Multisport Reports & Other Random Thoughts

PolarBear Triathlon

2008-05-05T09:42:00.002-04:00

My race went ok but overall I felt pretty crappy though.
I didn't like the fact that I had to wait till 11am before I started.
I had some ensure at 6am and then a bottle of heed/carbo pro that I sipped on for the rest of the morning.
I didn't get to do a warm up for the swim, don't know how much that would have mattered, I did spin for a bit on the bike and then did a few laps on the track in the field house.

The pool swim I thought went pretty well. I didn't go out to hard at first and tried to keep a steady hard pace. The first 100 I did in 1:25 and the second I did in 1:30. The rest of the 525 I kept a pace a little over 1:30 and hit the wall at 8:25. I then tried to push myself out of the pool, slipped, fell hard on my knee on the lip and now I have a major egg on the side of my knee the size of a golf ball. It is very painful. I didn't feel it during the race but afterwards I could barely walk. The second attempt I pretty much just rolled out onto my stomach and flopped around for a bit. I looked like a beached whale. It took me a long time to get to the first T1 after seeing my total swim time.

T1 went well. I but on my shoes, helmet, glasses and was off. I didn't put on the arm warmers. They were all ready soaked. When I got to the red line in the road I mounted my bike and then they said I had to go to the yellow line. WTF. So I got back off ran to the yellow line, which was 10' further and then got on the bike.
On the bike I felt horrible. I just couldn't get my watts up. I was cold and my legs felt like big loads of crap. I could only hold FTP for a few minutes and then my watts would drop off. I tried all the time to keep them up but just had a hard time. I was mostly able to just hold 85% or so. The roads were still wet which made cornering hard. I passed the only other guy out on course from my wave and then started to catch people from the previous waves. After 20min or so I felt a bit better but by now the ride was almost done. As I turned onto the last road I began to take my feet out of my shoes. I practiced this once during the week but haven't really got comfortable doing it yet. I was able to get them out but had to slow down a lot. I was afraid of stubbing my feet when I dismounted so I almost came to a stop. I need to work on this a bit.

I ran to T2, took my helmet and glasses off, put on my shoes and grabbed my race number. I was very cold at this point, couldn't feel my feet or hands but was happy to be running and warming back up. I ran hard but after a few minutes, about the time I hit Main St. I got a major stitch in my right side. It hurt bad. It was so bad I was holding my breath just be able to move and continue running. I tried to relax but nothing worked. I slow down a bit and once I hit the first aid station it was better but not gone. I was able to pick up the pace again and didn't have to hold my breath just to move. The woods section was ok. I was watching out for roots and stuff which I think slowed me down plus when I hit the second lap I got the major pain back in my right side. I just tried to forget about it and run. Once I hit the grass again I really pushed hard and when I could see the finish line I sprinted to the line. Once crossed I was so dizzy, couldn't walk straight, and couldn't breath. I was also very cold. Jeff and Alan were there waiting and pretty much held me up so I would fall over.

I then went inside, to get warm and food. I was starving. Even after getting clothes on I was still cold and started to turn purple again. I did not want to repeat Lobsterman again. I could barely walk at this point because my leg hurt so bad. I didn't know what I did but figured it was from the slip at the pool. Everyone who saw me was worried because I was so cold but I never got the uncontrollable shivers like at Lobsterman so I figured I'd be ok. I ended up 3rd in my age group and 14th overall. I would have liked to have broken 1hr but for being my first triathlon that I have ever did I guess I can't complain that much. I loved racing and the venue is great. I just didn't like having to wait so long to start. I defiantly want to do it again.

Sunday I slept in, skipped the Freeport TT, I just didn't want to get cold again and get hypothermia. I was pretty lame all day and my knee killed. I applied lots of ice but it just kept swelling. I've got a nice bump on the side of it which is pretty tender. I also have a bunch of other bruises on my legs. I guess I really did fall hard trying to get out of the pool. I'm sure I looked pretty funny rolling around the pool deck. I wonder if there is a picture of that somewhere out there.

Result

Swim = 8:58.7 (51 out of 182)
Bike, T1, & T2 = 30:50.4 (6 out of 182)
Run = 20:46.5 (23 out of 182)
Overall = 1:00:35.70 (12 male out of 182 and 14 overall out of 463 total)
3rd in age group
Full Results
http://live-timing.com/report.php?r=8892&rp=7320

My True Love

2008-04-08T10:23:00.001-04:00

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Week of 03/10/2008

2008-04-03T16:24:00.004-04:00

My training summery for the week of 03/10/2008 was:

Planned Time = 12:00 hrs
Actual Time = 12:11 hrs
Calories Burned = 9,163 kj
Swim = 8,850 yd = 5.03 miles
Bike = 111.21 mi
Run = 25.03 mi

The Good

Didn't have to many good workouts this week. Saturday's and Sunday's went pretty well but other than that the rest of them sucked.

I also went to Palm Sunday service and it was really neat. We started off in the chapel and got our palms blessed by the bishop. Then we proceeded to the sanctuary to continue with the mass. After service Megan and I went back to her house to celebrate her Mom's birthday. We had a wonderful meal prepared by Megan and I made my family secrete chocolate sauce to be laid over frozen yogurt and topped with strawberries. It was really cool to be able to celebrate this day with Megan's family and I had a lot of fun. I also got to cut off most of her brothers hair. He had hair so long it almost touched his chin on all sides. I brought out the clippers and cut it down to 1". Now that was fun. Kind of made a mess of though. I got hair everywhere. See below for some of the photo's from the day.

Megan, Beth (Birthday Girl) , and Rick at the Birthday party

Now that is my kind of Birthday cake

Went to the beach for a walk with my honey, Megan.

Eric before the haircut Megan and I gave him

After!!

The Bad

The beginning of this week was also very stressful at work. We had a project going out to bid and I had to put in a few long days. It did finally go out and it felt good to get that off my desk but guess what there are some major design changes happening and they aren't good. I hate going out to bid early especially before we get all of the approvals from the town.

Sunday's XC-Ski race up Mt. Washington really took it's toll on me. It affected a lot of this weeks workouts. I was still very fatigued and sore for most of the week. Because of this I had a lot of bad workouts were I suffered physically and mentally. I was getting frustrated that I didn't feel well and was getting emotionally down. I had migraines, bloody noses, major gi/intestinal issues during my runs. Had very slow swim workouts also. Wednesday's bike workout I couldn't even do the prescribed workout. I just couldn't get my watts up and my HR was low. I was just having a tough time. I was getting frustrated also.

The Ugly

I had some really bad workouts like I mentioned above and got really down on myself. The only thing that kept me going was Megan. She lifted my spirits every time I saw her and really made me feel better. Without here I wouldn't know what I would do. I love her so much.

Week of 03/03/2008

2008-03-18T09:42:00.001-04:00

My training summery for the week of 03/03/2008 was:

Planned Time = 9:20 hrs

Actual Time = 8:56 hrs

Calories Burned = 6,662 kj

Swim = 5,250 yd = 2.98 mi

Bike = 50.48 mi

Run = 24.76 mi

XC-Ski = 10.74 mi

The Good

Had a few very good runs during the week. Almost got run over by a tractor trailer but other than that I had some low pace times. Right around 7:12-7:15.

Went to a really cool movie night with friends where we watched Father Ted Season 1 episodes. Who is Father Ted you ask well I took this from their website which explains it all.

Who is Father Ted?

Father Ted Crilly is an Irish priest who lives in a parochial house on possibly the worst place on Earth, Craggy Island which is situated off the west coast of Ireland. He doesn't live alone though. Living with him is Father Jack Hackett, an old priest with an alcohol problem and a particular liking for the words: arse, drink, girls and feck. The third and final priest who lives with him is Father Dougal Mcguire, a relatively young... and very dim priest. How he got into the priest hood is a mystery. And of course, every priest needs "a nice cup of tea" so they have a housekeeper, Mrs. Doyle. She's unique in every way and a one off, (which is probably a good thing). what she lacks in a life, she makes up in tea.

It is a very funny show that aired in the UK but is available in the US on DVD. A must see if you want some good religious humor.

This week I also went to my monthly Team Nor'Easter meeting where I got to check out the new clothing and get all sized up. We are going to be very spiffy.

On Sunday I went to Great Glen Trails to compete in the XC-Ski race "Ski to the Clouds".

This is a mass start race where we ski on the trail system for 4k and then ski up the Mt. Washington Auto Road for 6k. We were able to either do it freestyle or classic style. I opted for skate. Trying to determing kick wax for this 2,200 ft of vertical climbing in the last 6k was just be daunting. I checked the weather and talked to the local wax pro and put SKIGO LF8 on my skis which turned out to be totally wrong. They were predicting temps 25-30 degrees but it turned out a lot colder. Plus as we climbed the Mt. the temps dropped fast. I didn't rewax but just took what I had and dealt with it.

The weekends weather almost killed this event. On Saturday they received heavy rains. Race day greated me with really strong winds. Due to the very high winds the race organizers were forced to shorten it to 8k due to the icy surface at the planned race finish area. There were 70 who started this huge endevor. There were a lot of Portland, ME skiers who attemtped this feat. The start was a cluster and I ended up being behind a lot of slow people with no passing room. I lost some time in the 4k trails but once I hit the climb I really laid it on took a good, fast steady pace. I passed a lot of skiers on the way up. The slope was very steep and there were a few spots where I was pretty much just walking the skis up the hill. I wanted to stop and rest many times since my legs were just on fire but I knew if I stopped I wouldn't get going again. I managed to finish strong and finished 14th overall out of 70. I also got 3rd in my age bracket. After finishing they had some food at the top but then we had to ski back down. Now at this point my legs were toast and we had xc-skies, not downhill. I think the ski down was just as hard as the race up. I had to snowplow / stop turn the whole way down. It took forever plus it was freezing. By the time I got down I could barely walk and felt exhausted. This was the hardest XC-Ski race that I have ever done. I loved the event, the people at Great Glen are excellent and they know how to put on an awesome race. After getting food and changing they had awards and a raffle. There were tons of items to raffle off. Hats, nutrition products, base layers, new boots, and a weekend package at a local hotel. I ended up winning a brand new pair of Salomen XC-Skate Boots. That was awesome and they are a sweet pair. I can't wait to try them out. This was a great event and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to suffer and climb. I'm definately doing it again next year.

Below is a few links to Results, Photo's, and they even did a video. Check it out.

Resuts
http://www.skitotheclouds.com/Page-245.html

Photos
http://www.greatglentrails.com/Winter-PhotoLibrary-32-All.html

The Bad

More bloody nose incidents this week. One during my Power threshold test and the other one during a run. Just as I was maxing out my HR and about to finish the final 320watt 4min interval that I could do during my Power Threshold Test I got a major bloody nose. I guess my HR was just pumping so fast I blew a gasket. My coach was impressed but I did make a mess of my shirt. I was able to finish the 320 watt interval so that was good but had to quit right afterwards. I was spent.

The Ugly

Notin..

Week of 02/25/2008

2008-03-06T11:29:00.001-05:00

My training summery for the week of 02/25/2008 was:

Planned Time = 7:06 hrs
Actual Time = 8:59 hrs
Calories Burned = 6,316 kj
Swim = 5450 yd = 3.1 miles
Bike = 55.43 mi
Run = 17.47 mi
XC-Ski = 16 mi

This was a rest week for me with one day totally off.
The planned time was a lot less this week than the previous weeks which felt weird but nice.

The Good

Finally getting a day off from training but felt horrible that day. Go figure.
Had a few good runs during the week. My running is becoming to be second nature now.
Spent a day XC-Skiing at Pineland by myself enjoying the peaceful and beautiful setting.
Went to John Cox's Birthday bash with Megan at Mac's Grill in Auburn. I had a salmon fillet and got to see some friends that I haven't seen in a while. I also got to meet John's family for the first time. The cupcake frosting was just plain crazy.

The Bad

Went to my osteopath doctor and he totally hurt me bad. He couldn't get one of my vertebra back into alignment and had to forcefully put it back in place. I was in some serious pain for a few days.
During my Saturday bike trainer workout I got a bad bloody nose right during a hard interval. I got blood all over my cycling jersey, bike and myself. It kind of disrupted my workout and had to finish the workout with gauze stuck up my nose. It made it pretty difficult to breath and concentrate.

The Ugly

Work is getting pretty stressful with a huge project going out to bid next week. The stress is starting to get to me but I'm really trying to keep a positive outlook at things and trying to stay motivated and enthusiastic at work. Wish me luck. Next week is going to be rough.

I'm also kind of late publishing this weeks post but I'm really trying to keep up with it.

Week of 02/18/2008 - Monastery

2008-02-26T15:19:00.007-05:00

My training summery for the week of 02/18/2008 was:

Planned Time = 13:18 hrs
Actual Time = 12:23 hrs
Calories Burned = 9,526 kj
Swim = 8800 yd = 5 miles
Bike = 74 mi
Run = 41.48 mi

This was the third week of a build cycle. It was tough getting in all of the scheduled workouts this week and I ended up not biking on Sunday which is why my actual hours are less than planned. This was also a very big run week for me. I ended up running everyday except for Wednesday.
My legs were pretty sore come Sunday evening.

Some workout highlights for the week included;

Running in the pouring rain.
Running up a huge hill in the dark that had an elevation gain of 150ft and 15-20% grades, I don't think even cars can make it up the hill.
Spending a very early morning on a bike trainer talking about kids and marriage with other triathletes while sweating my butt off.
Running during a snow storm.
Running in 12.2 miles Massachusetts not knowing the roads and suffering hardcore on the hills.
Getting up the very next morning and running another 6miles only 12hrs latter while watching the sun rise and the birds chirp.

The Good

This weekend I spent the weekend with Megan and we went to St. Mary's Monastery where she is Benedictine oblate. I didn't really know what to expect but figured it couldn't hurt to check out a new place and learn more about the Catholic Faith. We stayed in a guest house which had separate wings for males and females. There was a common kitchen, dinning, and recreational/reading room which we spent most of the time in. We went to a few services which included; Compline at 8pm, Mass at 10am, Terse at the end of mass, and Sext at 12:15pm. I really liked Compline and Mass was pretty cool also except the incence really started to get to me. The services did have the readings and some prayers in English but most of them were sung in Gregorian chant in Latin with the nuns and monks alternating verses. It sounded really cool and made the mass seem totally more spiritual than an all English mass like at the Cathedral in Portland. I had a really nice time and it was very peaceful there. The monks and sisters were very nice and hospitalble. I would definitely like to visit again.

St. Mary's Monastery
271 North Main St.
Petersham, MA 01366

Photo's taken from website.
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org/
and
http://jdtreat.com/petersham.htm

The Bad

A few tough days of training really took it's toll on me. Some very sore and tired legs, back, and arms.

Time management is the key to this sport.

The Ugly

Not much really ugly happened other than missing a bunch of meals and still training. Doing this usually isn't a good thing to do.

Week of 02/11/2008

2008-02-20T12:07:00.003-05:00

This past week was a bit better than last.

My training summery for the week of 02/11/2008 was:
Overall Time = 11:49 hrs

Swim = 8200 yd / 4.7 miles

Bike = 49.12 mi

Run = 36.03 mi

XC-Ski = 16.99 mi

The Good
Lots of training and other activities this week. My training load is increasing and I'm feeling more and more comfortable in the pool and running. I'm able to run now back to back even after long days. The soreness in the legs is also decreasing after a long run. I'm sleeping a bit better now but since I workout early every morning I don't get to really sleep in much.

During the week it was also Valentines Day. I got Megan a beautiful single rose along with a Boyd bear and a hand written card with a photo that I had taken. Megan got me a really cool alabaster polar bear and heart that one of her patrons at the library makes. They are really cool.

Megan also prepared a private candle light dinner for me in her room. I picked up the food, which I was late doing, but we both prepared it once I got there. We had scallops cooked in oil with garlic, roasted vegetables (sweet peppers, onions, carrots, parsnip) and some nice multi-grain crusty bread. It was good. We then watched a not so great movie that I picked out, d'oh again, oh well. I fell asleep during it anyways. I've been doing that a lot lately. It was a wonderful night that I will not forget.

Also this week I had another Disciples in Mission Group Meeting. It went pretty well and I contributed also. I didn't complete last weeks assignment but I couldn't really think of anybody to write a letter to. This weeks assignment I'm already doing. I'm listening to the daily readings and Liturgy of the Hours every day. So now I just need to reflect on that. This next week I'm actually going to mass to a Monastery with Megan and a few others. I will definitely report back on how that goes. I'm sure it will be just fine and I will further my religious bond.

The Bad
This weeks weather was horrible though. Wednesday was the worst weather that I have ever driven in. Normally my commute is 45min but this day due to rain/sleet/freezing rain/snow it was almost double that. It started off as rain at my house and ended up having a windshield covered in Ice and by the time I hit work it was snowing.
The very next day I went out for a run in the early morning. It was actually still dark when I left and due to all the rain and ice we got the roads were very treacherous. Plus it was very cold and I froze. I couldn't even move my hands when I got home.

Valentines day evening was great but the day it self sucked. I ran in the am before my first seminar on Phosphorus. I ended up going to the wrong hotel where it was taking place and ended up being late. The seminar itself was very dry and boring. Very technical and it was done by an engineer who has never taken a Dale Carnegie course. My second seminar/class is the Dale Carnegie class that I'm taking. Today I totally screwed up my speeches. I got very nervous and flustered. Oh well. That why we do it week after week. I just need to relax more. I also ran around afterwards and ended getting to Megan's house for dinner very late but once I got there every fell into place and I had a wonderful evening.

The Ugly
Work was still pretty stressful and I'm having a tough time with it.

The Start of Something New

2008-02-11T15:44:00.000-05:00

I've decided I'm going to try and do a weekly post to my blog.
I haven't posted in forever and this was one thing I wanted to do this year.
I have been reading other endurance athlete blogs over the past year and I like how one guy sets his up so I'm going to mimic his. He give a summary of the week by stating "The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly." So I think I'm going to copy his format and see how that works for me. If you would like to read his blog it can be found at http://bolderinboulder.blogspot.com/
So here it goes.

This past week was a tough one for me. Very busy with work, training, church, and spending time with the girlfriend. Not much sleep was taken but all in all the week turned out just fine.

My training summery for the week of 02/04/2008 was:
Overall = 10.50 hrs
Swim = 5900 yds
Bike = 65.92 mi
Run = 24.83 mi
XC-Ski = 8.75 mi

The Good

I was able to spend a lot of time this week with my girlfriend who I have been dating now for a few months.
We have really hit it off and I have really falling for her. I feel like my love for her is growing everyday and will continue to grow.

Also This week was also the first week of Lent and the first week of my Disciples in Mission Group Meetings. I am Christian but not officially Catholic. My girlfriend however is Catholic, along with my roommate. I have been going to church with her every week now and also taking part in other Catholic activities. I am really learning a lot about the Catholic faith. I have a lot more to learn though. I do feel like faith and religion should be part of your everyday activity and I'm going to try live by this. I hope to take part in RCIA next fall and become part of the Catholic Community. The Disciples in Mission Group meeting went well, I attending mass on Wednesday and on Sunday. I have also for lent I have decided to give up caffeine and to listen to the daily reading and the liturgy of the hours every day. So far giving up caffeine has been tough and I'm still getting migraines every day. Hopefully they will pass soon.

The Bad

I didn't get much sleep this week. Wednesday's bike session was done on 3.5 hours of sleep but turned out OK in the end. It just hurt. Due to not sleeping and being exhausted I missed Thursday's morning swim because I overslept and was just too tired to get out of bed. Saturday's run really hurt bad and made me sick. The stress of work and lake of sleep I think got to me this day.

The Ugly

Work was very stressful and is totally killing me. I commute 80 miles a day for work which really cuts into my personal time. I also worked a lot of late hours because I had a project go out last week which was totally not done. So this week we had to catch up and issue the first Addendum. So I spent Saturday working, and couple of late nights. We did get the project a lot further to completion and be more like 100%. The outlook however for the next month isn't good in the work aspect. I'm going to have a lot of long stressful weeks up ahead. Hopefully my training, or health, doesn't suffer.

Lobsterman Race Report

2007-09-19T11:46:00.000-04:00

Today was the big day. It is the day of my first Triathlon/Aquabike since I can't run I will be doing the Aquabike. The Lobsterman Aquabike is a 1.5K ocean swim and 40K bike. I woke up to the sound of rain. Yeh, plus it was pretty cool out. I knew right off this day was going to be tough for me and pretty miserable. I ran around trying to find my sunglasses that had yellow tint in them, since it was raining and cloudy but never did find them. They are packed somewhere real good. For the past couple of weeks I have been packing and moving from my townhouse in Lewiston to a small bedroom in a house that I will be renting in South Portland with two other guys. Life has not been easy. Every night was packing and cleaning and moving. That's why I couldn't find my glasses. Oh well, I needed to get moving so I forgot about that idea and just used my old ones. I ended up leaving pretty early so I could scope out the place and not feel rushed or stressed. I was stressed enough as it was.

As I arrived the place was filling fast and I just sat in my truck for a long time just listening to music. It was too damn cold and was still raining out to wander around the park. I finally got my lazy butt off the car seat and started to get ready. I wasn't really motivated at this point and just wanted to climb back into bed. I pushed on and claimed my spot in the transition area with 700 other people. As the time neared I did go for a quick pre-bike ride to warm up a bit. I was already getting cold and by the time I finished I was wet and cold. I re-racked the TT bike and laid out my helmet, glasses and shoes on a towel. Since I was only swimming and biking I didn't need shoes but later you will see why I should have at least put a pair in a bag in transition for after the race.

Next up was the painful job of getting the wet suit on. I used I think a whole stick of glide wax just so that I could get the damn thing on and hopefully help with getting it off fairly quickly. I have been having issues with getting it off in the past during practice. It would always get stuck on my calves and I just couldn't get it over my feet. Hopefully I will have better luck this time. I put it on over my tri shorts, and tri sleeveless shirt. I was worried about being cold on the bike but figured it's only an hour long and I could just go harder if I got cold. More wattage=more btu production I hoped. Kurt suggested that I go for a warm up swim before the start so I mustered the will power and plunged into the icy cold ocean. As soon as the water hit my feet I new I was in trouble. I swam out a ways and immediately swam back. I had had enough. I was so COLD. My hands and feet were actually purple and I couldn't move them. I was only in the water for maybe 10min. NOT GOOD. As we listened to the anthem I got even colder and then they told us to jump in. I was in the first wave of many. I lined up at the end of the line so that I was in the water the shortest amount of time before the start. I lined up to the right side and behind everyone. This was my first competition swim and I didn't know how I would do. I have heard many horror stories about getting kicked, punched, tackled, swam over, etc. I was going to try and avoid a lot of that.

The next sound I heard was the count down and then we were off. The first 200 yards or so was crazy. I pretty much swam with my head up and just made my way forward. I finally got into some sort of rhythm and was able to put my head down and follow the group. The pack ended up splitting in two and I was at the front of the back pack with the fast guys about 50yards in front by buoy 1. At least I had some clean water but was falling off pretty quickly. Halfway to the second buoy I noticed the second wave pass me which included Kurt. I finally round the 2nd buoy and really started to get tired. My arms were failing me and I started to notice the cold. On my way into the finish of the swim the leaders of the third wave had caught me also. Now I new I was in trouble and had a crappy swim time since the swim waves were 4min apart. I finally reached the beach and climbed my way out of the water. As I ran up the beach to transition I got my wetsuit off to mid-waist.

Picture 1

At least I got it that far I thought. My hands were numb, my feet were cold and I was out of breath from the swim. I reached my bike and realized that it was pouring out. Everything was soaked which made my shoes not easy to get on. I actually got one leg out of the wetsuit pretty easy but the other leg I had major issues with and had to kneel down. My hands were just not working. I had a hard time getting the helmet on and the glasses also. Finally I just took a deep breath and relaxed a bit. I got my shoes on, without socks, and I was off. Since I've done cyclo-cross I was able to jump onto the bike while running. I passed like two guys who stopped still trying to get on their rigs. Way to go for cross training. As I made my way out of the park I really hammered hard. I knew I had to a lot of catching to do since I had such a bad swim.

The bike portion started out well. I knew that this would be my strong point so I really kept the watts up and pace high. It was still pouring out and a lot of people were moving so slow. I don't know if they just couldn't bike or if they were scared of the rain. I was used to riding in the rain and rode like I would have any other day. I passed a lot of people. I mean a lot. It must have been about 50 by the time I hit the halfway point. At that point I didn't see very many left in front of me. I must be near the front I thought. There were a few hills that I used my 39 front chain ring for. I had an 11-23 set in the rear which worked well for me. With the 11 tooth gear I could really pick up some speed on the down hills and since I'm pretty light only having a 23 in the back suited me just fine. I only stood on a couple of the short hills but mostly stayed as aero as I could. As I approached the park entrance road the car traffic picked up. At one point I had to break and come to almost a stop because a car just would move over and was going so slow. I don't know if they didn't see me or what but they were crawling at 15mph and just wouldn't get out of the way. I finally sprinted past them at a stop sign and kept them behind me the rest of the way to the entrance. I was really amazed at the amount of people who were out on the bike course cheering us on. I mean it was cold, pouring and just miserable out but they still came out and cheered us on. It really helped me stay motivated. After taking the final turn I hunkered down and gave it everything I had for the last mile and a half. I knew I didn't have to save anything left at the finish so I gave it my all. I flew down the park road and almost missed a turn just before the park gate.

Picture 2

When I was almost at the gate I saw Kurt just leaving the park for his run. He looked pretty good to me and was moving pretty well trying to catch the guy in front of him. As I hit the park I had to break and slow down a lot. There were just tons of people around telling me to slow down. I didn't want to slow down I want to win this damn thing. I hit the gravel over 20mph and good thing I had that cross training again. I was a little swirly but hung on. For the Aquabike I had to go to the right of transition still on the bike while everyone else had to dismount and getting ready to run. I made my way around the finishing loop fairly slow since it was dirt and they kept telling me to slow down. There was a rack just for us at the last corner for the finishing shoot. I saw only one other bike on the rack and I thought, sweet I got second. I through the bike on the rack and ran to the finish line still in my cycling shoes with my helmet on and all. Man that wasn't easy; I almost tripped and fell twice. As I crossed the line they had to grab me because I just had nothing left was going to fall over. The put a medal around my neck for finishing and told me to go get some food. Since it was still raining and I was soaked I took my shoes off, helmet, glasses and made my way towards food. I was starving.

As I made my way to the food tent barefooted, cold, and wet I started to realize how cold I really was and how bad I felt. Once the adrenaline ware off I started to realize all of my pain. My legs felt really bad and started to really hurt and cramp. I also started to shiver uncontrollably. I grabbed a banana and some Luna bars and headed to the massage tent. I figured a good massage and some warmth would be good, plus it was free. As I entered I had my pick of tables and they covered me in blankets. As she started to work the muscles I started to get colder and shiver harder. She just couldn't warm me up fast enough. The put more blankets on, hat and even heat packs but nothing worked. They then got the crew from the medical tent and they brought over a thermal sheet and some more chemical heat packs. At this point I was laying on my back they were forcing me to drink hot chicken broth, YUK, and I didn't feel too good. After they took my temperature a few time and noticed that it was still dropping they called in the ambulance. As the ambulance came I was coming in and out of consciousness. I would close my eyes and loose myself then they would shake me awake again yelling. Not good. I had a good case of hypothermia. My body temperature was dropping fast. I heard them say 97, 94, 90 degrees. I then got put on a stretcher and hauled to a heated ambulance. Once in the ambulance I was still shivering bad, and they tried to find a vein to put warm saline in me but couldn't find one. They cranked the heat and stripped me of my clothes. I had only a only a tri short and sleeveless top on plus was barefoot but they were soaked so they wanted them off. So as I lay there in the back of the ambulance time passed and I started to warm up. I new I was missing all of my buddies finishing which I wanted to really watch. I'm sure Kurt had kicked but and wanted to cheer on Jeff and Alan but I missed all of that. It was now like 2.5 hours later and they needed to move me out of the ambulance for another case. So they asked me if I had anyone with me who could get me clothes and drive me home but I said I was there by myself. They didn't like that. I told them to go get Tim from Peak Performance and ask him to come help me. They did just that and he was very helpful and brought me some clothes to put on. He is great. They moved me to the med tent where they placed me in front of a propane heater. I had to sit there still with no shoes, but had socks on now, a set of tights and a fleece jacked on, plus a thermal blanket and lots of heat packs and more blankets. I had to drink more chicken broth and some water. At this point I was really hungry, I hadn't had anything really to eat after the race and it was almost 3pm now. The race was pretty much over. It wasn't fun sitting in a tent next to a heater, which got me even more light headed, and watch the day go by. They finally stopped shivering and was able to leave but had to promise that I would return if I started shivering again. I still didn't have any shoes and had to walk to my truck in socks. It was still cold out but at least it wasn't raining anymore. After changing into my own clothes and grabbing a sandwich to eat I got my gear put away. Everything was soaked. The results were slow but it was nice to hang out with other athletes and chat about all that I missed. Kurt had won. I finally found out that I did officially get 2nd place in the Aquabike and would get called up to the podium for a medal. That was pretty cool to be called up with so many athletes still present. I got my big shiny silver medal and finally made my way home.

All in all I had a really good race. I was disappointed with my swim time, I really did suck, I was 12 out of 13, but my bike time was really good, 1st out of 12, and made up for it.

Comparing my swim time with everyone else I was 201. It’s hard to compare my bike time since my bike time didn’t stop until I crossed the finish time which was a long ways further than the rest of the tri-athletes, plus I had to rack and run to the finish. But taking all that in consideration my time was at least top 5. I defiantly want to do a full triathlon as soon as I can. The atmosphere is great, a lot like cross races and nothing like road bike races. I like it a lot and hopefully will do better in the next one and won't end up in the medical tent again. I do have to wait till next year since most of the multi-sport events are over for the year. This coming weekend is the PVC Maine State Time Trial Championships. This will be the last race on my tri-bike. After that I’m taking a much need break and then start right into Cross season.

Lobsterman Aquabike
09-15-07
Place 2/13
Total Time=1:34:17
Swim Time=27:30, 12/13
Tran1=2:07,
Bike=1:04:41, 1/13

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/07/me/Sep15_Lobste_1_set3.shtml

Uncertainty Is Within You

2007-09-13T15:11:00.000-04:00

I read this article on another website and it made me think about my life and all the things that are uncertain in it. Sometimes I dwell too much on the little things, the bad things, and the sad things that I have no control over. I've decided that from now on I'm not going to let these things in my life that I have no control over affect the way I live, act, or feel. Please read the article and take the concepts to heart like I have.

Uncertainty Is Within You

by Jonathan Liljeblad on September 7, 2007

There is a great deal of uncertainty involved in this sport. Uncertainty as to wave sets, water temperature, pollution. Uncertainty over road conditions, potholes, traffic. Uncertainty in regards to bad weather, rough trails, random animals. Never mind your equipment, and the uncertainty of corroded wetsuits, leaky goggles, flat tires, snapped chains, locked brakes, chafing clothes, defective shoes, and broken water bottles. So many uncertainties...so much so as to be overwhelming.
For all this, however, you can't allow yourself to dwell on these things. It's pointless. You don't control them. You can't change them. You won't make a difference. The universe will move on its own way in its own time on its own path for its own purpose, regardless of what you do. Uncertainties will happen, and will always happen. And not just in a race, but in all of life.
Because all of life is chaos.
Ultimately, all you can do is to control the one thing you can control: yourself. You can control when you sleep, you can control when you eat, you can control when you study, you can control when you work. You can control when you train, how hard you train, how far you train, how well you train. You can control your thoughts, your words, your actions. You can control everything you do.
And when something doesn't go the way you want or plan, just accept it for what it is, and then make your adjustments and just move on.
You may not control the events in the world around you, but you can control how you respond. And you want to respond in a way that is helpful to you and people around you. Getting angry won't help. Being sad won't help. Feeling sorry for yourself won't help. Giving in to fear won't help. Because the universe just...does. not. care.
Oh, you can allow yourself a moment to feel these emotions. You can stop and allow yourself to wallow in them. Just enough to remind yourself of their futility. Then you need to recognize the only reason they stay is because you make them stay, and then calm your mind and let...them...go...
And just move on.
Because you can.
All of life is uncertainty. All of life is chaos. And you are the master of uncertainty. You are the lord of chaos.
You just have to find it all within you.

Catch Up Report

2007-08-28T11:33:00.000-04:00

Catch Up Report

This summer has been anything but normal for me. To start off this past spring I was attacked with a super immune bug which made me bed ridden for 3 months. I had been training intensely up to this point and then just crashed hard. I spent those 3 months mostly on the bed, couch, or at the doctor’s office. After 100’s of tests, liters of blood drawn, they never determined exactly what caused my illness but I finally got better with lots of time and rest. So this bout of illness totally screwed my training for upcoming spring and summer races. I had lost over 10lbs of lean body mass, mostly muscle. My power was very weak to non existent on the bike and it took a lot of mental and physical effort to just not quit. I did get better and gained some strength back. I also decided that I was not mentally fit to do pack road races this year since my spout of nasty crashes that I had. I decided to switch gears and do a lot of Time Trials and start swimming and running to train for triathlons. This was a new thing for me since I had never done a triathlon, never swam competitively before, or did much running other than playing soccer 8 years ago. I joined a local pool and just jumped right in with swimming. I did a lot of internet reading and talking to friends to figure out just how to do it. I’m still a very beginner but gaining strength and skill every day. My run training however has not gone so smoothly. I started off pretty easy doing some walk / run sessions for 20-30min max 2-3 times a week. After a few weeks of that I picked it up a bit and started running for 30-40 min. After a couple more weeks I started having knee pain every time I would run. I entered my first 5k race which was the Winthrop Friends of the 4th 5k race on July 4th. I did very well for my first ever running race and got 41st place overall out of 436 entrants. My time was 20:21.78 for 5k which equates to 6:33min miles and I ended up 4th in my category. After the race I continued to run with pain until I went to the doc to have it looked at. I found out that I had bursitis of the knee. Pretty common and I got some drugs, stopped running for a few weeks which cleared it right up. After that I started running again pretty easy on mostly off pavement. I would go to Bates and run on their synthetic track which was really nice. It felt like a big sponge. My knee felt better but not 100%. I had a dull ache right under the knee cap which would never go away not matter what I did. I had x-ray done, which showed nothing. Then I went ahead and had a MRI done. I was still running on it at this point. It didn’t hurt and wasn’t really affecting my running at all I just had a dull ache all the time. I found out from the MRI that I have stress fractures of the medial tibial plateau.

Image taken from The American Journal of Sports Medicine 34:78-83 (2006)

Not good. I was told no running for many months. When I found out I was totally heart broken it affected me more than I thought. I had a total mental breakdown and just wanted to quit all training and be the typical fat American bum. I had already signed up to do my first triathlon which was the next weekend which I had been planning to do now for months. I was totally excited about doing it and had put in a lot time, training and mental will power to tackle this feet which is now null in void. I got the word from the doc that I could continue to swim and bike but couldn’t run for a long time until I had zero pain which he said could take months. I decided to keep on training on the bike, because you know me I couldn’t just quit. I am also really concentrating on perfecting my swim. I decided also to enter the Lobsterman Aquabike which is on September 15th in Freeport, ME. It starts at 11am and I only have to swim then bike. It’s not the same as doing the full triathlon but I’ll take what I can get at this point. So that is my next serious goal other than doing a few Time Trials here and there. This gets us caught up to date and I’m going to try and do posts more often. I’ve got a few in mind so stay tuned.

YAHOO, I've Started Cycling Again

2007-05-04T14:20:00.000-04:00

Well the past two months have been really tough.
I got really sick and the doctors couldn't really figure out what was wrong.
I had zero energy and slept most of the day. I missed lots of work and to top it all off I couldn't even ride the bike. Well I've been so bored lately that I decided to just go out and enjoy the spring weather and ride the bike. I do have more energy now so I'm able to actually ride but man I've lost tons of fitness and strength. I can't believe how fast it went. Hopefully it will come back fast too. I probably won't be racing for a while and I'm still not feeling well just a little better but I'm sick of just laying around the apartment all the time. We'll see how it goes and if I'm able to really get back into the swing of things and train. Maybe I'll be able to do a few late season bike races but at least now I'm able to get back outside and enjoy the one activity that I truly love to do again. I really hoping the worst of the illness is over, whatever it was, and I'm truly getting better again and will continue to do so as soon as I can.

Is spring ever going to come?

2007-04-12T10:50:00.000-04:00

So today we are supposed to get another big snow storm. I just don't know about this weird weather we are having. In December we had beautiful sunny skies with warm temperatures when we were supposed to be getting snow and cold. Now that its the second week of April and everyone is expecting the tulips to be blooming, the tree buds showing face and the sun actually warming up the land but instead we are seeing snow storm after snow storm with cold crappy temperatures. I took this picture from last weeks storm and i'm sure todays will be the same. I just don't think spring will ever come even though I truly want it to arrive. I am really sick of winter and snow.

So today's high is only supposed to be 40 degrees. I looked up the high for last year and it was 62 degrees. Just not fair. Oh well. Hopefully spring and summer will come soon. We all need it.
Here is a link to the expected snowfall totals. Looks like it will be another big one with plenty of snow to shovel and plow.
http://www.wcsh6.com/weather/forecast/weather_extra/default.aspx

My Mimi

2007-03-23T07:06:00.000-04:00

I started writing this entry a while ago but just didn't know what to say. I wanted to post this earlier but needed some time to reflect on the current events. On March 16, 2007, at the Maine General Medical Center, my dear grandmother, Mimi, passed away peacefully after a short illness. It hasn't been easy, to say the least, dealing with this loss. My grandfather, who is also pictured above, passed away earlier this fall. Not much time at all has passed since he died and now she has also. At least now they can be together again. We had a wake and a funeral service for her in Winthrop at the funeral home. A lot of good memories were shared by all. I learned a lot about her that I never new. She wasn't one to talk much about herself. There were many tears shed by all but there was also some laughs and smiles while we reflected on their lives. Some of my favorite memories were of all of us going down to their house on the lake and having family BBQ's, playing cards, swimming, and celebrating all of the yearly holidays. Christmas was definitely the biggest and most special. Ever since I was born my family has been going to their house on Christmas Eve to celebrate the holiday. We would have lots of food and treats, we would watch movies, and even some years did some really crazy games. For many years we would all stay over night and would wake up early in the morning to open up all the gifts that we all brought. We always had tons of presents since my whole family would come. My Aunt and Uncle with their two kids from Texas would make the trip every year. My other Aunt and her two kids from Augusta would stay over also. Plus there was my parents and my brother along with my grandparents. We would all cram into a small ranch and celebrate this Christmas holiday. These were some of my favorite memories that I will never forget. There are many others also. They both are going to be truly missed but will be with me forever.

TD Banknorth Rangeley Lakes Loppet

2007-03-15T12:45:00.000-04:00

A couple of weekends ago I attempted my first marathon ski event at the Rangeley Lakes Loppet. I have never done a 50K ski race before and didn't really know what to expect. I had been skiing up to this point every weekend for 2-3hrs at a time. I would usually ski a pretty good pace but never at race pace. I also have been battling with being exhausted all the time and don't really know why. I also didn't really know how that would affect my performance.
The fun began the night before when we were getting a nice big snow storm. I needed to wax my skies but didn't really feel like sitting out in the heavy wet snow putting on two layers of wax. I decided that I would get up early and do it in the morning before the race.
The drive to the race was more than interesting. Most of the roads were still very snow covered and made the trip very slow and slippery. The temps were climbing and the forecast was for mostly sunny with temps well above freezing.
Once there I passed on warming up and just sat in my truck and rested before the start. I wanted to save every bit of energy I had for the race. I was bringing with me 1 bottle of Gatorade and a few Hammer gel packs, plus there were aid stations with water and Hammer Heed at every 10k or so. I figured I should be set.
The mass start went off with near 100 entrants and I was smack in the middle of the pack. On the first downhill turn a skier took a tumble and took out everyone behind them. I had nowhere to go and fell on top of 3 other skiers. Then 4 other people happened to fall on top of me. Not much fun already and it's only been less than a minute of the 3+ hour race. I had to wait a while before getting going again and had to maneuver my way through a large field now with most of them slower than I was.
The conditions were not easy at all to say the least. Rangeley had gotten 2+ feet of snow the night before and it was just starting to warm up. That meant very soft, wet, slow snow. It made things very difficult indeed to ski on. As the race went on I managed to pass a lot of slower skiers and made my way back to mid pack. I had grabbed a few small cups of fluid at the aid stations while still skiing which was fun on the first attempt and ended up giving myself a bath. As I made my way back to the start which was the first of two laps I started to really wind down and getting really tired. I thought that I could either quit now and say I did the 25k in good time or I could continue on, punish my body and see how far I could go. Well of course I continued on. I hate quiting. I really slowed down on the next 5k and was passed by at least 10 skiers that I had initially passed in the beginning. When I hit the first aid station I was totally exhausted. I didn't think I could go on and I told them I need to rest for a while. I pulled off and stood there taking in some liquid and gel. I decided to continue on and make try to make it to the next aid station. It was then I realized the next one was a ways off and I had to climb a major hill. I knew I was going to be in trouble. The next 10k or so was a blur and I was passed by a lot of racers. I would ski for 2k or so and then stop and rest. Finally I was passed by, what I figured, was the last of the racers and I pretty much walked up the last hill before the aid station. When I got there I collapsed on my poles and told them I was done and couldn't take another step. They helped out of my skies and sat me down on a chair. I just sat there for a while trying to get the dizziness to go away. Finally one of the aides drove me back to the start and I was done for the day.
The rest of the day/night was a blur to me. I did have to drive myself home, which was very tough to do in my current state. I did stop in Farmington for some food and that helped some. That night I felt really sick and only slept a few small hours. I was just to exhausted and in too much pain.
So in all I skied somewhere between 35 and 40k. I liked the course a lot and I would probably attempt it again next year. I do hope though that next year I will feel a whole lot better and will actually be able to finish.

Training hasn't been easy lately

2007-03-13T12:28:00.000-04:00

For the past month or so I've been battling health issues and it's really taking a toll on my cycling. I have still been doing some hard efforts but lately even those have had to cease. Currently I'm barely even able to get on the bike to ride easy. I was hoping for some early season racing but that looks out of the question at the present moment. Hopefully, I will get better soon and will be able to get my training back in check before the summer hits us and we are in full race season.

On another note, I've been a valid Battlestar Galactica watcher now since the beginning. Lately I have been totally disappointed with the shows content and it's been pretty boring. The episodes have been a lot of character development, which is fine once and a while, but man we need some excitement. I hope they have some soon or I will have to stop watching it. I can't wait till SG-1 and Atlantis start back up. Those shows never seem to be boring and have always kept my attention.

New Year

2007-02-23T11:40:00.000-05:00

Ok, It's been like forever since I've done a post and one of the things I wanted to do this year is make more posts on my blog so here goes the first one for the new year.

Well since I live in the northeast where we usually have tons of snow, cold weather, and lack of daylight my routines moves from riding outside everyday to riding the trainer. While riding the trainer isn't ideal I really don't mind it. The time is usually shorter and i'm able to do it either before work or after when it's dark and not have to worry about getting run over. I usually pass the time by watching tv or a movie. On the bright side the weather seems to be improving and the daylight has been getting longer. It won't be long now before the snow is gone and I'll be riding outside again.

I'll try to writing more often and will post again soon.
chow for now.

2006 Green Mountain Stage Race

2006-09-09T08:15:00.000-04:00

Here is my account of the 2006 Green Mountain Stage Race.

Thursday August 31, 2006: The long drive.
I started the drive to the state of Vermont for an exciting four days of racing the Green Mt. Stage Race. I left around 2pm for the 4.5hr drive to Waitsfield, Vt. I was staying in a house with Terry, Keith, their 2 kids, Terry’s Mom & Dad, DD, Amy, Kevin, Heidi, and Missy. I was sharing a room with Kevin who is from Virginia and goes to Virginia Tech. It was a long drive since I was by myself. With only one stop on the side of the road for a bathroom break I made pretty good time. I kept myself busy by trying to find a radio station to listen to, which there were few to choose from. I was the first to arrive and after stopping to buy some food and grab a sandwich from a local pizza place I hung out at the house and waited for everyone to arrive. The Virginia crew was next to arrive with Terry and Keith arriving sometime in the late night hours while I was trying to sleep and rest up for the next day.

Friday September 1, 2006: Day 1, Prologue.
I woke up fairly early since I’m so used to getting up at 5:30am every morning. No one else was up yet they were all sleeping well into the morning. The race wasn’t until 2:30pm so I had plenty of time to get the bike ready and fuel up. I arrived to the race early so that I could get a good warm up in. I ended up warming up for about 30min and headed to the start line around 25 minutes before the actually start. My field had 94 racers in it and I new that all but a select 20 of them are climbers so I wanted to be in the front row at the start. If I was not in the front then I would have to waste a lot of energy trying to maneuver around them while climbing. The first few miles were neutral and we all stayed together with a few guys trying to reposition themselves and stirring up the field a bit. As the race started no-one really wanted to attack and I was right at the front, sometimes in the wind but mostly trying to draft as much as possible. Just when we were supposed to race a guy in the front had dropped his chain and almost took out the entire pack. I found out later that the neutral support couldn’t help him and he actually bent his chain. He rode, walked, pushed his bike all the way back to the bike shop in town and got a new chain. He then went back out and finished the race just so he could race the next day. Now doesn’t that suck? Back to the race, after a mile or so the pace picked up and riders started to fall off. Once we hit the climb there were a few short micro attacks but they all were swallowed up very fast. Once we hit 3k to go I was feeling pretty good. My legs were a little tired but overall I was looking good. We had a group of 30 or so all staying together. Once we hit 2k the pace really picked up and I was breathing really hard and my heart rate was spiking. I was able to hang on for a little while longer but then a few gaps opened up and I just maintained my pace and kept myself going without blowing up. A few guys did ride off in front but I kept a steady rhythm and pushed my way to the finish. At 1k to go I was really hurting and was hoping it was almost over. The 500m to go sign took forever to arrive and once I finished I could barely breathe or stand up. I collapsed onto my handle bars and tried not to fall over. I finished the day 13th out of 93 finishers. 1 did not finish the day.

Saturday September 2, 2006: Day 2, Circuit Race.
Today was an early morning seeing that my race was on of the first to go. It seems like the organizers like to torture the cat 4’s by having them start early every day. Anyways, the first few miles were neutral since we were starting on a hill and didn’t really have anywhere to warm up. I did do a few laps around the parking lot. We had 92 starters and I was somewhere in the middle of the pack for the first climb. As we climbed the pace was fairly neutral. There was a few guys trying to move up but for the most part people were content with were they were. As we descended the climb all of a sudden I saw a guy go off into the ditch and go over his handlebars. Don’t really know why but I found out afterwards that he had to chase for the rest of the race by himself. Doesn’t that suck? Been there, done that, and definitely don’t want to do that again. The pack stayed together for the first lap up till we hit the climb again where it started to split up and guys were falling off. I stayed with the front group of climbers and we crested the top with about 20 or so riders. However, by the time we hit the bottom and the flats the pack was all back together again. The second lap was pretty uneventful also other than one guy crashing by himself by running right into some cones that were placed on the center line of the road. The final time up the climb was easier than the last and a lot more racers stayed together. As we approached the finish line we still had a large pack of 65 riders and I was seeing in my mind a horrendous crash since the finish was a fast downhill sprint. I had two choices, either be on the left by the center line or on the right next to the guard rail. I choose the right hand side thinking that the left always gets bogged down and crazy. We only had half the road to sprint, which was just nuts, and I managed to move up on the right. With 200k to go everyone started sprinting hard and I went as fast as I could. I was spinning out my 53x12. I really needed an 11. I ended up 25th out of 87 finishers. I guess 5 didn’t finish. I was really happy that I finished the race in the pack unhurt since last year I was involved in a bad crash and had to chase the entire race.

Sunday September 3, 2006: Day 3, Road Race.
Saturday night we must have checked out the weather channel 20 times to see if it was going to rain or not. The weather man gave us a 50% chance. Not good odds. As I woke up I could hear the rain. It was going to be one miserable day. It was another early morning start with everyone on the road by 9:45am. My start was at 9:05. As I packed my truck and got my gear ready the temperature was around 50 deg and it was raining. Once I arrived I went into the lodge, checked out yesterday’s results and signed my name for the day’s race. I then went back to my truck and just sat there waiting for my start while it was pouring out. No reason to warm up in the rain and get even colder. I was very glad that I picked up one of the rain jackets that peak performance had. It was well worth it and kept me somewhat dry. My race had 87 starters and I went to the line just before the start which put me at the back of the pack. I didn’t mind it that much being back there since we had a 3.5 mile neutral start then a 25 miles of rolling terrain before the first climb would start. The first 25 miles were rather fast and we pushed it a few times on the hills where a few riders on the back were falling off. It was raining pretty hard during this time and I was eating a lot of dirt. Not much fun. Once we hit the feed zone on the bottom of Middlebury Gap the rain had stopped and it was just misting and very humid. As we started to climb I was still in the back of the pack and knew I was going to have to work hard to get myself near the front. As the road got steeper I really stepped it up a bit and passed most of the pack. I caught up to the front group and we rode to the top. We had a group of 10 or so that stayed together and climbed rather well. We weren’t going ballistic up the climb but did maintain a steady pace. There were at least three riders that were ahead of our group when we crested. I figured we would catch them on the way down but we didn’t and we didn’t really see them for the rest of the race. On the decent it wasn’t raining anymore which I was very happy for but the roads were still a little wet and slippery. I took my time and went down the road slowly to be sure I made all the sharp corners. A bunch of guys did catch back on to our group while we descended. One guy said that he was with a bunch of guys who on the first sharp corner when right off into the woods. I was glad I wasn’t with them. At the bottom of the climb we had a group of 20-30 riders who all joined up together. We had dropped over half of the original pack. The next few miles were tough on me. There was a pretty good head wind and the pace was very high. We were trying not to let the whole group come back together. It had worked but I was right at my limit for a few miles. Once we hit the dirt gravel section the pace slowed up a bit and from there on the pace was much more manageable. Before we got to baby gap I was able to take off my rain cover which was a huge ordeal. I had never tried to remove on while riding the bike before and defiantly not while racing in a pack. I went to the back of the pack and took my time and finally was able to remove it. It must have taken me 10min at least. The guy on the motorcycle was laughing at me the whole time. It then took me forever to stick it into the small pocket of the Linscott jersey. I later realized that I had some cliff bars in that pocket and that’s why I was having such a hard time. My Bad. Baby gap came next and we climbed it at a steady pace. Nothing killer. I felt really good at this point and had plenty of energy left. We did drop 10 or so riders on the climb so we were down to 20 for the decent off of baby gap. As we descended a horrible, unexpected event happened. As we crested we noticed that the wind was really picking up and once we were over the climb it was really windy. The wind was probably 20-30 mph with 50mph gusts. Not good for a group of riders on bikes. Well as we descended at 45 mph one of the 50mph gusts blew at us from the side and a rider was pushed from the right hand side of the road to the center line in the matter of a second. He took out another guy instantly and then 8 or so rode right into the pile up. I had nowhere to go. I ended up going left over the center line of the road and lost control and ended up going off the pavement into the ditch and into gravel. Luckily the gravel was firm and I was able to somehow, thank the gods, stay up right and maneuver myself back onto pavement. I don’t know how I managed it but I was able to ride around the pile up and stay upright. I was picturing in my mind that I was going down again and there goes my collar bone. It was exactly the same thing that happened at Sunapee. I guess two of the riders involved were really injured bad and had to be taken to the hospital. In order for me to catch back up I had to sprint a little ways. I was able to catch up with the guys who did make it through and now we only had 10-15 with us for the final climb up Appalachian Gap. At this point the wind was treacherous and my nerves were sky rocking. I just wanted to finish and get this day over with. This elite group of climbers made our way up the switch back hill. When we had a tail wind it was really nice but when we hit the cross wind and head wind we all were just trying to stay upright and move forward up the climb. We did pass a lot of master’s riders on the way up. The pace was hard but manageable. I felt really good and no one had really attacked yet. With 1k to go there was a small attack and I was able to counter and hang in there with 5 other riders. Once we hit 5k to go we could start to see the finish and then the pain started. The climb hit the 20% grade and with the wind it was all that you could do to just keep yourself going forward. The mist and fog got thicker the higher you got and by the time you got to the finish it was pretty much raining with 50mph winds. I downshifted twice and sprinted to the line for the finish. Once I finished I had to be carried off of the road and then I just collapsed with pain. At this point I was cold and wet and exhausted. I just wanted to go back to the house and hit the bed. My truck was still at the ski lodge which was down the Mt and then back up the access road. Many miles away from the finish. With the wind how it was and after going through that accident already I did not want to descend back down App. Gap to get to my truck. Luckily I found Karl and he let me sit in his truck until Kendra finished. I was so grateful and happy just to get out of the weather and not have to descend again down the treacherous hill. The officials actually cancelled the podium finishes because of the weather and just told everyone to go home. I ended up 8th on the day out of 79 finishers. 1 was DQ’d and 7 did not finish. With an 8th place finish I was able to move up in the overall GC to 8th. I was going to get a call up at the Burlington Crit the next day. I was so excited. After a good long shower and cleaning the bike a bunch of the Linscotter’s and Kevin (Virginia Tech guy) headed out to a local pub for some food. After filling the stomachs we all hit the sack to get some recovery for another day of racing.

Monday September 4, 2006: Day 4, Criterium.
Today was the final day of racing for the GMSR. My race was one of the first in the day and we had a very early start since it would take about an hour to get to Burlington from our rented house. Once the truck was packed with all of my crap I headed out. The weather was still sketchy with chances of showers. On route I did go through a couple of rain showers but as I made my way to Burlington the clouds got thinner and the sky looked better. Once I arrived the roads were still wet but were drying up rather quickly. I did not want to do the crit in the rain or on wet roads since there were a lot of painted crosswalks, manholes and brick pavers. My race had 71 starters and I got a sweet call up to the front line. They announced my name and the fact I was racing for Linscott Realty over the load speakers with a nice sized crowd there watching. This was the first time I have ever had this done and it was exciting. Once the race started all hell broke loose. I knew it was going to be fast and that’s why I brought my trainer to really get a good warm up in but I was unprepared for how much the day before took out of me and how fast the race was actually going to be. In order for me to keep my top 10 GC spot all I had to do was finish the race with the front pack. The first few laps I was right at my limit sprinting out of every corner, not being able to breath and sounding like a freight train. I was working so hard just to stay in contact. We were 71 races all single file. It was a sight to see. After a few laps though people started to feel the pain and gaps started to form. A really big one formed in front of me and I was unable to close it down. I was right at my max and had nothing left to make the break. I ended up pulling a group of 10 or so for a lot of laps. Every lap the front group would get farther and further away. There were a few crashes in the front group and we would pick up those riders. But no one really wanted to help me pull and I was left suffering the worst I have ever suffered. I ended up finishing with a group of 13 behind the front pack. I sprinted to the line and ended up 5th out of my group but 33rd overall. I didn’t even want to go look at the results fearing the worst. I was really upset that I was unable to finish with front group but I had a great weekend of racing and remembered all of the highlights. I ended up loosing my top 10 GC finish but did get 18th overall. I stuck around for most of the day watching the other great races that were going on. We had a lot of Linscott riders being called to the line which was really cool to see. One of the most exciting races was the 3/4 women’s race where Terri was battling it out with the GC leader. Terri had a great day and ended up winning the leaders jersey. It was so cool to see her standing on the podium in front of the huge crowd. After the race I ended up having Amy, our new Linscott racer, come home with me which was great so that I wouldn’t fall asleep on the long drive back to Maine. We did make one stop in Portsmouth at the Flat Bread Co. and had a very good pizza. After dropping Amy off in Portland I had to keep my windows down the rest of the way because I was just exhausted and it took all of my energy just to stay awake. I ended up getting home around 11:30pm and crashed. It was one long weekend of racing but well worth it. I have a lot of great memories and our team did some amazing things. Hopefully next year we can get even more Linscott racers to come.

It's been A While

2006-06-15T22:03:00.000-04:00

So it's been a long time since I've done an update. For the past few weeks I've been riding my trainer indoors since my shoulder wouldn't allow me to ride outside. It's been pretty frustrating but luckily the weather hasn't been all that great so it wasn't like I was missing good weather to bike to outside. This week I started going to physical therapy for my shoulder. I got some good exercises to do but they do hurt. On Tuesday I actually rode outside for the first time since my accident. I didn't know what to expect but it went fairly well. Every time I went over a crack or bump in the rode I did get a lot of pain in my shoulder but I tried to minimize that by riding with one arm for a while. It did feel good to back out on the rode though. Wednesday it rained again so I rode the trainer but today I did get to go outside again. I felt even better today. The next few days I'm supposed to put in time on the bike outside. Friday I've got an easy hour long ride planned and Saturday I'll be out for 3+ hrs and Sunday for 2 hrs. So we'll see Monday how the shoulder sustained the weekend. I'm hoping it will be stronger. We can only hope.

Update

2006-05-28T10:09:00.000-04:00

So I figure I would give an update to how things are going.
A couple of days ago I got on my trainer for the first time since the accident. I felt horrible. I had a major headache and my shoulder hurt a lot. My legs were very flat and it took all I had to just put in an easy spin for 45min.
Then on Friday I tried again to ride the trainer after work. I felt a lot better and was able to ride for an hour and went a little harder than the day before.
Saturday I felt pretty good. My legs felt good so I rode for 1.5 hrs. I did a couple of hard efforts and was able to hang on to the handle bars. The first day I rode I wasn't able to hang on to the bars at all. It was very difficult to ride with one hand. At least now I can hold on with two hands but I'm still unable to really use my right arm yet.
The past couple of days it has been really nice out. The sun is shining and the temps have been well into the 80's and I've been stuck riding inside on a trainer. How much does that suck? Today it's supposed to even warmer and on Monday it's supposed to hit 90. All I know is it's going to be very hot in my apartment while I ride on the trainer and look out the window at the nice weather. Hopefully I will be able to go outside soon.

Here is a photo of my current setup which I will be spending my time for the next few weeks. I don't have much space in my apartment so I've had to put my trainer right up against a wall. It works for now but I really want to ride outside. Maybe I'll put the trainer outside in the parking lot so that I can get some sun. It's so depressing to ride inside when it's so nice out.

AC Shoulder Separation

2006-05-25T15:31:00.000-04:00

So I went to the doc the other day to check out my shoulder that I injured during the bike race in Sunapee, NH. I found out that I have a Grade 3 AC joint separation. See the photo below.

A grade 3 separation is a complete separation of the joint. The acromioclavicular ligament, the coracoclavicular ligaments, and the capsule surrounding the joint are torn. Without any ligament support, the shoulder falls under the weight of the arm and the clavicle is pushed up, causing a bump on the shoulder which was very obvious in my x-rays that I had taken at the doc office. At this point they don't recommend surgery but just rest and some mobility exercises. It has been really painful especially when I try to eat, take a shower, or get dressed. I've been on some pretty good pain killers but should try to get off of them as soon as possible. The doctor said that I have to wear a sling for a few weeks and will not be able to put any weight on that arm for at least a month. This means I will not be riding my bike outside for a while. He did say I can ride the trainer inside as long as I don't put to much force on that shoulder. I also asked him when he thought I could race again and he said probably not till August. I'm really upset and depressed. I worked hard all spring to be in the best shape to do well and now that the season is just getting underway I'm decommissioned. It's really frustrating and I'm really upset about it. I put in months of hard training to just have it all be worth nothing. Hopefully I will recover soon and I will be able to do some late summer/fall races.

I tried taking a picture of my shoulder last night but wasn't very successful. Here is the best one that I was able to get but it's not great. I might try again but it's pretty hard taking a picture of yourself.

Gambit's Last Photo

2006-05-23T07:36:00.000-04:00

This photo was taken on Mother's Day 05-14-06. It was the last time that I saw my loving dog. On Thursday, May 18, 2005, Gambit had some sort of a stroke or seizure and lost control of his body. He was unable to walk or be himself. He was taken to the town vet where he was laid to rest. He had been struggling for a while and had battled cancer but had lived through it. He was a puppy right up to the weeks before he started to get sick again. He would run and run and loved being at our camp. He kept my grandmother and grandfather company during the day while we worked. He was really old when he passed away but lived a great life. He is going to be missed so much. He was loved dearly and he would show his love back for everyone he knew. It's hard to think that he is gone and I'm going to miss him so much. Hopefully he is at peace wherever he is and I hope he is still running like he used too.

Race From Hell

2006-05-22T08:48:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I headed to Sunapee, NH for the Relative hilly road race. I was heading to the race with my buddy, Tom Gosslin. He was picking me up at 5am for the 3 hr journey. I had set my alarm for 4 am and headed to bed all packed and pretty much ready to go. The next morning is where the day started off bad and I should have figured it would end worse, but I was hopeful. I awoke that morning, not to my alarm but to the sound of Tom's truck in my parking lot. Not good. My alarm never went off and it was already 5 am. I ran around my apartment, getting dressed and filling my bottles with water. Luckily I was mostly ready to go. We were able to get on the road 10 min later which wasn't bad at all. After a few pit stops we made our way to Sunapee. The weather looked good. It was partly cloudy but windy with a few nasty looking clouds in the area. It never did rain, which was sweet. I was doing another Cat4 race with 100 registered racers. My race started off fairly easy. There was a group of 4-5 racers that broke away right at the start but we never let them out of site. I moved around the pack for awhile. On the hills I would move to the front and stay there for a while then I would end up at the back again where I would hang out and eat. We caught the break on the back side of the lake on the hilly section of the course. After one lap the pace was steady, not ballistic but fast enough to keep the group together and to drop a few who couldn't stay on on the hills. The second lap was a bit faster and we went a little harder up the hills. On one of the large hills I made my way to the front third of the group and wanted to stay there as we made our way back to the finish. Somewhere on 103A is were the race ended for me. We had just fished a climb and was heading down a hill at over 30mph when there was a crash right in front of me which at least 15-20 racers went down. I don't know what happened but I had no time to slow down. I did have a choice of either running straight into the crashed racers or veer left and try and avoid the carnage. I went left but ended up leaving the road and hitting a very soft gravel shoulder. I ended up going straight over my handle bars and hitting my shoulder first then my head. I was able to get right up and I got my bike and tried to continue the race but realized my front wheel was all messed up and wouldn't turn. I then tried to pick up the front of my bike to get a new wheel but couldn't pick it up or move my right arm at all. At that point I started to realize something was wrong and I started to get really dizzy and feel really sick. Then the pain started. A spectator helped me over to the follow vehicle and they called an ambulance. I didn't really want one but they insisted. Once the EMT's got there they checked me out, put me on a stretcher, and brought me to the hospital. They said that my right shoulder was out by at least 3-4 inches and might be broken. The ambulance ride was short but I got some good pain killers on the way. They didn't last long though. At the hospital the doc pulled on my arm and I felt a big pop. They did some x-rays and found nothing broken but I’m unable to move my arm at all. They told me that I probably tore all the tendons and ligaments in my shoulder. By now it had been a few hours and I was starving plus I figured Tom was wondering where I was. The hospital got me a lunch tray which was disgusting and Tom finally found out where I was and made his way to the hospital. Well after I ate the sherbet and a piece of chicken they finally said I could go home. They gave me some pain killers, which was a big hassle to obtain. Tom was very helpful. He got all my gear and bike which was just sitting in the hospital lobby and we made our way back to Maine. After a stop at subway to get some food so I could take some pain killers and forget about my shoulder for a while. We finally got home around 4:30pm. I was all drugged up and exhausted. After a very painful shower I passed out on my couch just wishing it was all a dream but as a awoke the next morning I realized that it did in fact happen and my arm is all messed up. Even today I am unable to move my right arm and I’m in more pain than I have ever been in my life. I'm really frustrated and I hope I will be back on the bike soon but think its going to a long hard struggle.