Back to the races

So this weekend is my last (scheduled) race of the season. The Cranberry Country Oly, put on by the friendly folks at Sun Multisport Events.

Starting off the season, I registered for this race figuring that I’ll be super speedy by now, well versed in Oly racing after finishing the Mooseman olympic distance and one or two other olys (I only managed to race @ mooseman) and I could tear up the course and hope for a nice age group finish. CLEARLY, that isn’t going to happen this year.

It is a little disappointing to see this go up on my race resume as my “A” race of this season, but after a pretty nasty injury to my IT band, I guess you’ve just gotta deal with it and move on.

From what I’ve heard from other people who have done the race, it is a real fun time, well run, and a nice fast bike course (which I will love b’c my cycling has been getting the shaft lately while I have been trying to bring my running back up to speed).

I was at least moderately focused on my finishing time at Mooseman, but I’ve decided to throw all of that out for this race, just focus on putting on a respectable race, and having a good time.

Strangely, I feel like I need to celebrate the (almost) completion of my first real triathlon season. (Last season didn’t really count, it was just a trial I guess). For whatever reason, I’ve been very interested in taking the dive and shaving down for the race this weekend. BTW, my GF is SUPER against it, but oh well. Why would I do it anyway?

Vanity? Peer Pressure? Probably.

Am I expecting to be faster? No way.

Thoughts? Am I just being silly taking the dive and going under the knife razor and go clean shaven  this late in the season?

Okay, wow, this post was really ramble-ly but oh well. It is early and thats the best your gunna get! You’ll get more this weekend with some race pics and hopefully some video.

Video: Wild Fish One Mile Swim

[blip.tv ?posts_id=341333&dest=8870]

Race Goal: 30:00

Finishing Time: 26: something something

First place in my age group (19-19)

Nutrition:

Pre-race: 1 bottle of of Nuun 30 minutes before

1 mocha Cliff shot

Post-race: 30 oz gatorade (wash out all the salt from my mouth

1 mocha Cliff shot

Its Business Time!

Okay well not that kind of business… (but it is a plug for my new favorite HBO show, Flight of the Concords).

I’m heading up to Salem, MA this morning for the Wild Fish One Mile Swim this morning. It will be my first ocean swim this year, but I’ve realized that in trying to fix my leg and get back to running, I’ve been really neglecting my swimming. Although, out of the three, it probably isn’t too bad that I’m neglecting swimming as somehow it has turned into my best sport (hopefully I can get my running back up to that level this season).

This is more of a “shock to the system” more than anything else. Plus, I hope that I can use this to get better at drafting/sighting in race conditions. I still feel really awkward drafting in the swim, even thought I know I can pretty easily use it to leapfrog to the front of a pack and save plenty of energy in the process. I just always feel like I’m going WAY too slow when I’m following someone.

I’m hoping to crawl back in to shore somewhere around 30 minutes since my Mooseman swim time was 28:39, but this swim course is a little longer and I think I’m in a little worse swimming shape than I was back in June.

Alright kiddies, out I go! It’s business time! Lets show ’em what’s up!

Katie Tagged Me!

No, not the graffiti kind, just the blogging kind. So, I kindly oblige and give everyone a rare peek into the my inner workings and sordid history. Parents, only keep scrolling when your kids are safely out of the room.

Jobs I’ve Held
Grocery store stock boy/cashier
Lifeguard
Math tutor
Ski lift operator (one day)
PR Intern at the outdoor Life Network
PR Intern at Special Olympics Connecticut
Pseudo website designer (I’m not that good, it didn’t last long)
Public Relations Rep

Movies I Can Watch Over & Over
Any of the Lord of the Rings movies
Pulp Fiction
Without Limits

My Guilty Pleasures
Chocolate chip cookies
Root beer floats

Places I Have Lived (in order)
New Milford, CT
Hamden, CT
Syracuse, NY
Someville, MA (soon to be 3 different apartments)

Shows I Enjoy
Scrubs
Flight of the Concords
Gray’s Anatomy
Heros

Places I Have Been on Vacation
North Conway, NH
Orlando, FL
St. Petersburg, FL
Key West, FL
Kennebunkport, ME
Atlantic City, NJ
Cape Cod, MA

Favorite Foods
Chocolate chip cookies
Steak
Pizza
Beer
Chunky Peanut Butter and Raspberry Jam Sandwiches (I’m very particular about my PBnJ)

Websites I Visit Daily
Facebook (I practically live there… it is sad)
Google Reader (to stalk all my tri-blogger peeps)
Triscoop
Miniclip.com (I’m addicted to stupid flash games)
YouTube

Body Parts I Have Injured

Right IT Band (duh…)
Cracked right wrist (attempting stunts on my BMX bike as a kid)
Tore off part of my face skiing in sixth grade

Awards You’ve Won

Hmm, can’t really think of any. But I’m sure I won some spelling bee or “most likely to start a triathlon blog” or something silly like that in elementary school.

Nicknames You’ve Been Called
Bull-dawg
Jay
Jamie
Jameson (somehow that seams like a nick-name even it is what is on my birth certificate…)
BullyBully
James (least popular)
RedBull (Triscoop name)
KILLA (well.. not really…)

Pick 5 Other Bloggers
Cav (b’c I’m not sure where he has gone to)
Tri-John
Elizabeth (because my iPod misses her)
Robin
Curly Su

Okay, so this wasn’t as revealing or risque as I had expected. Oh well. Enjoy.

I’m a runner again

Yesterday I had to bow out of a BRick workout with Kim and Chris. (Sorry guys, family takes precedence over Tri training.) But it did give me the opportunity to jump on the local track and test whatever speed I’ve still got in my legs since taking more than a month off because of my IT Band Syndrome.

It had been WAY too long since I had pushed myself on a serious track workout, and I didn’t even know what to expect. I’m still taking it easy, so it wasn’t too long, but I at least wanted to push myself to get some benchmark numbers to test myself against later in the season.

My plan:

1 x 1600 easy warmup

1 x 1600 @ race pace (hoping for at least 7:33… so I can compete with Kim)

1×1600 easy with drills (high knees, kick buts, scissors…)

First Mile:

Time: 9:50

Avg BPM: 155

Max BPM: 175

Race Mile:

Time: 7:05

Avg BPM: 177

Max BPM: 187

WOO! I was expecting to barely make it past 7:33 without either falling over and having my heart explode out of my chest, or having my IT band snap and I fall over in a bloody mess on the side of the track, but I actually didn’t do that bad! I’ve definitely seen faster days, but this gave me just the emotional boost that I needed after battling the depression of not being able to run for about 6 weeks. It just gave me a great feeling of finally getting back to my roots as a runner, pushing laps hard, feeling that jello-like soreness in my legs, and dodging sprinklers on the football field early in the morning.

Good times..

Cranberry Country Oly is in three weeks. Here I Come!

Slow week

Hey kids. Just checking in.

This week has been pretty crazy with just about everything but training. I’ve been a mess trying to find a new apartment (one roommate is moving out so I’m forced to move to a smaller place). This is the time of year to rent an apartment in Boston, and everyone and their mother is out there trying to steal all the nice places and leave me out on the street, but I digress…

The PT has been great this week. Went twice and have been doing tons of stretching. I’ve even ordered an foam roller from Amazon to try to massage out some scar tissue and loosen up my IT band. I’m awful at actually completing morning workouts (although I’m very good at actually planning on doing them and setting my alarm) but I am hoping to get a few mile run in tomorrow morning before work.

I know this is a pretty shabby post, I do honestly feel bad when I don’t have time to push out some quality posts, but until then… I leave you with this.

Kinda makes me wish I could trade in the road bike for some knobby tires… but that is only fleeting 🙂

Nothing beats the speed of a nice slick road bike.

Until next time… train hard. play harder.