Sept 10 - Sept 16
S: 7,791 yds - 1hr 50min
B: 121.89 mi - 6hr 43min
R: 16.73 mi - 2hr 10min
Total: 10hr 43min
At first glance the volume appears light, but that was only 4 days of work after bagging Monday through Wednesday with an upper respiratory infection. Thursday brought back some cool weather and some easy training. Friday was easy as well, and with the weekend came some solid biking. In fact, it may have been not so solid as I completely cracked on my Sunday long ride. I don't think that it's really ever happened like that this year and I usually take a fair amount of pride in getting through tough bike workouts without folding, but I guess it was a good learning experience. Next up is a return to my normal weekly schedule, which I have certainly missed after spending the last month racing all over the place. A solid 2 weeks of training will culminate with a 4 day family beach trip (which will clearly be a run and ocean swim heavy weekend). The last race on my schedule is the Rev3 South Carolina half ironman on October 14th. Based on how things have been going, I've got plenty of fitness to get a good result. The main goal, however, might be to not screw up nutrition like I have every other half ironman I've ever done.
9.17.2012
9.10.2012
Alabama Coastal Triathlon Race Report
Sept 3 - Sept 9
S: 7,005 yds - 1hr 51min
B: 56.67 mi - 2hr 58min
R: 10.65 mi - 1hr 17min
Total: 5hr 56min
Whew, what a week. The volume may not seem like much, but the week really did drain on me. Monday was an "off" day, but it was spent driving the rest of the way back to Birmingham and recovering from Hy-Vee. Honestly, I don't think I've ever been as wrecked as I was after Hy-Vee. I don't think I fully recovered from it until maybe Thursday but during that time I developed some sort of cold/upper respiratory infection. Crap. Oh well, it's not like I was planning to race again on Saturday...oh wait... Anyways...so Thursday and Friday were spent resting up for the race and trying to battle a congested chest. On Friday, Lori and I loaded up my car and headed down to Gulf Shores for the Alabama Coastal Triathlon. We met fellow Accelerate 3 athlete James Haycraft at packet pick-up to get our stuff and then headed to his parents' beach house where we would be staying for the weekend. On Saturday morning, the 3 of us awoke early to head over to the race site. The race was to be a 1500m swim, 40k bike, and 10k run. Conditions were humid and very hot...a good recipe for a "fun" day:
Swim - 17:32 (11th)
Firstly and obviously, this swim was a short of 1500m. The course was a first for me, as we had learned the day before that it was going to be a 2 loop swim. So, swim 1 rectangular loop, get out, run on the beach, and get back in for another loop. This is fine and all except that the waves were of decent size and getting in/out of the surf was a little tricky. Nonetheless, I started right behind Lori and right in front of James. I knew James would be my main competition for the day. The first loop went by smoothly and as I was running in for the second loop I could see James just diving in about 20-30 seconds ahead. The second loop was slightly more congested with slower swimmers, but I thought it went well and I exited the water and made my way towards T1.
T1 - 2:21
After a long run up the beach, I quickly stripped off my speedsuit, put my helmet on, and ran my bike out. The mount was good and I was off. No mistakes here. I didn't know what position I was sitting, but I figured there were 3-4 guys in front of me.
Bike - 55:34 (2nd)
I really didn't know what to expect on the bike (being somewhat sick and all), but I knew I had to crush it to make up lost time on James. James is a superb biker, so it was going to be a tough job. Surprisingly, watts were about where I expected them to be in the 270-280 range, although my legs didn't feel as good as they did the previous weekend. I passed 2 guys on the way out and at the first turnaround I could see 2 more guys. Within a couple minutes I passed both of them and really picked up the effort for the next few minutes to completely drop and demoralize them. At that point I was in 2nd position with James sitting in front of me just out of sight. The return trip of the bike was AWESOME because we had a monster tailwind. Anytime you can average 28 mph for 15 minutes...that is FUN. Near mile 17 was a short out and back section which allowed me to see the gap that James had on me. I figured it was around 1.5 minutes...the rest of the race was going to be tough. The last 2-3 miles into T2 were with a huge tailwind so I used that opportunity to let my heart calm down because I was still going 29-30 mph.
T2 - 1:23
No mistakes here, just a quick in and quick out. It was nice to hear some cheers from a few Vulcan Tri members who were spectating.
Run - 41:35 (5th)
One word: sufferfest. Coming out of T2 my legs felt super tight but I just told myself to push through it. After a mile or so I started to feel a little bit better but it was getting HOT! Right before the turnaround I saw James and could see that he had it in the bag. After the turnaround was when things started to get tough. I could feel my body temperature rising, my head getting light, and my heart rate rising. Miles 1-4 were a solid 6:33, 6:30, 6:30, and 6:38. At that point I was hurting bad and started slowing down, but was able to salvage out a 6:52 and 6:56 final 2 miles. It wasn't pretty but it did the job.
Total - 1:58:24 (2nd Overall)
James crushed it for the win and I finished around 3.5 minutes behind him. Third place was another minute behind me. I felt good about the race; no huge mistakes and I was definitely aggressive and left it all out there. After looking at the results, everyone suffered on the run. I would have loved to run 38-39 minutes, but you can't always expect that in 90+ degree heat. It doesn't matter though...nothing I could have done would have bought me another 3.5 minutes, and a $200 check is always a good way to end a race!
What was even cooler was that Lori ended up getting 3rd overall female for a $100 check, and with James taking the title for $300 we took back a total of $600 and half the prize purse to the Haycraft beach house...not a bad way to start the weekend! The rest of Saturday and Sunday was spent playing on the beach, drinking coffee, eating good food, watching storms roll in from a porch rocking chair, having community, and just living the good life!
S: 7,005 yds - 1hr 51min
B: 56.67 mi - 2hr 58min
R: 10.65 mi - 1hr 17min
Total: 5hr 56min
Whew, what a week. The volume may not seem like much, but the week really did drain on me. Monday was an "off" day, but it was spent driving the rest of the way back to Birmingham and recovering from Hy-Vee. Honestly, I don't think I've ever been as wrecked as I was after Hy-Vee. I don't think I fully recovered from it until maybe Thursday but during that time I developed some sort of cold/upper respiratory infection. Crap. Oh well, it's not like I was planning to race again on Saturday...oh wait... Anyways...so Thursday and Friday were spent resting up for the race and trying to battle a congested chest. On Friday, Lori and I loaded up my car and headed down to Gulf Shores for the Alabama Coastal Triathlon. We met fellow Accelerate 3 athlete James Haycraft at packet pick-up to get our stuff and then headed to his parents' beach house where we would be staying for the weekend. On Saturday morning, the 3 of us awoke early to head over to the race site. The race was to be a 1500m swim, 40k bike, and 10k run. Conditions were humid and very hot...a good recipe for a "fun" day:
Swim - 17:32 (11th)
Firstly and obviously, this swim was a short of 1500m. The course was a first for me, as we had learned the day before that it was going to be a 2 loop swim. So, swim 1 rectangular loop, get out, run on the beach, and get back in for another loop. This is fine and all except that the waves were of decent size and getting in/out of the surf was a little tricky. Nonetheless, I started right behind Lori and right in front of James. I knew James would be my main competition for the day. The first loop went by smoothly and as I was running in for the second loop I could see James just diving in about 20-30 seconds ahead. The second loop was slightly more congested with slower swimmers, but I thought it went well and I exited the water and made my way towards T1.
T1 - 2:21
After a long run up the beach, I quickly stripped off my speedsuit, put my helmet on, and ran my bike out. The mount was good and I was off. No mistakes here. I didn't know what position I was sitting, but I figured there were 3-4 guys in front of me.
Bike - 55:34 (2nd)
I really didn't know what to expect on the bike (being somewhat sick and all), but I knew I had to crush it to make up lost time on James. James is a superb biker, so it was going to be a tough job. Surprisingly, watts were about where I expected them to be in the 270-280 range, although my legs didn't feel as good as they did the previous weekend. I passed 2 guys on the way out and at the first turnaround I could see 2 more guys. Within a couple minutes I passed both of them and really picked up the effort for the next few minutes to completely drop and demoralize them. At that point I was in 2nd position with James sitting in front of me just out of sight. The return trip of the bike was AWESOME because we had a monster tailwind. Anytime you can average 28 mph for 15 minutes...that is FUN. Near mile 17 was a short out and back section which allowed me to see the gap that James had on me. I figured it was around 1.5 minutes...the rest of the race was going to be tough. The last 2-3 miles into T2 were with a huge tailwind so I used that opportunity to let my heart calm down because I was still going 29-30 mph.
T2 - 1:23
No mistakes here, just a quick in and quick out. It was nice to hear some cheers from a few Vulcan Tri members who were spectating.
Run - 41:35 (5th)
One word: sufferfest. Coming out of T2 my legs felt super tight but I just told myself to push through it. After a mile or so I started to feel a little bit better but it was getting HOT! Right before the turnaround I saw James and could see that he had it in the bag. After the turnaround was when things started to get tough. I could feel my body temperature rising, my head getting light, and my heart rate rising. Miles 1-4 were a solid 6:33, 6:30, 6:30, and 6:38. At that point I was hurting bad and started slowing down, but was able to salvage out a 6:52 and 6:56 final 2 miles. It wasn't pretty but it did the job.
 |
| finishing the run |
Total - 1:58:24 (2nd Overall)
James crushed it for the win and I finished around 3.5 minutes behind him. Third place was another minute behind me. I felt good about the race; no huge mistakes and I was definitely aggressive and left it all out there. After looking at the results, everyone suffered on the run. I would have loved to run 38-39 minutes, but you can't always expect that in 90+ degree heat. It doesn't matter though...nothing I could have done would have bought me another 3.5 minutes, and a $200 check is always a good way to end a race!
 |
| "winnings" |
What was even cooler was that Lori ended up getting 3rd overall female for a $100 check, and with James taking the title for $300 we took back a total of $600 and half the prize purse to the Haycraft beach house...not a bad way to start the weekend! The rest of Saturday and Sunday was spent playing on the beach, drinking coffee, eating good food, watching storms roll in from a porch rocking chair, having community, and just living the good life!
 |
| morning view |
9.04.2012
Hy-Vee Triathlon 5150 U.S. Championship Race Report
Aug 27 - Sept 7
S: 6,232 yds - 1hr 29min
B: 50.46 mi - 2hr 40min
R: 20.57 mi - 2hr 32min
Total: 6hr 41min
We finally arrived in De Moines later that evening and after checking into our hotel we went out for a
dinner/beer before calling it a night.
After enjoying some French pressed coffee on Friday morning, we kitted up and rolled out on the bikes for a preview of the course. After wandering our way all over downtown De Moines, we finally made it to the race site and did a couple of efforts at pace before wandering back to the hotel. The rest of the day consisted of laying in bed and resting before heading down to a cool Italian place for lunch. That afternoon, I checked-in/got my race packet and then went for a swim at a local YMCA and knocked out a quick run before a steak dinner at a local brewery and an early bedtime.
Saturday...the day before the race. After sleeping in, we arose and enjoyed some more French pressed coffee and a good breakfast. The original plan was to go ride some more of the bike course, but after some discussion the plan changed to "lay low" until lunch. After lunch we drove the bike course to get a good feel for the turns, road quality, where the rollers were, where the sketchy railroad tracks were, etc, etc. Jay and Jacob had a mandatory meeting/check-in that afternoon since they were in the elite amateur field, so after that we headed down to the race site to get a quick swim, bike, and run in before checking in bikes. Dinner was soon to follow, and then it was back to the hotel room for a good night's sleep.
Jay and Jacob's wave went off at 6:45am and I was to follow 10 minutes behind them. After waking up at 4am, breakfast was in order before heading down to the race site. The race was a 1500m swim, 40k bike, and a 10k run. Here's how it happened:
Swim - 23:34
The wetsuit legal swim was a wave start for all the male 15-29 year olds, there must have been around 60-70 of us. I lined up on the right side of the beach on the front row, thinking that it would be slightly less congested and that I could get a smooth start. The horn went on and we were off. There’s really only 2 words to describe the first 200 meters of the swim: UTTER CHAOS. I was smacking people and kicking people, but was getting smacked and kick equally as much. We were not able to warm up in the lake before the race, so my arms immediately felt super tight, likely magnified by the fact that I wear my full sleeve wetsuit maybe 2-3 times per year. After a couple hundred meters, things started to thin out and I found some good pairs of feet and got into somewhat of a rhythm. It seemed like I was a little better than middle of the pack, but it was hard to tell with all the chaos. The swim was a counter clockwise rectangle. On the return trip back to T1 (which happened to be due east into the sun), the sun was just creeping above the tree line. It was literally impossible to see anything. Since the race was a wave start, I was still swimming around quite a few people so I was just trying to keep the same line that they were. It was definitely a situation of “the blind leading the blind”, but I figured that out of the 10-15 people around me at least some of them were going in a straight line. Finally, I reached the beach and hopped out of the water to run up into T1, anxious to get on my bike and start reeling some people in.
T1 - 1:55
T1 was quite a long run. We headed up the beach and into the largest transition area that I’ve ever seen. After finally making it to my bike I ripped of my wetsuit, slipped on my wetsuit and busted my butt on the ground, got my helmet on, and started running out of transition. After hopping on my bike, I was off.
Bike - 59:06
T2 - 1:06
No mistakes here, just a quick run in and a long run all the way out of transition to start the 10k run.
Run - 38:58
I came out of T2 right behind a group of 4 guys. Since I warmed up before the race on the first ¾ mile of the run course, I knew exactly what to expect for the first part; a slight incline over a bridge and then a 1 mile out and back. I tried picking it up to reel in the group in front of me, but after only clicking off the first mile in 6:25 my quads were really starting to tighten up. I was semi-scared that they might seize up, but I kept pressing on and it eventually subsided. At the turnaround approximately 1.5 miles into the race I could see that the group of 4 guys had put some time into me. From there I was pretty much by myself. Miles 2-3 ticked off in 6:15 and 6:08, and I was really starting to get in a groove. It’s hard to describe, but the feeling was a sense of euphoric bliss; it was amazing. My quads started to seize up again, but after another couple of minutes the tightness subsided. As I turned to cross over the bridge, mile 4 clicked by in 6:11. The next mile or so was along the river with some slight inclines before turning to cross over the river and head towards the state capitol. Mile 5 was a 6:10 and at this point I was really hurting but figured that one can do just about anything for only 7-8 more minutes. The course directed us away from the state capitol on a slight downhill before turning around for a super tough last ¾ mile on a slight uphill and then the last quarter mile was a steep uphill before finally entering the blue carpet towards the finish line. Mile 6 went by in 6:11 and then it was a sprint to the line to grab every possible second. I crossed the line with nothing left and collapsed while trying to catch my breath.
Total - 2:04:38 (42nd overall, 13th non-elite, 3rd AG)
All in all, I think that this was probably my best execution of an Olympic distance race yet. With Hy-Vee giving out large sums of money and it being such a well-known race, the competition was pretty stiff. It was good to see how I stacked up against the elite amateur field, many of whom are either going to have their elite card soon or are simply choosing not to get it. I still think that I can swim faster (Brian says I’m going to reek of chlorine this winter), but I was pleased with how the bike played out and I felt like the run was one of my better performance ever. It was a good learning experience and a major confidence booster. Next up is the Coastal Triathlon next weekend, and I may or may not have a half ironman or two planned for later this fall!
S: 6,232 yds - 1hr 29min
B: 50.46 mi - 2hr 40min
R: 20.57 mi - 2hr 32min
Total: 6hr 41min
I can’t remember the last time I was under 8-10
hours in a week, so that must mean one thing: taper time for a big
race! On Wednesday afternoon, Auburn triathletes Jacob Shults and Jay McCurdy picked me up in Birmingham and we started to make our trek up to
De Moines, IA for the Hy-Vee Triathlon 5150 U.S. Championship.
Wedneday’s plan was to drive 5 hours up to Jay’s parents’ house in Dyer,
TN. We made it there at around 9pm and quickly hit the beds in prep
for a long drive the next day.
On
Thursday, we awoke to excellent weather and went on a rather enjoyable
20 minute run around the farm before enjoying a home-cooked meal of
pancakes. Jay’s parents live on a 900 acre
farm, so it really was a pretty cool run on gravel roads and through
some fields. Jay’s dad would be joining us for the trip, so we piled
into a Yukon and began the 10 hour drive to De Moines. Basically, it was 10 hours of this:
 |
| "Iowa" |
The drive went
by without a hitch. Jay and his dad are both experts in the field of agriculture, so it was interesting to hear them talk about all kinds of things. I also enjoyed picking Jay's brain on everything there is to talk about regarding training and nutrition; he's been pretty successful as a triathlete so it was interesting to hear his thoughts on all kinds of things. Before we could arrive in Iowa though, Jacob and I managed to put a pretty decent dent in this pile of cookies:
 |
| Yummy cookies! |
After enjoying some French pressed coffee on Friday morning, we kitted up and rolled out on the bikes for a preview of the course. After wandering our way all over downtown De Moines, we finally made it to the race site and did a couple of efforts at pace before wandering back to the hotel. The rest of the day consisted of laying in bed and resting before heading down to a cool Italian place for lunch. That afternoon, I checked-in/got my race packet and then went for a swim at a local YMCA and knocked out a quick run before a steak dinner at a local brewery and an early bedtime.
Saturday...the day before the race. After sleeping in, we arose and enjoyed some more French pressed coffee and a good breakfast. The original plan was to go ride some more of the bike course, but after some discussion the plan changed to "lay low" until lunch. After lunch we drove the bike course to get a good feel for the turns, road quality, where the rollers were, where the sketchy railroad tracks were, etc, etc. Jay and Jacob had a mandatory meeting/check-in that afternoon since they were in the elite amateur field, so after that we headed down to the race site to get a quick swim, bike, and run in before checking in bikes. Dinner was soon to follow, and then it was back to the hotel room for a good night's sleep.
Jay and Jacob's wave went off at 6:45am and I was to follow 10 minutes behind them. After waking up at 4am, breakfast was in order before heading down to the race site. The race was a 1500m swim, 40k bike, and a 10k run. Here's how it happened:
Swim - 23:34
The wetsuit legal swim was a wave start for all the male 15-29 year olds, there must have been around 60-70 of us. I lined up on the right side of the beach on the front row, thinking that it would be slightly less congested and that I could get a smooth start. The horn went on and we were off. There’s really only 2 words to describe the first 200 meters of the swim: UTTER CHAOS. I was smacking people and kicking people, but was getting smacked and kick equally as much. We were not able to warm up in the lake before the race, so my arms immediately felt super tight, likely magnified by the fact that I wear my full sleeve wetsuit maybe 2-3 times per year. After a couple hundred meters, things started to thin out and I found some good pairs of feet and got into somewhat of a rhythm. It seemed like I was a little better than middle of the pack, but it was hard to tell with all the chaos. The swim was a counter clockwise rectangle. On the return trip back to T1 (which happened to be due east into the sun), the sun was just creeping above the tree line. It was literally impossible to see anything. Since the race was a wave start, I was still swimming around quite a few people so I was just trying to keep the same line that they were. It was definitely a situation of “the blind leading the blind”, but I figured that out of the 10-15 people around me at least some of them were going in a straight line. Finally, I reached the beach and hopped out of the water to run up into T1, anxious to get on my bike and start reeling some people in.
T1 - 1:55
T1 was quite a long run. We headed up the beach and into the largest transition area that I’ve ever seen. After finally making it to my bike I ripped of my wetsuit, slipped on my wetsuit and busted my butt on the ground, got my helmet on, and started running out of transition. After hopping on my bike, I was off.
Bike - 59:06
The plan for the bike was
to be aggressive, as this would be the best chance to make up lost time from
the swim. As I pulled out onto the main
road, my heart was beating out of my chest and I could see that it was close to 190 bpm. Crap...let’s make
that come down a little bit. After a
couple minutes of gradually settling into the effort, I started to feel a little
bit better. I immediately started to
reel in some of the guys in my wave.
There was a fair amount of people on the course (elite men, elite
women, guys in my wave that beat me in the swim), so I was able get a decent
amount of legal drafting or “slingshotting” while passing people. After passing a chunk of good swimmer/average
bikers in the first 5 miles, I found myself in no-man’s land for the next
couple of miles. It was here that I
really concentrated on keeping a high sustained effort. At mile 8 or so, I started to catch up with
some of the faster bikers in my wave. At
this point, I was passed by a guy who seemed to be going slightly faster than
me. For the remainder of the race we
traded positions a handful of times, but I mostly let him pull me along at a
legal distance which certainly helped out.
During the last few miles of the bike, I caught up with another group of
guys in my wave. At this point I let
them lead me into T2 as I was not sacrificing really any speed by backing off
the power...so I just sat in legally and let my heart calm down a bit before starting the run
T2 - 1:06
No mistakes here, just a quick run in and a long run all the way out of transition to start the 10k run.
Run - 38:58
I came out of T2 right behind a group of 4 guys. Since I warmed up before the race on the first ¾ mile of the run course, I knew exactly what to expect for the first part; a slight incline over a bridge and then a 1 mile out and back. I tried picking it up to reel in the group in front of me, but after only clicking off the first mile in 6:25 my quads were really starting to tighten up. I was semi-scared that they might seize up, but I kept pressing on and it eventually subsided. At the turnaround approximately 1.5 miles into the race I could see that the group of 4 guys had put some time into me. From there I was pretty much by myself. Miles 2-3 ticked off in 6:15 and 6:08, and I was really starting to get in a groove. It’s hard to describe, but the feeling was a sense of euphoric bliss; it was amazing. My quads started to seize up again, but after another couple of minutes the tightness subsided. As I turned to cross over the bridge, mile 4 clicked by in 6:11. The next mile or so was along the river with some slight inclines before turning to cross over the river and head towards the state capitol. Mile 5 was a 6:10 and at this point I was really hurting but figured that one can do just about anything for only 7-8 more minutes. The course directed us away from the state capitol on a slight downhill before turning around for a super tough last ¾ mile on a slight uphill and then the last quarter mile was a steep uphill before finally entering the blue carpet towards the finish line. Mile 6 went by in 6:11 and then it was a sprint to the line to grab every possible second. I crossed the line with nothing left and collapsed while trying to catch my breath.
Total - 2:04:38 (42nd overall, 13th non-elite, 3rd AG)
All in all, I think that this was probably my best execution of an Olympic distance race yet. With Hy-Vee giving out large sums of money and it being such a well-known race, the competition was pretty stiff. It was good to see how I stacked up against the elite amateur field, many of whom are either going to have their elite card soon or are simply choosing not to get it. I still think that I can swim faster (Brian says I’m going to reek of chlorine this winter), but I was pleased with how the bike played out and I felt like the run was one of my better performance ever. It was a good learning experience and a major confidence booster. Next up is the Coastal Triathlon next weekend, and I may or may not have a half ironman or two planned for later this fall!
 |
| Final day of the road trip: coffee on the farm in Dyer, TN |
8.27.2012
Rocketman Triathlon Race Report
Aug 20 - Aug 26
S: 12,313 yds - 2hr 51min
B: 89.09 mi - 4hr 46min
R: 38.71 mi - 4hr 53min
Total: 12hr 30min
Swim - 17:48 (16th)
Firstly and obviously, the swim was not 1500 meters. I have been swimming a good bit this year, but I'm not that fast! Of all the races that I've done so far this year though, this swim probably felt the smoothest. It seems like I sometimes have a habit of going out too hard for the first couple hundred meters and then "surviving" the rest of the swim, so this time I decided to ease into it a bit more and it seemed to work out well. I was the 16th racer to start and quickly settled into a rhythm. At the first buoy, I was still around a handful of people and as we turned I tried to start picking it up a notch. With a couple hundred meters to go I found some nice feet to sit on...and then, I realized it was Hallie towing me back into shore! That pace was all that I wanted, so I was content to cruise on back into T1.
T1 - 0:41 (11th)
No mistakes here, just a quick in-and-out.
Bike - 59:51 (2nd)
This was likely one of my strongest rides in a race to date. I didn't feel great for the first couple of minutes, but the longer the ride went on, the better I felt. My power keep creeping up and it felt amazing. I passed a handful of people in the first half of the race. In the back half, I got a good glimpse of who was in front of me: Craig Evans was out front, followed by Bruce Gennari and Jonathan Krichev. Craig was obviously way out front, but Bruce and Krichev were withing striking distance. They both started the race a minute in front of me, so I felt good about my position. With 4 miles to go I could see Krichev off in the distance, so I really focused on reeling him in knowing that he is a superb runner. Sure enough, I literally passed him while hanging off the side of my bike ready to dismount. Bruce was not too far ahead.
T2 - 0:48 (3rd)
Flawless work here and out on the run course in 3rd position.
Run - 40:11 (10th)
Almost exactly like Mountain Lakes, Krichev pulled up beside me about 20 seconds into the run. As he went by I let him pull me for a little bit but he was just running too fast. The first 2 miles were a mix of dirt trail through a wooded area and then a dirt/gravel road with a few nice rollers. I was keeping Krichev in my sights, but I knew I had to push harder if I wanted to beat him. After 2.5 miles or so, I finally started to feel some legs. 6:40 pace turned into 6:20, and I really started to try to make it hurt. At the one out-and-back portion of the run, I could see Craig still way out front but Bruce and Krichev were still not too far ahead. The last miles of the run were solid and I was pleased with the effort, crossing the line with nothing left in the tank.
Total - 1:59:18 (3rd overall)
As it turned out, I ended up nabbing Bruce by ~30 seconds for 3rd place overall, with Krichev ~35 seconds ahead of me in 2nd place. I didn't make any mistakes and after a hard week of training, everything seemed to be firing quite nicely. Now it's time to road trip to De Moines, IA for Hy-Vee!
S: 12,313 yds - 2hr 51min
B: 89.09 mi - 4hr 46min
R: 38.71 mi - 4hr 53min
Total: 12hr 30min
This week was the last “normal” hard week of the
season. And by normal I mean Monday short/hard intervals, Tuesday group
ride hammer session, Wednesday track, Thursday VO2 intervals on the
bike, a couple swims, and a Sunday race. It was a tough week, but
having the end of season light at the end of the tunnel in sight,
motivation was nice and high…and…I finished Thursday’s bike workout
with a spectacular view on top of Shades Mountain near sunset; it’s
probably my favorite place to be on a bike in Birmingham.
 |
| view from the bluff of Shades Mountain |
After
a quick swim/bike/run earlier that morning, local tri superstar Hallie
Blunck and I loaded up my 4Runner to head up to Huntsville for the
Rocketman Triathlon. Packet pickup was the first item on the agenda,
and then it was on to Mellow Mushroom (a pre-race favorite of mine)
where we proceeded to split an entire large pizza before heading to our
superb home-stay at the residence of Stephen Baker. Much to our
surprise, we were both afforded our own bedrooms as opposed to the couches
that I thought we would be sleeping on! After fixing the bikes and a
quick chat on when to wake up and who was making coffee, it was time for
bed. 4:15am came early the next morning, and with it came the
enjoyment of French pressed coffee and my standard pre-race breakfast of
a bagel w/PB and honey and a banana…and then it was off to the race. The course was to be a 1500m swim, 40k bike, and a 10k run...here’s how it unfolded:
Swim - 17:48 (16th)
Firstly and obviously, the swim was not 1500 meters. I have been swimming a good bit this year, but I'm not that fast! Of all the races that I've done so far this year though, this swim probably felt the smoothest. It seems like I sometimes have a habit of going out too hard for the first couple hundred meters and then "surviving" the rest of the swim, so this time I decided to ease into it a bit more and it seemed to work out well. I was the 16th racer to start and quickly settled into a rhythm. At the first buoy, I was still around a handful of people and as we turned I tried to start picking it up a notch. With a couple hundred meters to go I found some nice feet to sit on...and then, I realized it was Hallie towing me back into shore! That pace was all that I wanted, so I was content to cruise on back into T1.
T1 - 0:41 (11th)
No mistakes here, just a quick in-and-out.
Bike - 59:51 (2nd)
This was likely one of my strongest rides in a race to date. I didn't feel great for the first couple of minutes, but the longer the ride went on, the better I felt. My power keep creeping up and it felt amazing. I passed a handful of people in the first half of the race. In the back half, I got a good glimpse of who was in front of me: Craig Evans was out front, followed by Bruce Gennari and Jonathan Krichev. Craig was obviously way out front, but Bruce and Krichev were withing striking distance. They both started the race a minute in front of me, so I felt good about my position. With 4 miles to go I could see Krichev off in the distance, so I really focused on reeling him in knowing that he is a superb runner. Sure enough, I literally passed him while hanging off the side of my bike ready to dismount. Bruce was not too far ahead.
T2 - 0:48 (3rd)
Flawless work here and out on the run course in 3rd position.
Run - 40:11 (10th)
Almost exactly like Mountain Lakes, Krichev pulled up beside me about 20 seconds into the run. As he went by I let him pull me for a little bit but he was just running too fast. The first 2 miles were a mix of dirt trail through a wooded area and then a dirt/gravel road with a few nice rollers. I was keeping Krichev in my sights, but I knew I had to push harder if I wanted to beat him. After 2.5 miles or so, I finally started to feel some legs. 6:40 pace turned into 6:20, and I really started to try to make it hurt. At the one out-and-back portion of the run, I could see Craig still way out front but Bruce and Krichev were still not too far ahead. The last miles of the run were solid and I was pleased with the effort, crossing the line with nothing left in the tank.
Total - 1:59:18 (3rd overall)
As it turned out, I ended up nabbing Bruce by ~30 seconds for 3rd place overall, with Krichev ~35 seconds ahead of me in 2nd place. I didn't make any mistakes and after a hard week of training, everything seemed to be firing quite nicely. Now it's time to road trip to De Moines, IA for Hy-Vee!
8.20.2012
Coming to the End
Aug 13 - Aug 19
S: 14,160 yds - 3hr 19min
B: 131.67 mi - 7hr 23min
R: 38.12 mi - 4hr 55min
Total: 15hr 37min
Pretty standard stuff here: hard swimming, all hard biking, a couple easy runs, a really good long track workout, and a threshold run set. This was really the last "normal" hard week coming into the end of the season. The next 3 weekends will consist of 3 international distance races: Rocketman Triathlon in Huntsville, AL; Hy-Vee Triathlon in De Moines, IA; and the Coastal Triathlon in Gulf Shores, AL. Rocketman is kind of a last second "why not do this race because it's in Alabama and only 1.5 hrs from my house." The RD is really cool and he always puts on a great race. Hy-Vee is the "big one" for the year. It will certainly be a fun and exciting road trip to Iowa with some good friends. It will also be a chance to get some exposure at a really big race and to race some really fast guys. The Alabama Coastal Triathlon is pretty much just an excuse to take a beach trip! It is a fun race though, and I'm looking forward to the super fast course and some hang out time with some good friends. The next 3 weeks are shaping up to be pretty fun!
S: 14,160 yds - 3hr 19min
B: 131.67 mi - 7hr 23min
R: 38.12 mi - 4hr 55min
Total: 15hr 37min
Pretty standard stuff here: hard swimming, all hard biking, a couple easy runs, a really good long track workout, and a threshold run set. This was really the last "normal" hard week coming into the end of the season. The next 3 weekends will consist of 3 international distance races: Rocketman Triathlon in Huntsville, AL; Hy-Vee Triathlon in De Moines, IA; and the Coastal Triathlon in Gulf Shores, AL. Rocketman is kind of a last second "why not do this race because it's in Alabama and only 1.5 hrs from my house." The RD is really cool and he always puts on a great race. Hy-Vee is the "big one" for the year. It will certainly be a fun and exciting road trip to Iowa with some good friends. It will also be a chance to get some exposure at a really big race and to race some really fast guys. The Alabama Coastal Triathlon is pretty much just an excuse to take a beach trip! It is a fun race though, and I'm looking forward to the super fast course and some hang out time with some good friends. The next 3 weeks are shaping up to be pretty fun!
8.12.2012
Mountain Lakes Triathlon Race Report
Aug 6 - Aug 12
S: 12,597 yds - 2hr 54min
B: 121.45 mi - 6hr 29min
R: 27.78 mi - 3hr 38min
Total: 13hr 1min
On Friday afternoon, I headed up to Guntersville, AL for one of my favorite races of the year: the Mountain Lakes Triathlon. I headed straight to packet pickup, got my stuff, and then the weather was so awesome outside I decided to take a quick nap in the shade of a monster tree down by the lake:
After a short nap, I headed to one of my favorite out of town home-stays; the Gibsons! As usual, they provided me with a huge home-cooked meal of spaghetti and a fabulous cherry pie for desert. Thirty minutes after dinner, I was in bed dreaming of big things. 4:45am came early the next morning. After the usual breakfast of coffee, bagel/peanut butter/honey, and a banana, K & S and I headed to the race site. The race was a "600 yd" swim, 16.2 mile bike, and a 3 mile run; here's how it unfolded:
Swim: 10:22 (23rd)
While warming up in the water before the race, I noticed 2 things: 1) the course was wayyy longer than 600 yards, and 2) the last half of the swim was going to be impossible to see anything, as it was straight into the sun. At least I knew what to expect. Luckily, I was with a small group of swimmers on the way back in, so it seemed like we were swimming somewhat straight. Coming into T1, I saw Kendrick and Sara 10 seconds in front of me. They are both pretty good swimmers and had started 20-30 seconds in front of me, so that was a confidence boost.
Bike: 37:47 (1st)
Coming onto the bike, I knew what I had to do; be very aggressive and try to make up as much time as possible. Although there were a few others in front of me, I was only really worried about 4 guys: Huntsville pro Andrew Hodges, Bruce Gennari, Jonathan Krichev, and Jacob Shults. With the swim being slightly long, these guys (all superb swimmers) were going to be even further ahead so I had my work cut out for me. I settled into a rhythm quickly and things were feeling good. At the 8 mile mark I caught Krichev but could not get rid him (which is a problem because he is a great runner). 2-3 miles later I caught Shults. After doing so, I tried to push it pretty hard and drop them, but they hung with me. Coming into 2 miles to go, I still could not see Hodges or Bruce, which is not good because Hodges is an excellent runner. The rest of the bike played out with me leading Shults and Krichev in not far behind Hodges and Bruce.
Run: 18:09 (12th)
After a quick T1 I was out on the run course. 10 seconds later, Krichev BLEW past me. It was pretty impressive. 10 seconds after that, Shults did the same thing! I could not find my run legs. Mile 1 was a pathetic 6:23. I was pretty mad at myself, because I know I can run faster. Then, all of the sudden, things started feeling better. Shults had established a lead but had quit gaining on me and I actually started reeling him in. close to the turnaround I could see that Hodges had a pretty good lead. Bruce was not too far ahead, and Krichev was likely going to catch him. I then focused on catching and dropping Shults. Since he started 30 seconds behind me, I knew I had to pick it up. After the turnaround I had almost made it up to him. Mile 2 clicked by in 6:09 right as I caught him. I went by and tried to pick it up but he stayed with me. A couple minutes later I was able to finally establish a gap and then just went as hard as I could to the finish. Mile 3 clicked off in 5:48 as I crossed the line.
Total: 1:08:22 (5th)
I ended up 5th overall with a consolation prize of fastest bike split and 1st in my age group. It wasn't a perfect race, but I definitely left it all out on the course. Hodges cleaned up with Krichev a little bit behind him for the top 2 spots. Bruce took the 3rd spot (43 sec in front of me), and Shults edged me by 13 seconds for 4th. In general, I just need to swim faster if I want to have a chance at any of these races. All 4 of these guys hung 1-2.5 minutes on me during the swim. My training is on track, it's just that getting faster at swimming is a long progress. I'm headed int he right direction, but it will take time. I also need to be more consistent with my run. Starting off with a slow first mile in a sprint tri is NOT going to win you anything...although I *may* have left some run speed on the table due to an aggressive bike.
All in all, it was a great day with great friends. Although competition is pretty important to me, there's a lot more that draws me to triathlon than that alone. It was great to see the host of Birmingham athletes up at the race, and crushing it at that! Walking around and seeing familiar faces after the race - rehashing the race play-by-play - that is almost more fun than the race itself! It was also superb to share the M25-29 podium with 2 of my fiercest competitors and also 2 of my best friends. I have gone head to head with Kendrick and Jeffrey at least 20-30 times during the last 5 years. We have had epic battles and we have all been at the top and the bottom multiple times. Also, props to Sara for bringing home the overall female title, and congrats to my mom for 2nd place in the F55-59 age group!
S: 12,597 yds - 2hr 54min
B: 121.45 mi - 6hr 29min
R: 27.78 mi - 3hr 38min
Total: 13hr 1min
On Friday afternoon, I headed up to Guntersville, AL for one of my favorite races of the year: the Mountain Lakes Triathlon. I headed straight to packet pickup, got my stuff, and then the weather was so awesome outside I decided to take a quick nap in the shade of a monster tree down by the lake:
 |
| "nap time" |
After a short nap, I headed to one of my favorite out of town home-stays; the Gibsons! As usual, they provided me with a huge home-cooked meal of spaghetti and a fabulous cherry pie for desert. Thirty minutes after dinner, I was in bed dreaming of big things. 4:45am came early the next morning. After the usual breakfast of coffee, bagel/peanut butter/honey, and a banana, K & S and I headed to the race site. The race was a "600 yd" swim, 16.2 mile bike, and a 3 mile run; here's how it unfolded:
Swim: 10:22 (23rd)
While warming up in the water before the race, I noticed 2 things: 1) the course was wayyy longer than 600 yards, and 2) the last half of the swim was going to be impossible to see anything, as it was straight into the sun. At least I knew what to expect. Luckily, I was with a small group of swimmers on the way back in, so it seemed like we were swimming somewhat straight. Coming into T1, I saw Kendrick and Sara 10 seconds in front of me. They are both pretty good swimmers and had started 20-30 seconds in front of me, so that was a confidence boost.
Bike: 37:47 (1st)
Coming onto the bike, I knew what I had to do; be very aggressive and try to make up as much time as possible. Although there were a few others in front of me, I was only really worried about 4 guys: Huntsville pro Andrew Hodges, Bruce Gennari, Jonathan Krichev, and Jacob Shults. With the swim being slightly long, these guys (all superb swimmers) were going to be even further ahead so I had my work cut out for me. I settled into a rhythm quickly and things were feeling good. At the 8 mile mark I caught Krichev but could not get rid him (which is a problem because he is a great runner). 2-3 miles later I caught Shults. After doing so, I tried to push it pretty hard and drop them, but they hung with me. Coming into 2 miles to go, I still could not see Hodges or Bruce, which is not good because Hodges is an excellent runner. The rest of the bike played out with me leading Shults and Krichev in not far behind Hodges and Bruce.
Run: 18:09 (12th)
After a quick T1 I was out on the run course. 10 seconds later, Krichev BLEW past me. It was pretty impressive. 10 seconds after that, Shults did the same thing! I could not find my run legs. Mile 1 was a pathetic 6:23. I was pretty mad at myself, because I know I can run faster. Then, all of the sudden, things started feeling better. Shults had established a lead but had quit gaining on me and I actually started reeling him in. close to the turnaround I could see that Hodges had a pretty good lead. Bruce was not too far ahead, and Krichev was likely going to catch him. I then focused on catching and dropping Shults. Since he started 30 seconds behind me, I knew I had to pick it up. After the turnaround I had almost made it up to him. Mile 2 clicked by in 6:09 right as I caught him. I went by and tried to pick it up but he stayed with me. A couple minutes later I was able to finally establish a gap and then just went as hard as I could to the finish. Mile 3 clicked off in 5:48 as I crossed the line.
 |
| finishing the run |
Total: 1:08:22 (5th)
I ended up 5th overall with a consolation prize of fastest bike split and 1st in my age group. It wasn't a perfect race, but I definitely left it all out on the course. Hodges cleaned up with Krichev a little bit behind him for the top 2 spots. Bruce took the 3rd spot (43 sec in front of me), and Shults edged me by 13 seconds for 4th. In general, I just need to swim faster if I want to have a chance at any of these races. All 4 of these guys hung 1-2.5 minutes on me during the swim. My training is on track, it's just that getting faster at swimming is a long progress. I'm headed int he right direction, but it will take time. I also need to be more consistent with my run. Starting off with a slow first mile in a sprint tri is NOT going to win you anything...although I *may* have left some run speed on the table due to an aggressive bike.
All in all, it was a great day with great friends. Although competition is pretty important to me, there's a lot more that draws me to triathlon than that alone. It was great to see the host of Birmingham athletes up at the race, and crushing it at that! Walking around and seeing familiar faces after the race - rehashing the race play-by-play - that is almost more fun than the race itself! It was also superb to share the M25-29 podium with 2 of my fiercest competitors and also 2 of my best friends. I have gone head to head with Kendrick and Jeffrey at least 20-30 times during the last 5 years. We have had epic battles and we have all been at the top and the bottom multiple times. Also, props to Sara for bringing home the overall female title, and congrats to my mom for 2nd place in the F55-59 age group!
 |
| sharing the M25-29 podium with Jeffrey and Kendrick |
8.08.2012
Southeast Regional Time Trial Championship Race Report
July 30 - Aug 5
S: 13,550 yds - 3hr 9min
B: 108.69 mi - 5hr 48min
R: 36.48 mi - 4hr 43min
Total: 13hr 39min
On Friday afternoon I headed down to Montgomery, AL to participate in the Southeast Regional Time Trial Championship that would take place the next day. The race was set to be 40k in distance on a flat-ish course. Jeffrey and David Shelley (local B'ham triathletes who were also racing the next day) afforded me the luxury of a home-stay at their parents' house...complete with all the cookies that I could eat! I of course refrained from the cookies, although I must say that it was tough to do so. We arose the next morning and went through the standard routine of drinking coffee and eating bagels with peanut butter, honey, and fresh fruit...all while watching the women's olympic triathlon. Our start times were at 9am, so we planned on getting over to the start line with an hour to spare to ensure a good warm up.
The race itself was pretty uneventful. There isn't too much strategy in an individual TT besides just "going as hard as you can without blowing up." If that sounds painful, then you are right. This course was relatively flat and non-technical, so the goal was to go flat out for ~60 minutes and try not to die. I started out pegging around 300 watts, but after 15 minutes or so this turned out to be slightly ambitious. Luckily, I realized this soon enough not to completely trash myself, and overall I was pleased with a pretty high and constant effort. As it turned out, this "pacing strategy" turned out to be a good one. The course was actually a slight elevation rise into a headwind for the first half and the latter half was a slight net downhill with a tailwind, so it actually paid off to start out hard for the first half (24mph) and then cruise/hold on the back half (27mph). The course itself was slightly longer than 40k at around 25.6 miles, so I ended up just barely squeaking under an hour for 1st place in the Cat 5 category. All in all, it was a solid effort with nothing left on the table, and it's always fun when you can stand on one of these things:
S: 13,550 yds - 3hr 9min
B: 108.69 mi - 5hr 48min
R: 36.48 mi - 4hr 43min
Total: 13hr 39min
On Friday afternoon I headed down to Montgomery, AL to participate in the Southeast Regional Time Trial Championship that would take place the next day. The race was set to be 40k in distance on a flat-ish course. Jeffrey and David Shelley (local B'ham triathletes who were also racing the next day) afforded me the luxury of a home-stay at their parents' house...complete with all the cookies that I could eat! I of course refrained from the cookies, although I must say that it was tough to do so. We arose the next morning and went through the standard routine of drinking coffee and eating bagels with peanut butter, honey, and fresh fruit...all while watching the women's olympic triathlon. Our start times were at 9am, so we planned on getting over to the start line with an hour to spare to ensure a good warm up.
The race itself was pretty uneventful. There isn't too much strategy in an individual TT besides just "going as hard as you can without blowing up." If that sounds painful, then you are right. This course was relatively flat and non-technical, so the goal was to go flat out for ~60 minutes and try not to die. I started out pegging around 300 watts, but after 15 minutes or so this turned out to be slightly ambitious. Luckily, I realized this soon enough not to completely trash myself, and overall I was pleased with a pretty high and constant effort. As it turned out, this "pacing strategy" turned out to be a good one. The course was actually a slight elevation rise into a headwind for the first half and the latter half was a slight net downhill with a tailwind, so it actually paid off to start out hard for the first half (24mph) and then cruise/hold on the back half (27mph). The course itself was slightly longer than 40k at around 25.6 miles, so I ended up just barely squeaking under an hour for 1st place in the Cat 5 category. All in all, it was a solid effort with nothing left on the table, and it's always fun when you can stand on one of these things:
 |
| on the podium looking at the wrong camera |
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