Swim Time Change for July 15th

The Wednesday 6:45 PM swim will be held this week at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, CT. We are doing this to preview the swim course of the upcoming Mossman Sprint Triathlon on Sunday. We will meet at the same time, 6:45 but we will meet at Calf Pasture Beach. See you there!!!

Amica Rhode Island 70.3 Recap - "Don't leave before roll down"

Yesterday was the 2nd version of the Rhode Island 70.3 and Allie Lawler, Kristin Budden and I from TargeTraining (and over 1300 others that finished) were all ready to rock and roll. We had been somewhat worried about the weather, which earlier predictions showing rain and maybe thunderstorms on race morning, but the storms went through Saturday night and on Sunday, we awoke -- at 3:15 am for those of us taking the shuttle from Providence to Narragansett - to somewhat cloudy but not rainy skies. We arrived at the start in Narragansett to find that the race was being delayed as the night's storm and winds had relocated the buoys. This was a big field and we all had a wide range of start times...pros were going off first at 6:20ish with other waves following every 4 minutes...I had the 10th wave and so had a lot of time to kill making sure my T1 stuff didn't fall onto the "clean transition area" ground we were supposed to maintain.

I went in for a warm up "swim"...it was more like a warm up pinball game as the swells on what was supposed to be the calm beach basically tossed me all over (Megan, how much can I pay you for open water swim lessons?). "OK, I'll just make it up on the return back to shore," I thought. Finally, we start, and I was looking forward once again to being the USAT-age 45 year old guy in the 45-49 age group. The swim was brutal...crowded, choppy, just not fun all the way to the turn. The return was OK, but I went a bit wide and came back toward the buoys. Out of the water...slower than last year (31:24 including the run up to the mats), but hey, the swim was MUCH calmer last year. I figure I'll make it up on the bike.

We had tail winds for a decent portion of the first half of the ride, but looking at my splits, I think my head was somewhere else. I basically rode a little slower than last year, perhaps anxious to get to the run strong. The bike course is relatively fast, certainly not as difficult as some of the courses around here. Not feeling spent, I cam in with a 2:29:27; I'd hoped to go 2:27-2:28 but must have had a brain freeze around 50 miles or something and slowed a bit.

My goal was to come out of T2 at 3:00 and then runa 1:30 for a total time of 4:30. I emerged from T2 at 3:04, meaning I had to run a 1:26. OK...not out of the realm, so I got going. The run in Providence is a double loop with one really bad hill that's maybe 1/4 mile long...despite that, I was on 6:30 pace through 7 miles and felt OK...but after the 2nd time up the hill, I think I lost a bit of energy, focus, etc. and began to slow; over the two rollers between (now) 10 and 12 miles, it was even slower going. Nonetheless, I pushed back down the big hill and into the finish, ending up at exactly 1:30:00. Finishing time: 4:34:14. Place: 10th in age group (58th amateur).

This race was MUCH more competitive this year than last (that time would have been 2nd in the AG last year). Kristin was 5:03:36 for a big PR and 12th in her AG; Allie was 5:02:35 for 8th in the incredibly competitive women's 40-44, which included former Olympian Brigitte McMahon, Lisbeth Kenyon and Cassie McWilliam (to give an idea of the strength of the field, Cassie won the 40-44 at Eagleman and was 5th woman OVERALL including pros -- she was 4th in the AG here). This race was not only giving away Clearwater spots but also Kona spots, and it seems people came out of the woodwork for them. Subsequently, we all thought we'd be shut out of Clearwater spots and left. Unfortunately, it turned out that apparently, Clearwater isn't so popular (indeed, we've heard that many pros are upset with the race due to the amount of drafting that goes on) and BOTH Kristin and I could have had Clearwater spots if we'd been there to accept them. Note to USAT - the ridiculously stupid process of having to wait for over 2 hours after the standings are known to do roll down needs to be fixed.

Kristin's husband, Chris, also PR'd in 4:53:28 and numerous Westchester/Connecticut locals enjoyed the day as well. Congrats to all that raced!

Xterra Northeast Cup

TARGETRAINING sent a huge contingent to the 1st Xterra Cup race ever held in New England. Dom Gillen, Suzie Snyder, Trevor MacLean, Sam Goater, Chris Kinney and Dave Booth all participated in the events over the course of the weekend. The race was muddy, hilly and muddy and hilly. The dryest and flattest part was the swim! Everyone finished in one piece. Congrats to all the racers that got across the line. Of note, Sam Goater won the overall Xterra Sport division, Chris Kinney won his age-group in the Xterra Sport race. Trevor MacLean was second in his age-group in the Xterra Cup race, Suzie Snyder won the overall amateur title in the Xterra Cup race.

The weekend was more than just racing, we all stayed together at a rented house on the mountain. We enjoyed our share of food, laughs, boardgames, bike repair, and dogsitting. Keep checking for photos, (we took lots) and will be posting soon.

Colorado's Triple Bypass

TARGETRAINING Member Harold Kamins just completed the classic "Triple Bypass" this Saturday, here is his report.

I rode the "Triple Bypass" on Saturday, 7/11. This is an annual ride starting a little west of Denver, CO and continuing west for 120 miles to Avon, near the Beaver Creek ski resort. Along the way it crosses Juniper Pass (11,100 ft.), Loveland Pass (12,000 ft.) and Vail Pass (10,500 ft.). The ride is limited to 3500 riders, and sold out in about 36 hours this year.

Here's a photo of Arlo Ellison on his TargeTraining Cervelo near the top of Loveland Pass. Those cute, fluffy white clouds turned into rain and hail a few hours later, but luckily the huge barbecue party at the finish was dry. I've done this ride the past three years and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a non-racing challenge. You can combine it with the Mt. Evans (14,130 ft.) race to the summit the following weekend. You won't find me there.

Unionvale Road Race-Sunday 7/12

Here is a recap of the Masters Elite Racing Team's day at the Unionvale Road Race

in Unionvale, NY. A very lumpy 58 mile race to say the least, a few big climbs, a final climb of 1.5 miles straight up and the wind was a definate factor today. Westwood Velo sent Freihoffer or whatever his name

is (won Bear Mtn RR) off the front by himself at the beginning of lap 2 after a

couple of early moves were caught. After numerous attempts by Ed, Badger,

Fernando and myself to bridge with different surges off the front, the break

settled in. We had to do a lot of the heavy lifting at the front of the

group and tried to keep Fernando fresh. We had the most numbers of any team

and a lot of guys were just willing to sit in. Marc Alden from Blue Ribbon

put in a few huge efforts on some hills to keep it close and his teammate

Eddie did his fair share to help. We kept it steady and crisp going into

the last lap and we started to smell blood. Alden again put in a big effort

again coming through the feed and only Troy Kimball from Westwood was able

to follow. Given that he didn't have to do any work (because his teammate was already off the front), Troy sat in and the

move was destined to fail. We caught the soloist not long before the left

turn on Rt. 21 towards the end of the first lap and it was steady on that hard

climb. At the top, 2 guys (one being some unknown Westwood guy who

eventually wins) roll off without much response figuring the fast downhill before the final climb ahead will keep them close...well it doesn't and they probably start the 1

1/2 mile finishing climb with 30-45 seconds. Damn that is a hard climb with

the first 3/4 of a mile the hardest and that's when the lactic acid burn

settles in!! The climb was steady at first with 7 or 8 of us in the group

but dwindling as the climb got progressively faster (just the way I like it

except my legs were already rubbery with a lot of energy spent in early

break aways and work at the front of the main field). I was staying with

John Funk and Troy Kimball for most of it until I cracked with about 1/2

mile to go. Almost started to go backwards but got motivated by the

oncoming chasers. I held on for 7th, Fernando I believe was 8th. Props to

Ed and Badger for some sacrifice and attempts at the front of the field!

Ouch...my legs hurt!