The first real weekend back at it....All3Sports and Kswiss chatter PLUS White Hot! & an elephant???

Here I am once again in Syracuse, beginning the first build stage as I gear up for Ironman Florida in November. But not to get to ahead of myself I have come to Syracuse to do some recon on the Cuse 70.3 bike course. But first I have a couple things I need to get down and put in the blog because they are at the forefront of my brain at the moment.

1. All3Sports - You guys are awesome! I recently purchased a pair of the Bont Sub 9 triathlon cycling shoes. I was beyond excited to receive these this week. I had been kind of reluctant to purchase more bike shoes because over the past few months I purchased not 1 new pair but 3. 1 pair was a Shimano set that just didn't work for triathlon. At about hour 3 my feet would begin to absolutely scream with pain. There was something that really put pressure on the top of my foot. I thought it might just be a break in period thing but I wore them for three 6+ hour rides and they just weren't cutting it. Thus I have been left with semi-worn shoes I won't use. They are for sale if you would like them. They are the 2009 Boa style cycling shoes in size 44 (us10). Anyways, after I used those I realized that I should just stick with what I had been using, which were DMT Radials. (Just like the one's Lieto rocks) All I needed was to just get a different size since it seems my foot has begun to flatten out or something over the past year. Also my feet have been constantly a little swollen these past few months just due to the injury I suffered..so anyways I just needed a different size to make myself feel better. I ended up getting another pair of white DMT radials, and at this point I should have been good to go but leave it to the internet to show me a pair of GREEN DMT radials (the exact pair I wear) that could only be purchased in Europe of GB. Soooo me being me I just had to have these to match my Train This gear and my bike..it took me literally 5 minutes via a google search to find a bike store in Virginia that had received a shipment of these green DMT's back in May. I took a shot and called them to see if they had any in the size I was looking for. It turns out they did and next thing I know I am throwing down my card to order them. They arrived and I quickly put them to use. I even wore them at IMLP. I love these guys. So now I have a pair of white DMT's that are basically on ice. I wore them once but other than that they have just been sitting comfortably. This brings me to buying the Bont's. Being a tri-aholic, I love everything triathlon and a good marketing campaign will have me buying a product in no time. Just look at what Trek did to me! So anyway I ordered these guys up and went to my new friend Jim Cornell's house. This guys is a serious engineer and former world class speed skater. He has been using Bont equipment for a long time and he even has his own homemade compression machine that helps you fit your shoes to an unprecedented level. So we began the heating and molding process but to our disappointment when we went to screw in the cleats the screws just wouldn't thread. It appears that the piece that anchors the screw on the bottom of the cleat was spinning along with the screw (it should not). We tried a couple things to fix them but nothing seemed to work. I ended up going on my way, a little disappointed by not overly. I knew I still had my DMT's. Finally, I called All3Sports today and talked to a wonderful woman who was really nice about the whole thing. I told her I am not usually a fussy customer who returns everything but she said that it was no problem and that I should be concerned about this because I paid over $300 for a pair of shoes...so in short she was completely understanding. She even said that she would send me a return label on Monday when their UPS system is up and running. So now I don't have to pay for return shipping. The end game is that I am going to get store credit because for now I am just going to stick with my DMT's. They are nice and I like them and I have other things I "need" for my triathlon lifestyle. I guess this was a good reminder that I didn't really need new shoes. Someday I might give the Bont's another chance but for now I am holding true to my DMT Radials...that is until Lieto goes with someone else, then i might consider a change :) haha. So in summary THANK YOU ALL3SPORTS you guys are awesome and you will continue to have my business! I hope that others that read my blog will also give them a shot. :)

2. I must say that WHITE HOT as they call him has been chosen by KWSISS to be a sponsored athlete. All I can say is that he deserve's it. The man works his butt off! He has gone from a crazy first IM in Florida a couple years ago where his run took longer than his bike to a 2x Kona qualifer who is this year looking to stand atop his AG podium. My bet is that he fullfills his goal. The guy is the real deal. He is a 6'5'' 200 something pound monster who crushes the bike, has a very solid run, and who is now getting serious about the swim. Professional athlete's WATCH OUT. WHITE HOT is coming and he is going to be ready to to rock! SOOOOOO i say this because I am very very jealous of him now. Jealous of his triathlon accomplishments but also jealous because he has a KSWISS sponsorship now! KSWISS and Trek are pretty much my idols in the triathlon world in terms of retailers right now. In fact I have sent my resume to both of them just to see if I'd get any responses to work in their Finance department, or even their on the road marketing team. Yes to very different fields but If I must tell the truth, my love is in advertising, marketing, and selling. I love to create and interact with people. And more importantly I love to talk about the things that are near and dear to me. The things that I have a passion for...like triathlon. Thus, I love Kswiss. I run in their K-Ruuz for OLY and sprint distances and I just purchased their blade light run's (which came yesterday). The blade lights really look promising as they are light, sturdy, and have excellent drainage (something that comes in handy when you are dumping waters all over yourself and peeing in your pants as well...ewww gross! But if you are fast enough you can earn the right to pee yourself...or if your just that tough! Haha)
Well then, congrats White Hot! If you someday feel the need to be nice to a fellow triathlete named Turbo and hook him up with some gear, well I would be forever grateful :)

Now that I have updated you on the two things that were on my mind when I began this post (Subsequent things have filled my small brain), lets get to the details of the day that has been. Even though it is 12:30 I have been up since 4:15 so I have had a full day already and will be in search of a nap shortly.

To start off I must say that the Cuse 70.3 course is quite interesting. You end up spinning for a good hour at the beginning since their are just so many hills. Kinda cool really, it should really make for a fun race next month. The hills should really have a Darwinistic effect of "natural selection" during this race since even though the hills may not effect the hammerhead because its only 56 miles, it will certainly come back to bite them on the run. I truly feel that this is the case even though its only 13.1 miles compared too 26.2. Even with the run being a 1/2 marathon that is essentially a net downhill I have to imagine that hitting the hills on the bike course early will end up using a lot more energy than many will think. It's just that they are so darn consistent. I honestly think that the first hour of this course is like ascending to the top of the LP keene decent about twice over with no downhills. With that said I look forward to the challenge. I look forward to figuring out a good plan that will allow me to be as fast as possible on the bike and also allow me to rip off a good run showing. I hope to be able to ride this course again before the race in November. I'm going to get surgical with this! BUT more important the Cuse 70.3 bike course has quite the scenery. With rolling hills, corn that is 8 foot tall, roadkill, run-down houses, lakes....and ELEPHANTS! Yes, you read that last line correctly, I said that I saw an elephant on my bike ride today in Central New York. This was no ordinary elephant either. It was a great Syracusian humpback white tusk'd Elephant. I have never seen one of these in the wild, in fact I thought that they had been extinct since the ice age. However, to my great surprise Chris, Don, Ken and I happened upon one of these magnificent creatures today. As soon as I saw the beast I knew I had to get a closer look. This was just one opportunity that doesn't come along to much. So here is how I approached the big guy...
I made my way across the great plains (a 3 mile run in bike shoes) remembering to adhere to proper elephant approaching protocol in order to ensure that my safety would not be compromised.


And here I am speaking with Jennifer. Yes, the great beast was but a 20 something year old girl. She was as nice as could be, even offering me some of her drinking water that she was slurping up in the field. I declined as I had just drank from my waterbottle but none the less it was a kind gesture from Jenny.


Jennifer explained to me that she was a great supporter of athletics even though she was not able to participate. You see Jenny was raised by humans. Jenny had come to America by boat when she was only but a young girl. When she arrived she was shocked to learn that the whole Dumbo story was made up. This was a huge let down for Jenny as she had really been hoping to meet up with Dumbo find the eternal happiness that she had heard America would bring. After a few years of wondering the Western states of Washington, Montana, and Utah (Utah didn't go to well for Jenny, the whole Mormon this was just to weird for her)...anyways she ended up taking up residence at the age of 12 in Boulder, Colorado. It was here that Jennifer first witnessed humans doing something so extraordinary that even she, a great big elephant, was truly impressed. What she had seen was tiny humans doing extraordinary feats in pools, on bikes, and on the snowy trails. Yes, you guessed it, Jennifer had encountered her first triathletes. With great wonder and awe Jennifer began to research the sport at the local Boulder library. Since she was so large the nice librarian made extra large copies of the books that she wanted to read. It was quite nice. Jennifer and the librarian ended up spending a lot of time together as Jennifer read every piece of literature ever published about Triathlon. So as the years went by Jennifer began attending many M DOT sponsored events, becoming somewhat of an icon. You haven't heard of her? It's probably because Jennifer likes to keep a low profile. That is why she has rarely ever been seen in person, and this is why Don, Chris, Ken and I were so lucky to see her. And I was even luckier to be able to have a chat with her. Anyways, Jennifer went on to explain that she had been in Lake Placid watching the IM last month and she had heard about another race in September that was in the nearby city of Syracuse. Thus, she made her way down to the area which explains why were had the chance to meet her. We chatted some more about the latest tri gear, and the upcoming world championships in Kona. After about 15 minutes we said goodbye and went out separate ways. She promised that she would be watching the race in September but one truly knows if she will or not. She is a deceptive creature who really has never settled down for long. Either way I will be thinking about her when I ride that course on Sept 19th, and it is my hope that I also see her down in Florida this November. Rumor has it she likes the beaches! I did get her email address so I will be able to try and see if she will write me back. If I hear from her again I will be sure to let you all know.




Welp that was the highlight of the bike ride today. I am now at Wegmans eating a nice 6 dollar meal consisting of 1 chicken breast with 2 sides of broccoli..what a steal. I will now continue to roam the internet and read my triathlon literature.

Time to relax and soak it all in - QT2 Camp Weekend!

It's absolutely pouring outside right now (good thing I have the day off from training) and with the rain soaking the ground right now it just made me think about how my body also soaking in all of the training that I have put it through over the past few weeks. I have been lucky enough to have the last three weeks almost completely off from work as I am currently transitioning companies. So with all this time off I have been able to go to Lake Placid for not one but TWO training weekends with my Train This teammates as well as another training weekend in Ludlow Vermont with the QT2 triathlon team. All in all with the addition of the Keuka Triathlon at the beginning of the month, I can say that with absolute certainty June has been the best month of 2010..maybe the best month over the past two years. If it wasn't for the first 15 days of April it might pose a threat to June....but nah..June takes the cake so far. But you know what the best thing is? It's that July will be upon us in only a few short days and July means Ironman #1...what will it bring? I am not sure what will happen yet. Am I a bit nervous? Sure..it's my first Ironman distance race ever, 140.6 miles is a long way, but I have the training, the base, the team, the friends, the coach....in short I have a full support team.

Sooooo....moving on. As I sit here watching and listening to the rain pour down I must say that being able to just sit down and type on my computer is quite relaxing. Since last Thursday I have been going strong and the storm that is my life has finally settled. It ended today with a good session at the Chiropractors where a lot of work (and progress!) was done on my legs which have more knots in them then a 4yr olds shoe lace. That was at 10am..(I "slept in" until 7:30 and then dabbled on my computer checking emails and such for a little while before making a nice berry smoothie for breakfast), after the therapy I headed over to Geneva with my bike to have the guys at the shop take a look at her and make sure everything was in tip top condition being that it has been through a lot over the past few weeks. Placid and Vermont back to back has put a substantial amount of miles on it..along with a substantial amount of rain being dumped on it. Anywho, after I had the biked checked out I headed back to Penn Yan to chill out, so right now its about 3pm and I am hanging...finally just relaxing and letting the body heal, but I am hungry so I am going to grab some food real quick and then get back to this post..

Alright I'm back now. While I was grabbing a bite to eat I remembered about a book that I just purchased on my iPad today, and I wanted to share it with you all since its a very funny, light, and quick read. The book is an autobiography by Steve Martin and its called "Born Standing Up", highly entertaining and one that I highly recommend.

Now that I have caught you all up to speed with what my Monday has been like I'll try to summarize the awesome experience that I had this weekend in Vermont with the QT2 Triathlon team.

On Thursday I started the day off early by leaving for Ludlow, VT around 8:30AM. I arrived in town around 2'ish and grabbed some food. I then proceeded to drive aimlessly around Ludlow looking for the address of the place where I was staying, eventually I found it and around 4 some QT2'ers arrived and the training weekend began. Tim and Cait Snow arrived first, since they were headed out for a bike ride before the rest of the team arrived I jumped at the chance to get a ride in as well and I headed out with Tim on what became about a 2 hour ride, filled with downhills, uphills, rain and rainbows. It was a good ride and a good way to start the weekend. Later that night when the rest of the QT2'ers showed up we all ate Subway and got ready for the training ahead.

Friday brought an easy 2 hour bike ride to begin the day, a nice and easy swim in a nearby lake, and then everyone had their "long run". The best part of this day other than the bike being just a nice easy cruise was that I was actually able to run...and run for a whole hour!

Saturday was jam packed with Triathlon awesomeness. To start the day off with a bang we all traveled to a nearby lake which was located in a state park. Luckily Jesse from QT2 "knows people" and the park was opened early especially for us. Once everyone was properly warmed up we all aligned at a particular buoy and started our 1 mile swim time trial in a mass start format. The best part of this was that we had two wonderful helpers, Mikaela and Chrissie (Jesse's wife) in paddle boats who gave us markers to shoot for. Soooo the course was two loops, I started out hard and knew when I saw Cait snow still by my side that their was no way I would hold this longer than the 50 yards we had just gone, hahaha...i settled into a nice pace which was significantly behind the lead group, although I hung on for the entire time in my own group that was in the "in-between" from the lead group and the larger chase group..i even was able to "drag" a good guy named Ted the whole time as he drafted of me the whole way and then proceeded to drop me with 100 yards left..kudos to him for being smart :) I ended up swimming a 23:57 for the 1 mile distance which made me extremely happy and the tone for the rest of the day/weekend. After the swim we all headed back to town to get ready for our long rides and T runs. Since I decided to take a leak right as everyone took off I spend the first 30 minutes chasing the lead group to catch up with them...why I did this I am not quite sure because I basically ride by myself on long rides anyways. But none the less I wanted to start out with the rest of the pack. I ended up riding with Pat Wheeler (a really good guy, a year older than me who is an outstanding triathlete who has qualified for Kona already this year at St. George and who also won the 18-24AG @ Lake Placid last year with a time of 9:45...that's smoking fast! And he is only getting better. Pat is not only an amazing triathlete but he is a QT2 tri coach who really knows his stuff, I bugged him all weekend by picking his brain but I can honestly say that I learned a ton from him and maybe someday I will be able to join him in Hawaii at race with him there!). Since Pat had a shorter ride in tap for the day he turned around at about the 2:30 mark and i continued on. My ride lasted almost 7 hours and took me through some really nice places like Killington Mt. and even a climb in a really beautiful forest area. Pro triathlete and Ironman Lake Placid Champion Cait Snow was riding up ahead of me (which I must say was freaking cool as hell) so I would periodically see her ahead of me on the long straight aways or something where I could see for miles ahead...haha, none the less it was good motivation. I rode solo for the majority of the ride, which is what I like..makes the ride tougher and builds some mental strength. Don't get me wrong I love the social nature of cycling but when its time to put in the work I like to be solitary as on race day drafting is not allowed and no one will be shooting the s*^& during the race. So to wrap this day up I made it back to Ludlow and ended my ride at about 6hrs and 50 minutes. I jumped into my transition run and hammered out 3 miles. The best part of the whole thing was that my leg that has been bothering me held up the whole time (this after a 1 hr run the previous day) and it was good to go the next day...which brings me to the next day, SUnday!

Sunday I was up early again to have my coffee and eat my breakfast. Around 7:30 I had the chance to get an amazing massage on my legs from a group in Boston that is associated with the QT2 Team. It really is pretty awesome when you can just train all weekend, hang with awesome people, put a ton of miles on your bike and legs, and then just grab a massage and do it all over again. So yeah, I had a nice massage on Sunday morning and then got ready to head out with the crew for a recovery ride that just so happened to have a 6.3mile uphill time trial sandwiched into it. I can honestly say that as Pat and I made our way out to the TT course together, the 1 hr easy ride alone was pretty taxing on our tired legs and a time trial up a hill really didn't seem all that appealing. But I mean when you have 20 other people getting ready to hammer up the hill along side you it makes it a heck of a lot easier to get motivated. We ended up drawing numbers and heading off up the hill TT style, 30 seconds apart. I was 4th to go and finished with a respectable 25:11 effort. The funny thing is that I didn't use my garmin for this since I didn't have my power meter or my cadence sensor hooked up to my road bike..so I had no clue how much farther the course was when I was riding. I say that this is funny because I truly thought I had another mile left when I finished the TT...if I had known that I would have spent myself a bit more at the end..but it really doesn't matter. I still taxed my body in a good way and got one hell of a workout...no complaints here, I had an absolute blast. I think the best part of the TT was about 1/2 way when Jesse passed me like a bolt of lighting...and he started 3 places back of me, which is 1min and 30 seconds behind me. However, I kept Jesse in my sights for the rest of the climb which made me feel good, I think he served as sort of a carrot for me to chase. I wish I had started behind him, oh well...next time I'll be stronger :) It was all in good fun though, and just like the rest of the weekend I had an absolute blast. After the TT we all headed back to town and most all jumped into a short transition run to end the day. I was able to run for almost an hour and was extremely excited that my body held up! After that the group met up for one last time before everyone headed home. We all voted for the "most outstanding camper" and Tim Tappley, who is an absolute monster rightfully was voted as the champ. I mean I voted for him so he better have won! The guy absolutely crushed the swim TT with a 21 minute performance (which I was told a huge performance from just 2-3 years prior when the swim was really his weakness). Tim also smoked everyone in the bike TT with a 22:05 performance, winning by over a minute against the rest of us! What is exceptionally impressive about the fact that he had a great TT effort is that he rode for 7 hours plus with Tim Snow the day before. They were so far ahead of me that I literally never saw them...what studs! Hope I can ride with them someday...and not slow them down. I just wanted to add that Tim Tapply is a really great guy who answered many many questions that I had. I picked his brain relentlessly and he was more than happy to humor me. This camp was not only great for the training but great because of all the people I got to meet like Tim....and all the others who I won't name for fear that'd I'd leave them out.

Swim TT Results
Bike TT Results

So in summary I just wanted to thank Jesse and his QT2 team for having me up to Vermont with them. I had an absolute blast and learned a ton. I feel ready for Lake Placid and I can't wait to see all my new QT2 friends up there during race week....and of course on the course during race day! It's going to be one heck of week and one amazing day on July 25th. BRING IT ON!

-Turbo

Luckiest Man on the Planet

-Mirror Lake, Lake Placid - Here's the starting line where over 2,500 people will be waiting to unleash hell on the IMLP 2010 Course. It's going to be a hell of a day and I can't wait to share it will my family, my teammates, and about 2,500 of my newest freinds!


It is so hard for me to relax and just let go. Being the type of person I am, my mind is constantly working, constantly thinking about something, while this is a good thing it is also a huge crutch as I have a hard time just de-compressing and "letting go". I tend to over-think and make certain things harder than the should be. So that is a little background, a little reasoning as to why its hard for me to fall asleep most nights, why its hard to really zone in and focus on something when my full interests remain un-engaged. Mind you, if something has my full attention, like triathlon I'll be so focused on it that I won't think about anything else, which makes other things in everyday life become harder to really remain on the forefront of my importance scale.

Now that I think about it, I really must say that I am just a very OCD type person who gets locked into whatever takes my interest. I am not one to spread my dedication, my efforts, my persistence over many facets or to many projects. I tend to be singularly focused on ONE item, on ONE plan. Yes, their are pluses and minuses to this. In terms of sport and of course triathlon in particular, I believe it to be a good thing for me as it allows for dedication and focus while training at a high volume. On the other hand, in the work world it makes it very hard to remain super focused and dedicated to the job when all interest is lost. When certain things about a job make it un-appealing this makes it harder to stay driven. It's just one of those things.... I guess when I want something, I WANT IT..and I am going to find anyway I can obtain it. I think as a boss in the job world and as a coach in the athletic world that this statement is the MOST IMPORTANT ONE AND THE MOST APPLICABLE TOWARDS ACHIEVING SUCCESS in their respective field. Just think, if you are a Boss in the Corporate world and you can make each and every employee of your company want to achieve greatness, have every employee want to do their part so that the overall company succeeds...well right their is a recipe for immense prosperity and not to mention a great work environment. When everyone on a team, being athletic or work is on the same page and working towards the same goal you then have all the pieces to the pie. The employee that wants to learn and wants to do better will ALWAYS yield the greatest benefits, even more so than the higher qualified, Harvard Business School Graduate who has 10 amazing recommendations from former presidents, Fortune 500 CEO's, etc...Because when push comes to shove the person that wants to be doing the job they are doing will always put forth the best effort. And to tie this in with athletics and triathlon in particular is as easy as just realizing that the best athletes, the ones that achieve the most success, be it personal achievement or overall podium placements are the ones that are internally driven and motivated to get up at 4am and hop in that icey cold lake...or drive in the pitch black to the local Y pool and get an hour of swimming in before a 45 min run..all before they get dressed up and head to their "second-life" aka their job. These people are the ones that love the sport, love the life, and love the feeling it brings them. These are the people that will succeed, I have no doubt about that. I am not to sure where I was going with these thoughts but before I move onto other things that are rambling away in my head I will try to summarize what I was thinking. For me personally my goal is to obtain in my personal, work, and athletic life the type of drive and determination that I feel when I am racing or training. The high that I feel when I am swimming, biking, or running. Heck, even the high that I get when I finish a long work project. (Yes, even dating back to high-school and college I have felt a certain "high" when a long paper, or long accounting problem was solved). I am lucky because my new job will be providing me the opportunity to work on the things that I am interested in. The work is going to give me the chance to tackle problem, but problems that have answers..so all I have to do is think and search for the answers. I like that! I am very very excited to take on these tasks and prove to not only my co-workers but to myself that I am capable and I am an important beneficial asset. And one cannot forget about the personal aspect. In my life athletic and personal pretty much go hand in hand. Always has and always will be in my opinion. I do not mean to get mushy on all of you but I really can't stress how amazing the past year has been for me in this regards. Before I started this Triathlon business last June I was a different person, I was beat down from studying for tests and didn't really have to many friends surrounding me in Rochester (Thank God for my family as they have and always will be their for me). But ever since I began integrating myself into the multisport community I have had nothing but happiness and have made some amazing friendships. To many to detail in words. But since I am currently in Lake Placid about to being some IM specific training I just wanted to mention a couple people in particular that have become real friends of mine.

My coach Mary, hired as my coach. I did not previously know her but she came highly recommended. I can honestly say that this was a very good decision. She has been an extremely awesome coach for a beginner like me. She has integrated me into the world of Ironman Training and has my best interest in mind when making my training plans. She knows that I am young..and eager and that sometimes I needed to be restrained from over taxing myself. So in terms of coaching, I wouldn't want it any other way. The future is not yet written and every person is different, so I can't say what will happen next but in the Zen world its all about the "NOW" and right now I have the RIGHT coach for ME...and that's important. If you can't trust in your coach and the plan they have for you then you are not playing will a full deck. But hey that's just the coaching side of it, Mary has always become a real friend of mine. I mean she had to deal with me all week when we were in Texas, haha. I may not have known all the songs she was singing on the radio...haha. So thanks Mary.

And to continue the Bromance that my team keeps eluding to. I must say that Cusetri and his whole family have really taken me under their wing over these past few months. They have been generous enough on multiple occasions to just allow me to sleep over at their place and feed me too! It was just the natural thing to do...it just fit. It's been really cool to be able to become friends with Mike since we train really well together, I think that's hard to find. Two people, cyclists in particular are really hard to match, its not everyday that two cyclist can just meet up and be even matched right from the get-go. Yet as I say this I must confess that Mike blistered the bike portion of the last race down in Keuka Lake..averaging something like 23mph on a HILLY course..so I've got some work to do to get even with him..but hey once I heal up I think I can still shuffle the feet a little quicker..for now, so that may be my only saving grace, haha. Just kidding man...well kinda I have to have something to catch up to you when you drop the hammer on the bike. But seriously, Mike, his wife Jen, his kids Cameron, Carson, and Ashton, and even his newly-met brother Joe have all just been super cool. I always had to intrude on their lives when I come to their house (usually on a Friday night before our long Saturday ride that usually begins before college kids have come home from the bars). But they always make me feel welcome and I can honestly tell or at least I think I can tell that they genuinely enjoy having me come over. I know that I eat up their food and mess up their sheets but I guess keeping Mike company on a 6hr ride departing at 4am lets Jen feel better about his safety...yet that thought has to be taken with a grain of salt since we both had our first crash together during a 6hr ride last month..ha! So yeah, I could go on and on but I'll just say that I am thankful for this friendship...this "bromance" as my teammates call it. It's just really nice to have a good training buddy to keep you motivated to keep you on your toes, and to keep you getting faster. With that said...Mikey's coming up with his family to Lake Placid today! Mike and Jen are going to be getting some good training in and I am going to be able to tag along with Mike and hammer out some good IMLP specific training. Swimming in Mirror Lake, Biking the course, and possibly a little running on the course..while dodging the Lake Placid Marathon athletes that are up here this weekend. Maybe I will just pretend to be in the marathon and do one-loop as everyone else is on their second loop..I'd still probably get 4th or something :)

Yep, I wouldn't want it any other way. Its 7AM, I'm at the Lake Placid Starbucks on Main Street and I am BLOGGING AWAY! Its just great...if I can borrow from the award winning movie Happy Gilmore, it's my "Happy Place". It's the spot where my mind becomes clear and I can really visualize my goals and think about what I need to do to accomplish them. I have lofty goals and plans in mind and I WILL achieve them..I have the amazing support of my family!..my friends!..and myself. Not only will my external support system always be their for me but my internal support system WILL stay strong, because when push comes to shove I know I will have to dig deep..an to really tie it all in together what will allow me to dig deep internally and obtain the necessary motivation to keep the feet moving is thinking about all the external support that I have from my family and friends. I think Craig Alexander mentioned this in a recent Triathlete magazine, he said that when he really needs to dig deep he thinks about all the people that believe in him, all the people that have put their trust in his abilities and he really starts to do it for them...yet at the same time he's doing it for himself..he's just using his external support system as a tool for mustering up the internal motivation to keep his own feet moving. We are all humans and we all need support!

I had meant to write some more about my Lake Placid thoughts but I will leave those for another post. I will say that as I sit here about to hop in Mirror Lake to stretch out the swimming arms and legs before Cusetri arrives, I must say that I am ecstatic to begin what will be 3 weeks of Triathlon Training Bliss. Two weekends in Lake Placid and one weekend in Vermont. It's going to be a heck of a month and I can't wait to tackle it all. I just ask for the power that be to keep my freinds, family, teammates, and myself all happy and healthy so we can reach our full potential, because in the end isn't that what its all about? Realizing one's full potential. I think so...

Alright...time to get wet...YESYESYES!

1 (Great) Day Down, 364 Amazing One's to Come!

Good by Zero's, Hello 10's. It's kind of weird when you think that 100 years ago it was the start of the 1910's. When I think of the 1910's I just think about how long ago that was, how different the world was, how the Red Sox were still a dominating force that would soon take on a slump that lasted the better part of a Century. Well today were are officially in the Twenty-ten's. When the generations to come look back on New Years day 2100...they might think wow...the 2010's...how different the world was back then...back when Great Grandpa Matt was roaming around. I wonder if people will still be riding bikes around or if we will have fully integrated into the Back to the Future Generation where hover boards are all the rage. I'd kill for a hover board like Marty McFly had. These are the things that run through my head on a daily basis. Strange, weird...maybe...but it seems normal to me :) Then again my normal is my own and no one else's, and its all the better that way.

Ahh, to wake up at 6am well rested and refreshed, gotta love it! I've got my Starbucks Via in my new traveler tumbler that I received from my mom, and I am watching the last few episodes Arrested Development, so my morning is going well. Oh yeah, by the way Happy New Year!

It's 8AM and I am sitting at Starbucks playing on my computer. Mostly at Xtranormal.com where you can create these little internet videos where you write the script. It's pretty funny. I'll try and post one that I have been messing around with. In the mean time here are a couple of funny triathlon ones. One of my favorite lines is in Race Report 2 where it is discussed in more length how the triathletes bike is so fast that Michael J Fox will need it in Back to the Future 4. So watch that one and listen for that line..its a good one!

Race Report 1
Race Report 2
Race Report 3

I also threw together a little one myself. This was a spur of the moment creation. In the future I hope to create more with new and improved dialogue's.
--> http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/5894557/

Onward to today's re-cap. Its almost 6pm and I am now located in Penn Yan, NY at my parents Office/Temp-home during the moving/building phase. I grew up in this Real Estate Office for the better part of my youth (until I was 13 years old), so it has a certain sentimental place in my heart. My mom has done a good job of sprucing the place up and it is actually quite cozy. My dirty laundry (mainly lycra and spandex) is being washed in the basement, I am sitting on comfy living room chair, and the wireless is flowing freely. There is even a little blow up air-bed in my old room upstairs...tonight might just resurrect some old time memories!

All in all the one main thought that has been going through my head today was, "One Day at a Time." I guess this is because it has been such a great day. A day which I will go into more detail shortly, that was absolutely amazing. Its one day down and three hundred and sixty four to go. I have every intention of having a great year. Last year was well...different I'd have to say. Don't get me wrong I had some serious High's...Family Trip to Kona, Passed the CPA exam, fell in love with Triathlon, met a whole bunch of new friends that I truly cherish. Wow, looking back at just that last sentence I am ashamed of myself. Last year wasn't just "different" it was freaking awesome. I guess the cloud of test taking really bogged me down. It really wasn't until June that I was able to free myself of the oppression. The tests were finally passed and the bike riding began. New friendships were created and a passion for cycling began. A new path of triathlon was forged. I jumped head first into this life and I love it...I love every freaking second of it! I could go on and on about this all and I probably will in the coming month as the busy season of an accountant will test my will to stay positive. However I am going to take it one day at a time. I had a great first day of the new year and I have every intention of having a great 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and so on. If I am able to stop myself every day and think about how I can make this day the best I will be all the better for it. Something I need to work on is remembering that there is always tomorrow. I wish/hope my fellow colleague's at work will feel this way as well. Sometimes I think that my co-workers strive to far. They push themselves beyond what's good for them. Yes, work is important and a good job is to be done, ALWAYS! However, performance will drop if motivation and happiness are lost. Their needs to be a sense of importance to a job to inspire hard and dedicated work. If work becomes an absolute hell that one must subject them to everyday, well what's the point. Their have been times when I have awoken and just felt crappy. Crappy about the day ahead. I absolutely hate this feeling and intend to work hard to not encounter this in the new year. I have way to much going for me. Their are races ahead of me, travel ahead of me, and most importantly there are friendships ahead of me. I can't wait to start taking these trips and going to race weekends. I can't get enough of them. It's going to be soooo fun to head to Texas in April! I will be making my way down their with new friends who are as psyched about the journey ahead as me. I am sure will return with many, many stories. And then their is the summer...the summer that will bring more races, more training camps, more race weekends. It's just great. I am going to sail through this busy season because I have a goal ahead of me, a goal that is in-sight. I apologize if this whole blog has been a self-motivating blurb but I guess it is helping me create a clear path to the future. Those who are around me will thank me for my better mood because of this, haha.

Oh yeah before I leave you all for the night. (I am going to head down to a local restaurant and have dinner with my Momma!) I just wanted to say how great it was to see all my new friends that I have made at the New Years Resolution Race this morning in Mendon Ponds. I know that personally I had an absolute blast running around the park. It felt effortless to me today. I attribute that feeling directly to the greatest coach I could have ever stumbled upon to begin what I hope will be a long and fruitful triathlon career (Thanks to Jay Hollister for pointing me in the right direction), Mary Eggers , her blog. It was pretty cool that for the last mile and a half I ran with a guy who I noticed was the first person who I ever talked to at my very first running race last April (or late March, I can't remember the exact date), Anyway he was the first guy I talked to at that 5K a while ago, he had on a Boston Marathon jacket that I thought was super cool, and yada yada..it was just cool. So there I am today running with him during the last part of the race, and we were running and a pretty good clip, it was really neat to be at "his level" or whatever you want to call it. So after the race I found him and told him I had remembered him from a run last year and blah blah...good guy! I also saw so many other people who have entered my life, a friend of my older brothers who now lives in Rochester and is always running (Joey), three amazing people that I have met through Masters Swimming class (Bruce, Dana, and Denise), a kid the same age as me who is constantly beating my brains in at these races (Phil), a bunch of fellow train-this teammates. How cool! I know truly feel that I am in "the community", when I go to races like these I always know someone, I always feel welcome...can't get any better than that! Plus, I now know where Don's house is in Mendon Ponds, so the next time I lock myself out of my car I can just high tail it over to his place instead of hoping luck is on my side and my parents are in Rochester and then waiting in the Men's bathroom to get out of the cold...HAHAHAHA

Training Hard without Risking Injury

As I was catching up on my reading of the new Triathlete magazine I stumbled upon an awesome article entitled " High Intensity Training without Overexertion". This sounds like a tough concept to support. However, the author, Marc Becker writes about some great stuff. Ultimately his article hinges upon the belief that you don't want to overexert yourself during training in ways that would require longer recovery than from the actual race. When training in such a manner, the risk of injury is reduced because you are getting adequate rest and recovery as well as training in such a way that when you think you are giving it an all out effort your usually doing this at the end of a tough base training set so you really aren't "maxing" out, thus there is less strain and pressure on your body, which in turn is a preventative measure to protect from unnecessary injury in the off-season. That might sound a little bit confusing. It even confused me as I was trying to write it. Nonetheless, some examples will help get the message across. So the goal is to get a kick ass training session in with a lot of hard work but at the same time you want this workout to not be as aerobically demanding as say an all out 5k or an all out Time Trial. These are saved for testing purposes and races. To go about this type of workout, Marc Becker gives the following cycling workout as an example: "A set of maximum-resistance, short efforts on a spin bike, or turbo trainer is an all-out effort when performed correctly, which means completing each interval at 100% muscular effort against a resistance so high that you cannot generate a cadence higher than 45 rpm (give or take 5 rpm)". Marc goes on to add that it is importatant to be properly warmed up for a workout like this. So, moving on with this workout...for starters you want to look to do about 1 minute of the demanding 45 rpm spinning and then recover for at least the same amount of time..you would then repeat this for say about 5 times. What happens is that by doing this you are really taxing your muscles in your legs and in turn not over using your aerobic system since the time of exertion is relatively brief. The beauty of this type of training is at the end. When you finish your determined sets of low cadence work and move onto to say some endurance to cap the workout off, you are now pre-fatigued. Your legs are now a little tired and when you start to up the cadence, the fact that your legs are tired prevents you from red-lining your aerobic system. Thus you have essentially trained very hard yet have avoided injury and overexertion by pre-fatiguing your body and creating a "bumper" of sorts. Why is this important? Well because training for triathlon is a long process. Our bodies just would not be able to keep up if we red-lined our effort every day. Rest is necessary and injury prevention is critical! Triathletes spend so much time on training and getting prepped for races that an injury is just devastating. Another training session for cycling that will give you this type of benefit is a long ride. During a long ride you can really fatigue yourself. Then at the end of this ride you can give an all out effort and really push yourself while still maintaing a HR that is on the low side. Essentially this all out effort will be done once your already tired so once again you have created a natural "safe zone" that enables you to not take your training to levels that are so high that it will take a lot of recovery to come back from.

So that's some food for thought. Hope you enjoy, and Happy training during the Holidays!

COMMUTER POWER!

I had a revelation last night. This revelation actually came to me in a dream I think and it stuck in my mind because I couldn't stop thinking about it. No, it was not of some beautiful woman on the beach....Instead it was about commuting to work by bike. I know for a fact that on Monday and Tuesday of this week that I am definitely going to be in the office for training all day. With no chance that I will have to drive anywhere I am going to do my best to secure a spot to store my bike. If I accomplish this I will be commuting to work! This is soooo cool. I know that the parking garage where I work at has these Rochester city bike lockers. I am not sure if any are open for use but I am going to call the number and see what I can do. I also just realized that this will only be the start. Since I will be doing into the tax department at the end of February to help out with the Tax busy season, it means that I will again have a desk, an actual place at work that I can call my own. I will not have to be going from client to client. This is going to have many benefits for me even though it will extend my "busy season" hours. Most beneficial is the fact that during the time I am in the tax dept I will be able to commute on a daily basis due to the fact that I will be going to the same place everyday and I will more or less know the exact times I will be going into work and leaving work. In addition to helping the environment and getting some more daily exercise, commuting to work is going to happen on a regular basis at exactly the right time. Since I will be competing in a 70.3 Ironman at the end of April the extra biking that I can get in on the morning commute will be great as I boost my training hours. The beauty about being in the tax department is that I won't ever have to leave the office for client work. This meaning that I won't have to get dressed up in a suit or a shirt and tie and really nice dress pants. Therefore, I should be able to commute relatively easily to work, albeit winter snow storms...but even then I think I can get away with some snow pants..and then just store them in the locker that I home to get. So that's what popped into my head last night. I am very excited to make this happen. I do not need to much to get commuter ready since I already have a nice commuter bike that's been sitting in my garage for a good while. I've been dying to get on it but its just hard to fit in recreational riding when there's so much other stuff going on...just not enough daylight anymore. I will probably stop by Towpath bike shop and get a few goodies to make my travels easier...this excites me. I am a gadget guy and tricking my commuter bike out will be fun. I already have fenders and a light and even a bell that came with the bike, so I am figuring some commuter style bags on the back wheel or hell even a big basket would be nice..hahaha!! If anyone has any tips/tricks for commuting please let me know...I welcome all suggestions.

Your Body is A Temple

Call me conceded, call me a narcissist, but I love my body. By body I am not referring to the outside physical appearance. Instead to me my body represents an engine. An engine that I am constantly tweaking and working to improve. I can say this was always the case. I must confess that for a time I was indeed consumed with the quest towards outwards physical appearance. As with anything that intrigues me, I throw my whole self into that world. As such I developed a love for weightlifting in College. I lifted all the time, and loved it. I loved how I held the proverbial sculptors chisel. I alone determined my size, my shape, my weight, etc..etc...This was all and good but it's just not me. It took me away from my friends, my family..it made me someone who I didn't like. Not that I was doing anything bad...quite the contrary, it has led me to a healthy diet and even led to some new friendships. It's just that that sort of thing isn't what I am about. What I truly love is being outdoors..engaging in all kinds of athletic endeavors. I was not created for short bursts of insane speed, instead I was built to endure. I was built, both in body and mind to outlast. That is why Triathlon appeals to me. It's not really about how fast you can swim a lap..its about how fast you can swim 100 laps...many things in both sport and life equalize over time...think about that the next time you feel your world crashing in upon you. Sure at the moment things go wrong it can look REALLY BAD, but give it some time, an overwhelming majority of the time, balance will be achieved. I believe that I am living proof of this. I was neither a saint nor a devil during my teenage years. I never went insanely nuts and I never was Mr perfect. However, this ended up providing balance in my life. I truly believe that if I had been on either spectrum of good vs bad that I would not be where I am today...at 23. At 23 I feel that I have achieved a level of knowledge that is allowing me to see my path much more clearly. By no means do I have 20/20 but I know can understand how I can someday get there. Life has taught me a few really important things..I am going to try and list them..(this is a working draft..as it always should be )
1. Do What you want to do!
If your not doing what makes you happy then you need to re-asses your decision making. Life is way to short to be unhappy. There are just to many options out there, don't box yourself in.
2. Be your own person!
Don't just try to fill in the box in regards to your personality. Be you and no one can hold that against you. Eventually you will fall into line with people that you mesh with..then you won't even feel weird..because you'll realize that your not weird, your just you. You were born a certain way and no one can take that away from you. For better or worse. Use the skill sets that you were build with. It's when someone finally discovers what they were made for when BIG THINGS can happen. I mean not every car is build for the same purpose..their mini-vans, sub compacts, sports cars, SUV's, dump trucks. Each serves their own purpose. Within each excellence can be found. Some people are lucky and they find out what they were built for at a young age. Some people find out later in life. In my opinion it doesnt really matter. You might say that well Matt..it would be better to start out young. But I would say to you..but even if your older and you discover your calling you are going to be just as driven, possibly even fresher than someone who has been on their path all along..so who knows maybe this could be a good thing

3. Remain tight with your family!
These are the people who will stand by your side no matter what. They love you for you and will do anything for you. Treat your family like gold. No matter what I know that when I see my family, I am going to feel welcomed. It does not matter how much time has passed since we last saw each other. Whenever we re-connect we go on as if we have seen each other every day. I did not have the opportunity to grow up with my brothers and sister since they were from my moms first marriage and are a lot older than me. However, growing up I was lucky enough to travel with my mom and see them wherever they were...I have had the opportunity to visit may countries and many places in the US because of this. I am extremely lucky! Its also must be said that whenever I have spent time with these half siblings I have been treated as if we grew up together. They truly love and care for me. They did not need to grow up with me to feel these things. They feel these things because we share a common bond...were blood..my mom is there mom, and my dad helped raise them. Idk, I just feel lucky that I know my family cares about me, they care about what I am doing. My parents constantly are making the trip to Rochester just to have dinner, or bring me something I left at home, or bring me medicine, or stopping to see me if I am sick, or coming to some race I am doing...My family is unconditional..I hope that everyone reading this feels the same way about their family. If you don't then I really would suggest making it a point to connect with your mom, dad, sisters, brothers..cousins...might just be me..but FAMILY is huge! Don't take them for granted.
4. Keep in touch with your close friends!
Friends make everyday life easier. Friends are my favorite drug. No matter how crappy or how tired I am, whenever I am around people who I consider my friends I get a high. I love being around my friends. I have developed some great friendships over the last 6 months. Friendships that I can honestly say are mutual. It couldn't be more exciting. With each passing day I am finding more and more things to do. I am seeing more and more paths opening up to me. I may not have a million friends, thats just not me..but the friends I do have really mean something to me. I would do anything for my friends. That's how much friendship means to me. It can be lonely living alone, I can attest to that. I work all day and workout and all this stuff and then I don't really have people to share that with. But that's begun to change, I know have developed friends who are into the same thing as I am. I know how a circle of people that I can talk with, hang out with, go mountain biking with, go road riding with, go running with...its amazing! I wouldn't trade them for all the tea in China. (Idk if China still has a lot of tea but back Im guessing they used to because thats a pretty old saying)

5. Find what makes you comfortable and strive to live in the comfort zone.
This goes along with the post I wrote earlier this week. If your living within your comfort zone...your inner circle if you will, you will not only achieve your own true potential but you will be helping those around you achieve your own true potential. Why? Because, if hang around people that make you feel good, that make you better, and those people keep coming back to hang out with you...then something has clicked...some universal connection has been made! Do not let this go! Together people achieve more. 2 is greater than 1. I will not guarantee that if you find a training partner in your discipline of choice that you will become faster just because. However at the same time I do believe that finding a training partner will makes you faster. Wait MATT! Didn't you just contradict yourself? Yep, I sure did. I say this because just by training with someone you might not get faster...I think that by training with someone you will develop a bond, something that makes you want to ride a little longer, a little harder. You may get up in the morning and get that extra workout in when you don't feel like it because you want to be accountable to your partner. Even when your not training with your partner on a certain day, you still want to hit your training goals so that they don't jump ahead of you. Thus, running with another person might not make you faster just because, it might make you faster because of the happiness you develop, the accountability you feel...those sort of things. So in a round about way..2 is greater than 1. Together everyone certainly achieves more. It's just finding the right people that's the hard part. Its like finding the damn center puzzle pieces that fit together...that's why you start on the edges...build your foundation, discover what drives you, what makes you, YOU!...then you can customize..then you deck yourself out.

With that said I also would like to note that going out of your comfort zone every once and a while is important too! As person we grow through adversity. We learn from mistakes. Trying new things can open up whole new worlds, whole new perspectives. So even though the ultimate goal is to be comfortable in your own skin, you need to make yourself uncomfortable every once in a while in order to maintain some type of balance..the yin and yang if you will...because I guess overall....How would you know if your truly comfortable if you never make yourself uncomfortable? Try that one on for size!

Getting back to why I love my engine. Because even though I or anyone else can buy all the gadgets, and latest technology there is...there is still no substitute for getting yourself into shape. Its the person on the bike that makes the bike fast...NEVER the other way around, unless you have an actual engine on the bike that is run by either battery or gasoline..but that doesn't count. Plus how cool is it to look unassuming at a race..not mr ripped or anything..but just kinda avg...and then go out in the race and kick ass! Flying under the radar...but flying a light speed...This has stopped me from wanting all the newest and coolest all the time. Obviously I am not a walking billboard for that statement since I have a couple top notch bikes IMO...but like do I really need a carbon fiber aero bar set? No..and how much more kick ass is it going to be if I pass someone that does...ok that's conceded but whatever its getting me out the door to ride again this afternoon.

Later peeps....

MjC

10.20.09 - Status Update, Weezer and more....

FIRST OFF, ARE PEOPLE ABLE TO MAKE THE SWITCH BETWEEN WEB ADDRESSES ALRIGHT? DO YOU LIKE THE NEW NAME..I THINK ITS COOLER WITH A LOT MORE MEANING....let me hear your thoughts? Please..I welcome all criticism.


Yesterday was way to nice to me. I just have a feeling that work is going to ask a lot more of me. I guess that's alright, at least I am semi-preparing myself right now. As I think about what I have to get done today I can think of three important things..just hoping that the work gods don't decide to make it rain on me. I suppose all I can do it take it one step at a time and keep chugging along...at least I know I'll be back in the pool tonight after a 9 day layoff. I'll probably be as fast as Michael Phelps tonight :)

I went to Yoga class again last night and loved it. Doing Yoga in an obscenely warm room is probably the best thing right now since in Upstate NY are temps are now dipping into the 20's. Kinda gross but kinda funny...I think I probably walked out of the class weighing about 140 pounds (im normally like 150, but I made it up with the massive amounts of food I ate last night, haha). But seriously, my cotton t-shirt (big mistake, wear something that wicks) weighed about 10 lbs and my yoga mat which I rented...well that turned into a regular slip and slide. I feel sorry for the pour soul who has to use that thing after me.

I must note that I visited Wegman's not once yesterday but twice..this is usual but I figured I'd start mentioning when I do this in the hopes that I can curb this trend since Wegmans prolly gets about half my paycheck a month, haha.

Weezer has released 2 more songs on their iTunes Pass in prep for their new CD Ratitude that comes out in November. It cost me 20 bucks to get the pass but you get 7 songs in advance of the album's release plus like videos and stuff..and you get the new album when it comes out..so its a pretty good deal..I'll take it! I should probably take this opportunity to thank my cousin Brian who turned me onto Weezer way back when I was a Freshman in high school. He was going to a Weezer concert and I thought the name was sweet, so i asked him for a t-shirt. He obliged and I still have that t-shirt to this day. What a guy! Oh yeah I also remember like rocking out to "Should I Stay of should I Go?" which I am listening to right now (it was one of the pre-album songs) .anyways, we were rocking out to it on the ski lifts at Bristol way back when..good memories. Now I just gotta get my cuz to read my blog..THAT'S MY GOAL TODAY!

HW FOR THE DAY: No pressure here but I wanted to pose the task to each of my followers: Get someone you know to check my blog out and get them to follow. If we can all get one new person today we can double our Clan! Soon enough we will be like the Mason's with deep dark secrets about enlightenment that we will not share with anyone unless they are ready. With that said if you can get one new person to follow you will move up a degree and be one step closer to total enlightenment at the 33 degree. (Ok yeah I've been reading Dan Brown's book, "The Lost Symbol" this past weekend...::)

TRINITY TRI GOOGLE GROUP?: I have created a google group called Trinity Triathlon. It could serve as a forum for ongoing conversations, Must See TV and movies, good reads, anything really. Whenever anyone post it goes right to your email and stuff like that. If people are interested let me know! It's on an invite only basis so we could control who we want to let in and stuff. It would be an exclusive club. We do this for the Train-This team and its sweet!

I think its safe to say that you can now call me a Roadie

Well I think you can safely say that over the past 6 months my lifestyle has certainly changed. This past April I was still struggling through the CPA Exam process. I would work all day and then come home only to study until I could not stay awake...and the weekend, FORGET ABOUT IT! I would put in a got 40 out of 48 hours of studying...I'm the kind of person who does not want to go into a test with any doubts. So basically I studied and studied. The tests were always extremely hard but I got through all 4 in less than a year and they are now behind me forever! Such a great feeling.

This brings me to my main point today. Once I took care of these tests it allowed me to have the free time I have always wanted. I had been doing homework since I was in middle school, and I had usually worked a job on the weekends during high school summers and college as well...So to now come home after work and be free...what an experience!!! I can now start to do the things I've always wanted to do, my passions!..and what I wanted to do was be a triathlete. I have a pretty one track mind so when I get something in my head I just can't get it out..ask anyone that knows me, like my good buddy Josh Gonsenhauser who I recently became good friends with, ironically over cycling, a sport where $$ gets dumped everywhere very quickly...kinda like taking water in during the run portion of a tri..you get it and use it extremely quickly and when its gone you have no idea where it really went.

I'm so into Tri's and Cycling that I've already picked up 2 new bikes in the past 2 months. Kiss my savings goodbye...but WHO CARES!! The bikes I purchased are killer...they are soooo cool and I love them. I ride them every chance I get. To me they are soooo worth it. I mean im 23 with no girlfriend, no mortgage, no real world responsibilities other than showing up to work...which lately has been getting at me but thats beside the point...no worries though i'll show up to work :) All in all to those people who always save save save or hold back on certain things..I SAY Don't "just TRI it" yeah that's a new slogan..how do you like that Nike?? But seriously why regret things you didn't do? I'm having a blast with my bikes, with my new coach, with the new people I have met through who I know consider friends (hope they do to)

Well what I set out to write about today was the fact that you can now consider me a full fledged Roadie based on the fact I have now completed a majority of the items that put you into the Roadie category. Just so you know, in last months Bicycle Magazine, yes go run to your bathroom and get it off the floor (hopefully its not sticking to anything or colored a light yellow...we won't go any further, we cyclists/triathletes are a bit strange) and in the magazine theres a great lists of the 101 signs that your a "Roadie." I now can safely say I fall into the category of having done most of the items listed, however it wasn't until yesterday that I did what I consider the biggest of them all. No, it was not crashing, I have not crashed yet however I do expect to in the future..not really a question of "if" but really "when"...scary to say but whatever, I'm fully prepared with my AWESOME Road ID which everyone should get...you know Craig Alexander wears one!!! If I ever go down the nice ambulance person can just take my limp wrist and be like...oh its Matt with Blue Cross Blue Shield..this is great we don't have to just leave him beside the road because he can't pay his medical bills...so please do yourself a favor and join the road id cult...they are cool and hip, shows your a true endurance athlete or at least a wannabe like me...whichever, the truth is that most people can't tell unless they actually know you or see your exercising, so when that hot chick at the grocery store goes...damn I see your road id and I really like it....wanna go to a movie, dinner, etc...yes thats exactly how it will work. One look at your road id by a smokin hot lady and they will be yours forever (note: if this works please tell me immediately so I can buy like 10 more)..also a funny thing that just popped into my head, what if you got a road id and put some famous persons name on it...like for me I could put matt damon, we are relatively close in size and appearance...sort of..but anyways if you really crashed hard and screwed up your face and stuff and then had this id that said you were matt damon...man you'd get primo treatment i bet, hmmm...hahah.

Alright, im focused, why am I know an official Roadie? Because my former whip, a Lexus IS 250 has been given over to my dad who is in love with it, and I now am driving a Subaru Outback 2.5 XT. Why? Because I can fit my two smoking hot ladies in the back! (ladies meaning bikes) I can now say with a sense of pride and accomplishment that one of the primary reasons I drive the vehicle I drive is because of my cycling/triathlon passion(addiction). And let me tell you that this by no means was a compromise..this outback kicks ass. Its got like 250hp which is much more than the IS and its got this cool little thing called turbo(like my nickname given by Scott at Towpath Bike Shop)..believe me im not suffering here folks. I think I'll really like this ride. I was having so much trouble packing all my tri stuff in my car when I would go to races on the weekend. Between racking the bikes on the back and then not being able to use the trunk I would literally stuff every inch inside the actual car. Now I have soooo much room and its soo nice. I have to give props where due, so a thanks goes to Josh Gonsenhauser at Dorschel Auto in Henrietta. If you need to buy a new/used car get a hold of him and tell them that Matt sent you...well I guess he might probably know you because there are only like 5 people reading this blog and he can just look at those people on the bottom left of this blog...lol. But seriously he's a great dude whose hooked me up with an awesome car and is even letting me use his cycleops trainer...I'll have to pay him back for the use of the trainer someday when my legs and body are the ones that are making money :)...we all gotta dream!

Tip(s) of the day: Listen to Jack Johnson, Ride your bike, run, or swim, and watch the Ironman World Championships today.

-Matt

Kona or Bust

Coffee's ready, and my pre-lift meal is in front of me...time to get this day rolling.

Today I am going to write about an article I read in a Triathlon Magazine a while back that was written by Matt Fitzgerald called "Why are we so hell-bent on Reaching Kona?" Basically it attempts to answer the question; Why would someone train all year round making tons of sacrifices just to be able to go to Hawaii, pay their own way to get there, and then top everything off with a grueling 9-13 hours of swimming, biking, and running in deadly heat? Well...let's see. The article touches on many points that I really feel are dead on accurate (at least in regards to my own feelings.) Matt Fitzgerald first mentions that during an interview with a sociologist that this guy loves suffering, he even quotes him as saying "I'm really fascinated with suffering"..and this guy is a Phd from England..alright so he probably had stopped off at the pub for a few pints before the interview, but that's beside the fact. Anyway, I have to say that personally I love to suffer as well. This has been a personnel characteristic that I have had for as long as I can remember. I have never been the most naturally gifted in the classroom or on the athletic field, yet this has not stopped me from being one of the top students in my high-school/college classes, or excelling on the athletic fields. (You can determine what excelling on the athletic field is on your own, but in my mind I did pretty decent for a short white kid with normal genetics on the ball field and grid irons.) I was able to do well in school and in sports because I would put in the extra work when others were not. I would do all my homework in High School when everyone else put it aside. Why? Because I'm scared to fail. The worst feeling in the world is to show up for a test and have no clue whats going on..or as I am learning to show up to a race and feel like you don't belong...YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT YOUR ARE JUST AS FAST AS THE REST. This is pretty hard in a sport like Triathlon because everyone looks different...in running you can pretty much tell that the gazelle looking dude with the stick legs is going to tear it up..but in Triathlon who knows? You really have to just block it all out and know that once the gun goes off that your going to be in the hunt and no one is going to stop you! Back on track...Being unprepared to me is worse than an 8 hour bike ride up a hill with a steady gradient of 10% or something...poor example but you get the point. I'm getting side-tracked here but mainly what I wanted to say is that I enjoy suffering to, I enjoy the hard work of cycling further than I've ever gone, or running a 5k, 10 in my fastest time. This is what makes me happy and puts a smile on my face at night. If I don't feel any pain, any burning..then what good is it? (ok...as the "no pain, no gain" motto has been looked down upon of late some people are probably laughing at this statement but I think the fact is...if you don't push yourself your not going to get anywhere..and to push yourself your going to have to deal with the pain of going places you've never been...like 20mi from home on your own 2 legs instead of the 5k you usually do at a 30 minute pace) Personally, I want to know that I am constantly pushing myself. I want to know that I have the ability to suffer and to enjoy it...kinda sick but whatever...
So I guess I can just sum that all up and say that I like to suffer, I like to feel some pain. Some people just don't like to feel this, they want to always "be comfortable", and that's FINE! Believe me, they will probably be laughing at me when I am 60 and hobbling around with achy knees or scooting around in my electronic wheelchair that I got for free at the scooter store because the gov't felt sorry for my ass. Yet still I want the affirmation through my hard work that I am getting somewhere. I know that by working harder and suffering more than the next person that its going to give me an edge and more importantly make ME feel like I HAVE an edge. I would say that the "thinking' you have an edge part is the most important.

Another point brought up in this article is how along with the growth of the service industry in the 1970's so came the beginnings of Triathlon. It's not a coincidence that just as people were as Fitzgerald states, "being told to sit down, shut up, don't move all day, but to be happy with that" that they began to seek creative outlets. This type of mindset is bullshit in my opinion. I work in the service industry and I hate the mindset that is being brainwashed into new hires by sr management. I hate the way that so many people love to showboat how many hours they worked last week. To them I say "well good for you"...I'll even pat them on the back...ALL I ASK IS "please just let me out at a regular time".. so I can go ride my friggin bike before it gets dark so I don't get hit by a sleep deprived work-aholic who loves to crank out unpaid overtime hours. As you can see this is a bit of a sore subject. But anyways, I think the point that Fitzgerald was making is that so many of these work-aholics were former athletes. Which makes sense. These people have strong wills and desires..they have just channeled it into work...for me I don't see the point of working a billion hours of overtime when your not even getting paid to, I mean does that sound fair? Obviously when deadlines are set you may have to work more, but on a year-round basis, all the time...come on people! In Europe they only work like 3/4 of the year. They actually spend the rest of the time on family vacations, cycling tours, beach excursions, touring ancient ruins..ENHANCING THEIR LIVES! The US seriously needs to go back to its European roots in some regards. So..back to my point, these people end up 35 years old, overweight maybe? overworked definitely! and searching for something to rejuvenate them. Well thats when taking up a leisure activity comes into play. They take up tennis or golf, or if their nuts triathlon! This gives them a sense of identity...something they can hang their hat on...for me I totally GET this. I love knowing the fact when I am at work I can look at people and just be like "yeah..I am so much faster than them" or "I wonder what they did this morning, I've already covered 40 miles on my bike...they were probably snoring when I was grunting up Bopple Hill" sure its conceded and self-inflating, but it gets my on my bike in the morning (and don't say you've never done it..because you have, and if you haven't your not hardcore..lol, jk), its gets me out of my bed at 4:30 am...WE ALL NEED SOME TYPE OF MOTIVATION! Its not that I broadcast this or anything, its purely in my head..right where it belongs :)

Welcome to my life. Come right in, we've got a lot to talk about.

Hi Everyone!
My name is Matt Curbeau and I am 23 years old. I currently work for a big four Accounting firm in Upstate NY and will be a full fledged CPA this Spring when my hour requirements are met. However, Accounting is just my day job. Just like Clark Kent, my day job is not who I am, I am and a Triathlete..or at least for now, an aspiring one.
Why the name 4:30 Triathlon? Simple. This is when I wake up most every morning. I wake up because I have fallen in love with the sport of Triathlon. I wake up because not many other people are up. I wake up because it is going to make me faster. I wake up because I can't wait to ride my bike. I wake up because every day in the pool makes me sooo much quicker! I wake up this early because that's what you need to do if you every want to compete on the Big Island...and I sure do! I wake up because I know how it feels when you finish a race with your family and friends cheering you on. (If you've never had that experience...immediately sign up for some sort of competition...5k or whatever, I guarantee when you finish you will have a better high than any drug will every give you....and its completely free, minus entry fees and travel expenses...but we will save those rants for another time)...and I could go on and on about why I am waking up at 4:30 every morning but the long and short of it is that I am dedicated to this sport and more importantly to myself. I know that I am a complete newbie but I just can't get enough!
What can you expect from me? I am going to do my best to post every day when I wake up.I will keep a running list of my upcoming races and results.I will talk about my favorite triathlon gear! (This is probably my favorite subject, and I am sure most triathletes will agree. Getting the latest, the coolest, the lightest stuff is basically a prerequisite to the sport of Triathlon)

I will basically lead you through the life of an aspiring triathlete...I know your excited, but please sit back down and stop cheering...we've got a LONG way to go.

-Matt