Aug 26 - Sept 1
S: 15,050 yds - 3hr 39min
B: 166.41 mi - 9hr 16min
R: 30.02 mi - 3hr 51min
Total: 16hr 46min
Sept 2 - Sept 8
S: 9,171 yds - 2hr 8min
B: 113.44 mi - 5hr 58min
R: 20.38 mi - 2hr 38min
Total: 10hr 44min
Well, since this race happened about a month ago I figured I'd go ahead and try to sum it up before it's long forgotten. The Alabama Coastal Triathlon takes place every year in early September, and it really is just a good excuse to take a trip down to the beach. Lori and I headed down to Gulf Shores, AL on Saturday morning and after arriving at the beach we picked up packets and then had a nice dinner at King Neptune's Seafood Rstaurant. This place reminded me of an old adage; "don't judge a book by its cover." After a good night's sleep and the usual breakfast routine, it was time to race.
Warm Up
Now I know what you're thinking; why am I doing a write up on the "warm up"? What could possibly happen in a warm up that is worth talking about? Well, lots of things. My race started at 7:30am but the sprint distance started at 7:00am and so transition closed at 6:30am, so we opted to get to the race site at 5:30am. For intense races like an olympic distance triathlon, I like getting a good 10-15 minute ride in, a 10 minute run, and a short swim. After dropping our bags off at the racks, Lori and I headed out for a bike warm up. At around 3 minutes and almost a mile into the warm up I heard every triathlete's worst nightmare...air coming out of my rear tire! And with it being a latex tube, that was $18 down the drain. With nothing to change the flat I started the walk back to transition. Instead of changing the tube myself I let bike support do it to save time and a few minutes later I was on my way for another warm up. After riding around for a few minutes I rolled back towards transition, got off my bike, and then...pop! Front tire flat! What the heck! Another $18 latex tube down the drain. I was about 10 feet away from bike support so I rolled over there and they changed it real quick. By this time it was already 6:35am but I rolled out for another warm up just to make sure. After 5 minutes of riding around without flatting, I rolled back into transition at around 6:45am. The race directors were yelling at people to get out of transition but I put my shoes on, did a few laps around transition, and then got out at around 6:55am. Whew! From there I had 30 minutes to let the nerves settle before starting the race, but hey...at least I was going to make it to the start line!
Swim - 21:41 (5th)
The swim was a 2 loop course, which is slightly annoying because it makes the 2nd loop pretty congested. Nonetheless, that was the course and everyone had to do it. I was 12th or so in the time trial start and after a few minutes found myself all alone. I can never tell if I'm having a good swim or not but it felt like I was moving pretty good so whatever. At the end of the first loop you had to get out on the beach, run down 30 yds or so, and then get back in the ocean. On the run out back into the ocean I decided to dive through the wave a little too soon and took a mouthful of water. Besides dodging swimmers on the 2nd lap the rest of the swim was pretty uneventful.
T1 - 1:26 (3rd)
On the run up to transition someone yelled out that I was in 4th position so I figured it was a good swim. T1 was quick with no mistakes, and I headed out ready to reel in the other 3 riders.
Bike - 57:54 (2nd)
As soon as the bike started Sam Hudson jumped in front of me and I ended up just riding legally behind him for a few minutes while recovering from the swim. A few minutes later we passed Lori (she crushed the swim) and after yelling some encouragement I decided to go ahead and pass Sam because I wanted to go just a litttttle bit faster. It was very, very hot and humid out and bike watts felt a little low, but I could see that we were reeling a guy in up the road. At the turnaround we had reeled in the guy and I moved into 2nd place, with Tiago Barriera a few minutes up the road. Tiago is a great swimmer/biker but I felt confident I could reel him in on the run. That said, he had a slightly bigger lead than I had expected so my nerves were on edge. On the way back in we had a nice tailwind but I was not feeling good at all. Sam was content to legally sit behind me so I just focused on trying to keep watts steady and not falter. Sam and I arrived into T2 together and Tiago had a 3 minute lead.
T2 - 0:48 (2nd)
No mistakes here. I managed to put 20 seconds into Sam here, which would hopefully put him out of the picture for good.
Run - 41:54 (4th)
Only one word is necessary here: HOT. It was almost a repeat of last year, which was without a doubt the most miserable 10k run of 2012. This year proved to be no different. The first 2 miles or so weren't bad. The tailwind was nice and I could see Tiago slowing down up the road, which provided some good motivation. At about the halfway mark I passed Tiago and saw that I had a good size gap on Sam, but that's when things really started to hurt. The thrill of moving into first got me through mile 4 but miles 5 and 6 were about the most miserable thing I've done in recent memory. I figured everyone was suffering just as bad but I became paranoid that I was slowing down too much and that someone was going to come pass me. Seeing Lori in first place for the females helped get me through mile 5, and from there it was all I could do to make it to the end.
Total - 2:03:42 (1st overall)
No matter what or how it happens, a win is a win. My swim felt good but I felt like my bike was poor (given other performances this year) and the run was a slug fest in the heat. It was miserable but crossing the line was the most awesome thing. The complete contrast of different emotions of pain/suffering and then joy/happiness is really kind of weird, but I guess it's what draws people to compete. Oh yea...and Lori took the overall female win by...8 MINUTES...so awesome!
9.16.2013
Rocketman Triathlon Race Report
Aug 12 - Aug 18
S: 14,700 yds - 3hr 26min
B: 232.45 mi - 12hr 32min
R: 28.37 mi - 3hr 37min
Total: 19hr 35min
Aug 19 - Aug 25
S: 12,191 yds - 2hr 59min
B: 91.47 mi - 4hr 51min
R: 31.69 mi - 3hr 55min
Total: 11hr 45min
I've been looking forward to the Rocketman Triathlon for pretty much the entire year because it's an awesome race course and it is very well run, but mainly because this year race director Mike Gerrity decided to do an "elite open wave". Since there are practically ZERO races in Alabama that do any sort of mass start or wave start, I was really looking forward to actually racing head to head against my competitors. I'm really not sure why other races don't copy this format, but kudos to Mike for doing it. If the goal of a race is to actually race against and compete against your competitors, anything other than a mass start is not ideal. IMO, it just takes away something from the race.
Anyways, there were about 20 or so of us men and women in the open wave. I thought I had a chance to bring home a win, but it would be tough. Bruce Gennari is a stud swimmer with a very good bike, so if he's having a good day then he is hard to beat. Jonathan Krichev and Kendrick Gibson were the other 2 guys on my radar. I have beat both of them before but have also lost to both of them before. In my mind it was going to be a pretty close, hard fought race.
Swim - 26:43 (23rd)
As we were all treading water waiting for the swim start, that first turn buoy looked a long way off! I lined up near the right side and as the gun sounded, we took off. The pace was high starting off but after a couple hundred meters I found myself solo with no one around me. I immediately noticed two things: we were swimming into a very stiff current, and that first turn buoy really was a long way away. Bruce was likely going to put some good time into everyone so we all had our work cut out for us. As we were almost to the turn buoy, every triathlete's worst nightmare happened: I felt my chip come loose! I stopped swimming and as I stopped it slipped off my ankle. Luckily I turned around and immediately saw it, and then stuffed it down the front of my suit. My goggles had already filled with water due to the heavy chop so I took that opportunity to put them back on. Alright, time to race again. After rounding the turn buoy we were with the current for the remainder of the swim. At about the halfway point I saw a familiar stroke swim up next to me, and it was none other than Hallie Blunck. We swam beside each other and then I finally moved in behind her and finished off the swim in her draft. After hearing Hallie tell me that we swam 26:30 I was slightly nervous that I had lost the race for myself, but as it turns out the swim was long and the current really killed people. I came out about 2 minutes behind Kendrick and Krichev, which is about where I expected to be. Bruce had already put 5 minutes on me.
T1 - 0:38 (8th)
Transition was fast and uneventful except for spending 5 seconds putting my chip back on my ankle. In hindsight I should have just stuffed the chip in my pocket...
Bike - 59:03 (2nd)
Coming out of transition, I felt my chip come loose again! What the heck! I reached down and grabbed it, and then stuffed it in my pocket. From there the main goal was to reel in Kendrick and Krichev, as they are both good runners. After a mile or so I passed by Sara and then Lori and wished them both a good race. A few miles later I could see some men up the road so I knew I was in business. We had a tailwind going out so I tried to get us aero as possible, save a few watts, and really focus on speed. At about mile 10 I was rapidly approaching Kendrick and then passed him. This put me into 4th because Jeff Fejfar had a stellar swim and was riding in 2nd place behind Bruce. A few miles later I passed Krichev and moved into 3rd. I could not even see Bruce or Jeff up the road so that was kind of demoralizing. Watts were good on the way back in and I tried to kick it up a notch into the headwind, knowing that I needed to at least give myself a shot at a win. As I rolled towards transition I reached into my pocket to pull out my timing chip, and then noticed that the chip had fallen off the strap! Crap! I yelled to all the timing people as I rolled into T2 and they made sure that I was marked down.
T2 - 0:59 (14th)
No mistakes here, and I was quickly out on the run course trying to reel in the leaders.
Run - 39:39 (8th)
The run course starts off with a section on trail before moving onto gravel roads, and then finishes up with a nice little climb and then downhill into the finish. I was hurting pretty good but felt like I could still throw down a good run. The first few miles were all around 6:20 to 6:30 pace and I felt like I was managing myself good. During the out and back section at around mile 3.5 I could see that Bruce had a sizable lead and that he would take the win, but where did Jeff go?? Somehow I was now sitting in 2nd place. As it turned out, Jeff made a wrong turn out of transition and was way behind. At mile 4 on my way back towards the finish I saw Kendrick and Krichev and they only appeared to be 30-40 seconds back...crap! I was running scared now, but I managed to speed up just a hair and maintain the gap, crossing the line in 2nd place. As I crossed I yelled to the timing officials to make sure they got down my final finish time.
Total - 2:07:02 (2nd overall)
A win would have been nice but Bruce had a stellar race and crushed it. Unfortunately for Jeff, he made a wrong turn that probably cost him 2nd place (although you never know), but that's part of racing and I've certainly been there before. Kendrick and I go back and forth a lot so it was nice to be on the winning end of that match-up, although I'm certain that he will be back and ready for revenge next time. Also, huge congrats to Lori for taking 2nd overall female with a 2:19:09 in only her 2nd Olympic distance race! And kudos to Birminghamian Hallie Blunck for taking the win and to Sara Gibson for rounding out the female podium in 3rd!
S: 14,700 yds - 3hr 26min
B: 232.45 mi - 12hr 32min
R: 28.37 mi - 3hr 37min
Total: 19hr 35min
Aug 19 - Aug 25
S: 12,191 yds - 2hr 59min
B: 91.47 mi - 4hr 51min
R: 31.69 mi - 3hr 55min
Total: 11hr 45min
I've been looking forward to the Rocketman Triathlon for pretty much the entire year because it's an awesome race course and it is very well run, but mainly because this year race director Mike Gerrity decided to do an "elite open wave". Since there are practically ZERO races in Alabama that do any sort of mass start or wave start, I was really looking forward to actually racing head to head against my competitors. I'm really not sure why other races don't copy this format, but kudos to Mike for doing it. If the goal of a race is to actually race against and compete against your competitors, anything other than a mass start is not ideal. IMO, it just takes away something from the race.
Anyways, there were about 20 or so of us men and women in the open wave. I thought I had a chance to bring home a win, but it would be tough. Bruce Gennari is a stud swimmer with a very good bike, so if he's having a good day then he is hard to beat. Jonathan Krichev and Kendrick Gibson were the other 2 guys on my radar. I have beat both of them before but have also lost to both of them before. In my mind it was going to be a pretty close, hard fought race.
Swim - 26:43 (23rd)
As we were all treading water waiting for the swim start, that first turn buoy looked a long way off! I lined up near the right side and as the gun sounded, we took off. The pace was high starting off but after a couple hundred meters I found myself solo with no one around me. I immediately noticed two things: we were swimming into a very stiff current, and that first turn buoy really was a long way away. Bruce was likely going to put some good time into everyone so we all had our work cut out for us. As we were almost to the turn buoy, every triathlete's worst nightmare happened: I felt my chip come loose! I stopped swimming and as I stopped it slipped off my ankle. Luckily I turned around and immediately saw it, and then stuffed it down the front of my suit. My goggles had already filled with water due to the heavy chop so I took that opportunity to put them back on. Alright, time to race again. After rounding the turn buoy we were with the current for the remainder of the swim. At about the halfway point I saw a familiar stroke swim up next to me, and it was none other than Hallie Blunck. We swam beside each other and then I finally moved in behind her and finished off the swim in her draft. After hearing Hallie tell me that we swam 26:30 I was slightly nervous that I had lost the race for myself, but as it turns out the swim was long and the current really killed people. I came out about 2 minutes behind Kendrick and Krichev, which is about where I expected to be. Bruce had already put 5 minutes on me.
 |
| jumping in for the wave start |
T1 - 0:38 (8th)
Transition was fast and uneventful except for spending 5 seconds putting my chip back on my ankle. In hindsight I should have just stuffed the chip in my pocket...
Bike - 59:03 (2nd)
Coming out of transition, I felt my chip come loose again! What the heck! I reached down and grabbed it, and then stuffed it in my pocket. From there the main goal was to reel in Kendrick and Krichev, as they are both good runners. After a mile or so I passed by Sara and then Lori and wished them both a good race. A few miles later I could see some men up the road so I knew I was in business. We had a tailwind going out so I tried to get us aero as possible, save a few watts, and really focus on speed. At about mile 10 I was rapidly approaching Kendrick and then passed him. This put me into 4th because Jeff Fejfar had a stellar swim and was riding in 2nd place behind Bruce. A few miles later I passed Krichev and moved into 3rd. I could not even see Bruce or Jeff up the road so that was kind of demoralizing. Watts were good on the way back in and I tried to kick it up a notch into the headwind, knowing that I needed to at least give myself a shot at a win. As I rolled towards transition I reached into my pocket to pull out my timing chip, and then noticed that the chip had fallen off the strap! Crap! I yelled to all the timing people as I rolled into T2 and they made sure that I was marked down.
 |
| on the bike |
T2 - 0:59 (14th)
No mistakes here, and I was quickly out on the run course trying to reel in the leaders.
Run - 39:39 (8th)
The run course starts off with a section on trail before moving onto gravel roads, and then finishes up with a nice little climb and then downhill into the finish. I was hurting pretty good but felt like I could still throw down a good run. The first few miles were all around 6:20 to 6:30 pace and I felt like I was managing myself good. During the out and back section at around mile 3.5 I could see that Bruce had a sizable lead and that he would take the win, but where did Jeff go?? Somehow I was now sitting in 2nd place. As it turned out, Jeff made a wrong turn out of transition and was way behind. At mile 4 on my way back towards the finish I saw Kendrick and Krichev and they only appeared to be 30-40 seconds back...crap! I was running scared now, but I managed to speed up just a hair and maintain the gap, crossing the line in 2nd place. As I crossed I yelled to the timing officials to make sure they got down my final finish time.
 |
| on the run... |
 |
| trying to stay strong |
Total - 2:07:02 (2nd overall)
A win would have been nice but Bruce had a stellar race and crushed it. Unfortunately for Jeff, he made a wrong turn that probably cost him 2nd place (although you never know), but that's part of racing and I've certainly been there before. Kendrick and I go back and forth a lot so it was nice to be on the winning end of that match-up, although I'm certain that he will be back and ready for revenge next time. Also, huge congrats to Lori for taking 2nd overall female with a 2:19:09 in only her 2nd Olympic distance race! And kudos to Birminghamian Hallie Blunck for taking the win and to Sara Gibson for rounding out the female podium in 3rd!
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