Guntersville Olympic Race Report - 19 May 2012

Theme of this race: "Racing sick is no fun"

Coming off a very disappointing (and learning experience) race at Rev3 Knoxville I really wanted to put together a solid race at the first Fleet Feet Race team event of the year at Lake Guntersville Olympic Distance. Have to admit my racing confidence took a hit at Rev3 - not being on the age group or overall podium was well below expectations for the race. This was a local race so nice to not have to travel and race with alot of local tri peeps... and high expectations for a good placement :-)

Right after Rev3 I acquired a bug that has been with me since (it's dying a very slow death). Energy levels were okay for training but throat soreness and congestion have not been fun. I was also away on travel the entire week, not ideal but such is life. I got in a solid 14 hour training week after Rev3 and then we changed my race prep the week of the race - a bit more volume to keep me a little more fresh. Thursday before the race I woke up barely able to talk and a horrible cough, not good. Tried to rest as much as possible Thursday and Friday but new there was no way I was going to be 100% for Saturday's race.

Race morning: woke up with a heavy head and still a cough but feeling a bit better than Friday. Good breakfast and then off to the race site. Got transition area squared away and then off for a warm-up run - first pick-up was okay, second pick-up (whoa) heart rate spiked immediately but atleast my legs felt good. Finished up and went down for swim warm-up - good turnover but body was feeling very lethargic. Got out of the water in a coughing fit as Kristin shakes her head - know she wanted to tell me I had no business racing today :-)  Took a 5 hour energy and half an EFS liquid shot, threw on the wetsuit and down to swim start.

Swim: Water temp was a nice 75 degrees. My biggest concern was keeping my cough under control during the swim. I knew I could put up a decent time since I had pre-swam the course the weekend before. We lined up and I was in the middle of the start line. BOOM!! Off to the first buoy. Pace felt good but I looked up and realized I made a tactical area with my start position which added an extra 50-100M for me compared to the guys you started on the inside. Continue to stay on pace and push up to the first turn buoy, passed a few guys and new I was out front with a few other guys. Rest of the swim was uneventful but seemed a bit long. 3rd out of the water (very pumped about this) with a time of 29:05 (What the...) After the race we found out a buoy had drifted and the course was 2000M. Whew, very good idea of where I'm at for upcoming 70.3s. Felt okay at this point... 5:30 down from 1st and 2nd place.

Bike: Grabbed my bike out of transition and I was off. I knew in advance that the bike course was a bit hilly (1200 ft of gain over 40K). Headed out of transition and heart rate immediately skyrocketed (not good). Then took a sip of my water/EFS at mile 3 and got into a coughing fit and then BLAH - lost my cookies. The coughing continued throughout the ride so just tried to "lock it up" and get it done. Headwind all the way out and at the turn I figured I was about 4-6 minutes down on the 2 lead guys so decided I needed to push the pace a bit more and try to close the gap. Chased by a few dogs at mile 11 did not help my heart rate issue. Came into T2 feeling pretty wiped out and heard rumors previously that the run course was "very tough" - well, that was an understatement. Fastest bike split of the day averaging 23 MPH. Ended putting 3:30 into the 2nd place guy, nothing into 1st place.

Run: Honestly, did not enjoy the race past this point. I didn't feel well and knew the run course was not going to be fun. The entire course was up and down every quarter mile, frickin brutal!!! Hands down the toughest run courese I've been on. I could see the 2nd place athlete headed out on the run course as I came into T2 so I knew I had a chance to catch him if I could throw down a solid run. Came out of T2 2 minutes down. Tried to get my legs the first few miles but 3 hills in a row didn't really help. I kept thinking these hills need to stop at some point. Nope, got worse. More hills on loose gravel and then rocks. I was putting a little time into 2nd place but really struggling to keep my heart rate down on the climbs. At the turn I was probably 45 seconds back. I ended up just picking a steady pacing and going hoping he would blow up on the hills. No dice. Closed another 20 seconds or so and could see 2nd place with about 1 mile to go but no flat space to really put down the hammer and close the gap and ended up losing out on second by 26 seconds. Was glad just to finish but a little disappointed that I wasn't able to run down 2nd place since I've been running quite well this season.

Overall, very very happy with 3rd overall on a tough course battling bug. Really enjoyed the local event with a bunch of friends. RD did a great job and had a good showing for this first year event. Now, time to focus on getting over this bug and getting ready 70.3 racing and Syracuse IM 70.3 on June 24th.

Rev3 Knoxville Olympic Distance Race Report - 6 May 2012

Well, my experiment to try and race back to back weekends did not turn out as expected. The hope to peak back up for Rev3 knoxville did not go as planned. Lesson Learned - no more back to back weekend races. My body seems to require more recovery. Good to know for future race schedule planning.

Overall race critique: awesome race venue, weekend, city and time with my wife, Kristin. The race logistics here are awesome if you stay downtown - hotel, race site, expo and food are all centrally located. The Rev3 staff is amazing and they hosted a great event. The olympic distance amateur male field was unbelievable, crazy competition at this race from all over the country (MD, DC, VA, MI, FL, MO, CA, CO, AL, GA, TN, KY and those were just the guys I talked to). Basically, almost every fast guy I've ever raced was at this race. I'm hoping Rev3 events continue to draw this type of competition as I would like to race more of the series in the future.

Pre-Race: woke up feeling pretty good race morning. breakfast went down okay then cup of coffee and down the the race site. Same ole same ole. Got down to transition and set up then 15 min jog, legs felt so-so and energy level the same. Packed up and headed down to swim start.

Swim: long wait for the olympic age group waves to start since the pros and 70.3 distance were off first. Got to chat with a few friends but felt way too relaxed. Also, no possibility of a swim warm-up - not good. Finally, it was time to roll. In water start with all males under 39 - this was a pretty large wave. Jumped in and water was definitely cold - 68 degrees. Last year it was around 60 and I got hypothermia and was pulled out by a kayak so this was on my mind the entire first half of the swim. BOOM!!! Show time. Did not position myself well and got stuck in the middle of the wave for a very rough start. It was very crowded up to the turn buoy as I sighted I saw a 70.3 wave coming down river towards our turn buoy. This was my only complaint of the race. You disadvantage the first olympic wave by having us fight for position and then put another wave in front of us right after things clear at the turn. I spent most of the first 750-1000M trying to navigate other swimmers - not fun. Got out of the water in 24:06 - not a good swim time for me given the 20:47 I swam the previous week. Believe this was due to crowded conditions, who knows. Put me at about a 5min deficit from the front pack.

T1: very long run to transition - 4minutes total.

Bike: From last year I knew the bike course was going to have alot of climbing so I was prepared to suffer a bit. Really tried to push the bike and put in a stronger bike then the previous week. There are a few big climbs on the way out and just tried to stay on the hammer on these climbs and fly on the downhills. First half of my ride was pretty strong but faded a bit after the turn. I could see I was down a good bit of time from the front group and tried to ride as hard as possible coming back in.  Got off the bike on right around 1:04, better than last week but still not enough to put alot of time into the lead group.

Run: not a super challenging run but there were some uphill portions and turns. I came into T2 with another guy and he beat me out of transition. He was moving pretty good so I tried to push and keep sight of him. I just really didn't have much in my legs this week like I did last week. Kept trying to push through the wall but just wasn't happening for me today. I passed 2 guys immediately and then another 2 in the last mile. run time was 38:15 and I was spent. I really wanted to go under 35 min but just didn't have enough fuel in the tank after a big effort last week.

Summary: looking back this ended up being a very good training race with a tough feel to push me. I really enjoyed the race and learned a few things. Back to the drawing board and training for another OLY in 2 weeks. Till next time...

Place: 17^th overall / 6^th M30-34

Overall Time: 2:12:24

Swim: 24:06

Bike: 1:04:49

Run: 38:14

West Point Lake Triathlon Race Report

After a few solid blocks of training (2 x 20 hour weeks) after the debacle in South Beach it was time to race gain - Yes!!!

This was a new race venue for me and didn't know what to expect. Honestly, I really felt like crap the first few days of race week (believe this was a cold and coming down off two heavy volume weeks). Thankfully by Wed/Thur I started to feel better and ready to get busy.

Normal pre-race day ride and run and then pack up and hit the road. I may have went a little long on my ride... more on this later. The drive down Saturday was pretty uneventful although we seemed to have hit every light possible but a good opportunity to rest up and get mentally focused on the race.

We got to LaGrange mid-afternoon and headed to packet pick-up and then down to the race site for some course recon. The entire drive to the race site had zero flats... hmmm.... not what I expected. More on this later...

Pre-race morning: Got up feeling fantastic. Threw on my new Fleet Feet race team kit, ate breakfast (gluten free oats, protein shake and peanut butter gluten free bread slice), drank some coffee and cleared out the system,  then Kristin and I headed down to the race site. Kristin is quite the trooper - 6 months pregnant and still no complaints about getting up early to head to the race. Got to transition to set up and accidently put my bike on the wrong rack - it was 0500 and dark. Well, this created quite the stir and severall fellas got their panties in a bunch. Moved my bike to the proper spot and all was right with the world again. Headed out for a pre-race ride and run to get the blood flowing. Everything was in good working order. Let's roll...

Swim: Threw on the wetsuit and hopped in for a quick 5 minute warm-up (lesson learned from South Beach - get a warm up swim if possible). Took a half EFS liquid shot and was ready for the start. Boom!!! Time trial swim start. Swim was great, I was sighting really well and turnover was strong, breathing comfortable. This was a half circle course and alot of sun in the eyes coming into shore, probably cost me 1-2 minutes. Hand touch, stand up - time: 20:20. Holy Wow!! My fastest oly swim by 3minutes.

T1: fast Ttransition and then out onto the bike course.

Bike: Fatal flaw of the race was not pushing on hills. The bike course was up and down with no flats and quite challenging. I really wasn't feeling 100% fantastic and took it way too easy on uphills. I should have had a much stronger ride but legs didn't have alot of extra umph. Maybe it was the heavy volume leading up to this race or something else, really not sure. Challenging bike course though - got down half EFS liquid shot and 1.5 scoops of EFS in my water bottle. Popped a honey stinger caffeinated gel at mile 22 in prep for the run. My watch said 1:03:41 but posted time was 1:06:31. I still think there was a timing error but the RD assured my I was wrong. Not a big deal though. Regardless, not a strong ride for me and needs to improve in the future.

T2: Lightning fast. :33 and I'm off,

Run: Came out of T2 feeling great and super strong (I'm a power runner so mentally this was great). The first mile was a little awkward with a slight uphill and then finally my legs came around. Bam, I gapped 2 guys immediately and then got to the dam. The run over the dam was awesome, got an update from a sighter and he said 6 people in front of me. Are you kidding me?! I tried to just keep my turnover strong and keep pushing. Luckily I was continuing to get stronger the run progressed. First chance to see the leaders and I figure they had 5 min on me. Continued to push but I just ran out of real estate. Still a really solid run for me and feeling for future races that I could have gone faster by atleast 1min. Run time was 35:40 which was great.

Crossed the finish line and looked up - sub-2:05 - saweet. This was 10min off my PR on a much hard course today. Fix the bike, kill the run and sub-2:00 is within my sights. Really happy with this time for a distance which isn't my focus right now. Plenty more work to do...

Overall time: 2:04:58
Overall: 7th / 245
AG: 1st M30-34

Nautica South Beach Race Report

Well, you can never plan for an equipment failure...

Travel: went into this race feeling really really fantastic. Everything checked out nicely during my taper week and energy levels were great. Kristin and I flew down to Miami on Friday to relax a few days before the race.

Pre-Race: Had my normal pre-race meal and was feeling quite full. After several "potty" breaks I was ready to rock and roll. Got down to the race site in the pitch dark of the morning and went out for a pre-race ride and run - everything in good working order and ready to rock n' roll.

Swim: got down to the swim start late due to an unplanned "potty" break and missed my warm-up. This ended up being a problem. We (elite males) started with the pro men and women and elite females - not sure why they put us all together but it was not ideal and I'm sure the pros were not pleased. BOOM!! I let the pros clear out a bit and then grabbed the front elite wave. I was doing well until after the first buoy and must have been grabbed by a few ocean swells. I looked up and the group I was swimming with was far to my right and I was completely off course. Not good. Spent the rest of the swim trying to recover but this hurt me big time (or so I thought). Gave up about 2-3 minutes out of the water to the lead male.

T1: OH CRAP!! Rolled out of T1 and heard an odd noise on my rear wheel. I initially thought this was a break rubbing and it would loosen up. Got about 2 miles into the ride to realize my rear tire was completely flat. Race support rolled by twice, no stop. REALLY GUYS?! I decided to walk back to transition - longest walk ever. I finally found a pump and tire was good to go so I decided to finish the race. 45 minutes wasted. Still no clue what happened. Very disappointing as I feel I could have been in contention for a podium had this not happened.

Bike: Decided to ride hard but not all out since I was already out of contention. Had a pretty solid ride on a fast course - 1:00:42. Took in half and EFS liquid shot and EFS drink in my Torhans bottle. Popped a honey stinger gel 10 min before getting off the bike and onto the run....Felt great coming off the bike.

Run: Pretty technical course and it was super crowded since I was now with the middle group of racers. Again, I decided to run hard but not race pace - no need to kill myself. Legs felt really strong and ended up having a solid run to go with a good bike effort - 37:45.

Final Quote of the trip: "A long way to come for a flat tire"