Pumpkinman and Augusta

I have some devastating news to share- Summer is over. I realize some people get excited about flannel, pumpkin spice, and yellow leaves, but how can these things ever replace swimsuits and barbecues?! September isn’t all that bad though. Temps are still mild, days haven’t gotten too short yet, and the Pumpkinman Triathlon Festival marks the grand finale of race season in the northeast.

Since being my first half iron race in 2010, Pumpkinman has been my favorite race weekend, and this year’s races were no exception. Saturday was the sprint, roughly an hour of redline racing. Although the short swim left me with a deficit to the leader, the insanely steep run up from the pond and a smooth transition quickly put me in the front of the race, and from there I never looked back. Power on the bike was right on target, and pace on the run course was good (enough) to stay out in front all the way to the finish line. Getting that monkey off my back was great, after not winning at Pumpkinman since 2015 in a close battle.

On day two, Pumpkinman offers two races, the half iron or the new Olympic distance. Because a good half marathon takes a heavy toll on my body and requires a significant recovery period (which eats into precious training time), I opted for the Olympic distance. The same swimmer got a lead right away, and to his credit it took a full 15 minutes to catch him on the bike, much longer than it took on day one! After getting a hold on the lead, it was the same playbook from the sprint, good power on the bike, and good (enough!) running to come through with another victory.

No recap of Pumpkinman would be complete without at least a mention of the post-race food. Do you love cold pizza and orange slices? Me neither. After the sprint race on Saturday, you get a beautiful brunch buffet, complete with mimosas and a bloody Mary bar. The pumpkin pancakes are the perfect meal to go with the fall theme. On day two you get a full Thanksgiving style dinner with all the works. Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, squash, and of course great beer. To say that Pumpkinman wins best post-race food is the understatement of a lifetime, and implies it is actually a contest. I go to more races than the average Joe, and I’m still waiting for a race to come anywhere near this quality.

Racing is fun, and winning is always my favorite result, but something about racing at Pumpkinman transcends the usual swim-bike-run contest. You’ll never mistake the environment for the intense and over the top Ironman and 70.3 races, but rather notice something very different about the way people carry themselves here. Even the fastest, most competitive athletes, are just having a great, fun time. Everybody is happy. Laughter is in the air. Sure, there’s a clock to beat, but that’s just one small detail. To me, Pumpkinman is everything great about grassroots triathlon, and at the end of the day, just a fantastic reminder that triathlon is supposed to be fun, a fact that is far too easy to forget at other races. I promise that if you put Pumpkinman on your race calendar next season, it will be the highlight of your season.

With all that said, I did race again in September, at the incredibly competitive 70.3 Augusta. The drive was long, but neatly split into two days of travel. The first leg was Saratoga to northern Virginia to spend a little time with my brother, and to finally ask him to be my best man! Then the rest of the way down to Georgia. I will keep this race recap short, because frankly I had an awful day and am still holding some anger at myself for missing an opportunity to put a great race together. The 1.2 mile swim was downriver, a huge advantage to a relatively weak swimmer. My deficit to the front was just 2:30, far and away the closest to the front I have ever been after the swim on the 70.3 circuit. At first transition I was at the tail of a group of guys who I knew were strong cyclists. It was a best case scenario. On the bike we all went out pretty hard before the pace settled, and then for the majority of the ride we were a group of ten, with perhaps 3-4 of us doing the work at the front. The bike course crossed some railroad tracks, which caused both of my bottles to launch. I spent about 40 minutes of the ride with no fluids on a hot day, which would cost me later on the run course. I matched the 2:08 bike split I had at Steelhead a month ago, and spent less time pulling the group along at the front. On paper everything looked perfect. Once onto the run, I had all the pacemakers to choose from, but none of the strength to go with anybody. It was strange, because nothing felt awful right away, but there was no spring in my step, and it was insane work just to hold pace in the first five kilometers. Not long after the 4 mile marker, I was slowed to a casual jog. I kept going with hopes of catching that second wind, but no such luck. At ten miles I was reduced to a walk/jog, and came through the finish with my worst half marathon in memory.

Highs and lows are always a theme in triathlon, and this month had some of the most extreme of both. Winning my favorite races was an incredible high, but blowing the chance for a breakout performance in a pro race hurts real, real bad. These are the punches we have to roll with, so here I am. This last week of September hasn’t been my best, with a nasty head cold and just a lot of tiredness, but today we are exactly four weeks out from 70.3 Waco, and ten weeks to my season finale, Challenge Daytona. That leaves plenty of time to recalibrate and build up some fitness before we call it a year. Thanks for reading.

August, 2 Very Different Races

August was another fun month, with two very different races in two very different places.

On August 12th, I raced in Benton Harbor, MI, at 70.3 Steelhead. The morning brought harsher conditions than expected, with high heat and humidity even at 6 am and strong winds that generated large swells on Lake Michigan. The gun went, and it was time to do what we do. The chop made the swim course slower than expected, and really spread the field out early. Unfortunately that left me all alone for most of it, and with my slowest 1.2 mile swim I can recall. In 32 minutes, I was out of the water and ready to do the work to get back into the race. Once on my bike, I decided to ride recklessly hard for the first 20 minutes to see if I could catch onto a group up the road. It eventually paid off, and I was able to ride the remainder of the bike course quite casually in what became a large group by the dismount line. My own split clocked in at 2:08, my fastest ever for 56 miles! The run was a tale of two paces. I began at a smooth and steady 6:20-30 pace, and quickly settled in behind another guy going a similar pace. Having somebody to set the pace gives a small physical boost, a very small draft, but takes off a tremendous amount of the mental workload and makes the miles tick off a lot easier. Through 10 miles, my average pace was still under 6:30, but the quick and light feet abruptly disappeared, and were replaced with lead shoes. I dug in, but could only muster 7:30-50 miles to the end, and came home with a 1:28 half marathon. Total time was 4:12, a new personal record for the distance, 13th place.

On August 19th, exactly one week later, I was slated to do it all again, this time in Ireland. It had been 4 years since attempting back to back 70.3 distance race weekends, so I thought it was time to see how it felt. Despite the best fitness of my life, the task proved to be too tall. The ocean swim was another choppy one, and once again I produced a mediocre swim, this time 31 minutes. The bike course was fantastic, with lots of climbing and technical descending. Unfortunately, my legs weren’t feeling as great as they had the previous weekend, and while I was able to make up some time, it just wasn’t enough. The fade in the closing 10-15 miles made it very clear, my legs had not fully recovered and weren’t ready to work that hard for that long again. I put my bike back on the rack, put the running shoes on, and hoped that things would get better. They did not. The run course was flat as a pancake, and air temps were ideal in the upper 60s and lower 70s, but I could not hold the 6:30 pace that I needed to move up through the field. The course was 3 loops with plenty of out and backs to evaluate your position, so I gave it a try and gauged the situation. With my pace slipping about 7 minutes per mile on only the 5th mile, there was no chance at moving up, so I pulled the plug and called it a day.

So there are the highs and lows of triathlon. A personal best one weekend, and an exhausted drop out the next. While I’m obviously disappointed not to have made a good crack at the course in Ireland, I picked up a little bit of wisdom. Firstly, I don’t think back to back 70.3 weekends works for me. From here on I will give myself at least one weekend off after that race distance before doing it again. Secondly, I need to sleep better going into races. Racing can be tiring, but honestly that fatigue is nothing compared to fatigue from travel, jet lag, or poor sleep. If the first race did not require 12 hours on the road each way, and the second race did not require a 7 hour flight and a 5 hour time zone change, this may have been a very different blog post. Quite frankly, I struggle to keep up with the pro fields when I’m at 100%, and if I’m not getting sufficient rest and getting to a start line at 80-90%, it will get ugly. I could get away with racing a little sick, injured, or tired for age group racing, but in the pro race that won’t cut it.

September is fast approaching. I’m glad to have started my season so late this year, and feel better about September than ever before. Usually I’m itching to call it a season by now, but this year I feel like I’m just getting started. Next weekend is Pumpkinman, where I’ll race the Saturday sprint and the Sunday Olympic distance. Then I’ll have a go at the famously daunting Savageman triathlon, and finish off September with 70.3 Augusta. I cannot wait to get to these races, and really can’t wait to share my experiences here again. Thank you so much for reading, and if you ever have any triathlon racing/training questions always feel free to reach out!

Nose to Grindstone, July Training!

July is consistently my favorite month of the year. This was a quiet race month, with only the New York City Triathlon on July 1st (I wrote more about that race in my last installment if you’d like more details). On the training front, however, it was one of the busiest months ever! Last week swimming volume peaked, hitting 16,000 yards over 5 swims. Cycling volume peaked earlier in the month with a 283 mile week. Running has been consistent, but not overdone, with each week at 35-42 miles covered.

I’m trying something new this summer. Most of my training every previous year has been done on my own. I would estimate that 99% of training since exiting college has been a solo affair. This year I am spending more time working with others. Good training partners were difficult to come by living in Vermont, with the exception of my roomate Eric. Throughout July this year, I probably have done more than half of my swimming with Nick, the young up and comer who beat me at the duathlon in May, and Kevin, a local swim/triathlon coach who can still wreck a 200 in 2:08 (from a push!). Having a swimmer of very similar ability by my side in hard sets has really helped fuel my competitive spirit, and I can’t wait to see the results of the hard work at the next race. Although cycling is the discipline in which I have the least to gain, I’ve also been really enjoying the hammerfests with my friend, James, as well. A few years ago he became a pure cyclist, and this year he has come out of winter with the best fitness of his life. I’m no slouch on the bike, but even I have trouble keeping up on his wheel sometimes now. Although I still put a ton of miles in on my own, having company for harder sessions has made training just a little more fun and caused me to push just a little bit harder.

With not much racing these past few weeks, there’s not much to write about in this month’s blog!

August will see a flip, with much less training and quite a bit of racing and travel. On August 12th I will be at Benton Harbor, MI for 70.3 Steelhead, then hopping on a plane to Ireland and racing in Europe for the first time at 70.3 Dun Laoghaire on August 19th. These races, along with some training partners, have really kept me focused on training this month, and I’m excited to get to put the hard work to use on the race courses. Hopefully the August blog will be a recounting of some fast races. Thanks for reading, stay tuned!

Summer Heat, Summer Races

Let me apologize first for not having this blog post prepared before June expired. I’m a bit disappointed in myself, because my goal at the beginning of the year was to roll out one post each month. I fell short of that by not writing this in time, but I’d like to move forward and just try to be better.

Now that that is out of the way…

I love summer! The weather is best in the north country this time of year. Lakes are melted, the sun sets late, and the greenery around here is much more appealing than the dead of winter. We are in the middle of a tremendous heat wave, but honestly I don’t mind at all. Sure, training is difficult when temperatures are north of 90 degrees (especially running!), but ice and snow create much worse training conditions. Plus, when you train in extreme heat, even if you do so significantly slower than you normally would, the aerobic training effect is much greater, so why actually complain? Besides, when is the last time you shovelled the heat?!

On June 16th I had the pleasure of returning to the Great Sacandaga Challenge Triathlon. This is a fantastic race which is starting to gain momentum with the local triathlon community here, and for good reason. The course is safe, scenic, and fast. The club who puts it on is clearly committed to making the experience a great one. Maybe the best thing about the event, however, is the kid’s races. There’s a super sprint for school age children, and the turnout is just as good as the adult race. Plus, there is a super short splash and dash (swim-run) for the younger ones. As somebody who has enjoyed coaching kids of all ages in cross country, track and field, and swimming, I can confidently tell you that the Sacandaga Tri Club puts together a first class experience that is beyond valuable in growing the sport. Unfortunately I was not quite able to better my course record there, but that did not keep me from enjoying another beautiful day of racing in the southern Adirondacks.

At the end of the month, I made the drive down to Brooklyn for the New York City Triathlon on July 1st. I am beyond blessed to have been accommodated by my future in laws, who allowed me to stay in their home despite being a stinky/sweaty bag of triathlete. When race morning rolled around, it was not particularly difficult to wake up, even at 3 AM. The air temperature had not dropped much overnight, and it was already 80 degrees, with a forecast for a heat index well over 100. Thankfully the pro race began at 5:50 AM, at which point it was “only” in the 80s.

When we dove off the dock at the start, my only goal was to get through the down river swim with a smaller gap to the leader than last year. Splits vary year to year because of the current, so time alone was unimportant to me. I came out 23rd of 25… ouch. But the gap was 1:46, compared to 1:44 the previous year, so essentially the same gap. The long run to transition was a fantastic opportunity to make up some of that time, and I was able to get on the bike in front of a few guys who swam better. Once onto the bike course, things only got better. Power was right on target, and my wheels were spinning well up the West Side Highway. When it was all said and done, I had ridden my way up to 13th, squarely in the middle of the field, and passed some very strong triathletes who I hold the utmost respect for. Nothing better than exceeding your expectations! Going into the run course, I was feeling confident, having run well on this course a year ago. Unfortunately, I dropped my watch in transition, so there is no objective data for me to confirm how well or poorly I paced the run. All I can say with certainty was it hurt. Every, single, second. Two guys got by me, which is far from the worst thing to ever happen to me on a run course. I was a bit disappointed to later see that my split was about a minute slower than last year, but took solace in hearing from most of the men’s field that splits were about a minute slow across the board. A 15th of 25 finish is nothing spectacular, but I’m mostly happy with how I raced.

Up next, I’m looking forward to a few weeks of longer endurance work, and jumping back onto the 70.3 circuit on August 12th at Steelhead in Michigan. The course is notoriously flat and fast, and typically draws a deep competitive field, and it would be great to set a personal best time for the distance. Fingers crossed, head down, time to work. I know I say “thanks for reading” at the end of all my posts, but I want to emphasize how grateful I am to have support from a few great friends and family from all over. It is truly a blessing to be able to do what I love and have so many positive vibes from so many of you. Until next time!

Wildflower, Reno, Saratoga Duathlon

The anticipation of this month nearly killed me this winter, but May has arrived and the 2018 race season is underway.

At the beginning of the month, I ventured out to California for the reborn Wildflower Triathlon. This event took place 30 years ago, and continued until droughts and declining registration brought an end to it last season. Anybody who follows long course triathlon knew this was the loss of more than just one event, but an icon, and the ultimate platform from which so many great professional triathletes have launched their careers. When the lake filled up again and they decided to bring the race back, I knew I had to be there.

The “Woodstock of Triathlon” did not disappoint. Race day brought intense desert heat, maxing out at about 90, but a balmy water temperature of 65. The glare from the morning sun was brutal to the first turn buoy, and I was quickly spit out from the front group, strung out in no man’s land. Nevertheless, my swim was one of my best in years, 27:46, which got me out of the water square in the middle of the field. Shoutout to Finding Freestyle for getting my swim back on track! Hopefully this is the first step to consistently being down under 27. The bike course came with the blessing of low winds, but the terrain made “fast” bike splits hard to come by. After going back and forth with a few other racers, I came in with a split of 2:26, right around the same position as after the swim. Frankly, I wasn’t ready for that run. Despite really seeing big improvements on my road times this winter and spring, including personal bests from 5k up to the half marathon, the hiking trails and sandy ground was too much for my legs and I cracked hard. Honestly, I would have been better off training for this run by snowshoeing than my 60 mile weeks on the roads! Live and learn. Overall this was probably one of the best courses I’ve ever raced on. If you want to brag about your huge PR for likes on your Instagram, look elsewhere. If you want to really challenge yourself on a tough course against a deep and competitive field, you have to come to Wildflower. I will be back next season to try and improve my time there for sure.

After my weekend in California, I drove east to one of my favorite places, Reno. My sister and brother in law have been living there for 4 years, and one of my closest friends, Eric, just moved there this past winter, so this trip was a great chance to see some friends in family. If I didn’t love living in Saratoga county back in New York, Reno would quickly be my next choice of places to live. The place sits at 4-5000 feet, so there’s a little bit of altitude to train at. Lake Tahoe is just on the other side of the mountain. The desert climate gives Reno over 300 days of sunshine per year, which is a stark contrast to the wet (but green!) upstate New York. Needless to say, if I never live in Nevada, it will still be one of my favorite places to visit.

A return flight to New York marked the end of a great trip. Once home, training took a backseat while yard work and home maintenance had to be caught up on. But make no mistake, I kept most of the fitness built up over the winter and spring, and at the end of May, got to use it at great local race, the Saratoga Duathlon. For the first time since 2013, I knew I couldn’t win this race by a large margin. In fact, a win wasn’t guaranteed at all, with local up and comer Nick Marcantonio on the start line. He was a quick college runner, and is now taking triathlon and duathlon by storm. Watch out for this one. I had no delusions about being able to outrun him, and he took a 40 second lead through the first 5k run. Once we got onto the bike course, I put my head down and pedalled my face off the close that gap down. Knowing that my only chance to keep the win streak alive was to get some time on the bike, I threw everything I had at him. 400 watts here, 350 there, but nothing stuck. At the end of the bike course he was meters behind, and once we were on the run course it only took about 400 meters for the elastic to snap. He ran away and won, while I had to settle for second.

I think this marks an end of an era of local race domination. It felt great to be on top, but honestly I’m more excited for what is to come. When Eric was living with me in Bennington, we were pushing each other on weekly basis, and there’s no doubt we both gained a lot from it. At the USAT Age Group Sprint National Championship, he was the fastest athlete in the 30-34 group. Am I disappointed in losing a race I’ve won in three previous attempts? Of course. But I completed the course almost 3 minutes faster than last year (which at the time was a course record), set a new bike course record, matched my all-time best 20 minute power, and race my fastest duathlon splits. I might have lost the title, but I got so much more out of that race than I would have in a lonely TT with a 10 minute winning margin. Competition brings the best out of us.

June is coming up quick. Triathlon season is in full swing. My next professional race will be the New York City Triathlon on July 1st. Until then you can catch me at some of the local races, particularly looking forward to the Great Sacandaga Challenge. You also might find me training, looking to get a lot of threshold work in before the upcoming olympic distance race. Thanks for reading!

Build Towards Wildflower, a 500 Freestyle and a 5 Mile Road Race

It has been a cold Spring here in Saratoga, but I didn’t let that slow me down. This month has been fun but exhausting, with training peaking with a 22 hour training week. Cycling volume has gone up appropriately, while I’ve been able to more or less maintain the great progress made this winter in swimming and running.

At the beginning of April, the Monument Masters swim team in Bennington hosted their annual open meet. It was great to get to the pool to see some old training friends and kids I used to coach. It was time to hop up on the blocks for some fast pool swims. There were relays and sprints, but my focus was on swimming the fastest 500 freestyle possible. The previous year, I swam the event in 5:59, so the goal was to lower that mark. I dove in, put my head down, and worked as hard as I could. The opening hundred split was 1:05, then I settled into a great rhythm at 1:11-12 for the remaining splits. I touched the wall in 5:52, and couldn’t be happier with the result. Even amidst the heavy cycling, the work done with Dave Luscan’s Finding Freestyle program had paid off and I was swimming my fastest since leaving college. My best 1.2 mile wetsuit swim is 26 minutes in 2015, and this swim restored my faith in my ability to match that or swim even quicker the triathlon season.

The Delmar Dash, a fast and flat 5 mile road race, took place in the middle of the month. The timing was awful, with training volume being highest in the build up to Wildflower. The day before the race included 3.5 hours on the bike, a short run, and a short swim, so when I got up to run on Sunday morning, I thought there was no way I’d be able to get the kind of run out of my legs that I wanted. Surprise! The legs went, my fastest mile was 5:27, and slowest was 5:38. I hit the 5k point in 17:06, a new personal best, but more work to do! I held onto the guys I was running with for as long as possible, but they had much better kicks in that last half mile and left me in the dust. When I crossed the line in 28:02 though, I had nothing to complain about. It was a 30+ second personal best for 5 miles! Just goes to show you, when you feel slow and sluggish, that doesn’t mean you have to be slow and sluggish.

Confidence has been inspired, and just in time for the first triathlon of the season. This Thursday I will fly out to California for the Wildflower Triathlon, and I couldn’t be more excited. My last bike workout featured 3 x 30 minute intervals on 3 minutes rest, and 270 watts never felt easier. I don’t need that sort of power on the 56 mile course, but I’m confident that I can hold 240-50 and come off the bike with some good running legs. I cannot wait to tell you all how this race goes, so keep your eyes peeled for an update on Facebook (Tim Russell Pro Triathlete) or Instagram (@timbikerun). Thanks for reading and enjoy the warming weather!

My Experience with a Caffeine Cleanse

March has been another good month here in upstate New York. Snow is melting away. Temperatures are rising. We might still bundle up a little, but the shift of seasons spells more and better quality training. It has been largely uneventful, but in a good way. My cats, my fiance, and I have all settled into our routines. So really, there isn’t much to say about training this month. The time is being put in, swimming about 12-15000 per week, cycling 10 hours and up, and running right around 40 miles. But numbers are boring!

In this month’s blog, I will be describing my experience of going from 5-6 cups of coffee each day to a green tea drinker with much more stable energy throughout the day.

The decision to change my caffeine habits was made in November. At that point a normal day started with two cups of coffee. Then, after my first workout of the day, a delicious protein shake… with coffee concentrate added (Not making this up!). Most days only included two training sessions this time of year, so now I could have lunch, with another cup of coffee. Then after my last workout, no more coffee, but as much green tea as needed to stay awake and do anything. And let’s not forget that some workouts require extra energy as well, which included energy gels and Coca-Cola mid-training. It wouldn’t surprise me if I had consumed over 1000 milligrams on some days.

That was enough. Beside the fact that I could have been doing serious damage to my body, the benefits of caffeine weren’t even really there. Sure, it was helpful for waking me up in the morning, but after that early “jolt” of energy, the rest of the day felt like trying to keep a sinking ship afloat.

So I penciled in a five days with only green tea, figuring that would help my body recalibrate, and then get back to a healthy relationship with coffee, with one cup in the morning then switching to green tea for the afternoon. My first two days were miserable. The headaches were excruciating, and I had no idea a person could feel so exhausted! I did not train during these first two days, and they were still beyond exhausting. Day three came and I felt a bit better. Four and Five felt butter smooth. I had done it! It felt so great to have steady energy throughout the day that I didn’t even want to return to being a cup-a-day coffee drinker.

Four months later I’m still only drinking green tea, with the exception coffee on race mornings (just a few running races so far) or a Coke mini during a longer bike ride. The energy boost from the extra caffeine on race mornings is noticeable, and so far the race results have been good. All in all, I’d rather give up the small caffeine boost for day to day training in exchange for a race day advantage, so I’m going to keep this going.

That’s about it for this installment. Next weekend is the master’s swim meet in back Bennington Vermont. Last year I swam a 5:59 for the 500. I’m excited to see how my time compares after finishing the 12-week Finding Freestyle course. Same event, same pool, and same suit means it will be the best apples to apples comparison on the effectiveness of a very different approach to swim training.

My race calendar is still in flux, but I’m excited to announce that my first race this season will be the Wildflower Triathlon. This event is an icon in long distance racing, and seeing it covered in the documentary What It Takes back in college inspired my professional racing aspirations. Last season the race was canceled due to lack of water at the swim venue, and I was crushed that I never got to race this bucket-lister. When it was announced that there had been enough rain last Fall and the race was back on, I knew I had to be there. Beyond excited and just cannot wait to get there. Thanks for reading, and if you are going to Wildflower, send me a message!