Matthew Russell

What happened at the Austin Triathlon?

2011-09-09T06:33:00.002-05:00

The Swim: The swim was 1500 meters in Lady Bird Lake. The water was pretty warm so it was a non-wetsuit swim but I didn’t wear a speedsuit. I got into a decent rhythm and swam a 23:49 which wasn’t a bad swim for me. I believe I was the 15th man out of the water. Balzas, the Hungarian pro who will also be racing in Kona swam a blazing 18:50 while James Bonney swama 19:17.

The Bike: I was a whole 5 minutes back on the top swimmer so I had a lot of ground to make up. The bike was a total of 40k which consisted of 3 laps. Each lap had a handful of turns with a few 180 degree turns. There were a few hills but nothing too challenging. It was pretty windy out on the course with a few good gusts. I made up a lot of time on the bike and clocked the 2nd fastest time of the day riding a 56:21 which I was happy about without having a disc wheel. I didn’t feel super sharp on the bike because I raced IM Canada the week before. Bonney had the fastest bike split of 56:00.

The Run: James Bonney was the first guy out on the run and was lead with a lead bicycle on the course. Balzas was 2nd and I was 3rd. I started rolling to try to make up some ground. I got to an intersection and then a spectator said that the course runs this way. I continued on the two loop course. I ended up seeing James Bonney and I thought in my head “ hmmm I caught him rather quick, I thought he had a bigger lead” Well when I passed him the lead cyclist was taking me. I started my 2nd loop and came back to that same intersection as the lead cyclist took me around this loop. I realized I had missed it the first time so I ended up running it twice (entered the exact same spot where I missed it the first time) to make up for the first time I missed it. Doing that little loop twice I found myself behind James Bonney again. I got to about 1k left of the course and my friend Steve White said “You’re 26 seconds behind.” I could see him ahead. All we had left was an out and back on the bridge so I motored my way to try to catch him. Then with about 150-200 meters to go I caught him and flew by to beat him 5-6 seconds. My total time was a 1:56:09 and I clocked a 33:00 10k run. James Bonney finished 5 seconds behind me in 1:56:14.

Then I found out that Balzas (who would have most likely won it), myself who finished 2nd, Peter Mallet who finished 4th and another guy who finished 5th all got disqualified because we ran off course. Myself, Peter and the 5th place guy all ran two laps the second loop around to make up for the missed section the first time. Therefore, we all ran the same distance (10k) as everyone else and did not have an advantage at all. Balzas was really directed off course multiple times. Because 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th were disqualified James Bonney became the Champion of the Austin Triathlon.

The reason why the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th guys off the bike missed the turn the first time. #1. I was told a sign blew down. #2. I was told that the chalk on the grass blew away. #3. There was not any volunteers that section as myself and 3 other guys missed the turn. Roughly 5 minutes went by and then after they started realizing everyone was missing the turn they put a volunteer there. Peter and I both looked at the run course online before the race too and I knew the course had about 10 turns per lap. With spectators guiding us the wrong way and a course that was not marked properly, no wonder why the 2nd-5th guys out of transition 2 missed it. Now why didn’t James Bonney miss the turn and get mixed up on the course as well? He was first off the bike and had a lead bike guide him through the course.

Overall I was pleased with my performance to bounce back from IM Canada and finish 2nd overall. Unfortunately the top 4 out of 5 guys had to be disqualified at the Austin Triathlon.

Lots of 1st for Ironman Canada.

2011-08-28T21:45:00.003-05:00

-First time in Penticton and racing IM Canada.
-First time I change my tubular flat tire.
-First time I broke the 3 hour barrier in an Ironman marathon
-First time I broke 9 hours in an Ironman.
-First time I didn’t get "chicked" (beaten by a girl)in an Ironman…and she broke the 20 year old course record today.

The Swim:
Swam the first 1k with a handful of people. You were suppose to keep the buoys to your right and they were swimming inside where the buoys were on their left. I decided to swim it the right way because I didn’t want to get DQ for any reason. Then I swam the rest of the swim by myself. The water temp was 71.6 so I used my full Xterra Wetsuit and finished the swim in 1:04 which was a PR.

The Bike:
I felt strong on the bike and was picking up guys right and left. Especially on the climbs I was catching them like flies. I have to thank the Colorado Rockies for providing me thousands of feet of climbing. Then at mile 80 I got a flat. A race support motor cycle drove by and slowed down and I yelling. “I have a flat, I need help please!” They just sped up and kept driving. I thought that there might be some race support at this intersection a little ways up the road as my front tire was getting close to completely flat. I couldn’t get going cause I was on a hill and was in bike gears as I almost fell off my bike trying to do so. I got off my bike and put it in an easier gear and then made it up the hill to the intersection were I thought race support was. There were about 50 plus people there and they said that it was just a few hundred feet further. NOPE! No race support. I jumped off my bike, took my front tire off and started peeling the tire off. It took me a little bit of time to feel it off because the tire was on there pretty good with glue. I grabbed my spare and tried putting it on. It was sooo tight! Did I pre stretch it? Yes, I did. However I have traveled around with it so much and it has been in my 150+ degree explorer that my spare tire had shrunk a little. I muscled and muscled as I FINALLY got it on. Put some air in it and off I go again. Then about 2-3 minutes later I realized it was rubbing on my brake. I stopped and re adjusted my brakes. Kept riding for another mile and realized it was still rubbing. I stopped again and loosen my brakes. Then I kept riding for another few miles and noticed shards of rubber on my leg. The wheel was rubbing on my fork! I stopped and re-adjusted it so it wasn’t rubbing. (I found out later that there was a chuck of medal in the fork where you put the skewer causing the wheel to rub on the fork) Finally I was on my way and by this time I had probably lost a total of 15 minutes with all of the stops and changing the flat. I was on my was to a low to mid 4:40’s bike split which would have been one of the fastest of the day. I ended up riding a 4:56 instead.

The Run:
By this point it was in the low to mid 90’s. I just got in a rhythm and was clipping some fast miles. The was flat on some sections to rolly with a few challenging hills close to the turn around. I got to the half way mark and it was a 1:25 split. On the way back I closed in a 1:28 and finished up with a 2:54 marathon and the second fastest of the day in my regular training shoes.

The Finish: I finished in 8:59…just enough to break that 9 hour barrier! :) As usual, I finished with a Blazeman roll in memory of my mother and other who have and had battled with ALS. I finished 7th overall. I was really hoping for a top 5 finish. Without the tire incident, I most likely would have finished 4th or 5th. Regardless I am blessed that I was able to fix my tire and end the day on a decent note.

I have had an amazing homestay here in Penticton, BC. I LOVE the area: climate is great, training here is great, community is great and it’s beautiful here! If you ever get the chance to come, do it!

I am about 99% confident that I will be racing in Ironman world championships now :) I'll let everyone know as soon as I find out. It works on a point base system now and they only accept the top 50 in the world.

Ironman Texas Race Report

2011-05-22T10:23:00.005-05:00

The swim was about 79 degrees so I used my Xterra speedsuit. The gun went off and I tried to stay on the tail of some women but it was difficult for me to draft. The water was very murky. I swam the whole way by myself. I felt pretty relaxed while swimming. I was hoping to swim a 1:02-1:04 but came out of the water in about 1:07 flat. The great thing is that I didn’t feel exhausted and I was ready for the bike. This was my longest swim since IM Arizona. What I learned about the swim was that I need to do more open water swims that are just long. The good thing is that it was still a personal best time for me swimming 2.4 miles.

Onto the bike I quickly caught a handful of the pro women and a few age groupers. From mile 10-80 I think I might have only passed/saw a handful of riders, if that. It was quite lonely. It felt more like a training ride for me with some great scenery. Leading up to this race I had been sick all week coughing up yellow flem which I was still doing on the bike. I also had a dull headache the whole race. My new Blue Triad SL felt great but I still didn’t feel 100% dialed into position. I got to about mile 50 and my back, shoulders, and neck was tight/sore. I moved into a more forward position and felt a little better. What I learned on the bike was that I needed to do more long rides. My last long ride over 60 miles outside was two months ago back in March. In April I raced every weekend which made it difficult to get a long ride in. What I need to do is to write out my training plans on paper. Regardless of what I need to do for future Ironmans, I still had over a 5 minute personal best time on the bike riding a 4:44 for 112 miles. Thanks Blue Bicycles!

On to the run I felt pretty good minus still having my dull headache. I averaged 6:18 pace for the first 4.5 miles and it felt easy. Then gradually I started to slow down due to getting dehydrated. I was on pace to run just under 3 hours and then at mile 20 I got so dehydrated that I felt my external oblique that I tore back in college. I ran jogged for a mile and a half pushing on my oblique to try to subside the pain. It was about 90 degrees sunny and super humid. I got to the aid station and drank 6 cups of Powerbar Perform (like Gatorade) and water to try to rehydrate which helped me run the last of the marathon on fumes in a time of 3:07.

I finished 14th overall in the pro field. A total time of 9:03 which put me in a nice sandwich of Luke McKenize ahead of me and Michael Lovato behind me. Those guys also had a difficult day at the office. I was the 4th American overall. At the finishline I did the Blazeman roll in memory of my mother and all others who had ALS. The day before the Ironman would have been my mother's 60th b-day. I learned a lot of valuable lessons about training doing this ironman which I will certainly use to my advantage for my next Ironman in two month, Ironman Lake Placid. Regardless of not having the best day I still managed to have a personal best time by 5 minutes. I was the youngest finisher out of the top 40 finishers.

I want to personally thank all of the people out on course cheering for me, especially all of the T3 member and the Tri4Him members. It really helps! I am blessed that I am able to use God’s given gifts/talent and race for him in return :) Thank you everyone who posted on my facebook wall wishing me good luck and congratulating me. Thank you Lisa from Performance Wellness for giving me some great massages :) Body felt great going into the race! Congrats to all Ironman athletes who raced yesterday! :) Thanks Extreme Endurance for leaving me with minimum soreness and helping me recover so fast. I’m about to hop on the bike for a little bike to spin out my legs :)

Results

Pumpkinman Sprint Triathlon

2010-09-16T14:11:00.002-05:00

I certainly had a rememorable race at the Pumpkinman Triathlon! The Wednesday before the race I had flown back from Scotland. I was feeling the jet leg since I was up for 22 hours of traveling. The next day I was thinking I could get some sleep but my sister was due with her first baby. Therefore, I was up for another 22 hours! I felt a little sleep deprived going into the race. It certainly was nice to be able to sleep and stay at my sister's house the night before the race. She only lives about 6 miles away from the race venue so I got to the race by hitch-hiking...wait I cycled. Yes, I cycled with Peter Mallet. Wait! Pete forgot his shoes so he had to cycle back to my sister's place to get his shoes. That's Peter Mallet for you! haha

The morning was a brisk ride but when the sun started coming up it quickly warmed up. I made my way down to the lake as I was thankful to wear my wetsuit. It was 9/11 so there was a moment of silence for everyone who lost thier life 9 years ago. Shortly after the cannon went off and all of the elite's took off. Thankfully this was only a 1/3rd mile swim because i haven't been swimming much at all lately. I got out of the swim in arounf 8:27. A solid 2 minutes back from Pete. I knew I had to make some time up on the bike so I quickly ran up the monster hill and hopped on my bike. I had to ride my road bike because that was what i had to use at Duathlon Worlds 6 days ago and it was the only bike I had. I wished i had my TT bike, race wheel and aero helmet but i did what i could on my road bike. I ended up catching all of the guys on the bike except 1 person.

I heard the person in the lead had a 3 minute lead. I wasn't even sure if he was the lead guy because it didn't seem like I passed that many guys on the bike. I was more concerned about holding my position on the run as there was pete and another run on my tail. I started a steady pace and couldn't see anyone infront of me. I kept rolling and right at the end I saw another guy. I started motoring a little faster to try to catch him but ran out of space as I finished only 3 seconds behind him. I had no idea I was gaining on this guy and that he was actually the lead person too! I couldn't complain finishing 2nd overall considering the circumstances I was in. I ended up running a 15:22 for 3 miles. The winner was Dean from Fit Werx, then myself, and Pete wrapped up 3rd overall. It was a great performance from Dean and he is a great guy as well!

Kat (the race director) put on an amazing race weekend! The race was set up well with great food after. I'd certainly recommend this race to anyone and I do plan on racing next year. Maybe i'll do the double?! Sprint on Saturday and Half Ironman on Sunday. race registration opens up on Oct. 31st. http://www.pumpkinmantriathlon.com/

It was a great weekend and race but the bigger milestone is....I am an UNCLE :)

I'm an Uncle!!!

2010-09-15T16:46:00.004-05:00

My sister had a beauitful baby boy named Adrian Teele Lipsky on Friday Sept. 10, 2010 st 12:16pm. He is 19.5 inches and weighs 7 pounds 11 ounces.

Adrian must had been waiting for me becuase he came the same day I arrived in Maine :) I had just gotten back from Scotland and spent the night at Pete's house in Manchester, NH. The next day I rode my bike a few hours to Durham, NH (UNH) where I went swimming. My sister was suppose to pick me up but Justin (my brother-in-law) did instead because my sister was starting to go into labor. My sister and Justin were certainly blessed with a beauitful healthy boy :)

Duathlon Worlds in Edinburgh, Scotland

2010-09-15T16:13:00.004-05:00

I spent a total of a week in Edinburgh and stayed with Jon Kent, Josh Merrick, Dereck Treadwell and Tim (from Hartwick College) in a cozy little apartment. Edinburgh is a beauitful city and have a lot of attractions for tourist. During my time there I went to the Edinburgh Castle, went the Royal Botanic Garden, walked on Calton Hill where there were a bunch of monuments and YES, went to multiple pubs. Don't worry, I went to the pubs on the last day I was there :)

This was my third year on the Elite team and this was certainly the toughest field and toughest course there has been within the last three years. The set of the course was a 10k run, 40k draft legal bike followed by a 5k run.

The first run went out hard as usual. I always hang in the back for the first 1/3rd of the race and run even splits as I catch all of the guys who go out to hard. The 10k run consisted of loops, each loop being 2.5k. It was a gradual up hill and then a pin point turn around down hill. Now I can run up hill pretty well but I can't run downhill and on each downhill it seems like the lead guys were getting a bigger lead on me. I finished the run about 45 seconds back from where I thought i would be.

I knew I had my work cut out on the bike. The bike consisted of a 7 loop course of about 39k. There was a decent climb and decent in the loop. I quickly worked hard on the bike and caught up to Josh Merrick and another guy from the UK. We worked together as we flew past guys that couldn't hang with us. Josh and I were doing the majority of the work. We caught up to a group of about 12 other rides and Dereck Treadwell was in this group. I went right to the front to keep a honest pace as everyone drafted on me. On the last loop I took the lead and pulled hard the whole time into T2. I got off the bike and tried to roll as quickly as I could on my beat up legs. A few people out of the pack of 15 got away from me but I held my own in the last 5k and finished 23rd out of 50 some elite men. I finished up the 4th out of 7 Elite men. A tough race and day but I did the best of what I could to represent USA for Worlds.

August Race Recap

2010-09-14T15:55:00.003-05:00

August was a busy month of racing for me. Right after Lake Placid my goal was to start working on my speed for Duathlon World Championships. Two weeks after Ironman Lake Placid i ran a 5k race over in Brockville, Canada. I was certainly pushed as it came down to the last few meters. The guy I was racing ended up beating me by a stride as I crossed the lin in 15:47. It was a good race where I was pushed and ended up with a decent time. I recieved some local organic eggs as a prize :)

The following week I competed in the Thousand Island Triathlon in Brockville in Canada. The swim was the very rough, the bike was an out and back and the run was along the Brockville trail. I ended up taking control on the the run and finished up 1st overall.

The week after I competed in the Norwood Sprint Triathlon. The swim was a nice short one, along with a nice rolly 16 miler and finished off with a 4 mile run. I took the lead and held it to win by an overall 3 minutes. 2nd place was my friend Kevin Beatty from Canada. He just finished his first Ironman (Canada) in 9:30!!! As Kevin and I were cooling down he told me about the Cornwall Duathlon/Triathlon. After pondering about the idea to double, I decided to end up doing to duathlon. It ended up being a great idea after all. The weather was wet but I ended up finishing strong to take another win, along with some prize money. I love racing in Canada because the people are really nice and a number of people actually knew about me. Race results can be found here

The last week before headed off to Duathlon Worlds, my friend Pete came up to trian with me. We got a decent training block in. On Wednesday I ended up hitting a dog going around 23mph. I went flying off and land on my side. Thankfully I had no broken bones and my bike was ok. My had a nice scrape on my left elbow and my left hip hit hard and it was difficult to walk around on. The next morning I had a key running workout of 8x1000 that I didn't want to miss. I am stubburn so I decided to do it. It took me at least 5 miles to warm up to try to loosen my hip up enough so i wasn't limping. Sure enough I was ok and I ended up averaging 3:02 for the 1000 repeats with a 3 minute rest.

Ironman Lake Placid Race Report

2010-07-28T20:17:00.014-05:00

On Sunday morning I woke up at 3:30am at the Jack Rabbit Hostel in Lake Placid, NY. This was the first hostel I have ever stayed at before. There were many other ironman athletes staying at the hostel. I didn't even know it was a hostel until the day before. The place was very nice and I slept like a baby the night before. Once I woke up I had my daily cup of joe and downed three plain bagels. Then at 4:30 the two other pros (Miranda Alldritt and Raymond Botelhoand) ans I made our way to the transition.

Once we arrived to the transition the announcer said that the water temperature was 74 degrees. This meant that the water was wetsuit legal for the age groupers but NOT for the professional field. This was a disapointment to me because the wetsuit would have helped me out on my weakest leg. I couldn't use my new Xterra triathlon wetsuit :(

The Swim:

I jumped in the water 5 minutes before the start. I hesitated getting in sooner because I didn't want to get my core tempature too cold in the 74 degree water. There were about 30 male pros and 20 female pros. As we all treaded water and waited for the gun to fire. The gun went off amd my adrenaline shot up high! I relaxed and got into a rhythm. Matt Sheeks was right infront of me so the both of us worked together and came out of the water in 36 minutes flat on the first lap. On the second lap the age groupers started catching me. The age groupers started 10 minutes behind the pros but they were able to use wetsuits. They quickly swam over top of me. It was a struggle to just survive the last swim lap. Matt Sheeks was smart and got way on the outside to aviod the rush of wetsuit swimmers. The last 400 meter my calfs started to cramp up a little. Finally I touched land again. I was relieved as I finsihed the 2.4 mile swim in a slow time of 1:17. This was my longest swim ever! I quickly started running into T1. It was about a 400 meter long run just to get into transition.

The bike:
I quickly mounted my Suplicy bike and was on my way as I passed hundreds of people. In the first lap I stayed relaxed because I knew it was a long hilly course. I went through the first 56 miles in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Just where I wanted to be. On the second lap I started to push a little more. In the last 15 miles my body didn't feel like it hard great power but i continued to push the last hilly sections to the finish. I did drop my chain on one of the hills but was able to hop it back on without stopping. Out on the bike course I comsumed First Endurance EFS liquid shot and some First Endurance EFS drink. The volunteers handed out bananas, some cut up powerbars chunks and water which I took at every aid station. Rolling back into Lake Placid one of the volunteers directed me the wrong way back into transition. I started going down the hill. I was forced to hop off my bike and run 100 meter back up the hill with my bike back into transition. I finished the 112 mile bike in 5:05 which was the 8th fastest bike split from the pros. I slowed down about 5 minutes on the last lap but was able to make up a lot of time from my slow swim.

The run:
I felt pretty good right off the bike. I had a First Endurance EFS liquid shot flask in one hand and a bike bottle filled with water to start the marathon journey. My first 3 miles were just under 6 minute pace. However, the first 3 miles were all down hill. I settled in and concentrated on catching a few more people. I was quickly reeling people in as i kept it on cruise control. I went through the half marathon in about an hour and 27 minutes. On the 2nd lap I slowed down a little but finished my marathon in a time of 3 hours. 6:53 mile pace and had the 5th fastest run time out of all of the pros.

The finish:
As I approached the finish I was surrounded a few hundred people cheering. There was the Ironman annoucer but I have no idea what he was saying. He might have called my name or he might have said the famous "You are an Ironman". There was only one thing on my mind which was my mother...the soul reason for doing my first Ironman was in memory of her. I wanted to spread awareness of Lou Gehrig's Disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the disease my mother had. Through out the whole race I thought of my mother. On my chest I have the ALS logo to help spread the awareness and as I ran down the last 100 meters I pointed to the ALS logo on my chest. I crossed the line in a total time of 9:28:58 and put up my hands in the air. Then I dropped to the ground and did the Blazeman roll in memory of Blazeman, my mother and everyone else who was affected by this disease.

I finished as the 11th male pro overall out of 30. I didn't even know that the 10th overall pro was only 19 seconds infront of me. If I would have known, I would have tried to push a little more to catch him. I can't complain because this was my first Ironman, my first pro race, and my 3rd main triathlon ever.

What I have learned:

I loved racing this new Ironman distance! I went through many feelings throughout the race with my mind, body, and my emotions. The bigger the challenge, the more I love it! I feel that I can improve in all areas in the ironman. I know I need to work on my swim since it is my weakest leg. I started swimming this year and about 6 months ago I couldn't swim more then 400 meter without stopping. Recently, I have only been swimming 2-3 hours a week. Top triathletes swim 8-10 hours. Therefore it is critcal I spend more time in the pool. There is very limited pool time where I am located in northern, NY. There is no masters swim groups either. With this being said, I plan on moving to a triathlon town in the near future. I also feel like I can improve my bike and run splits. I've been cycling about 10-12 hours a week and running about 40-45 miles a week. In build for my next Ironman, I plan on putting a little more volume.

My body has recovered really well from the Ironman. I wasn't as sore as I thought I would be. I was more sore after doing an all day epic hike in the Adirondacks a few months ago. I started running again on Thursday (4 days after). Now I am back in full swing of training again.

Thank you everyone for your all of your support!

Xterra Wetsuits and ready for Ironman Lake Placid!

2010-07-21T07:56:00.003-05:00

Only a few days away and I'll be doing my first Ironman in Lake Placid. A big thanks to Xterra Wetsuits as I just recieved the Xterra Vector Pro X2 Wetsuit. With the help of Xterra, I should be able to swim more like a fish :)

For more info on the Worlds Fastest Wetsuits go to: www.xterrawetsuits.com

Mount Washington Road Race (U.S. National Mountain Running Championships)

2010-06-24T21:33:00.007-05:00

Mount Washington Road Race Facts:

* The 50th anniversary year.
* The finish 6288 ft.
* The start 1565 ft.
* Elevation gain 4727 ft.
* Length 7.6 miles
* Grade Avg. 12%, extended 18%, final 100 yards 22%
* Road Surface 65% paved, 35% packed gravel

On June 19th, I competed in my second Mount Washington Road Race. I wasn't really sure what to expect. I didn't feel as prepared as I did last year. Last year I was living in Colorado up at 9,000 feet in a yurt, running 70 mile weeks and running up lots of mountains/hills. This year I have been only running about 45 miles a week for the past month, living and training at sea level, and I haven't done any hill workouts at all. The only thing I had going for me was that I felt like I was more aerobically fit due to cycling and swimming.

Last year I ran a 1:06:19 and was 9th overall. This year the field was much deeper, as the Mount Washington race was also the 2010 U.S. National Mountain Running Championships. The top 6 men in this race are the USA Team for Mountain Running World Championships which is in Kamnik, Slovenia on September 5th, 2010. I figured if I ran a 1:06 something I would be happy because of the odds against me in my training this year vs. last year.

The night before I got to Kevin Tilton's house pretty late around 11ish. It took me a little while to unwind and finally fell asleep around 1 in the morning. The morning came quick as i downed a few plain bagels and a coffee. After I drove to the race site and had a nice 3 mile warm up. I saw many familiar faces from Colorado on the starting line. The cannon went off to start us. I stayed relaxed and had the leaders in sight during the first mile. I settled in and pushed a steady pace. I was in about 15th place as I passed the halfway mark and my watch read 31:35. Below is a picture of me close to the half way mark.

Once I got half way, I started feeling a little better as I was gaining on the people in front of me. Slowly I was able to pass one person at a time. Before I know it someone said that I was in the top 10 with about 2 miles left. I kept gaining on the people in from of me and I felt strong. With less then a half mile to go I saw one more person in front of me a ways away. I pushed hard and was able to catch him right at the end. I finished hard and ended up finishing 7th overall in a time of 1:04:21 (Just about two minutes faster then last year)

I was very thrilled with how the race went. If I was 6th place I could have made the USA World Mountain Team and would have a trip to Slovenia. If I was 6th place, I wouldn't have been able to go because Duathlon World Championships is the same day and its in Scotland. Right after my race my friend Pete and I ended up running down the mountain to make the race into a long run. Once we were at the bottom of the mountain my friend Jim joined us as we all soaked our legs in the stream.

I was happy that I was able to contribute and run as a Central Massachusetts Strider. The team ran well as we won the USA National Mountain Running Team Title.

About 400 meters to go!

Mooseman 70.3 race report

2010-06-22T07:57:00.004-05:00

Mooseman 70.3 was a race that will not be forgotten easily with the cold rain and tough bike course. The night before my sister, brother-in-law, father and friend camped out in tents near the race site. Thankfully I slept well as I woke up early to eat/digest a few bagels. The weather was a cool 60 degrees as we heard rumors of it raining later on.

The 1.2 mile swim:
I was the 3rd wave to go in Newfound Lake in New Hampshire. The first wave were the pro men as the 2nd wave were the pro women. The water in the lake was very clean and clear. The temp. was around 67 degrees and was wetsuit legal which I was very happy about. Being the 3rd wave was delightful because I was not running into slower swimmers like I did at Florida 70.3. Halfway through the swim the lake became a little more rough in the middle. My body was going up and down as it felt like I was in the ocean. The last 3rd of the swim, I was able to swim next to someone and get more of a rhythm to cruise it in. I ended up getting out of the water in 35:10, more then 6 minutes ahead of my swim time at Florida 70.3 three weeks ago.

The 56 mile bike:
The bike consisted of two big loops. There was a 3.5 mile climb that went up a 1000 feet that we had to ride each lap. On the back side/the decent, the age groupers could only go a max of 30mph or you would be disqualified. There were radar guns to make sure people didn't go too fast. I was certainly scared of the radar gun and did not want to risk going over 30mph and getting DQ. Therefore on both laps I was riding the 3-4 mile decent 25-28 mph. The pro's were able to fly down the decent and go 40mph or so. The bike was a very cold one. It was in the mid to upper 50's with cold rain. I knew a few of the pro's dropped out due to getting hypothermia. My hands went numb as I chattered but was able to keep my wheels a moving. I heard a rumor that there were a number of the pro's drafting a little on the bike. Regardless I had a decent bike split of 2:29, the 11th fastest of the day.

The 13.1 mile run:
The run course was wet and rolly. It wasn't the fastest course due to some of the hills and the dirt roads. The first 2 miles i had 11:42 on my watch so I was running about 5:41 off the bike. I slowed down a little through out the run to an average of 6 minutes pace and clocked a 1:18 for the 7th fastest run split of the day. I finished strong and ended up placing 1st in my age group and the 2nd overall amateur. My total time was 4:26:03. This put me 10th place overall against the pro's. I was happy with my result on this tough day and was able to qualify for my professional license in triathlon. I still have a ways to go with my swimming but I am moving in the right direction.

It was nice having my father, sister, brother-in-law and friend Pete for support as they were cheering me on. Congrats to Pete as he finished 2nd overall at the Mooseman Olympic Triathlon the day before!

My first Ironman, in memory of my Mother (ALS Fundraiser)

2010-06-02T08:54:00.004-05:00

Please click here to donate

As a child, I witness my mother battle many challenges living with Lou Gehrig's Disease. On July 25th 2010, I will also battle a challenge. I will be competing in my first Ironman in memory of my mother. I will be competing in the 2010 Ironman Lake Placid in New York. The Ironman event consists of a 2.4 mile swim in Mirror Lake, a 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run in the beautiful Adirondack mountains. Feel free to come out and cheer me on!

Please consider sponsoring me with a donation. 100% of the donations will go to the ALS assoication to help support those affected by Lou Gehrig's Disease and to spread awareness of the urgency to find treatments and a cure. During the Ironman event I will alsp be racing with an ALS logo on my chest to help spread awareness. With your help, we will be able to make a difference in the lives of people affected by this disease. I encourage you get your friends, family, neighbors and coworkers involved!

Thank you for helping me reach my fundraising goal!

Info on ALS/ Lou Gehrig's Disease: http://www.alsa.org/

Info on the Ironman Lake Placid: http://www.ironmanlakeplacid.com/

One great week in Northern, NY

2010-05-28T09:00:00.011-05:00

My friend, Ryan Dorsey, flew in from Colorado to visit me for a week. He couldn't have picked a better week as we had warm weather and clear skies. We had a jam packed schedule with lots of cycling and showing him around the area. We cycled 2-3 hours each day. One day next to the St. Lawrence River, a few days around the amish country up here, one day in Canton, one big group ride up in Ottawa in Canada, and one loop of the Ironman Lake Placid bike course in the Adriondacks.

After the group ride in Canada, Dean, Ryan and myself went to the Tulip Festival and had some great food from South Africa. Besides cycling Ryan and I made and ate lots of homemade bread on local honey, made venison jerky, dried fruit, threw some wood around for my dad, took a few boat rides on the St. Lawrence River, did a little finish as we caught up on old times.

While in the Adirondacks, Ryan and I did a backpacking trip. We hiked 8.5 miles into the mountains. We pasted John's Brook Lodge and ended up pitching the tent at Slant Rock. The next morning we had an epic 9 hour plus hike. We hiked Basin, Saddleback, Gothics, Armstrong and Upperwolf Jaw Mountain. I'm not sure how many miles but there was certainly a lot of elevation gain with great views on top of each peak.

View of Gothics from Saddleback Mountain. The route we hiked up.

First Endurance EFS bar

2010-05-27T14:31:00.005-05:00

This past few months I have been using the First Endurance EFS bars. I've noticed that this bar has practically everything I need to restore my electrolytes and refuel me. I primarily use the EFS bars on long rides.

Recently, I just hiked 9 hours in the Adirondacks. I had a 20 pound pack on and trekked over 5 of the highest peaks in the Adirondacks. After every summit, which took close to an hour per summit, I would eat something. Once some crackers, another time some oreos and yes even an EFS bar. Prior to eating each time, I felt a little hypoglycemic due to not having an abundance of food while trying to ration my supplies. When I ate my EFS bar, I felt like I lasted the longest and was finally able to restore my low electrolytes. For more info go to:
http://www.firstendurance.com/nutrition/control/product/~product_id=90196

Florida 70.3 race report

2010-05-17T09:24:00.007-05:00

The morning started with waking up woke up at 4:15am. I didn't fall asleep that night until around midnight, so I certainly was a little tired when I woke up. For breakfast I had a cup of coffee and a few plain bagels to get me going. I got to transition at a good time to get everything set up and ready.

The swim:

I was the 12th swim wave and I started at 6:54am. There were about 80 guys I started with. I had a decent start and started to get into a rhythm. Then I found that I started running into an abundance of people who were doing the breast stroke and who were swimming much slower. I would run into people, people would run into me, I got hit multiple times and I hit people multiple time. Yes, I expected this but this seemed to happen more then I thought it would. I never really felt like I got into a smooth rhythm. Every 10 strokes I had to pick my head up to make sure I was swimming the right way and it also felt like every 10 strokes I'd run into someone. I didn't feel smooth, it felt more like a stop and go every 10 strokes or so.

The swim felt like it took forever! When I got to the sand to stand up I was relieved. I wasn't physically tired from swimming but mentally I was. This was also the longest continous swim I have ever done. I looked at my time and it read 41 minutes. I thought to myself "I have my work cut out for me now." With a 41 minute swim there is much much room for improvement.

The bike:

I quickly ran through transition and got on my Suplicy. I felt like everyone was standing still as I flew past them. I had to say "On your left" to about 50 people or so as I would pass them. Some people wouldn't move over as I had to slow down to thier 20 mph pace and wait for them to pass and get over. This was rather annoying and happened at least a dozen times. No one passed me on the bike at all. I rode the 56 miles in 2:15 solo, close to 25mph. The course was pretty flat all the way with a handful of rolly hills. I certainly know I can go faster on the bike but given the circumstances I was faced with, it went alright. I had the 4th fastest amatur bike and I believe I had the 20th fastest bike split that day.

I drank a total of 4 water bottles on the course, a concentrated bottle of EFS 1st endurance and consumed 2 gels.

The run:

Off the bike I felt pretty good. I took 1 gel to start the off the run. I ran the first 2 miles in 11:20 (5:40 pace), then started to settle in. The run course was 3 laps. Each lap having about 2.5 miles on uneven grass and the rest on pavement. The water/food stations were great. I took water, ice, cola, gatorade and sponges. Anything to stay hydrated and cool. I dumped the ice into my racing suit to help keep to cool. One of the water/food stations had a thermometer and it read 95 degrees (a few of the athletes told me after the race). I sure felt the heat too!! Hense last Sunday it snowed all day in northern, New York. This was the hottest race I have ever competed in and I don't like or race well in hot weather. Many people were in the medical tent due to dehyration and heat exhaustion. I was able to hold fairly consistant laps considering the weather. My first lap of the run was 25:30, second 26:39 and my last was 27:08. I slowed down a little but consisting how hot it was I didn't bonk/dehydrate. My total run time was a 1:20. I had the fastest age group run by a few minutes and I had the 6-7th fastest run overall.

I finished with a final time of 4:21:03. I won my age group of 25-29. I was the 4th amatur overall. I didn't reach my goal of 4:15 and being 3rd amatur overall but I finally broke the ice and I can say i'm a triathlete now. At first I was a little disapointed but I can't complain too much. I had a great time, learned a lot, survived the hot weather, and will be better prepared for my next half ironman in three weeks, Mooseman 70.3. Mooseman will favor me more. I will be able to use a wetsuit in the swim, the bike is tough and the weather will be much cooler.

I had a great time and met some new people as well as seeing some friends from duathlon events. I talked to some people about swimming and got some great tips. I'm more motivated now to excel. Thankfully, after the race I was able to sign up for Ironman Lake Placid which is on July 25th. I think I am better at the longer distances and I'm certainly anxious about it.

Today I feel pretty good. My legs and body are not that fatigued as I thought I would be. My resting heart rate is at a low 40 beats per minute right now which is a good sign. I was able to spin my legs out today and I'm about to swim a little in the pool down here @ U of Florida.

Thank you everyone for all of your support and advice. Also a special thanks to my Canton, NY friend/collegaue, Kalya, for hosting me.

My very frist triathlon & prepared for my next...Florida 70.3!

2010-05-11T08:51:00.001-05:00

Andy, Jon, Erin, Matt & Pedro

This was my first triathlon at one of the HPC mini triathlons.

The picture was taken at Mirror Lake in Lake Placid, NY in the summer of 2002. The mini tri consisted of a 400 meter swim, 13mile bike and a 5k run.

The morning of this day my friend Jon and I ran 8-9 miles. When we finished our run we ended up going to my friend Erin's house while her parents and her convinced us to do the mini triathlon. Both Jon and I decided to as the two brothers (Andy and Pedro) decided to race as well.

I remember certainly struggling in the swim and almost coming in last. When I got out of the water I was sure happy!!! Then onto the bike for a nice big 13 mile loop in the mountains of the Adirondacks. Lastly onto the run I ended up catching my friend Jon and passed him in the last little bit to get first in my age group. This was my first and most likely my last time ever beating my friend Jon as he is an Olympic caliber runner. I won a pair of Ironman Lake Placid socks for the age group win and I'm actually wearing them now!

Eight years has passed since I have done a triathlon but soon the streak will end this weekend. This weekend I will be competeting in the Rohto Ironman 70.3 in Orlando, Florida. For those who are not familiar with a 70.3...it is a half ironman and consists of 1.2 swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run.

The swim is still my weakest link. I have been swimming 3-4 days a week for the past 5 months. I recently swam 2000 yards to see where I would be. Thankfully my friend Bry was swimming in the lane next to me as he counted and kept a steady pace. I swam the 2000 yards in 35:20. It's certainly not fast as most age groupers swim that pace but it's a start...hense 5 months ago I couldn't swim at all. I'm shooting in the 36 minute range for the 1.2 mile swim that is non wetsuit legal. After the swim I will be riding my new Suplicy TT bike...cycling is my strongest link but I haven't been putting high volume right now...I do have some good quality workouts in though. If i have a good day, I feel that I am capable of riding around 2:12 for 56 miles. Lastly the run i feel that I am prepared for the most. I've been running well this year on and off the bike. I feel that I am in shape to run a 1:10 open half marathon...however I will be just getting off my bike so my legs will not be fresh. I should be able to run at least a 1:18 off the bike. My overall goal is to complete the fl 70.3 in sub 4:15 and qualify for my professional triathlon license.

On race day anything can happen with a bike mechanical, nutrition wise, cramping, etc. I hope everything goes smooth to have a great race and fun time down in Florida. Thankfully my friend Kayla from my hometown/former colleague goes to U of Florida so I'll be hanging out/staying with her for time I'm in Florida.

New 2010 tri suit

2010-05-05T12:12:00.003-05:00

Safety Smart Wear has made a a great looking tri suit for 2010!

Cumberland Duathlon

2010-05-03T09:35:00.011-05:00

On Saturday morning Bryan Parker (friend/training partner from Canton) picked me up at 6:30am for the Cumberland Duathlon in Ottawa, Canada. We had about an hour and 20 minute drive and made it to the race site. We picked up our race numbers and chips and brought our bikes into transition. The weather was a great racing temp . It was in the upper 50's at the start and i think it made it in the upper 60's at the end. There was a slight breeze but I couldn't complain. Bry and I only had about 8 strides for a warmup as we toed up to the line. There appeared to be a strong bunch of guys. There were at least a handful of Canadian guys with names on thier chest, one guy from Belgium and another guy from New Zealand. There were a few guys that had the ITU logo's on thier suit so I figured I might get pushed a little.

The gun went off and there were 2-3 guys right next to me as we pushed the pace. As we approached the transition area and ready to do a U-turn for lap #2, the few guys that were right next to me pealed off into T1. They were doing the short course du. 2.5k, 19.2k, 2.5k and I was doing the longer one; 5k, 38.4k, 5k. After those guys pealed off I was running solo. As I appoached T1 i looked down at my watch at it read 14:57. I thought to myself "Wow that 5k had to be short" It felt like I was running 5:10 pace because I didn't feel the greatest. The course was right about 3 miles according to Bry's Garmin watch.

Running into transition I quickly grabbed my new Suplicy Quantum and ran out. The transition was longer for Bry and I because we were way down at the end. The transition bike in/out and run in/out was at the same end so we had to cover a little more distance. The bike course was 4 laps. The roads were a little bumpy but there were some nice rolly hills with minimum traffic. I was very happy how my new suplicy performed. The carbon frame is aero and very stiff! I was certainly pushing the watts on the hills while standing up. There was no flex as I accelled up the hills. I had the fastest bike split on the course and I even had a faster average pace then anyone in the short bike course (two loops vs. four). I completed the bike course which ended up being 24 miles in 57:54. The bike time includes both transition times so my bike time would be closer to around 56:30ish is my guess.

Elevation profile of the bike course.

On to the last run I felt pretty strong and ran solo to finish in a total time of 1:28:11 for 1st place. My last run was 15:21. Bryan had a stellar day and had smoking fast runs! 15:20 for the first and 15:50 for the last. Bry used a road bike as well because he isn't quite dialed into his new Felt Da yet. He finished 3rd overall.

On our drive back Bry and I stopped at my camp on the St. Lawrence River and iced our legs in the brisk 44 degree F water. It might be another few weeks or so before I start swimming in the river.

Results and pictures

Stung by a BEE!

2010-04-30T08:55:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I was out riding and just started my workout. I was going close to 30mph with the wind at my back and then WHAM something hit me hard right between my eyebrows. I kept cycling and then a few seconds later it started to sting so I knew it was a bee. I stopped and took my sunglasses off and the bee was still attached right between my eyebrows. I swated the bee off and rode over to a parked car to get the reflection off a window. I pulled out my multitool and took out the knife to scrape off the stinger that was embedded into my skin. It took me a little while as it was really deep. Thankfully I was only about 6 miles away from home. When I got back to took some benadryl. The swelling wasn't that bad so I decided to hop on my trainer and finish my workout. I did 2x20minutes @ tempo and felt decent. I went to bed with a little swelling and woke up at 5am for my morning swim. When I looked in the mirror I was pretty surprised because my eyes were super swollen! Reguardless, I still ended up getting in the pool at 5:30 to swim. Thankfully I am not allergic but a fair amount of venum did get into me. I am not in any pain either so that's also a plus.

Great fishing trip with my dad

2010-04-26T13:02:00.007-05:00

This past weekend my dad and I went canoeing and trout fishing on the Oswegatchie River in the Adirondacks. It was a great day with no wind, upper 60's and sunny! We were successful and caught three trout. We would have had double that amount but we forgot the fishing net. We have to keep some alive for next time right? We ended up frying up the trout next to the water and ate them right away :)

The river was like glass.

Our Lunch!

Ready to eat and they were yummy!

Great training in Oneonta, NY!

2010-04-20T09:29:00.007-05:00

Recap from April 14-18th. After I left my sister's house in Maine I made a stop at my old college, the University of New Hampshire. I ended up swimming in the pool for a while and then talked to my cross country/track coach. From UNH I drove 5 hours to Oneonta, NY. I avoided the main highway and took a more scenic route through Keene, NH and Bennington, VT.

Once I got to Oneonta I met up with three of my friends (Jon Kent, Justin Wood and Derek Treadwell) to do a time trial. I was able to get a little warm up in prior to the start. There was close to 30 people for this TT event that happens every other Wednesday nights. The course is about 10.4 miles total. It was an out an back with rolly hills, a little bit of wind and in the low 60's. I ended up riding my road frame and got into my TT position. I ended up having a decent ride and finished in a time 23:36. Right after the TT, my friend Tread and I got off our bikes ran a quick 2 miles for a solid little brick sessions.

Thankfully I was able to swim a little bit and I was able to get on the mountain bike for the first time this year. Tread took me on some really amazing trails in Oneonta...some of the best mountain bike trails I've ever been on before. Tread also took me to Gilbert Lake State Park for a nice long run. Oneonta, NY would have to be one of the best, if not the best places to train...if you are looking for rolly hills. Oneonta has a number of nice places to eat. One place I went to was called "Common Grounds Cafe", which reminded me of the Mate Factor in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Sure enough both Cafe's were part of this twelve tribes. The Cafe had some excellent sandwiches and lots of good mate tea!

A picture of inside the Common Grounds Cafe. The works live together and built it together. It took them tow years to build!

Todd's Trot 5k

2010-04-12T16:12:00.006-05:00

Last week I certainly wasn't planning on headed down to New England. However last Wednesday while cycling I thought it might be a good idea to swing down to NH/Maine to see a few friends and my sister & brother-in-law. Therefore on Friday I made the long 6-7 hour trek and decided to run Todd's Trot 5k right in Durham, NH on Saturday. I wasn't sure what kind of shape I'd be in. Three weeks ago I did run a 19:50 at the Frozen Foote 4 miler and the course was rolly. I was thinking I might be in 15:30 shape on a flat course. However last week I only got about 20 miles in because I was recovering from the Elite Duathlon National race. My legs really took a beating on the course and it took me a solid 4-5 days to recover.

Thankfully the temperature was great on Saturday. It was in the mid 40's and partly sunny. The course was very windy and hilly so it wasn't a fast one by any means. Ohh and the course went by my old apartment when I attended the University of New Hampshire. I knew there were about 3-4 other guys that would be close to me so I knew I wouldn't be settling and putting it on cruise control during the race. The gun went off and Justin Fyffe went out fast and held the lead the whole way (solo effort) and finished in 15:09 breaking the course record. He's running well and logging a stellar 100 mile weeks. Unfortunately Justin didn't have anyone to run with as there was a battle behind him. At one point I was running right next to Peter Mallet, Scott McGrath and Mackenzie Kilpatrick. I stayed in front and tried to keep a true pace. A little past 2 miles there was a good size hill and after I got to the top my friend Pete was the only one with me. We both ran side by side for the last half mile as I kicked in the last 100 meters with a time of 15:49 for 2nd place. Not a fast time at all but it was a good race!

Results

The next day Peter and I cycled about 70 miles on the East Coast Greenway Trail.

When we got back from cycling my sister made some amazing orzo pasta with lots of veggies for dinner. After dinner Peter and I swam at the UNH pool to call it a solid training day.

In a few days I'll heading over to Oneonta, NY to visit some more friends, do some quality training and do a fun race or two on the bike.

Easter Sunday

2010-04-06T12:24:00.004-05:00

For Easter Sunday my dad and I spent the day on the Oswegatchie River (Five Pond Wilderness Area) in the Adirondacks. The kayak's are ones my dad made a number of years back. We kayaked about 4-5 hours and had lunch at one of the campsites. We couldn't of asked for a better day for April 4th as it was in the 60's.

The campsite where we ate lunch.

Dad in the kayak.

Short video of us kayaking.

Powerman Alabama (Elite Duathlon National Championships)

2010-03-31T13:27:00.008-05:00

Last weekend was Powerman Alabama which was also labeled as Elite Duathlon Nationals and the qualifier to ITU Duathlon World Championships.

I made the 4 hour drive down to Albany, NY to stay with a friend and then on Thursday morning I flew out. On Thusrday in Alabama, I stayed with an old friend "Ona" and her boy friend. I had a great stay with them as she supported me with travel, food and we caught up on the good old days.

The race did not start until noon on Saturday. The weather was pretty nice out. mid 60's and sunny. The race was held at Oak Mountain State Park which was a really nice venue, compared to last years (center of Birmingham). The field was pretty strong this year. There was also Joirie Vansteelant (from Belgium) a guy from Poland, another guy from New Zealand and Robbie Wade who is orginally from Ireland. There was a total of 15 guys and 10 women in the elite field.

The race started out fast on the tough rolly 10k. Derek Yorek and Josh Merrick bolted right out the first couple miles. I pushed conservatively hard and ran next to David Thompson and Ryan Giuliano. I ran a 32:56 first 10k and then hopped on my bike to get rolling. I ended up catching 4 guys fairly quick on the bike on the first segment of the bike. The bike was a total of (3) 12.5ish miles with a hair point turn around. On the second segment I rode near Josh Merrick and Robbie Wade. Then on the last segment I pulled away a little and was in 4th posistion with the 4th fastest bike leg. The bike was a pretty tough one. Somehow it was windy both ways with gusts up to 25mph. It was rolly pretty much the whole way. I was able to keep it in the big chain ring but certainly had to stand up on most of the hills.

Onto the last 10k run I felt cramped up a little. I didn't drink enough water on the bike course. I thought two water bottles would be enough but with that sun beating down I need another bottle. After two miles I started to loosen up and was closing on David Thompson. I could see him infront of me about 100 yards with about 1.5 miles left. I pushed on but decided it was wise to not chase after him in the last mile. I was cramping up and I really didn't want to lose my valuable 4th place (3rd american place) by making a stupid decision. I was able to push on and hold off my position as I finished in a total of 1:46:49. I had the 3rd fastest last run. (which was very slow! 36:48)

My goal was to qualify for duathlon World Champs. The top 4 American guys get to go. Duathlon World Champs is in Edinburgh Scotland on Sept 4th/5th. This will be my 3rd year in a row making it to the Duathlon World Championships.

The race was much tougher then i expected leaving me with very sore quads. Oh I also got a little sun burnt too on my shoulders! The hills and being a little dehydrated affected me and everyone else as most people did cramp up. A few of my friends that I have talked to say that they feel like they had just ran a marathon. So true! Congrats to finishers all as we recover!

Joerie Vansteelant won (Last years Powerman Zofingen World Champ)
Matt Sheek, David Thompson, myself and Derek Treadwell is the 2010 team for ITU World Champs. One other athlete will be selected to join us via resume.

Results

Getting ready with the new wingspan Rudy Project helment.

The line up at the starting line.

On the bike.

Elite Duathlon National Awards. 3. Matt Russell 2. David Thompson 1. Matt Sheeks

Top 5 men and women overall.

Suplicy Bikes in Triathlete Magazine

2010-03-17T09:56:00.004-05:00

There's a good article on Suplicy Bikes in Triathlete's Magazine (April's issue)

Just click on the article to view/read.

Snowshoe National Championships.

2010-03-12T09:58:00.011-06:00

On Saturday March 6th, I woke up early and drove 2.5-3 hours to Highland Forest. I had short commute compared to most of the other athletes. I met up with a bunch of the CMS crew. It was nice seeing a few of my friends such as Kevin Tilton, Peter Mallet and Adam Chase (who came from Boulder, Colorado) as well as meeting/hanging out with a few other guys.

There was close to 130 guys on the starting line. The start was very fast on the soft snow. It was very hard running on this snow surface. Everyone had the same conditions but I feel like the smaller frame guys who weighed 140ish pounds compared to my 165 pound build benefitted more. As my extra weigh would really sink into the snow as I lost momentum/energy. The snow wasn't the only challenge. The course was pretty techincal with some single track and monster long hills. I did love the course! I just wished it was a little more hard packed. I ended up finishing up 10th overall. There was a strong showing/field with a few triathletes, olympic trial marathon runners as well as some other top runners. I loved the competition!

results

Single track.

Pushing up the last long hill to the finish. You can see my dad to the right in blue jeans.

Peter Mallet, Richard Bolt, Tim VanOrden, Kevin Tilton, Jim Johnson and myself. Dave Dunham taking the picutre.

Handing off to Kelly in our team Relay which was on Sunday. The team included: Jim Johnson, myself, Kelly Mortenson, and Kevin Tilton. The relay race was a lot of run and quick. We all had about a 1800km leg...well Jim and Kevin had a little more for the start/finish. Most of the snow was hard packed and I felt like I could really move on the snowshoes today. All of the guys looked great on the relay as Kevin pushed up the hill towards the finish with fist pump for 1st place!

It was a great weekend!

The New and Imprioved EFS Drink!

2010-03-01T09:36:00.006-06:00

First Endurance has improved my favorite product...their EFS drink.
EFS has over 1160mg of electrolytes per serving. The old EFS had 1000mg electrolytes per serving. There is now Malic Acid which is also new in the sports drink.

There isn't any other sport drinks that contain as much elctrolytes per serving.

http://www.firstendurance.com/nutrition/control/product/~prod=/~product_id=80000

Camp Saratoga 8k Snowshoe Race

2010-02-15T13:26:00.002-06:00

This past weekend I drove down to Saratoga/Albany area to do a qualifying race for snowshoe nationals which is hosted on March 6th in Syracuse, NY this year. I ended up staying at one of my friends from high school who lives in the area. While driving to the race the next morning I was thinking..."how are they going to have a snowshoe race when there is hardly any snow?!" Once I got to the race sight there was a little more snow in the woods. I was debating on either using my own snowshoes or renting a pair...due to the fact the the lack of snow and it could damage my personal snowshoes. I ended up just renting a pair. However, I was surprised how much snow was in the woods. The course was pretty fast due to the hard packed snow but there were some good hills throughout the race.

I ended up finishing 2nd overall. I was 40 seconds back from the leader who was Fred Joslyn who is a very fast runner who used to run for SUNY Cortland and Hanson Distance Project. Overall, I achieved my goal and quilified for snowshoe nationals. For the rest of the weekend I hung out with my friend from high school as we went out for a few drinks and played lots of darts.

Training with power!

2010-02-08T12:00:00.009-06:00

My friend Ryan Dorsey convinced me into training with power. Therefore I ended up starting out with getting a new Kurt Kinetic road machine trainer and power meter computer for a reasonable $300. The trainer is the nicest trainer I have ever been on and it has certainly helped me become more smooth and it has increased my cadence. I'm just starting to understand power/watts and how to train with it. On Jan. 5th I did an all out 20 minute effort to find out my Functional Threshold Power (FTP). I ended up with an average of 408 watts for 20 minutes. To find my FTP I took that number and multiplied by .95 to get 388 watts for my FTP (what I could hold for about an hour).

Kurt Kinetic claims that they are very accurate as long as you put in your weight and the circumference of your wheel into the computer. I have read a few forums online and they said they are within 5-10 watts of a PowerTap/SRM power meter. Regardless of the numbers the kurt kinetic power meter computer is just a tool. I do feel like I have been benefiting from it. At first I was cycling about an average of 255-260 watts for 2 hours and now with the same effort/HR I am averaging around 275-280 watts.

Now that I am training with power I'm going to have to get a PowerTap or SRM...once the road are bare and it warms up! For now I'm a hamster in a wheel.

Country Living :)

2010-02-03T10:50:00.018-06:00

It's been nice being back in the north country and living the simplistic life. All of those white pine trees that you see in front of the house are trees my dad and I planted when I was much younger. I remember when I first started running, (when I was a junior in highschool 2000/2001) I could hurdle over all of these trees. Now 10 years later I am back in Northern, NY and the trees are over 25 feet high! Up the long 100 meter drive way sets the log cabin home I was raised in from age 10-18. It's very peaceful to be back in the solitude log cabin where our nearest neighbor is a half mile away on the dirt road. Behind the house sets a large field. One time this winter I counted a total of 19 deer behind the house in the field and just yesterday there were 13 turkey's in the field.

In the winter, the log cabin is heated by the wood stove. There is a furnace but I don't think it has kicked on all winter. Even when it has been -20 below zero out. I have ceratinly missed the wood stove for a few reason. #1 it's the best heat to have. After a run, ski, or snowshoe in the winter I can hover right over the wood stove and get the hottest heat available :) #2 My dad and I do all of the cooking out of the wood stove. We cook on top with the cast iron frying pans and there is an oven where we do all of our baking. My dad and I bake our own bread, homemade pizza, cookies, brownies. On top of the stove we will cook venison chili, venison burgers, pancakes breakfasts, pasta, steamed veggies etc. Food tastes better on the wood stove!

Having a wood stove requires lots of wood. Thankfully my dad has over 300 acres so we have lots of trees. This winter my dad and I spent some time in the woods cutting and spliting wood. Lots of it too! My dad would do the cutting with the chainsaw and I would do most of the spliting and throwing the wood into piles. Spliting wood is a great upper body endurance workout. It's helped my swimming out too! The majority of the wood my dad cuts are trees that the beaver had knocked down and other trees that are dry dead (but not rotten wood). Here are a few pictures of the piles of wood.

In the basement of the log cabin my dad has a full wood working shop. My father is very handy with wood working tools and has made a number of beauitful kayaks and canoes as well as furniture. My father and I ended up building a TV stand/book shelf out of wood that came from my dad's land. We spent lots of time cutting, sanding, and varnishing the TV stand but it turned out well! I also made a pencil holder out of ash and cherry wood that also came from my dad's land. I had to glue the boards together first and then use the wood lathe to spin the inner and outter of the pencil holder. This was my first one and I had fun doing this project. I plan on making a mug and some bowls on the wood lathe next.

Colton 10 miler

2010-02-01T09:08:00.002-06:00

This was the coldest race I have ever competed in! For the first 4-5 miles my toes went numb which was the first time that has ever happened. Then in the last 2-3 miles there was wind which made it feel like -40. I started getting light headed the last few miles on the cold, hilly course. For prizes we all got maple syrup:)

Suplicy Bikes...New Sponsor!

2010-01-28T10:49:00.007-06:00

I'm happy to say I'll be riding the Suplicy Quantum triathlon/TT bike. It uses monocoque construction and it has been through the wind tunnel to improve the aerodynamics of the frame. Suplicy bikes are designed and tested in the USA and are manufactured in Asia.

Great article on: Suplicy’s Quantum Carbon Tri Bike – Faster than a Cervelo P4?

website: www.suplicybikes.com

Frozen Foote race #2

2010-01-27T09:13:00.003-06:00

It certainly was a Frozen Foote race on Jan. 9th. It was hovering right around zero degrees. Started the run with a brown beard and finished with a white beard. Ran a 21:43 4 miler on a cold morning with roads covered with ice/snow.

First Endurance Products

2010-01-06T13:08:00.006-06:00

For the 2010 year I've decided to go with First Endurance again because of the many great reasons I'll list below. One of my favorite First Endurance products is the Electrolyte Fuel System (EFS) drink. My favorite flavor is Tangerine. This drink has a great taste and doesn't leave a pasty taste like others do. EFS allows me to absorb fluid providing me with plenty of electrolytes without feeling bloated like other sport drinks have done to me. I naturally have low sodium and potassium levels and without the help of EFS I will and have cramped up. The EFS drink also has simple carbohydrates that fuels my body which maximizes my energy levels without me bonking during a workout/race.

Last month I made the mistake of forgetting my EFS drink in my last duathlon. The result: my legs (quads) ended up cramping up in the last few miles to go. Thankfully I was able to finish but not able to keep my normal 5 minute mile clips. The lesson I learned was to NOT forget my First Endurance EFS drink.

Stay tuned for more updates on all of the great products First Endurance has. You can find First Endurance EFS drink HERE

Join the First Endurance Facebook group HERE!

It's been snowing since last year!

2010-01-06T13:03:00.002-06:00

That's right! It's been snowing for over a week now. We have been getting anywhere from a 1 to 3-4 inches of snow a day and it has added up. Thankfully I just bought this really warm sheep skin hat over at Ostrander's

Nordic skiing and snowshoeing!

2009-12-29T10:49:00.003-06:00

Yes, it's time to bust out the winter play toys! There has been snow on the ground here in Northern NY for the past 3-4 weeks now. I've already been xc skiing a handful of times up at Higley Flow State Park I just started skate skiing and love it! It is a total body workout. I can see why nordic ski racers have the highest VO2 max. I plan on doing a few classic/skate races this year:)
I also plan on doing a number of snowshoe races this winter. This year Snowshoe National Championships is in Syracuse, NY in early March. I plan on qualifying to race there since it is so close this year. I hope Santa was good to you for Xmas and I wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year!

9th Annual SLU Holiday Relay Meet

2009-12-14T10:56:00.003-06:00

This past weekend I ran my first indoor track meet since 2006. I entered in the 5k. I felt like I could run around a 15:30-ish 5k but my week leading up to the race wasn't the greatest. I had a total of 12 miles from Sunday-Friday due to icy/bad weather. I was still able to swim and cycle but I wasn't putting the miles on with my legs.

Saturday morning rolled aroud and I drove to Canton early in the morning and ran the Frozen Foote #1 nice and easy with Bryan Parker. After the race a bunch of us had an amazing waffle breakfast! Onto the afternoon I headed over to the St. Lawrence track an hour a head of time to warm up. When I got there they were about 45 minutes a head of schedule and I only had a 15 minutes before my race went off. I did a quick warmup and was ready to go. There were 8 other SLU runners and I wasn't sure what they were capable of running. The gun went off and I took control for the first mile and a half. I was running 5:03 pace. Into the middle of the race a few SLU guys passed me. With 1000 meters left to go I regained the lead for a lap as one of the SLU guys surged to get around me. In the last lap I took off and passed the lead man to cruise in with a tie of 15:45. A full minute of my personal best but it sure was a fun race for December.
http://www.stlawu.edu/athletics/sites/stlawu.edu.athletics/files/results/live/hytektr/index.htm

Powerman Florida

2009-12-10T12:22:00.006-06:00

Powerman Florida was a short trip for me. I was flying out of Syracuse early Friday morning but my flight was delayed due to a mystery black box on a plane. The bomb squad ended up shutting down the whole airport for a solid hour or so. I guess the black box had some kind of salt in it but no one knew how it got there. With the hour delay in my travels I ended up missing my connecting flight in JFK to Tampa. I ended up having 4 hour layover at JFK which got me into Tampa, FL a little after 3. By the time I got my bike and rental car I was late for the pro meeting but I was still able to register.

The next morning there was a steady mist of rain prior to the start. For the first 5 miles I ended up leading the first few miles...settled and then lead again to the finish. There were two guys who were running right next to me the whole time. I didn't know them at the time but later found out they were both solid 14:20 5k runners. We went through the first mile as I glanced down at my watch and it read 4:45. There was no way that was right I thought. The guy next to me with a Garmin said it was fast and then later said our first mile was actually a 5:03 . We ended up running a 25:37 on a 4.9 mile course.

Into T1, one of the guys really shot out and had a solid start. While the other guy (Robert) and I caught him after a few miles. Robert and I seemed to be equal in strength on the bike so we worked together legally. I took the lead for about 5 minutes as he stayed 20-30 meters behind me. Then I would drop back 20-30 meters as he would push for another round. Then after about 10 miles this one strong cyclist went past us as we keep him in our sight for the next 10 miles. While I was cycling I was thinking to myself..."ugh I should have brought my race wheels and aero helmet." You really never know what guys will show up and I thought I'd be ok with my training wheels and regular helmet on. lesson learned. The last 15 miles of the bike the wind picked up with some good gusts and the rain started coming down more as my core temperature was getting colder. As we finished the 33 mile course we averaged 24.2mph.

Once Robert and I got to T2 it was difficult for us to get our helmets off because our hands were numb from the cold. As I struggled to slid on my running shoes i quickly started a brisk pace off the bike. Robert was right on my heels and it was a real race. At about a mile and a half into the run both of my quads started cramping up bad. Third place was no where insight so I ended up slowing my pace down so my quads would recover a little and would cease up. I believe the reason my quads were cramping was because I forgot my 1st endurance EFS drink at home. I didn't have the proper nutrition on the bike. I have natural low sodium and potassium levels and 1st endurance supplies my body with all of the proper electrolytes I need. Lesson #2...make sure you have you're race nutrition with you when you travel. Regardless I was able to keep about a 5:40 pace for the last 3.5 miles to finish 2nd overall for the day. Right after the race I went back to the hotel, showered up and drove right to the airport. I was only in Florida for 24 hours.

It's very late in the year and I was happy with my overall performance at Powerman FL since I am doing minimal volume. I have been running around 35 miles a week and only cycling around 4-5 hours a week. I've been swimming a few times a week as well and soon I will be doing some snowshoeing and nordic skiing:)

2009-12-10T12:22:00.000-06:00

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2009

2009-11-24T08:46:00.031-06:00

Moved back home

Yes I made the long drive from Colorado to New York in two days. I relocated back home for the winter/spring from Colorado. Here are the reasons why I decided to move back home during this time.

1. I plan on swimming and I have a few people who are willing to help me out. I plan on doing some triathlons next year...more half ironman/ironman distances. I still plan on competing in duathlons as well. Swimming is going well at the time!

2. I plan on doing a lot of nordic skiing. I bought a pair of skate skis and classic skis. The biggest ski race scene is in New England which I plan on doing some races. Snowshoe nationals are in Syracuse, NY this coming year in March.

3. My fundings are a little low, hense I took pretty much the whole year of due to traveling/racing. I will be substitute teaching at my old high school for a part time job which is becoming more of a full time job right now.

4. The last time I spent more than a week at home was back in 2003 and it will be nice to spend some quality time with my dad. We have been doing some hunting at my uncles/cousin hunting camp, yoga, and swimming together. We will also be doing some snowshoeing/skiing together and other projects such as making log cabin furniture and maybe even remodeling my dad's office into an apartment.

Elk hunting in Colorado

My father flew out from New York to spend a week and a half elk hunting with me. We hunted hard the first 6-7 days and saw some signs of elk but couldn't locate them. Final we found them all. They were all herded up together. About 150-200 or so. There were multiple bulls and I counted at least ten 4x4-6x6 bulls. Sounds good right? Well they were all together on this 1,000 arce ranch that was for sale. Too bad I didn't have $7 million laying around or I could of bought that ranch. So the elk were safe since they were hanging out on private land.

There were a few days where we didn't hunt. One day we hiked Bison Peak. Another day we drove down Eleven Mile Canyon and there were tons of people fishing. Later that day I ended up running 15 miles on that dirt road which is one of the most beautiful runs I've been on in Colorado. My dad and I did a little fishing in the private lake in front of the cabin we stayed at in Lake George. One day we drove into Tarryall and i showed my dad where i lived this summer. We mainly had fun and enjoyed life while our time up in the Colorado mountains.

Scottsdale, Arizona

I flew out to Arizona to visit my friend Laurie from high school and her boyfriend Aaron. Arizona is hot! However I flew out the right time of year which was in October. The temp. was in the upper 70's to lower 80's. While in Arizona I did some things I never had before. I went to In and Out burgers (which my friend Jon who lives out in California raves about) for the first time which certainly hit the spot.

I went to Busters and played the games there. I went a casino for the first time and played the slot machines. I didn't really win any money and lost a little but it was fun. I'm not much of a gambler. I played 3 games of mini golf which I haven't done in a long time. I hiked Camelback Mountain on day which was a solid brisk hike to the top. You could see all of Phoenix, AZ and the surroundings as well as the mountains in the distance.

One day I did a little road trip by myself up to Sedona. I drove to this one trailhead and decided to do this one run that was rated as one of the top 10 best hikes in the nation. It was surrounded in a canyon with huge canyon walls. The trail followed this little stream along with this forest. As I ran further the canyon walls narrowed until there was no forest and just a little stream. There were multiple times where I was knee to waist deep running through the cool refreshing stream. The run became quite the adventure. The run ended up being around 12-13 miles. After the amazing run in Sedona I ended up driving up to Flagstaff. I went to a bike store and running store and got a little information about the area. The area seems really sweet but unfortunately I didn't have long to explore the area. I ended up running again and ran along another great trail in Flagstaff that lead out of town. I ended up running 8 miles and logged a solid 20 or so for the day. Then I cruised back into Scottsdale for the night.

A Maine Wedding

Jon Pierce, my close friend from high school was getting married to Anna Willard who is from Maine. The wedding was held on September 26^th. The same day as duathlons worlds down in NC. Thankfully I was able to get both in for the most part. Right after Worlds I took the soonest flight up to Portland, Maine and then drove an hour and a half up to Bethel, Maine for Jon and Anna's wedding reception. It was really nice to see my closest friends in high school as well as my father, sister and brother-in-law.

I spent another week in Maine with my sister and brother-in-law. I went on some really nice runs and rides in New England. One night I went to the bars over at U of New Hampshire. It was my first time going out in 4 months or so and I was with Pete. Well Pete ended up dropping a bottle next to me. A little while after I thought a rock got brushed up against my toe. Well an hour passed and we went outside and my sandal was filled with blood. I had gotten cut on the glass and had a nice slice on my toe. Not sure how much blood I lost but it certainly was more then I wanted to. One day I went hiking with my brother-in-law (Justin), Pete and Alan went for a nice day hike in the NH White Mountains. I think we hiked a loop of about 10 miles and summited 3 mountains.

Grand Junction, Colorado

I took a little road trip on the other side of the Rocky Mountains to visit my friend Jen from high school for a week. She just bought a house out there and I was doing a few projects here and there such as fixing the fence, putting door handles on cabinets, fixing doors so they shut, mowing the lawn, etc. While I was out there I took a few nice rides into Monument National Park which had some pretty amazing views. Jen, her boyfriend Jesse and I drove an hour to this one place in Western Colorado where Jen and Jesse rock climbed these canyon's and I ran and mountain biked on some really nice rolly isolated dirt roads. After I was about to go rock climbing as I was putting on the harness and shoes it ended up lighting out as there was a mini flash flood. We stood up in the canyon as we could see this huge wave of water roaring down the little creek. It was quite the sight to see.

The Swiss guys

Jonas and Lukas are the duathlon brothers from Switzerland. Then spent a little over 3 weeks in Boulder, Colorado this summer for a training camp. I went on one long ride with them into Estes Park one day and another day they had me over in Boulder for some Pasta as they talked to me about Powerman Zofingen and Switzerland. In late August I ended up flying to Switzerland for Powerman Zofignen and stayed for two weeks with Jonas. The land of the Swiss cheese is beautiful. Especially the mountains! All of the cows have bells on them so you always here ding, ding, ding throughout the day. It's a pleasant sound. Attached are a few articles of me in the Swiss news paper that Jonas sent me.

http://www.jonas-baumann.ch/berichte/ZT_baumanns_boulder.pdf

Road rip to Montana

In, mid August Collier and I took a road tip to Bozeman, MT. I really wanted to check out the area and fell in love with it. The night we got there...well I have never seen stars so bright, so big and so many. No wonder why they call it Big Shy country! We camped out by Hylite reservoir in my tent. The next morning I ran on some really sweet dirt roads/trails. I ran into this canyon with the orange morning sun beating on the one side of the canyon while it lit up the valley. I ran next to this bull moose as he was having his breakfast next to this creek. As I ran further into the valley I came up to this beautiful waterfall.

Later that morning we ate an amazing breakfast at Nova and met up with my friend Erika. We walked around Bozeman as I got a good feel for the area. After Collier and I hiked to this waterfall and then we ended up hiking up the water and found out that the water from the waterfall was coming from rock crevasse in the mountain. We filled up our water with some of the freshest cold spring water. After the hike we went back into Bozeman where they have a band festival playing every Thursday. The close down the main street for a few hours of so as it is crowded with people. It has a good atmosphere as everyone socializes and listens to the band/s play. Later that night we had a campfire and cooked some smores.

In the morning Collier, Erika and I checked out Big Sky, MT and then Collier and I scooted through Yellowstone into the Grand Tetons in WY. That evening we ended up swimming across this river to and island which was around 300 meters. That as quite a sight...seeing duathletes trying to swim! After the swim we jumped on our bikes and rode for a little over an hour as we had some great views of the Tetons. The next morning Collier and I did an epic 18 mile trail run in the Tetons. The run was a big loop. Up one valley and over a ridge up at 10,000feet and down through another valley with some amazing views.

I was certainly impressed with Montana and want to explore more areas such as Missoula and Glacier National Park. I really loved the mountains, how crystal clear the steams/rivier were, how beautiful the stars are and how there isn't as many people as the crowded front range in Colorado. In the summer of 2010 I plan on moving out to Montana.

Grand Tetons

Grand Lake, Colorado

My friend Collier and I took a handful of days and drove up to Grand Lake. We stayed at his grandparents lodge up there. We went on a few really nice runs on the trails in the Rocky Mountain National Park. One day we ended up riding to the top of trail ridge road. I ended up riding to the top 12,000 some feet and rode into Estes Park and ended up turning around and riding back up and down to Grand Lake again. It ended up being over 8,000ft of elevation climbing in about 5 hours. Then after we did a nice little brick run. We saw lots of wildlife around the area. We saw some huge bull

moose and elk!

New racing kit

My sponsor Safety Smart Wear made a sweet new racing kit for me for Powerman Zofingen World Champs. They did a great job making the new sui

t with my sponsors listed on it. The warm up kit was orange to match my bike and it came with a wind resistant cycling jacket, warm-up pants, arm warmer with the Powerman Zofingen logo on it, and my one piece race tri suit. Thanks again Safety Smart Wear! All of the clothing fit well and was comfortable as always while making me match my bike in style:)

Fishing back home and family

In mid June, I flew back to New England to run in the Mount Washington Road Race. It was really nice to be back in New England again. The last time I was back in New England was 2 years ago when I graduated from U of New Hampshire with my master’s degree in 2007. I was able to stay with my sister and brother-in-law Justin. I was also able to run with some old friends from college as well as see my cross country/track coaches. While I was staying at my sisters I was busy doing projects. I split and stacked lots of

wood, made a cabinet to hold the microwave in the kitchen, painted the stairwell in the cellar and also helped put in a patio in the backyard of my sister’s house. After being in New England, Justin my sister and I drove back home to northern New York to see my dad. We spent most of the time at our cottage on the St. Lawrence River. My dad, Justin and I spent 4-5 hours almost every morning fishing for bass. Besides fishing I caught up with some old high school friends and hung out with my friend Peter Mallet who was relocating back to NH from Colorado. Peter decided to make a stop in northern NY from his drive across the country.

Resort in Colombia

When I was back in Colombia during July I competed in the South America Duathlon Championships which I talked about below in Race Updates. When I was in Colombia I went to an amazing resort down in Santa Fe with my friend Tatiana. The resort had a pond where you can paddle boat and fish, there was a few huge water slides, multiple pools, jacuzzis and a sauna. There was also ping pong tables, pool tables, open bar, great food and plenty of sun to soak it.

Yurting it!

During the months of May, June and July I was living in a pretty sweet yurt up in Tarryall, Colorado. There were a couple of occasions where elk would stomp around the yurt in the middle of the night. The yurt was up at 9,000 feet. I mainly only slept in the yurt. I would eat all of my meals and shower at Bison Peak Lodge whish was about 1k down the trail. I was only in the area for about two weeks each month because the other two weeks I was traveling. Regardless, for half of the summer I lived in a beautiful area in the mountains in Colorado which I was surrounded with miles and miles of lovely trails and wild life.

New bike

Since I was surrounded by hundreds of miles of trails this summer, my friend (Ryan Dorsey) took me mountain biking a few times. After my second mountain bike ride with Ryan I was hooked and decided to buy a mountain bike. Of course I looked on cragislist and found an Orbea Lanza frame which is a 29er. Thankfully, the man selling the Orbea also had most of the components for the 29er. I had some fun building it up. My other Orbea bikes have some orange on the frame. Therefore, I decided to do a custom paint job on the frame. First I taped all of the letters on the frame, spray painted the ORBEA letters, took the tape off and then sprayed clear coat on the frame to protect my artwork. I also got an orange Fizik saddle with orange handle grips.

Thanks for all of those who let me crash at their places while I was in transition of traveling/racing and/or provided me with a home stay. Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey, Mr. and Mrs. Kempton, Mr. and Mrs. Beck, Ann Mariah, Jen, Jonas, Brandon, Nick, Tatiana, Matt and Brian, Lauire L., Laurie F. and my Explorer :) A big thanks to Donna for letting me use her garage as a storage!

2009 Duathlon World Championships

2009-11-17T13:02:00.002-06:00

In late September I flew to Charlotte, North Carolina for my 2nd short course ITU Duathlon World Championships.
A few days before the race I had an interview with Jarrod Shoemaker and Paul Amey on our expectations on the race. I had stated that three weeks earlier I competed in Powerman Zofingen World Champs in Switzerland and I was hoping I had enough speed to bring me to a solid finish.
On race day i felt ready as there was a steady mist throughout the day to make the roads slick. The gun went off and I relaxed in the back as I always do. So many people go out hard and die and I am a fan of even splits. I ended up cursing the first 10k in around 31:40 which appeared to be an accurate course. Ｉhopped onto my bike and was immediately in a group of many US athletes, Josh Merrick, Justin Hurd, Derek O. and David Thompson as well as Paul Amey (last year's World Champion from Great Britain). Our group had to work to catch up to the lead pack which had about a minute on us. I ended up doing a vast amount of the pulling on the bike and with about 15k left of the 40k bike leg our group caught the lead group. All of us got off the bike within 20 seconds and we were off to the last 5k. I ended up closing the last 5k in 15:35. I finished up 16th overall which I was content about since My speed wasn't up to par and I was 6 places better then last year.
http://www.triathlon.org/results/results/2009_concord_itu_duathlon_world_championships/3779/
My friend Collier Kempton had a solid day out there for his first world champs as a junior. He only started running 9-10 months ago and he placed a respectable 16th in the junior race.

Profile

2009-09-07T15:37:00.015-05:00

Name: Matthew John Russell
Date of Birth: March 19, 1983
Height: 5 foot 11 inches
Weight: 165
Born: Ogdensburg, New York
Currently Resides: Austin, Texas
Tri4Him Bio

Matt was born and raised on a small farm in Lisbon, NY. He played soccer, basketball and baseball when he was little, as those were the only sports his K-12 school offered. As a junior, he merged with another school (Canton) where we ran cross country and track. When Matt was 8, his mom became ill with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease. Throughout the five years that she battled the disease, he learned many valuable lessons from her, including how important determination and carrying a positive attitude are. He learned that the Lord has a plan for everyone at a very young age. In memory of his mother and to raise awareness, Matt always races with the ALS logo on his racing suit.

After high school, Matt attended the University of New Hampshire and competed on the cycling team for one season. The fall of his junior year he ran two marathons within 20 days. In the spring, Matt ran on the track and field team at the Division 1 school. In 2006, he was the Division 1 New England Champion in the 3000 steeplechase. In 2007, he graduated with a Masters degree in occupational therapy.

Immediately after college, Matt relocated to Boulder, Colorado and was working full time as an occupational therapist at a nursing facility. He continued to train as he dipped into the multisport world and competed in duathlons. In his first professional race, he finished first at the 2008 ITU Duathlon National Championships, earning a spot on the 2008 Duathlon World Championships in Italy.

In 2010, Matt has learned how to swim and has dipped into the triathlon world. He quickly excelled and earned his pro card in his second triathlon. He has been focusing on the half ironman/ironman races. Matt has recently moved to Austin, Texas and is training as a full-time triathlete. He is excited about the opportunities that lie ahead while he can praise the Lord’s glory with the talents he has been blessed with. Matt has a goal of being one of the top Ironman athletes in America. Realizing that each day is a gift from the Lord, he tries to live each day as if it is his last.

Powerman Zofingen World Championships

2009-09-07T12:06:00.018-05:00

This is the worlds hardest duathlon, worlds most famous duathlon and rated in the top 5 multisport events across the world. I would have to agree with all of this as well. This event took place in Zofingen, Switerland and consisted of a 10k run (6.2 miles), 150k bike (93 miles) and last a 30k run (18.6 miles). Both run courses are very hilly. Iwould say about 80% of the run course was either up or down. Running down the hills would just tear your quads apart while running up some of the hills was almost more of a shuffle because of the steep grade. The bike course consisted of three 50k laps. On each lap there were a total of three climbs with the middle one being a blistering long one.

The Race: The first 10k was two loops and started with a long gradual climb. Then there was a long gradual down hill. I could feel the pounding of the down hill and decided to slow it down a notch to same my legs. I made sure to keep the leaders in sight. I cruised in the first 10k in 31:46 while the main pack cruised in at 31:25.

On to the bike I had the main pack in sight for the first 20k but decided to go my own pace because the bike course is known to put the hurting on you on the 3^rd lap. On the beginning of the 2^rd lap John Phillips flew by me and I know he is a solid cyclist since he always destroys me on the bike in all duathlons in Colorado. John and I along with another two riders all joined as we kept a true pace and keeping a solid 10 meter between us because of the non-drafting rule. I rolled in off the bike with a time of 4 hours 14 minutes and 30 seconds which I was pleased with because I felt strong still.

On to the last run I first had a little cramp on my left quad for the first 3k. I was thinking...”ohh this could be bad!” As my legs loosen up the cramp thankfully went away. Running up the long hills felt more like a shuffle. Running down the hills was even more painful on the quads because of the impact. I was able to catch at least 5 guys on the least run and finished an overall 13^th place in the elite field. I finished the last run of 18.6 miles in 2 hours, 5 minutes and 8 seconds which is an average of 6:44 per mile.

I felt like my nutrition was pefect. On the bike I took a total of 6 gels (One 1^st endurance flask which has 4 gels in it, one power gel and the last one being a GU with caffeine) Every 25k I drank 12- 16oz. I also had one drink with 2.5 scoops of 1^st endurance EPS which I sipped on through out the ride. For food I had a total of 5 little bars. Each bar was about 113 calories and tasted like a half of a powerbar. I also had maybe 2 bananas on the ride as well. On the run I had one GU gel with caffeine, maybe 1 banana total cut up, coke and water as well. The food/water stations did a great job and supplied me with the bananas, water, and bars. I stayed hydrated the whole time, felt strong with energy the whole time, my stomach digested everything well and I only had to urinate once which was on the start of the 2^nd run.

I am happy with my overall performance. The field was very strong this year. With my total time of 6:53:43. I would have placed 6th overall last year. There were many more and very strong competitors this year. Congrats to all of the finishers and to Joerie VanSteelant for breaking the record in a time of 6:11:35 Also congrats to Jonas Baumann with placing in the top 10, Corinne (Jonas's gf) for winning her age group, Jason Spong (from South Africa) with a great performance as a rookie and to Lukas Baumann with his solid 11th place finish. Jonas and Corinne provided me with a wonderful homestay. Thanks!

Results: http://services.datasport.com/2009/tri/zofingen/RANG030.HTM

My training log prior to Powerman Zofingen:

JULY

28^th workout 4x mile repeats on colombia track 5:15's at 5,000ft. Total run time: 1 hour

29th- off (traveled from Colombia to Denver)

30^th – run workout 12 miles. 20 minute tempo 5x2minutes

31^st – bike 4.5 hours. Run 30 min (Tarryall, CO to Cripple Creek)

AUGUST

1^st- Ride 2.5 hours

2^nd- run workout 4x10minutes on Bison Peak. 15% grade @ 10,000 feet run total 2:10

3^rd- 3 hour ride

4^th- run 1 hour

5^th -workout ride 5:45 and run 1:15 (Rode from Boulder to Estes Park and ran in Boulder..Eagle trail)

6^th- 2 hour ride

7^th -workout. 1 hour run 5 by 3min hard. 2 hour ride 4 by 10 minutes hard (Highlands Ranch with Collier)

8^th30 min run and 1 hour bike

9^th 5430 long course. 2:17 for 56 miles 24.5mph run 13.1 in 1:20 (Boulder, Colorado)

10^th bike 3 hours

11^th – run 12 miles 2 x 20 minute tempo @ 9000ft (Grand Lake, Colorado with Collier)

12^th Brick. ride 5.5 hours Grand Lake, trail ridge, estes park, trail ridge, Grand Lake ..run 4 miles with Collier (8000 feet of climbing)

13^th off

14^th 40 min run

15^th Pikes peak accent 7^th overall in 2 hours and 30 minutes and rode 2 hours after (7,800feet of climbing running and 2,000 feet of climbing while cycling)

16^th off

17^th rode 144 miles. 8 hours (Woodland Park, Deckers, Bailey, Konosh Pass, Jefferson, Taryall, Lake George, Woodland Park) about 5,000 feet of climbing?

18^th 1 hour bike easy, 1 hour run easy

19^th 1 hour run easy

20^th workout. 1 hour run 5x 5minutes hard in Bozeman, MT and hiked for 2 hours.

21^st workout on bike. 3 by 15minutes ride time 1:45 Grand Tetons, WY

22^nd mountain trial run with Collier in Grand Teton National Park. Total 4:15 includes stops 4,000 elevation gain.

23^rd off

24^th Workout... 3 by mountain repeats. Each one in 1:24 around 26 miles each followed by a 1 hour run. (2,000 feet of climbing each mountain repeat?)

25^th Off traveling to Switzerland!

26^th off

27^th 1 hour ride easy

28^th 2 loops of course 100k in 3 hours. Run 1 loop of run. 15K in 1 hour 3 minutes. Felt strong! Rode with 6 other guys and ran with 4 other guys.

29^th 35 minute run and 1.5 hour bike

30^th off

31^st run workout 5 by 3 minutes. Total 45 min run. Bike 1.5 hours. Cycled a strong effort up the hills.

SEPTEMBER

1^st 45 minute run (quick run...6 minute pace)

2^nd- workout 1:45 bike (3 by 4:00)

3^rd 35 minute run

4^th Off

5^th 30 minute run and 1 hour bike

6^th Powerman Zofingen 10k: 31:46, 150k bike: 4:14:30, 30k: 2:05:06 Total: 6:53:

RACE UPDATES (April thur August)

2009-09-03T08:04:00.023-05:00

April

5th- ThunderChief 5k. Boulder, CO...1st in 15:37

This was my first race back from Colombia on a brisk icy morning. The race started on the CU Boulder Campus. The morning was bright but all of the side walks we ran on were icy. During the race I ended up falling on one of the turns. Thankfully I was ok and ended up cruising in 1^st with a time of 15:37 However, I felt like the course was about 40 seconds fast. It was more of a 3 mile race vs. a 3.1 mile race. Regardless, it was a solid workout.

18th- Powerman Alabama. 5m, 33m, 5m. Birmingham, AL...4^th

With lots of snow storms and delays in Denver area I finally was able to make it safely into Birmingham, AL. I had a wonderful homestay with Tanya and Jeff Beck. It was nice to race with a few other people I knew such as; John Phillips, Dereck Treadwell and Uli Bromme.

Dereck took the first 5 miles out while I cruised in 3^rd. Then came the 33 mile bike with 3 laps and in each lap there was roughly 23 turns!! I thought it would be wise to bring my road bike with my tt-bars because of all of the turns. However, the TT bike was the way to go. On the last 5 mile run my fastest sprint was from the finish to the port-o-potty.

Overall it was an alright race and a great trip! I learned a few things such as a TT bike will pretty much always be faster on any course and that I probabaly should eat dinner a little sooner then later to prevent runs to the port-o-potty.

26th- Atomic Man Duathlon. 10k, 40k, 5k. White Rock, NM...1^st

My friend, Tate Behning and I took a little road trip together down to New Mexico. It was my first time in New Mexico as well. The road trip went well as we crashed on the floor of the race directors home. The morning was brisk but the sun soon came up to make it a pleasant temperature to race in.

In the first 10k run I cruised in 3^rd overall. Scott Nagelkerke, who used to run for Western State had a solid lead on the first run while Tate rolled in 2^nd. On the bike I quckly made up ground. The course was rolly, then a solid climb and then back down the climb to the rolly road again. I came off the bike in first and ended up running my last 5k strong to finish 1^st. I had the 2^nd fastest bike split and I believe the 1^st fastest last run split.

After the race Tate and I stopped at for while and explored Bandelier National Monument.

http://www.nps.gov/band/index.htm

May

2nd- Lookout Mountain Hill Climb. Golden, CO (cycling)...2^nd

This hill climb cycling race was a short but sweet race. The field was loaded with over 80 guys! I managed to stay out in front with another 5-8 strong cycling pulling up the mountain. When I got close to the top it was foggy. I was looking for the finish but couldn't find out where it was. Then the next thing I know there was the finish only 8 feet infront of me while I was in 2^nd. I had more in the tank and was hoping for a victory. However, I settled for 2^nd with a 12 pack of beer for a prize to celebrate.

9th- Barking Dog Duathlon. 5k, 30k, 5k. Denver, CO...6^th

The Barking Dog duathlon was the most competetive duathlon I have done in Colorado. There were lots of fast guys there racing with me. Ripetide Multisport brought their whole squad so I knew my work was cut out for me. I cruised in 6^th overall, behind (listed in order of finish) Josh Merrick of Ripetide, Justin Hurd, Jordan of Ripetide, Andy Bigelow, and Tate of Ripetide. I was happy how the day went for me with the tough competetion. Sometimes I train with the guys from Ripetide Multisport. They have a great group of guys! You can find more about them on their website at www.ripetidemultisport.com

23rd- Apple Duathlon. 5k,33k,5k. St. Cloud, MN...9^th

Josh Merrick and I traveled together to MN. It was a very short trip. After our plane landed we had to drive an hour to get to St. Cloud. Once we got to our hotel we had to put together our bikes. By that time it was really late and we only ended up getting maybe a max of 4-5 hours of sleep that night.

There were a number of talented athletes in the line up. Justin Hurd, Josh Merrick, Ryan Guilano, David Thompson. I knew I had my work cut out for me. On the first run I ended up cruising in with the lead pack which I was very happy about. On the bike I was slowly losing ground which was frustrating. On the last run I took off and ended up running the 2^nd fastest spilt. Unfortunately I had lost too much ground on the bike was finished 9^th overall. After the race I knew I needed to spend more time on my bike...although it didn't help that my brake pad was rubbing a little bit against my rim. This race was qualifier for Short Course World Champs and only the top 3 in this race qualified. David Thompson, Justin Hurd and then Josh Merrick qualified. After this race I was hoping I could make a spot on the team with my resume.

25th- Bolder Boulder 10k. Boulder, CO (road run)...27^th

This was my first time ever running the Bolder Boulder. There were over 50,000 people in the race! The biggest race I have ever
competed in by far. The course is not a fast one with a fair amount of hills. During the race about 6 people or so yelled “GO PRE” as I ran by them with my thick mustache. I ended up with a sprint finish to take 27^th overall in a time of 33:20 on my watch. The offical net time was 33:24, hense it took me 4 seconds to get to the starting line. I was happy with my race and the whole experience of the Bolder Boulder.

You can see me finish by out kicking a few people with a time of 7:33:25 on the video. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/video/19559956/index.html

June

6th- Triumph Development Vail Pass Half Marathon,Teva Mountain Games. Vail, CO...5th place

The Vail Pass Half Marathon was an uphill marathon climbing 3,000 or so feet to the finish. This was my first year competeting in the Teva Mountain Games and there were some top guys in the race such as Rickey Gates, Matt Carpenter and Simon Gutierrez. I started the race a bit more dehydrated then I normally do. I think I drank too much coffee instead of water. Because of being a little dehydrated it was difficult for me to find my stride. The grade was not that steep going up Vail Pass but I sure expended some calories going up it! I rolled in 5^th overall and hydrated with lots of water. After I congradulated Rickey Gates on his win as we both enjoyed a beer on the tail gate of a truck.

7th- NATIVE EYEWEAR 10k spring runoff. Teva Mountain Games. Vail, CO ...6th place

I decided to run the 10k trail run the day after the half marathon. This course was a tough real trail race with some parts of 25% grade uphill and some decents around 15% or so. The field was even more competetive then the half marathon. I ended up rolling in 6^th place overall beating some other runners I have never beaten before. It was a hard double but was glad I raced both races. The Teva Mountain Games has a great atmosphere with all types of athletes such as rock climbers, kayakers, mountain bike, BMX, road cycling, fly fishing and even dog jumping.

13th-Big Sky Duathlon 4k, 25k, 4k. Bennett, CO...4^th

The Big Sky Du ended up being short du to flooding on the dirt road section. Therefore the run ended up being a 3k instead of a 4k. This favored the cyclist since my cycling needed some work. I came in 3^rd
on the first run and then again lost some ground on the bike and came back with the fastest last run lap to finish 4^th. If I had another 1k on both runs I might have finished 2^nd overall.

Reguardless it was a fun quick race. John Phillips introduced me to this young man Collier Kempton who certainly has a future in Multisport. He is also going to be competeting in Short Course World Champs for the Juniors.

20th- Mount Washington Road Race 7.6 miles 12% grade. North Conway, NH (road mountain run)...9^th

In mid june, I flew back to New England to run in the Mount Washington Road Race. My sister and brother-in-law (Justin) drove me to my race and watched me. The nice thing about Mt Washington is that there is only one hill. Yeah...one hill that is 7.6 miles and 12% grade. Yeah it was a tough one! I ended up finishing 9^th overall. I ran for my friends team to support the Central Massacusetts Striders. After I finished I ended up running all the way back down Mt. Washington to greet my sister and Justin.

Pushing it up to the finish.

27th- Bluegrass 10k. Madrid, NY...1^st

My friend Peter Mallet and I ended up running a race next to my

hometown. Peter ran the 5k and won it and I won the 10k. For a prize, Peter won a carved bear and I won a carved squirrel! That's northern New York for you!

July

2nd- Stroke and Stride 5k.

This was my first day back in Colorado after being at sea level for 2 weeks. On the morning of the stroke and stride I ran 11 miles. Then I went to the Boulder Stroke and Stride to do a secondary esay run and got lured onto running on a team. This one man swa for me as I ended up running on already dead legs and sucking through the thin oxygen air again. I ended up running even splits and clocked a 16:42 5k.

4th - 4k on the 4th. Boulder, CO...9^th

Why not run a 4k on the 4^th? So I did and finish 9^th overall. After the race I cooled down with my friend Adam Chase and had a great breakfast burrito during the awards. I won my age group category was won a case of Avery beer which lasted me a month after sharing with about 5 other people.

19th- South America Duathlon Championships 10k, 40k, 5k. Envigado, Colombia...4^th

Back in Colombia!!! Loved every second of it! I hung out with some great friends such as Ricardo, Carmenza and Tatiana.

Racing in Colombia was a great experience. South America Duathlon Championships was a draft legal race with some great competetion. My friend Ricardo from Colombia is very strong, Silivo Gu from Edu who is a 3 time Olympican was also in the race. I ended up finishing the first 10k run in about 7^th place. Then getting on the bike there were about 4 of us together. This one guy from Argentina and I were the only one pulling for the first 2-3 out of 10 laps. Shortly after I started to develop bad cramps in my calfs. Every time I started to push more then 300 watts my calfs would cramp up bad. Therfore I just settled somewhere around 250 watts and was still the only guy who was pulling. There ended up being a total of 10 guys or so in my group and no one wanted to pull except me. Then going on to the last run I made a quick transition and ran the 2^nd fastest time placing 3^rd overall. I ended up getting cramps in my calfs because I got dehydrated and 1 water bottle wasn't enough. It was so hot with a blazing sun! I snatched one bag of water on the bike which did help. Overall I was pleased with my race and this was one of the most exciting/fun race I had competed in this year. I really like the draft legal style of duathlons.

26th CARRERA ATLETICA RECREATIVA 10K BODYTECH. Medellin, Colombia 6th

I was warming up and looked at my watch as it read 7:53:11. Alright I am going to head over to the start. As I make my way over to the start I see people already running with the starting clock reading 30, 31, 32. What the heck I thought? They started 6-7 minutes early? Well I jumped into the race and tried passing people, jumping on to the side walks just to get around. I found out that I wasn't the only one as a few other fast runners passed me. My friend Tatiana said she heard a girl saying something like “I'm going to sue them! I was planning on winning and they started early with no warning!”

I ended up finishing up 5^th or 6^th overall. There was some prize money for the top 3 but even if I did start with the other I might have only gained 1 more place higher. Reguardless it was a solid workout/race for me in another country!

August

15th- Pikes Peak Accent 13.3 miles Manitou Springs, CO (mountain run)

Ryan Dorsey was a trooper and woke up at 5 to make the drive to Manitou Springs, CO with me for the start. As I did about a 200 meter warm up Ryan gave me a few last words of encouragment. I lined up on the front wearing some gloves because it was a brisk morning and who knows what the weather will be like almost 8,000 feet up. Thankfully I made the right call in wearing gloves cause my hands always seem to get cold. The race started out with a group of 5-6 runners as I trailed behind about 50 meters on the 1k on the road. When we entered the trail I was joined with Kevin Tilton. He set a solid pace crusing up the trail as I was on his tail. I ran around one turn as a tree stripped off my sun glasses from the top my hat. I turn around and took a few strides back to pick up my sun glasses. When I started back up the trail Kevin had good lead on me as he started to creap away.

Around mile 5 I ran past this beauitful doe mule deer who was standing as still as ice. The doe was literally 3 feet away from me. From mile 6-10 I did not feel the greatest. I had lost 2 spots and was in 10 place. From mile 10-13(finish) up above tree line where there are all rock, I started feeling much better and passed 3 people. I ended up finishing 7^th overall in a time of 2 hour and 30 minutes. This was the first time I had ever steped foot on the trail and I was happy with my first ascent.

After the race Ryan and I drove back to Woodland Park. In the afternoon, I cycled down to Manitou for the awards ceramony and then back up to Woodland Park for a solid hour and a half post ride. That evening i met up with an old high school classmate (Danelle (Barr) Schrader who i haven't seen since high school which was 7 years ago. Danelle has a beautiful child and her husband also ran Pikes Peak Ascent. It was certainly nice to catch up Danelle.

Safety First!

2009-04-13T23:48:00.002-05:00

That’s right! Safety Smart Wear is first in my book with cycling and triathlon clothing. Safety Smart Wear is located in Medellin, Colombia and I personal had the opportunity to go to the factor which I had great first impressions of. I could clearly see that the company was very well organized. The owners were very nice as I felt comfortable in this welcomed environment. Safety Smart Wear has only been out for three years and has become very successful within Colombia as well as internationally. I was very impressed with the chamois in the cycling bibs and triathlon suits. The pads are right where they need to be as I felt like I was riding on a cloud when I was sitting on my saddle. It’s not only a comfortable chamois but they offer air-ventilation with anti-bacterial and anti-friction movement. I was also impressed how Safety cares about our nature and they do what they can to be green for the environment.

The crew at Safety Smart Wear was able to make me a custom triathlon suit for the 2009 season. A big thanks to Tatiana who works in the international department at Safety. She went out of her way to communicate with me in the process of making the custom suit. Below is a layout of my triathlon suit with the logos of my sponsors. Within two weeks, I was handed the custom suit. They even deliver fast! Thank you to the whole crew at Safety Smart Wear for exceeding my expectations on every aspect! For more information on Safety Smart Wear please go to www.safetycol.com

Great food, great training, and great people!

2009-03-09T15:49:00.003-05:00

Every morning before I ride/run I enjoy a cup or two of the Colombian coffee. I have had the best coffee here in my life! I’ll certainly have to bring some back. Another tasty beverage is called Panela. It is a high in nutrients drink served warm most of the time. It tastes a little like honey and maple syrup. Wiakepdia explains this Panela best. Whenever I go riding I always bring some Bocadillos, which is shown in the picture below. A Bocadillo is the pulp of a guayaba. It has about 69 calories per bar which is an inch to two inches and wrapped up in a Banana peal. It is the Colombians fuel during cycling like we use gels in the states.

Bocadillo

This past weeks training:
Monday- ran 12 miles. Tuesday- rode 6 hours. Wednesday- rode another 6 hours. Thursday- ran 12 miles. Friday-ran 10 miles and cycled 1.5 hours. Saturday- ran 5 miles and rode 5 hours. Sunday- rode 4.5 hours with a couple of triathletes. I took today off and had a nice massage. I am certainly getting strong on the bike! My running is lacking a little bit because I like to run 70 mpw but regardless I am getting a solid base of hours for the 2009 season. This coming week I am going to start doing structured workouts.

Ricardo Cardeno and Carmenza Morales and are the triathletes I rode with yesterday. Ricardo has completed in 9 Ironmans with a best time of 8:39. Carmenza has completed 7 Ironmans as well as competing in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. I have run with Ricardo on a couple of occasions prior to cycling with him yesterday. After the ride Ricardo invited us to his house for a BBQ. WOW is all I can say. It was the best meal I have had since I have been here. They served so much food as we were all able to stuff ourselves. We had a loaded salad, 4 different types of meat, bread, beer, wine, ice cream, chocolate and the best coffee I had ever tasted for after. Tomorrow Ricardo and I will be doing a running workout. It will consist of a 1000, 2000, 3000, 1000. After the workout, I will most likely go for a longer ride. The people here are very friendly and I have certainly appreciated this experience thus far!

First month in COLOMBIA

2009-02-28T13:10:00.011-06:00

I apologize for not posting earlier but the first week we didn’t have internet and then the internet we had wasn’t working well so finally its been working smoothly. I will try to sum the first month here. The majority of my time consists of riding, eating, cooking, cleaning and sleeping…repeat. We (as in Sebastian, Ryan, Marvin and myself) have a very nice apartment on the 5th story with amazing views of the mountains. Medellin sets in a valley between the mountains at about 5,000ft. Each day we cycle we have to climb up about 3,500 feet. It is like cycling up Ward in Boulder, Colorado everyday. No wonder these Colombian cyclist are so strong! No matter how easy we say we are going we are still throwing the watts down riding up 5-8% grade. I am riding about 18-22 hours a week as well as running 3-4 hours a week. I cycle about 4-5 days a week and ride anywhere from 3.5hrs to 6 hours. Some days we ride with a group of Colombians in a pack of about 15 or so. The days I am not cycling I am running 10 miles and some mornings I get up extra early and run 4-6 miles before I ride. Every week there is a crit race on Thursday and a road race on Sunday. The crit course is about a mile from here and has a very nice soft surface trail in the inside that is a mile long where I do all of my running.

The four of us.

Since we have been here we went on a 2-3 hour hike as well to this mountain right next to us. Great views from the top as we hiked by many bananas trees, coffee trees and avocado trees.

Coffee beans on the tree. The top of the mountain...looking down on Medellin

During the afternoon there is this man (Fernando) who walks around and yells. “Mas-a-moro” Spelling? He is yelling “corn” which he is carrying in two big buckets. The corn is boiled in water. For 2,000 pasos (equivalent to about 75 US cents) he fills up a big pan. Then we boil the corn again and throw in some milk and sugar. The soup is very tasty and it is known around here as “strength” or “energy” food. It’s always a treat when we hear him yelling “Mas-a-moro”
We also always treat ourselves to a bakery on the corner of a street. The bakery is called “Playas Pan” and they have very type of pastry, cake, cookies, and bread you can imagine. We started going there about two weeks ago and we hang out there for at least an hour sampling as much as our bellies can consume for about 4-5,000 pasos ($2.00) It’s considered our hangout place from 8pm-9pm.
One night we went out with one of the top Colombian cyclist named Alejandro. We hoped in a taxi with him and he took us out to a nice little hangout. We sat around just talking for a few hours. He treated us to burritos and beer that night which certainly hit the spot. Speaking of food again…. They make the best burgers here I have ever had in my life. They cook the burgers right on the street and load the burger patties up in this large bun with sauces and bacon that make your mouth drool while you watch them make it.

Enjoying the burrito!

The weather here in Medellin is amazing! At nights it cools down to low 60’s and during the day it warms up to the mid 80’s. This is year around too!!! Hence, it’s next to the equator. I am enjoying that there is little to no wind here at all. I LOVE how green it is here. Parts are like the jungle because it is so thick. If it rains it does at night or early morning. Quick often there are afternoon thunderstorms like it does in Boulder in the summer.

A few days ago we all got our hematocrit level tested to see if we were anemic or not. My result was a 43.9, which is within the normal limits. The last time I had my hematocrit tested was two and a half years ago in college and I remember mine was on the lower spectrum. Therefore, I take a little bit of iron with Vitamin C to help with the absorption. Overall, my hematocrit was decent. A little on the lower spectrum but it is understandable since the volume of training I have been doing.

We are all eating healthy. Besides the hamburger stand and the bakery, We eat a lot of food. We are eating eggs, red meat, lots of beans in a soup stoked with veggies, bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, and oatmeal. Every morning we brew a cup of Colobian coffee.
A vast amount of people have heard it is/was not safe here in Colombia. Say 15-20 years ago that was the case but I feel safe here in Medellin. The people here are very nice. The only time we really have to keep our guard up is when we are riding in the city for the first 10 minutes and last 10 minutes of the ride. We just have to be cautious and pay attention…just like any other city. There are a lot of motor cycles here that zip from one place to another.

So far this has been an amazing adventure and I am thankful I have had this opportunity to travel and experience a different culture in a stunning environment. Missing my family, friends and the Boulder Manor crew. Thanks for reading!

Sebastian, myself and Marvin fixing a flat...of course!

Parrets right outside our apartment.

Medellin, Colombia

2008-12-22T20:32:00.004-06:00

From Jan. 31st to March 31st, I will be in Medellin, Colombia for cycling training camp. I will be going down with my roommate Ryan Dorsey, who has just signed with a Pro Mountain bike team http://www.mafiaracing.com/. Medellin is considered the safest city in Colombia set in the mountains at 4,500 feet above sea level. We will be cycling everyday with a European team training for the Tour de France.

Brooks modeling

2008-11-23T18:57:00.003-06:00

Last year I modeled for Brooks running shoes and clothing. Brooks stated that they did not use any of my photos and would call me back if they did. Recently I just found this on the Brooks website. Page 39 of their catalog. http://www.brooksrunning.com/Athletes+%26+Events/Team+Athletes/Team+Dealers/Fall+2008+Team+Catalog/
page 39

My New Rides!

2008-11-16T20:55:00.004-06:00

Orbea Ordu

Orbea Opal

For the 2009 season I have decided to ride Orbea Bicycles. I decided to go with Orbea because I believe in thier bikes. Thier strong, stiff carbon fiber frame is a smooth ride that is sexy!

Duathlon.com Interview

2008-11-06T22:54:00.001-06:00

I was recently interviewed by Duathlon.com. You can find my interview at http://www.duathlon.com/articles/4498

Sponsorship time!

2008-11-05T19:50:00.002-06:00

Yes it is the time of year for Sponsorship. Right now I have a few sponsors lined up for 2009. Recently I just signed a 3 year contract with Rudy Project. Rudy Project will supply me with racing and casual sunglasses as well as a road and TT helmet. First endurance is also sponsoring me and providing me with sports nutrition products. Another sponsor is Joint Juice which is a dietary supplement (in a bottled drink) to help keep your cartilage hydrate. I have some pending sponsorships such as: Orbea Bicycles. (Currently I have a Orbea Ordu TT bike and a Orbea Opal road bike and they are sweet rides!) Rolf wheels and Pearl Izumi which I modeled for 2009 spring/summer catalog as well as 2009 fall/winter catalog.

Duathlon World Championships

2008-10-05T09:21:00.003-05:00

I had a great experience in Rimini, Italy. It was my first time racing overseas. There were a total of 53 men in the Pro Field and four American's; Josh Merrick, Ryan Giuliano Derek Treadwell and myself.

I was 22nd overall and the first American to cross the line.

More race recap coming soon!

Flying!!!!

2008-08-30T21:13:00.003-05:00

A big congrats to my speedy roommate Tom Zirbel who finish 2nd overall in the USA Cycling Individual Time Trial Pro Championships out in South Carolina early today.

Results: http://www.usacyclingchampionships.com/2008-time-trial-results.html

GoLite Model Shoot

2008-08-27T23:42:00.003-05:00

This was my third running model shoot in the last year and yet the longest one. We met at 6am bright and early before the sun was up at a Starbucks in Boulder. There were three other models besides myself. Two girls and one other guy. From there we drove up past Nederland and past Eldora ski resort into the mountains to the “fourth of July” trailhead. I could probably write a whole book on the day because it was so long. We practically hiked 2-3 miles on the trial to Diamond Lake. It was such a beautiful lake and once I was up there I just wanted to escape and run! I will surely go back there sometime.

The Golite crew were really nice people and fun to work with. After the shooting, which literally took allll day we hiked back down and made it back into boulder a little past 7pm. Dang I was exhausted! Lets just say it’s a good thing I was planning for an off day (from running and cycling) because I was beat. I will have to admit that they have some pretty sweet stuff. I really like the GoLite drimove lite short sleeve shirt. The shirts feel so good and they are sooo light! Go figure eh?! The running shorts felt pretty nice and light as well. I was pretty amazed at how light and comfortable their gear is. A 20 degree sleeping bag that is under two pounds?! Can’t really beat that. Golite is fairly new and they have been around now for exactly 10 years. They are based from Boulder and they will be having their factory warehouse sale from Sept. 12-14th. Everything is 30-90% off at the sale. For more info go to: http://www.golite.com/main/home.aspx I should appear in the 2009 spring/summer catalog.

Diamond Lake

Starting to get into shape

2008-08-22T00:00:00.007-05:00

For everyone who trains at altitude...here is the conversions as if you were racing at sea level...according to NCAA standards which is on a track. What you do is find your race distance and find the elevation you are running at. It shows an example on the chart. Lets say you run a 16:06.08 at Boulder (5,260ft) ....well that is 966.08 seconds. Then you multiply that by .02748 and end up with 26.55. You subtract that time from 16:06.08 and coverts to a time of 15:39.53 if ran at sea level. You can follow the attached chart and figure it out for yourself. The longer it takes you to finish a 5k the more time you take off. The quicker you run a 5k the less time you take off.

Tonight 8/21 I finally put on some spikes for the first time in over a year and decided to hop on the track to test my rusty legs. I did end up running 16:06.08 here on the Boulder track. I was hoping to break 16 minutes but I ran solo and that 16:06 is mainly off of base work with maybe 2 workouts in the last 3 weeks.

Last Saturday I decided to run a 15k race out past the Boulder Rez. There was not much competition there as I also raced solo. The weather was very cold for August. It was 50 degrees and raining. I ended up cruising in at 51:57 on the rolly wet dirt road course. This was a 5:35 pace over the 9.3 miles. Slower then my half marathon race pace but I'm starting to come around since I had a broken wrist last month. I just got the cast off last week and I am enjoying the freedom of a cast free wrist and starting to get back into shape for Duathlon Worlds in Rimini, Italy. I will soon blog about the whole incident of getting hit by a careless driver when I was cycling.

USA Trail Championships (June 29th 2008)

2008-08-09T21:36:00.002-05:00

Steamboat Springs, Co....what a hoppin place! My roommate (Nick) and I rolled in at dusk and there was a rodeo going on. We watched the rodeo for a little and then saw there was a party going on a little ways away on the bottom of the ski slope. We walked over to check it out and realized it was a wedding reception. I thought about crashing it but we were dressed unapporiate. While we were walking by a little girl, about 10 years old came running up to us and said "Excuse me if you think this is the hokey pokey, well you're wrong and not invited!" hehe she has quite the little squirt! Nick and I ended up hiking half way up the ski slope to a tower where we had a beautiful view of Steamboat. We just sat down as we could see the town, listen to the music from the wedding reception in the ski lodge, and watch the rodeo under a clear night with stars. We just chilled up there for a half and hour. Then we started trekking down the ski slope. Half way down i noticed a couple that started walking up the ski slope. Then Nick and I stopped and sat down in the middle of the ski slope. We watched the couple keep walking to about 100 feet from us and layed in the grass. I have no idea how they did not see us because the whole slope was lit up from the rodeo lights! Well we could see that the couple was clearly doing the hokey pokie...that little 10 year old girl was WRONG! After that excitment, Nick and I cruised downtown Steamboat. Lastly we set up the tent and camped out right near the rodeo on part of the course.

The next morning we didn't have a far commute to the starting line. We were about 200 meters away. The race consisted of three 4.4k loops. The start ran right up the ski slope. It was literally about a 40% grade and EVERYONE had to power hike to get up it...No one could run it! It was the first time I had ever walked in a race. I was hoping to squeeze in to get a top 7 finish because the top 7 came home with a little prize $$. I was holding 3rd position most of the race and exceeded my expectations and finish 3rd overall. In the last 1k I ended up twisting my ankle but had enough of a lead to just cruise in and finish comfortably in 3rd. This was the toughest race i have ever ran before! It only took me a little over an hour but felt just as hard, if not harder then a marathon because of all the hard pounding running downhill and power hiking quad burner up the ski slope...3 times! I felt the course suited me well because once I summited the ski slope, it felt like I had just gotten off my bike because my quads were shot. Overall it was a grrreat weekend and race!

Ottawa Marathon (May 25, 2008)

2008-08-01T22:26:00.006-05:00

This was my first marathon in almost 4 years. My goal was to just break 2:30 and running a personal best and beating my soft 2:46 first marathon time. I ended up training right around 75 miles a week, which I thought would get me to my goal. The Ottawa marathon is only an hour from my home town in Northern NY so my family was able to watch and cheer me on. The course was pretty flat overall. I was able to run in the elite field so I had a few water bottles out on the course for me. In the first half there were some slight gradual inclines here and there. I ran pretty even splits. For the first half marathon I went through in about 1:14 and felt comfortable. I ended up missing 2 of my most important water bottles that had gel attached to them. I was trying to consume a gel every 30 mins but I only ended up taking two the whole time. In the second half of the marathon I pushed a little more and cruised in with a time of 2:29:21. I was happy considering I had met my goal. I realize that I am going to have to do higher mileage in order to run any faster. Therefore I have a new goal to break 2:25 at the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis on Dec. 6th.

My Dad, brother-in-law, and sister after the race.

Pearl Izumi model shoot

2008-08-01T22:16:00.004-05:00

Right after Duathlon Nats I ended up doing a model shoot for Pearl Izumi. The catalog/gear will come out in spring/summer of 2009. I was modeling for trail running and all of the pics were taken in Boulder, Colorado at the Red Rocks. Here are a few pics

Duathlon National Championship April 27, 2008

2008-05-10T19:43:00.012-05:00

I would have to say this trip was a pretty amazing exerpience! This was my first race as a professional athlete. I was hoping to squeeze in 5th place to make the team to duathlon worlds.

The race consisted of a 10k run, 40k bike and a 5k run. The first run was two loops which was cross country like racing with a few little hills and some sharp turns to run up on a bridge and over the James River. I ran into transition in 6th place off the first run.

Next was the 40k bike which was draft legal. Ryan Ignatz (store manager of Colorado Multisport) and I worked together on the bike course. My 11 year old Kestrel sure did the trick on the course. Ryan and I worked our way up to the front. We caught up to Ryan Giuliano who jumped in and road with us. Off the bike into transistion I was in 3rd place.

On the last run the lead runner had about 30 seconds on me. I felt pretty strong still and passed Ryan Giuliano and was gaining on the leader, Tom Jeffery, last years champion. I caught up to him after the first mile and passed for the lead. The last two miles I felt relaxed and criused it in for the win. I was ecstatic! I couldn't believe I just came in first for my first pro race...let alone this was the national championships. I ended up running the last 5k leg about a minute faster then anyone else and won by 56 seconds.

Other then the race, I had a wonderful time in Richmond. I went on a beauitful ride with Tonya on Saturday. We rode next to a river and I forgot how beauitful the east coast is with all of the green trees. I certainly miss seeing the deciduous trees. After our ride we went to Cold Stone to get some amazing ice cream. MMMM I'll certainly make the trip back next year. Now I am on the team to duathlon worlds in Rimini, Italy in late September.

http://www.runwashington.com/news/apr08duathlonon.html

Canyonlands Half Marathon. March 8, 2008

2008-05-10T18:43:00.006-05:00

This was quite the adventure for a weekend. First, I had plans to go to Moab, UT with some friends and run the half marathon. However some conflicts came up so I had to drive to Moab solo in my explorer. I ended up just sleeping in my very useful explorer right next to the finish. My road bike and I cuddled all night in the back with my comfy futon matress. Jealous?

The morning came early and school buses picked us up and brought us to the start of the half marathon. I waited for about an hour and a half for the race to start, along with 3,000 other runners. The temp. was about 40 degrees and overcast. It was the coldest I've ever been before a race. The race runs along the Colorado river which is very beautiful with the landscape of the rock walls.

The gun went off and my first mile was 5:07...then a 5:13 mile...then a 5:21 mile. Those are the only splits I remember. I ran most of the race next to this man who runs on the fleet feet racing team in Boulder. We were in 4th and 5th position. Around the 9th mile one guy faded and we were now in 3rd and 4th position. At the 11 mile mark I made a move and the man running next to me did not respond. I continued to cruise in with a 3rd place finish with an overall time of 1:10:36. Averaging 5:23 pace. I was pleasantly happy since I did not feel like I was in great shape, the course was slightly rolly at 4,000 ft above sea level. Not a bad start to the beginning of the season.

After I ended up meeting up with another fellow who was from Colorado to go for about a 3o mile ride. The first 10 miles were fine. Then I had 3 flat tires! I ended up hitch hiking back to Moab. Of course they were red neck 4 wheeler guys. Me in tight spandex sitting next to beer belly guys who out weigh me by double. Atleast I got a ride back!

Once I got back I had another problem. My explorer did not start! I had to get towed to a shop which was 3 miles outside of town. The shop was closed by this time and the repair man would not be there in the morning. I would have went into town that night however I had a flat tire on my bike. I was stranded...so i just spent the night in my explorer cuddling with my bike again. The next morning I woke up to a guy knocking on my window. The man quickly repaired my alternator and I was on my way back home.

I didn't necessarily have great luck after the half marathon but my main reason to go to Moab was to run well. All in all it was an adventous trip!

Schedule & Results

2008-04-06T22:50:00.039-05:00

2011 Schedule and Results

JANUARY

3m Half Marathon - 28th overall

MARCH

Blue Norther Duathlon -1st

APRIL

Kemah Triathlon- 11th pro
Lonestar 70.3- 19th pro overall. US Pro Championships 8th
Splash and Dash – 4th
New Orleans 70.3 (69.1) 8th pro overall (1st American)
US Pro Duathlon National Championships – 1st overall

MAY

Lone Star Stampede 5k – 3rd overall 14:58.7
Ironman Texas- 14th Pro overall. US Pro Championships 4th
Capital of Texas Triathlon- 18th Pro overall

JUNE

Kansas 70.3- 13th pro overall.
Buffalo Springs 70.3- 9th pro overall. (fastest run split)

JULY

Couples Triathlon- 2nd overall.
Ironman Lake Placid- 9th pro overall. (mechanical on bike)

AUGUST

Boulder 70.3- 5th pro overall (2nd American)
Driveway Dash, 4 mile running race. Austin, TX- 2nd overall
Ironman Canada- 7th pro overall (flat tire)

SEPTEMBER

Austin Triathlon- 2nd overall but DQ'd (1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th place directed off course and DQ'd)
Pumpkinman Sprint Triathlon- 1st
Pumpkinman Half Ironman Triathlon - 2nd (course run record)
Ironman 70.3 World Championship- Qualified but declined. ranked 40th in the world
Syracuse 70.3- 8th pro overall (1st American)
ITU Duathlon World Championships in Gijon, Spain- 6th overall (Fastest overall bike split, 1st American)
ITU Duathlon World Championship, 4xMixed Relay- 7th overall

OCTOBER

Ironman World Championships- 23rd pro overall (3rd American)
Soma Half Ironman- 1st pro overall (fastest bike split)

NOVEMBER

Amica 19.7 Phoenix Triathlon- 3rd pro overall (fastest bike split)
Ironman Arizona- 12th overall 8:29 personal best. (1st American)

2010 Schedule and Race Results

January
9th- Frozen foote 4 miler. #2. Canton, NY...1st place

30th- Colton 10 miler. Colton, NY....1st place

February
13th- Camp Saratoga snowshoe race 8k. Wilton, NY...2nd overall

March
6th- Snowshoe National Championships. 10k Syracuse, NY 10th place

13th-Frozen foote 4 miler. #4. Canton, NY ...2nd place (19:50)

27th- Powerman Alabama (Elite Duathlon Nationals) 10k,60k,10k...4th place (3rd American)

April
10th- 7th Annual Todd's Trot 5k. Durham, NH...2nd place

May
1st- Cumberland Duathlon 5k, 38.4k, 5k. Ottawa, Canada...1st place

16th- Flordia 70.3. Orlando, FL. 1st in Age Group...4th Amatuer overall

June
6th- Mooseman 70.3. Newfound Lake, NH. 1st in Age Group...2nd Amatuer overall

8th- Summer Sunset 5k #1. Canton, NY...1st overall

15th- Norwood Duathlon. Norwood, NY...1st overall

19th- Mount Washington Road Race. USA Mountain Running National Championships. Pinkham Notch, NH... 7th overall

26th- Run for Cash 5k. Old Orchard Beach, ME...4th overall

July

4th. Morristown Spectacular 5k. Morristown, NY...1st overall

11th- Couples Triathlon. Austin, TX...3rd as a team

18th- Seaway Festival 4 miler. Ogdensburg, NY...1st overall

25th- Ironman Lake Placid. Lake Placid, NY...11th pro

August

8th- Brock Trail 5k. Brockville, Canada...2nd overall

10th- Summer Sunset 5k #3. Canton, NY...2nd overall

15th- Thousand Island Sprint Triathlon. Brockville, Canada....1st overall

21st- Norwood Triathlon. Norwood, NY... 1st overall

22nd- Cornwall Duathlon. Cornwall, Canada...1st overall

September

5th-ITU Duathlon World Championships. Edienburgh, Scotland. ...23rd Elite

11th- Pumpkinman Sprint Triathlon. South Berwick, Maine. ...2nd

19th- Syracuse 70.3. Syracuse, NY...15th Pro

October

2nd- Powerman Muncie. 10k,60k,10k. Muncie, Indiana. 3rd overall...1st American

17th- Austin 70.3. Austin, TX. 12th Pro...5th American

November

21st- Ironman Arizona. Tempe, Arizona 19th 9:09

2009 Race Results

April

5th- ThunderChief 5k. 5K (road run) Boulder, CO 1st Place
18th- Powerman Alabama. 5m, 33m, 5m. Birmingham, AL 4th
26th- Atomic Man Duathlon. 10k, 40k, 5k. White Rock, NM 1st

May

2nd- Lookout Mountain Hill Climb cycling race Golden, CO 2nd
9th- Barking Dog Duathlon. 5k, 30k, 5k. Denver, CO 6th
23rd- Apple Duathlon. 5k,33k,5k. St. Cloud, MN 9th
25th- Bolder Boulder 10k. (road run) Boulder, CO 27th

June

6th- Vail Pass Half Marathon 13.1 miles (road mt run) Vail, CO 5th
Teva Mountain Games
7th- NATIVE EYEWEAR 10k spring runoff. 10k (trail run) Vail, CO 6th
Teva Mountain Games.
13th- Big Sky Duathlon 4k, 25k, 4k. Bennett, CO 4th
20th- Mount Washington Road Race 7.6 miles (road mt run) North Conway, NH 9th
27th- Bluegrass 10k 10k (road run) Madrid, NY 1st

July

4th - Avery’s 4k on the 4th 4k (road run) Boulder, CO 9th
19th- South America Duathlon Championships 10k, 40k, 5k Envigado, Colombia 4th place
26th- CARRERA 10K BODYTECH 10k (road run) Medellin, Colombia 5th

August

15th- Pikes Peak Accent 13.3 miles (mountain run) Manitou Springs, CO 7th

September

6th- Powerman Zofingen World Championships 10k, 150k, 30k. Zofingen, Switzerland 13th
elite men
13th- Indian Summer Half Marathon 13.1 (road run) Boulder, CO 2nd
26th- ITU Duathlon World Championships 10k, 40k, 5k Concord, NC 16th elite men
OCTOBER

3RD- APPLE HARVEST DAY 5K. DOVER, NH 3RD

NOVEMBER

21ST- HOBBLE GOBBLE PREDICTION 10K RUN. POTSDAM, NY 1ST

26TH- PORTLAND THANKSGIVING 4 MILER. PORTLAND, ME 6TH

DECEMBER

6TH- POWERMAN FLORIDA. 5M, 33M, 5M. SAN ANTONIO, FL 2ND

2008 Results

1-19 Colorado State Snowshoe championships 10k
Leadville, Co ? 6th ?
1-26 The Best Cross-Country Race on the Planet 4 miles
Boulder, Co 21:56 12th 96
Men only
2-3 Screamin Snowman Snowshoe Race 10k Nederland, Co
1:01:17 3rd 172 combined
2-10 Jeremy Wright’s Snowshoe Championships 10k Beaver Creek, Co
53:48 7th 316 combined
3-8 Canyonlands Half Marathon 13.1 miles
Moab, UT 1:10:36 3rd 2,910
combined
4-20 Earth Day 5k 5k Boulder, Co 16:33 1st 698 combined
4-27 USA Duathlon National Championships 10k, 40k, 5k
Richmond, Va 1:58:02 1st Elite/ Pro men
5-10 Barking Dog Duathlon 5k, 30k, 5k Denver, Co
1:17:07 2nd 412 men
5-15 2k Uni-Hill 2k Boulder, Co 6:13 8th 46 competitive men
5-25 ING Ottawa Marathon 26.2 miles Ottawa, Canada 2:29:21 33rd Place
2nd for USA 3356 combined
6-7 Big Sky Duathlon 4k, 25k, 4k Bennett, Co 1:04:16 2nd 310 men
6-8 Mike Horgan Hill Climb 18 miles Boulder, Co 1:21:34 2nd 27 men
6-26 West End 3k 3k Boulder, Co 9:31 10th 69 competitive men
6-29 USA Trial Championships 13.2 Steamboat Springs, Co 1:02:24 3rd ?
7-4 Superior downhill mile 1 mile Superior, Co 4:29 12th 207 combined
7-4 Fourth of July 4k 4k Boulder, Co 13:24 9th 214 combined
7-6 Salomon Tresspass 5.4 miles Nederland, Co 32:04 2nd 63 combined
7-12 Cabbage Head Duathlon 5k, 30k, 5k Wiggins, Co 1:16:42 3rd 242
7-31 Pearl Street Mile 1 mile Boulder, Co 4:41.3 20th 448 men
8-16 Boulder Roubaix 15k Boulder, Co 51:58 1st 54 combined
8-21 Boulder Road Runners Track Meet 5k Boulder, Co 16:06.08 1st
9-14 Indian Summer 10k Boulder, Co 34:15 4th 102 combined
9-21 Crossroads 5k Fort Collins, Co 16:21 1st 120 combined
9-27 Duathlon World Championships 10k, 40k, 5k Rimini, Italy 1:53:33 22nd
1st for USA 53 elite/pro men
10-4 Colorado Rocky Mountain Shootout 8k Boulder, Co 27:29 15th 121 competitive men
10-19 Coal creek xc challenge 5.75 miles Louisville, Co 32:52 5th 147 combined
11-2 City of Oaks half marathon 13.1 miles Raleigh, NC 1:12:06 11th 2476 combined
11-16 Panicking Poultry 5K 5k Boulder, Co 16:09 9th 786 combined
11-27 CU Turkey Trot 5k Boulder, Co 16:02 3rd 1044 combined

24 hours of Boulder- Oct. 13th 2007

2008-04-06T22:41:00.002-05:00

I was on a team with four other runners. Our team was called GO FAST, since we were sponsored by them. The course was an out and back at the boulder reservoir. It was an out and back and consisted of 7.14 miles per lap. Our team was planning on breaking the record which would mean each of us would have to complete 6 laps each and one man completing 7 laps. However, the weather did not cooperate during the 24 hours. The first 6 hours were nice, in the low 50’s, a little wind and cloudy. Shortly after the wind picked up a lot more, the rain came down and it was in the low 40’s. Not ideal conditions. I was able to complete a total of 6 laps which ended up being 42.84 miles. I calculated my average pace per mile which ended up being 6:13 pace. The last few laps were the toughest because my hamstrings had tightened up and it took me a little while to actually get moving. During the whole 24 hours I might have slept 2 hours. At one point I had a longer rest time, however it took me nearly 2 hours to fall asleep because my heart rate was up so high and it was difficult for me to relax. Overall it was a solid effort and we won as a team. We ran a total of 207 miles.

Pics of the race:
http://www.skipix.com/skipixv2/viewlargeimage.php?lang=en&photosetid=1593&filename=DSC_0826.jpg

http://www.skipix.com/skipixv2/viewlargeimage.php?lang=en&photosetid=1594&filename=DSC_0900.jpg&position=2&total=50

http://www.skipix.com/skipixv2/viewlargeimage.php?lang=en&photosetid=1597&filename=DSC_1067.jpg

http://www.skipix.com/skipixv2/viewlargeimage.php?lang=en&photosetid=1598&filename=DSC_1129.jpg

Harvest Moon Long Course Duathlon –Sept. 16th 2007

2008-04-06T22:28:00.002-05:00

This was the longest race I have ever done and I certainly learned a valuable lesson. The race consisted of a 5k run, 56 mile bike, and 13.1mile run. The field was not that big and I recognized one duathlete who has been to world championships multiple times. Once I saw him I figured he would win because he is very experienced, a very strong cyclist as well as runner. The first 5k was more of a warm up and I ended up finishing first man in to bike transition. I hoped on my bike and rode the 56 miles in 2:22:22 for an average of 23.6 mph on my 10 year old kestrel. After I hoped off my bike I was able to find my stride fairly quickly. I was running about 6:20 pace. (1:23 half marathon pace) for 9 miles. Then at mile 9 I cramped up and hit the wall. I bonked for the first time in my life! Well that was because I was soo dehydrated. I didn’t drink enough on the bike and it was 85 degrees in the sun in mid September. Normally in races I do not drink much. Because the longest race I had ever done before was my marathon 3 years ago in 2:46. Regardless, I was able to struggle in the last 4 miles, covering the 13.1 mile run in 1:34:55. My total time was 4:17:53 which was good enough for 2nd place. I’ll use this race as a lesson to make sure I actually drink more then 10 ounces of fluid on the bike section.

Pics of my race. http://www.skipix.com/skipixv2/viewlargeimage.php?lang=en&photosetid=1461&filename=DSC_0027.jpg

http://www.skipix.com/skipixv2/viewlargeimage.php?lang=en&photosetid=1522&filename=DSC_9241.jpg&position=17&total=79

Neder Nederland 5k

2007-09-15T13:35:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was the turn of fall. Saturday the 8th was 80 degrees and the next day (Sunday) was maybe a high of 60. On that Sunday morning i woke up and it was in the mid 40's and Boulder was very cloudy and cold all day. When I drove up to Nederland that morning, which is 20 miles into the mountains, the sky was as blue as it could be with a bright sun shining down. The air was still crisp at 8,500ft. The Neder Nederland 5k race when off at 9am and I had a late start so i only got about a half mile jog in before the start. The race was a fairly small one and the first two miles were on the road and the last mile ending in the small town of Nederland. I ended up crusing in at 16:55 while the winner Tim DeBoom won the race in 16:10. After the race Uli and I ran a few miles on a nice trail along the Nederland Resevoir. Races usually give out the typical boring medals. Instead in this race I recieved a pretty interesting rock placed above. It was a perfect temperature in Nederland as I relaxed on the grass in my shorts and t-shirt with the warm sun and cool breeze on me when down in Boulder was cloudy and rainy. It was a great little fun run for the weekend.

Benefits of Altitude

2007-09-12T20:24:00.000-05:00

This picture was taken with my cell phone on one Thursday evening this summer at the Boulder Reservoir. Elevation of around 5,400ft.

The well-documented physiological effects of altitude, cited by Edmund R. Burke, Ph.D. University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, include:

-Increased natural hormone erythropoietin (EPO) production, which in turn increases red blood cell mass for delivering oxygen to muscle cells and converting it into energy.

-A boost in total blood volume to move oxygen more efficiently through your bloodstream.

-An increase in V02 max-the maximum amount of oxygen the body can convert to work, giving you more stamina for the long haul.

-Cranked-up hematocrit levels to provide a greater percentage of cells carrying oxygen.

-Elevated capillary volume, creating more blood pathways to muscle cells for improved muscle oxygenation.

-A higher volume of mitochondria--the powerhouses in cells that help your body turn oxygen into energy.

-An increase in the lungs' ability to exchange gases efficiently - so that every breath you take more oxygen gets into the bloodstream.

Summer 2007 Recap

2007-09-03T22:13:00.000-05:00

I decided to start this blog so my family and friends back in the east coast know what I have been up to since I have moved to Boulder, Colorado.

THE MOVE: I first moved out here on June 10th 2007. My friend Julie form Exeter, NH helped me drive out here. After 3 days of driving we finally made it to Boulder and found my apartment. Julie was a great help with getting settled in and setting up the apartment. My apartment is central Boulder. Only a 5 minute walk to Pearl Street Mall.

MY ROOMMATE: Brandon is from Virginia Beach and graduated from Virginia Tech. He takes the bus to Denver for work everyday. Brandon has an environmental engineering job. I first met Brandon about 2 winters ago. It was around New Years and I had always gone to my friend’s camp in the Adirondack Mountains in NY for a solid week to go skiing, running, sledding, eat and drink good beer with a bunch of friends. Well my one friend that has the camp brought some of her friends from Virginia Tech to her camp. This is where I first met Brandon…and it was the last time I met him before I came to Boulder. He is a grrreat roommate and we sometimes go hiking and run races here in Boulder.

MY JOB: The first week I was out here I had a job interview at Boulder Manor which is a skilled nursing facility. I took the job and started in late June. I love working there! My job is flexible as in when I come into work. I can go into work as early as 7am and as late as 9am. The people are great and everyone works together. It’s a great team in the therapy department. My work is only 3 miles away so I usually ride my bike to and from work. I just hop onto the Boulder Creek Path and hop on another path and I am there. Boulder is very biker friendly. The last hurdle on my education is taking the board exam. I’ve been studying this summer and shortly I will be taking my exam that will certify me as an occupational therapist. It’s been a slow process and I have had some issues with the whole process that has made it even slower but within the next month I should be sitting for the exam.

IN MY SPARE TIME: On Monday nights I usually meet up with a bunch of friend at Wahoo’s fish taco’s where we all sit down and enjoy our food. The group consists of all types of athlete such ultra marathon runners and Ironman athletes. Every Tuesday mornings I do a running workout over at the Boulder Reservoir. There is a group of 8-12 men and women at this morning workout at 7. Simon Lessing is the man who coordinates the workouts. He is considered one of the best triathletes in the world. These workouts are great to keep me sharp on my running. For 8 weeks in the summer I was working the stroke & strides at the Boulder Reservoir every Thursday nights. The race consists of swimming and running and there is always subs or pizza after the race. One weekend I worked this race called the Muddy Buddy. It is a non-competitive cycling/running race with obstacles and a total of 6 miles. I worked a total of 28 hours to set up and take down this race! Now I know why I got an education because labor work is soo hard. I was sore for the next few days but I had a little extra spending $$ in my pocket. Ohh also this summer i went white water rafting down the Poudre River for the first time. My friend from my hometown is living in Fort Collins and she was a guide on the River so she needed a guinea pigs so i decided to go. I almost fell out of the raft multiple times but is was a blast!

Since I have been out here I have met a lot of cool new people as well as a few other friends from before that I knew. One person that has really helped me out with connections is Uli. The first month out here she took me on a number of cycling rides and introduced me to a number of friends. I have been cheering on my friend Uli that is a triathlete. She has been competing in the 5430 triathlon series. There has been one is June, July and August. The first one was a sprint, and the next was an Olympic distance and the last was a long course. Uli and I hiked one 14,000 peak mountain. We hiked Longs Peak that took us nearly 10 hours. It is a total of 15 miles. I have been to many BBQ’s this summer and every now and then I go out with a few friends for a beer. The closest/best place to get a beer is Mountain Sun. It’s about a 5 min walk from my place and Mountain Sun brews their own beer.

One person that I will miss is my friend Andy. I met Andy in the begining of the summer and he is certainly the best bike mechanic I know. He has traveled with many pro teams and has worked at the Ironman Championships in Hawaii. He recently left Boulder and moved back to his hometown in IL. I'll certainly miss going to Mountain Sun and having a burger and beer without him.

RUNNING, CYCLING & RACING: Five days before I strated my drive out to Colorado i competed in my first duathlon in NH. The name of the race was Rye by the Sea Duathlon which is a 5k run 18mile bike and 5k run. I ended competeting well in my first one as I placed 2nd overall with a 16:17 first 5k, 49:00 18 mile bike and ended up with a 15:45 run. My cycling leg was a little weak because i had just got on the bike 2 weeks prior the race after taking a 3 year break from serious riding. The person that won drafted off of the lead car and had a 5 minute faster bike time then me. Not totally fair but hopefully that won't happen in the future.
Out here in Colorado I am often cycling and running as usual. I have been running anywhere from 50 to 70 miles a week and cycling up to 300 miles a week. Boulder Creek is right next to me so I often run there. I often try to ride in the mountains that always seem to give me a hard climb leading to an amazing view. I just bought a wetsuit. It was a really good deal that I couldn’t pass so I decided to buy one. Therefore I plan on learning how to swim better and getting into triathlons in the future. I have done several races out here in Colorado. The first race I did was the Cabbage Head Duathlon I Wiggins, Co on July 7th. It was a run 5k 16:17, bike 30k 45:34 (24.0 mph), 5k 16:37. I was 5th overall. The top 3 people in the race were pretty legit since they all had their names on their butt implying they had competed in Worlds. The next race was the Salomon Trespass Challenge a 10.1 mile trail run in Nederland, Co on July 15th. The race went up to 10,000 feet and running down was so hard on the quads. It felt like I ran a marathon after. I finish 5th overall in 1:05:26. Next was the Evergreen Town Race 10k in Evergreen, Co on August 5th. The race is at about 8,000ft but it is on a paved road that is slightly down hill. I finished up 2nd overall losing to my one friend that is from Denver and ran for St. Lawrence. I ended up running a 33:17. My roommate Brandon and Uli also ran the 10k race. The next race I competed in was the Tiny Miracles Trot 5k in Englewood, Co on August 26th. I showed up to the race with dead legs because I rode 104 miles the day before. I thought it wouldn’t affect me that much because the other 2 running races that I had run I rode 70 miles the day before. Even though this fun run was a 5k my legs had no giddy up. I ended up running a 17:28 on the hilly course to finish 7th. After the race I picked up my friend Eric Ashe that runs for BU. He was out here for the week staying with me to check out Boulder because he is planning to live here next summer. On Thursday August 30th we both ran the Pearl Street Mile here in Boulder. We both ran on dead legs because we ran Magnolia Rd. that morning. It was just a fun run where I won a free pair of running shoes too. I ended up running a 4:39.0 mile to place 16th overall. I certainly didn’t race it like a mile and the race was done before I knew it. I am not used to the short stuff but it was fun to do. My next race coming up is on Sept 15th which is a duathlon. It consists of a 5k run, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run. My future plans are to excel in duathlons (run bike run). I already qualify to get my professional license as a duathlete. However, next year I will travel to bigger races when I have the time. Also, if I can master swimming, I would be pretty strong at triathlons too. Right now I am just taking one step at a time and making the most of it out here.

If you have read this far congrats! I most likely have about a million errors, if you know my writing. I’ll try to keep everyone updated from time to time. If you want to come visit me and Colorado let me know and I’ll certainly plan a trip that you won’t forget!

Take care everyone:)