Tri One On presented by Brickwell Cycling [June 19, 2016]

Posted on by Anthony

The local triathlon community on Long Island and in New York City seems to be growing and it was a pleasure to see so over 500 enthusiastic athletes at the 20th Annual [Gold Coast Triathlon] Tri One On presented by Brickwell Cycling & Mutisports, in Port Washington, NY. Lots of clubs were out there including LITC, City Coach, Tri Latino, MAD Multisports, and Empire Tri. This race is very short comprised of a 500m swim, 10.5 mile bike and 3 mile run. And new for year was the option to race in the duathlon, which replaces the 500m swim with a 1.5 mile run.

First off, I want to thank Race Director Karen Laible and her team of coordinators and volunteers for putting on such a stellar race. A lot of behind-the-scenes preparations and planning goes into the event. Always remember to thank your race director and volunteers!

Also special shoutouts to Brickwell Cycling and Multisports for providing bike and technical support and for sponsoring the race!

Thank you Terry for announcing!


After providing bike support with Brickwell Cycling during the 2015 edition of Tri One On, I had gained familiarity with the course. The swim was point to point along the shore, followed by two loops of the bike and run.

Fortunately, I was put in the first wave to start the race. We were off shortly after 7:45am. The swim took me 8:20, which included a ~100m run up the beach towards transition. As I entered transition (in 2nd), the guy leading the race had grabbed his bike and was exiting transition. I quickly mounted the Viper and went to town on my legs. Not wanting to know my wattage and race by feel, I kept my watch on my wrist and out of sight instead of placing it on my handlebars. Within a mile, I overtook for 1st position. 26 minutes on the saddle was all that it took to finish the 10.5 mile bike.

Off to the run! Again, I ran based on feel so I was not worried about my overall time. After the first turnaround at mile 1, I spotted Bobby in 2nd position about a minute back. I kept my effort basically the same for the rest of run and clocked 17:11 for the 3 miles, finishing in 53:28.

Because of wave starts, it was uncertain if I had taken the win or if I would be edged out. Unfortunately, the latter certainly happened and I was bumped into 2nd overall by 7 seconds by Ross McGraw of CityCoach. Kudos to Ross for running nearly a minute faster and crushing the course! Another kudos goes to fellow CPTC-NB teammate, Nicole Falcaro for securing a dominating 3-year consecutive win.


Tip: You can shave 7 or more seconds if you opt for running without socks. 

Tri One On sprint triathlon wraps up another productive week of training.

Next up is Ironman 70.3 Muncie, Indiana in 3 weeks time. Full race schedule here.

Mark your calendars…June 18th, 2017 will be the 21st-edition of Tri One On.

See you out there!

Revolution3 Quassy half aquabike [June 5, 2016]

Posted on by Anthony

After racing the 2015 edition of the Quassy half ironman triathlon and suffering on the 13.1 mile run, I was quickly attracted to the idea of the ‘aquabike’ category for this year. Swim, bike, DONE!

The day before I had raced in the olympic distance triathlon – you can find the race report here.

Let’s fast forward to the aquabike.

The half [ironman] distance triathlon started at 7am. My wave was 25 minutes later, along with all of the women 35 and under racers. This was a pleasant experience since I got to swim with a bright pink cap for the very first time!

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no rush here…

Because of the relatively late start, I was able to find plenty of company in the water. Cloudy conditions made sighting the neon yellow and orange buoys quite elementary – and after 34:01, I emerged from Lake Quassapaug towards my bike.

I got on the CEEPO Viper and started hammering away. I have done this course twice before, and had shaved 5 off about five minutes from year to year. I wanted to keep the trend going despite the wet and rainy road conditions. [The announcer advised racers to deflate their tires down to 80psi; I kept mine at a 110psi]. Knowing that I would be done with my ‘race’ after finishing the bike course, my goal was to squeeze each and every last watt out of my legs.

So here it is:

I was able to shave off another 5 minutes off of last year’s bike split, and in doing so, I was the first ‘aquabiker’ to cross the timing mat.

Winning the aquabike category was an excellent way to cap off my 3rd consecutive year racing at Quassy. This race has become a benchmark of my triathlon season and I’m relieved to see Revolution3 #BackInBlue put on such a top-notch event.  

Revolution3 Quassy Olympic triathlon [June 4, 2016]

Posted on by Anthony

Hello again!

This was my 3rd consecutive year racing in Quassy, Connecticut. Instead of contesting the half ironman race on Sunday, I opted for the olympic triathlon on Saturday followed by the half aquabike (1.2 mile swim & 56-mile bike, NO run). For the 2016 edition of the race, the professional men field returned to compete for a $15,000 prize purse. My goal was to see the time differentials between the professionals and me.

Here we go!

On Saturday [June 4, 2016], Katie and I rolled into transition with plenty of time to spare. Due to fog, the buoys were not visible, so the start times were delayed by half an hour. The pro men went off and then five minutes later, I was splashing in Lake Quassapaug.

Naturally, my lack of swimming resulted in a 26:49, 1500-meter swim. Good thing I had my super comfortable Zone3 Vanquish wetsuit – it rolled off with ease in transition and after a 85 seconds, I was on the bike and ready to hammer away.

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Within a couple of minutes on the bike course, I was hitting my target power output while feeling in control of my breathing and overall exertion. The faster swimmers were already way up the road so I had plenty of targets to pin down and overtake. The 25.8 mile course (~41.5km) took 1:09:04 to complete, good for the 3rd fastest amateur bike split of the day!

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The second transition took 43 seconds and with only 10km of running left, I wanted to catch as many guys as I could. Mile 1 of the run was conservative, especially since it was primarily downhill – you do not want to fry your run legs in the first 10% of the run! After two miles, I was able to cruise past two guys. On the approach to mile three, I passed another and after mile four, I reeled in Eric Florio, a superb swimmer who was 7 minutes ahead of me out of the water! Mile four to five was downhill and the last mile was uphill…a lonely two miles where there was no one in sight to catch. And after 38 minutes and 46 seconds on my feet, I finished in 2:16:47. This was good for 12th overall amateur and 5th in the M25-29 age group.

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The Quassy olympic distance course was a humbling experience.

It kept me honest on both the bike and run; to perform conservatively and saving some ‘oomph’ for the kick up the final climb and over the finishers line…and then into an ice bath!

The swim is slowly coming together and needs the most work – good thing I have about 4 months until Ironman Kona. My cycling and running are both back on form, but there is always room for incremental improvements. It was an awesome race weekend.

Thank you Zone3 wetsuits, CEEPO bikes, Brickwell Cycling & Multisports, ISM Seat, Team Chocolate Milk and Honey Stinger.

 

On to the next one!

Just keep swimming!

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