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It’s been over two weeks since this race and a report is long overdue. This was to be my last event before my final push to Ironman Arizona and more of an experience/training event than anything else. In other words, I did not spend a lot of training focus on it nor did I fully taper.
The Las Vegas Triathlon shares much of the same roads as the notorious Silverman course, a very hilly and desolate bike course that is also prone to some windy conditions. I’ve been on these roads before during Pumpkinman several years ago and the Halfmax National Championship a couple of years ago. I guess my memory isn’t so good. I had a general notion in my head, “yeah, yeah, the bike is hilly, but not too bad”. However, during my pre-race brick the day before the race, I was reminded of just how tough it is.
Also, during my pre-race brick, I got a short swim in. The water in Lake Mead was very warm. We’d learned at packet pick-up that the swim would be wetsuit legal, but at 77 degrees, just barely. Anyway, I decided not to wear my Zoot Zenith wetsuit, but to try my new Zoot Speedzoot. This was my first time swimming in it and it was fantastic! It’s going to be a huge advantage at my next non-wetsuit legal race! For this race, I chose to wear the Zenith. I get too much of an advantage to not wear it when wetsuits are legal.
Race Day:
The water at Lake Mead is continues to recede. The water level doesn’t even make it to the boat ramp any longer. The result was an in-water start in ankle deep muck. It felt pretty nasty! The lake is still, however, very clear and it’s pretty easy to find and follow feet, which I did where prudent. Mostly, I found myself working forward. About 500 yards in, I was getting quite warm and started to second-guess my choice of swimwear.
I exited the water in about fourth, I think. There were very few footprints heading up the ramp and through transition and most of the bikes were still racked.
By mile four of the bike I had caught the cyclist immediately in front of me and passed the next one within a mile. The fist two on the road looked a bit out of place. Not really hardcore triathletes. I can’t describe it, but you just know. I decided later on that they must have been part of relay teams. By mile six I was pretty sure I’d taken the lead. I held my watts as steady as possible on the rolling course and by the turn-around at mile 28, I hadn’t seen anyone going the other way.
I checked my split and headed back waiting for the first chaser to appear. It didn’t take too long, only about a minute and a half. A three minute lead with 28 miles left in the bike. I really enjoyed all the support, cheers, and thumbs-up from all the cyclists heading the other way. More than one took the effort to let me know I was in first. For this season at least, I consider my bike to be the weakest of the three disciplines, relatively of course, and the entire way back to T2, I expected someone to catch me. It never happened though, and with a few miles left, I was feeling pretty confident that even if someone did pass me, I’d have a faster run split.
As I left T2, the next cyclist hit the dismount line. They were close now! Shortly after leaving transition, I realized that I had left my Hammer Gel flask sitting on my towel. Crap! All of my calories! At first I thought, “no problem, I can hack a half marathon without any calories, it’ll be OK”. But then I remembered they had Hammer Gel on course! Saved! It was getting very warm at this point. I hit every aid station, stopping at most of them, to make sure I got plenty of fluids. The course climbed early and steep to the first turn-around. At about mile 4, I got the worst cramp that I’ve ever had in a race in my hamstring. No! I slowed but it didn’t go away. I stopped for just a moment and stretched it a bit. I started again but it was still there. I ran stiff-legged for while like someone trying to run with a leg brace on. I’m sure it would have looked funny, but I was determined not to lose the lead. The cramp gave way but returned several times during the run. I just told my legs “Look, we’re not stopping, so you’re going to have to find a way to deal with this”.
After the first of two u-turns, I saw my lead was only about 3 minutes again. I was holding a strong pace, but I didn’t know for how long. The cramps started early and kept returning. The first guy chasing looked strong. By the second turn I counted my lead a 6 minutes. Growing, but really, whomever was chasing only needed 1:00/mile in the six miles coming back to erase that, should I falter. I did not rest easy. I pushed on and settled into my pain cave. At the last turn down to the finish, I snuck a peak back. No one in sight. I slowed just a bit, just to make sure nothing catastrophic happened over the last 300 meters. I zipped-up and took my second 70.3 overall win in month’s time. Pretty cool!
I waited at the finish for the second-place athlete to come in. I was sure they were right behind me, but I had to wait nearly nine minutes. I guess I put a little more time in over the last stretch.
The temperature at the time I finished was around or above 100 degrees and climbed to 103 that day. There were many DNF’s. Just savage conditions. I felt bad for those I saw still on course as we were driving back to the hotel.
Well that’s all for now. Back to IM training!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Morning Trail Run
about 50 yards away, there was a pack of coyotes moving silently from
right to left. Great run!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Mountain Man Half Iron
I feel like it's been a ho-hum year for race results, I really needed a good one and I was hoping things would come around at this year's Mountain Man Half Iron distance triathlon.
As Sarah and I drove to the race venue on Sunday morning, we were happy that the heavy rain of the day before had stopped and it looked like clear sky's. But, we drove through several heavy fog banks on the way. As dawn broke, we could see Lake Mary was quite covered in fog. For some time, one couldn't see any of the buoys marking the swim course. As start time approached, some of the fog cleared, and from the bank I could see all three of the buoys (yes, three buoys for a 1.2 mile swim).
The swim start was mostly uneventful and first buoy was pretty close, almost straight across the narrow lake, and the whole pack seemed to swim straight for it. However, as we turned to head towards the far buoy, on the far side of the lake lengthwise, we could see nothing but fog. We swam on for what seemed like too long, but I was comfortably following the four lead swimmers and along side a kid in a kayak. I gotta say it again, I love that Zoot Zenith wetsuit! It's just a joy to swim in.
All of us at the front stopped several times and looked hard for the the far buoy, but all we could see was fog. Eventually though, I stopped looked far to the right and I saw a green buoy. I yelled to the kid in the Kayak, "hey, is that our buoy?!" he asked what color our turn buoy was, I told him green and he said,"yeah, that's it". The four in front of me headed on, but I made a hard right angle for the turn buoy. Half-way across the gap, I began to feel a little guilty, but I wasn't sure I could have alerted the others anyway. I made it to the turn first, but I was soon passed and left behind by a fast swimmer. I managed to maintain second place and exited the water in that position.
When I left T1 I heard someone yell "fist biker coming out!" Confusing. The lead swimmer must have been at least a minute in front of me out of the water. Where did he go? I jumped on to the bike and pedaled out, quickly settling into my goal wattage on my PowerTap. I was nervous though, my legs didn't feel good and I knew some strong cyclists weren't far behind. I wondered how long it would be before they caught me. At about six miles into the ride, I had my answer. A trio including Bryan Dunn and Brian Folts came past with a third in tow. They didn't linger but slowly crept out of site. Within a few miles I couldn't see them anymore. I refused to ditch my plan and kept my power steady. Near the first turn-around, I could see the lead three coming back, they'd opened a few minute gap and it was early. I wondered how large that gap would be by the end of the bike. My legs felt bad and I was already a ways back. I fought off discouragement and kept faith in my plan, focusing on having a good run.
I ended-up riding most of the day solo, save the overlap on the course with the Olympic distance racers. It's hard to maintain race effort solo. With a few miles left to go on the bike, I saw what looked like Brian Folts up ahead. I was surprised. I didn't think the group would fade much and I didn't expect to catch any of them on the ride. But, it was indeed Brian and with two miles to go, I passed him.
Riding into T2 I figured myself in third or fourth and, after a sloppy transition, I made my way out on to the course intent on taking the first couple of miles conservatively and building into it.
It's an odd run course. The fist two miles are relatively flat but mile three is all up hill, climbing nearly 1000', then, about a half mile out-and-back section at the top of the hill, back down the hill, and finally about a nine mile total out-and-back to the finish. I held a good pace heading up the hill but kept my heart rate fairly low. Just as I neared the top, I saw the race leader, Dan Springborn, about to head down. I checked my watch. About a minute later, I saw Bryan Dunn chasing, I checked my watch again. By the time I hit the turn-around, 3:30 had passed to the leader. So, I was somewhere around 7 minutes back. I barely entertained the thought that I might have a chance in hell of catching them. They must have smoked that bike course.
I flew down the hill at a five-something pace. When I got to the bottom, I thought I might see the runners up ahead, but nothing. I headed for the far run turn. I kept my cadence high, counting steps. My mouth was dry and I took lots of water at the aid stations. As I neared the turn, I was surprised that I had not seen the leaders coming back yet. With about half a mile to the turn, I saw Dan and checked my watch again. As before, about a minute later, I saw Bryan. When I hit the turn, I calculated the deficit at 4 minutes with just over 5 miles to go. "I can't catch them, no way" I thought. Then immediately after "Just keep going, keep working, see what happens." The argument in my head went back and forth for a mile. Bryan didn't seem to be getting any closer. With time running out, I pushed it up a bit and still felt good. With a little over two miles to go, I caught Bryan. I was hesitant to pass. I didn't want a shoulder-to-shoulder battle on my hands for the remainder of the race. I decided to go anyway, but pushed it up a bit more in hopes of deterring a chase. I was surprised to find that I was OK with this higher pace.
I could see Dan up ahead, but at least half a mile away. "What am I doing?" I thought. A small little wide-eyed voice in my head said, "You're not going to try to catch him too, are you? It's madness" I listened, but ignored it and I clawed my way closer. I was pushing the limits of my sustainable effort but with about a mile to go, I'd closed the gap to about 50 yards. Dan turned and looked back for the first time and he saw me. He surged. I could see the gap widen. "Damn", I thought. "He's got another gear, and I'm maxed-out." But, soon after, the gap began to close again. "What? No way. Still, he's so far away and there's so little time left." The gap widened some again, but not for long and with 200 yards to go, the gap was just feet. With about 100 yards to the finish, I passed and did my best interpretation of a sprint to the line without looking back.
I was sure Dan was chasing. Full of adrenaline and disbelief, I crossed the line in first. The race director was there to congratulate me and after a few moments I turned to see that Dan still hadn't crossed the line. I waited to congratulate him, but after crossing the finish, he just sort of wobbled and stumbled a bit, tapped-out.
In the end, the margin was only 32 seconds. Where was that gained and lost? Who knows. I was and am happy for the win, but felt bad for Dan. It must have been heartbreaking to lose it at the end like that.
Thanks to Sarah for her support and encouragement. Also, thanks to my Coach, Brian Grasky. And, thanks to all of my friends for the congratulations and kind words, it's very appreciated.
As Sarah and I drove to the race venue on Sunday morning, we were happy that the heavy rain of the day before had stopped and it looked like clear sky's. But, we drove through several heavy fog banks on the way. As dawn broke, we could see Lake Mary was quite covered in fog. For some time, one couldn't see any of the buoys marking the swim course. As start time approached, some of the fog cleared, and from the bank I could see all three of the buoys (yes, three buoys for a 1.2 mile swim).
The swim start was mostly uneventful and first buoy was pretty close, almost straight across the narrow lake, and the whole pack seemed to swim straight for it. However, as we turned to head towards the far buoy, on the far side of the lake lengthwise, we could see nothing but fog. We swam on for what seemed like too long, but I was comfortably following the four lead swimmers and along side a kid in a kayak. I gotta say it again, I love that Zoot Zenith wetsuit! It's just a joy to swim in.
All of us at the front stopped several times and looked hard for the the far buoy, but all we could see was fog. Eventually though, I stopped looked far to the right and I saw a green buoy. I yelled to the kid in the Kayak, "hey, is that our buoy?!" he asked what color our turn buoy was, I told him green and he said,"yeah, that's it". The four in front of me headed on, but I made a hard right angle for the turn buoy. Half-way across the gap, I began to feel a little guilty, but I wasn't sure I could have alerted the others anyway. I made it to the turn first, but I was soon passed and left behind by a fast swimmer. I managed to maintain second place and exited the water in that position.
When I left T1 I heard someone yell "fist biker coming out!" Confusing. The lead swimmer must have been at least a minute in front of me out of the water. Where did he go? I jumped on to the bike and pedaled out, quickly settling into my goal wattage on my PowerTap. I was nervous though, my legs didn't feel good and I knew some strong cyclists weren't far behind. I wondered how long it would be before they caught me. At about six miles into the ride, I had my answer. A trio including Bryan Dunn and Brian Folts came past with a third in tow. They didn't linger but slowly crept out of site. Within a few miles I couldn't see them anymore. I refused to ditch my plan and kept my power steady. Near the first turn-around, I could see the lead three coming back, they'd opened a few minute gap and it was early. I wondered how large that gap would be by the end of the bike. My legs felt bad and I was already a ways back. I fought off discouragement and kept faith in my plan, focusing on having a good run.
I ended-up riding most of the day solo, save the overlap on the course with the Olympic distance racers. It's hard to maintain race effort solo. With a few miles left to go on the bike, I saw what looked like Brian Folts up ahead. I was surprised. I didn't think the group would fade much and I didn't expect to catch any of them on the ride. But, it was indeed Brian and with two miles to go, I passed him.
Riding into T2 I figured myself in third or fourth and, after a sloppy transition, I made my way out on to the course intent on taking the first couple of miles conservatively and building into it.
It's an odd run course. The fist two miles are relatively flat but mile three is all up hill, climbing nearly 1000', then, about a half mile out-and-back section at the top of the hill, back down the hill, and finally about a nine mile total out-and-back to the finish. I held a good pace heading up the hill but kept my heart rate fairly low. Just as I neared the top, I saw the race leader, Dan Springborn, about to head down. I checked my watch. About a minute later, I saw Bryan Dunn chasing, I checked my watch again. By the time I hit the turn-around, 3:30 had passed to the leader. So, I was somewhere around 7 minutes back. I barely entertained the thought that I might have a chance in hell of catching them. They must have smoked that bike course.
I flew down the hill at a five-something pace. When I got to the bottom, I thought I might see the runners up ahead, but nothing. I headed for the far run turn. I kept my cadence high, counting steps. My mouth was dry and I took lots of water at the aid stations. As I neared the turn, I was surprised that I had not seen the leaders coming back yet. With about half a mile to the turn, I saw Dan and checked my watch again. As before, about a minute later, I saw Bryan. When I hit the turn, I calculated the deficit at 4 minutes with just over 5 miles to go. "I can't catch them, no way" I thought. Then immediately after "Just keep going, keep working, see what happens." The argument in my head went back and forth for a mile. Bryan didn't seem to be getting any closer. With time running out, I pushed it up a bit and still felt good. With a little over two miles to go, I caught Bryan. I was hesitant to pass. I didn't want a shoulder-to-shoulder battle on my hands for the remainder of the race. I decided to go anyway, but pushed it up a bit more in hopes of deterring a chase. I was surprised to find that I was OK with this higher pace.
I could see Dan up ahead, but at least half a mile away. "What am I doing?" I thought. A small little wide-eyed voice in my head said, "You're not going to try to catch him too, are you? It's madness" I listened, but ignored it and I clawed my way closer. I was pushing the limits of my sustainable effort but with about a mile to go, I'd closed the gap to about 50 yards. Dan turned and looked back for the first time and he saw me. He surged. I could see the gap widen. "Damn", I thought. "He's got another gear, and I'm maxed-out." But, soon after, the gap began to close again. "What? No way. Still, he's so far away and there's so little time left." The gap widened some again, but not for long and with 200 yards to go, the gap was just feet. With about 100 yards to the finish, I passed and did my best interpretation of a sprint to the line without looking back.
I was sure Dan was chasing. Full of adrenaline and disbelief, I crossed the line in first. The race director was there to congratulate me and after a few moments I turned to see that Dan still hadn't crossed the line. I waited to congratulate him, but after crossing the finish, he just sort of wobbled and stumbled a bit, tapped-out.
In the end, the margin was only 32 seconds. Where was that gained and lost? Who knows. I was and am happy for the win, but felt bad for Dan. It must have been heartbreaking to lose it at the end like that.
Thanks to Sarah for her support and encouragement. Also, thanks to my Coach, Brian Grasky. And, thanks to all of my friends for the congratulations and kind words, it's very appreciated.
Bouder Peak Triathlon
OK, I'll be honest, what I really want to do is get to my Mountain Man race report. But, I can't really pretend that the Boulder Peak Triathlon didn't happen. So, lets talk about it.
I did feel good going into this race. And, it's not like I did badly, but just not great. Below expectations let's say. Perhaps the biggest factor was my travel arrangements. It's generally accepted that if you don't live at altitude and your going to race someplace with a significantly higher altitude, the best thing to do is to arrive within 24 hours of the race. The later the better, all things considered. Well, I live at about 1300'. Boulder is around 6000'. My place of lodging, nearly 9000'. And I slept at nearly 9000' for two nights before the race. Not ideal. I think I really paid for it.
The Boulder Peak is a great race. And it's held in one of Triathlon's Meccas. So, the competition was definitely there. I was excited about it. I swam well, the bike was far more painful than I remember, but I feel like I held my own. The run? Stunk. I was redlined and just could not hold the pace I should be able to for that distance. Disappointing. I ended-up 6th in my agegroup and 22nd overall.
I did feel good going into this race. And, it's not like I did badly, but just not great. Below expectations let's say. Perhaps the biggest factor was my travel arrangements. It's generally accepted that if you don't live at altitude and your going to race someplace with a significantly higher altitude, the best thing to do is to arrive within 24 hours of the race. The later the better, all things considered. Well, I live at about 1300'. Boulder is around 6000'. My place of lodging, nearly 9000'. And I slept at nearly 9000' for two nights before the race. Not ideal. I think I really paid for it.
The Boulder Peak is a great race. And it's held in one of Triathlon's Meccas. So, the competition was definitely there. I was excited about it. I swam well, the bike was far more painful than I remember, but I feel like I held my own. The run? Stunk. I was redlined and just could not hold the pace I should be able to for that distance. Disappointing. I ended-up 6th in my agegroup and 22nd overall.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Boulder Peak Triathlon - Prologue
Sitting here at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport waiting to board my flight
to Denver. I just said goodbye to my bike a few minutes ago. Man I
hate flying with my bike. A fortune of gear, blood, sweat, and tears,
packed-up and on wheels, carted-off by some stranger. Ugh. Pray to
the baggage-handler gods that they'll be gentle.
to Denver. I just said goodbye to my bike a few minutes ago. Man I
hate flying with my bike. A fortune of gear, blood, sweat, and tears,
packed-up and on wheels, carted-off by some stranger. Ugh. Pray to
the baggage-handler gods that they'll be gentle.
Just had some not-so-healthy dinner at the Fox Sports Grill here in
the terminal. I choose to keep the exact meal a secret, lest my coach
reads this. I'm re-watching the end of today's Tour de France stage.
Man it's been a good Tour so far and the mountains are on the horizon.
Sunday is the Boulder Peak Triathon in Boulder, Colorado. I've done
this race a couple of times before, so, I basically know what I'm in
for. I've trained hard for this race. I feel like I've spent the
last month at lactate threshold. It's been painful. Although this
last week has been less-than-ideal, I'm still feeling pretty good and
my hopes are high. Wish me luck.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Discipline, patience, and a good run.
Some days you just have one of those runs. It's effortless. You float along and there's no pounding, jarring, aching, and the little niggles are silent. The pace comes easy. I haven't had a run like that in a long time. I've run three of the last four days and yesterday was intense. So, I wasn't expecting today to be easy. But it was. Well, relatively. The point is, I felt good and I just wanted to run longer and faster.
My running has been suffering for some time. I just haven't been able to muster the paces I'd become accustomed to. I've been starting to think that I've passed my peak and this is just how it's going to be. A long, slow, descent of ever-slower runs as I age. Yes, yes, I know that will happen. But maybe not yet.
Anyway, the title of this post. I've been extra disciplined this last two weeks. Performing every training session to the letter and logging every workout. It's been focused and goal oriented and good. So, perhaps with some discipline and patience, I'll have a few more good runs.
My running has been suffering for some time. I just haven't been able to muster the paces I'd become accustomed to. I've been starting to think that I've passed my peak and this is just how it's going to be. A long, slow, descent of ever-slower runs as I age. Yes, yes, I know that will happen. But maybe not yet.
Anyway, the title of this post. I've been extra disciplined this last two weeks. Performing every training session to the letter and logging every workout. It's been focused and goal oriented and good. So, perhaps with some discipline and patience, I'll have a few more good runs.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Catching up
Well, it's been a long time since I've written in the old blog. Too many blog posts start this way, but hey, I have to acknowledge it. After the intensity of the build-up to and actual Ironman competition, I had to back-off a bit on triathlon. In addition, "real life" has been putting the squeeze on my training and all outside activities for that matter. Strange how I/we consider work to be our main purpose and other thing to be extra, or outside. So, time to catch-up.
Quite soon after Ironman I came down with a, still not positively identified, illness that kept me from any serious training for a few months. Best I can tell, after an endless list of tests and medications, is that I had multiple sinus / lung infections. Also, my foot issues linger. I seem to be able to run for the most part, but it's often sore.
Through all of that, I still managed to make it to the start line of the Tempe International Triathlon in May. One of the highlights, aside from a 8th overall and 2nd place age-group finish, was a chance to try-out my new Zoot Zenith 2.0 wetsuit. Even after only trying it on I knew it was a major improvement over my old suit. But, soon after the swim start, I realized just how much better. The mobility in the shoulders and the the way it just propped my hips up in the water were astonishing. And, it came off much easier as well. Thank you Zoot!
I should back-up, earlier in the year, I ran a small local 5k to try to put up a qualifying time for the Bolder Boulder 10k in Boulder Colorado. It's now the largest road race in the country with 50,000+ finishers this year. In order to qualify to race in the very first wave, I had to run the 5k in under 18:20 and I ran 18:04 and finished 2nd overall.
So, two weeks after Tempe International, I was on the starting line of the largest road the country, nervous as can be! The elevation (5,430') and my inconsistent run training could have been a factor. But, mostly I was anxious because I wanted to place high enough to get an age-group award. Each age is it's own group and awards go 15 deep. Still, I'd have to run close to a 6 minute per mile pace to do it. I ran my guts out and it hurt as bad as anything. I managed a 37:38 and 11th in the 37 year-old division (352 nd overall). So, I'm waiting for my Bolder Boulder medal in the mail!
Most recently I raced the Deuceman 1/2 Iron distance triathlon at the Trisports.com Deuces Wild Triathlon festival in Show Low Arizona. Another high race at 6,500'. I love this race and this would be my third time for the half and my fourth participation overall. Again I had an almost enjoyable swim in the Zoot Zenith 2.0 and managed to swim over a minute faster than last year. I really can't say enough about that suit, I'm really loving it.
I manged 4th out of the water (though I didn't know it) and ended up trading places for second and third for 50 miles of the bike until the eventual second place finisher passed by.
My legs were toast by then and I had nothing more to give. I couldn't chase. When I came in to T2 I only saw a few bikes on the racks, but didn't really make the connection. Nor did I realize how hot it had become. I hoped my legs would come around on the run, but they never really did. My run pace was nearly 1 minute per mile slower than last year and I thought surely I was out of contention.
The first of two loops of the run was AWFUL, I felt totally lifeless, just trudging along, completely unable and unwilling to chase. I took tons of water and even walked for nearly a full minute. During a half I walked! It felt more like a bad Ironman run instead of a half. Things started to come around on the second loop and I felt like I was running, but I still couldn't manage a very good pace. I ended-up fourth overall and actually had the second fastest run-split of the day. The heat got to everyone. I learned some lessons about assumptions during races and never giving-up.
So, now, I'm gearing-up to head back to Boulder next month to race the Boulder Peak Triathlon. This is another favorite and this will be my third time at this race. However, I plan to really focus and give it a good, full effort and see where I end-up. It's a big race in a triathlon Mecca. I'm excited about the challenge.
Thats all for now. I'm going to try to get more regular here. (famous last blog words)
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