OCY

OCY Tri-9/20/2015
1:09:04, 2nd
Results

The OCY Tri would serve as my final TRI of the season and important race to me.  I was hoping to finish on a strong note and was interested to see how I would fare on a quick hometown course.  As far a pre-race expectations, I was hoping for a Top 5 finish.  I knew previous race runner and friend Jeff Duda would be competing and figured he should have the top spot locked down.  I also knew that Shara would have a really good chance at taking the women's race and knew she had recovered well from Firmman.  I was also interested to see how Jeff Walker would do in the Duathlon and figured he'd have a strong day out there.

With an 8:30 am start, it felt like I was sleeping in compared to most TRIs.  We arrived to the Town Beach shortly before 7:30 am, picked up our numbers and chops, and set up in transition.  Shara and I went for a mile warmup and joined up with Duda.  While warming up, we all talked about how slow we felt.  I kind of laughed at this thought to myself thinking about what the two of them might do to their respective competitors.  After arriving back from the warmup, I put my wetsuit on and took a look at the surf with Shara.  We hung out for the national anthem, which was led by a Coast Guard guard, and then made the trek down to the start.

Swim- 1/2 mile: 10:33
I lined up for the swim with Duda.  We chatted a little about the tide and then it was go time.  I tried to get a clean start in the water and reminded myself to swim my own race.  Like run races, many swimmers fly out at the beginning of a race and quickly drop off.  If I over exerted early, I figured oxygen debt would quickly set in and my form would fall apart.  I rounded the first buoy and spotted 3-5 swimmers ahead of me.  Based off positioning, I knew Duda was way out there.  Swimming along, I felt an up and down sensation from the current.  I tried to keep a watch on the other competitors and was starting to feel taxed as I moved towards the final buoy.  Still having Duda and another swimmer in my sights ahead of me, I tried to swim really hard into the shore and make up as much time as I could.  I ran out of the water and headed towards T1.

T1: 1:14
Always struggle with the transition, not just getting wetsuit off, but getting bike shoes on and out of transition.  Oh well.

Bike-14 miles: 39:28
After mounting my bike on Atlantic Ave, I was feeling spent from the swim.  I tried to get into a groove and slowly found it.  Riding out onto Atlantic Avenue, it felt nice to ride on such familiar roads.  Unfortunately, I felt like I was in no man's land for most of the ride.  I just reminded myself to keep trying to ride hard and see where I end up towards the end of the ride.  A couple of miles into the second lap of the bike course I was passed by a guy.  When he passed me, I told myself to keep him in contact or at least in sight.  Throughout the rest of the second lap, I tried to keep this guy in my sights as we passed other triathletes who were on their first lap.  The remainder of my ride was uneventful and I met my goal of keeping near the guy.

T2: :54 seconds..had trouble slipping into my run shoes and getting my TRI belt on.

Run-3 miles: 16:59
Heading into the final leg, a spectator or course official let me know that I was in 4th place.  I knew that 1st place was not within my reach with Duda's super swim and awesome biking ability.  But 2nd or 3rd?  It was possible.  Leaving transition, I was running mad.  The next two guys were a little up the road from me and I wanted to get them both.  I knew if I ran too aggressively, that I could end up paying dearly.  Within a very short period of time, I was able to pass both guys at once.  After passing them, I tried to widen the gap and before I knew it, I saw Duda approaching the 2 mile mark of the course.  We exchanged greetings (he claims I gave him a grunt) and tried to hammer on.  Duda looked really comfortable and I was happy for him.  As for me, I still wanted to widen the gap and ran it home fairly hard.  I crossed the finish line in 2nd place overall and felt really strong.

After finishing up, I met up with my parents to see Shara finish and hammer home a strong 2nd place after competing in the Firmman Half Iron last weekend.  It was also cool to find out that Gazelle won the duathlon.  OCY was a hometown sweep.  This race marks the official end of my TRI season. Despite some knee issues that impacted my running, it was a fun, successful TRI season.  I'm looking forward to the 2016 TRI Season and already have some goals for next year.

Happy with 2016 TRI Season

Schonning 5k

August 25, 2015

Roger Schonning 5k

17:30, 3rd

Results

Westerly Sun Article

The Schonning 5k is one of those races that is pretty much locked into my calendar every year.  It's a great race but the real reason I run this one is to support Steve, son of the man who the race is held in honor of and a good friend of mine.  After a poor performance at Battle of Stonington 5k, I was not feeling too confident about my abilities going into this one.  Quite frankly, I thought about the race being over well before I got there.  It wasn't so much the suffering of racing that was bothering me, it was my diminishing performance.  

Pre-race

I came directly from work to the Westerly Y to get ready for the race.  Arriving a little after 5 pm, the race chute and timing was all ready to go and I found teammate and friend, Mike B. hanging out in the parking lot as he prepared for the race.  Shara, who was women's defending champ, would be joining me at the race after making a quick stop home from work.  After a brief warmup with the usual suspects, it was almost race time.

The race

As the gun went off, I tried to settle in a smooth yet steady pace.  Based off my current fitness, I knew I needed to be careful not to go out too hard as I knew I'd pay for it.  Sizing up competition, I noticed Matthew Walker, who I predicted to win the race,  his Dad and my friend, Jeff (Gazelle), a younger dude with headphones, and Mike Tammaro from the NRA.

After the opening 1/2 mile, a bunch of us were jockeying for position and it seemed like no one wanted to make a move.  I knew Gazelle was not afraid to push the pace and certainly is not one to let others do the work for them out there.  As for Matthew, I knew he was getting faster and faster and that he had a very solid summer of training.  I thought the headphones dude would drop and was concerned about Tammaro sitting on me and making a move at an opportune time.  As for me, I was concerned about getting dropped and my low running fitness.    We basically ran in a pack until the turnout around cone which is more than a mile into the race.  After the cone, I remember Matthew making a small break with Tammaro, Headphones, me, and Gazelle in tow.  I knew I needed to run as smart as possible and do my best not to let Tammaro or Headphones get a big gap on me.  I also needed to watch out for Gazelle, who very nearly took me down at the BOS.  Running back towards town and with less than a mile to go, I was able to pass Headphones.  At this point in the race, I disregarded the fact that he was wearing headphones and respected his running.  Unfortunately, I was never able to catch up to Tammaro.  In the end, Matthew took it, Tammaro grabbed 2nd, and I crossed the line in 3rd at 17:30.  

Post race

A little over a minute and a half after finishing, Shara cruised in at 19:10 to become the repeat women's winner and owner of a new 5k PR.  Mikey B. finished shortly after her to win his division.

We took a brief group warmdown, chatted it up with friends, and ate a little food before the awards ceremony.  On a personal level, I was somewhat pleased with my race.  Here's why: 1. I ran 30 seconds faster than the Battle, 2. My pace was consistent, 3. I really haven't been running much (not going to run sub 17 off 12 miles a week.  Shara had another strong win and her ability continues to amaze me.  It was also pretty cool to see Matthew Walker take the win..it's been fun to see him progress and he earned the victory.  Jeff and Mike both ran strong and it was a great family event held in honor of a friend's Dad right in Westerly.  Moving forward, I'm hoping to continue to strengthen my knees and run a little more this fall so I can run some better 5k times and live up to my name.

Strong showing by WTAC