Club News
Women Take 9th at Boston Marathon, While Men are 20th; WRC Second at Sallie Mae; Jim Hage & Kirk Baird Place Top Ten at Parkway Classic 15K; Tri-Dogs Explain the Methods behind the Madness
Race Results
Boston Marathon Team Results, April 16th
WRC Women took 9th at the Boston Marathon on April 16th while the men were 20th. Kudos to all. Results can be found the the Boston Marathon Website.
This is a particularly impressive achievement by the women. Three months ago we were not sure we have enough women to field a team. Special Recognition goes to Coach Nate Reilly and Captain Liz Parks.
Sallie Mae 10K, April 29th
WRC took second in the men’s division at the Sallie Mae 10K on April 29th. It was a great day for racing cool, with temperatures in the low fifties. Below are the times
- 10) Kirk Baird 32:53
- 20) Gary O’Donnell 34:16
- 23) Chris Galaty 34:50
- 28) Ron McGraw 35:24
- 33) Kevin Ryan 35:46
- 41) Donna Moore 36:41
- 208) James Scarborough 43:29
The team won tickets to Wizards games for next season. Kirk Baird informs that team members will draw straws to see “who is forced to go”
Parkway Classic 15K, April 22nd
Jim Hage and Kirk Baird were top ten at the Parkway Classic 15K this year.
- Jim Hage 50:30
- Kirk Baird 52:11
Rather remarkably, five of the top ten male runners at this years race were over age 35. Remember, older runners never die – they simply look that way.
News of the Club
Triathloning Explained
Over the past twenty years, the triathlon has evolved into a fully fledged sport. A triathlon is essentially a competition involving swimming, biking and running. The first Ironman – the ultimate test of endurance (2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, followed by a marathon) was done in Hawaii in 1978.
Since then triathlons have sprung up all thru the U.S. and Canada. Indeed one of the theories floated to explain the relative decline of American marathoning is that the best aerobic athletes now do the triathlon.
Recently we came to the realization that many of our best runners are tri-athletes. As most of us have never competed in one, we don’t not understand the hows and whys. We started to ask: Wow do you train? What do you eat? How do you respond if a Great White Shark takes interested in your leg ?
We posed these questions to the tri-dogs in our club, in an effort to learn.
WRC Tri-Dogs Dave DeShyrver, Robin Oswald, Jasha Fields, Steve Tappan, Aaron Schwartzbard and Jeff Aronis all responded to our query. Responses were uniformly thoughtful, and often humorous.
How to Train for the Triathlon
Obviously the major difference is that the athlete must train for three events rather than one. More time is involved, and obviously money. Elaborates Aaron Schwartzbard:
Waking up at 5:00 am to fit in a swim before work, keeping a stash of food at the office to satisfy a hunger that knows no end, two-a-day or three-a-day workouts almost every day, carrying a water bottle everywhere to stay hydrated through the summer, planning your weekends around your workout schedule… You have to be a bit compulsive, but the satisfaction that comes with it is tremendous.”
Adds Jeff Aronis, giving specific details:
- M: Easy bike (1 hr)
- T: am swim (45 min); pm track (1 hr)
- W: am ride (2 hrs); pm swim (1:15 hrs)
- T: am off; pm run (1:30 hrs)
- F: am rid (2 hrs); pm swim 1:15 hrs)
- S: long ride (4 – 6 hrs)
- S: long run (2 – 3 Hrs)
Total: apprx. 16 – 20 hrs (and when I am not training, I am eating or sleeping)
Jascha Fields chimes in:
“Running three times, biking four times a week and swimming twice a week has kept me mentally/physically healthy and motivated, now more than ever!”
And To What End All This Training?
Now, to the perhaps more meta-physical question of why, we got some very good answers. David Deschryver writes:
- I couldn’t swim and I figured that is a good long term tool to learn
- Biking is another long term discipline that I’ll rely on as I get older.
- Strictly running is tough on the joints. This way I can mix it up and hopefully prolong my running career.
- High coolness factor with the Ironman.
Add Aaron Schwartzbard:
“Occasionally, I think about what it would be like JUST to run, or JUST to bike, or JUST to swim. I’d have much more free time. If I gave up the bike, I’d have a heck of a lot more disposable income. So then I ask myself what I’d do with all that extra time and money. Invariably, I come to the conclusion that what I’d do with all that extra time is run, bike, and swim. There’s nothing I want to do more. And it keeps me from going (even more) crazy!”
Says Robin:
“The challenge of “mastering” all three sports and the cross-training benefits are probably the strongest for me. Also all of the wonderful people I’ve met at tris.”!”
Adds Jascha:
“I was also disappointed on occasion by the fact that running caused me to deal with injuries of the knee, hip and ankle, because of constant overuse. Running in itself, as we all know, is healthy but also unforgiving on the body (a contradiction !?). I feel as though triathlons and duathlons are a healthier alternative for someone searching hard for ways (other than running) to get those daily endorphins. I still feel that running is the best aerobic workout of the three disciplines. However, you really work your upper body well in swimming, and you work your quadriceps in biking. These bodyparts are quite underused in most runners. I know still have lots of work to do to change my slim “runner’s body” to a competitive “triathlete’s body”. I hope to gain some weight, lift weights, continue going to swimming, and putting in more miles on the bike. Have you ever seen a Pro triathlete? These guys are quite bulky and muscular, you would never think they could run fast! But boy can they!”
Tribal Relations between Bikers, Swmmers, and Runers
Finally, Jeff Aronis has an interesting anthropological observation about the relations that tri-dogs enjoy with runners, swimmers and bicyclists:
“I think people who only swim, bike, or run all look at triathletes differently, but each group has very different opinions of them. The reaction from runners is initially one of amazement, which moves to a view of insanity pretty quickly. But there is always a feeling of mutual respect. When you talk to a serious bike rider (or “roadie” as they like to call themselves) about triathletes, they usually thumb their noses. They look at triathletes as a second class citizens, and won’t even acknowledge your existence if you are riding on the road (I guess it has something to do with the aerobes). Swimmers don’t really look at you any different than themselves. They just like to swim and then got eat after practice.
Another thing I have noticed is that when you talk to members of the individual groups about giving triathlon a try, the responses are pretty similar among members of the same group. Runners always say that they could do the bike no problem, but they would never get out of the water. Swimmers are just the opposite, in that biking would not be a problem, but they hate running and would have a miserable time once they were off the bike. Roadies see no use in anything but bike riding, and the conversation usually ends there.”
For those of you scoring at home (and the rest of you who are alone) here is when & where our tri-dogs will be racing thru Spring & Summer
Upcoming Races for WRC Tri Dogs
| Who | Upcoming Spring/Summer Races | Picture |
| Robin Oswald | Tupper Lake, Blackwater Half Triathlon, Ironman USA | </ > |
| Jascha Fields | Blackwater Half Triathlon | |
| Jeff Aronis | Tupper Lake, Blackwater Half Triathlon, Ironman USA | </ > |
| Aaron Schwartzbard | Ironman USA | </ > |
| Dave DeSchryver | Blackwater Eagleman Half Triathlon, Ironman USA |
Russ Crandall Published in the Wall Street Journal
Our friend Russ Crandall is back in the news. Russ had an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal on April 20th about America’s war on drugs in Columbia. Well Worth reading, the article is titled “In the war on Drugs, Columbians Die, Americans are pardoned”
Russ can in second in the Charlotte Half Marathon 1:09:33. Russ is now an assistant professor at Davidson College in North Carolina. Said Russ
“Winner took it out hard and easily had a 45 second lead on me by mile 5. Lead stood still until mile 10 when we hit the hills– they hit him hard and I was almost able to catch him– just ran out of real estate. Fun race, though. And tough with mucho hills. Winner was Stewart Ellington, a 4 time All-American in something from Univ. Tennessee.”
Good job Russ.
Phoenix Rising on Sunday
Good luck to the boys running Defenders 10 Miler on Sunday. Be Valiant, speed well and double knot your laces.