Hyannis Half marathon 2-22-09

This was the first real race of my season. One of my goals this year is to come into every race injury free. Well I’m happy to report that the nagging issues that have bugged me over the last year were non-existent on race day!! This is in large part from the great work of Dr Travis Hart over at VT Chiropractic and Sports Therapy. Thanks Travis!!! Today I'm a little tender but things are looking good on the injury front (knock on wood).

I drove down with Lindsay and my training partner Justin Ryea. Man the weather down on the Cape was beautiful. Sat was dry, sunny and 40+ degrees. Race morning was around 40 degrees and dry. Perfect. I couldn’t believe how big this race was. Much bigger than I thought. There were 4000+ runners between a full marathon, half and 10k.

Overall I’m happy with my performance. The fitness is obviously there but I did make some significant pacing mistakes that slowed me down 1- 2 minutes overall. This is an area for me that I have really struggled with, for most of my endurance sports career. If I‘m going to be good at Ironman as an athlete and as a coach I need to tame this pacing beast. As Lindsay said, I have too much heart on race day and not enough brain. I get so competitive that I don’t use my head and stick to my plan.

My plan was to run 6-6:05 first and second miles and then just hold that as long as possible and lift it in the last 3 miles if I felt good. Well I ended up running the first mile in 5:47. Deep down I knew I was not doing the right thing but I didn’t listen to it—big mistake. This season—I’m going to focus 100% on race day execution (nutrition, pacing, sticking to the plan, trusting it). The pacing part is really the missing link for me as I’ve made a lot of gains with fueling. My QT2 team mates / fellow coaches totally killed it today. They were all perfect examples of how proper pacing equates to running very fast. Tim Snow ended up winning the whole thing in 1:15, Jesse was 4th in 1:16, Cait Snow won for the women in 1:19 and Pat Wheeler went 1:19 as well. My buddy Justin also had a great day coming in 7th with a 1:17.

I cracked the top 20 with a 1:21:04 (2044 athletes in the half).

Here are my mile splits-

Mile 1 – 5:47
Mile 2- 5:45
Mile 3- 6:00
Mile 4- 6:07
Mile 5- 6:07
Mile 6- 6:05
Mile 7- 6:10
Mile 8- 6:20
Mile 9- 6:20
Mile 10- 6:20
Mile 11- 6:22
Mile 12- 6:20
Mile 13- 6:20

Link to results-

Results

2009 races (Updated)

2009 races

Team Psycho indoor TT, Boston 2/1/09

Hyannis Half Marathon, Mass 2-22-09

Ironman California 70.3 (near San Diego) 4-4-09

The Jerseyman half iron (New Jersey Multisport) 5-9-09

King Pine Tri (sprint) NH 5-31-09

Ironman Cour D’ Alene, Idaho 6-21-09 (Ironman Hawaii qualifier)

Marlborough triathlon (sprint) or Massachusetts state triathlon (sprint or Olympic) 7-26-09

VT Sun Olympic distance August 9th

Pumpkinman half iron 9-13-09

2009 Team QT2 on Xtri.om

QT2 on Xtri.com

Skiing Trapps

My friend and pro triathlete John Hirsch was up this weekend from NYC. I took him for his first nordic skate skiing endeavor at Trapps. Check out his recollection of the experience. Great read!!!

http://www.johnhirsch.org/?p=1354

2009 QT2 Systems Elite Team

Check it out!!

http://www.qt2systems.com/Team_Elite/team_elite.html


QT2 Coach in training

The road to Ironman is now

2009 training began last week. Primary goal is to qualify for Hawaii at Ironman Cour D'Alene in Idaho in June. Primary objective is to come into every race injury free. I'm still trying to heal up some plantar fasciitis right now.

Currently in base period -lots of aerobic and strength work. Lots of drills in the pool also.

I have discovered how amazing yoga is!! I found a class and instructor that is simply amazing. Will try to get this in once a week all season.

Over the next few weeks I'll likely substitute some weekend cycling for nordic skiing.

We just got around 10 inches of snow--skiing should be good this weekend.

2008 Season Summary and look forward

2008 Season Summary

4-5-08 Run Vermont Half marathon; 5th overall; 1:20:39

5-4-08 Green Mountain Triathlon, 1st overall; 1:16:02

5-18-08 Florida 70.3 Half Ironman, 16th amateur overall, 4th in 30-34 (Podium!!; 4:31

6-8-08 Mooseman Half Ironman, 10th overall, 4:27; 98 degrees on the run course!!

7-20-08 Ironman Lake Placid, Finished!; Was injured for this race;very disappointed;

8-13-08 Waterbury Time trial (Stowe Bike Club); 2nd overall; 29:19

8-23-08 Vermont Sun Half ironman; 2nd overall; 4:39; run course was extra long;

8-30-08 Northfield 5k,15th place?; 18:04;note to self:don’t 5k the week after ½ iron

9-13-08 Montreal Esprit ½ iron; 4:11 !! New PR; Run course PR of 1:25 off the bike!!!

10-5-08 Leaf Peeper’s half marathon; 9th overall!!1:20:00;39 second PR hilly course!

10-26-08 Cape Cod Marathon; ? overall; stomach disaster—portolet stops x 9; 3:13



2009 races
A few ski races TBA (discuss with coach)
Hyannis Half Marathon 2-22-09
New Bedford Half Marathon 3-15-09
New England masters Swim Meet 3-28-09
Ironman California 70.3 4-4-09
Devilman Half Ironman 5-3-09
Ironman Cour D’ Alene 6-21-09 (Ironman Hawaii qualifier

2009 goals
Stay injury free
Get Hawaii slot at Ironman Cour d alene
Run 1:23-1:25 off the bike consistently in half irons
Swim 27-29 consistently in half irons