Sunday Aldrich Destination Ride

Sunday 9:00AM Depart from TARGETRAINING
33 miles 2,245 feet of climbing

Sunday "Aldrich Museum Destination Ride"

Come join us this Sunday for a fall foliage ride to Ridgefield CT and back leaving TARGETRAINING at 9:00AM. We will be cycling to the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum where we will be given a private tour of the "Bike Rides: The Exhibition", have a light snack and then ride back to TARGETRAINING.

TARGETRAINING clients that do not wish to ride to Ridgefield, may meet us at the museum for the tour between 10:30 and 11:00AM. If it rains on Sunday and are unable to ride to museum, we will still be carpooling to Ridgefield for the exhibit tour leaving TARGETRAINING at 10AM.

What's that new trainer?

Evolution is a wonderful thing when it comes to technology. If engineers can improve a product to make our lives easier I am all for it. This is the case of the new Tacx trainer dubbed Bushido. The Bushido is the next generation of ergometer that is completely electronic while also being completely wireless. No cords to plug into the wall or into the computer. The unit generates its own power and converses via ANT to the control head and to your laptop. Cadence is even wireless, meaning there is no sensor to install on your bike! Simply, place your bike into the trainer, clamp it down, hop on and start riding. It's that easy.

Currently the unit is only available as a stand alone unit, meaning it can't connect to your laptop. However, good things come to those who wait and the wireless ANT stick is on the way. The exciting part of the system is the the integration with current Tacx software and Real Life DVD's. Want to find out more? You can go to a microsite for Tacx here and find out a bit more or stop by the store, you can even try it out! Cyclingnews.com did a review of the Bushido and you can read that one Here

Ciao

Muzzin

Good Luck Dom

While the rest of are enjoying this wet New England weekend, Dom is in Maui. Tomorrow he will be racing in the XTERRA World Championship.



GOOD LUCK DOM!

Ironman Hawaii

Okay, so I'm finally home from Hawaii and ready to write a race report. For all those of you who have been holding your breath waiting (mom), here it is. I apologize in advance for it's length. However, no one is forcing you to read it, so please feel free to stop at any time!
I arrived in Hawaii on the Sunday night prior to the Saturday race, giving me about 6 days to try and acclimate to the heat. Locals told us that it was "hotter than usual" this week, and I believed them. I didn't turn my A.C. on until the night my wife and kids arrived in an attempt to "fully acclimate." Some of you may have seen me on Saturdays at TT, over-dressed and trying to replicate the Hawaii heat in some way. Nice try. I took my first "trial run" on the Queen K at noon on Tuesday and thought two things: 1) Uh-hoh; and 2) Put the aero helmet away, that's like wearing an oven on your head.
I could spend 3 pages describing the incredible "vibe" in Kona, but I'll spare you. The swim at "dig me" beach every morning was amazing. Sea turtles, spectacular fish, 80+ degree water, and an espresso bar 700 yards off shore are a few of the highlights. Never before have I seen such a field of world class athletes who were all incredibly fit!
I also need to extend a HUGE thank you to Kona veterans John Wilson and Oakes Ames. There are not two better people around to show you the ropes for your first Hawaii. Not only did they tell me everything I needed to know for the race, they also cooked me dinner and drove me around the bike and run course! For those of you who don't know, Oakes is a local legend who won his AG in Hawaii last year by 13 minutes, and John is a stud in his own right.
Okay, on to race day. I headed down to the water at the Navy Seals were parachuting in and took a few minutes to soak in this incredible atmosphere. I felt surprisingly relaxed on race morning, prepared to try and enjoy everything this legendary course would throw at me. The swim was pretty physical for the first 1/4 mile or so (it always is!), but then things began to break up and I settled in. This was the most enjoyable swim I've ever had. I can't say I was blistering fast, but I was really quite relaxed and just concentrating on my breathing and not working too hard. I was pleased to see that I came out of the water in just over an hour (1:01:18) and was feeling pretty good. T1 was crummy as I couldn't find my bag and also neglected to get more sunscreen rubbed on. Once out on the bike, I tried to really stay in control and not go anaerobic up the first climb! This meant getting passed by everybody and there brother, but oh well. I was thrown my first curve ball of the race when not one, but TWO (both) of my EFS flasks went bouncing off my bike at about mile 2! That's 800 calories on lots of sodium. On to plan B. I actually did begin to laugh (after cursing) as I clearly did not secure these to my bike very well. I still had salt tablets with me and I also had plenty of food, so I figured I'd be okay. The ride out on the Queen K was mostly uneventful, and an exercise in restraint. Things began to get tough as we climbed up to Hawi; this is also the first that I really felt the winds and just how hot the sun was getting. I continued to hydrate like crazy, get salt, and then enjoyed the tail winds heading back down from Hawi. The race then "started" in earnest as we made a right back onto the Queen K and I learned what a headwind was. This was truly a grind from about mile 85-112, feeling like I was working very hard and going nowhere. All in all, I was pleased with my bike split, but ridiculously hot and having a hard time picturing running a marathon in this heat. (5:21:10, 20.92 mph).
Like in my other Ironmans (okay, both of them), I felt pretty good to start the run. I made a real effort to not go out too fast and tried to shoot for 7:30 minute/mile pace. Through 8 miles I was right on schedule, coming through at 1 hour on the nose. However, that is when things would begin to get, uh, interesting. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I believe that I simply began to overheat. I began to just feel terrible, a little dizzy, and felt like I was running in mud. In my head, I began to contemplate a DNF, and how I would feel with my family out here and all the support I have received from everyone. Now, I know you're not supposed to think negative thoughts like that, but I really couldn't help it. I made a decision to walk through the next aide station and get as much fluid and ice as possible; but really afraid I would not start running again. I told myself to just run to the next aide station (every mile!), and then walk through it again to get the fluids (and rest) I needed. I decided this was going to have to be my strategy in order to finish this race-- it was time to let go of "maybe I'll set an Ironman marathon PR!" This was now about surviving this beast and finishing. Coming out of the Natural Energy Lab around mile 18-19 was also a real "low point" where I felt like I was barely moving and wondered if I could indeed finish. As I continued to "just move forward" I had some surprising moments where I actually started feeling a bit better and was able to pick up the pace (though my splits would say otherwise!). As I took the right down Palani Rd. (downhill!) and then finally a right on Alii drive, I have never been so pumped up. I knew I was gonna finish this thing. My apologies to those of you who saw my "Watch Me Finish" dance-- I'm claiming delerium!
The next week in Hawaii was just unbelievable with my family. As I reflected on this race, I was probably more proud of this race than any I have other done. A friend of mine and multiple Hawaii finisher (Steve Zambito) told me I would learn things about myself in this race that I did not previously know. First, I learned that I have no idea how to carry nutrition on a bicycle. But I also think I learned about the importance of forgetting expectations and continuing to just move forward.
This was the race and trip of a lifetime for me. I feel incredibly lucky to have the support of my family, friends, and Targetraining. And now... sorry to contradict Suzie's last post, but it's time for me to get FAT!!! Diet be damned!!!

Mitch

Congratulations Mitch

Targetrainings Mitch West competed in his first Ironman World Championship this past weekend. Qualifying at Lake Placid, Mitch earned the right to compete in the 2.4 mile swim, 110 mile bike and 26.2 mile run triathlon. Mitch finished the Kona, Hawaii course in 10 hours and 13 minutes.

Mitch Thrower writes:
We also met Mitch West, another Hawaii first-timer who qualified only 10 weeks ago. Mitch said he was immediately struck by the unique energy on the island, a mood that is both laid-back and high-energy. "It's a whole other level of competition here," he said. "Triathletes are different--you have everybody cheering for each other.

"Mitch, like Adrienne, is nervous about his first Hawaii experience. He biked on the Queen K and decided that, "You can have people tell you about the wind, sun, and heat, but when you feel it for yourself, it's a whole other thing. But, to be honest, the harsh conditions are what this race is known for. If Saturday was a cool, calm day, you'd be sort of disappointed."

Off-Season Advice

Some of you may have read this article in the weekly USA Triathlon newsletter, and many probably did what I did...look at the titles of the articles and put off reading it. Well, I finally read the article written by Bob Seebohar about losing weight during the off-season. I know Bob personally and trust his expertise so much that I strongly recommend everyone read this article.

As competitive athletes coming off a long season, I know first hand that we all struggle with finding the balance between taking some time off from structured training and nutrition without losing fitness and gaining unwanted body weight. You immediately begin reflecting on your season and setting goals for next year. This is great, but don't get caught up in the urge to keep training hard to get a head start on next season; you need to recover both physically and mentally, so read, learn and relax!

http://usatriathlon.org/pages/7535

Coolest Bike Ever!

Cross racer James Newman built this beauty. Check out his hilarious blog.

Cross racer/photographer Hedi Swift has more pictures.

Jamestown Classic, October 12, 2009

Well, if any of you have followed any of my blogs, we did have a happy ending with some recent struggles so it's all good. Following up my final day success at Green Mountain and a hard fought 2nd place at Bear Mountain, I decided to keep my fitness the last month and have one more go at it in Jamestown, RI for their annual race. I won here in 2006 so that helps. The loop is 19.6 miles and we were slated for 2 laps in the 35+ race. Very picturesque is this island, rolling hills, long straightaways and a ton of wind always make it interesting. We had a good size group to start and Carlos and Abdul were also in the field from TT. I was nursing a cold so tucked in the field for the first 6-7 miles so I could find a rhythm. About at the 7mi mark the pace was put down hard by Mark Giles of Exodus and I figured I better move up. 7 of us separated from the field and the game was on. I felt amazingly strong and we all started just hammering...before we knew it, we had 45sec to a minute on the field. Carlos and Abdul were safely tucked away in the field keeping an eye on any moves so that was re-assuring. Arc-Enciel Team had 10 guys in the field so since we had one of them in our group, I was confident they would not be chasing hard. We shed two of the riders before we came around for the bell lap but we were working well together, even pulls and tight spacing. On the back side of the loop, I sensed we were losing some momentum and implored the others to keep up the pace as the chase was coming. We rounded the lighthouse which is wide open into the wind and now we had about 6 miles to go with a hard side to head wind. I kept driving hard to keep the gap and knew the others were tiring. 2K to go there is the only "real" hill (500, about 5-6%) and dead into the wind. This is were I went in "06 to win so I said what the hell. Put the hammer down and shot out like a bullet. Fortunately, no one could cover and the others were mentally beaten by the time I got to the top. My legs were ready to explode but I held steady the next 1K, navigated the last left hand turn and coasted the last 500m to the finish for the win. Abdul came in 8th and Carlos 22nd to bring in the field. After what was overall a very good season but with a lot of near misses and a couple of mis-haps, it really felt good to end the season on a high note. I couldn't believe how nice everyone was to me after the race and even got to meet a fellow TT family member in Ken Kronberg who did a real nice job placing 2nd in the Cat 5 race...well done!! See you guys next year.

Reflections on my first year in Cat 5

Today brought my first year as a competitive cyclist to a close. Unfortunately it was an inglorious end as I was caught in a crash with 4 miles left to go. Over the next few paragraphs you’ll come to see a pattern of that (hopefully not a permanent one). I thought I would post a note and share a few memories and some of the key lessons I learned over the past season. (Sorry for kind of a long post.)

1. “I guess you need to keep your eyes on the road” – This pearl of wisdom came from my wife. I had returned home from my first Bethel Cat 5 crit in March with grass stains on my kit. Having made the most rookie of mistakes – losing the wheel of the guy in front of me - I fell off the pack, unable to make up the gap. Late in the race, tired, depressed and defeated, I lost focus, and allowed my front wheel to touch a curb, spilling onto the grass. When I arrived home and described my humiliation to my wife, she offered this penetrating analysis on becoming a better cyclist.
2. “Downtown crits can be nasty” – Matt Baldwin shared this with me the day before the downtown Hartford crit. It had been some months since my initial foray in Bethel, but I was convinced I was a stronger rider by now. Surely all those early morning workouts should be having some benefit on my strength. At about the half way mark of 15 laps, I was feeling good. The pace was fast but I was hanging in the top third. Just then light rain started fall turning the downtown loop around Bushnell Park into a mine field – grease marks, sewer grates and manhole covers suddenly meant danger lurked everywhere. Riders began going down all over the place, one right in front of me that pushed me off the course. When I made it back on I was off the pace and so decided to just finish it with some safe solid laps and….next I know I am being pulled off the road by two marshalls. I had slipped at a corner with cross walk paint! I now knew what Yoda Baldwin had been trying to tell me. Man vs. pavement is always a bad contest and the result was two hair line fractured ribs and weeks’ worth of trying not to laugh or sneeze.
3. “Ok, we’ve dropped the field so let’s just stay together” – This came from rider 142 in the Tour of Greenwich. I had gotten assigned to the slow heat when I indicated on my registration form that the course would take me more than an hour to ride. I didn’t mind so much since this was my first road race and any experience was valuable in my painful struggle to become a bike racer. After about 8 miles Rider 142 rolled up alongside and shared the happy news. Yes! The highlight of my season so far. For the next 12 glorious miles he and I rode together, sharing pulling duties, working as a team and never being caught by the field. I was elated. For a short time that Sunday I was like one of those lesser known professional bike racers in a grand tour that makes an early break and miraculously finds a way to stay away. I thought I could even hear Phil Ligget commentating as the miles clicked down.
4. “Drive, Drive, Drive” – Anyone who has taken a group cycling class knows where this one comes from. Eneas drives us hard and at insanely early times each morning. I mean, its 6:15 and your heart rate is 170! That’s insane. As he walks around the room I know he’s sneaking in behind me, looking at my power output. Doh! I respond by going just a bit harder, so as not to let him think I’m dogging it and that maybe I’m not just wasting my time here each morning. But in the end its exactly this kind of quiet pushing that keeps me honest.
5. Despite all of the ups and downs, I think that I will also remember 2009 for all of the support that I have gotten from the TT staff. Rick, Eneas, Max, Carlos, Dom, Matt, Brett, Suzie and everyone at Target has at time one or another provided a few tips, hints and lots of encouragement to keep me going. Its one of the things that has keeps me coming back.

But the thing I will remember the most about this season is how much inspiration I have gotten from my fellow TT clients. Its hard not to feel challenged by the work ethic of Bob LaBanca, the dedication of Megan Kelly, the cycling power of Rob Weiss, Tom Stevenson and Bill Schwartz or Andy Kaplan’s ability to leave nothing in the tank when he really needs to lay it all out. So many of the TT clients surrounding me everyday are people that are so easy to admire. This more than anything is what gives me the motivation to hang in there and make a go of it next year in season two.

Special Columbus Day indoor cycling class

Join us at 7:15AM on Monday morning for a special Columbus Day cycling session.

TARGETRAINING Indoor Stage Race

TARGETRAINING Indoor Stage Race
“Tour of the Mediterranean”

Stay motivated through the off season with our TARGETRAINING indoor “Tour of the Mediterranean” Stage Race.

Sign a friend up for the stage race and take advantage of our new TT Client Rewards Program.

Rules of the road:

- Athletes have until Thanksgiving weekend to complete the stage race.
- Stages can be completed in multiple attempts except the final time trial which needs to be completed in 1 attempt.
- You are encouraged to ride stage race during classes, except on Saturday’s.
- Partaking in stage race can only occur under the observation of a TT staff member.
- 15min warm up then calibration and entry of personal profile is needed before every stage.
- Results will be kept at TT.

4 stages 230kms

Stage 1 80.2km: “Milan San Remo” This stage hugs the Italian Riviera and offers up long flat roads with several shorter climbs in the last half of the stage to keep things interesting.

Stage 2 49.1km: “San Sebastian Classic” Take a tour of the Spanish Basque country with this rigorous stage which begins and ends with two challenging medium length climbs with rolling terrain in the middle.

Stage 3 86km: “Alpine Classic” The Queen stage of the Tour, this monster stage includes the three monster climbs of the Col du Telegraph, Col du Galibier, Col du Lautaret, and finishes on the famed Alp d’Huez.

Stage 4 14.6km: “Tourmalet Time Trial” Finish your tour with an uphill time trial on the lower slopes of the famed Tourmalet.

2009 Interbike Highlights

Interbike is the annual event the bicycle industry holds to debut its upcoming product range. This year didn't disappoint as Matt and myself navigated the 90,000 sq feet of the Sands convention center in Vegas. In the nutshell, we weren't disappointed in what we saw. Innovative products by Saris and Garmin led the way with new interfaces for power meters, while BMC debuted a new ride dubbed the SLR01...(mine!).

The show is also a stage for the celebs of the bike world. George Hincapie signed posters at the SCOTT booth while Ernesto Colnago took time to snap a pic with us.

Aside from the gear at the show we were invited to be part of a focus group with Cervelo. There goal is to address the needs of female riders through proper fit and component choices. All in all a very productive trip.

Mavic refined their wheel range by improving bearings and utilizing lighter and stronger materials.

Reynolds announced new wheels including the RZR which weighs 900 grams...per pair!

A Call to Yoga

A call to Yoga from Sue!

Hi TARGETRAINING family:
Wednesday evening yoga is in full swing and if you haven't tried it, I'd love to see you. This one hour vinyasa flow class is a great way to support your athletic pursuits and even increase your longevity as an athlete. Yoga's applications to sport are influencing all levels of athletes. After practicing yoga, athletes have a reduction in injuries and improved stamina, plus they feel more relaxed. In summary, here are some ways you'll feel better by including yoga in your workout schedule:
Yoga makes you more flexible.
Yoga makes you stronger in places you didn't know were weak.
Yoga builds a superhighway between your brain and body.
Yoga teaches you to make your breath a conscious part of living.
Yoga reintroduces you to yourself.

In essence, you can focus on all the aspects of yourself- physical, mental and spiritual - in one place. I hope you'll join us.

Wednesday from 6:30-7:30pm

Namaste, Susan

Aldrich "Bike Fest" Gala

This past Saturday evening was the gala celebrating the opening of “Bike Fest” at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT. Rick, Matt and myself were in attendance with our significant others representing TARGETRAINING.

I must have ridden past the museum hundreds of times and never even knew that such an influential institution existed in my back yard.

About 5 years ago the current Aldrich Museum was built behind the original home of Larry Aldrich. The building itself is a work of art. The mission of the non- collecting Aldrich museum is to provide a venue for exhibit of up and coming and mid-career artist. Even more interesting is the museums drive to educate and develop programs for adults and children to help facilitate future leaders in the world of art.

Like all galas, it is always a challenge to focus on the art as the social aspect of such events is really what is stressed. But I can assure you that from what I had a chance to see, it is well worth a visit to Ridgefield to take in the “Bike Fest” exhibit. You will find many local artist, companies, and engineers on display. The evening was highlighted with stunts from BMX trick riders and performances from traveling Cirques du Sole entertainers.

We will be conducting a destination ride on October 18th for TARGETRAINING clients to The Aldrich to view the “Bike Fest” exhibit. We look forward to having you join us and developing a lasting relationship with this excellent institution.