Thumb Triathlon 2015

Yesterday I raced in my final triathlon of the season. It was a pool start and we were seeded by our 100 meter swim time. I guessed at I'd be around 1:50 to 2:00 per hundred after doing a quick test/warmup 100 in 1:40. I think having to duck under the lane markers slowed me down but I was still able to catch up to a swimmer and pass her and finish the swim in 6:15.

Quickly ran to T1 in low 50 degree weather with a light drizzle. I was out of T1 in about 1:45. The bike course was windy and had some hills to deal with in the head wind. I passed a few bikers along the route. The roads were typical Michigan roads with lots of bumps. I heard one athlete talking about his chain bouncing off because it was so rough. I lucked out and didn't have those issues. I'm used to riding on those types of roads too....

Coming into T2 I slowed down. The pavement was wet and I nearly slipped jogging with the bike to the rack. I was out of transition in about 45 seconds and onto the run.

The run was advertised as being on the schools cross country course. I didn't think too much of it going in and it's probably good that I didn't check out the course before hand. It was a true CC course through grass and dirt trails. It was 2.5k run course so we had to do it twice. I just "rolled" with the course and finished the race in 1:10:00! Good for another AG win and 4th overall. Second overall finished after me, but he had himself seeded as an 8 minute 300m swim. (It was his first triathlon switching over from duathlons)

Powerman Michigan 2015

Two weekends ago I competed in my first duathlon since I switched to triathlons. It turned out to be a rather nice day to race with temps in the mid 50s. The first run was a "long" 5k with two loops of the run course starting from the finish line. The course sported a covered wooden bridge. It also sported some stretches that reminded me of my cross country days with some steep dirt trail climbs and steep grass decents going out of the transition area.

My first 5k went well. I found my other age groupers and was able to get into T1 ahead of him by a few seconds. T1 went well and was out quickly. The bike route was a long 15k with two loops. Turned out to be 10+ mile loops. The covered bridge was part of the bike loop as well and it has a wooden road of boards that made it rather scary going through the bridge. First time through my rear wheel was squirlley as I couldn't hold a straight line down the bridge. Second time through I was better but I took it much slower and nearly unclipped as it wasn't worth a crash. Fortunately the guy behind me felt the same way and waited to pass me until we were through the bridge. The wind picked up the second loop but I was able to finish the 21+ mile ride in 1:03 and change.

T2 went well. Running out of transition was interesting as it was down a relatively steep hill immediately on bricked legs. The run was closer to a 5k and I was able to catch a few athletes. Finished about where I thought I would at 1:51 and change. 8th overall and 1st in my age group. In doing so, I qualified for Nationals in Florida in December. Wish I could make it, but there are changes coming with work and with a young family, kids in school, I just can't make it happen.

Tawas Festival of Races Triathlon Race Report

I'm I raced in my first Olympic race in over a year this past weekend. I woke up early and was on the road for my estimated 1:20 minute ride to Tawas. Before hopping on the freeway I stopped and grabbed my normal coffee to go with my poptart for my pre-race drive meal. I arrived at the race site at 5:55am and relaxed in the truck until shortly after 6am when packet pickup opened up. I grabbed my packet and then proceeded to grab my bike and transition area gear and got my stuff setup. During setup of my transition area I get marked and found chip pickup. They weren't in their normal spots by packet pickup, there was a short hunt!

Finally got my stuff in order and found a racing buddy that had been training for the 1/2 iron distance race. He suffered a setback during the week leading up to and had to back down to the sprint race. He claimed he would be swimming with only one arm. Speaking of swimming. It was announced earlier in the week that the water temperature in lake Huron was 65 degrees. Very doable with a wetsuit. Well, over night the wind shifted and so did the water temperature! It was a balmy 56 degrees! At the time I didn't let it bother me, I'm thinking I have a wetsuit, no worries! I chit chat with my buddy for a while and we talk about goals for the race. This was his 2nd sprint this year and he had a few Oly's mixed in there too. I also found some of my Tri team members before the race. The guy on the far left was in the 1/2 iron distance! 😎

We watch the 1/2 iron guys and gals go out and the RD is making sure everyone has dipped their face in the water to "acclimate" to the water. It still hadn't clicked that the water was truly cold! Olympic racers enter the water (thats me) and I realize how cold it is! I'm thinking ok, I'll warm up once we get going. "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" was what I told myself when the air horn went off! Aside from the water being excessively cold once we got going I felt like I swam well. Sighting was decent and I just got into a groove right away. I think you have to under those conditions. Take your mind off the cold and get the job done! I was out of the water in 32:22 good for 14th over all and 1st in my AG. An Olympic swim PR!

T1 was another long transition. Almost a 1/4 mile run from the water to transition. I get out of the water and I'm running but I can't feel my feet! I'm thinking ok, not sure how I'm running as I can't feel anything but I'll just roll with it! lol I make my way to T1 and out in a long 5:06.

I exit T1 and mount and clip onto the bike without any problems. The bike course was described as a fast and flat out and back course. They forgot to mention some small rollers in the mix and forgot to tell the wind to be calm. The first 2-3 miles it feels like I'm barely moving. I sneak a peek at my watch and it has me at 17 mph! Well, that verified how things felt! I decided to "roll" with it and hope that it was because I was going up hill and into the wind. I had no idea if that was the actual case about the wind. I was hoping though! Also during this time I can't feel my feet. I thought life was restored to them while in transition but looking back I'm not so sure. My feet do have a tendency to go numb on the bike. Good news was I could still move and wiggle my toes and that seemed to help. It wasn't long and I was passed the sprint turn around. and things finally seemed to get better. Still had a nasty wind to contend with but it felt like I was moving again. I make it to the Olympic turn around and thats when my hopes come true! The wind was on my back! It's time to turn on the after burners! I cruised back to T2 for a bike time of 1:12:56. 10th overall and 1st in my AG, also, a PR on in a 40k :D

T2 was a bit quicker but it took a little while to run with my bike to rack it. Transition was longer than any I've had the privilege to encounter! T2 time was 1:39. Not bad for hobbling with a bike for half a block!

The run has been elusive to me all season. I haven't been able to get just a run in most of the season and when I do it "feels" horrible. Things just feel hard and I haven't enjoyed it most of the summer. Something clicked in the past 2-3 weeks. Probably because the weather has been decently cooler when I have made it out to run and I've unofficially felt that I needed to feel better about the run and focus on it a little more than biking. That being said, the 10k run went about as well as I could have hoped! I felt strong for the majority of the run. At the 4 mile mark I could feel my leg muscles starting to scream at me and try to cramp. I just kept going. I had knew at the turnaround I had someone coming on strong and had to keep moving to keep my place. The gap was rather big, but I didn't want to give this guy a glimmer of hope after being caught in the final stretch of my last tri! It worked! I held him off! I finished my run in 49:01. Not quite a Oly 10k PR but it was close! :D

Here I am near the finish shoot.

Overall time was 2:41:02! A huge Olympic PR by about 17 minutes! Good for 7th overall and 1st in my AG. It was a great race even in what felt like ice water. I'm looking forward to coming back next year, potentially for the 1/2 iron distance. My buddy is really looking for a training buddy ;)

Holly Fall Sprint Triathlon 2015

Late Wednesday afternoon I drove down to Holly State Recreation Park to partake in my last sprint triathlon of the season. Holly Triathlon is rather dear to me as it is where it all began. My first duathlon was here and it is where the bug bit me to eventually learn how to swim and tackle this sport we call Triathlon. Holly Triathlon is a very tough course and will truly test your abilities, especially on the bike course.

I arrived at the park shortly after 4pm for a 6pm start time. Plenty of time for me to check in, setup my transition area, and relax. I had everything setup in transition and was done in there by 5pm and then I roamed around the park checking out the first 1/4 mile of the run course and relaxing. 

Finally around 5:40 I get my wetsuit on up to my waist and listen to the mandatory athletes meeting. After the meeting was over I slipped the rest of the wetsuit on, took my prerace GU, sipped down the last few drops of powerade and waited for the Olympic racers to get counted into the water. After they were all in and off on their adventure I jumped in line.

Once counted in I put my goggles on and made sure they didn't leak. Then I swam to the front of the left hand side of the start and patiently waited for the start. I was relaxed and confident and ready to go! The swim has become one of my stronger disciplines and my confidence is sky high for the moment. Finally, we get the horn and we're off. The swim goes rather well. I end up passing a few of the Olympic swimmers before I'm out of the water. Had a few bump ins with fellow swimmers but nothing major. Was out of the water and into T1 in 13:43, 10th overall, and 2nd in my AG. T1 went ok. It felt like I was dilidalying a bit getting my socks and shoes on but not much I could do about that at the time.  Still managed to be out of T1 in 1:38 much to my surprise!

Jumping on the bike was not a smooth clip in and go event. I struggled to clip in which was odd. Once I finally clipped in and on the course I cruised past the first few racers. The bike course is a hilly winding out and back course full of steep decents that had me going 33+ mph at times. Sadly, I was riding my brakes on most of those decents as it was barely a 2 lane road and there was a possibilty of oncoming bikers on blind curves. I finally get to what would end up being 5th place on the course behind a guy that would end up winning my AG. We battled for a bit for the next 6 miles. I stayed back far enough that I wasn't in the drafting zone. On the second loop on our way back to T2 I was tired of waiting to pass him and decided it was time to make a go for it. As I did this my left calf had second thoughts and cramped on me. I held off for another 1/2 mile or so to let my leg relax. Finally, I found my chance to go around my guy and ended up beating him to T2 by a minute and 15 seconds. Now, I forgot my bike water bottle on the way to the race and just figured I would be okay without some powerade for 12.4 miles. This mistake came into play during the ride. I suspect I should have at least had a few electrolytes in during the turn around of the bike course as this could have potentially avoided issues that would populate soon.

T2 went off without a hitch. Wasted a few seconds take a quick gulp of powerade I had left in transition but waas still out to run in 46 seconds.

The run starts off feeling great! I quickly grap my GU I stashed in my race jersey and still feel good. Then I reach a point where we have a short rather steep climp to a 50m long trail to get back onto a road. This is where my legs both decide from the knees down to cramp up! My calves, my shins, my feet all cramp at once! I shuffle through the path and onto the road at what is a snails pace and this is where I find out the guy I finally passed on the bike was in my AG as he passes me on the run. Seeing his age helped my legs decide to jump back onto the race wagon but the damage had already been done. As much as I tried to he still had too much gas in his tank. He kept pulling away and there was nothing I could get my legs to do about it. At the halfway point I find out I have roughly as much distance between me and first place as I do with 2 runners behind me. I do what I can to keep them behind me. For the most part it works until the final stretch of the run! With about 200m to go I can hear the announcer say "we have 3 runners coming in", and I speed up some. Still too far away for my all out sprint. Then I hear something and kick into my last gear. But it's too late. I get overtaken in the final 50m by a 19 year old and there was nothing I could do. My fastest was not fast enough to keep up with him. Ended up with 2nd in my age group and 6th overall. Nearly a 7 minute improvement over my spring race on the same course!

Even though I got beat in my age group and in my sprint to the finish, I am very happy with my performance and grit to push through the pain, especially on the run. My final time was 1:21:34. I learned a few things Wednesday night. One, don't forget the bike bottle. It's good to have during a race. Even if it is only a 20k ride and it's cool outside. Two, looking back I'd like to have passed my AG winner much sooner than I did as I was holding back just a touch until I finally passed him. Finally, my running background is in my mind not my strong point in triathlon anymore. It has been passed by my cycling abilities and my swim is hot on runnings heels from my point of view.

Looking towards the not too distant future I have an Olympic distance race in about 2 weeks. It will be my last triathlon of the season in open water and I'm looking forward to the challenges of a long course triathlon.