at packet pick-up on Saturday that there was big cash for placing overall, and sweet Canon cameras for age group winners. So I made the decision (but kept it to myself) that if I was in the top 5 coming off the bike, then I would push to be in the top 4 finishers.

Unexpectedly, I was the first woman out of the water. Must be all the swimming I've been doing at Longshore and Norwalk with Target...thanks Dom! Despite the hilly bike course, I managed to settle into a steady pace and hold off the other women until about mile 35/40. At that point, two women passed me. I kept them in sight for awhile, but made sure not to overexert myself too much. I kept waiting for more women to follow suit, but as I approached T2, I was in third! Now time to hold up my end of the bargain with myself on the run! Running is where I am most comfortable, but working with Dom on the track at Staples and Eneas in the brick classes really paid off on Sunday. I had fresh legs coming off the bike and maintained a consistent pace the whole 13 miles. I managed to pass the third place woman just after mile 1 and then started the climb up to Croton Gorge Park. Luckily, my legs held and I passed the lead woman at about 6.5 miles. In doing so, I picked up my mountain bike escort, George. George was fantastic, keeping me posted on any approaching women, and generally keeping my spirits lifted and mind distracted.

I saw Dom out on the course twice, once on the bike and once on the run. There was NO one around him, not even close. I knew the victory was his. Not only did he win, but he PR'ed over last year's victory by 6 minutes 20 seconds!! Some training race Dom! As for me, I was able to hold off the women and won by over 5 minutes in 5:03:16, a :21 sec PR over my Rhode Island finish in July. It was also a great day for John Baxendale attempting his first 70.3 ever! He crushed the course, placing second in his age group, pleased with his time of 4:54:06. I was proud to be crossing the finish line in my TargeTraining tri suit, and honored to share the podium win with Dom! Let's hope I can pull it all together in time for next Sunday! Hope to see a bunch of you TT-ers there with me!

BTW: The reporter did a nice job paying compliments to TargeTraining in this interview for my town's local paper: http://www.rb.westmorenews.com/atf.php?sid=10850&current_edition=2009-09-18