Newness

It's definitely been some time since I last posted here. Life has been busy. New school, new job, new friends, new bikes, lots of newness in my life over the past couple of months. Hence the reason for no posts as of recent. Fortunately I have no exams for the next week and a half so there is no point in studying right now because I would just forget everything by then right? The answer is probably not, but for now at least it serves as a good excuse for me to record some of the events and my random thoughts over the past couple of months, which I guess is kind of productive.

I guess the biggest change in the new life of Greg is graduate school, which is actually more a lifestyle than an education. Allow me to explain. The other day as I was walking to class I saw a girl on a run come across one of her friends. Ripping out her headphones she excited proclaimed that she had been admitted into ECU for graduate school. The two jumped up and down with excitement and hugged one another. Quickly they began formulating plans to go out to dinner that night for drinks and food. To her I have a few things to say. 1. Congratulations on getting into graduate school 2. Enjoy having the time to both go for a run, and go out to dinner on a Wednesday night, because soon enough, you will have neither the time nor the energy for neither. 3. Enjoy having the money to go out for dinner, because soon you won't have any of that either....In all honesty though, I am very happy to be here at Wake. Sure getting up at 5am 3x a week sucks, but I just go to bed earlier. Now that I don't have tv, there is nothing to distract me except for maybe James McCabe trying to go to Dunkin Donuts or The Cookout with me at 930. I do love the program here, which is fortunate because if I didn't I wouldn't have lasted. I really enjoy the satisfaction I get out of being able to help with people, and there is nothing as rewarding as seeing the smile on peoples faces when you make a difference in their lives. I am very sure that this is the field in which I belong, and for that I am very fortunate.

Other big changes are fairly minimal in comparison to beginning at a new school, in a new state, living by myself and paying rent. First I have run probably less than 10 times since coming to Wake in August. I am still struggling with some bursitis in my knee, and will be going to a physical therapist today, who, god-willing, will be able to help me get over this chronic injury. It has definitely been an adjustment going from training 20 hours a week at W&M to not even being able to get in a session a day here sometimes. Fortunately however the Wake Cycling team has treated me VERY WELL. James does a fantastic job running the program and does so in a VERY professional manner. He has gotten me into cyclocross, which I have fallen in love with. It kind of combines running and biking and is helping with my bike handling skills, which I believe will pay off come road season, especially in crits. I have been doing fairly well in cross, and feel as though every time I clip in to the team VanDessel that I am currently riding my cross skills improve. I must also give a shout-out to Ken's Bike shop who gives great support to the team. Without them we would not be who we are.

On the radar is cyclocross conference championships this weekend in Blacksburg, hosted by Virginia Tech, followed by a few training races before Nationals back in Madison Wisconsin, in January where my lovely girlfriend Briana Paxton will help the team by holding bikes, and making us dinner. Yup, I have a winner. I have got to say that although i do miss running I am feeling MUCH stronger on the bike then I ever have in my life. I guess I can attribute this to not wearing down my body so much with running and swimming, which is giving me more recovery and allowing my body to adjust to cycling. Pretty cool, train less, do better, I can kick it.

Another big change in my life is taking naps at 9 or 10am, because well, this is what happens when you wake up at 5am. Speaking of which, I think it is getting to be time for one now. Hopefully I write here again before 3 or 4 months pass...it is kind of a soothing thing to do, and who knows, maybe some people will actually read it, and maybe even enjoy doing so? PEACE OUT.

Growing Up

A well known saying states that "while growing up is inevitable, maturity is optional." Although true, Im not sure doing so is very desirable, for both yourself and those around you. Four years ago I stepped out of my house in Fairfax, Virginia and my family and I began a road trip to Miami, Florida, stopping briefly in Disney World for a quick family vacation. Here I sit four years later in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to continue my education, where I will work towards my Masters Degree in Health and Exercise Science. Over the course of the past four years, I believe, I have learned alot, both in and out of the classroom.

Getting old sucks....mostly. For this reason it is a definite goal of mine not to do so to quickly. Fortunately I still look like Im 18, I guess thats a positive? Or maybe it will be later in life. As stated by the quote, aging is inevitable and maturity is indeed optional, BUT maturity is not the same thing as aging. Maturity can be good, and doesn't necessarily make us into old geezers. Therefore, I would like to believe that the growing up I have done over the past four years has been "good growing up." I still enjoy laughing at childish jokes "immature" jokes, and I think that's ok. There are many things that I can do today however that I simply was not good at dealing with four years ago. I am better at planning and organizing my life, and putting things into perspective. Consequently I am better equipped to deal with setbacks, both in the classroom and during training. I am proud of myself for making it to where I am today and feel very blessed to have done so. There is a fine line between maturing and maturing too much. It is vital to keep this delicate balance in our lives, or else sacrifice our youth.

My Summer

It seems counter-intuitive to write an article in a blog that is supposed to be about triathlons an article that fails to mention the words swim, bike, or run. Therefore I guess by prefacing this post as such I will not let anyone down. That being said, if you are hoping to read about my training or racing for the past couple of months you are going to be sadly disappointed. I must admit that it was not of my own planning that I would spend a summer in the training Mecca of the world, only 45 miles from the likes of professional cycling Team Garmin-Cervelo, and let my bike collect cob-webs in the garage. Even more surprising is that I can assuredly say that this was, hands down, the best summer of my life.

Last September was the beginning of my senior year at the College of William and Mary. After returning to Williamsburg having won my age group, and placing 10^th overall in the Duathlon World Championship, life couldn’t have been better. The members of the cycling team back at school, my best friends, wouldn’t let me forget about my victory. Unfortunately this meant that no longer could I send out a group ride on the list serve and expect heavy attendance. Only those who were feeling strong and up for a pain fest would join (usually just JOA). The year went by and I began applying to graduate schools. I didn’t have any serious racing planned till 2011 so the first semester went by and with it many great memories as I grew closer to the team.

Before I knew it the first semester had passed by and it was time for winter training camp at el presidente Adam Harris’s house. Although transfer and constant pain in my ass on group rides, Evan Fulton couldn’t make it, graduate student Brian Callam joined us in the hills of Bridgewater for some spinning of the legs. Camp was great as usual, we rode a lot, we ate a lot, and we rode a lot more. Notables were a 100 mile day with Joa, and a Reddish Knob descent with Collegiate Road Race National Champion (10’) Cory Scott with a blanket of snow pouring down in front of us. Both of us shaking and pumping our breaks as we made it down the treacherous 10 mile descent in the pouring snow. Good times.

As training camp came to an end I felt pretty decent about my chances racing my first season as a Collegiate A. Unfortunately the season had some other plans for me. First race of the season, NC State, rear derailleur cable snaps, DNF. Next race, our home road race, dropped 6 of 7 laps in after a bone-headed solo attempt to bridge a gap to a break. The next day at our crit, I end up in the ER with a concussion and some bad road rash after wiping out around a corner while the race finishes. The rest of the season could only get better and fortunately I was able to post some mediocre finishes. At least they were able to get me to Collegiate Nationals in Madison at the end of the season. Unfortunately I did manage to find myself rubber up twice more, both in the Conference crit at Tech next to my good friend Jacob Aber, as well as in the crit at Collegiate Nationals (With a 13 hour drive back I was not about to take a DNF in this race and I did, crossing the line in the 30s in this race at least).

Although not a “bad” season per se, my final bike racing season in the W&M colors was not what I would have liked it to be. Towards the end of my senior year, my best friend, Kyle Grimsley, a graduate student studying fluvial geomorphology (note my use of big words) at Colorado State University, sent me an email mentioning the possibility of me coming out to Colorado to be his field assistant. At the time it seemed somewhat of a far-fetched dream and fairly unlikely. What an opportunity it would be to live in Fort Collins for a summer. This was the summer after I had graduated with my undergraduate degree, and the perfect time for far-fetched dreams. After a good deal of work and persuading on his end to let an Exercise Science major from another school be his field assistant the details had been worked out and my dream was going to become a reality.

After less than 2 weeks in Northern Virginia after leaving Williamsburg, and about all the traffic we could handle, Kyle and I left the craziness of the suburbs of D.C. for Fort Collins Colorado. Arriving in Fort Collins I immediately noticed one thing in particular. It is dry there. For the first two weeks of the summer I felt as though I spent a good portion of my day either drinking water or applying lotion. Eventually my body adapted to the new climate and my skin turned a darker color then it has ever been in my life #skincancerhereicome. Unfortunately the knee problem I had been having since May at Collegiate Nationals had not disappeared on the drive out. This would be a reoccurring theme throughout the summer and is the reason for the lack of training/racing in this triathlete’s paradise.

The day after arriving to our summer home at Cuerto Lane Kyle and I ventured over to the geology department at the school to meet with his advisor, steam monitoring extraordinaire Sara Rathburn. We were informed by Sara that the snowfall this winter was “just unbelievable” and therefore we would have to delay our research some because any trips into the mountains that week would be futile. For the next week and a half Kyle and I lived the good life, exploring Fort Collins and taking advantage of what it had to offer (this included an adventure to the New Belgium Brewery where they give you enough free samples to thoroughly intoxicate yourself, as well as multiple trips to Edora park where we learned the wonders of Frisbee golf, a reoccurring theme in our summer.)

After nearly two weeks Sara decided that it was time to begin the work. We ventured up into what would quickly become our home, to monitor the streams flowing into the Colorado River. What we found was a 4.5 mile hike that would take us nearly 3.5 hours to complete. The amount of snow on the trail boggled my east coast mind. It was June and here I was with snow coming up to my waist. Nonsense. Unfortunately due to the massive amount of snow melt the streams were flowing at quite the rate, making it too dangerous to get much of the data we would have liked to. That did not stop us from trying however. Most impressive was the determination of Kyle’s advisor as she would let nothing stop us from continuing onward. The bridge is covered up? No worries, well just walk across the bridge of snow. Most amusing was when she post-holed going back across it. Most fortunate was that she didn’t fall into the freezing cold water. Most hungry were Kyle and I as we discussed for the better part of 2 hours what we were going to get for dinner (Krazy Karls pizza) and what kind of beer we would drink with it (Odell’s 90 shilling).

As the temperatures grew warmer the snow in the park melted and Kyle and I began making our trips more and more frequently into the park. The 3.5 hour slog we did with Sara turned into a much shorter 1.5 hour brisk hike. We were fortunate enough to be joined by many a guest this summer. We found that bringing people along would keep the moral high and the trips more interesting. The first of which was Kyle’s girlfriend Amanda, and an exchange student named Johnny hailing from the UK. Amusingly enough this trip was near peak flow for the season which made crossing the bridges quite the amusing ordeal. Fortunately no one was swept away to the Grand Canyon by the raging river and after the trip the crew made the journey to Café Mexicale for massive burritos smothered with Creamy Habanero sauce (a local favorite).

Other guest trips were made with William and Mary cycling team member Ryan Burbey, my girlfriend Briana, and Pennsylvania running hotshot Matty Grey. All of these guests were “simply delightful” to bring along. But for real, we had a blast with them and I think they enjoyed themselves quite a bit too, even if Kyle put them to work (which was fine with me, because it meant less stuff that I had to do!).

Highlights of these trips was the massive rain storm on the trip with Burbey as we futilely tried to wedge the tree scar from a tree in a debris flow a good 3 miles from the trailhead. This was of course followed by a drive to Grand Lake to obtain some necessary camping supplies, followed by the consumption of these supplies in the car while playing setback in the car at the campsite as the rain came down. Unfortunately the rain and the wind had their way with us that night and Burbey and I woke up (if we ever went to sleep) in a very wet and tired state. Fortunately this would be the last night of camping and the next day was nice and dried us out!

The weather was fortunately far better for Bri’s visit and besides a mild fairly short rainstorm on the first day we had blue skies. That night we went back to the campsite and enjoyed copious amounts of Smores, which can be seen all over Kyles face in pictures, followed by some leg elevation on the side of my car. After dropping Bri off at the airport I waited around for a while for our next visitor Matt Grey. Matt was undoubtedly the least expected visitor of the summer. As a way to express our thanks Kyle and I made sure to show him a good time.

After getting into Colorado late Monday night we woke him up at 5am the next day for a 3 day trip into the mountains. The first 2 of these days we spent surveying in the scars to determine the magnitude of the debris flows for Kyles research and the next day we would spend hiking to a destination of our choice. After long days in the mountains we spent the nights eating and wiling out in similar fashion to our elken brethren who were frequently found romping around our campsite and making videos using Kyle’s sweet camera/video device. The third day we decided to hike up to Sky Pond as Kyle recommended. It was well worth our time. The view at the top was incredible. After climbing up a waterfall or two and scampering across boulders and up and over rocks we made it to our planned destination. It wouldn’t be fair to neglect to mention the frustration felt by Kyle and I with the godly aerobic strength of Matt. Kyle and I chased him through the trails, breathing hard trying to keep him in sight for the majority of the trip. It was to our great delight that climbing up rocks was not of his strength. Try as he might, Kyle and I were able to teach Matt a thing or two about rock climbing and arm strength. (We love you Matt) It was to Matt’s great dismay that Kyle and I decided to try to climb out of the cirque that Sky Pond was situated in. It also ended up being one of the greatest decisions of any of our lives. After over an hour of climbing and scampering up rocks this feat of extreme bad assery was complete. The view that lay in front of us cannot be described. Taking a picture of such a thing feels like a crime because it cannot possibly do such a thing justice.

Matt’s visit was the last visit Kyle and I would have this summer and a week after he left I myself would depart the Fort for the east coast before venturing south to Winston-Salem to begin my time in grad school at Wake Forest. Originally I had intended to publish this on my blog but what I had originally intended to be a long blog entry has turned into more of a story. Unfortunately looking back on what I have written I am saddened to see a great number of things that I have left out. In no apparent order I will list these things because I feel that excluding them from this sage would not do it justice. Among them are, Rootbeer milk and Noosa from the wonderful folks at Morning Fresh Dairy, Rockies Games, Margaritas at the Rio, Lil Wayne and DJ Khaled on Trail Ridge, Icing injuries in the river in the mountains, Intramural Soccer at the Edge, my roommates Lauren, Dave, Kevin, and Lauren’s dog Arlo, and Settlers of Catan. I apologize for the nonsensical nature of this list, most of which is completely illogical to the average person. Instead look at it as a way for me to reflect back personally and remember the things and events of the summer of 2011. This summer was the experience of a lifetime and I am forever grateful to all the people who helped make it so.

Learning from our youngers

For the past 3 days I have been religiously foam rolling, hoping to rid myself of the bursitis I have been dealing with since Collegiate Cycling Nationals. Not surprisingly for the most part I have attempted to train through this injury. Shockingly it hasn't gone away...duh. The good news is that this morning I successfully completed a 45 minute run around the reservoir west of our house at the base of the mountains. It is possible that between taking some time off and foam rolling my adductors I am making progress!

Although good news, the above paragraph is certainly not blog worthy. Much more notable then any successful run however was the family I ran by fishing in the reservoir. Nearly 2/3 of the way around the lake I watched from a distance as a father passed his young son a bluegill he had just reeled in. After removing the hook from the fishes mouth, the father passed the son the fish. The look on the young child's face was priceless. As the young boy stood there, bluegill in hand, his mouth opened into one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. The fish flipped out of the boys hand who proceeded to chase it around in the mud, attempting to grab hold of his prize. I smiled and laughed a bit at the father and greeted them with a quick wave of my hand as I ran by. He smiled and laughed back.

On the way back I tried in vain to remember the first time I went fishing. Finally my mind set on a trip to Burke Lake park with my father and my grandpa John one Summer weekend day. Although my memory of the trip is quite vague, small bits of the excursion certainly remain in my memory. One of them is the taste of victory felt while hoisting that first bluegill from the depths of the water. I realized that this must be how that little boy felt on the reservoir today. Pride effervescing from him, sweet victory.

All of this may kind of seem like a tanget...and maybe it is, but I believe that I could learn a lesson or two from this young boy. First of all is that we must take pride in our victories, regardless of the size. Countless numbers of bluegill are caught a day, yet, to this child, this fact was completely irrelevant. What mattered to him was that he had succeeded in his fishing quest. Being thankful for what we have and what we can do is something that I could use some work on.

It is easy to get caught up on things we can't do or don't have. Unfortunately, doing so will not make us very happy. Instead we should try to take a page from this young child's book of happiness. He may not have won Kona or crossed the line at Boston, but the pure and unbridled joy of this child is something to strive for. Thank you for the lesson and hopefully I can take it to heart.

Baby Steps

Almost 2 years ago on June 21, 2009 I took a plunge into the 3-sport world. Waking up at 4am and driving into our Nation's Capital to race in The Dextro Energy Triathlon World Championship Series ITU 2009 amateur event. Looking back on that nervous morning I still remember the happenings quite vividly. Scared out of my mind I figured out that I my bike and my running shoes go in the same place where I would re-group after both the swim and the bike. Fortunately I was comforted by many older and more experienced triathletes who took me under their wing and explained to me the intricacies of a triathlon and the transition area. Walking around before the race in my swim jammer I tried my hardest to give off the appearance that I actually had some sort of idea as to what I was doing. This was however, completely and totally false.

Eventually the eternity of waiting was over and the other athletes adorning the same age group red caps and I made our way to the dock. Nervously gripping the side of the dock a million and a half-thoughts came rushing through my mind. One of which was the realization that I had in fact never actually swam 750m straight without touching the bottom or at least, without have the opportunity to touch the bottom. Fantastic. The horn sounded and the athletes tore away from the dock head. I was immediately surrounded by a sea of frantically kicking arms and legs. How was I supposed to see where I was going if I was swimming freestyle. Shit, another unresolved issue. I decided to swim breaststroke to find my target, then swim free again till I thought I had veered off course enough to warrant some more breaststroke. Finally the shore came, and I couldn't have been more happy to see it! The amount of Potomac River I drunk that day will probably mess me up forever, and if my children have 3 eyes, Im going to blame it on this race. My swim time: 14:39.

The rest of the race unfolded before me and quickly on the bike I realized how much stronger I was then those who got out of the water around me. I flew by probably 50 or so people during the course of the bike and the run went somewhat smoothly, minus the feeling like I was going to throw up from the combination of the chocolate GU I ate + Potomac River Water. I still have not had a chocolate GU till this day.

The remainder of this race is a side note however. Yesterday in my masters swim practice we were given a 300 swim, 200 pull, and 200 kick. As I kicked that last 50 my mind wandered to this race. I realized that I had begun the workout promptly at 12, and that I was going to finish up my warm-up somewhere under 12:14. 2 years ago it took me 14 minutes and 39 seconds to race 750meters! Today I had beaten that in a warm-up taking short breaks in between the swim, pull, and kick, almost effortlessly. I realize that I am far from getting out of the water with the top pack of guys, but I am proud of how far I have come AND even more excited to see where I will get to.

My natural habitat

One week and one day ago Kyle and I drove up to his house situated at the base of the Horsetooth reservoir. Arriving at the house we found ourselves famished so we proceeded to head down the road about a mile to Cheba Hut, a hippie themed sandwich shop with sandwiches such as "the dank" and "purple haze" for some grub. The sandwiches we got lived up to their names, they were quite feastable. Coming back to the house Kyle and I unpacked all of our crap before a little relaxation followed by shake-out runs from the long 28 hours of driving we had done over the course of the past 3 days. Dank though Cheba Hut may be, we both decided that it probably was not the best pre-run fuel, who'd a thunk? Either way, it was good to stretch out the legs. The altitude definitely played a factor as I just didnt feel like I was able to open up my stride as easily without getting winded. It will be interesting to see what it feels like a month from now and even more interesting to return to sea level in August!

My second day I woke up early and went for another shakeout before an afternoon ride. The afternoon ride is a fast paced lunch time ride down from one of the local shops. I knew it was going to be hard as all the guys who showed up looked legit but I didn't know exactly what I was in for. The ride started out at a leisurely warm-up and steadily ramped itself up. We hit the first hill and being me, I attacked. Three-quarters of the way up the hill I looked back to see 4 riders bridging up to me, steadily gaining...damnit greg. They passed me and put about 10ft on me by the top. Chasing back on I hung with them for another 2-3 miles before being dropped through the round-abouts. Well this was a new feeling. Sitting on corner of the sidewalk I whipped out my snazzy gps phone to find the way back to the store. No thanks, I dont want to go on I-25 (the biggest highway in the Fort). Fortunately as I tried to retrace my steps I ran into two women who had missed the start of the ride. One of them I learned was Meredith Miller, a really fast local and the 2009 womens road race champion. They were nice and let me latch on to them and ride back to the shop. Lesson #1: Dont be an idiot.

The next morning I woke up at 5am to go to FAST masters swimming at the EPIC. Best decision ever. Since I have been to every practice the masters team has and I see big improvements in my stroke already. Today we got to do long course (50m) which was great for me not being a flip-turn expert. I have learned to swim with my back instead of my shoulders which is helping tremendously as my shoulders no longer hurt so bad and I feel more comfortable in the water. Winning. We did a gutcheck 200m at the end of practice today and I came in just under 2:54. Double-winning.

The past week I have gotten in some good rides including a ride up Rist Canyon, an 11 miles 5% avg grade climb followed by a good fast descent with Sam Dannenbring, a triathlete from VA Beach that I have raced against a good bit. Sam taught me another lesson in humility as he would drop me on both the climb and the descents, riding back to fetch me.

Unfortunately Kyle and I haven't been able to get out in the field yet for research due to the massive amount of snow blocking trail ridge, BUT we have played frisbee disc golf 4 times and made many a delicious meal. Not all bad. It is amazing to me how greg-geared this place is. For the first couple of days I couldn't stop telling Kyle how much I loved it. He replied, "Ya man, its like your natural habitat!" He couldn't have been more right.

The Thoughts of a Graduate

Unlike 99% of my entries thus far this particular one is not about any race. I have not raced since cycling nats and instead have enjoyed my time graduating from college, hanging with friends, and being with family. The past couple years of my life have been consumed by racing and training and I must say, it has felt pretty good to not have any particular race that I am training for.

The past couple years I have learned some valuable lessons. One of the biggest is the importance of moderation. Oddly enough, this year in philosophy of Kinesiology class we were split into groups to examine and argue the importance of a particular Socratic virtue. My group got moderation. One of my best friends in my group, Darcy Hayes, and I laughed at the irony of us receiving such a word. To be quite honest I have never been one to practice moderation. Anything worth doing, for me is worth doing to excess. If running 50 miles makes you fast, why not run 80? If biking at 200 watts for 1.5 hours is a good workout why not try to do 225? Famous runner Steve Prefontaine has a famous quote that says "to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." What it has taken me so long to grasp, and I am still working on grasping is the importance of balance. This is something I have still yet to fully grasp, BUT, I have finally realized.

This is not to say that I have been sitting on my ass for the past couple of weeks. Last week Savage, Joa and I logged a good 4.5 hours on the bike. I have also been able to knock out some half way decent hour long runs. Hell, yesterday I, Gregory James Grosicki, dragged my ass to the gym to lift weights and swim (god it sucked).

I have also taken a few days off. I have taken the time to do "real people things" like work on car insurance, set up a bank account, fill out I-9's and W-4's. I have even memorized my address in North Carolina next year! On top of that I have gotten to visit with old friends and hang out with some friends from Williamsburg before we depart our separate ways for a while. I was able to travel to Annapolis to visit and reminisce with my good friend Charlie, a junior at the US Naval Academy. It really is incredible how he has matured since high school when he would skip the warm up laps on track to running marathons for fun. Now he is even trying to get me to do marathons and half-ironmans with him and I look forward to my first, Patriots Half in September with him! (Side note: this time of no racing has given me ALOT of time to think about racing and I am excited to get into half-ironmans and more endurance races in the future. I will be doing some racing in Colorado, and I dont just mean racing Kyle to the New Belgium Brewery, but have yet to find anything in particular.)

Exactly a week from today I will be sleeping in a tent as my best buddy Kyle Grimsley and I make our way to Fort Collins, Colorado for a summer of steam monitoring. Im not sure what exactly that entails, but Im guessing Ill figure out soon enough when Kyle throws me into his research project head first (just make sure the water is deep enough)=P

So now comes the part that you all expected. Now is the part where I thank everyone who has supported me over the past 22 years of my life. My parents and grandparents, my brother and sister, the rest of my family, my friends, my coaches. The members of the cycling club at William and Mary. I am incredibly fortunate to be privileged to have the support system throughout my life that I have had. It is your support that has kept me afloat and I am very grateful for it. I am excited about this summer in Fort Collins, and I will be posting pictures and keeping this blog updated with tales of our adventures!As always, thanks for reading and have a good night.

Collegiate Nationals Road Race

2 weeks ago as I sit in Sociology class I got a text. Being a senior and loving any distraction from talk of globalization and development I hastily scrambled to get the phone out of my pocket. It was from my good buddy Jacob Aber, a sophomore rider at Virginia Tech. "Going to Nats homie" it read. Well this was certainly better news then learning about how Wal-Mart was quickly replacing the nation-state with its influence over a countries population so quickly I began working on plans to get to the race. This was going to be awesome I thought.

Eventually after an afternoon of annoying Ben the president of Vtech and calling James McCabe, the president of Wake I had a plan worked out. Tuesday night I would drive up to tech to stay with my buddy Jacob and Wednesday morning I would board the van with tech for a 13 hour venture up to Madison Wisconsin. The first night I would stay by myself and the next I would share a room with Wake. This quest was possible, even for a college student that is basically broke!

Arriving at tech Tuesday night a little later than expected after being stuck in Richmond for nearly an hour at a stand still Jacob and I watched Mike B., another tech rider eat a half gallon of ice cream and had a few beers. We woke up the next morning to get in the van for a long days drive. We stopped at the infamous Hooters for lunch to show Tech's Italian exchange student, Edoardo, what this great american establishment was all about. After 5 more hours in the car we got out at a Wal-Mart for a sayg ride (slow as your grandma). We then feasted on some Chinese buffet and when we were done stuffing ourselves we again got back into the van for another 6 hours with Edoardo at the helm.

We got to the hotel at about 1am and I was told they had given my room away and would be putting me in the parlor with a roll-away. Sure I told them, as long as I get a discount. Overhearing the conversation Ben laughed that I was getting a closet. After being informed that she could not provide me a discount and asking me if this was acceptable I replied no thanks. Upgraded to governors palace. Place didnt suck. In the words of Jacob Aber (Jaber) the sheets were no bs Egyptian cotton, mad high thread count dawg. Dont ask why he slept in the bed with me and not his teamates. Were cool like that.

The next day we ventured off to the trek factory for a tour. #manynewpairsofpantsneeded. It was awesome. Saw mad cool bikes. Touched Lance's saddle, almost as good as touching his ass? Saw Contadors bike, I think I saw some contaminated steak in the bento box. After the tour we went to the course to ride. Unfortunately it was quite rainy so we decided driving would be better. Saw a few riders on the course and we were pretty glad we chose to take the day off. That night we went out to dinner at this wierd design your own pasta joint. It was good. The cheesy bread Ben and I split was awesome and totally unnecessary. After dinner we made our way to an ice cream joint where we found some pretty cute scoop girls. After harassing them with inquiries to their favorite flavors and being rejected we went to the liquor store to find Edoardo some grapa which he said would "aid in digestion" #shitsucks

The morning of the road race the sun was coming up and the riders waited anxiously. I got on the second line. That was sweet in a huge race. The neutral roll out was far from neutral as we made our way down the finishing 1.5 mile climb the smell of break pads filled the air...beautiful. The beginning of the race was loko. 1.5 miles downhill, 50mph, bumping #nothanks. Saw a guy from Denver eat mad shit as he went flying across the grass then nailing a tree. Guy in the D1 race hit the same tree, broken pelvis and punctured rib...fun. At the bottom of the hill I thought, 4 more times own that...SHIT. The difference between this race and all the others I had done was the pace. No let up. First lap I wanted a gu but waited till the second. The 1.5 mile climb at the end of each lap was my saving grace. I always finished in the top 20. Thats ok though as about 30 people would pass me on the downhill #ineedbiggerballs.

On the third lap of the race negative thoughts began finding their way into my mind. Quickly I jammed down a honey stinger waffle and then some accelerade that I got from a duke rider. I think the waffle stayed down. The accelerade...not so much. Throwing up blue is something usually you would go to the ER for. But the culprit in this case was clear. Im never drinking that vile liquid again. At the end of the third lap about 15 guys and I got away up the climb, unfortunately 14 stayed in a pack down the descent and I was not one of them fuck my descending skills. Luckily I was swept up by a chase that would end up catching them about 3 miles from the finish. About 30 of us were in a pack at the final climb with 1 rider off of the front. About 1 mile up the climb i went to shift into my lowest gear and dropped the chain. This is the worst feeling EVER. I tried to get it to catch but to no avail. I got off my bike and put the chain back on and began hammering up towards the riders ahead. I have put myself through alot but I speak the truth when I say I have never hurt this bad in my life. Never.

Final result: 24th in the nation. Feeling: pleased. Time to go to sleep. Crit tomorrow and I DID NOT DRIVE 18 hours to get pulled tomorrow. Im stoked. Go hard or go home.

A lesson in humility

As you know this past weekend I was fortunate enough to get to race with the best young triathletes in the nation. I have been competing in triathlon for about 2 years now but I have yet to compete against such a group of competitors. It was evident after arriving at the site of the race Friday morning that this was no Virginia Tri Series Event. The athleticism that surrounded us was amazing. You could feel the excitement and the nerves in the athletes as they embarked on their pre-race workouts, shaking out the nerves and the cobwebs. After being at the race site for approximately 2 hours, picking up my race numbers, going to meetings for the Mid Atlantic conference, and getting in a swim in the ice cold Black Warrior River, Evan and I decided it would be best to stick to the cool air conditioned car to scope out the bike course and then head back to the room for dinner before we psyched ourselves out by over analyzing. That night we met my family for dinner and in typical Greg fashion, had quite the delicious feast with good conversation. Heading back to the hotel room I watched a few youtube videos before nodding off to sleep.

The alarm came early the day of the race. 5:15 never feels as early though when you are about to compete so Evan and I both jumped out of bed. My nerves were quite apparent as my hands begin to shake with everything I do when I get nervous. We got to the race course at around 6:10, thinking wed have plenty of time to check in our bikes before the race. HA, wrong. The line to get the bikes into the transition was awful. The worst thing about this was I knew it would be critical to get the bike into the transition area in enough time to get in the water before the swim wave went off or I would not have time to acclimitize to the water. Fortunately after waiting for nearly an hour we got into the transition area at about 6:55 (swim w/up was from 7-7:20)

After quickly setting up my transition area I ran over to the area to put on my wet suit. Like a dumb ass I brought my backpack so after taking my wetsuit and goggles out I had to sprint back over to the tent area to throw my stuff under a random tent since the W&M club is not funded at all as of yet, something we will be working on. Running back I put on my wetsuit and got in water. With my mind on the race the 59 degree water did not feel nearly as bad as it had the past day. After realizing that I may actually make it through the swim (thanks Bert so much for the wetsuit!) I got out and congregated with the athletes of the first wave. After being called we made our way down the dock the camera in our face, the athletes from all the schools screaming loudly. I jumped up and down a few times to help relax myself and keep myself calm. Jumping in the water I was focused and successful in creating my own place, serene and with only my thoughts before the horn went off.

The beginning of the race was a RUDE awakening. I surged forward off the dock and was nailed in the junk by a swimmer in front of me. Arms flew like clubs as we battled to get off the crowded wall. Trying not to panic I tried to find a hole and get in it. Having to resort to doggie paddle to get the river out of my mouth I finally was able to stretch out and begin my swim. As the swim went on I surged from group to group, this is proof to me that I am probably better than the time I swam. About 150m from the end the 2nd wave began catching me. One dick-wad decided it would be cool to hurdle me so after being dunked underneath him and through his legs I resurfaced. Fun. To bad I cant try to knock him off the bike gladiator style, maybe contact should be instituted as part of the bike leg. Getting out of the water in 23:45 I remembered my plan to really put the hurt on people in the transition. Unfortunately my plan to run hard to my bike was not about to happen. I thought for sure I was going to vomit as I ran to my bike, whydoidothistomyself?!?!?!

I put my shoes on in the transition area this week instead of opting for the flying mount and ran to the bike start. Immediately I passed about 10 idiots struggling to get their shoes on. If you are good at putting your shoes on while on the bike Im sure it is faster, but most of you are not and should just take the 5 secs in transition instead of struggling for the first 5 miles of the bike. On the bike I caught a good number of dudes. 4 people got penalties for drafting off me. 1 was on a Trek Speed concept with a disc and two others were on cervelo p3's, HA, fearmyroadbikebitchzzzz. I am interested to know the damage I could do if I were on a TT bike and my goal is to try to find one. Such a mission is about as rough as any James Bond has ever encountered however because I only have about 200 bucks ilovebeinginkollege!

Getting off the bike it was running time. Time to hurt. At the beginning of the run 2 guys passed me. Jesus your kidding me right? I dont mean to sound cocky but I NEVER get passed on the run. They had to be going to hard right? Fortunately they were. My strongest asset is my understanding of my body and the pace that I can run. I dont know how but I have gotten incredibly good at finding a pace I can maintain and sticking to it. The first mile was uphill and i hit it in just under 6. The second was mostly uphill, 5:55 and by now I had caught the Oregon State guy who had passed me in addition to about 10 other people. The third mile 5:51, 10 more passed dudes. God I love being a runner. The next miles went by about the same as they flattened out, passing about 5-7 guys per mile, to bad I cant dunk guys as I pass them on the run ay? In mile 5 someone went by me pretty quickly wearing an orange Saucony loose jersey. I figured out after the race that he would go on to run one of the fastest spilts a 34 mid and was an ex-UF runner who now ran for Saucony. The last 200meters I saw a VERY familiar site of tech's Grayson Cobb. Grayson and I have been friends since this summer and were immediately bonded by your intense passion for competition. We have very similar overall times as he is stronger on the bike and the swim but my run balances me out. Catching him with about 100m left he surged ahead and cross the finish line 2 seconds infront of me. Crossing the line he collapsed and I felt like I was going to. The intense heat (approx 86 degrees) made the run extremely rough as we had not had heat like that all year.

My overall time 2:06. Going into the race I was hoping for top 20, I got 41st. That said I am NOT disappointed. I raced hard. The competition was unbelievable and a big eye-opener for me. I was able to beat many outstanding athletes and was humbled by 40 others. It is no secret that success in this sport is determined by perseverance and work ethic. We all have set-backs and good training periods. It is dealing with these and moving on that make us successful. This past weekend I learned ALOT. I need to work on my swimming. I also need to work on my biking and running...theres always a bigger fish in the sea, the question is how many? The answer that I discovered this weekend is alot. Good to know, back to the grind. Time to get faster.

Famous Last Words

So tomorrows the big day. Im nervous as hell, it would be a lie to say otherwise. Its unfortunate that it took till my final year of my undergraduate career to participate in this event, but better late than never right?

The drive was very long. Like 13 hours long. Thankfully my teamate, Evan Fulton's parents drove us while we got to chill out in the back of the roomie Chevy Tahoe. I owe them huge. We left yesterday at about 2 and drove till a little after 11, stopping at a hotel in Tennessee over night. We got here pretty early this morning, a little before 10, just in time for the open water swim. We walked down to the water and congregated with the masses, putting on their wetsuits and joking with one another before giving their wetsuits a try. JESUS CHRIST that water was cold. As soon as I jumped in I tried to swim a few strokes but I realized I couldn't breathe deep enough to get in a full stroke with my head underwater. Finally after paddling around and attempting to get warm I was able to begin to swim. The temperature will, without a doubt, serve as intense motivation to swim fast to get out of the water.

The transition area is a huge plus for runners. After exiting the swim its probably about a 400m run to the transition area. Time to dig back into the days of the track and pull out some quarter speed. This will definitely be a good place for me to make up some time on the faster swimmers.

After the swim Evan and I rode around a bit before going for a quick, and separate shake-out jog. The bike course seems like it will be pretty fast. There are some rolling hills that go on for maybe a mile or so. They appear fairly gradual but Im still banking on them working to my benefit to slow down the bigger, stronger riders on tt bikes (assholes and rich-boys =p). Not that im jealous because I can run and will look forward to smanging them in the run.

The beginning of the run looks brutal. The first 1.5 miles go uphill. It will be extremely important to drink on the bike, which I neglected to do last week, because the weather is really hot and humid here, especially compared to Williamsburg. The rest of the run is really flat though and goes out a bike path and then back down the road.

If you had told me back when I was 12 years old, that in 10 years I would be competing among some of the most fit college athletes in the country I would have called bullshit. I was the kid who would hide behind the fence and eat dominos during pre-season soccer runs. How much I have changed. Over the past couple of weeks alot of people have asked me what my goal is...to be honest, I dont know. Would I like to win? Sure. Do I have a chance to win? You bet. But none of that matters now. What does matter, is that in 12 hours I plan on laying it all on the line. Punishing my body and asking it to dig deeper than I ever have before. If I do this, then I will have succeeded. Then i will be satisfied.

The Up-Swing

It is no longer fair for me to start off by commenting on how long it has been since I have last made a post. It seems that these monthly posts are now becoming the trend. A great deal has happened in the life of Greg since I last made a post, and the best part about it is that, for the most part, there has been a great deal of good!

Of the happenings of the past month the one that was not so good involves my wreck at our home crit. Sitting at the front of the break, I rounded turn 1 to sharply, my bike slid out from under me and I felt my body gliding across the pavement. Pavement is not ice, and your body is not supposed to slide across it. Standing up quickly I realized my bike was ok, but as the adrenaline wore off my head was in a good deal of pain and the bruises and cuts I picked up began to hurt. After a couple of sleepless nights and just feeling like a goldfish flushed down the toilet, I finally started to feel better and be able to ride my bike again. The next weekend was Navy race weekend, no big loss, and the weekend after that I would race bikes at duke, and post my best finish of the season, an 11th place finish at the road race. Yes.

The week before spring break which I guess would be two weeks ago now, give or take, I received a phone call from Wake Forest informing me that I had been accepted into their graduate school program of Health and Exercise Science. My elation with this call cannot be put into words and the burden that this has lifted off of my shoulders is monumental. It is nice to no longer worry that I will be living out of a box and slicing meet in the Wegmans deli for the remainder of my life. Pretty sweet.

Spring Break was cool. I have a better than that most people that went the beach which amuses me. The tan lines I have are something of which I am proud, unfortunately the general population does not find them as cool as I, but they are missing out.Anyway, over spring break I didnt go anywhere cause the clutch in my car crapped out. Not awesome at all, and I ended up paying alot of money to replace it. Hard to see a bright side in this one, other than I guess I wont need a new clutch for a while? What I did do over spring break was enjoyable though, it basically consisted of: swimming, biking, eating, watching netflix shows, AND NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN A LATE NIGHT TRIP TO WAL-MART. Be jealous.

This week I started running again. My hip is definitely on the upswing and I put together a pretty solid run on Quarterpath Thursday morning. The Mug-a-rita from the night prior was rough on the stomach for sure, but I still came in under 49 minutes, a solid run for me. Collegiate nationals are growing close and training is getting pretty intense. My swim is finally coming around now that I am getting in the water 3-4x a week. I am starting to feel less like a drowning rat and more like a goldfish with a missing fin. Improvement for sure but a long ways to go.

This season I will be representing both Honey Stinger and Bike Stop. Both of these sponsors have generously offered to support my racing career. Im excited to work with both of them and am looking forward to the season. Oh, and the weather is getting nice to. Kewl.

Who ever knew Id learn from Candyland?

So its been over a month since I last posted anything new on here. What is really hard to believe is that I have now been a second semester senior for a month....are you sure I didnt just get back to school last week? I guess it is what it is, I have still yet to hear from graduate school or decide precisely what it is I will be doing after May. It's a work in progress however, and although I am a bit nervous about the change I am working on embracing it. I love it here at W&M, that said I will enjoy things such as not having to share a kitchen with roughly 250 other kids, and being able to go to sleep at 10 p.m. without the rest of the world around me planning on 4 more hours of being awake (which is something I have desired to do quite frequently as of late).

As you probably have guessed by now the main reason I have not been posting daily or evenly weekly blogs is because for the past month I have spent the majority of the time I have been awake either in class or training. Last year I trained by myself, trying to swim, bike and run some each week. It ended up more like riding alot, running some, and swimming one time a week. This year I have Debi Bernardes of Youcandoit coaching kicking my ass. When I found Debi I was somewhat skeptical of the benefit of having a coach, I knew most pros did, that said, who would push me harder than i pushed myself. I now wish I could put my foot in my mouth. Thanks to Debi my training now has much more structure, Im getting in the pool 3+ times a week and I am doing workouts. Although this leaves me in a great deal of pain at the end of the day and when I wake up in the morning, especially after 16 hill repeats, I am looking forward to the dividends in the future.

One thing I have learned is the amount that I can push myself is much further than I had ever thought. Killer workout in the morning? Probably going to be followed by some sort of swim in the afternoon. I am not underrating the importance of listening to my body, that said, I feel like frequently we all can do ALOT more with our bodies than we think possible. This i am learning.




Unfortunately the hardest part of the training, and something that it seems as if I will forever work on is patience. Last week I got a pretty nasty cold which took me out for a couple days. In the meantime I spent my downtime looking up results for professional races. Seeing the times I was immediately invigorated to get back to training because I feel that I can compete with these guys. That said, I am young, 22 is far from prime for a triathlete. Harnessing my energy and learning to accept that these guys would absolutely love to teach me a lesson in humility is a must. Much like Candyland, training frequently involves going forward, then landing on Lord Licorice and having to take a few steps back. Unlike the days of my younger years, I cant cheat here, there is no overshooting the evil Molasses Monster Gloppy (who was probably moving at least 1min/mile faster than me this morning) or escaping the wrath of Queen Frostine. Patience is a virtue goes the old saying. That it is, and that I am still working on.

W&M Training Camp 2011

One of the most enjoyable parts of cycling is winter base miles. I say this both truthfully and with a hint of sarcasm. While it is nice to set out on a ride, carefree of numbers and intervals, the low temperatures and strong winds that have greeted me this winter have been less than enjoyable. So far this winter break I have been able to get in some somewhat long solo rides before going into Wegmans in the afternoon to work at the deli and eat everything in sight. Unfortunately the cycling gods have not been with me on the majority of these rides.

The first of these 4 hour rides i did this break I didn't bring enough food, dumb mistake. Christmas Eve I set out for a 50 mile ride and broke my rear derailleur cable in my rear shifter 10 miles from the house. bad luck. The next 4 hour ride I set out for i made sure to bring enough food. There would be no bonking this time...or would there? As I stared at my fallen poptart on the ground before coming out of Occoquan, still 20 miles from my house I decided to avoid disease and hope the food I had eaten earlier on the ride would carry me through. 3 miles from my house, bonk. Im sticking to rollers, least then when I bonk I only must travel up stairs to feast my brains out. Im ready for training camp.

Last Saturday Chris E. and I got in my car on a snow morning and departed for Bridgewater where the W&M cycling team would be held. The drive was a bit slower than initially expected as we got stuck in some snow. Hi-light of the drive was probably the stop to get gas on 81 where in the bathroom I noticed a vending machine selling "horny goat weed". The rest of the drive Chris and i discussed our fascination with the intriguing product.

Arriving at the house of the club president, Adam Harris we got settled and ate some lunch to prepare for the afternoon ride. That afternoon those of us that had arrived, Chris, Emily, Burbey, Andrew, Adam, JOA, Pete, Brian, and I set out for a 2 hour ride over Mole Hill. The mile long climb is a good warm-up for whats in store for the rest of the week, although not the most challenging of the climbs in Harrisonburg, it certainly beats Williamsburg climbing. The temperature was cold and the wind was strong but as it was only the first day, spirits were high. On the ride back JOA, Burbey and I veered off to climb Hopkins, a more steep 1.5 mile climb. During the climb I neared my 5 min watt max, and JOA and Burbey looked strong as well. Arriving back to the house JOA, Burbey and I decided it was a good idea to set out for a short run. Our freezing feet thought otherwise, each step causing a good amount of pain. Let me reiterate, it was cold. Just ask Emily. That night Mr. Harris prepared us a delicious mystery casserole that we ate with gusto

The next day JOA, Burbey, Andrew and I set out to do the previous mornings ride, sans Hopkins climb before the days group ride to the nut (Massanutten). The morning ride Burbey and Andrew decided they were feeling there legs a little from yesterday and Burbey may or may not have forgotten to eat anything solid for 3 hours until he was reminded of the importance of food. Fortunately he feasted his pro-max protein bar and was able to use his mountain climbing finess to ascend the Nut like a pro. Props to new riders Bryan C. and Chris E. for beasting it up this steep, gravely climb. Im really looking forward to seeing what they can do next year! When the group got back to the house, JOA and I feasted lunch quickly and set out in search of 26 more miles and cappucinos at Sheetz. The good news: we got the 26 miles and then some, totaling 103 miles for the day. The bad news: I still have no sense of direction and we never found Sheetz. The other good news: If you ride your bike for 6.5 hours it costs only a little over a dollar to get drunk....The other other good news: Adams dad makes really delicious Chili and rolls.

Monday alumni and RPC team member Cory Scott showed up to ride with us. The gang decided to venture across the gravel to Reddish Knob this frigid morning. And frigid it was. On the ride to the Knob we hit some JOA terrain (gravel) and Cory, JOA, and I took off, hammering across the rugged surface. Arriving at the end of the gravel we waited a bit to see Wilson appear, cursing us for leaving Emily with a flat, apparently watching someone change a flat makes them change it faster because Wilson was not pleased with us for not being there to watch Emily's flat be changed...or something like that. Anyway, the group made it to the knob and for the most part everyone made it to the top. Unfortunately Adam's roomate Pete only had a single gear which made climbing difficult. This day he rode Adam's dads touring bike and was able to get in a solid effort up the knob. Although not able to summit, Im pretty sure it will only be a matter of time before Pete is handing a good many people their asses. The guy is one focused dude and I was stoked to hear that he was looking for a bike to race with us this season!

The next day Cory and I set off to do the Triple Crown, the nut, hopkins, and reddish, all in one day. The rest of the gang split up, some going to the gym to swim and lift from x-training, and others going to the knob to mountain bike. The thing about Tuesday was the forecast was for snow. At about 230, Cory and I had only the knob remaining, by far the longest of the climbs, a 10 mile category 1 climb, similar to the Alpe d'Huez in the tour de France. All was well until 2 miles from the summit. The sky opened and the snow began to fall....or dump. 1 mile from the top Cory looked at me and asked what I wanted to do. "TO THE TOP" I said, up we went. Reaching the saddle we zipped up and agreed to stay close and be careful. "I really hope we make it down without crashing" I said, "Insallah" Cory and I said to one another, the Arabic word for "god willing. The way down was rough. The snow came fast and hard, the group was covered and slick. The sound of our squeaking breaks was consistent and the snow came harder and harder. About 2 miles from the bottom I had the problem of the snowflakes sticking to my eyelashes. The clung to my eyelashes, severely f****** up my vision. Reaching the convenience store at the bottom of Briery Branch Cory and I happily went in to warm up. Fortunately pro-mtn biker Jeremiah Bishop and Trek-Livestrong U23 team rider Joe D, just finishing up a mtn ride at the knob saw our bikes outside right as we were about to get kicked out of the store and offered us a ride back. The rest of the night went as such, beer, all u can eat buffet, sleep.

The next day I rode mountain bikes while others went to do some X-country skiing. Somehow I enjoyed it. Great, another thing for me to spend my money on. Fortunately right now Im so broke I can't even entertain the thought of buying a mountain bike. Welcome to college. There are some things about college I wont miss, being broke is one of them. There are other things about college i will really miss. One of the things that I think I will miss the most is the W&M Cycling Team. There is little better than being able to hang out with such an awesome group of people. As corny as this sounds I really mean it. So many laughs and good times. Works bombs and 40's and "insert sex joke here" jokes, what a life it is to be young. How fortunate I am to know you all.