Posted on June 27, 2009 by emantri
I’m 3 hours away from racing HyVee, a bit nervous but nice and cool in my hotel room. Terrible race last week – 28th in DC and I’m looking for redemption. Will be a tough 64 man race with a one million dollar prize purse. Triathlon needs more of these. Wish me luck
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Posted on June 4, 2009 by emantri
Hi all, sorry for not posting this sooner – here is the link to my latest race report from the ITU Austin Continental Cup. The race did not go my way, and I came away with a 6th place finish after being ranked 3rd going into the event. It could’ve been much worse though – there was a nasty bike pileup right next to me with a few K to go that took out a few of my good friends and former teammates. I expended too much energy on the bike and found that my legs were zapped by the time I got onto the run. I went into damage control mode as I shuffled along trying to salvage ITU points and hold off a few athletes who were closing in on me. Like I said, it could’ve been worse, so I can’t be too disappointed. Last year at this time I hadn’t even finished an ITU race because of mechanical problems in Mazatlan and then getting hypothermia at Worlds.
I’m now back home in Lowell, MA and have begun an intense training block leading up to the Washington DC and HyVee ITU races. This will probably be my toughest block of training in the whole year. After this I’ll be racing quite frequently, traveling to Europe for most of July, and most likely preparing to race at the ITU Grand Final in Gold Coast, Australia. I’m sure the next 3 months will be an adventurous blur as I travel and race all over the world!
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Posted on May 20, 2009 by emantri
On May 11th I said goodbye to the OTC in Chula Vista to head off for my first block of racing: ITU PATCO Champs on May 16 and the ITU Austin Conti Cup on May 25. I flew to Fort Worth, TX to train and stay with Barrett Brandon for just over 2 weeks. Fort Worth is conveniently located exactly between Oklahoma City and Austin (3 hrs apart from both).

Swim exit with Barrett and Seymour
The PATCO Champs didn’t play out as I would’ve liked, but nonetheless I salvaged a decent 6th place finish. The swim was brutal but I made it out alive and at the back of the lead pack, 20 seconds down from the leader. However, a fast early pace on the bike allowed a small group of 7 (ultimately 6 – one flatted) to get away. I was riding in the chase pack. It was the most disorganized and unmotivated pack I’ve ever been in. We lost 3 minutes to the breakaway. With 5k to go, our pack was caught by the second chase group, and we formed into one massive, slow, 40-man pack. I attacked going into transition in order to circumvent the chaos of t2. I outran everybody from my pack and caught one guy from the breakaway to nab 6th place. It wasn’t a great result, but given the situation I have to be satisfied with it. It also brought my ranking into the top-50 in the world for the first time ever! My full race report is up on xtri.com.

Leading my pack out of t2
Filed under: Race Reports | Tagged: itu, Oklahoma City, PATCO Champs | 1 Comment »
Posted on April 28, 2009 by emantri

2nd Place
What a weekend and what a race! I came oh-so-close to my first victory in a pro race. With 2.5k left in the run I was leading Mexico’s Francisco Serrano by 15 seconds. I thought it might be over, but he used a crazy-fast last lap to catch me and eventually put about 10 seconds on me. I was still happy to take 2nd given that I’m just coming off of an injury. I didn’t know exactly where my running was at, but the fact that I ran so well with only about a month of run training under my belt is an encouraging sign.

The hot Mazatlan sun
Last year at this race I DNF’d due to mechnical problems on the bike. TC told me before I arrived in Mazatlan that I needed some redemption and had to start this year off on the right foot. I think we accomplished that goal. The city of Mazatlan grew on me during my time there. The waves were huge and the beaches were pretty. We found good restaurants to eat at, and there was free Pacifico at the post race party!

On our hotel Balcony
I traveled with Jen Spieldenner, Amanda Felder, and Steve Sexton (who finished 3rd, 2nd, and 5th respectively). We all made it back to San Diego safely and Swine Flu-free, however, Sexton is currently suffering from a little bout of food poisoning. Other than some extremely sore legs, I’m okay. Two more solid weeks of training before I race the Pan Am champs in Oklahoma City. It’s kind of sad that my time in Chula Vista is winding down. I head out of here on May 11th to go train with Barret Brandon in Texas for a couple weeks.
My official race report from the weekend should be up on Xtri.com.
Filed under: Race Reports, Traveling | Tagged: itu mazatlan continental cup, race | Leave a Comment »
Posted on March 30, 2009 by emantri
Sooo I’m happy to report that my foot is almost completely better and I’ve been able to log consistent, pain-free miles outside for 2 weeks now. However, because I’ve lost so much ground being injured, I do not think that my running is where it needs to be in order to be competitive in the Ishigaki World Cup and Tongyeong WCS race – two races with very stiff competition. Becuase of this, I’ve withdrawn my name from those start lists. I think this is the best choice because I can spend those two weeks 1) not wasting energy traveling in Asia 2) continuing to develop my running and 3) racing closer to home. So that’s what I’ve decided to do. I’m going to race St Anthony’s on April 26th instead. This will be a very competitive race, but since my swimming and biking are far better than my runing at the moment, a non-draft race seems like my best opportunity to maximize success. I haven’t ruled out doing the continental cup race in Mazatlan, but I’m leaning strongly towards St. Anthony’s. It’s one of those classic races that I feel every triathlete should do at some point. So that’s that. No Japan for now
The Olympic Training Center is strapped for cash at the moment and coming up with all these energy/$$ saving measures. Their latest experiment, however, is not a popular one among the athletes. The maintenance crew installed these low-flow shower heads on all my building’s showers, and to say that they’re less than satisfactory is an understatement. We originally thought that someone was playing a joke on us, but when we asked about it at the front desk we were told it was permenant. We can no longer say “I’m taking a shower”, instead, it’s “I’m taking a mist”, because that’s what the water pressure feels like. The MOST unsatisfying showers ever! The water always feels like it’s cold because it’s more of a fine spray than anything. We’ve been complaining non-stop about it (triathletes are good at that), and our complaints have been noted… but disregarded…
On the training front things have been going quite well. I’ve been averaging about 25k/wk in the pool and 10 hours/wk on the bike with lots of intensity. Swimming and biking are feeling stronger than they’ve ever been, just hope the running comes around as I continue to build. The other day I had a 3 hour ride with 3×20 min hill climbs up Honey Springs. After my first one I began descending back down to the bottom when I noticed my back wheel fishtailing – a flat. I stopped, began to change it, got out my spare tube, and realized that it had a broken valve – I was stranded! I called my lifeline (Sexton), and luckily he answered. He agreed to come out and rescue me in his Audi. A few minutes later anothe rider came by and asked if everything was ok. I explained the situation, and he offered me a spare tube. I was back in business! I finished the workout with only about a 10 minute delay and notified Sexton that he didn’t have to come get me. That’s the first time I’ve flatted out here (and hopefully the last).
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Posted on March 19, 2009 by emantri
I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been selected as the 2008 USAT U23 Athlete of the Year for the second yea
r in a row. I can’t say that it was an incredibly competitive year among the male U23’s, but nonetheless it’s an outstanding award that I’m happy to recieve. 2008 marked the end of my Under-23 career, and it’s now my goal to establish myself as one of the top elite American triathletes. I hope to qualify for ITU Worlds in Gold Coast, Australia this year as well as excel at the new ITU World Championship Series events. From the USAT Web site:
2008 Accomplishments
USAT Under-23 National Champion
ITU World Championships team member
15th place – ITU Hamburg World Cup (Best American Debut Finish at World Cup)
11th place – ITU Huatulco World Cup
4th place – Memphis in May Triathlon
3rd place – ITU Geneva Continental Cup
3rd place – 1st U23: ITU Portland Continental Cup: Elite Nationals
2nd place – ITU Kelowna Continental Cup Premium (Canadian Nationals)
1st place – San Diego Tri Club Race, Lowell YMCA Triathlon, Plymouth Mayflower International Triathlon, Duxbury Beach Triathlon
“I’m extremely excited and grateful to receive this accolade for the second year in a row,” said Brown. “It took a lot of hard work and tremendous support from friends, family, and sponsors. I hope to continue the success I’ve had from the U23 ranks into 2009 and beyond.”
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Posted on March 14, 2009 by emantri
All this week my coach, Tim Crowley, is out here in Chula. It’s been awesome to work closely with a coach after being away for about a month. Tim’s put me on a new strength routine, he also had some good ideas about using the elliptical and stairmaster to supplement my zero-gravity treadmill running, and it’s also been nice to have someone struggling to hang onto my wheel while doing power intervals
My running has been improving, albeit pretty slowly, but any progress is better than no progress, right? I’m currently running at 80% of my body weight on the NASA space treadmill. On another note, I’m happy to report that my swimming and cycling have been in just about the best shape they’ve ever been in. Being sidelined from running has allowed me to put in several solid weeks of 25k+ in the pool and 10+ hours on the bike. I recently got a PowerTap, which is a pretty amazing training tool.

Last week, Steve and Kevin went down to Ecuador to do the ITU race there. It went well for Kevin (he won) and not so well for Steve (he collapsed 30 meters from the finish line). Ever since they’ve been back they’ve been feeling a bit under the weather. A few nights ago Kevin was in the emergency room until 3AM, and Steve hasn’t been feeling good either. I woke up with a headache today… I hope I’m not catching whatever it is they brought back from Ecuador. As long as I don’t feel too bad I’m going to try and do an easy spin and swim today.
Filed under: Fun, racing | Tagged: ecuadorian fever, NASA, TC | 1 Comment »
Posted on February 19, 2009 by emantri
For about the past 10 days I’ve been dealing with some foot pains that have gotten gradually worse. I’m out in Phoenix for the week, and was planning on opening up my 2009 season with the Desert Classic Duathlon. However, the pain has gotten pretty bad – so much so that I saw a doctor yesterday and was diagnosed with an irritated joint in my big toe and some mild tendonitis on the inside of my left foot. Since it’s still so early in the year, my coach and I have decided for me to opt out of this race and discontinue running for a while in order to try to get healthy before the real season gets underway. With any luck, I should be 100% again in 2-4 weeks, but I just don’t know. I’m doing all I can to rehab, and I’m sure I’ll get treatment 2-3 times/day when I get out to Chula Vista next week. So not the best way to start my season, but given all the adversity I faced last year, and the success I still managed to have, I’m sure I’ll get through this.
The riding in Phoenix has been pretty good. Lots of stop lights though, and mostly all flats. I got a kick out of the picture below, which I took on my 44 mile ride today: some dude in a BMW convertible with two of the biggest, puffiest dogs I’ve ever seen. This cheered me up.

hahaha
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Posted on February 16, 2009 by emantri
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If your not familiar with the US Anti-doping agency policy, I’ll give you a brief tutorial. Four times per year, you need to update these online athlete where-abouts forms. It is the athlete’s responsibility to designate a 1-hour period each day for the next 3 months detailing EXACTLY where they’ll be in case USADA would like to test them. So on Dec 31st I had to update my forms and select a 1-hour period for everyday from Jan 1st – March 31st. Is that really practical given all the travling and training I do? Yeah, not really. If my plans change and I’m not going to be where I said I would be I have to go back and update my forms or send USADA an e-mail. It’s a bit difficult when you have limited internet access, and then when you do get online the athletes section is CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE. Really?! There’s got o be an easier way. |
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