Catching Up

So there is a great deal to discuss right now. First and foremost Race Report. Ran the Columbia Triathlon this past weekend, and as has been my recent curse, the weather was less than pleasant. My wife and I however did have a great trip.
Got to Maryland on Saturday, and did all the pre-registration stuff. Michelle and I first did a quick bike of the run course just to get re familiar with it. Then I needed to drop off the bike in transition as they had to be check in and left over night. I picked up a grill cover at Home Depot, to keep the bike dry during the overnight rain storm. Worked well. It will only be a matter of time, before a company like wheel company, takes the $12 dollar cover throws a logo on it and sells it for a $125.
We went to dinner with Brian Shea, Gerry Gordon, and local Pros Scott DiFillipis, and Jackie Gordon. Dinner took a while, but it was great to relax with friends pre-race.
Woke at 4 am to get to the race venue. It was close, but still I like to shake out all the cob webs before a race. There was a misty and the weather was quite windy at the start. I was the 4th overall heat to go out after the Pro's, Elites, and the 55 +.
I had trouble last year on the swim, as I didn't do my "race" I got caught and kicked and it honestly freaked me out. This year I stayed to my game plan, and stayed wide at the start. By the first turn in the sort of box shaped course I was in my groove, and relaxed. I have been swimming fast for me, having dropped almost 8 seconds off my T-Pace this season. I exited the water in 22:59, 3:00 faster than last year, and in 14th place in my Age Group.
I had some difficulty in getting off my wetsuit, but hustled out of transition. The bike course is somewhat hilly, but I knew the course and had done another driving preview with Michelle on Saturday. I had marked the miles of certain landmarks so I would know where I was. Having the 55+ group in front allowed me to maintain motivation, by catching up to people ahead of me on the course. Last year's Bike split was 1:15. This year, they gave the bike plus T1 as one time, which was 1:14:02, good enough for 10th in my AG. My Power meter showed the bike split at just over 1:11, so figure about 3 minutes for T1. I don't have the Power file on this computer, but I pushed a modest 168 watt avg. My cumulative place in my AG coming into T2 was 7th. then it started to unravel.
I had some soreness in my legs as i would expect. I hurried out of T2, and then about 150 yards outside, while putting my gels in my shirt pocket I realized, I left my race number and race belt in transition. I quickly made a decision to go back and get it rather than risk DQ, though in hindsight, that was not likely.
I gather I spent about 1:00-1:30 going back and forth, and then began the run. During miles 1-2 and 5-6 I averaged about 6:40 pace which would have been great. The first mile is a guess because of the return to transition. I also bumped my Garmin, and had to re-start it during the run so all was a bit screwy. a few of the hills hit me hard. I finished the run in 43:57, only a slight improvement from last years 44:17. I figure the actual run time, was less, but for my race number incident.
All told, my time was 2:22:25, am improvement over last year by almost 8 minutes, on a day that was rainy and quite windy. Without that incident, i think I would have been closer to a 10 min improvement and PR. I did learn a lot, especially about keeping my cool in transition. Final results are here.
The race had a number of Pro's and I wanted to point out how classy they all were. I especially wanted to note Chrissy Wellington, 2-time defending IM World Champion. She dropped down to a distance she is less familiar with, and took 6th in the women's division. After she was done though, she stood in the finisher's shoot and handed out medal to the Age Groupers. She is truly awesome.
We are getting closer to some exciting news, and changes here, cannot wait but please be patient, as I am trying as well.

Finally this weekend the Rutgers Tri Club will compete for the first time ever, at Hammonton Sprint Race. Wish them all well as they begin their triathlon careers.

a Step in the right direction

Yesterday, I ran the Long Branch 1/2 Marathon, own the shore. This was part of the NJ Marathon, and relay festival. This is the third year I have done this and each year it gets bigger. On the downside first was the pre-race expo. In past years it was inside a conference room at the host hotel, this years was in a tent outside. Last year some parts were outside as well, but not the packet pick up. The problem has always been weather. In 2008, high gusty winds blew across the shore. This year it was rain. Despite great tents, they still were sloppy and had a funky smell to them.
The day started with some hurdles. I was meeting my running partner Scott, at the parking facility near by. Scott however was running behind on the Parkway, and informed me that he had passed the buses, that were to transport us from parking to the race start. The buses were to arrive at 5:00am, they actually made it at 6:00. I found a friend Georgie Fear, who was waiting as well. Georgie was running the marathon, and it was her first since injury a few years ago!
We finally got on a bus, that then proceeded to get lost. Yes, the 2 miles straight down Rt. 36. Somehow we took a wrong turn. That is funny because there really should have been no turns. Our bus stopped about 1/2 mile from the start and we exited to wait in a long bathroom line. We figured best to go there as the crowds near the start would likely be even worse. We made it to the JT Foundation Tent with little time before the 7:30 race Start.

The race was delayed in part due to the busing issues. Scott and I were planning to work at a pace to get us in under 1:30, and to see how we felt. There was a light mist during most of the race, and the course was somewhat slick. We hit the first few miles in about 6:30. I believe the 5K split was at about 20:00 +/-. The course is really flat so it has great PR potential. The winds are the only thing that can be a concern. We managed to be fortunate enough to have a day with little wind.
We continued at a steady pace until the turn around at about mile 9. Scott, had a bit more in the tank and began to separate from me a bit closer to mile 11. I was able to keep him in sight, but he was stronger today. I finished with a 1:26, which was a PR for me by about 7 minutes. So that is great. I was hoping to keep the average closer to 6:30 pace, but can't have everything. Scott and I spoke about getting to 1:23, which would allow for an automatic qualifying spot for NYC Marathon. And while it seems realistic, it also seems very far away.

On another note Kevin Cook, made his return to racing after a year off, and did well in a tough Wildflower course. Good Job Kevin!