Richie Cunningham

Race Report: Rev3 Knoxville - 8th

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:01:00 +0000

Although I've been training hard for the 70.3 distance the last few months, it's always fun to come back for the Olympic distance Rev3 Knoxville race as it's one of my favorite courses. We got extremely lucky with the weather. The Saturday was very wet, but race morning turned out to be perfect.

The swim was a little on the chilly side, which allowed us to wear wetsuits. I positioned myself next to the good swimmers at the start with Brian Fleischmann and Cam Dye. I started the swim hard and found myself in a good position next to Brian after the first 100 meters. Then all of a sudden it felt like someone hit me in the chest with a sledge hammer. I don't know what caused it but the next couple of minutes were probably the worst feeling I've ever had in a race. I had a massive anxiety attack or something. I don't really know what it was. I just found myself unable to breathe and panicking that I was going to drown even though no one was touching me and I was in a great spot. It was a feeling I've never had before. I tried to concentrate and work my way through it, which seemed to make things worse. I managed to get through another 100 meters and then I just completely freaked out and I had to get out of the pack. I made a b-line for where I thought the safety boats were as I was sure I was going to drown. When I got out into the open water, luckily I didn't find any safety boats there because I would have DNF'ed the race. That's how bad I was freaking out. I let a bit of water down my chest and in my wetsuit. By the time all this happened we were coming up to the first turn can. I put my head down and started swimming again. By this stage, things were starting to calm down and I was able to breathe again, which unfortunately didn't help that much, because the adrenaline rush caused me to go lactic and bonk. I managed to drag myself through the rest of the swim. I don't think I've ever been so relieved to get out of the water.

Starting out on the bike, I still wasn't in that bad of a position, however I was still having trouble getting going again. David Thompson and Matias Hecht went bombing by me in the first 5k. Normally I'm able to hold these guys but I was feeling so shitty that I got dropped. After about 15-20k, things started to come good. I started to get a bit of energy back and feel good. I managed to work really hard the last 20k on the bike and catch back to the main group a few miles before transition.

Heading out onto the run, I didn't feel bad at all. There was a small group of guys to run with. I found myself in a good run battle again with David Thompson. It was a little bit of deja vu as we had the same battle last year. I managed to run down a couple of guys. I had to dig deep in the last 1k to get rid of Matty Reed and Thompson. In the end I ended up 8th, which was better than the drowning I was sure I was going to have earlier in the day.

Congrats to Greg Bennett and Kelly Williamson for their wins. I'm looking forward to the next stop in the Rev3 series: Quassy.

Recovery Pump Coupon Code: A00006

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:49:00 +0000

Here's a coupon code for RecoveryPump:

Get $25 off and a free sling bag when you enter code: A00006 at checkout. Enjoy! These boots are awesome!

Want to sell Recovery Pump? You can earn a 15% commission ($164) for every unit you sell. Sign up to be an affiliate here: http://affilrecoverypump.onyxlight.net/affiliates/affiliates/signup.php?a_aid=A00006.

2nd in New Orleans

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:04:00 +0000

Very tough finish in NOLA with Tom Lowe and TJ Tollakson. Great race guys. And congrats to Trevor Wurtele for the win.

Triathlete Magazine Feature on My Chickens

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:18:00 +0000

I had a fun interview with Holly Bennett from Triathlete Magazine. Learn about my chickens and who I named them after here:

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2012/04/features/dispatch-meet-the-cunningham-girls_51247

Chicken Wound Healing Process

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:55:00 +0000

Post by the wife:

So after Pat, one of our chickens got attacked by a raccoon, I did a ton of research online to find out how we could help her, if she'd live, etc. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any photos of wounds as big as Pat's, so I didn't really know what to think. Since most vets don't take chickens, you are kind of on your own. I thought it might be helpful to post this blog of what we did and how long it took to heal for those who may have chickens with similar injuries.

I think it's important to note that although a ton of skin was ripped off, there were no major puncture wounds through the muscle. I think that may have saved us.

So here's a calendar of her progress and what I have learned:

Day 1 - Pat woke us up at 5am screaming. After the dog chased away the raccoons, it took us about 30 minutes to find her. A huge flap of skin was torn off (about 5x3 inches). We put her in a dog crate on top of some towels and went out shopping for medical supplies.

*First important thing to know - you need to separate an injured chicken. Even the nicest chicken friends will peck at the wound, because "it tastes good". You also should keep them somewhere warm so they don't go into shock. You may be having chicken sleepovers in your house for a long time (until she heals).

After an hour, we washed her wound with saline and iodine. I found out later that we should have mixed the iodine with the saline, because iodine is too strong. I cut off the hanging flap of skin. She did not react at all. I also cut back feathers that were getting in the way. This did not hurt her. We did not try to stitch the wound. If you find it necessary, superglue is better to use than stitches because their skin will tear. You must also leave the bottom open so that it can leak - you don't want to trap infection inside. I cleaned her out again that day and later, I covered the entire wound in neosporin. Make sure that it is not the neosporin with painkiller. It has to be regular neosporin. The painkiller is bad for chickens. Main goal for the first week: don't let the wound get infected.

Food and water - you can add a little electrolyes (gatorade) or vitamins in her water to help her get her energy back. Also, anything you can get her to eat is great. Chicken feed crumbles are ideal. Hard boiled egg yokes are great for healing. Probiotic yogurt helps, with a tiny dab of honey for energy. Oatmeal is good too. Any food is better than no food. We fed her black oil sunflower seeds too, because she loves them. If she's not eating or drinking, try hand feeding her and dripping water on her beak (don't force her to drink - it will get into her lungs). She needs food and water to grow the skin back and heal.

Photos of Day 1 -

Day 2 - We washed the wound with saline and iodine again, twice that day. At the end of the day, we coated it in neosporin. We also cut back some more feathers because they were sticking to the wound.

Day 8 - After the second day, we stopped trying to clean the wound. It didn't appear infected and iodine slows healing, so it made sense to just stick to neosporin. If it looks infected though, keep cleaning it. We have been putting on neosporin every night. We also sectioned off some area of the chicken run a few days ago for her to walk around in. Luckily her wound has not been getting dirty. I guess it's in a good location. She is still coming inside at night and will be until the wound heals (to avoid the cold).

Here's a photo from Day 8 -

Day 10 - I started wondering how long I should be applying neosporin for. There wasn't much information online, but I decided to keep at it for a while longer.

Day 11 - It appeared that she stopped eating. I mixed up some yogurt and feed and put it in between her and the other hens. They all went right at the food. That got her to eat. I then decided to let her out with the other hens. A few tried to peck her wound, but she fought back and seemed to be doing a good job keeping them away from the wound, so I let her stay with them for the afternoon.

Day 14 - I've been letting her out with the other hens in the day time and bringing her in at night. Still been covering the wound with neosporin every night. The top part of the wound is starting to seal to the ripped skin. Today she decided to treat herself to a dirt bath, so I had to wash her off with saline and apply some more neosporin. The dirt didn't come off completely (shineyness is from neosporin)...

Pat's back to being quarantined (in the day) outside in the grass where she can't take dirt baths.

Day 18 - I decided to stop with the neosporin and just let the wound dry up.

Day 19 - photo:

Day 20 - Now that I let the wound dry, I decided to let her back in with the others..dirt baths and all (still bringing her in at night). She seems happier and is eating more.

Day 28 - For the last few nights I've been letting her sleep in the coop with the others during the nights that don't dip under 47 degrees (no real reason for 47 degrees being the cut off). She seems happier. The scab is starting to crack off.

Day 29 - I think Pat might have laid an egg today. She's back!

Day 34 - Holy scab falling off!

After a month, she doesn't seem to notice her ginormous scabby wound.

Day 40 - The skin on the sides have moved in and the wound is a lot smaller. I can also see the beginning of feathers starting to poke through in the new skin.

Day 50 -

I'll keep updating this until the wound is healed.

I hope this has been helpful to you chicken owners out there :)

-- Melissa

Race Report: Oceanside 70.3 CA - 2nd

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 03:31:00 +0000

Early this winter, I decided to race Oceanside instead of Galveston 70.3 this year. I competed in Oceanside for years as the kickoff to my season. The harder course suited my fitness for this time of the year and I've had bad luck in Galveston the last few years, so I decided to give that race a miss this year.

No surprise, it was cold in Oceanside. I've frozen my ass of many years in the Oceanside harbor and this year did not disappoint. The swim was really cold. Lucky for me, I had my TYR Freak of Nature wetsuit and I managed to come out of the water in 5th place. At that point Andy Potts had a solid 2 minute lead on us.

I guess in California, "a marine layer" really means rain. Luckily I packed my arm warmers, which came in very handy on the bike. Matt Lieto was making fun of me at the start because I kept complaining about the cold and wet, when really I love the hard conditions.

The ride was hard from the start, with Ambrose setting a hard pace early. Just before the big hills, the second group caught up. As soon as the group caught up, Ambrose and Griffo decided to attack. I made the decision to go with them and we managed to put a big gap in the group for about 20 miles, but Lieto and Jesse were able to bridge the gap and come into transition with us. Never have I been so thankful to have Shimano Di2 in a race. I really would have struggled to change gears with my cold fingers if I had normal levers.

I had a really bad transition. My fingers were so cold I couldn't undo my helmet strap. With the quality of runners heading out of transition and me still struggling with my helmet I had a little panic attack and left my PowerBar gels and run visor behind.

I managed to close the gap to the front group quickly. We all hit the first mile hard, with Ambrose and Griffo pushing the pace. I think we went through the first mile in around 5:10. The next couple of miles, Leon and I kept pushing the pace. Everyone dropped off, apart from Jesse. I knew it was going to be one of the toughest runs of my life with these two quality runners still hanging in. The first 4-5 miles, I really had trouble with my feet still so cold. We managed to pull back about a minute on Andy in the first couple of miles, but he held the time gap around 1:15 for the rest of the race. Around 6 miles, just as I was starting to hurt, Jesse put the hammer down and opened up a large gap on us. Around this point, I was really regretting leaving my nutrition behind. At 7 miles, I managed to grab a PowerBar gel and some Coke at an aid station. I yo-yo'ed off the back of Griffo for another mile. Half way through the 7th mile, I got a little bit angry and decided to pull my head out of my ass and go after Jesse. The next few miles, I realized that I didn't feel any worse, so I kept trying to lift the pace. At the turnaround, I managed to close a lot of distance between me and Jesse. Still feeling good, I really worked hard on the small hills to catch him. Just before mile 12 I managed to close up to Jesse. In the back of my mind, I was trying to figure out how to beat him as I knew he was an outstanding runner in college. I love sprint finishes. They have always been one of the best parts of the race for me, so I was looking forward to the battle to the finish line. I decided to go straight past Jesse and just run my own pace. Over the next mile, I slowly kept picking it up. It seemed to work as Jesse faded with a couple hundred meters to go and I was able to hold him off for 2nd.

Congrats to Jesse for putting in a good race. He worked hard on the bike, which I think took a bit out of him on the run. Also congrats to Andy. Leading from start to finish is always impressive. I'm really excited to have such a great finish. I've been training really hard this winter, especially on the run and I'm happy to see that it's starting to pay off. Thanks to my sponsors: Rev3, Recovery Pump, Kestrel, TYR, PowerBar, RudyProject, Pearl iZumi and Shimano for their support.

There's a cool video recap of this race on YouTube. You can check it out here:

2nd Place in Oceanside!

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:42:00 +0000

Race Report coming soon, but I'm very excited to have placed 2nd in IM 70.3 California. A lot of hard training this winter paid off.

Thanks to my sponsors: Rev3, RecoveryPump, Kestrel, TYR, Powerbar, Pearl iZumi, Rudy Project, Shimano and Jack and Adams.

Race Report: Rev3 Costa Rica - 6th

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 21:49:00 +0000

I was super excited to head back to Rev3 Costa Rica. It's one of my favorite destination races. Last year I had my honeymoon here, so Costa Rica is a special place for me. It also marks the start of the race season.

Training had been going pretty well this year so far. Unfortunately I got sick after Panama, which lingered for a couple of weeks.

I arrived in Costa Rica on Thursday and after deep negotiations with the cab driver at the airport, we finally managed to get to our hotel. After I arrived and went to unpack my bike, I realized that I forgot my Di2 battery. So, I had to announce to the Twitter world that I'm a dumbass and after some old-forgetful-man jokes from Paul Matthews and his fiance Hillary, I found some nice friends to bring me one (Thanks Erin and Rob Spitler).

Going into the swim, I knew I would have some hard work to do. With Cam, Brian, Leo and Manny racing, the swim pack was fast, so I tried to stay as close to them as possible. I exited the swim down on the front pack and spent the whole bike trying to catch up. I had two guys in sight, but then a car backed out in front of me and I had to come to a stop. After that they got away and bridged the gap to the front. I've been training hard on the bike lately - maybe too hard, because I felt pretty average the whole ride.

My run was pretty solid. I felt good most of the way but just wasn't able to get out of fourth gear the whole day. With 1K to go, I managed to catch Leo to get 6th, which put me in the money and gave me some good points for the Rev3 series.

Big thanks to Krista for helping organize all the pros and also to Charlie Patten, the Rev3 race boss. He's willing to get his hands dirty and work the aid stations. You don't see that too much anymore. Respect. Also thanks to Recovery Pump, Kestrel, TYR, Rudy Project, Shimano, Powerbar and Pearlizumi for providing me with awesome race and recovery gear.

If anyone is looking for a great destination holiday race, I highly recommend this race.

Join the Recovery Pump Affiliate Program - Earn $164 per Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:57:00 +0000

Think you can sell RecoveryPump?

Join the RecoveryPump affiliate program and earn 15% ($164) for every unit sold. You can sell to anyone - triathletes, runners, cyclists, soccer, baseball, basketball, and football players, people who spend all day on their feet, etc.

Interview with Andrew Starykowicz

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:32:00 +0000

Andrew interviewed me last week. Check it out on his blog here: Richie Cunningham Interview.

Race Report: 3rd at Panama 70.3

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0000

I decided to race Panama 70.3 last December to break up my winter training and keep me focused. I knew it would be a hard race as it was South American Champs and had a really good prize purse. As the race got closer, more and more athletes seemed to sign up. Luckily, Boulder had a great January and I was able to get outside and do some good quality training for this race.

Racing Panama was a new experience. Thankfully, the race really looked after me. However, our hotel was downtown and it was hard to get around or go out and train. The week before the race, I got my new 2012 Kestrel 4000 all built up. Unfortunately, being the dumbass that I am, I forgot to pick it up on Saturday, so the bike shop was closed Sunday and Monday. After I picked up my bike on Tuesday, I was hoping to get out on the road, but the weather was super crappy and I was unable to ride. I flew into Panama on Thursday and thought I'd have time to get out for a ride on Friday, but I missed the bus that was transferring everyone to the race course, where was the only safe place to ride. I still wasn't stressing that much as I still had Saturday to go for a test ride. After getting all my race commitments done on Saturday, I finally found time to go for a ride. I only managed to ride about 5k before I had a mechanical problem with my back wheel. Luckily we didn't have to rack our bikes until the next morning, so I was able to take it back to the hotel and work on it. I managed to fix the problem and get it working smoothly.

Race morning was nice and warm. I was looking forward to racing in the heat after living in the cold for the last 2 months. It was nice to be in the sun. The swim was really interesting as it was one direction downstream in the Panama Canal. I was a little nervous about the swim as I hadn't been swimming that great in training and there was a lot of good swimmers in the race. I tried to position myself next to the guys who I thought would be leading the swim out. Matty Reed took out the swim really hard and set a fast pace. After about half way, a small group managed to get away. I just missed the back of that group as I was sitting on the wrong feet. The current was so strong downstream though, that it was hard for them to get much of a gap and most of us stuck together.

It was a long run to transition from the swim exit. I could see Bevan and Rasmus just in front, so I ran the transition hard to close the gap. The first 5k of the bike was really fast. It's times like this, I'm really grateful for having such a great bike. I'd only ridden it for 5 minutes before the race but it felt like I've been riding it all season. After about 5k, Lance and Chris Lieto came to the front. My game plan was to ride with those guys for as long as possible. Luckily, the bike course was very undulating at the start, which really suited me - I was able to push on the hills. I knew Chris would split the group, which ended up happening around 20 miles. With Chris jamming on the front, I think it was Lance's game plan to tag Chris. He seemed to follow every move Chris made. Rasmus was also riding really strong and managed to bridge the gap across to Lance and Chris. However, I could start to feel the effects of the hard work I had done on the bike early on. So, they started to pull away. Luckily, I had Bevan and Romaine to ride with. We still rode hard and chased for the rest of the bike.

Coming into transition, Lance and Chris had managed to put 3-4 minutes into us. Leaving transition, I ran out with Bevan. I was feeling kind of crappy for the first few miles and Bevan started to run away from me. I could see Rasmus just down the road after 2-3 miles though and I started to feel good and managed to pull back on him. The more into the run I got, the better I felt. Around 8 miles, I managed to pull back Galindez and Lieto. The last few miles of the run got extremely hot. I was hoping that it was going to have a bigger effect on Lance. Unfortunately he managed to stay strong and hold me off. I was happy to run into 3rd place and get another podium at a championship race. Congrats to Bevan and Lance for great races.

Thanks to my sponsors and especially Kestrel for setting me up with such a great bike.

Rev3 Announces New Triathlon at Venice Beach, FL

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:58:00 +0000

The weekend of October 27 and 28, Rev3 will take over Venice Beach, Florida for a brand new Half Distance triathlon. The Half distance will comprise a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 run.

Known for its beautiful coastline and white sands, the swim will take place in the crystal blue waters of Venice Beach at the world Famous Sharky’s On the Pier. A short run from the swim finish will take athletes to the transition area. From there, athletes will start on the one loop bike course, which will take athletes through both Sarasota and Charlotte county while passing through the worlds famous Manasota Key. The run course is a two loop out and back course that takes you past the beach before heading onto the Venetian Waterway trail. After that, athletes will cross the finish line adjacent to Sharky’s On the Pier.

Hope to see you there!

Post Panama Interview with Recovery Pump

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:35:00 +0000

Check my out interview with Recovery Pump on my hip fracture and how I recovered and came back with a strong race: http://blog.recoverypump.com/?p=75.

3rd Place in Panama 70.3

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:14:00 +0000

Happy to have a good race this early. Congrats everyone.

Like my new Rev3 uniform?

Recovery Pump: New Price, No Prescription, and a Free Trial!

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:18:00 +0000

Recovery Pump just made a few exciting announcements. They are now offering it for a price of $1095 and you no longer need a prescription. Best of all, they are offering a free 10 day trial. If you decide you don't like it in the first 10 days, they will give you your money back, no questions.

For more information, read here: http://conta.cc/xcG9lV.

2012 Race Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 21:12:00 +0000

So, it's been 2 months since I posted this, but I have finally finalized my race schedule for 2012. Here it is:

My 2012 (preliminary) Race Schedule

And if you need to plan out your own schedule, this calendar is helpful:

2012 Triathlons

70.3 Asia-Pacific Champs: 2nd

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:21:00 +0000

At the start of the year, Phuket wasn't really on my radar of races to do this year. I was planning on resting this time of the year. With the setback of my broken hip in August though, I didn't want to be stuck sitting on the couch for the last 4 months of the year. Now that I think about it though, it would have been kind of sweet. That is a lot of Playstation time that I could have gotten in.

After getting a couple of hit outs with Rev3 SC and Austin 70.3, I realized that I could train hard without doing any further damage to my hip. It was great to have Fraser and Barney visiting in Austin to help me keep motivated for training.

I had a bit of a setback at the end of October with the death of my father. I traveled back to Australia to say goodbye and spent 10 days there without a bike or pool. It gave me a little bit of time to focus on my running though.

Damn, if I knew how long the flight was to Phuket, I might have changed my mind. It's a bitch to get to from America. Once I got to Phuket, it was good to have Chris Legh there as a training partner for the week. I think we spent more time drinking coffee than we did training though.

As we were checking our bikes in the night before the race we had an awesome rain storm come in. Chris certainly made me aware of how slippery the roads were, referring back to my crash in August. Oh the mind games.

However, race morning was sunny and warm. As we lined up for the swim start, I realized how good the field really was, with a lot of great swimmers. I knew I had to swim my ass off to stay in the front group. Luckily we had a beach start, which is my favorite. Phuket swim is a little different than most. After 1400m, you exit the water and run over a nasty little sand dune and re-enter in a fresh water lagoon. Getting into the freshwater is really hard. It feels like you are swimming in concrete after exiting the salt water. Half way along the lagoon, there was a small gap opened between the front group and my group. I was sitting comfortably on Matty Reed's feed, but the big man put the hammer down and closed the gap, which left me 15 seconds off the back.

The first 10 miles of the bike was very flat and fast and I knew I had to work hard to catch up. At the 15 mile marker there was a walkway overpass where you dismount and run your bike across. I knew if I could be close enough, I could catch up at this point. Up the first climb, I made my way to the front, so I could take advantage of the no passing zone that was coming up on the descent. It was a yellow flag zone for about a mile. This enabled me to take the corners at my own speed and try to avoid another hip break on a wet road. I think a few of the boys were a little pissed at this tactic, but it worked and hey, no one broke their hip. Around the 40 mile mark, the heavens opened and it rained harder than I've ever seen it rain in a race before. With all the rain, it made the next climb nearly impossible as everybody had to sit down. At times like that, the Shimano DI2 really shows it's advantage. There was about 5 miles of descending after the last climb. Paul Ambrose was really hitting these hard. Once I managed to survive the second round of downhills, we came to a point about 5 miles from the finish line where it rained so hard that there was a lake across the road. It was about a foot and a half deep.

I had a bit of a drama in T2 with my transition bag (oh, how I hate these bags). Why can't be go back to the old school shoes on the ground system? Transition bags suck. The bag got stuck around the peg and I couldn't get it off. That set me back about 100m from the leaders, which were Raelert, Paul Matthews, Dave Dellow, and Ambrose.

Luckily, the rain had kept the temperatures really low, so I pushed the first mile really hard and managed to catch everyone except for Raelert, who runs like a freak. I felt in control for the next few miles and settled in for a hard race to hold my position.

Thankfully, I managed to hold on for 2nd, which was a great way to finish the end of the season. Unfortunately I think the awards party hurt more than the actual race, but damn we had a good time. I think Chris Legh is still hungover.

I'd like to say thanks to all my sponsors this year, especially Rev3, Recovery Pump, Kestrel, TYR, First Endurance, Rudy Project, and Shimano. You've really made a huge difference in my performances.

Phuket 70.3

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 15:50:00 +0000

Happy to end the season on a high note with a 2nd at the Asia-Pacific champs. Congrats to Michi and Barney. Race report coming soon...

This is pretty inspirational. This is how the world should be.

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:23:00 +0000

Watch this. A 7-year old Dick Hoyt:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7208128

Sammy the Butler waiting for TrickOrTreaters

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:44:00 +0000

Want to sell Recovery Pump?

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:01:00 +0000

If you are interested in becoming a Recovery Pump reseller, you can sign up as an affiliate here:

Recovery Pump Affiliate Program

You'll earn $179 on each pump system that you sell!

I found this old article...

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:06:00 +0000

While I was home, I found this old article. Great story about the angriest driver I've ever had a run in with.

Athlete Attacked with Axe Handle

Rev3 South Carolina

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:38:00 +0000

It was great that I could use Rev3 as my first race back after fracturing my pelvis in mid August. SC was going to be one of my winding-down races for the year, however due to the circumstances with my hip, I've had to turn around and actually work on getting fit again. Now I'm planning on racing until Phuket at the end of the year, which will be my final race. It was kind of enjoyable going into SC with no expectations or real pressure. Once again, Rev3 just put on an awesome race. SC was a really enjoyable course.

Surprisingly for this late in the season and being on the same day as Kona, it had a really strong field. Luckily, I didn't miss much time off on the swim in the last 8 weeks, which really helped me to keep up near the front. However, the swim split into 2 front groups and I happened to choose the wrong group. By the time I got to transition, I'd lost 10-15 seconds on the leaders (Andrew, Steve, and Brian).

The first 5-10 miles of the bike, I really worked on chasing hard. I managed to catch up to Brian, but there was a large chase group behind me that caught up as well. Around 20 miles, I actually managed to bridge up to the main group at the front, but my fitness was not quite there to be able to hold them. I eventually got caught again by the second group. I was able to hold them going into transition.

The bike course was a lot hillier and more challenging than I was expecting, so going out on the run, I tried to hold back a lot to avoid bonking from my lack of run fitness. Due to the last couple of weeks of forcing my run, I pulled up with a lot of niggling injuries. These actually hurt more than my hip for the first few miles. After everything warmed up, I really felt good, so I decided to push the run to see what I could do. Even though I had no expectations for the race, racing mode still kicked in. I really pushed the last 3-4 miles and was able to pull back a couple of guys. At the end, I ended up running a 1:19, which I was really happy with and I managed to get 8th.

Once again, anyone looking for a good race this year - I really recommend this race. It's a great location and really nice course. Hopefully I can improve on 8th this weekend in Austin.

Planning out my 2012 race season

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:50:00 +0000

I haven't even finished this season and my wife is already planning my 2012 season.

So now I have a nice calendar that she made of all the Rev3, 70.3 and Ironman races in 2012, plus a few extra.

I probably won't have a final race schedule for a little while, but I figured this calendar would be useful for everyone else trying to plan their season. There are lots of cool Rev3 races next year, which are highlighted in blue. Races in red have not announced official race dates yet. Feel free to print out and highlight for your own 2012 planning.
2012 Triathlons

Sam's next halloween costume?

noreply@blogger.com (Richie Cunningham) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:43:00 +0000