Studio Renovation - Update

The studio is finally looking more like a training studio with the floor and walls painted. One more coat of paint on everything and we are ready to start again our computrainer classes.

Screen wall

Stop by whenever you want and check it out.

Bathroom

We will be putting everything back together on Wednesday and Thursday.

We have a nice shower facility as well and changing rooms, so you can get ready after a hard workout to go to work.


Don't forget our next events at the studio:

• September 14, at 7pm, Club Presentation by Dan Wiland, MD, Sports Medecine Specialist, Triathlete, Cyclist and Trifitness Member "Common Triathlon Injuries"
• October 2, 11am-5pm, Grand Opening, indoor time trials, door prizes, refreshments and more!

Painted floor

Timberman 70.3- I did it!

1.2 miles of choppy, panicked (at least the first half!) swimming, 56 miles of biking through NH hills (and more hills!) in the rain, and 13.1 miles of running along some scenic lake-side roads with some more hills thrown in....that is Timberman 70.3 2010! There really are no words to describe the feeling of finishing my first half Ironman...my guess is this picture explains it all!

Trifitness was well represented at Timberman this year, with at least 15 of us racing, and many more friends and family members there to support. It was extremely motivating to see so many friendly faces on the bike and run course, and to have an almost college-dorm like atmosphere with so many of us staying at the same hotel!

Race morning brought cool temperatures and gray skies, and had me hoping for no rain. I set my transition area up and then had a long time to wait for my swim start as I was wave 11 out of 18. I watched the pros take off, and then headed back to the car to keep warm. I spent about 10 minutes warming up in the water and then nervously stood with my group. The gun went off and I headed in close to the front of the pack on the inside near the buoys. After a rough 1/4 mile or so start where I had to talk myself out of the panic, and talk myself into staying in the race, I settled in and then began to enjoy the swim.


After the swim, I headed out of the water to my first ever experience with wet-suit strippers! I'm glad I had asked Gus what to do- I took my wetsuit off to my waist, flopped down on my back, had the wet suit pulled off, and was quickly on my way. What a time saver! Quickly headed out to the bike....and that's when the rain began to fall....

All in all, I really enjoyed the bike course. I love hills, and this course was full of them! I was having a great bike split until about mile 40, when I had my first crash. A man in front of me was wobbling up the one of the steepest climbs, I went to pass him, and down he went...taking me along with him. I found out later from a girl behind me that I flipped over him and somehow managed to escape with just some scrapes on my elbow and knee (and my bike is fine!) That shook me up a bit and took awhile for me to settle back in, but I managed to finish the rest of the bike in a decent time.

The run, for me, was solid. Long distance running, after my college sprint/jump career, is always a challenge, but I did as many 10-15 mile runs this summer as I could. My goal was to walk the aid stations and steep hills, and run the rest, and I pretty much accomplished this. The run was actually a lot of fun, filled with an a capella group, snow ball tossing, music at every turn, tons of spectators, and my Trifit crew! Only tough part is coming thisclose to the finish, only to head back out for your 2nd loop of the run...so tough mentally!

I enjoyed this race more than I could ever have imagined. I learned a lot about myself and my limits, about patience and pushing beyond my comfort zone, about getting back on the bike (literally) when it is most difficult, and most of all, about enjoying the experience and taking it all in while you are out there. There were times when I thought there was no way I would ever be able to finish this race, let alone do well, but I truly surprised myself.

What's next? How many 70.3's can I fit in a year?! I really found that I love this distance, and am planning which races to do next year...definitely Timberman again....other races TBD!

Special thanks to Gus for getting me through my first half IM, for waiting for me even though he finished 2 hours ahead of me, and for patching me up post-crash :)

Results:

Swim: 40:59

Bike: 3:14:17

Run: 2:25:15

Overall: 6:26:18

Trifitness Studio Renovation - Update

The studio is getting closer and closer everyday to be ready for great triathlon training! Come and check it out for yourself. The walls have been patched up and sanded and ready for painting, which started today!

Hopefully everything will go smoothly and we will be back in action on September 1st.

We are planning an opening party, but have not set up the date yet. We will keep you posted!

Keep on training hard! The Fairfield Triathlon is coming up.

Our Team is doing so well, we had the best representation at Timberman and everyone finished and finished well. I am very proud of our Team!

Swim for your life and for your fitness

As crazy as it could sound: for life and for fitness. When you learn and setup good swimming form, you should, besides find out your cruising pace, find the sensation of flowing with the water. So try to roll your body with each stroke and stretch, but as soon as you master this, or most of this sensation, imagine that there is something that is going to catch your foot, propel yourself with 'fear' of being caught; it is pure adrenaline, and the fulfilling essence of complex and efficient speed. Glide and find fear. Give it a try.

Bethel Wednesday Night Summer Criterium Series

Last night was my 7^th Crit race at Bethel and my 1^st top ten finish.  The Bethel races are held on a roughly .8 mile loop in the Francis Clarke industrial complex off Route 53.  The road is closed to traffic so it’s a great way for a triathlete to get in a good interval workout. The loop is mainly flat with a short hill at the end of each lap.

Last night was extra special because my son Jake was planning to do the kids race.  There are 2 adult races (A race for USAC Cat 1-4 riders and B race for USAC Cat 4-5 riders – so if you are Cat 4 you can do both races for double the pain!).  There are 2 kids races sandwiched between the adult races.  Nine and under do 2 laps and 9 and over do 4 laps.  Jake was anxiously awaiting the race all day and finally got a number pinned on his shirt.

After a small equipment snafu I finally jumped into the 5:45 B race with no warm up. Thankfully the group took it easy in the first couple of laps and I was able to get into a nice rhythm.  Since Timberman is Sunday my plan was to simply ride in the bunch and finish the race – this would be my 10^th road race and now I’m eligible to upgrade to Cat 4.  Feeling good from solid training I stayed close to the front for most of the race.  With 2 laps to go the speed picked up a notch and with one lap to go I moved up some more to see if I could finish strong in the final sprint.

A few of the stronger riders who always challenge for the finish picked it up in the middle of the last lap and I managed to jump on the wheel of the 5^th guy in the train.  I held on for dear life at 35mph and much to my surprise made it to the finish in 6^th place! 

Jake was next up in the kids race and I tagged along to watch him and give him some motivation to make it up the finishing hill.  It’s not easy riding that hill especially when you are on a kid’s mountain bike with only one gear!  Jake climbed hard and made it up the hill and through the first lap.  He cruised back around and the dreaded hill was back.  He jammed hard on the pedal but halfway up slipped off. Dad was there, dropped his bike and gave Jake push back in the middle of the hill and he plugged has way over the finish line.   He wisely decided to skip the second kids’ race!

Burgers and ice cream capped off the post race celebration for the Panzers.

Trifitness Studio Renovation

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It is always exciting to build something new, but seems to take a long time. I must admit I am not patient sometimes. After the fun demolition work, now comes the prep work with all the dust, the sanding noice and the planning of all the electrical outlets.
But thanks to Sunshine Painting work is progressing nicely and we should be ready by the end of next week and start computrainers again in September just intime for the shorter evenings...
Come and say hello, we are located at 1150 Post road in Fairfield.

our opening day will be announced shortly.

Timberman is less than a week away!

After months of solid training, the big day is just about here. Last year Timberman was my first half ironman.  The race in New Hampshire starts in a beautiful, clear lake and has a challenging but not too crazy bike and run course.  The race was tough for me last year, but I knew I could improve a lot.

Training with so many great people from Trifitness continually motivates me to put in the time and effort to improve.  The combination of experienced coaches, strong athletes and dedicated beginners makes for a dynamic, supportive group that’s fun to be with.  It’s not easy to train with a long commute to NYC and plenty of work to do, as well as spending time with the family. This was a big year for little league as Jake made the all stars so finding the right balance was key, but a supportive family has enabled me to make huge progress this season.

My approach this season was simple:  Get strong on the bike, maintain my solid running ability and relax about the swimming. 

The biggest problem for me regarding triathlon was swimming ability (or lack thereof).  I’ve spent three winters beating myself up about swimming. I used to dread going to the pool and felt guilty if I didn’t.   This winter I decided to relax and swim when I could.  I swam with the group a bit and swam a bunch on my own.  My favorite workout – 100 yard repeats with enough rest in between so that I could focus on my technique.  My relaxed approach seems to have paid off.  I’ve done plenty of relaxed open water swimming and the speed gains are evident.  We’ll see what happens on race day.

Cycling this season has been a blast.  Starting with one or two Computrainer sessions a week with Trifitness this winter – including the awesome Saturday indoor time-trial series, I’ve felt the bike strength increasing.  I got outside in the cold a bit as well, just to prove to myself I could do it. 

As the weather warmed up I spent more and more time on the bike. I spent a lot of time on my road bike early on, and after years of watching pro cycling on TV decided to try my hand—or legs—at some road racing.  The Wednesday night criteriums in Bethel became a staple as my weekly interval training.  Those roadies are super strong, but after getting dropped in the first couple of races I figured out how to ride in the bunch, conserve energy and finish strong.  Most races are combined Cat 4/5 so there are some incredibly strong guys (and a few girls) in there. The Tokeneke Road Race (ought to be called the Tokeneke Hill Race) was a great experience as well – tons of climbing with some seriously fast riders.  I didn’t finish last and even managed to beat a bunch of hardcore roadies!  I'm proud to consider myself a roadie now too ;-)

My running mileage is a bit below where I’d like, but the increased time on the bike seemed more important to me. I still managed to do three half marathons this winter and  a few long runs recently.

So here comes Timberman.  We have a great group racing.  The Pascal(e)s, Mark C., Jen S., Rob G, Brie, Sue S. , Brian and others.  I’m looking forward to blowing away last year’s time and having fun seeing a lot of TriFitness uniforms out on the course.  Next up: Lake Placid 2011!

Thanks for reading!

Jason

Tokeneke Classic Road Cycling Race - Review

What a magnificient course and so hard but sure to be good training for a triathlete.
The women's race was two hilly loops of 22 miles each. The area is gorgeous and the roads are quiet specially in the morning. A road cycling race is so different though for a triathlete than a triathlon. You work together to climb hills, you take turns on flats to lead, and then you sprint at the end (I must admit I love that part!).
I think triathletes should try this race just for a different way of training. You push yourself and the packs of riders are not too big like in the Tour de France so it is not scary. A triathlete will gain some better bike handling skills and also strength on such a course.

There is a long downhill as well that could be a good training hill for let's say Lake Placid. Maybe we can organise a training week-end there next year.
I highly recommend this race.