"If you don't like it, change it!"

The Pittsburgh Triathlon Club is the best!! Principles make it so. Confused as to why? Allow me to fill you in. When a small group of us got together and started the PTC, the basis for it was unanimous; an entity that supported athletes within the multisport arena in and around Pittsburgh. As I remember looking at everyone in the coffee shop that day, I saw abilities that ranged from no experience to over 4 years competing. The 2^nd official meeting I saw more newbies with no experience and added tenured Ironman Kona competitors to the group. As the months went on, we repeatedly increased in all aspects of membership, the reason was simple. The PTC was based on the principle that helping each other would help our sport and would lead to bigger and better things for everyone.

Do you remember the people who didn’t believe? The ones that ignored us and chose to alienate themselves? It didn’t matter, we reached out to everyone and kept our hand out, knowing this was the right thing to do, the possibilities were endless, the benefits astronomical and potential was limitless. How about the support from local and national businesses? Myself, Chad and Sean would beat down doors to get our name out there and find that much needed support. Thank you to BikeTek, Fleet Feet, Steel City Endurance, Coach Chad Multisport, Fuel Your Passion, The Athlete’s Eutopia, Over the Bar Bicycle Café, Eckerd Siemans, Rudy Project, XTerra, EGel and Beaker Concepts for taking a chance on the unknown group. Or how about those first PTC kits we got? I still wear mine...proudly!!

This group is not without its serious athletes. (pay close attention to this part) I mentioned Chad Holderbaum, he has qualified for Kona countless times by going 2^nd at Placid, and AZ and now I see he won overall at Musselman, how about the top 5 performance (Elite) at St. Anthony’s, Eagleman…the list goes on and on. Kim Schwabenbauer, first amateur woman in at Cozumel, top 10 at New Orleans, Eagleman, St. Croix and more. Beth Shutt – huge wins at WV, Eagleman, Cedar Point, etc etc. Ill just keep naming, Chris Nocera, The Cornmans, Matt Mauclair, Chris Rotelli, Seriously I could name drop for paragraphs, but that is not purpose of talking about them. What do all of these people have in common? They all give freely to the PTC. They help whenever they can. They support the club by giving talks, taking leadership roles, helping out at events and most importantly – they take others under their wing at races to make sure their club members are ready to go. PRINCIPLES!!! Selfless!!! We all know they are fast, hell they themselves know they are fast, but rather than act like tri-snobs and be pretentious, they give back.

All of what I write is known so why go into it when the majority of people that read this are PTC members anyway? Because it bugs me and- this is my blog damnit! Oh and maybe… I MISS YOU GUYS!!! I miss my training crew – James Wrubel, Sean McBurney & Chris Rotelli. (except running and riding hills with Chris. “If you sing again, I will stab you”) I miss people like Sarah putting OWS together on Friday nights and going to get dinner after with Nikki and Bergin as we all smell like the Allegheny. How about the drills and free clinic that Suzanne Atkinson puts on prior and then swims with everyone just because she enjoys it! I miss walking into BikeTek, getting greeted by Franklin and bullshitting with Frank and Angelo. They put themselves out there for me from the start and took great care of the PTC. I miss Tuesday night Crit races and watching Lee-Ann blow kisses as she destroys the entire pack and getting to ride that same oval on Thursdays chasing Chad until I puke. I miss figuring out the world’s problems according to Ryan with Ken after masters.

There is very little of that here. I ride alone a lot and when I see other triathletes I wave but get nothing back. I run and see guys or girls in tri kits and will say hi and try to see where they train or who with…but nothing back. The groups have no continuity and the discounts…yeah not even close. I shouldn’t be surprised. When I arrived here I was fortunate enough to talk to someone who let me in on the scene and pretty much told me all of this. The problem though, I have trouble accepting it. I haven’t met a single person here who could take any of the elite’s in Pittsburgh, so I have to ask: Why so serious? You gain nothing and lose so much.

My advice to PTCers, don’t take what you have for granted. Step up and continue to give back, continue to grow what you have. People like the ones mentioned above and others that give night and day like Jill Schapiro are rare, and Pittsburgh is lucky to have all of you!!!

Angelo told me numerous times that the PTC was unlike any other triathlon club he had ever known. I was proud of that and even prouder to see it continue. Bravo!! So Im thinking about changing it up down here. A prior mentor of mine told me if I didn’t like something, change it. Hmm, considering launching something big, something Atlanta has never seen and something that will bring that camaraderie back to the sport I love here in the Atlanta. There are triathletes everywhere, why are we not working together? Race day is race day, go hard and reach your goals, but wouldn’t it be nice to do this with the help and support of others?

I have some friends here at The Sports Factory, North Atlanta Multisport Club, Endurance Concepts and The Atlanta Tri Club. Im thinking this is a great start and a fantastic group to get things going!! Beware Atlanta multisport athletes, you may just find yourselves becoming a part of something bigger…

Today is good

Its hard for me to believe that it is mid July already and that I have been in Atlanta for almost 4 months now. Acclimating to a new lifestyle, new surroundings and trying to find a balance with life, triathlon and forming relationships has its ups and downs. We all know the south is much different from the north, but regardless of location, I am still the same – at least I try to be. Why the post you might ask? Usually there is something that has happened or a funny story I share, but this is just babble and something I wanted to write down so I could look at it later. Enjoy the babble and read with caution as purpose, plot and reason have been left out.

So triathlon…We all know my love and admiration for my coach; Dr. Suzanne Atkinson. ( www.steelcityendurance.com) Bottom line – I trust her, fully! My biggest fear is to have a repeat of last year where I was laid up on the couch for two weeks with an overflow of Ketones in my blood…ie, severely over trained. I not only felt horrible but I was terrified! Have you ever attempted to walk up a flight of stairs and half way through your legs burn so badly that just getting to the top seems daunting and almost out of reach? Or laying in bed not sleeping because that same burning never leaves and even getting up to go to the bathroom is something that requires a self pep- talk and the theme from Rocky playing in the background? I have and I wont do it again! Here is where Suzanne comes in. Training under her expertise has been a major highlight as a triathlete!! I feel great!! I have learned an immense amount, I see gains where I never thought possible and my goals seem within reach more than ever before! I realize what a handful I am and she is courteous, responsive and “gets it!” Hmmm, “gets it”??? Let me explain.

Triathlon is a love of mine but so is life and living! I have set high goals and have aspirations to do well in my “A” race, but I also know that there is more to life then that 4:00 a.m. alarm telling me its time for masters swimming. Im not being a downer so don’t go there, actually the opposite! This post is just writing what went through my mind on my long bike ride today. (Well this and that I need more music on the mp3 because the songs started to repeat themselves…UGH!) So when I say my coach “gets it” Im talking about her responses & approach to my feedback on my training log, example: Ryan - I didn’t go to masters today because I had an awesome night with…(I need to clear it first before putting names here ) Coach – Honey badger don’t care…lol! There must be a balance and she gets it! She encourages it…within reason. I still need to beat macca…lol!

Ok, moving on – my thoughts often go like a roller coaster during long rides and runs. The conglomerate of emotions that go through my mind is inconceivable and some times I wonder what the hell provoked even just half of them. But after; after I feel like a million bucks! Like everything was worked out and the questions, problems and answers all came about around 150bpm. HAHA!

I started today with sore tired legs. Could’ve been the poor sleep I had last night which is the result of having a FANTASTIC Friday night and Saturday morning. I just couldn’t close my eyes. Regardless, I thought, go with it! We will see what happens in a few hours. 6 miles in my chain was confused. Yes confused. It didn’t know where it was supposed to be. A quick lever change, turn of the barrel adjuster and off we were. 18 seconds…I was ok with that. (Which reminds me I need to tune Chicky up a bit.) As I started this steep climb I could see the sun coming up. A beautiful orange and pink mix was on the horizon and I could hear a rooster crowing in the distance. I wondered who else was seeing this same sky and what they must be thinking about. There are two times a day when Atlanta is breath taking. Sunrise and just as the sun is almost completely set. The rest of the time its 9,000,000,000 degrees and you freaking melt just walking from your door to your car.

Mile 20’ish I was well into Roswell and decided to climb a hill that I typically don’t. Inspired from watching the tour, I became a hill climber. That will be enough of that crap! But, with regard to triathlon and life I will say this; As a descender, (why is that not a word?) there are no hills I wont climb because going down the other side is so much fun!!

Miles 30 – 45 I was having fun. My legs loosened up and I was singing to my music. (which was the second time through for the songs…) There was a cyclist in the distance riding a teal Bianchi. He was moving pretty well and I was in a good mood so I decided to try and hunt him down. I literally said out loud; “lets go hunting!” Why? I don’t have a clue, its just what I was thinking. If this is confusing please go back to the start of this post and re-read the first paragraph. If that doesn’t work, please let me know and I will come over and hit you in the head with a tack hammer. Upon catching him and passing, literally within a minute he flew past me and gave me a look. I was like dude, seriously? In the name of Alpaca, drop bars are gay, you must go back to where you belong…behind me. We went back and forth for a good couple of miles then hit a stop light. We shook hands, introduced ourselves, laughed, then he went left and I turned around to head back. It was fun!

Miles 50-60 had me thinking again and without a beautiful sunrise, a confused chain or a teal Bianchi to distract me, I started to work the problems of my world out once again. I pulled into my apartment complex and carried Chicky up the stairs. There was a text awaiting me. When I saw who it was from, and even before reading it…I had the sunrise once again. I thought…today is good!!