Sorry it's been so long since I've updated you on my season, life has been crazy. I've raced 2 major races since I last emailed you. The races were Twenty twelve talent ID search, at College nationals. At twenty Twelve I was not prepared for the 53 degree water or the start which was nothing I was used to as it was my first ITU style race. Swim went fine, though it should have been better seeing as I was in better shape than how I did, the shock of the cold water screwed with my breathing and the water in my goggles affected my sitting, I guess every race is a learning experience. I will be better prepared next time having now swum in that freezing water. Next came the bike where I've developed as my strong suit to pair with my run and compensate for my swim times. Well not always can you be ready for a mechanical problem. My front derailleur hanger slipped down on my first shift for the set of hills on the start of the lap. The slip caused me to be unable to get into my big ring and really do damage to the other riders and make a move towards the front pack. I still rode decent, but not nearly to my potential having no real power. My run really suffered because of the stress I put on my legs to ride and spin faster than I was able to. I finished around the middle of the pack and was happy to get a first ITU race out of the way. Next time...oh I can't wait till next time!

 

The following weekend was Duathlon Nationals. With a challenging course and a sweltering heat many of the racers defeated themselves before the gun went off. Having raced in 100 degree heat before I knew what to expect and how to prepare. The first run went very well, I settled in with a guy in the age group up from me and we ran together the whole way. I could have run faster but knew that if I went too hard too early I would blow up before the finish like many of the other athletes did. I came into transition in around a 33:30 and quickly got on the bike and started Rollin. The 3 lap course was clogged with racers that had an earlier start time abut I wove my way around them and found my way to the front of the groups. I brought back several guys in my wave and just kept hammering. On the 2nd lap I ran low on water and by the third I was out completely. Not wanting to risk dehydrating and DNF-ing I brought back my pace to slightly above tempo and just held off those who I had passed. The heat on the start of the second run was in full swing and there was no shade to hide from it. I just gutted it out and tried to keep my mouth wet at the aide stations and pace high for a strong finish. I came across the line thrilled to be done and be able to get out of the sun and into a tent to ice myself and cool down. Once cool, I collected my finishers’ pint glass and got some food and a beer. Found out where I placed (3rd AG, 13th OA) and celebrated with friends. 

Thanks everybody

friday the 13th!!!

so i'm not superstitious but i crashed on friday the 13th. totally my fault, actually kinda funny that i crashed going slower than 10 mph...oh well. what is funny is the patch of skin that is missing from my hip and butt. also an updat on my training, wet to do 12x5min hill repeats with a 30 min warm up and cool down...well the hills that were 5 min hills when i moved here are now 3 or 4 min hills..., so i guess i'll have to find new hills...i still dont have my car, nobody can figure out whats wrong with it, and i am annoyed. valentines day was fun but didnt spend it with a single person, it's the first time since in about 6 years that i've spent it as a single person. and it wasnt bad, well it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be. not a whole lot else to report. i will update you next time i update...

BRRRRRRRRR!

woke up this morning, let the dogs out and promptly lost all sensation in my fingers and toes. got my car towed to the auto shop that will fix it cause it broke down last thursday, and the VW dealer wouldnt fix it cause of liability... so i've been sitting around the house a lot, but getting my training in. speaking of that, i got my new training schedule from my coach and i'm pumped! not ony cause i love the workouts, but cause i'll actually be able to do them. the weather is going to be in the 60's for the next ten days, a big change from the "22, feels like 8" that we have right now. with my car broken down i havent really been able to socialize which is a bummer but i'm still loving it here in athens. my roomate robbie is a great guy and fun to hang out with and we've gotten some really good sushi and pizza. also i'm getting better at video games haha. i also need a training partner for running and swimming, and i need memberships at the indoor track and pool...hopefully i'll be able to afford it along with paying for my car...ugh

oh well cheers everybody, and thanks again to all of my sponsors

in athens

well i've moved, i'm in and i love it! went for a run today and got drenched by a crazy downpour rainstorm, it was actually pretty sweet, both of my bikes cant really be ridden right now so i was't able to ride like i planned but what ever, i'm supposed to ride tomorrow ith a buddy, lookin forward to that. i got all my shopping done and i can't wait to get my bed in so i'll have a bit more room, but i also need a dresser and a few other things...

on a side note, wallace is happy too :D

and i am in love with Pandora Radio

also i worn my Skins on the trip down, running today i wouldnt have even thought that i sat for almost 14 hours straight, zero tightness, i really think everybody should invest in them.

WTF!? where has the week of the longest week ever gone!?

so the week has flown by, tomorrow is thursday!? i swam tonight, 1500m felt GREAT to get back in the pool!

and hooray, another snow storm!

I've thought about it a bit, and i still haven't made up my mind about posting my workouts on here. The training and the schedule is special and tailored to me so it wouldnt help anybody else, but they are special to me too so i dunno if i wanna share...yep i'm gonna be greedy...

stay tuned

this will be the longest week ever

So I havent been training due to everything being closed and just a general frustration with the weather. From getting frost bite last year, my feet are crazy sensitive to the cold, even sitting in the office which is a little cold my feet start to show signs of damage from the cold, which is lame. The pool opens back up this week, and i'm going to set my bike back up and get back to work on that...i really have no excuses, i just haven't been training, i know it's still early and that it shouldnt affect me too much, but hearing about other people training and such is driving me nuts. Oh well my fault, no worries tho, i didnt start training till this time last year and was only healthy through may then i was injured for about a month. if i can stay loose and not get injured all the way through worlds i think i'll be set. Don't tell me! i already know, i won't rest on my laurels... i'm supposed to be kicked out today but i guess i havent been...i'm trying just to lay low till the 25 or whenever i can get south...my new bike should be in soon, and i ordered a new handle bar for my bike, i just need new shifters and a new crank...

I bought a bed! it's pretty exciting, kinda a major purchase and i feel all growed up! haha 

next topic is my lack of great luck, i have good luck but i guess i really shouldnt be complaining . anyways on to the complaint: i made some really good friends just as i'm moving south. seems like that always happens to me. my whole life all through highschool and college i've always been the outcast kinda, usually cause i'm stubborn as hell and have a funny sort of humor. but it always seems that i make new friends really quickly when i'm not at home, like this summer, i made a friend at every stop we made but i couldnt really keep them or become close friends with them because i was leaving in a few days, sure i didnt lose them as friends and we still talk, and i'm sure i'd have a couch to crash on if i were ever in town. but this makes me wonder wether or not it's just the length of time sombody knows me that makes them not like me, or if it's just the attitudes around here at home...who know's only time will tell...

thats enough out of me today! roasted chicken and mashed potatoes for dinnah! woot

oh the holidays

it's the holidays...what can i say, i cant wait till i move...

not a whole lot to inform you guys about...

2nd week gone and so is the 3rd

well starting work right with my training starting has cause an interesting shift in my energy level and motivation. i simply cannot get up in the morning and do my workouts, so i talked it over with Kathy (my coach) and she said it would be fine for now to just lump them all after work...whoopee ha, so i am getting my work done, i havent lost any fingers or toes yet due to the sub-freezing temps outside, tho i have lost my mind due to all the invoicing that i do at work... it's strange loosing track of time and the days and all that. i've had a couple really good workouts and a couple good nights out. 

i'm still getting ridiculed for my workouts due to other peoples lack of knowledge of the purpose of the workouts...i find it funny that they're telling me to watch out or i'll get burnt out when they havent finished a season healthy ever. oh well i just love to show you i can when you say i can't.

on the sponsorship front...i have signed some new sponsors!

i'm VERY EXCITED to announce SKINS as a sponsor! I bought my fist pair of skins just before my first NAtional Championship last year. I had a 12 hour drive and i read everything i could about compression technology and i discovered that Skins was the best so i bought a pair of their tights. made the 12 hour drive to richmond, got funny looks at all the gas stations and andwhere i stopped, which i'm used to actually as many triathlete/duathletes are, especially the guys (men with shaved leggs wearing tight lyrca walking carefull so you dont slip in your cleats usually draw all kinds of attention...) anyways, my legs were so fresh the next day it was like i didnt even drive the 12 hours the day before, the things are great! oh i also went on to win my age group there at Nationals. so from then on i was hooked, i bought another pair knowing i would be road tripping out west all summer. i wear them before every race and any trip over 3 hours, i wore them to italy, i warmed up in them at the world championships, i wore then at the sprint tri National championships, heck i even wore then while i was driving down to georgia a couple of weeks ago when i didnt even have a reason other than knowing i wouldnt feel like crap the next day. heck i even have a picture of myself on the podium at the sprint Nationals wearing them.

Also I am sooooooper excited about adding Isaac Bikes as a sponsor. i will be riding the isaac Impulse and the Isaac Joule Aerotic this year. Both amazing bikes, with a bunch of science behind them (which i love!) the word is that Isaac is named after Sir Isaac Newton, you know the guy with the apple and the equal and opposit reaction...well SIN (hmmm, maybe i should make his name an acronym...) studied nature and found it has laws, that it doesnt just randomly chaoticly all work together(tho sometimes i have my doubts on this) Well this inspired the fellas enough to base their bikes off the laws of nature and the forms of nature. things like the headtube is shaped like an egg...sounds weak, but have you ever tried to crush an egg in one hand, if you havent i highly encourage it, newton theorised that the egg was the strongest lightest natural form (i would think he's right) next there are no joints in the bike, it's all one flowing piece, much like everything else in nature there are no joints because they promote weakness, and where there is a joint(you DO NOT SMOKE IT) it is reinforced (think Bamboo) and then you have the stearer tube, it's modeled after a tree, thicker on the base than at the top, this is because more foce is put on the base of the stearer than at the top (back to the reinforcing thing right?)...i mean really the list goes on, they are fantastic bikes not to mention beautiful, and hey it never hurts if guy's in OREC approve.

and while i'm at it i'd like to exted a thank you to the guys at FLUID who were there for me last year and who stand with me this year. you make a great product and one that truely works. 

i'm in talks with a couple others, i am just waiting to sign one, and trying to understand another (stinkin legal mumbo-jumbo)...but i'll keep all 3 of you who read this updated. thanks for stopping by i'm fixin to go swim...after i run or ride...

oH one last think, i like swimming and i'm getting better...watch out now!

also! i lied this is the last thing, if you want to buy a hat kinda like the one you see in my picture let me know i make em, prices range from 20-50 just shoot me an email...

First Week

Welp...I just finished my first week back of real training, felt good to actually be working towards a goal

I'm looking towards the next week. But not the weather! It's so cold and there is so much snow!

I'm in talks right now, and i'll keep you guys updated on my decisions...

I cant wait to get to Athens...

Just what I needed!

well since my last post it has started snowing, I started work, I took a road trip, made some hats, and put my mind back in the right place.

So this road trip. I got invited to Athens a couple weeks ago to the Georgia vs. Georgia tech game. From my house it's about a 14 hour drive...well Georgia being my team I jumped at the chance. I've been just frustrated here in Michigan with the weather and thewhole lack of job and so on, well an employee of my dad's company will be leaving for 6 weeks for maturnity leave, which is a perfect opportunity for me to have a job that works with my schedule and there are no strings attached after 6 weeks. I did get the job at the Rehab place that i was interviewing for but i turned it down, even though it would have been great to have on my resume. so i started last monday and wednsday was the company thanksgiving party...which was great. great food

so wednsday night i went out with Nick Katsefaras and Kim Herbert, two friends from high school for the local bar scene, due to having a co-worker bail out on me and another co-worker. anyways it was funny going to the bar in Pinckney because it was a Highschool reunion pretty much, just full of all those people i never wanted to see again nor actually see again. well i saw them again an it was funny seening how much everybody changed...mostly...larger...haha anyways my favorite quote of the night was "nice seeing you again Zak, but i have to go, my mom's here" i about died when she walked out the door

so the next day Thanksgiving morning I was cussed out by my dad and sister, so i decided not to drive the twon hours to my aunt's to spend time and be frustrated and have nobody to talk to.  so i spend the day with my dog...it was good

so then the trip to athens started at 4:30 AM

In tennessee i realised the GPS was taking me towards Atlanta during rush hour on black friday....NO!

so i took the road through pigon forge....and the great smokey mountain national park...awesome drive through the park, hell in the bird town....

finally got into Athens around 8 or something, and when i arrived, caroline wouldnt pick up her phone...which was really funny how that all works out, i drive 14 hours and i then cant get in touch with her when i arrive...lol

anyways she called me back, turns out she was avoiding my calls...okay not really she was sitting on her phone on accident

anyways i made it to her place and we made omlets and chatted then went out to Copper creek after meeting up with her boyfriend Mark and her friend Tori

after copper creek we went to 8e's bar, where they only play tacky awesome 80's music...great times, due to not really being able to dance to 80's music, you just wiggle and sway so it was so fun!

in the morning we woke up and went to The Hub bikeshop, the shop that Jittery Joes was out of, and where Vanderkitten is supposed to be out of this year...

then we went to Jittery Joes got coffee and then a beer store and bought good beer

went back to The Hub and chilled out watched the game from there because it was raining and cold. lunch we got burritoes from The Mean Bean which were amazing!

then i got a pair of zero gravity brakes for 50 bucks, because the N.E.R.D. "new england red devil" the guy who owns the Hub and designed the N.E.R.D. zero gravity brakes was hanging around and drinking beer with us

well georgia lost and the day just kept getting better met two more of Carolines friends, Erin and Emily, made some bracelets out of bike spokes and talked

all i have to say is that Georgia girls are the most beautiful and the best girls on earth

anyways we all went first to the girls apartment and played a bit of some kareoke game and then wallyworldto buy shirts for a tacky christmas party 

well we went to the party which was a lot of fun played some taboo and rock band, owned the expert level singing

then we went back out to the clubs, the loft for some booty shakin music, then back to 8e's, and maybe abouter one or two...i may or may not remember completely haha

after that went back to carolines and fell asleep...woke up around 8 and said my goodbyes

went to the bux and got coffee and then hit the road

traffic a few spots along the way and then hit the snow around ann arbor

i was only glad to be done driving not to be back in michigan and covered in snow or to have work in the morning

i'm counting down my days to move south

so i had to turn around and go around and pick 

USAT Mideast Elite Team

I am now a member of the USAT Mideast Elite Team, and will be racing with them next year.
details to follow...

Skins!

Skins compression garments have written me back and offered me their Elite Athlete discount. I really like Skins, and I have two pair of their tights, I do believe in the compression theories, however, I think i should wait and not jump on the first compression offer that comes through...I hope this keeps up.

I ran with Wallace today, six miles on the Yellow trail, the weather was warm when it has been numbingly cold...nice picker-upper

Thanks for stopping by!

Frontier City and Beneath the Surface by Kings of Leon

I don't know why, but these song are stuck in my head and for some reason seem to be trying to make a point, my mind is trying to make a point rather...not sure what the point is. the fact of the matter is they're there, they have been there, and they dont seem to be going anywhere untill I figure out what i'm trying to tell myself...

Find yourself a new frontier
Cause life is going, going gone
Fly yourself away from here into the clear
Before it's going, going, gone

Say it loud and in the light
For it's going, going gone
Shake the hands, the hands that pick, people fight
Cause life is going, going gone

(Yes I'll find you) and cut you down
(Friends and neighbours,) sleepy town
(If you wake up) before the blow
(Pick your face up)
We come, we go
We live until we live no more

Travel with the dead black eye
Before it's come and come and gone
Cradles and the rocking chairs that make a lie
Before it's come and come and gone
(Yes I'll find you) and cut you down
(Friends and neighbours) sleepy town
(If you wake up) before the blow
(Pick your face up)
We come, and go We come and go, oh oh oh
We come and go, oh oh oh oh



Degrade me, my purpose
Bury me beneath the surface
I'm scratching, I'm clawing
Trying hard to make them pay
Can't stand me, beside me
Kid you not, your kiss sure killed me
The cold of my barrel
Never sees the light of day
Call me, call me, you could only hurt the story
Call me, call me, I'll be there to shine a light

The swell on the speakers
Sweaty ballroom dancing fever
They gather in numbers
Ever for a closer view
The cease fire the weaker
Hair so red I couldn't keep her
The dogs hound the neighbours
Everything was blown away
Call me, call me, you could only hurt the story
Call me, call me, I'll be there to shine a light

Machine, machines, point me to the nearest party
You'll see, you'll see, baby it's the only way
Call me, call me, you could only
Call me, call me, I'll be there

Starting over

A lot has changed since I last posted, nobody has read this, and I'm just setting this up for sponsors, I'll update it once a week and after races. Right now, I am looking for sponsors, currently I have FLUID. I plan on moving to North Carolina the first of the year, due to being kicked out of the house by my parents because I've decided to race and not attend school.
The way I look at it is, you have one life to live, and if you're not happy, you're not living it right. In the future I will return to school and get my degree, knowing that I will need it in my career as a Personal Trainer.
To sum up where I am right now in my life. I am inbetween jobs, girls, housing, and sponsors. It's stressful not having the support and family I once did, but I have my dog, my friends, and my bikes and for that I'm grateful.

It snowed last night for the first time this fall, and I had a job interview at Willowbrook Rehabilitation, they said they'd call me next week. Hopefully I get the job; I'd like to get out of this state before it really starts to snow...

also I apologize for the spelling errors I know I will make, I run and ride better than a 5th grader, but they will outspell me any day of the week...