Raleigh Rundown

Posted on June 2, 2015 by mcroohi

Ever have one of those days where things just didn’t come together? That was my day on Sunday. It was so bad that at one point while I was on the run I contemplated DNFing. I didn’t. I don’t know why, but I didn’t.

A few hours later as I was driving home from Raleigh, flipping through stations, when I found “This American Life” on NPR. The show’s theme on Sunday? “Game Face”. After a race that I can only describe as disappointing, it was exactly what I needed to hear.

The ultimate “Game Face”. Hockey player Terry Sawchuk wearing fake scars and wounds applied by a make-up artist to simulate all of the injuries he accumulated as a goalie in 16 years of professional hockey. He played WITHOUT a face mask.

The show chronicled three individuals who developed and/or struggled with creating and maintaining a game face and the second vignette really resonated with me. In it, comedienne, Tig Notaro, spoke about a recent gig she had in Las Vegas. Oftentimes when comedians book a show like this, they are the featured act at a particular venue for a week – seven nights with two shows each night. So what does Tig have to do with the “Game Face” theme? Well apparently she bombed in Vegas. Not one show or two shows, but FOURTEEN shows. Every single show – two shows a night for seven nights straight! She got on stage night after night, show after show, in spite of the dearth of laughs and lackluster feedback. She put on her game face and she kept going. But why? Why would anyone do that?!! Because even though the audiences were staring blankly back at her and the venue manager made it clear he would not be offering her another gig, she LOVED doing stand up.

My Game Face

That’s kind of how I felt on Sunday. Even though the stars weren’t aligning, I love triathlon. I’m lucky to be able to compete. I’m lucky to race in these amazing cities. And I’m lucky to have a great community of friends and supporters who make triathlon even more enjoyable. Sunday wasn’t my day, but I’ve got my game face on and I’m ready for more!

Julie Patterson and I in transition on race morning. I was lucky to race with some amazing friends in Raleigh.

Thanks to my incredible sponsors: Maverick Multisport, Argon 18, ENVE Composites, Cobb Cycling, Blueseventy, Sugoi, Jaybird, Catlike Helmets, VO2 Multisport, Rotor Bike Components, Occupational Kinetics, Swiftwick Socks, Infinit Nutrition, BSX Insight, and Primal Sport Mud!!!

Rewind: Chattanooga 70.3

Posted on May 20, 2015 by mcroohi

On Sunday, May 17th, I competed in Chattanooga 70.3. Here’s a quick recap of my race in pictures. Enjoy!

The Chattanooga 70.3 expo and transition were located in Ross’s Landing Park. The area is full of attractions and great restaurants, all along the waterfront. I highly recommend visiting!

Race morning! I slipped into my BlueSeventy swim skin, loosened up, put on some sunscreen and waited as patiently as possible…

Luckily, I didn’t have to wait as long as these folks. The line to get in the water seemed endless. I think it took fifty minutes to get everyone in. A successful rolling start!

One last pic and down the ramp…

In the drink! This is the start of a beautiful swim in the Tennessee river.

We passed under two bridges and made a left to get to Ross’s Landing.

Not much current to speak of… (Swim split: 28 minutes and change)

Onto the bike with my trusty Argon 18, Cobb Saddle, ENVE Composites and Infinit Nutrition. The PERFECT set up! (Bike split: 2:33)

Out of T2 and onto the run… My foot was bothering me a little. Took me awhile to get into a groove.

But the second loop felt much much better! (Run split: 1:31)

In the end I finished with a time of 4:38. Good enough for 8th overall!

Many thanks to my awesome homestay, Brandon O’Rear, who also competed in Chattanooga 70.3 and kicked some serious butt! He, his wife, Sarah, and daughter, Isla, were the PERFECT hosts.

None of this would be possible without my INCREDIBLE sponsors, Maverick Multisport, Argon 18, ENVE Composites, Cobb Cycling, Blueseventy, Sugoi, Jaybird, Catlike Helmets, VO2 Multisport, Rotor Bike Components, Occupational Kinetics, Swiftwick Socks, Infinit Nutrition, BSX Insight, and Primal Sport Mud. Thank you!!! I’m looking forward to the next one!

New Orleans 70.3 Wrap Up

Posted on April 27, 2015 by mcroohi

On April 19th I competed in New Orleans 70.3. Here is my race report in pictures…

Stop number 1? Bourbon Street! No trip to New Orleans would be complete without it. So many people “hydrating”…

It’s all about the engine! It rained off and on the day before the race so there was plenty of time to check out the Stennis Space Center. Pretty cool stuff!

Signing a poster at the very packed pre-race pro meeting…

Mavericks!!! Fellow Maverick Multisport pros Mike Hermanson and Leslie Smith were also competing in NOLA 70.3

Unloading the car… Storms on Saturday meant the lines to get into transition on Sunday were really really long. (This would eventually cause a delay in the start time.)

My trusty Argon 18 and speedy ENVE 8.9s. It’s hard to make out, but all of the saddles on my rack were Cobb Cycling saddles. Coincidence? I think not.

Prepping my transition area and making sure my Napalm from Infinit Nutrition was ready to go when I got to T2.

Triathlon… Bringing people together! I was really excited to meet Andrew Hayes, another member of Maverick Multisport.

The three Mavs… One last group shot before heading to the swim start.

I was really excited to use my BlueSeventy Helix; luckily the swim was wetsuit legal.

Such a pretty wetsuit… Right? This was my first real swim in the Helix and I was super happy with the fit.

Alligator eyes… Trying to stay on course.

The run back to the transition area was pretty long, so I had plenty of time to strip off the Helix.

And I was off! The bike was a closed course so I don’t have many pictures, but to sum it up I’d use the words “flat” and “WINDY”!

The run course in New Orleans is a long out and back with several bridges to traverse with a stiff headwind coming off the water.

Oh… And NO shade. ABSOLUTELY. No. Shade.

10th place; 4:32

And the best post-race feature? Baby pools filled with ice cold water!!!

Thank you to all of my AMAZING sponsors: Maverick Multisport, Argon 18, ENVE Composites, Cobb Cycling, Blueseventy, Sugoi, Jaybird, Catlike Helmets, VO2 Multisport, Rotor Bike Components, Occupational Kinetics, Swiftwick Socks, Infinit Nutrition, BSX Insight, and Primal Sport Mud! New Orleans 70.3 was a great race and I know the next one will be even better!

Tax Day Blues?

Posted on April 14, 2015 by mcroohi

Use these codes, get yourself something nice, and save money!!!

Use code “MavMolly” for 20% off all products at www.blueseventy.com
*******************************************************
Use code “MavMolly” for $40 off the BSX Multisport Edition at www.bsxinsight.com/multisport
*******************************************************
Use code “MavMolly15” for 20% off products online at www.PrimalSportMud.com
********************************************************
Use code “Maverick” for 10% off all regular priced Infinit Nutrition items at www.infinitnutrition.us

Monterrey 70.3 Race Recap

Posted on March 18, 2015 by mcroohi

On Sunday, March 15th, I competed in Ironman Monterrey 70.3 against a stellar field. The weather made the race interesting and it was a great season opener. Here’ s the rundown…

Swim – 30:27

The Good: Who doesn’t want to swim in a chlorinated man-made canal? Clear water that is only a few feet deep, it’s like you never left the pool.
The Bad: Did I mention the canal winds through a park, restaurants and local businesses? Picking and swimming a straight line is very, very hard.
The Bottom Line: The air temperatures leading up the the race were in the 50s, so the water was COLD, but the experience was cool!

Bike – 2:24:26

The Good: Life is a highway on this course. 99% of the bike was on wide open road. Beautiful black asphalt for miles!
The Bad: The other 1% was on cobblestone. You see that little loop running North/South on the right? Cobblestone. Slippery, wet and jarring cobblestone.
The Bottom Line: It felt great to get outside and open up the legs in Monterrey. The freedom you feel for most of the ride overshadows the scary cobblestone… Mostly.

Run – 1:31:59

The Good: A two loop 13.1 mile course can get pretty repetitive, but not in Monterrey! You run along the water and then take a tour of the city’s biggest park. There’s lots to look at and it’s easy to break up this run mentally.
The Bad: It rained a LOT on race day. The result? This run course, which almost felt like an obstacle course at times, was very slick. It’s hard to find a groove when you can’t find your footing.
The Bottom Line: Had it not rained this would probably be a super fun course!

I had a great time in Monterrey shaking off the cobwebs. I am looking forward to my next race!!! Thank you to all of my incredible sponsors: Maverick Multisport, Argon 18, ENVE Composites, Cobb Cycling, Blueseventy, Sugoi, Jaybird, Catlike Helmets, VO2 Multisport, Rotor Bike Components, Occupational Kinetics, Swiftwick Socks, Infinit Nutrition, BSX Insight, and Primal Sport Mud!

BSX: The world’s FIRST wearable lactate threshold sensor

Posted on February 11, 2015 by mcroohi

Want one of these amazing devices?!?!? Use the code “MavMolly” for $40 off the BSX Multisport Edition at www.bsxinsight.com/multisport

Up until now if you wanted to accurately test your lactate threshold you had to do a step test and get blood drawn with each new step. Blood! Drawn with each step!?!? Oh, the humanity!!!

Then the geniuses at BSX Athletics came along and developed the first wearable device to determine your lactate threshold. No blood needed. (No blood!!!) You can read all about how they did it on their blog. Check it out and ‪#‎StopThePricks‬

Yours truly suffering through my BSX lactate threshold test. Hurts so good! (But there was no blood drwan!!!)

Yours truly suffering through my BSX lactate threshold test. Hurts so good! (But there was no blood drawn!!!)

Did I mention the sensor is WEARABLE?! How cool is that?

Want to watch the test? Here is a video of me and my teammate, Justin Metzler, suffering through it. (He’s on the bike and I am on the treadmill. With the multisport device you can do either type of test.)

Picture Essay: Maverick Multisport Pro Camp

Posted on January 21, 2015 by mcroohi

What’s that you say? Monday is a National holiday? Let’s go to pro camp!

Maverick Multisport hosted its pro camp this past weekend and it was PACKED! Below you’ll see a collection of photos showing all of the key points. There was plenty of swimming, cycling, and running sprinkled into the itinerary, but it was nice to kick off 2015 with old friends, new friends, professionals, and legends.

I’d like to give a huge thank you to all of this year’s INCREDIBLE sponsors. 2015 is going to be a great year! Thanks Maverick Multisport, Argon 18, ENVE Composites, Cobb Cycling, Blueseventy, Sugoi, Jaybird, Catlike Helmets, VO2 Multisport, Rotor Bike Components, Occupational Kinetics, Swiftwick Socks, Infinit Nutrition, BSX Insight, and Primal Sport Mud.

Friday, 6:30 pm: Photo shoot! Strike a pose.

Saturday, 7:00 am: Photo shoot at the Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center in Louisville. Getting it done with Blue Seventy! (Photo Credit: Matt and Pat Photography)

Saturday, 12:30 pm: Team talk with Michael Folan, the genius behind Infinit Nutrition.

Saturday, 4:00 pm: Taking a lactate threshold test using the world’s first wearable testing device from BSX Insight. Hurts so good!

Saturday, 8:00 pm: The man, the myth, the legend… Mr. John Cobb teaching us about everything from crank size to why you should cover up your helmet holes with packing tape.

Saturday, 9:15 pm: The whole team together after a fun-filled day and an awesome launch party at Molly Malone’s.

Sunday morning: There wasn’t much free time, but when I had a couple of minutes to rub together I got to meet this sweet little piggy, Pepper, the VO2 Multisport shop mascot.

Sunday, 9:00 am: Getting fit on my new Argon 18 with ENVE Composites by the legendary John Cobb of Cobb Cycling.

Sunday, 9:45 am: Getting the fit just right took a little time… Good things come to those who wait!

Sunday, 11:15 am: Super-smart super-cyclist, Christie O’Hara of Rotor Bike Components critiqued my spin scan.

Sunday, 12:00 pm: Alex Bok, formerly of Team TBB, taught us a few invaluable lessons about the business of triathlon.

Sunday; 1:45 pm: Jeff Sangalli of Primal Sport Mud hosted a brunch to round out the weekend.

Back with Maverick!

Posted on December 9, 2014 by mcroohi

Stay tuned!

Posted on December 8, 2014 by mcroohi

Exciting news is coming soon…

Augusta 70.3: Peachy Keen!

Posted on October 3, 2014 by mcroohi

It’s October! School has started and the season is winding down. I was lucky enough to compete in Ironman Augusta 70.3 on September 28th and in an homage to my day job as a Health and Physical Education teacher I have included my race recap below in a back-to-school newsletter format… Enjoy!