Brian's Travel & Photo Blog

It’s hard to believe I have embarked on my third triathlon already in the last year. The Steelman was one I had steered away from last year due to a longer than usual swim. The Steelman Sprint consists of a 860yd(0.5 mile) swim, a 15 mi. bike and a 5k(3mi) run. This year it seemed to be the missing piece to my puzzle. I am preparing for my first Olympic distance tri, The Quakerman, this September which is also at Lake Nockamixon. I had attended two open water swim clinics at Nockamixon earlier in the summer to hone up on my weakest sport of the three. The clinic left me with good amount of confidence in the swim. So in order to keep that rolling, I thought the Steelman sprint was the perfect event to parlay that confidence. The Steelman sprint swim is a half mile which is only a tenth less the Quakerman Olympic swim and all other sprints I had done previous were only a quarter mile. The only bad thing about the timing of this event was that I pulled a calf muscle(soleus) about a week and half before the event. I had laid off it totally after it occurred and babied it with ice and rest, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to last the whole run or not. The worst thing would be if I totally ripped it and could not attend the Quakerman. So if I got any pain it would be a walk event.

The Steelman event is very well organized and has been recognized by Triathlon magazine as well as good reviews from competitors. The coordinator had sent a slew of emails out notifying everyone of every little thing came up, in addition to an 80+ page Athletes document with full instructions. No lack of communication here! I decided to head down there on Saturday to do my packet picket and do an easy ride of the bike course. They had a little mini-expo setup so I picked up a few things for my new bike.

The athlete instructions said that sprint distance athletes must be in the park by 5:30AM due to the closing of the main road(RT 563) for the race. We would also not be allowed out of the park until at least 10:30AM that morning. That is a bit of a drag especially for any spectators that want to see you race. Due to this restriction I told my only fan, my wife, that she did not need to attend this one. It is just a training event for me anyway. I thought being there by 5:30AM would give me plenty of time to warm up in each discipline, but the long line at the port-a-potty consumed alot of time and they also closed the transition area at 6:45AM. This was really annoying since my wave of swim didn’t go until 7:45Am! A whole hour of standing around. Fortunately my swim instructor was there to watch the event and I shot the breeze with him for a while.

After standing around for an hour, they finally called my wave for the swim start. When we all got in the water everyone was hanging back from the start buoy except one guy. The announcer made a funny comment about it and we all moved up. The water temperature was 80 degrees, so wetsuits were not USAT legal. I really was prepared for this and had practiced this in the swim clinic. I started out staying to the inside of the buoys. This was nice since there wasn’t any traffic to contend with, but when I tried to get in to round the first turn buoy things got a little congested. Course was a bit of a rectangle with a counter-clockwise direction. Things got a little better after the second turn buoy and everyone started spacing out. I did take a couple breathers on my back, but this was by far the most consistent swim I have had as well as my longest(0.5 mi). The open-water swim clinics I had taken earlier definitely increased my swimming confidence and my ability to relax in the water. Swim Time: 17:50 (Pace: 36:23, 232/537)

T1 was ok. A long jog into the transition got my bike and out of there. Biggest mistake here was running out of transition while being on right side of my bike. I didn’t realize this until I tried to get on my bike and then I had to move  around to the other side. This was also my first tri with my new bike, a Quintana Roo Caliente, and I had not practiced any transitions with it. This became quite evident with both T1 and T2. Something to work on for next time, which is the main reason I did this race. One other note is that my Swim Instructor, Scott, was there cheering in the transition area which was pretty motivating. T1 Time: 2:02

I was pretty excited to get out on the bike course with my new tri bike. The Nockamixon bike course on Rt 563 is fairly hilly compared to the past two tri’s I did in NJ, but not that different from what I usually ride at home. I was hoping that this may be a bit of an advantage for me compared to some of the flatlanders in my wave. Coming out of the transition in the marina the first thing you hit is a little steep climb out towards the road. That really wakes the legs up after swimming for 20 mins. I think a couple guys passed me going up it but I ended up passing them before we got out to Rt. 563. This one guy in the Olympic race and I kept jockeying back and forth the whole time. I would pass him on the hills and he would pass me on the flats. It kind of helped keep my motivation to stay with him. Bike Time: 41:12 (Pace 18.6, 45/537)

T2 was a little bit of a rough time. First off I came flying into the dismount area and almost flipped my bike over when I got off. The bike is much lighter than my old bike and I didn’t distribute my weight properly. Nothing a little transition practice cannot cure. Then I could not find my stuff in the transition area. I was a row over and just could not see it. I even had my Austin Powers towel hanging there which I thought would be really noticeable. Apparently not. Despite these hiccups, my time wasn’t too bad. T2 Time: 1:28

The run was the part that I was most wary of due to my calf injury. I didn’t know how long that I could last running without that coming back again. I surely didn’t want to make it worse, so if it did start hurting I would probably be walking the rest of that leg. I started out very slowly making sure I was in my best Chirunning form. My calf felt really good and I started thinking I might be able to run the whole time. Then came the halfway turnaround.  About a tenth of a mile after that it felt like someone stabbed my in the back of the leg! Shit! How could that go from feeling fine one second to piercing pain the next? I walked a little bit, but kept giving it another try…nothing. Then I somehow found a form that I could run and it didn’t hurt. I think I was basically keeping that leg straighter, kind of like I had a leg cast on, and was able to make it the whole. It wasn’t fast by any means but if I could salvage my overall race a bit it was worth it. Run Time: 28:16( Pace: 9:07, 321/537)

My overall time was 1:30:45 which is ok. Hey it was only a training  race anyway, so I am happy with it. I definitely got some things to work on for my Olympic race which is my high priority. I finished 14 out of 39 in my age group which puts me solidly in the top half. The only thing that kinda stinks is that a solid run could have put me in the top 5 or at least close. But there is always next year. The post-race food was pretty good. Tons of fruit and some pizza and cookies to satisfy my post-race junk food urge. Hung out for a bit, talked with a couple I knew and eventually they let us out of the park.

Race Result

Place Bib#  D Name                   Age G City    St Rank 860ydsw Pace  Tran1   Rank 12.8mbk Rate Tran2   Rank 5krun   Pace  Penalty Final   Div/Tot  Div     Gen/Tot  G
===== ===== = ====================== === = ======= == ==== ======= ===== ======= ==== ======= ==== ======= ==== ======= ===== ======= ======= ======== ======= ======== = 

122    638  S Brian Schwind           42 M ALBURTI PA  232   17:50 36:23    2:02   45   41:12  18.6    1:28  321   28:16  9:07         1:30:45  14/39   M40-44   82/291  M 

Links:

Sprint Order of Finish Results

Spring Award Winner Results

This year has been a bit of a metamorphosis for me regarding my running. As I mentioned before, I had never thought of myself as a “runner” even though I have attempted this many times throughout my life. The IT Band issues I incurred around 10 years ago I thought sealed the deal on that. After reading Chris McDougall’s book Born To Run, I had stumbled onto the Chirunning method developed by Danny Dreyer. I read the book and started implementing the different forms or postures in order to get to a proper body alignment for running efficiently and pain-free. While this made a HUGE difference in my running, (went from running 3-4 miles and being exhausted to eventually running upwards of 16 miles and feeling good afterwards) I still felt like I didn’t quite have it totally correct. So, when I saw a Chirunning workshop being help up at Kripalu in Western Massachusetts, I thought it would be a great opportunity to hone my technique a bit. The other thing was my wife has always wanted to go Kripalu for Yoga as well as learn Chirunning so this looked to be a great opportunity.

The workshop was lead by Kathy Griest, who is a Master Chirunning instructor and has worked with Danny Dreyer from the beginning. Kathy was assisted by several other instructors(Ann Margaret McKillop and Michael Krushinsky to name a few.) and instructors-to-be which complemented the team perfectly. There were over 40 people in our workshop, but with all the instructors it was a perfect ratio to get the necessary attention for all the students. This workshop allowed me to start from the beginning in order to polish up the techniques I had learned from the book and DVD. The personal aspect of the workshop also added some different ways of implementing the techniques that you cannot get from a book or video. The weekend consisted of a total of 6 sessions of around 2.5 hours each. The final session consisted of reviewing a video of each student Chirunning where Kathy and the team pointed out the positives and what to work on in each persons technique. I was amazed that they could remember specific issues that each person was struggling with throughout the week and how they were able to correct them by the end. The biggest thing I learned is that Chirunning is a life-long process that you will continually work on during your running. After my first run this morning since being home from the workshop, I feel that I have improved my leaps-and-bounds. If you want to learn to run efficiently and pain-free, I strongly recommend learning Chirunning and if possible, a workshop as well. The techniques and postures learned are also useful in many other activities.

Lenox Loop run map

Kripalu 5 Mile Out-and-Back run map

Besides Chirunning at Kripalu, I was also able to enjoy my first Yoga class, meditation classes, great healthy food, and some open-water swimming in the lake. The weekend seemed very busy going from one class to the next and fitting in some meals in between. Although I was busy, I still felt extremely relaxed and a bit renewed after the weekend was over. It definitely opened my mind up to an alternative type of vacation in the future. Parking my phone, laptop and wallet for the weekend played a key role in the unwinding. The only thing we really had to worry about was showing up at the different sessions and for meals. The accommodations reminded me a bit of a dormitory in college, but we really weren’t in our room enough to hang out in there anyway. When we did get back to our room, we just crashed and then it was back up at 6AM again for a run.

The weekend was just superb from all aspects. I am definitely looking forward to In addition we met some really great people that I hope to keep in touch with over time.

This past Sunday(June 6 2010) I completed my 2nd sprint triathlon. The event was the Belleplain Triathlon hosted by D&Q Events. I had compteted in the Duathlon two years ago and my wife had had also competed in it two years before that. It is very well run and the course is great. Very flat and shaded. Overall, I was pretty happy with my outcome but I wanted to document both the pros and cons of my result. One of the major things since my last triathlon was losing ~35  lbs. This alone has made a huge impact mostly in the fit of my wetsuit. Another was my change in running form. Adopting a fore/mid-foot strike(Born to Run and Chirunning ) has made a huge impact on my run speed and endurance.

While writing this, I was listening to “Mary Jane’s Last Breakdown” by Keller Williams & The Keels

Belleplain Tri Photos

Positives

• Transitions were majorly improved thanks to practicing. T1 went from > 2min to 1:21.
• Bike Avg Speed was fastest yet @ 22.1 mph and placed in top 8.
  • I particularly enjoy passing the guys on the $3000+ bikes and aero helmets like they are standing still.
• Run felt good. Enjoyed the off-road trail and went faster than I realized. 6:38 pace???

Things to improve upon…

• Pre-Race
• Eat less. Had a PowerBar harvest and a ClifBar 2 hours prior to race. Felt very full during swim. Could cut back to one bar or small bowl of cereal.
• Swim
  • Need to stay the back and outside of wave. Starting in the front middle of the pack of my wave was not a good idea. Running into guys in front of me and guys behind me running into me messed me up a bit.
  • More Open Water Swimming. It is just a whole different world especially when vis is poor. Hopefully open-water clinic and time in Finger Lakes will help.
  • Swim to Shore. Should keep swimming until I cannot swim anymore.
  • Endurance! In order to complete the Olympic distance I am going to have to really work on the swimming.
• T1
  • Ditch the socks. Need to try this in practice to make sure I don’t get blisters. This will get T1 under a minute I think.
• Bike
  • Keep Improving.  Would like to get up over 23MPH avg.
• T2
  • Keep it up.
• Run
  • More speed work. Up the pace.

While writing this, I was listening to “Switch and the Spur” by Keller Williams

Belleplain 2010 Sprint Tri Results

                                          age|#in
                                          grp|age
Place        Name          City, State    plc|grp age s  Bib SwPl  Swim  Pace T1Pl   T1  BkPL   Bike   MPH  T2PL   T2  RnPl   Run    Pace  Finish
===== =================== ==============  ======= === =  === ==== =====  ==== ====  ==== ==== =======  ==== ====  ==== ==== ======= ===== =======

35     BRIAN SCHWIND       ALBURTIS PA       6/19   41 M  115   90  9:49  2:19   49  1:59   21   41:38  21.9   49  0:57   47   20:31  6:38 1:14:52 

LBI 2009 Sprint Tri Results

Place        Name          City, State   Age s cat  Bib SwPl  Swim  Pace T1Pl   T1  BkPL   Bike   MPH  T2PL   T2  RnPl   Run    Pace  Finish
===== =================== ============== === = ===  === ==== =====  ==== ====  ==== ==== =======  ==== ====  ==== ==== ======= ===== =======

62     BRIAN SCHWIND      ALBURTIS PA     40 M      173  149  8:10  1:56   50  2:23   23   28:56  20.7  128  1:54   91   25:48  8:20 1:07:10

Belleplain 2008 Duathlon Results

Place        Name          City, State   Age s cat  Bib R1Pl    Run1  Pace T1Pl   T1  BkPL   Bike   MPH  T2PL   T2  Rn2Pl  Run2   Pace  Finish
===== =================== ============== === = ===  === ====   =====  ==== ====  ==== ==== =======  ==== ====  ==== ===== ====== ===== =======

16    BRIAN SCHWIND        ALBURTIS PA   39 M      330   20   13:49  6:55   38  1:21    8   41:21  22.1   35  1:15   31   25:00  8:04 1:22:45 

While Lake Placid is a typical destination for us, we have never been there during the early Spring. We decided to make the trip up this time of year with the intention of some triathlon training and fly-fishing. I always use the excuse that I don’t fly-fish as much as I used to since I have been married, so Denise said that she wants to learn how so that we are both able to do this together. Our base camp is located right on the West Branch of the Ausable River and River Road which is the heartbeat of all endurance-related training in the area, so we will be perfectly located for our intended pursuits.

The ride up went pretty smooth. We took the Honda Fit in an effort to save some gas. The Fit worked well, but wasn’t quite as efficient as it usually it with the extra load of gear, two road bikes on the roof, and the increase in elevation. We stopped in Albany, NY at one of our favorite Thai restaurants, Blue Spice Thai. The last time up they had closed the doors on their previously location across the street which we didn’t realize until we pulled up to the door. Fortunately this time they were open. The food was still quite good, but the less than accommodating waitress left a bad taste in our mouths. Despite that we still ordered several orders to-go for eating in during the week.

While driving through Keene, NY we noticed that the former natural grocery store had reopened as the Green Point Foods so we made a U-bee and checked it out. A young couple from Brooklyn had just moved up here and opened up. They were a little sparse right now, but were gearing up to have fresh soup, sandwiches, and baked goods. If you are going through the area, it may be a good place to stop by and enjoy lunch on the nice deck our front.

Upon arrival to our “base camp”, we were greeted by our friendliest of hosts, Dan & Wendy. After catching up for a few minutes, we unpacked, settled in and enjoyed our Thai take-away dinner. After dinner, we set out for a short walk along the river to discuss the weeks plan of activities, then off to bed for a good night sleep.

Sunday, May 16th 2010

Sunday morning we got up at decent hour and off to our favorite breakfast place Chair 6. A party of 12 had beaten us to this tiny place, but we patiently waited since we were on vacation and not in any huge rush. Anyway, it is always worth the wait. Denise had her Salmon omlette and I had sourdough French Toast. Yum! After breakfast we headed to Jones Outfitter’s Fly Shop for licenses and the latest scuttlebutt on the fishing in the area. The river was still cool and  most activity was still sub-surface, so I loaded up on some nymphs and streamers and we were on our way. I headed out for my first road ride of the trip. I made my way down River Rd to Rt. 73, then up and back on Rt. 86 to Wilmington, NY and back. The ride up to Wilmington was a nice downhill grade, but the road was bit rough. The way back the same road was exactly opposite on both accounts.

After returning from my bike ride, we headed down to the Iron Bridge on River Rd. for Denise’s first fly-casting lessons. She got the jist of things despite my ability to break things down to basics. No fish were caught, but that was not really the goal of this outing. An older gentlemen below us had yanked some large trout out on a spin real and some garden worms. He gave me a bunch but I kept losing them trying to false-cast then out to the fish. There were some large fish sitting under the bridge, but it was a deep slow pool and hard to get a fly down to them in order to tempt them. We decided to head home, clean-up, and head over to Desparado’s for some Irish-Mexican for dinner. “Despy’s” were a bit crowded so we opted for Caribbean Cowboy instead. The Cowboy is really good, but they had jacked up their prices a few years ago so we tend to limit our visits there. We got a few looks from the other couples dining there when we entered. Not sure if it was our extra-casual appearance or if it was our obnoxious Flyers garb. I had the Jerk Chicken platter which is always great and Denise had a Salmon special which was good, but didn’t “knock her socks off.” A couple LP IPA’s topped off this culinary delight. Post-dinner we bolted home to catch the Flyers first playoff game versus the Canadiens on CBC. Flyers did not disappoint. Flyers 6, Habs 0…Sweet!

Stay tuned for the rest of the weeks adventures…

My running has finally gone to the next level. Never thought of myself as a runner, but thanks to some modifications in technique last year, after reading "Born To Run" by Chris McDougall  and “Chirunning” by Danny Dreyer, I can now consider myself one. Running has now become an enjoyable, effortless and , pain free activity for me, where it used to be the opposite. My IT band pain has gone away and running 13.1 miles has become fun. The St. Luke’s Lehigh Valley Half Marathon was a great course and I would definitely do that one again.

The following ride is nice scenic 31 miler. Rolling hills mostly and nothing too steep. Usually can catch a westerly breeze tailwind on the way home.

Online copy of the Large Pool Lane Schedule for your convenience…

RAC-Lg Pool Lane Schedule

The following site lists all the cross-country ski areas in New York…

Cross-Country Ski Areas of New York

These are skate-skiing areas near Albany…

• Pine Ridge: http://www.pineridgexc.com/index.html
• Location: County Route 40, East Poestenkill, NY
• Garnett Hill: http://www.garnet-hill.com/cross-country-skiing.asp#programs
• http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&q=East+Poestenkill,+NY&fb=1&gl=us&ei=pZB-S_RjgcgyvOiBowg&ved=0CBIQpQY&hl=en&view=map&geocode=FdNIiwId4o-e-w&split=0&iwloc=A&sa=X

I am tired of searching all over for my 5k Results from last year, so I am adding an entry here for them.

Alburtis 5k (http://www.enter.net/~alburtis5k/)
Place   Time    Name               Division
161      27:08   Brian Schwind   30 to 39 Male

Celtic Classic 5k (http://www.morningstarrotary.org/events/5k/Register/)
Place Bib#  Name                     Gen Age City         St Chiptim Pace  Guntime Div/Tot  Div     Gen/Tot  G
===== ===== ======================== === === ============ == ======= ===== ======= ======== ======= ======== = 
213   319 Brian Schwind            M    38 Alburtis     PA   25:49  8:20   26:05  12/32   CLYDES  156/270  M

I competed in my first duathlon on June 1st in Belleplain State Forest, NJ. I actually surprised myself a bit by coming in 1st in my age group and 16th overall. My bike portion definitely saved me with +23 MPH avg pace and a fast(for me) 2 mi run leg. My final 5k run was a little bit of a struggle but it was still faster than both of the 5k’s that I did last year…and I didn’t have to run and before those!

Check out the event photos

Event Results

Event Website