Off to the Races

My next two weeks will be structured around two races - one I'm spectating and one I'm doing. Tomorrow morning, I’ll be traveling up north to check out the Green Mountain Stage Race, a four-day bike event happening for the seventh year in Vermont. I won’t be racing, but I’ll be riding some of the course. Namely, the Prologue Time Trial scheduled for Friday – a 7 mile climb up App gap that promises to be hellish. I’ll ride it in the morning, than camp out near the top to cheer on all the riders suffering over it at race pace. Check in here Friday evening or Saturday morning for some pictures and a quick report.

After the race, I’ll be hanging around that area of Vermont, researching the available training. I’ll work my way home for a day or so, than head out to my own A-Race of the season, the Vermont Half-Ironman. Ever since January, I’ve been planning on having a great race there. But as you know, I’ve hit a few snags; I injured my ankle a couple months ago, and have since been unable to do any sort of run training. I still really want to do the race, but, I’m completely underdone. I know I have the fitness to get to the finish line, I just have no clue as to how fast I’ll get there (or how painful it’ll be). I’d say this definitely goes in the ‘stupid thing to do’ column, but that takes some pressure off – I don’t NEED to do well, just have a good time racing. Who knows, maybe this laid-back attitude will even lead to a good performance.

In all, it’ll be another couple great weeks of triathlon craziness. As always, I’ll keep you updated on what’s going on, and of course, share plenty of pictures. Also, anyone heading up to the Vermont Half, give me a shout… it’d be cool to meet up with some other athletes.

Who We Are (Part 1) - Overview

Every once in awhile, I’ll post here about who and what we are at Multisport Maps. I’ll talk about topics like how the company works, the principles we’re founded on, what the final product will look like, who the people involved are, and so on.

This installment, part 1, will have a general focus. I figured you might be confused in what the company really is, and in who I actually am. So, some basics: My name is Brian Burns. I’m a recent graduate of Clark University, where I studied political science (of all things). While I knew I didn’t want to work in government, I didn’t know exactly where I’d go. I wasn’t content to work just another job. I wanted my work to give energy to other parts of my life – to feed my main direction and purpose.

I was taking an entrepreneurship course at the time, and after awhile, the mindset started to sink in. It wasn’t long after that when my own experience led me to an idea. I was a dedicated triathlete in the middle of an unfamiliar city. I had endured countless difficult and ineffective workouts, numerous close-calls with impatient drivers, and eventually, one semi-serious run-in with a car. I was trying to find some way to safely and effectively execute my training in a strange place, but no one was there to help – there was no resource to guide me.

The idea to do just that – to guide athletes looking to train in unfamiliar places - matured over a matter of the months to follow. As the idea transformed into a product, my connection to it, and excitement for it grew ten-fold. The decision to go ahead with the project was somewhat of a risk, but really, it was almost a no-brainer. When my interests, my passions, and my energy all fell together into one place at one time, I had to follow where it led.

So, here I am. I’m spending the summer traveling around Vermont, looking through the whole state for places to train. Everything that will be listed on the site – every pool, lake, road, trail, bike shop or group workout will be a place I’ve visited. And let me tell you, I’m visiting them all! I’m convinced that me doing the research will not only produce a more comprehensive and better product, but will add a layer of depth to the information. I won’t just tell you where the nearest pool is, I’ll show you. I’ll show you what it looks like, what I liked about it, what I did there, who I met there, even where I went to eat afterwards. multisportmaps.com won’t be just a place to get the best information, it will be a place to get a piece of unique triathlon culture.

I’m the main influence behind the company, and as of now, the only one on the road full-time. So, this culture will be seen and experienced through my eyes. I’m sure that if you check in here often, you’ll get to know me… but I hope this introduction helped. Of course, any of you are more than welcome to contact me – it’d be cool to talk to you about the business, about triathlon, or about anything else on your mind. Just shoot me an email at multisportmaps@gmail.com, or call me at 802.318.6152.

Me:

Hanover Trip

I just got home from my trip. I’m tired, but I had a great time. As planned, I got into Hanover, NH on Monday night, and met my friend Norah. We had dinner with a couple of her friends from Dartmouth – burritos and beer… my favorite!

I spent today getting to know Hanover. The college kids give the city a young and active feel - the endurance community is big for the relative size of the city. Highlights of the area include great riding in every direction, some good open water swimming (and outdoor pool) within a five-minute drive of the downtown at Storr’s pond, and Omer and Bob’s bike shop, who, along with having a cool name, do a real good job as the only shop in town.

I took advantage of my time there, and got in a swim at the very nice Dartmouth College pool. Afterwards, I spent a good deal of time wandering around their gorgeous facility… admittedly, this is partly because I was lost. But, I enjoyed it nevertheless. After a HUGE post-workout burger at a local diner, I went for a ride with local ironman triathlete Colin Ferguson (CCF on Slowtwitch). He’s sort of a stud long-distance guy… But, lucky for me, we just had an easy ride today – 25 miles alongside the Connecticut, in both New Hampshire and Vermont. It was great riding, and I had a blast hanging out with Colin.

Pictures from the trip:

Ascutney - Woodstock Trip

I’m on a 5-day research/mapping trip in Southern and Central Vermont; Trying to find the best places to train in this area. Saturday afternoon, I drove up and stayed in Ascutney State Park. I set up my tent, made a fire, and ten minutes later, got hit with a wicked thunderstorm. After a stream formed in my site, I packed up my tent, and made for a lean-to.

Sunday morning, I was up and off to check out the pool at the Ascutney Mountain resort. It’s a pretty nice place – an $11 pass gives you access to 25-yard indoor and outdoor pools. The outdoor pool was still cold from the previous nights rain, so I got in a good workout indoors.

Then, I spent the rest of the day checking out the area roads. Found some good stuff. Nothing great, but plenty of solid riding. Last night, I found a real nice campsite in Coolidge State Park (see below for pictures).

Today, I’m doing more of the same – looking for good roads/trails to ride and run on. I’m in Woodstock, VT right now, and am making my way North-East. I’ll spend the night (and the next few days) at a friends place in Hanover, NH. I really like Hanover, so I’m psyched to spend some time there, and excited to check out all the good training on both sides of the VT/NH border.

Pics from my trip so far: The first two are from my drive up to Ascutney, on Route 5. The next two are of me working - giving the thumbs up to a road for biking and the next putting down some oatmeal before a swim at the Ascutney pool. The last two are the view from my campsite, both yesterday evening and around 6:30 this morning.

Inc. Magazine

As some of you know, I’ll be in the October issue of the entrepreneurship-focused Inc. magazine. My former professor wrote an article for them about the program I studied in, and featured me as an example of the type of battle-ready graduates coming out of it. A couple days ago, when I was working up in Northern Vermont (see previous post), I got a call – they needed a picture of me, like, yesterday. So, I grabbed my camera and my mother, threw on my race suit, and set up shop to take a magazine-worthy photograph. They ended up using this shot:



But, I thought it would be cool to share some of the others. Here are some of my favorites:

The Islands

Nope. Not the Caribbean. The Vermont islands, up north, on Lake Champlain. After the race on Saturday, my mother met me in Burlington, and we drove up together to North Hero State Park for a three-day vacation/mapping trip. The area was fantastic. The flat terrain, and being surrounded by water almost made it feel like Cape Cod. But far better than the Cape, we had it all to ourselves. I think there was one other person who stayed in campground while we were there. I got to work, train hard, spend time with family, all while re-connecting to the wilderness. Man, I love this job!

The training up there was great. Of course, open water swimming is abundant. Anywhere you want to go, you could find a great place to launch. And the riding too; countless flat and scenic roads. On Tuesday, I crossed the border to Quebec on my bike, and rode 100K on some of the nicest flat farm roads I’ve seen… It was a real treat for a TT rider living in Vermont. The rest of the time, I was winding down lake-side roads, and through small, lake-side towns.

The trip hit a logistical hitch when I, ahem… drove over my cell phone. It was a 3-year old free phone that was begging to be put out of its misery anyway, so I’m psyched to have a new one – it even plays music and lets me check my email! Take notice though, as the new Multisport Maps phone number is (802)318-6152.

As always, some photos from the trip:

Sunset at the State Park beach:



Late-evening ride south of Alburgh:



View off that same road:



Beautiful riding on Isle La Motte:



Same road, same great riding:



Me on the bike in Quebec:



Me LOVIN' the Canadian riding:



Me, uh... Working hard:



My mother:



A family I saw while out riding... classic Vermont stuff:

Shelburne Sprint

As some of you know, I've been hobbled with a nagging ankle injury for almost two months now, and haven’t raced since Mooseman in early June. Well, the ankle’s still not 100%, but felt good enough to enter into a sprint race in Shelburne Vermont. I have a cousin who lives a 5-minute drive from the race start, and was up researching the area anyway, so why not? I came in with basically no run training, and without expectations… just looking to have a little fun racing again.

SWIM: Well, the fun part didn’t last very long. I had just barely pulled my wetsuit on during the pre-race meeting, when the zipper completely let go. It’s an old hand-me-down suit (from ‘stud-pro’ triathlete Chris Bagg), so I wasn’t completely surprised. But still, it threw a wrench into the day right off the bat. I shed the suit, and tried to stay relaxed - I knew I could swim well without it. The day was especially tough - cold, windy and slightly rainy. We had to swim straight out for a couple hundred yards, into what looked like 3-5 foot swells. It was pretty brutal… hard to sight, hard to get air (I drank my share of lake water), and hard to get anywhere. I survived until the turnaround, than surfed into T1 on those same waves. My time was slow, but in those conditions, I was still top-10 coming out of the water.

BIKE: Settled into a nice rhythm, and had an allright ride. I was expecting a little more, considering the time I’ve gotten in on the bike since my injury… but I guess it’ll come in time. Passed one or two riders, and got passed by more. No doubt, the highlight of the ride was to see Sandy, a former pro bike racer and National Champ Time Trialist, go by at 30 MPH.

RUN: I really wasn’t expecting anything here… I would have been happy just to finish. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find I had some legs right out of T2. I passed two people quickly, and hit the turnaround feeling good. On the way back, I started feeling some fatigue, and ran the last mile or so on guts. I was passed by one runner in an Elmo cycling jersey (oh… the humility), and with about 100 yards to go, was joined by another runner. We ran side-by-side for a bit, then started the sprint with about 25 yards to go. I’ve never had to finish a race with such a kick, and man, let me tell you, it was tough! I think I might have nipped him at the line, but we’ll have to wait for the video replay to be sure :).

All in all, it was a great day. I was back doing what I love to do, and had a good race top-to-bottom. I don’t know my exact time, but I figure I came in somewhere in the top 20, and fastest among my age group. After the race, it was off to the Shelburne farmers market for a huge piece of lasagna, and back to my Cousin’s place for a well-deserved nap. What a day!

PICS:

Loaded up and ready to go:


The Swim... Nasty:


The View off the picturesque bike course:


The Best part about the Shelburne Race: