New York City Triathlon

4 down, 1 to go...(5 races in 5 weeks)

Race 1 - Decatur Triathlon - 1st Place
Race 2 - Lifetime Fitness Triathlon - 10th Place

Race 3 - Evergreen Triathlon - 1st Place

Evergreen Triathlon is just north of Bloomington, IL in a local reservoir. It is the Regional Championship, the Regional Collegiate Club Championship, Best of the US qualifier, and probably more. The race headlined Bryan Rhodes and also contained Daniel Bretcher, X-pro's (Eric Ott, Brian Hague, Joe Company), and up and comers (Gavin Anderson, Aaron Bachman, Greg Kopecky). It also had a huge contingent of local stars... All that did not matter once the gun went off. The swim was quick with Gavin Anderson (local horse) pushing the pace, at about 600m in, my thermostat popped (Water Temp was easily 80). I was overheating, sun beating on the wetsuit and warm water temps. I would watch the leaders draw away as I focused on being miserable and not swimming. By the time I got out of the water I thought I was going to be a month down. Instead I was less than a minute.

On the bike I hunted. I quickly road to 2nd, then realed in Rhodesy around mile 10. Once in the lead...nothing changed. I kept the strong rythem on the chip'n'sealed roads. It was fun and reminded me a lot of the riding I did around Purdue.

Once my feet hit the ground it was business time. The run course was a T with turnarounds at mile 2.7 and 4. I ran strong to the first turnaround and learned my lead was 84 sec. I continued at pace to the second turnaround, my lead had grown to nearly 100 sec. I relaxed and focused on form and brought it home with another dominating performance.

Race 4 - New York City Triathlon - 6th Place

Sunday morning was early. 4:10am EST, 3:10am at home. I could hear rain outside and I thought, GREAT! I love racing in bad weather. As I rode my bike to transition in the pitch black evading multiple collisions with taxis I dropped my stuff in transition and jogged up to race start.

After a long delay, the race was (finally) off. I dove in and had a great start. I swam hard and felt like a torpedo in the SpeedZoot, in brachish water, swimming down stream...in the disgusting Hudson River. I would swim well and sacrifice less than a minute to the leaders in the swim. I charged to transition (which I learned now I lost another 15-30 seconds) which was a tick over 800m from swim out to bike mount. Yes, in my barefeet I ran 1/2 a mile, did the swim-bike transition, ran with my bike in 3:16 and lost 15-30 seconds.

I got on the bike in 14th place, that number quickly came down on the rain soaked roads. I immeadiately found high gear. After mile 5 I was 6th place and could see nobody in front of me. Then I ran over glass. It flipped up and actually cut my ankle! I hit more glass seconds later. I would ride paranoid the next 5 miles through the rolling hills of North Manhatten and The Bronx. At the turnaround I saw people!!! I learned I was down, but not out. I would crank hard but focus on efficiency on the way home. The road on the way back was fast and the bike would surf on the downhills of the greasy pavement as I zoomed by tons of athletes with flats headed out. At mile 20 I could see the motorcycle trailing Potts, Reed, and Hayes. It motivated me and I was able to elevate the pace. I would close the gap to seconds as we entered T2.

I quickly headed out on the run. I could see Reed (really tall) and Hayes (wearing Red) for the first mile, they were just 15 seconds leaving transition and 25 seconds at mile 1. Then we entered a winding Central Park and I lost sight and that edge. I ran strong and smart, hoping somebody would pop and that I would be able to slip in my first big top 5. I finished strong in 6th place and for the first time in my pro carreer I did not lose ANY spots on the run. I ran a 35:08 (5:38's) and lose nearly 3 minutes...Now that is rediculous. The day was a success. I beat a lot of athletes that perform at high levels internationally.

Train Hard,

Train Safe,

Andrew Starykowicz

Follow me: astarykowicz.blogspot.com

The Six Hour Traning Run

My triathlon schedule has been lean this year, as I have been focusing on the next chapter of my athletic pursuits: ultra running. While cycling and swimming have been a nice form of cross training, I have been spending the bulk of my time running. Early this year I targeted my first real Ultra trail run - Where's Waldo 100k in Central Oregon which takes place mid-August. It also serves as the national 100k trail race which features 11,000 feet of climbing (and 11,000 feet downhill).

It has been a different kind of challenge. As an Ironman guy for the past 5 years, I am used to long weekend workouts. I had thought that a 5 hour run and a 1 hour brick run would be similar to a 5 hour run. Wrong!!! I would say about half the challenge is physical but half (and maybe more) is mental. Generally after 2.5 hours of running (when most Ironman runs tend to wind down), that is really the point that the challenge really begins. The body starts to go numb, but the mind starts to really goes to work. Can I run for another 20 miles?, how much should I be eating and drinking?, the temperature is rising, etc. are some of the questions your mind starts thinking about.

My mileage has been steadily building over the past 60 days - I generally run about 4 times a week and average 80-100 miles per week. The mid week two hour run is considered my short run or tempo run. The one that I try to mentally get my hands around is the long Saturday run which begins at 5 am and has been increasing in length by 30 minutes each week. The runs have been on single track, by myself with no Ipod in sight. I am reaching a point where it is simply hard to feel confident that a six hour run is something that I can get through and the follow it with a 2.5 hour run on Sunday. Generally the pace per mile is much slower than on the roads with the purpose is to just to keep my heartrate down.

So while I have not yet completed the race: I have been trying really hard to enjoy the journey. Here are some of my takeaways that might be helpful to some of you considering a longer run at the end of the season:

1. Patience - even if you feel great at hour 3 there is a good chance you are going to feel like crap in an hour. That said, you need to have the mental strength to know that you WILL come out the other side and feel good again.

2. Nutrition is different than Ironman - I tend to drink a bunch more and rely on GUs, but after about 3 hours you need some protein. By the way I have to throw out a special thanks to Holly at GU who has sent me boxes of product to keep going. Last week - I went through 15 GUs on one run.

3. The Zoot running shorts are awesome, but the recovery socks are outstanding. Putting them on right after the long run for just a few hours, enables me to recover incredibly well for the next morning.

4. It is an awesome way to spend some time just thinking about all the things that occured during the week that you never had enough time to focus on. Even on a group ride, you have a chance to chit chat a bit. When you are running by yourself and see more deer than people, you have plenty of quiet time just to explore.

5. The sense of accomplishment is outstanding. You feel like you can conquer anything. How many people can go for a 35 mile run and then head out for dinner and a movie.


So while I still have more training to get done before the race next month, my confidence is building. For anyone who wants to try something more low key (and less expensive), sign up for a 50k race with the goal of just finishing. You will be glad you did.

David Uri

Mid Season Update!

Hey Zooters! Bryan checking in from a very hot Arizona. It's a dry heat, but when it's 115 and you have an 8 mile run to do, it really BRUTAL! Due to the heat, racing stops until late September locally. Since my last update, I have raced three more times representing the Ultra Team.

On May 17th, I finished 8th overall, 1st in my AG at a very competitive Tempe International Olympic Race. Then on May 30th, my wife and I headed up to the Arizona high country for the Dueces Wild Triathlon Festival in Show Low. At 6300 feet, the air was cool..and a bit thin. I finsihed 7th overall, 2nd in the AG at the Half distance and Jamie fisnished her first Olympic distance race in a respectable 2:46 on a tough course. She credits the ZOOT Zenith for getting her through her first 1500 meter open water swim!

Finally, just this past weekend we headed north to Flagstaff for the Mounatin Man Triathlon at a lung busting 7000 feet! I had a soilid day and was 2nd overall, with a note worthy 2:22 bike split at elevation and with 2500 feet of climbing..the ORDU RULES! Now it's a brief respite before my build towards Ironman Arizona with a few short course races before hand. All my best to the TEAM!

Vineman 70.3

Another successful race at Vineman!
Congrats to all Zooters who raced their butts off at Vineman 70.3!

W PRO
Kelly Couch 5th
Gina Kehr 7th
Rachel Challis 9th
Rebecca Witinok-Huber 14th

W 25-29
Beth Gerdes 9th

M 30-34
David Valencia 2nd
Kevin Jaruszewski 4th

W 30-34
Charisa Wernick 2nd
Rebecca Divita 21st

W 40-44
Kristin Mayer 2nd

W 45-49
Diana Noble 1st

Awesome job team Zoot!

Lifetime Fitness Triathlon

Congratulations everyone on a job well done at the Lifetime Fitness Tri last weekend!

And to those racing: Patrick Baldwin, Mark Harms and Andrew Starykowicz, GREAT JOB!

Awesome job ZOOT team!

Lifetime Fitness Triathlon

2 down, 3 to go...(Referring to 5 races in 5 weeks)

RACE 1 - Decatur Triathlon - 1st Place
The field had a few local pro's, but going into the race I had trained hard so I was not exactly sure what my body would give on the day. The swim was perfect, a local triathlete lead the swim with a strong pace, and with the help of the WetZoot I stayed right on his feet...Then it was bike time. I was rolling thunder on the bike, wrapping up the bike with a 27+ mph bike split on wet roads and the fastest by over 2 mph. I would run hard to the first turnaround where I would learn the destruction I caused on the bike...From there it was all about running efficiently. The community came out in their numbers to line much of the course and the race was very very well organized. Living in the Chicago area, this one will be on my schedule next year!


Race 2 - Lifetime Fitness Triathlon - 10th Place
The race most dream of winning. As I rode over on the bus to the race start on a cool Minneapolis summer morning small talk was short, faces long. Transition area was all smiles by all of us. This is fun, we love it, that's why we kill ourselves. Then it was swim time! The gun fired. I misfired. I swam hard the first 500 but lacked the razor speed I had at St Anthony's and Capital Texas Triathlon. I would come out of the water in the second pack trailing the leaders by what I felt was a few hours...95sec to the leaders, 60 sec to the lead pack...where I want/should be.

On the bike David Thompson and I shadowed each other, riding hard, but made little progress on the pack and the leaders. Both of us buried ourselves, we could feel when each other were weak and when the other was strong, and with an officials motorcycle behind us for nearly the whole bike it felt a bit like 70.3 Worlds last fall...the difference being I am not leading this time. We hit transition in 6th and 7th place...Okay, not as bad as I thought but I need to get down to business on the run.

As my feet hit the pavement I felt good...that feeling lasted 2 miles. Then the feeling went...I would run the final 3 fearing that I was going to get wiped out of 10th. I was able to keep 10th and finish strong. I felt good about the race and was happy with the result of another top 10 against a loaded field. Yet, when I looked at the results on Sunday I became frustrated with my swim and run...One of these days.

Visit http://astarykowicz.blogspot.com/ for full training as race coverage (and more pictures)!

Ironman Austria

Hello! I have yet to post on this website, but I just got back from IM Austria and thought I’d send over my race report! Here goes:

Im never a big fan of race morning. The anticipation for an Ironman is always quite nerve-racking and I am always anxious to just get going. The morning of Austria was no different, but I must say that it didn't feel quite as "daunting" as races have sometimes felt in the past. My friend Erin and I headed to the race start which was awesome. Crowds of people packed on the 3 docks that jutted out into the lake, a huge balloon on the beach and almost 2400 people waiting to start. I was escorted to the "Profidis Start" which was located 30 meters ahead of the age groupers. We all jumped in, swam around a bit and next thing I knew, the gun went off! The start always scares me, but this one wasn’t too bad. I hung onto the group for as long as I could and then found myself swimming with another Pro, who I thought was a guy, but I’m not positive. Soon the fast age groupers would catch me and I would hang onto their draft for as long as I could. Once that group would drop me, I would wait for the next group to come along! Heading into the canal was AWESOME! People lined the side of the canal and it was the coolest feeling swimming along in such a narrow canal hearing the screams of the crowds!

Finally I was out of the water in 59 minutes! I giggled to myself because I definitely wanted to break an hour, but I knew that many of the other pro women were far ahead of me at this point. If anyone wants to help me with open water swimming, be my guest, because it is definitely a weakness of mine! On a positive note: Eli from Zoot shipped me a new Zenith wetsuit that I received a few hours before I took off for the trip to Austria and it was AWESOME! Super comfortable and the new size (small/tall) fit me PERFECTLY!!

I was so relieved to be through with the swim and onto the bike. My legs felt good right away and the watts came pretty easily, which is a great sign! I've done races where the legs do not feel good and it definitely ends up being a LONG DAY! The bike course is STUNNING! The section that lines the lake is FAST! Once you turn off of that road, the course becomes hillier. There a 3 major climbs and it feels as if you are riding in the Tour de France when you climb them. Crowds of people line the entire climb cheering and running next to you! The roads are covered with people’s names and the music is blaring! It's awesome!! I came in on the first loop in exactly 2:30 and I was PSYCHED!!!! I figured that even if I went 10 min slower on the second loop I would STILL do a 5:10!

My new Orbea was so fast and comfortable and I even made friends out there with another Orbea! The second loop on the bike went by fast! I still felt good, but of course I felt a bit more uncomfortable and the effort felt a bit more difficult. By the end, I was anxious to get off my bike and run! I was expecting a fast run! I got off the bike in 5:04, a personal best...Woo Hoo!

I didn’t feel "great" off the bike, but I am aware that sometimes it takes a few miles to feel "great". The sun was really intense and the first section of the run is hot without a lot of air movement. I felt like I was having trouble breathing, but after some time, I settled in. As I headed back towards the race site I was excited for the anticipation of seeing my friend Erin! There she was standing on the side as I headed out for the next section of the run! I felt uplifted as I ran past her! As I headed back into the race site to start loop 2 I saw Erin again, which was great, and headed back out to Krumpendorf. This is when things started to fall apart. "No!" I thought..."just keep it together"! I started to feel nauseous and the heat was getting to me. I was "running" but it felt more like a shuffle. "Just keep moving forward" I would tell myself. Soon I knew that I was entering a delirious state. "This is not good". I stopped. I poured water over my head and forced a gel down. I also took some endurolytes. "You have to keep running", I said to myself. "You will not stop again. You will run even if you feel nauseous. You can't walk". Off I went. It was a terrible feeling, but I just kept repeating "keep moving forward" over and over again in my head. I took gels every 30 minutes or so and said to myself that I was "taking my medicine". I think I gagged with every gel, but they really did help to keep me moving!

As I reached the only 38 K mark I knew I would finish. Also, I knew I would reach my goal of sub 9:50! I saw a woman who was close behind at the turn around and I hoped that I would run fast enough to make it to the finish without being passed. I still felt sick, but I was able to "run". Finally, I passed the 41 K mark!!! With less than 1 Kilometer to go and with the roar of the crowds at the finish line just ahead, I got passed. "Oh well...she caught me." I said to myself...then, "No! I can’t let her pass me with less than 1 K to go! How can I let that happen?! I have to at least put up a fight!" SO, I sprinted as fast as I could. I passed her and ran for my life towards the finish ! I gave it everything I had. The finish line was a blur of screaming spectators. The finish line was just ahead and the other woman was right behind me. I crossed the line just 5 seconds ahead of her!!! 9:38:51! 6th Female overall! I reached my goal of sub 9:50! After such a grueling run I couldn't believe it was finally all over! I was so excited, relieved, in shock, exhausted...

I HIGHLY recommend this race…it goes down as one of my favorite races ever! Thanks to Zoot for keeping me comfortable and totally prepared in all areas of my training, throughout the race, and in recovery post-race (I have my recovery tights on as I write this). Good Luck to my fellow Zooters on all of their upcoming races! I look forward to reading about them!! Ciao! Danielle