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Kona Twitter Time Trial: Lieto vs. Armstrong

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

There have been some crazy Twitter triathlon schenanigans going down this week. (If you aren’t already on Twitter, you are missing out. It is a huge time suck, but a lot of fun.) The short story is that Lance and uber triathlete Chris Lieto are both out in Kona training. Lance passed Lieto on the famed Queen K and proceeded to challenge him to a TT an invite anyone who wanted to join in too.

Lance Armstrong: Just passed @chrislieto going the other way. He was hammerin. Hey Chris, a little TT showdown on the Queen K tomorrow? You, me, and whoever.
Chris Lieto: @lancearmstrong see u on the Queen-K! Will have to be after 8am cause I have to swim first. Flying out mid day. Give me a call.
Chris Lieto: Swim at A Bay at 7am. See u there @lancearmstrong.
Lance Armstrong: Queen K Hwy TT Challenge. Tomorrow 9:30am. Start – Waikeloa Beach Dr to Kukio Nui Dr. 14 miles. Full gas. Take it easy on me @chrislieto.
Lance Armstrong: This won’t be a twitter ride. First ever “twitter time trial”
Chris Lieto: Official time for @chrislieto is 18:44. Thanks @lancearmstrong (think his time was 18:35) for a great TT.

Lets just say I am very jealous of anyone spending the week on the big island and got to join in on the fun. I was in Boston shoveling my car out of 6 inches of snow.

Pre Race Video:

Post Race Video:

I have to admit, while I’m a huge Lance fan and supporter of just about everything he does, I was definitely rooting for Lieto. For a triathlete to be able to crush Lance after a 3 mile swim workout would be pretty amazing. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. Lieto was only 15 seconds back, which is still a pretty amazing showing. Averaging around 35mph is pretty sick, tailwind or not.

Did you manage to spot the special guest appearance from Trakkers pro in that last video? Watch it again to see if you can spot her!

Tags: chris lieto, lance armstrong, queen k, trakkers, twitter time trial | Posted in Ironman, Triathlon, Videos | 3 Comments »

Lost Trail Running

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

Have you ever had something that you love doing, but for whatever reason, never do it enough?

For me, that is trail running.

I hate running on pavement. It is boring and lame. I love bounding over tree roots, climbing up boulders and jumping over streams. It beats dodging cars and icy sidewalks any day.

It also brings back memories of how I originally got hooked into running, high school cross country. It was pretty much the first sport that I found that I was good at and liked, so I put up with running indoor track in the winter and outdoor track in the spring just so I could be in good shape for the fall. Looping in circles on the track drove me nuts, but put me on a wooded trail and I’m as happy as a clam.

Now if only I could get better at not getting lost…

Hopefully more consistent trail running this winter will have me learning some of the local routes better.

Tags: trail running | Posted in Running, Videos | 2 Comments »

Lobsterman Race Report

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

Yesterday I closed out the 2009 triathlon season with the Lobsterman Oly. I know what you are thinking. Didn’t you just tear your legs off during the Ragnar Relay just one week ago? Yeah. About that…

The timing probably wasn’t the best as far as planning for a perfectly executed end of season race, but I just couldn’t turn it down. A teammate had registered for the race but couldn’t go anymore. I jumped up and made sure that his tickets to the lobster bake got put to good use too! I’d hate to see those poor little lobsters die in vain.

The venue was perfect. About 2 hours north of Boston in Freeport, Maine. Gorgeous coastline and nice quiet roads all along the course. It even started late (9:30 am) since we were waiting on the tide to come in.

The thing about an ocean swim in Maine in mid-September is that it is guaranteed to be C-O-L-D. A lot of people spent plenty of time in the water warming up, but I thought they were pretty insane. Especially when the water was still probably warmer than the air was early in the morning, I wasn’t going to join them. I dipped my toes in and that was all. My guess was that it was high 50s or low 60s.

After the pre-race meeting, my wave was called up. We walked down the boat ramp into the water and treaded water by the end of the dock until we heard the signal to go off. As we walked down into the water, each one of us gave a little squeal as the water came up above our waist. It is always entertaining to hear grown men squeal like girls, especially when we were all wearing bright pink caps.

I have to admit, I sang a few lines of “I feel pretty… oh so pretty!” while we were waiting for the gun to go off. Always gotta keep the pre-race nerves in check and make sure I’m not taking myself too seriously.

Not my swim wave, but here is the swim exit.

Pretty gorgeous course, right? It was pretty brutal too. It was probably one of the most aggressive swim starts I’ve ever been in and the waves and current made sighting a constant challenge. Thankfully it was a little warmer farther out in the water than it was close to shore.

The bike course was just as scenic. Beautiful country roads and more than enough rolling hills. There was almost a constant blowing wind from the front and the side. For a lot of the downhills I had to squeeze my legs on to the frame to stay stable. I’m usually really confident on high-speed descents, so that is saying a lot.

My legs felt surprisingly good. When I was pounding up the hills or laying it on to pass someone, I could feel a little extra hurtin’ in my quads. I was a little nervous about how running would feel, but I figured there was no reason to hold back on the last race of the season.

Once I made it to the run course, it was a different story. The first mile was all up hill and beat me up from the start. I was getting passed a lot, but was holding a pretty solid pace that I knew was sustainable. I just held on.

At the turnaround, I figured I was doing just about 8:00/mile. Nothing spectacular, and I knew I could have done a lot faster if I was better recovered, but I was happy with it. I turned up the throttle for the last 3.1 and drove it home, catching a few runners that passed me in the first few miles of the run.

My unofficial time was 1:43:33. It is surprisingly close to a PR for me! I’ll have to double check the official results and dig through my past results, but it was a pretty strong way to close out the 2009 triathlon season!

Me and Sunny comparing times.

And the best part, there was a huge post-race lobster bake and free beer! Me and a few other Wheelworks teammates claimed a spot on the grass, soaked up the sun and stuffed our face full of lobster. I went home smelling like Geary’s, lobster, seaweed and sweat. I call that a good day.

And some pre and post-race video:

Tags: lobsterman triathlon, olympic distance triathlon, triathlon race report | Posted in Race Reports, Triathlon, Videos | 3 Comments »

Ragnar New England – Ultra Relay Race Report

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

I survived. +31 miles. We made it from New haven to Boston. All +190 miles of it.

Here is the team, all decked out in our Brooks gear.

And the obligatory stupid group pose…

I was manning the second car for most of Friday, making sure whoever was out running knew where they were going and had plenty of water and calories. I was last in the rotation so while we started racing at 2pm, I didn’t lace up the shoes and hit the road until 9:30 at night.

I have run at night plenty of times before, but never like this. We were in the woods of eastern Connecticut. For the majority of my first 11 miles there wasn’t a single light anywhere in sight. No houses off in the distance, no street lamps, no head lights from passing traffic, no stars, no moon, just pitch black. With the exception of the tiny little 1 foot wide stretch of road that my head lamp and flash light gave me, it was like running on a treadmill in a dark closet.

I had no idea how steep the hills were ahead of me or where they topped off. I just kept moving forward, doing my best to spot tree branches, frogs and pot holes and jump over them just as they came into sight in front of my feet. It was completely insane/amazing/terrifying/exhilarating. I knew I was going out a little too fast, but I was feeling great so I just went with it. I polished off my first 10.9 miles in 1:28:40 (8:07 min/mile). That is faster than my half marathon PR pace, and I still had 20 more miles to go. GULP.

For almost every leg of the race, it rained. Sometimes it was a light mist, or a little sprinkling, but other times the skies completely opened up and let loose their fury. Some of us got it worse than others, but we all got wet.

After some more sherpa-ing, Chris, Greg and I (three not so small gentlemen) cuddled up and managed to get a few winks of sleep in my tiny little Mazda. At the very most, I managed an hour and a half of sleep. I felt surprisingly good when I woke up and the sun peaked through my windshield. The only problem was when my legs stretched out and my hips practically creaked and cracked. From being awkwardly curled up in my drivers seat while catching some Zs, my hips and gluts were killing!

I was already limping a little and I wasn’t even on to my second leg. Double gulp!

I bulldozed through my second leg, another 11 miles, taking a 1 minute walk break every 10-15 minutes. Uphills were nightmares, but downhills felt great and I could really open up my stride. I pushed through with 10 minute miles. Not nearly as impressive as my first leg, but I was happy with it.

Last leg. 9 miles = pain. My legs finally eased up so I could walk without limping (before I started) and I felt good keeping a nice even pace. The first 5 miles: I survived. The last 4: I was constantly on the verge of a emotional and physical breakdown. And THEN, the skies opened up and let loose on me. Quickly I got to the point where my clothes just couldn’t hold any more water and it didn’t matter anymore. Knowing that people were following me online and waiting for us to arrive in Boston was a huge motivator.

As I crossed the Charles River and turned the corner towards Harvard, I saw Sam (my girlfriend, personal photographer and number one cheerleader) standing in the rain by herself with an umbrella. I slowed down for a quick kiss and then the rest of my team came out to help run me in. We all ran through the puddles and drenching rain and through the finish line. It was one of the greatest finish lines ever. My team rocks the most.

Not only are the medals also kick-ass bottle openers, but team 5 guys, 1 girl, 140 Characters sponsored by @brooksrunning WON THE ULTRA CATEGORY! 27:10:17 is the time to beat for the inaugural Ragnar Ultra Marathon Relay!