I know this is a little late to write about but I have a good excuse, the last few weeks have been hectic as I finally made the move out to Boulder, well Louisville CO to be exact. So just the general move activities kind of had me busy through the end of my season this year. Though this week I am not really sure what to do with myself, as I am forcing myself to take off till December to heal fully for next season.
Dallas was to be my last race of the season but fell only one week after our home closing in IL. I qualified for the US open in Chicago by placing 2nd in the elite category to Kaleb Vanort, the top 3 at each Lifetime fitness race throughout the country qualified for the championship in Dallas.
One week after arriving in Colorado in our new home I was off to the airport to head to Dallas for my last race this season. I choose to leave early Saturday and come home later Sunday night, since my wife was not to thrilled that I was leaving right away for this race. My coach Roberto Florencia that has been coaching me over the past two seasons happens to live in Dallas, so I arranged to stay with him and his family. I had never met him in person so it was a great opportunity. This worked out perfect as he was more than accommodating, he even picked me up from the airport and everything. Roberto and his wife were also doing the race so it was nice to have someone local to race with.
Race morning was perfect weather for a race, the US open was at a new venue just to the east of Dallas and proved a to be a great place to have a race. My wave of elite championship men consisted of only 10 guys, most of which I knew from other races, but they were all fast for sure. We got to share a special little transition with the top Olympic pros at this race which was pretty cool. At the swim start we lined up on a dock Hy-Vee style and dove in right after the pros started. The swim was nice, I tried not to take it too hard as I was trying to save a little for the run as Kaleb was there so I knew I had to run super fast if I could after my long taper and lack of training leading up to this race. For the first 500 meters or so one other guy from my wave stayed right with me, then upon turning into the wind and waves at the first turn he dropped off. The marker buoys in between the turn buoys had drifted slightly so I tried to just sight the turns and swim a straight line. Exiting the swim in 18:53 I made the long run up to transition.
Heading out on the bike I almost ran directly into a curb trying to get my other foot in the shoe before heading uphill. But this would of been nothing if I had not done a final check on my bike before the race, my shoes were clipped to the wrong pedals, I laughed but that would of really sucked if I stared the bike that way. I really had no idea what to expect for the bike, I was told there were hills, but figured that they could not be too bad in Dallas. I was wrong there were a lot of hills and it was a quite technical course. It was a really fun I love that type of course. The only incident I had was passing a group of 5 female pros. So the pros ride staggered taking up the entire bike lane, one right, one left, one right, etc. I am supposed to pass on the left, I voiced passing on the left but only one moved over. I don't blame them really, they risk a penalty by moving into the draft zone of another rider. So I had to pass way left and it happened to be on a right hand 90 degree turn. Almost crashed again, and I am sure the pro girls thought I was the crazy amateur. Oh well pass made and on my way. The end of the bike was down hill to transition, my legs were tired after only a 59:55 bike split must of been all the hills. So much for that fast run.
Heading into the run I thought I had at least a 2 minute lead on the field, but that is not enough when the top runner is running 31 a minute 10k. The run was not all that hilly like the bike but was a nice out and back. Flashback to the Chicago race Kaleb makes the pass on me a few miles into the run exactly like in Chicago, except this time he slows to chat with me for a little bit. I guess I was too slow after a while he decides to move on and still ran a 31 minute 10k. I managed to hold off third place by 15 seconds for 2nd place. I was not that happy with my run of 36:59, but really to be expected as my run has been off the end of this season and with all the time off before this race due to the move. No worries for me really, this race was just for fun at the end of the season and it was a great way to end the season.
Thanks again to my coach and his wife for opening up their home to me and helping make this race such a success so easy to do logistically. I am now going to be enjoying some well deserved time with my girls in out new mountain home.
Swim - 18:53 1:10
T1 - 1:06
Bike - 59:55 24.8
T2 - 0:23
Run - 36:59 5:58
Total - 1:57:13
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Branson 70.3 - 9/19/10
Branson MO is not exactly the first place you think of in relation to the sport of triathlon, but 9/19 was to be the first 1/2 Ironman there. I must say it was a great place to have a race and some of the best hospitality I have ever seen. I had signed up for this race way back in the beginning of the season thinking it was close to home easy 70.3 to knock out. I knew the bike was going to be a little hilly but had no idea really what I was in for.
My sister Christine coming from Chicago for the race stopped at our house about half way and stayed the night. After some time with the kids and a little lake swim we headed out in the Timex team Ford Flex. The ride was pretty sweet and the best part was I did not have to drive at all. What a great way to get to a race, plus you get the best parking and tons of looks at the race or traveling. We picked up her friend Erin in St. Louis and headed further south to Branson. Once we got there we had to plan the day around checking into the hotel, hitting the expo, and getting things setup in T1 and T2. T1 and T2 at this race were about 10 miles apart so logistically we had to plan everything well and ate dinner in the heart of Branson's shopping center where T2 was located. One thing I was surprised of was all the traffic in Branson it was a major pain, but we soon found our way around most of it.
Race morning we awoke ate and walked the short distance over to T1 as out hotel was overlooking the lake. Table Rock lake is a beautiful lake to host a swim in, clear cool water, wetsuit legal, despite the new 76 degree rule and 90 plus temperatures expected during the race. The pros were in the water first followed by pretty much everyone else 1500 or so, as my wave was 3nd to last to start. I watched Christine start, and started talking to a few other folks before my wave was supposed to start at 7:40. I soon noticed that all the purple caps were lining up outside the swim start, so I raced over had someone zip me up and was off in the water in the next 30 seconds. Apparently I missed the announcement that waves were 3 minutes apart not 5 as announced the day prior. I had to swim through groups of people the entire time, but only got kicked in the face once pretty hard. I took the swim a little easy as I was keeping this race fun and really trying not to push too hard until the run.
Exiting the swim on to the bike I had to keep in mind a rule either at this race or upcoming for next season of not clipping in your shoes onto the bike. So running through T1 with my bike shoes on I felt like I was going to fall trying to do that rather than the usual. Anyway off on the bike the hills began....the course was a two loop bike on a four lane major highway completely closed down. After climbing the few initial hills away from the lake, I was a little out of breath, but they kept coming. Not the little short steep hills but long highway hills with long sweeping downhills before. It was fun to hit 48 mph going down and then back to 12 going up. The first amateur racer happened to be my sister, I passed her at mile 17 or so, I think she was surprised to see me so soon, but the short wave start was the reason, she was holding her own in front of all of the men. I tried to keep my climbing rhythm up hill and eat/drink going down. I ate my peanut butter sandwich and Erin Baker breakfast cookie going 41mph, sweet! I can't really say enough about the bike course, it was challenging, kept people from drafting, wide open, and it was going to make the run hurt. Great course I loved every minute of it. The last section 6 miles or so was mostly downhill into town and T2, very fast.
Heading into T2 I about fell trying to leave my bike shoes on my feet and side saddle the bike, but made it through and headed off on the run. My bike was the lone bike in transition, except the pro rack. The heat and humidity was really starting now more then normal for September I think. After the first mile of so I fell in to pace with Nina Craft a female pro who won Kona in the past. She was holding a good pace and I wanted to do the first lap of the three lap run a little easy. She was in the hunt for 3rd place to catch Pip Taylor, so I ran with her and chatted a little about catching Pip. The end of the first lap I saw Christine running, this was supposed to be a swim/bike prep race for her Kona debut in a few weeks as she has been plagued with a groin injury. I tried to tell her to stop running and slow down, which thankfully she did and stopped after the first lap. My plan was to hit the 2nd and 3rd lap harder, but as the 2nd lap approached I was drained from the bike and the heat. So I kept up with Nina but that was it, the third lap I ran in front of her a ways and she came back up the last few miles. We put on a little push the last few miles, I was hurting and I could tell many others in the field were as well, I think it had a lot to do with the tough bike. We crossed the line at the same time, and Christine was there to greet me. The finish was right at Branson's fountains in the heart of Branson's shopping center, which we later found out contained nice and cool water from a spring fed river to soak our tired legs in. Christine was disappointed she had to drop out of the run being so far ahead but she did the right thing and will be thankful in a few weeks for Kona. I ended up 6th overall including the pros, not a bad day for not taking it too hard and making it a fun race. Erin came in soon after and had a great race herself, everyone was raving about the tough bike course after the race. The volunteers at the race just went over and above bringing us drinks/food after the race, helping on course, the expo, and just in general seemed to be so thankful to host a race and have everyone come to see their town.
I was happy with my race I had the fastest swim of the day, bike was on top, and my run was off by 5 - 7 minutes but that was to be expected as the shin splits still plague me, I think they need a off season rest.
And the award was a belt buckle of course!
Swim - 23:41 1:14
T1 - 2:02
Bike - 2:26:17 22.1
T2 - 0:47
Run - 1:28:53 6:48
Total - 4:21:40
My sister Christine coming from Chicago for the race stopped at our house about half way and stayed the night. After some time with the kids and a little lake swim we headed out in the Timex team Ford Flex. The ride was pretty sweet and the best part was I did not have to drive at all. What a great way to get to a race, plus you get the best parking and tons of looks at the race or traveling. We picked up her friend Erin in St. Louis and headed further south to Branson. Once we got there we had to plan the day around checking into the hotel, hitting the expo, and getting things setup in T1 and T2. T1 and T2 at this race were about 10 miles apart so logistically we had to plan everything well and ate dinner in the heart of Branson's shopping center where T2 was located. One thing I was surprised of was all the traffic in Branson it was a major pain, but we soon found our way around most of it.
Race morning we awoke ate and walked the short distance over to T1 as out hotel was overlooking the lake. Table Rock lake is a beautiful lake to host a swim in, clear cool water, wetsuit legal, despite the new 76 degree rule and 90 plus temperatures expected during the race. The pros were in the water first followed by pretty much everyone else 1500 or so, as my wave was 3nd to last to start. I watched Christine start, and started talking to a few other folks before my wave was supposed to start at 7:40. I soon noticed that all the purple caps were lining up outside the swim start, so I raced over had someone zip me up and was off in the water in the next 30 seconds. Apparently I missed the announcement that waves were 3 minutes apart not 5 as announced the day prior. I had to swim through groups of people the entire time, but only got kicked in the face once pretty hard. I took the swim a little easy as I was keeping this race fun and really trying not to push too hard until the run.
Exiting the swim on to the bike I had to keep in mind a rule either at this race or upcoming for next season of not clipping in your shoes onto the bike. So running through T1 with my bike shoes on I felt like I was going to fall trying to do that rather than the usual. Anyway off on the bike the hills began....the course was a two loop bike on a four lane major highway completely closed down. After climbing the few initial hills away from the lake, I was a little out of breath, but they kept coming. Not the little short steep hills but long highway hills with long sweeping downhills before. It was fun to hit 48 mph going down and then back to 12 going up. The first amateur racer happened to be my sister, I passed her at mile 17 or so, I think she was surprised to see me so soon, but the short wave start was the reason, she was holding her own in front of all of the men. I tried to keep my climbing rhythm up hill and eat/drink going down. I ate my peanut butter sandwich and Erin Baker breakfast cookie going 41mph, sweet! I can't really say enough about the bike course, it was challenging, kept people from drafting, wide open, and it was going to make the run hurt. Great course I loved every minute of it. The last section 6 miles or so was mostly downhill into town and T2, very fast.
Heading into T2 I about fell trying to leave my bike shoes on my feet and side saddle the bike, but made it through and headed off on the run. My bike was the lone bike in transition, except the pro rack. The heat and humidity was really starting now more then normal for September I think. After the first mile of so I fell in to pace with Nina Craft a female pro who won Kona in the past. She was holding a good pace and I wanted to do the first lap of the three lap run a little easy. She was in the hunt for 3rd place to catch Pip Taylor, so I ran with her and chatted a little about catching Pip. The end of the first lap I saw Christine running, this was supposed to be a swim/bike prep race for her Kona debut in a few weeks as she has been plagued with a groin injury. I tried to tell her to stop running and slow down, which thankfully she did and stopped after the first lap. My plan was to hit the 2nd and 3rd lap harder, but as the 2nd lap approached I was drained from the bike and the heat. So I kept up with Nina but that was it, the third lap I ran in front of her a ways and she came back up the last few miles. We put on a little push the last few miles, I was hurting and I could tell many others in the field were as well, I think it had a lot to do with the tough bike. We crossed the line at the same time, and Christine was there to greet me. The finish was right at Branson's fountains in the heart of Branson's shopping center, which we later found out contained nice and cool water from a spring fed river to soak our tired legs in. Christine was disappointed she had to drop out of the run being so far ahead but she did the right thing and will be thankful in a few weeks for Kona. I ended up 6th overall including the pros, not a bad day for not taking it too hard and making it a fun race. Erin came in soon after and had a great race herself, everyone was raving about the tough bike course after the race. The volunteers at the race just went over and above bringing us drinks/food after the race, helping on course, the expo, and just in general seemed to be so thankful to host a race and have everyone come to see their town.
I was happy with my race I had the fastest swim of the day, bike was on top, and my run was off by 5 - 7 minutes but that was to be expected as the shin splits still plague me, I think they need a off season rest.
And the award was a belt buckle of course!
Swim - 23:41 1:14
T1 - 2:02
Bike - 2:26:17 22.1
T2 - 0:47
Run - 1:28:53 6:48
Total - 4:21:40
Sunday, September 5, 2010
8/29/10 - Chicago Triathlon
The Chicago triathlon is one of the largest triathlons in the world drawing in usually 8,000 - 10,000 participants, being this large it is sometimes kind of a hassle to do the race. I found it quite easy this year and everything worked out as planned. It is a great race though as you swim in the harbor on Lake Michigan, bike on lake shore drive, and run along the lakefront path. My wife and kids made the drive up to Chicago on Friday evening and stayed with my dad in St. Charles. On Saturday we headed in to downtown Chicago which took quite a bit longer than expected due to traffic. The kids got a good nap in though, we met my friend Joel who had a parking spot waiting at half price across the street from the Hilton.
It just happened to be my wife's birthday Saturday as well, I was planning on getting her a road bike. Since a few leads fell through, I had my brother who works at an Triathlon store during the summer bring one in her size right to their booth at the huge Chicago Triathlon expo. We walked around the expo got all our goodies, packets, and picked up a new road bike, thanks Brian! She loves the new ride and can't believe how much faster it is then the 30lb mountain bike she has been riding.
Joel had arranged a nice room overlooking the lake Michigan for our stay, though he got more than he bargained for as I brought my wife and two kids with me. We had a nice group for dinner at an little Italian place for Shanon's birthday with Riley, Corrie, Christine, Brian, Joel, Henry, and Shanon.
Race morning arrived early, but there was no rush as we only had a few blocks to ride over to the transition area. We got there a little later than I usually do, the racks were full, but I found a guy with a big balloon in the elite rack to rack right next too. The transition in Chicago is quite large but a quick walk though and I had my bearings for the race. It was nice to be in the elite wave as we started right after all the sprint race waves at about 7:30AM, early at Chicago's race. My sister was in the 2nd elite wave right after myself as well. It was an in water start along the sea wall out and back past the start north towards transition. The start was fast as a few started out quick and fell off, after about 300 yards I found myself out front of the group with one or two others right behind.
The swim in Chicago is nice since the water is cool and seems clean because you can see more than a few feet in the water, not typical in my southern IL lakes. But the nice part is you swim along a seawall the whole time so you can't help but swim nice and straight. My dad and who I thought at the time was my brother were walking along me the entire length of the swim, which was pretty cool. I stayed in front the whole swim, and exited the water in 20:19. The run from the swim exit to transition is fairly long and on a rough surface which kind of sucks to run on. I found my bike without issue and headed out on lake shore drive. I knew I had to bike hard since my running is not where I want it to be at this time of the season due to some shin split issues. The bike on lake shore drive is a two loop circuit, it was a little windy as to be expected. I was able to put a little gap on the field during the bike portion while passing many of the sprint participants on the course. Since the left lane was the one closed for the race, passing was to be done on the right during this race. I was able to maintain a 26.1 avg and 322 watts on the bike which was great for me. But next was the run and I was knew it was going to hurt. I tried to back off on the bike the last 2 miles or so. But heading out on the run I knew it was going to be hard to keep pace. There were two guys chasing me in the beginning of the run. I had a race volunteer riding a bike in front of me for a while clearing the way which was really nice since the run was on a narrow bike path. Kaleb Vanort passed me at mile 2 or so in the run like I was standing still, he ended up running a 32 min 10k to my 37 min, outch! The run hurt but I saw many people I knew on course including my sister heading out in first place for the elite women.
Towards the end I did not know where 3rd place was so I gave it once last kick towards the finish line, I would hear my whole family cheering for me as well which is always great.
I finished in 2nd place at 1:57:40 which is pretty good considering Chicago's long transitions. Caleb ending up putting almost 3 minutes on me in the run, he sure can put down a great run. I found my family and waited for my sister to come across the line hopefully in first place.
She did not disappoint, but due to a 2 min penalty in the bike she officially took 2nd which we did not know until awards.
After the race we were treated to a few beers from the Well Fit team which was well represented at the race and a huge after race party/expo. After awards we were able to go back to the hotel shower up and get on the road for the 5 hr drive home with one more bike on the roof. Overall a great race and since last year I had a medical rollover into 2010, I dropped 11 minutes from my 2008 time...not too bad.
Swim 00:20:19
Trans1 00:01:16
Bike 00:57:14
Trans2 00:01:12
Run 00:37:38
Clock Time 01:57:40
It just happened to be my wife's birthday Saturday as well, I was planning on getting her a road bike. Since a few leads fell through, I had my brother who works at an Triathlon store during the summer bring one in her size right to their booth at the huge Chicago Triathlon expo. We walked around the expo got all our goodies, packets, and picked up a new road bike, thanks Brian! She loves the new ride and can't believe how much faster it is then the 30lb mountain bike she has been riding.
Joel had arranged a nice room overlooking the lake Michigan for our stay, though he got more than he bargained for as I brought my wife and two kids with me. We had a nice group for dinner at an little Italian place for Shanon's birthday with Riley, Corrie, Christine, Brian, Joel, Henry, and Shanon.
Race morning arrived early, but there was no rush as we only had a few blocks to ride over to the transition area. We got there a little later than I usually do, the racks were full, but I found a guy with a big balloon in the elite rack to rack right next too. The transition in Chicago is quite large but a quick walk though and I had my bearings for the race. It was nice to be in the elite wave as we started right after all the sprint race waves at about 7:30AM, early at Chicago's race. My sister was in the 2nd elite wave right after myself as well. It was an in water start along the sea wall out and back past the start north towards transition. The start was fast as a few started out quick and fell off, after about 300 yards I found myself out front of the group with one or two others right behind.
The swim in Chicago is nice since the water is cool and seems clean because you can see more than a few feet in the water, not typical in my southern IL lakes. But the nice part is you swim along a seawall the whole time so you can't help but swim nice and straight. My dad and who I thought at the time was my brother were walking along me the entire length of the swim, which was pretty cool. I stayed in front the whole swim, and exited the water in 20:19. The run from the swim exit to transition is fairly long and on a rough surface which kind of sucks to run on. I found my bike without issue and headed out on lake shore drive. I knew I had to bike hard since my running is not where I want it to be at this time of the season due to some shin split issues. The bike on lake shore drive is a two loop circuit, it was a little windy as to be expected. I was able to put a little gap on the field during the bike portion while passing many of the sprint participants on the course. Since the left lane was the one closed for the race, passing was to be done on the right during this race. I was able to maintain a 26.1 avg and 322 watts on the bike which was great for me. But next was the run and I was knew it was going to hurt. I tried to back off on the bike the last 2 miles or so. But heading out on the run I knew it was going to be hard to keep pace. There were two guys chasing me in the beginning of the run. I had a race volunteer riding a bike in front of me for a while clearing the way which was really nice since the run was on a narrow bike path. Kaleb Vanort passed me at mile 2 or so in the run like I was standing still, he ended up running a 32 min 10k to my 37 min, outch! The run hurt but I saw many people I knew on course including my sister heading out in first place for the elite women.
Towards the end I did not know where 3rd place was so I gave it once last kick towards the finish line, I would hear my whole family cheering for me as well which is always great.
I finished in 2nd place at 1:57:40 which is pretty good considering Chicago's long transitions. Caleb ending up putting almost 3 minutes on me in the run, he sure can put down a great run. I found my family and waited for my sister to come across the line hopefully in first place.
She did not disappoint, but due to a 2 min penalty in the bike she officially took 2nd which we did not know until awards.
After the race we were treated to a few beers from the Well Fit team which was well represented at the race and a huge after race party/expo. After awards we were able to go back to the hotel shower up and get on the road for the 5 hr drive home with one more bike on the roof. Overall a great race and since last year I had a medical rollover into 2010, I dropped 11 minutes from my 2008 time...not too bad.
Swim 00:20:19
Trans1 00:01:16
Bike 00:57:14
Trans2 00:01:12
Run 00:37:38
Clock Time 01:57:40
Thursday, July 29, 2010
7/17 Evergreen Lake Triathlon
The Evergreen Lake Triathlon in Bloomington IL I have participated in for the last 3 years, it is a well run race that attracts the best midwest talent. Plus is sponsored by Erin Baker so I needed to represent our team. This year my sister came down from Chicago and my friend Joel came to race as well. We all arrived after work Friday evening checked into the race and found our campsites. We decided to camp at this race since the race site is a nice park with camping anyway. It turned out to be a good decision since we got to wake up a little later and take our time race morning. My dad was bringing my girls back to us after watching them all week so I was excited to see him and the kids. It was a little hot out and I did not sleep very well, but got what I needed. Race morning we all got gear set up in transition and readied at the starting line.
The elite wave was combined again this weekend with men and women, so my sister and I started together. The wave was quite large though as the collegiate age group was in there as well. After the start I found myself in front with Bryan Rhodes, Andy Starykowicz, and one other. The entire swim we swam together, I came out of the water right behind Bryan in 2nd place. I was out of T1 in first place but not for long. Bryan passed me again while I was putting on my shoes not 1/2 mile from T1, followed by Andy a mile or so later. I could not match pace with those two on the bike, but I kept them within sight the whole bike. It proved to be pretty good for me as I was at 317 normalized watts and 25.6 avg mph throughout the 42 k bike, it is a little long due to some road construction I think. The end of the bike it was starting to heat up pretty good, the run was going to be brutal I thought.
I entered the run in 3rd place still and since the run course started out opposite the bike I could gauge where I was at in the race. 1st and 2nd were a few minutes ahead, Bryan by not too much and 4th place was a few minutes behind I found out at the first turn around of the run. Heading out I saw my Dad, Betsy, and my girls cheering me on, this was great to have them all there to watch.
The run was very hot and humid but nothing major. I ran at a nice pace, not really pushing myself very hard since I thought 3rd place was in the bag. Plus I was trying to heal these shin splits that have been plaguing my for a few weeks. At about mile 5.5 I heard footsteps behind me, no way could this guy of caught me. Before I could even look back came the pass, crap, I had to stick with him and pass at the end now. I kept pace for about 500 meters, then I knew I was beat for sure. I ran hard all the way to the line as you can see in the picture below but he was a far faster runner, turns out 33 low 10k in the heat, whoa!
Anyway this took me out of the prize money and into 4th place. I found my girls, Dad, and Betsy as we all waited at the finish line hoping my sister Christine had better results, she did not disappoint. She came in to the finish in no less than 1st place female overall. All was not lost after all she had a great race and took home $1k too. My friend Joel did the sprint race as well which started 1/2 hour after us, so I did not see him on course. He came in a little while later, in his first sprint race that had a longer 42k bike. He had a great race as well finishing in 5th place in his age group.
I can't really be too disappointed with my race I had good splits, and was just ran down in the last mile, it will teach me to not get too complacent and think you wont be caught. They are always chasing. Christine had a great race and it was good to race with Joel and my family watching as well.
Swim 19:54.9 1:13
T1 00:36.6
Bike 01:01:04.5 25.5
T2 00:41.0
Run 38:39.5 6:13
The elite wave was combined again this weekend with men and women, so my sister and I started together. The wave was quite large though as the collegiate age group was in there as well. After the start I found myself in front with Bryan Rhodes, Andy Starykowicz, and one other. The entire swim we swam together, I came out of the water right behind Bryan in 2nd place. I was out of T1 in first place but not for long. Bryan passed me again while I was putting on my shoes not 1/2 mile from T1, followed by Andy a mile or so later. I could not match pace with those two on the bike, but I kept them within sight the whole bike. It proved to be pretty good for me as I was at 317 normalized watts and 25.6 avg mph throughout the 42 k bike, it is a little long due to some road construction I think. The end of the bike it was starting to heat up pretty good, the run was going to be brutal I thought.
I entered the run in 3rd place still and since the run course started out opposite the bike I could gauge where I was at in the race. 1st and 2nd were a few minutes ahead, Bryan by not too much and 4th place was a few minutes behind I found out at the first turn around of the run. Heading out I saw my Dad, Betsy, and my girls cheering me on, this was great to have them all there to watch.
The run was very hot and humid but nothing major. I ran at a nice pace, not really pushing myself very hard since I thought 3rd place was in the bag. Plus I was trying to heal these shin splits that have been plaguing my for a few weeks. At about mile 5.5 I heard footsteps behind me, no way could this guy of caught me. Before I could even look back came the pass, crap, I had to stick with him and pass at the end now. I kept pace for about 500 meters, then I knew I was beat for sure. I ran hard all the way to the line as you can see in the picture below but he was a far faster runner, turns out 33 low 10k in the heat, whoa!
Anyway this took me out of the prize money and into 4th place. I found my girls, Dad, and Betsy as we all waited at the finish line hoping my sister Christine had better results, she did not disappoint. She came in to the finish in no less than 1st place female overall. All was not lost after all she had a great race and took home $1k too. My friend Joel did the sprint race as well which started 1/2 hour after us, so I did not see him on course. He came in a little while later, in his first sprint race that had a longer 42k bike. He had a great race as well finishing in 5th place in his age group.
I can't really be too disappointed with my race I had good splits, and was just ran down in the last mile, it will teach me to not get too complacent and think you wont be caught. They are always chasing. Christine had a great race and it was good to race with Joel and my family watching as well.
Swim 19:54.9 1:13
T1 00:36.6
Bike 01:01:04.5 25.5
T2 00:41.0
Run 38:39.5 6:13
Sunday, July 25, 2010
7/11 - Rodney T Miller Decatur Triathlon
This would be the second year competing at the Rodney T Miller Triathlon in Decatur IL. It is a longer sprint distance race, but attracts many of the top midwest pros since there is prize money. The race is one of the best run races I do all year, there are almost more volunteers helping with the race then athletes. This year they even had live video feeds on the bike and run course for the spectators, this is great for a small race in the middle of IL. Four days prior to this race I had a pretty good bike crash going around a turn and into gravel at about 28mph. I had a sore hip and elbow along with some nice road rash. I had been nursing some shin splits from running as well. Not the best shape to do a race but not excuses either, I was going for it. I talked my sister Christine into coming down from Chicago for this race, I think she was glad she made it for sure. I brought the whole family as we were planning to drop our two daughters off with my dad for a week who was there to pick them up and watch the race. The girls were excited to visit Grandpa for a week.
The morning of the race was warm already, the water was hot like 85 degrees, so no wetsuits. My sister and I got our gear setup in transition and went to the stretch and start. We found my Dad, my wife, and the kids all ready to watch us start.
We were the first wave and got to start together. The start was uneventful though I did find a few men right with me on the way out to the first buoy. Soon I was passed by John Kenny, I tried for a second to keep up by there was no way he was fast! My hip was feeling a little sore in the swim, but that was not the real reason I was behind. He was fast and I am feeling a little down on swim shape. Anyway Andy Starykowicz passed me soon after that, I was in third now and the 3/4 mile swim was only half over. I pushed on to the finish the swim right behind Andy, but John had put in over an minute already. T1 was fast as I was one of the only top men without a speed suit. Once on the 19 mile bike course I could see John and Andy in front of me, Andy was doing the usual and hammering. Soon John was passed, they were gapping on me but not as bad as I had thought. Towards mile 14 or so Eric Bean passed me, I stayed close to him all the way to T2. I was happy with my bike here though, averaging 25.9mph, and 331 normalized average watts (my coach says to start looking at normalized power not average). Upon starting the run I thought the shin splints were really doing to hinder my running. They did hurt pretty bad for the 1/2 mile or so, but soon I either forgot or they felt better. They would go on to be very painful the next day. I found myself within sight of Eric the whole run, at first I thought there was no way I was going to catch him. But at mile 3 of the 4.5 mile run I decided that I needed to give it a shot. I ran hard to overtake him and kept pushing, to my surprise I came within 15 seconds of catching 2nd place as well. 3rd place was still in the prize money for this race so that was a nice bonus as well. Christine came over the line soon after in 2nd place for the woman's race, she had just ran down third place in the final 200 meters to take 2nd place. Overall a great race with stiff competition and very well organized. Oh yea and Jimmy John's subs at the finish, I think I ate 5. But the best part? The "big" checks a la Happy Gilmore of course!
Swim - 16:25.6 1:20
T1 - 00:22.5
Bike - 00:43:50.4 26.0
T2 - 00:25.7
Run - 26:06.9 5:48
Total - 01:27:11.1
The morning of the race was warm already, the water was hot like 85 degrees, so no wetsuits. My sister and I got our gear setup in transition and went to the stretch and start. We found my Dad, my wife, and the kids all ready to watch us start.
We were the first wave and got to start together. The start was uneventful though I did find a few men right with me on the way out to the first buoy. Soon I was passed by John Kenny, I tried for a second to keep up by there was no way he was fast! My hip was feeling a little sore in the swim, but that was not the real reason I was behind. He was fast and I am feeling a little down on swim shape. Anyway Andy Starykowicz passed me soon after that, I was in third now and the 3/4 mile swim was only half over. I pushed on to the finish the swim right behind Andy, but John had put in over an minute already. T1 was fast as I was one of the only top men without a speed suit. Once on the 19 mile bike course I could see John and Andy in front of me, Andy was doing the usual and hammering. Soon John was passed, they were gapping on me but not as bad as I had thought. Towards mile 14 or so Eric Bean passed me, I stayed close to him all the way to T2. I was happy with my bike here though, averaging 25.9mph, and 331 normalized average watts (my coach says to start looking at normalized power not average). Upon starting the run I thought the shin splints were really doing to hinder my running. They did hurt pretty bad for the 1/2 mile or so, but soon I either forgot or they felt better. They would go on to be very painful the next day. I found myself within sight of Eric the whole run, at first I thought there was no way I was going to catch him. But at mile 3 of the 4.5 mile run I decided that I needed to give it a shot. I ran hard to overtake him and kept pushing, to my surprise I came within 15 seconds of catching 2nd place as well. 3rd place was still in the prize money for this race so that was a nice bonus as well. Christine came over the line soon after in 2nd place for the woman's race, she had just ran down third place in the final 200 meters to take 2nd place. Overall a great race with stiff competition and very well organized. Oh yea and Jimmy John's subs at the finish, I think I ate 5. But the best part? The "big" checks a la Happy Gilmore of course!
Swim - 16:25.6 1:20
T1 - 00:22.5
Bike - 00:43:50.4 26.0
T2 - 00:25.7
Run - 26:06.9 5:48
Total - 01:27:11.1
Monday, July 5, 2010
06/26/10 - Boulder 2 mile reservoir swim
Last weekend I took the whole family out to Boulder CO to look at houses for our upcoming move, while out there I decided to find a local race to to. It ended up be an BAM (Boulder Aquatics Masters) open water swim. We drove out and arrived Friday evening with enough time to look at a few houses and walk around Pearl street and have dinner in downtown Boulder. The swim was at the Boulder Reservoir a few miles northeast of Boulder, I was amazed how many people were out on the water already water skiing, rowing, and other sports. The lake swim had options of wetsuit, no wetsuit, 1 or 2 mile, the water at 74 or so was nice for me since the midwest water is over 80 right now. I choose to wear the wetsuit and do the two mile swim. After a little warm up and the kids playing on the beach it was time to start.
The course was a 1 mile loop done twice for the two milers. There were about 50 people that showed up to do the race, a pretty good turnout and was very well organized. We started and I was quickly out in front by the first turn buoy, but there was one other person right on my feet. After swimming a few more minutes I realized it was a women and without a wetsuit. We were out in front after the first 1/2 lap by quite a bit. I lead the whole first lap thinking to myself I will just drop her at the end of the 2nd lap. But starting the 2nd lap she began to pass me and really pull after each turn buoy. I could tell she was a very good open water swimmer. She lead the 2nd lap and I still figured I could just pass her up at the last 500 meters or so. It was nice to not have to spot for most of the 2nd lap. I put in a little pass at 500 meters to go, but she matched pace no problem. It turned into a sprint to the finish, we came out of the water at about the same time, but I think she beat me for sure. Since she was not wearing a wetsuit and I was breathing pretty hard after while she went for a 3rd warm down lap. We were ahead of the rest of the pack by about 4 minutes, we finished in 40:16.
Come to find out that the women who beat me was Christine Jennings who happened to place 2nd in the national 10k open water championships a few weeks earlier, so 2 miles was a walk in the park for her. We hung around the beach for a while and spoke to as many of the locals as we could to gain more knowledge of the different areas surrounding Boulder. It was a great race to do as we met a bunch of new people and gave us something to do sat morning. The rest of the weekend we took the kids to Rocky Mountain National Park two days, did a long single-track trail run, had a 4 year old birthday at 8k', and pretty much confirmed what we already knew....Boulder CO will be our new home as soon as we can complete the sale of our home in IL.
The course was a 1 mile loop done twice for the two milers. There were about 50 people that showed up to do the race, a pretty good turnout and was very well organized. We started and I was quickly out in front by the first turn buoy, but there was one other person right on my feet. After swimming a few more minutes I realized it was a women and without a wetsuit. We were out in front after the first 1/2 lap by quite a bit. I lead the whole first lap thinking to myself I will just drop her at the end of the 2nd lap. But starting the 2nd lap she began to pass me and really pull after each turn buoy. I could tell she was a very good open water swimmer. She lead the 2nd lap and I still figured I could just pass her up at the last 500 meters or so. It was nice to not have to spot for most of the 2nd lap. I put in a little pass at 500 meters to go, but she matched pace no problem. It turned into a sprint to the finish, we came out of the water at about the same time, but I think she beat me for sure. Since she was not wearing a wetsuit and I was breathing pretty hard after while she went for a 3rd warm down lap. We were ahead of the rest of the pack by about 4 minutes, we finished in 40:16.
Notice how tired I look compared to Christine.....it must be the altitude...ha ha
Come to find out that the women who beat me was Christine Jennings who happened to place 2nd in the national 10k open water championships a few weeks earlier, so 2 miles was a walk in the park for her. We hung around the beach for a while and spoke to as many of the locals as we could to gain more knowledge of the different areas surrounding Boulder. It was a great race to do as we met a bunch of new people and gave us something to do sat morning. The rest of the weekend we took the kids to Rocky Mountain National Park two days, did a long single-track trail run, had a 4 year old birthday at 8k', and pretty much confirmed what we already knew....Boulder CO will be our new home as soon as we can complete the sale of our home in IL.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Hy-Vee 6/13/10
After Kansas my next race was in Des Moines Iowa, I was going to be heading to Hy-Vee solo but Shanon my wife decided to come along and keep me company. We left the kids with the grandparents, they were more than happy to not come with us. We headed to Iowa Saturday morning early drove through some crazy rain. I was driving about 45mph with hazards on in the pouring rain and a motorcycle passes me doing easy 60 with only sunglasses and a bandanna on, he should of had a snorkel!
So we arrived in Iowa early it was a little humid out, did the course talk, check in, expo, a little bike ride, and a swim. The lake was nice and cool so we knew it was going to be an wetsuit race. My sister was again at this race, Mark from the Timex team, and whole crew from Well-Fit Elite team in Chicago. Christine had the Timex Ford Flex for the race so that was pretty cool. We had a nice dinner with everyone that night. I booked a dive hotel by the airport to impress my wife with how cheap I can be. We had to get to bed early as my wave was first at 6:00 AM.
Race morning I was out the door to the race at 4:00 AM, got all my gear ready. With the last name Anderson and the Elite wave I had the best rack spot in the race. The course was setup really nice for spectators thanks to the huge pro race for $200k each in the afternoon. While walking the transition, the announcement was made that the race was going to be a sprint triathlon due to a huge impending storm. I was quite disappointed since the bike and run get cut in half but the swim was down to 400m. Plus it was a time trial start now too, I was really looking forward to a head to head race.
We still went off at 6AM and I started first for the time trial 400M swim. The swim was uneventful, I was a head by a little bit upon exiting the water. T1 went well though it was muddy. I got on the bike and tried to hold 320 watts for the 12 miles. It was a simple out and back, I think I pushed it pretty well holding an average of 334 watts, 26mph, coming in at just over 13 miles on my computer. I got to follow the lead car and motorcycle the whole bike which is always cool. I was still in the lead coming into T2, one of the race directors ran in front of me through transition clearing my way since other age groupers were still starting/exiting the water and we had the same run out swim out exit. Very nice of him to do for me thanks. I ran through the grandstands and tons of people cheering me on. I had a lead mt biker to follow on the 5k run. I tried to keep the run fast but really did not get into any type of pace since it was so short. I saw the 2nd place guy a few times on the course so I kept pace. I
tried to run the last mile a little faster as I was not too tired at all, but the finish line was coming right up.
It was really cool to run into the carpet finish area with grandstands and to grab the finishing banner at a big race like Hy-Vee. The best part was a few minutes later my sister go to do the same thing. She took the womens race by 8 seconds. Though some jerk came through as she finished and grabbed her banner, she got to do it again for pictures.
About 45 minutes after I finished it started to rain and rain hard, we had our bikes and gear but were stuck under a tent. It was not letting up so we just packed up got to the car and left the race site. The awards got canceled and I was really wanting to watch the pros race, but it was not worth waiting around till 3:30 in the rain. So back home we headed, I got home early to see my girls so that was nice considering I was not planing on coming home until late that night.
Overall considering the weather and the change to a sprint race, Hy-Vee was a great race. I kind of felt bad for the whole race staff as so much money and time is put into this race and the weather does not corporate. The pros got a break in the weather Sunday afternoon and put on a great show. What a great setup for a race, and winning for my sister and I was cool too. And a special thanks to my wife for the support at a rainy race, though I think I need to get her trained on camera use.
swim: 6:13
t1: 1:05
bike: 29:57 24.8
t2: 0:43
run: 17:30 5:39
Total: 55:27
So we arrived in Iowa early it was a little humid out, did the course talk, check in, expo, a little bike ride, and a swim. The lake was nice and cool so we knew it was going to be an wetsuit race. My sister was again at this race, Mark from the Timex team, and whole crew from Well-Fit Elite team in Chicago. Christine had the Timex Ford Flex for the race so that was pretty cool. We had a nice dinner with everyone that night. I booked a dive hotel by the airport to impress my wife with how cheap I can be. We had to get to bed early as my wave was first at 6:00 AM.
Race morning I was out the door to the race at 4:00 AM, got all my gear ready. With the last name Anderson and the Elite wave I had the best rack spot in the race. The course was setup really nice for spectators thanks to the huge pro race for $200k each in the afternoon. While walking the transition, the announcement was made that the race was going to be a sprint triathlon due to a huge impending storm. I was quite disappointed since the bike and run get cut in half but the swim was down to 400m. Plus it was a time trial start now too, I was really looking forward to a head to head race.
We still went off at 6AM and I started first for the time trial 400M swim. The swim was uneventful, I was a head by a little bit upon exiting the water. T1 went well though it was muddy. I got on the bike and tried to hold 320 watts for the 12 miles. It was a simple out and back, I think I pushed it pretty well holding an average of 334 watts, 26mph, coming in at just over 13 miles on my computer. I got to follow the lead car and motorcycle the whole bike which is always cool. I was still in the lead coming into T2, one of the race directors ran in front of me through transition clearing my way since other age groupers were still starting/exiting the water and we had the same run out swim out exit. Very nice of him to do for me thanks. I ran through the grandstands and tons of people cheering me on. I had a lead mt biker to follow on the 5k run. I tried to keep the run fast but really did not get into any type of pace since it was so short. I saw the 2nd place guy a few times on the course so I kept pace. I
tried to run the last mile a little faster as I was not too tired at all, but the finish line was coming right up.
It was really cool to run into the carpet finish area with grandstands and to grab the finishing banner at a big race like Hy-Vee. The best part was a few minutes later my sister go to do the same thing. She took the womens race by 8 seconds. Though some jerk came through as she finished and grabbed her banner, she got to do it again for pictures.
About 45 minutes after I finished it started to rain and rain hard, we had our bikes and gear but were stuck under a tent. It was not letting up so we just packed up got to the car and left the race site. The awards got canceled and I was really wanting to watch the pros race, but it was not worth waiting around till 3:30 in the rain. So back home we headed, I got home early to see my girls so that was nice considering I was not planing on coming home until late that night.
Overall considering the weather and the change to a sprint race, Hy-Vee was a great race. I kind of felt bad for the whole race staff as so much money and time is put into this race and the weather does not corporate. The pros got a break in the weather Sunday afternoon and put on a great show. What a great setup for a race, and winning for my sister and I was cool too. And a special thanks to my wife for the support at a rainy race, though I think I need to get her trained on camera use.
swim: 6:13
t1: 1:05
bike: 29:57 24.8
t2: 0:43
run: 17:30 5:39
Total: 55:27
Monday, June 7, 2010
Kansas 70.3
Driving back from Lawrence Kansas reflecting on a great race weekend. I had done the Kansas 70.3 race last year but I did not know much of anyone else doing the race that year. This year was much different, we had good group, 4 including myself from the Erin Bakers team, 6 or so from the Timex team, and 4 from the Well-fit team in Chicago. Many of which were camping with us at the race site. Kansas is a great race for people to watch as the run is two loops right through the campground.
My family went with to this race again we left on Saturday morning with a super packed car. We got to Lawrence and the campground at about 1:30 found our campsites got setup along with the other 5 tents at our site. We spent the afternoon checking in to the race and dropping our stuff off at T1. The Kansas race has separate transitions witch logistically causes everyone a little confusion. We were lucky though as our campsite ended up a short hike through the woods right to T1. We had a nice dinner which was supposed to be in the AC since it was only 95 out on sat., but the place we went to had the upstairs AC broken. Anyway it was a nice dinner with people from three different triathlon teams. We all tried to get to bed early but it was still hot out. Luckily a cold front rolled through at about 2AM which cooled things off at night and for the race Sunday.
We all woke up a little later since all we had to do was drop off T2 gear and get T1 ready. I made some nice coffee, ate, and headed to T2 and the race start. My wave was not slated to start until 7:26 the pros at 6:30, I was third wave to last so I had some time to kill. I stretched and watched the pros exit the swim. I tried using the rubber bands on my shoes this race but as I found out did not work at all for me.
The start was delayed 15 min or so too, so I got to talk with Brandon from my team who was in my wave. We heard them announce our wave next and hurried over I got in the water and moved to the deep water start swim start. The water was easy 80 degrees but they called 77.5 so it was wetsuit legal. I wore my full suit and was super hot in it. The swim was very crowded and I found myself dodging people and running into others. I tried to keep the pace even and strong and the whole time I was hoping to keep up with Potts split of 23 min that I heard them announce when he exited. When I got out of the water I looked at my watch and it said 23 min as well, I was off to a good start.
T1 was really slow as I passed my bike 3 times looking for it, I will bring chalk to the next race. I took off with my bike and somehow one of my shoes hit the ground in a crowded transition and broke the rubber bands I had all setup. So my shoes drug on the ground yet again trying
to get them on.
The bike in Kansas is surprisingly hilly, nothing extream just lots of long rollers. Since we were one of the last waves there were a lot of people on the bike course. Right through the park in the beginning of the bike a guy a few bikes in front of me almost nailed a deer running across the road. When I passed him I said "dude you better watch out for those deer" he looked at me like i was crazy, apparently he did not even look up to see it. My goal was to average 280 watts for the course, which was kind of hard to determine since it was hilly. I ended up just holding back a little on the bike averaging 278 for the course. I saw a few others that I knew on the course including my sister, it was a few out and backs so you passed people going the other direction a couple of times. There was one section of the course that someone had spilled a few gallons of oil on the road and we were all forced to dismount and walk around. No big deal though as long as everyone had to do it. I heard that it was deliberate but that is unconfirmed. There were three water stops on the bike course, the first I used the water to put on my head, the second I got some Gatorade, and the third I got water to replace the Gatorade. I poured the Gatorade into my aero drink only to realize it was like syrup and had to suck it out of there spit it out and replace with water. The last hill was a little tough, but the bike I kept a little easy for the run. It was starting to get a little hotter out but really not too bad for the middle of Kansas. The bike ended up 2:16.56 with and average of 24mph. T2 was quick as I found my stuff no problem and headed off on the run.
I saw the pro women and all the folks from each of the teams we were with at the race with, both of which made me run faster. I managed to catch a few of them, but my sister was still just out of reach. I saw her the last time at about mile 11.5 and I think she knew I could not make it up at that point. She told me I better get moving, I tried but ended up 1:15 behind her in the end. The last mile seemed quite long, but I had a good run at 1:18.05, 5:58 per mile. Though I think the run course was 1/4 to 1/2 mile short. Overall time of 4:01.27 was a PR for me at the 70.3 distance.
We hung around the finish talked with all of the people we were with which I think took home 4 if not more age group wins.
Christine and I took the overall amateur winners and 4th and 7th respectively including the pros.
I spoke with Andy Potts, Chrissy Wellington, Pip Taylor, and others after the race as it was a strong pro field. Come to find out Andy ran a 1:07 trying to chase down Lieto, but was a few seconds shy of catching him. And Chrissy put down a 4:07 to place 10th overall, which meant I was the only amateur to not get "Chicked" by her.
We camped again Sunday night, went to dinner, made smores with the kids, and left early Monday morning as there was a storm coming in.
Kansas 70.3 was a great race with tons of support from lots of different people including my family, I had a great time and it did not hurt that my sister and I both had great races there too.
Swim - 00:23:55 1:15
T1 - 1:42
Bike 02:16:56 24.5mph
T2 - 0:49
Run - 01:18:05 5:58 per mile
Total - 04:01:27
My family went with to this race again we left on Saturday morning with a super packed car. We got to Lawrence and the campground at about 1:30 found our campsites got setup along with the other 5 tents at our site. We spent the afternoon checking in to the race and dropping our stuff off at T1. The Kansas race has separate transitions witch logistically causes everyone a little confusion. We were lucky though as our campsite ended up a short hike through the woods right to T1. We had a nice dinner which was supposed to be in the AC since it was only 95 out on sat., but the place we went to had the upstairs AC broken. Anyway it was a nice dinner with people from three different triathlon teams. We all tried to get to bed early but it was still hot out. Luckily a cold front rolled through at about 2AM which cooled things off at night and for the race Sunday.
We all woke up a little later since all we had to do was drop off T2 gear and get T1 ready. I made some nice coffee, ate, and headed to T2 and the race start. My wave was not slated to start until 7:26 the pros at 6:30, I was third wave to last so I had some time to kill. I stretched and watched the pros exit the swim. I tried using the rubber bands on my shoes this race but as I found out did not work at all for me.
The start was delayed 15 min or so too, so I got to talk with Brandon from my team who was in my wave. We heard them announce our wave next and hurried over I got in the water and moved to the deep water start swim start. The water was easy 80 degrees but they called 77.5 so it was wetsuit legal. I wore my full suit and was super hot in it. The swim was very crowded and I found myself dodging people and running into others. I tried to keep the pace even and strong and the whole time I was hoping to keep up with Potts split of 23 min that I heard them announce when he exited. When I got out of the water I looked at my watch and it said 23 min as well, I was off to a good start.
T1 was really slow as I passed my bike 3 times looking for it, I will bring chalk to the next race. I took off with my bike and somehow one of my shoes hit the ground in a crowded transition and broke the rubber bands I had all setup. So my shoes drug on the ground yet again trying
to get them on.
The bike in Kansas is surprisingly hilly, nothing extream just lots of long rollers. Since we were one of the last waves there were a lot of people on the bike course. Right through the park in the beginning of the bike a guy a few bikes in front of me almost nailed a deer running across the road. When I passed him I said "dude you better watch out for those deer" he looked at me like i was crazy, apparently he did not even look up to see it. My goal was to average 280 watts for the course, which was kind of hard to determine since it was hilly. I ended up just holding back a little on the bike averaging 278 for the course. I saw a few others that I knew on the course including my sister, it was a few out and backs so you passed people going the other direction a couple of times. There was one section of the course that someone had spilled a few gallons of oil on the road and we were all forced to dismount and walk around. No big deal though as long as everyone had to do it. I heard that it was deliberate but that is unconfirmed. There were three water stops on the bike course, the first I used the water to put on my head, the second I got some Gatorade, and the third I got water to replace the Gatorade. I poured the Gatorade into my aero drink only to realize it was like syrup and had to suck it out of there spit it out and replace with water. The last hill was a little tough, but the bike I kept a little easy for the run. It was starting to get a little hotter out but really not too bad for the middle of Kansas. The bike ended up 2:16.56 with and average of 24mph. T2 was quick as I found my stuff no problem and headed off on the run.
The run was the best part of this race it is two laps around the campground with one hill in the middle. It was great seeing someone I knew every mile or so, each cheering the other on. I had told my sister who started exactly 32 minutes before me that I would try and catch her on the run. This proved to be great motivation for each of us. We ran right by our campsite 4 times with everyone cheering and my wife and kids there as well. Though I did have to tell them I was coming by a few times as they were playing each time. Because of the course layout has a ton of people watching and cheering, it was great.
I saw the pro women and all the folks from each of the teams we were with at the race with, both of which made me run faster. I managed to catch a few of them, but my sister was still just out of reach. I saw her the last time at about mile 11.5 and I think she knew I could not make it up at that point. She told me I better get moving, I tried but ended up 1:15 behind her in the end. The last mile seemed quite long, but I had a good run at 1:18.05, 5:58 per mile. Though I think the run course was 1/4 to 1/2 mile short. Overall time of 4:01.27 was a PR for me at the 70.3 distance.
We hung around the finish talked with all of the people we were with which I think took home 4 if not more age group wins.
Christine, Thomas Gerlach, and myself
I spoke with Andy Potts, Chrissy Wellington, Pip Taylor, and others after the race as it was a strong pro field. Come to find out Andy ran a 1:07 trying to chase down Lieto, but was a few seconds shy of catching him. And Chrissy put down a 4:07 to place 10th overall, which meant I was the only amateur to not get "Chicked" by her.
We camped again Sunday night, went to dinner, made smores with the kids, and left early Monday morning as there was a storm coming in.
Kansas 70.3 was a great race with tons of support from lots of different people including my family, I had a great time and it did not hurt that my sister and I both had great races there too.
Swim - 00:23:55 1:15
T1 - 1:42
Bike 02:16:56 24.5mph
T2 - 0:49
Run - 01:18:05 5:58 per mile
Total - 04:01:27
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
05/23/10 - Memphis in May Olympic Race
Sunday was the main event for Memphis in May Triathlon and it was going to be a very hot and humid day. I woke early and got my bike ready and into transition from our campsite at 5:45 or so and there were already a few bikes on our rack as transition opened at 5:30. I dropped off my gear and headed back to camp for breakfast and coffee. It was really nice to watch everyone head into transition while sitting back relaxing before the race start at 7:00.
They made the announcement that the water temp was 77 degrees so wetsuits were legal for this race. I was still debating on wearing it though as the sun was out today and not overcast.
I went down to transition around 6:30, got everything setup, stretched, put on my wetsuit, and lined up as this race was a time trial start every three seconds. I was 497 out of 1200 or so. Everyone was cooking at the swim start I had my wetsuit on my legs only and my cap off until right before the start and was still hot.
When my number was up I was off into the water, the swim was uneventful, a little sun in the eyes after the first turn and a bunch of people to swim around throughout the course. I do wish I opted for no wetsuit though as I was hot in a full suit with the sun beating down. I exited the water at 15:56, which was 12 sec back from the fastest swim of the day by Bill Bishop whom I swam in high school against.
T2 was the same as the day before and I choose to put my bike shoes on in transition and run in them rather than on the bike. It worked out best with the slight uphill out of transition. The bike I felt fast but tried to keep the watts down slightly since I knew the run was going to hurt in this heat. It is a relatively flat course, with one water stop, which I dumped all through my tiny vents in my black helmet. This seemed to have helped as I felt better, I think I need to get a white helmet soon for these hot races. I did not get passed the entire bike, so I knew I was doing pretty good at this point. My computer said 23.54 miles in 55:44, 25.27 avg mph, and 296 avg watts, this was about where I wanted to be. I rode right by our campsite with my family cheering me on at the end of the bike. I knew the end of the course from the day before and was ready this time with my shoes off.
T2 was fast and I even remembered to tighten my shoes this time before heading off on the run. The sun was out now in full effect and there was minimal shade on the run course. The first 5k I felt pretty slow going uphills, but I was still passing people. Each water station I grabbed two cups one to take a sip from and the rest on the head. A few had ice which was great, I remember thinking about how much each one helped until you would heat up again. I was still not feeling fast through out the run, but the last 1.2K I tried to kick it up a little bit as I still had no idea where I stood in the race since it was a time trial start. I hurdled a dog in the way on the final stretch and finished, really not feeling that bad for doing two races back to back in the heat. Ended up with a 39:19 10k at 6:20 per mile, not that great for me but it was slow for everyone due to the heat. The lake sure felt cool now when during the start of the race it was feeling hot.
After the race I again swam with my girls, watched the pros start, and got some good bar-b-q from the food tent. Results were not posed for a few hours so I did not know where I placed until then. I was a little surprised that that the majority of security at this race including the guy checking wristbands at the food tent all had Beretta's strapped to their sides. I guess they had problems with people getting seconds last year. Maybe they were just off duty officers volunteering, the race was ran very well. Plenty of bathrooms, free camping, and someone at every turn on the bike. Though this was the last year at this venue, as they announced it would be in Tunica Mississippi next year. I am not too sure they will allow cheap athletes like me to camp at the casino.
We had to wait around until 2:00 in the afternoon for awards which gave us way more than enough time to take down camp, swim, and talk to folks about the race.
I received my trophy from who else but the king himself for first overall and $400 for first in the amateur challenge, apparently I beat all of the pro field at this race as well.
Now for the drive home about 4-5 hours for us, we had to stop for ice cream for the kiddos and myself of course. Overall a great weekend with the family and at the races.
Swim - 15:56
T1 - 1:12
Bike - 55:00 25.6
T2 - 0:55
Run - 39:19 6:20
Total - 1:52:21
I went down to transition around 6:30, got everything setup, stretched, put on my wetsuit, and lined up as this race was a time trial start every three seconds. I was 497 out of 1200 or so. Everyone was cooking at the swim start I had my wetsuit on my legs only and my cap off until right before the start and was still hot.
T2 was the same as the day before and I choose to put my bike shoes on in transition and run in them rather than on the bike. It worked out best with the slight uphill out of transition. The bike I felt fast but tried to keep the watts down slightly since I knew the run was going to hurt in this heat. It is a relatively flat course, with one water stop, which I dumped all through my tiny vents in my black helmet. This seemed to have helped as I felt better, I think I need to get a white helmet soon for these hot races. I did not get passed the entire bike, so I knew I was doing pretty good at this point. My computer said 23.54 miles in 55:44, 25.27 avg mph, and 296 avg watts, this was about where I wanted to be. I rode right by our campsite with my family cheering me on at the end of the bike. I knew the end of the course from the day before and was ready this time with my shoes off.
We had to wait around until 2:00 in the afternoon for awards which gave us way more than enough time to take down camp, swim, and talk to folks about the race.
Now for the drive home about 4-5 hours for us, we had to stop for ice cream for the kiddos and myself of course. Overall a great weekend with the family and at the races.
Swim - 15:56
T1 - 1:12
Bike - 55:00 25.6
T2 - 0:55
Run - 39:19 6:20
Total - 1:52:21
Sunday, May 23, 2010
5/22/10 - Memphis in May sprint race
I just signed up for this race a few weeks ago and decided to do the sprint on sat and the Olympic race on Sunday. The whole family wanted to go so we packed up all the camping gear and headed for Memphis. They were forecasting a hot and humid weekend, so i was still not sure camping was the best thing to do. But I am racing cheap this year. We got to Memphis, picked up my race packets, and set up camp. There were a few other folks camping as well but not too many. We got to camp a few hundred feet from transition so that was really nice.
The sprint race had about 400 people in it and started at 8am, it was nice to be able to have some coffee and breakfast overlooking the transition. I signed up for an amateur challenge (thanks Thomas), which combined the times from the sprint and Olympic races and paid 15 deep men and women. But I soon found out I was not the only one.
I got my transition setup and really should of come down earlier, it was open racking and I did not get the best spot. The race ended up starting at about 8:15 since it was so humid and foggy. I was debating wearing my full wetsuit or not since the water was not cold 77, but in the end decided to wear it anyway.
I started close to the front as it was a time trial start by age group every 3 sec. The swim seemed short but it was a sprint so it was and I was not too hot. I got out at 4:42, a decent T1 and was on the bike. I had to run in my bike shoes through T1 since the bike out was uphill and decided to not clip my shoes on the bike. It was the better choice I think. The bike felt good I tried to keep my power around 320 watts the whole time, but still not going to hard still thinking about the race on Sunday which was more important than the sprint. It was hot and humid out but the sun was not beating down yet so it was bearable. The end of the bike came up really fast and I had to get my shoes off quickly. My bike of my computer was 30.07 for 12.9 miles, 25.6 avg mph and 317 avg watts. T2 was quick, but that was probably because I did not pull my shoe laces tight.
The run I really enjoyed it was all grass or single-track dirt path. I did stop to tighten my shoes down the first trail out of sight from the spectators. I think the run was slower on grass and dirt but nicer on the joints for sure. But you did have to lookout for the holes in the grass and dirt since it was not flat at all. Anyway the run was hot but I felt good, at the last mile I could see the leader of the race and knew I had to catch him even though it was a time trial start and it did not matter. So I pushed a little bit at the end and overtook him with a few hundred meters to go. I crossed the line first at 53:21, only beating 2nd place by 3 sec and third by 6 sec which I would not know for a little while longer. My run was 16:59 for a 5:40 pace.
After the race the sun came out and it started to get really hot, all I could think about was the Sunday race now. We swam with the kids for a little while after the race.
After awards since it was so hot we took the kids to see Shrek 3 in the AC then out to dinner before getting in the hot tent for the night.
So now I just had to keep my lead in the Olympic race Sunday to win the amateur challenge.
The sprint race had about 400 people in it and started at 8am, it was nice to be able to have some coffee and breakfast overlooking the transition. I signed up for an amateur challenge (thanks Thomas), which combined the times from the sprint and Olympic races and paid 15 deep men and women. But I soon found out I was not the only one.
I got my transition setup and really should of come down earlier, it was open racking and I did not get the best spot. The race ended up starting at about 8:15 since it was so humid and foggy. I was debating wearing my full wetsuit or not since the water was not cold 77, but in the end decided to wear it anyway.
After awards since it was so hot we took the kids to see Shrek 3 in the AC then out to dinner before getting in the hot tent for the night.
So now I just had to keep my lead in the Olympic race Sunday to win the amateur challenge.
Swim - 4:42
T1 - 1:10
Bike - 29:40 24.3
T2 - 0:52
Run - 16:59 5:40
Total - 53:21
Sunday, May 16, 2010
TriZou Race report - Sprint 5/2/10
This is a little late as the race was over two weeks ago, but I just got started with my blog.
The TriZou race is held at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Since I was only a few hours away I decided to drive the morning of the race. This made for an early race day, I left at about 3 AM Sunday morning 5/2 for my first race of the 2010 season. This would be the first triathlon I have done in a pool, I have always tried to stay away from the pool triathlons as I like the open water swimming. But this race was a very large pool race and a beautiful 50 meter indoor pool, it has been years since I have been in a 50m indoor pool.
I arrived at the race site a little after 5, checked in and got my bike racked. The race was elite/pro and age groups, I found my bike next to none other than Pip Taylor. She seemed very nice and since we both ride for Kestrel it seemed appropriate. The transition was set all around an outdoor running track with our rack next to the bike exit opposite the run exit. I walked around, found the pool, and made sure I knew where everything was situated in transition, and got ready to head to the pool for a warm up.
There were so many people I was still wondering how they were going to get all of them through the pool in an orderly fashion, the 400m was to be swam snake style going under the lane lines. I got in and swam 300m or so warm up and admired the nice facility. As it turns out they were going to have the elite group swim the 400m in two per lane, and start age group after. Andy Starykowicz had number one as he won the 2009 race, I somehow received number 2 and was in the second lane with Joe Company from Columbia MO. I spoke with Joe before and after the race, he was a really nice guy and kicked my butt too.
On to the race, the start was running a little late and started about 7:15 I think. I thought I had the swim in the bag, but little did I know a guy a few lanes over Ben Kanute would pull away from me no problem. I felt okay during the swim, maybe a little more effort then it should have been. Andy was also right on my toes the whole swim. I was out of the water 2nd to Ben, and headed to transition ran around the track to my bike. Andy beat me out of the transition onto the bike. On the bike it was a technical hilly 14 mile course of two loops and the roads were still wet from an overnight rain. I felt okay on the bike again a little more effort then it should have been. I think I was passed by two others on the bike. Heading back in to transition to start the run, got my bike racked and shoes on. As I went through the run out is when the problem started, I asked where the run started and a volunteer said to follow the yellow rope so I did all the way up a hill into a construction area of a dorm. This was completely wrong and I was supposed to run pretty much straight out of T2. I turned back got to the run exit and asked again, finally found where I was supposed to go and started my run. I only lost between 30-40 secs but in that time two more passed me, not good in a sprint. I was not that mad though it was my own fault I should of known. Anyway had an uneventful run keeping 5th place in sight the whole time and no one passing me. Run felt good and I think I was on track with my speed about 5:35 miles, if you take out my dorm visit. Which is where I want to be coming off my 2nd metatarsal break last season.
Overall I was not too pleased with where I placed in this race as it paid out through 5th place and I ended up 6th, of course. I had a rest week prior to this race, and painted my entire basement the day before the race, but really have no excuse other than I did not feel really in race shape yet.
After the race I took a run around the campus which was beautiful, with Joe Company who showed me around. I do think this race was very well organized and had a ton of volunteers and would definitely do it again next year. I stayed for a little while spoke with a few folks, grabbed a bunch of pizza, and then headed home early to pick up my girls from a friends house since my wife was out in San Diego for 5 days.
The TriZou race is held at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Since I was only a few hours away I decided to drive the morning of the race. This made for an early race day, I left at about 3 AM Sunday morning 5/2 for my first race of the 2010 season. This would be the first triathlon I have done in a pool, I have always tried to stay away from the pool triathlons as I like the open water swimming. But this race was a very large pool race and a beautiful 50 meter indoor pool, it has been years since I have been in a 50m indoor pool.
I arrived at the race site a little after 5, checked in and got my bike racked. The race was elite/pro and age groups, I found my bike next to none other than Pip Taylor. She seemed very nice and since we both ride for Kestrel it seemed appropriate. The transition was set all around an outdoor running track with our rack next to the bike exit opposite the run exit. I walked around, found the pool, and made sure I knew where everything was situated in transition, and got ready to head to the pool for a warm up.
There were so many people I was still wondering how they were going to get all of them through the pool in an orderly fashion, the 400m was to be swam snake style going under the lane lines. I got in and swam 300m or so warm up and admired the nice facility. As it turns out they were going to have the elite group swim the 400m in two per lane, and start age group after. Andy Starykowicz had number one as he won the 2009 race, I somehow received number 2 and was in the second lane with Joe Company from Columbia MO. I spoke with Joe before and after the race, he was a really nice guy and kicked my butt too.
On to the race, the start was running a little late and started about 7:15 I think. I thought I had the swim in the bag, but little did I know a guy a few lanes over Ben Kanute would pull away from me no problem. I felt okay during the swim, maybe a little more effort then it should have been. Andy was also right on my toes the whole swim. I was out of the water 2nd to Ben, and headed to transition ran around the track to my bike. Andy beat me out of the transition onto the bike. On the bike it was a technical hilly 14 mile course of two loops and the roads were still wet from an overnight rain. I felt okay on the bike again a little more effort then it should have been. I think I was passed by two others on the bike. Heading back in to transition to start the run, got my bike racked and shoes on. As I went through the run out is when the problem started, I asked where the run started and a volunteer said to follow the yellow rope so I did all the way up a hill into a construction area of a dorm. This was completely wrong and I was supposed to run pretty much straight out of T2. I turned back got to the run exit and asked again, finally found where I was supposed to go and started my run. I only lost between 30-40 secs but in that time two more passed me, not good in a sprint. I was not that mad though it was my own fault I should of known. Anyway had an uneventful run keeping 5th place in sight the whole time and no one passing me. Run felt good and I think I was on track with my speed about 5:35 miles, if you take out my dorm visit. Which is where I want to be coming off my 2nd metatarsal break last season.
Overall I was not too pleased with where I placed in this race as it paid out through 5th place and I ended up 6th, of course. I had a rest week prior to this race, and painted my entire basement the day before the race, but really have no excuse other than I did not feel really in race shape yet.
After the race I took a run around the campus which was beautiful, with Joe Company who showed me around. I do think this race was very well organized and had a ton of volunteers and would definitely do it again next year. I stayed for a little while spoke with a few folks, grabbed a bunch of pizza, and then headed home early to pick up my girls from a friends house since my wife was out in San Diego for 5 days.
| bib number: | 2 |
| overall place: | 6 out of 666 |
| division place: | 6 out of 11 |
| gender place: | 6 out of 416 |
| time: | 1:01:20 |
| pace: | 0: |
| swim: | 5:50 |
| t1: | 1:19 |
| bike: | 35:33:00 |
| t2: | 1:21 |
| run: | 17:17 |
| penalty: | 0: |
First post
It is a rainy day and I am wasting time having an open house. Thought I would create one of these blogs for my racing. Rode the trainer this morning and skipped my usual Sunday 70 mile group ride. Going to do the long run tonight. Yesterday swam in the lake for the first time this year, felt great but it was raining then too. Wanted to have a big training weekend, before Memphis next weekend but the weather is not cooperating.
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