Traverse City Triathlon (Bowers Harbor, MI) - My first OVERALL WIN!!!

Okay, so I already ruined the surprise ending, but I've been racing triathlons for 8 years and I finally won one! Kristin and I mulled over going to this race, another weekend out of town right after Milwaukee and Kristin to Washington D.C. But, after some unfortunate tire issues on Kristin's car, we packed up mine and headed north. After meeting the Ashworths and the VanderWalls for dinner, we settled in at the hotel and "unpacked" for what would be a quick stay. Kristin ran over to Culvers and got us ice cream, it was great. I scrutinized the need for an entire pint, but after housing more than my fair share, I was glad she got it. It was a stressful day, we needed to splurge a bit!

The alarm came early. We made a split second decision to chance having time to come back after the race (thankfully!), leaving most of our stuff in the room. The breakfast was great (both before the race and after!). We made it to Bowers Harbor with plenty of time and I quickly setup. Kristin took off running, which was great because it was cold and she wanted to get her miles in.

We hit the water a few minutes before the start to discover that it was pretty
cold. There were a few guys in speedos, kudos to them. The horn went off and everyone took off. I played it smart and paced myself, found some open water, and just cruised through. For yet another race, Timmy and I came out of the water right next to each other after not intentionally doing so. Not a bad swim. [Strava GPS file]

T1 was a bit tough, I was cold and a little dizzy from the swim. Once I had my wetsuit off, it was pretty quick out. Struggled with clipping in my shoes out the gate, but thankfully that wouldn't come back to haunt me.

The bike was a chance to see how the new bike climbed. With over 500' of vertical in 12.4 miles, it is a pretty hilly course. I set off and claimed the lead after a couple miles. As soon as I had done so, we turned a corner and started uphill. I made a rash decision to downshift on my front chainring, did so too quickly, and my chain dropped. My attempt to get it back on without stopping was unsuccessful, so I hopped off to remedy the situation. I discovered that my chain had wrapped around the speedfin/brake bolt underneath, hence not being able to shift it back on to the chainring. After what seemed like minutes (probably only 30 seconds), I had the chain back on. Unfortunately, I had lost the lead again and would need to make up precious time. Timmy is a faster runner and I needed to build a decent buffer against him, and other fast runners in the field. I quickly pulled the lead back and rode with a vengeance. Into T2 in the lead, but with Olympic athletes ahead of me, I wasn't 100% certain. [Strava GPS file]

T2 was fast. Happy that I managed to get out in under 40 seconds. Thankfully after proactively, yet harshly, asking random people standing in the way of the bike rack to move (they didn't appear to be racing so I don't know what they were doing?), I had a clear shot and was on my way.

Out on to the run course, it was time to find out if my extra effort on the bike would help or hurt me. I settled into a rhythm and was happy to see less than 6:30/mi pace. My heart rate was reasonable to boot, so I pressed on. There's one out-and-back section on which to gauge your competitors. Initially, it appeared I had about 45 seconds with a [Michigan Awesome] teammate charging hard. This kept me honest and driving forward. The run course winds through a nature trail featuring not less than 3 downed trees and winding, sandy singletrack. Nice touch, thankfully I knew this ahead of time. From here out it was running scared, waiting for footsteps. When I hit mile three, I couldn't see anyone behind me. I opened up my stride anyway and pushed to the finish. With little pomp and circumstance, I crossed the line in first! About 30 seconds later, and within 2 minutes, a bunch of athletes and teammates finished.  [Strava GPS file]

It was fun to win overall. We love the TC area and this was a great race. Nice morale boost after a rough/tough race at AG Nationals. Put it on the list for next year. We hauled back to the hotel, showered, and back up to collect awards. This time, with a little more gusto, I was announced as the winner by name. I was also mentioned in the news that evening, though Timmy still takes that title after having won and been interviewed at last year's race! Here's the link to the news page, and a mention by the TC Record Eagle.

A huge thanks to Kristin for supporting me one last time this year. To [Michigan Awesome] and PowerBar, thanks for the support as well! One more race this triathlon season, Reeds Lake. Hope to see you there.  Keep dreaming!

USAT AG National Championships - Olympic Distance

Last weekend brought us to Milwaukee, WI for the 2014 USAT Age Group National Championships. Timmy and Molly so graciously offered to drive us as Timmy was also racing and we had arranged to share a condo close to the race site. It may have been that Timmy didn't want his bike to have to ride on the outside of the car if I drove...but it was appreciated nonetheless!

We headed to WI Friday morning in order to make it to the race site for packet pick-up and mandatory bike check-in. Relatively smooth sailing thanks to a borrowed iPass (thanks Mom and Dad!). Everything with the race venue was easy and quick, and we were on our way to get situated at the condo in no time. The condo was stunning, we had views of Lake Michigan, immaculate decorations, and convenient location. We would end up walking everywhere. We all met up with my folks for dinner and had a few beers to unwind/calm the pre-race nerves. I was especially nervous with having ridden in the car for a long time with a race the next day. Seems that when that happens I always have issues with cramps and can't finish (Riverbank 2013, Hoogie Birthday Brick, etc.). Thankfully, with some ART and careful foam rolling, I managed to avoid any issues. Thanks to Dr. Ronda at Dynamic Family Chiropractic in Grandville, MI for the treatment!

Race morning came quickly. We had to go down to transition to set up the rest of our gear, look over our bikes, etc. before 7:30, but didn't race until 9:30. So Timmy and I walked back to the condo again. Pre-race breakfast was usual: banana, coffee, and a PowerBar. We applied our race numbers which were in the form of temporary tattoos. Kind of a nice perk of such a big race, except we didn't bring baby oil to help remove them afterwards. I still have some marking left. We headed back to the race venue, this time to race.

We geared up for the swim and wished fellow GH alum, Anne Clancy, good luck, and walked down to the swim start. A few minutes to warm up and make sure my wetsuit was situated and into the starting pen. Once the gun went off it was clear what kind of talent had come to race. Usually Tim and I are straight off the front, this time it felt like I was going backwards. Here's where I made my first mistake of the day: I tried to keep up with the chaos. As a result, spiked my heart rate. Even at the Olympic distance that seems to be an issue as I hadn't trained with such a high heart rate for that long. I settled down as well as I could, tried to find some open water to swim but it was chaos. Guys were criss-crossing all over, it felt more like water polo than a triathlon swim. Thankfully that could be handled. When I stepped up the ramp out of the water, I looked up to see Timmy a step in front of me. Crazy, after not knowing where he was for 22 minutes, we are right together. [strava file]

While running into T1, I switched my watch to biking and noticed my heart rate was 174. This was after trying to swim easy. I slowed to a jog to catch my breath. Finding my bike was easy, since Tim was racked literally right next to me. We were assigned race numbers 1 apart from each other. I grabbed my gear as quickly as possible and ran off with my bike. One thing I need to master is the flying mount, where your shoes are already attached to your bike. This would probably save 30 seconds or so.

On to the bike, it was evident that the course was going to be fast (and that my new bike was fast!). On the first uphill stretch I was still rolling over 20mph. On way back the speeds were pushing 30mph! I hammered pretty hard but tried to keep my heart rate under 170. It was still too high for what I had trained with, but there was hope that I could remediate the earlier spike. The course was pretty bumpy (every seam in the concrete rattled your bottles, windy (there were times I had to get out of the aero bars just to keep things going straight), but scenic (lots of Lake Michigan views). Didn't see much drafting, which was good. Heading back into T2 I tried to pull back on the effort but I spent too much pushing the pace. A quick flying dismount (leaving shoes on the bike), and into T2. My bike split would end up being a PR by a LONG shot. 24mph average, covering the 24.8 miles in 1:02! [strava file]

The run into T2 was a struggle. I could tell that on the new bike that I use my hamstrings far more than I am used to. It was going to be a rough run. I managed to get out of T2 in a respectable time and headed out on to the run. Usually I would soak up the spectator support but this time I was grumpy and hurting. I'm bummed about that.

The run course is pretty great. Lots of Lake Michigan views and very flat. I enjoyed the first 1.5 miles. Then things derailed. I took my PowerGel at mile 1, hoping to get a boost. But it wasn't nutrition or energy levels. My heart rate was seemingly maxed out and I couldn't catch my breath. It was clear that I would have to struggle to finish. After seeing Kristin the second time, I said "this hurts like hell!", to which she said something like "don't tell me that!" and "stay strong!". I walked the next aid station, thinking that I might be able to catch my breath and recover a bit. It helped for a moment, but soon I was back to max. I held onto a 7 min/mi average to the turnaround at 4 miles, but from there to the finish it was one streetlight to the next. My mental strength was gone. I kept thinking about how far we came for this race, that it was only X number of minutes left, but never have I fought the will to give up so much. I finally saw the finish straight and tried to pick up speed, smile down the chute, and cross the line. The 44 minute 10k was one of my slowest, if not my slowest, in an Olympic distance race. [strava file]

One disappointing of note about the race itself, which was very well run otherwise, was the post-race athlete food. Bean salad, cold pulled pork and cold corn on the cob are not what I want after slaying myself for 2+ hours. Oh well, there were lots of great food options in town and we'd sample many as we strolled around that afternoon, enjoying local beers and as many patios as we could find!

In all, it was a good weekend. I learned a lot about execution and focusing on a race plan. Clearly I went out too hard and paid for it later on. I have a couple more races this season to perfect the race strategy and execution: Traverse City Tri - 8/17 and Reeds Lake Tri - 9/6 in East Grand Rapids. I can't wait!

A special thanks again to Tim and Molly, to Kristin for her endless ironmate support, my folks for the iPass and the support (my mom had a PR race, too, congrats!!!), and to PowerBar for fueling the journey.

Keep dreaming!

Tri del Sol Race Report

A little late, but better late than never!

This was my first time racing TDS, located at Camp Manitou-Lin  in Middleville, MI. Overall, the experience was pretty good. I was looking forward to getting in the mix with the local talent and trying out a new race.

Race morning was per usual, coffee, Oatmeal Raisin PowerBar, and a banana. Off to the race.

When we arrived, we were a little thrown off. This was not your typical race venue, lots of sandy gravel driveways to walk down. It was a typical camp setting. Some of said sand and gravel stuck to the wet tires on my bike, which I had to wipe off by hand as I forgot my towel for transition. It was layered on so thick that my wheels would not spin very well as they were now rubbing against my bike frame. Small issue, but always interesting to see what new kinks get thrown at you after years of racing.



The swim course was not very well explained, but the lake was warm, smooth, and clear. Pretty nice. I finally felt comfortable in my Roka Maverick wetsuit. Despite skipping swim sessions for the better part of 5 weeks, I had a great swim. I did almost swim into the dock at the swim exit, as the buoys from the camp funneled you into it. The swim was well short of 1500m, probably 300-400 yards worth, so the times are misleading.

Out of the water as one of the lead athletes and on to the bike as quickly as possible. I got into a rhythm fairly early on, but my legs were screaming. I knew the front half of the race was set on a gradual uphill, followed by one "big" climb. Hills have started to become a strength, but I was not feeling confident. Doubts come easy and often, especially when you are on the road by yourself for an hour. Finally I caught one of the faster swimmers and snapped out of the mental funk I had just been in. Full-gas into the finish as the course merged back in with the Sprint distance race. It became clear as we approached the end that the bike would also be short, by about 1.5 miles. I passed a fellow [Michigan Awesome] teammate (nice racing, Ross!), a MSU Tri Team athlete, and rolled into transition in 3rd place overall. Not bad considering Alex (Cat 1 road racer), and Jimi (pro triathlete) were the two ahead of me. It would turn out that I had the third fastest bike split to the same two. Very happy with that!

T2 was a blur, I remember not drinking enough on the bike so I ripped my bottle off and took a huge pull from it. Bad planning, but with all of the sprint athletes on the bike course I didn't want to risk getting tangled up. Out of T2 in 3rd.

On to the run, I got passed by Sparty (Todd B.) about 10 steps in. He was flying. I pushed hard through the first miles, legs screaming. Once we turned from the sprint course it was very lonely, and the short steep hills did nothing but damage to my pace. About 1/2 mile from the turnaround I saw the leaders fly by the other direction. I was quickly warned that there was a rapidly approaching competitor. I tried to pick up the pace but it was clear that was only going to delay the inevitable. He was running sub-6 min/mi. I was barely running sub-7. After shout-outs to Ross, Timmy, Taylor, and Kevin on the way back, we were back onto the Sprint course. I pushed it home and again realized the course was going to be short. Instead of 6.2mi, we ended up with 5.95mi. Still pretty fast running though, especially given the hills and trail running (a few bloodied athletes along the way!). I cruised into the finish in 5th overall, 2nd in my AG (though we raced 25-29 due to lack of age-up rule).

Despite the all-around short course, it was a good experience. I had a great bike split and finally felt comfortable in my new wetsuit!

A local group, Stellafly, took some awesome pictures. Credit to them for most of the images used here. Thanks to Powerbar, Michigan Awesome, and my lovely ironmate (and now WIFE) Kristin for the support!

On to USAT Age Group Nationals in Milwaukee on August 9th. Keep dreaming!

Grand Rapids Tri 70.3/USAT Long-course Nationals

How lucky are you when the USAT selects a home-town race to be the national championships and ITU world championship qualifier? Pretty lucky.

A busy pre-race week meant not a lot of recovery and rest, but I made the most of the downtime and wore my NormaTec "space boots" as much as possible. I snuck a few easy workouts in, including a couple swims, and felt ready to go. On Thursday evening, I took my TT bike out for a couple sharp efforts. A mile from home, I snapped the internally routed cable that shifts the front gears. Luckily my LBS, Village Bike, was still open. I've been spending some time there lately with a few mechanical issues and they remembered my name, and that I had this big race coming up on Sunday. The guys were quick to open up the head mechanic's schedule so he could get it fixed on Friday, giving me a day of cushion. Thanks again, guys! Packet pickup at Amway was a breeze. Great organization.

I also ordered a set of Reynolds 81 clincher wheels from Nashbar. They were over 50% off with an additional 15% off, and through eBates, a 3.5% rebate. Pretty solid deal! Of course, I then paid for rush shipping so I could break them in at the race on Sunday. Thanks to Timmy, I had some solid tips on valve extenders and was able to get the wheels set up and tried out before the race. If you are working with deep wheels and need some pointers, check out http://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/Valve_Extender_How-To_3007.html.

On to the race...

Woke up to pouring rain. Lovely. Had coffee, grabbed my transition bag and a rain coat, and headed out for the race with my ironmate. We got about a block from the athlete drop-off before giving up and parking. I pulled my gear out and rode my bike to transition (with my helmet on). Set up in transition was interesting with the rain. Everything except for my running shoes would be soaked (I only had 1 plastic bag), but since I would be wet from the swim it didn't really matter. We didn't have a ton of time before the race, but a bunch of [Michigan Awesome] teammates had gathered while we were putting on our wetsuits. It was cool to chat with them a bit.

Nutrition - pre-race: Oatmeal raisin PowerBar, banana; bike: 4 PowerGels mixed in 40oz of water; run: 3 PowerGels (could have used a 4th). For those of you who race triathlons and don't already do this - gels mix in water very well, especially the PowerBar ones. You get all of the benefit of the gel without the hassle of opening it while biking, and can meter the intake vs. committing to an entire gel at once.

Swim - I actually had my goggles with me at the start. I didn't intend on using them but accidentally grabbed them. I looked for Kristin but couldn't find her through the crowd of neoprene clad athletes. So I wore them. and disliked it. I did a horrible job sighting. It was a pretty calm and relaxed swim otherwise, which would pay dividends later in the race. Ironically, Tim and I would pop out of the water at the exact same time, just over 30 minutes. The race results counted the time spent with the wetsuit "peelers" in the swim, so my T1 looks fast and my swim looks [very] slow for me. [Strava Swim]

T1 - fast due to the strippe...I mean "peelers". Long run in bike shoes, but thankfully a local carpet store sponsored the race with a lot of outdoor carpet and it was a little less of an annoyance.

Bike - time to try out the new wheels! The roads were wet but it had stopped raining. I had intentions of averaging 22.4mph, which would split a 2:30 for the bike. The first 5 miles clicked off well above that yet my heart rate was well below my limit. The course is pancake flat with the exception of 3-5 miles of hills on the out and back, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. 5 more fast miles, and another. Hit the hills and cruised right on through. We quickly got to the turn around (the 2-3 guys who were about 1 minute apart, not drafting!) and had a chance to count how many people were ahead. I was sitting in the top 20 for my wave. Pretty solid. Halfway split was well under 1:15. My fear was that we were getting pushed by a tailwind and that it would be a battle getting back. Aside from the 5 or so miles back North, the wind was calm. The roads started to dry and my average speed kept increasing. I flew past the Olympic distance turn around and started passing a lot of people, and knew I was almost done. The last 5 miles to T2 were tough as my legs started to tighten up. I kept standing up on the small downhills to stretch out, which seemed to help. Average speed: 23.3mph. Best bike split by a long shot. [Strava Bike]

T2 - Pretty quick other than putting dry socks on wet feet...I also paused to stretch out, then was on my way. Jokingly, I had talked to Timmy about being into T2 under 3 hours, yet here I was, OUT of T2 in under 3 hours!

Run - Here's where the mental games begin. I knew I could PR with a 1:44 half marathon. That would have been a success. But I was having the race of my life and wanted to go for it. Decided that I would try to go out and hold 7 minute miles for as long as I could. That would put me in spitting distance of going sub 4:30, which I wouldn't have fathomed being possible. I guess I didn't set my goals high enough, I had originally targeted sub 4:40. The first few miles ticked off pretty quickly. Then the hills started. I managed keep my average where I wanted but the two hills on the first lap sapped my legs pretty hard. I could feel my stride shortening (more than it already is). At the end of the first lap I had my average, but the splits would start to slow from there as I went back over the hills. Finally, I was on my way back in the final 3 miles. Pushing the tempo to try to close quickly and get close to 4:30, but my legs wouldn't go any faster. It was cool to see all of the [Michigan Awesome] team out on course, cheering each other on as we passed. I closed with a 7:22 mile for an official 7:08/mi pace, a half-marathon PR in the 1:33s! [Strava Run]

When I crossed the finish line, I was ecstatic to see and a finish time of 4:32:29! Woah! An 11 minute PR and a spot to represent Team USA at ITU World Championships in Sweden next summer! This is arguably was the best race of my life. The disciplined efforts over the last 2 years have really paid off, stoking the fire that is the Kona dream.

Thanks again to [Michigan Awesome], PowerBar, my friends, family, Kristin, all of the volunteers and spectators for making such a great race possible. Keep Dreaming!

Bear Lake Olympic Triathlon Race Report

I’m running behind on my race reports, so I’ll make this one quick. A few of us decided to sign up for this race a few days beforehand as a run through before Long Course Nationals at Grand Rapids Triathlon. Woke up early, drove to the race, thinking the entire time that it was a stupid idea. The thermometer in the car never went over 52 degrees. Thankfully, when the sun came up it warmed up quickly and wasn’t a bad day.

Swim – first swim in the new Roka Sports Maverick Elite. I like the suit, but I had trouble with the arms. I couldn’t get the sleeves on. Once I did, I felt like I had water leaking in and into my sleeves, making the arms really heavy. It was still a fast swim. I can tell the suit is fast. But I need to make some adjustments and pay better attention to the fit. Also – no goggles again. Worked fine. Starting to prefer it.

T1 – pretty quick, no issues peeling off the wetsuit. Jogged up the steep embankment into transition where I think a lot of guys ran/sprinted. Decided to keep my HR down and put the power down on the bike.

Bike – one small mishap hopping on and dinged my shin pretty hard. From Kristin’s perspective, she said I looked pissed. It was an amateur mistake, but it happens. I was more embarrassed than upset. Once on the road, it took a mile to settle in but the pedals started turning and I was consistently up over 23-24mph. That felt good. The miles and miles on the bike this year will pay dividends, I could tell. Still have work to do on the bike though, I left T1 only 40 seconds off the lead only to return to T2 more than 7 minutes down! One last thought: it was still VERY cold by Lake Michigan, but the smell of bacon cooking over charcoal at the state park made up for it.

T2 – Aside from a beginner’s bike laying in the middle of the bike rack, and my gear scattered about, there’s not much to note. New Saucony Fastwitch 6s went on quickly and it was off to the races.

Run – I got passed by 1 guy in T2 and was running in 8^th overall. I was passed quickly by a guy who was clearly out of my league. Despite running 6:40 pace I felt like I was walking! Passed a guy who I had trailed the entire bike, and set my focus on another guy about 20 seconds ahead. Each block I would glance at my watch to recalculate the time gap. Gradually, the gap came down and I was effectively on his heels. With a half mile to go, we were running stride for stride. Or, two of my strides for one of his due to my “hoogie steps”. I made small talk to discourage him from making a move, letting him know I had more in the tank. With 400m to go, he made a move anyway. I couldn’t really match it and let him pull away. Fighting for 7^th overall and not an age-group opponent, I thought I’d just let him take it. Just as that thought crossed my mind, he let up. The course ducks under a row of trees after going over a curb, and he had slowed to navigate. I hadn’t. With 50m to go, I was back on his heels, and sprinted as hard as I could. He didn’t have the real estate to accelerate again and I nipped him at the line by less than a second. Great run! 6:35ish average with a 6:20 final mile.

Overall, it was a great race for the first of the season. There is a lot of work to do still to be competitive at this distance in August at the Olympic distance National Championships. Thanks to my iron-mate, Kristin, for supporting me, Michigan Awesome for being awesome, and PowerBar for the fuel!

Keep dreaming!

2014 Update

Since its's been awhile since my last entry I thought I'd share an update. Before IMWI last year I decided to not pursue an ironman in 2014 unless I had qualified for Kona. Since I missed by about 20 minutes, I am sticking to that decision. Kristin and I are getting married in 6 weeks from today and I knew upfront that I would want to be available to help with the many details. (I am incredibly excited to start our life together!) Training for a full ironman can be incredibly selfish at times and while Kristin is incredibly supportive of my dream to race in Kona one day, I wanted to be supportive of her in the coordination and planning of our big day. Helping seal the decision was the wear and tear the training can have both physically and mentally. Both mind and body need a break.

I have been fortunate enough to be selected for the PowerBar Team Elite 2014-2015 squad. I'll continue to spread the wealth to my friends, family, and fellow racers throughout the season. I will also be racing for [MICHIGAN AWESOME] this year. They are a cool apparel company that takes pride in our amazing state. With lots of fast people on the team, I am looking forward to racing in training with them.

We're two weeks out from USAT Long Course nationals, which will be the first A race of the season for me. The second will the USAT Olympic Distance nationals in August. While targeting these two races, I will focus on more purposeful workouts vs. just grinding out distances/times. Over the winter I have spent a number of ours riding the turbo-trainer indoors while actually following an interval/workout. The results have been noticeable already. Another focus will be gaining some foot-speed with track sessions and intervals, rather than heading out and just running. I have a tendency to just go run as fast as I can sustain over a prescribed distance, which is a bad habit and can result in injuries and fatigue.

Speaking of injuries, I'm also working on good habits: foam rolling, stretching, and using my newly acquired "space-boots" (Norma-Tec). So far, I've seen an uptick in quality efforts while actually holding a similar volume to both 2012 and 2013. I also am hoping to form good habits with eating. A lot of days it seems dinner will consist of snacks vs. something well-balanced. As much as I love chips and salsa, it is not the meal to fuel a Kona qualifier on a regular basis.

Tomorrow is my first race of the season, Bear Lake Olympic Tri, more of a warm-up effort for the half-ironman in two weeks. I'll have an update for that as soon as I can. Until then, keep chasing your dreams!