Table of Contents, Long

It has been a long time since I have paid any attention to this blog. In that time many, many things have been going on. There are so many items I would like to touch upon that this blog is aptly named 'Table of Contents, Long'. That being said, feel free to check in for my ramblings on the following:
I. American Triple T - Ohio Race report.
II. Buffalo Marathon Race Report.
III. Keuka Lake Triathlon Race Report.
IV. Buffalo Bicycling Club Racing.
V. Endurance Monster Bike Fit/Cecilia Get a Makeover.
VI. New Training Tools.
VII. Syracuse 70.3 on the Horizon.
VIII. Lake Placid, Quickly Approaching.

I. American Triple T - Ohio Race report.
Early on May 18th, I packed up the car and picked Josh up in Hamburg for our trip down to Portsmouth, OH. I was so pleased with my buildup to Lake Placid last year, that I decided to change very little. That being said, a return trip to the American Triple T - Ohio was in order. It wasn't a very difficult decision to make as this race is hands down the best value event I have ever compete in. $300 for 4 races, hotel for two nights, and travel expenses; not bad at all! It turns out that next year will be even cheaper as I registered almost a year in advance with a discount code. Hats off to HFP Racing for putting together such an incredible event. If you’re looking for a great event for 2013, join me in Ohio: http://www.hfpracing.com/events/2012/american-triple-t
In 2011, I showed up to this race in, what I thought to be, tip-top shape. It was abruptly brought to my attention that there was a lot of work to do in the two months leading up to Lake Placid.
I decided to attack TTT slightly differently this time around. The goal was to race all 4 races as fast as possible, without walking on any of the run courses. My biggest asset was the 11-27 cassette I purchased leading up to Lake Placid last year. This cassette allowed me to repeat almost identical bike splits as 2011, without requiring a massive amount of power or any spikes. This approach allowed me to not only finish each run course, without walking, but to be competitive and race each run course (a plan I hope to mimic in Lake Placid in a few months). The highlight of the weekend, for me, was closing out the race with a 5:19 half ironman on an extremely difficult course, including a 1:46 half marathon trail run in the hills. The 1:46 was a much more pleasant way to top off the weekend than the 2:14 I ran/walked the year before. All in all, I was very pleased with my level of fitness and results from this weekend.

II. Buffalo Marathon Race Report.
A short week of recovery from TTT was combined with preparation for the Buffalo Marathon. I took a lot of heat from concerned training partners for this decision but I did it last year without issues and have yet to actually race the Buffalo Marathon. Heading into this race, I was extremely excited. I had been working a little bit with my friend Clint to get him ready for his marathon debut. My plan was to act as his Sherpa, taking care of nutrition and pacing, leaving him with nothing to think about besides running easy and staying smooth. The plan from the beginning was to walk 10-15 seconds at each water stop (every odd mile from mile 3 on) while sticking as close to 3:30 pace as possible. I have never been more impressed with an effort than I saw from Clint that day. He came into the event extremely prepared and had great results due to his preparation. I hope that he is now a subscriber to the training beliefs, “I’d rather suffer for months in training to enjoy my race, than show up unprepared and have a miserable experience.” Clint was not happy with me dragging him through some painful miles near the end but we crossed in 3:29, just under our goal. My favorite part about the race that Clint and I put together was the fact that instead of sharing a PR, Clint has me by 1 second. Excellent work Clint, but don’t get comfortable, I’m coming for you!

III. Keuka Lake Triathlon Race Report.
Early June brought on a race that I threw into the mix this year, the Keuka Lake Olympic distance triathlon. I had not competed in this race since 2009 and thought it was about time to get back and PR. This race was not an A race by any means, but I don’t show up to a race unless I’m willing to give it my best effort. I have tried to style my racing efforts after one of my running idols, Steve Prefontaine when he said “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” Looking at the race from the outside in, I knew that the swim wasn’t going to be anything special since I hadn’t been in the water much in the weeks leading up to the race. I was swimming around 12,000 yards/week in April and the beginning of May, dropping off to 5,000 yards/week leading up to Keuka. There is no excuse for this, just lack of places to swim after I stopped courses at UB for the semester.
The swim was uneventful, as I got out front and swam alone all day. This is always a tough position for me because I know I can save a lot of time over other athletes here but it is rare that I am in a wave with people to work with. Swimming alone leaves me thinking, “Ok, there could be somebody in another wave so make sure you stay strong and smooth and put in a few good efforts before you get out of the water. After the swim was where the real fun started for me. I ended up getting my first penalty exiting the water and heading up the stairs. I won’t dive any further into this penalty than to say that I completely disagree with the wetsuit violation I received and the fact that it was a bizarre penalty, unlike a drafting penalty, I am going to pretend it never happened.
My transitions felt decent, but not anything special. Turns out, there were only a few faster, thanks American TTT for a weekend full of practice (12 transitions)!
Onto the bike, I wasn’t expecting anything near a PR. The courses had a good deal of climbing and I knew I wanted to ride between 1:05 and 1:10. My 1:09 was still an underperformance but I had my mind on something else the entire way; sub 40 10k. I was on good form for the Nickel City race last September and thought I would break 40 minutes at that race however some cramping brought me to a walk for a few minutes and I ended up between 40 and 41 minutes. I told myself the week leading up to this race that this was going to be the breakthrough race for me. I got off of the bike and got to business. I knew I had some work to do to be in contention of a podium spot so I started hammering out the miles slightly over 6:00 miles. I had never been here before and I was nervous about blowing up but I just kept telling myself to run smooth and to just work on getting to the 5k turn around. I figured that if I got to the 5k while staying smooth, that I could make it back no matter how much I had to force my legs to turn over. The night before the race, I vocalized my run plans to a few friends and I knew that at this point I was extremely serious about going for broke on the run as I usually keep my plans to myself. I told my friend Charlie that once I get into the groove and start feelings really speedy on a run course, my hat will be backwards and I will fall into a different world. Shortly after the turn around, as I’m ready to drop the hammer home, I see Charlie and he makes some comment about my hat being backwards and turns his backwards as he runs by me. I remember wanting to laugh or give him some sort of response/acknowledgement but to be honest, I was far too deep in the pain cave to do anything at that point. I made it out to the turn around in a 19:20 5k and there was no doubt in my mind that I could bring it back in 20:40; the only problem at this point was convincing my legs to keep it together for another 5k. After an eternity, I made it to the finish line and a huge smile spread across my face as I read 39:05 on my watch. I had figured out a mile out that something disastrous would need to happen in order to not break 40 so I started working on breaking 39, oh well, maybe next race ;).
Overall, I was a little short of my race goal of being under 2:10 but that was sort of an empty goal, not knowing how well I would be able to perform on the bike course since it had been so long since I raced this particular course. I was very pleased with my results although it was a little bitter-sweet being removed from the podium with my 2-minute penalty. Still good enough for 5th. I’ll be back to this course at some point since I have 5 seconds of unfinished business with the run course and far more with the bike course.

IV. Buffalo Bicycling Club Racing.
At the end of last season, I decided to start racing my road bike a little bit through the Buffalo Bicycle Club. I participated in the East Aurora Road Race (formerly Toyfest) and was instantly hooked. I love the strategy and the way that the races can be so unpredictable. My bike racing in the past was limited to “A tri in the Buff, hm. It’s a flat course with a few false flats. I’ve been 1:03, lets try for 1:02”. Road racing is almost completely absent minded as far as time goes. When is the last time anybody noticed how long it took cyclists to finish a stage race. It’s all about who makes the moves, which team plays out the best strategy, and who conserves the most energy without falling off the back. The smallest decisions, such as when to shift and which wheel to hold can make or break a race at any point throughout the, typically 30 mile race.
Getting on with it, I used some spring races as training events, hoping to pick up some more speed and had some decent results. I took 1^st in Category 5 at the Corfu West race, thanks to my teammate, Jon, who handed me the win and generously rolled in at second. I showed up to Langford a little “under the weather” after a bachelor party and finished 5^th. I hope I would have been in the mix if I was in a better place. From this race, I realized that I really need to work on my cornering as I cannot hold a wheel to save my life and end up having to sprint back on every time. Maybe a criterium would be good practice, who knows.
More recently, I raced an uphill TT on my road bike. 1.5 miles at an average grade of 7% with a 0.8 mile segment averaging almost 10% grade. This race was extremely difficult but it felt good to wake my legs up and get them moving again after a lot of long, steady miles on the bike in the past couple of weeks.
I followed this race up, three days later, with a 30 mile road race. In the days between, I had back to back 50+ mile rides and carried over 200 miles on my legs into the race. I knew I was strapped for time and that the event would most likely start late. I had thoughts of dropping out in my head as I knew my legs were beat down and that I had to make it to work by 11am. I made it through a very painful 3 out of 4 laps, at points feeling great and at other points, struggling to keep contact with the rear of the peloton. As we began the last lap, I knew the competitor in me would push into places I really don’t need to go right now so I made, what I believe to be, the correct decision to drop out of the race. I have never dropped out of a race before and I have heard horrible stories about the internal struggles of making this decisions. I did not find the decision to be very difficult since I knew I had huge races looming on the horizon and that I was doing damage to my legs that was not necessarily beneficial. I’m sure it helps that I dropped out of a local bike club training race as opposed to an Ironman or high scale race. At the same time, the level of effort I put into every race I compete in makes all of the races feel equally important to me. What it comes down to is that I know my plan in the grand scheme of things and this race did not have to be part of the plan. As much as I would have liked to hang onto the peloton and see how far I could dig into the pain cave, this race was not worth it. I’m sitting a month away from Lake Placid and that’s the basket all my eggs are being placed. I find that every race is an opportunity to learn and there is no better time to learn than when a race does not go as planned.

V. Endurance Monster Bike Fit/Cecilia Get a Makeover.
 BTC sponsor Endurance Monster offers a fit discount for members that I took advantage of after Keuka, hoping to squeeze every advantage out of my bike in Placid as possible. The end result was a much more comfortable fit and a makeover for my baby, Cecilia! I will not go into great detail on the bike fit as BTC present Charlie Watson does a great job explaining the process in the April-May 2012 newsletter found here.
As far as my number one lady, Cecilia, she has been updated with a nice new set of carbon aerobars and extensions, a new rear hydration tail, a Quarq powermeter, and a new placement for my Garmin 310 XT, throwing data in my face. She feels like a brand new bike and was even treated to brand new brake and derailleur cables. Now I just need to find some time to switch the left and right brakes as they are backwards but that was an entirely different adventure.

VI. New Training Tools.
As mentioned above, I have treated myself to a brand new Quarq powermeter. I have done a lot of research and patiently anticipated the Garmin Vector pedals but enough was enough. The Quarq has been proven to be reliable and simple to set up. I trust the numbers I am getting and I feel very fortunate to be able to add this weapon to my arsenal.
On a far less expensive note, I stumbled upon a tool I wish I had found during the winter months and it would have revolutionized the way I trained. I am so impressed with this software that I found myself purchasing it and sitting on my trainer in June, while the weather was beautiful outside. For those of you who have not heard yet, do yourself a favor and check out www.trainerroad.com as I cannot speak highly enough about this piece of software. Adding TrainerRoad to your training tools effectively gives you access to power data and workout capabilities similar to a CompuTrainer, without the $1500 price tag. For $10/month, you can completely change the way that you train and find yourself in the best shape you have ever been. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me as I currently use the software and would be happy to elaborate on how it works and the capabilities.
VII. Syracuse 70.3 on the Horizon.
 The past week or so, since Keuka, I have been dealing with some Achilles issues that are really putting me on edge for Lake Placid. I am nearing the end of a 10 day stretch without running, trying to heal this bad boy and I can say that two days have gone by without any pain whatsoever. While there is no pain, I have not used my left leg much in the past 10 days and things feel very strange in there. Although I am anxious to get out and test the leg, I am going to wait until Wednesday morning to run. I figure that giving it a few extra hours or days is better in the long run than disturbing it and ending up being off my feet any longer. I still have 4 weeks to nail down my run and I knew heading into the recovery process that my run has been on point. While the speed of the 10k in Keuka may have been the straw that broke the camels back, the results speak for themselves and I was not worried about heading into 10 days off of my feet. I have used the time to get some really quality bike sessions in and bring my swim back up to where it needs to be. It is just very hard for me to go 10 days without running as I typically run 3-5 times every week whether I’m training or not. I’m sure once I get back moving again, things will fall into place and I will feel silly for worrying so much. In the meantime, it is best to let things settle down and heal.
On another note, I am very much looking forward to watching the Syracuse 70.3 race. I am allowing myself to get excited about this race to distract my mind from thinking about Placid and my lack of running the past 10 days. It will be very nice to be on the other side of this race, spectating, for the first time since its inaugural year. I have tons of friends in the first 70.3 and many others looking to PR. I am looking forward to coaching my friends from the sidelines and returning the support of the BTC, who has supported me in every race I have done since they knew my name. It should be a lot of fun to watch my friends battle it out in the 20-24 age group and even far more exciting to know that there are 100 Vegas slots up for grabs. I have a good feeling that a lot of people who have been chasing slots will be rewarded for their hard work at this race. It could never hurt to see a few more friendly face in the desert!

 VIII. Lake Placid, Quickly Approaching.
 I have spent my recovery day sitting on the computer, updating this blog. Now it is time to begin carrying out my cutdown and taper for Ironman Lake Placid. The dreams have started and are increasing with frequency, some extremely motivating, some extremely disturbing. I know that I will be ready to race July 22 although right now it feels like there is still a lot of work to do. I have very big plans for this race and it is extremely difficult to keep focused and positive when my plan isn’t going exactly as I wish it were. I know I have put in a lot more work, and smarter work, than last year. I also know that I will be prepared to go to battle in a few short weeks. Although I am nervous and starting to second guess myself, I know that I made decisions based on what I thought was best for me in the long run. I have been focused on this goal since November and have remained dedicated and consistent in my training. I am prepared, the only battle left is the one I face in my head.