Rugged Individualist. Certified USA Triathlon Coach & NASM Personal Trainer, Men's Self Improvement Coach. President of Go Farther Sports. National Ranked Triathlete & 100 Mile Grand Slam Ultrarunner, only the fourth New Yorker to finish four of the oldest and most prestigious 100 mile ultramarathons in the U.S. in only 10 weeks.

Friday, May 24, 2019

TGIF Memorial Weekend Musings



I'll start off by giving a shout out to all those who died fighting for our country. Those are the people who made sure I have a pretty good life focusing on fitness and competition instead of going hungry and wondering if I'll ever eat again. It doesn't go unnoticed by me that I'm one of the lucky ones that live in a strong country that knows how to defend itself. It takes sacrifice by our strongest people, and I appreciate everything they did.


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Wow, the sun will be shining here in the Northeast!

It was a different story last year.

For the Navesink Swim we had thunderstorms that morning, forcing the delay of the race.

Yep... thunderstorms and swimming do not mesh well.

So we waited in our cars, hoping the race doesn't get cancelled. It took a little longer than an hour but even though it was still raining heavily, the dangerous lightning left the area.

Since a lot of people decided to can the swim, the RD just condensed the rest of us into one wave, and off we went!

The race had a 1.2 mile (1 loop) and a 2.4 mile distance (2 loops). The water was quite choppy, especially in the back end of the loop. Despite that, I was getting into a rhythm into the first loop that carried over into the second. Despite the unbelievable chop in the back end of the second loop, I came in around 9th place if I remember correctly, around 61-62 minutes.

I had fun. Jennifer Montemurro, I'm sure you had fun on that crazy day too. 😁
This year looks a whole lot different. It's going to be sunny and 86 degrees.
That also means a larger crowd will be out there; more competition for the awards.

But I'm also much stronger than last year. I'm hoping to finish this race in 55 minutes. It will be a first good indicator of my triathlon prowess this year.
I feel I also have the swagger of a national caliber triathlete. I'm pretty much brimming with confidence.

I'm going to be on that podium, and you're going to have to force me off to get an award.

Jenn will be back this year also; after finishing her first triathlon last year, an Olympic Distance race no less, I'm sure she will be brimming with confidence also. 😁

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There's an article floating around about how trail runners don't help maintain the trails they run on. It was written by a person who does mountain bike on the trails.

I am a member of both groups, although I can count with my fingers how many times I used my mountain bike last year.

I do understand that this article is a call to have trail runners hold their end to maintain the trails that they run on. And he does make some valid points.
But calling trail runners "lazy parasites" is not constructive at all.

Leave the name calling to our "representatives" of both political parties in the cesspool of Washington. I think we can try to be a bit more civilized than those people.

Plus, it just shuts down any constructive debate that the article is trying to start.
Listen, I understand that the title gives a "shock value" to the article. Generally, it seems like that's the strategy nowadays. And it does make people talk about it, like I'm doing right now.

But it already puts people on the defensive and angry, and they will overlook the message that the article is trying to convey.

There is such a thing called tact, and if the author is really trying to send a message to the trail runners, skip the name calling.

He might find the trail runners might be more receptive to that.

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