Carl Hart Mother's Day Duathlon Race Report

Great race!!!! That's really the first thing I can think of when I try to account for today. Great weather (a little windy, but hey, we all have to deal with it!), great people, lots of fun!





Today was a HUGE benchmark for me. As written in my post yesterday, I wanted to win this race-no if, ands, or buts. I would be happy with besting my previous time from last year, but in my heart, this race HAD to be mine. I've trained hard, rested hard, eaten right, and desperately wanted the win. Ok, so on to the report:





1st run (1.8 mi)-I wanted to go out at a moderate pace. Seeing a friend of mine (who happens to be a pretty hot shot cross country runner) got me nervous. This kid is fast. He's young, and has run forever! I on the other hand have been a lacrosse and football player type my whole life, at one point weighing in at 250 lbs. Needless to say I was worried. We took off pretty quick after the gun. I'm not sure of our exact pace, but I'm sure it was in the mid to lower 5's. Not bad for me, and at my present fitness, it was definately sustainable. So we get moving, and I'm in the top three-just where I had imagined myself. Suddenly, there's a surge from behind me, and one of the local tri-studs is making his way past me. Immediately I think, 'Not today, this is MY race!' So I caught and passed him and my cross country buddy, leading the race into the first transition.


Bike-Now here's were things geat tricky. I got into transition quickly, slipped off my running shoes, buckled my helmet, and I was off. Being that I haven't done a flying mount in a quite a while, I muffed it and fell hard on the road. Just as everyone who's ever loved their bike knows, YOU PROTECT THE BIKE FIRST! :) My sweet, new Trek TTX went down hard so did I. Without missing a step, I got up, dusted Susan (that's my bikes name) off, re-mounted, and we were off. Functionally there was nothing wrong with the bike, but I had unknowingly lost a perfectly good toenail in the fall-more on that later. By this time, XC buddy had pulled ahead of me on the bike. After regaining my composure, I reeled him in, and never looked back. I led the rest of the bike, fought off the 25-30mph wind gusts on the flat course, and finished the 10.5 mi. course in about 28:30.


2nd Run-I got into the second transition with a fairly comfortable lead (about 45 seconds). I had a flawless transition this time, got the sneaks on, and headed out for the final 1.8 mile run. I was feeling it by now and definately redlining, but the lead I had built on the bike helped as I was able to stay relatively comfortable on the run. As a testament to my fitness, I was actually able to build an even bigger lead on the run, and finish 1st overall.





My first 1st place finish!!! Very happy with the result and very happy with where I am right now. It's amazing what dedication and coaching has given me this year. Not only do I have confidence in what I'm doing, but I feel like I can seriously go to such a higher level! I would consider myself fit right now, but I by no means have peaked yet! This looks like it's going to be a very good season and I look forward to accomplishing a lot. From here on out, the races are within myself. I've learned that putting the time and miles in absolutely works. I just have to keep it up! Thanks for reading!



So for the toenail...I didn't realize it at the time, but during the second run, by foot had been bleeding like a faucet from my lost toenail. As I crossed the finish line, I looked down at my foot to see my beautiful Nike Lunar Racer soaked in blood! I can't wait to see the finish line pic. That's gonna look badass!


Push 'till ya puke...Always!!!!!

Oh, and by the way, my coach said to have a beer or a candy bar to celebrate the win! I think I'll have both! Happy Mother's Day!

Welcome Race Fans!!!

So tomorrow is my second real race of the season. It started with the Suffolk County Half Marathon at the end of march, and now we've come to the first Multisport event of my year-The Carl Hart Mother's Day Duathlon. This is a fun little, local duathlon that I've done twice before. The distances are 1.8 mi run, 10.5 mi bike, 1.8 mi run. Flat and fast is the best way to describe this course.

In doing this race last year I placed third overall and am definately looking to improve on my time from last year. It's important for me to place well, but I'll be happy as long as I beat my time from last year. You never know who's gonna show up on race day, or how you're going to feel so it's only fair to myself to concentrate on my time. This race is really not a major priority for me, and is only a tune up and time to work on my transitions.

I say all this, but in my heart I'll be going for the win. After all, what the hell am I doing all this training for? Sure it helps my head, my body, and my business, but in the end, you TRAIN TO WIN THE RACE!

I'll have a full race report on this little gem of a race tomorrow.

Push 'till ya puke! Always!!!

Thursday-Off

Today is another rest day. After doing an easy hour run yesterday, followed by an afternoon spin for 45 mins, today is completely off-as well, so am I. For some reason I just find myself HATING people today. What's up with that right? I mean, I'm a very easy going person, happy most of the time, but today I'm totally miserable. I really don't get it.

It's not my clients or the people I work with that are bothering me today, just the general public. Maybe it's the rain that makes people this way, but everyone seems to just be pissed at life. It could also be the fact that I'm not allowed to train today. Not having my daily dose of endorphins really messes with me. I know I'm SUPPOSSED to rest and absorb all the work I've done, but I just feel useless if I'm sitting around.

It's funny to think about these trivial things when people around the world are dying from poverty and disease, but I just can't help myself today. Maybe an afternoon nap and some healthy eating will help me get out of this funk. That or a five hour bike ride! Oh, well...time to catch up on the odds and ends I guess...

Push 'till ya puke...Unless it's your day to rest, in which case be miserable and think about training...Always.

Disclaimer on the pic: I have no idea why I posted this pic, I just happen to like it quite a bit. Also, maybe it's to ease my mind after seeing ChuckieV's lovely blog post pic today! :)

30 min swim...

This recovery week is probably the first one that I've really really needed since I've started working with my coach. Every third week we take a step back and lighten the load to let my body adapt, and to be honest, before this week I thought I was wasting my time. Not that I was oppossing anything that he's had me do so far-it's made me into a much better triathlete-it's just that I never thought I NEEDED it. Well, that's far out the window now. My body had reached it's limit this past weekend and it's time to reel me back in.

This week is REDICULOUSLY simple. Very easy workouts, with very easy intensity, and the option to take any day off where I feel I need to. So yesterday was completely off, and today was a half hour swim...that's it. Nothing more, nothing less. One half hour of drills, drills, drills. Honestly, by the time I was done warming up, I felt like I was almost done.

Mentally this is a tough week for me. I LOVE training. In fact, I'd almost say I love it more than racing. There's just something about the alone time of it all that I find very pleasing. Usually it's just me and the road. Solitude at it's greatest! Racing is nice and it's definately fun to see the result of all that hard training, but it's really the training that not only draws me to the sport, but has been a great discovery for me in terms of my own personal development. I'm thankful that I've found this sport, and I love every second of it.

Off to bed for now, but I'm sure with all the down time I'll have this week from recovering, I'll be able to post quite a bit! Maybe I'll even try to figure out how to put up some video on this thing!

Push 'till ya puke...Always!

Oh, and I have no idea why the picture of Mini-Me...I've just been in an Austin Powers kind of mood lately!

"Cross-mojination" Yeah baby!!!

I got it back yesterday! And all it took was a ride in the pouring rain!

So after about a week or so of feeling like crap in my training, I took a little bit of extra rest and got back on the horse. Saturday was an easy 3 hour ride, and Sunday was killer! Thirth minute swim, 3hrs 30mins on the bike, and 45min hard run. Crushed it.

I was wet from the moment I got in the pool to the moment I finished the run, but it all came back together and I can't be happier. I never thought a miserably cold bike and run was what it would take, but I guess the elements provided me with the energy necessary to get it done.

Riding and running I felt like one of the Spartans from the movie '300'. I even yelled out, "This is Sparta!" while riding(I think I scared some squirrells). All in all a great day, and just what I needed to get my head back in the game.

Today (and the rest of this week for that matter) is all about resting. There will be plenty of self massage, foam rolling, and sauna in my life for the next 6 days. That's good too, because the weather is gonna stink here this week...rain, rain, rain!

Push 'till ya puke...Always!

"Cross-mojination" Yeah baby!!!

I did it...

Ok, so I'm officially an ass. I'm overtrained and I have no one to blame but myself. I've been walking that fine line the past few days, looking at all the symptoms-fatigue, depression, lack of motivation, etc.-and I've just waded through and ignored the right things to do. Namely, I should have rested, eaten properly, and rested again. But, of course, like every other type-A triathlete, I just couldn't get enough.

I got a sweet new Trek TTX the other day and I just couldn't resist the urge to ride more than I should have. I figured it would just be a nice cruise on a sunny day, but after hammering and really 'testing' the bike (like it needed it...), I found myself today sloshing through the pool, having an overall bad attitude, and too tired to walk out of the car and into the house. Needless to say, I passed out from 3 to 6pm this afternoon, and I'm still the walking dead.

Anyway, that's what's up. It's going to be raining here all weekend, so maybe that'll give me a good excuse to rest. God knows I really need it. It's amazing how the body works and what we do to achieve top fitness. Just as I was really starting to come into form, I go and push it just a little bit and BAM! here comes overtraining. I'm learning...

So it's early to bed tonight and REALLY PROMISING myself to take it easier this weekend and stick to the plan. The HR monitor will be my best friend and when in doubt, I'm taking it slow. No need to blow up yet, REV 3 is still a month away.

Push 'till ya puke...Always.