IMLP 2010 Race Report

The picture above says it all...it was a blast!

...and yeah I went back to the expo tent on Monday and picked up that finishers jacket that I drooled over the previous year when I had just signed up for IMLP 2010

What a day....What a week....What a year! Yes folks IMLP is finally here!

Phew...what a couple days it has been. I am now laying in my hotel bed with some ice on the leg and just relaxing. The past couple of days have been jam packed with triathlon goodness. Now as I lay here i finally have a few seconds to catch up on my blog. But not to worry everyone, since I am planning to spend about 30 minutes on my feet on Saturday I will have plenty of time to catch up on long overdue blog posts, SMURFINGS, phone calls to friends and family. It is going to be a great day of relaxation and catching up. So there is your warning everyone, be on the look out for a call from Turbo Curbeau :)

So lets get down to what I have been up to these past couple of days. The madness all began on Tuesday after work as I headed to Geneva to meet my mom and pick up my specially made "Lake Placid Pants" from none other than the best pants makers (among other things now) my friends at Bonobos..go to their site at www.bonobos.com. They are awesome dudes who make a great product! For Lake Placid they hooked me up with their Limited Edition "Spangled Banners' which are navy blue and have stars all over them. I mean what better pants to wear at Ironman USA! I can't think of any other clothing line that I would rather be representing. Now we just need to get them to make nice tri kit for me :) haha So while I was in Geneva I stopped at the Geneva Cycle Center and said hi to my friends Jim nd Chad, great guys! And by mentioning bike stores I must add that my good friend Scott Likly and his crew at Towpath bike in Pittsford really are the best people in the world and they have got me all set up on my Speed Concept. I really do appreciate all their assistance and well wishes. In fact Scott just called me and wished me good luck...and to that point I must add that a good friend of mine, CJ, who I went to school in London also gave me a ring. With our busy lives it is hard to connect with him and my old friends but it sure was nice to catch up with him and hear how he's doing. he informed me that he will be running in the marine core marathon this fall in DC. Way to go CJ, and his wonderful girlfriend Nora will be doing it with him as well. I will certainly look forward to seeing them race down their as well as hear about all their training that they will be putting in. I'll keep my eye on them :) So yeah, after I was in Geneva I continued on to Syracuse where I met up with Cusetri a.k.a. Mike Corona and I spent the night at his place so we could get a good early start on our vacation to Lake Placid. After some morning coffee and a wonderful eggs a'la Corona (soooo good!) we both got in the trusty subaru and headed towards the great wilderness paradise that is Lake Placid, NY. We arrived mid afternoon, got situated in the hotel, ate food with Don and Chris, and then immediately headed towards the lake for a nice 30 minute swim that we all had planned. Well let me just tell you that the weather was ummm...so so at best. Their were dark clouds looming and some thunder in the distance. None the less we five brave souls (Don, Chris, Ken, Mike and I) began our swim. Chris was the only smart one who turned around and headed back to shore after about five minutes of swimming. Why was he the smart one? Well because the rest of us decided to keep swimming and we swam right into a "Micro burst" as they call them. Mirror Lake (usually the calmest most serene place in the world) had whitecaps on it...whitecaps I tell you! It was so windy that even swimming at a hard pace it felt like we were getting pushed backwards. In all honesty we didn't really know how bad it was because we were in the middle of the lake but when we got back to shore Chris was just thankful we were alive. He informed us that the wind and rain was absolutely roaring and that everything on the beach was blowing around everything...I can attest to this since I found my goggle case which had my car keys and hotels keys in it to weight it down like 40 feet from where I had initially left them. But i guess as they say alls well that ends well and...what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger....but next time we might hold off on our swim if the weather looks like it did..After that near death experience we all showered up and stuff and then met up at Chris and Don's cabin in the woods that they rented. Awesome place, team Train This is actually all gathering their tonight for some KanJam, Team Bonding, Food Eating fun..it should be a great night. As for today Mike, Ken, Don, Chris and I all got a bike run brick in...very short of course, early this morning and then did the registration thing. This has made for kind of a long day on our feet...at least for me. I ended up going back down to the expo for a short while to talk to the SRAM reps who offered to look over my bike and make sure the gears and shifting were all 100% I met Ben and Paul from SRAM and really had a good talk with them. (Don't worry Mary I won't be spending every waking second at the expo this week...in fact I was pretty disappointed in their selection of apparel..at least in Galveston they had sweatpants and polo's and other goodies with the actual name of the race on them...here all the stuff is pure M dot with no reference to the race location, but I ended up getting some water bottles and a collectors mug that said lake placid so its not all bad, at least I saved some money.....for now) But where was i..YEAH I had a good chat with the SRAM guys and ended up with a new sponsorship with them....well not really, but they did give me some rub on tattoo's, stickers, and wristbands which I informed them that I will gladly rock all over the place. oh yah,I just remembered one of the coolest parts of the day, as I was registering in the lake placid high school I had multiple admirerers of my star bangled bonobos pants. A couple who even insisted on having a photo op with me. Sure they were high school age but they were still diggin Turbo..to bad I can't turn back the clock and be 18 again...oh well...the moral of the story is that the pants rock and people recognize this!

That's it for now, I have much more to share but I am now off to the team party for the remainder of the night. I will be coming to you live brining happiness and joy tomorrow morning from the Starbucks downtown here in LakePlacid. If your in the area stop by at 6am..I'll be there...I love the early morning in Placid, but i am guessing that as I am among my kin here in Triathlon heaven that I will be joined by many others just like me who are plagued with the same sickness. And here is official notice that Mrs. Mary Eggers will be taking on Jesse and Pat from QT2 in a morning (8am) swim challenge. The loser buys beer. I will be the official referee/timer/line judge/everything so you can count on a fair and honest race. Needless to say I am very excited about this.

Well until tomorrow morning this is Turbo and i'm out!

Race Week - Day 2

Day 2 of IMLP is beginning early for me. Its a little after 4:30 AM for me and I am up and ready to go. I went to bed around 9:30 last night so I got a pretty decent nights rest. However, this will surely be my last early morning before the big day on Sunday. I have a lot of things to get done today but after that I am going on total rest and recovery mode. But before tonight comes I have to get my training in (a 1hr brick with 30 min run and 30 min bike, very slight tempo pickups thrown in the mix, go to work, drive to geneva to meet my mom, continue on to Syracuse to meet up with Corona. Once I get to Syracuse my vacation will be in full swing and I will be able to breathe a sigh of relief. I'll be able to let it soak all in. I am really looking forward to just hanging out with great friends in a beautiful place. It just so happens that a big race that we all have been training for all year is going to happen at the same time, what a coincidence! Ahh to just think what tomorrow and the rest of the week is going to feel like. Corona is going to be riding up with me to Placid tomorrow so I will have a buddy to talk to on the drive up. Usually its just me and my iPhone as I listen to whatever podcast I have decided to download, but human interaction will be a very welcome change. Once we make it up to Placid tomorrow will be able to beat the Ironman crowd and get settled in about day before the true craziness begins.

Ironman Race Week Day 1

First off I just want to apologize for not posting yesterday. I had every intention of getting a good blog out there and continuing my smurfing but the day was just weird and I didn't get to it...however I shall make up for that today. I have started to write this morning before I head into work and I will wrap it up during my lunch hour because that's how much you all mean to me :)

Yesterday was quite a strange day for me. With no real training on tap I didn't really have a plan for what I was going to do. Since I had gone to bed quite early on Saturday because I was pretty tired I ended up awake around 7:30 on Sunday morning. I made some coffee and settled in to watch some of the Tour de France. I'll admit that it was nice to just wake up and lounge around but I don't know if I was ready for a nice day of laziness, I just felt "off" all day. I tried to go to Midtown and do some stretching and core work just to get the blood flowing but I was more tired than anything which is weird since I have gotten the most sleep I have had since probably the week after I got back from Texas in April. I found this to also be strange because last week I actually felt really good. Previous to last week I was really beaten down and tired from my last big build during the months of may and june. I thought everything had been all good last week but this weekend hit me hard. Maybe it was the bike and run on Saturday that zapped my energy a bit. It was pretty hot and humid out there...so who knows. The bottom line is that I was a big pile of tired yesterday. I sat around, napped, cleaned the apt a little, began to pack my things, and got really mad at my bike because it is not shifting smoothly. I tried to see if I could fix the problem but that was no going to happen, if anything I have just made it about 100 times worse. So this means I will be going to the bike shop immediately after work to have my shifting looked at it. Hopefully they can get it all dialed in a few minutes so I can go for a nice 30 min spin to loosen the legs and loosen the new chain that's on the bike. T-minus 6 days to get everything in working order...I can't believe the big day has come so soon.

Oh man, here I am at work, literally begging for work. I just need something that will keep my mind off of the race. Once 5:00PM tomorrow comes I am all Ironman all week but until then I really need to give myself a break and just freaking chill. Being that I have a very OCD personality the fact that my bike's shifting if "off" is really freaking me out right now. All I can think about is getting my darn bike to the bike shop so it can be made right. I discovered the shifting issue last night when I was peddling on it while sitting on the trainer just for fun. I had a new chain installed this weekend and I wanted to at least turn the gears a little to break it in. Well it is good I was smart about this and did not have the chain installed like on Friday afternoon before the race. I had this all planned in advance since I knew I would have some short bike rides this week..short yes but long enough to break in the chain and make sure everything was running smoothly. Well luckily this happened early in the week so it should just be an easy fix for Mike at Towpath. I must admit that I did try to adjust a couple screws myself and things just got worse because of that so I just decided to give up and let the professionals fix it. So after a restless night and a morning where literally all I can think about is getting my bike to the shop I am happy that in about 4 hours the bike will be in the hands of people who know what they are doing. I just have to now contain myself until 11am when I will call Mike and let him know that I will be swinging by around lunch time....then I have to wait another hour until I can take the bike down to the shop...and then I will have to wait another approx 4 hours until I can go back down to the shop and pick up the bike and then actually go for an easy 30 minute spin which kicks off my full on taper week! How exciting. Wow I literally am all over the place this morning...I can't wait until tomorrow at like 5:30PM when I am sitting in my car driving towards lake placid (which includes a rest stop at Cusetri's on Tuesday night. Corona will be riding shotgun with me up to Placid on Wednesday morning since my hotel stay begins Wednesday and his begins Thursday. According to Corona his wonderful wife Jen gave him the "OK" to ride up with me..which is cool..we will probably go buck wild in lake placid on Wednesday night. You know the typical out all night drink-a-thon that most triathletes do during race week). Seriously I need something to take my mind off of my bike...I guess I will just continue my smurfing of the team :)

The Smurfing of Team Train-This Day 2

Mike Corona - Brainy Smurf with a bit of Chef Smurf thrown in the mix.






When thinking about what smurf would best suit Mr. Corona I could not settle on just one. Mike is just to dynamic of a character...soooo I am settled upon smurfing Mike as both Brainy and Chef Smurf. I could probably fit a few more in here but that would make this blog more like a novel than a short story. Getting on with it...


Mike, as does Brainy Smurf fancies himself as the most intelligent Smurf/Train-This teammate and the resident expert on everything. Unlike Brainy who is pretty much dead-wrong on every subject he professes to be an expert on, Mike usually has some worthwhile knowledge to add to the conversation. For the sake comparing our team to the Smurfs I will use myself as an example in this situation and continue the bromance that everyone has so alluded to. In the cartoon Brainy's best friend is Clumsy. Here's a litte background on Clumsy, Clumsy Smurf is a somewhat dimwitted but amiable Smurf. His best friend is Brainy. He is distinguished by his baggy clothing, which adds to his clumsy appearance (his clothing is normal in the comics). He is known for his hobby of collecting rocks. With that said I will say that like Clumsy I tend to write emails and such to the Train-This group that may have a bit of light-hearted humor. I rarely have anything of weight to add to a real conversation about power meters, the best food to eat, which race wheels are the fastest, how to change a flat..etc..I just don't have that much technical knowledge to offer up but I am usually good for a laugh..Mike however will gladly engage in a deep and meaningful conversation about the roll of a 11-23 cassette versus an 11-27 cassette. This type of banter precludes Mike from picking up many young females at bars (Jen is happy about that) but it does help people like ME understand and figure out what I need to have a better ride in Placid, and for that I am extremely thankful. I will also use the Brainy/Clumsy comparison to discuss Mike's "planning" nature. Mike is a financial planner..that's what he does...he plans. This translates to Mike having every bike route planned out in advance via MapQuest, something that I myself have yet to use. If it was left up to me I would be wandering around on my bike somewhere in Central NY still..however Mike always had our long-ride routes planned out in advance and he would even provide me with copies of the directions. What a guy! So that's why I smurf mike as Brainy Smurf. Mike loves the numbers..he even showed me the WKO program that he uses to track his training, it had about as many lines on the screen as Scarface did on his desk right before the final shootout. (For those non-movie buffs I will just say that this means that their was a TON OF lines!) I still don't know to much about what he showed me but the jist of it was that it could track all this data and tell you whether you were race ready. In Mike's case it told him that he was race ready and that he is going to throw down a 9:30 at Lake Placid :)

I must also make a brief comment about Mike's similarities to Chef Smurf. I have had the opportunity to dine at Mike's house on a few occasions and I will just say that the dude can cook. He has made me chicken dinner, huge salads, etc.. and they have all been phenomenal...gourmet quality for sure. For someone like myself who has yet to use their stove in their apartment that they have been in for over 2 years and who lives by frying eggs and using the microwave...ITS AWESOME!
He is Papa Smurf's apprentice and assistant, and he often thinks that makes him the de facto second-in-command. He can be distinguished from the others by the large glasses he wears. The Smurfs most often respond to his self-rightous preaching by tossing him out of the village. His best friend is Clumsy. In the comics during the Olympic games, he called himself Schtroumpf arbitre (referee) and handed out yellow cards to everyone.


Ken Koppenhaver -

What else can you say about Ken. The dude can freaking swim! He can swim faster with one arm and no kicking than I can at an all out sprint pace using both arms and kicking like a mad man. He probably swims about 2000 more yards during pool workouts than I do. I sometimes will just be gliding along in my lane and peer over into the far left lane (where the fast people are) and see them just effortlessly cruising along. I tend to not look for to long since it makes me very jealous. But he does put the work in so kudos to him. I may not have been able to make it to very many Master's practices this winter due to work but when I did make it Ken was ALWAYS there. I tend to think that he just sleeps in the MCC mens locker room and whenever someone goes to swim in the pool he just gets up and joins them..there is really no other explanation. I would wager that if there was a waterproof computer that he would strap on some scuba gear and just work at the bottom of a pool or lake. I think he's just more comfortable when he is submerged. So with that said I am currently concocting some sort of apparatus that will allow me to hold onto his legs for at least the first loop of the IMLP swim. I haven't quite figured out how I am going to do this but rest assure I will come up with something before Sunday morning, otherwise Ken could be 1/2 way through the first loop before I drag my but around the mirror lake swim course two times.

A Smurfing Affair - Day 1 (Alexa and Turbo)

And so it begins. It is as close to being officially race week as it gets without being race week. Tomorrow will be the Sunday before Ironman Lake Placid. What does that mean? It means that race days is a scant 6 whole days away. That's two full work days of work, 1 day of travel to plaid with Cusetri, 1 day to welcome friends to placid and enjoy a team party/dinner, 1 day to register, go to athlete meetings, buy stuff at the expo and eat carbs, 1 day to lay in bed, stay cool, keep the feet up, continue to eat carbs, and finally 1 day to have the best day of 2010...just playing the water, spinning on the bike, and running a cushy 26.2 miles to top it all off..this will be done with about 3000 friends, and more importantly with my awesome team by my side. For the most part I did not know anyone on my team at this time last year. I honestly think I knew one person (Joe Crispino). I had completed 3 triathlons (Keuka, Quakerman, and Musselman) and was just getting my feet wet, and oh yeah I had no clue what a training plan or a tri bike looked like. Oh what a difference a year can make. Their has been ups and downs, a TON of new friendships, injuries, triumphs, let-downs, horrible jobs, NEW & EXCITING JOBS..it just goes to show you that with each new day a new opportunity is born. Each time I get on the bike, go out to run, or jump in the lake is a chance for me to enjoy the sport of triathlon, get better at it, and usually have a fun day with my friends. And with that I will segway into what I had intended this post to be about...my team...who are my friends. One of the...wait I must re-state that...THE BEST thing about this sport is the community...the people that are involved. I will gladly train with someone any day of the week rather than go vision questing along. Going Solo does have its merits since on race day your out there on your own, no chatting to a buddy when your in tempo..yet your not really solo, usually there is between 500-3000 other people out hammering beside you. So yeah, this sport I am into is great and the people around me are as well. So without further ado I bring you the 2010 Train This Smurfing. Which Smurf are you?

To follow along please continue to check my blog as well as checking my Coach (Mary Eggers) blog @ www.ironmomma.com

First up is Alexa Harding "Just Keep Swimming"



I am confident that the smurf that best suits Ms. Harding is none other than Sassette Smurfling. Sassette Smurfling is a little freckled redhead girl with pigtails, and pink overalls. She calls Papa Smurf "Pappy" and Grandpa Smurf "Grandpy". Alexa like Sassette exudes an attitude that of a tomboy in that she loves to do all the things that the Smurf boys (Train This boys..or Kim Hase) do (i.e. cuss like a sailor, talk about obscene and/or inappropriate situations/topics, exchange stories of bowl movements as if it was a normal type of conversation that two elderly women would have at coffee hour just after church ended, as well as kicking numerous mens butts on the bike...and the run for that matter. However, just like Sassette who has a girly side as well (she likes dressing up and playing with her doll Smurfy Lou), Alexa enjoys throwing on her snuggie and having some snuggle time with both her cat and sleeping partners (3 stuffed horses...that's all I will say on that subject).
Like Sassette, some that do not know Alexa might consider her a bit blunt...similarly, Sassette actually got her name when Hefty pointed out how "Sassy" she was and than Painter called her a "Sassette". The Smurflings had a hard time warming up to her, but they have now found her to be like a sister. Smurfette and Papa Smurf treat her like a sister/daughter too. I think this fits in quite well with Ms. Harding as she has settled in quite nicely with the Train This crew, and who fosters either a Mother/Daughter or Older Sister/Younger Sister relationship (I just can't decide which I think it depends on the day) with Coach Mary. And so there you have it. Smurfing #1 is complete. I hope you all enjoyed that little tid-bit and I hope I did not make a new enemy or as they call them in the smurf world "villain". :)

Next up..ME..aka TURBO CURBEAU. I take on this nickname with great pleasure since it was not one that was created by myself. Yes, growing up the nickname of Turbo had been tossed around by my childhood schoolmates however it never stuck, it was more of an insult or joke than anything else considering that in my younger years I wasn't quite "Turbo". However, I do believe that in the recent past I have leaned out a bit and with the onset of this triathlon thing my "turbo-ness" has increased. I know only have to continue to become faster in the sport of triathlon to maintain this nickname. This is a challenge that I most certainly will enjoy. Anywho..I am not positive on who I would give the naming rights too..maybe Scott Likly over at Towpath who seemed to call me that from day one and who now has a signed bike shoe in his shop by none other than Turbo Curbeau (Me). Its funny...its a persona...its becoming bigger than myself..hahah..

With that little intro I must go about the task of naming myself. I would rather have someone else do this but since I have chosen to take on the dutiful task of smurfing my fellow teammates I will smurf myself as well. My knee jerk reaction is to just name myself Baby Smurf.
I say this because it is simply the most logical choice. I am the baby of the team and exude many newbie qualities. However, you could also call me Finance Smurf, who is a relatively unknown smurf from the Smurf comics who is known for introducing the currency to his peers, after being fascinated by its use in the human world. It was abandoned after a while since using currency created poverty and corruption among them. Alas these would be to easy...after much thought I have settled on smurfing myself as Vanity Smurf. Vanity Smurf is the epitome of a Narcissist. He has a flower in his hat, and he often holds a hand mirror, staring into his own reflection, which he kisses often. In the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, Vanity speaks in an effeminate voice.
I'll admit it, I enjoy being the life of the party. I get a kick out of a being a bit different from the usual. I enjoy racing the occasional triathlon in nothing but my speedo...i mean who wouldn't want to show off the banana hammock? Is staring at yourself in the mirror while sitting on your bike in a speedo and aero helmet weird?.....(that's for you to decide) If I had to mock myself I would go right after the fact that for a color blind dude most every piece of triathlon/biking apparel has some sort of matching scheme. I mean my bike is green, my tri kit is green, my oakleys were customized to be green, my most recent pair of cycling shoes were special ordered from a store in Virginia BECAUSE THEY WERE GREEN. See a theme here people? oh yeah..staring at myself in the mirror while blowing kisses is pretty much the standard saturday night event before I head off to bed at 8pm so I am well rested for my long ride Sundays with Cusetri. Just ask him...he'll probably agree with me on this. None the less I enjoy rocking the flamboyant apparel, I enjoy going a little bit beyond the realm of "normal"...and just all your Lake Placid people wait..I have some killer new pants on the way JUST FOR LAKE PLACID (Ironman USA)...your gonna love em! So with that I am very pleased with the smurfing of myself. And just like Vanity if you or a friend sports a dude decked out in all green on a green bike with a flower stuck in his Aero Helmet...well you know who it will be...it will be your old pal TURBO CURBEAU! Just make sure to give him a nod as you pass...and if you are the type of person who is mean or is an "unhappy triathlete" and passes me on the bike...well you can count on me remembering you and when I jog on by you at the ski jumps you will have ample time to think about just how great I match!



HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA SMURFING IS THE MOST FUNNEST THING IN THE WORLD!

We all have to PEE PEE

I have an eye for the weird, the strange, and the unique things that go on in everyday life. Today for instance it was brought to my attention that their are many ways for a man to urinate. And by this I mean their are many ways that a man completes this task. I will start by listing out the recent "stances" I have seen in action.

1. 1 arm/elbow lean (completely exhausted looking)
2. Hands on hip stance of defiance over the urinal
3. The Standard two down below guiding the squirt gun
4. Pants dropped to the floor little kid look..or old man
5. Dude struggling to get his wanker out of boxer briefs or tighty whiteys
etc..etc...

Probably my favorite "urinal stance" is the one arm/elbow lean. It is one that I myself have not yet achieved but believe me their is still time. I will give you a hint, its the one that old men use when they are at a urinal. Yep, its the one elbow or hand against the bathroom wall (why they would put their exposed flesh or clean linen on a bathroom wall is beyond me), head is either hanging down without any muscle tension or the forehead is actually plastered against the wall..anything to take the strain off of actually fighting gravity and keeping it upright. I guess thats what happens when you age, you fight gravity more and more, old people seem to fall down stairs and in general just fall for no reason a lot more than say younger more spry individuals. Also their privates I think fight gravity a lot more than a teenager..but that's getting off track. Back to what I was saying, the one arm against the wall, head dropped, forehead against wall urinal stand is absolutely LAUGH OUT LOUD funny...i mean seriously do you think you don't look like a complete weirdo? But this does raise the question of, Are these men really that tired of life? Is life beating them down so much that they are just so freaking relieved to have a moment to take a pee pee...I mean I don't feel like peeing really takes a lot out of you in an energy sense. I say this because it literally looks like these guys just completed a 70.3 or Ironman distance race...OR is it because they are old and they have urinary track issues and its literally like they are pissing fire...or they have an STD that they got from the swinging era of the 1960's-1980's? If their are wearing an old SanFran Giants hat (forwards) then its probably a good guess..that or the ass-less chaps they may or may not have on. I just dunno but its seriously funny!

My new thing

I'm liking my new job a lot right now! Even though I will get more work put on my plate and the actual "work" will get tougher its just the overall atmosphere at the place that is just so refreshing. The people are great...I have my very own desk with a dual monitor computer set up that would make the most tech-savy nerd jealous. I reside on the tax side of the office which is very peaceful yet occasional outburst from my fellow co-workers do occur from time to time. One person is currently battling Mono so he has become the "whipping boy" of late. Personally I have not made fun of him for this AT ALL! I do not want to take any chances on upsetting karma and coming down with some sickness just days before IMLP. Thus I sit here drinking plenty of fluids and making sure my immune system is stocked..(yes, I did by Flinstone Immune Booster chewable vitamins last night, and yes the cashier asked me if they were for me or my child...yeah..i just nodded and walked the other way).

So here I am now, its lunch time. Thats something that used to not be in my vocabulary. At my old job no one ever "took" lunch. Most of my lunch's at the office consisted of me sitting in front of my computer either surfing the net or doing work...yeah, not so cool. Anywho, today I had the pleasure of eating my lunch in the break room with 6 other people! 6 of them, can you believe that! It was nice, and now since I technically still have some free time I am posting my blog. I will now have the chance to post my blogs at times other than between 4-5am, how wondeful.

So there it is..my new thing. I am off to check some email and get back to work now. Then its TO THE MALL this evening. My wonderful parents will be joining me there and I believe we shall be dining at the fine establishment of The Bonefish Grill.

Until next time,

Turbo is out!

Time to get on the wagon...

My posting has been sparse lately, most likely correlating to how I have been feeling. (i.e. when I feel good, am well rested, etc.. I post a lot, when I am tired, cranky, scatter brained I do not post a lot). Along the same lines of Cusetri I can honestly say that during last week the training efforts that I have put in throughout 2010 so far really caught up to me. All throughout May I was a mess, my body was hurt and all I wanted to do was push through it and get better without sacrificing much needed volume. Well I did...I biked my butt off. I couldn't run so I didn't even try. In reality I probably should have taken time off from the bike but so be it. I may have made the recovery to running longer but any way you look at it I am here now and NOW I can run again. My legs and calves are sore, they feel like they felt when I began really running for the first time last fall. I guess thats what happens when you essentially take a month and a half off from any type of real running. None the less the run volume has increased and today will be another 1 hour run with some tempo in it (I ran for an hour yesterday too!). As long as the legs and everything are good to go after today I really won't have to worry about any tough run efforts up until race day in Placid...so fingers crossed people! But like I was saying last week was really rough on me. I ended up skipping a 2:30 bike that was scheduled last Wednesday because I was just too tired, too out of it, too swollen in the feet area...I am not sure why my feet decided to basically swell up but I think it was some sort of combination of dehydration, insane heat that occurred last week, and insane humidity. It basically happened last Tuesday night when after a long holiday weekend with some good training I went out to do a run at night..in the humidity...after having swam for an hours in the AM...and not being properly hydrated....none the less Wed morning I was a mess and I just couldn't do it. I pulled the plug on the workout and began trying to feel better for the weekend race in Geneva. I can honestly say that I felt "off" all the way until the swim start of the Sprint triathlon I did on Saturday morning. Something was just out of balance in my body. I wasn't "normal".

Anywho, I'm on my lunch break at the moment...enjoying a wonderful salad. I bought a can of garbanzo beans and dumped them on the salad today..wonderful addition! I also must confess that I cracked open a can of garbanzo's last night at like 11pm and ate the whole dang thing..those little guys are goood! Better than a late night snack of cookies and ice cream I guess.

The run this morning went really really well. I had an hour planned with the last 20 minutes being in my tempo zone. This is going to be my last run at "tempo" effort so I was hopeful that I would be able to cruise at this pace without any problems. To my suprise I was able to hit my goals and have a good last 20 minutes, it was actually really good in the sense that my pace was already quick at zone 2..so going into zone 3 brought my pace down below my half ironman pace of like 6:50-7:10. I'm pleased with that for today...but the run this morning is only half of my trianing plan today. Since I had both a 1hr run and 1hr bike scheduled I had to choose 1 to do in the morning and 1 at night because I needed to be in work by 7:30 today, but at least I will be out around 4:30-5:00 tonight which will make it easier to get the ride in and get to bed early enough that my 5:30am swim at Kershaw Park won't hurt to bad. And with that I will put out an open invitation to anyone who is man enough to get up early and swim that you make your way down to Canandaigua Lake with us and hit the water for a nice swim at 5:30 tomorrow morning. Are you Iron enough for that????

So that's it folks. Im at my new job and really liking it so far. The people seem to be awesome folks and genuinely concerned about making me feel comfortable and teaching me everything I need to know to suceed. They are focused on helping me find my way in the working world and they want to see me on a path where I will grow and develop my career. I look forward to what the future has to offer. And with that I will leave you all for today. I am going to finish this nice salad, do some more tax work, and then ride my bike tonight.

Until next time,

-Turbo

Early Mornings

It's almost 4:30am..ive been up since 3:00 doing various things on the computer like paying all the bills that are essential in life and filling out forms for the new job, etc etc..but the main reason why I am up this early is because I am going out or a 2 and a 1/2 hour bike ride this morning before work. The plan is to ride this morning and then immediately go to sleep after I get out of work around 5 o'clock this afternoon. Let's hope everything goes to plan!

Fashion Statement

On my way to work today I saw an overweight man riding a bike wearing only a helmet, bike shoes, and bib shorts. No jersey or anything, just bib shorts...nuff said.

A Quickie

It's getting late (9:30) and I need to get to bed so I can wake up and be swimming by 5:30 tomorrow morning...so here's a little quickie.

Today was a weird day, idk how to explain it but I just felt like I was in a fog. I had a rough day on Sunday training-wise and I think that had something to do with it. Plus I just felt weird on my bike and couldn't quite explain it...I think my aero bars have shifted or something, I just don't feel the same way on the bike as I did before. Anyways, I will sort that out. It's probably me just being tired or something, but I will try and get it looked at it soon if it's still bugging me. That does remind me that I need to swing by Towpath Bike tomorrow and make sure my chain is all squared away, my ride was shifting a little rough for a bit today and I am not quite sure why. Maybe the deraiuller has shifted or something...thats another thing to get worked out this week. So other than me not being as comfortable on the bike as I would have liked the day was just weird because I felt like I had a million things to do when in reality I didn't. I lounged around this morning and watched the tour de france, which was quite interesting with all the crashes that occurred today. So I enjoyed that and then eventually rode my bike and stuff. I even helped my mom clean up the office a little bit, I had to pitch in and help around the house in some way! Then around 5:30 my wonderful mother and I headed to the lake where she jumped in the kayak and rowed beside me as I enjoyed a very pleasant 30 minute swim along the beautiful Keuka Lake Shorline. This was then followed by a wonderful dinner at The Keuka Restaurant in blossoming downtown Penn Yan.

I also want to add that I have revamped my nutritional plan as it has been quite atrocious of late. I spent some time today playing with excel (no joke) and putting together my meal plans for recovery days, AM Workout days, PM workouts days, Long Workout Days, Race Days, etc...this really helps me as I can see what I have laid out in front of me. If I do not do this I am a mess...and that's exactly what has happened lately. But now as we are just about 3 weeks out from IMLP I need to tighten this ship up and get reading to rock and roll. I have made it through day one eating as I should, yeah sure I had an extra dessert snack tonight (1 cup greek nf yogurt, 1 tbsp dark choc chips, 1 tbsp peanut butter chips) so I had two tonight instead of 1..but I did lack some calories this morning as I was consumed with the tour and didn't eat anything before I rode...so I think I made up for it. But anyways I didn't gorge on anything or eat something really really bad that will make my stomach hurt when I swim tomorrow morning so I am happy. I write this here because it gives me good motivation to stick to the plan. And stick to the plan I will!

Gotta get that shut eye..first day of work at the new job tomorrow! Nervous?..yes, a bit. Excited?...yes, very! I hope that my new adventure in the big world of being a grown up turns out to be an exciting and rewarding one. I'm sure it will as I will give it my all...night!

Yesterday & Today

Well I've been here at kershaw park for a little over an hour. I usually do not procrastinate around my workouts but I do not have to go into work today and it's just so darn beautiful, plus I keep talking to people I know that are coming out of the water after their one swims. However my good buddy chris leonardi aka Craig alexander just showed up so I will finally get in the water when he does. At the moment he has jetted over for his usual cup of starbucks rocky fuel. Thus, I am sitting in my wonderful outback typing on my iPad (Notes app) since I don't have a wifi connection. But I will transfer this note to my blog later today..it's a nice process and typing on the iPad is really pretty easy. Well there he comes, starbucks coffee in hand...looks like it's time to get motivated. I'll be back in an hour or so...

Back in business. Its about 11am now, I'm back in PY reading the new new lance Armstrong book titled "Tour de Lance"; about his comeback and everything last year.  Good read, well anything about LA is a good read so you can't really go wrong...

Chris and I hammered put a nice 60 minute swim this morning at kershaw and then capped the morning off with a nice visit to Starbucks. Conversation of lake placid and future triathlon events ensued. After that i headed back to the homeland that is Penn Yan and it is here now that I am lying down and reading "Tour de Lance". I am trying to catch a little nap before I get some lunch but we will see...I usually have a hard time napping when the sun is up, but I will try!  Other than that i have nothing else really planned for today. Even though I do nit have a bike workout I think I am going to clean the bike up, make some minor adjustments and then go for an easy spin or something. I can't just sit still all day.

The previous stuff was From yesterday. It is now Saturday, which is also the start of the epic tour de France! Lance vs contador!!  So I am off to get s little swim and run in before it starts at 11:30. Catch y'all later.