tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36315167304754995162024-03-06T00:23:26.349-08:00Its Good TrainingSharing my trails of liferob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-91320864590018044952022-07-11T12:42:00.000-07:002022-07-11T12:42:00.672-07:002022 GCGF (Garrett County Grand Fondo) 6/18/2022<p>Well this was definitely a case of I had no idea what I was getting into. On a bike ride in March some friends were talking at the event and invited me along since I am not "racing" as much this year and trying new types of events. Of course I said yes and they did say it was tough with lots of climbing. I did check out the web site and decided to purchase a climbing wheel set for this and other tough climbing events. </p><p>The folks I was going with have all done the 40 and 65 miler but were attempting the 100 miler this year. I figured I was fit enough to skip the 40 and jump right into the 65 so that's what I signed up for. The actual name for the distance is the masochistic metric. Until winter broke into spring here in Erie, Pa I trained on hills via Zwift and got outside on decent days. Then climbed as much as I could once it got nice out. </p><p>On Friday I took a half day and set out on my way to the Maryland, PA and West Virginia line where the event is held. The drive wasnt bad, about 3.5 hours away. I got to my hotel and checked, this is where I caught up to one of my friends. We went to packet pick up before we unpacked, just to get that out of the way. To my surprise this was a Hammer sponsored event! After packet pick up we caught up with a couple more of our friends and went to dinner, then back to hotel to get gear unpacked and get ready for morning. I slept ok, but definitely thought about what I had in front of me the next day, 65 miles with 8400 feet of climbing. </p><p>In the morning we woke up gathered in the lobby until all 4 of us were accounted for and off we went to the start line, roughly a 20 min. drive. The start was pretty low key compared to what I was used to, we all gathered then some quick instructions and then a horn went off. No one was in a hurry groups of folks just started riding off down the road. I learned quickly just why no one was in a huge hurry, the 1st climb was only about 1.2 miles away. Overlook pass was about .7 of a mile long at 11% grade and rough since legs were not yet warmed up, they were after that. </p><p>The next few miles were good, some decent climbs and rollers but then we climbed up White Rock rd. which was about a mile climb and a 10% grade but a fun decent! Again some smaller climbs and rollers till we got to Sam Friend climb, this was 1.4 mile climb at 9% grade. By this point is when I realized I had not trained nearly enough for this event! After more small climbs and rollers the climb that really pushed my limits was next. Bowman Hill was 1.7 miles long and a 10% grade, super hard but an amazing decent. The last major climb for the 65 mile distance was Negro Mountain Rd, 2.9 miles long but average grade was 3%. </p><p>Over the 65 miles we had 2 aid stations one at mile 21 and one at mile 44. Both stocked well with Hammer gels and Heed. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Fuel:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-1 Hammer gel and cliff bar pre-event, 10 gels during event </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-Hammer Sustained Energy/Pertpetuem mix and water in water bottle</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Race Day Boost </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Anti-Fatique Caps and Endurance Ammo's pre event and once an hour during event </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Recoverite and Tissue Rejuvanator after event</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Gear:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Trek Emonda SL7 bike</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer cycling kit</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Specialized Cycling Shoes </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-S-Works helmet</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Tifosi glasses</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Stages Dash M50 bike computer</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Recovery:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Recoverite</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-Human AMP sports lotion</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-Air Relax recovery system</div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidr_LfdIiwBQuKckoJx2-CU5PklS_75GJyMclJ956N8DZRXvZk5PQqudRN7uCW2ioxUkJaBXSc2AJbqNQ4G6PHkHTFULEixntuOwlpD24b2FCreOkK1anCOMMEHQ1H-c9FY9dO28Y_Xdzl3uhnQstCuZi8Bb_-44vAjoJWYmRf9uFYYcu1m-rBVP94YQ/s4032/20220618_085832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidr_LfdIiwBQuKckoJx2-CU5PklS_75GJyMclJ956N8DZRXvZk5PQqudRN7uCW2ioxUkJaBXSc2AJbqNQ4G6PHkHTFULEixntuOwlpD24b2FCreOkK1anCOMMEHQ1H-c9FY9dO28Y_Xdzl3uhnQstCuZi8Bb_-44vAjoJWYmRf9uFYYcu1m-rBVP94YQ/s320/20220618_085832.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3JOtjEhniCCIr_OQ7SL926PPQ9ETWfk-nBPqFk0Zuh3IXBWZFDRDYLIvT-gFb3zMqpwk9unWrC1tdUFv3Ck4bkGlSDeJrvxcG12OF73lz842JioTPgwVNy4_JtbCkRpc8tHNIWkg4Y149ID5ixvBLjAbDWP4O6D7ZjL7RaIuGqWCat7SCBds0diSy7A/s4032/20220618_185835.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3JOtjEhniCCIr_OQ7SL926PPQ9ETWfk-nBPqFk0Zuh3IXBWZFDRDYLIvT-gFb3zMqpwk9unWrC1tdUFv3Ck4bkGlSDeJrvxcG12OF73lz842JioTPgwVNy4_JtbCkRpc8tHNIWkg4Y149ID5ixvBLjAbDWP4O6D7ZjL7RaIuGqWCat7SCBds0diSy7A/s320/20220618_185835.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmcO8DuMDbu87oNx8hTDYEAQZkq0qIej97bcg1ikFLEESLIhRf_Kg1xEjQx8dhWnMu-uYtbJ5xsdXZTld67aXekIcHqMpCg7nI9DCKOucjbTpu_aLQ-ucRbLqG-Jea8G6B0QQRzUlMAnK3V5zLJ1JUXCePbf1f6F9ff2lCFj4wZqtQzKQxHelQG9eUew/s640/IMG_3079.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmcO8DuMDbu87oNx8hTDYEAQZkq0qIej97bcg1ikFLEESLIhRf_Kg1xEjQx8dhWnMu-uYtbJ5xsdXZTld67aXekIcHqMpCg7nI9DCKOucjbTpu_aLQ-ucRbLqG-Jea8G6B0QQRzUlMAnK3V5zLJ1JUXCePbf1f6F9ff2lCFj4wZqtQzKQxHelQG9eUew/s320/IMG_3079.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoztBMChp6O2eeLZgMZCKBGIGPcb4dqUN389fTxwPD8GewZE-R2L_HgHohWS86ERQglNnMlGk7mM3H3rqSmd42A8nEX5CWlj7VblXOn8jAfTWxpCVFd188yuFYKIOisQ40nYWjSBBdbjusp8HucYxvLPNwkaU713aIer6ydl5X7ULKEjMHensLe-Tm2w/s320/IMG_3083.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-TMtzBesCNhroKCOQt8eOYsfYBmdHrKciHrQspzOSoCdbtXeH2hCdkACtYCuusCv5o62O658rtx1Q4-VCyqqinaZvvNqP9wAaY_Znzi7nSSJ8q1FLaBxVffXZHOTxRORx95ruYPP9iW6EuuclOJyte6M5wgk2w2KKwpjDdnjw2mea8bEcVQgyJFpWHA/s480/IMG_3084.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="359" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-TMtzBesCNhroKCOQt8eOYsfYBmdHrKciHrQspzOSoCdbtXeH2hCdkACtYCuusCv5o62O658rtx1Q4-VCyqqinaZvvNqP9wAaY_Znzi7nSSJ8q1FLaBxVffXZHOTxRORx95ruYPP9iW6EuuclOJyte6M5wgk2w2KKwpjDdnjw2mea8bEcVQgyJFpWHA/s320/IMG_3084.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkeAYXx6sfcA2n38qlP_MvSYzVHAGi7yL1cGXWGGSBKyG9w3OBFB8Mdq-dpW528F1I_GNXgQTjJmz74NH2ck4HLxy384rPrrEP3eSEj8mGu7JmLBowyxjJApyoAEEjIrZ_FZxsbeQjabRKxQSiW0vGLuUc0vW9EWgfwpB0BI2S0gOaidFIDD0anqjlTA/s1008/Resized_20220617_192959.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1008" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkeAYXx6sfcA2n38qlP_MvSYzVHAGi7yL1cGXWGGSBKyG9w3OBFB8Mdq-dpW528F1I_GNXgQTjJmz74NH2ck4HLxy384rPrrEP3eSEj8mGu7JmLBowyxjJApyoAEEjIrZ_FZxsbeQjabRKxQSiW0vGLuUc0vW9EWgfwpB0BI2S0gOaidFIDD0anqjlTA/s320/Resized_20220617_192959.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-12459316128166015282022-07-02T13:07:00.000-07:002022-07-02T13:07:27.594-07:002022 Edinboro Sprint Triathlon<p> This is an amazing race in its 34th year, it draws folks from all over due to its impressiveness. 3rd weekend in a row of racing. I had no business even being there, but I had paid for it, so I figured I would give whatever I had left in my legs. This event used to be an olympic and a sprint distance but due to not having enough volunteers they only offered the sprint this year. Something that made the race more special this year was that I had 3 of the folks I coach in the race; Terry, Dan and Steve. </p><p>Before the race we had a "team meeting" and I reminded my folks of some key aspects for this race and then we got some pictures etc. before heading into the water to swim a bit. After a nice warm up swim we were called to transition area for the race directions. After instructions we lined up to swim, which was by age group this year and we entered the water 1 at a time in a single file line. </p><p>My time to enter the water had come and off I went. in no time I was swimming into folks I just tried to keep a decent line and head to the 1st turn, surprisingly the turn was clean and easy, seemed I was swimming with myself at this point. As I exited the 2nd turn I swam into another pack and had to keep bouncing out around people. Before long I had the swim finish in sight and just tried to stay consistent with my stroke. I came out of the water feeling pretty good, found out later that my swim was pretty slow. </p><p>Transition from swim to bike went very well however when I got going my legs felt real heavy and my HR was super high. I figured it was from the build of the past 2 weekends. It took about 3 miles for me to get my HR under control. I got in a nice cadence and started passing some folks. at this point I passed one of people I coach, Steve. as we hit mile 6, maybe 7 I pulled away from him on a hill where I saw another person I coach, Dan. Dan had dropped his chain on the hill ( bad shift ). At this point I am riding pretty hard and before I knew it I was pulling into transition for the run. </p><p>As I put my running shoes on and took helmet off I remember thinking wow that 11 miles on the bike flew by. I headed out on the run and pushed pretty hard, my HR was pegged around 185 for most of the run. This was a pretty easy out and back 3.1 mile course. The run is likely my strongest event so I was confident I could grab some places on the run. As I figured I was able to catch and pass several people. after the turn around I did see Steve again, he was about a mile behind me and then not far behind him was Dan. I continued to hammer the run then with about a half mile left I got to see Terry. When I hit the finish line I felt very confident I had completed a really good race. </p><p> As my watch loaded up to Strava I found that I set a PR in all 3 events. However unlike 2019 ( last I did this race) I did not win my age group, matter of fact I placed 4th. Just missed 3rd by 10 seconds. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Fuel:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-1 Hammer gel pre-race each race </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">- Natures Bakery Fig bar Pre-race with gel</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Water</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Race Day Boost </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Anti-Fatique Caps and Endurance Ammo's pre race </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Recoverite and Tissue Rejuvanator after each race</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Gear:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Suunto 9 watch</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Ventum Z tri bike</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">- Hammer tri kit</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Garneau tri bike shoes</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hoka OneOne Claytons</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-S-Works helmet</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Tifosi glasses</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Stages Dash M50 bike computer</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Blue Seventy wet suit</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Recovery:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Recoverite</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-Human AMP sports lotion</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-Air Relax recovery system</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM95-2THo8UA6LslgzZFp80LOO1gulpRqQqW2LgvQrnJ4PZ9EfNOR6BS5MtKRfxGrF0sDFOSSDjILvl92Srsx6_VY7l2FIDe-iCQd9QD67CBGj0_L5aG873exnJkJ8DGfdz5NL6pLL0j034yy734R13VceDJPi1Bx_7QPf7PbJMgYyTzwmPcMwJlQOPw/s4032/20220604_073242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM95-2THo8UA6LslgzZFp80LOO1gulpRqQqW2LgvQrnJ4PZ9EfNOR6BS5MtKRfxGrF0sDFOSSDjILvl92Srsx6_VY7l2FIDe-iCQd9QD67CBGj0_L5aG873exnJkJ8DGfdz5NL6pLL0j034yy734R13VceDJPi1Bx_7QPf7PbJMgYyTzwmPcMwJlQOPw/s320/20220604_073242.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steve and I</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCuAGzP_QcrcXuc6x2BlRzFwPOgi5O7kBIWSfaFApfsNV6M5d_vpIfDm_TYEcQEyac6PnoCxrdlimpwBWIkWGbmpKyLrUBfX5GJw623bFwULGN0AKe8gs7lnUofNRGyWjIgIcKcQgLmdxNI847YPe8-OLL1WqUP3z8nMJhxZ8oUzEBsVPu8Y3CxmN9Yg/s4032/20220604_074337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCuAGzP_QcrcXuc6x2BlRzFwPOgi5O7kBIWSfaFApfsNV6M5d_vpIfDm_TYEcQEyac6PnoCxrdlimpwBWIkWGbmpKyLrUBfX5GJw623bFwULGN0AKe8gs7lnUofNRGyWjIgIcKcQgLmdxNI847YPe8-OLL1WqUP3z8nMJhxZ8oUzEBsVPu8Y3CxmN9Yg/s320/20220604_074337.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terry, Dan and I pre-race </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgljF0tgtI-73C1eT20cnCG75oGGn4hyOspODNQvd9NXgVy2PS9k2RiakwycgLQibWkp5tZZahatl3uc0QARs3fsvjVrdRcDKNO4vtXIiuzmRdxitzEvS7rPEgWUIAsxA7_vhMIZ_7AaPNXwT9qN1WfL64vfP4P0-FrK7d00jpHTN2JYXoZVtJms9DXIQ/s4032/20220604_074345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgljF0tgtI-73C1eT20cnCG75oGGn4hyOspODNQvd9NXgVy2PS9k2RiakwycgLQibWkp5tZZahatl3uc0QARs3fsvjVrdRcDKNO4vtXIiuzmRdxitzEvS7rPEgWUIAsxA7_vhMIZ_7AaPNXwT9qN1WfL64vfP4P0-FrK7d00jpHTN2JYXoZVtJms9DXIQ/s320/20220604_074345.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjow595pmlNl8R-dD43fFCyoMmhfKOp8kqhPX1LHr2ks7HiSgRAKfbnLkDRROJACoMfRz1SUdt4EkGpJN_Bgyijtdm7oBm2Uqs-Xt5REqcgnyDUhy-GJ4xIBl0VHEuHXREeUZ0rtzuaPrKUrk-5DO4Bp2rrSJb9lJtc8V32lbrV1D7B0BQyZdfwpd4jag/s4608/20220604_074644.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjow595pmlNl8R-dD43fFCyoMmhfKOp8kqhPX1LHr2ks7HiSgRAKfbnLkDRROJACoMfRz1SUdt4EkGpJN_Bgyijtdm7oBm2Uqs-Xt5REqcgnyDUhy-GJ4xIBl0VHEuHXREeUZ0rtzuaPrKUrk-5DO4Bp2rrSJb9lJtc8V32lbrV1D7B0BQyZdfwpd4jag/s320/20220604_074644.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0ytEoWYrkLt85ozQZtwxCK_yevW7PcjfXuG2rnoRpZcQ1jexz-1bQPVMt0XzozCmmcruoCF7lQUPTaxpOvSzuCy17fWTD7-9-1h0TvhALtE7matl8tqH-EyimUSw4c09fLhajhvc_ox4tTCyAcwnO7v7t9d2ucK168oLUE1W4gnz9NGcmyBFrvhA9Q/s4032/20220604_100549.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0ytEoWYrkLt85ozQZtwxCK_yevW7PcjfXuG2rnoRpZcQ1jexz-1bQPVMt0XzozCmmcruoCF7lQUPTaxpOvSzuCy17fWTD7-9-1h0TvhALtE7matl8tqH-EyimUSw4c09fLhajhvc_ox4tTCyAcwnO7v7t9d2ucK168oLUE1W4gnz9NGcmyBFrvhA9Q/s320/20220604_100549.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terry, Dan and I post-race </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-27248444081200631192022-06-25T17:43:00.000-07:002022-06-25T17:43:28.350-07:00Roughneck Gravel Roubaix 5/28/2022<p> Its been 1 week since American Triple T and I am signed up for my first gravel bike race. The Roughneck Gravel Roubaix consists of 104.7 mile, 75.4 mile, 40 mile and 12 mile races. I opted for the 40 miler. As I arrived in Titusville PA memories of my 1st trail race in the same area at Oil Creek State Park flood my mind. Then at packet pick up morning of the race, I had seen a lot of the volunteers from Oil Creek. </p><p>As I got my bike and gear out of the truck a few people I knew stopped by and were full of information for me and how this was far different than road racing etc. I did appreciate the info, but knew I would like likely be just fine. I got over to the start line and started talking to a few more people I knew. I was starting to get some race anxiety as I waited, then finally it was time. We lined up and listened to the directions of the race director. Then with a blow of a horn we were off.... We had a police escort to the edge of town and with in 2 miles we faced the first of many hill climbs.</p><p>After a fairly long climb I started chatting with a lady from North Carolina. I spent few miles ride with her, found out she was also an Ironman finisher. As we descended down a large hill we came upon a guy who crashed, he was bleeding but had help already, actually looked like he broke his wrist. We were only about 6 miles in at that time, looked like he didnt slow down at bottom of a hill and hit the wash board grooves in the road. </p><p>Shortly after I was riding alone again and I heard "hey Kolo", it was a friend of mine, Shannon. She is an excellent cyclist and had caught up to me at mile 18. We rode together for a long time. She would climb better than me but I could descend better so neither us of broke away, just pushed each other harder. We rode up on a young man who was also doing his first gravel race. I introduced myself and he did too, his name was John. I asked him how old he was, turns out he was 16! I told him how awesome it was that he was out racing while his peers were behind an xbox. He asked my age, I told him 48 and he told me that was awesome because his dad was 48 and there was no way his dad would ever consider doing this, ha ha ha. </p><p>We were now a party of 3, pushing each other up and down the hills, which was very fun.... super hard... but fun. then it happened. we were on a long down hill and I was way out front then a huge climb. well I was so happy that I crushed the climb but as I got to the top a car pulled up and said, are you part of the gravel race, I said yes... she said you missed the turn at the bottom of the hill. DAMN! I turned around and coasted down to the turn and up another climb I go. I caught up with 2 guys whom I had not seen all day so I knew I had lost a good bit of time. I was at mile 31, figure I lost about a mile so I had 10 miles to try and make up ground. </p><p>I did ride hard, took some risks that I would not other wise have taken on both climbs and down hills. then with about 5 miles left I came upon John again, I asked where Shannon was and he said she pulled away a few miles ago. He said they both yelled for me when I missed the turn and when they realized I couldnt hear them, they sent the car after me. I thanked him for that and pushed forward, I was able to open up a lead on him but with 1 mile to go he closed in on me. Our finish was on a BMX track, which was awesome!!!! John passed me just before the finish. I ended up 20th over all and 4th in my age group. All in all I was happy with my effort for my 1st gravel race. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Fuel:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-1 Hammer gel pre-race each race, 5 gels during race </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-Hammer Sustained Energy/Pertpetuem mix and water in water bottle</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Race Day Boost </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Anti-Fatique Caps and Endurance Ammo's pre race and once an hour during race </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Recoverite and Tissue Rejuvanator after race</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Gear:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Trek Domane gravel bike</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer cycling kit</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Bontager Cycling Shoes </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-S-Works helmet</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Tifosi glasses</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Stages Dash M50 bike computer</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Recovery:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Recoverite</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-Human AMP sports lotion</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-Air Relax recovery system</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT4TBMgLZ7jvfL5g8LFGaoPw8goxT-Ch9oHC45lnnyyu1uU3RKnhtNUr1btzkuY1saMPXSQlZNzhVFm3iyajcTsmmS11FGEqFOoMn8wQzQ5BkgWm7_PknmpBRtTP7ESuE7LPk0M3UEeEvZzvkjFeqrRVXoaUAuYvWsSM2T5D6jev8ca2PdvyL2WoNpIQ/s4032/20220528_080816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT4TBMgLZ7jvfL5g8LFGaoPw8goxT-Ch9oHC45lnnyyu1uU3RKnhtNUr1btzkuY1saMPXSQlZNzhVFm3iyajcTsmmS11FGEqFOoMn8wQzQ5BkgWm7_PknmpBRtTP7ESuE7LPk0M3UEeEvZzvkjFeqrRVXoaUAuYvWsSM2T5D6jev8ca2PdvyL2WoNpIQ/s320/20220528_080816.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhnTcMAiVklP7cf9SwtmQ224E9ZH1yEpMYlFDm5tyO1NIJ-T30raJWmAUx8jxloj-Dvh_nEt7gh26zNe1sdxHeYQt1qofETfAj41w1A_MqdjK4X72dcP_dt9rGFqyvQkdVbyGUnB_-Tte3FS7USO_-tGZoPplrBWfzTU44qQmz1GYMO4ombzWC7jMhQ/s4032/20220528_072437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhnTcMAiVklP7cf9SwtmQ224E9ZH1yEpMYlFDm5tyO1NIJ-T30raJWmAUx8jxloj-Dvh_nEt7gh26zNe1sdxHeYQt1qofETfAj41w1A_MqdjK4X72dcP_dt9rGFqyvQkdVbyGUnB_-Tte3FS7USO_-tGZoPplrBWfzTU44qQmz1GYMO4ombzWC7jMhQ/s320/20220528_072437.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH0KSiZ4xaDEf3ookrWeqYeNJ4CJcCorC497FES6sNq_hESAR8ysa3GW4AVyyKz80QWInR7NQsFPV4kMjbzHSYh8chz6Lk7NTamO0F1LZm8Oxg1SXP4zrBSJM4RYY9VknTO4J9aOijkL4fSWP5ssDqCZgKILkhSfEMNZH63oC6dy2HI-sNg272FClsBQ/s1988/Resized__A7R2215_1126072172604029.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1326" data-original-width="1988" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH0KSiZ4xaDEf3ookrWeqYeNJ4CJcCorC497FES6sNq_hESAR8ysa3GW4AVyyKz80QWInR7NQsFPV4kMjbzHSYh8chz6Lk7NTamO0F1LZm8Oxg1SXP4zrBSJM4RYY9VknTO4J9aOijkL4fSWP5ssDqCZgKILkhSfEMNZH63oC6dy2HI-sNg272FClsBQ/s320/Resized__A7R2215_1126072172604029.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9lC7FTfhfvim_fQHS5C5vdNYCK5P0UZVRWECFPdy2cZoZlMnukygGqUBTX0A3VfAln1T2htc0amoSnqSfNCzYtkltP0290cK0J3OeXB2iTZpiNwpVfVvAhD8wytBtUV8jKMkyARhzTIas__Z8I7w_YTkPrML-DfnbNdBzeep6OW5nwV75hbXdftoYuw/s320/20220528_121351.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKvXT5KEHPQ8wgKdZYnrqFgg0EAKdp1QqY7ywIYAr5XQ0yfvo6QrB5D4Rkca-3tnRRoSQL30XCu6lFxBZ-riy-b6ROB_LOSjSHeXaJcr4G0Z03DFW3dViDlYIw-tnE1Mpm4nS_UlUwjQJkoKi4ebJYyiQ-BZvyEq_TijFHg3aQOFoy5_OnwtJtgqnG1w/s4032/20220528_121358.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKvXT5KEHPQ8wgKdZYnrqFgg0EAKdp1QqY7ywIYAr5XQ0yfvo6QrB5D4Rkca-3tnRRoSQL30XCu6lFxBZ-riy-b6ROB_LOSjSHeXaJcr4G0Z03DFW3dViDlYIw-tnE1Mpm4nS_UlUwjQJkoKi4ebJYyiQ-BZvyEq_TijFHg3aQOFoy5_OnwtJtgqnG1w/s320/20220528_121358.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-83287560826964902282022-06-01T17:22:00.000-07:002022-06-01T17:22:03.619-07:00American Triple T May 20-22 2022<p> This event was supposed to happen back in 2020 however Covid-19 happened. Then again we were set to go and weeks prior to the event, canceled again. Then in 2022 FINALLY we race! The race format is Super sprint Friday, Sprint Sat., Sprint Sat afternoon and an Olympic Sunday. </p><p>I arrived at Salt Fork State Park and it was raining, it was about 230 PM and our first of 4 triathlons of the weekend is to start at 5:30 PM. I got checked in for the race weekend and at the lodge for my room. At this point the rain stopped and the sun came out. I unloaded my car, got changed and headed to race start. </p><p><br /></p><p>Got down to the race start and set up my transition, looked around for anyone I may know and thats when fellow teammate Matt Sommer found me. Was fantastic to chat with him in person after all of these years. We lined up for our swim, which started 2 people side by side jumping in. Water temp was 65 degrees. I jumped in and it was cold but not bad. I finished the swim fairly quickly, at least for me. I had a great transition to the bike and the bike was basically up hill to turn around then turn and fly back down the hill. I had a good transition to the run and ran my heart out. I took 3rd in my age group. That was basically it for race 1. </p><p>The next morning I got up early and rolled out, got ready for race 2. I got to transition by 630 am to claim my spot. The swim started the same way, 2 by 2. This swim was not as smooth, felt off. but had a decent transition and then hit the bike. I had an amazing bike, felt high energy and legs felt amazing. Transition to run went fast and off I went. The run was up hill for the first mile or so. I actually felt very strong and had a fantastic run. I finished feeling really good and 3rd in my AG again. </p><p>After some Recoveright, tissue rejuvenator and a meal I rested with legs stuck in my Air Relax recovery system. Race 3 and 2nd for the day starts at 3 PM. this is the exact same course as the morning except the ride was 1st then swim and run. The ride started in time trial fashion 2 by 2. To my surprise the bike was almost exactly the same speed as the 1st 2 races The transition was not so good, trying to put a wet suit on after sweating all over from the bike ride in near 90 degree temps. The swim was a bit different this time as they didnt wait for 2 by 2, as you did transition you just jumped in. My swim was just a bit slower but did have a nice transition to the run and ran within 1 second per mile of the morning race. And guess what.... I took 3rd in my age group again. However 1st and 2nd had mixed it up a bit, the guy who won the 1st 2 races came in 2nd and the 2nd place guy won. myself and 4th stayed the same. </p><p>After I got results I went back to my room and again drank Recoverite, Tissue Rejuvenator and got a shower. After dinner I did some stretching and used my Air Relax recovery system. I went to bed early as the 4th and final race was first thing in the morning. As I tried to sleep I heard the wind pick up and it was raining. When I woke at 4:30 AM it was pouring with thunder and lightning, by 5 everything calmed down though. at 530 I got on my way to get a transition spot for the last time for the weekend. </p><p> This was the long event of the weekend, legs were definitely were getting tired, really my entire body and mind were just plain tired. however as we got closer to the start I felt better, more so adrenaline I would guess. The swim was once again a 2 by 2 start. I was comfortable the entire swim leg, looking back I likely went too easy. Transition to bike was good, the start of bike was the same for all 4 races. The bike course was 28 miles but also had about 2600 feet of climbing. With legs burnt out already I knew I had to manage it well. I did have a decent ride and passed a lot of folks even though I was a full MPH slower on the bike than the previous 3 races. </p><p>Transition to run was perfect and I felt surprisingly great on the run. The climbs didnt seem like a big deal at all and I caught and passed a lot of people. Most of the last 2 miles was all down hill, many were walking due to blown up legs but I was moving very well. I crossed the final finish line for the weekend feeling great. For race 4 though I finished........ 3rd in my AG. So for the weekend I took 3rd in the 45-49 AG. Something I found amazing was that in the 4th and longest race, my run was 9th fastest of the day! </p><p>All and all a fun challenging weekend.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Fuel:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-1 Hammer gel pre-race each race, 6 Gels through the rest of the races </div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">- Natures Bakery Fig bar Pre-race with gel</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Sustained Energy/Pertpetuem mix and water in water bottles on bike</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Race Day Boost </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Anti-Fatique Caps and Endurance Ammo's pre race and on bike </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Recoverite and Tissue Rejuvanator after each race</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Gear:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Suunto 9 watch</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Ventum Z tri bike</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">- tri kit</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Garneau tri bike shoes</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hoka OneOne Claytons</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-S-Works helmet</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Tifosi glasses</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Stages Dash M50 bike computer</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Blue Seventy wet suit</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Recovery:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Recoverite</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-Human AMP sports lotion</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-Air Relax recovery system</div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-82992406201776408182021-10-09T08:10:00.000-07:002021-10-09T08:10:01.337-07:002021 Ironman Maryland<p> On September 18 I was fortunate enough to take part in Ironman Maryland. After finishing my 2nd half distance in 2020 I decided to find a full. I knew I wanted to keep the logistics simple as far as travel so I started doing my research on where the fulls were and what it would take to get there and find a hotel etc. </p><p>I decided on Maryland and signed up back in December 2020. The plan was to start serious training in mid Feb. From then till Sept I had an amazing triathlon season, won a race, took a 2nd and several top 10s. I also placed 3rd and then a 2nd in a couple of duathlons. I spent a lot of time open water swimming, and tons of time in the saddle getting better on the bike. </p><p>The time had finally come to head to Maryland I left Erie on Thursday morning in order to make my check in of 4-5 pm. after check in I went to town to get checked into the hotel and started getting things ready for Friday morning as bike check in time started at 10 AM. It was great to be able to relax the entire evening and just focus on getting everything ready. On Friday I got my bike checked in and dropped my transition bags off then went over to where Hammer teammate Glenn Young was staying but missed him. </p><p>I spent the afternoon seeing the sights and headed to Ocean City to see the Atlantic ocean. I was able to get a decent dinner and relax more and read about how bad the jellyfish are... ugh. Before I went to bed Ironman put out word that due to the amount of jellyfish they would up the wet suit limit to 77.1 degrees in the morning. As luck would would have it the water temp ended up at 77 degrees. </p><p>Saturday morning came and the early wake up kind of sucked but I was excited to get to the race start. On the drive it the area was quiet and dark but as I closed in on the site the activity had grown. Once parked I went over the area where our bikes were and walked the areas of transition from swim to bike and bike to run. I was getting really nervous at this point. Swim is not my strength but the distance isnt what was getting to me, it was the jellyfish. As the clock slowly ticked towards race time the officials started lining us up by expected swim time. I jumped into my group and we waited for what seems like an hour but it was only about 20 minutes, and then it started..... wave after wave of swimmers started entering the water and finally it was my turn. </p><p>As I entered the water the nervousness went away and it was just time to swim. after a few strokes I felt my first jellyfish sting, right on my face. I got into a rhythm and but kept getting stung, which really sucked. as I turned the first corner I got my first taste of saltwater, also sucked. I actually swim into someone and got kicked in the face which broke the seal on my goggles and I got an eye full of salt water which really sucked!!!! I started looking for something to hang on to so I could empty my goggles and reseal them. I just kept trying to follow the buoys and figure it out as I went. Then I remembered this was a 2 loop swim course and I could stand after I turned the corner to empty my goggles. I did reset the goggles and just focused on swimming strong. Within a couple hundred yards of the swim finish I had got the worst sting of the day it went from check to check across my lips too, wow it hurt, but then the swim was over and my focus was to get dried off and get in cycling gear. </p><p>I took my time in transition as I did not want to forget anything, but when I was ready I jogged out to my bike and went out of transition and got up to speed as quickly as I could. the first 10 or 15 miles were pretty uneventful with the exception of the jellyfish stings, they still hurt!!! around mile 20 I rode by Hammer teammate Glenn Young, said hello and a bit of small talk as I rode by. I was really happy as I was holding the speed I had planned and though I felt great I kept telling myself to check speed and effort to ensure I stayed on plan. At this point I was around mile 30 and took a bathroom break as quick as I could. I did lose a couple minutes but had that in my plan. Really the rest of the ride, though very beautiful was eventless. I just tried to keep to my plan and enjoyed the ride. The last couple miles I was in my head thinking, wow all I have is a few more bike miles and a marathon and I will be an Ironman. I had started to think more about the finish line than the fact I still had a marathon left... huge mistake!!!!</p><p>When I came in to transition from the bike I felt ok but way over confident about the run. as I was putting my running gear on my legs and hips were getting stiff, I figured it was just the transition from bike. As I started running at a decent pace and really the first 3 or 4 miles felt ok. As I got into the 4th or 5th mile my knees and hips were really starting to lose mobility, it felt very strange as I had done many bricks and a half Ironman in training for this race. At first I thought it might have been the heat as it was 85 degrees and very humid. I took an Endurolyte and drank my water bottle of Sustained Energy but legs just were not coming back, I resorted to just when when I could walk when I had to. By mile 16 I had ran into a friend of mine, he told me he had 4 miles to go, this was a loop run course. We did small talk a bit, we were both walking at the time but soon running together. He was running faster than me and went for his finish. with 7 miles to go and the sun going down I was feeling a bit better and ran very slowly and came upon someone in the dark and I asked how ya doing? I sounded like she was in a bad place, I slowed and talked with her for a few minutes, she had said I dont know if I can finish this to which I replied, you have just under 7 miles to go and over 5 hours if you need it, you can crawl in. I talked her into doing some run walking with me, it was nice to chat with someone and the miles started to click away. As we rounded the corner with about a mile to go I said as we get close I will back off so you have your Ironman moment and pictures, she did try and argue that I should go first but I did win the argument ha ha ha Then it happened I heard the voice say Robert Kolodziejczak you are Ironman!!!!!!!! </p><p> This experience was amazing, all of the training, planning and the actual event.. all of it! This ranks right up there with finishing a 100 mile trail race for me. I could not have done this without the support of great people and the support of amazing sponsors like Hammer Nutrition, Stages Cycling and UltrAspire. I did find later that joint stiffness is a side effect of jellyfish stings, I can only assume that is what was going on with my legs and hips. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Fuel:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-1 Hammer gel pre-race, 15 gels on the bike, 12 gels on the run</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">- Natures Bakery Fig bar Pre-race with gel, 1 in bike transition, 1 in run transition</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Sustained Energy/Pertpetuem mix and water in water bottles on bike, Sustained Energy mix on run</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Race Day Boost </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Anti-Fatique Caps and Endurance Ammo's pre race and 4 doses on bike and 3 on run</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Recoverite after the race</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Gear:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Suunto 9 watch</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Ventum Z tri bike</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">- tri kit</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Garneau tri bike shoes</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hoka OneOne Claytons</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-S-Works helmet</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Tifosi glasses</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Stages Dash M50 bike computer</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Blue Seventy wet suit</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Recovery:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Recoverite</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-Compex EMS</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-Human AMP sports lotion</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-Air Relax recovery system</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV8ec4c9u4fvRQTode6Fz0Rx5hnOXkg_stTOFtYef77i8TFjQOgiou1z0N4b9Nhw33iIgFdYTuqPuZZyeZ8IUILNZ0jwewrYmNSR2bog4CKXVHzv-PPxoPTIKOTkjIr7MPTwap43ovBngB/s2048/20210916_175915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="945" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEhdtPb5IN63_TAW_P5oi7w0WWeY-lajuoYmmU8ectdSk9ySFpt6QaTdkvou3ekfxSlCo7Lo1N6oLFmyBREs5uBQOBczR2YynZrvr6HZXzaDaafbTPeNF6qwKrwJ78kbxKdonGTf9clBVt/s320/image000000%25284%2529.png" width="148" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-18740722508205116922021-08-24T18:19:00.001-07:002021-08-24T18:27:00.044-07:00STTC Race 3<p> On 8/4/2021 over 100 people were signed up for race 3 of the Southern Tier Triathlon race series. Around 1 PM the race director sent out emails and facebook messages that Cassadaga Lake had been closed down due to bacteria so our triathlon turned into a duathlon. We were all a bit disappointed but as most athletes do, we made the best of it. </p><p>I got there fairly early, and was talking with the race director, Mark Wilson, and he said if you are going to win one of these tonight's your night, no swim means your strong run and bike give you a great chance. I remember walking away saying dont put that kind of pressure on me... As the race time got closer I started looking around at others I knew and thought to myself, if not for the swim I should be able to beat the few people that beat me, perhaps I do have a chance at winning. </p><p>At 5:45 PM we lined up and Mark said 3...2...1....go! Right away 6-7 people took off to the front, I tried to hang with them for a bit but looking around they were all pretty your compared to me and I knew I was not going to hold 5:20 per mile pace so I slowed to a pace I knew I could push but make sure I dont blow up in the 1st leg of the race. </p><p>After I got through transition and on the bike, I quickly passed a few people and with in 2 miles I could only see 1 person in front of me, I was pretty sure but not certain that the person I saw was 1st place. Soon I was able to pass him and rode hard not knowing if I was chasing someone or if I was being chased. I just rode as hard as I could until I got to the route 60 climb ( a 3 mile climb ) I did climb hard but knew of at least 2 people that could catch me on the climb. Sure enough with about a mile to go one of the people I was concerned did indeed catch me and passed me. I knew I was stronger runner but how much could I make up if I let him get to far away from me. I decided to push with everything I had and hope my legs would have enough for the run. I ended up passing him back at the top of the hill and we went back and forth for the last mile to transition. We came out of transition together, he hung with me for a good 1/4 mile before I pulled away and never let up. </p><p>As I turned the last corner I looked back and was all by myself. For the first time I had seen the ribbon all my to break, which I did! I ended up finishing over 2 minutes ahead of 2nd place. I cant say I was shocked but the feeling of coming across 1st and getting told how great my race was I will never forget. </p><p>It was very warm that day and I was so very thankful for my mix of Hammer Sustained Energy and Hammer Perpetuem to keep me hydrated during the race and then Hammer Recoverite and Tissue Rejuvenator for recovery. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Fuel:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">-1 Hammer gel pre-race</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Sustained Energy/Pertpetuem mix and water in water bottles</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Race Day Boost </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Anti-Fatique Caps and Endurance Ammo's pre race and 1 dose on bike</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Recoverite after the race</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Gear:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Suunto 9 watch</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Ventum Z tri bike</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer tri kit</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Garneau tri bike shoes</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hoka OneOne Claytons</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-S-Works helmet</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Tifosi glasses</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Stages Dash M50 bike computer</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Blue Seventy wet suit</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Recovery:</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Hammer Recoverite</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">Compex EMS</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0in;">Human AMP sports lotion</div>rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-9885593719209289332020-09-17T17:06:00.002-07:002020-09-17T17:06:25.908-07:002020 Cassadagaman 70.3 and Tamarack 20 mile road bike race<p> On Sept 5th 2020 I was lucky enough to be able to compete in the very 1st Cassadagaman 70.3 half ironman held in Cassadaga NY. As we all know this has been a very tough year for holding or competing in any events this year. </p><p>This was not an "A" race at the beginning of the year but given the Covid pandemic has shut most races down it became an "A" race. The challenge for me was I had already had races that were happening this year around it ( Wed. prior and the next day)</p><p>The morning of this race was very cool but the fog on the lake was very amazing. I found my spot in transition and started unpacking my tri bag and setting up my area. I ended up setting up near 4 others that were part of the same tri club I belong to (STTC). As folks filtered in the quiet lakefront became a buzz of chatter and excitement. My club mates and I were busy talking strategy and didn't mingle at first, however once we had our gear laid out I made my way around to talk to many of the athletes. It was an amazing mix of excitement, fear, nerves and joy depending on the experience level of who I talked to. .</p><p>As 8 am neared we were all called to the pre race meeting where the race director, Mark Wilson addressed the course and rules along with reminding us about social distancing and Covid. As he wrapped up speaking we went down to the waters edge where we were counted in 1 by 1 until the first wave was all in the water. This race had 3 waves, male/female/teams. The swim as a 1.2 mile square around the lake. When they said go I made sure to pop to the outside as to not get caught up in the madness and push too hard too early. The start was actually pretty relaxed, I had a few people that swam close time and got kicked and a few elbows early but it thinned out quickly. I kept a comfortable pace and kept an eye on the visible cues, which was tough due to the fog over the water, but it did burn off fairly quickly. Before I knew it I was on the last 450 yard straight away to the swim finish, only problem was the rising sun was right in our eyes. Mark did have a line in the water with orange makings on it to help guide us in. </p><p>I got out of the water and a friend of mine yelled out, great swim Rob, I had no idea I just killed my goal in the swim. I moved through transition without any issues and got out on the bike. I had 10 gels with me for the ride along with water and Sustained Energy. I started to take a gel as soon as I got settled on the bike. The 56 mile bike ride was not joke, its 2 loops of a hilly course. The first few miles legs felt heavy for some reason. I just didnt seem to have the power I would normally have. I was a bit concerned actually. However at around 10 miles they started feeling better. It started to get real cloudy and looked like rain though we only had a slight chance of it. About mile 15 it did start to rain but by mile 21 or so it stopped. </p><p>I had a goal in mind of doing this race in about 6.5 hours. However by about mile 30 I started doing the math and realized that if I could get the 2nd loop of this bike course done faster than the 1st I could have a serious chance at 6 hrs. I started pushing harder on the hills and took every advantage of speed on the down hills. At mile 54 I topped the last climb (3 mile climb) and during the 2 mile fairly flat end of the bike event I did a time check and realized that I had to average just under a 8:30 pace on the half marathon to make 6 hrs. As I approached the bike dismount I knew I needed a good transition and then just run a good race. </p><p>Transition went well and I was out on the run course. I had passed a few folks I knew and small talked as I ran by, I was pretty focused on the time at this point. At about 5 miles in a knew a few of the runners that had already hit one of the turn-a-rounds and heading back. I made it my goal to catch them. about a half mile from the turn around a female was coming the opposite direction and she says to me enjoy the next few minutes because it will suck when you turn around... see I had been going down hill for a couple miles and about to go hill for a couple miles. I laughed and kept running to the cone, changed direction then within a mile I had caught her, she was walking by this point, as I passed she yells show off, we both had a good laugh. I was still on pace but my legs were really going away fast.</p><p>At about mile 9 we hit the end of another out and back. I could see from those that hit the turn-a-round before me that I was not the only one hurting but I was closing on some of the people I had been trying to catch. With about 2 mile to go I checked the time and had over 22 minutes left to hit my goal of 6 hrs but what seemed more important at this point was catching more people, which I did! I had one person left to catch with one mile to go but then the legs became the biggest issue. I was slowing by this point and really just started to concentrate on that finish line rather than catching my friend Luke. As I turned the last corner I could see the finish, I ran with all I had left and as I hit the line I look at my watch 5:57:47! I did it went sub 6 hrs. I ended up 44 seconds behind Luke, who set a PR for this distance as well. I ended up 25th over all out of 130 and 3rd in my age group.</p><p>I really need to give a huge shout out to Hammer Nutrition! The Wednesday prior to this I had race in the STTC race 4 of the series where I placed 11th over all 2nd in age group and the day after this event I had raced in a bike road race called Tour De Tamarack where I had also placed 11th over all 3rd in age group. I could not have done well at all 3 events without proper fueling and recovery where the use of Hammer products paid off!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Xbyx5sexKgD1B5duoR4qsLfDcGTZAZsVxl4jNOAeZ4652m4clzHEUWAsHiAlxjyNzholWZHNhfGgf4t2ZgnKP4RIuUUASOxTREZylJLFO8hZBpnBOaS7LGfcKbXdoe7POaLgVgYyBGKf/s2048/20200905_062809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Xbyx5sexKgD1B5duoR4qsLfDcGTZAZsVxl4jNOAeZ4652m4clzHEUWAsHiAlxjyNzholWZHNhfGgf4t2ZgnKP4RIuUUASOxTREZylJLFO8hZBpnBOaS7LGfcKbXdoe7POaLgVgYyBGKf/s320/20200905_062809.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ydS-B3oGqNRZT8HJT0NabGK8-Zig4RcLSN6sZ6NxoiNz2J8qS6VaDLSBQf__vM8xZasp9AwuqLLmPp8lMjMhx-FtPyUiGoT3DxmJkaydi_2T8mFnepdZEuRv-bpv-OQYt37yHnKbIWvR/s2048/20200905_065628.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ydS-B3oGqNRZT8HJT0NabGK8-Zig4RcLSN6sZ6NxoiNz2J8qS6VaDLSBQf__vM8xZasp9AwuqLLmPp8lMjMhx-FtPyUiGoT3DxmJkaydi_2T8mFnepdZEuRv-bpv-OQYt37yHnKbIWvR/s320/20200905_065628.jpg" /></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6G0BKsbe1KluxvKxESMfiG5rgcKeySEAl7W9wPfF8ttvHtQjo4Tyjp-ysAIYorjSwKnpjFbUxjJkrstDFV9qAO9WSLoORm-iGVs-AtY8pQqP_urUKReM2Wy-36ldynJyLks1vb-mSm_En/s2048/20200905_070717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6G0BKsbe1KluxvKxESMfiG5rgcKeySEAl7W9wPfF8ttvHtQjo4Tyjp-ysAIYorjSwKnpjFbUxjJkrstDFV9qAO9WSLoORm-iGVs-AtY8pQqP_urUKReM2Wy-36ldynJyLks1vb-mSm_En/s320/20200905_070717.jpg" /></a></div><br /><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2eYNlnLKpznMwL-HFLkQBlxQAlwEAsCt9NPBffsBXDIAKBx2K_gSwhMuokBzBAfICNG3RoiI1avL64uzle0mxO0kJkAsoeiLTakHURnm8Q6TJmeAv1bL7-Q0fKdH246vBv30vZDDTT1fK/s320/20200905_071948.jpg" width="320" /><br /><br /><img border="0" data-original-height="2280" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgig8pB5dBw3sUMms4cH_s2FW0hiELfxZfjcpM3un2ki5loJ5bNGxJBfHz1gcVy9bhy6DUWocW5vAISvAQW7mKzUQjVtPdrmph7n3onWC3IgoYW8nKBbbLbONQZDTkZ4fDu3QYGY16QZJex/s320/Screenshot_20200912-153406_Facebook.jpg" /><img border="0" data-original-height="1507" data-original-width="1078" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguhyOhnBblT157oVe7wNO5Gd2mSSPKIR882EdJwWyjZFcwVX9loYn0cPr7rCbDbcYkTmS8AFW99a-uElXK-pBe_4mt90rBpiO5DzcDMGVb3-YJsFNi8a1puYm6cs1WOpSlBKr08R6uOq0s/s320/Screenshot_20200912-153432_Facebook.jpg" /><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1N3aDfDsVLJ1voy1HVubaq0u428hhvLjerpSwkLGYU4Kthbt9wqA8aqUq_SFo6VrcKwdsqRX8UvhtCFOTLgX5nB_mNBvf71vYGr8YuVLhehiIJ5R_OEfW_WZRC47wsdxo1OWlLTtm4Ye/s320/FB_IMG_1599361568186.jpg" width="320" /><img border="0" data-original-height="1444" data-original-width="1079" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTE5EgCOQAD8rjJFuoDUes26JS4fVThpgJ1DTTLMb3wE5vYzi4hVRthltgiz3UFqsjjtvEMy791rKuS7-YVn4biOJTGvyuCnjzGOClGAcu1jRKdnBGv26UqWN6tpSNBn9oKLyKcW_sn-lY/w164-h219/Screenshot_20200912-153631_Facebook.jpg" width="164" /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU7cysZQZ4pszpE5ZCLNp5S2ch5_qNlgMmMTxQwHnQQS-1DmGMbGFpwIuW6tnmVAbrSzrbdCVYkJonq2E0K6-hBhXp14OWTi1HTRgFlil2QWt4dIEMuKPKzFJrJMCR1-Iz6AjNlB34dsVh/s960/FB_IMG_1599404632902.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU7cysZQZ4pszpE5ZCLNp5S2ch5_qNlgMmMTxQwHnQQS-1DmGMbGFpwIuW6tnmVAbrSzrbdCVYkJonq2E0K6-hBhXp14OWTi1HTRgFlil2QWt4dIEMuKPKzFJrJMCR1-Iz6AjNlB34dsVh/s320/FB_IMG_1599404632902.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdoKDWFwfkBpt7h7-nsCtNOCGCNC31XENlty3P0ALQ3e5FrVuNLWg9mb3PxE4FmG-e8rlmT4cEeSMZ-DDV4lpirZgJqOqC-vmTtBF4Bl1q2j83i3sV8iJuqXjSDUXdY-WTE4ZwiWYOxmK/s320/FB_IMG_1599361607612.jpg" /><br /><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP16e1Z2fNz7rxg4x465MFidq04ONomAuFGC0Z0qujeonTMJHLVO9MSl52Q8WZeISIFbV0coUbUdXjVnlA1tZAGfWWMgRZUIIuA4NYN2hZA3erjghiLxP_ofYd0Y0JtKqouhfO6UuXbb0M/s320/20200905_140949.jpg" /><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiho3gXqcRQspCMe03N7y6lIwq_n_GjCcOfKzwRQq46VbLoGwSd6M_ahnUhmXTyBo5o6ddr5te172QIYR4Ao_5DjbZLZWrPeNS189DxMryya7diLcUlUNDmCvdZrL1CnkEowksLIWcG_W37/s320/IMG_7624.jpg" /><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Fuel:</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-1 Hammer Protein Bar pre race</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-1 Hammer gel pre-race, 6 on the bike, 2 on run</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Sustained Energy and water in water bottles</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Race Day Boost and Hammer Liquid Endurance (pre load leading up to race)</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Anti-Fatique Caps and Endurance Ammo's pre race and 1 dose on bike</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer Recoverite after the race</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Gear:</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Suunto 9 watch</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Ventum Z tri bike</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hammer tri kit</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Garneau tri bike shoes</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Hoka OneOne Claytons</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-S-Works helmet</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Tifosi glasses</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Stages Dash M50 bike computer</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">-Blue Seventy wet suit</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Recovery:</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="arial, sans-serif">Hammer Recoverite</span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">Compex EMS</div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">Human AMP sports lotion </div><p><br /></p>rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-61850548625864130472020-08-04T17:59:00.003-07:002020-08-09T16:59:41.428-07:002020 Findley Lake Olympic TriathlonGiven that Covid-19 has destroyed many events and plans for all, I was lucky enough to be able to race in this great event in Findley Lake NY. This was the 2nd year of this event and I love the course. The swim is an out and back, the ride is a tough hilly route and the run is fairly flat (some small rolling hills).<br />
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I had to work a 15 hour shift the day before the race and when I woke up Saturday morning I really didnt feel like racing. I considered not going but decided with the lack of racing in 2020 I better go and make the best of it. I got to the race early figuring that a lot of people would show and wanted a decent parking spot and a good place to set up in transition.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlBaOA9fQj9wp-I3mgWpqomzC_zA18tmayj1G1deA0__ctfdos0wLjZIpoj7TDPqQppVv7DD3OgMa6MXC16_cocFg_OmGmggQfEScsl-62lyJjCbKf7a10dSXL53VVR9VTy5Banv3911GM/s1600/20200801_081525.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlBaOA9fQj9wp-I3mgWpqomzC_zA18tmayj1G1deA0__ctfdos0wLjZIpoj7TDPqQppVv7DD3OgMa6MXC16_cocFg_OmGmggQfEScsl-62lyJjCbKf7a10dSXL53VVR9VTy5Banv3911GM/s320/20200801_081525.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLSUAZEnFp6Vi6ivONm-Jdv5HmFctBieVyySGKTGebCqNCyZMCOt0cGOs3StoqjyzkLZekUNKFmdccd7s7HienLZ3oVpGorYRNgKDbvduOxfIBSNWDqtwsSXLrbsyWWhShRv7q3XVS5bm/s1600/20200801_122333.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLSUAZEnFp6Vi6ivONm-Jdv5HmFctBieVyySGKTGebCqNCyZMCOt0cGOs3StoqjyzkLZekUNKFmdccd7s7HienLZ3oVpGorYRNgKDbvduOxfIBSNWDqtwsSXLrbsyWWhShRv7q3XVS5bm/s320/20200801_122333.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
While in the transition setting up I did see a few people I knew and engaged in some small talk but I still did not feel like doing a triathlon. About 20 minutes before the race start I put my wet suit on and jumped into the lake to warm up. I swam about 200 yards and I started to feel good.<br />
<br />
We were called to the shore for a quick race meeting to talk about rules and the course. After that we were counted into the water and before long the count down began and then we were off. The swim was about 1600 yards and an out and back. I did get a foot or elbow in the face but the start was not too bad. I stayed with a large pack for a while but it did think out after a few hundred yards. I got into a grove and just kept moving my arms. The swim is by far my worst event so I just try to make the best of it. Some place before the the turn around I noticed that i was pretty much swimming alone and figured I was just way in the back.<br />
<br />
One the way back to the shore I was passed by one person so I figured I was certainly last now. However when I got out of the water I looked back and I had seen a bunch of white swim caps, which gave me hope that i had a decent swim. I moved through the transition and got to my bike. After pulling off the wet suit and got my cycling gear on I focused on the tough course I was about to take on. Out of the transition we hit a slight up hill which leads to a right turn and a massive climb. Some folks were in the wrong gear and ended up walking their bikes up the first part of the hill (the steepest hill on the course). I did pass a few people right there. The course was 2 loops of a 11.5 mile hilly course.<br />
<br />
The first 5 miles are the worst but I was ready for the course and was able to pick a few more people before the course flattens out a bit. with about 2 miles to go on loop 1 I was trying to ride down a group of about 4 bike. I was pounding the peddles and finally in front of the transition area I did pass one of them and then passed a 2nd one on the large hill I wrote about above. It took me about another 6 miles to ride down the other 2. I had a great T2 got out on the run and did not feel fast at all.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy3pJSo0WPOfhJ4vRUPX5ilWQCfz-GuUcUSJliG2Jx_kd6ToRkeaG3hrF5PtmDCn6ECDXI8fBFcgK99p2PysYADI8AgckMPRDAZ2sf2t0hyphenhyphenMr-uPcEMTPTuEQkDfwLXjwIQinSXtnPUEys/s1600/20200801_120658.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy3pJSo0WPOfhJ4vRUPX5ilWQCfz-GuUcUSJliG2Jx_kd6ToRkeaG3hrF5PtmDCn6ECDXI8fBFcgK99p2PysYADI8AgckMPRDAZ2sf2t0hyphenhyphenMr-uPcEMTPTuEQkDfwLXjwIQinSXtnPUEys/s320/20200801_120658.jpg" width="240" /></a>I was able to to run down a few folks over the first miles of the 10k. When I got to the 2ish mile mark a few of the leaders were already racing back to finish. I got to the turn around and a volunteer told me I was 17th. I could see a few people and made it my mission to run them down. Over the course of 2 miles I was able to run 3 down. The last mile was tough, but got it done. When I asked my time I was told 2:37:57 and 14th place. This time was almost 14 minutes faster than last year, which I was very happy with however I came in 3rd in my age group which I had won last year. It blew my mind that I was so much faster and 14th but 3rd in my age group.<br />
<br />
All and all I was happy with my time and the huge improvement. Hammer Nutrition really helped keep me fueled and hydrated. I have become a huge fan of the Hammer Liquid Endurance for the heat.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy9FCs4JNxbxk4S2Y7TsAvoqHWHppWodzK5tpHQMZbQg1n0JWor9oqQK8xg5Q_KgLYQ5d88iPUHmBpqS7Ze5DVbCUc4oRNYjWwMTTpSI5WcjAz3F3dfr-3rQqeko1TKUpiTjibr6sd4nEp/s1223/IMG_7615-%2528ZF-5589-91029-1-001%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1223" data-original-width="817" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy9FCs4JNxbxk4S2Y7TsAvoqHWHppWodzK5tpHQMZbQg1n0JWor9oqQK8xg5Q_KgLYQ5d88iPUHmBpqS7Ze5DVbCUc4oRNYjWwMTTpSI5WcjAz3F3dfr-3rQqeko1TKUpiTjibr6sd4nEp/s640/IMG_7615-%2528ZF-5589-91029-1-001%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaUbOR9iLYjSgKRVAdz53Fl_mT0ni_mkpjZ3Agvm9_oQnHCg0ar179WvlmbscqvplFHdbp1LkEwzgAJXR6dEvV_l45WWXoPanIOCqXkKbG-6SK-iRsLxt2QJcI3SDQizjJjVXZ-yPlFPEz/s1224/IMG_7619-%2528ZF-5589-91029-1-002%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaUbOR9iLYjSgKRVAdz53Fl_mT0ni_mkpjZ3Agvm9_oQnHCg0ar179WvlmbscqvplFHdbp1LkEwzgAJXR6dEvV_l45WWXoPanIOCqXkKbG-6SK-iRsLxt2QJcI3SDQizjJjVXZ-yPlFPEz/s640/IMG_7619-%2528ZF-5589-91029-1-002%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh970vSxbgK-V8tBj0M8b9z6PXg23Zu8m9HNXVjXm-zvO9DUa3ZmMi7ji0-keuHiDx-vCALiBiR5rWrbNCBtBjbx-PpaVboevQoQvC3MD_fUfrpxFoYaWDrS3mRzOxCwwxUDpIcX6LR6GiL/s1224/IMG_8343-%2528ZF-5589-91029-1-003%2529+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh970vSxbgK-V8tBj0M8b9z6PXg23Zu8m9HNXVjXm-zvO9DUa3ZmMi7ji0-keuHiDx-vCALiBiR5rWrbNCBtBjbx-PpaVboevQoQvC3MD_fUfrpxFoYaWDrS3mRzOxCwwxUDpIcX6LR6GiL/s640/IMG_8343-%2528ZF-5589-91029-1-003%2529+%25281%2529.jpg" /></a></div><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;"><span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Fuel:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-1 Hammer Protein Bar pre race</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-1 Hammer gel pre-race, one on the bike</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-Hammer Sustained Energy and water in water bottles</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-Hammer Race Day Boost and Hammer Liquid Endurance (pre load leading up to race)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-Anti-Fatique Caps and Endurance Ammo's pre race</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-Hammer Recoverite after the race</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Gear:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-Suunto 9 watch</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-Ventum Z tri bike</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-Hammer tri kit</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-Garneau tri bike shoes</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-Hoka OneOne Claytons</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-S-Works helmet</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-Tifosi glasses</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-Stages Dash M50 bike computer</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0in;">
<span face="" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">-Blue Seventy wet suit</span></div>
rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-3476395244503019252020-07-12T17:57:00.002-07:002020-07-12T17:58:36.078-07:00Finally a race!!!!! STTC Race 2:<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Way back in March I had huge goals and some big races to look forward to, but as the Covid-19 virus change the world for all of us most of my "A" races had gotten canceled or postponed. However July 1st that changed a bit. Mark Wilson, coach and race director, sent out an email stating that the state and the town were at a point and agreeable to allowing us to race but with restriction. Things like size of race, face coverings, no day of sign up and a few more but.... we were racing!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">So
there we were July 1st and for about 60 of us it was our first sprint triathlon
of the season, all trained well and just waiting for a race. We were told by
Mark that this was the 2nd triathlon in the country this year.. I did not
research that but seems right. The tempture was about 80 degrees at 5:30 in the
evening. Since I knew it was going to be hot I put the Hammer Nutrition Liquid
Endurance to the test along with my normal serving of Hammer Nutrition
Sustained Energy. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">We
all had to keep proper social distancing during packet pick up, along with
wearing of a mask until we were in transition. A side effect of Covid for us
was more room in transition, we had to keep a bikes width and flip flop bikes
to keep proper distance. Of course it was great to see the normal racers, but
we also had a decent amount of new folks. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">After
getting my transition area all set up I put on my wet suit and made my way to
the water... I took advantage of being early and swam the course to try to ease
the nurves a bit. Though I am well trained, the swim and T1 are by far my
weakest area's. Once the nerves calmed down I was ready to race. Mark had a
quick race meeting and mentioned the race sponsors (Hammer is one). after
Mark took count as we entered the water we had a countdown then the first race
start of the year was underway.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">The
swim was pretty basic, straight out, around a boat and back, but I did struggle
a bit due to the angle of the sun and glare on the water... I kept I pretty decent
pace and found a grove quickly and like a flash I was to the turn-around. Coming
back I could not keep straight for the life of me, I lost time going left and
right. Before long I was at the beach and stripping off my wet suit getting
ready for T1. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqoalZvNJoCGKRHOl3OSMNo-gVGUdceNZbwwbom1bhsKOHBTF84CnCp3p38drTjzWj8JGRDxZL-NVE6jE2ZctD8Kb4J511DXpV8RxPxDkmTsBJ8jBZecymlxEOfCm8CHmMH1SBKaCkTDjb/s1600/2020+STTC+wetsuit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1225" data-original-width="815" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqoalZvNJoCGKRHOl3OSMNo-gVGUdceNZbwwbom1bhsKOHBTF84CnCp3p38drTjzWj8JGRDxZL-NVE6jE2ZctD8Kb4J511DXpV8RxPxDkmTsBJ8jBZecymlxEOfCm8CHmMH1SBKaCkTDjb/s320/2020+STTC+wetsuit.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">T1 wasn’t bad with the extra room, and
surprisingly there were a lot of bikes left so my swim wasn’t too bad. I got
out of there and got to the bike mounting area, clipped in and started to
hammer the pedals to make some time on the leaders. I have raced on practiced
on this course so many times I almost know it like the back of my hand. Between
the first 2 turns ( less than half mile) I had already passed 2 people, a gentle
hill starts after 2nd turn and I crushed it. Now we are on a long straight road
with some decent rolling climbs, I was able to catch a few more folks before
the next left turn. On this turn we are greeted with a huge downhill. I mashed
the pedals to try and gain more speed and with a blink I was at the bottom and
just before the turn I over took another spot, still not sure where I was in
the over all, just knew I had to keep passing people. The next section is kind
of like a "S" curve for about a 1/4 mile and it spills us out on ton
a main road with about a 3 mile climb. I just shifted to a sustainable gear and
put my head down and just worked, I can’t even tell you how many folks I passed
but most of them were pretty gased. As I passed a guy I know wearing his Base
Nutrition kit I made sure to sit up and pedal harder and take his
soul...lol </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">After a long bit of climbing the road
is a slight downhill through town and then another left turn for 1 block and
then the final turn to the transition area. As I dismounted and made my way to
put bike away I started to count bikes, came up with 14 or 15. I had a great T2
and was out in a flash. This is only a 2 time run so I had my work cut out for
me. About 1/2 mile in folks were coming back towards the finish I counted the
ones heading back until I got to the turnaround myself, I was in 12th spot.
Over the next mile I was able to pick off enough to make a 9th place finish and
won my age group. I later found that I was only 1 min off my PR on that course.
The finish line was a bit barer due to the Covid rules. We were not able to use
podium boxes either, we just stood in place and raised out hand as our names
were called. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL1JrtzLHWObix9FJAjw-THI_Chz0r5KFihOrM0RTCcnqPgkuLKt0CO87yQUQs7ykbE-gvfSbaMcKkVColBFxtrA41LJf7Zaml4N4XdD92EIeM_563Zx1n_5kgFNzGLRmRoM0c7nbDdrMq/s1600/2020+Sttc+run.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1225" data-original-width="816" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL1JrtzLHWObix9FJAjw-THI_Chz0r5KFihOrM0RTCcnqPgkuLKt0CO87yQUQs7ykbE-gvfSbaMcKkVColBFxtrA41LJf7Zaml4N4XdD92EIeM_563Zx1n_5kgFNzGLRmRoM0c7nbDdrMq/s320/2020+Sttc+run.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">After all is said and done I was
pretty happy with this race and how it unfolded, was great knocking off the racing
rust. I am sure the trial of Hammer Liquid Endurance gave me the edge I needed
late in the race</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Fuel:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-1 Hammer gel pre-race, one on the
bike</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-Hammer Sustained Energy and water in
water bottles</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-Hammer Race Day Boost and Hammer
Liquid Endurance (pre load leading up to race)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-Anti-Fatique Caps and Endurance
Ammo's pre race</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-Hammer Recoverite after the race</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Gear:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-Suunto 9 watch</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-Ventum Z tri bike</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-Hammer water bottles</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-Hammer tri kit</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-Garneau tri bike shoes</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-Hoka OneOne Claytons</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-S-Works helmet</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-Tifosi glasses</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-Stages Dash M50 bike computer</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">-Blue Seventy wet suit</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Photo Credit: Mike Frame, enclosed photos were purchased by me for use. </span></div>
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rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-83649176354431066302020-01-05T14:30:00.000-08:002020-01-05T14:30:24.987-08:00Stats review and New Years Day 5 milerLets start with a review of 2019<br />
plan was to:<br />
Run 1800 miles<br />
Cycle 1000 miles<br />
Swim 100,000 yards<br />
Finish OC100k<br />
Complete a half Ironman<br />
<br />
<br />
What happened<br />
Run 1781<br />
Cycle 2502<br />
Swim 133,520 yards<br />
Strength Training 985 minutes<br />
Jacob's Ladder 25,995 feet climbed<br />
Finished OC100k<br />
Completed a half Ironman<br />
<br />
now 2020<br />
<br />
I ran in the New Years Day 5 miler today. We had lots of ice, wind and cold. Managed a 13th overall and 1st in AG.<br />
<br />
As I walked from my car to sign up I realized this was going to be difficult due to ice, cold and wind. I got checked in and went out to warm up, it was very slippery. As I warmed up I looked around and noticed a lot of the regulars but some new faces too. I had some extra drive this year... see I have run this race 7 times and have not placed only once... 2018. For some reason at the end of 2017 I had been in a funk and could not shake it and it lead to a slow start in 2018 thus I placed 4th in my age group and ran very slow. 2019 The weather was bad enough that I didnt want to race it so this was my comeback race and it was going to be miserable, but I find a level of comfort in suffering and misery..lol<br />
<br />
With a couple minutes before the start we all started to gather at the start line. Alot more folks than I thought showed up for the race. I found a spot near the front and was getting my mind right... the RD was talking but I was focused on what I needed to do today. As he was wrapping up I set my watch and with a 3....2...1 we were off. Right off the bat as the race started a car backed out into the road , which was covered with ice, and caused some shuffling and slipping for everyone but thankfully no one went down. I had a target on a guy i have raced against many times and figured I would stay close to him for a bit and see what happens. As the pack started to seperate I found myself running alone about 50 yards from the guy I wanted to run with but I was closing on him. At mile 1 I was at 6:30 pace and was left leg already felt tired and heavy.<br />
<br />
I had reeled the guy I was chasing in and passed him before mile 2 but the wind was right in our faces and it made a tough run much harder. As we turned in a turning lane to go back the opposite direction the turn around was full of snow, which sucked but at least the wind was now at our backs. By this point I had been caught by another runner and as I hit the 3 mile mark the guy i ran down and passed was on my hip for a about 100 yards then he broke away. As he pulled away I had thought to myself, I hope he slips a bit and loses some footing so he slows down.... He didnt! By the time I got to mile 4 I was at an average of 7:14 pace and they runner I had wanted to beat was within eye sight but a ways away. I got passed by one more runner before finishing.... a top 10 slipped away but I didnt know how far until results came out. I finished 13th over but won my age group with a time of 36:56. Over the years this was my 3rd worst time but I have never raced this race in conditions such as these. Now I will have to wait another year to crack the top 10.<br />
<br />
Gear:<br />
North Face gloves<br />
Mizuno tights<br />
Sugoi jacket<br />
Voler Hammer Nutrition thermo shirt<br />
SweatVac Hammer Nutrition hat<br />
Topo Terraventure trail shoes with screws for traction<br />
Darn Tough wool socks<br />
<br />
Fuel:<br />
Pre Race:<br />
pre load of Hammer Race Day Boost<br />
2 hours before race a Hammer Protein Bar<br />
20 min before race a Hammer Gel<br />
<br />
Post Race:<br />
Hammer Recoverite<br />
Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-39119052248424832172019-10-27T13:22:00.001-07:002019-10-27T13:24:42.686-07:002019 OC100kWell looks like 4th time was the charm. For some reason this event out of the 3 at Oil Creek 100 trail runs has given me the most trouble. This was the 7th year I have run OC completing the 50k twice, and the 100 miler once..... but the 100k.... 0-3 coming into this year.<br />
<br />
My drops have ranged from IT band issues and drop at mile 37, lack of training drop at 50k distance, and 50k drop after a fall and injury last year.<br />
<br />
This year I had taken part in many triathlons and didnt train on trails enough until Sept. I felt strong and ready for a month of miles and miles of trail running. By my taper I felt I had done enough to finish the race.<br />
<br />
Race morning has come, gear is ready, fuel is ready.... I am ready. As the race director counted down and the horn went off I started very slow, as we had about 1.3 miles of bike path before the trail head. I was running alone with my thoughts and before long into the trails we went. About 2 miles in I started to get a dizzy feeling ( I have had it a lot over the last few years, something with a nerve in my neck) but it is worse when I dont wear my contacts while on the trails, which I had forgot to put in.<br />
<br />
I ran for a while dizzy then took a hard fall, got up and realized I just needed to hike for a while... and that is what I did, for over 3 miles till the aid station. When I got there the aid station I still didnt feel right so I went to the back of the tent and laid down to try and calm my spinning head. After about 20 minutes it started to clear up, but I was really thinking man am I about to drop for this race again!!!???? I filled my water bottle and decided I had to push on.<br />
<br />
On my way out of the aid station a friend of mine noticed me and was curious what happened to me. I hiked for a bit and talked to her about what I had experienced. We hiked up some switchbacks then down switchbacks by then I felt I was able to start running again. I moved the rest of the way through section 2 and into aid station 2 pretty well. I was able to curse through the aid station and move into the longest section, I was starting to make up the hour and a half I had lost and catching folks that had passed me in section 1. Towards the end of section 3 I ran by a friend, Rod, how was having noticeable trouble with his back. I asked him what was wrong and figured my friend Dan, at aid station 3 could help him out. I told him to ask for Dan at the aid station. I descended down the last hill in section 3 and ran the 3/4 mile on a dirt road into aid station 3.<br />
<br />
I didnt need much at the aid station, but I did tell Dan to expect Rod and I was on my way. While running in section 4 my back started getting sore. I was able to keep a decent pace and before I knew it I only had about a mile or so of trial left in this section. I ran into a guy that looked like he was in pain, I asked what was going on and he said his quads were cramping. I gave him the old you almost got this section beat statement and started to run but stopped, gave him my last 3 Endurolytes knowing I had more at the aid station. I said take 2 now and 1 at the aid station then started to run again, turned around and said oh by the way they are Hammer Endurolytes.... I laughed to myself thinking that this guy blindly took 2 pills that I gave him with no questions asked ( he finished the 100K).<br />
<br />
I came into aid station 4 and sat down, it felt good to get off my feet, my back was getting really sore at this point. As luck would have it a Chiropractor, Dr. Krauza (who has finished all 3 events at OC) was there and he actually had a portable chiropractor table with him, he offered to adjust my back. As he looked me over my back and pelvis need a bit of work, he says likely due to the fall early on. I changed socks and shoes, filled bottles and went to grab my trekking poles but I didnt have them, I put them in the aid station 2 bag not the aid station 4 bag. Krauza asked me what I was looking for and I explained my issue..... he had a pair his in his car, he grabbed them and off I went. I knew it would be dark by 7 and I wanted to get to aid station 2 by 7 or 730. As I got into aid station 1, they remembered me and said I looked like a whole different person, said last time they saw me I was pure white and were sure I was going to drop. I got what I needed and was off and up the switchbacks in section 2.<br />
<br />
Through section 2 I kept a steady pace but was starting to feel the miles. I passed a few more people then all of a sudden a guy came up behind me fast and passed with his pacer, it was the 100 mile leader and he was flying. Section 2 is the shortest section in miles but has one of the longest climbs, once I made it to the top of it I knew for sure I had this race but I just had to let it come to me. with about 1 mile to go in section 2 it got dark and I put my headlamp on. As I got into aid station 2 Dr Krauza had made his way there to see a bunch of us he knew. I gave him back his poles and grabbed mine, gloves, hat some water and fruit. I picked up my pacer here, we only had 17 miles lift and I was feeling decent. She asked if I wanted a heavier coat from my drop back, knowing it was going to drop into the 30's.... I said nope we will be done in 4 hours or so.<br />
<br />
We climbed the hill into section 3 and were running a decent enough pace for the first 3 or 4 miles then my legs really started to give, my quads were shot and we started to do a lot of hiking, running where I could be man oh man was I hurting. Most of the rest of section 3 was uneventful but way long and it got very cold. What should have been 2-2.5 hours took 4. As we got into aid station 3 I sat by the fire for a few minutes to try and warm up. Shortly after I sat down someone else came in and dropped from the race, stating its too cold and he didnt have enough clothing for it. I stood up and told Laurie that I was still freezing so we may as well get on our way. Just then a truck pulled up to take the guy that was dropping to the start/finish line. The driver looked at me thinking I was one dropping and said ready??/ Just then the other guy jumped up and got in the truck.<br />
<br />
As we started to leave I remembered I had a solar blanket in my pack!!!! Laurie said lets put it on like a cape then put your pack on.... this would not have been great to try and run in, so I said lets fold it in 1/3 and wrap it around my torso, then we had some hand warmers and we packed them inside... turns out it was perfect! I had 8.8 miles to go to finally finish this race and complete this damn 100k. Most of this section was a shuffle and hike but as the miles clicked by I knew I finally had this thing beat... not pretty but done!!!<br />
<br />
I crossed the finish line to the embrace of Tom Jennings, the race director, he handed me the buckle and I announced I can now retire from Oil Creek Trail Races!!!!!!<br />
<br />
Words can not explain the happiness, and a proud feeling that I cant compare to anything except a 100 mile race or my half ironman. I know hold the trifecta of belt buckles from OC and can move on after 7 years!<br />
<br />
#howihammer #suunto<br />
<br />
<div>
Gear:</div>
<div>
Hammer race kit</div>
<div>
Columbia Colorado's<br />
Swifwick wool socks<br />
Columbia Titan Ultra shorts<br />
Ultimate Direction hydration vest<br />
Sunnto 9<br />
<br />
Fuel:<br />
Hammer Gel<br />
Hammer Sustained Energy<br />
Hammer Raw Energy Bar<br />
Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator - Recovery<br />
Hammer Endurance Amino<br />
Hammer Race Day Boost<br />
Hammer Anti-Fatigue Caps<br />
Hammer Recoverite - Recovery<br />
Hammer CBD - Recovery</div>
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<br />rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-29529156264773818102019-10-08T17:54:00.000-07:002019-10-08T17:54:13.914-07:002019 Race for RecoveryThe 2019 Race for Recovery was held 9/21/2019 at Presque Isle State Park. This was the 7th time I had raced this event with finishes at 7th, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 2nd and 3rd.<br />
<br />
In the last 6 years I tapered for the this race since was in training for the OC100 races. This year I am also training for the OC100 trail race BUT since I caught the Tri bug I had not focused running long or trails. Unfortunately I would have to work this race into the training schedule and see what happens.<br />
<br />
Going into the race i had run 60 miles the week before and had 35 miles in the week leading up to the race, so I did not feel fresh at all but did feel good and strong. Leading up to the race I made sure to take all of my doses of Hammer Nutrition Race Day Boost and Hammer Nutrition Tissue Rejuvenator to ensure I had the best possible chance to do well. <br />
<br />
I got to the race an hour early and got my bib etc and started to jog around to get loose and get the blood flowing. I was feeling great and energy was high but definitely could feel the training load in my legs. As the race time neared I turned on my MP3 player and started to get my mind ready for the race. With about 10 till the start I made my way to the starting line and the timer asked me if I thought I would win today, I paused looked around and said..... Sure why not....we both laughed a bit and I said, I am going to try. As the race director started giving instructions I started looking around to see who all showed up, I did see a lot of familiar faces, exchanged a few nods etc. I also noticed a large handful of new faces most younger than me. With about a 2 minutes to go a friend of mine walked up to me and said good luck and I think you are going to with this again. I just said thanks, now I was starting to feel some pressure that I had not had all morning.<br />
<br />
As the timer counted down 3....2...Horn blows! about 8-10 people really pushed the pace from the start, I figured it would be a fast race but holy cow it had only just started. After the first turn ( about 200 yards) it was down to about 5 of us and the pace started to settle in but then this guy got out front and took off. I didnt go with him because I was sure he could not hold that pace. After 1 mile I had moved to 2nd and a decent gap back to 3rd but 1st was a ways out. Not long after I hit the 1 mile mark I could see the leader turn and see where I was, I assumed he was getting tired so I planned to keep my pace till the 2 mile mark and see what happens.<br />
<br />
At 2 miles I closed the gap to about 50 ft or so his foot turn over was slowing and I could tell he was tired, but the down side was so was I. As we hit about the 2.5 mile point I was less than 10 feet behind him. I noticed he was messing with his MP3 player and all of a sudden he picked up his pace just a bit I did not have any more to give at that point though. He slowly pulled away from me and as I hit the final turn I could see him crossing the finish line. In the end I lost by 20 seconds.<br />
<br />
I got some water and found the guy who won, we exchanged high fives and I asked him what the heck song he put on his MP3 player. He laughed, told me the song ( I cant remember now) and said I know you were going to catch me so i turned that song on which was 4 min long... he said he told himself that he could out run me for the 4 minutes or blow up trying. lol<br />
<br />
Sadly I likely had enough to push a bit harder and maybe could have blown him up and won but hind sight is 20/20. But hey I took 2nd and was nearly 2 minutes faster than 3rd place. This is far from a fast 5k but it was warm and lots of wind, it seems everyone was slow on this day. After awards I went out and ran 6 more miles and did 22 miles on the trails the next day! Hammer on!<br />
<br />
#howihammer<br />
<br />
Gear:<br />
Suunto 9 GPS watch<br />
Hammer Running Kit<br />
Hoka One One Gaviota<br />
<br />
Fuel:<br />
Hammer Whey Protein Bar for breakfast<br />
Hammer Tissue rejuvenator - post race<br />
Hammer Recoverite - Post race<br />
Hammer CBD Balm later in the day. <br />
Hammer Race PR Kit - 4 days prior and up the night before the race.<br />
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<br />rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-86841468517106552832019-10-08T16:09:00.001-07:002019-10-08T18:19:16.955-07:00Catch up blogWell I had not realized its been so long since I had updated to this blog so I will just give a quick catch up to where we are today.<br />
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7/10 STTC Tri series race 2 - I PR'ed the course just days after my first half ironman and came in 1st in AG and 7th overall.<br />
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8/3 Findley Lake Olympic Tri - This was my 1st Olympic distance and I made the top 10 and won my age group.<br />
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8/7 STTC Tri series Race 3 - PR'ed the course again, took 7th overall and won my age group<br />
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8/10 Presque Isle Sprint Tri - 12th over all and 2nd in age group<br />
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9/1 Tour De Tamarack Bike Race - 9th over all and 2nd in age group<br />
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9/4 STTC Tri Series Race 4 - DNF after PRing on the 400 swim I got 5 miles into the 13 mile bike route and broke my chain.<br />
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What a year so far.... My first Sprint, Olympic and half ironman distance races, 1st bike race.... I have huge plans for 2020. But first I had the Race for recovery (blog coming) and OC100k<br />
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<br />rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-60002371915423035862019-07-21T12:39:00.004-07:002019-07-21T12:50:48.426-07:002019 Muskoka Half IronmanIn the summer of 2018 I signed up for the Tri in the Buff. They had an event called try a tri it was basically a super sprint ( 400 yard swim, 8 mile bike and 2ish mile run). I was hooked on triathlons after that. After very little consideration I signed up for the 2019 Muskoka Half Ironman, I figured I had a year to learn to swim and get in shape for it. I hired a coach, spent a lot of the winter swimming and strength training then when spring hit I rode tons of miles on the bike.<br />
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Fast forward from that day in Buffalo where this dream got put on my bucket list to two weeks ago when I was at packet pick up for the half Ironman, I cant explain the excitement, the bit of fear and the slight panic I felt. After pick up my packet and putting my bike into transition I got some pictures of the area and took it all in. I took a walk to to swim start and looked at how to move from swim to transition.<br />
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I checked into my hotel, unpacked and got everything ready for the race then became very anxious once things slowed down. I went into town and got some coffee and took a short walk along the river trying to calm my mind and emotions. I visited some of the local stores and just focused on nothing in particular just relaxed. This did the trick and after about an hour and a half I made my way back to the hotel to settle in and get some rest. I figured I would have a hard time sleeping, as I usually do before big events, but I didnt, I feel right to sleep and work up feeling really rested a 5 AM.<br />
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We could start getting in to transition at 6 am the actual race started at 7:30 am, So I wanted to get there right at 6 and thankfully I did, parking started filling up already. I laid everything out in the transition area and put my wet suit on and started walking over to the swim start area. I was a decent walk down a dirt road but we were issued "morning drop bags" so I wore my flip flops down to the swim start then put them and my long sleeve shirt in the bag. It was around 55 degrees but was to climb to 85. I was in wave 6 so I did go in the water to warm up as I waited for the waves to start.<br />
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Before long it was time for me to go. This was a deep water start but I did find a rock to stand on as to no waste energy staying a float. On the sound of the start gun we were off. We were to swim down river, around an island to a point in the lake then turn and come back finishing up stream of the river. I was surprisingly calm and was actually able to sight well enough to keep fairly straight. The swim was pretty uneventful until we were heading back up stream and I started catching up with other waves of folks (could tell by the color of swim cap) and by then some from the wave behind us were catching up, needless to say it was getting crowded. I found myself swimming into folks and getting swam over by others. It did get very annoying but we were close to done.<br />
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At the end of the swim we had to climb some stairs then we could have the "strippers" help get us out of the wet suits. We then had a good 1/4 mile run to our transition area. I had a pretty slow transition as I wanted to ensure I remembered everything I needed. At the line we could mount the bike and were greeted with a hill climb right off. This course had a lot of hill climbs and my coach told me to keep the ride at about 80% effort to leave something for the run. As I rode I was taking in gels (6 for the entire ride) from a flask. I made sure to keep drinking due to the temperature rising pretty quickly. the first 15 miles went by pretty quick and I was able to pass a lot folks but then around mile 20 or so we were climbing a huge hill. I went left to go around someone but as I was passing someone decided to go around me to the left. Due to the leaders coming back on the course any cars would have to go right down the middle of the road to do so. As the person was passing me and I in turn was passing someone else a car was coming down the hill. The person passing me got nervous and cut into me even though he was not clear of me. He clipped my front tire and I went down hard.<br />
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As I stood up trying to figure out what just happened I noticed my water bottles fell off the bike and were rolling away, I got them but then realized how many riders were coming up the hill. At the same time the guy who crashed me came back and kept saying he was so sorry and how he got nervous etc. I picked the bike up and moved to the side of the road. I checked myself for injury then the bike. A few scratches and popped the chain off but seemed ok. I put the chain back on and had to start moving again, UP HILL from a dead stop. I was so mad at this point I started working harder than I should have but I was able to pass everyone again including the person I was trying to pass when I crashed. She looked over and said you again, I thought you would be done after that.. I laughed and passed her. I made the turn around and the rest of the ride was uneventful. I did work harder than I should have but thats the way it goes sometimes. I had a fairly quick transition 2 and was off on the run.<br />
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I felt pretty good, pace and turnover were nice and fluid but it was getting very hot. I did carry a handheld for hydration as to drink as much as I needed and not have to wait for a water stop. The first 4 miles flew by but around mile 5 we ran down a long hill, thats not a bad thing but this was an out and back so we had to run back up this hill shortly. I reached the turn around and it felt like I hit a wall. I slowed down and even walked a fair part of that huge hill. I started stopping at the water stops every mile for ice to try and cool off. Though I had passed a ton of people in the first half of the race, I didnt pass many the 2nd half but thankfully most people were feeling the same way I was and I didnt get passed by many either. I finally made it to the town and on the road was marked 2k so we didnt have much left. a right hand turn then a left and the final left I could hear the crowd and then into the the finish and even broke the ribbon to the announcer saying my name. What an amazing feeling!!!!! I was handed a hat, finish medal and shirt. Took a finish photo and sat under a canopy with a water mister in it.<br />
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I had engaged in some conversation with other folks in the tent for a few minutes, I told them how I could barely swim 1 year ago then just finished a 6 hour half Ironman!!!! After some food and checking results I found that I was 81st our of 152 in my age group and 652 out of about 1500. I wanted to do better in age group but I will take it on a tough day with a crash! I went to my car and used to wipes to clean up and change then hit the road back to the US and much needed rest. I am proud of what I did at this event and enjoyed every miserable minute of it. Now though.... on to the next.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Gear:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Suunto 9 watch</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">ETC tri Kit</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Specialzed Roubaix Sport</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Specialized Evade Helmet</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Shimano bike Shoes</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Look Pedals</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Saucony Guide ISO running shoes</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Amphipod hand held for the run</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Fuel:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Whey Protein Bar - pre race breakfast</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Sustained Energy - during race on bike and run</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Race PR Kit - pre race</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Recoverite - recovery ( 2 servings on drive home)</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator - recovery (lots of them)</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Hammer CBD Balm - recovery</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hammer Gel - during race ( 6 )</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hammer Endurolyte - during race ( 7 during bike and run segments )</span><br />
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#howihammer #suunto</div>
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<br />rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-19171727399590442132019-06-30T17:18:00.000-07:002019-06-30T17:18:01.843-07:002019 Dam TriThe Dam Tri is located in Woodcock PA. The 2019 edition was less the swim due to bacteria in levels in the water. This was a huge disappointment since I was doing the Olympic distance mostly for the long swim experience. I thought they might make it a duathlon, but they didnt. just a 25 mile ride and 6.2 mile run.<br />
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As I got to the race I chatted with some folks I knew and member of the Erie Tri Club. I got my number and took my bike to the transition area. As I was setting up I was talking with a few people around me getting some information on the bike course. After I got set up a friend and<br />tri club member, Bob asked if I was going to warm up on the bike, I have not done this at an event before so I wasn't sure but went anyhow. It was nice because he gave me more info on the course.<br />
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When we got back from our warm up they were about to start the race meeting and during this we found out that the start would be time trail style, I have never done this either so I had to ask what that means. Basically you get clipped in and some one holds you up, every 10 seconds or so they sent us out 2 at a time. They asked us to "self seat" ourselves, which was no big deal due to the race being chip timed. I started next to a club member, Darrell and waited our turn to go.<br />
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As we clipped in and got held up the count down was like slow motion then boom....I heard go!!!<br />
We had a couple hundred feet of flat before the climb out of the part onto the main road. I fell back from Darrell but about half way up I passed him. When we hit the main road I did my normal thing and just put my sights on the next person in front of me. I passed a few quickly as we went down a decent hill. Ahead was a good climb I just took it in stride and caught my buddy Bob, however he quickly rode away from me. As I climbed the hill Darrell had passed me back as well. After a bit we got into some rollers and I was back to picking people off one at a time again, to include Darrell. I never did see Bob again until the run. About mile 10 we started to climb the first of 2 really had and long climbs.<br />
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This was a very long climb, I had remembered driving down it on the way to the race. I played with the gears until I found the one that worked best. I kept trading places with someone on a tri bike, I kept pushing against him for a bit then he and someone in a yellow jersey passed me and I didn't see them again until near the top of the hill. The Yellow jersey ride was pulling away but as I was passing the guy on the tri bike I looked at his calf (the event we were racing in was in marker) I noticed he had an "A". I didnt understand as I knew we had Olympic and Sprint distance, then realized he was in the Aqua bike race....not even my competition and I was wasting energy racing him.<br />
<br />
We then hit a nice long down hill which lead us to the final long climb of the day. I found a comfortable gear and just grinded my way up it, before long I was at the top and had 5 rolling miles left. It was then that I was passed by 4 riders, which shocked me, One of which was Darrell. I didn't realize until then that he was close the entire time. As the cycling portion was coming to an end we crossed a long bridge then a short but steep hill where I was able to pass a 3 of the 4 people that had passed me a short time ago.<br />
<br />
The transition to the run was uneventful and I was out fairly quickly. As I was moving along on the run I was passing people in a very short period of time. We had a couple decent hills to climb but not much of a challenge. around the 1.5 mile mark I had caught my buddy Bob and he commented "great run Rob" I had no idea of pace but I felt good. By 2.5 miles I had caught yellow jersey guy and was trading positions with a female for the next couple miles (found out she was one of the 11 elites in the Olympic distance). She pulled away from me with about a mile to go. It was getting really hot and I could feel my pace slowing more than I wanted but kept my turnover high and finally.... the finish line.<br />
<br />
Even though we didn't swim this was still a great experience for me. My first Olympic distance ride and run..... I finished 11th over all and 1st in my age group!<br />
<br />
I felt so good after the race that I went to Oil Creek State Park and ran a few trails after!!!!! Hammer Nutrition plays a huge role in my recovery, racing and prepping. Next up will be Half Ironman Muskoka.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Gear:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Suunto 9 watch</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">ETC tri Kit</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Specialzed Roubaix Sport</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Specialized Evade Helmet</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Shimano Shoes</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Look Pedals</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Saucony Guide ISO shoes </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Fuel:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Sustained Energy - during race on bike</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Gel - on bike<br />Hammer Race PR Kit - pre race<br />Hammer Recoverite - recovery<br />Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator - recovery<br />Hammer CBD Balm - recovery</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
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<br />rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-79571486939587035502019-06-19T17:53:00.001-07:002019-06-19T17:53:55.355-07:002019 Edinboro Sprint TriathlonThe Edinboro Triathlon returned in 2019 after missing 2018. This was a very well run race and lots of fun! The date of the race was June 8th. The day was warm and plenty of sunshine. This was my 2nd triathlon this week so I didnt expect a lot, especially since I am fairly week in the swim.<br />
<br />
I got to the race early and got my bib and timing chip then entered into the transition to set up. I was thinking a lot about the swim, this would be the longest open water swim. I chatted with a lot with fellow Erie Triathlon Club (ETC) members and all gave advice on the swim. I finished setting up my transition and put the wet suit on then made my way to the water to swim a bit and get used to the cool water. As The Olympic distance event started I really didnt get as nervous as I thought i would. I stayed calm and just waited for our turn. The next ones up were the sprint distance males under 44.<br />
<br />
A few minutes later I was up, it was time for the male 45 and over. as the horn went off i dove right in and actually kept calm and just swam. The water was cold but calm and thankfully they had red buoy's out to sight of off I just kept close to the red bouy's and kept looking for the first yellow one ( our turn around). As I headed for shore I was still very calm and actually felt strong. soon I was out of the water and feeling very happy. As I went into transition I had half of my wet suit off and thought things were going well until I got the suit down to my ankles, the damn thing wouldnt come off!!!!!! After finally getting it off I got my cycling gear on and headed out with a vengeance. Having never rode the course I wasnt sure if I should slow up of keep digging.<br />
<br />
Well I decided to just go all out and see what happens. As in other triathlons I was able to quickly make time and started passing folks right away. The ride was tough, lots of hills and I was likely riding harder than I should have. With 3 miles to go I was getting very tired but popped a Hammer gel and an endurolyte then very soon felt better. I finished the ride strong and hit the transition ready for the run.<br />
<br />
I had a decent transition to the run and headed out. The run was fairly flat but very exposed and hot. I was able to pass a couple people on the first half of the run then went nearly a mile before I had an opportunity to pass one more, I had seen his age on his leg... he was in my age group so I had to pass him, lol.<br />
<br />
In the end I finished 19th and took 2nd in the age group. I was very happy with the finish to say the least. To top all of his I did a 60 mile ride after.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Gear:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Suunto Ambit2 watch</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">ETC tri Kit</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Specialzed Roubaix Sport</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Specialized Evade Helmet</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Sidi Shoes</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Look Pedals</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Saucony Guide ISO shoes</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Fuel:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Sustained Energy - during race</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Race PR Kit - pre race</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Recoverite - recovery</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator - recovery</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Hammer CBD Balm - recovery</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hammer Gel - during race</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hammer Endurolyte - during race</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
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<br />rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-44410633605023045002019-06-07T18:20:00.000-07:002019-06-07T18:23:05.538-07:00Southern Tier Triathlon Series Race 1This series runs on Wednesdays evenings 4 times over the summer. It has the same race director as the duathlon series, Mark Wilson. The races take place in Cassadaga, NY at 5:45 PM. The event consists of a 400 yard swim, 13 mile bike ride and 2 mile run.<br />
<br />
The entire day threatened rain and the closer it got to race time the darker it got. At 5:40 we had a meeting in the water where Mark reviewed the rules and course. At 5:45 and on the word go we all went in to the swim. At first the water seemed very cold, it took a while before it felt comfortable. I did have a small panic attack just before the first buoy marking 150 yards. I was able to calm down and keep focused. As I turned the first buoy I realized I was actually passing people in the water ( first time experiencing this). As I rounded the 2nd buoy marking 350 yards I was still feeling very storing and aimed for the shore to finish the swim.<br />
<br />
As I got to the shallow water I stood up and ran to the transition, where I struggled to get out of my swim suit. I looked around and saw a lot of bikes still in transition, which means for the first time I was not the last one out of the water! I got on my bike and hammered as hard as I could, I had no idea how hilly the course would end up being but i know I wanted to pick as many people off as I could.<br />
<br />
After about a mile I started passing people, which empowered me more. I just kept pushing the edge of where I thought I could and leave some in the legs for the run. Most of the ride was uneventful except that I kept picking folks off but then around mile 10 we started to climb a hill, that would not end. Funny thing was I wanted a top 10 finsh, top 5 if I could so I used that to push up the hill. One of the people I passed up the hill actually said...."God bless ya' as I went by. my quads were buring.....a lot!<br />
<br />
As I finally topped the hill I had about 1 mile to go but had seen 2 more bike in front of me, i made it by them before transiton to the run. As we came into transiton I thought I had a good plan but I got passed by those last 2 people I had passed on the bike. Within a couple hundred feet I was able to get both positons back and by half a mile in I had passed another, at this point I had seen Mark Wilson pass by heading towards the finish line. The next half mile was down hill and I was closing in on another person, shortly after the turn around I passed him. Now it was a bit of up hill between me and the finsh line, I felt like I was running hard, as I turned the corner towards the finish line I was able to dig down just a bit more. I crossed the line and was greeted by Mark and several others with high fives. I finished 7th over all.<br />
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FYI: it didnt rain until the very end of the awards.<br />
<br />
Happy doesnt describe the feeling! Great race,good people!<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Gear:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Suunto Ambit2 watch</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">STTC tri Kit</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Specialzed Roubaix Sport</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Specialized Evade Helmet</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Sidi Shoes</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Look Pedals</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Saucony Guide ISO shoes</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Fuel:</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Sustained Energy - during race</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Race PR Kit - pre race</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Recoverite - recovery</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator - recovery</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hammer CBD Balm - recovery</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
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<br />rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07889718494616140109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-12274896060509883292019-06-02T11:08:00.000-07:002019-06-02T11:08:39.745-07:00Race 2 of the Southern Tier Duathlon SeriesThis was the 2nd in a 3 race series. If you remember for the April blog I took 3rd over all and set a PR for the course. I was excited to see how my fitness improved over the month since the last race but didnt think i would surprise myself too much... boy I was wrong.<br />
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I got to the race site and started unpacking my gear and bike, looked around at who was there, like we all do ( sizing people up). I race against a few of the folks but did see some new faces as well. As I was warming up I was not feeling fast or ready, as I was in the middle of new training block and very beat up.<br />
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As we lined up to start the race I didnt push to the front like I have in the past, just kind of a few rows back, but then the race started... It took me a couple hundred feet but things started to kick in and I was in 3rd place ( so I thought). I pushed the run a bit but could not catch the first 2 guys. I had a great transition but could not even sight the 2nd place person. I raced the bike hard, I never stopped pumping my legs mashed the pedals on hills and pushed hard. I feared being passed on the bike like the month before and losing a chance at the podium. I have never attacked hills like I did on this day, I was slightly concerned that I was using up my legs that I needed for the last run but didnt care I was not going to get passed on the bike. Great news is that I wasnt...<br />
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I had another good transition but 4th place and I went out of transition together ( another mile on bike he would have caught me). It was Mark Wilson who I finished behind last month. This time i didnt have to make up 2 minutes on the run to try to catch him. We went out basically together and I ran away from him quickly. My legs were dead but I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. First place came flying by after his turn around, he wasnt looking tired at all a short while after 2nd place was coming back. I hit the turn around and figure he had a couple minute lead on me but I wasnt as far as I had wanted to be in front of Mark. after the turn around we had a small hill to climb then it was bascially flat to the finish. My plan was take the hill fairly easy then give my last energy for the remaining 3/4 of a mile.<br />
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I did exactly that I ran as if Mark was catching me and I had to be faster to hold the position. I looked back a few times and seen my lead on him was opening up but I pushed on to ensure he was not saving up for a 1/4 mile surge or something.<br />
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As I crossed the finish line I was amazed to find that the person on first place was actually part of a relay team and that I actually finished 2nd!!!!!!! I also set a PR for the course and set my age group record. The ironic thing about this finish was this; Mark beat me by 14 seconds the race before and he finished 2nd then 3rd for me. This month I beat him by 17 seconds and I was 2nd.<br />
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I surpased my expectations for the race and it was a lot of fun. PR and a course record made me feel strong the 2nd place finish was amazing. I guess that ties Mark and I for the series points and it will come down to the final race for the win!<br />
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I followed up this race with a 30 mile bike ride to cap off a great day!<br />
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Gear:<br />
Suunto Ambit2 watch<br />
STTC tri Kit<br />
Specialzed Roubaix Sport<br />
Specialized Evade Helmet<br />
Sidi Shoes<br />
Look Pedals<br />
Saucony Guide ISO shoes<br />
<br />
Fuel:<br />
<br />
Hammer Sustained Energy<br />
Hammer Race PR Kit<br />
Hammer Gel<br />
Hammer Recoverite<br />
Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator<br />
Hammer CBD Balm<br />
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<br />rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-31737228894276373242019-05-10T09:53:00.000-07:002019-05-10T09:53:21.058-07:002019 Outrun 24 (O24)I had big plans going into this race weekend. I was in much better shape physically and mentally than in 2018. The goal was 100 miles in the 24 hours.....the actual was 31 miles in 6.5 hours... beyond the disappointment of not hitting the goal was a back pain that I have not felt in a long (nearly 20 years) time. It started Thursday evening somehow but when I woke up Friday I was in bad shape, I was able to get in to see a chiropractor before hitting the road for the race but then sat in a car for almost 2 hours and put up tents when getting to Chapin Forest in Kirtland OH.<br />
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After getting things set up I was able to relax for a bit then went to sleep hoping to wake up Saturday feeling better. When I woke up I did feel a bit better but not great but got dressed and fueled to go run. It was cool and very gray, misty and foggy. We also had a threat of rain most of the day.<br />
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This race has a great atmosphere and it was easy to get in the mood to run pre-race at the start line.<br />
At 8 am we began the event that would officially end at 8 am Sunday. The first 10 miles went by fairly quick and I had built the buffer of time I wanted so now I just need to stay on pace to hit the goal by the next morning. Over the next 10 miles I fell into my grove and fueling was right on point.<br />
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Over the miles I ran into lots of folks I knew and got to meet some new friends and was having a good time. However as I got to 25 miles my back was starting to really cause me issues. By mile 29 I was starting to get behind my goal time to the point that I had eaten all of my time buffer up. When I realized that I would not be able to get to the 100 mile goal in the 24 hour time limit I decided to call it a day at the 50k.<br />
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I had and still have mixed feelings about stopping. Other than my back I felt great, alert, high energy and mostly enjoying the day. However, my back was happy to stop and with the type of event it is... its not like dropping from a normal race. This race is designed to do what you want or feel like on that day.<br />
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On Monday I went to the chiropractor again and he put my back in place...again. As of this blog post its Friday and my back feels pretty good and I jumped into a duathlon this weekend. All and all I am happy with how O24 turned out. My fueling needs were handled by #hammernutrition , shoes were from #columbia1938 , and of course I wore my trusty #suunto Ambit2<br />
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Gear:<br />
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Hammer race kit</div>
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Columbia Montrail Colorado's<br />
Swifwick wool socks<br />
Columbia Titan Ultra shorts<br />
Amphipod handheld<br />
Sunnto Ambit2<br />
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Fuel:<br />
Hammer Gel<br />
Hammer Sustained Energy<br />
Hammer Raw Energy Bar<br />
Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator<br />
Hammer Endurance Amino<br />
Hammer Race Day Boost<br />
Hammer Recoverite<br />
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<br />rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07889718494616140109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-61315074888339144732019-04-27T17:24:00.000-07:002019-04-27T17:24:20.142-07:002019 Southern Tier Duathlonon 4/20/2019 I competed in my 2nd Southern Tier Duathlon. I took 3rd over all for the 2nd time but this year was a ton of fun.<br />
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I am going into this spring racing season about 8 pounds heavier than normal due to some regular weight lifting all winter. I felt strong for the race but the extra weight was a concern. I got there a bit early and did some small talk. The weather was chilly and had rained all night and into the morning but stopped for the race.<br />
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As the race started I took off and went straigt to the front after a very short time I could only hear 1 set of foot falls behind me and by the turn around two of us had really broke out from the pack. On the return trip we had to climb a small hill and the 2nd place person came up and we were side by side, I felt him surge a few times but I went with him. We ended up crossing the line in a tie. In that transition he blew me away and I was chasing him the entire ride slowly he became just a dot I would get a glimps of once in a while.<br />
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With about 3 miles to go 3rd place had caught me and passed, I had a very short moment of dispare but got over it quick and reached down a bit more than I thought I was able to do and passed him back. We exchanged positions a few times until about a half mile out where I moved back into 2nd and held it to transition.<br />
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I had a really bad transition ( lost about 2 minutes to the now 2nd place person) I had a rock stuck in the upper clip of my cycling shoe and could not get it off of my foot. When I did I took off as hard as I could. By the turn around I had closed a lot of the gap but I was fairly used up. I kept digging and as I got closer I could see him turning around pretty often to see where I was. I ended up 14 seconds behind him at the finish and I had to dig deep in pain cave.<br />
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If only it was a 5k instead of a 2 miler.... lol.<br />
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This was a lot of fun and reminded me that when we think we are done we always have a bit more!!!<br />
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Gear:<br />
Suunto Ambit2 watch<br />
STTC tri Kit<br />
Specialzed Roubaix Sport<br />
Specialized Evade Helmet<br />
Sidi Shoes<br />
Look Pedals<br />
Saucony Guide ISO shoes<br />
<br />
Fuel:<br />
<br />
Hammer Sustained Energy<br />
Hammer Race PR Kit<br />
Hammer Gel<br />
Hammer Recoverite<br />
Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator<br />
Hammer CBD Balm<br />
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<br />rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-30606482757931680722019-01-01T16:08:00.002-08:002019-01-01T16:08:19.085-08:00fall and winter 2018As 2018 comes to a close I am reflecting on the year... I can see that I have taken a step backwards in fitness. I had 2 job changes that took a huge demand of my time and energy. In Nov. I had a military school that took more time and a lot of energy. However December has given me the opportunity to refocus on me and the training I need/want. I took part in the Bigfoot trail race in Ohio at Salt Fork State Park, its a fun trail race in early December put on by Western Reserve Racing. I ran well and felt good.<br />
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The last couple years have brought me a passion for duathlons and triathlons. So much so that I have signed up for a half Ironman. Knowing this is a huge undertaking I went out and hired a coach to help me swim more efficiently and guide me on a path for success.<br />
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The last couple years also have shown me that introducing dairy and red meat back into my diet has hurt my body and my energy. In 2019 I will move back away from dairy in all forms and same goes for the red meat and back to more of my smoothies and protein from whey. I will also be playing with diet ideas from Matt Fitzgerald's book Racing Weight.<br />
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I am also reading and listing to everything I can find on how the mind works and why it tries to stop us from doing things that are beyond what it thinks we can do. The person who keeps coming up is<br />
David Googins. I have listened to all I can find of his, and recently just got his book in the mail. I am implementing what I have got from his message each day. Just a few things I have found are - find your why.... why are doing what you are or want to do, - do something that sucks everyday in order to get out of the "feel good" zone. <br />
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My events for 2019 are a lot lighter on ultras and more multi-sport events.<br />
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<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="26"></col><col width="26"></col><col width="26"></col><col width="26"></col><col width="26"></col><col width="26"></col><col width="26"></col><col width="26"></col><col width="26"></col><col width="26"></col><col width="26"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td colspan="8" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"half marathon"}" rowspan="1" style="border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">Just a Short Run half marathon</td><td colspan="3" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"late march"}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-top-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">late march</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td colspan="8" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Southern Tier Duathlon"}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">Southern Tier Duathlon</td><td colspan="3" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":43210}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">4/20/2019</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td colspan="8" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"O24 Ultra"}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">O24 Ultra</td><td colspan="3" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":43224}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">5/4/2019</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td colspan="8" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Dam Tri"}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">Dam Tri</td><td colspan="3" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":43274}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">6/23/2019</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td colspan="8" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Muskoka 1/2 Ironman"}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">Muskoka 1/2 Ironman</td><td colspan="3" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":43288}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">7/7/2019</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td colspan="8" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Findley Lake Tri"}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">Findley Lake Tri</td><td colspan="3" data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":5}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":43315}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">8/3/2019</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td colspan="8" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Lake Erie Duathlon"}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Lake Erie Duathlon</td><td colspan="3" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,5,"m/d",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":43316}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap;">8/4/2019</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td colspan="8" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Race for Recovery 5k"}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Race for Recovery 5k</td><td colspan="3" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Sept"}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Sept</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td colspan="8" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Tour De Tamarack"}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Tour De Tamarack</td><td colspan="3" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Sept"}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Sept</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 20px;"><td colspan="8" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"OC100k ultra"}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">OC100k ultra</td><td colspan="3" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,5,"m/d/yyyy",1]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":43385}" rowspan="1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-right-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">10/12/2019</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In closing I am looking forward to training harder than the last 2 years and learning new types of racing. To date I am going to be sponsored for a 4th year by Hammer Nutrition. I am still waiting on an answer from Swiftwick Socks and Suunto. Columbia should come due in Feb. So 2019 hope your ready kolo 2.0 is coming in hot!!<br />
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#howihammer #chaseadventurerob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-36678323727522170272018-09-27T08:07:00.003-07:002018-09-27T08:07:57.295-07:00Race for Recovery 9/22/2018<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The annual Race for Recovery benefits Gaudenzia Erie, Inc. and their mission to help people affected by chemical dependency...Saving lives, families and communities. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is my favorite 5k and its local to me. It is run at Presque Isle in Erie Pa. On this day it was cool and very windy. I went into this race not knowing what kind of speed I would have. I knew i was heavier than past years and I didnt do any speed work. The last 2 years I was able to capture 1st and 2nd place and was hoping at least for a top 5 this year. I felt good and was well fueled for the race thanks to Hammer Nutrition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As the race started 4 of us pushed to the front and by the first turn a guy had pulled a head of the other 3 of us. by the 2nd turn we had dropped the 4th guy and seemed it would be a 3 man race. By the 1st mile marker 1st place was about 30 steps ahead and myself and another guy were going back and forth for 2nd and 3rd. At some point i realized that the other guy was not challenging me for 2nd place any longer and found him tight behind me, using me to block the wind and save energy. I moved all the way to the left side of the road since he seemed to like to run near the center of the road. As he passed me I tucked in behind him for a while. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As we past the 2nd mile marker we were gaining on 1st by a lot. and as we got to the point were we had about 3/4 of a mile left there is a sharp turn. We caught 1st at this turn and for a second i moved into 1st place but we were 3 wide coming out of the turn. The other 2 guys had more than I did on this day and were able to pull away from me. I was just trying to keep what I had at this point and watched those two go back and forth for a few moments. Finally the guy who was running with me most of the time took over 1st and kept it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the end I took 3rd but this was the funnest 5k I have ever been in. Racing close like that and having 3 people put it all out there was a great experience. I do love this sport and how even though I am 44 years old I am still able to get out there and race in top spots. </span><br />
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Gear:<br />Hammer Running kit</div>
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Topo Magnifly shoes<br />Swifwick socks<br />Suunto Ambit 2</div>
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rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-16532866250280534832018-09-24T09:07:00.001-07:002018-09-27T08:08:48.805-07:00Mighty Moraine Man Super Sprint Triathlon 9/16/2018On my quest to improve as a swimmer as well as train and gain experience as a triathlete I went out and hired a triathlon coach. His name is Mark Wilson, he also has a tri club in New York and he is a race director for many triathlon events. With his guidance, along with help from friends I am trying to get this open water swim thing down, which is MUCH harder than it looks. <br />
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The date of this event was originally set for 9/9/2018 but due to heavy rains the event was moved to 9/16/2018. I give massive kudos to the race director and the entire staff/volunteers that pulled off moving the event date and had it go off with out any problems that I could see. The only real issue I had was for the super sprint it seemed like we had lack of direction at packet pick up, but this information could have been put out before I got there and just missed it. <br />
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The weather was perfect and water had small waves. The atmosphere was awesome, watching as these athletes race their specific distances was amazing. Watching the human spirit in action is incredible! I picked up my packet and placed the tags on my bike and my helmet then started laying things out in the transition area. I was stressing a bit due to running later than I wanted and was not sure of where I needed to be, heck I could not even find where my bike was supposed to be so I ended up just claiming an area and made it mine. As I walked to the beach I started chatting with someone else that had started warming up and realized he had his marking on his arms and legs, I had forgot to get mine, I didn't even know where to get mine..... I did ask and went right off to get that done then got back to the water and started to warm up in order to calm my nerves.<br />
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As the race started I made sure I was last to start the swim, I know my week spot in this sport so I did not want to get in the way of the folks who were much better. The swim out to the buoy wasnt bad and I felt in control but when I turned to swim parallel to shore, the way the waves hit me made me uncomfortable and I started to struggle. I took a break and held on to a kayak to gather myself. I watch as most of the field was heading to the finish. I got started again and finally got to the 2nd buoy and turned toward shore. As I was heading back to shore the swim was easier again. I got to the point where I could stand to exit the water and as i stood up I remember looking around and seeing no one. This crushed me and I kind of slowly walked out of the water but as I got closer to the shore I started thinking about how strong I am on the bike and some how flicked a switch in my mind and started to run to the transition. As I got on the bike I focused on just mashing the pedals as much as possible. within a mile or 2 I could start seeing some other people, this got me going faster. At one point we had a hard left turn but it wasnt marked well and I missed it then turned around but still managed to come in 3rd on the bike. I had a great transition followed by a fair run to finish, I know I had passed a couple more people before the finish. I was very happy to find out that I finished 11th over all.<br />
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This was a great event and a good way to gain more experience in the triathlons.<br />
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Gear:<br />
STTC kit<br />
Hammer visor</div>
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Topo Magnifly shoes<br />
Swifwick socks<br />
Specialized Roubiax<br />
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Suunto Ambit 2<br />
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Fuel:<br />
Hammer Gel pre race<br />
Hammer Endurance Amino pre race<br />
Hammer Race Day Boost pre race<br />
Hammer Sustained Energy during race<br />
Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator after race<br />
Hammer Recoverite after race<br />
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<br />rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07889718494616140109noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-25889135783461702102018-08-21T16:54:00.001-07:002018-08-28T07:57:27.430-07:00Lake Erie Duathlon 8/5/2018This race supports the Girl Scouts and they are all out there cheering, handing out water and draw the age group winner awards! The race is held at Presque Isle State Park, beach 10 in Erie Pa. The event consists of a 5k, 13 mile bike ride and another 5k.<br />
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This was my 3rd year doing this duathlon. The first year was great and I learned alot, the 2nd year I forgot my helmet out of transition, this year I wanted to fix all of my mistakes from the first 2 years and do well.<br />
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As we lined up to start I looked around and had seen a lot of the same faces from the first 2 years I had done the event. When we started I fell into the top 10 or 12 and ended up running there a lot of the first 5k. I quickly felt the lack of speed work and realized this was going to be a tough event, the only thing I didn't know was how many of the folks a head of me were part of teams, since they would not be considered for the over all. Just over half way I got real tired, not sure if it was the heat or what but the 5k became a lot of work. <br />
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I came into the transition, changed shoes put on my helmet and glasses and sipped on my Hammer Sustained Energy. As I crossed the line I jumped on my bike, put my head down and hammered the pedals as hard as I could. I was able to pass a few people but just after the turn around I was passed by someone who looked like they were barely working.... a mile or so later another passed, I looked down and I was going 22 MPH I tried to keep up but they were going way too fast, shortly after that a 3rd passed me. When he went by he made the comment "I just wanted to try and catch you, I am about used up" he did finish a head of me though. <br />
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I came into transition and swapped out shoes, went out for the last event. I got about 150 yards into the run and my hamstring knotted up.... it was very painful but I kept going until the turn a round. There I tried to massage and stretch it a bit. I was passed by 2 people at that point and just could not make up time and was barely running. <br />
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I did finish 9th over all and 2nd in my age group. I was happy with that! <br />
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Gear:<br />
Hammer Tri kit</div>
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Topo Magnifly shoes<br />
Swifwick socks<br />
Specialized Roubiax<br />
Suunto Ambit 2<br />
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Fuel:<br />
Hammer Gel pre race<br />
Hammer Endurance Amino pre race<br />
Hammer Race Day Boost pre race<br />
Hammer Sustained Energy during race<br />
Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator after race<br />
Hammer Recoverite after race</div>
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<br />rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01140814407501446453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3631516730475499516.post-85299613413262794522018-07-29T13:37:00.001-07:002018-07-29T13:37:33.216-07:00EVL-9 Trail Race 7/22/2018This race is held on the "mountains"of Ellicottville NY at Holiday Valley Ski Resort. On this day it was warm but raining, I had never run this event before but from what I was told we were to run up and down the ski slops for 9.7 miles. This race was well run and had a great atmosphere. I could easily tell it was full of local people who all knew each other. The event had both 4 and 9.7 mile events. I ran the 9.7.<br />
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I jumped into this race on a whim and did not at all have this race on my to do list. As the race started I got caught up in the moment and went out harder than I thought I wanted to. We climbed up a dirt road that lead to the ski slope and along the wood line, at about 3/4 mile we went into the woods on single track that was pretty tame and kept climbing up. at some point we were sent out to a dirt road for a bit then crossed over into another section of single track that had some rocks and roots but still pretty smooth. I was very surprised at how good the trail was, it is a mountain bike trail plus that area got a lot of rain the night before.<br />
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I had been training fairly hard a couple weeks before including the weekend of ( trail run and bike ride the day before) and by mile 4 my legs were getting tired. glanced at my watch and realized that I was running at a sub 9 mile pace, needless to say I was pleased to see this but didnt think I could keep it up. I had got passed by a few people and didnt know where I was in the over all but thought i was doing well. Around mile 7 we hit a dirt road for around a mile or so with a large hill and then back to single track for a bit. the last mile and half was tough on tired quads, it was switchbacks down the ski sloop, it was fun but tough. It was great to hit the finish line and see that I was still under 9 minute miles for the race but then found i was 25th over all, and this blew my mind.... 11th in my age group.<br />
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I will definitely do it again but will taper a bit next time. I am very thankful to Hammer Nutrition helping me feel great during the run, Swiftwick socks for keeping my feet happy in wet conditions and Columbia for great shoes and shorts!<br />
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<a href="http://www.buffalorunners.com/results/2018/EVL18_9.htm">http://www.buffalorunners.com/results/2018/EVL18_9.htm</a><br />
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Gear:<br />Hammer running kit</div>
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Columbia Montrail Rouge shoes</div>
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Swifwick socks<br />Suunto Ambit 2<br /><br /><br />Fuel:<br />Hammer Gel pre race<br />Hammer Endurance Amino pre race<br />Hammer Race Day Boost pre race</div>
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Hammer Fully Charged pre race<br />Hammer Sustained Energy/Fully charged mixed during race<br />Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator after race<br />Hammer Recoverite after race</div>
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<br />rob kolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07889718494616140109noreply@blogger.com0