Paul Asay

Thanks to Versus channel for covering the Giro di Lombardia which as a viewer looks like an amazing place to hold a cycling event. One of the first things I noticed was Damiano Cunego's "Drug Free" tattoo he was sporting. As the defending champion, as well as a very interesting rider, I was glad to see him win for the 3rd time. What makes me wonder is when cyclist do long tours and never seem to have a bad day. Damiano seems to have suffered his share of bad days, which makes him seem much more real to me. With the seeming endless parade of cyclists getting caught using EPO or some related drugs, it is most refreshing to see someone race clean and do well. Another rider who I think is also refreshing is Christian Vande Velde along with his team Slipstream riders. Greg Lemond talked a lot about just who is playing fair and who he thinks isn't, and of course he has to speculate to some degree. While he has been given lots of ridicule for his stance, he has been p...

I participated this past Saturday in the Race for the Cure 5k at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. First 5k I’ve competed in for a long time, and it was fun. No grueling 2 plus hour race, no transitions, no bike, no swim, it was nice and simple. Turned out to be just about a perfect day and I always enjoy the campus of Saint Mary’s. I ran the first mile with a friend of mine’s 12 year old son Peter Davis. I’ve ridden with his father Bill for more years than I can remember, and rarely ever can stay on his wheel. It was no wonder Peter was a chip off the block, so despite being 12, he did a nice job of setting the pace. I didn’t check the first mile split but it was somewhere around 6:20 or so. Passed the two mile split in 13 minutes flat. Final finishing time as 20 minutes 16 seconds. Fun to see friends out there I had run with, or had known for a long time. This will give me a nice goal this fall and winter to break 20 minutes again, so I can at least say I can still break 20 minutes...

Age Group National Championships did I come. Portland Oregon, sounded like fun. September 20th I thought it never would come. A spot on Team USA was at stake. If the top 16 you could make. Slim chance I knew. But 2 hours a day I did train. Out in the sun or even in the rain. Yet for the prize I did strain. Started the day before with a trip to Hagg Lake. Wow what big hills did in my eyes take. Olympians Matt Reid and Hunter Kemper did I see. Just back from Beijing, glad they are not racing against me. From the dock on race morning I did start. 1500 meters of swimming did I do. Most my peers were way before me, but I tried not to lose heart. Around the yellow buoys and back I went. Then up the big hill did I run. To the transition where my bike did await. Only out of one eye could I see. My contact had messed up on me, all that I could see was burry, blurry indeed. Peeled my wetsuit and on to the bike. In low gear and up a big hill then suddenly felt sick. Oh don't toss my cookies a...

With just 5 more days to go before my big goal race of the year, I have to admit I’m feeling good and excited about the USAT Age Group Nationals. My diet has been better than it has ever been, my swimming is reasonable (for a very average swimmer) and my cycling feels decent. Still have some concerns about my run speed, and my lower back which tends to tighten up while riding in the aero position on the time trail bike. With the bike course having 2 laps, the second one may get downright uncomfortable in the lower back area. The bike and run course also have more hills than anything I’ve race so far this year. I may not have prepared as well as I should for the hills. With that said, I do feel good about my training and prep, particularly the last several weeks, and just feeling really good gives me confidence. A number of factors go into the results of any race, but maybe more so on this one. Considering the quality of field, the tougher course, and a location I’ve never been t...

I've never been much of a "Diet" person seeing that I can still shop in the "boys" department at a number of stores, but I have paid more attention to it this year. Specifically my breakfast and lunch has been fairly constant all summer, so I thought I might make mention of it. Just to state the facts, I currently weight about 136 pounds on a 5' 9" frame. My weight in the winter generally goes up to about 146 or so. Since early July I was down to 140 and now a bit thinner. I feel race ready any time I drop below 138. Most of this I attribute to my lunch time routine of running or swimming and then having two Power Bars and water for lunch. Occasionally I'll do something different, but that is the standard fare. Most mornings I heat up two frozen waffles with peanut butter and syrup along with water. About 3 days a week I ride in to work (about 6 miles) then ride home the long way (about 15 miles). If I don't ride in, I try to ride later ...

August 17th was the first Tri Indy downtown Olympic distance triathlon, and my 3rd tri race of the season. As it was just 2 days after my 50th birthday, I figured this was a good way to celebrate the occasion. My first triathlon was 20 years ago as I turned 30. I still struggle with swimming, but at least I swim middle of the pack now and not the very last. The unique feature of Tri Indy is the swim in the downtown canal. It had never been used for a swim venue of any kind before. While it is not exactly clean, it was scenic. The first 1000 meters is a straight shot while the last 500 has several turns and the water quality went downhill. They divided the swim up into around 15 differnet waves of 30 at a time, so it was never crowded. As the water temp was around 75 it was wetsuit legal, and I'm glad I wore mine as it would have been cold standing there before the start. I came out of the water in 30 minutes and got a bit anxious to start taking off the wetsuit and hit my b...

The Evergreen Triathlon (Evergreen Lake) in Bloomington Illinois was this past Saturday (July 19th 2008) and also served as the USA Triathlon Mideast Region Championships. Since I’m about to turn 50 and wanted to try my hand at the USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals this was the race to be at to see how I stack up in the 50 – 54 age group. The course is a true Olympic distance race, so 1.5k (.9 mile) swim, 40k (24.8 mile) bike, and 10k (6.2 mile) run. Not easy by any stretch. I met the race director Coleen back in February at the race director certification course, and as soon as I arrived on site and started walking toward packet pickup I saw her. She had that look like, “I can’t believe it is raining”, so I just gave her a hug and a thumbs up to not worry about it. Easy for me to say as I walked on and left her to the directing challenge. I heard a volunteer say in the packet pickup tent a storm was supposed to hit about the start time and no refunds. Seems like every major ev...