Robbie Williams - Medley [Live Brit Awards 2010]

The Austin Triathlon

I spend my Labor Day up in Austin racing, going into the race my goal was Top 5 and I ended up 4^th. Looking back it’s always easy to say I should have done this I should have done that! But here the account of my race in my words:

The Swim was Non wetsuit, we were held forever floating, before they finally counted us down.  The start was fast and I made my best attempt to get a good position, but as sound as the pace settled I was able to pass and get into a group. I felt like I was having a solid swim and was not that far off the group ahead of me. When I hoped out of the water I was low 23, but we ran to the bit to pass the chip math.

I had a quick transition and made the again long run to the bike mount! On the bike I felt flat and didn’t get into the grove. I was passing people and moving up but as Heather put it I didn’t have my usual pop.  The course was 3 laps lots of turns and windy, not my cup of tea as I ride well on hills and straightaway’s.

I hit T2 with stud U of Texas runner Joe Thorne, I was in and out quick eager to get rolling and hunt some people down, my legs felt decent and it wasn’t until the end of the first lap that Joe came up on me, we ran together for 2.5 miles then he used his sub 4min mile speed to drop me! At that stage we had ran our way into 3^rd and 4^th. My buddy Wes just missed out on 5^th been overtaking by super fast finisher Derek Yoerk.

Overall I was pleased, not my best race but I put out a good effort, considering I had a nasty ear infection, which I didn’t really discover to be as bad until Heather checked it tonight and also riding my new bike for  real in a race was a new learning curve . I will take it and know I can perform better on any given day.

Weekend Plans

Tonight Wes and I had a good swim set and knocked out a bonus run afterwards. I felt good for the first time in a few weeks in the pool. So it got me excited again about swimming again. This morning was back to the track for me, Its been a while so I did a light workout:

mile cut down to get myself ready to run fast ! 4X200, 400-600-800-600-400. all with a short recovery and just below 10k race pace.

This weekend we got some key sessions to get in the books.

Open Water swim and Long run in the am. A bike recovery ride in the PM.

Sunday is a long bike of 3H45mins with some tempo work and then a 5mile run @ 70.3 pace off the bike. That evening will have a recovery swim. The key will be hydration as its going to be a hot week weather wise. Check back for updates on each session.

Right off to bed !

Robbie

Daily SLOG

As most of you all know, most of the time training is spend slogging and getting the workouts done so we are ready to performance on race day. Yes it can be boring 80 % of the time. But over the years I have come up with a few ways to keep it fun and get the work done.

1. Every workout should have a purpose and be part of the plan. Easy days are recovery and remember you need them to get faster. I tell on recovery rides or rides this is my 4% saving account, not big yield but we get some benefit.

2. Make short,medium and long term races goals. Write them down and share them with people. The short goals can be small local races to keep you honest with your training progession.

3. Share the training workload with friends. Its all about the Journey !

4. Don't become a slave to the schedule, listen to what your body is telling you.

5. Mix up the scenery and explore on the bike.

6. Fuel the body with nutational products that will allow you proform and recover. The products above are some that I swear by.

Just some ideas to help you get your workouts done when your not feeling like getting out the door. The photo is of the nutation products I use that allow me to get my workouts done and my also allow me to recover, while living a busy lifestyle. Check out their website. http://www.triathletehealth.com/

Robbie

Training Partners

There is something to be said about having a good training partner and pushing one another to reach your goals. Its hard to find people that care about your goals just as much as their own. I have been lucky to have trained with some great guys in my life (Sean, Dirk, Mots, Donnie and Kyle so names that come to mind many other I could list if my brain was not calling for sleep). The majority of the satisfaction within sport for me is sharing the passion and the work ethic with friends and then celebrating your achievements together over a few beers.

So shout out to Wes Anderson (wesandersontri.blogspot.com) for pushing me in the pool tonight.

Big news three days ahead to cap off a solid week.

Next up for the San Antonio crew is Austin Tri on Labor Day !

Night,

R

"I just want to go fast"

As I was riding my bike today AL Pacino’s speech from “Any Given Sunday” came into my head, “Inch by Inch”. If you have heard it you will remember it, if not check it out. Pacino talks about how Football is a game of inches. Well, if that is the case, Triathlon is a game of millimeters! One millimeter too far back you lose power, one millimeter too far forward your back hurts and you lose more power. For me,this is something that I kind of knew, but honestly didn’t really understand the full benefits or the science and skill behind it until the other day! Something happened. For the first time in my life, when I jumped on a bike, it felt like it was part of my body. Sounds crazy but that is the easiest way for me to describe the feeling after Kevin Saunders of KGS Bikes built my new Parlee TT.
Let me take you back a few weeks when I walked into his studio; a confident rider and pretty happy with the way I have been getting it done on the bike at triathlon. As soon as Kevin told me what he could do for me in terms of eliminating my lower back pain, making me feel more comfortable on the bike, stay in the aero position for all of the race and allow me to put out more power while still been able to throw down a fast run, I was fascinated and wanted to know more!
Kevin smiled and said “Let’s get to work.” He spent hours on every aspect and detail, making sure we get it right. He double checked my power output and my comfort level as my optimum position revealed itself. I started thinking “Why haven’t I done this earlier? All the time I have been giving my competitors an advantage.” But as luck would have it I managed to meet one of the best guys in the business and now advantage is back to Wade! I have never seen another fitter work like Kevin and though he told me what he was doing, I realized he was letting my body tell us both where to put the saddle and aerobars. This is the real difference, as there was no prior plan, just the truth of the watt meter combined with my comfort.
We ordered a Parlee TT and I could fit on a Small. When it was finished, I could feel the power and efficiency in my pedal stroke. I also felt relaxed in the aero bars and if you are going to be racing for 56 or 112 miles you need to be able to stay relaxed and comfortable, and you really need to stay in the bars the whole time. Speed and feeling relaxed should go hand in hand in endurance sports but I have seen lots of pros who are not that comfortable.
Speaking of speed I couldn’t get over my first workout on the bike. I was able to zip though the corners while staying aero and on the flats I could hold a much faster pace during my standard tempo workout. My legs also were a lot fresher doing my runs off the bike. I can’t wait to jump on this machine at my next big race.
As a pro, I am used to seeing athletes get what other pros get without paying much thought to the bike that would suit them best. I also see pros ride horrible positions just because they were sponsored. My advice is to see Kevin and even consider getting a money sponsor, but don’t compromise on the bike. Both the bike leg and the run leg will improve and I had no idea that a custom bicycle at this level would produce this improvement.
Feel free to email me with any questions, robbiewade1@gmail.com and I will tell you more details. You can buy speed, but you have to get a real expert to advise you. I am so glad I did.

Great Insight into Training and enjoying Triathlon.

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2011/05/training/exclusive-video-inside-the-raelert-brothers-spring-training-camp_27858

http://etu.triathlon.org/en/news/article/french_athletes_dominate_at_european_duathlon_championships

Untitled by rwade1401 at Garmin Connect - Details

Untitled by rwade1401 at Garmin Connect - Details

Here are the race details. Great race and sleepy now. Course was great and spot on, good job Limerick Tri club , Just missing a few hills to break up the front pack on the bike. I will write lots more tomorrow. The crowd support was amazing !

Thanks,

Robbie

Turn on Tune up and Roll out !

Today I did my last real tune up for next weekends race. The goal was to put in a solid effort, focus on relaxing and rolling. Easier said than done sometimes for us. Fast comes from being relaxed and reminding ourselves of it, but in the heat of the moment we forget this.

Anyway the weather was prefect just a little windy but the temp was right around 55 and the sun was out. It was 5km-20km-3km. The first run ended up been 2.8miles to the Transition line according to my garmin. I hit the first mile in 4:49, the 2nd had a solid hill and I was 5:02, then ran 5:00 pace (according to the garmin) 13:40ish. That would be a nice 5k split right, prob 5k once you add the run in and out of transition !! I jumped on my bike, sidenote: I didn't put the elastic bands on too good as the bumps knotted them off and my shoes scrapped on the ground as I took off. Rookie move Robbie. Ahwell. The bike was 3 laps of a testing loop with some hills and a twisty rough section. I rode a good tempo effort. T2 was better, good dismount and then off and out for a good 3k effort, I focused in my mind on staying relaxed and not to push, the watch sounded and mile one was 4:55, so I backed off as I was happy with that effort and didn't want to tax the body too much up the final hill. I finished in 53:57, afterwards I found out it was course record by 5:15ish. The best part of the day was meeting lots of people from the Multisport community in the South East. Lots of fun and can't wait for next weekend.

Robbie

Tour De South East

Untitled by rwade1401 at Garmin Connect - Details

Check on the link above to see my nice steady ride around Waterford. Got to remember to keep on the left side of the road ! Tomorrow I got a tune up Duathlon 5k-20k-3k. I got to get the gears sorted on the Trek before. The trouble with travel is it knocked them out sometimes. I put on some ITU legal aerobars. I'm in two minds if I will use them next week. Tomorrow will be a test for them.

Back to Portlaw

On Tuesday I departed Virgina for Ireland to spend some time at home and prepare for the European Duathlon Champs.

Last night I enjoyed watching Man Utd beat Chelsea. I arrived in early Wednesday morning into Shannon, as soon as I got home I put my bike together and rode after which I passed out for a nap. Then I hit up a 7.5mi easy run in the Portlaw Woods. I hit the hay at 9 45pm and woke up at 2pm today !! 2 nights sleep, which I needed for sure.

Today the weather was truly amazing around 60 and Sunny. Prefect weather for training, after a 20min run warm up, I did a nice little transition/high anaerobic workout of bike/run/bike/run combo, then a Warm down on the bike. The roads are really similar to Texas roads. Rolling hills, rough chip surfaces and quite country roads which are easy to find. I fully understand why the South East of Ireland has produced 2 world class Cyclists in Sean Kelly and Ciaran Power. The area is prefect for base building training. I may attack the Comeragh Mountains before I head back to the US, the week after Euro Duathlon Champs.

Peace out !

Robbie

San Antonio

In a week I was be jetting on over to Ireland for European Duathlon Champs. Then from April 20th I was be calling San Antonio TX home. This past weekend I paid a trip down to my new homeland to see Heather and do a marriage prep course. I got in some decent training too as the weather was amazing!

Friday was an early morning run of 45mins before the sun was up, then after breakfast I got on Heather's bike and explored for a bit to look for good places to live. In the afternoon I hit up Golds Gym with Heather to get in a swim before we headed to the first day of our class at 6pm until 9pm. Afterwards we met up with Wes and Erin Anderson for a few drinks. Both are from Iowa and moved to San Antonio not that long ago. Wes is racing Pro this season and Erin is doing her first Ironman this year. A pretty awesome couple and will be great to get to know them !

Saturday morning was a quick run before we headed back to the class, In the afternoon I hit up the trails again to see if my hip was fine to race on Sunday. I decided to be smart and wait until I got my hip aligned to put in a hard effort and besides with 3 weeks left to Euros its best to play it safe.

So Sunday instead of the 10k, I hooked up with Wes Anderson for a nice steady 70+mile tour of the outskirts of San Antonio, He is Wes's blog http://www.wesandersontri.blogspot.com/

In the pm I jumped in the pool 200m from the house for a quick swim, It will be nice to have a 25 yard pool so close to swim at. No excuses after April 20th ! and lots of yards.

Have a great week.

Go Caps !

Robbie

S#$T or get off the pot !

So my College Coach liked to say its time to S#$T or get off the pot. After spending many days and nights thinking about my situation and what I want to do with my life. We have decided that if I'm going to race PRO, I may as well give it all I got and not half-ass it. So Heather and I are making the move south to Texas. We got family down there, also we really like the area and climate.

It was a really tough decision for me to make as I totally enough my job at Pacers and the DC area for training also the great people to workout with. I have made some many friends here too. But my heart is telling me be true to myself and see what can I achieve.

I believe in myself and want to use the gifts that god has giving me, hard work, dedication and the desire to better myself.

So after European Duathlon Champs I will move down.

On the training side, the last 2 days have been solid

Tue:

AM Swim with Zac. felt rough for me, He was rolling.

PM Track with Pacers Elite. 6 X 1mile w 400 jog. Great group right now, lots of guys getting fit and more to come. Good to see Willy back. Some of these guys will be popping some big time races later this yr or early 2012. Steve and Frank and progressing nearly. Total 13miles

Wed:

AM Run 10 miles easy recovery in the trails w Chris and Erik

PM Bike 40miles w Darion, What a day off. We did some harder efforts but mainly rode easy-steady.

Triathlon Ireland

Another Monday Morning ! I wanted to share some exciting news, check out the link below.

Triathlon Ireland

Also shout out to my friend Darion for getting his first cycling win yesterday. 5 starts and a win !

I'm alive !

Nope I didn't die ! I was sick the past week and have been really focused on getting healthy. I guess this is a good time to get sick as any.

Time to get back out there and build back again. Today was my first real day of training I got out for 10 miles this morning nice and easy in the Trails. I feel really good running right now.

Tonight I jumped in the pool for a quick workout, its been a while but by the end of the swim I was feeling my stroke coming back.

Tomorrow is early swim and bike ride.

Hope everyone is doing well.

RW

Recovery

I'm sure we all have heard this word over and over in Endurance Sport, most of the time it goes in one ear and out the other. About 10 years ago I was lucky to be around Irish 3k/5k/10k record holder Mark Carroll. He also ran 2:10 in New York not to long ago, after dealing with some injuries he retired from International Competition and now Coaches at Auburn. Anyway our Coach at the time was Brother John Dooley (in my mind one of the best Junior coaches in Irish History) Well Bro Dooley always talked about the important of recovery and we used Heart Rate monitors on hard workouts and to take our resting HR which we recorded along with our weight/mileage and food in our logs which he looked over weekly. As much detail as possible to see how our bodies were handling the training volume and lifestyle stresses. Back to Mark ! he would stress the importance of running really easy on recovery days to allow your body to absorb the work from hard sessions. I would think, really this guy runs 7:30 for 3k and then runs 7:30min-7:00min pace on his easy days ?? It didn't make sense to me, until some 9 years later I fully started to understand the meaning of RECOVERY. If your confident in your body and your ability you don't need to go hard day in and day out in training. Everything needs to have a purpose and RECOVERY has a major purpose in you getting stronger. There is a good chance the person winning the race your in, is not the one who is training the faster or the most he knows his body the best and trains the smartest. We need to be in tune with our body and know when it is time to push hard in training and when to fully recover.
Recover is not just rest, its about been smart and using all in your power to get your body stronger. Something to remember after you crush a good workout is your less fit when you done with the session, as you just brokedown your body. Now its time to rebuild and repair. For me its straight to the water bottle to drink down my Endurox R4.
http://www.accelsport.com/product-info/EnduroxR4.html
It has the prefect mix of 4:1 carbohydrate to protein to assist my body get recovered and allow me to become stronger,faster and fitter.

So train smart and ask yourself about is the purpose of the workout ?

RW

The Script - Rusty halo

What a day today !
It ranks as the best of the year so far. So many positive things goes on right now. Music is a big part of my life, especially Irish bands. U2, Snow Patrol and The Script are top of the list.
Sometimes when you listen to an Album there are the obvious hits that you like and they get all the play. I've seen The Script live twice and "Rusty Halo" has become one of my favorite song off their first Album, the song has so much energy and so much meaning for me.

"Everyone's running from something
But we don't know when it's coming
So we keep running and running gotta"

I feel like its coming so hopefully I get to shine my Rusty Halo in 2011.

Below is a video of the boys, if you want to check out the song.

Interview Friday: Shawn Johns

One of my ageless training partners bust on the Tri scene in 2010. An interesting guy and a man who loves to workout. Lets find some more out about Shawn.

Give us some background on yourself ?: I am an Alaskan Native and Sioux Indian that was raised in the town my dad grew up in Juneau, Alaska. I started running with my parents during the 1970's running boom.

Rumor has it that you are making the jump to the Ironman in 2011. Can you confirm and explain the reason why?: There are a few reasons why I am making the jump to the full ironman distance in 2011. One, early in the 2010 season, we both spoke about signing up for a full ironman and qualifying for Kona. That was what got the idea going. And two, now that I have raced Clearwater in 2010, I thought I would set a new goal in 2011 and try and qualify for the Ford Ironman in Kona, Hawaii.

Last year, you had a pretty good season. What in your mind was the highlight ?: My biggest accomplishment was placing 3rd in the 45 to 49 age group division at Ochsner Ironman 70.3 New Orleans, LA. and qualifying for Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3 Clearwater, FL. That was my biggest highlight of the season......an excuse to go to one of Florida's nicest beaches! One other highlight was racing a PR there in 4:21:57. That was good for 16th place in my division. Hopefully, I can do better, I think I have lots to learn, this is only my second season racing triathlons.

What are your goal for the 2011 season?: On May 7th, I will race my first full ironman at St. George, UT. I hope to place high enough in my division to earn a qualifying spot for Kona.

You are always on the 7am and 10am DC Velo rides. Two local Bad Asses Chuck Hutch and The Muscle always are pushing the pace. Who do you prefer to follow in a break away and have a chat with ?: My first answer is, you don't want to be the guy following either of them. But if I have to chose it would be Langley, he actually will let up a little to let you go by. With Chuck, forget it if he is on is TT bike! Its always good to talk to Chuck, he always has words of racing wisdom if you ask. He can't help it he lives for racing! Or is it racing to live!

Been Native American, I'm sure Billy Mills was a role model for you. Also you probably have watched Mill's amazing final lap from 1964 many times. Have you even had a race finish were you untapped your inner strength to kick like Mills?: Not like that, never! How could you, this guy was racing for a gold medal! My greatest kick and finishing 1st was my senior year of high school, when I won the region five cross country championships in Ketchikan, Alaska. I went out in first and stayed in first and won by 2 seconds.

How is your Training going right now?: I am in the phase of adding volume on top of volume! Last week I did my longest ride of the new season. I rode both the 7am DC Velo ride and 10am rock creek ride for a total of 114 miles when I got home. Last week my longest run was a 11 miler and today my new longest run is a 14 miler. As for swimming I am now pushing 14,000 meters a week. Soon that will go to 16,000 meters a week. Goals are to get swimming to 16,000+ meters a week, biking to 300+ miles a week and running to 40 to 50 miles a week.

What is one piece of training equipment that you can't live without?: That's funny you ask that question, I was just thinking today about how my road bike is my go to training partner. Have you ever seen the movie with Mel Gibson, "We Were Soldiers?" In the movie, Mel tells his soldiers that the Sioux had their horses in battle and that they, the soldiers, would have the helicopters. He said, referring to the helicopters, "Men, and this will be our HORSE!" As a Sioux, living in the city, I call my road bike my modern day horse.

Your a young spirit and love to log the yards and miles. Do you see yourself riding your bike at 90?: Yeah. If my knees don't give out and I can still see.

Finally, have you ever set the dogs on anyone?: Oh, you remember, I have two Jack Russell terriers. No, I have never let them go after anyone or thing. They are to unpredictable in what they are capable of doing, so I have to keep them close. At times they do run out my front door and get after what ever is flying down the road....................and they are wicked fast!

Cheers mate. We are expecting some wicked fast running out of you this year !

Robbie

One Step Closer

Monday was Martin Luther King Day. I ran a small 10km race with my buddy Zac to check our fitness and for me to knock out a time for the European Duathlons which are in Limerick, Ireland this year. This race is my focus for the next 90 days. I was lucky to have the one and only Mike Wardian to run with and help me hit the pace. Mike is a great guy, we set out with the goal of running 5:12-5:14 which was what I needed to run a sub 32:30 effort to show my fitness is coming along. I ended up 31:58 and felt decent.

More exciting news is I have pretty more finalized my racing schedule for this year. I got to say triathlon is really hot right now there are so many great opportunities for people to race. A few are in my backyard and will be priority races for me. So watch this space for the list ! Check out the new 5150 series.

Last week was a great week of training, I got some good work done. Highlight of the week was the Saturday 7am DC Velo ride, I had so much fun riding off the front with Chuck (charleshutcheson.blogspot.com) and an exciting up and coming Dutch pro rider Nick Mulder http://www.nickmulderracing.com/ .

Just like my other two sports, I'm feeling my cycling is coming around and I'm getting into bike shape. I sometimes wonder, what is I just biked and didn't run or swim. Instead of logging 80-120 miles a week and did 300+. We all have those what if questions ! Maybe in 10 years I will be a Cat 1 and just ride my bike. Lets call it phase 3 of my sports Career. Until then I have a master plan to get the best out of myself in triathlons.

Enjoy your training and remember to thanks your Training Partners.

Robbie

Interview Friday, Steven Hallinan

Nickname(s): Steve, Steve-O, TheConducktor(my xbox live name lol)

PR's:
1500- 3:44.1
3000- 8:09.9
5000- 14:10
10000- 29:54
10 miles- 49:12
Half Marathon- 65:31

How long have you been running and how did you start ?

I've been running since the age of 9 (15+ years). I went to Catholic Grade School in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and they had a cross country and track program along with the Philadelphia CYO. My sister Megan, who is a year older than me, started running when she was in 4th grade, so when I got to 4th grade I followed.


What are your Goals for the 2011 season ?

My overall goal is to hit a qualifying time for the Olympic trials. I have some other short term goals that I'm hoping will set me up for that. I'm going to be running some indoor track for the first time in 3 years so I want to PR in the mile (4:07.7 from 2007) and 3000 (8:09.9 from 2006), and then bring down my PR's outdoors.

What is your favorite running spot in DC ?

I'm a big fan of Roosevelt Island. I know it's only a 1.5 mile loop but getting there also gives you a good tour of the city depending on where you're coming from. From the Logan Circle Pacers you pass the Watergate Building, The Kennedy Center, The Lincoln Memorial, and can run along Rock Creek Park and the Mt Vernon Trail, so you get a great feel for DC.

So you have been running for more than 15 years, Can you describe a moment when you did a Greg Jennings and put the Team on your back dogg to win? (editor's note, youtube Greg Jennings for the video to fully understand the question)

Hahaha. Just so everyone knows, me and Robbie work together at the Logan Circle Pacers, and we are big fans of this video (check it out here not the best language so I warned you) ANYWAY, if you don't want to watch it, essentially this dude is playing Madden 11 online and scores a TD at the end of the game with Greg Jennings who has a broken leg and he's providing commentary of the play while watching the instant replay. So to answer you're question I've had a few moments while running relays in High School and College where I've "put the team on my back". There was a 4x8 in college where I got it down while running the 3rd leg. The anchor for the Navy was a 1:47 guy so I knew I had to blow it open for our anchor. I ended up splitting 1:50 and gave our anchor a 50 meter lead, game over. In high school I was a mile/2 mile guy, but I was on our 4x8 that won the National Championship and had the fastest split on the team. So nothing to the level of a broken leg, but what can you do.

Your a pretty chilled guy, Can you tell us how you get to that dark side to dig deep and let fly on race day ?

The dark side is a great way to describe it because my mind sometimes needs to go to another place so my body can hurt. I think a lot about all the training I've put in before a race so I can reinforce to myself how fit I am. Doubts and Fears are expected when a big race is nearing so by training hard it provides me with ammo to combat them. Its funny though because often when I PR in a race, it's almost like the race is coming to me pretty easily and I'm just flowing along, the racing where I'm not feeling well is when I have to really zone in and keep telling myself "I'm not going to get dropped, if this guy can do it I'm staying right here and doing it to." Running is a big mental war, and the preparation is really a huge deciding factor.

The word on the street is your a big sports fan. Can you predict the follow winners in 2011

Stanley Cup:
Clearly the Philadelphia Flyers are going to win Lord Stanley's Cup. They got robbed last year and are going to come back this year with a vengeance. Plus they're a much better team than those Washington Capitals, haha.

NBA:
Since the Sixers (Philadelphia basketball team) are terrible, I won't be a homer and pick my team. I'm a big time basketball fan and the NBA this year is a tough call. It's always a safe bet to go with a team like the Celtics/Lakers/Spurs because they are in every sense of the word a TRUE team, great veteran leadership, great point guard play, consistency. Then there's of course the Miami Heat, the evil empire in some peoples' eyes. They started off a little shaky, but I think have won 21 of their last 23 games which is nuts. So if they stay hot they could be tough to beat. There's a great young team in Oklahoma City with Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook, which I don't think will win this year but they're worth mentioning for people to watch in the next few years.
To make a pick I think I'm going to go with the Celtics. Ray Allen/Paul Pierce/KG/Shaq/Rajon Rondo too much of a TEAM.

If you didn't run from an early year what sport and what position would you see yourself playing?

Well if you asked my dad that question he's tell you I'd be an NFL quarterback, haha. But i'll be realistic. If I focused on basketball I maybe could have played D3 ball as a shooting guard but thats a stretch. If i didn't run I would have a real person job at this point.

What kind of music is on your I-Pod these days ? Any throw backs that you like to hit replay on.

I'm a big fan of rap, Eminem, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, TI, and the list could go on. I actually just got an ITouch for Christmas because my Ipod I had for like 5 years got stolen from my girlfriends car this fall (I was pisssed!!). So I'm really just building my library back up. But if I heard my old school jam (probably from 7th grade, '99) by Jay-Z "Money Ain't A Thang" I'd definitely have to hit replay.

Ok, here is one for you ! Who is your favorite Irish Runner between Sonia O' Sullivan ,Marcus O' Sullivan, Eamonn Coghlan and Ronnie Delaney ?

I actually grew up about 10-15 minutes from Villanova, and when I was in grade school I used to go to Marcus O'Sullivan's Track and Cross Country Camp at Villanova. I'd have to say Eamonn Coghlan is my favorite though because I've run at The Millrose Games a couple times and he's the "Chairman of the Boards" and had the most Wanamaker Mile wins at I think 7 until this past year. The Millrose Games is a great atmosphere. I ran there twice in college, winning the college 4x8 both times, and it's an unbelievable experience to run at the Garden with all those spectators.

Which Athlete of all-time do your admire the most? Why ?

Michael Jordan is my favorite athlete of all-time. He took the NBA to another level and his drive to win is unlike anyone else in sport. I think it's funny when people compare other current day players like Kobe Bryant to MJ, because Kobe averages maybe 27 points per game, and until MJ's stint with the Wizards (and yes I have his Wizards jersey) he average nearly 33 points a game for his career. Just no comparison in my eyes.
As a runner I also admire PRE because the man was an animal, plus we have the same first name so that's pretty cool

Cheers mate !

U2 I Still Haven't Found What Im Looking For Live From Milan

U2 rule the music world in my mind. Looking for inspiration listen to any U2 song. Today I rode with Darion for Hill reps around Arlington. We maybe 10 years apart but have many solid things in common. An obvious connection is the dream and desire we both have to better ourselves. That is what gets you on the bike in the winter, when everyone else is on the trainer. "Sometimes you can't make it on your own" my friends. Check out the lads give it a lash in Milan many years after this song had written, they still got the Desire after all the years this is what I'm talking about ! I remember been a dreaming 18yr old lad who would run 100 miles a week in the rain and do 20 X 400 hill reps in the cold with the desire to do anything to get a Scholarship to the States. Now I'm onto a new Chapter in my life, but the desire is still strong.
Night !
Robbie

Haymarket Bike League round 2

This morning I rode the 2nd round of the Haymarket Bike League. The weather was cold but the pace was hot ! The group was about half the size of last week, it was the hardcore crew who got out of bed this morning. Youngster Darion Fleming was back from his trip to Ireland and is ready to start laying the foundation for his first bike season with Team Snapple. Follow his progress at http://dcfleming92.blogspot.com/
The dirt section was alot easier for me this week as I could shift to the small ring up front on my bike. Man last week I was getting killed in the dirt going up any kind of hill basically slipping because of all the force I was pushing. This week I could ride and enjoyed it alot more. I'm feeling stronger every time I get on the bike, this week I rode 3 times, last week I rode twice, and once the week before so its about time to add more riding to my training. I will aim to get out on my Tri bike at least once a week starting this tomorrow.
In relation to my training overall the other two sport are up to frequency and I will continue to add volume and intensity over the next few weeks.

Check out Darion before the race.

Where I train ? Part One: Swimming

I thought it would be a good idea to share my training spots with the blog world. Firstly the above photo is where I mainly swim, a High School in Arlington called Washington-Lee. I live just over a mile from the pool so it is easy to get to. Arlington County just built the new pool in July of 2009 to replace the basic but working old one. For everyone in Ireland this pool is at a secondary level school. Crazy right ! Its open to the public from 5:30am-9pm M-F (with a mid-day break), Sat 6am-7pm and Sun 11am-6pm. So lots of hours to get the work done and the cost is pretty good too. For me the best way to swim is use the buddy system of training. That is were you agree to meet someone to train with, this way you are guarantee that yourself and your training partners put in a solid workout and stick to the plan. This morning I swam with Mindy and Jessica both on Team Snapple. My main swimming buddy is Zac.

Funny British Animal Voiceovers

2011

First week of 2011 and 100 Days until European Duathlon Championship in Limerick. Training is going well this week.
Funniest moment of the week: Falling off my bike while talking to my Dad as I was cycling to the Pool, he kept talking while I picked myself up. Lucky I was going uphill and like 6 MPH. I did get some road burn. Hey! I got to practice hitting the deck, right ?

Off to put in some time in the hills on the bike before work.

Oh if you haven't seen this yet check it out this Video above.

RMW