Todd Wells -- 2008 US Cycling Olympian

Todd Wells, who TARGETRAINING sponsored when he rode as a member of the 2006 TARGETRAINING Professional Cycling Team, has been named to represent the US in the 2008 Olympics. Todd, who is currently and consistently sponsored over the years by GT Bicycles, will be one of two US members racing in the cross-country mountain biking event. Todd had a phenomenal run this year to clinch a spot, automatically qualifying by having the top international ranking of all US racers. Todd finishes include four top 15 placings including 6th, 11th, 13th and 15th (with the 15th occuring at the World Championship). Adam Craig is joining Todd to represent Team USA. Congratulations to Todd and to GT (great role model as a sponsor company). All of us at TARGETRAINING wish Todd the best of luck at the Olympics. For the full story on the Olympians selected to represent the USA in cycling, please see http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=3696.

Stamford Triathlon Race Report

There's always trepidation when competing in a first year race, and with its two transition areas and promises to port swim gear back to the finish after the race, the Stamford Triathlon certainly caused a share of pre-race angst. I made out meticulous lists (moreso than my usual obsessiveness would drive) on Saturday for what to bring in which bags to which transition area. Since this was a local race, I had plenty of company with whom to commiserate, both from the TT crew and other area triathlon groups.

Fortunately, everything went according to plan, including the weather, which, though warm and humid, stayed dry. The water was calm and left me hoping for a great swim, which ALMOST came to pass save a bit of bad sighting on the last 300 yards or so where I could have used one more buoy. I figure I ended up about a minute slower out of the water than I otherwise would have.

T1 worked out well, and I packed my swim gear in the transport bag and crossed my fingers (happily, the race folks managed the gear port excellently). I headed off on the bike, and except for almost nailing people biking the opposite way (the one thing race officials should change for next year....opposite side of the street riding and hairy crossovers), had what I thought was a decent ride on a pretty fair course (somehow, I missed the third steep hill in my pre-race drive).

Through T2 feeling good...except for having to run on pavement in flats, which (as it did the week before and 2 weeks before) cause the return of some achilles pain. Felt good for the first 2 miles but had to ease off a bit at 3.5 after a twinge, but managed to maintain a slightly slower pace through the finish (and had the eventual women's winner fly by me like I was standing still with just over a mile to go).

The run ended up just a bit short (6.1 per the officials), which was fine with me at that point. I ended up in 2:11:53, good for 7th overall and 1st in the 40-44 AG. TT was well represented in the tri and the aquabike (will let you folks post for yourselves, Mitch, Michelle and Megan). Now I'm licking my wound(s) (achilles needs a few days off from running) and getting ready for the Rhode Island 70.3 on July 13.

Friends are the first to finish at triathlon (Stamford Advocate Article)

Reprinted from the Stamford Advocate. Link here: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/localsports/ci_9740471

Friends are the first to finish at triathlon
By Rich DePretaStaff Writer
Article Launched: 06/30/2008 02:36:12 AM EDT

STAMFORD - For most people, sleeping late or going out for coffee and bagels is as much exercise as a Sunday morning demands. Yesterday, however, there were hundreds of men and women who had a more dedicated plan of action in mind. If one was at Cummings Beach at 6:30 a.m., they would have seen the start of the inaugural Stamford Kids In Crisis IT Triathlon.
That's one mile of swimming in Long Island Sound followed by 24.6 miles of cycling followed by 6.2 miles of running, if you're scoring at home. That two to three hours of continuous and often brutal punishment.

"I like the competition. Triathlon is a sport with lots of camaraderie," said TARGETRAINING's Mitch West about the lure of it all. "Everybody in triathlon is great. There are no jerks in triathlon."

Which probably explains to some degree the surprising number of women who participate in a large number of such events both in Connecticut and across the country. Relationships can be forged and built on triathlon. That certainly was clear yesterday as close friends from Brockton, Mass. - Tim Snow and Caitlin Shea-Kenney - were the overall champions in the men's and women's divisions of the race. "Yes, Tim benefits greatly from getting pushed by me," Shea-Kenney laughed at the finish line at Columbus Park in downtown Stamford. "I have no kids and we're both teachers so we're home by 3 p.m. each day to train. We have summers off so it's easier to go to races. "But seriously, I couldn't do this without having another triathlon person to train with."
Snow broke the finish line tape in one hour, 59 minutes, 52 seconds. West, who works in the Stamford education system, was second in 2:04.29. Both men were even in the swim (20:27-20.29) and the cycling (1:04.12-1:03.33) before Snow pulled away in the running portion (33.15-38.29). Patrick Wheeler, also of Brockton, Mass., was third in 2:06.21.
"I'm thrilled," the 32-year-old Snow said. "Stamford was a very good venue. I had some doubts when we drove around the course Saturday. But once the race started, it was okay. I wasn't crazy about the hills in the cycling. But the running part was a blast."
Not quite so much for West, who often rides his bikes to work rather than fight the rush hour highway traffic from Wilton to Stamford. "I was very happy leading on the bike course," said West, who interacts with title sponsor Kids In Crisis as part of his guidance work in the Stamford Public School System at Westover School. "Then I saw Tim and I knew I had no chance to beat him in the run. He's a good guy to get beat by."
On the women's side, Shea-Kenney was in command from start to finish. She built a three-minute lead over Ross in the swim, picked up another four minutes in the cycling and five minutes in the run. Shea-Kenney's winning time was 2:06.39 with Ross finishing in 2:17.41. Jessica Broderick (2:19.16) was third. "The police and volunteers made it easy. For a first-year race, this was unbelievable. It was a perfect day weather-wise as the rain stayed away," Shea-Kenney said. "I was a swimmer at age 8. I tried my first youth triathlon at age 13 and loved it. My mom used to take me to events and I continued triathlons in college. "Right now, I'll do eight to 10 events a year including two or three Ironman Triathlons." Ross - a member of the U.S. Junior National Sprint team - was pleased with her results considering the early obstacle she encountered. "The cycling course was a lot more hilly than I expected," said Ross of Doylestown, Pa. "I didn't bring my wetsuit for the swimming and I got stung by a jellyfish. This was good because I'm trying events with longer distances."
It seems one is never too old to triathlon. The husband and wife team of Albert Leon (3:12.29) and Lois Leon (3:16.30) were champions of the age 65-69 divisions. John Cook (3:11.53) stood alone in the men's age 70-74 division. There were male and female age group champions awarded in 10 women's and 11 men's divisions starting at age 20. Equally ambitious were the various participants from the area corporations who took part. Some did all three sections themselves while others split the assignment into three-person teams (one swimmer, one cyclist, one runner). For those athletes, times were irrelevant. Satisfaction came in competing, finishing and other forms. Consider Steve Harris of the SAC Capital Advisors, LLC, team. His young daughter waited patiently at the finish line of both the cycling and running holding her two signs "Giddy Up Buttercup" and the more traditional "Go Daddy." The fact Harris was the next-to-last finisher at 10:45 a.m. made no difference to his daughter who hugged him forever for a job well-done. "I found out I was doing this a month ago," Harris said. "When the sun came out today, I sensed this wasn't the best idea. But I finished. I'm actually looking forward to another race next month in Greenwich."
NOTES - The Stamford Kids in Crisis IT Triathlon corporate sponsors included: SAC Capital Advisors; Continental Airlines; General Electric; Morgan Stanley; Winston & Strawn LLP; Boeing; Navigators; Allen & Overy; RBS Greenwich Capital; Milbank; Dewey & LeBoeuf, LLP; Monomoy Capital Partners; Holland & Knight; The Shoff Darby Insurance Agency; Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP; Thelen; The Hartford; WEBE-108; Centrian Life Insurance; Pepsi Bottling Group; Sportsplex. The hundreds of volunteers and the Stamford police are to be commended for their work dealing with athletes and controlling traffic at the Triathlon.
Stamford mayor Dannel Malloy and Lt. Governor Mike Fedele of Stamford were among those on hand for the post-race festivities.

Preliminary weekend activity recap

Lots of action this weekend. Triathlon and cycling galore. To the left you can see Ben Liang's winning sprint (more below).

On Saturday, we had two very good outdoor bicycle training rides at 7 AM and at 9 AM with lots of participants.

We also sent the U-25/Elite cycling squad to Rhode Island to compete in the National Race Calendar Cox Charities Classic. This race around the center of Providence seems to always be conducted in 95 degree heat and 100% humidity. We caught a break and it was only about 90 degrees with 100% humidity. Some of the pro teams had representation there including Colavita (they were there in force), Toyota United (Henk Vogels, Ivan Stevic, Dominic Rollin who won a stage in the Tour of California this year), Bissell, Rite Aid, Time Pro Cycling, and Health Net. More to come on the actual race from Kyle. Results: Eneas Freyre got 15th; Kyle Walmsley from Colavita won the race in a three up break sprint. Official results are here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2008/jun08/coxcharities08.

Even earlier Saturday morning (6 AM), the Masters team sans Max Lippolis and Stephen Badger competed in the Lou Maltese Invitational in Central Park. Scott Bodin and Abdul Kabia both represented well in the sprint but there was an 11 man or so breakaway up the road. Not the best showing for the team but it happens.

On Sunday, the triathlon team went out in force to the new Stamford Olympic Distance Triathlon. Mitch West got 2nd overall, Michelle Faurot won her age group, and David Yockelson won his age group! Also, Megan Griffis won the Aquabike event. So a great showing! Official results are here: http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventLinkageID=107115. By the way, Mary Money won the aquabike event at the Connecticut Club championship race last week. Belated congratulations to Mary!

Also on Sunday, Eneas did the National Race Calendar criterium in Boston: "Heart Break Hill Criterium". Kyle Walmsley again won in a three man break. Eneas got 11th this time. In the Category 4 race, Ben Liang of TARGETRAINING won! Official results: http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2008/06/29-Boloco-Heartbreak-Hill-Grand-Prix.asp

A group of TARGETRAINING racers went to East Hartford to compete in the Keith Berger Memorial Criterium. In the Pro 123 race, Craig Leukins got 3rd. In the 30+, Stephen Badger got 2nd.

Also on Sunday, the rest of the Elite/U-25 squad as well as a bunch of masters racers tackled Union Vale. Union Vale New York is a scenic and hilly venue. It is one of the top local road races of the year, allowing you to do a serious bicycle race only 1.5 hours from Westport Connecticut. This is more than a training ride -- it hurts too much. Each 14 mile loop climbs about 1400 feet. In addition, the finishing 1.5 mile climb goes up about 600 feet, with the first 1 mile averaging a grade of about 9%. This Sunday the heat was about 90 degrees and the humidity very high. Lots of cramping occurred. Scott Bodin represented the Masters team in the 35+ race in the morning. We're still awaiting word on how Scott did. Rob Weiss did the Category 4 race and finished in the lead group. Mark Gillies and Dave Stauffer did the 45+ race in the afternoon and suffered a lot but finished the race. The Elite/U-25 squad chased a solo attack by a CRCA/Empire kid. The team ended up getting 6th (Will Nowak -- great stuff!) and 7th (Justin Lindine -- now he gets to rest a few days before Fitchburg).

That's it for now.

A TARGETRAINING Champion: Stephen Badger

Apparently, Stephen had to catch up on household chores after two weekends and three gold medals (35+ road race champion, 35+ and 30+ criterium champion).

Notice how even when he does his chores he gets to sit down. Never be on your feet -- recovery needs a resting body.

Congratulations Badger. Next time, please send us a podium shot.