Eric Cacciavillani: Qualifies for the Junior Olympics, after running a 4:48mile at 14yrs old!

Jun 25 at 10:14am | 0 comments

TriStar Athletes is proud of its first young Olympian!  Eric Cacciavillani recently qualified for the Junior Olympics in Atlanta under the guidance of Coach Haluk Sarci.

Marianella Chao; Eagleman: 'Crossing the finish line was one of the greatest experiences of my life.'

Jun 21 at 11:16am | 0 comments

Crossing the finish line was one of the greatest experiences of my life.   Felt like I had accomplished something great! It was an experience/journey that I will always remember and I thank couch Cliff for making it happen.   I enjoyed the journey so much that I am doing two more half iron this year.  

Carolina Campbell: Mooseman Half Report - "A wet day and a speedy run""

Jun 17 at 1:10pm | 0 comments

Swim = 39:54

T1 = 7:34

Bike = 3:49 (including a bathroom stop/flat fix/ridic hills!)

T2 = 7:31 (included slipping in the mud and a bathroom break)

Run = 1:53:44

 

Comments:

Swim = took a while to get a rhythm going; draft was tough; everyone all over the place and very spread out; the "across" part of the rectangle had us swimming into the current.  I felt great throughout entire swim, thought my time would have been a little lower to be honest..... (ie: 37/38 range)

 

Bike = conditions were just ridiculous.  A race official said that since this was the first year Mooseman was an official "MDOT" 70.3 race, they changed the course and realized that making us do those hills 2x was tough.  Said that they'd probably change it again for next year.  I was definitely slow on the bike (and felt slow) so feel like there is work to do here despite the conditions.  Headwinds/downpour/crashes everywhere.  I'd like to get my bike to a 3:05-3:10 for Timberman.

 

Run = felt great off bike (pacing strategy was perfect for me).  Run was in torrential downpour with lots of mud flats.  Tendonitis definitely kicked in on mile 9 so wonder if that slowed me down a bit.  My garmin had me doing 8:05/8:15mm pace up until that point.  Otherwise felt pretty strong.  HR was in check, didn't stop at all (ran the entire time) so think there is room for positive results here.  I'd like my run to be 1:45-1:48 for Timberman.

 

 Nutrition = def got it right in terms of no bonk, feeling strong the entire day.  Perpetuem is my friend!!  It definitely helped that the run was not in heat/humid conditions (stayed cool etc).  Need to work on the bloated belly feeling on the run (got through it but was not too comfortable on run)

Matt Chappell: Rev3 - "My primary focus for the 2010 triathlon season"

Jun 16 at 7:32am | 0 comments

The REV3 Quassy half was my primary focus for the 2010 triathlon season. With work, and business school on the weekends, my time for training has been somewhat limited this season.  While I questioned my ability to adequately prepare for a half-iron distance race in the end the extreme satisfaction that comes from training and REV3’s proximity to NYC made the decision to race a no-brainer.

Jeff Zink: "Good transitions kept me in the top 10"

Jun 09 at 7:29am | 0 comments

Swim 20:46
Bike 1:13:45
Run 46:20

Day 1 of the Redneck Training Camp in Knoxville TN:

Morning temps were in the low 50's and there was some serious thought about keeping the wetsuit on all day. Luckily once the sun began to rise the temperature warmed up nicely for a good day of racing. Asked the girl in line at the porta-john if she was going to wear arm warmers or anything for the bike. She told me to harden the f*&k up and just race, so shorts and jersey for me today. Ouch

The water was perfect when we jumped in for our wave. I got a little warm-up in and lined up on the inside line pretty much by myself. Got a great start and stayed with the leaders most of the way coming out of the water in 6th place.

The bike course was pretty interesting. Out through the UT Campus, across the bridge out of town and quickly on to some nice country roads. Fairly tight course with some hills, technical descents(saw a couple of wrecks), and a few flat sections to boost the avg speed. Definitely took some chances on the downhills, probably not to smart in hindsight(the roads weren't closed in both directions) but fun and it seemed to pay dividends. Off the bike still in 6th place. Gotta hang on for the run. (see earlier quote)

Legs were pretty stiff in the early stages but loosened up and some actual racing began to take place. It felt good to finally have some running legs in a race. I got passed by some speedster in my age group right before the final hill leading to the finish line and that lit a small fire under me. "Nobody else" came to mind and I "Hardened the f*&k up" and hustled to the line. Lost one place and finished 7th in the AG and 67th overall.

Good transitions kept me in the top 10 as there were a few guys right behind me at the finish.

Kate Bruck: Rev3, 4th overall. "The risk of failure is ALWAYS worth the glory of success."

Jun 08 at 2:40pm | 0 comments

REVOLUTION 3 OLYMPIC DISTANCE RACE REPORT

JUNE 5, 2010

Probably should not have run a 2.5hr long run on Wednesday in a pair of shoes that were completely spent...a quick stop in West Chester to get knew running shoes (I know, I know, running sin numero uno) and I was on my way to have a little sushi in Darien : ) and then Quassy on Thursday night. I woke up nice and early to make the 7AM practice swim on Friday morning and did one loop of the olympic distance. I was lucky enough to head into the water the same time as two female pros and one male pro. Held up with the female pros until they kept going to the half buoy (not trying to toot a horn here-- I'm sure they would still kick my ass in a race). Wish I could always go out with the pros instead of getting held up climbing over S L O W age groupers. Everyone said that the water was in the mid-60's...if that is mid-60, then I must have a core body temp of 65. Now I was really stumped...skin suit or wetsuit? Decisions, decisions...

Spent the rest of the day getting checked in, getting some ART from genius Dr. Kevin Maggs and trying to stay cool in that hot sun! I have already boiled away half of my brain at Disney 70.3 a couple weeks ago- so I figured it was time to head back to the Hampton and nap. Sorry hubs-- have fun registering athletes in that heat all day, I'll pick you up at 7P, he he he.

Weather forecast was looking craptastic, so I had plenty on my mind the night before, but managed to snooze for about 3.5 hours the night before the race-- a record for me!!! Up at 4:30, ate a bagel and honey and sipped on nuun. Made it to transition at 5:30...just in time for the rain to start...AWESOME!!! Got transition set up, headed over to womens restroom-- yes, that's right, I said WOMEN'S RESTROOM!!! No porta-johns to have to gag through, woo hoo! Chatted with some of the ladies there, then the convo turned to how annoying it was that even though there was a mandatory day-before check-in, they were still letting people register and check their bike in that morning. One of the ladies walked back to trans with me, bitching and moaning the whole time about everything that had gone wrong for her in the last 36 hours. I tried to serpentine walk to get her away from me, but she held on-- WTF, Debbie Downer, get the hell away from me!!! And this is precisely why I wear an iPod-- I don't like to get caught up in the pre-race bitchfest. Helped my good friend, Wendy-- a first time triathlete at this race (yay Wendy!), get set up, got the wetsuit pulled up (everyone else went w/the wetsuit, so no skinsuit for me) and headed down to the beach. Collected my pre-race triple smooch from the hubs and got to the front of the pack, waiting for our heat to go off. Looked around for the fasties, oh hell, none of these people look like swimmers... Gun goes off...high knees, high knees, high knees, dolphin dive, dolphin dive, dolphin dive...ahhhhhh S W I M. kick, punch kick punch (not me, of course) trying to find feet, trying to find feet. Found some feet and then as soon as I had them, we hit the slow-ass strugglers and then...well, FORGET IT!! I tried to find feet, but we were all doing the same thing-- the crappy swimmer dance/weave. Hit the beach at 23 mins, 15 secs, hit the mat at 24:05

Swim time: 24:05, Overal place out of water: 9th, age group place out of water: 1st, OA place out of trans: 11th, AG place: 3rd

YEAH, MY TRANSITIONS CLEARLY S U C K!!!

Head out on the bike, immediate uphill, yippee! Anyone who knows anything about Rev3 CT, knows that this and the half-distance is a BITCH of a course, a total ball-buster. I immediately sucked down a roctane gu (that had 2X's caffeine) which, for a girl who doesn't drink caffeinated beverages, is like crack. Seriously, I can feel it surging through my friggin veins. Put together two bottles of some carbo-pro and gatorade endurance. Heart rate was INSANE; I think that it was similar to that of a hummingbird. Gotta CALM THE HELL DOWN, Kate...uh, no time for that!! PUSH! PUSH HARD!!! Don't blow this bike leg like you did in FL!!!! Hills, hills, hills!!! And some sweet ass decents!! I am really crappy at descents, but just telling myself to suck it up and stay aero-- don't negate the benefit of these sweet new SRAM race wheels that I got to break in (courtesy of Cycels 54). Hit the wall (an insane uphill that evidently was so steep that some age groupers fell over), man, what a kick in the ass! Then I came on 'that guy'. You know-- that guy that you wind up going back and forth with for the rest of the ride. Passed one girl, then my "buddy" passed me-- who for a minute-- I thought it was the girl I just passed...and I told him that. Woops! Sorry, dude, didn't mean to say you look like a girl, but-- you're short, and probably weigh less than I do, soooo....Passed one more girl with about 2 miles to go-- she was holding on to me for a while, but gave up. Pull back into transition, was told I was 6th place female.

Bike split: 1:22:05, 18.86MPH, OA place off bike: 5th, AG place off bike: 1st.

Again-- too slow in the transition, BUT I had an AWESOME transition volunteer giving me my stats-- how many ahead of me, how many minutes each woman was ahead of me...thanks, dude!! Started off on what I was told was a beast of a run, hopefully my Bodman runs will help. God knows having fatigued hip flexors, gastrocs and rectus femoris on both sides won't! I felt like I was running a 12minute pace...wasn't really paying attention to the HR-- the chase was on! The first set of rollers? What rollers-- really did't feel them. Then the big ones set in, holy moly-- they were kinda tough. One biggie EVERYONE was walking up, hehehe, everyone but me! Passing dudes like road kill, God, I love passing guys! Passed one girl right before the out and back...ok, maybe I am NOT doing a 12min pace-- she looked like she was HURTING. Hit the turn-around and see two girls on my ass. SHIT!!!!!!! Get your shit together, Kate. Legs started to really fatigue. Hit mile five and only passed by two guys during the whole run leg, no women. I tried so hard to kick it in at the end, ugh it was tough. Hit mile six...realized at this point I would not be passing any other women, but just hoping those girls won't pass me. Finish line ahead, still passing men, woo hoo, SUCKAS!!!

Run time: 45:42, 7:22/mile pace OA race place: 4th, AG place: 1st. Total time: 2:35:17

Waited around to watch Wendy finish her first tri, yaaaayyy!! Got changed and hit the award ceremony-- got a free entry to a Rev3 event for my placing, woo hoo! Did I hear there is a Rev3 in Costa Rica?!?!?! Hmmmm...

Notes: This course is all it lives up to, very hilly! Rev3 puts on a great race-- they are very nice and the venue was great! Hmm, things I would do different? Not do a tough run in spent shoes days before the race; since there was no time to taper for this (I have bigger aspirations than winning the Rev3 oly distance), last week's training was fine-- gotta learn how to push on tired legs! I definitely HAVE to nail these transitions!!! They were awful in this race-- all of the top women had 45-60 seconds on my transition times. Also have to figure out how to tighten up my swim, there is no doubt I could be a little faster if I learned how to navigate the floppers better.

Thanks to Christian and my gang at Cycles 54-- you guys ROCK!!! Thanks to Foofers and my in-laws for coming to see me race, love you!!!! Thanks to friends and family for love and support!!! Thanks to Coach Cliff-- you are a friggin genius of a coach and so supportive!

Next up...KIC it tri on 6/27

The risk of failure is ALWAYS worth the glory of success.