*Name of Race/Event: Revolution 3 Olympic, Quassy in Middlebury, CT

*Race/Event Category: I raced in the 30-34 age group. I swam in the lead pack and into the age group ahead, I biked in the lead pack with the #1 female mostly, and the run pack was sparse.

Date: 06/04/2011

Time: 7am

Sleep: Plenty of sleep, 6 hours

Athlete Mood: I felt a little fatigued from last weeks training. I was mentally prepared and ready to race.

Pack Mood: I was riding and running with a much more serious pack than I am used to. Practically nobody laughed at my jokes, it was a focused group.

Weather conditions: Perfect weather, cool with little wind

*Course/Road Conditions: I drove the bike and run course the day before. The bike roads were poor, really torn up. It was a beautiful course.

Rate the Race/Event: This was a 5 (1-5 five being the highest rating)

*Items you liked about the Race/Event: Well organized race, I liked the hills

Race/Event Objectives: I had high hopes for this race. This is the only race I raced last year so I had time specific goals. I wanted to complete the swim 25 minutes, the bike in 1:25, and the run in 45 minutes. Last years times were 25:10, 1:20:53, and 47:15. I knew I needed to get ahead get ahead on the bike. I thought the hills favored my riding style and I thought I could bank on that. I wanted to just hold on for the run.

*Race/Event Goals: I intended to podium for this race.

*Race/Event Details: I can into this race fatigued but prepared. I knew the course, I knew my strengths and when to attack, and I had clear objectives. I had a strong race and met my goals; unfortunately my goals weren’t high enough.

I felt cold and disoriented on the swim. I found some fast feet early and help on for the first leg. At turn #1 I lost them and swam alone for leg #2. After the last turn I fought through the pack and had some solid drafting opportunities.

T1 was uneventful.

Just onto the bike (at mile 2) I dropped my water bottle. This could have been a fatal mistake if a marshal had been around or if the weather had been warmer. I dropped it because my hands were still numb from the water. I will wait a bit longer next time to get the hands working again.

My bike was okay. It was on par with what I have been churning out but it is where I lost a lot of time on the pack. I found the #1 female and paced off of her for a while. She was strong but not strong enough. Towards the end I passed her and realized I should have done this much sooner.

T2 sucked. I forgot that when racing without socks it is difficult to get my feet into my shoes. I lost 30 seconds fumbling with this. My positioning in the corral was poor which made flying mounts and dismounts necessary. They went without incident.

I felt strong on the run though I just wasn’t fast enough. I was able to attack on the hills and maintain on the flats.

Pros: Beautiful day, well organized, met time goals, killed last year’s time, learned about early bottle handling and shoe trouble in T2

Cons: I didn’t podium as planned, bike road was sketchy, I accidentally took Gatorade out of the water and was sticky the rest of the race

*Lessons Learned: I have improved by 10% (14:31) since this race last year. My swim was 11% (2:26) faster, bike 9% (7:00) faster, and run 11% (4:52) faster. Generally, I learned that I am a competitor and I am going to think and act more like one. I can improve my bike and swim easily. Three miles per hour down on the bike is unacceptable. Specifically, I need to loosen my laces or put power in my running shoes and let my hands thaw before handling anything.

Crowd:

The crowd seemed to have no energy. I was so excited when the clock struck 12 noon and the show began. They opened to shots of people just standing around looking hot and board. Perhaps we could get the crowd rallied a bit. We could maybe host the event a little later in the day, say 4pm. Spectators might have a little higher energy level in cooler temperatures. Instead of allowing just the ticket holders in the corral, let their families and friends in as well. I know I can more easily cut loose and relax when I am with people I know. NYC has people who produce these kinds of events and do it well. Let’s use this resource.

Technology:

The most obvious issue was with the countdown, it was a huge mistake and way off. This is easily fixable, get a monitor for the host. Lesson learned. A big issue I had, not knowing where to find out if I was ‘In’ after the show. It seemed obvious that the lottery results to be on the same page as the show yet there was no sign of this. When the 50 thousand names began to scroll and repeat, I went to the NYRR page. I spent a while before finding out they were in fact posted back on the tv page. Maybe we could post some information about where the results will be available before the show starts.

NYRR created that fun spot where the girl in the office finds out she’s ‘In’ and dances around and is so excited. I think that was a great piece and highlighted how I’d imagine thousands of people are feeling now. Why not capitalize on that excitement a little? We wait months to find out we are in or not and then there is a lull in the marketing communication. NYRR could create somewhere for people to channel their enthusiasm. I think it would be great for them to announce: “Congratulations you’re in. Head to our Facebook page and see who else will be training.” OR  ”Congratulations, you’re in. Sign up at xyz for training motivation, coaching advice, and special offers from our partners.” People are excited, let them act on it.

Social:

NYRR has made some huge gains recently on the social front. I am happy to see they are inching in the right direction. One question came to mind today, what was the point of the Tumblr page? It was a distraction and diluted the brand message.

This event has a ton of potential. I think people from all around the world were watching and excited about the marathon. With a bit more attention to the audience, this could be a great opportunity for NYRR in the future.

• Create a route in Google Earth using the ‘Path’ tool.
• File -> Save to My Places
• File -> Save Place As (format Kml)
• Go to http://www.gpsies.com/convert.do
• Choose file (The one you just saved)
• Convert to Garmin Course TCX
• Open Garmin Training Center (Not Garmin Connect)
• File -> Import
• Select TCX file and import
• Your new route will appear in ‘Courses’
• Select your new route and in the ‘Device’ menu -> Send to device.

They created a platform to provide “local goods on demand”. They promote that we should “own less and do more”. It is a neat site that is well organized and easy to post and find products.

Here’s the exciting part. I went to Twitter to spread the good word and was amazed by their response. They replied with this tweet. Notice a few things about this tweet:

• It was posted exactly 30 minutes after my tweet
• It acknowledged my tweet and suggested I’d like the next version
• It provided the Twitter handle of a user who is located near me who would want to rent something I own!

I am confused, awestruck, impressed, and a little creeped out all at the same time. I am not aware of any Twitter platform that could automatically generate this (though the reply at exactly 30 minutes later is a little suspect). How did they know I would have a Kurt Kinetic indoor bike trainer? Is this merely luck on their part, a brilliant program, or creative people hard at work? Judging by their blog it looks like they are just hard working, smart people. The user handle referenced in the tweet is for their CEO. Kudos.

View their site: www.snapgoods.com

At the time, I was swimming in a 25 meeter pool (a problem in and of itself) and my numbers were getting really high. I was frustrated so I explored some of the options on the market. Needless to say, there are some horrible products ripping people off. One product in particular is deceptive by appearing to be a nice small wall counter when in actuality it is huge and I wouldn’t be caught dead using it at the pool.

The best product available for counting laps is the SportCount. The user wears it like a ring on the index finger and counts laps with a simple press from the thumb. It is visible underwater and reliable. It comes in four variations, from the most basic which just counts laps to the more advanced which provides split times.

Locally (NYC), this product is available at Paragon Sports (shipping available).

My swimming is much more enjoyable because of this product. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Scan this code to take the product information with you.

Many of us have kept quiet in the hopes that the police will settle down and once again begin to turn their attention elsewhere. With the warm weather approaching and race season getting closer by the day, many are thinking it is time to speak up.

A main obstacle in this battle is what to say. It is a law that cyclists must stop at red lights in NYC. The penalty for a violation is $270, that’s the law. Because we have been able to ride with care, often slowing down to make sure nobody is around, then proceeding through lights, we have never had any major opposition to lights in Central Park. Many of us are runners and we appreciate the job they do at trying to slow down cars.

There are 17 traffic lights just on the lower loop of Central Park. It will be impossible to train, or ride with any ease if these laws are continued to be enforced. So what are we to do? Changing the law seems unlikely.

Adrian Bijanda, a New York City based triathlete and editor of www.travlete.com has developed a potential solution. He created a Facebook page: Concerned Cyclist. He is hoping to gather support and persuade the city to switch the traffic lights to flashing yellow from 4:45- 6:45 am. This would allow cyclist to continue to train in the park while continuing to ride safely.

I have mixed feelings about this solution and about the decision to take action. On one hand, yes something needs to change. It is unsafe to have riders slowing down, stopping, or worse- circling while other riders are passing by. On the other hand, creating this to be more of an issue may be a slippery slope.  As I was riding this morning, I passed a woman that looked like Mary Wittenberg of New York Road Runners. If she and her organization were to fight the proposed suggestion of yellow lights, the cyclists would certainly fail. If the cyclists were to band together and then fail, the laws would most likely continue to be enforced due to the heightened public awareness of the issue.

What do you think about this situation? Do you have any ideas of how cyclists can continue to train in such a populated city? As a runner, would you oppose morning-time blinking yellow lights in Central Park? Please click HERE to express your opinion to the mayor.

As I began to race more and look toward more specific triathlon goals I realized I would benefit from a more scientific arrangement of my data, one that Nike wan not offering. I made the jump to Garmin with a Forerunner 310XT. This device has been great for collecting my data and helping me to recognize my areas for improvement. Scientifically, I appreciate the device.

More so lately, I am noticing my friends posting their workout information on Facebook. I enjoy seeing what they are doing and offer occasional support. I was feeling a little left out by not being able to share all of my hard work. I am proud of what I am doing and could use a little virtual encouragement now and then.

After holding out and receiving no sign from Garmin that they had an interest in going social, I turned to third party apps. I’m not too impressed with most of the Facebook third party apps which exist. Most apps are time consuming to build and without corporate backing often lack the high level user inference to which we have grown accustom.

With nothing to loose I turned to the App directory and began to freely give away all my information to anyone with the tag “Garmin.” The first few apps I tried didn’t even really function. I eventually stumbled upon an app called My Motion Based. Once in the app, users enter their Garmin connect name and the information is automatically populated. This is much easier than anything else I have seen out there. I am excited to see this technology and am looking forward to sharing my achievements with friends.

Do you use social media to publish your workout information? Which app do you use?

The role of social media in sport is growing and evolving. Sure, it is great to have a wetsuit that works well, but with so many brands to choose from why not pick one that offers a little more? Xterra Wetsuits (@XTERRAWETSUITS), of San Diego, CA, provides followers with motivation, product insight, and access to elite athlete interviews. They are doing a great job of providing us with a well rounded experience surrounding their product.

These awards are another step in an exciting direction for us.

View the Triathlon Twitter Awards here: http://www.triathlonweek.com/twitter-awards/

More importantly, I am excited about the new opportunity to use clippings and pictures to build a representation of who I am and what I love. Fancy might just be an exploration of identity, digital style.

Are you using Fancy? What do you think about these sites?

http://www.thefancy.com

Lately, I have been experimenting with QR codes and have been amazed by the potential uses for marketers. When scanned, these codes can redirect the user to a website, video, simple text, or a map with directions.

I generated a few QR codes of mobile sites I often visit and posted them in my home. I give the codes a quick scan to check the weather or find a movie playing nearby. The codes have worked for me every time and I find them to be a bit more user – friendly than some apps.

So this got me thinking, for what else could I use the codes? I created a video which contained a QR code and uploaded it to YouTube. The code was scannable and successfully redirected me to my mobile blog. Next, I posted the video to twitter to see if others would try it out. Sure enough, I had some hits.

For me, one of the coolest features of the QR code technology is that the redirect can change as often as you like. I can print one code and change the content daily, without having to reprint or redesign anything.

What are some of the creative uses you have developed for QR codes? Do you see this as a viable marketing tool for the years ahead?