Fremont Tri-4-Fun Race Report

Saturday August 10, 2013

The pursuit of an overall win continues...

Let me start by saying that I love this race. On a Saturday, in the afternoon, low key, inexpensive, yet competitive. After finding out that the 2012 winner would not be present, my hopes were high of an overall win. It wasn't going to be easy, but I knew I had a chance. That is, until Jimi Minnema showed up. Jimi, a local pro, rode his bike from GR to the race. I knew immediately that I wouldn't be able to win, but had a solid chance at taking 2nd still. Local studs Eric Zane from the Free Beer and Hotwings Show and Phil Jones from my 2BContinued team were also there, but I knew I had a shot.

The swim was extended from last year, meaning it would take 3 minutes instead of 2. When the race started, I took off from the beach and hit the water. I started swimming right away instead of trying to run through the knee deep water. Need to save those legs for later. By the first buoy, I was clear of everyone and off into the lead. Again, swimming without goggles, I had not problem sighting. Take note triathlon world! I was first out of the water by 20-30 seconds, nearly ran over a kid eating ice cream in the middle of the sidewalk we had to run up (move it kiddo! Where are your parents and why don't they have you corralled away from the race in a safe manner?!).

T1 was quick. Jimi would make up his ground here but deferred to me on the way out of transition. The volunteers yelled at us because we were riding our bikes already, but as we both pointed out, the race director instructed everyone to do so. I technically beat Jimi out of transition and was first on the bike, albeit by only a fraction of a second.

We popped out onto the bike course and started climbing the only hill. I led him up the hill and turned onto the main drag. Then, like a flash, he went by and was gone. I focused on recovering my HR just a little so that I wasn't red-lined, then put the hammer down.

I should note that I was using our team's disc wheel, which looks awesome. I think it was about as fast as my race wheels on the flat course, but renting it for the race meant a donation to a great cause, the LIVESTRONG foundation, which in the aftermath of the Lance debacle, continues to provide cancer navigation services to all affected by the horrible disease. 

Back to the race. At mile 6, I had worked my average up into the high 24's but was starting to tire. I hadn't been training to race this distance/speed all year. Then, the course turned left to head back to T2...into a very strong crosswind. It was all I could to to put my head down, clench my teeth, and push forward. Somehow I had the power to stay above 20mph, but it was 9 minutes of pure suffering back to T2. The wind was so strong that I didn't want to turn my head to look back at any pursuers, so I hit T2 and transitioned as fast as I could.

Into T2, they didn't let us ride straight back to the racks. Instead, I had to run in my bike shoes. I dislike doing this, solely because the plastic cleats take a beating and it is quite inefficient to do so. Oh well. Wracked my bike, collected my shoes that had been scattered, and took off.

About a half-mile into the run was the first chance to look back, and of course when I did, I saw a guy about 500 feet behind me. That might seem like a lot, but visually on the open road, you can almost hear footsteps. I upped my tempo and was suddenly running fast than I had all year. Thankfully my legs let me open up my stride and keep my infamously high cadence rolling along. At each turn, I would take a time check and figure out the gap to this guy. After a 6:30 mile, he was 30 seconds back. I was struggling, but knew I could hold him off. The next mile was a little faster, and the gap grew by a few seconds. Finally, we made the turn to head back to the finish. At this corner, with 3/4 miles to go, the gap was up to 40 seconds. I opened up my stride a bit more and pushed forward. Finally, I saw my dad and was told he couldn't see him. I cruised down the hill to the finish and hit the line. 2nd overall for the 2nd straight year. Jimi congratulated me and said I had a hell of a swim. I'll take it. Congrats, Jimi on your win!

Very satisfied with the race overall. Great to be healthy and in my final training phase for IMWI. Thanks as always to my ironmate, Kristin, for putting up with my pre and post race nerves and for the unending support. To Jill K for taking pics and cheering loudly. To my parents for supporting and cheering me on (great race, mom!). Lastly, of course, to PowerBar for providing the best nutrition out there.

Keep dreaming...

Lumberman 70.3 Race Report

This past weekend brought us to Cadillac, MI for the inaugural Lumberman Half-Iron Distance Tri (they've hosted Oly and Sprint for a few years). The plan for the weekend was to get a barometer for how IMWI training is going and see if there are any areas that need specific attention (any of the 3 disciplines, nutrition, technique, etc.). We were also hoping for nice weather as we were staying with several friends in a lakeside cottage (thanks again, Tim and Molly!). The weather never came, but the race still went on.

Lumberman '70.3' - July 27, 2013
We woke up Saturday morning after a very short night. Made coffee, ate breakfast, and packed up to drive to the race. We were late. Not entirely, but the line for the porta-potties was way too long. So we made a brash decision to bolt to a nearby gas station, leaving Timmy in the line without any triathlon-ing gear. Sorry, Timmy! Ended up that it was a good decision, but then we only had 10 minutes to set up in transition. My dad helped and got us a close parking spot. Thankfully, the weather cooperated with our tardiness and caused the race to be delayed for 30-45 minutes due to fog. It would end up being dreary weather all day, but the cooler temperatures would allow for faster racing.

The swim:
Turns out the lake is filled with zebra mussels and their empty razor-like shells will destroy your feet. Thankfully we all figured this out before the swim start, and none of our group personally. We were finally set to start the swim and we hear the race director announce "1 minute to go". I spit in my goggles to keep them from fogging up and put them on. As soon as I do, SNAP, the strap breaks. I had enough extra strap to fix it, but without scissors and more than 45 seconds I accepted the fact that I would have to complete the 1.2 mi swim without goggles. I stuffed them in my wetsuit and the horn went off. Timmy and I pushed through a few people and made our way to the front by the first buoy. I soon realized that I might prefer swimming without goggles. Seems like a strange concept, but after years of playing water polo (without goggles), I found that it was easier to sight buoys without! The rest of the swim went smoothly. We kept the tempo up but certainly wasn't a hard effort. Using the knowledge of the razor-sharp shells on the bottom, we swam all the way to shore, even when the water was only 1-2 feet deep. Out of the water in first place, 29 minutes flat. Good swim.

T1:
Wasn't too bad. It was concerning that it was drizzling rain, that's the only thought I had: Hope I don't crash on the wet roads.

The bike:
Hmmm...1 mile in, I nearly crashed. My sunglasses were completely fogged up/wet and I could hardly see. I saw a right turn coming and started to coast into the turn to try to take it somewhat quickly. After all, I was in first. I wanted to try to keep it that way. I pulled my glasses down a bit and realized that there were a lot of potholes and bumps in the corner. I tried to brake, but in the process locked up both wheels. I thought it was the end. Carbon wheel meets curb. Fly into the grass or get nasty road rash. Yet, somehow I managed to stay upright and make the turn. Perhaps it was the road construction cone that I ran over that slowed me down? Either way, it shook me up a bit and didn't help with getting my heart rate down.

Finally, after a few miles, I settled in. I got passed by a couple guys and found a steady, more sustainable pace. The hills weren't too bad. The wind and rain was a bit cold, but allowed for a faster pace. We hit the turn around and I checked my average: 21.9 mph. Not bad. That's against the wind, but slightly net downhill. At this point I made it my goal to hold 21.5 mph overall. I saw Timmy a few minutes back and thought, he's having a good race, sticking to his guns (i.e. running like a mad man). This is where nutritionally I started to tangent from my plan. I had no gels, no salt tabs, just energy drink concoction made up of PowerBar's Ironman Perform and a couple of PowerGels in each bottle. This was working well except it was cold out and drinking wasn't as enticing as I needed it to be. So, I neglected it. Wen the road started climbing back up it got harder and harder to hold pace. I was getting frustrated. Maybe I went out to hard. Maybe I don't have the fitness. Maybe....amazing how the negative thoughts pile up. Then I thought...maybe you should take some nutrition!!! Brilliant. After guzzling half of a bottle, I quickly recomposed myself and got back on track. I hit the olympic tri turnaround and knew the ride would be net downhill for the rest of the way. I kept looking down at my Garmin and seeing 24-25 mph, sustained for mile after mile. This was going to be my best bike split, ever. I felt great. Cruised into T2 with my bike split at 2:33:33 (21.89 mph average).

T2:
This was tough. My hands and feet were nearly numb and I had no dexterity. This made changing my shoes very difficult. Fortunately, I had swapped out the laces on my Saucony Kinvaras to an elastic set. I wisely grabbed salt tabs and my PowerGel flask and took off running.

The Run:
Maybe the most mentally defeating part of a longer distance triathlon are the early miles in the run discipline. Mile 1, 12.1 miles to go, mile 2 drags on, then mile 3, still 10.1 miles to go. Likely that it feels this way because you haven't found your stride yet. Thankfully the route was along Lake Cadillac, which helps take your mind off of the distance to go. When I hit the aid station at mile 2, the kids were very encouraging. "You're doing awesome, in 4th place!" That caught my attention. I had lost track of how many people had passed me on the bike. I began to ponder how hard I would have to work to get into 3rd and on the overall podium. My left leg was tight and I didn't want to have to deal with an injury this late into Ironman Wisconsin training, but as I kept knocking off the miles around 7:20 pace, I thought I could give it a go.

At mile 5, one of the aid station workers said that I was about a mile behind 3rd. Maybe he said first, but this was a little disheartening. I kept pushing, hoping to get a better update from someone else. The run course takes you around the lake, then back out the way you came for another 10k out-and-back. This meant there was a chance I would get to gauge the distance myself, too. I saw 1st place, then 2nd. Before I could see 3rd, the course separated for a small loop. I hit the turn around to start the out-and-back. Kristin, Korrie, and Molly were there. Kristin yelled at me "142". Funny, all I wanted to know was how far ahead the 3rd place guy was. So I yelled back, "What? How far ahead is 3rd?!". Apparently, that's what Kristin was saying, but my mind was not 100% there. Sorry, Kristin. You are amazing for anticipating me wanting to know that, thank you for doing so! Molly clarified and said, "about 2 minutes, he's way ahead!"

When I turned the corner to a long straightaway, I could see 3rd place ahead, walking! I slowed down. I wanted to be able to have some energy left in case he was just walking an aid station. He would run for a few, then walk, then run. I was making up ground quickly. With about 4 miles to go, he turned around and saw me, just a few meters behind. He tried to pick up the tempo, but I was full of energy and he had cracked. I offered him a salt tab as I passed, but he declined and said good luck. We hit the turn together, 5k to go. When he walked again I knew I had a good shot at holding him off. Then I saw Timmy, barreling down. He was about 1/2 mi behind and charging. Suddenly, I felt my podium spot was not secure. I gave him a high-five and some encouragement to go get 4th place. As the final miles reeled off, I kept looking behind me to ensure that it wasn't going to be a sprint to the finish. I felt great but my legs were very tight at this point. I didn't want to have to sprint to the line. Thankfully, I didn't have to. I crossed in a total time of 4:42:32, but the official time at 4:42:42. I was ecstatic. Tim crossed in 5th, a few seconds behind 4th. He could have caught him, but wanted to do the robot on the finish line. There's photographic evidence to come, just need to find it.

Overall, this was a great race, 18 minute PR, a podium finish, and surplus fitness to boot. It would turn out to be a half-marathon PR as well by 3 minutes. Guess I need to run an open half-marathon! The weather may have provided some upside, but I'm very happy with where I am.

Thanks again to Tim and Molly for hosting, Steve, Korrie, Nenad, Kristin, and my parents for the company and cheering, and to PowerBar for providing us all with nutrition for the race!

Back to pursuing the Kona dream....

3rd Annual Hoogie Half-of-a-half Backyard Tri

Grand Haven, MI -- July 14, 2013

Once again, my parents graciously opened up their home to host the 3rd Annual Hoogie Half (of-a-half) Backyard Tri. Again, free PowerBar products for everyone this year, which is always nice to be able to do. Had some new products and also an assortment for everyone to try new things.

We headed down to the Lake Michigan beach and started walking the 1km or so to where we would start swimming. My dad had already gone out and fixed up a buoy for us to sight, which was great. After a day of very strong east winds, the big lake was freezing cold. Very glad I had a wetsuit! Once we were all in the water, we wasted no time getting started. Everyone wanted to get out as soon as possible. My dad kayaked along with us, and JR was long gone. I swam in on the sandbar most of the way, under the mental game that the shallower water would be warmer. Ha! Ultimately, it ended up meaning more time in the water since the buoy was back out in deeper water. On well. Glass-like conditions are rare, so no complaints here.

After climbing back up the dune, I made a quick transition, told Kristin thanks for watching the bikes while we swam, and took off after JR, who was easily 2 minutes ahead.

I quickly realized that I did not have the power in my legs to fully pursue JR, but I wanted to at least make up some ground. I ended up averaging 21mph on the way out, which I was pleased with. The 2 hours I spent the day before battling the wind back from Grand Haven definitely taxed my legs. After the turnaround to head back north, I saw how close Phil, Matt, Tim, and Jeff were. I thought about sitting up and letting them catch up so that we could work as a group (the HHH is "draft legal"), but this is part of my training and I decided to see how long I cold hold them off. Turns out, that was another 4 miles. When we grouped up, I had been solo for 18 miles at 21.1 avg., which I was happy with. We grouped up and chased after JR. It took a lot of short pulls at high pace, but we finally managed to pull him back with 1 mile to go. This meant I would be battling Tim for the win on the run.

After another quick transition, we were off running. Tim closed the 5 second gap in no time, and we ran together for the rest of the way, both trying to concede to the other. Tim had run 25km the day before, so his legs were just as tired as mine. Why do we do these things to ourselves? We hit up the cooler my folks kindly placed out on the run course, waited for Phil and Jeff, and headed off for the last 4 miles. Phil and Jeff dropped off again, so Tim and I ran it in together. In the end, Tim would win the battle of conceding and I would take the win by a couple strides.

All in all, a fun race. I was very glad that my legs held up on the run! Just 19.5 more miles for an ironman marathon! Sigh...

Post race festivities were great as always fun for all the families and significant others to get to relax, eat, swim in the pool, etc.together. Makes the triathlon world smaller and smaller.

A huge thanks again to my parents for hosting, for everyone who came, and to PowerBar for being an awesome sponsor.

Next up: Lumberman 70.3 in Cadillac,MI.

Bear Lake Sprint Triathlon

Two days after the criterium in Zeeland, it was time for the second triathlon of the season. The day brought us to North Muskegon, MI for the Bear Lake Sprint Tri. In order to drum up some friendly competition amongst teammates, this is the second race in the point series we created. With potential do get on the overall podium, we showed up ready to rock.

Bear Lake Sprint Tri, June 23, 2013
Race morning came very early, after spending most of the previous day traveling to my niece's 1st birthday party. Couldn't miss that, so take the travel fatigue and put it aside. Tim and I had plans of opening up a big gap on the swim and trying to lead the race wire to wire. We were successful, after a few weeks of panic swim training, we were out in front after the first buoy. Unfortunately, the swim is only 750m. We had approximately a 30 second gap out of the water.

My transition was fast, and I was out on the bike in first place. What a cool feeling that is, following the lead motorcycle escort. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. After approximately 3 miles, I was passed by 2 athletes. Soon after, a third. None of these were Tim though, so from a point series perspective, I felt okay. I also recalled that one of the guys was over 60 and had done the same thing last year. He doesn't run well (he told us that last year), but he sure is a strong cyclist! There is one big hill on the bike course that you climb and descend right before the turnaround. You then go right back over. At this point, all four of us were very close. Tim was close behind as well. My hope was that we would get a little relief from the wind on the way back, but it was almost worse. My legs were zapped from training, but I kept my head up and pushed home, coming into T2 in 4th.

After another quick transition, I was out on the run. I had no idea what the gap was to Tim behind me, but I knew if I held him off that I could finish 3rd overall. But, the gap wasn't that big. A half mile in and I heard footsteps. Tim was flying. I would later find out that he ran 6:09 avg/mi, while I struggled to get under 7. That was okay though. I moved back into 4th and cruised home. There are much bigger goals for me this year, and I was relatively satisfied with the race. Given my issues with quad injuries, finishing the run without any pain was a success!

After the race, I would head out for 40 more miles on the bike. Have to keep doing work and keep my short-term goals in check, there's a world championship in Hawaii to qualify for!

(A huge thanks to Jason Lavelle of Absolute Photography for taking pictures for the 2BContinued team!!!)

2BContinued Zeeland Criterium

Okay, I know I may have said that I wouldn't do one of these races again. But when your good friend is a key player in organizing the event and wants the team to have a good showing, you take some risks and go for it.

Downtown Zeeland, MI, June 21, 2013...
I had to rush out of work to make it to the start in time, as this was a Friday evening race. Fortunately, Kristin got out of work early and had all of my stuff ready and a snack prepared. She is the best. We hit the road and made it on time. We delivered the two boxes of PowerBar product to the race table and I headed out to warm up. One of the cool things that PowerBar does for Team Elite is sponsor "small" events in order to grassroots market their products. Pretty cool deal.
 

After a few laps on the course, I had made note of the tight turns and potholes and was ready to go. Since the were several of us racing, I thought we would stick together and work as a group. But, when the race started, a lot of the guys held back and didn't try to make the main group. I saw an opening and stood on the pedals to latch onto the back. The first turn was chaos. It was probably the second tightest turn on the course, and with everyone battling for positioning, there was A LOT of braking (in this type of race,where you ride maybe one or two blocks before turning, you need to. Keep your speed up though the turns). This caused a lot of slinky action on the back of the main group: sprint, brake, sprint, brake, etc. The first lap went by very quickly, I didn't have my garmin, but I was told we were going 26-27 on the straights.

I started to get dropped because I couldn't find space to pass some riders and thought about sitting up and waiting for the rest of the group. Then, CRASH. Not me, thankfully! But ahead in the main group. My groupetto caught back up with the back and at this point most of the braking culprits had fallen off. So, clean riding, which was nice. I decided to go for it and see how long I could last. I didn't last long, but after 3 laps I saw most of my teammates on the sidewalk. I was worried that one of them had crashed, but there wasn't any way I could find out. Turns out they were almost ready to be lapped and had to retire from the race.

So I was out in no-mans land looking for a group to share the work with. Finally I caught up to one and they latched on to my wheel. I wasn't exactly looking to do all of the work, so I sat up and moved over so they would pull ahead. I rode with two or three of them for most of the race, one of them was a big guy and took his turns into the wind, meaning we all got a nice break. Lap after lap, the race coordinators said they would keep us out for as long as possible. With about a tenth of a mile to go on our third to last lap, the group caught us. The race coordinators apparently called the lapped riders off the course, but we were long gone and focused on not getting run over. So, I technically did not finish, but official results say that I finished 18th out of 65 or so. Not bad for a CAT4/5 mixed race on a steel framed bike!

So maybe my crit racing days aren't over...?

Race Report - Ashworth Backyard Triathlon

The second race of the weekend brought us to Steve and Korrie's home in Allendale. An annual tradition on Memorial Day, we swim, bike, and run an unofficial and fun, yet competitive, triathlon. This is the first race in the WMPTWCPS (West Michigan Premier Triathlon World Championship Point Series). In past years, it has been very warm and great weather. I guess we were due for a change. At race start, the air temp was in the 50s. Thankfully I packed a full-zip long sleeve jersey, cap, and gloves for the ride. Turned out to be completely worth it.

Pre-race I tried out one of the new PowerBar products called Performance Energy Blends. Made with real fruit, they are more like an applesauce consistency than gel like. They go down very easy and taste pretty good. These ended up given a decent energy load during the short race.

The swim was the first time I had been in the water since playing water polo in January. Needless to say, it is time to get back at it! The water was cold, my sighting poor, but still managed to have a decent swim. 250ish yards in about 4 minutes.

Out of the water and into T1, the cold air had some bite. I put on all the layers I could, fiddled with my garmin to try to get it to change from swim to bike, and hopped on to try to not fall behind. As we made our way out of the neighborhood, I cold feel every mile of the 3 hour ride I put in on Sunday. But, we managed to form a group (draft legal house rules) and I tried to stay comfortable. When we hit the turnaround, we had averaged over 23mph. We had to do some work to fight back against the wind on the way back, and needed up averaging 22+ for the 14.5mi. Very satisfied with this given the training load and that I left the race wheels at home.

My legs were frozen, tight, and seemingly not ready to run a 5k at the speed necessary to win. Tim was in the group with us and has been running very impressively this year. I wisely conceded to him after the first 1/4 mile and started to cruise. I took too much off the gas though and Phil came flying by. Damage control. My legs felt okay, so I kept my cadence up and stayed on my toes. Once Phil passed, I tried to speed up and keep the gap manageable. I started to count the gap, and kept it under 10 seconds. We hit the turn around and went straight into a headwind. I managed to even things up in the next half mile, and Phil tucked in behind me. Not sure how much advantage it really was to draft, but mentally it was threatening to have him right there. Thankfully, I could also hear his breathing, which helped reassure me that I was feeling a little better. Beware though, guys like Phil are smart racers. We hit the last little rise in the road with .1mi to go and I put in a little kick to gap him, successfully. But then, as we turned to the finish in Steve's yard, he started to sprint and challenged my second place. Another push and I held him off in the closing steps, securing 9 precious points in the WMPTWCPS standings.

Overall, a fun race with a little serious edge. I was hurting most of the race and it felt good to still have a great effort despite the soreness. Thanks again to Steve and Korrie for hosting us!

Back to training...

Race Report - Bayshore 10k

This Saturday started off yet another double race weekend. On Friday, Kristin and I headed off to Traverse City to join our friends JR and Ronda for the Bayshore races (they were running the 13.1, K and I running the 10k). The buildup to this race is such that I hadn't run since the riverbank 25k incident, nervous, tired from a long work week, but ready to put the legs to work running again.

After a beer and a "late night" snack at North Peak brewery, we headed off to our quality motel 6 room to get what sleep we could. JR and Ronda had to be up very early, so we crashed pretty quickly. I shouldn't complain about the hotel, because the place next door looked far worse. The only issue was the lack of coffee before 7am. Thank heaven for 7-11!

Race morning we drove and found relatively close parking. Got coffee, and walked in the very brisk 38 degrees to the start. We recounted how drastically different this weather was from last year, when we ran the Madison half-marathon in 80+ degrees at 7am. Crazy. Anyway, I was pretty stressed out and worried that the run was going to be a disaster. I didn't want the leg cramping to return. My legs were cold and tight, my mental state was weak. So much so that I think at one point I proclaimed to K that "this is going to be a $&@) failure!"

However, once the race started and we dealt with all of the poorly paced runners, things were fine. I recall thinking to myself, run more towards the ball of your feet and up on your toes, over exaggerating your form. It worked! We cruised along the bay and averaged approximately 8:15/mi pace. Nowhere close to a PR, but I was elated. Also very proud that K stuck to it after having several very poor runs after her big Riverbank PR.

Post-race amenities were great. We waited a short time and watched JR and Ronda finish their race. JR with a PR! We quickly cleaned up at the motel and grabbed lunch and celebratory beers at Mackinaw Brewing Co. before heading home. What a huge relief this was. The beginning of being back on track, love it!