Check out the little interview I did with AOL recently:
From Runner to Triathlete - That's Fit
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Wet, Wild Weekend
This past weekend was a busy one for "Team JRM." We had athletes racing all over the East Coast and chalked up a slew of great results.
Two of the big events of the weekend were the Rev3 and Mooseman 70.3 triathlon festivals. I had the pleasure of attending the second event, and spending about 6 hours standing in the pouring rain watching the action with Michelle, as usual, right by my side.
I truly love watching athletes perform so it was a great thrill to see my crew in action and to watch the pro race unfold. Let's just say that I was inspired by watching the race from the sidelines and am already plotting my course of action for the 2011 season.
But that's neither here nor there at the moment as last time I checked, I have hairy legs and haven't touched a bike or gone swimming in about 2 months!
The crew has been doing plenty of both (plus a lot of running of course!) so this weekend was nothing less than a proving ground for the work that they've all been laying down this Winter and Spring.
On Saturday, the Donatellos, who are putting the finishing touches on their IM Austria training, jumped in to the Rev3 Olympic tri as a little tune up for the big day that's now less than 4 weeks out! Despite the huge training block they just laid down, both did VERY well, with Jeff taking 3rd overall and Kat placing high in her AG. I can't wait to watch them compete on the 4th of July! Michelle and I are taking our belated honeymoon on 7/1 and will be incorporating IM Austria into the trip. I could really use a vacation so this will be a lot of fun.
Up in NH, the Mooseman Olympic was unfortunately canceled due to thunder and lightening, so a few of my athletes lost a great opportunity to open the engine up and put their new found fitness to good use. Those who stayed around partook in an abbreviated version of the race: A 17 mile TT followed by a 10k run. Disappointing, but that's how it goes sometimes.
On Sunday, John Babcock kicked things off down in Mystic CT, winning the Mystic Tri by a comfortable margin and smashing the course record in the process. John certainly is getting strong. I probably should have slated him to race at Rev3, but we're focusing upon speed & aerobic power development this Spring/early summer, so all good.
Scott Green had a great race out in Ludlow and came home as 4th male OA. Scott's been working very hard on his running and all of that hard work is most certainly paying off.
Although I didn't have anyone racing the full Rev3 course on Sunday, Margot Robinson, who competes in the Aqua-bike divisions, took to the hills and chalked up an incredible ride. It was hands down her best performance to date and I was very pleased with the power file that I had the privilege to review this morning. We're employing a new weekly training split with her cycling load and let's just say that less is more!
At Mooseman 70.3, I had 4 athletes racing and all of them had solid performances, chalking up PR splits and overall times in the process. I'm VERY excited about the rise of Keri Boyle -In just 6 months, she's gone from a no-training-busy-mom to top AG competitor. I had the pleasure of watching Keri tear through that run course yesterday and she's got the "it" factor that is so often overlooked/undervalued in this sport: That ability to push and push HARD from start to finish. In this day and age of power meters, Garmin GPS units, HRMs, super-tricked-out aero bikes, etc. I often times think that people forget what racing fundamentally boils down to: Going out there and pushing yourself to your mental and physical limits from the time the gun sounds to the time your foot strikes the finish line. Racing is supposed to hurt. Racing, when executed correctly, is not something that I would consider fun (unless you get off on pain and suffering). The fun lies in pushing yourself to your limits, beating back that little voice inside your head that says "I can't!" in the days leading up to the event and during the darkest moments of the event, and fully executing your game plan. Walking away knowing that you gave it all that you had - that's true satisfaction. The frivolous stuff (where you placed, medals, who you beat, etc.) is all secondary to the good fight. I respect people like Keri and any number of the athletes (some of them back of the packers) I watched out there who never quit/never backed down, A LOT more than many of the pros I watched who who packed things in when the going got tough and just mailed their performance in or quit.
Still waiting to hear how things went down South for Joel during his little tune up event for Eagleman next week, but I'm really bummed out about Dave's (my assistant tri coach) bike crash during the race and the broken collarbone that he suffered as a result. We've been working hard as hell all Spring, specifically for Eagleman and a shot at a top AG finish/Kona slot, so this was a huge blow. But... it happens. Dave is young and has a long career in front of him. There will be plenty of races in his future and he's one tough bastard so I know that he will bounce back.
Two of the big events of the weekend were the Rev3 and Mooseman 70.3 triathlon festivals. I had the pleasure of attending the second event, and spending about 6 hours standing in the pouring rain watching the action with Michelle, as usual, right by my side.
I truly love watching athletes perform so it was a great thrill to see my crew in action and to watch the pro race unfold. Let's just say that I was inspired by watching the race from the sidelines and am already plotting my course of action for the 2011 season.
But that's neither here nor there at the moment as last time I checked, I have hairy legs and haven't touched a bike or gone swimming in about 2 months!
The crew has been doing plenty of both (plus a lot of running of course!) so this weekend was nothing less than a proving ground for the work that they've all been laying down this Winter and Spring.
On Saturday, the Donatellos, who are putting the finishing touches on their IM Austria training, jumped in to the Rev3 Olympic tri as a little tune up for the big day that's now less than 4 weeks out! Despite the huge training block they just laid down, both did VERY well, with Jeff taking 3rd overall and Kat placing high in her AG. I can't wait to watch them compete on the 4th of July! Michelle and I are taking our belated honeymoon on 7/1 and will be incorporating IM Austria into the trip. I could really use a vacation so this will be a lot of fun.
Up in NH, the Mooseman Olympic was unfortunately canceled due to thunder and lightening, so a few of my athletes lost a great opportunity to open the engine up and put their new found fitness to good use. Those who stayed around partook in an abbreviated version of the race: A 17 mile TT followed by a 10k run. Disappointing, but that's how it goes sometimes.
On Sunday, John Babcock kicked things off down in Mystic CT, winning the Mystic Tri by a comfortable margin and smashing the course record in the process. John certainly is getting strong. I probably should have slated him to race at Rev3, but we're focusing upon speed & aerobic power development this Spring/early summer, so all good.
Scott Green had a great race out in Ludlow and came home as 4th male OA. Scott's been working very hard on his running and all of that hard work is most certainly paying off.
Although I didn't have anyone racing the full Rev3 course on Sunday, Margot Robinson, who competes in the Aqua-bike divisions, took to the hills and chalked up an incredible ride. It was hands down her best performance to date and I was very pleased with the power file that I had the privilege to review this morning. We're employing a new weekly training split with her cycling load and let's just say that less is more!
At Mooseman 70.3, I had 4 athletes racing and all of them had solid performances, chalking up PR splits and overall times in the process. I'm VERY excited about the rise of Keri Boyle -In just 6 months, she's gone from a no-training-busy-mom to top AG competitor. I had the pleasure of watching Keri tear through that run course yesterday and she's got the "it" factor that is so often overlooked/undervalued in this sport: That ability to push and push HARD from start to finish. In this day and age of power meters, Garmin GPS units, HRMs, super-tricked-out aero bikes, etc. I often times think that people forget what racing fundamentally boils down to: Going out there and pushing yourself to your mental and physical limits from the time the gun sounds to the time your foot strikes the finish line. Racing is supposed to hurt. Racing, when executed correctly, is not something that I would consider fun (unless you get off on pain and suffering). The fun lies in pushing yourself to your limits, beating back that little voice inside your head that says "I can't!" in the days leading up to the event and during the darkest moments of the event, and fully executing your game plan. Walking away knowing that you gave it all that you had - that's true satisfaction. The frivolous stuff (where you placed, medals, who you beat, etc.) is all secondary to the good fight. I respect people like Keri and any number of the athletes (some of them back of the packers) I watched out there who never quit/never backed down, A LOT more than many of the pros I watched who who packed things in when the going got tough and just mailed their performance in or quit.
Still waiting to hear how things went down South for Joel during his little tune up event for Eagleman next week, but I'm really bummed out about Dave's (my assistant tri coach) bike crash during the race and the broken collarbone that he suffered as a result. We've been working hard as hell all Spring, specifically for Eagleman and a shot at a top AG finish/Kona slot, so this was a huge blow. But... it happens. Dave is young and has a long career in front of him. There will be plenty of races in his future and he's one tough bastard so I know that he will bounce back.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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