Gear For Multisport

Long Doggers Dads Day Tri

Kevin — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 01:13:43 +0000

Grogan, Dunn claim titles in Dad’s Day Triathlon

SEBASTIAN INLET — Clermont’s Kevin Grogan, 37, fought off a last-minute kick from Chad Wilkinson, 36, of West Palm Beach to win Sunday’s Dad’s Day Triathlon at Sebastian Inlet State Park.

Mallory Dunn, 27, of Daytona Beach cruised to victory in the women’s division of the quarter-mile ocean swim, 15-mile bike and 5K run. She and Grogan swept the inaugural Surf Coast Trifecta series.

Grogan dominated the series that began on April 18 with the Ron Jon Triathlon in Cocoa Beach and continued with the State Farm Space Coast Bikearathon on May 23.

“He put it on me, but I was able to hold on,” Grogan said of a close finish with Wilkinson. “It was an awesome event, and this series was really a very cool thing for the Space Coast and actually all of Central Florida.”

Dunn won the women’s division by almost two minutes against 25-year-old Jessica Crate of Melbourne.

“(It was) a lot of fun,” Dunn said. “We had another series going up in Daytona, where I live, but this one was new and really well run. I am looking forward to next year.”

“The swim was awesome; flat surf and perfectly clear water. I saw all kinds of fish out there,” said Long Dogger’s co-owner Al Steiginga, who took second in the father/child relay division. “What a great way to spend Father’s Day.”

Deland Tri Report..

Kevin — Fri, 07 May 2010 18:36:41 +0000

http://www.altavistasports.com/results/2010results/DelandYmCATriathlon05012010.htm

In a much anticipated rematch of 2008 DeLand International Triathlon, Mightie Mike Mott “Elvis” took center stage and toed the line with cross town rival.. Deltona’s Matt Braun & me (Minneola’s Kevin Grogan). There were some choice words before the match between veteran timer “J to the B” (John Boyle) and the Mightie one. Mott tried to sly his way to victory by entering as a female. “J to the B” denied Elvis’s sneaky plan. Mott also tried to enter as my alias “Zilla”..which was just plain insulting.

Anyway, the race started with me, Braun, & then Mott battling it out in time trial format at the Y pool. I was the first one back to the wall and I tried to flip turn but Elvis had rallied a group of Delandites to make waves every time I would try to flip turn. I had to be content with open turns due to this but I stayed focused as I was expecting this from the homers. I soon sprinted through T1 on the slick tile and on the bike chased closely by Braun & Mott. I could actually hear Elvis breathing/panting even though he was 15 or so seconds back. I almost stopped to see if he was ok. But I didnt.

We were soon on the bike and I was forced to give up the lead as my front wheel started rubbing late in the bike. I found it interesting that Elvis racked next to me and was asking me questions about wheels all week long…I am just saying. I fixed the the wheel and Braun took a 10 second lead into t2. We were able to make it thru the technical run course where the two of us battled the elements (parked semis & runway weeds). I held off Braun my a quarter mile or so followed closely by Elvis.

This race was everything it was hyped up to be. Well worth the 50 minute drive from Minneola. I would like to thank Gerald at the YMCA for having me, “J to the B” & Mott for letting me claim his title…yet again.

Grogan edges Donner, wins Ron Jon Triathlon

Kevin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:08:55 +0000

Grogan edges Donner, wins Ron Jon Triathlon

Elite triathlete Kevin Grogan, 37, of Clermont overtook Melbourne’s Ed Donner in the final mile to win the inaugural Ron Jon Triathlon Cocoa Beach on Sunday.

Grogan’s time of 53 minutes, 43 seconds gave him a seven-second lead over Donner in the sprint triathlon, which featured a 1/4-mile swim in the Banana River, a 12.5-mile bike ride along State Road A1A and a 3.1-mile run along the back nine of the Cocoa Beach Golf Course and downtown residential streets.

The race, which had 395 competitors, is the first of the three-event Air Force Reserve Surf Coast Trifecta, which features the State Farm Space Coast Bikearathon — a 20-mile bike and 6.2-mile run — May 23 in Viera and the Long Doggers Dad’s Day Tri, another sprint triathlon, June 20 at Sebastian Inlet State Park. The series is offering a $3,000 purse to overall and age group male and female winners competing in each of the trifecta’s events.

“This was a great inaugural triathlon,” Grogan said. “The organizers laid out a really nice and tight course. This event has a lot of potential.”

“Kevin always gets me in the run,” Donner said. “I gave it a go, but just couldn’t keep up with him at the end. Still, it was great fun and really good to see another quality event in our area.”

In the women’s division, Daytona Beach’s Mallory Dunn, 27, easily captured the inaugural crown in 58:36.

Melbourne running star Jessica Crate, 25, competing in her first triathlon, finished first in her age group and was the fourth woman across the finish line. “It was amazing,” Jessica beamed. “I’m hooked.”

For more information on the series, go to www.surfcoasttrifecta.com.

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100419/SPORTS/4190312/1002/SPORTS/Grogan+edges+Donner++wins+Ron+Jon+Triathlon

Getting in the Training

Kevin — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:10:57 +0000

Getting in the Training
(Written for Buttar.com)

There has been a lot of discussion lately between my friends on the Windermere Roadies forum about how much time you need to spend working out to receive benefit per training session. Don’t get me wrong; all of us guys love being on our bikes (I think). We would rather be out hammering a three hour Clermont loop or running our favorite clay trail for an hour or two, but most of us are now family guys, have responsibilities, & just don’t have the training time that was once available to us.

But I think I discovered a very important training secret for crazy busy folks like us. I think you can receive benefit from a workout as short as a half hour with the right intensity (but that is a whole another article for another day). With that said, I really believe with some planning, a typical “busy” Buttar athlete could fit in as many as two workout sessions a day (ideally one AM & one PM). I know time is tough to come by, so here’s how were going to do it.

Make it just as big of a challenge as the workout itself to be creative & get these workouts done in our hectic lives. The purpose of the workout is important, but it is just as crucial to get the session in. For example, one of my friends brings his run shorts & shoes to church & then runs home ten miles each week as his long run. Another acquaintance commutes up & down the West Orange Trail four days a week to work from Groveland to Winter Garden. It can be done.

For Buttar athletes of all levels, finding enough time to train represents one of the biggest challenges in our sport. Realistically most athletes don’t have 20 to 30 hours per week of training to reach the top ranks. Trying to train for three sports, work, spend time with the family will leave no time for anything else. Why do we hear of so many top age groupers able to compete at such a high level with such limited schedules?

Here are my five tips that will help you see the most return on your available training hours.

1. Plan a weekly schedule & rank your workouts in order of importance based on the purpose of the workout.
2. Be willing to adapt and be flexible.
3. Creativity. Can you run to the pool or get your ride in on the way to work?
4. When crunched for time, intensity over volume.
5. Keep your key workout sessions on days when you will have the best chance to successfully complete them.

Kevin Grogan is the owner of Gear for Multisport retail store located inside the National Training Center in Clermont, Florida. http://www.GearforMultisport.com

USAT Florida Sprint Triathlon Rankings..

Kevin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:15:56 +0000

Link to bigger image: http://i49.tinypic.com/qqu254.jpg

Some good memories..

Kevin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:03:43 +0000

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/keyword/kevin-grogan

Interesting stuff. 12 years of multisport has gone by fast!

Great American Cooter

Kevin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:45:23 +0000

Great American Cooter Triathlon

The 5th Annual Tri-Cooter saw it’s largest field ever, but that wasn’t enough to take the Overall Win from the “CooterMan” himself. Kevin Grogan, who led the race to a 54:00 finish, a new course record. Click on the race logo to see all the RESULTS from this exciting event!

Grogan has no worries after finishing 2nd

Kevin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:31:52 +0000

http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/orl-sportsltriathlon30093009sep30,0,151940.story?track=rss-topicgallery

CLERMONT — Kevin Grogan didn’t win the 25th annual Florida Challenge Triathlon at Clermont Waterfront Park Sunday. That, in itself, is an oddity. Grogan has had quite a dominating triathlon season, sweeping all three Clermont races in the Central Florida Triathlon Series during the summer.

He followed that up with the championship in the OUC Downtown Orlando Triathlon in September.

But on Sunday all Grogan, 36, could manage was a second-place finish.

The race, a half-Ironman distance with a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bicycle and 13.1-mile run, was a little out of Grogan’s league. A business owner and a family man, Grogan is unable to put in the adequate amount of training time to be in peak form for a race that distance.

“Two-thirds of the way through the bike, I was saying to myself, this isn’t a sprint,” Grogan said. “I went out hard the first 20 miles and was with [fourth-place finisher] Ed Donner before I backed off a little. You can’t go out like this in a distance race.”

Still, it was quite a respectable showing for Grogan, who finished in 4 hours, 46 minutes, 6 seconds, which was about 20 minutes behind the man who won the race: Clermont’s Zach Ruble, 27, 9 years youger than Grogan and sometimes his training partner. Ruble finished in 4:26:49, just before the first of several rain storms moved through Clermont during Sunday afternoon.

Grogan was a big supporter of Ruble’s during the race.

“I can’t say enough good things about him,” Grogan said. “He lives the dream. He is incredible. Last year at Ironman Florida, he ran a sub 3-hour marathon. There are not a lot of guys who can run like that after getting off of the bike after riding 112 miles. He is just phenomenal.”

Heather Butcher, 37, of North Port was the winner of the women’s race Sunday, finishing in a time of 5:24:10, coming in just about 12 minutes ahead of second-place Erin Troy, 27, of Maitland (5:36:13). Troy was closely followed by Jan Burger, 44, of Valrico (5:38:25).

For Ruble, the race on Sunday was all part of his training for this year’s Florida Ironman race which will be held in Panama City on Nov. 7.

Ruble didn’t back off on his training to compete in the Florida Challenge — which is nicknamed “The Intimidator” because of the challenging course. He treated the race just like another day of training — and he had a good workout.

“This is one of the hardest half-Ironman’s I have ever done with the heat, the humidity and the hills,” Ruble said.

Said Grogan: “I think we hit every hill there is to hit in Clermont. And then we had to deal with the wind in our face [during the bicycle] from about mile 40. It was really difficult.”

Ruble came out of the swim in Lake Minneola in second place, but put the rest of the field well behind him during the first 40 miles of the bicycle leg. He was never really threatened after that.

Ruble said his object wasn’t necessarily to win the race, but he wanted to see where he was in his training for Ironman Florida six weeks later. After finishing the race, Ruble was happy with how his body had responded to the race.

Ruble, who moved to Clermont from Monroeville, Ind., for his triathlon training, has competed in four half-Ironman distance triathlons and two full Ironman distance triathlons this season. His best finish was a second place at The Rockman half-Ironman in Illinois.

Although he finished second, Grogan was not disappointed with his performance, or with his season, which still includes two races.

“For sure, I have been able to put together some good races this season,” Grogan said. “The first race in the [Central Florida Triathlon] series in June, where I beat [Bill] Picciano and [Nic] Tautiva, really gave me a lot of confidence. Really in that race, four of the five guys I had to beat had beaten me in the past.

“That race still gives me a lot of confidence.”

WXW Pro Wrestling Reffing Debut; just hours before the Florida Challenge

Kevin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:37:49 +0000

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/other/story/1252714.html

Sarona Snuka, the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Superfly Snuka, makes her pro wrestling debut on Saturday, Sept. 26 at a WXW show which starts 7:30 p.m. at the Minneola Recreation Center in Clermont, Fla.

Former (South Florida) Parkland-Douglas High School cross-country and track standout Kevin Grogan will referee her match. Grogan, a former Miami Herald All-Broward High School first team selection, is active on the road racing and triathlon circuit. He is a 1996 graduate of Florida State University with a master’s degree in sports administration from the University of Florida. Visit wxwwrestling.com.

Florida Challenge 70.3

Kevin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:52:55 +0000