And so the season begins...

Today was a good day...my first race of the season. I headed over to Marblehead for the JCC sprint (250 yard pool swim, 10 mile bike, 3.5 mile run) and it was a perfect day for a race.

I was excited, not because I was training for this race, but because my training has been solid for Lake Placid. Would I finally see if my training was paying off or not? On the one hand I thought I could do better than last year because I am being coached by a guy who has helped me make more gains in 6 months than I've made in 6 years. On the other hand, I wasn't being trained for this race. The intensity level is much higher in a sprint than in an Ironman. In a sprint, as many of you know, you basically go all out because it's relatively short. In longer races the intensity is lower because you need to save yourself for the long day ahead.

Coach Cap (Jeff Capobianco of Breakthrough Performance Coaching) made it pretty clear and reminded me that my training has been Ironman focused, not sprint. If it had been sprint focused my training would have been very different. So I was excited to arce, but didn't set my expectations too high. Plain and simple I wanted to do better than last year where my time was 59:44 and my place was 9th.

In addition to Coach Cap, I have been helped along the way by my swim Coach Craig Lewin of Endurance Swimming. Craig has prepared me well and my hope was to ease into the swim and get out in a decent time.

I truly am blessed to be in the business I am. I have access to the top cyclist in New England (Dean Phillips), the best Mechanics(Geoff Hull and Mark Saffer) and the best equipment. What I lack in an engine I make up in hard work. The bike went really well although I thought I'd be able to push it harder.

I was most concerned about the run. As I progress through my Ironman training my runs are relatively slow and steady. When I say slow I don't mean to offend anyone, but my E (easy) runs are like 10 minute miles. That's really where I've been running for several months without any speed work. The last time I ran a sub 8 minute mile was November or December. Before that it was last summer. I had no idea how the run would go.

Thankfully I've been seeing Sara Thatcher at Body Tuning every couple of weeks and she has kept my body in-line and strong. I really credit Sara's advice and direction
as the key for staying healthy and injury free (knock on wood).

So how did it go? I finished in a time of 57:24... over 2 minutes faster than last year! I came in 7th place overall and I'll certainly take it. Needless to say I am very pleased.

Congratulations to my buddy Kevin Reen who won the race for the second year in a row. Just awesome... My good friend and business partner Dean Phillips came in second today. Dean continues to amaze me. After an off-season of surgery, pain and frustration, followed by a serious TT crash last week, Dean still decided to race. He could have easily passed this up, so it was great to see him out there.

And of course kudos to my big brother Vin who came in 3rd... solid, solid, solid. He's also being coached by Coach Cap and his gains are impressive. Everyone keeps saying "Vin better watch out"... I don't think he has anything to worry about... his run is so much faster than mine. :-)

I also want to congratulate my friend Kelley T. who competed, and completed, in her first triathlon... Awesome job Kel! We are very proud of you.

What a day... surrounded by family, friends and customers on a beautiful sunny Sunday. Up next... the Mooseman 1/2 Ironman on June 6th.