The Howling -- Wolfpack Weekly Update (July 1, 2026)

July 1 2026 - As we come to mid-year, just want to send out a congratulation to the Pack members who've had an absolute fantastic season and those that have put in all that effort for as they gear up for Monster races in Q3!

Howls

Howl out to Kabir "Kaboom" Ghale who raced the Leadville Heavy Half (Marathon) on Saturday. This 15 mile race race is absolute Misery! It has almost 3,500' of elevation that includes a climb all the way to the top of Mosquito Pass which stands at 13,185'. Insane. Kaboom finished in the top 50% of the M30-39 AG which had around 130 or so participants. Pretty darn impressive performance!

Howl out to Allen Corona who is readying up for IronMan Wisconsin in early September with his completion of the Boulder Sunrise Olympic Triathlon!

Yelp out to Erik "The Butcher" Gutknecht who returned to Triathlon for his first race at the Loveland Lake to Lake Sprint Tri after, I think, retiring, after beating me at the Boulder Peak Triathlon in 2021 beffore we got to know each other (Note, I took 3rd and he ignored me on the podium while he chatted up the 2nd place finisher - I am not beating a dead horse... :) and placing 12th overall and 2nd M50-54 (just 2 minutes out of 1st against a pereniall AG winner)! Holy Bike Split Erik!!!!

Howl out to RJ "The Boogeyman" Boergers who raceds the Challenge 70.3 Quebec and with this effort has qualified for Challenge Roth!

Howl out to Thomas "The Swede" Andreasson who raced the St Louis Sprint Triathlon (Missouri State Championship) for the 3rd year in a row where he placed 2nd M60-64. He always managed to take 2nd in M55-59 during his last two competitions there and he finally would have won M55-59 this year, but aged up... :)

Howl out to Dave "Big Horn" Buchwald who raced his FIRST EVER triathon at Boulder Sunrise Sprint Tri. Before I share the result, I want to share Dave's journey to the Start Line. I always say, it is really not about crossing the Finish Line, it is showing up as ready as you can possibly be at the Start Line, then let things play out the way they are meant to be.

Dave who is 59 years old (M60-64) never swam until October of last year, had a bike he rode occassionally, and as he was a Mountaineer having climbed some incredible peaks through his Journey just didn't run much. I told him when we first started together that his past remarkable history of mountaineering and all the effort that went into it basically would have no value in triathlon... :)

But what Dave brought was Heart and an incredible will do develop the capabilities he needed to be successful. The first time I saw him swim was in our Endless Pool where I was concerned he may drown in the 4' of water. Given the endless road (or the blue line) ahead of him we discussed that given he struggled to complete swimming the length of the pool without a long rest, we'd need to swim short distances as frequently as he can (which meant he'd go to the pool almost daily to knock out 500 to 1K sessions), joined a Master's sessions on Mondays that was targetted to folks new to swimming, and took lessons from Melissa Otterbein who really had her hands full in sorting through Dave's technique (if that's what you called it). Over time, he got to the point where he could do a whole lap and overtime moved up a lane at Masters. He then swapped out the Pool for Open Water at the Gravel Pond to just get comfortable swimming by frequently getting out there and wimming. For the bike, he was good at getting the Interval work in on the Trainer, but then bought a 2nd hand Peloton to have at his office so he could get time in when he was busy with work. He also joined the RMTC rides. I've always been a HUGE advocate of group riding and learning from others as you go; that is, learning to ride other folks wheels and seeing how they gear and ride to become better oneself, plus push yourself deep to not get dropped and ride alone. Throughout, he continuously moved up the groups to faster folks and built a solid cycling foundation (he shocked me with his time through the 3 mountain passes of the Copper Triangle Ride). Then, he got a TT bike and worked to get more and more comfortable in aero position at higher speeds. Running was always going to be a challenge, but he went out frequently to knock out runs when he can and subscribed to my "Frequency Trumps Volume" theory of training. And then, as we were ramping up for his first ever triathlon at Harvest Moon Last month, two weeks prior, he tore his calf muscle and to recover balanced his hands-on Masseuse and ART folks with swims and bikes based upon how he felt. He just never quit doing whatever he could to relentlessly move forward and would move workouts around based upon availability and ability based upon how his calf fell. And all of this went on with personal and work challenges that just make it hard to stay focused and find time, but he did.

Given Dave's starting point, our goal was to have a "Smartly Executed Complete Race" with no concern on time. Just Swim Straight without stopping to look around. Move through T1 as quickly as he could. Ride in his aero bars throughout the bike course. Again, rocket through T2. Then find a pace on the Run he could hold and progress throughout to finish strong. In the end, he completed Boulder Sunrise Sprint Tri in 1:45, placing 3rd M60-64 which was just a few minutes behind 1st and 2nd in his AG. I was so happy to see these results on Sunday!! Dave's race is a testament to "how you train" and was a strong example of Relentless Forward Motion; that is, doing something everyday and working his workouts into his schedule.

Now we have our baseline of having a "good" race as we ramp up for his First Olympic in late July and First Half-IronMan in Michigan in September!

I raced USA Cycling AG National Championships in Wisconsin. Placed 11 which was middle of the AG. I was unhappy that I didn't podium, but when I looked at the numbers on my race and the conditions, I realized I had exactly the day I trained to and I thought that there is something to be learned here for everyone. First, although we had a 11:00 am start, given the mid-90s temperature and 85+% humidity which is a death knell for me with racing as I don't process heat well, I knew that this race, despite only being a half hour may be problematic. I was also 3rd to last rider for some reason so knew I'd likely have no one to chase as all the guys around me were past Nats TT guys who podiumed in the past. My average speed was 25.5 mph for the 13.8 mile course which is pretty much as fast as I can ride (HR at 90+% the entire time, ave cadence of 94, NP was 310 and first 5 minutes with a NP of 355 and still got passed by the 2 guys behind me). To get to podium (5th), I needed to shave off a minute which would have required me to go 26.1 mph (which I haven't averaged ever). So, I basically executed to my capability which is a result of my personal self inherent capability and build, training effort, and my overall management of weight. In short, I did as well as I could. If I want to get better, I need to train harder (making sure to suffer on key workouts) and consistently, need to better incorporate strength training in, and get leaner. That's where I'd get my 1/2 mph... :)

So, as I've always said, it's all about the Start Line. Race Day is a function of what you put in to readying for it! RELENTLESS FORWARD MOTION!

Get Ready to Howl for this week's racers as Andy "The Hammer" Solomon will be heading to Tel Aviv, Israel to compete in the Maccabi games. Over 8 days, he competes uin a Sprint Duathlon, a 2 Mile Open Water Swim, a Half-Marathon, and a Time Trial; and, Lisa "She-Wolf" Rosynsky will be racing in the Firecracker 5K in New Jerrsey.

I highly encourage you all to take advantage of the long weekend for a long ride and find a local running race to jump into!

Over the next few weeks, we have some fun ones and encourage folks to get out and race.

Weekly Volume Podium

1st - Matt "Jiffy" Lubiak (NJ)-- 13:45

2nd - Mary "The Mountain Goat" Hoftiezer (CO) -- 13:42

3rd - Andy "The Hammer" Solomon (FL) -- 9:18

4th - RJ "Boogeyman" Boergers (NJ) -- 9:30

5th - Dave "Big Horn" Buchwald" (CO) -- 7:02

Podium (40) and PR (6) Counter <If I am missing anything, please let me know>

Mary "Mtn Goat" Hoftiezer (F60-64) 10 -- KHMTT #01: 3rd F60+ / KHMTT #03: 3rd F60+ / KHMTT #04: 2nd F60+ / Frostbite TT : 1st F 60+ / KHMTT #05: 3rd F60+ / KHMTT #06: 3rd F60+ / KHMTT #07: 4th F60+ / Harvest Moon Sprint Tri: 1st AG / KHMTT Series: 2nd F60+ / IronMan 70.3 Omaha: 3rd AG

Kabir Gahle (M30-34) 3 -- KHMTT #05: 3rd M Cat 5 / KHMTT Series: 3rd M Cat 5 / Harvest Moon Olympic: 5th AG

Lisa "She-Wolf" Rosynsky (F45-49) 3 -- Jerseyman Short Tri: 2nd AG / Princeton Sprint Tri: 1st AG / Navesink or Swim -0.8 Mile Swim: 2nd F40-49

Andy "The Hammer" Solomon (M50-54) 3 : Jerseyman Long: 1st AG / French Creek Olym;pic Tri: 2nd AG / Millburn 4 Miler: 2nd M 50-59

Matt Lubiak (M55-59) 3 -- Myrtle Beach Marathon: 3rd AG / Escape the Cape Olympic Tri: 1st AG / Navesink or Swim 2.4 Mile Swim: 2nd M 50-59

Thomas "The Swede" Andreasson (M60-64) 2 -- Drink MO Wine 13.1: 1st AG / St Louis Sprint Tri: 2nd AG

Dave "Big Horn" Buchwald (M60-64) 1 -- Boulder Sunrise Sprint Tri: 3rd AG

Pat "The Warrior" Wirth (M30-34) 1 -- Harvest Moon Olympic Tri: 1st AG

Christine Kachinsky (F55-59) 5 -- Polar Prowl 10K: 3rd AG / Mardis Gras Crawl 10K: 3rd Overall Female / KHMTT #01: 1st F50+ / KHMTT#03: 1st F50+ / Mother's Day Classic: 1st F50-59

John Bye (M55-59) 9 -- Polar Prowl 10K: 1st AG / Mardis Gras Crawl 10K: 2nd AG / KHMTT #01: 2nd M50+ Cat 3 / Jerseyman Tri Long: 4th Overall / KHMTT Series: 3rd M50+ Cat 3 / KHMTT Series: 4th M 50+ Pro Cat 1/2/3 / Harvest Moon Sprint : 1st AG / Colorado Sprint Tri: 1st AG / IronMan 70.3 Boulder: 5th AG

Personal Records (PRs)

Kabir Ghale (M35-39) 2 -- Colfax 13.1 / IronMan 70.3 Boulder

Pat "The Warrior" Wirth (M3-34) 1 -- IronMan 70.3 Boulder

Thomas "The Swede" Andreasson (M60-64) 1 -- Drink MO Wine 13.1

Allen Corona (M30-34) 1 -- Brooklyn Marathon 13.1

Tara "Yes I Can" Corduan (F50-54) 1 -- Jersey City 13.1

Relentless Forward Motion