CAUZUhavetime

Thanks for holding

2009-10-28T06:34:00.000-07:00

The blog is going to be on hold for a while however you still can check me out via twitter @AndySalmon

Be well...

No I'm not still at the Cape

2009-10-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

While riding the other day with some Cyclonauts I heard wow thought Salmon was still at the cape. Well I'll be damned people do read this blog. So for those of you that do here has been my past month or so, in four bullet points

- Avery is getting bigger she has teeth and is not afraid to use them
- Spending a lot of time in the office (ahh the joys of falling behind on the mundane parts of your job due to IM's)
- Julie is back in school; and they're loading on the work, which means I get to hang w/Avery all day every Sunday very cool
- Running is WAY down and biking is WAY up in an effort to improve upon my F60-64 like bike splits

Just a little predictions www.caitsnow.com is going to be on the podium at Kona next week, thanks to a killer marathon split.

Crib Ride Part II

2009-08-24T18:49:00.000-07:00

We start our 2 week summer vacation this weekend and therefore I thought it would be a wast of time driving my truck to the cape so I invited Jim and Gary and their families down to the cape for the weekend. Short version is, Jim and I were going to leave my crib at 6 AM but two flats in the driveway pushed our roll time back 25 mins, we met my brother Matt and Gary on the road and we were on our way, Matt pulled off at mile 30 and we pressed on into a killer head wind and crazy ungodly heat. Final stats for the ride were 20.9 mph 112 miles, a tad bit slowerr than two weeks ago (with a tail wind and an extra person).

Boom...That Just Happend!

2009-08-13T07:49:00.001-07:00

Well the annual crib to compound ride is in the books for 2009; and it was by far one of the best yet. We set record time from Millbury ( my crib) to the Cape (parents beach house), 112 miles at a touch over 21.5 mph counting all the stop lights and bridges on Friday AM, Sat Jimmy, Mark and I got in 50 miles in the AM before the annual "jellyfish swim" while Sara got her long run in then we all jammed down my parents "thin pancakes" and hung at the beach all day. Sunday was the Falmouth road race, I had a number in the "elite" corral (aka where I would get my ass kicked!) but decided to not run in lieu of family time and rest for my body post IM. However Kelly, Mark and Miki all raced and Brian, Taylor and I were the Sherpas for the day.

Thing's I learned this weekend
1) It's not smart to not ride for 2 weeks post IM then ride 112 miles HARD
2) Swimming with Jeans on is "Really Hard"
3) Jimmy and I are "Good Friends"
4) Mark .4 % Polish but 100% metro sexual
5) Fiber is your friend
6) My Avery is officially the chilist kid on earth

Ironman Lake Placid Race Report

2009-07-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

Ironman Lake Placid 2009 Race Report
Andrew Salmon
Finish Time 10:14:46
78 Overall
15th in M30-34 Age Group

Prologue:

Let me state this clearly before I even begin this report, my wife is a SAINT, in fact I am quite sure that if she were a baseball player she’d be first ballot hall of fame'er. She has endured so much over the past year plus,10 months of pregnancy, child birth, three half ironman races, countless road races, one Ironman, too many late night dinners and clearly listened to me obsess over what I can and could not eat far too much. All the while balancing school, a new born and her own needs. A simple thank you, I love you or dozen roses would not cover it sufficiently, so all I can do is say your the reason why I was able to achieve the goals that my plan from QT2 laid out for me last December. You’ll never know how much your support means to me.

Your amazing.

Pre Race:

The key to my pre-race this year was relaxation as in the past (‘06 and ’07) I arrived in Lake Placid on Tuesday of race week in order to get get “in race mode” and both times it back fired because I got too jazzed up which lead me to race far too hard and crack on the run. This year we (Gary Sacon and I) mixed things up and rolled out from my house on Thursday AM and stopped in Westfield to get my last key workout in at the Sullivan’s house prior to going to chaos which is Lake Placid.

The two day’s leading into the event were extremely uneventful (good thing) and were filled with a two day carbo load, where I got to eat all the fun foods like bread, fig newtons and baked chips that I’ve done without for 6 or 8 months.

Race Day:

After getting a great nights sleep I was up at 3:00 AM for my pre-race shower and breakfast of applesauce, protein shake and a banana with my iPod as to not wake the rest of the house. My mind was “right” and my thoughts were focused on executing my race plan. We made our way over to the race and before I knew it I was in the water with 2,300 of my closest friends waiting for the cannon to fire so we could get this show on the road.

Swim:
2.4 Miles
Time Overall Age Group
1:05:01 391 69

The swim for me is by far the worst of the three legs of the race, you’ve got 2300 people who think they are Michael Phelps are going to do whatever it takes to beat you out of the water, and I mean beat you out of the water. By my count I was kicked 5-6 times, dunked once, pulled back once had my timing chip ripped off my foot once by a guy who grabbed my left ankle and held on on for a second or two. Mass starts are fun to watch but are brutal to take part in. However all in all it was a good swim, loop one was 31 mins and loop two was 33 mins which included getting out of the water crossing the timing mate getting my chip that they FOUND in the water running back and re-crossing the mate again.

Bike:
112 Miles
Time Overall Age Group
5:48:40 283 53

Game plan was to ride to the exact wattage on the SRM power meter and not one watt higher or lower, mission accomplished. It was by far the slowest bike I have ever had in an Ironman however it was a pace that was going to allow me to race my strength the run. It felt like I got passed by the entire field one by one they rode by me, as I stuck to my pacing and fueling plan just waiting to get off the bike and see what kind of run I could put up on the board. Truth be told it was kinda fun watching people work WAY to hard, and I was taking mental notes to see what people looked like on the run, sick in a way but it was the only way I could stand getting passed over and over again.

Run:
26.2 Miles
Time Overall Age Group
3:13:59 20 3

Again the game plan was to run to a pace that I could hold all day in training which was 7:00 min miles, after a quick stop in the porta john .5 miles in I was on my way clicking off 7:00 min miles one after another and executing my fueling plan to the minute, things were feeling great, saw all my teammates out on the run course doing the same, so there is something to be said for the QT2 protocols. At mile 9 I knew I was having a great day when I started to pass some of the big name female pros who started 10 mins ahead of me, cruised through the half way point feeling great with a split of 1:33:14 which was exactly where my plan called for me to be, doing some math coming out of town, I figured if I could up the pace a bit over the next loop I’d have an outside shot at going under the elusive 10 hour mark. For the next 5 miles I was pushing the pace at an average clip of 6:45 per mile, then at the 6 mile mark the wheels began to sputter and the pace gradually dropped as I headed back into a headwind and to the hills into town for a loop two split of 1:40:46.

Finish:
Time Overall Age Group
10:14:46 78 15

Crossing the line and hearing Mike Riley say “Andrew Salmon you are an Ironman” never gets old but crossing the line hearing that and knowing that all the sacrifices you put with were worth it, makes the situation that much more satisfying. As this time I crossed over an hour and thirteen minutes faster than ’07 and nearly two hours faster than ’06!

Thank you’s:
Cait Snow (who was 2nd overall at the race) it was a pleasure being coached by you this season, I’m looking forward to next year and Ironman Florida. Jesse at QT2 Systems, your system is amazing. The entire QT2 team it was great seeing everyone out there on the run ripping it up and having the support of teammates cheering along the way. Gary Sacon, Jim and Kelly Sullivan, having the three of you up there was perfect, your attitudes were just what the Dr. called for. Also to the entire Cyclonaut Mulitsport team for all their support over the past 6 years. And to Newton running for making the best shoes in the world!

Did I mention my wife is a saint?

-Andrew

QT2 Training Weekend and Stuff

2009-07-02T07:57:00.001-07:00

I am bit behind on this post but, two weeks ago was our QT2 training weekend for placid in Ludlow VT, below are few things that I learned.

1. My zone 1 on the bike is better than some but not as good as most
2. My zone 1 run is better than most but not as good as some
3. Open water TT swims are fun, when you sit on Pam's feet
4. Pro's are pro's for a reason
5. I am ready for IMLP
6. 18 hrs of training is a lot for three days
7. Riding with Paul, Chrissie and Michele for 7.5 hrs is a good time
8. Photo booth for Mac is da shite

With placid under three weeks away I am in my taper and will be focused on not loosing the gains that I have made over the past 6 months. In addition we're going to need to keep my mind sharp over the next 20 or so days, so that I can focus on my race, my plan and my execution of both. Now this might sound a bit funny from this guy, but I've given up too much to let the little things slide. In the past I've put pressure on myself (unneeded) to preform past my abilities, this year I'm going in focused on what I can control, and that's it.

"No pressure, no problems" -- St. Lucian quote

What do child birth and Ironman training have in common ...

2009-06-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

My wife forgets how hard each of them are on her and her body...After '08/'09 I thought my IM career was over, given that our daughter arrived in Feb'09. That was until June 20th when we are out to dinner with the Sullivan's who are both doing IMFL, and Kelly begins to tell Julie how great it is to watch a IM from the beach. My wife is a 100% beach bum, so she looks at me a say's "if you want to, you can" and I do and I will ... my IM career continues for one more year!

Now do we think that baby number II is close....not until after Nov '10

Let the record clearly state that my wife is a saint, who for some insane reason loved me enough to marry me....I love her too

Mooseman Half Iron

2009-06-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

Improvement is all one can ask for in life out of any process and improvement is what I got out of Mooseman this year, setting a personal PR on the course (including the new longer run). As Cait and Jesse say we have a few dials left to turn before we get to Lake Placid but for the most part things are shaping up nicely for Placid.

The Swim
Right from the start I felt great, my stroke was on and I was in a pack of guys that I knew were ~29-30 min swimmers which is exactly where I wanted to be, about 6 mins into the swim I noticed that many of the guys to my right were gone, then I looked up and realized that the feet I was following had taken me quite a bit off the beaten path which forced my to A) loose the pack I was with and B) swim in no mans land for the next 20 mins or so and if you've been reading my posts over the past year you know that left to my own devices I swim like a drunken sailor walking home after a long night. All told I think that I left 90-110 seconds in New Found Lake, I exited the water in 32 mins

The Bike
Cait had set some very specific targets to both of average watts and for max watts, which should give me a decent ride and very fresh legs for the run. After the first few miles I settled into a decent rhythm, then promptly dropped my chain going from the big ring to the little ring, quick stop to fix it and I was back on my way, then realized that I had no power reading on my SRM. The chain drop had moved the sensor so I stopped again to fix it. Needless to say loop one was not what I was looking for, however loop two was uneventful and provided me the opportunity to get my watts back to where they needed to be and gradually close the gap on the guys in my AG that passed me on loop one.

The Run
Sometimes I wonder why I do tri's because the entire event is like a prelude to what I consider to be the most enjoyable part of the day the RUN. In T2 my Garmin would not catch a signal so I was on my own pace wise for the first 2 miles which clicked off in just under 13 mins, me and my Newtons were having a good run, and I was passing people left and right. Again Cait set some hard targets for the run paces and once my Garmin kicked in I pulled back a bit and stuck to them. In the end I ran a 1:25:xx half (12.85 mile's) which was good enough for a top 24 overall run and top 20 AG run.

Overall
4:41
14th in AG M30-34
54th OA

The take away is that I have made progress, and I feel within my QT2 calucutors time zones which was another step in the progression in my prep for Placid. It also tells me that I've to continue to buckle down and nail my training and nutrition for the next 7 weeks if I want to have a great race in July.

As always, thank you to my wife for being so supportive you're the best, and to my coach at QT2 Systems Cait Snow and to Newton running for making the best running shoes on earth.

-Andy

Northborough 4 Miler

2009-05-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

Well, this weekend was suspose to be my first tri of the season, however that race would have fallen on Mother's day so we moved some things around and I ended up running the Northborough 4 miler, which was only a few towns over from ours. The website said the course was flat and quite which I was hoping would mean a soild PR and some solid evidence that my form is coming along well for Mooseman and Lake Placid.

The gun went off and I ended up on the heals of a college runner who made me look like a giant, since drafting and conserving energy wasen't a real option I decided to attempt to hang with him as long a possiable. At the .5 mile marker we were at 4:55 pace on my garmin, this was WAY WAY to hard so I backed off a bit and came through the 1st mile at 5:10 which again was much faster than my personal goal of 5:30-5:40 per mile. Once we passed the one mile marker I "let" him go (meaning there was no way in hell I was going to hang with him) and settled into a nice little rythm of 5:25-5:35 per mile and was really trying to keep my HR in check.

Over the course of the next couple miles I was able to sit back and enjoy the race a bit as there was no chance that I was going to win and no chance that I was going to get caught. In the end I finished 2nd overall, in 22:01 for the 4 miles which was ~30 seconds faster than I was racing at the end of last year and my HR was close to 8 BPM's lower. Both of which are very positive indicators that my training and imporved eating habbits are paying off.

Next up the first real triathlon test for Placid, Moooseman 1/2, so for the next three weeks I'm going to buckle down and nail my workouts and nutrition and hope to give Cait some company on the run course!

Kicking the Habit

2009-04-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

I was a somewhat obsessed coffee drinker until I joined the QT2 team, now I am very obsessed green tea drinker and now that Lake Placid is around 12 weeks away I am going to make the ultimate sacrifice in the name of weight obsessed tri geekery, as of 4/27/09 I am going to be kicking chocolate. Given my coffee success I'm confident that I can do it however, we are moving into the prime of the Northeast's Ice Cream season and we live .5 miles away from the nation #2 in gross sales ColdStone franchise so this is going to be a test of will and fortidue ... wish me luck

Marathon Monday

2009-04-22T07:46:00.001-07:00

Unlike last year, this year's marathon Monday found my butt parked squarely in a cold wooden seat at Fenway Park rather than a cold corral waiting to run the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Fenway park. Thanks to the magic man Jim Sullivan we scored some seats to kill time before Mrs. Sullivan passed through Kenmore Square.

"What Pole?"

When the Magic Man and El Dianlo get together happy hour commences no matter what the clock or better judgement say, below is our wish you were here Kelly and Julie photo. Neither of them found any humor in it, however we clearly did.

Overall the day was great, Kelly PR'd, my buddy Willie rocked his first marathon and I was able to get home a tab bit late and with the necessary baggage (needed to by pampers, swaddlers size 10-14 lb's from BJ's), and my wife forgave me for being late.

God I love Monday's
-Andy "El Diablo" Salmon

First Week Back

2009-04-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

Last week was my planned rest/off week built into my QT2 program at 20 weeks. I must say that it was very odd to workout like a normal human, meaning just 2.5 hours for the week. This break also gave me some much needed face time with some people that have been feeling a bit left out of my life lately my wife and daughter. It was extremely fun to have a chance to do normal Saturday and Sunday activities, go to breakfast, read the paper and hit up church for Easter, without the stresses of fitting in multiple workouts getting in the way.

It's midway through the first week of full time training and my body feels like it's October 17th not April 17th, the legs are sore and my arms feel like I've been lifting barrels of mulch for eight hours a day (college job), the plan calls for a long steady 6 hour ride tomorrow with a 40 min run after and for a solid 3.5 hours of biking and running again on Sunday. However from this point forward Sunday's mornings are off limits for work outs as it's the only real family day left in the week. From now on I am going to take the time and "recover" Sunday mornings with some quality time with the family, because come race day they're going to need to be in tip top cheering condition to get me through IMLP '09, Sunday July 26th at 7:00AM.

-Andy

Also my college baseball teammate Willie Nelson will be running his first Marathon, Boston this Monday, and will be crashing at our house Sunday night. It's been great seeing him prepare for the event. Wish him well, #26049

Writer's Block

2009-04-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

I have been really wanting to update the blog over the past few weeks but to be honest I am having a bit of blog fatigue. The twitter thing has taken me into the instant blogging world which has created this odd need to keep the world abreast of my every self indulged action. This morning, noon and night obsession has required that my Mac and Blackberry to be on and around at all times and like any type A person it has invaded every aspect of my daily life. Which in the end has left me fatigued, and left me with a major case of writers block. Therefore I am going to be taking a much needed hiatus from all the blogging/twittering and get back to posting about my workouts and anything interesting that might come up in my daily life.

- Andy "Cauz I Don't Have Time" Salmon

The Anatomy of a 10 HR Training Weekend

2009-03-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what a 10 hour training weekend looks like for a new dad well here you go

Saturday

5:00 AM Wake and Feed the baby
5:30 AM Baby to bed in swing (mom goes back to bed KEY to making this work)
5:30 - 6:45 AM - Breakfast, clean the house VERY well, floors, counters, dishes
6:45 Feed the dog and get her back to bed
6:50 -7:30 AM chill and let the entire house sleep and make sure fresh pot of a decaf coffee is ready for Momma
8:00 - 10 or so people show up at your house for group ride,
8:30 Roll out for your 8 AM ride (thanks Cait Snow!)
2:30PM arrive back from ride LATE, order 4 pizza's and jet off for a 45 min run
3:30 PM eat pizza (Tim Snow might eat faster than that Kobiahsi kid)
5:30 PM - Guest's head out and I clean the house again
6:00 PM - Baby eats, and gets dressed to go to Nana's and Pupa's house for the night while we go shopping (toy's r us and BJ's nice little sat planned for our selves's
9:30 PM Get back from shopping and Nana's house, unpack
10:00 PM Feed baby
10:30 PM BED

Sunday
4 AM - Feed baby
4:30 AM - back to bed
8 AM - Up (my legs hurt)
8:30 AM - Breakfast and feed baby
10:00 AM - 60 min tempo run
11:30 AM - Get ready for house guest's to meet the baby
12-2 PM - Guest's here and Nana and Pupa come to baby sit
2:00 -4:30 PM - Attend a birthday party for a 3 yr old and 1 yr old with all your best friends (great time)
4:30 PM Get home, more house guests (oldest brother and Avery's godfather and his family)
7:00 PM Baby eats, guests leave and I clean some more
8:00 PM get on the bike for 1:14 recovery ride
9:15 PM off the bike and out for a recovery run
10:15 PM Home, baby due to eat but she would not wake up
11:00 PM Bed time

Total Training Hours 10
Total Feedings with Dad 4
Total Diapers with Dad 5
Total Bike Miles 120
Total Run Miles 19
Total times I thanked my wife -- too many to count!

Just What the Dr. Ordered

2009-03-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

Looking back at my most recent posts you can see the roller coaster that I've been riding at home, new baby (best thing ever) loosing my dog (hardest loss to date in my life) both of these situations I thought were going to have an adverse effect on my training and therefore my first real goal race of the season; the New Bedford Half Marathon. Thankfully my fears did not come true as I ran a 1:19:35 and set a new PR for myself.

The day began early at 4:45 with my daughters 5 AM feeding, and quickly moved into cleaning the house and getting ready for my 7:30 carpool with Jim and Kelly Sullivan. They are always on time and in my personal life I am always not however I managed to get my gear and self set to roll right on time. The arrival and check in process at the race went smoothly and we all moved into the corral after a 20 min warm up. The plan was to take it out easy and finish hard, Cait set a plan of running a 6:10 first mile then settling into 6:05's after, well we hit the first mile in 5:30 much faster than my plan however my HR was right where we had planned so I was not worried as I felt really relaxed and smooth on my feet. After the initial rollers in the first 3 miles my pace was right around 6:00 as I hit the 3 mile mark in 17:59, and felt really good. For those of you that have ran NB before you know that miles 4-8 are flat to down hill aka really fast. Knowing this (thanks Mario @ PR Running) I backed off the pace a bit to save my self for the last 3 miles which are windy and up hill. As we turned the corner on the waterfront at mile 9 the wind was not so bad however I did not want to risk anything so I tucked in behind a guy in front of me and together we worked our way through the wind (trading spots every 2 mins). With the windy section behind and my plan calling for a strong last 3 miles we hit the 10 mile marker and I let it go moving my pace into the 5:40's for a few min's until my right hamstring began to act up. Knowing that I needed to finish the race strong I backed off the gas a bit and ran the last 2 miles in 12:02 to finish a very respectable 147th overall in 1:19:35.

After the race Kelly, Jim and I headed back to my house so they could meet Avery, during the visit Jim introduced me to photo booth for my Mac. (see some pic's below) During their visit the best man at our wedding Brian and his wife came by to meet Avery and to have some Sushi (Brian's fist time eating the stuff!). Brian and Jim are two of the funneist guys I know and seeing Brian order sushi was a treat, then seeeing his face when we hit the take out line was priceless!

After a long few weeks and an even longer winter this weekend was just what the Dr. ordered for myself, good weather, good race, great friends and the making of a great 2009 summer and race season.

-Andy

Only the Good Die Young

2009-03-07T04:06:00.000-08:00

Lifted my title from my good friend Jim Sullivan's blog post when his dog went down simply because it's a phrase that sums up what I'm feeling perfectly. This one was of the hardest decisions of my life however it was the right one, Bailey was the best dog I ever had, his sole purpose in life was to be by my side at all times. Every time the door opened he would get excited to go running even if I was wearing my work clothes, every night he'd wiggle his way into our bed through a combination of puppy eyes, finesse and love. He was the kind of dog where personality came by the pound and love was unconditional for Julie, Taylor and I.

We have know that this day (Friday 3/6/09) was coming since last Thursday so for the past week we have been doing things for the "last time" with Bail, and his last run came Thursday where he and I went out on a new 10 mile loop, with no leash just he and I for 75 minutes of quality time Bailey style and later that night he had no problem working his way into my side of the bed for his last night. This new loop I am sure will become one of my favorites simply because it will remind me of the good times with him and how much joy he brought to our lives.

Bailey, Boo, Big Man, Hommie, Party Boy, Crazy Man, Lova Dog, you were the best a guy could ask for, rest in peace

Meet our New Daughter

2009-03-02T17:00:00.000-08:00

Avery Riel Salmon was born on Tuesday 2/24/09 8 lbs 11 oz's 20.5 inches long, Julie and I are head over heels in love with her.

Base Phase Complete

2009-02-15T10:54:00.001-08:00

Today officially marks the completion of the base portion of my training for Lake Placid 2009; and from what I can tell it has accomplished exactly what it set out to do which was get me back to my peak fitness levels of last year w/o any injury's and w/o taxing my body. It's been an interesting 12 weeks to say the least. TON's of long SLOW rides and runs combined with a strict diet have brought my body back within millimeters of where it ended the '08 season in Clearwater.

Yesterday I ran the Snowstorm Classic 10k (really 6.3 miles) and took fourth overall which was nice however the good news came when I stepped back and looked at the data from the race. My HR was 173 with a pace of 5:58 per mile which is an improvement on last years peak times of 5:58 and 177 HR, the kicker of it all is I have done ZERO speed work and ZERO runs sub 7:45 pace.

Next week begins the build phase which I am sure will have to be modified a bit due to the fact that Julie is going to give birth to the baby any second now, therefore my New Bedford 1/2 marathon time might be a bit off from where I'd like it to be, but hell I've got a great excuse...My Daughter!

-Andy

Thwwwaack

2009-02-13T07:28:00.001-08:00

Say what you like about lance and his comeback, but as a man and person he's doing amazing things for cancer. This link shows the diffrence between a guy who's fighting for a tangiable diffence in the world and a joker who's out to better his own personal world.

Chapo Lance

Watch Lance Armstrong Goes Off in Sports Online | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

37.5 Weeks

2009-02-01T06:04:00.000-08:00

Well it's official we have hit the portion of the pregnancy where the pilot comes over the loud speaker and informs us that we're making our final decent into Boston and to make sure that our seats are in the full and upright position and the tray tables are locked in front of us 37.5 weeks is here.

Julie I must say throughout this entire pregnancy has been a trooper to say the least, not once have I heard her complain about anything other than being tired. Her body and mind have been great despite the fact that she's been unable to do a whole hell of a lot for the past three weeks.

The baby's room is 99.9% completed, and our house looks more like a babies r us show room every day, with new things arriving and being built by what seems like the minute.

I have been logging ~15 hrs a week of training mostly outdoors for running, but 100% indoors on the bike thanks to the awful winter we've been blessed with here in New England. It's been tough but I am trying to take my ques from Julie and not complain about it, just push through, enjoy the process and look forward to the outcome.

So for now, we wait...for the arrival of our daughter and for changing of seasons in which she'll bring.

-No Complaints here

Baby Shower

2009-01-17T16:12:00.000-08:00

We are now just a few weeks away from our due date and needless to say we are really excited. Tommorw is our hospital tour, so in honor of that I think its approprite to upload a bit of video from Julies shower last Sunday....she looks great!

2009 Frist Half Race Schedual

2009-01-11T07:22:00.000-08:00

1-17-09 --- Snowstorm Classic 10k -- No Time due to wrong turn
2-15-09 --- Snowstorm Classic 10k -- 4th Overall
3-15-09 --- New Bedford Half Marathon
4-5-09 --- Beat The Ironman 1/2 Iron (Fitchburg St. College)
5-10-09 --- Sprint TBD
6-7-09 --- Mooseman Half Iron
7-5-09 --- Olympic TBD
7-26-09 --- Ironman Lake Placid

The Weather Out Side is Frightfull But....

2008-12-22T08:23:00.001-08:00

I'm one of the brave souls that left my warm house to run a 5k in 6 inches of snow!

2008 CMS 52-Week 5K Series Race #51 Worcester State College Worcester, MA 12/20/2008 Results Courtesy of Roxanne Robert and Central Mass Striders

OA Time Name AG Town Team
1 19:36 John Donovan -1mo- M20-39 Worcester Why Me
2 21:55* Andrew Salmon M20-39 Millbury Q2 Systems
3 25:17 Kate Sharry -1fmo F20-39 Paxton CMS
4 25:33 Amy Paquette F20-39 Worcester CMS/NMC
5 26:12 Linda Usher -1fs- F50-59 Upton CMS
6 29:54 Tabitha Lumpkins F20-39 Shrewsbury CMS
7 35:13 Bob Pacetti -1ms- M50-59 Fitchburg CMS/NMC
* Wrong turn lengthened course

New Position

2008-12-06T06:08:00.000-08:00

Above is the end shot
Below is the starting shot

After some thought about Clearwater and how my power numbers are just not jiving with my results I figured it was a good idea to go down and see Todd Kenyon at http://www.ttbikefit.com/ and have him look at my current position on the bike.

From the pic's above you see that my visit was well worth it; we made some great modifications that resulted in increased power and comfort levels along with a major reduction of frontal area exposed to the wind.

Todd is a great guy and I was also able to chat with his wife Lizbeth uber age grouper fresh off her dominate showing at IMAZ. So all in all it was a great experience and one that I would recommend for any triathlete outside the men's 30-34 age group!

Thanksgiving 2009

2008-11-28T10:34:00.000-08:00

Every year for the past 5 years I've run in the Whitinsville 5 Mile Turkey trot or as it's been dubbed as of late "The Run for the Gray Barn" (local bar)and every year I've used it to bench mark my fitness gains over the past 12 months; luckily I've shown steady improvement including this year. Where I went sub 30 mins for the first time over this course, with a time of 29:54 and I was able to put in a solid 3 mile split of 17:30 and final mile of 5:58 all while keeping my form and HR in check. All that being said the biggest victory of the day was keeping my beer count under 5 at the barn post race!.

Your going to think that I'm a broken record but 2008 was a great year both personally and athletically and I'm looking for more of the same in 2009.

Happy Thanksgiving

-Andy

IMLP '09 Begins today

2008-11-22T04:33:00.000-08:00

After two weeks off from training, today marks the first day of training for IMLP '09. I am meeting with Cait Snow my new coach and teamate at http://www.qt2systems.com for some baseline bike testing at FastSplits in Newton.

On the baby front Moma and Babe are doing well; the baby is 15in long and over 2 lbs right now, and I am not going to give Mom's stats! Babe's room is painted and waiting for the furniture to arrive in about three weeks and I am trying to figure out where my wallet is!

2009 is going to be a great year!

Surprise!

2008-11-17T04:33:00.000-08:00

In a week of "letting go" my wife did the ultimate thing anyone can do for their spouse; she threw me a surprise 30th birthday party. Complete with all my closest friends and family. It was an old school birthday party, too, lots of great stories, tons of booze and did not end until the early Sunday morning. In fact the best man at our wedding had so much fun he did not end up taking off until late Sunday afternoon! It felt like we were 20 again, sitting on the couch, nursing our wounds from the night before, watching football and not wanting the weekend to end. Good times

The coolest thing about the party was my wife pulled it off while 7 months pregnant, and all she wanted was for me to have a good time. She was up until 1 AM being the hostess, while I was hanging with the boys and our friend Jose!

It's times like this that make you realize how special it is to have people in your life that care about you, so to my wife and to all my fiends and family that attended. THANK YOU, it means the world to me that your in my life.

Cheers!

pic's will be up soon

Do you know the muffin man?

2008-11-14T17:37:00.000-08:00

One more day, until I am done my binge....dinner at the 111 Chop House tonight, great meal topped off with bread pudding...looking forward for this week to end.

My goal is too look like this guy by Sunday, my gotea is coming in shweet too.

Chow!

7 Day's of Gluttony

2008-11-12T19:51:00.001-08:00

It's been 4 days since I crossed the line in FL...3 day's left of eating like I'm never going to see food again...1 package of pop tarts, 7 cookies and some IPA's today....UMMMMMMM

Race Report (long)

2008-11-10T06:19:00.000-08:00

Clearwater 70.3 Worlds November 8, 2008

Pre Race

Whenever you have the opportunity to compete in anything against never mind the best in the world there is a sense of pride, energy and determination in preparation for the event that wells up inside you. The key to managing this unique mix is keeping things in perspective luckily for this event my wife is six months pregnant with our first child so whenever I felt myself getting a bit overwhelmed or over focused I need to look no further than her belly to bring me back to ground zero.

Arrived in Clearwater Thursday afternoon on a semi full flight with an open seat next to me, bags we the first off the plane and grabbed the first cab in the lot. Mission one accomplished arrive safe and sound. Checked into the hotel w/o any issues and got settled, mission two accomplished, find Sara, Charlie, George and Jill and head out to the pre race dinner in style thanks to Charlie and his rented Benz E500 mission three accomplished ride in style!

So far all things are pointing in the right direction, Friday (my 30th birthday) brings nothing more than continued good vibes and was capped by dinner with George and our great friends Kyle and Karyn Bersch who live in Tampa. Get to bed by 8:30 feeling great. Next stop 70.3 Worlds

Race Day

Arrive at the race for 5:45 via IronSherpa extraordinaire George Herrick go through the regular pre-race rituals minus the NBC cameras and top pros one rack away. Toss on my wet suit watch the pro start and hop in the water for my warm up. All systems going according to plan, from the water I moved into the staging area for my 7:15 call time. Then it hit’s me I RACING in a WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP! Luckily I did not have time to get too worked up b/c before I knew it the cannon went off and we were in the water. Right away I got bumped off the main packs feet which left me in no mans land for the rest of a day, where I proceeded to zig zag my way against the current and waves. Hit the beach a little slower than I was looking to swim however it’s a long day and with all the run training that I had put in there was very little panic in my mind over a mere few minutes.

Skim through transition and onto the bike, legs was feeling good so I was able to ease into a rhythm that would allow me to ride negative splits. About 20 miles in I begin to pass and be passed by some other age groups. And all of a sudden I feel a sharp pain in my back; some Swiss dude PUNCHED ME IN THE BACK because he thought I was drafting, due to the fact that my German is not the best and his English was poor I gave him the universal sign of peace the middle finger and an F U and went on my way, the situation was I was passing the three ladies to my right and was being passed by two guys who were drafting the left. So from his vantage point I could see where he could think that I was sitting on a wheel but the reality was I was passing and being passed. Once they passed he saw the errors of his ways and came up next to me to said, Im’ve Sorrvery and gave me his hand, he got the sign of peace again and I dropped him.

Off the bike feeling ready to run, first mile was sub 6 mins and then the wheels almost came off the run train, my quads were in full shut down mode, cramping with every step. At the next aide station I was able to take on some water, coke, sponges, Gatorade, and whatever else I could get my hands on and after about 3 miles I was able to settle into a pace that I could sustain at about 6:40 pace, 20 or so seconds slower than what I was looking to run. With this pace I figure that a 4:26 or 4:29 would be my finishing time. At mile 10 I was fading a bit and my sub 4:30 was in danger, at mile 12 I needed to run a 6:30 mile to get in under 4:30 one small issue is that I had 1.1 miles left, there was no way that I was going to allow myself to not get under the 4:30 mark. I ended up digging deep and running a 6:10 mile hitting the finish with a 4:29:56!

Post Race

After a proper 30th birthday party, shopping and watching the Pat’s win with Kyle, Karyn and their crew, I am back on the plane heading home to my family. Looking forward to the next three months and the opportunity to meet my daughter and begin to plan on how Julie and I are going to get the stroller in the family meeting area at Iroman Lake Placid 2009 so we can cross together team SALMON!

Thank You’s
Jeff Godin at Blackstone Valley Human Performance for all the support and guidance over the year, it’s been long however we have set new PR’s at every race! Cyclonaut Mulitsport the nations best team, the great people at Newton Running for the cool sneaks and swag, Kenny at Trek Stop for the all bike support, you’re the MAN! And finally to my wife Julie for putting up with me and all my crazy tri-geek stuff and obsessive compulsive behavior; your one in a million I am the luckiest guy in the world.

Cheer’s mates see ya in 2009!

Clearwater Pic's

2008-11-10T06:03:00.001-08:00

Going Crazy

2008-11-05T11:26:00.000-08:00

Tapering has the same sign's and symptoms of withdrawal from CRACK!

Thank god I leave for Clearwater tomorrow, looking to let some of this pent up energy out.

Next post will be from FL!

2008 Overview

2008-11-01T14:26:00.001-07:00

It's been a long fun season looking forward to capping it off with a good showing in Clearwater this weekend.

Tampa Marathon --- 3:03:44
Hyannis Half Marathon (for fun under an assumed name!)
Boston Marathon --- 2:56:52
Sturbridge Road Race Cat 4
Palmer Road Race Cat 4
Eagleman 70.3 --- 4:48:24 -- 5th in AG/Slot to IM 70.3 Worlds
Longsjo Classic Cat 4 Men
Providence 70.3 --- 4:46:33 -- 8th in AG
TVF Trail Run --- Overall Winner
Lowell WildCat Sprint -- 4th in AG
Dennis 5k --- 4th overal

September -- Relxin

Moose On The Run --- Overall Winner
70.3 Worlds --- TBA

Taper is here and new toys are ready to roll

2008-10-28T05:44:00.000-07:00

10 day's out from Clearwater and the P3C is ready to roll

Jumped the Gun....Won't happen Again

2008-10-17T04:37:00.000-07:00

Red Sox pull off a magical comeback victory
By Jerry Crasnick
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: October 16, 2008
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BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox have pulled off this type of baseball miracle before, thanks to Dave Roberts' legs and Bill Mueller's bat and David Ortiz's power and heart. They've done it against the likes of Mariano Rivera and CC Sabathia. So when they found themselves trailing 7-0 in the seventh inning against Tampa Bay with the season about to expire, they had a wellspring of positive experiences to tap into.

As catcher Jason Varitek so aptly put it, "You can't take away belief."

So here are a few things to believe after Boston pulled off the second biggest postseason comeback in major league history:

You finish off defending champions when you have a foot on their throat, because hope leads to momentum, and momentum becomes contagious in the dugout, and who knows what can happen when a team starts grinding out a few marathon at-bats?

When some Boston diehards joked that the Red Sox had the Rays right where they wanted them trailing 3-1 in the American League Championship Series, it might not have just been idle talk borne out of desperation.

Contrary to all logic, the ALCS will resume with a Game 6 Saturday night at Tropicana Field, when Tampa Bay's James Shields takes on Boston's Josh Beckett. If Game 5 is any indication, they might want to keep the defibrillators handy.

It was slightly past midnight when J.D. Drew singled over right fielder Gabe Gross' head to score Kevin Youkilis, giving Boston an 8-7 victory and setting off the biggest celebration imaginable without champagne corks popping or Jonathan Papelbon dancing in his underwear. The Red Sox, who had looked flat, outmanned and almost bereft of energy, had just chopped their way out of the coffin, Uma Thurman-style.

In the clubhouse after the game, some players sounded eerily like Jack Buck in the aftermath of that Kirk Gibson home run: They couldn't believe what they just saw.

[+] EnlargeStew Milne/US Presswire

J.D. Drew's two-run homer in the eighth and run-scoring single in the ninth gave the Red Sox an improbable victory in Game 5.
"I don't think we can grasp the magnitude of what just happened yet," said left fielder Jason Bay. "I don't want to say [the Rays] had already written our ticket home. But it was definitely one of the more viable options."

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only larger comeback in baseball history came in Game 4 of the 1929 World Series, when the Philadelphia Athletics beat the Chicago Cubs 10-8 after trailing 8-0. Jimmy Dykes was the hitting star in that game, and Lefty Grove nailed it down for the A's with two innings of shutout relief.

No offense to Grant Balfour, Dan Wheeler and J.P. Howell, but they're no Lefty Grove.

For six innings and well over two hours, the Red Sox's performance was an invitation for a scathing postmortem. Boston's leadoff hitters went hitless in their first 21 at bats in this series, Ortiz looked lost at the plate, and the offense seemed far too dependent on Dustin Pedroia, Youkilis and Bay.

When Daisuke Matsuzaka departed in the fifth inning, the Red Sox trailed 5-0, and Boston's starting pitchers had an aggregate 8.37 ERA for the series. When Tampa Bay increased its lead to 7-0 on a B.J. Upton double, TBS reporter Craig Sager was cool with tracking down former Tampa Bay general manager (and current Philadelphia scout) Chuck LaMar in the stands for a preview of the upcoming Phillies-Rays World Series.

Not so fast. It all turned around thanks to some questionable bullpen strategy by Rays manager Joe Maddon and a timely revival by Big Papi.

It's no secret that Ortiz has been feeling some heat of late. He made some comments earlier in the series to suggest that he wasn't entirely to blame for Boston's problems against Tampa Bay, and some people might have perceived that as an indirect form of buck-passing. But apparently not the people whose opinions he values most.

"It's not an easy job to be the guy that everybody leans on, especially in times like this," said Boston hitting coach Dave Magadan. "But he's come through so many times in his career, it's only natural for us to look to him to get us going. He's man enough to take it, and he's not going to point any fingers."

ALCS: Red Sox vs. Rays
Complete coverage of the Red Sox-Rays matchup.
• Series page
• Scouting: Red Sox | Rays As Boston manager Terry Francona likes to point out, Ortiz is always one swing away from being a major factor in a game. On this night, that single swing came in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Boston had a run home and two men on base when Ortiz stepped to the plate with a chance to make it a game. Rather than summon Trever Miller or Howell, lefties who had combined to hold Ortiz to two singles in 20 career at-bats, Maddon stuck with Balfour, his designated strikeout guy. But Balfour, ineffective in Game 2, was even worse Thursday night.

Ortiz, who had been lunging at everything and consistently popping up hittable pitches, drove a 97 mph Balfour fastball into the right-field stands to pull Boston within 7-4, and a dormant Fenway Park crowd began stirring in a big way. The home run broke a streak of 15 postseason games and 61 October at-bats without a long ball for Ortiz.

"We started with a whole 'one pitch at a time' mindset. Just win that pitch," said Coco Crisp. "Then things started to get going for us. And the feeling that 'we can do this' came along with it."

After Drew hit a two-run shot off Wheeler to pull Boston within 7-6 in the eighth, Crisp made a huge contribution to the comeback. With Mark Kotsay on second base, Crisp fought through a 10-pitch at-bat against Wheeler that brought to mind Paul O'Neill's classic confrontation with Armando Benitez in the 2000 World Series.

Crisp fouled off fastball after high fastball before turning on some hard stuff on the inner half of the plate and singling home Kotsay to tie it. Francona, in hindsight, called it the best at-bat that Crisp has had in three seasons with the Red Sox. It was hard to argue given the situation and the stakes.

"Coco's worked hard on changing his swing path a little bit -- staying inside the ball from both sides of the plate -- and giving himself a chance on that high fastball," said Magadan. "He doesn't feel like he's got to cheat on everything now. It was a thing of beauty."

Almost as pretty as Drew's game-winner. The old perception of Drew -- that he's too lacking in passion to fit into the fabric of baseball-mad Boston -- is looking more detached from reality with every big hit he produces.

[+] EnlargeStew Milne/US Presswire

David Ortiz's three-run homer in the seventh got the Red Sox going and put Fenway Park into a frenzy.
And for what it's worth, Ortiz is certainly feeling a lot better about himself today. After the game, he was ready to tell anyone who would listen that "Big Papi" isn't going anywhere.

"Look at my size, man. It don't matter if I hit or not -- I'm gonna be the same guy," Ortiz said. "The problem with this game is, sometimes people kind of forget about things. I'm part of the soul of this ballclub. It don't matter what people say. I'm gonna keep on trying."

It remains to be seen if the Red Sox can turn one memorable night into something more enduring, or crank up the heat on the Rays enough to make them crack at Tropicana Field this weekend. But Francona, who's seen enough of these celebrations not to get carried away, didn't hesitate to call the evening "magical."

"I've never seen a group so happy to get on a plane at 1:30 in the morning in my life," Francona said.

At least, we think it was a plane. Based on the way this one ended, the Red Sox might have chartered a magic carpet back to Tampa.

Jerry Crasnick covers baseball for ESPN.com. His book "License To Deal" was published by Rodale. Click here to order a copy. Jerry can be reached via e-mail.

Related Topics: Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays

Sox's ..... what the F!

2008-10-16T18:09:00.000-07:00

* Above photo was taken after Game 6 of the NBA finals best seats I have ever had for a Celts game

I know as Boston/New England fans the past 8 or so years have been very easy but it's now 9:10PM during game 5 of the ALCS and the Sox's are down 5 runs and look real flat....has Johnny Pesky left the building?

Five years ago I never thought I be saying this but, how many days until the Celt's open the season and get their rings?

A great Weekend

2008-10-15T12:46:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a what I would call a great weekend because it fulfilled my life's two pleasures family and training. My brother DJ invited my entire family (parents, siblings, spouses and kids) to his vacation home in Greenville ME for the long weekend (there were 16 of us!).

Greeville is located about 5 hours north of Worcester so the wife and I jammed all our stuff into the Yukon and hit the road after a 3000 meter swim with Mike Roberts (going to rip IMFL by the way) and made it in time for dinner and a few pops with gang.

Saturday we all went on a boat tour of the lake which provided amazing views and a time to catch up with all the nieces and nephews. After the trip my brother Matt and I were able to get in a 13 mile fun run which ended up being a little more upbeat pace wise than planned for a 7:25 pace. I think we saw about 3 cars in 90 mins it was great.

Sunday I hit the road early for a 3 hour ride with the grand plan of making a brick by running with my bother and nephew (budding xc star) in the Moose on the Run 5k. It was COlD COLD COLD on the bike however I was able to get the 3 hours in and run in the race. The Salmon's had a strong showing I took the overall, Matt took 4th and Patrick took 5th. Not to mention the fact that the next generation cleaned up in the kids 1k fun run!

The vacation was just what I needed; as it showed me the balance is key in life and we can get it all in if we just take the time to figure out what is important and plan wisely.

70.3 worlds are a few weeks away still and all systems are in check, wish me well.

-Andy

Time's Flying

2008-10-05T08:37:00.000-07:00

Wow time flys when your having fun! My life since the end of August has been extremely fun and busy leaving little time for anything other than family work and training. On the family side Julie and I found out that we are having a baby girl on Feb 24th 2009; needless to say we are overjoyed and my life is going to change since I will be out numbered 3 to 2 in the house (we have a male and female dog). Currently we are working on her name and her room. Being a Dad is going to be the coolest experience and so far the waiting has been the hardest part. I just want her to arrive so we can get to know her!

One the work side our company is going by leaps and bounds and with that growth comes more and more to do; which is great however it's forcing me to manage my time better so i find myself taking more work home than ever just to not fall behind. All that being said i have not complaints.

I am now just about 5 weeks out from IM 70.3 worlds in clearwater and all things seem to be on track despite a scare on the injury front. Where i thought i pulled my right goring which forced me to miss my favorite ride of the year; Jim Sullivan's Biketoberfest :(. My run and swim are hitting new levels while my bike is coming back after a few weeks of down volume.

Time is flying and chores are calling; today's agenda calls for basement clean out duty as we are prepping the space to be built out in November by one of my best friends John Salem and his guys at Salem Carpentry. Not sure how much we will get to see of Johnny as he and his wife welcomed their first child Callie into the world last Saturday 4 weeks early and 100% healthy!

Feels like yesterday that John and I were playing baseball at SJ with not a care in the world....nice to think back, but I would not trade those days for these days!

Time flys but progress sure is nice!

Be Good
-Andy

Last Day of Week 1

2008-08-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

K&K are packing up and getting ready to head back down to Tampa tomorrow. Their departure marks the end of our first week of vacation and irronically the end of some pretty bad beach weather. The nice thing about having guests in from out of town is it forces us to do things that we would "normally" not do.

Over the past week we took a whirlwind tour of MA and RI hitting all teh good spots, Newport, Haynnis, P-Town, Nantucket and hit the open seas on my dads boat for some tuna fishing. They forced me to get out of my one track training mind and got me to eat and drink like I was on vacation. Luckily I was able to get in 30 miles or so running to counter balance their influnce.

So we have one day left, with a annivasry dinner and beach bon fire then it's time to enjoy week two of our vactaion with Julie (getting more pregante every day), the dogs and my parents.

I am racing in the Elite mens feild at the Haynnis Sprint II this comming Sat and then swimming for a realy team at FrimMan next sunday.

Caio for now

My Summer Vacation "Plan B"

2008-08-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

This video just about sums up my summer vacation so far with K&K...newport RI = Beer .... Hyannis MA = Beer .... Provencetown = Beer and "plan B" (long story but just thank god that you were not in the Worcester school system in the last 40 years) ... pics to come ....

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Ooooopha

2008-08-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Vacation

2008-08-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

Two weeks off from work; heading to the cape wiht our great frineds from FL Kyle and Karyn .... posts and pics to follow ... it's going to be a big 2 weeks!

Updated

2008-08-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

My posts have been few and far between lately; I have been really busy so here is the past 3 weeks in a nut shell.

1) Placid was a blast, rainy but a blast, big congrats to Dr. Neil for getting the coveted Kona slot and to Mike R and Jimmy K for kicking the s**t out of that course; and to all the countless others that left their mark that day

2) I am in for next year along with Matt "I'll never do an IM" Myette; should be great having him to train with next year

3) Raced and won the TVF July trail run; my first win in a running race since 6th grade field day!

4) Bye bye Manny!

5) Lowell sprint ---- avg HR 174 for 54 mins --- ouch 12 overall 4th in AG

Tell Um Andy sent ya!

2008-07-09T16:30:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to thank the good people at Newton for adding me to their elite athlete program. Since switching to their shoes I have PR's in two marathons and scored a spot to the 70.3 worlds!

Check UM out at http://www.newtonrunning.com/

Tell um Andy sent ya!

Stage IV .... Crit .... OMG!!!!!

2008-07-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

Holy crap that was hard....being a tri guy sitting in does not really do anything for me so on the 3rd lap I decide to take a flyer and see what could come of it. Well the only thing that came of it was me getting my name over the loud speaker, my heart rate over 188 bpm and damn near getting popped off the back. I literally spent 90 seconds or so alone off the front then spent the next 15 laps holding on for dear life hoping to not get dropped....it may have been the hardest thing I have ever done on two wheels.

Thanks to the hot pace and a crash the GC moved a bit, I ended of 34th on GC, which is about where I thought I would be.

Prov 70.3 next weekend then, up to Placid to watch and sign up for '09 then back home for a nice relaxing Aug in prep for heavy training for 70.3 worlds in November.

This has been a great season so far.

Stage III Circut Race

2008-07-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

Not much to report here...just a hard race from the gun, tried to create a break on the first lap, however two guys did not want to work so we got swallowed up on the first climb. Ended up with a main pack finish, and no changes on GC .... Three down, one to go

Stage II "the mtn"

2008-07-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

The plan for the day was to get to the base of the mtn with the main pack and hope for the best...Well my best was just fighting off sever cramping secondary to piss poor hydration during the race. Gave away about 90 sec's and 14 places on GC ..... two days down two to go

Longsjo Stage 1

2008-07-03T17:31:00.001-07:00

First off let me state for the record that I am a triathlete, however I really do enjoy running and bike races of varying distances....so with that being said this past March I tossed my hat into the Cat 4 Longsjo Classic field as a way to get some solid bike training. (the bike is where I need to improve the most in tri's)

Today's goal was to A) not embarrass myself and B) stay near the top end (15-35) of the field. After a solid warm up and a few course tips from Gary Sacon who had drawn a start time 60 mins before mine. I was on course, feeling good...caught my 30 second man 2+ mins into the race, and set my sights on the 1 min guy about .5K or so ahead of me. After about 12 or so mins of gaining time (up hill) and loosing time (down hill) I reel him in at the 2.5 K mark and bust my asssssss to get to the finish, with my heart jumping out of my chest with a time of 19:53 .... not going to crack the top 10 but certainly good enough to accomplish both my goals.

Tommorw is the "Mountain Stage" where the real race will be decided so my plan will be to sit in the main feild and get to the base of the MTN and lay it all out and hope for the best. If my best is not good enough for top 15 or 20 on GC then it's off to the 4th of July block party with a Cat 1 licence to PARTY!!!!!

Wish me luck!

Eagleman Race Report

2008-06-15T17:34:00.000-07:00

The old song goes "some like it hot when the heat is on" ... well I'm not one of those guys. When the mercury goes up typically my preformnace goes south. Needless to say I was not happy to see the forecast for race day. 96 degrees, 90 % humidity and a heat index of 106. OOOOf this is going to hurt.

Race Report

- Plunge into the water (78 degrees) for the out and back swim, with the goal of staying with the main pack, and get out of the water in about 32-33 mins...well that did not happen, made it to the 1st turn with them then promptly got dropped like an anchor...exit the swim 36 mins....errrrr

- Hit the pancake flat bike and feel pretty good and start picking off all the guys that spanked me in the water. 25 miles I was rolling at an avg speed of 23 mph and feeling great, then this pack of cyclists come flying by me, in full team time trial mode and sure enough three guys that I caught and passed in my AG are amongst the TT'ers, for the next 30 miles I do my best to shake the um, by putting in hard efforts and gaping them by 1/4-1/2 mile and getting reeled in, but in the end they all got by me and went into T2 about 30 - 60 seconds ahead of me....errrrrrrrr x 2

- Get out on the run confident that I'd be able to put in a good showing given all the running that I have been doing over the past 8 months. One mile in it's clear that the heat will have a major impact on my goal pace and heart rate...158 bpm should be about 6:20's and today is 7'20's, the good news is I pass all the TT'er's by mile 4...get out to the turn on the out and back and see that Pat Dwyer (M35-39) a great runner and is about 2 mins behind me so my goal becomes to hold him off. This should keep my pace solid and keep me in the game for a solid AG finish, it also gave me the umph to keep on keeping on. Pat runs me down at mile 11 and I try and raise the pace to keep up, well it also jacks my HR which throws my body into ALERT mode, and almost forces me to walk. I struggle through the next two miles and limp into the finisher shoot, by luck i turn around so see who's behind me and i see that one of the TT'ers is running me down. My legs say let um go but my heart says No Way you worked to hard to let a TT'er beat you. Lift the pace for the last .1 miles and hold him, by 1 second!

Overall time of 4:48...

-Post race
Typically 4:48 is not going to get a wiff of the top 10 at Eagleman, so I pack my things and wait for, Sara, Mary and Jill to finish and get the hell out of dodge. Much to my surprise I check the results in passing and I am 5th! Which puts me square in the money for a Kona or Clearwater slot. The Kona slot goes right away to the top guy, but I walked away with a slot to Clearwater the 70.3 Worlds in November.

Top 5 and a slot to Clearwater...good stuff!

Friday the Quick Version

2008-06-07T03:45:00.000-07:00

Rolled out from home at 9:30 AM and made great time down to MD arriving at 4:45 PMand checked into the Econolodge; took my shirt off and laid it on the bed and saw this little brown spec on it and upon further review I found that it was a Flea!!!! Needless to say I out ASAP and 15 mins later i was checked into a very nice Inn down the road. Out for a short run and off to dinner with Mary and Jill; three beers later I was in bed by 10pm. Big day Saturday, sign in, bike check, ride, swim, pre-race meeting.... Did I mention that it's HOT down here? Well it is ... Heat index of 105 for sat and Sunday.....this race is going to hurt.

Side Note

2008-06-06T05:14:00.000-07:00

Did anyone notice that my boy Dickkie was reffing the Celts game last night.....he's by far the coolest 70 yr old ref in the league

Road Trip

2008-06-06T05:08:00.000-07:00

Car is packed, legs are ready and I am on my way to this years "A" race Eagleman in Cambridge MD, and my dogs are bummed cauz they're not going to get their long run in this weekend .... I will try and get some pic's and posts up Saturday.

Forgive me Lord for it's been....

2008-06-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

Twelve days since my last post, so here is what i have been up to.

Thursday May 22nd ---- Celts vs Pistons Game #2 --- great game but the men in green lost. However it was great to see that the new garden can have that old "we going to piss on you" garden feel... Dick likes it

Friday May 23th -- AM OUCH My head hurts

Sat May 24th --- Julies Birthday!!!!!! ... Julie is not a big b-day fan but we got her party shoes all dusted off and hopped a limo with some friends new and old to good old Providence RI for the night....She had a blast

Sunday May 25th ---- AM OUCH/PM OUCH My head hurts

Saturday May 30th --- Brian's 30th b-day party..good times, the house looked great man and it was a blast getting caught up with all the college crowd...it seems like Julie and I are the only ones w/0 kids .... HUMMMM?

Sunday June 1st --- Austin/Kayzie's b-day party --- Let the record state It's F*ing cool to be 2 and 4 ... man being four and at a birthday is like being 21 in Vegas, w/o all the hassles...show up, party your ass off then get plopped in the back of an SUV and take a nap on the way home.

Oh and I worked out a ton too ...rode 400 miles ran about 30 and swam, well lets just say I am happy that Egaleman only 1.2 miles .

To borrow a line from Jim Sullivan....Good Stuff

Wednesday Worlds

2008-05-22T08:19:00.000-07:00

"Wednesday Worlds" were the last words uttered out of the trek stop parking lot on last nights ride. To be honest they were uttered as a joke b/c you've got all of us there in our road cycling glory carbon this, carbon that, SRAM Red this, Dura Ace that , SRAM Force over there, Ultegara over here, tubulers, clinchers, powertaps, heart rate monitors; you name this group had it. We also had the competitive juices flowing too, every town line was contested, every climb was Le Alpe De Whatever and after each one there was a regrouping and complete re-cap of how each line or KOM was one or lost, all in all it was a great ride...40 miles, 2hrs 10 mins; one town line (thanks Kenny) and three beers with the group after at UNO's .... See you all there next week

Why Cycling is Great

2008-05-18T05:11:00.001-07:00

Rode 80 miles round trip up to the Mtn yesterday with Gary and on the way back it hit me why being on a bike is so great. Name me a (human powered) sport that allows you to start 6:30 AM in the pouring rain with every piece of warm weather clothing you own. And move through 6 or 8 towns, up a state park see snow piles (May 17th) and end at 11AM with just shorts and a short sleeve shirt on.....Yesterday was one of those days when you realize a bad day on the bike is better than a good day doing just about anything else...

Can Two Legs Beat None?

2008-05-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius won his appeal Friday and can compete for a place in the Beijing Olympics.The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the 21-year-old South African is eligible to race against able-bodied athletes, overturning a ban imposed by the International Association of Athletics Federations.CAS said the unanimous ruling goes into effect immediately.Pistorius still must reach a qualifying time to run in the individual 400 meters at the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Games. However, he can be picked for the South African relay squad without qualifying.Pistorius appealed to CAS, world sport's highest tribunal, to overturn a Jan. 14 ruling by the IAAF that banned him from competing. The IAAF said his carbon fiber blades give him a mechanical advantage.A two-day hearing was held before a panel of three arbitrators at CAS headquarters last month.Pistorius holds the 400-meter Paralympic world record of 46.56 seconds, but that time is outside the Olympic qualifying standard of 45.55. His training has been disrupted by the appeal process.Even if Pistorius fails to get the qualifying time, South African selectors could add the University of Pretoria student to the Olympic 1,600-meter relay squad.Pistorius would not require a qualifying time and could be taken to Beijing as an alternate. Six runners can be picked for the relay squad. Pistorius also expects to compete in Beijing at the Sept. 6-17 Paralympic Games.The verdict also clears Pistorius to dedicate himself to competing at the 2012 London Olympics.The IAAF based its January decision on studies by German professor Gert-Peter Brueggemann, who said the J-shaped "Cheetah" blades were energy efficient.Pistorius' lawyers countered with independent tests conducted by a team led by MIT professor Hugh M. Herr that claimed to show he doesn't gain any advantage over able-bodied runners. CAS said the IAAF failed to prove that Pistorius' running blades give him an advantage."The panel was not persuaded that there was sufficient evidence of any metabolic advantage in favor of a double-amputee using the Cheetah Flex-Foot," CAS said. "Furthermore, the CAS panel has considered that the IAAF did not prove that the biomechanical effects of using this particular prosthetic device gives Oscar Pistorius an advantage over other athletes not using the device."Pistorius was born without fibulas -- the long, thin outer bone between the knee and ankle -- and was 11 months old when his legs were amputated below the knee.

Spell Check

2008-05-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

I will get the hang of this soon enough....

Sufferfest 2008

2008-05-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

Well Saturday was dubbed Sufferfest 2008 #1 by Mike Roberts, his plan was to ride 56 miles, run 4, ride 26, run 4 and ride 26 more...FUN!

One glitch was I had preregistered for the Sterling Road Race that morning, so Gary and created our own sufferfest, race the 4's in the AM and ride over to meet the sufferfest group after even better !

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Round 1: FIGHT
Sterling is one of my favorite race's, its got a steady climb in the middle of the loop and an up hill finish and always has guys in good form which in the 4's typically means less crashes. My plan was to stay with the main field and finish with the leaders up the hill. The pace was decent the entire race and I sat in looking for a top 10-15 finish got my self into a good position on the out side of the pack on the last little riser going into the finishing climb. We took the right hand turn up to the finish and i jumped to go and two guy touch wheels in and went down in front of me thus ending any hopes of a decent placing. So just spun up the hill, finished with the main pack and got my mind ready for the fun that was to ensue. All in 40 miles at 23+mph

Round 2: Fight
After the race Gary and I spun back to rt 140 with the plan of meeting up with the sufferfest crew some where between 62 and Mt. Wachusette on 140. We did however they were flying down hill and we were on the side of the road re-fuling...they zing by and we spent the next 30 mins TT'ing back to them (Mike and Jim) shoot back up 62 quick transition and off to the run, I tought my hamstrings were going to pack up and call it a day...thank god they did not...got back to the bike after 4 EZ Mike Roberts miles (not so much), and did one more lap at a reasonalbe pace. Sufferfest over...
105 Miles Riding
4 Miles Running
6 Hrs total

Round 3: Drink!
We all (Dawn R, Mike R, Jim S, Matt M, Rob "I dont want a salad" L, and Gary)headed off to O'Conors pub after for a few beers and a burger

-Can't wait for sufferfest round #2!