Nov 11 2011
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Blog

Dirt Cheap

A few weeks ago I decided to visit Bill, Bryan, and Jenn up in Rochester. And if you’re going to travel you might as well race. The three of them rave about the trials up there so I went on the hunt for some dirt races. Bryan chimed in and recommended the Dirt Cheap Stage Race. He did the race two years ago, and Jenn raced last year. You can read his account here. It’s sounds so painfully awesome I just had to do it.

STAGE #1 – Saturday, November 13th at 9AM – Pond Road Time Trial

3 Mile Time Trial: 1 Runner at a Time Against the Clock. Tough Hilly Course. Starts on Pond Rd next to Add-en-on Kennels.

STAGE #2 – Saturday, November 13th at 1PM – Devils Bathtub

5.5 Mile Trail Run: Mass Start with the infamous stair climb finish. Starts at Devils Bathtub

STAGE #3 – Sunday, November 14th at 9AM – The EPIC Stage

11 Mile challenge taking in much of Mendon Ponds Park and its trail system. This race starts at Stewart Lodge.

To add to the adventure, Mother Nature made it snow up in Rochester this morning. This is gonna be awesome. Flight leaves at 5pm.

 

Oct 31 2011
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Blog

A new spin on the nickname “co2legs”

I cannot recall if I have ever shared the origin of the nickname “co2legs” or not. The nickname originated from a few riding buddies when I first started to get into the sport. I usued to only have one big effort on each ride and then my legs were done, completely spent. I had one bigish climb, one sprint, or one really giant pull. Then my legs were mashed potato. The name came around because my friends said my legs were like a co2 carttride…one shot any you’re done. You have one shot at inflating your tire with co2, so you better get it right. That’s exactly what my early days of riding were like. Thankfully, things have changed since then (or at least I’d like to think).

Well, this weekend I ran into an old high school buddy of mine that was in town from San Francisco. We radomly ran into eachother at a concert thanks to Foresquare. We both checked in and all of a sudden it was like going to shows back in the day (just with booze). We made a plan to grab coffee at some point over the weekend.

At coffee we inevitable ended up talking about social media. Well, that is his buisiness. He started Rexly, a social network based on music discovery. It’s pretty cool so I love hearing about what he’s up to. At some point he inquired as to the meaning and origin of “co2legs”. I told him the story above. He then gave me what he had always thought it meant “care of 2 legs”. Being that a majority of what I talk about is training, racing, running, and riding, he just assumed that it meant my life was “care of 2 legs”. I loved it. It’s not it’s original incarnation, but it’s one that I have really come to appreciate over the last 24hrs. So much so that I think I’m gonna start using it.

Oct 28 2011
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Blog

Beach2Battleship email to John and Christine

I sent this email to John and Christine this morning. Both of them are racing Beach2Battleship tomorrow.

“The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.” -Vince Lombardi

Do work tomorrow you two. Work smart, work hard, never surrender. Earn every single inch of that course. Fight for your spot in the swim. On bike, show them why we go to SLB. And on the run, I want to see the biggest necklace of the skulls of those you have passed. And DO NOT, and I mean DO FUCKING NOT, give Bobby ANY reason or chance to hit you with the CREW shovel.

Good luck. RACE EVIL \m/

Skull And Crossbones Clip Art

Oct 10 2011
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Blog

The adventure mill is churning

Part of not really racing big things in 2012 is to focus on having adventures. Sure, I’ll race. I know I will. But I’m not registering for anything big or major right now. I’ve been tempted on several occasions, but have had restraint. I keep coming up with, or be presented with, really fun adventures to go have with my friends. The concept of spending a year, if not more, on having as many adventures as I possibly can is REALLY appealing to me. I want to go ride my bike just because. I want to run some trail just because. I wonder where this takes me. Let the adventures begin!!

Oct 04 2011
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Blog, Food, Recipes

White Bean Stew

I was inspired by several by several friends to make a white bean stew/soup last night. First, stews are just yummy. Second, they are cheap to make A LOT of. Can’t go wrong with a solid stew. I had 2 bowls last night and have a ton left for the next few days.

1 medium yellow onion (diced)

3 small carrots (diced)

Mushrooms (1 shitake, 4 crimini)

Garlic

2 cans white beans

6 cups low sodium veggie stock

1 small bunch Kale (I used Bok Choy because that’s what I had)

3/4 cup quinoa (1/4 white quinoa, 1/2 red quinoa)

Cumin, chili powder, corriander, salt, pepper, herbs

Olive oil

Heat large stew pot on medium low. Coat bottom of pot with a little olive oil. Place diced onions in pot with a little salt. Cook until translucent. Add chopped garlic to taste (I like a lot of garlic). Add diced carrots. Cook till carrots start to become tender. Toss in mushrooms and drained white beans. Add seasonings to taste. Cook till flavors meld together. Add veggie stock. Place heat on high until stew reaches a light boil. Lower heat to very low, cover, and simmer for at least 1hr. With 25min before you want to eat, add the quinoa and greens. Continue to simmer until quinoa is ready and greens are tender. Serve with a little grated parmesan cheese if desired.

Oct 03 2011
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Blog, Gear

Let the Great Shoe Experiment Begin!!

I’ve been working on this blog post since the middle of the summer. Every once in a while I come back to it. This weekend blew apart everything written about the shoes below. So read the junk below, but I’ll put what happened this past Saturday at the bottom.

One of my addictions, and why I love cycling and triathlon, is GEAR!  I need more, I want more, gimme gimme gimme.  I’m not sure if it’s that evident on this blog, but those that know me can more than attest to this addiction.  My addiction is not necessarily for the most recent, most expensive, gadget that I think will make me go faster.  It’s more towards a volume of trinkets and making excuses for replacing things that probably don’t need replacing.  Part of this is an every growing collection of running shoes.  I need training shoes, racing shoes, winter shoes, trail shoes.  WTF do I need trail shoes for when I live in NYC?!  No really, WTF do I need multiple pairs of different styles of trail running shoes when the most trail these puppies see is the Central Park Bridal Path.  My big thing with all this gear is really how it makes me feel.  Not as a status symbol, but does it make me happy when I train?  (and I ‘m damn good an convincing myself to buy shit).

One of my recent subjects of focus is running shoes.  I’ve been running in Newtons for the past 2 years and have enjoyed them for the most part.  I’ve sworn by them for a while because they were the only shoes that I could run long distances in.  But Newtons are expensive and I’m starting to get over them.  A year ago I wanted to convince myself that I wasn’t addicted them and that I could run in other shoes.  I bought a pair of Zoots, but that experiment didn’t go well.

One of the things that has really started to bug me about Newtons is running hills in them, especially downhills.  FOr some reason I don’t like how they feel running down steep hills.  And let’s be honest, I’m primarily an east coast racer which means hills.

Inov8 Road X 233

I first saw these shoes while Sherpa’ing and spectating at the USATF Road 50k Nationals back in March. I had heard of the company almost a year prior while at the North Face Endurance Challenge in Bear Mountain, NY. Someone told me that their trail shoes were really nice. I had never heard of them before so I was a little trepedatious. Seing their road version on a competitive runner at 50k Nats made me curious.

The Road X 233 is the middle shoe in a line of minimalist road shoes. There is the Road X 255 and the Road X 155. The heel to toe ramp angle on the shoes gets progressivly flatter as the shoes get lighter. The theory is that runners wishing to move towards the minimalist approach will be able to slowly work their way down in ramp angle as supposed to making the full jump all at once. Being that I’ve been running with a more minimalist approach for a while I went right down the middle with the Road X 233.

At first I thought that the toe box was too roomy for my taste. I was actually tripping over myself while walking at first. I may have ordered a 1/2 size too big as well. Regardless, from the first moment I put them on these shoes were comforatble. The first run in them was great. The ramp angle (heel to toe) on these shoes is about 5-6mm. They felt very minimal, but too too much so that I didn’t feel like I was wearing shoes. In fact, they felt like they had a fair amount of cusion even though the soles are pretty thin.

Speaking of the soles, they look like they the tire of an Indy car. That’s pretty different from most other running shoes. It’s pretty cool and makes me think I’ll run fast (yeah right!). The fact is that they work, and work well. The sole feels great when your foot contacts the ground.

So far this has been my favorite shoe to run in. The only drawback is that there is no drainage from the sole so this is more of a training and road race shoe, maybe not the best choice for a triathlon.

New Balance Minimus Road

The NB Minimus Road is, again, part of a series of minimalist shoes from New Balance. There are trail and casual version of the Minimus line. The MT100 and WT100 shoes were the precusors to the Minimus line. Being a big fan of the MT100 (and I still love running them) I really wanted to try the road version of these shoes. Not the biggest fan of of these. They just feel weird.

Saucony Grid Type A4

I raced Ironman Lake Placid and Rev3 Cedar Point Half Rev in the Type A4. They feel really good when you put them on. Super light, super minimalist. Great drainage through the sole of the shoe. Only downside is they are so minimalist that it’s hard to run more than 13-14 miles in them.

This Past Saturday

After the Team Continuum run on Saturday morning I went to Jack Rabbit on the Upper West Side to see my friend that works there. We did a little shoe testing. I ran in my Inov8 Road 155, Saucony Kinvara 2, Brooks Racer ST, and the brand new Brooks Pure Project Cadence. The Brooks Pure Project line was just launched to the public on Saturday so it was really cool to be testing them out. Turns out that neutral shoes are not the best for me (and that’s what I’ve been running in lately, see below). I over pronate just a little too much. But I really like the feel of a minimal heel-toe drop shoe. I like to strike with my mid-fore foot and shoes with too much drop in them make me feel like I’m stomping the ground. Then there was the Brooks Pure Cadence. WOW! This shoe felt amazing when I hit the ground. It’s only got about a 4mm drop in it so it works for my tastes. And then it’s got just enough support in it to stop my from overpronating, but I don’t feel the medial support through the stride. The video of my foot strike looked great in these shoes. They will be my next running shoe.

Sep 29 2011
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Blog, CREW, In Pictures, Race Reports

Rev3 Cedar Point Half Rev 9.11.11

There are so many aspects of this race that make my personal race exerpience completely worhtless in my opinion. So, to a certain extent, writing this seems like a waste. First of all I wasn’t there for me. I was there for my friends Bobby and Phil. They were both doing the Full Rev distance again this year. Last year I missed Bobby’s finish and then he was a rockstar for my at IMLP, so I had a debt to pay to this man. Maybe he didn’t feel like I owed him, but that’s why he’s a friend. I owed him…BIG TIME! And then I wanted to be there for Phil “The Machine”. The man is a beast and any chance to see him strut his stuff on the race course is really cool. On top of all of this it was the 10th anniversery of The 9/11 Terrorists Attacks. In true form, Rev3 did the day right and honored those that perished and our service men and women fight tirelessly to protect this country.

Cedar Point

The weekend started with a pretty uneventful drive out to Ohio. With one exception…the CD player in Anna’s car broke. I thought she was gonna pull over and freak out. We surfed the radio for hours. When we arrived at Cedar Point Amusement Park we went straight to packet pick up and then met up with everybody that was there (Phil, Kate, Bobby, Katie, and Bill). Off to dinner and then Target where some hilarity ensued. (hint: don’t put city kids in a Target with a credit card and a shopping cart. No bueno).

Transition and check in

Some sick ERC wheels

Who is excited to race? ME!!!

Cheese balls anybody?

Bill finally grew a pair!

And Anna just chopped them off

Saturday was a chill day with bike drop off, a little race prep ride and run, and most importantly our pre-race hibachi grill dinner. Last year we went to Samurai Japanese Steak House the night before the race and everybody raced really well. Why mess with a good thing. We hit it again. The only thing missing was John Hirsch Sr. ordering sushi like a rockstar.

a little bike prep

The ERC machine ready to fly

Bobby spending some time in the Recovery Pump boots

Pre Race dinner

Post dinner tattoo parlor

check out our sick ink!

Sunday was the usual pre-dawn wake up of long distance racing. Bobby got the coffee going and we all ate a bit. Then we headed to transition to drop Bobby’s bags off and so that I could set up my transition. After that we headed back to the hotel for our wetsuits and swim gear. The swim start is right out front of the hotel so we hung out for a bit and then went out to the beach. Hard to describe the energy on the beach between the race and honoring 9/11. Hopefully these pics will do it justice.

One flag for each person lost on 9/11

Tribute to The Fallen Hero

After the Full Rev racers were in the water, Bill and I had some time to kill. We walked around the beach were we met fellow johnhirsch.org CREW athlete Laura. John told her to start at the front of the swim wave and get out in front of the chaos. She was a bit nervous to do that but I told her to stick to the plan and get fiesty up there. (After IMLP where I got crazy aggressive in the swim start I’ve got no problem kicking or punching you out of the way in the swim start. Rubbing is racing).

My race went like this: decent swim of 36:36, good bike of 2:44:30 (20.42mph avg), crap run of 2:07:16 (9:43min/mi). Having not really been in the pool for 6wks, plus walking through the muck at water’s edge, I’ve very content with that swim. My goal was to bike race to T2 and I did just that. There was not a moment in 56mi that I laid off the gas. I held a measured push for the entire ride. If I could not feel the pedals I either shifted or pushed harder. I was out of the saddle on eveyr little roller. I didn’t know how I’d respond to this so this was my fun gamble of the day. Will definitely be pushing more on the bike in future races. The run was a disaster. Took me 2mi to get my run legs back which I should have expected having not done a brick in weeks. When I hit 10k to go I was feeling pretty good. I had found my legs and had a good turnover for about 2mi. I tried to hold this as long as possible. It didn’t feel like I was pushing too hard, just a solid turnover. But this all fell apart with 5k to go. Same spot that the wheels came off at Rev3 Qaussy. I was down to a death shuffle.  Not sure if it was the bike, the no training, or a nutition problem. In the end I had a PR of about 2min at this distance. Should have been a 10min PR so I’m a little bummed. But a PR is a PR and I’ve got to accept it.

After my race it was time to clean up, grab a quick bite and beer with Bill and then focus on Phil and Bobby. I spent the remainder of the afternoon cheering them on and playing sherpa.

Phil and Bobby getting ready to swim

Full Distance racers on the start line

Full Distance swim start

Phil the Monster came in looking really strong and ended up winning his Age Group. His wife, Kate, had a feeling he had wone but made us wait till he came around a bit to tell him. She quietly told me to go check the timing computers that Rev3 has set up (super cool touch) and, low and behold, Phil won his age group. Not only won, but won by 19min. DAMN! I came running back to him yelling and grunting that he won. He was in complete shock. So much so that he didn’t even believe me. About 10min later he made me go back and double check the computer. My response, “Hey Phil, the computer says the same damn thing it said last time I looked. YOU FUCKING WON YOUR AGE GROUP DUDE!”   I’m so proud of this guy. He’s one of the nicest guys I know and absolute monster on the race course. Such an honor to be there for this race.

Then it was time to focus on Bobby. I had seen Bobby leave T2 and he was looking pretty good. My only concern was that he told me he just peed coffee. I immediately started yelling at him to take in more fluids. Bobby went on to finish with an 8mi PR for a full distance race. ROCK ON! Then he got loopy. I’m telling you the stuff that came out of Bobby’s mouth was histerical. I was walking him and his bike to the car and it was like trying to corrale a 5yr with my hands tied behind my back. He told me he was gonna do his race report in interpretative dance. Then he walked over to a cone, stradled it, looked back at me as he threatened to squat on it and said “I saw this once in a porno”. The dude had me crying.

Bobby on the run

Bobby coming down the final stretch

We got him and Phil home and then we drank beer and ate pizza. Then we all crashed hard. Long day for everyone. In the morning we went to the awards breakfast. Last year we stopped by, but this year we had to celebrate Phil’s age group win.

Winner WInner chicken wings at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner

This was an amazing weekend and so proud to be apart of it. Funny thing is, I don’t give a crap about what I did for me. This wasn’t about me. This was for Phil and Bobby. You guys deserve it!

Sep 19 2011
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Blog, CREW, Race Reports

Kissena Fall Classic 9.17.11

I promise you that a Race Report from Rev3 Cedar Point is coming. I just haven’t had the time and patience to upload my photos. Also, I’m not sure how I want to write it.

In the meantime, this past weekend I raced my new ERC road bike at the Kissena Fall Classic on Saturday morning. It started with a furly ride over to Prospect Park and then my Cat 5 race started at 6:35am. My goal was to hang with Serge and his friend Paul. The two of them have been racing together lately and have had great results. My plan was just to hang in as long as I could because my last few races I’ve died in the last lap or 2.

The first 2, of 5, laps of the park were strong. I started to get worried about how much it was going to take to stay with the pack. But then laps 3 and 4 became a little more civilized. Still, absolutely no organization. As we started lap 5 I began to move up to the front. I knew I had choices. I could either stay in the pack for the sprint, or risk a big pull up front for Serge and Paul. I chose the later. I positioned myself about 5 back from the front as 2 guys made a breakaway attempt. Nobody really wanted to chase it down. I could tell Serge was getting antsy. He had done a lot of work in the front already. About half way through the lap I pulled in front of Serge and tried to keep the pace high for as long as possible. I pulled until my legs popped. Then I pulled out and let the pack battle the sprint.

I’m super happy with this race. I could have stayed with the main pack for the sprint but chose to help a friend. That’s a huge improvement in my book. Can’t wait to race bikes next season.

Sep 07 2011
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Blog, CREW, In Pictures, NYC running, Photos, Team Continuum, Training

In Pictures: CREW Rides Labor Day Weekend 2011

Having decided to race Rev3 Cedar Point Half Rev, my Labor Day weekend needed to be full of solid training. I need the training for training, but also needed to for confidence. I had to remind myself that I could cover the distances in the race and still have some left in the tank. Mission Accomplished! This is what it looked like:

Saturday morning I met up with Team Continuum in Central Park for a 90min run. John, Melissa, and I ran the whole thing on the Bridal Path. Lots of fun running with good friends. I ran for the first time in a pair of CEP Compression Leg Sleeves. I’ve always avoided trying them but I keep hearing that it’s really nice running in them from some runners that I respect. Had to give them a try. I admit, I LOVED IT! Definitely doing all my long runs and races in these things going forward. Sorry, no pics of the run.

Sunday was CREW ride day. While I thought that this was going to be an easy 4hr ride, it quickly turned into a 6hr/85mi hammer fest with a lot of climbing. It kicked my ass, but it gave me the confidence for this weekend. And I won the State Line sprint! First time for me. Felt really good.

Meeting at Grant's Tomb

look how tall John's socks are! (it's 75degrees out)

Quick water refill and pit stop at The Spoon

Christine looks perplexed at Steve and his gel

The Runcible Spoon. Caffeinating cyclists around the area

can't not show off the Evil Racing Cult bike

on our way to Little Thor

Henry and Steve putting the hammer down out to Little Thor

At the top of Little Thor

Christine showing off the caboose...John staring at it

On our way back to The Spoon for much needed food and coffee

I needed this

Anna and Henry making funny faces

CREW

I almost forgot. At some point this 20yr dude jumped in on the ride. Was a pretty good rider. Turns out he was doing the Adirondack 540mi ride in a few weeks. He was out there doing 180-200mi Sunday, and had done the same on Saturday. CRAZYNESS

Monday was the ride I had expected on Sunday. And easy 50mi out to Piermont and back. I did lay the hammer down for a bit for some reason. Maybe my inner Jens Voigt was coming out. I let up and was content not to sprint, but Steve had other intentions. He thought he could catch John and I chit chatting. WRONG! I was anticipating someone to try that. AS soon as he made the move aI jumped on his wheel and popped out to the side just in time for another state line victory. TWO DAYS IN A ROW!

Outside Bunbury Coffee in Piermont

Bunbury's Coffee Shop - one of my favorite places to stop on a ride

CREW chillin' on the curb outside Bunbury's

A great weekend training with Team Continuum and CREW. Friends, not team.

Sep 02 2011
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Blog, Motivation, Videos

Cedar Point Inspiration for Phil & Bobbo

My CREWmates Phil and Bobby are racing the Rev3 Cedar Point Full Rev next weekend. While I’ll be there to race the Half Rev and then do some sherpa work, I wanted to send them I little motivation to get them through the final week of taper. This is what I sent:

Boyz-

It’s almost that time again. Time to dig to the depths of your souls and find the inner strength that allows you to race evil. It’s just over a week away. All the work is in the books. Now it’s time to focus. Time to reflect on the last few months of work. Remember the good sessions. Find the motivation to be out there. Motivation to push. Motivation to embrace the hurt. Time to take the opportunity to make a dream, a reality.

You said you want to be successful
You want success more than you wanted sleep. You’ve given up sleep to prepare. You have done the hard work

Just remember, when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breath, THEN you’ll be successful

And when you’re in the depths of hell, don’t call it quits. You’re already in pain, you already hurt. GET A REWARD FROM IT.

DON’T GO TO SLEEP, UNTIL YOU SUCCEED.

See you in Ohio
G

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