MERRY CHRISTMAS, WESOLYCH SWIAT & FELIZ NAVIDAD

ASCENDING MOUNT CARDIGAN

Changing gears in the off season. To this end, Kasia and I embarked upon a hike up Mt. Cardigan to take advantage of a gorgeous Sunday, a week and a half ago.












Next time I might decide to run up that "hill" ;o)

-- Tomasz

MANCHESTER HALF MARATHON

So I did the Manchester 1/2 Marathon last weekend which some of you already know. It was a cold start. At least for me. I'm not a big fan of the cold. I started running pretty bundled up. I wasn't sure what to expect this year considering last year I had a personal record time and hadn't had a chance to train much due to some colds leading up to it. This year I was healthier but quite busy and my training was decent but not great.

Anyways, I started running trying to just keep a pace I felt comfortable with. I noticed at the first time clock on the route I was running at an o.k. clip considering that it usually takes a while to cross the starting line. At each pace clock I kept noticing that I was on track to come close to last year's time. My legs felt good and all the training on the hilly off road trails near my house seems to pay off since this is a fairly hilly course. The last mile or so is down hill to flat so I try to pore it on near the end.

The training I did do paid off since it was another personal record with a net time of around 1 hour 53 1/2 minutes. I did pay for it for a couple of days afterward with the inside of my legs being sore. I'm not sure if it is because I may run with a different stride on the trails or just not being used to running fast very often. Oh well. I was happy with my performance and looking forward to next year's race.

Jim

RETURNING TO PROVIDENCE

In July 2011, together with a few team mates, I will be returning to Providence to race Ironman Rhode Island 70.3, again. This will be my first start of the season in the new age group.

TOMasz

RACING IN FLORIDA HAS ALWAYS BEEN A TREAT

Back from the Great Floridian Iron-Distance Triathlon in Clermont. The race took place on Saturday, October 23rd. The race report and pictures are to follow soon.

The Great Floridian New Hampshire Team

24-hour countdown to the race

At the end of the day I finished 2nd in M45-49 and 10th male overall

www.greatfloridian.com

-- TOMasz

BACK TO FLORIDA......

... for my last race of the season. This time to compete in The Great Floridian iron-distance triathlon in Claremont, outside of Orlando. Dave, Joe, and Mike will be be joining me there on October 23. We are all ready and plan to have a lot of fun, there.

www.greatfloridian.com

-- TOMasz

SE BON ALLER, ALLER, ALLER ENCORE …..

This time we traveled to Montreal, Canada, to race in the Esprit Iron Triathlon on September 11. Its venue was quite interesting in that all the 140.6 miles (226 km) of swimming, cycling, and running took place at the Olympic Athletic Complex and was totally sheltered from outside traffic.

5AM warm-up at the Olimpic Rowing Basin

The gun went off at 7AM in the Olympic rowing basin and sent about 100 athletes on a 2.4 mile swim. The weather was perfect and the water temperature very comfortable. In about 10 minutes I settled into a comfortable pace and finished the first loop in about 34 minutes. Thinking, that I am on course for a 70 min swim I caught on to the feet of a swimmer ahead of me and stayed in his slipstream for the second 1.2 mile loop. Upon exiting the water, when I looked at my watch I could not believe my total swim time, as my Polar read 1hr 20 min. Initially, I thought the watch was broken, but it wasn’t. I had a lot of time to make up.

Riddled with quad cramps T1 took a little longer than I had planned. Once under control I was ready to pedal the 41-loop bike course in pursuit of my competitors. The closed-loop venue was designed on the professional Formula One car racing track, thus, the ride was fast, smooth, and protected from all motorized traffic. Nevertheless, the ride required constant attention to avoid collision with other cyclists on those sharp curves. Counting loops became a mind-numbing game until I heard the race announcer calling out my name letting me know that I just have completed loop # 36. OK, five loops to go. I knew I was having a great day on the bike but never in my dreams would I have thought I would finish the 112 miles in 4hrs 57mins. Yes, for the first time in an Iron-distance race I have broken 5hrs on the bike.

With a big smile on my face I entered T2 for a quick change into the run. Everything was going great. I have even forgotten about my swim. The run consisted of 9 loops around the rowing basin and was perfect for the crowds watching the race and for athletes to keep an eye on the competition. The sun was beating down hard. There was not a single cloud in the sky for the entire day. I started feeling the hardship of the run during the seventh loop. At that time I had to force some food into my stomach and make sure to ingest enough electrolytes. In the end, all had worked out as planned, as I crossed the finish line in 10 hrs 34 min placing 9th overall and 4th in M45-49 age group. As it turned out, M45-49 had ruled the day as four of us finished among the first 10 athletes.

Two more loops to go

Breaking the tape

Sunday was a family day. It was spent traversing Montreal and watching the professional bicycle race of Astana, Saxo Bank, Radio Shack, Garmin, Bbox, and other teams. These guys made climbing steep hills look effortless. I suppose, watching Ivan Basso leading the peloton on a couple of loops was an icing on the cake culminating a great weekend.

Montreal's panorama

The Olympic Stadium

Basso leading the race

In hot pursuit

They made it all look so easy

-- TOMasz

PLANNING FOR THE 2011 RACING SEASON

I suppose, it is never too soon to start planning for the next Ironman triathlon season. Therefore, my first official registration is for Ironman Louisville, which will take place on Sunday, August 28, 2011. It will be a nice, although brief, return to the Midwest which served as our "home" when we first came to the United States. I hope some of you can join me there.

-- TOMasz

STOAKED OFF-ROAD TRIATHLON OR XTERRA HALF BLIND

Stoaked Off-Road Triathlon or Xterra Half Blind

Overall it was pretty nice day for a race. It was cool in the AM but not excessively so. I was at the water with plenty of time and hoped that my whole two weeks of training prior to the race would pay off. (I wouldn’t advise anyone of this method but didn’t have time from the beginning of summer until later July.) The race started and I started out toward the end of the pack to avoid what happened anyways. I ended up in a big crowd of people and got anxious. I had to swim with my head out of the water for a bit and then I decided to head to the outside and this helped quite a bit. After that I didn’t have any problems.

I exited the water feeling pretty good about where I was located within the pack. This ended at the transition out of the water. I lost a decent amount of time changing into sneakers before going by the timer. Twenty eight plus minutes. Oh well. Next I headed to where our bikes where located which was quite a few hundred yards away and up a decent size hill, change into bike shoes and head off. While in transition I notice I wasn’t seeing quite well and thought I had a contact that slid up in my eye socket. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case and I went through the rest of the race with just one contact. It made some of the technical sections of the bike course more technical. The bike course also seemed different than when I did the race two years ago with a different entry area. It had as much or more single track and a lot more hills than last time. It was a fun ride though if a bit growling due to the lack of training. An hour fifty minutes plus.

Next was the run. Of the three disciplines it is the one I had the most training in in the prior two weeks. (Unless you include commuting to work on bike.) The run was the usual route they’ve had in years past through gravel paths and a big, hilly field. Fifty plus minutes for a 3 hour ten minute plus overall finish. Quite tired in the end but I finished and had a heck of a lot of fun.

TOMmy

7,018 CALORIES LATER…..

Waiting for athlete 1884

Is it crowded enough for you?

…, tired, but elated, I crossed the finish line of the 2010 Ironman Lake Placid. But, before going any further I wanted to say thank you to all my family and friends who were with me in-spirit, in-person, or on the Internet to cheer me on.

The day (Sunday, July 25th) started for me at 3AM with a quick shower and a 20-minute carbo-loading of about 2,000 calories. There was a light rain drizzle and it was anybody’s guess what weather will unfold for the race because Lake Placid is well-known for rapidly changing weather conditions.

The gun went off at 6:45AM for the professionals and at 7AM for the age-groupers. After about 300 meters of being swam over and under I found my rhythm and enough open water to finish the 2.4 mile swim in 1 hr. 12 min. A quick wetsuit peal-off by friendly volunteers set me off for a 400 m sprint to the transition. Following a slip on a wet runway and about 8 minutes later I mounted my bike for a 112 mile journey. I remember having this great sense of physical and mental freshness as I started descending the access ramp onto the main road.

I felt great climbing the first hill out of Lake Placid, as those who swam faster started coming back to me on the bike. The famous six-mile downhill to Keene recorded a speed of 47 miles/hour on my speedometer. Definitely, not the time to catch a flat or have any sort of a misfortune. I continued strong for the two bike loops despite the somewhat demoralizing head-wind from Wilmington back to Lake Placid in the last 10 miles of each loop.

A quick transition from bike-to-run put me in the final stretch of the race. I continued feeling very good. My legs felt fresh and eager to run. Only 26.2 miles to run, I thought, as I passed the cheering spectators lining up the downtown streets. My strategy was simple. Eat, drink, and take-in enough electrolytes to prevent muscle cramps and keep mental focus. All worked very well that day and the last mile and a half on the run was just amazing. It has been a little while since I had as strong race such as Ironman Lake Placid. Totally elated and full of emotions, I entered the Olympic oval for the last 195 meters. Crossing the finish line with my family and friends watching me there or live on the Internet made this race even more special. My finish time was 10 hrs. 43 min., good to place 29th out of 360 athletes in the M45-49 age group.

This is my last year before aging up to M50-54 in 2011, but before this happens I have two more Iron races this year: The Montreal Esprit Iron in September and The Great Floridian at the end of October and I plan to show up for both of them as I did in Lake Placid. Again, thanks to those who cheered for me.

Total happiness

Lining up for positions

Sprint to T1

Almost in T2. Two more corners left

Out of the transition. The first 200 meters

Mile 16th

Picture worth a thousand words

The cheering crowds were there to the end

Elvis has entered the house

And so did this athlete


The 17th hour. The party went on until the very end

Until next time. -- TOMasz

FOUR INGREDIENTS FOR COMPLETING AN IRONMAN

This year’s Ironman Lake Placid, and the family vacation that came along with it, will likely serve as one of the best memories of my lifetime. This is so, for so many reasons. First, Stephanie, Ryan, Meg & I had a tremendous time in LP. The location is idyllic for family time. Ryan and Megan enjoyed swimming, playing, live music, friends around the fire… and we enjoyed watching them have such a great time. Second, I really did learn something about myself this week. Well, maybe a few things… I learned that there are four key ingredients to completing an ironman… and I also learned that my training could be a hell of a lot more consistent!

So, now on to the report (I’ll share the 4 things that I learned within). We arrived via the Essex ferry in the Adirondacks aboard our 31’ RV. This was our first experience in an RV, and it was a good one. They make for the perfect race camp, allowing us to cook our own meals throughout the week. The RV was also essential for rest, particularly when the clouds came and the sky opened up. The beginning of the week was spent getting acquainted with the water and enjoying the area. We met Ben from Paris, our first night at camp. He and his lovely family came over for a camp fire and to discuss the course. Up early the next day, out on the bike with Ben. I had not seen the run course, so this was a particularly informative ride. Two loops, that was going to be tough! Not really any flat spots on the course either, more like a couple of big hills, mostly rolling hills… Spent the rest of the week relaxing as racers began to show up. Registration was quick and easy on Friday as were the several swim laps that I was able to do on the swim course. LP has a neat little “line” that is 5’ below the surface, perfect for staying on track while swimming! Todd, Duxbury, Tomasz, and even Tom Bircher and Cheryl Bush arrived in LP. Had a nice fire with all as the pre-race jitters began to settle in…

Race day. I slept most of Saturday, so that doesn’t make the report. Up at 4am. Shower. Gear check. Walk 1.5miles to the start (boo). I was confident that I had all my gear ready… where were my special double-secret weapons? Oh shit! I forgot my peanut butter tortillas I had made for the bike! Double shit! Oh well. Found Todd and Dux just before walking another country mile to drop off my special needs bags. We walked back to the swim start together. The swim start at IMLP is like any other mass start… like fitting a hundred pounds of fighting puppies into a 50 pound bag! Held the dock, and before too long, we were off.

Ingredient #1: Find a mantra: who/what are you doing this for in the first place.

A year before, I was volunteering for IMLP, and was able to have a VIP pass to watch the swim from a balcony overlooking Mirror Lake (Thanks to Rod!). After one lap of the swim, there were several folks who simply quit. The pounding from the other swimmers was too much. Their heart rate got out of hand. They just weren’t ready. Whatever the case, I knew going into the water that I was coming out only after 2 laps, and that I was getting on that damn bike. I stuck to the line. Despite a few feet to the face and getting swam over early, I stuck to it. In my mind, I thought of only one thing, I forced myself to focus on my mantra, the person for whom I was doing the race: Stephanie.

I have done many, many races in the past. This was the first that I dedicated to her. This proved a good decision… her face lit up when I told her that this one was for her and her only… and… when things got tough (and trust me, with my times, they got tough) I was able to focus only on her. I simply shut out everything else in the world. There was no noise. No pain. Just me and her. I would breathe, picture her, pull, breathe… and before I knew it, I was out of the water. To my surprise, there were many bikes still on the rack!

I won’t spend too long on the strippers (Todd(just before the swim start): “you know my mom is a stripper, right?” Jason: “huh~!@!?” Todd: “um, wetsuit stripper…” Jason: “ohhhhh.”… duh!)…. Or spend a lot of time on the disgusting transition/mass nudity tent… looking around, the water must have been cold though J So very quickly it felt, I was out on the bike…

Ingredient #2: Get to the run.

The bike course began with my first two HUGE mistakes (of many) in this race. I had underestimated the hill coming out of Lake Placid and headed toward Keene. All week long I had talked about the first 16 miles of the race being downhill to Keene. I received a few looks when I said this, but shrugged them off, for whatever reason. Turns out, there is one huge young-momma -shut –the- front –door hill that seems to go on forever and forever, just as you begin the bike. And it was pouring. Was it going to pour all day? Just get to the run and remember why you are out here… that’s all I kept saying to myself. The course was 2 laps, 56 miles each. I knew I could get through the first one… I’d save the second for later! My second colossal mistake occurred almost immediately on the bike as well. I had scooped a bunch of sustained energy drink powder into my profile design aero bar water holder the night before, when I racked my bike. It didn’t mix. My first big pull on my drink was almost all powdered, straight down my throat…. Yuck. It took about 60 miles to recover from a horrible feeling in my stomach.

The second lap on the bike was easier in some ways then the first. I had already had two flats. I had eaten a block of powder. None of that occurred on the second lap. It was just smooth (SLOW) sailing as I doubled the course. Ps. Bike course: F.U. to the papa bear hill, it is a monster. Here’s a look at the ugliness:

Ingredient #3: the race box.

112 miles on the bike, and oh yeah, now time to run a marathon. I knew that the bike was a solid 2 hours longer than I had hoped for. But armed with ingredient 1 and 2, I knew I could keep going. I thought to myself “they will have to drag my cold dead body from this course at this point!” The bike and run course were very family/fan friendly. I had already ridden by Steph, Ryan and Meg a couple of times, now it was time to see them on the run. About a mile in, there they were, cheering! Ryan was cute… ran along side of me and simply said “get going big boy!” and spanked me on the fanny! Off I went on what was to be a very, very long journey.

The race box is the term I learned from some Ironman website, some time ago. It refers to focusing only on what you can do at any one moment to make it to the next thing that you can make it to. On the bike, this might be the next aid station (or in my case, port-o-potty) or next bike loop. It’s a big race box because you’re moving pretty fast. On the run, the box is much smaller. It might start out by being every mile, but very quickly, it becomes, that tree up ahead, that crack in the sidewalk. The trick is to think about ingredient #1, and stay within your box. This was hard. At IMLP, there’s a doubly sneaky reason this is so hard. Once you do the out and back on the back side of course, you have to come back into town, then run a mile beyond the finish line and a mile back to head out on the second loop! All the while, fans are yelling you’re almost there! On the first loop, this was crazy, I had 13 plus miles to go, and everyone was yelling “Jason, you’ve done it, you’re almost there!!!” Ug. Stay in my box. Left right left right left…. And back out on the course I went. It was a dark and lonely second lap. Once there, I knew I could finish… though I wasn’t feeling all that great about the time. I also knew that Steph and the kids would long since have headed off to bed. I was really lonely.

Coming into town, my loneliness didn’t lift… not until I got to the dreaded out and back… the 2 miles of hell as I referred to it… and Steph was there! Ry in the stroller, asleep, Meg on her back. The thought of her had sustained me for 138+ miles, of how strong she was, how much never-quit, and there she was with both kids in tow, at nearly 11pm. She really is the iron one… not me!

Ingredient #4 That Feeling…

There is no feeling like finishing in ironman. This ingredient is as important that the rest. No matter how your race goes (and nothing goes as planned)… hearing those words “Jason Vallee, you are an ironman,” and persisting for all of the reasons above is something I’ll have forever.

Post race note. Steph carried my stuff, the kids, gear bags, and nearly me… as we walked the 1.5 miles back to our campsite.

THAT IS WHY WE DO IT

The 2010 Ironman Lake Placid race report coming up soon.

A SOLID START TO A BUSY SEASON

Greetings,

My first race of the season is behind me ;o). The day (July 11th) opened up with a nearly cloudless sky at the Narragansett Beach, which hosted the start of the 3rd edition of Ironman Rhode Island 70.3. It was my season opener and a perfect opportunity to assess my fitness level prior to Ironman Lake Placid next week and the Great Floridian in the early Fall.

As it turned out, the hard training has paid off. Throughout the race day I felt strong, comfortable, and well nutritioned and hydrated, and while my overall race time was a bit slower than last year, I was able to finish strong in 11th place (out of 139) in the M45-49 age group. Strong ocean currents on the swim and quite challenging head-winds on the bike and the run slowed down everybody’s time, including the pro men’s winner, Terrenzo Bozone, who was unable to break the 4hr mark.

The swim (37 min) was quite challenging. High waves and strong currents made sighting difficult. The bike course took us from Narragansett to Providence exposing some of the most beautiful landscapes of Rhode Island. After 2 hrs 44 min in the saddle and a quick transition, I was running through Providence where the temperature started to exceed 90F before 10AM. It took me about 25 minutes to get my “running legs” and see my run speed increase. The run course was nicely designed, though, quite exposed to the hard-beating sun. Fortunately, plenty of hydration, water-sponges, and the head-wind offset some of that heat. Finally, with a few more miles left in my legs, I crossed the finish line after 1 hr 43 min of running to place 11th in my age group (total race time 5 hrs 14 min).

As always, my support team was there to cheer me on. Kasia, Damian, Ania, Beatka, Jarus, Dorotka, and Dave made this day very special. Also, a huge thanks to all who followed and cheered me on on-line.

Next Sunday, I will be racing Ironman Lake Placid. You can follow that race at www.ironman.com. Best -- TOMasz

And this is how it looked in pictures

5 AM on Sunday

A strategy session with age groupers

Getting ready for a warm-up swim

The real deal. 6o seconds till the gun shot

Out of the water

Out of the gates on the bike

Live free and tri

Spectators lined up the entire course

That's how Damian found my bike in T2

About 5 miles to go

Finishing with a smile

The final stretch

Seconds after crossing the finish line

With my support team