 Stephanie Brealey is a member of the District Multisport Team who recently participated in the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Costa Rica
I don't believe I have ever written a a proper race report - so bear with me. Usually my "reports" consist of a bunch of notes on how things went (the good, the bad, and the ugly) so that Coach may have extra info for the next race. A year+ ago when Ironman announced that they were going to have an event in Costa Rica, I immediately knew I would be adding the race to my schedule. When registration came, I was on it immediately - even tweeting at Ironman since the link they had activated was not working. The thought of being able to race home with my family and friends was exhilarating. Race was scheduled for the 18th of June, so as anyone would, I told my boss that I would be working from Costa Rica (even if he didn't approve it) and would be going home for a total of about 3.5 weeks (I have a great job). Since we had a mild winter and a cooler spring it was important for me to head out there and try and workout in higher temps. On the Thursday before the race I drove 3.5 hrs to Coco Beach (Pacific coast) where the race would take place. Coco beach is a well developed beach town that has everything one needs. I decided to stay in a hotel right on the main road - not the prettiest, but perfect location. [If you decide that this race is for you - you may arrive at Liberia airport which is a 20 minute drive to Coco]. If you know anything about Costa Rica you would know that June falls in the rainy season. This means that it will rain every single day, that temps are on the higher end and that it will be humid. In addition to this, this year there was some sort of storm coming from Colombia that made it an even wetter month, specially in the coast.
0 Comments
 How did you first get interested in multisport?
I ran my first marathon back in law school as a way to get back in shape. It had been a few years since I had walked away from swimming, and I thought it would be a one-time thing to shed some pounds. Instead I got hooked on running. Around that time, I started taking spin classes and then started getting out on the road some with my first road bike. I realized that if I dragged myself to the pool again, a triathlon might be fun to try. My very first race was Philly in 2010, which was converted to a duathlon because someone had unfortunately drowned the day before during the sprint tri. I vowed never to do another run/bike/run (props to those of you who do), but got sucked into swim/bike/run and haven’t looked back. Which sport do you enjoy the most? When it comes to racing, I love the swim. Having swum competitively, I usually am out of the water towards the front of the pack. As you other swimmers know, the remainder of the race is then spent pondering if and when the strong cyclists and runners will catch you. In terms of training, though, I love getting outside for a long weekend ride or run. Those are the sessions that fuel me and keep me coming back for more. Any embarrassing stories you'd like to share? At this point, I’ve come to realize that we all have our share of bodily function stories that would be deeply humiliating in any other setting. And most of the team knows about the little Mexican women shoving ice down my shorts during my first Ironman Cozumel experience. But my most embarrassing moment in triathlon that I’ve had was when I was mysteriously DQ’ed at Tri Yas in Abu Dhabi. I was there with the whole Competitor Group crew (who had paid for the trip), and we all thought I had podiumed. Instead, I was summarily disqualified with no explanation given. To this day I’m still a little mortified (and confused) by the whole thing. What is your most triumphant moment during a multisport event? Hands down it was the feeling of heading down the chute at my first Ironman. It was a beautiful day in Madison, Wisconsin back in 2012. The family was there, and I was racing with one of my best college friends. Going into race day I honestly had no idea what a full Ironman would feel like – let alone if I’d be still standing to cross the finish line. I didn’t place pressure on myself, and I wasn’t stressed about other goals. That moment was just the simple joy of conquering something that seemed so unknown and so daunting. I will confess that a close runner-up is the first time I shaved my legs without cutting myself. Tell us something that most people don't know about you. This isn’t exactly a secret to those who know me, but I’m gay. (I’m also perpetually single…) In all seriousness, after struggling with being a gay athlete back in school, I think it’s super important for people to be out in sports. Even in a very supportive environment, which triathlon is (and thankfully this team absolutely is!), it can sometimes be awkward and uncomfortable to be out and open as an athlete. Today, it’s becoming a lot easier for athletes to be out on and off the field, thanks to LGBT trailblazers in sport. Hopefully that progress continues. Managing your core temperature is the top priority and key to maximizing performance on a hot day and winning the war of attrition. If your core temperature rises too high, you're done for the day (best case) and may end up in the hospital with something much worse. Below are some tips for preparing for and racing in the heat.
 Jen Walrath gets her game face on before the Augusta 70.3, her first Half Ironman How did you first get interested in multisport? I think that I can trace it back to two things: a love of all things outdoor adventure and my friend, Daniel. I have been a runner for years, ever since my junior high school days, and went through a marathon phase, but after a few years in DC, I felt the pull of the great outdoors and decided to try adventure racing. I bought a mountain bike and convinced my brother to come out for EX2 Adventure’s Greenhorn Adventure Race in Maryland. We weren’t all that fast, but we had fun, and then upped the ante by roping in my other brother and his wife to do this crazy 18-hour adventure race in Wisconsin. There were some dark times in the pre-dawn hours, but we survived, and I was hooked on the diversity of multi-sport events. Enter my friend, Daniel. He finally convinced me that I might like triathlon, too, and a group of us signed up for the Dewey Beach Sprint. It was a rough swim that year (thanks, Hurricane Igor), and I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I had a great time - and have been doing it ever since! Which sport do you enjoy the most? This has become a tougher question to answer over the years. I enjoy the swim far more than I used to, but the top contenders are biking and running. One of the reasons that I started with adventure racing instead of triathlon is that I thought road riding would be boring. I haven’t gotten into suuuper long rides (yet!), but so far, that has proven not to be the case, and I have come to really enjoy biking. But in the end, my heart still belongs to my first love: running! There’s nothing like the simplicity and freedom of lacing up and stepping out the door. Any embarrassing stories you'd like to share? Nothing remarkable comes to mind, but it does occur to me that most of my triathlon gaffes are bike related. I once toppled over sideways on my TT bike during a group ride at HP when I reached for a water bottle in my rear cages – while holding only my aerobars. Balance, what? I assure you that it was more comical than it probably sounds. My riding partners and I had a good laugh over it, and even now, years later, it occasionally gets brought up again. Because my ride buddies are super sweet like that. 😉 What is your most triumphant moment during a multisport event? Crossing the finish line of my first half ironman. Two years after my first triathlon, Daniel and I signed up for our first half, Augusta 70.3. I still was relatively new to the sport. I didn’t have a coach, or a team, and Daniel lived in New York, so my training was solo and largely based on things that I read on the internet. As you can imagine, though I was in decent shape, I wasn’t nearly as prepared as I am for races today, and it was HARD. I was practically wheezing coming down the final stretch, but when I crossed that blessed finish line, I felt something that I’ll describe as part relief and part satisfaction – relief that I was done, but also satisfaction that I had done something challenging, something that I had not been entirely sure that I could do. I look forward to experiencing that feeling again in a few months when I cross the finish line at IMLP! Tell us something that most people don't know about you. I can shear a sheep. Although not that speed shearing business where you plop the sheep on its butt and zoom the clippers down its back a few times. I’m talking a more time-consuming effort to make the sheep look all clean cut and fancy. Which is what you do before you don your jeans and boots to parade your sheep around a ring so that it can be judged on its meaty qualities, or so that you can be judged on your skills in exhibiting the sheep. This may sound strange, but it’s a common activity in 4-H and FFA programs in rural Nebraska, and something that I did for many years, so I got really, really good at it. 😊   DM Teammate, Mike Stanek, places second in his Age Group at the White Lake Half Ironman event in North Carolina. By Mike Stanek
Many team memories of White Lake Half involve questions of whether the lake will be warm enough for just a wetsuit – or if neoprene booties and caps were also going to be necessary to survive the 1.2 mile swim in White Lake, NC. Not this year. When we showed up on Thursday with the sun shining and temps pushing into the upper 80’s, the race director posted that the lake was already at 75F. That balmy weather continued through Friday and on race day, though somehow the lake managed to stay wetsuit legal. I will say that Set Up Events may want to reconsider its swim description on the race website, where it says in ALL CAPS that the swim will be wetsuit legal (and possibly wetsuit mandatory). Thanks, global warming! I do love racing White Lake as a way to shake off the cobwebs and to get back in racing form for the year. It’s a fairly small race, but a good mix of fast guys and gals typically show up to see where their fitness is at. And the lake itself is great – shallow, sandy bottom, and some funky currents from the springs that feed it to get you back on point with sighting. The roads in the area are pretty serene, except for some areas of chip seal (and unless you get stuck behind a hog farm truck). On paper, it looks like it should be a super fast course, though it never really is thanks to wind and rough pavement.  Ruben post IM Mont Tremblant finish with his daughter! How did you first get interested in multisport?
I played rugby for nearly 17 years. After a chronic neck injury left me sidelined, I was left looking for something to replace the physical demands of rugby but without the brutal pounding on my body/neck. My rugby coach in undergrad completed his first ironman during my tenure, which I still think to this day he did just to tell us how fat and slow we all were (it sounds a lot better with a thick Irish accent). Which sport do you enjoy the most? Biking, hands down. Any embarrassing stories you'd like to share? Poo stories are too common with this team, so I'll go with T1 in Nice during my first IM. I came out of the water feeling great and ran into T1 grabbed my bike bag. I asked the young Frenchman who was working the bag area when I could change (bc I didn't go to the briefing the night before, nor did I pay attention to the transition layout), and he made some French gesture to the effect of "wherever you choose silly American." I had decided the day before that I was going to ride in bibs so I needed to get out of my tri suit. So I started stripping down. When the Frenchman glanced back, and shook his finger at me and directed me to the changing tent. Oops. I guess even in France you aren't supposed to get naked in public. Note to self, pay attention to the briefing the night before races. What is your most triumphant moment during a multisport event? Crossing the finish line at Tremblant. It was a hard, hard day. I went into this race well trained, a bit of a disruptive taper with a new baby, but challenging conditions (an understatement with driving rain the ENTIRE bike) made for an interesting race day. Getting to hold my daughter after finishing the best reward, making all the pain and darkness of the day melt away. Tell us something that most people don't know about you. I taught myself how to swim using youtube videos. I also taught myself how to sweat copper pipes using youtube. You can pretty much teach yourself anything using the right youtube channel. Reminder: April 17, 2017, DC Emancipation Day. All DC Pools will be closed. See DPR Schedule here.
Kits, Puppies, and Girls on the Run! (Volunteer Opportunities) April 19th, 7:00 PM KIT SORT: 1423 K Street NW. 2 people to help sort kits for distribution to the team. The location is Richard’s office - Hugo Creative. Dinner provided. [EDIT: We have fulfilled this request, Thanks!!] May 20th, 10:00 AM-Noon HUMANE RESCUE ALLIANCE: 1201 New York Avenue NE. 4-5 people to garden and plant marigolds (they fight mosquitos!). We’ll be donating the marigolds; $15 personal donations are encouraged but not required. We’ll also get a tour while we’re there. Who knows, you might take home a new friend… June 4th, 8:00-10:30 AM GIRLS ON THE RUN: Freedom Plaza. Join Stevie Smith to help cheer at the GOTR Spring 5k. You’ll show up, make a sign, ring a cowbell and support the girls! You can also register as a 'buddy runner’ for a girl who doesn’t have a teacher or family member to run with. Volunteers need to be officially registered via this link for the "Pacers Cheer Team” To be a buddy runner, register here: https://www.gotrdc.org/5K-Detail#show-volunteer. If you register, please also register via the team tracker. Remember to sign up for volunteer opportunities, put your input on the Volunteer Tracker, or email volunteer@districtmultisport.com April 23: Ride the Drive Car Free Day Join your teammates for a car-free ride of Skyline Drive on April 23. During this event, Skyline Drive will be closed to motorized vehicles from the Front Royal Entrance Station at mile 0 to the Thornton Gap Entrance Station at mile 31.5. The rest of Skyline Drive will remain open to all vehicles. In honor of National Park Week, April 22 and 23 are fee-free days and all entrance fees into the park are waived. If you're traveling, have space for others, or need a ride, sign up via the Google Doc. We'll do our best to accommodate everyone's request and see you on the road! Training Updates This training update is about our partner, Off Road. We all know how hard it is to get in those strength training sessions at home - so train with your teammates in a Build class at either of their two locations - Capitol Hill or U Street. Experience the "BEST OF DC" at a ridiculous 35% off! Try 2 months of unlimited CYCLING ($99/mo) or give all three (BIKE, BOX, & BUILD) a try with our FULL unlimited ($129/mo). M,W,F at 6:10 am U Street - Build 50 with Arnold. (This class is often sold out well in advance so sign up a week ahead!) Mondays: Michen on U Street, Build 30 at 7:40pm (great if you want to top off your Monday PM workout!) Wednesdays: Anabell at Cap Hill, Build 50 at 5:30pm Thursdays: Savannah on U Street, Build 50 at 6:20am; Michen on U Street, Build 30 at 6:30pm, Devlin on U Street, Build 50 at 7:10pm Saturdays: Annabell on U Street, Build 50 at 9am, Michen on U Street, Build 30 at 11am Sundays: Stenicia on Cap Hill, Build 50 at 9am, Devlin at U Street, Build 50 at 9am Sign up HERE and don't forget to use our discount code, MULTISPORT. Partnership Updates Off Road Cycling We get it, you're a triathlete, and as a triathlete, when you think of a spinning class you think "that's not real cycling." Fortunately, District Multisport has partnered with Off Road Cycling (recently named the best indoor cycling studio in DC by Washington City Paper!) to help you get a real bike (or strength) workout in even if the weather isn't cooperating. Off Road isn't going to offer you an average spinning class, you're going to experience real cycling with real power and classes designed by Off Road coaches to maximize your workout. If you're tired of the bike and want to get in a great cross training workout, check out their Box classes for a high-intensity cardio burn or Build classes for that ever-important core strength and muscle building. Come visit one of their two locations (U Street and Capitol Hill) to experience what your teammates have been raving about. District Multisport team members receive a 15% discount by using the code MULTISPORT when signing up for classes at www.offroaddc.com. Events and Races Social Events April 20 -- Team Happy Hour Location: Jack Rose Dining Saloon (2007 18th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20009) Time: 6:00 to 8 p.m. April 30 -- Team Dinner, Gear Swap, Kit Distribution Location: Julia Hoppock's abode (850 Quincy St., NW #626) Time: 5 p.m. What: Bring your extraneous gear, a dish to share, and pick up your spiffy new District Multisport gear. Look for a spreadsheet to include your gear so folks know what everyone's bringing. May 18 -- Team Happy Hour Location: Boundary Stone (116 Rode Island Ave, NW) Time: 6 p.m. Races These are races in which teammates are participating and that are on the team calendar of events. Apr 29-30 North Face Endurance Festival (Team Event) May 13-14 Kinetic Half and Sprint (Team Event) June 3 Rock Hall Oly (Team Event and Regional Club Champs) The Rock Hall Olympic event is the USA Triathlon Mid-Atlantic Regional Club Championship. We've placed at the top of our division for the past four years (to the tune of $500 for the club) and need you to register NOW to compete as an Age Group athlete in the Olympic distance event. ONLY athletes registered in the Age Group category (not Athena, not Clyde, not novice, just Age Group) will be scored for our overall points. We can earn up to 15 participation points just for completing the event, regardless of performance. When you register, use the code DM17VMTS. The full Team Race schedule and Race Tracker are on the website. The team has organized team houses for Kinetic and Rock Hall. Stay tuned for details and thank you to the volunteers who will be organizing the details of the houses. Board Notes The current board is updating you on votes and actions taken at monthly meetings to keep you informed of the work that happens "behind the scenes." January
Get To Know Your Teammates Nathan Wick -- Training Coordinator How did you first get interested in multisport? When I was living in Melbourne, Florida, I started running on the beach barefoot just to get outside. Melbourne had a lot of triathletes so when I started going to social runs, they started pushing me to do a tri. But I didn't swim and didn't have a bike. But eventually the pressure built up and someone convinced me to go for an ocean swim - mile swim, mile run back on the beach. I'd never really swam for exercise so I spent about 45 min almost drowning. But after that, I had to figure out how to swim properly so I started swimming regularly. At that point, it was a fait accompli that I would buy a bike and do a tri, which happened for the first time on April 14, 2013 Which sport do you enjoy the most? If I say anything other than running, no one will believe me. The thing I like about running is that, for me, it's the easiest to measure out my effort in. I always run by feel, and after a mile or two I know how hard I can go without cracking. Any embarrassing stories you'd like to share? Right after I've told you about how I'm confident in measuring out my effort, I have to tell you about one time where it didn't happen. I did the Palm Beaches marathon as my first marathon. It was supposed to be in the 70s, but at race start it was mid-80s. And the heat index just went up from there. I did a crap job fueling and about mile 16 I hit a wall. Basically, every mile after that was 15-30 seconds slower. I finally made it to the finish line, made it about 50 feet to Kristi and as soon as I stopped moving I started to swoon. Luckily a race volunteer caught me and put me into a wheelchair. I was so delirious I started arguing with the race medal volunteer about the ribbon color (I was convinced they were giving me the half marathon medal). After 4 bags of IV fluid, they sent me to the hospital. And while I was there my friend took a photo and made a meme out of me. What is your most triumphant moment during a multisport event? I did a short local race one time, the Pirate Plunder 2 miler. And I had zero expectations. I just figured I'd go out and run hard as usual. Since it was a short race, I didn't really check my pace as I ran, but I came around the final turn into the finishing straightaway. And I saw that the clock hadn't hit 11:00 yet, and I thought I could make so I went all out to the finish line. I crossed the line with an official time of 10:59.7. It's silly but it was so unexpected that I was on Cloud 9. Tell us something that most people don't know about you. My first triathlon was on my One Year Wedding Anniversary. Kristi surprised me with a sign, but I was mildly offended because she greatly exaggerated my expected finish time. Helpful Links: Website | Team Resources | Race Tracker | Team Calendar |  Nathan Wick -- Training Coordinator
How did you first get interested in multisport? When I was living in Melbourne, Florida, I started running on the beach barefoot just to get outside. Melbourne had a lot of triathletes so when I started going to social runs, they started pushing me to do a tri. But I didn't swim and didn't have a bike. But eventually the pressure built up and someone convinced me to go for an ocean swim - mile swim, mile run back on the beach. I'd never really swam for exercise so I spent about 45 min almost drowning. But after that I had to figure out how to swim properly so I started swimming regularly. At that point it was a fait accompli that I would buy a bike and do a tri, which happened for the first time in April 14, 2013 Which sport do you enjoy the most? If I say anything other than running, no one will believe me. The thing I like about running is that, for me, its the easiest to measure out my effort in. I always run by feel, and after a mile or two I know how hard I can go without cracking. Any embarrassing stories you'd like to share? Right after I've told you about how I'm confident in measuring out my effort, I have to tell you about one time where it didn't happen. I did the Palm Beaches marathon as my first marathon. It was supposed to be 70s, but at race start it was mid-80s. And the heat index just went up from there. I did a crap job fueling and about mile 16 I hit a wall. Basically every mile after that was 15-30 seconds slower. I finally made it to the finish line, made it about 50 feet to Kristi and as soon as I stopped moving I started to swoon. Luckily a race volunteer caught me and put me into a wheelchair. I was so delirious I started arguing with the race medal volunteer about the ribbon color (I was convinced they were giving me the half marathon medal). After 4 bags of IV fluid, they sent me to the hospital. And while I was there my friend took a photo and made a meme out of me. What is your most triumphant moment during a multisport event? I did a short local race one time, the Pirate Plunder 2 miler. And I had zero expectations. I just figured I'd go out and run hard as usual. Since it was a short race, I didn't really check my pace as I ran, but I came around the final turn into the finishing straightaway. And I saw that the clock hadn't hit 11:00 yet, and I thought I could make so I went all out to the finish line. I crossed the line with an official time of 10:59.7. It's silly but it was so unexpected that I was on Cloud 9. Tell us something that most people don't know about you. My first triathlon was on my One Year Wedding Anniversary. Kristi surprised me with a sign, but I was mildly offended because she greatly exaggerated my expected finish time. March 2017 View this email in your browser Table of Contents -- Announcements, Jenn Rentch at IM Worlds, DM's All-Americans, Race Report: Havana 70.3,Coach's Corner, Get to Know Your Teammates DM Team Training Camp July 21-26, 2017New for 2017, District Multisport will have a team training camp! Join 10 of your teammates for a five-day triathlon camp in Bethany Beach, DE. Arriving in the afternoon/evening on Friday, July 21st, the camp will be an excellent opportunity to gain valuable cycling volume for your late season 70.3 or 140.6, help bridge the mid-summer racing lull, and to spend 5 days training, learning, and relaxing at the beach with your teammates. Cost: $500 Deadline to Sign up: March 12, 2017 Sign up via the Google Doc If you have any questions about the camp, feel free to email Nate (training@districtmultisport.com) or Jon Ryder (jpryder@gmail.com) Join the Strava District Multisport Group Have you joined the District Multisport Strava Group? If not, what are you waiting for? Join your friends and teammates for a little friendly competition and workout inspiration. Just follow the link and ask to join. https://www.strava.com/clubs/1000 Rose's Physical Therapy Launches Women's History Month Series If you haven't yet seen some of the fantastic videos that Rose's has produced, check them out on their YouTube Channel. They are also hosting a Women's History Month get together March 26th that includes a musician from Kennedy Center, food, debut of one video at the event itself, screening of all the videos, and a lot of awesome people who were in the movies Clean Sport Collective As a team, we've decided to support the Clean Sport Collective, a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping racing clean and to funding organizations that don't have the funds to properly execute testing. It's free to take the pledge as a team or an amateur athlete, and you can decide to make a donation to them if you wish (they have trucker hats...just saying). We have signed the pledge on behalf of the team and we hope you'll all join us as individuals in doing the same and making the commitment to racing clean! Volunteer and Social: March 11: Rock and Roll Marathon / Half Marathon Volunteer at the DM Waterstop March 16: Monthly Happy Hour at Solly's Upcoming Races: These are races in which teammates are participating and that are on the team calendar of events. April 1 Cooper River Bridge Run April 1 Zion Half Marathon April 2 Cherry Blossom 10-Miler April 2 Knoxville Half Marathon April 29-30 North Face Endurance Festival (Team Event) May 13-14 Kinetic Half and Sprint (Team Event) June 3 Rock Hall Oly (Team Event and Regional Club Champs) The full Team Race schedule and Race Tracker are on the website. The team has organized team houses for Kinetic and Rock Hall. Stay tuned for details and thank you to the volunteers who will be organizing the details of the houses. Jenn Rentch Invited to Race 2017 Worlds with Women for Tri! District Multisport congratulates Jenn Rentch, who was invited to race the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee as part of Women for Tri! Women for Tri is a program of the IRONMAN Foundation that seeks to encourage and increase female participation in the sport. According to IRONMAN, the 200 slots in Chattanooga were allocated to “top performing female triathletes based on the athlete’s total 2016 IRONMAN 70.3 Age Group Ranking points." Revenue from their race registrations will go toward the Women for Tri’s collegiate and athlete grants. After racing for ten years and consistently placing in her age group, Jenn is excited that she and other women frequently “in the mix” will get a chance to race on the world stage. “It’s nice to see the appreciation of the IM foundation for some of us that have come so close so often," she said. Jenn is also excited about Chattanooga’s new format this year. For the first time in IRONMAN history, the race will be split over two days to separate male and female professional and age group athletes. In addition to increased participation, perhaps this means better female positioning in the swim and some more breathing room in the transition area? We’ll have to see come September 9th and 10th! District Multisport Boasts Five USA Triathlon All-Americans! Congratulations to Lauren Lipsey, Mack Yates, Darren Rentch, Jon Ryder and Scott Yates for earning USA Triathlon All-American status! Achieving All-American in overall rankings means these resident bad-asses finished in the top 10 percent of their age group in at least three USA Triathlon-sanctioned events. If you compete in more than the minimum number of required events, USA Triathlon averages your top three scores to calculate your final ranking. For the number nerds that want to dive even deeper into the ranking mechanics, read about it here. Overall, the Mid-Atlantic region boasts 206 women and 325 men All-American athletes! See the full listing of Mid-Atlantic rankings for women and men. This award tells us what we all already know. These guys and gals are in the top of their field, inspiring both fear and respect in their competitors. Way to go! Race Report: Havana 70.3 Jennifer Walrath is a member of District Multisport, originally from Nebraska and can sheer a sheep (fun fact). She shared her experience of getting a podium spot at the Havana 70.3 event held February 25, 2017. Ah, Cuba. I had been meaning to go for some time and finally pulled the trigger - and I loved it! It is a beautiful country with good rum, fun fruits, and tasty pork and fish dishes. And thanks to Chris, we stayed in a casa with a great view of the ocean. Perhaps the most enjoyable part of the country, though, were the Cuban people. They were friendly and helpful, and no one laughed at me as I practiced my Spanish. On the flip side, as Chris said many a time before we left, one does need to pack patience when traveling to Cuba. There is a lack of certain amenities and some dysfunctionality at times. Race wise, before the swim, for example, race officials waffled back and forth more than once about whether the swim would be wetsuit legal. Ultimately, it was, but many a person got lots of practice donning and removing their wetsuit. Along similar lines, it was not easy to find suitable pre-race food (hence Marcie's pre-race breakfast of seafood pizza), and there were only two pre-race port-a-johns for approximately 600 racers (definitely NOT a good situation). All of that said, I would go back to Cuba in a heartbeat, and if you can, you should, too! For those keen to read more, on to the race... Coach's Corner: Aero-bang For Your Buck I was recently asked by a fellow DM’er about whether he should shell out the big bucks for a new set of deep rim aero wheels. My reply was long and winding, carefully weighing the pros versus the cons and delving ever so gently into the politics of triathlon and marriage. In the end, I think the short answer came out something pointing towards no, or “maybe, ask your wife." The question, however, started me thinking about all the awesome tri-gear to which we multisport athletes have access and the even awesomer amount of money that can be shelled out.
If you listen to the bike industry, every new wheel, helmet, bike, etc that comes out is the fastest! And for the low, low price of umpty-hundred dollars, this new thing will guarantee that you have the best race of your life. However, if you look at the test data on which this assertion is based, the best results may yield savings of a few seconds or minutes over the course of 30-112 miles. For those at the pointy end of the spear, the <5% of the race field, this can mean the difference between being on the podium or watching the awards ceremony from the crowd. For the rest of the field, the advantages that these new products provide are often minimized or negated by other factors such as life stress, poor nutrition/sleep or sub-optimal training. Even at the highest levels of the sport, the majority of performance gains have not come from advances in equipment technology but through advances in training science. Now, I am not saying that you shouldn’t aim to have the best equipment that you can afford or that a set of Zipp 808s won’t make your bike look super slick while hanging in transition. Simply keep in mind when you are drooling over the next high-dollar aero widget that there is really only one true way to get faster: hard work. If there are any questions on gear selection, cost/benefit, form/function, etc. post them to the team forum and I will be happy to answer. Jon Ryder is a member of District Multisport, the owner, and operator of RPM Coaching. Jon is a USA Cycling and USA Triathlon certified coach and offers a wide variety of coaching options, including bike fitting. Jon was named to USA Triathlon's All-American for his achievements in triathlon in 2016. He and his wife, Katie, live in Takoma Park, MD with their two sons. Get To Know Your Teammates Katie Egger Makris How did you first get interested in multisport? I originally started as a runner, because it seemed like a reasonable thing to start doing and it got me outside. As most of our stories go, I became crazy and increasingly interested in the longest thing I could do and eventually worked up to a Marathon, and got bored with running. So when our teammate, Rebecca Szatkowski and I met at a bar (seriously) and realized we had some mutual connections, one drunken evening I committed to joining her family's team for Bike MS, bought a bike, and rode my first metric century that summer. I then decided I would channel my 13 year old self, get back in the pool, and sign up for my first Oly - The Mountaineer Triathlon. Which sport do you enjoy the most? This is tough. My heart really belongs to running because it's where I found my tribe first when I moved back to DC. But I love, love, love the bike. I love a long day of riding with good friends, and I love all the nerdy aspects of biking...like gear and data :) Any embarrassing stories you'd like to share? Generally, in life? Yeah, I've got a ton of those. Luckily, I'm now pretty hard to embarrass. As it pertains to racing? Probably puking at the finish line of the MCM 10k one year after trying to act like I was a fast runner. My finish photo, which I wish I had saved, was actually of me throwing up. And I didn't even cross the line first, so it delayed my time even further. What is your most triumphant moment during a multisport event? This sounds cliché, but finishing Ironman Canada. It was my second IM, but It was the first race I've ever done where I actually had solid doubts for a while that I was going to finish. (You know, that point where that three letter acronym, DNF, keeps bouncing around in your head like a pinball?) When I got off the bike, I knew right away I couldn't run the marathon I planned, and knew I was capable of any other day. It was incredibly defeating after a hard year both personally and race wise. Digging myself out of that dark place every second of that 5 hour run was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in a race, which made crossing that finish line mean more to me than any other one had. (And I managed to eek out a 2 minute PR!) Tell us something that most people don't know about you. I used to call in sick every time we had to run the mile in PE class. I hated running. I grew up a dancer and a gymnast and even had a brief stint with diving because I thought swimming was so dreadfully boring. When I played soccer, I actually became a really solid goalie because I figured out early on if I became a good goalie I could run much less during the game. You guys, I despised it, and I would come up with about anything not to have to do it. When I graduated college and kicked my dancing career away, strangely, the first thing I turned to - was running. Congratulations to Lauren Lipsey, Mack Yates, Darren Rentch, Jon Ryder and Scott Yates for earning USA Triathlon All-American status!
Achieving All-American in overall rankings means these resident bad-asses finished in the top 10 percent of their age group in at least three USA Triathlon-sanctioned events. If you compete in more than the minimum number of required events, USA Triathlon averages your top three scores to calculate your final ranking. For the number nerds that want to dive even deeper into the ranking mechanics, read about it here. Overall, the Mid-Atlantic region boasts 206 women and 325 men All-American athletes! See the full listing of Mid-Atlantic rankings for women and men. This award tells us what we all already know. These guys and gals are in the top of their field, inspiring both fear and respect in their competitors. Way to go! |
District MultisportWe're striving to keep you informed, entertained, and on your toes! Archives
July 2017
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
|
© COPYRIGHT 2016. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
|
