Category: Training

This section will display all of my posts regarding my training and updates.

New Jersey ½ Marathon, Long Branch NJ (May-1-16)

Posted on by Anthony

After qualifying for the 2017 Boston Marathon at this year’s Los Angeles Marathon, there was no reason to race another 26.2 miles before the triathlon season, so I downgraded from the full marathon to the half.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

I drove down on race morning and got to Monmouth Park a few minutes before 6am. The race started at 7:30, so I plenty of time to pick up my race number, chat and take pictures with friends and sneak in a short warmup jog.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BE3RxA3PDv5/

^Can you spot me?

The first wave to go at 7:30am were the wheelchair athletes. A minute later, the Elite wave started. And then another minute later, my wave started. I’m still unsure why the race director did not start my wave at the same time as the Elite wave…especially since the Elite wave consisted of both men and women running the half and full marathons. Nonetheless, that meant I had some ‘rabbits’ up the road to chase down.

After hitting the first mile at 5:45, I actually felt pretty relaxed. I crossed the 5km around 18 minutes and by the 10km mark, I had faded slightly, clocking in at 36:38. The fade continued and by mile 7, I decided that I would continue my efforts until I hit the 10 mile marker. I crossed 10 miles around 58 minutes in, then dropped the pace down to 6:30 for the remainder of the race.

 

After running 13.1 miles through Monmouth County and Long Branch completely alone, I found myself running down the finisher’s chute in 1 hour and 19 minutes. Although I would have been completely content with slowing down, giving high fives and enjoying the crowds near the finish area, I had no choice but to speed up in the last bit to finish in JUST under 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Finish time – 1:19:50, 10th place

The race was a fun experience and I took home exactly what I wanted – a hard solo run effort on fatigued legs. I would have liked to wrap up this 22-hour training week by cheering on the marathoners, but Mother Nature had other plans, and with downpours, I decided that the best course of action was to warm up, get back to the car, and start the recovery process.

Congrats to all the 2016 Novo Nordisk New Jersey Marathon and Half Marathon finishers. Shoutout to Otto, Pace Team Coordinator, and his team of 45+ pacers!  (Pretty much everyone I knew running was a pacer).

 

Next up is my first triathlon of 2016! 

May 14th – Kinetic Half Ironman, Lake Anna, Virginia

See you out there! 

Boston Marathon Weekend “Race-Vacation”

Posted on by Anthony

This past weekend marks the longest time I have spent in Boston! I was there from Friday through Wednesday, highlighted by all the touristy stops, the B.A.A. 5km on Saturday, over 180 miles of cycling over 4 days, and, of course, spectating the 120th edition of the Boston Marathon.

Friday was very relaxing. I picked up Christina from Logan airport in the morning, then we spent the rest of the day checking out the sights and sounds of Boston. We did an easy 4 mile run and checked out the marathon expo. In the evening, we met up with Karen and Sean for Regina’s Pizza in Allston. It was great to catch up with them!

On Saturday, we walked from the hotel to Boston Commons for the B.A.A. 5km. The 2.5 mile walk took us just under 40 minutes. I’ve never warmed up for a 5km by walking 2.5 miles, but you know what they say…”always try something new on race day!”

[If you follow me on Instagram, you might remember my collision with a car on March 31st – the event left me with abrasions, bruises and a very tender right LCL. I went from running 50 miles a week to virtually 0 for two weeks. A few days before the 5km, the knee pain had subsided, giving me hope that I can restart running again. But was racing a 5km a good idea?]

In short, the 5km went well with a finish time of 17:31. That put me 96th overall in a field filled with a lot of fast professional runners.

2016-04-16 10.36.36

We spent the rest of Saturday doing touristy things, checked out Quincy Market, went to the Sam Adams brewery tour and eventually had dinner at Stephanie’s on Newbury.

On Sunday, I woke up super early and headed out for a 3 hour bike ride out to Dover. Saw some turkeys on my way out and then some more on my way back to Boston. The ride got pretty chilly in Dover, with temps dipping down to 27 degrees. I was back at the hotel before 8am for a quick shakeout run with Christina. Good thing she was having breakfast so I had a generous window of time to shower and prep for the run.

2016-04-17 09.14.15

Later that day, we did more touristy things – checked out Quincy Market a couple times, visited the New England Aquarium, and walked along the Freedom Trail.

Marathon Monday!

We got up nice and early and was out of the hotel by 6:30. We got shuttled to Boston Commons where we met up with Team Chocolate Milk teammates Dougin and Jill. They all got on the cheese buses around 7:30…so that left me with 4+ hours to kill before I could spectate the race.

I jogged back to the hotel – a quick 2.5 miles from the Commons. I got on the bike and did a quick 47 mile ride out to Concord. I had a route planned for 50 miles but once I got to Concord, there was a parade going down one of the main streets so I had to take some side roads to avoid the crowds. In the end, I still got some good sweet spot efforts on the bike and was back at the hotel before 11am.

I spent the rest of the day spectating and tracking the marathoners. It was an unusually warm day so everyone that I was tracking had faded on the latter part of the marathon (which allowed me more time to cheer along the course). Karen and I met up and cheered at Coolidge Corner. Christina was wearing a pink hat so that was the item to spot. And to our surprise, there were a lot of pink hats! Nonetheless, Christina passed Coolidge Corner (mile ~24) and looked strong. Later on we met up at the finish and had dinner & post-dinner night caps with Dougin, Jill and Christina’s parents.

All in all, I had a very enjoyable and relaxing time in Boston and Cambridge. I got to spend some quality to friends and experience the glory of the 120th running of the Boston Marathon. I look forward to running the 121st Boston Marathon next year! 

 

Race Week: IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship

Race Week: IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship

Posted on by Anthony

I’m back!

It has been a hectic summer juggling a few MBA Accounting courses while working more at the shop and training more! The last two months have been focused on dialing in my 70.3 race performance. As I write up this, I am en route to Zell Am See via Lufthansa. My PFC Team Elite teammates are fast asleep (maybe I should be too).

Earlier this month, I raced the Riverhead Rocks Olympic distance triathlon. After spending a lot of time this summer in the pool, my swim time has dropped significantly, which helps set me up in a better position on the bike. Once on the bike, I was very comfortable within the first 5 minutes. The wattage was exactly where I wanted, rolling in at 260 watts NP.  Going into T2, I was 2nd position with a 20-30 second deficit from 1st. The 10km run course featured 2 loops and I worked my way up to 1st after we passed the 1 mile marker. I made a strong push to take the lead and didn’t look back! The run split was 38:15, with some negative splits on the flat course.

Winning the Riverhead Triathlon certainly gave me the morale boost that I needed for my final couple of weeks of training leading up to 70.3 World Championships in Zell Am See, Austria. Fastest bike split doesn’t come easy, especially weighing 63kg. Thank you to all of my sponsors – CEEPO Triathlon bikes, PFC Elite Team, SCODY Australia, Rudy Project, Newton Running, ISM Seat, Zone3 Wetsuits.

I’ll have more pictures and updates coming soon!

Wish me luck 🙂

Click the picture below for some real-time updates via Facebook & Instagram!

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