spin / second sole multisport team

Brian Kostura and Patrick Kolozvary recently ventured to the east coast to have a crack at the Rhode Island 70.3 race. Hot and hilly was on tap for the race, but both were pleased with their day despite not quite breaking their PR. Patrick was turning a pedal in anger after a questionable call from the official, while Brain learned how to harden his resolve when things aren’t going to plan.

Joe Bush did a biathlon; running, then drinking at the annual Winking Lizard Shot in the Dark, while Scott Zubricky continues to race perhaps more than anyone in Cleveland at the JohnnyCakes 5 miler.

Andy Cornwell, Marty Mason, and Anthony Davila (that’s right, Nacho raced!) participated in the Lakewood Street Walk 5k. Then on Sunday morning Andy backed up to race his mountain bike at the first race in the NEO Power Series at Findley State Park with Rob Thompson. Mountain biking is fun!

Click through for the full reports

Patrick –

Late report…better than never

This race was filled with a few firsts for me.  First race I had to wake up at 3 am to get to the point to point start, First ocean/ saltwater race (which was fun), and first drive for over 11 hours to get to a race (thanks to east coast traffic).

Providence was a nice city for theis event, we got in to town friday night & checked out the course saturday. The race started at 6 am out on Naragansett Bay, so we had to wake up at 3am to catch the 3:45 am shuttle.  So early! My favorite quote of the weekend was when we passed a random guy (who was probably out drinking still from saturday night) near the bus station..he says “I wunda where all deez people are goin?  Muss be some sorta beach paaaaarty or somethin'” (add a very heavy New england accent, and this was hilarious at 3:45 am.

So the “beach party” started with jumping through 3-4 foot waves in to a nice saltwater swim, it went well, very comfortable.

The bike course was amazing for the first 1/3 of it, and then the hills started.  Jim & Andrea warned us about the hills, but it was a challenging course.  No tailwind this year either.  I got my first red card ever about 30 miles in to the bike.  I was on a tight 2 lane uphill & going to pass a group of 3 guys that were bunched together.  I noticed a vehicle coming up behind me, so I didn’t pull out to pass on the uphill.  When I looked back a second time, it was an official on a motorcycle, so I eased back.

She waited a while and then gave my least favorite quote of the race ” 377, you have a red card, pull over at the next penalty box”  I was so pissed off. I asked why and she said I was drafting at “about 3 lengths, not 4”. Not happy, I took off and pretty much red lined to the penalty box.  I had no thoughts of making CLearwater, so this really bothered me.

I ended up catching the same group of guys about 20 miles later, that gave me a little satisfaction.
The run was hot & had a few huge hills.  The legs were pretty flat, so I just got in to an easy rhythm and kept moving. I finished my first lap while Kate Major was winning the womens race, hearing all the cheers made it a bit tough to make the turn for another 6.55 miles.  I finished at 5:14 (which includes the penalty time).

Not my best half, but it was great doing it with Erin, Brian Kostura, and my buddy Christian.

One of the benefits of doing RI was getting a chance to sign up for Lake Placid IM 2011 early, so all 4 of us did. Here we go again….

It would be great if we get a BIG group up to Lake Placid next year…anyone else going to sign up???

Brian –

What a training day!  3am wakeup to catch a 4am bus to the swim start for my 6:15am wave start!  Talk about no sleep!  First race for me in salt water…lesson one…don’t drink it!  I think I did a pretty good job of not ingesting too much water, but I definitely did not need any electrolyte tablets until the second loop of the run!

Swim course was a simple out and back swim, which was a little tricky navigating through the waves on the way out, but fun riding them on the way back into shore!  Too bad I could not body surf whole way!  Another added challenge to the swim was getting through a sea of kelp that had drifted into the course, along with a school of jellyfish that luckily did not sting…nothing like upping that ante a bit.

Bike course started with a nice 10 mile sprint along the shore to the rolling hills of Rhode Island.  There were plenty of false flats and a few long downhill stretches with one or two more challenging hills in the last 10-15 miles of the ride before arriving in Providence.  The fans were great, especially during some of the climbs…one actually reminded me of my HS Football coach yelling at us to keep going!  (Pat and I ran into him after the race and he was still pumped up!)

The run got quite warm running through downtown Providence.  The weather report at the end of the race said it was 81F, but it definitely felt warmer than that…we were all feeling it, especially during the long steep climb in the first mile of the run!

Despite the heat, pat was still able to run at a pretty good clip and ended up with a respectable 5:14 finish.  I was happy with my 5:44 finish time, despite wanting to come in under my PR of 5:26, because I learned some things about pushing through stomach/nutrition issues and resetting my focus when the weather does not cooperate in your favor.

Like any IM event, it was well run and I look forward to doing it again someday!

Andy –

Mountain Bike Racing is fun, despite (or perhaps because of) the increased risk of losing skin and breaking bones.  The trail was deceptive, with most corners being tacky, but then some would sneak up on you.  I ended up on my butt once and had to put my foot down a few times, because I am really terrible at mountain bikes.

Props to Rob– who is also terrible at mountain bikes, but less terrible and much faster than me– for winning the sport class.  And again getting bumped for sandbagging.

I also have to say that triathlon race directors could learn a lot from MTB races– there was really, really great schwag or cash for EVERY division and age group, three-deep.  I know that’s not why we race, but the effort doesn’t go unnoticed.

Scott –

Very hot which is typical for the race. Someone said they should call it the johnnybake. Rode Saturday with Rood on a 40 mile- 62 mile ride… Pat K. will know what I mean. Wanted to stay under 31 minutes, but didn’t know what my legs would have. Just over at 31:03. Happy with the result. I guess I am in better shape than I thought I was. Ran my fastest mile at the end.

Filed under: 2010 | Tagged: 5k, 70.3, man it was hot this weekend, mtb |