Muskoka 70.3

So I fully understand this race write-up is extremely late, but I figured better late than never right? First off I must mention a few names because without them this race wouldn’t have been possible. Mostly Kevin and Pat from Tri-Spot. A week before the race, my rear race wheel went haywire and it was unusable for Muskoka. This was the first panic attack I had pre race. I contacted Kevin and he told me not to worry he will lend me a disc to use for the race. Phew problem #1 solved, now on to problem #2. I had no wheel to train on so I sent out a message to all Rochester triathletes in hope of finding a wheel I could train on for the next two to three weeks. Low and behold the nicest guy of them all, Travis, sends me a text message saying he has one I can borrow for the time being. This guy is a class act, and probably the most amusing person to watch at a race. Problem #2 solved, now onto the next. On the Monday before the race I had a scheduled 90 minute ride to carry-out. Unfortunately it rained that day, but I decided to brave the weather and go out for my planned ride. I took the corners slowly and rode within the weather conditions. As I was finishing up my ride, I was making the final turn into my apartment complex and BAM! to the ground I went. My back tire spun out and I found myself lying on the ground with road rash on my hip, knee, and lower leg. I laid there for a minute and thought “Really? A week away and I crash my bike?” I looked at my hip and knee and noticed it was swollen so I hobbled home, showered and laid a bag of Broccoli on it. I decided to play it smart and take the next day off because I could barely walk without it being in too much pain. On Wednesday I opted to swim and ride for an hour. I could barely push of the wall without my knee hurting, and luckily for me the riding was too bad. I knew at this point I couldn’t run, so I waited until Friday to see what I could do. I ran 4 miles on Friday and it was brutal. I hobbled four miles on the treadmill, got off and iced the heck out of my knee. I didn’t want to think about it anymore so I just said “Do what you can on Sunday.”

When I went to go pick up my wheel from Tri Spot, Pat told me my bike was a bit out of whack from the crash. He then worked on it for an hour before handing it over(Thanks again!). My mom, dad, Catie and myself left for Muskoka on Friday and if anyone has ever been in Canada, you know how much the traffic sucks over there. “Rush hour” is every hour up north, and to get anywhere it takes double the time it should. Finally around 6p.m. we arrived in Muskoka. After checking in at the hotel, and picking up my athlete packet it was off to dinner. Saturday consisted of rest, ice, and tons of food. I am pretty sure I ate everything in sight on Saturday from muffins, to bagels, to pasta. It was a glorious feast, and come Saturday night I was ready to race.

Luckily for me after starting pretty much every race this year in the last wave, Muskoka was kind to me and allowed for the young guns to head out with the male pro’s. Unfortunately I cannot hang with the big boys for the 1.2 mile swim, so I was alone for the entire swim. The swim course is a funky looking rectangle, with the swim ending right near the 18th hole on the golf course. My sighting was pretty on point until I was coming into the bay (finish area). I was swimming and spotting every sixth stroke and with my goggles starting to fog it became harder to see. As I was swimming into the finishing area, a kayaker told me to head over to my left. I thought I was doing pretty well, but she told me I was off course. I then spotted the lead female pro, which started six minutes back, so I got a draft from her and swam straight to the finish in a time of 33:45. For me that time isn’t too bad, but I was hoping for 32ish minutes. Once I exited the swim it was a 300 meter run literally uphill to the transition area. At this point my heart rate was through the roof so I decided to ease into the bike. I grabbed my shoes, bike, strapped on the helmet and set out for the 58.5 mile ride (yes, the course is 4km long).

The Ironamn Muskoka 70.3 bike course is like no other. It is constant climbing up and down for the entire 94km. This bike course will make a man (or woman) out of you if you haven’t put in the proper training. Seeing how the biggest hill near Wheatfield is about 1 mile long, the only way to hill train was to ride up and down that stupid hill for an hour straight. I became great friends with that Route 93 hill over the summer months, and I still struggled with this ride. Riding a disc wheel for the first time ever was quite exciting, though I as nervous on the downhill segments, because I was topping out at 55mph. It was wicked scary. The ride was steady and I felt pretty good throughout the whole thing. I knew the two kids in my age group who were the top contenders were not out of reach when it came to the bike, so I knew I had to ride hard in order to catch them. No surprise but they were out of the water before me by about two minutes so this ride was my chance to catch them. I passed a kid in my age group within the first few miles, and played the cat and mouse game with another kid for about 5 miles before I took the lead. I was in fourth place at about 60km into the bike. At this point Amanda Lovato passed me and she was cooking! Around 65km I saw a kid in my age group who was struggling on the climbs, so I decided to play it cool on the downhill, gain some energy and burn him on the next ascent. About 3km later I caught him and I was now riding in third. I believe at this point of the race I was unofficially 13th overall (other age groupers were riding faster than me, but technically “behind me”.) I had two more boys to catch but just didn’t have the legs to do so. By the 80km my knee was starting to get stiff and it was time to get off of the bike and stretch it out. The final 10km is brutal. There are some of the steepest climbs I have ever been on. I heard one competitor say one of the hills was a 21% grade! That’s crazy by any standards. Once I arrived back in T2 I was pissed at my overall time. 3:27:xx. (2:50 bike split) I needed to run a sub 1:30 on a hard course, with a bum knee, in order to beat my 2009 time. I was starting to punch the numbers and realize this was going to be a difficult task. I ran out of T2 in 36 seconds, right next to the 3rd overall female. I ran about the same pace as her for the first 4km and decided to pass her and try to keep her behind me for the entire run.

Going into this run my goal was to finish this race with nothing left in the tank. As I started to make up ground on those who passed me on the bike, I decided to shut my thoughts about my knee out and just go for it. I was running strong up the hills, and taking it safe on the down hills. I passed the three 25-29Agers who had passed me on the bike. As we were heading back into town I volunteer told me I was “flying to the finish”. Believe it or not I felt the same way. I was light on my feet and ticking away the kilometers one at a time. This lasted for about 6km and then I hit the wall HARD. Around `14km there was a person laying on the side of the course with a volunteer hovering over him. He did not look good at all, and seemed to have been done for the day. I noticed he was in my age group and felt horribly that he had to end his day prematurely. With that racer out of the race, I know knew I was in second place, but was unsure on how far back I was on the 1st place guy. Around 18km I meet up with the lead 25-29Ag and we ran together for the next 3km. Around mile 12 I hit a wall and hit it hard. The final mile is literally all up hill and I knew I was hurting and hurting bad. I decided to pop in a GU for the final mile and hope it would get me to the finish, and fast. Luckily the caffeine worked and I ran strong to a 4:56 finish. Good enough for a 27th overall and I was the 15th amateur. After the race my parents, Catie and I sat around in anticipation hoping a slot would fall my way. Unfortunately the first place 18-24 took the Vegas spot so I came home disappointed and let down as I did not accomplish my ultimate goal.

Now that my 2011 season is pretty much finished, it's time to relax, run a bit, ride a bit, and swim a bit, and eat a ton. My goal is to get back into the swing of things by mid-october because I have one goal and one goal and that is to FINALLY Qualify for Ironman 70.3 World Championships. I’ll be back next year and ready to finally earn that coveted spot!

A quick thanks to Tri-Spot, Brooks for their awesome running shoes, Kevin and Pat, Caite for putting up with my antics, and most of all my parents. They make everything possible, traveling costs, hotel, and most of all SUPPORT.
Cheers to a great 2011 season, time to get fat and start marathon training for BOSTON!

Amica Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island

Providence, Rhode Island. Nestled between the ocean, Massachusetts and Connecticut, its known for its patriotism, huge mansions and seafood. Although I didn’t get to experience all of these novelties, I did get to enjoy 70.3 miles of water, hills, and pavement. My 2011 schedule had a big focus on this race in hopes of having a fast race, and possible qualification to the World Championships. I didn’t know too much about the overall competition, but I did know there was a pretty deep field in my age group. There were some names that stood out in my age group, and I knew I would have to have a flawless race to beat them; needless to say it didn’t happen.

Arriving mid-Friday day, my parents, Catie and myself, checked into to our hotel, then headed over to Ironman village at the convention center. Right then and there was when it became surreal. Competing in a race of this magnitude always gets the juices flowing, and excitement takes over the body. I was excited to be there, and more excited to race. I had put in a lot of training and preparation for this particular race and I hoped to receive the results I was looking for. Although this last month of training has been less than spectacular, I thought I had built a solid base over the winter months. A lot of long, boring trainer rides, along with some long boring treadmill runs, and finally countless laps in Brockport’s disgusting pool. Friday night consisted of driving, and eating. We walked around the Newport area and this particular area flaunted its patriotism with multiple flags hanging from every household, red, white and blue painted road, and a July fourth parade. As Saturday came, it was more driving around to the swim start to drop off the bike and run gear, along with attending the athlete meeting. At this meeting I found out that the water would be over eighty degrees and that meant all wetsuits would be banned. I let out a silent (or not so silent) “SHIT!”. If you do not know the gains of utilizing a wetsuit during a swim, take it from a nonswimmer; it works wonders! The buoyancy it gives the body makes it seem like you are coasting on top of the water. It almost is comparable to gliding on ice. It is a huge gain when they are allowed and a huge loss when they are banned. After hearing this news I knew there was nothing I could do in my power, unless I had 5 tons of ice I could drop in Olney pond to cool it down overnight. That night Catie and I walked around Providence and Federall Hill. We hit up the largest mall I’ve ever seen (not by my choice) and took in the sounds and the sights. It was early to bed that night as Sunday would be an early one.

Sunday morning came, and it was an early 3:30 wakeup call as this race started at 6 am. My first thought was, some party goers will be just crawling into their beds right now. This was too early even for me, but the alarm went off and the room got up, no questions asked. Catherine, my rents, and I loaded into the car and drove off to the Amica Headquarters where we would then catch a shuttle bus to Lincoln Woods state park. Once we arrived I had a whole twenty minutes to get my transition area settled and get on to the starting line. Unfortunately my wave was the last wave so I had a lot of standing around to do before the race. The pro field began at 6 and I went off at 7:10, and waiting that hour made the nerves rise more and more. I was restless to start my day. Being a non-wetsuit swim I was unsure of how fast or slow my time was going to be, so I said “less than 37 minutes and I’d be content.” Once our wave was corralled the gun went off and the boys hit the water. I lined myself up right with the turn buoy that way my sighting would come easy. As soon as I hit that first turn buoy I was absolutely blinded by the sun. I couldn’t see a damn thing and I knew I was going to steer off course. I tried to stay with the lead pack of swimmers for as long as I could but they dropped me within the first ten minutes. I was lost, way lost, and I was hoping that I could stay close to the course. After finally hitting the second turn buoy I had gone a bit off course and needed to make up some time on the back stretch. Settling and being able to see are both wonderful things when it comes to performing an open water swim. I spotted the exit and headed straight for it. I came out in 36:XX so I was content with that. Knowing if I could see and if I could wear a wetsuit I would have been better off, and believe it or not I was 20th out of the water in my age group of 60+ so that’s not too shabby.


Once out of the water I hit T1 and got out there as fast as I could. I hadn’t ridden this bike course before, but reading online forums of people who had, I knew I was in for a bumpy ride. The first 30-40 miles were rolling hills, a constant up and down. The hills were relentless and when the final ten miles came, it was the worst roads I had ever been on. Picture downtown Niagara Falls, you know the one’s with the pot holes you can take a bath in when it rains? Yeah, it was that bad. Between bumps which protruded about six inches in the middle of the road, and the pot holes which could have been meteorite sightings, I was slower than slow the last ten miles. I don’t think I was in aero position the entire time, and I was grasping the bars so tight I thought I was going to snap them in half. Luckily for me I am as strong as a newborn so my handlebars lived to ride another day. Overall my bike split was borderline embarrassing. I couldn’t believe how slow I rode. I can blame the roads all I want (which I still know if it weren’t for those last ten miles I could have taken off at least 2-5 minutes) my split was bad. 2:42:XX averaging 20.7 mph. I wanted to be in the 21.7-22.1 range and I was nowhere near that. I guess I know what desperately needs work.

Coming into T2 I knew I would need a killer run to revive this race. Up until this point my race was sinking fast. I wanted to break 4:45 and I would need a 1:23 half marathon to do so. On a course like this, that was impossible for me. The first couple of miles were long, never-ending hills which took the wind right out of my sails. It was hot, like 90 degrees hot. At every aid station it was grab as much as I could and cool myself down with mode; sponges, water, I am pretty sure I ever doused myself in Ironman Perform. That was a sticky situation. Once I came to the first turnaround, I knew I would be running downhill and needed to make up some time so I took the hills and ran with them (literally). I finally settled in between miles 4-7 and then, being a two-loop course I would be welcomed with that same two mile hill as the first loop. I ran the hill faster the second time around and was ready to get my butt to the finish line. By this time the sun was high-noon, and you could tell because there were hundreds of athletes walking by now. Everyone looked like they had just seen the devil and wanted out. I kept moving past the fellow athletes and before I knew it, there was only two miles left to go. I saw a kid in my age group who seemed to be struggling a bit so I made it a goal to pass him before the finish line. With about a mile and a half to go, I went for it and ran past him. I congratulated him on a solid race, as he did back to me. With the last 200-400 meters being straight uphill I was relieved to see Catie, my mom and dad, waiting for me in that sun. They looked as tired as I was. I always say spectating is just as hard as racing. They have to worry, track, and stand countless hours while we prance around in spandex and look like cavemen or women taking in GU”s, bars, and hydration. I ran the 13.1 miles in 1:2828 which for this course I would consider pretty good. I finished the race in 4:50:51, 89th overall and 7th in my age group. I cannot lie to myself and say I had a “good race”, because I didn’t. My swim was slow, and my bike was despicable. There is work that needs to be done, but for now I have decided to take a complete week off, recharge the batteries and get ready for the second half of the season. I have a few more triathlons to go, and possibly a half marathon and a marathon. We shall see where the wind takes me over the next few months. I know I will be racing the Wilson Wet and Wild triathlon, along with the Ironman Muskoka 70.3 in hopes of qualifying for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. For now, its time to hit the pool and grind the gears because Muskoka is-a-calling.

Keuka Lake Race Report.

The trainer is collecting dust, the cold gear is shelved away, and the legs are shaved. That can only mean one thing; the triathlon season is officially here! After months of winter weather, and countless hours of indoor training, the sun is out, and the temperatures are finally over 60 degrees(well today a least). The Keuka Lake Triathlon was the first race of my tri season and I came into this race with both excitement and anticipation. Early season triathlons are a great way to assess your winter training along with an evaluation of what kind of form you’re in. Even though I have been racing for 4 years, I have yet to do an Olympic distance triathlon. I’ve done numerous sprints, three Ironman 70.3’s and an Ironman, but I was still an Olympic tri virgin. I knew from the get go this distance wouldn’t favor me because it has a fairly long swim compared to the bike and run portion, and as everyone knows swimming is not my strong suit. I am a good runner and an average cyclist. Therefore my expectations for this race were slightly on edge. I set out the simple goal of a sub 2:20 race. My goal for the swim was not to drown (sub 30 min), my goal for the bike was sub 1:10 (taking the slight difficulty of the course into consideration) and a sub 40minute run.
Saturday afternoon began our commute towards the Penn Yan area. Mike was my co-pilot for the ride, and decided to take on the journey this weekend with me. I explained to him that our accommodations would be about as nice as our hostel in San Francisco, but being the trooper and good friend he is, he wanted to tag along. After driving for two hours we hit our first detour, and we were directed through the dirt roads of Amish country. For the final twenty minutes it was nothing but farm land, horse dung, and carriages. Once we finally arrived to our Keuka Lake College we hit up the registration tent, checked into our dorm room, and headed on out for some Holly’s Red Rooster. After dinner we meet up with Pete Cerny, Joe Meyer and Joe and we began playing extreme Bocce. What is extreme Bocce one may ask? Extreme Bocce is no holds bar, anything goes, through the bushes, brush, against the concrete walls, down a ravine and up a hill. After two hours of game play, team Joe2 won. Playing Bocce the day before a race may have been the most fun and relaxing thing ever. I have a feeling this will become a Keuka Lake tradition.
Race morning began at 5:13 a.m. After my coffee pot decided to throw up all over the room I managed to mustard up half a cup, and washed it down with a bagel and peanut butter. After Mike complained for the next half hour about how early it is and blah blah blah, we headed down to transition area to set up and get ready for the race. Leading up to this race I had yet to swim in open water, wear my wetsuit, or swim a continuous mile. As I was running through my equipment my front bike wheel was rubbing the break pad so I decided to detach my front break and ride with just the back one. (I wouldn’t advise anyone to do that!) The water was a brisk 63 degrees so I opted to get in the water 15 minutes before the race and frolic around to get the body used to the water temperature. It was cold, but not unbearable. Once my wave was in the corral, the siren blew, and the race was underway. I started in the second row in hopes of getting a good line to the first buoy and possibly draft off of a faster swimmer. Unfortunately for me neither of these two things happened. I swam at what I thought was a decent pace. I wanted to finish between 25 minutes-29 minutes and I did that. 26:59, which is not good, not great, probably less than average. The good thing was I felt good, and I was ready to bike.
Throughout T1 I felt like the world had slowed down. It truly felt like I was in T1 for over ten minutes, and the first thing I said to Mike after the race was “MY first transition took forever.” Well after the results were posted I guess I didn’t do half bad because I had one of the faster T1 times at 1:04. Onto the bike, the newly paved 54 was glorious. It was smooth and pot hole free, just what a cyclist dreams of. The course isn’t the toughest course, but it isn’t the easiest either. It has some steady rollers and to reward your efforts it presents some fast down hills. On that first turn around I was really wishing I had those front breaks because I rolled about an extra ten yards past the turnaround point because I couldn’t slow down. I am pretty sure one of the volunteers said “Where is that kid going?” I felt pretty dumb at that moment but quickly kicked the tempo up for the mile climb back into town. Once we got to the back half of the course it was a gradual uphill climb and it was just constant grinding. I was playing a cat and mouse game with a few riders so that up(ed) the tempo quite a bit. Once we made the final turn around one of the riders took off and there was no way I was catching him so I settled down and drove the pace home. Once in T2 I got in and got out in 32 seconds, which was good enough for 1st overall. Hey transitions just may be my thing.
The run started off extremely ugly and I completely blew my pacing plan within the first mile. Ticking off a 5:42 first mile I knew I would be in a world of hurt, and that I was. I was dying by mile 2 and I thought a sub 40 10k was out of the question. I took in a GU and felt much better so I decided to pick the pace back up. Mile(s) 3 and 4 came easily then around mile 4.5 the leg cramps took their toll and although I wanted to stop and stretch it out, I knew that was not a pliable option so I ran through some of the worst cramps I’ve ever had. I was super bloated and not very happy. I did what I could for the last 1.5 miles and was happy to see that finish line. I came in with the fourth fastest run in 38:XX. I finished with a time of 2:16:59 and I was happy to finish 14th overall, and taking the AG crown was a nice perk also. I now know I need to perform a better nutrition plan and maybe I can eliminate those cramps, and even have a quicker run split.

If I had to give myself a grade for this race it would be as follows:
Swim: C
T1: B+
Bike: B
T2: A+
Run: A
Overall: B+

Needless to say I need to continue to work on my swim, and get out on mike bike more. Now it’s time to really put in the hours for Ironman Rhode Island 70.3 which is only 4 weeks away! Let’s get out there and train ya’ll!

Two blogs in seven days is unheard of for me. I don't do many things that are "blog worthy", but I feel like writing up what went down Friday morning. Friday's, up until last week have been dedicated to teaching youngins' the benefits of physical activity, locomotor skills, and developing them as movers and learners. Those who actually read my last blog, know last Friday was a day from hell as Catie and I sat in a car for hours on end in search of our hotel. However, this Friday brought something a little bit different. For those who don't know me I am a morning person. For those who know my mom, can tell you I probably get this trait from her. She has been granted the name Jane from Tarzan by our family. She has more energy/ stregnth than anyone I know. So I can thank her for making me a morning person. Meaning I somewhat enjoy waking up at before the sun rises for the simple fact that I can knock out a workout or two before most people wake up. Nobody bothers me, the gyms aren't crowded, I can get a lane to myself in the pool, and I don't feel like I am being selfish training at this hour. Another huge reason the mornings are so beneficial is because I don't go through the day thinking "Man I still have to run, or bike or swim." I dislike having things dwell over my head all day, and prefer to relax come night time. So for those who say they never have any time to exercise, that is a faulty excuse. Set that alarm clock, make a commitment, get up and workout!

Onward with the purpose of this post. Yesterday was a scheduled swim of 30 minutes (easy recovery) and hour bike (4x10 intervals) and a run of 40-60 minutes depending on how I felt. Thursday night I told Catie I think I am going to combine my workout tomorrow and do an Olympic triathlon(not official). By no means was this the right way to train and I do not recommend it to many, but I wanted to get the feel of transitioning and running off of the bike. I woke up Friday morning at 5:45 and had little desire to achieve the thought that ran through my head the night before. I drove to the pool and hopped into the freezing cold pool. I did a 300yd warm up then decided to do a mile TT. After the mile TT I wen on to do some easier drills and a nice little cool down which put me at 2600yds for the day. I hopped out of the pool and put on my bike shorts. I drove back home, grabbed my bottles out of the fridge and starred at my bike. Should I ride or should I just eat breakfast? I rode. I rode 25 miles in 1:09 (while watching DMB live in Atlanta, great addition to any ride). After the ride I got off my bike, through on some clothes and ran out the door. Here is a hint for any aspiring triathlete: ALWAYS put "normal" running clothes on before you run outside or else you will get some strange looks when running through the streets in spandex. Trust me I made that rookie mistake when I first started out and I will never do that again. Back to the run... I wanted to see where I was when it came to running off the bike. I opted to run the first 5k at race pace then do a recovery 5k to cap off the workout. I pushed the fist 5k and believe it or not I felt pretty good. The second 5k however was not to my liking. I forgot to take in calories on the bike, and barely drank anything. I ticked odd the first 5k in 18:10 (which I was okay with) and the remaining 5k was 22 minutes almost even. I wasn't too bent out of shape over the second 5k time, considering I had no true nutrition in me, nor was anyone chasing me trying to beat me to the line. Once I got back to my apartment I crashed on the couch, looked at the clock and noticed it was only 9:50! I did a whole day's workout before 10am. That was a victory in and of its self.

Sometimes, in my opinion, you have to step outside of that constructed box of training, go out on a limb and do something to let your mind have some fun. Forget the number crunching, forget the watch, the heart rate monitor and just enjoy being a triathlete. I hope everyone who reads this, all 2 or 3 of you finds something that keeps/gets you motivated no matter what your niche may be and just have fun with it. Nothing is impossible if you just tri.

Weeks Total:
Swim- 2:40
Bike- 10:10
Run- 4:11
Strength- 20 minutes!

For a total of ......17 hours and 21 minutes

The Adventure's of Pittsburgh Racing

I wish I could have been Charlie Sheen this weekend for the simple fact that he has been "Winning" for about a month now. In fact he has been doing so much winning, I blame my "losing" on him. After racing the Flower City Half Marathon last year, which I came up 11 seconds short of qualifying for the NYC Marathon, I felt that it was time to take another crack at it. I chose Just a Short Run located right outside of Pittsburgh for the simple fact that it seemed relatively flat, and I had never been to the Steel City. So Catherine and I packed our bags and headed out around noon on Friday. Google Maps said it would take 4.5 hours. I didn't think that was too bad, and the ride would go relatively quick. The drive to Pittsburgh was peaceful as there were not too many cops or cars on the road, but once we got to the Pittsburgh area, this trip made a turn for the worst.

I booked a hotel located 30 minutes from the race site, and 5 minutes away from Pittsburgh. We arrived to the Pittsburgh area right as traffic was starting to pick up. We hit the suburbs and began looking for Exit 2, which would eventually lead us to our hotel. Well (un)luckily for us there was no such thing as an Exit 2 in Pittsburgh. Okay time to get of the highway and go ask for directions. We stooped at a Pep Boys in hopes they could lead us to our final destination. I asked the clerk how to get to the Quality Inn in Monroeville. He told me how to get to Monroeville, but was unsure of where the Quality Inn was exactly. The sales rep told us we would be facing some heavy traffic as we had to go through two tunnels which lead into and out of the city. After driving 4.5 hours the last thing we wanted to do was sit in our car in dead beat traffic. After we got the directions we were on our way; Sort of. We were stuck in traffic, not moving, not even a tiny roll. After getting through the first tunnel, which took us about 30-45 minutes we still had tunnel #2 to go. AT this point I was a little uneasy and ready to lay down and relax. We were FAR from doing that. As it took another 30-45 minutes to get through The Squirrel Tunnel we were finally on our way to our hotel, or so we thought (again). Once we arrived to Monroeville our directions at this point were completely useless and we had no idea where to go. We drove around in rush hour traffic until I finally decided to pull over and ask someone where the Quality Inn Hotel was. I walked into the gas station to ask the clerk if she knew the location of the Quality Inn. She had no idea where that was or if it even existed, so she asked her co-workers. Not one person had any idea where this hotel was. I turned to the line behind me of about 10 people and not one person knew where this hotel was. At this point I was ready to sleep in my car and just call it a day. I turned to Catie and said not one person knew where this place was! How can a whole city not know where this hotel was? Catie and I then decided to get some dinner and try to figure this all out. Dinner was probably the highlight of this day. As we ate dinner we got on our phones and tried to make some phone calls. After numerous attempts calling our parents, and local hotels, we found out that Hotels.com had the wrong address to our hotel and that it was actually located in Green Tree which was before the city! This meant we had to go back through both tunnels, drive through Pittsburgh and finally to Green Tree. After doing those tunnels once I was ready to cancel and book a hotel in Monroeville and call it quits. We hoped the tunnels going the other way wouldn't be too bad and that we would take our chances. At this point I had steam coming out of my ears and my stress level was out of this world. I felt horrible for Catie because she did not say a word and showed no frustration. On the other hand, I think I dropped more F Bombs in one hour than I have in my entire life. Once we ventured back through Pittsburgh, we FINALLY made it to the QUALITY SUITES in GREEN TREE, PA. Got that Hotels.com? Not Monroeville. Thanks a bunch. After driving for a total of 7 hours, we had made it to the registration desk of Quality Suites. We checked in, got our room keys, and drove to our room. The great part about it was our "room" was a mini apartment. It was equipped with a full kitchen, breakfast bar, desk, living room, queen bed, and a bathroom. It was huge it was just too bad we only spent 9 hours in the room.

I set my alarm for 5:30 am for a 8:30 am race start. It was a good thing we left early because, race morning was every bit as stressful as the day before. We packed our bags, loaded the car, checked-out and we were on our way. Well, once again thanks to a non existent exit we were lost again. We got to the general area of the race and had to stop and ask for directions because once again ours were useless. The nice thing was the first two people had no idea where this park was. Cool. Losing again. Thanks Charlie. On our third attempt, and after a hour of driving, an old man lead us to the correct spot. We arrived at North Park with exactly an hour until the gun went off. We still had to take a shuttle to the start, get my race packet and change. No biggie Ill be ready. Luckily the shuttle was on time, the registration was quick and I was changed with 30 minutes left to warm up in the 20 degree heat. That was a joke....it was freezing. I did not have the proper equipment so I ran in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and I was probably the most under dressed out of the 2,200 participants. Besides the man in spandex shorts and nothing else. I lined up near the front and the race began.

The first mile was completely uphill and on a fairly steep slope. Not cool. By mile one I was ready to be done and head back to the start. I was cold, out of breath, and my heart rate was probably over 200. I was hoping there would be a nice, prolonged downhill to negate that killer uphill. Luckily for me, and the 2,200 other runners there was a nice steep downhill which cranked on my shins and quads. SO the first two miles I felt like I just ran 5 miles at 5:30/MILE pace. I needed to settle down and grab a hold of the race. I needed to run a 1:23 to qualify and before ever coming to Pittsburgh I thought it was doable, but after everything that happened that morning, and the day before I would be happy to finish under 1:30. I did not feel like running, I was so stressed out, and Catie was freezing waiting for me at the finish line. I ran the first 5 miles in 33 minutes and felt like I just ran a marathon. What the heck was going on with me? My legs were freezing, tight, and not able to go any faster. I decided to really push the next 5k and hope that I could make up some time, and get this race back on track. I ticked away 3 miles in 18 or so minutes and headed back out for the second loop of the course. 8 miles in 52 minutes. I was alright with that but come to realize that running the next 5.1 miles in 30 minutes and 59 seconds would be a miracle. This course wasn't the flattest thing in the world, so I pushed right from the start. I ran the first mile of the second loop (9th mile) in 6:10, the second mile((10th mile) in 6:11 then hit a trouble spot and slowed to a 6:20 pace for the 11th mile. At this point my battleship was sunk and I knew I wasn't going to qualify. I ran as fast as I could for integrity reasons and finished 23rd overall, 1st in my age group in 1:24:40. On any other given day I would be extremely upset with this time. It wasn't what I came here to do, but given the situations that lead up to this race, the temperature, and lack of clothing, I was OKAY with a 1:24. My goal for a Half Ironman run split for the 2011 is a 1:24 so I am happy with where I am at. I know that I run faster off the bike, and I would much prefer to run 13.1 miles off of a 56 mile bike than a stand alone half-marathon.

Catie and I didn't stick around for the awards as both of us were freezing and everything was outside. We hopped on the shuttle bus and arrived at our car shortly after. I changed out of my race clothes and put on some dry, clean, warm, threads. The race was over now it was time to venture into Steeler Country. We arrived only 20 minutes later (and for once DID NOT GET LOST!) We strolled around the Strip District, went to Wholey's Fish Market, City Market, a street fair, and sat down at Pirmanti's Brother's to enjoy Pittsburghs finest sandwhich. We rode the Duquesne Incline, and walked past Heinz field and PNC Park. Sat down in Market Square, and saw the Theatre District. After walking for five or six hours we were both beat, and decided to pack it up and head home.

By no means was this trip flawless. We got lost numerous times, it was beyond cold, we slept a total of five hours, but not once did we argue or yell at one another. Sure I didn't reach my main goal (qualify for NYC), but for better or worse this trip was a trip of a lifetime. We got to spend time together outside of Brockport, we got to see Pittsburgh, we ate wine and beer jelly (which is absolutely AMAZING) I got her to walk through a fish market, we rode the Duequesne Incline, and saw a view of Pittsburgh most people don't get to see. Overall this trip although stressful, crazy, and tiresome, was an absolute pleasure thanks to Catie.

Let the high volume training......BEGIN!