Liam O'Connell

Range Light

2010-01-27T13:55:00.001-06:00

www.rangelightmaritime.com

check it out...

Springing

2009-04-07T11:39:00.004-05:00

Im not sure where spring gets its name, "spring of the year," when plants "spring up". one etymologist says it comes from the spring- as in the source of a flowing river or brook. so as the snow melts the rivers begin to flow because of the spring or spring the season i guess. either way this mythical thing is occurring or springing right now.

as triathletes we notice it first. we are egging to get out of the house and go for a ride. when we do so, we suffer at first. there will probably even be a ride where we regret going on, or a ride that we are all layered and suited up for, and we end up sweating our ass off on the trainer, because we dont want to brave the elements. but then something amazing happens.

we go for our ride, reluctant, and almost ready for the pain on our face cheeks, and its not there. you feel warm, you end up zipping your jacket down and letting some air flow. and consciously the most magical part happens - the smells defrost into the air after a winter of holding back. you can smell restaurants cooking bread down the road, gas at the gas pumps, salt air off the ocean, seaweed in the marsh, even manure on the farms smell good. the air is alive again and it is intoxicating.

so as i sit here at the computer, i can hear the birds chirping, i know spring is still springing, and soon enough all of my senses will tell me when it has sprung.

out the door.

Sweet Colorado Pics

2009-04-02T10:17:00.022-05:00

Here are some pics from my recent trip out to Colorado. It was a lot of fun, and some tough training in the thin air.

Entering the Rockies..

Grand Junction, CO on the way to the Better 1/2 in Gateway, CO.

The Palisade in Gateway Canyon, Gatway, CO

My recovery drink...after 15miles at altitude.

A must do in CO: the Colorado National Monument in Grand Junction. We did a lil run at 6600 feet, at times you felt like you were on Mars bc of the plant life, but it was outstanding.

I felt like I was living in an LGB train set.

Long ride through Co Springs, Manitou, and Garden of the Gods.

Some more Garden of the Gods, and that is Pikes Peak in the background, measuring inat 14,000 and change feet. (Although, i do not think, that is what Starbuck's was inspired by for their new house blend)

The 9x2min hill repeats executed at 5500ft were totally inspired by Maqua from Last of the Mohicans, except he was running up a Mountain.

That is snow in my pants, I can assure you nothing else was working after this run.

I'm pretty sure these native Boulder cows could have ridden my bike faster that day.

All the pain was worth it for Margaritas and queso at Juanita's in Boulder.

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-18T13:37:00.003-05:00

Well this was the view from down the street at Good Harbor Beach, after I rode my bike yesterday. I woke up at 4am to get in my trainer ride, so I could continue on with St Patrick's Day! I know its crazy, but I am 100% Irish.

My mother and I ventured down to NYC to watch the parade from the steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the grand stand of the parade. My Mom's cousin's husband is NYPD, and in charge of security, so we got to enjoy the parade from the best seats in the house. It was a beautiful day, sunny and clear. A beautiful parade as well, bagpipes and green everywhere. My real camera's battery is dead, so no cool pictures. Waking up at 4am was definitely worth it.

It was great to see my relatives, and watch a parade that truly celebrates Irish heritage(the parade is older than the USA). the 10 hours in the car, and stiff legs today were small beans compared to an incredible day.

Espresso driven

2009-03-13T15:42:00.000-05:00

I got this nasty cold and all I want to do is sleep. So my workouts today are driven by pure caffeine. Like this 4 shot Americano from lone gull.
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Funny Triathlon Video/Song

2009-03-11T11:00:00.004-05:00

Pretty Ridiculous, but i think its marvelous. This band is from Finland? who would have thought. very random.

The 5 question game...

2009-03-03T17:42:00.005-06:00

I am still not sure why I agreed to this, but here are the 5 questions Kim gave me... here it goes...

1.) How did you get started with triathlons?
A friend asked me to do one with her, so i agreed to the 2002 Monster Challenge(Boston Triathlon), and was totally hooked. I never looked back.

2.) What was your favorite race?
I love Buffalo Springs 70.3, loved the Boston Tri while it was still around, but really anything the Jordans' put on at Endorfun is the best, (Mooseman, Timberman, Lonhorn, and Lonestar).

3.) What do you like to do on non-training days? Guilty pleasures?
Non-training days. I did just take a little break for the first time in a few years, but i don't get many of those. I love playing with my yellow lab jasper, and enjoying a good beer with friends and family.

4.) Goals for 2009? Triathlon/personal/whatever!
Get into Grad school, start. Have a successful season, have no regrets, and achieve what all that i am able to. "Kick ass!"

5.) Have you ever thought of being a tri-coach?
Yes. Hopefully one day, that will happen.

That was fun.

To play along:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by giving you five questions. (I get to pick the questions.)
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

This aint Texas

2009-02-28T15:47:00.001-06:00

FEB 28. Gloucester, MA. cold and windy, but i really enjoyed getting out on the road today.

can not wait until summer.

FWE

2009-02-27T09:51:00.008-06:00

FWE: Finished With Engines. This is a legal nautical term used by the Captain of a ship to communicate with the Engine Room that the vessel has arrived, we are done maneuvering, and you can secure the engine.

Shortly after I wrote my last blog, TGFT, I had a bit of a panic attack. I had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life, still no job, and I just needed to take off. So, that's what I did. I graduated from Massachusetts Maritime Academy, before entering the USCG, with a degree in Marine Transportation and a license to drive ships. So I spent a lot of my college years cruising around on the high seas learning how to navigate, operate, yada yada, ships. The MMA ship was leaving for its Winter Cruise, and they needed an extra Mate, I was there the next day. (See Below)

It offered me a few things. A chance to make a few bucks, escape from some problems( in so, dealing with them), rest my knee, skip this vicious winter in the Caribe, and finally most importantly get a clear head and re prioritize. With the US economy fuzzy these days, job opportunities are not everywhere. For about 3-4 weeks of the voyage, I was planning on taking a year off from racing and shipping out to make some money. I was nursing a knee injury, and even threw out my back so i was pretty messed up, and just thought to myself maybe i need to just focus on reducing my debt for a year and come back to tri next year. it was a very weird feeling. i was a content with that idea.

if you know me, i hate content, or anything if "it works". i want amazing, i want excitement.

a month to the day from leaving the dock, i couldn't take it anymore. i needed to train. i thought about my friends going to races, and not having a character with a line in that chapter of the book. i was craving long sweaty days on a bike, and endorphin filled afternoons spent pounding away repeats at the track. i missed leaving the poolhouse, and feeling the air run through my lungs like they had never been there before. you know that feeling on the trainer during intervals, towards the end where you feel like you are going to black out, but you don't, and the first thing that comes to your mind is: you did it! or the horrible butterflies you get when the alarm sounds at 0430 on race day, and you get out of bed and every muscle feels tight and under prepared, but when the gun goes off they act as rubber bands fresh out of the bag. this is not a sport, or a competition, and definitely not a hobby. it is truly a lifestyle, and it is my lifestyle.

money is necessary, but i don't feel as though i should sell out to society's spineless demands and expectations, by shipping out, and in doing so sacrifice the one thing i love and have a passion for.

bottom line, im gonna make "it work", but its gonna be amazing.

i am FWE.

TGFT

2008-12-22T23:24:00.002-06:00

Thank God For Triathlon.

not trying to be dramatic, thats really all i want to say. if it wasn't for this sport, and training as much as i do, i'm not sure i could deal with this world.

p.s. = if there was no q or r, a part of the alphabet would look like that.

Beginning

2008-12-02T23:28:00.001-06:00

2009 Begins. More to Follow....

70.3 World Championships - Clearwater - Flat

2008-11-12T15:15:00.005-06:00

after spending much of the 2008 season chasing down a slot for the world championships, i am left very disappointed. ill get to my personal misfortune in a minute. i am disappointed in the sport. what is supposed to be the ultimate test between the top athletes in the 70.3 distance turned into a total sham and became nothing more than a bike shop group ride with a transition run. everyone knows its a draft fest, and some age groups had a fairer race then others. for instance the 18-24 age group for both men and women was absolutely ridiculous and i dont blame the athletes as much as the race organizers. because of the flat narrow course, it is virtually impossible to avoid drafting in some of the swim waves, and if you actually want to compete you have to draft because everyone else is and they are not going to be penalized. its a joke. i really hope ironman thinks about the sport not money when they decide where to put the world championships in 2011.

i was feeling pretty damn good on saturday morning, as i came out of the water sub 26, crossing the mat in 26:04. those damn swim classes at nssc really helped. i will say that was the most violent swim start i have ever endured, the fighting lasted for about 700 meters!

after a relatively quick transition and struggling to mount my bike, i slowly got into the groove. about 5 miles in i really started to feel good. at about mile 20, the course became real narrow and populated. over the next 40k it was getting dangerous. i was literally yelling at people. i started yelling at them for blatantly sitting on my wheel, then i began to mad because it as downright dangerous. i broke from one pack, and a heavier guy came off my wheel looked at me and said, "ill ride shotgun!" i couldn't believe it.

the only way to get ahead of some of these peletons was to ride the shoulder and go for it. which i did. unfortunately the last time i did, i struck one of those reflectors from the side, and almost went down. the pack of thirty couldn't of cared less as they continued to cruise on. after regaining my balance i got back in the drops, and went after them again, but this time, i couldn't catch them. i was thinking, "damn, they are moving". as i got slower and slower, i realized there was a problem. i had a flat tire at mile 37.

i ended up walking my bike for a few minutes until i got to an intersection and found a cop. he radioed someone, and 28 minutes later i was back on my bike headed to t2. as i sat on the side of the road, i noticed one thing in particular, no one was not drafting! i cruised in debating whether or not to even finish. i was so pissed off, i needed to run.

i ran a relatively relaxed 1:24, finding it hard to dig deep because of the flat, crossed the line in 4:41 and i am left waiting for 2009 to begin. i am not finished with that race, and will not be until my next one. i had too much in my legs, my heart, and my gut. i have never once eaten food from the race after a half ironman, becaus ei am usually so sick. i was eating pizza within 15 minutes.

learning is such a huge par of this sport. i have learned more about triathlon this season then the 5 before it combined. consistency, quality, and bringing a flat kit are a few of my lessons. but, the great part is that it will all begin soon enough and redemption is sometimes more fun then getting it right the first time.

i am not sure if i ever want to return to clearwater, because the times are so insane due to drafting, but there will be 2009, 2010, and beyond. there will be plenty of races where i will continue to leave it all out there, and puke my way to the awards, but i will never forget what its like to finish the world championships with so much left in the tank and a 28 minute handicap.

congrats to kelly and her new PR! 42 SECONDS from breaking the 5 hour barrier ! 2009 for that too. it was still a blast to chill on the beach, get a sunburn, and eat some grouper tacos again.

a huge thanks to janda for his support all year, and especially for being there saturday. i could see him and michelle from a mile away because of that damn green shirt. next year...

70.3 worlds tommorow

2008-11-07T19:43:00.000-06:00

Bed time in Clearwater. Tommorow is the day!

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Gloucester

2008-11-02T16:13:00.004-06:00

So, in the past few months a lot has changed. Some would say my whole life has changed, but it has not. I left a career as an officer in the USCG, left where I had lived and trained for 3+ years (Houston, TX) and ended up back home in Gloucester, MA with no job. all with a smile.

When i left the uscg, the following is what i was berated with:

what's your plan?
do you have a plan?
do you have a job lined up?
how do you feel about being unemployed during a recession?
why are you giving up such a great career?
what about health care?

and a lot more of why? how? and when i answered, a lot of.. what?

the truth is it doesn't matter why, because if it truly did, i would never have wanted to leave. if you can follow the last sentence you get where im going without actually going there.

and as for how?
in my opinion life is not supposed to be cookie cutter and something un-original, or at all a string of experiences that we are all supposed to go through to get to the same finish, or a career of playing the game in order to achieve the vast summit of retirement. life is different for everybody. whether that is fair or not, is not up to me. some people will trot happily through their existence never questioning why or how, but always doing what they are supposed to, maybe or maybe not with a smile.

I thought we were all supposed to attempt the apparent impossible... happiness. maybe they are, maybe they are not. for me, i am still searching.

but as far as being unemployed in a recession, i am pretty happy. i am not too nervous, and when i find what i am looking for i will know.

Being home in Gloucester is truly a gift. I am with my family, and that matters (despite what the uscg thinks). being able to grab a cup of lone gull coffee and take a walk with jasper through stage fort park (above-top) during a november sunset would make anyone smile.

Back to the Pool

2008-10-23T14:07:00.003-05:00

I was involved with a Master's team down in Texas last spring, and it was good in the sense that it got me to swim. But, it was a lot of junk, 25s and 50s. with no real coaching.

This past summer i came home and spent about 5 weeks executing mostly long great open water swimming. which really helped me in cancun, and got me back feeling confident about my swim fitness.

if there is one thing lacking about my triathlon training it is entirely my fault. it is my disdain for getting into a pool alone to do a workout.

solution: back in Gloucester, MA and swimming with my high school US Swim Team North Shore Swim Club. I swam with Dan and Tony throughout high school and was a decent swimmer. The thought of returning brought nostalgic smiles to my face, and a familiar group of water-phobic butterflies in my belly. i knew it was going to hurt. i also knew it would work.

i have been hitting north shore for about two weeks consistently now, and i am excited for the swim in clearwater. it has been hard, quality, and do-able. there has been no junk.

finding something that works for you in this sport is huge. this will work for me, and i am excited about it, yes when i hear dan spout, "Main Set" I get nervous, but i know it is worth it and i can handle it.

CANCUN 70.3

2008-10-22T11:43:00.004-05:00

It has taken me some time to post this blog, partly because i should not really have been in Mexico. Either way, I got down to the windy, humid world of Cancun and Quintana Roo, Mexico. By the by, Quintana Roo was the first "Triathlon bike" ever made.

I prepared for the race by getting in a lil' 15 min shake out run the day before the race. I have never sweat so much in 15 minutes in my life! That place is hot as hell. Coming from the not so cold state of Texas i knew i could handle it, but i needed electrolytes. Unfortunately, Mexico is not the haven for race day supplies, and i had to be creative, because i forgot my endurolytes. so the night before the race i ended up creating my very own cancun survival package, which included table salt and tic tac cartridges. i filled four empty tic tac boxes with salt and went on my merry way. p.s. - this works, but salt hurts your teeth if you might have a cavity. oww!

ten minutes before i was supposed to be at the beach, my front wheel went flat and my zipp extension fell inside the rim! i remained calm, but i could have broken things. a very nice mexican man helped me fix it, and also knocked my bike over on its side. either way, scratch or not, i had air in my tires.

the swim was a no wetsuit ridiculously choppy two loop course. got her done in 28 min, and was fine with that. it was gonna be windy. the bike was a two loop windy draft fest, but i tried to focus on my salt tic tac things in preparation for the run.

there is maybe 20 feet of shade on that run course. hot as hell. but i do love the little water bags they had. i continued to eat the salt, and just try not to pay attention to the heat. i thought i was in the lead of my age group, so i kept it kind of easy in efforts not to blow up. there was only a few people and some pros ahead of me, because i was the second wave. "one foot in front of the next" if they did not have rest areas every 1km! i would not have made it. this gringo would have combusted. at 10.5 miles i ran into a dude in my age group. i have come all this way, and finally i need to race! damn, i was tired!

so, i passed him, and he passed me. and it was on. i decided to run my own race and see what i had left. i ended up passing him, and he stayed on my heels. at 12.5 i made my move. skipped the last aid station(risky) and took off. at the turnaround for the second loop, i ran over the mat and it made that beepie noise. and 30 seconds later i heard the beep again. he was gone, and i cruised on for the W.

After finishing i went to the medical tent and got poked three times by mexican needles and finally they found a vein. i checked, they were new needles each time! creepy.

i was toast. truly toast. i puked in the hotel lobby 7 hours later on my way to the awards ceremony. in one of those flower pot things!

haha. i was really happy with my efforts. it was a greuling day, and i def killed some margaritas the following day before flying back.

i met chris leigh, and michellie jones. both of whom are amazingly down to earth and cool cats.

would i do it again? only if there was a 100% chance of rain!

Done Deal

2008-10-03T12:46:00.001-05:00

I am officially out of the USCG. The past few months have been pretty stressful, and have not been updating much at all. Either way, the news for now is I am Clearwater bound and officially seperated from the USCG.

Amen

2008-08-15T12:36:00.000-05:00

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On the road again

2008-08-13T15:19:00.000-05:00

Texas check
Louisiana check
Mississippi check
Alabama check
Georgia check
Up next :
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Timberman or bust

2008-08-13T10:52:00.000-05:00

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Out of Texas glsta bound

2008-08-12T17:27:00.000-05:00

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Mother Nature Round 2

2008-08-04T10:47:00.006-05:00

So,

Mother Nature is a bitch! Yes she is. The heat keeps on coming down here in Texas. This weekend I was on duty, so I could not execute my workouts till the afternoon.
Which sucked.

Saturday: i had a 3 mile warmup, 2 x 2.5 miles @ 15 min, then a cool down. Thats the funny part, how was i supposed to cool down. It was over 100 when i began, without the heat index on the black track. What should have been a relatively hard/not so hard workout turned out to be an overheating nightmare. I had to stop half way on each to re-hydrate, but I finished. So it was a 0.5 point tie. Mother Nature 1.5 - Liam 1.5.

This should have been posted:

Sunday: i had a four hour intensive ride in the hills followed by a falf hour transition run. I passed through Anderson, TX and the bank read 102 degrees, and i had 2hrs and 20min left. At about 2hrs, i recieved a text from Kelly who was about 30miles south,

"dropped 20 degrees and clouds rolled in. windstorm and i am getting stabbed by pine needles. call me if you need a ride. May storm."

Followed by,

"lightning and thunder 45 seconds apart. not safe. its getting closer. im scared"

So needless to say, it came my way. Kelly got back to her car safely, but I was past the forest and back to open texas. Lightning is pretty horrifying down here compared to back home. I wanted to get away from that storm as it was heading towards me. the wind got so strong, i literally almost got knocked off my bike from the gusts.

it kinda looked like this:

i had to book it through the hills to get back to anderson to the gas station for shelter. as i rolled in the rain came, and the bank thermometer read 78 degrees! I camped out for about a half hour, and finished the workout. I can not tell you how much easier it was to climb through those hills at 78 compared to 100.

Mother Nature tried to get me, but i got it all in. Liam 2.5 - Mother Nature 1.5.

Either way, i am tired. Now we have a little hurricane coming in called Eduard. So work might get a little interesting and the trainer looks like it will have a friend tommorow.

TEXAS IS F#$@IN HOT !

2008-07-31T09:50:00.004-05:00

I have been here for three years, and I do not remember it being this hot in years past. This past weekend turned out to be an epic battle: ME vs. The TX sun. It was a tie.

I have always made fun of texans because my Mothers house in Gloucester, MA is like 3 times older than their beloved state. I am figuring out why that is. There is no way people could live down here without air conditioning.

I ended last week with an easy two hour ride out in the Missouri City/Sugarland area, took a turn down a familiar road and stumbled upon...

This might actually be the actual picture too(GOOGLE), because the game wardens were catching it when I got there. So, if I was a little faster I would have been eaten alive. Thank god it was a recovery ride ;) Maybe its because the swamp water was boiling!!

So, the topic/complaint is the heat. It is killing me, it just seems like I am trying harder, to go slower, and recover longer. It is wasting my mucles and my energy. Last saturday, as I went out for a long run at 1030 in the morning, it got so hot, I had to sit under a tree a couple times to let my body cool down. That is not healthy. I felt like death all day, and slept 12 hours that night. Therefore, I started my long ride late on Sunday. TX sun 1 - Liam 0

Beginning a 5 hour pace ride in the Texas afternoon heat up in Conroe is so dipressing, that when it was done, I felt like I had won. When I got to the turnaround point, I asked the lady at the gas station how hot it was, she was already looking at me funny (spandex, white spandex), she turned around and looked out the window at the bank thermometer and it read (note:not real picture)

Yes, without the heat index. I have to give kudos to INFINIT. This shit works. Nutrition is such a vital part of triathlon, but exponentially so in the heat. I wasn't hungry or crampy and threw done 106 miles in the hills. Liam 1 - TX sun 1.

As i prepare for Timberman 70.3, I need to watch what this heat is doing to my body carefully, I can not afford to get burnt out(PUN Intended).

hamstrings, steroids, good workouts, and the "hoff"

2008-07-23T12:25:00.004-05:00

i finally went to the doctor. he prescribed a week of steroids, some muscle relaxers for bedtime, and an mri (which hasn't been done yet). the steroid, which is really just a souped up anti-inflamatory is really helping, and i am feeling alot better already. i need to make stretching a part of my training, seriously for once and for all.

last night, i had to do a litl=tle track workout, 3 mile warmup, 3x1 mile at 6min pace, with 1 min walk inbetween, and a mile cool down. nothing serious, nothing too hard, just getting it done. i was a little nervous about it, because of my legs, but it turned out to be a great workout, and exactly what i needed. i needed to feel that kick at the end of a workout, that didnt feel like my leg was falling off, i needed to feel somewhat normal again. for the first time in about 6 weeks, i felt like a runner again.

i took today off from work to get a nice 2.5 hour ride with intervals in. this will be another power test to base my zones off, so it was more important then work. nasty weather here as Dolly nails southern Texas, so i might be dodging thunderstorms during my ride.

if the weather hold off, i am going to get a open water swim in too, but that does not look promising. timberman is in less than a month, i need to get my legs ready for thoe hills on the bike, and my run legs back in gear.

in other news, i was "hoffed" at work yesterday....i left my computer unlocked, walked away from my desk, and this is what was locked on my background for the remainder of tuesday.....

This is Bad A$$

2008-07-16T10:26:00.001-05:00

i actually stole this from one Desiree Ficker's website, but you need to see it. Click below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY

Providence 70.3 race report

2008-07-14T13:48:00.003-05:00

Let's go over a little race report that i would give to the race director, as well as go in to my day. I arrived friday with Trent and Andrew, excited and full of nerves, especially because of my hamstring issues. We got to the expo for packet pickup right before it closed, and it was pretty painless other than the fact i forgot my USAT card, then it was expired, then they gave me the wrong chip. needless to say, i was there for a while. But, the beautiful IRONMAN girls where a lot of help. ;) But, they did have some wierd radio system set up for packet pickup that seemed a bit ridiculous, and just an uneccasary step in the process.

The next day, we went to spin out or legs on the run course, and wow. We saw "the hill" for the first time. There is literally a sign posted on the way down this thing for trucks, thats says 7% grade on it! it was also the same hill used when the x-games visited providence, they used it for the ice luge! bottom line, it was a bitch of a hill. andrew was having some shifting problems with his campi set, so we went back to the expo, and there was literally a 2 hour line for packet pick up. i have never seen that before. people did not look happy.

trent and i were staying near the start, so we packed up our essentials and put the rest in andrews hotel room. we had to bring our bikes an hour and a half south to t1. the day before the race turned out to be a logistical nightmare, the people at ironman are going to need to make this a little easier or else i will not return. the day before a race should be relaxed and restful, not stressful and spent racing around.

we got our t1 settled, and andrew left to go back to providence to sleep for a few hours and catch a bus back to the start in the morning (which you need to pay exra for??) the point to point race is cool, however it needs to be refined, especially for the pre-race logistics

race morning, was a 3:45 wake up, and a two mile walk to the sart, luckily we hitched a ride about half way there. i literally had a two hour wait to start the race, so i hung out with kieth (the man of shannon - who was also racing). kieth also took my stuff back to providence instead of it hanging out in the back of a truck all day with everyone elses. thanks kieth!

race start: i was in the last wave, which sucks. the start was fun. a beach start into the waves. i don't know what i did in the swim, but i did not have it. i guess i did not push it hard enough, i got out slightly under 29, not a good swim for me. for me to have a good swim, i need to attack early and settle in, i didn't do that. overall i did like the swim course, a great, little choppy out and back ocean swim.

bike course: there where some nice hills, not a mooseman, but it was hilly. a point to poiint is nice, once you are done toting your crap aound the day before. it was a beautiful scenic tour of ri as well, until the last few miles in the ghetto. there where a lot of left turns, and a lot of traffic, and a lot of bikers. so it was not the safest course either. ironman! - spray paint the potholes! all the money that was made last weekend, maybe they can afford the spray paint next year. for the first ten miles my glutes where killing me, then i finally loosened up for a while, and around half way, my left glute totally locked up. i rode through it, and the pain subsided eventually. my hamstrings did not bother me that much on the bike. i never felt great on the bike, i never got in my groove, probably because i havent trained on hills in a while.

run course: i screwed out of transition, but about .5 mile into the run, "the hill" occurs, and then again on the second loop. the run course really did not have more than half a mile of flat, so it was going to hurt regardless, but my hamstrings could not take it. they cramped up a few times during the race, once really bad. going up the monster the second time, my right hammie cramped up to the point of no return. i had to stop and stretch for a while, and then walk some. it sucked. i clocked the slowest run of my half ironman career, 12 minutes behind my usual pace. it was hilly, but that does not add up to 12 minutes. the slowest half ironman since i started this as well.

the race is cool, needs a little logistical help, but a good race. it is challenging, not a draft fest on the bike, and a very hard run.

i ended up 5th in my age group, and 45th overall, but very unhappy about my performance. i need to get this hamstring situation under control. doctor visit this week.

huge congrats to janda, 6th overall, and fastest run split of the day! his time of 4:02 on that course is proof of what he is capable of this season.

Providence 70.3 Pre-Brief

2008-07-08T13:58:00.005-05:00

Well, here we are again, in the midst of taper. Lots of extra time and that unusual feeling, energy. I have been excited about this race in particular for a long time. It is the inaugural year, my first A race, and an hour and a half from home.

I have been having some hamstring/piriformis/glute - mostly hamstring problem for about two weeks now, and hating it. It has destroyed a few bike rides, some runs, and kept me pretty uncomfortable. I pray it loosens up by Sunday.

Does life pass you by as you train?

Lately, i have re-realized again, that I have no life, relative to people my age. Due to work, and training hours i uphold, it is hard to want to go out and do normal people things.

Relationships for one, i don't have time or energy to even think about getting involved. cop out? maybe, but i have a goal and nothing is going to get in the way of it.

i wouldn't trade it for anything. my definition of life, or what will at the end of mine, define my life will hopefully be more than the norm.

the beauty of triathlon, and the life of an endurance athlete, that is a huge part of it, even if it is usually a subcontious part of it, is the fact that day in and day out, we push the envelope, we push the buttons of what society tells us to be, we test ourselves, we see how far we can take something.

back to the race, janda ricci-munn(coach), trent stephens, andrew strong, nick dufresne, and amanda russel will all be headed to RI race day. good luck.

Necessary?

2008-06-18T08:56:00.003-05:00

I am getting ovar a nasty chest virus, still hacking up small volks-wagons, but i have decided to stop taking my codine filled cough syrup, because...

I left work yesterday, emotionally drained, pretty miserable, but physically ready to throw down some miles. I had a track workout to complete. Not insane, a 3 mile warmup and 8x400's at 76-77 seconds, with a little cool down. Not difficult, but something i need to be ready for. The codine got to me, and Jasper and I slept till 2000, passed out. I am sure that was good for my illness, but I woke up a little pissed. I finally got to the park at 2030, and I sat in my car with bed sores, and just mentally focused on my present work situation, wondering what i was doing there.

I never really think about it, I just do it. I am rather conditioned to training, double sessions, hours of putting fitness in a bank, a bank that will always be there, even when i'm broke. With work and other things having me question and prioritize the real importances in my life, work truely not being one of them, I am in a stale status. With one constant in my life, triathlon. As i sat in my car, i realized i didn't have a choice, but to lace up and put one foot in front of the next.

When i cruised through my last 400 in 77 seconds at 2130, the air was so thick i could see it under the street lamps, i was dripping sweat to the point that i resembled getting out of a pool, my legs finally felt loose, my chest was almost clean od flegm, my eyes were open, the endorfins slowly kicked in, and i realized that training is a necessary part of my life.

MooseMan - Post Race Report (Kinda')

2008-06-12T09:01:00.004-05:00

I landed in Boston's Logan Airport late Friday night, and actually did not end up putting my head on the pillow until close to 2am. Either way, I was happy to be home in Gloucester, and waking up there is a gift even without sleep. I came down stairs the next morning to a nice warm day. My Mother was telling me how hot it was, and unbearable the heat was going to be. Little did I know, there was a heat wave in the North East! It felt like a Texas winter to me, so i was psyched. The thought of all these poor new englanders overheating the following day on the race course, and me wanting arm warmers was spectactular.

So, my mother and I head for the hills. Literally we took off for the foot hills of the white mountains, and one of the top ten cleanest lakes in the US - Newfound Lake. We arrived at the race site around 1500, after a short detour to the outlets(i was with my mom). I have done Lonestar, and Longhorn 70.3's so I was not surprised that the Jordan's and their awesome team(Endorfun) put together an awesome venue. If you ever have a chance to do one of their races(Lonestar(TX), Mooseman(NH), Timberman(NH), or Longhorn(TX), do it. No other race director can compete with Endorfun.

I picked up my number, made sure my bike was working, and took off for the little lake cottage that I rented for 99$! I was nervous about how that was going to turn out, but it was actually perfect. On the way there, we stopped and had an enormous turkey dinner(not sure if that was smart, but it was good, not to be repeated). I settled down for a few hours sleep, and the tryptophan helped that endeavor.

I woke up Sunday, pleased that I didn't have to wear a sweatshirt to the race( for New England even in the summer this is rare). I got there, got warmed up, donned the wetsuit, and headed for the frigid, but beautiful waters. I had been a little nervous about Mooseman, 1- the sizeable climbs that were on both the bike and run course, and 2- i had a pretty bad cough for the past two weeks. I felt okay during my high end shake outs the previous week, so I had some comfort in that.

Time to swim! The elite wave took off first, and I hung on to whom must have been Nick Dufresne for about 300 yards. But, I was not hanging on to his dolphin feet. Then, shit suddenly hit the fan, my goggles were filled with cold northern water, wearing contacts, i got a little nervous and flustered, because I could not sight. So, I settled in with a pack, because I could see underwater, and I could focus on there kicks. Triathlon is funny, no matter what happens in a race, I always learn something. I have had a big problem with drafting in the swim. I know how effective it is, but everytime I do it, its effectiveness scares me into going alone. I always feel like im going to slow, so I get out of the draft. Mooseman was the exception, I couldn see, and had no choice but to stay with that little pack. So a pretty easy swim brought me into transition at 26 minutes, and out in 5th place.

But, the cough caught up with me(not the way i thought it would, but it did). I think the cold water kept it at bay, but i needed to let one out. I produced a deep booming cough and when i opened my eyes and looked up, i was headed for the woods. Luckily i rode into a ditch, but i went over the handlebars, and landed on a tree stump, then the top tube slammed on my manly nether region. it happened so quick, before i knew it, there were volunteers and cops helping me out of my hole. The cop got some of the dirt out of my eyes, and i made sure my bike was ok, and lost alot of my nutrition in the forest. Pretty shooken up, dirty, and bleeding, i got back on the bike, but in 16th place. I am not sure how much time I lost. as the endorfuns eased up, it became apparent that I was pretty banged up on my left knee, and every crack in that new england road, i felt on my boys. It was pretty uncomfortable. I wanted to stop multiple times, but kept with it, because i knew i could run some people down in the heat. i got in off the bike, and began the run. about 3 miles in i pulled the flag, my left knee couldn't take it.

My first DNF, but also my first crash in a race. I am dissapointed, but I did get to see my family, catch up with tri-nuts from the norhteast (Amanda, Pat, Nick) This will just fuel my fire for Providence in July. I went to the doctor about the cough that caused the crash on tuesday, and I had a 100 degree fever. So for now I am doped up on antibiotics, and some crazy cough syrup. I am pretty fit, my splits weren't bad considering the crash. I'll be back.

Mooseman half iron

2008-06-06T19:23:00.000-05:00

I promise ill catch up and blog soon. But for now I thought you would all appreciate that I almost forgot this. It would have been 56 miles out of the saddle!
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Boston bound!

2008-05-09T16:55:00.000-05:00

My bike and me are outta here!
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Back to Gloucester

2008-05-07T10:03:00.002-05:00

Umm, yea! Home sweet home. This is where I'll be for the next two weeks. I will be chillin with the family, at the beach, training my ass off, and eating the best food in the world.

I was planning on bringing Jasper, but there is no way I can afford it, so the pooch won't be able to plunge into the atlantic just yet.

I hope to get some miles in with Janda as well, while I am home. I will be laying out a solid couple weeks for Mooseman while i am home, which is good, because I might get a re-taste for new england hills, compared to my texas tortilla flat ass roads now.

I opted out of Boise for a couple reasons. Yes, I eventually want to race up there, but Mooseman offers another trip home, as well as a for-shizzle bad ass race put on by EndorFun.

My little Brother Kieran graduated from HS, and my little niece gets christened while i am home as well. I have missed so many things over the past few years, and I can't wait to be able to be home for a few important days.

Lonestar - Galveston HIM - Race Report

2008-04-03T13:18:00.003-05:00

Lonestar Half IM came and went, quicker than I expected. I finally arrived at packet pickup around 1805(five minutes late!). Nevertheless, I got my packet, checked out the scene, ate some grub, and went to bed.

0430 – The alarm sounds. “%#?$” I totally forgot what it is like to wake up so early, so that I can put myself through numerous hours of pain and mental testing. I brought Jasper out to take a leak before departure for the race, and it was windy. Not killer winds, but a consistent presence. Not what I wanted to feel as I mentally prepared.

Arriving at Moody Gardens, and trying to find a parking place, I ended up planting myself next to the Mavic guys. I met Jason Vivion, the local ORBEA rep, and an integral part in getting my new ride. Thanks again Jason!

I warmed up, used the facilities, got my transition ready, and was on the pier in perfect timing. This rarely happens to me! I plunged into Galveston Bay, and not bad for March.

0730 – The race begins. I felt awesome in the water and held onto the lead man until we cut separate lines, his was better, damn. The swim felt like it was never going to end, and the collective answer was because it was long, I don’t think one person broke 28 minutes! So I was happy to get out with a nice cushion on the field, and looking at the results not too far savage swimmer Chris Sustala. I have found it is harder to swim fast in the front empty elite waves, when you are swimming with hundreds of bodies it is way more motivating. I also need a new wetsuit, mine of 5 years has shrunk beyond the limits I can push it.

Running out of the water, awesome to hear Adam formerly of Jack and Adam’s of Austin, screaming the play by play. I grabbed my bike, thought, “damn this thing is light”, and went on.

The word for my 2008 season is “cycle”! The weakest of my three, is something I will work continuously to get better, faster, and stronger. I have and I will press on. I knew it would be a matter of time before the like of Mark Brooker would come screaming by. I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t happen for a while. We did not have a true tail or head wind, just a bunch of cross wind, which made for a windy day, but it could have been worse. I grimaced the entire ride pushing and pushing, almost trying to prove that I know how to ride a bike. Seeing Sugar Cycles out on the race course was awesome, and motivating. Thanks guys! Turning back down towards Moody Gardens with the only tail wind for a half mile was a gift, I was moving and I was about to finish the bike course. I ended up averaging 23 mph, and not losing much time to the field. The ORDU is a stiff ride, and I feel like every watt goes directly to the drive train. I was in the aero position for 56 straight flat miles, and felt comfortable as ever. I finished the bike in 6th place.

Time to run. I definitely did not eat enough on the bike, I felt kind of hungry at the run start. My first 4 miles were druising at 530 pace, but then slowly I faded. It got pretty hot out there, and I gave it all I had. I pulled off a 1:23 run split.

Finishing the day in 4th place overall with a time of 4:21, and very content. It is only March, and I have a long season ahead. This race gave me a great benchmark of what I can achieve this season. Thanks to everyone for all there support out there.

In other news, we had some great performances out there this weekend: Kelly Carrington got 5th overall female with a new PR, John Robertson(I will get you one day) pulled of a 2nd Overall, Mark Brooker(Texas version of Norman Stadler) 5th Overall, Natilie Miller P.R., and Kathleen killed the Aquabike, but then got warm water :(. Last but definetly not least, TRIGREYHOUND had a great race surprising himself with his pace throughout. Congrats!

FACT: Kieth and Claire Jordan from EndorFun, the race directors for Lonestar, Longhorn, Timberman, and Mooseman are true professionals. No race can compete with them, they think of everything, and I would travel anywhere to do there racers.

Lonestar - Galveston HIM - PRE-RACE

2008-03-28T10:29:00.003-05:00

Well, the first race of the year is here. I am pretty surprised of how quickly it came, but nontheless it is here. My taper this week is going well. I am tired, achy, and I want to sleep. SO = Good taper. I think it is funny that when you reduce your training volume and intinsity extensively, you get more tired. Our bodies are so used to the beating and endless exhaustion that is parralleled with Triathlon.

I have not blogged in a while. A lot of stuff going on outside my tri life, unexpected and expected. So, I continued training, ofcourse, but unfortunately I have not been on top o the blogosphere.

I hope all of you racing this weekend, have a great day, and I wish you good luck.

I recently acquired a 2008 White Orbea Ordu with SRAM Red!! I will be racing on it this weekend. I have spent two weeks on it thus far, and I love the bike. It truly rolls, and its light, responsive carbon is almost as irresistible as how damn good it looks. I will get pictures up soon.

Texas wind

2008-03-02T10:45:00.003-06:00

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This weekend's long ride was long. One of the, if not most, windiest days I have ever encountered on the road. I would have rather of done 5 hours on a trainer than dealt with that wind! So, with a southerly wind, it made sence to head due south for an out and back, man. I soent the majority of the day way over my prescribed watts going 12.5 mph into a 25-30 mph head wind. I guss it made me stronger, but I was cursing Mother Nature at certain points.

I truly almost ended up getting blown off a bridge and falling directly into the Brazos River. The route, on a normal day, would be a great, safe, scenic, smooth ride throughout true Texas farm country. I am surprise Kathleen did not get blown over, being alot smaller than me!

My legs are feeling it, I'm a little windburn, and I think there is a tiny tumbleweed stuck in my right eye. It was a good day, and some great training, regardless.

For some sick reason, while I was driving back to town, I got the urge to do some yoga, and went directly to Joy Yoga, and did an hour. I didnt think I was going to be able to do it, because my legs were chewed up, but I did. Truely, it fealt great. It loosened me up, and I left there feeling fresh. Yoga is definitely something worth working into your schedule for any triathlete.

TIRED

2008-02-22T21:51:00.001-06:00

So tired! I'm done.
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This - It works

2008-02-19T22:50:00.004-06:00

So...About a year ago while I was working at Tri On the Run, I met Mandy, a local yoga instructor. She was trying to sell me on the whole yoga addition to my triathlon training, and she spilt her coffee. I told Mandy I would think about it, and months and months pass, as I continued to tell Mandy, I am thinking about it. She was very persistent about me trying this thing, and finally, lastnight I did.

The verdict is...She was wright(haha)....

After totally embaressing myself in front of the whole class, I can now tell you what I think about triathletes doing yoga. I am so tight, I can't even sit indian style, touch my toes, or perform the downward dog with flat feet. During the class, the instructor walked us through each pose, in to the correct form. I could not do any of it correct, but thankfully, she gave us an alternate pose. She continually said, if you can't fully get it, do this...then she showed us. "This" is what I did throughout the entire class. But, "this" worked.

First off, the flexability issues are totally adressed. Most runners don't stretch, let alone stretch enough. Yoga truly allows you to build your elasticity. Additionally, the leg strength gained is remarkable. It is equal! Triathletes, especially ones with leg length descrepancies(me), have compensation issues. So, some leg muscles go unattended, and even inflamed. I found that, my muscular leg weaknesses became so obvious during the session. So, allow me to work on this. This is going to help me with my strength descrepanicies and flexability.

Thank you Mandy, and JOY YOGA CENTER . Mandy teaches a class for runner's on Sunday Morning.

So, triathletes, get some yoga on!

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My Boy - Jasper

2008-02-19T22:48:00.001-06:00

Jasper is the man !

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Tendinitis Tendancy

2008-02-15T18:01:00.004-06:00

My achilis felt weird last sunday. Last sunday was also inventory day at Sugar Cycles. So I did spend the majority of the day on my tippy toes. I am sure that did not help.

Monday, masters was cancelled after about 800yds, due to some severe lightning(outdoor pool - texas). So, as i went out for my run, i felt real tight in my achilis. I ignored it. Do not ignore pain! A total rookie move, and i have been out of commision since monday. I have gotten some easy swims in, with one legged flip turns, and that is it. The Half Marathon in Austin has been cancelled by the JANDA . So, I will continue to ice, compress, anti-inflamatorize, incline, and rest. (RICE). Until he gives me the go, hopefully Monday. That will give me 6 weeks until Lonestar Half IM.

I was pretty upset about this, and the thought of cancelling a race, and not training, was and is a horrible mindset. I was given a different outlook by none other than Janda, "What's gonna happen when you get hit by a car riding your bike?" I thought about the fact that under different circumstance, I could be out for a long time, and possibly for good. He then said, "This is part of being a triathlete Liam."

I can not stress how important it is to have people in your triathlon life, that you can trust without question, and just do as your told. Triathletes are very intense strong people, and to be able to just listen, and do what someone says, is huge in this sport. To be able to talk to your coach, and know that he/she has been there before, and can guide you through it, is an amazing help.

In conclusion, even if your careful, you might get hurt, and when it happens, we must go against our style, and stay idle for a while. Find someone you can take advice from, without question.

Mental or Physical? Mental

2008-02-01T13:02:00.000-06:00

I got motivated to write about this topic after I commented on Kathleen's blog and ended up going on a tirade, eventually forcing myself off my soapbox. The topic is the mental fitness you need for triathlon on top of the already physically demanding sport. Not like differential equation or literary mental fitness, but mentally allowing your body to accept the pain.

I am of the belief that triathlon is 90% mental and 10% physical. People talk aot about talented athletes. Almost, passively saying that they could never achieve great sucess because they do not posess the natural born genetic gift of talent. i DISAGREE, I agree talent does have a factor in this sport, but i believe it lies in the mind not the body. The body will react to science, just like a race horses.

I know, I know. Everybody is thinking right now, racehorses are breed from long lines of racers. Remember Seabiscuit? He was not supposed to be a champion, because he lacked the genetical makeup of the typical thourough breed. But, horses are trained just like elite athletes, and fed a strict diet. If you ever get a close look at a race horse, there muscles are veined just like a triathletes.

Nutrition and training will make you stronger, but what makes you better and better, or even great is the mental portion that permits you to put your body through daily pain, wake up early, not have that second beer, get your workouts in, and deal with the lactic hot daggers in your legs at the end of a triathlon. It's all Mental. Horses lack reason, and they obey much better than any human I have met. Horses are instinctually born with the "lack" of mental wit to understand there is another option to running around in circles.

Take Bob, he knows working out is good for him, but sitting on his ass watching tv and eating Pop tarts is easier. (By the way, nothing against pop-tarts, i love them, i love the strawberry ones).

Horses don't know that sitting under a tree in the corner of the field is better. They do what they are told. This in lies the problem and the solution. Free will, wich we all posess. We, unlike the horse, can choose the easy route or the hard route. Triathletes, especially great ones, choose the harder one, because they are mentally strong.

So, It's All Mental! We posess that drive for more, and that obsessive desire to see what our bodies can do if we push it further and further. Mental Talent is where the magic happens.

Okay, there are still non believers out there, who think people are born with longer legs, that can run faster, or larger lats that easily develop, or giant quads that produce more poer on the bike. Yes people are different, but that is no excuse to sell yourself short before you attempted, I think people who do that may lack some mental talent, but physically similar to the rest of us.

"The defense calls witness Mr Arthur Lydiard to the stand.."

In actuality, Lydiard died in 2004 at the ripe age of 87, in Texas of all places. A New Zealander who is credited with starting the jogging craze in New Zealand and eventually the US, coaching tens of Olympic Medalist, and never refusing to coach anyone. He has been quoted as saying, "Champions are everywhere, all you need to do is train them properly." Everyone reading this blog, that is a triathlete, uses somewhat of the Lydiard System. He basically invented base, and periodization. He truly believed that with long slow distances anyone, anyone, anyone can get faster.

So, my conclusion: Anyone can achieve anything they set their mind to. The key words are anyone, anything, and mind. You need to set that mind, and not vary from that goal. The mental sacrifice, mental descipline, and mental motivation that is needed, is the real test.

Lydiard: "There are no shortcuts to the top!"

Okay, my soap box just broke.

Yes, I am still alive...And so is the Frog!

2008-01-27T11:08:00.000-06:00

Frog, what?

For some reason work has accelerated in the past few weeks. I am still trying to figure out why. I am not really complaining though, being busy is better for Liam. Idle is bad, I get a little distructive when i am idle. So, remaining busy and full of tasking keeps me out of trouble and too busy to worry about things I cant control.

Oh yea, the frog. I started a 8pmish late, dark, wet, and cold run. I was wearing my ipod, which i usually dont when i am running. As i began to accelerate, get into a rythm, and mindlessly chip away at the optionless 6 miles down crestwood near Memorial Park...i suddenly felt like i was tripping on something heavy. I looked down, and a 10 pound double fist sized bullfrog was being kicked off my left foot.

at first, the nanoseconds while i was trying to figure out what it was, i jumped. like ten feet. i dont like snakes, but as the first hay-second ended, i realized it was not a snake, landed, and the frog hopped away. we were both fine, and we both continued on our nightly journey.

what are the chances of that? strange things happen during triathlon training and racing. we can all agree that these strange, wonderful, unique, awakening moments is a big reason why we wake up at the crack of dawn, or stay up late to put ourselves through an amount of physical pain day in and day out. but, there are so many other reasons, and if we could pin point them all, we wouldn't be blogging. so, with that said. i need to get on my bike.

p.s. Jane, thank you for another amazing epicurean masterpiece, and Trigreyhound, it was great to see you again. (My hyperlinks are not working?)

Train hard.

Cubicle purgatory turned aerobic session !!

2008-01-03T08:32:00.000-06:00

My new chair! I have been meaning to do this for years....

It is definatly working, i am so sore, there is no way i am going to last the whole day. Triathletes everywhere should be using this, for core strenght and balance building.

In other news - it froze lastnight in Houston, and frozen lizards were raining from the heavens(trees). Nasty.

Taylor Time

2007-12-27T09:35:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve at Sugar Cycles was alot better than we all thought it would be. Full time Barista. and Part Time mud machine(mtbr) Shaun Taylor showed up with a nice surprise...

The crazed and caffienated Cannuck lugged 100+ lbs of espresso beaned paradise down to the shop and made everyone a perfect Latte.

You can't buy this....

Literally.

Shaun's been hooking me up with his home roasted beans for weeks now, and they are truly 90% art and 10% science. But, to enjoy a cup actually espresso style, not dripped coffee, it is a whole new world. The boys at Sugar truly appreciated your beaned visit.

Christmas Day Ride...

It was supposed to be a three hour epic effort cruise through the Sugar Cane fields of Sugarland, TX. (haha) It turns out, we got about an hour in with some sprint stuff.

After the ride, I headed over to Shuan's igloo(they shipped it down south from calgary). I got the opportuntiy to partake in a true Maple Leaf Candian Christmas. It was awesome. Shaun's wife, Doreen, and her parents cooked up a storm, and I literally had 6 pounds of turkey dinner. The only strange part was they offered maple syrup instead of cranberry sauce. Oh well, there Canadian! It was really nice, and thank you so much for adopting me and letting me be canadian for the day.

Best triathlon finish ever...

2007-12-20T08:03:00.000-06:00

You need to check this out. ITU is not the most popular stuff amongst alot of the long distance triathletes, but this is....

Amazing

That should motivate you during your next interval session on the track when you want to call it a day!

mia fascia and you

2007-12-19T09:18:00.000-06:00

after months and months of putting it off, i finally got a massage. and i even scheduled another one for january! this is something i need to do. with my l-5/s-1 herniation in my spine, i have some weird tendancies that my body has developed, and it causes an acute amount of pain daily in my left leg and lower back. of course, training leaves my whole body a little sore, so most of the time it is masked by volume and intensity.

so, i arrived at cheryl's massage works looking forward to the relief, but not realizing the amount of good pain i was about to endure. her perfection of mia fascia is amazing. granted i could have bit through the massage table at times, i felt great afterwards. after the massage i rode easy for 90 minutes, then went to masters swimming. ouch. ouch. ouch. ouch. my shoulders were killing me as i swam. when i woke up this morning i felt as if i had just raced a half ironman. lastnight i even pee-d a ecto-cooler green! there is a crazy amount of toxins in our bodies. These massages truly prevent injury and allow us to be refurbished for the next day. the mia fascia really hurts, but is so neccesary. so go do it. email me and ill give cheryls contact info.

training is going very well. december will end with me averaging about fifteen hours a week. i feel as though this will be vital in preparing me for what lies ahead in january and beyond.

Gradual Build and other thoughts...

2007-12-14T18:38:00.000-06:00

So far, so good. It feels so good to be back training with a plan. I feel human again. Right now, and for the rest of december, i am simply just getting some fitness back. I am concentrating on running right now, with a 6 days a week regimen. Biking only 6 hours, and swimming about 8k. I also am doing my offseason resistence training routine, which feels great. I pulled something in my quad this past week doing squats, but it has finally loosened back up.

Sugar has two 2008 Specialized S Works Transitions on the floor, and they are pretty tight. So fly down to good ole Tejas and get you one. Another beautiful sight is the 08' Orbea Ordu. The new flat black/carbon frame is beautiful, truly a Pyranese work of art! And light as air.

I am so excited for this upcoming season. After a few weeks of down time, and eating, it became apparent that my life revolves around triathlon. Not just racing, every bead of sweat leading up to it.

Which brings me to life. I need to decide whether i am going to continue doing what i do for my full time job or not. This is difficult, because it confortable, i know how to do it, and i get enough time to train/race(usually), but i am not in love with it. I am a firm believer of loving what u do, so your moneymaker is not work(in the bas sence of the word). So, these next few weeks well be tough making this decision. But, once i make it, there well be a sweet breeze of freedom in the certainty or uncertainty of it.

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season. Be safe.

2008 Begins

2007-12-07T07:38:00.001-06:00

Training for 2007 begins with a slow base build up in december. It is good to be back in the saddle. More to follow.

Gloucester Bound !!!

2007-11-21T12:24:00.000-06:00

Happy thanksgiving everyone! This is my favorite holiday. It is all about the family. I will be flying out tommorow morning from Houston to Laguardia Airport in New York, and then on to dinner with the family in NY. After a couple of days of eating, drinking, sleeping, and eating, we will head north to Gloucester, MA. I am so excited, I haven't been home in 6 months! I get to be home for about ten days. Ihope to get some good training in during the week, but it will be alot colder than Texas.

Lastnight I ate about 6 pounds of chinese food. I feel great today.

Anyobody doing the turkey trot tommorow?

November

2007-11-20T10:54:00.000-06:00

November rocks. Not only is it my birthday, has the best holiday(Thanksgiving), the best weather, apple picking(if i was home in Boston), you can wear a shirt while running(in Houston), Jasper loves the weather too, Marathon training(not for me) has started so the park is packed, etc. etc..

The one bad thing about November is the sun sets too early, so many evening bike rides have been ending with deathly dark rides. I have been doing what I want for a few weeks now, and it is getting old. It is a little fun to be able to ride because i feel like it, run because i want to, and eat what and when i want to all the time. But, this is going to get old very fast. It is a necessary evil to refurbish the mental and physical drive to train and race triathlons hard for eleven months, and it is beginning to get old. I miss the pain in my legs when i go to bed.

This obsession we like to call a passion is triathlon.

70.3 World Championships - Clearwater 2007

2007-11-12T18:48:00.000-06:00

First of all, watching a triathlon, especially one like that is flipping motivating. To be able to watch that at the beginning of my off season is truly a gift. A gift, because it will motivate me. I will remember the swim splits people were dishing out, that will help me take the plunge into cold pools(my least favorite part of triathlon), I will remember the pained look on peoples faces as they came in off the 56 mile bike course, and i will never forget how it gets hot as soon as the run starts. I will carry these thoughts through 2008 until I arrive ready in Clearwater. Every day counts.

Houston, Sugar Cycles', and the Tri Commune Senior Board Member Kelly Carrington had an amazing day. She left nothing out there, and truly had a great day. On the second loop, she ran by me without me seeing her, because she is so short/and so fast, and said, "Liam, my feet are numb, is that bad?" I assured her it was normal, and she whipped up a 1:37 half, and took 24 minutes off her best, for a new P.R. of 5:04:04 !! Damn. Congratulations Kelly!

My coach, Janda Ricci-Munn, did it. His last amateur race, and he took the overall amateur title at the World Championships posting a 3:58:01 ! Absolutely unbelievable. I have never watched his race before, to see him tread through with a determined pain on his face was awesome. No computer on his bike, no watch on his wrist, Janda knows only one speed, all out. I watched the whole race with his girlfriend Michelle, and we had a great day getting sun-burnt, trying to figure out splits(like we had never done it before), and crossing our fingers. Trust is everything with a coach. Going into a race, nothing is more important than trusting your fitness. I know a lot of triathletes that before every race freak out, you need to know your fitness is there. Trusting your coach (note-a lot of variables go into a good coach), all along the season, is huge. I have always trusted Janda, and after watching him race, I really know why.

Life is experiences, period. Experiences without the people we meet along the way are usually empty in comparison. Triathlon has enabled me to meet so many great people.

A couple years ago, during the cancelled 2005 USAT National Championship in Kansas City, MO I met Shannon and Keith Porges. They are from Sharon, MA, so fortunately our lives intertwine ever so often and we get to see eachother. Shanon raced this past weeekend, with a new P.R. OF 5:16! It was great to see her and Keith during the weeknd. Keith, thanks for the Sox shirt, your the man.

Andrew Strong, a Houston Lawyer, and full time triathlon savage was also competing this weekend. I met Andrew on a weekend trip to Michigan to compete in the Steelhead 70.3. This was after Andrew did IM France, before he did IM Louisville and qualified for KONA, then did Clearwater. Andrew is not only a machine, he is a great guy(And his wife, Denise rocks), and it has been great getting to know him and looking forward to sitting on his wheel all winter.

The world is small, but the triathlon world is smaller.
We met Todd and Diane at the hotel this weekend, Todd who did IM Florida(sub 9:40) 6 days before clearwater 70.3(4:32!). Todd and Diane had met my good friend Trent Stephens a week earlier in P-City. Small world. We got to spend some time with them over the weekend, and they are simply put great people. Todd is also crazy(certifiable). I am not talking about doing an IM, then a half six days later, he pays people to drop him off a helicopter in the winlderness so he can snowboard. Yes, certifiable. Get this, they live in Coast Guard City, USA(Grand Haven, MI). I hope to get up there and hang. His wife's accent is awesome, "don't you know!"

A great weekend, and a great season. Clearwater is a great venue and a beautiful place to have a race, but if they don't do something creative to stop cheaters from drafting, I believe the event will continue to lose all its credability. I hope they do something, because it is a problem. I wish drafters(I am hesitant to call them triathletes/athletes) got disqualified for drafting. It is the one part of the sport that is incomprehensible. Triathlon is a test, on ourselves, on what we can achieve by puching our bodies to the limit. Drafting is the antithesis of the sport.

OFF-SEASON-BLUES- ; (

2007-11-06T12:11:00.000-06:00

This past week has been strange. Working out when i want, and doing what I want? I dont like that. Eating what I want, and when I want? I dont really like that either.

It is kind of like my body is doing everything wrong right now, because it can. I'll allow it to eat a footlong tootsie roll for breakfast, or not run when I want.
It is almost like when your a kid, and your teacher leaves the classroom for a minute, the place turns into a circus.

My ocd crazy triathlon - ing self is taking a few weeks off in order to refurber and come back strong, and my body is going ape over it.

It is a necessary evil in this sport to take time off and RELAX. I firmly believe that to be true, but when your body is so used to it, our usual coping methods are out the window, and we turn to tootsie rolls for an outlet!

I have learned over the past week, that the traditional form of relaxing(lounging) does not really work with me. I do not idle well. I am more relaxed with a high heart rate, and sweat dripping down my face.

In other news, the Patriots are still undefeated, the Red Sox are still the World Champions, Boston College is 8-1, and the first slot for the US Olympic Triathlon Men's Team went to Bostonian Jarod Shoemaker. With that said, all bets are on Bostonian(GloucesterMan) Janda Ricci Munn this saturday in Clearater, FL to have a great performance.

I will be over there rooting Janda, Kelly Carrington, Shannon Porges, and Andrew Strong along the race course as I eat Tootsie Rolls.

I am bored, it might be easier to keep traning.

Triathlon Season 2007 Comes to an End

2007-10-29T17:59:00.000-05:00

Amazing. This season began last year after Thanksgiving, and a little more than 11 months later, and it is time to reflect. One word, Bittersweet. As I lie on my bed with sore legs from yesterdays Half Iron in Conroe, TX and write this blog, I see people out the window running towards the park - My home for the past 330 days. I feel like I owe it to the 3 mile route around Memorial Park to make my easy 6 mile Monday appearance. Pavlov was right(a lil' shot out to Crazy Jane, M.D. who did her first half ironman yesterday), I am totally conditioned to training, but it runs deeper than that. As the sun gets lower, and begins to amber over the trees, I feel anxious, because my workout hasn't been done yet. There is a certain amount of withdrawal happening as seasons wind down. The daily escape, I call training is not there.

I woke up this morning, literally drank a pot of Kona Coffee, brought the dogs out like three times, cleaned my entire room (if you know me well, that is a task), checked my email, checked it again, went to John's house, went to lunch at Barnaby's with Chau

and the dogs, went to petsmart, brought the dogs out again, napped, sat as my mind wandered into fast moving circles searching for a purpose. So, I look back on these eleven months and realize throughout the withdrawal, anxiety, purposelessness, there is a huge grateful sense of absolute fortune. Life is Good.

2007 began in 2006 for me. Janda and I devised a plan, not only was I excited, I was thrilled to be working with him again after taking a year off. As I lifted and began to build a base in the "cool" Texas winter. My first race goal was set for Half Ironman California 70.3 on March 31, and it was a long, cool, and windy winter preparing for it. I tuned up with a 13th overall at the Houston Rodeo 10k, and was very happy. I have a distinct memory of doing a five hour ride on a Sunday morning last winter out in Katy, TX with John R, Gary Z, and Kurt G. It was 36 degrees and raining at the start and the sun had not popped up yet. I figured being a sailor, a coastie, and a GloucesterMan made me tough, I was wrong. I will never forget the looks on their faces as we hit head wind after head wind. We stopped at a gas station after a couple hours, I remember eating a strawberry pop-tart, fig newton, a powerbar, and a nestle chocolate milk. Haha, we also got grocery bags to put our wet feet in, thats when John told me he had an extra pair of foot covers in the car, thanks. Mornings like that will stay with you forever. It stayed with my legs in California.

After a successful 70.3, we transitioned into short course and aimed towards nationals in Oregon. A couple weeks before Nationals I took the overall at my first triathlon, Tejas Tri, then traveled north to Portland, OR and got humbled. After receiving a slot a few weeks later to ITU Worlds Short Course in Germany, the short course prep continued. I threw in another 70.3 in the middle, in Steelhead (Michigan), and had a stellar run. Work got in the way, and Germany became a missed opportunity and Long Course became the goal. Refurbished with excitement for long course training, I began to prepare for Longhorn Half Iron in Austin, TX and try for another three weeks later in Conroe at Iron Star. Longhorn was a success, and IronStar was good, but still a little fatiqued from Longhorn.

The wednesday before the race, the temperature dropped in tx, to the point where leggings and spandex were a must. Race morning was 48 degrees! Mind you Longhorn reached a heat index of 105 three weeks earlier. I was not ready for that.

After plunging into the choppy water, I realized it was not going to be an easy swim with poor sighting and choppy waters. I stopped a couple of times to clean my goggles and figure out where I was. I got out of the water at a lil over 28 minutes and was a bit shook up by the rockin and rollin, so my t-1 was longer than usual. Wetsuits are not easy to get off when you can't feel your toes. The cold air was beter than a cup of coffee when I got on my bike, but proved to keep me cool the majority of the windy and shaded ride. I spent alot of my summer traveling to the race site and doing long, hot, sweaty, painful rides in those hills. My legs were maybe still tired from longhorn, or they just would not warm up. I did not have an edge on the bike at all, and lost some time during the ride. I got off my bike at t-2 and 36 seconds later, I was running down the road. I really wanted to run to warm up, ha ha. I felt pretty good, but my legs felt heavy throughout. Nevetheless, I ended up with the fastes run of the day with a 1:22, on a decievingly (not flat) run course. I was happy, but I was sore. I didn't feel like I had my edge about me, but I left alot in Austin 3 weeks pior. I finished up with a 4:30:19, and in 4th place overall, 2nd amamteur and I won my age group. As I milled about the finishers area, I realized my season was done.

A huge kudos to my partner in crime, Chris Sustala(see below). Realizing that his (not yet arrived) twins are soon going to be occupying most of his training time, he laid it all out at Iron Star. With a 25 minute swim! 2:30 bike, and nailed the run of his season at 1:31 to finish with a PR of 4:33. Awesome job!

The races are the culmination of all the miles in between, but lets not forget that the volume of miles leading up to performing are where the majority of the memories are kept. Those memories literally make up our lives. If your training 20-25 hours a week with a full time job, there is not much more time for anything else, especially if you own a two year old yellow lab. I would be lying if I said I don't do this for the races, because I love competing, but I also love training. Waking up at 0500 on a Saturday in August, when it is still 90 degrees to go hit up the hills for four hours, or running late at work and having to get your 8 mile tempO run in at 1130 at night, or swimming in a cold pool. These are the internal things that make us stronger, but the people we share these moments with, make us better and deeply bonded. Earthlings don't understand why we live this way, and thats fair, because I don't know how they live the way they do.

Speaking of Aliens - - - - What planet is this from?

The planet of no fashin police, or Lousiana ?

Someone turned the oven off!!!

2007-10-24T08:46:00.000-05:00

I have woken up all week to a cool morning, enjoying my coffee in the front yard with the dogs basking in the fall weather. Houston does not offer much for a fall, but this week is glorious. More to come later on my last race - iron star prep.

Longhorn Tri - Recap

2007-10-08T20:49:00.000-05:00

They even had cows at the finish!! (Sorry "Longhorns")

The Longhorn Triathlon Festival was a good time. We rolled into Austin on Friday afternoon, and hit the expo. I was wearing my Buffalo Springs 70.3 Race t-shirt from 2006, and Mike Greer(Race Director) thanked me and gave me the finisher shirt from the 07’ race. I’m not sure if I can wear it, I didn’t do the race this year, but maybe b/c the RD gave it to me, I can. It’s a cool shirt. We picked up our packets with the free rice a roni, and headed to feed the belly. After dinner, I camped out on Jason’s Mom’s floor until reveille at 0430, and I slept like a puppy. Thank you Jason and your Mom.

Saturday Morning was the Olympic Distance and the Sprint Race. I was excited to be a spectator, because I have never watched a triathlon before. It was weird being on the sideline, and I wanted to race bad, but it was also fun to watch my friend’s race. Trent “The Intimidator” Stephens had a great race with a 2nd Overall at the sprint. Kelly Carrington and Chris Sustala, battled the tough Olympic distance, and finished with great times and overall places. The rest of the day was good, but it was tough being on my legs in the sun all day, and I really wanted to take a nap. That never happened. Then I got bit by a fire ant on my left foot right where the collar of my shoe sits, I was pissed, as it swelled up. Finally I got a shower in, and headed to Macaroni Grill and ate 5 loaves of bread, and a bowl of pasta. It was fantastic. But, I felt really tired, and almost nervous that I hadn’t rested enough the day before the race. I barely made it into bed before passing out at 930.

I did not want to wake up the day of the race, I was sleepy. Thank god Lisa dragged me out of bed. Out the door, gas station for gatorade and coffee, and we were there. As we arrive, the race site was bustling. People everywhere, dogs all over the place, they really did a great job on the venue. Running around getting finding sun block before the start was a memory i have. Thank god i found some, because the sun definately came out.

Im the one on the top left, who looks like hes wasting alot of energy trying to fly out of the water

As I waded in the 85 degree water, without a wetsuit, i felt like i was harry potter being pulled down to the bottom of the lake by savage plants, the hydrilla was crazy. It was truly nasty, but the hydrilla faded away after the first buoy. The swim felt long, and there were alot of people in the water, seeing that i was in the 5th wave. The concessus was that, the swim was long. I got out of the water a hair over 29 minutes, and ran up the hill to transition. That hill was such a slap in the face.

T1-I was in and out, and on the course. Immediatly, I felt good on the bike. I knew it was a long, hilly ride(57miles), so I paced myself ringing in 10 mile markers every 24-25 minutes feeling good. I was so excited, because I thought I was going to ride a sub 2:30 bike split, but the last five miles were up hill, and it didn't happen. It was a great bike course, with a single loop. I injested 6 gels, and my stomach was doing good. Climbing the last hill into transition, I was thoroughly sick of riding, and ready to run. I dismounted a lil' over 2:33, and was happy. I came into T2 in 60th place! I was so happy with my bike split I forgot I had to run a half marathon. I was the only bike on the rack!

Then, the race began. The sun came out around mile 50 on the bike, and it really started to cook. This became the hardest run I have ever done. The two loop run course was made up of hills, hills, and more hills, not to mention no shade. It was a 5k on the road, then a 5k on a dry trail, then do it again. There was no way to get a rythm, it was pretty torturous. I thought I would easily break 4:30, which was my goal, but I faded as the run went on, and could not keep a pace going up the last grassy hill, which was more like stadium steps. As I rounded the turn into the uphill finishing shoot, I heard Adam from Jack and Adam's in Austin announce, 15th across the line! It didn't really sink in, because I wanted it to be over so bad, but I had started twenty minutes back.

And, I was done. Absolutely done, so went straight to the medical tent. As I hobbled to the tent, Phillip(Owner and Operator of Sugar Cycles) grabbed my wrist, looked at my watch, and said,"U went 4:34?", I looked down, and said, "No, probably 4:33", Phillip then told me, "The winner went 4:30!" I was exstatic, but truly delerious, and couldn't talk.

I ended up running a hair over 1:27 on that brutal course, and was okay with that. It was the second fastes run of the day, so Ill take it, and a total time of 4:33 and change. I got Second Place Overall, and 1st Place Amateur. At the awards ceremony, they pointed out that I was not a Pro. I smiled.

A big thanks to Phillip from Sugar for helping us all out this weekend. And my coach, Janda, thank you for all you do to get me stronger and more confident in this never ending endeavor, triathlon.

Austin bound, and other thoughts...

2007-10-05T09:49:00.000-05:00

time to go to austin and get ready for the longhorn triathlon festival, especially the half ironman on sunday. i am excited for the weekend and the race. many houstonian tri-freaks will be enroute to the city of rock n' roll and hippies today. with the olympic and sprint distances tommorow, followed by the UT V. OU game and post race party, i can't wait to actually watch a triathlon and relax for a day!!

then, ill probably eat an entire pizza and get ready for sunday.

i was really sore in the beginning of the week from cinco, but i feel loose and rested now. the course is a hilly one, and there should be some great competition(especially being in austin), so it should be good.

recently in outside magazine, eight time world champion surfer, Kelly Slater said this regarding an all-encompassing life obsessed with competition,

"Being in that competitive head-space for so long - it can kind of take you away. If you get too consumed by it, you don't always care about people the way you should. It's kind of ironic, that what's driving you can also be the thing you need to heal"...

that pretty much describes most triathletes, especially ones (most of us) that this has become our lives. there is something easy about masticistically running yourself to the ground during a race, because its easier then dealing with ourselves. physical pain is almost freedom from a wandering mental race. im not a total nut job, but i'd rather spend 25 hours a week, figuratively and literally, running from things than putting my asics on the shelf and sitting with myself.

im not sure if this was dark or inciteful, but either way i believe most serious athletes can relate. if you think im crazy, take a couple days off from your regime, and see how life is without your training plan (or coping method). for me, ill choose the former, and lace up for another day. fueled by hammer gel, gatorade, powerbar, and something that can not be bought at vitamin world.

good luck to all the racers this weekend.

cinco ranch recap

2007-09-30T18:53:00.000-05:00

cinco ranch came out of nowhere it seems, i had been fused with half ironman training and buildup for longhorn half next weekend, as well as well as real life stuff. i went into the race tired, but determined.

i knew with distances of, 400m/19mi/3mi, it was a bikers race. this did not help my confidence. i knew i had to hammer the bike, and stay in sight of all my buddies who can ride, and then leave it to the run. but, i knew it was going to hurt. i told myself, no matter happened, i was going to leave it on the bike course.

the swim started fast, with agnew, sustala, and myself together neck and neck not helping each other out. the water was so shallow in so many places, i think i beached chris at one point, but he beached me later on. i was happy about getting out of the water with those two, because they can freakin' swim.

t1 was a lil hairy, i still havent figured out how to put my giro advantage on without choking myself. i got out on the bike course in second place, and i was lactic, and a little panick attack hit me, all i could think about was how i didnt know my speed(speedometer out of battery), and that my legs were itchy as hell, in texas a lot of our swims are in little cess-pools.

about 4 miles in, my buddy and sugar cycles teammate, trent stephens, rode past me going about 35 mph. without saying a word. nice gamesmanship ole boy! i tried to hang, but couldn't. so i drudged on, and started feeling better as my legs warmed up. chris sustala passed me about mile 8, and said "do not let me out of your sight" chris is a great friend, and training partner, and knows the bike is my weakness, but had some faith in my fitness i guess. so i didnt, i wouldnt. at times i felt fine, and at times i was gritting my teeth.

t2 - i had a great dismount, but my bike got tangled in a crowd rope, and thank god somebody helped me get it out. i through my bike down, donned my flats, and ran off racing belt in hand. all i could hear was two different people yeeling to me, how far the two in front were in the lead. thanks guys. the hunt was on.

trent was 30 seconds ahead, and agnew(the boy from oklahoma) was 3 minutes. i know agnew and i have almost the exact same run pace, so i was going to just run my ass off and see what happened. i felt great until some high school cross country runner, passed me on the run course, so i tried to stay with him, as i began to cramp up, i realized he had no bib on, and he wasnt in the race, that cramp was with me for the remainder, but i felt ok.

i am thrilled about the race, because going in i knew it was not a runners or a swimmers race. i got second overall, behind the Sooner.

Liam O'Connell

5:51.3

0:44.1

46:02.1

24.8MPH

0:39.2

16:12.6

5:24/M

1:09:29.3

boston boy takes the first olympic slot

2007-09-16T12:24:00.000-05:00

jarrod schoemaker - sudbury, ma native - attains the first slot for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Boston Power ! I think it might be in the water, even if its dirty.

degrees of change

2007-09-14T11:00:00.000-05:00

It has finally cooled down a bit in good ole Tejas. A bit, which is unbelievably almost exponentially cooler, Is only about 5 degrees. It has made training almost enjoyable again. Training down here in the heat is painful. Even a short run can turn into crampy, tight, thirsty, and an overheated effort. Doing track workouts or intervals on the bike when the ground is well over 115 degrees is sickening. But, all of it makes you stronger. So, for now, we have a slight reprieve and we can enjoy it. It will be nice to hold a steady heart rate, and make all my track intervals on time, and even swim in a pool that is not 95 degrees.

Last night, I swam over with the west university group, and I felt like a fish. It didn’t hurt, and it was refreshing. We did 6 x 250’s and I hit them hard, and felt great. I rode my bike to the pool, and put about 90-120 minutes down on the pavement before, and I hardly sweat riding over there. It was still 90 degrees, but with no humidity and a nice breeze from hurricane gellato or whatever its name was, it was so pleasant. It almost felt like early fall in god’s country (BOSTON-NEW ENGLAND AREA).

By the by, has everybody seen the announcement for 70.3 Ironman Boise, Idaho. I am there.

CHELLY DOES IT !

2007-09-11T09:48:00.000-05:00

CHAU AND KELLY, A.K.A CHELLY YOU ARE AN IRONMAN(WOMEN)!!!!

My roomate Chau , and her counterpart Kelly completed Ironman Wisconsin this past Sunday in Madison. It was their first Ironman, and they both had an amazing day, Chau(13:33), Kelly(11:36). They had a blast, and came back thrilled. I am so proud of them both.

Other than that, training and life is good.

the new plan - and i like it

2007-09-05T21:37:00.000-05:00

austin triathlon this weekend went well. there are some fast dudes out there. awesome course, they pretty much closed downtown for the race. the swim was long, i think due to a last minute course change, i was really happy with my bike time, and my run was slower than usual, but ill take it. overall, i had the 15th fastest time of the day, 4th amateur, and i won my age group. jane had an awesome day at her first olympic distance race. and miss toby the chubby pug was there to watch the finish.

so, the plan. long course. oh yea baby. i really love long course training, racing, and everything involved. so, that will be my focus for the rest of the year and all of next year. half ironman/70.3 distance. i am so freakin excited about it. im gonna hit up cinco ranch sprint, then longhorn half, then finish the season off at the iron star half.

i am not sure, if it is because i am so excited for longcourse training or what, but i have felt great this week. tuesday morning, even after beating the body down monday during the olympic distance, i was up and rolling by 0600, and feeling good. i feel pretty good right now. the past six weeks, i have to admit i have been very tired, maybe i was sick, im not sure. i started taking a multivitamin religiously, and it has really made a difference. so get some centrum, some sleep, and keep training.

Germany - ITU Worlds - A no-go

2007-08-26T09:24:00.000-05:00

i have been m.i.a. for nearly two weeks.
triathlon is all about planning. you plan your races out for the year, perfectly timed to benefit your "a" race. you plan your workouts, in order to get the appropriate volume and intensity for each work week. you plan feeding times, stretching, massage, rest, and everything inbetween. triathlon is such, because whatever we, as triathletes, do today, will affect our race months away. if we could just get up and do a triathlon in six months, and have the same outcome, we wouldn't care about the six months inbetween. but, we must. a wise person once said, "right now, somewhere in the world someone is training, and you are not. when you race him, he will win!" i'm not sure who the wise one is, but this is why we plan. i guess who ever plans the best, and can consistently adhere to said plan, they might achieve higher levels in the sport. enough with the rant... my plan went down the tubes august 17th, and there is nothing i can do about it.

scheduled to fly out of new england for hamburg, germany to compete in the itu world championships early this coming week as a member of TEAM USA, i will not be able to make it. if you ask me what i do or anything about me, i usually tell people, i am a triathlete. which, i am. but, i am also in the uscg, and this sometimes messes with the plan. unfortunately this time, it really messed with the plan. last friday, i was the lead officer on a criminal investigation, and it is now in full swing with all parties (prosecution/defense) going at eachother's necks. the rare investigation has taken precedence in my life, and i am needed at work this week. the only way i could plausibly make it to germany is to fly out on thursday or friday from houston directly to hamburg, and return on tuesday. it is just not possible.

if you dedicate yourself to the sport/life of triathlon, these plans i speak of will chisel your entire life. when you wake up, look at the lunch menu, get asked to grab a beer on a friday night, when your tired, lazy, unmotivated, and before you go to bed. good triathletes, are good, because they sacrifice. they sacrifice the onion rings at lunch, sleeping in on saturdays, partying on friday nights, and all sorts of things all year long. these plans become us. earthlings(non-triathletes) do not understand. they don't get the fact, that on thanksgiving you need to run ten miles, and when shit got in the way, and its raining and dark already, we lace up our training shoes. roadies(no offense) do not like to ride in the rain, triathletes have no choice. we need to follow the plan.

so what do we do when the plan is taken from us?

we make another plan.

"he conquers, who endurs"-persius

HOLY CRAP ITS HOT !!

2007-08-13T13:18:00.000-05:00

Dude, it was 110 with the heat index this past weekend, and i was dying. We rolled out onto Chapel Hill's course at about 0700 sunday, and it was so hot and humid, the road was wet. I was shocked how much i sweat so during that ride. I drank over 200 ounces of gatorade and I even started eating little salt packets in order to prevent the total dehadration and sodium depletion state. Overall, it was probably one of the hardest rides I have ever done. Trying to keep up with some of you roadies on those hills with my legs and a tri bike was not easy.

It is thursday morning, and tues and wednesday is done. in the world of liam= i'm done with the hard days(until the weekend). I woke up this morning with my roomate yelling "Liam, wake up!" Dude, my legs hurt so much this morning, i really contemplated going back to bed. Tuesday was a 2 hour interval session on the bike in the blistering misery of Texas heat, and then a 2500 yard battle in the pool at Tommy Elder's (92 degree pool). I swam competitively for over 10 years, and i have never gotten a over-heat/dehadration cramp in a pool before. Wednesday began with a 1 hour heart rate ascension on the bike, and when i was done, i was done. not really - a lil' 6 mile jaunt as well. I definetly increased the protein intake after that one.

I really had some heavy legs this morning, and i was hurting. There is a hurricane brewing in the gulf, and the heat has subsided a bit. We will continue to watch the progression of DEAN, and hopefully it will not prevent my Germany bound intents.

Safe training.

steelhead 70.3 recap

2007-08-07T15:00:00.000-05:00

I finally got my bike packed and in bed around 0130 Friday Morning, so the 0530 wake up call from driver Trent Stephens was a tough one. After picking up Andrew Strong, we got to Houston's Hobby Airport at 0700 for our 0905 flight to Chicago's Midway Airport. I ended up sitting and passing out next to a very nice midwestern couple, and Lisa McC arthy(Houston Area Super-Triathlete) was also on our flight, not to race at Steelhead, but a business meeting in Chicago. How Ironic.

We arrive in Chicago, get our rental car, and drove 45 minutes in traffic in the wrong way. FU*K! After that, we finally got into Benton Harbor, MI around 1730, a long day...We roll into transition, and it is packed. I really thought I was in southern california, because the beach did not look like a beach on a lake! the transition was packed, 2700 people registered!

We get our bikes in transition, set them up safely, and hit the pasta dinner. I felt pretty good, maybe a little tired. I took thursday off, but other than that i trained through steelhead. We ran around for hours, purchasing too much gatorade, and finally getting into bed around 11.

0445 and we are up, i did not want to get out of bed! we got outside, and holy crap it was freezing. i couldn't find my pants in my bag either, so i was cold. i set up transition rather quickly, because i wanted to find a port o'potty line. i never did, the lines were crazy, and i had a 1.2 mile beach venture to take in order to get to the swim start. never found the john(read between the lines)!

I literally had to jog down the beach to get to the start, by the time i got there, i got to watch the first wave shove off, and stretch out for my wave 3 departure 5 minutes later. i felt like the swim went well, it actually felt long, but i was okay, i got out of the water a hair over 29min. the worst part was the quarter mile soft sand jaunt to get to transition from the swim finish.

after t2, i realized that i was no longer in texas. i was freezing, and begging for the sun to come out. I could not get warm. I am not sure what was wrong with my legs, but i had nothing until mile30. i finally started to warm up and feel my legs pushing, and then it happened at about mile50, my sciatic nerve acted up. i had to stand on my bike and stretch out my lower back, and glutes. Those last 6 miles were hell, and i had already decided that if it was going to borrow me on the run, that i was done. it hurt that bad.

i fired out of t2, and i was pissed. i was pissed that my 2:41 bike split was a 2:41. racing the clock against my goal now, i was pissed. i needed to run the hell out of this course just to give myself a respectable time. i was out of my age group goals and overall goals, because of the damn bike, now it was time to hunt anybody and everybody down just for a little vindication and try to finish with a decent time.

i hit it hard, and averaged 6:15 for the first 9 miles, then we looped back in and the course was full, and i had noone to chase, i slowed down a bit, finished the run with a 1:22, good enough for the 5th fastest run, all within a minute. i m happy about that. overall time 4:39. a faster bike time, and i'd be where i need to be. i will eventually get there, i will.

t-5 days till steelhead 70.3

2007-07-30T09:32:00.000-05:00

and i'm done. my legs are done, my arms even hurt, there is something pulled in my chest and it hurts when i breath, my head is tired, i'm done. this past two weeks have been physically and mentally trying on ole' liam.

my body is not going to know what to do this week with reduced training volume and intensity. i'm not fully tapering for steelhead, but just ensuring that i can race on saturday.

we fly out friday morning. im psyched, its time.

body-shock!

2007-07-28T20:18:00.000-05:00

Dude, when i started my run today it was so humid it was foggy out. Misery. I got the workout done, and my body felt good, but it was so hot my body temp was through the roof, and was very uncomfortable.

Gearing up for steelhead 70.3 for the rest of this week, it will be a nice to have a little reprieve at the end of the week, then hammer out the half im on the shores of lake michigan. these past few weeks have been a good little bump in the intensity of my training. i started a strict/specific training regiment during thanksgiving 2006 for the 2007 season, which landed me at half ironman 70.3 oceanside, california(march), usat national championships in portland, oregon(june), now steelhead(august), then itu world champonships(september), and hopefully finishing up november 14th in clearwater, florida at 70.3/half ironman world championships. believe it or not your body gets used to the consistent massive volumes of intensity and time that triathlon training is constructed of. months go by, and you need to throw a wrench in your system, and almost shock it. that is what janda did to my training schedule starting in july. it has been painful, tiring, mentally tough, but absolutely exciting and another rewarding experience training has brought me.

jasper chewed up one of my roommates shoes this afternoon while we were running, not cool. jasper is literally in the dog house right now.

2007-07-27T10:42:00.001-05:00

Jasper. Curious about why his dad is always in lycra?

This week has been intense. I am definetely happy friday is my active recovery day. There is not much more i could handle at this point. With a long work week and training, it has been a long and tirning week, but i got it all in. Houston is still a rainforest, and poor jasper is missing the park.

the things we do....

2007-07-25T09:34:00.000-05:00

Early Afternoon:

I had an epic ride. I know that sounds a little intense for road biking, but it really was awesome. My legs just rode at an intensive level for nearly two hours as if they were made to do so. I really felt great, and the time flew by.

Mid afternoon:

I decided to take a little break, and do my six miler in the evening. I caught up with one of my favorite people in the whole world, for a while u know who you are. It was great talking to you. I have USCG duty this week, so my schedule is a little shaky...i got a phone call about a little collision in the houston ship channell, and my training/eating/sleep schedule just got tossed.

Late night:

After ensuring the situation was secure, i got home around 1045pm, and hit the trails for my run. Feeling like i should be asleep, i drudged through. if my coach is reading this, he is probably pissed(duty week). about 4 miles in i got something in my mouth. it was either a large bug or a baby tree frog, im still not sure. i softly escorted it out of my throat and i believe it is still alive. yuk. i finished my run shortly before 1130pm, and thought to myself...the things we do for this sport...

Hay in the Barn

2007-07-23T14:42:00.000-05:00

These past two weeks have been very good. I continue to put hay in the barn, and make effort-ed deposits into my bank. my legs are heavy, and tired, but they will be ready for my final withdrawal at itu worlds.

My legs feel better, after introducing some resistance training into the workload. at first it was a shock, but now it is a regular pain i have gotten used to enjoyably enduring. my legs have not been as used up as they felt last week in a long time. which tells me something, a lesson learned, we must always change our training up to manipulate our systems into continual growth. i hope its working, but i think it is.

sunday was the webster duathlon # , the last in the series. a sprint race down in the random pastures of texas, offering a 2 mile run, 12 mile bike, and 2 mile jaunt to the finish. i knew my bike had been improving, and the regulat guys would be there, so i was going for the win. Janda
(my coach)had warned me that i would be tired, and reminded me it was a training race. he was right, the gun went off and i immediately got in the lead pack with heavy legs, then a high school runner started to make the pace. it was then just him and i, and i was going to let him keep it, bc i was feeling it. knowing he would probably die out in the bike, and the regulars where behind me, i let him take the lead.

i got to the transition, and ran out with my bike directly into a newspaper photographer, and she geared my rear derailleur down, so when i hopped on my bike the chain was stuck! i got off fixed the problem, lost a few seconds, and got out on my bike. the toop loop course was nice and flat, but had a steady head wind on one side. i felt strong, but the wind hurt. one of the local duathlon savages passed me at mile 5, and i stayed with him, until his pedal fell off! i was kind of bummed bc i planned on pacing him form the ride. i was once again feeling the lactic acid and toxins attempting to repair my muscles from the hard week. i got off the bike averaging 23.5, ill take it.

when i started running there was 2 people in front of me. i knew right away, that my legs were not the way they usually are. my quads felt like they should look like norman stadlers', but they don't. i pressed on, passing a guy and continued to close the gap with the leader who averaged a whopping 26mph on the bike(duathlete). he ended up beating me by 40 seconds, and my running pace was 20-30 seconds slower than usual!

at first i was bummed, bc the win would have been nice, and i think i could have gotten it if my run was normal, but this is good stuff. my training is working, and i am getting there. my legs will be fine on the real race day, and my run will be there, this race tells me, my bike will too.
so fire tired trained legs, i feel good with the 2nd place finish, and time of 54:50.

A full week of training lies ahead, as well as a full week of uscg duty(10 days in a row!) then i will recover up for steelhead 70.3 and see what damage i can bring to the shores of michigan.

i hope everyones training is going well. a big kudos to all the sweet people from sugar cycles road team that competed or supported the duathlon this weekend, it was a fun day, the pancakes being the best part. oh yea, if anyone finds sugar tri shorts on 45 north, they are mine :)

That which does not kill you, will only make you stronger!

2007-07-20T08:26:00.000-05:00

So im back full throttle, with a new focus on developing power on the bike. This was definatly the most painful training week in a while. which is good = its working. janda (my coach-see his blog at http://www.jandariccimunn.blogspot.com/ ) is really tuning me up for worlds. my legs feel so heavy, yesterday at work i almost fell up the stairs 3 times.

introduving alot of short burst intervals and some weights is really going to help my cycling. the weather has also sucked this week down here in texas, so the motivation to get poored on was low. this helped - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIl5RxhLZ5U if you are ever lacking the drive for a workout, or think a trainer is a better option then dealing with the elements, watch this clip. totally motivating... i have the webster duathlon this sunday 2/11/2, so i hope my legs get a little lighter before then.

who's doing the webster du?

ITU Worlds Slot -

2007-07-16T11:30:00.000-05:00

Mondays usually suck, and as i strolled into work today, I throught - man Mondays suck!
I walked around the office for a few minutes busting balls and conducting my greetings, then I figured it was time to reintroduce my brain to my cubical. EMAIL. As I looked down the inbox list, I saw...work, work, work, junk, junk (sometimes the same thing), work, funny, work, USAT....SUBJECT....Congratulations! I got a roll down slot for ITU World Championships in Hamburg, Germany. I had an off race at Nationals, and didnt secure a slot, but got the roll down. Sweet.....So for the next two months, I will live in pain, so I have a good race day in Germany. Im ecstatic!!

TEXAS HEAT IS BACK !

2007-07-10T20:04:00.001-05:00

Holy crap it is hot out today. With the past few weeks of rain, i almost forgot how hot Texas summers are. It is hot here. I went out for a 7.5 mile run today at high noon during my lunch break, and it was painful. My legs felt great, but my heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest, and roll down the street resembling a fried egg! I think that has to do with the corn muffin, and two egg and cheese on a bagel i ate shorty before the run. I hate that feeling. It was 92 degrees, with a 102 degree heat index!

i felt good when it was done, i jumped in the pool and got back to work ;( my body heat was so high, i didn't want to eat for over eight hours. this evening, i got in a nice 90 min spin, and now it is time to chill in the commune. tuesdays aren't too bad.

speaking of my spin, i need to mention cadence. a couple months ago, philip from sugar cycles saw my bike on top of my car. it was the first time we met, and he remarked on how i was a typical triathlete with my gears all the way down my cassette. as he giggled, he asked what my cadence was? cadence? i had no clue, what do i look like, a roadie? i don't draft!
it turns out, after we put a cat eye double wireless computer on my bike, that my cadence was part of my bike split problem.....

i was averaging high 60's for my tempo pace!! killing my legs, and just pumping lactic acid through them, with no chance of flushing it out. how could i ever accelerate when i was getting passed if i was already lactic and pushing only 67rpm? so, i learned about cadence...

you need a high cadence to be able to ride/race fast. like 90-95, this will allow you to accelerate and be much easier on your legs. especially for triathletes that can run, your legs are used to a quick lactic turnover, so whip up your cadence! another thing i learned, you need a cadence meter. my coach prescribes certain cadences, and i thought i was following it correctly. WRONG, you need a meter.

in other news, it feels good to be back rolling with training....i got back to work this week. i had a week of taper, race, and then a recovery week to rest the body after a long 6 week cycle, and i was losing my mind. i was so bored the other day, i went grocery shopping. i am excited to back into the swing of things this week.

full week...keep training...

tour de france begins.......in england??

2007-07-07T20:21:00.000-05:00

so, whats the problem with the french?

tour de france and they go to england for the important and popular prologue? i think it is cool as hell, its historic and fun to watch a huge bike race in London. i just feel a little bad for the french, their own tour, and...... Americans have won it for 8 straight years, and now England gets to celebrate the beginning of the race.

are they giving up? the french have sacrificed their own tour?

will we be racing in russia on bastille day in a few years?

come on france, get your damn race back. you have paris, the alps, the pyranese, and a beautiful country. i know we've pretty much covered it all during past years, but we wont remember, we were drunk. make it the tour de FRANCE.

what the hell do i care. kona will always be in kona.

2007-07-07T12:12:00.000-05:00

Tour de france # 1 @ sugar!

2007-07-06T23:54:00.001-05:00

Oregon

beer, an alternate carbohydrate ?

2007-07-06T23:20:00.000-05:00

chau, my roomate, a.k.a pinkgurugal (see her blog its hilarious), and I got done with a long week of work, training, and normal everyday life drama. i trained and went grocery shopping, and chau snorkled throughout the texas floods......

....and got a solid track workout in. so, its all over, life was on slow motion for a few, and there was no better way to enjoy this strange idleness than with a cold beer (chau might have had 3?)....

life is good in the 007. we both need to be up early for bike rides and work, but you know what....you can sleep when your dead. its important to relax a lil' every once and a while, unwind and realize how good we have it. remember folks, carpe diem.....sheeeeeeet!

we need some sun

2007-07-06T09:11:00.000-05:00

i thought i would never say this, but houston needs more sun! it has been raining for weeks. it feels like boston here ( a warm bosotn). either way, i have gotten used to the consistent texas sun, and i want it back. if anyone finds it, let me know.

this week i am taking it pretty easy, and just throwing down some quality miles in all three. this weekend, we're gonna put some miles down on the bike. saturday at sugar, and sunday in the "hills". let me know if you want to join. i hope the sun will come out.

today, some quality time must be spent with jasper. the lil blond furball is begging for a long park session. a good run with jr, and a swim is in order as well.

by the way la fitness' pool is awesome, and only $30/month. i went there last night and was totally impressed.

the tour de france begins tommorow in london ! so everyone whould ride with sugar in the morning and hang out at the lounge for the prologue. should be fun.

nationals - race recap

2007-07-04T14:50:00.000-05:00

1st off. Oregon rocks. what a beautiful state. it reminded me of maine, but with a real west coast attitude, and a little hillier. what i liked most of all was the daylight hours: the sun rose at 5am, and didnt set until about 9pm. it is an outdoursman/womans dream.

well i should have known it was going to be a tough course, when i arrived at my buddies house last thursday night. they live on, (what would be a mountain in most places, but they confirmed it was just a hill) this absolutely beautiful "hill". my flight arrived in portland around 11pm, and i quickly got a cab, because my buddy and his wife were out of town that night. getting a cab was an experience all alone. he was the only russian cab driver in the city, who had no idea where he was going. a 30 dollar cab ride quickly turned into a 50+ ride. as we climbed this monstrasity of a "hill" where the Oregon Health and Science University and Hospital is located, i though, uh-oh? put it this way, this hill is so steep they installed a $75million tram to bring people up and down throughout the day. so, we finally found the house, and i nestled into a cumfy bed, not to wake until 9am!

so as i wake up, and start thinking how badly i need coffee, i found the kitchen, and holy crap a view. their porch looks out on the city of portland, the columbia river, and the mountain range containing mt hood, mt st helens, and mt rainier. amazing, as i fight the caffiene headache, i think to myself, "of course, i forgot my camera" so i built my bike and ventured down the ravine/road to get a cup of coffee. after almost getting killed by a box-truck, i stumbled upon about thirty starbucks and local bean-ettes on 23rd street. i hung out had some unbelievable coffee, a few bagels, a beer, and some pizza. i needed the carbs. then i ventured back and took the tram up the "hill", in order to save my legs for the race, of course. so as i cruise up this tram, filled with doctors and med students, clad in my sugar spandex, i got a few looks. but, my face looked weirder as i stared at the incredible face of mt hood. it was so impressive, it almost looked scary.

my buudies wife, erin, came home, and told me that jimmy was still on duty(uscg) and might not make it home until after the race. i was totally bummed, and kinda felt bad, because now his wife was like quasi responsible for her husbands friend whome whe never met. haha. we had a great time. we went out to the packet pick up and the transition to drop the bicycle off. as we drove out to the course, and her car was whining going up the hills, i thought 1) i might be screwed, 2) has pancake flat texas really got to me, 3) i need to get back to boston.

as we arrived to the transition, all i could think about was how it was the most beautiful race site i have ever been to, hagg lake. this picture was taken in early spring, imagine everything green. it was a really cool place. so, as every other athlete was duct-taping bags to their drive trains and saddles, i dropped mine in my spot and went down to see holw cold the water was. it was perfect.

we ventured back to portland, and she made me an awesome seafood pasta dinner. thank you erin. it was awesome. as i went to bed kinda early, i was thinking, and then passed out, i never do that, especially before a race. i slept awesome, weird.

race morning: 5:15am, and im up, and were out the door, and looking for the first starbucks. we found one, and i got my fix. we arrive, get on the bus to the transition, and it was freezing. not texas. in highnsight, i should have probably warmed up more because of the temperature. the scene was busy, and i decided to leave my shoes off my bike, because of the hill leaving transition! so, let's swim.

the swim was a deepwater start, and i felt ready. i found the guy to draft off of (he ended up swimmimng sub 18 for the 1.5km) with that said, i couldnt stay with him for long, and probably started to hard. my first length of the rectangular course was crampy and slow, but my length back felt good and rythmic. my t1 was okay, it wasnt real quick, but i got out of it, and got on my bike. holy crap...

so, there is a half mile peice of the course that's flat, that was nice, but the rest was either up or down. the two loop course was a battle for me, i just didnt have the legs to crank up those hills. i've been riding the flats of texas, and it was a shock to the system. by bike split was 1:08, for

the 40k, and it was too slow. i will tweak my training, and ride local overpasses over and over, hopefully preparing me for hills. at first, i was really disapointed, but i have accepted it, and now i know what i need to get better at. and i will.

i had a great dismount, and cruised out of t2, and forgot my race number. i ran back, and pulled it out of my bag, and through it on, a total rookie move. haha. i started running, and my legs were heavier than usual, and damn! the run course was on the bike course, hills.
i finally got into a rythm around mile 3, and started passing alot of people. it wasnt my usual pace, but noone passed me. i finished with a run split of 37:15 for the 10k, and a total time of 2:10 something. i missed team usa by about three minutes. i obsessed about the shouldas' and couldas' for two days, and thank you erin for listening to me. but the truth is, all the shouldas', couldas', and wouldas' wont get me a cup of coffee and a donut. so, i will move on, get stronger, and faster. crossing the line is the best part of the race, but we cant forget the miles in between.

thank you erin and jimmie laird for having me at your place, and driving my ass around all weekend. portland rocks! thanks to everyone for your support, expecially sugar cycles and janda ricci-mun.

nationals - i need bigger legs

2007-07-01T15:20:00.000-05:00

well, it was hilly. hillier than i thought. there was probably half a mile of flat on the bike and none on the run.

so...i got my as kicked on the bike, and i couldnt make it up.

i was really dissapointed and still am, but there are good days and bad days.

so, i will move on, and try to get bigger legs and learn to be able to hang on the bike with the best.

i need to be able to ride harder, and that is what this sport is about. progress, and turning your weak points around.

Oregon pre-nationals

2007-06-29T13:32:00.000-05:00

im finally here. i am staying at my buddies' Jimmy and his fiance erin's place, and i feel like i am in a pine tree. oregon is absolutely beautiful. looking outside, all i can see is mountains and trees.

with that said, it is a little hilly....

so yesterday, was travel day. before i began my travels i got stretched and massaged in a last minute plea by cheryl francisco. awesome. i was referred to her by a friend, and now i know why, she really loosened me up, and after my lil jog this morning, i am feeling good. she is on richmond, if you want her number let me know. she has magic fingers, and an awesome person.

i then went out to sugar cycles, and the boys tuned and cleaned my bike, and it is looking good. (as good as a gold bike can look). i will be sportin' the sugar onsie tommorow.

i used my boston a-hole driving skills to get to hobby in time, and jumped on my flight. southwest only charges 45 bucks to carry a bike, that beats continental's 95. i got in real late and went to bed.

i woke up to find myself in that pine tree i was talking about, and realizing the race is tommorow.

my goals for tommorow is #1 qualify for worlds and gain a spot on team usa #2 do well overall and in my age group #3 have fun. it always fun, so im not worried about that. i want to swim sub 20, ride between 60-63 minutes, and run sub 35. all with quick transitions.

it will be painful, but pain is like sex- it ends, then you can laugh about it.

following my coach's directin, (http://www.jandariccimunn.com/) i have been eating 700g of carbs a day, for a couple, and it sucks, but it works.

thank you, to all my friends, for your calls or messages of support.

streeetching

2007-06-27T12:26:00.000-05:00

i dont stretch that often, something i need to change in my routine. so i am focusing on loosening up for nationals this week. little short workouts, bursts of intensity, and slow leisurely spinning. these will help me get warmed up so i can stretch it out.

i am flying out tonight, so i have alot of things to get done before then.

i will spend the next two days visualizing race day, hopefully that will get ris of some of my nerves.

remember - "cougars are always better than kittens"-M.L.

lay off me...i'm starving

2007-06-24T21:29:00.000-05:00

dude, it seriously feels like i can never eat enough. while i was riding today i got hunger pains and i had to stop and eat. i had gels and bars on me, but it wasn't enough. so, i ate a sandwich! i am eating enough, and it is of good nutrition. a balanced package of protien/carbs/even fat. maybe i need more calories, straight up more food!

what about the heat? i must be burning more calories b/c of the Houston heat than normal. so...it is hotter, and i am working harder, using more energy, and neet to eat and drink more. or maybe i am just not drinking enough, ao that void in my belly is just liquid lapse. hmm.

i will continue to experiment, but i think i just need to eat and drink more.

Last hard workout before Natl's

2007-06-24T09:27:00.000-05:00

One track workout, not that complicated, left. 3 mile warmup, 1 mile at 5:45, 2 800's at 2:40, 2 400's at 78sec, and then a little cooldown. After that, it is a week long miserable experience of feeling fat, unfit, and sloth-like while i taper down for usat nationals in portland, oregon saturday.

I guess during a taper, we forget about all the workouts, and races leading up to this point. this track workout is nothing compared to lastweeks, but it is a reminder that I am ready. THE HAY IS IN THE BARN, and it is time to make a withdrawel from the drive-by teller. If monsoon season would ever subside in Houston, it would be nice too. All of my friends are at Buffalo Springs this weekend, and a couple Sugar Mama's even made http://www.ironmanlive.com/ just look in the picture section. They are all gonna have a great day in Lubbock...

Race Recap: Tejas Tri - First Overall Win!

2007-06-23T21:13:00.000-05:00

Race Recap: Tejas Triathlon in Sugarland, Texas.

The popular Houston event sold out at 800 participants over a month ago, so I have been anxious for race day for weeks. I knew that if I could get my bike split together, sit on the pain, average a respectable speed, and have a solid swim and run, I would have a chance at the win. I really wanted a confidence boost before USAT Nationals in Portland, Oregon later this month. Janda Ricci-Munn, my coach, knew this as well, so for the past few weeks we have really focused on my cycling. I was going to attack the .5m/11m/3m sprint, and make my first honest attempt at riding hard.

Race morning was early. I woke up at 4 a.m. and felt very tired. My body felt good, but I was really hungry and tired. I was a little nervous about being so hungry, so I ate a couple PB sandwiches and swilled down some coffee. A couple buddies and I got to the race at about 5:45, and I began to prepare for the start. Janda told me to get a solid warm-up on the bike, and that is what I did, as well as gobble down a couple more PowerBars.

I always learn something new at every race, either about myself or racing in general. At Tejas it was both: Look at the swim course! I never do, I just go to the start. I guess that comes from swimming my whole life, but there is no course difference in pool based swimming! Janda and I had talked earlier in the week, and the plan was to be at VO2 Max the entire race, and that I did. I charged off with my red cap for about 100 yds, and couldn’t see or feel anybody. That is a good feeling, because being 23 there are always a couple ex-collegiate swimmers in the pack that haven’t gotten that out of shape. As I closed in on the first buoy, I began to see other red caps off my right side about 50 yards away. I had totally cut the swim course wrong, and I ended up playing catch up the entire swim.

Getting out of the water with a big effort knowing there was 2 already out bothered me, and it took me 5 tries to buckle my race belt. I finally got out of the busy transition area, and instantly noticed more acceleration than usual. I didn’t start my watch, and there was no magnet on my wheel so I had no idea what time it was or what speed I was holding. All I knew was that it hurt, and I wasn’t backing off. I was in the fourth wave, so the two-loop course was very crowded. As I approached the dismount, it had just occurred to me that for the first time in five years I did not get passed on the bike.

I had a very fast T2, and I knew it was time to throw down the hammer and go for it. Exiting the transition I started my stopwatch, felt my tight hamstrings, and thought for a second that I might have ridden too hard. A lot of people had told me that you will always be able to run off the bike, no matter how hard you ride, and for a second I doubted them. As I approached the first mile marker in the turning and curvy course, I looked down and saw 5:05 on my wrist, slowed down a little bit and kept going. There was a lot of pain throughout the whole race, including the run, but I felt strong every second of it. As I crossed the finish, only knowing that my run was fast, the race clock said 1:09.35. I started 15 minutes back, and knew last year’s winner was somewhere in the 54 minute; I was satisfied. I had finally put together a solid bike split, which was my missing link. Even with the poor swim start, and an ironic one seeing that I have a Bachelor’s degree in marine navigation, I still swam 9:30 for the half-mile swim. I think I was happier about my bike split than my overall place, because for so long it has been preventing me from reaching the podium. I averaged 24.5 mph, and finished it up with a 16:20 3mile run split; An average of 5:25/mile pace. My final time of 52:35 gave me the overall win and the course record.

I moved to Texas after joining the USCG in 2005, and put together a long distance season with poor training in 2006. Janda told me to call him last fall, and he told me that I had two options: I can race a lot and have fun finishing or I can train hard, race smart, and see where I can go in the sport of Triathlon. I chose the latter, and the training plan Janda has for me is smart, and it allows me to race hard. With Janda’s help, I will see how far I can go in Triathlon. Next stop, USAT Nationals in Portland, OR.