Asheville Training

What a year it's been. With 2006 right around the corner, I can't help but think back to all the moments that made the 2005 race season such a memorable one. Here's a look back:

Boring base training aside, my real 2005 season started with a reunion of old teammates and close riding companions down in Asheville, North Carolina; the definitive Mecca for road training. Asheville was fantastic, as it always has been in years past, complete with great roads, great weather and best of all, great friends. Liz (finally!) got to join me this year and we had a great time together. After an overload week of bike and run training, I returned to the Northeast ready to race, and sure of a strong racing season to come.

My first race this year was the Shamrock Duathlon in Glastonbury, CT - my old stomping ground. I remember traveling to Connecticut for the weekend to pre-ride the race course with my good friend Sebastian who had made the comment: "if this is your 'easy' pace, your competition is in a lot of trouble". Confidence boosted, I slept soundly that night... Until I woke up to 45 degree, windy and raining weather on race morning. But despite the horrendous weather conditions on race-day, Sebastian's assessment of my bike strength was pretty close to the mark, as I dominated the race and kick-started my '05 season.

I was on a roll as I saw more success at the local Saratoga Duathlon. I remember the day of the Saratoga Du being one of the first truly hot and humid days here in the Northeast. Saratoga Springs, NY is a great town - several times this year I would do long bike rides up and around the Saratoga area, meeting Liz for coffee at the Starbucks on Broadway. Those rides, which I started in March (when the wind was blowing and the snow was flying) were some of my favorites of '05. The hard work certainly paid off, as I again walked away with a podium spot at Saratoga.

The Grafton Lake off-road triathlon and the Pine Bush sprint triathlon came around mid-season. I saw decent results at these events, but did not break into the podium spots. Don't get me wrong, I was very pleased with my performances, and in both events I found myself feeling strong and fast... But I was simply not strong and fast enough to place. And so after the Pine Bush triathlon, I took a step back from training with a week off from working out altogether, and re-structured my training for the remaining races of the season.

The Canal Cup was a great event to aim for an overall win. The format was as follows: 10k run on Saturday followed by a bicycle road race on Sunday - the fastest combined time for the two events would take home the Cup. For this event, I had focused the majority of my mid-season run training towards 10k performance, and the results paid off. With temperatures in the 90s and humidity to match, the hilly 10k race didn't yield any PRs, but I did manage to pull a second place spot. I had another ace up my sleeve too - my good friend and former road racing teammate, Tim, was in town and was ready to play domestique for me during Sunday's road race. Unfortunately, race morning found me under-recovered and blown from the 10k. I was barely able to walk down the stairs comfortably, let alone race at the front of the pack (with or without a domestique). Tim, on the other hand, had great legs that day, and so he went on to dominate the road race, and I wound up taking third overall in the Canal Cup competition. It was a lousy road race and a disappointing way to follow-up a stellar 10k run race, but having Tim around made it one of my 2005 highlights for sure.

Determined to win a triathlon, the Skinnyman race in Central, NY was my last big chance. Things lined up quite well going into this one - I had a full week of taper, fresh legs and extremely high motivation to win. The entire weekend was fantastic in fact, as Liz and I stayed in a snazzy bed & breakfast directly across the street from the race start and transition area. That day, I wound up having a great swim (though perhaps in retrospect slightly conservative), a strong bike, and a super run... Yet in the end, it was only good enough for another 2nd place. The pro? A perfectly executed race. The con? Well, I believe my words were: fuel for 2006.

In October I ran a marathon, and though I only treated the event itself as "just another long run" I do believe a slight bit of magic happened somewhere between miles 20 and 23. Without a doubt, I've never had to dig as deep as I did that day. But getting through it opened up the door for the next phases of racing distances. Coming through the chute, slowing the cadence down, hearing the cheers and throwing the Mylar over my shoulders... My season came to a close. Hobbling away from the tape, Liz helped me with a can of ice cold Coke and took my shoes from me. We walked arm in arm back to the car, and I remember thinking that my 2005 season couldn't have ended any better.

To be continued...