Scott DeFilippis's Blog

Last Sunday I raced the Westchester Toughman for the second year in a row. I was really hoping for the win but with just two weeks since IM Louisville I was unsure how my body would react to racing again. Leading up to Sunday I was feeling pretty good and was confident that if I could manage the damage given up on the swim that I might be able to run the defending champion, Dom Gillen, down. Race morning turnd out to be a perfect morning, I wasn’t too nervous, more anxious to race again.

The swim was pretty straight forward triangle out and back. We had a strong current on the way out but made for a quick return. I think I might have had the best swim so far this year, in a 27:30, coming out of the water I was in second, “Holy Crap!! That never happens” I thought. My parents came to the race so it was comforting to see them at the swim exit, this was the first time my Mom has ever seen me race a triathlon. Derrick Treadwell, who finished 2nd, his wife was at T1 and informed me that I was 4mins behind Dom. I knew I was going to have to ride hard to limit my losses so I went hard from the start. The course is constantly rolling with some pretty good climbs. I had no idea how far back I was but I knew I was riding well as Derrick, who is a national duathlon champion, did not catch me. This was probably the hardest I have ever ridden for a half ironman as I am still trying to find the balance between as hard as I can go and still having legs to run on.

Coming into T2 Derrick’s wife told me I was 6 minutes back, I started doing the math and really thought I could catch him by mile 7 or 8. Leaving the transition my legs felt o.k., we had about a half mile of flat running till we hit the hills.

My first mile was 5:40, feeling pretty good I carried on but a short while later I began to feel the Ironman in my legs. The run course is relentless with hills every mile. My pace was slowing and I was very much aware that I did not have my usual pop in the legs, it was a suffer fest. At the turn around I saw that I was still a good 5 or so minutes back and I also saw Derrick charging hard to catch me. I kept reminding myself that it was just another day of training and I wanted to get the most out of it. I took in some coke around mile 8 and by the last mile started to feel a bit better, could be that the course flattend out as well. I was a bit disappointed but had to think of things logically, knowing that there might be some residual fatigue from Louisville. Either way Dom and Derrick both had a great races and it was great to have my parents there for support. The best part of my day was my bike split as Dom only out split me by 1 minute, last year he put 10minutes into me. So this was huge!!!I was also pleased to have had a pretty decent swim.  I am now hopeful that the new swim stroke Doc has had me working on is starting to come together!  Also thanks to reading/watching the Wongster’s blog on swim stroke I can see how I am supposed to be swimming. 

Thanks to Richard Izzo, the race director, for having me participate in another great event, and to all the volunteers who gave their time on Sunday!!  I am actually a little more beat up after this race than IM Louisville as I strained my back pretty good on Sunday, I am hoping it clears up so I can get back to training hard for IM Florida!!! 
SD

I’ve said from the very beginning that this journey I am on is my Mt. Everest and when I win an Ironman, I will have reached my summit! Even though I am disappointed in my result, I still took a few steps up the mountain and continue to show signs of improvement. Some people can’t understand how I can be disappointed with a 45 minute p.b. but when you’re a runner and you fall apart in the last hour of the run, you are very disappointed.

I came out of the water knowing I had a shit swim. I lost the pack I was swimming with after I swam into a submerged tree trunk, thus swam the last 45mins by myself. I wasn’t too sure how much time I had given up but I knew I had to hustle if I wanted to crack the top ten.

Onto my Cervelo P2, I was very anxious to see how much progression I have made after training in the Swiss Alps all summer. I pushed hard from the beginning. On the first loop we had an open road, on the out and back section I was able to see the second pack, which made me grit my teeth a bit as I see how much harder I must work on my swim this winter if I want to be in that pack next summer. Up and down the rolling hills I went slowly moving up the field. By the second loop we were mixed with the age groupers, which looked like one big group ride, not their fault, just the way it is. I weaved my way in and out and of traffic looking forward to the last 15 miles where the road would open up again.

I never really felt comfortable on the bike, I suffered for nearly the entire 5 hours but I was confident that I had done enough hard running over the summer on tired legs to be able to handle the pace on the marathon. A positive sign is that unlike in Nice where my last 30mins on the bike were my toughest, this time my last 30mins were when I felt best. My goal was 5 hours and I nailed it.

Onto the marathon my legs felt great as did my new par of Avia Bolts. It was great to see some familar faces on the run as my sister and brother made the trip down from Jersey, a former teammate of mine at Tennessee, Keith Kimmons and another friend of mine from Jersey, Jaime Gallagher both happened to be in town.

I held nothing back on the run, the goal was 2:50 marathon and I went out after it. I was a bit quick the first 10k so I pulled back the second 10k, coming thru the half right on pace. Only problem was that by 20k my hamstrings and calves started cramping a bit and once I headed out on the second loop, I hesitated. When you give up 15mins on the swim, you can’t hesitate!!! By mile 15 I knew I was in trouble so I took some extra time at an aid station and drank some coke and gatorade. I felt myself coming out of it for  about a mile or so but by the time I reached 30k I started to lose it menatally. I’ll be honest, I knew I was out of the money and I was tired of suffering. I gave into the pain, I was weak and I must get harder if I want to be a champion. I simply switched into survival mode.

On The Run

I never stopped jogging other than at aid stations, but it was slow going. The last mile of the run had some comic relief as my sister tried jogging next to me on the side of road, yelling words of encouragement and informing me that Lisbeth was just up the road and was doing great, my response was, ” No shit I just watched her run by me”. After a bit she said she was whipped and had to stop. I was gald to finish with a big P.B. but I am still an hour away from where I know I can be.

My swim was shit, but I will worry about that in December and January when Doc locks me in the pool. My bike is getting stroner, it was the best part of my day, but I still have many, many more mtns to climb before I am ready to ride with the leaders. In Nice I made it to 15k of the marathon, in Louisville I made it to 25k. I am hopeful that by November I can make it to 42k and run a 2:50 marathon. Doc continues to remind me that my small frame has its’ advantages and I am starting to see it as 48 hours after the race I was able to run virtually pain free.

Next up is the Toughman Half Iron distance race in Westchester, NY next Sunday. Last year I finished second so naturally I hoping to win this year! The bike is challenging with many hills and the run is very tough with relentless hills. I cannot wait to race again!!!

Big thanks to my homestay Andy Anderson, to my sis Heather and brother in law Jimmy for coming to support me, and to Pat and Gary for providing the post race steak dinner and for taking me to their neighbors Michael Jackson Funeral Theme Party

Me at the Michael Jackson Part

Congrats to my fellow Team TBB Teammates Hiro, Maki, and Lisbeth for your great finishes. And to Kurt Kahl who at 73 years old was the oldest starter and finisher at 16:24:26. Kurt I was out there at 11:30 pm, beer in had, cheering you on, very inspiring!!!

Hiro and I feeling refreshed after a massage!!

Nutrional Info:  My good friend Brian Shea of Personal Best Nutrition, who provides my supplements for me asked if I could include my nutritional plan in my race report so it is below

Once onto the bike I immediately drank a bottle of gatorade that I had on my bike and took 1 Gu Roctaine.  Over the first 60 miles I sipped on a bottle of 400 calories of carbo pro mixed with gatorade.  At an hour and a half I ate 1 snickers bar.  At each aid station  I took either 1 bottle of water or 1 bottle of gatorade endurace.  I also tried to grap a bannana at each aid station.  At 68 miles I grapped my special needs bag which included another bottle of carbo pro and gatorade, this time only 200 calories of carbo pro.  I also took in 3 additional Gu Roctaine every hour or so. 

On the run I took in 2 Gu Roctaine during the first 20k while sipping water and eating 2 bannanas.  On the second loop I took in 1 more Gu and also started drinking coke and gatorade.  What I will do next time is take a bottle of gatorade out of T2 with me like I did out of T1 as I don’t think I drank enough during the first 15k.   I will also leave a bottle of half gatorade and half coke at  the special needs stations on the run.

This morning as Team TBB crawled out of the pool and onto the deck, anxiously waiting to hear what The Doc was prescribing for the days training, Bek turned to James and asked what we had today as Doc had already given James and I are our instructions. He replied pointing at me, He will be trying to flog me, and I will be trying to flog him, like every other day! I smiled, snickered and started thinking about what he said. I have written before that I believed I was a part of something special and how I thought my days of being on a team were over after college but as another camp nears its’ end I am now certain just how special this group of athletes is!

I can remember my last race of my collegiate career like it was yesterday. I had just finished running the 5000m at our conference championships, 2 days after finishing 5th in the 10,000m. I was a provisional qualifier for the National Championships in the 10k but we knew my time would be 20 seconds or so short of getting a spot in the meet. I was shattered from the 10k I had run 2 days prior and was well aware at the start of the 5k that it would be my last race in the orange and white. With my Dad, Grandfather, and soon to be fiancé in the stands I had 12 ½ laps left at Tom Black Track. Yes I still go back there at least once a year and get chills every time I step onto that track, but this was last time I would run there as a VOL. I took in each lap just as I took in each day of my senior year.

P.G. And I In Our Last Race At Tom Black Track

I believe I finished 8th or 9th but I will have to double check on that but none the less when it was over I stood on the infield with Coach Watts and my mate Patrick. He was so proud of us for running our hearts out that meet. I began to well up as I looked at the 2 of them, all 3 of us knew my time was up, Patrick was going onto NCAA’s in the 10k, and I was moving onto the world of triathlon. I can remember thinking; this can’t be it, is it really over? I turned to Coach Watts, fighting back my tears and said, I’m not ready for this to be over!! I love this place!! Now I know it sounds like things were all hunky dory but there were many ups and downs throughout my 5 year career at Tennessee, I had to fight back from several injuries, it took me 3 years to figure out how not to burn out before April, and after I was left off the conference team that track season, I quit. Lucky for me Coach Watts was secretly talking to my mother over the phone over the summer checking in because he knew I would be home training my ass off and once August came around I would get the cross country bug. Well, he was right and called me up at the right time asking me to reconsider my decision. I came back to Knoxville that fall a different runner, I salvaged my career at UT, and that spring when I got my chance to run the 10k at the conference meet I scored valuable points, not in the numbers category as I was 8th, good for 1 point, but in the inspirational category as most teammates knew how long I had been fighting to score at the conference meet and they were all out there on the track that hot humid summer night! We went onto win the meet and that set the tone for what would be a memorable senior year!

South Eastern Conference and National Champions

What I was realizing was how special it was to be a part of a team. As the saying goes, “sometimes you don’t realize how good you got it until it’s gone”. I was also realizing what it meant to live in the now. So this morning when James answered Bek the way he did, I started to reminisce a bit because I am seeing many parallels between my college experience and my experience today as a member of Team TBB. In today’s world of athletics, so many athletes are so stand offish, unapproachable! Every one is doing secret training, many want to train alone, and when they go to competitions they walk around all weekend with their Ipods on, heads down sending, or pretending to send text messages. What’s with the paranoia? As we are learning, the secret is simple, hard work!!! I guess my point is that I am lucky to be on a team not only getting pushed day in and day out, but also forming friendships with athletes that I might not have ever had the chance to interact with. At the end of the day, we look at each other, have a laugh, and say, man you stuck it to me good today! Then get up the next day and do it again.

 James And I Atop Le Col du Glandon On The Way To Alpe d’ Huez

Many want to know the secrets of what is going on in our camps.  Well as another camp comes to a close, here is what went on: more memories that will last a life time were created, there were lots of smiles and laughter, some tears were shed, there were many aches and pains, friendships have become stronger, and we will be returning to our friends and families better human beings than when we left because there were many lesson on life given!  That is what happens when you get the right group of people together and put them on a team together!

Manny, Steve, and I relaxing in Alpe d’ Huez  -  The Whole Crew On The Way To Alpe d’ Huez

Last Sunday I checked off a big box on my life’s list of things to do , I had the opportunity to watch the Tour de France live from the side of the road.   We have been training pretty hard here in the Swiss Alps so it was nice to have a relaxed day for a change.  Funny enough the best part of the day might have been our journey up to Mosses from Leysin.  James and I left the house around 10 a.m. with our back packs full of the eccentials, lunch, dry clothes, cameras, and a six pack of beer. We  decided we would take the scenic route which takes us up into the mountains on cow paths.  There were a few wrong turns but we didn’t care because the views were amazing and the riding was quite fun!  I kept saying, “Man this is so much fun!!!”  And James would reply in his very proper South African accent, “Yes, very good for the head!”  One of our wrong turns took us up to Les Furs, which is a restaurant way up in the mountains, it sits right in the middle of Leysin and Mosses.

 Thought this sign was cool!  It gives the distance to other vacation destinations.

Les Furs:  It was pretty quite today but I imagine this place goes off during ski season!!!

View From Les Furs

Once back on track we managed to find our way into Mosses, the tiny village we ride thru at least once a week was buzzing with excitment!!  After a few trips up and down the last km of the climb we found a spot right at the 1km to go mark.  We had a few hours to kill so we had lunch, drank a few beers, and just soaked in the atmosphere.  Felipe and Travis joined us after a short while.  

About two hours before the riders come past, the parade of sponsor vehicles comes thru.  It is something like over 200 vehicles and 25k long!  I had know idea what to expect but it turned out to be very exciting.  Every vehicle would have people throwing free shwag!!!  This carries on for well over an hour! 

James, Travis, and I really enjoyed this part of the day, but what where did Felipe disappear to?

James and I with our sweet new hats!

We met a family from the Philippines!  Thought it was fitting to take a photo since we train there.

One Of The Cooler Vehicles!

There’s Felipe!!! We gave him 1 beer and then he went to take a nap in the grass!

These people had me cracking up!! Table full of wine and cheese.  Reminded me of home!  My Italian family drinks it’s fare share of wine and eats plenty of cheese!!!

And here they come!!!

Only disappointing thing of the day was that I thought the peloton would be have been a bit more strung out.  They came by so quick it was like I was dreaming!  After they passed by James and I joined A.J., Lisbeth, and company in the local fire house where they had the race on a large screen for people to watch.  It was very exciting to see so many people so passionate about cycling!  When Contador made his move the room erupted with applaudes, I must admit, I did think it was Lance attacking.  After it ended, we ate a pizza on a picknic bench, got on our bikes smiling ear to ear, and rode home.  Perfect ending to a perfect day! 

I do wish we could have seen the final climb on Verbier but I will save that experience for when I retire from triathlon.  I didn’t like to come back with my brother and do it properly, follow the tour in a campervan!!! I think he would enjoy that!!!

For me, this day was very special!  I am a sports guy!!  I love sports, love to compete, and love to watch others compete!  I have been very blessed in my life in that I have seen some incredible sporting events!  First of all I ran track at one of the biggest college footbal schools in the U.S. GO VOLS!!! so I have seen my share of unbelievable college football, I have seen playoff hockey, playoff NFL games, been to Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden, The Emirates Stadium in London, seen Major Leage Baseball in Colorado at 5000ft altitude, sat ringside at numerous championship boxing matches, and watched the finals of the U.S. Open of Tennis.  But this was different, to see the passion of the fans for something that I am so passionate about was very special and I can’t wait to see it again someday!!!  I can remember watching the tour when I was 8 or 9, not really understanding exactly what it was but thinking it was pretty cool!  Then I’d go out on my bike and pretend I was Greg Lemond, racing around my neighborhood.  Now twenty years later I got to see it live!!!  Unbelievable!  I will remember this day forever!!!

Long Live The Tour!!!
SD

Topic #1

As some have read I had a bit of a slip and fall a few weeks ago while venturing into the woods to take a pee, video on how to correctly take a pee in the woods coming soon! I am very happy to report that the knee is doing great and proper run training has resumed! Due to the stupidity of this accident, I have become the first recipient of the rubber chicken at this year’s Team TBB altitude camp! Doc has this rubber chicken that every Monday he hands out to whom ever has done something stupid. You get to take the chicken home with you, keep it for a week, and do what you like with it, kind of like the Stanley Cup. I hope this will be my one and only time receiving the rubber chicken this year.

Last night was our last night together and I got her all dressed up to go to a movie but unfortunately we read the movie advert wrong and missed it

Topic #2
One of the big perks of being based in Europe for the summer is that all the big track meets around Europe are televised live on public television. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching The Berlin Gala, the meet in Lausanne, and Saturday night’s Golden Gala Rome meet. It got me thinking about the kind of crap that is on television back home in the U.S. Our stations are inundated with reality tv and what great role models these people are for our children. The Ozborns started it all, then came Paris Hilton parading around half naked throwing her money away like its play money, then Hulk Hogan and his entitled bratty children, and now we have this John and Kate couple, boy they are doing a stand up job on how to raise children!!! And don’t even get me started on shows like, Desperate Housewives and Sex in the City, great, great influence these actresses are for young teenage girls!!! All this while over here, I am sure there is similar crap or the same crap translated into French, at least they show some true reality TV, sport. Yes track and field, the purest form of competition. And yes I know some of the athletes might be cheats but hopefully we are beating the drug cheats and what we watch is not a lie. The last three weeks we have watched Olympic Champions and aspiring Olympians run, jump, and throw as fast, high, and far as they can, desperately giving their all as they chase their dreams. The Africans run to feed their village, the Jamaicans run to inspire their fellow Jamaicans, Europeans throw the weights to prove they are still the strongest humans on earth. This is everything the American culture yearns for, it’s art, drama, competition, hell it’s even sexy, have you seen some of those pole vaulter chicks? And when Usain Bolt is running, it’s funny. This is reality TV and I wish my country would appreciate this form of entertainment because I think we need better role models back home than ones mentioned above, but I guess watching Usain Bolt run 19.59 for 200m in the pouring rain is not quite as sexy as that $5000 hand bag Paris Hilton carries on her shoulder, right???

SD

IRONMAN FRANCE
Just over three weeks ago I arrived in Leysin, Switzerland, home base for Team TBB. I was here for less than a week when Doc suggested that I try and get into Ironman France. I knew the reason for me going to this race was not about time or place, it was about finding out what I have inside my heart and mind. At first I was like, no way!. I thought, I haven’t done nearly enough long rides or runs and I had just arrived in Swiss to work the bike, and this guy wants me to go do an Ironman, already? Then I realized what it was, just a test. After the awful experience I had in China in April, I knew that I must go do this race.

They say IM France is one of the most difficult Ironman races in the world with over 5000ft of climbing on the bike. With three solid weeks of training in the mountains I really felt prepared to tackle the bike course and then have a go on the run, testing my knee that I bruised the week before. The Friday before the race I had a bit of an accident, we were all gathered down by the forest to do a run when I popped into the woods to take a pee. Well, it had been raining and as I jogged into the woods, I slipped on a rock, my hip landed on the rock on slipped on and my knee was wedged between another. After quickly popping up I thought I would be fine and had just banged it real good but after we started running I quickly realized it might be best to stop and jog/walk home. As I limped home, all my thoughts were racing, F#ck, Sh#t, D#am It, what if I really did something bad, tore an MCL or Meniscus. I have heard so many crazy stories over the years about people falling doing stupid things and tearing something. Well after a few days the knee started to feel better and I knew I would be able to complete the race.

So I began to write this long race report and I thought to myself, do people really care about how I felt during the race because this seems quite boring? So this is the abbreviated version. The swim was rough but nothing like I anticipated, I got out great and swam very controlled the whole way because I knew I was going into unexplored territory. It was first time starting as a mass start so I pleased to escape with no issures. On the bike I was again very controlled, at 3 hours I was sleepy but came out of it 30mins later. The bike course is gorgeous and the streets were lined with supporters all the way up the Col de L Ecre.  The last 30mins on the bike were very hard , this should have been a warning signal that I had not eaten enough.

Viw on the way up the climb

 Coming off the bike my legs felt very good, again I was very controlled. At 15k it was like someone was smashing my legs with a hammer. I never felt my knee but my quads were soooo sore. I limped on for the next 25k stopping at aid stations to try and refuel but never regained the form I had at the beginning of the run.

All in all it was a tough day, very hard and I am proud to finally be an ironman, great, but let’s be honest, I got my ass kicked by many. As doc said, I am an ironman, but a slow one at that I am happy to have the monkey off my back and will now work on taking an hour off that run. I know I am capable of this and realize it is a must for me to make it to the top.

It is nice to be back in Leysin and feels good to be back training! Ironman France was a mental exercise for and I passed, maybe not by much, but I passed so now there are no more racing to finish bull sh#t, yes there will be other races for training but the standard will be much, much higher!!!

I must thank Caroline for setting up my home stay with Florance and Stephan! Thank you so much Florance and Stephan for having me stay at your home! It was great getting to know you and practice my French! I hope to see you next year! Also thank you so much to Ludo and the rest of the Nice Triathlon Club for your support on race, it was nice to have complete strangers cheering me on! Ludo you and your brother are the best!!! Thanks for all you did for us!

And maybe the best part of the weekend was the sweet tan on got! It looks great with my togs on:) 

Oh and the $90 taxi that Abi and I had to take at midnight to get back up the mountain as we missed the last trolley, that was the best part of the weekend!!

SD

Last week I moved into the new apartment!  Thanks Brett and Fiona for finding us such a nice place.  Here are some photos.

The Foyer

The Den

The Den From The Porch

My Room

View From My Bedroom

View From our Porch

Jo Enjoying His Breakfast

Me Post Breakfast with a coffee Buzz

Jo has been staying with  me for a week but sadly he leaves tomorrow.  James will be moving in and Manny arrives in a week.  Manny, don’t forget the playstation.  Single females between the ages of 25-40 are welcome to drop by for a visit anytime they would like.  Next blog will be about how to properly pee in the woods without falling down.

SD

After 6 weeks back home in New Jersey  where Doc put me thru a quick block of the Cam and Reinaldo bike program, I am finally back in camp.  I enjoyed my time home very much catching up with family and friends while laying the foundation for Swiss Camp.  I will be here in Leysin, Switzerland for much of the summer and too be honest I was a bit sad to leave the beloved Jersey Shore on Sunday but realize that it is necessary for me to spend as much time as possible climbing these mountains in order for me to one day achieve the goals I have set for myself. 

I arrived Monday morning after taking the red eye direct to Geneva.   I escaped the Newark Airport with no extra charge for baggage , thank you Continental Airlines!!!  Special thanks to my big sis Heather for sharing some of her half a million miles for helping me get here.  I had no hicups catching my train and quickly found myself sitting on the trolley car ascending the moutain on my last leg of the journey. 

View From The Trolley

Leysin is everything everyone said it would be.  It is absolutely gorgeous, exactly what you might picture a European Ski Town would like.  Chalets, restaurants, and shops all strategically placed along the mountain side.  I am staying with Caroline, A.K.A, The Bean for my first week and then moving to another apartment where James  and Many will be joining me in July and Jo from time to time when he is here.

View While Climbing Le Col de le Croix

View From The Bean’s Pad

I have really enjoyed the first few days here and anticipate the coming weeks as the real training will begin tomorrow in ernest.  I can remember last year reading a bit about Team TBB and their training camp here and thought, wow that place sounds amazing, maybe one day I can go train there?  and now I am here ,a part of this team, Holy Sh#t!!! It would have been very easy to stay back home in the cozy beach house and keep pretending that one day I would become a champion.  But after making the ascent up the famous climb here 4 times in my first 4 days, let me tell you, there is no pretending going on here.  Everytime I make that journey back up the moutain I will think about Doc’s first words to me when I arrived, Welcome my friend, here is where you decide if you want to be a champion or not!  

Internet service can be spoty at times but I will try to update weekly, especially since there are only 2 english television channels so when I am not watching french tv trying to learn the language I will have time to blog.  Lots to come; races, epic training sessions, le tour de france, the beard will come and go and come again, the mustache might even make an appearance, and who know what else I might come across that I think my friends might want to read about.  I leave you with a quote from the great Lance Armstrong:

“I rode and I rode, and I rode.  I rode like I had never ridden, punishing my body up and down every hill I could find.  I rode when no one else would ride”

This must be the moto over the next few months as my journey continues up the moutain!!!

View Of  The Track

SD

 

“Fall seven times, get up eight.” - Japanese Proverb
“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” - John Quincy Adams
“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” - Chinese Proverb
“Never give in. Never. Never. Never. Never.” - Winston Churchill

One Steop Back, Two Steps Forward was what went thru my head as I crossed the finish line in the Columbia Triathlon in a very disappointing time of 2:11. This was the message Doc was trying to get thru to me while in Subic Bay. He stressed that I was going to have to be patient this year and that I might go thru a period of adjustment. Tinkering with the swim stroke, adjusting to the raised volume on the bike and run, might prove to be a trying first half of the season. Boy was he right once again.

Race morning brought us cool temps with light rain but with the water temp over 68 degrees that meant no wet suits for the pros. One of the main reasons I wanted to do this race was to get some more experience racing in the pro division with the hopes that I can work on swimming in the pack. As the group of 25 or so of us were treading water in the cool water I kept thinking about how aggressive I was going to be in the first 400m. Gun goes off and I try and get on Michael Lovato’s feet, slowly I find the pack drifting away I see that I with my good friend and training partner Jacquie Gordan. I settle into the pack with Jacquie and 3 other women. Not sure if it was due to the cool water or still adjusting to the new stroke but I just didn’t feel quite strong enough to hang with the group in front. It seemed like the swim took for ever, I was anxious to get the swim over and see how my cycling legs felt. Finally we approached the finish shoot and I saw the clock tick over to 24:00, “Man that was crap”, I thought. I quickly exited transition and began chasing the riders in front of me. At first I was feeling pretty good, then it started to rain and the wind picked it up. With some pretty big descents and tight turns I found myself holding back quite a bit trying to avoid going down. As the bike carried on, I started to feel a bit tight and cold, legs were not feeling like I had hoped. But I pushed on hoping my run legs would carry me to higher finish.

Coming out of T2 my back was very tight and it took me about 2 miles to find my rythem. I could see the leaders coming back on the run and I began to realize just how far back I was. I must admit, I was pretty disappointed but reminded myself that I needed to still get in a good workout. So I pushed on, finally by mile 5 I was starting to feel stronger. The good thing is I crossed the finish line and I thought, “well, can we do that again?” This is a good sign that I am very strong from all the training the past few months, but my swim and bike are still far behind where they need to be if I want to be racing with the big boys.

I wanted to wait a day to write my thoughts because the usual 12-24 hour period of depression after a bad race is not very condusive for thinking clearly. The learning continues and I will carry on. One thing for sure, I will not be racing another International Distance race for quite some time. I will chalk this up to take my lumps and and gaining more experience.

As I woke up yestery morning, I had very little fatigue from the race. I got back in the pool, with Jacquie once again swimming next me, feeling fresh. I know I had way more in the tank but I did not play the cards I was dealt very affectively. I have been home for 3 weeks and I am now ready to get back to camp because I have a ton of work to do if I am going to have a good IM come November. I have 2 1/2 weeks to continue the Cam and Reinaldo Bike Program Doc has put me. Must get strong because the Swiss Alps are approching in a hurry!!!

Jacquie Gordan, Super Bike Andrew Yoder, and I, click to enlarge.

Newport 10k

Priority #1 win some cash so I can enjoy some of the delicious food at Swiss Camp.

Priority #2 get in a solid workout in preparation for next weekend’s Columbia Triathlon

Result: 31:55-13th overall, 2nd American, 2nd New Jersey Athlete. Doubled dipped for a nice pay day.

Last year I ran 31:22 here and apparently this year the course was roughly 200m long due to some construction on the course, so roughly same effort and the same result but all in all I am very pleased with today’s run as I have not been feeling very good since returning home. Jet lag has really smacked me in the face, getting in up in the morning has been absolute torture and my body has felt a bit out of whack. Earlier in the week The Ole Doc reassured me it was due to the travel and I should let my body do it’s thing and just let the ghosts take care of race day. Well wouldn’t you know, he was right.

The last few days I have started to feel my old stride returning and I woke this moring at 5:45 with no problems, Dunkin Donuts coffee in hand for the drive I was really excited to go to work. The Newport 10k is a great race held in Jersey City, NJ. For those not familar with Jersey City, it is right across the river from lower Manahattan. The race draws a slew of African Athletes who use this race as a tune up for next weekend’s Healthy Kidney 10k race in NYC’s central park. Brother Rob’s running shop is also one of the sponsors of the race as he is has the only specialty running shop in Jersey City, www.runners-high.com
From the gun, the dozen or so Africans took off, much faster than years past. I hung back coming thru the first mile in 4;55. I realized that 2 Americans had gotten away, along with Eduard Gapak, who is from the Ukraine. Eduard is a 2:25 marathoner who runs for a team in NJ while he is over here for the summers, he and I have had some good battles over the last 2 years. I stayed calm running 5:00-5:10 per mile while trying to drop the 3 guys that were with me. By half way one of the other Americans from the NYAC and Edward started to come back. By mile 5 we were in the homestretch and had caught the NYAC guy. The last mile runs along the Hudson River with a nice view of NYC. I could sense I was pulling away from the 3 guys with me so I began to surge with the hopes of catching Edward and being first NJ and second American. As we made the final turn I ran out of real estate and came up 6 seconds short of catching him but was very pleased to hold off the 3 behind me. All in all a good day and great preparation for next weekend’s Columbia Triathlon.

I was styling in my new pink Avia Bolts. I can’t seem to escape the pink. Pink ISM saddle, pink shoes, pink team colors. Because Avia does not make a men’s size 7.5 to fit my smurf feet I am wearing a women’s size 9, thus the pink. When they arrived I was about to go to the Oakley outlet store near by to purchase some new shades and was very tempted to get the pink blades that Bek and The Bean rock but I decided to stick with some grey shades.

So the question is, do I take my winnings and head down to Atlantic City to try my luck at the craps table? Probably not the best idea, maybe if I had of walked down Edward….I will settle for watching the Giro on TV!!!