CARY LONG COURSE DUATHLON

Heading out on Run 2. 

The Cary Duathlon is the last race in a 3 part series put on by FS Series.  The race consists of a 5 mile run 31 mile bike and another 5 mile run.  Each run is 2 loops of a 2.5 mile rolling hill course through Thomas Brooks Park and the surrounding communities.  The bike is full of rolling hills, views of Jordan Lake, and on Saturday, a stiff wind.        

First Run -- 5 Miles (27:11 5:26/mile pace)

The plan for the race was to run well, but not too fast, create a lead on the bike, and then run fairly easy for the second run to hold on for the win.  I took out the run at a pretty relaxed 5:20/mile pace and went through the first mile in 5:19.  I settled into around a 5:25-5:30 pace for miles 2-5 and came into T1 with roughly a 50 second lead on second place.  

Bike -- 31.5 Miles (1:17:05)

The bike was full of hills, wind and more hills and wind.  About 2.5 miles into the first run, I realized my legs were still feeling the effects of TX 70.3.  Since I wasn't feeling great, I had to ride smart.  I decided to attack the down hills and the flats, and ride within myself on all the uphills.  I was hurting and really didn't want to go too hard and then be caught by the other athletes with 5 or so miles to go.  I wanted to get off the bike with a lead, and feel good enough to run the second 5 miles.  The plan paid off, and even though I didn't have an excellent ride, I rode well enough to post the fastest bike split of the day and extend my lead.  A highlight of the ride was also having a lead vehicle show me the way around the course.  Sometimes a lead vehicle can be a smelly diesel pick up truck, but for this race, it was a Chevy Volt.  It was awesome to have an electric car ahead me!    

Second Run -- 5 Miles (30:19 -- 6:03/mile pace)

Jumping off the bike and back to another 5 miles run was rough.  Duathlons are much harder on my body than triathlons, and my legs were not so happy about the 5 miles I was about to do.  Like last week, my legs began to cramp, but unlike last week, the cramps were only in my calves.  I can run with cramping calves -- not fast, but I can make do.  Fortunately for me and my calves, with a good-sized lead I had some time to spare if my run was slow.  At the first turn around, a little over a 1.5 miles into the run, I saw the second place athlete. I calculated that I had slightly over a 3:00 lead.  I was running roughly 5:50-6:00/mile pace, not blazing fast, but knew that this would be good enough to get the job done.  I also had a a few more turn checkpoints to see if the second and third place runners were making up any time.  At the second checkpoint, my lead was still about 3:00, and I thought to myself, "perfect, sustain the same pace for the next 2.5 miles".  My lead was the same at the third checkpoint, so with only 1.5 to go, I eased up.  I was tired, and feeling the effort of last weekend; I did not want to put myself into a hole if I did not have to.  I ran about 6:30 pace for the final mile and cruised into the victory with a 2:40 win (results).

I'd like to thank FS Series for putting on a great race, I had a blast and hope to be back for a few more.  I'd also like to thank my better half for making it to the race, taking some great pictures (shown on the post) and cheering me on.  It's always fun to have her in the crowd.  She often trains with me, so having her at races just makes it another day of training.   

Starting the second loop of Run 2.  I was little tired by now. 

Coming down the finish chute.  

IRONMAN TEXAS 70.3

IM Texas 70.3 had a stacked field.  Two world champion athletes, the current world record holder at the IM distance, a seven time Tour de France winner, and many other athletes that have won 70.3 races.  My fitness is great right now and I anticipated surprising a few athletes.  If things went well, I thought I could have a top 10 showing.  The plan was to have a good swim and exit before the super cyclist, work with them for the ride, and then run as well as I could. 

SWIM -- 24:22

This was the roughest swim start I have ever participated in.  From the moment the gun went off, everyone was fighting for position.  I usually sprint out and settle into a nice position sitting in second or third position of the first group.  However, in this swim, I was simply beat up too much to make it out of the main pack and to the front.  The first 1000 meters of the swim consisted of three or four kicks to the face, a well place fist to my right eye, filling up my goggles, and lots of swimmers swimming into me and I swimming into them.  It was pretty miserable.  So much for my game plan.

After about 1000 meters, I decided to swim wide, find some open water and try to swim my way back to the first group.  The first group was about 75-100 meters ahead of me, and I went for it trying to catch back up.  I passed about 10 guys but exited the water in 16th place.  I led the second group of athletes and we found ourselves about 1:00 down on the first swimmer and 30 seconds off the tail end of the first group.  

BIKE -- 2:12:50

The bike is a tough one, you ride into a crosswind/headwind for 28 miles, turn around, and then ride with a crosswind/tailwind for 28 miles.  Getting onto the bike I felt great.  I've been riding really well of late and my confidence was high going into the race.  I'm also  sporting a new ride, an Argon 118.  The bike is super face and simply cuts through the wind.  I took the first 10 miles at a relatively easy pace, and then picked it up.  I caught a group of guys that had exited the water in the first group and kept riding pass a number of riders.  At the turn around, I found myself in 11th place, and right with the 10th place rider.  This was a great showing.  I was feeling great.  However, I had a mechanical problem at mile 35, my areo bar dislodge from the insert.  This changed my position on the bike and forced me to favor my left side.  I eventually slowed a bit over the last 15 miles of the ride, and jumped off the bike in 15th place. 

RUN --  DNF

Jumping off the bike, my left hamstring was completely cramped and I knew my day may be over.  I started the run and tried to get a smooth stride going, but my cramps would not subside.  Not wanting to injure myself, I decided to call it a day.

In all, I learned a bit more about racing today.  I had a blast competing against some of the greatest athletes in the world, and I am looking forward to getting back out there.

I'd like to thank my homestay in Houston, Matt and Megan, thanks so much, and my homestay in Galveston, John and Sherry.  Everyone in Texas seemed to be so friendly.  Thanks again!  

More Pictures --





NEW GEAR FOR 2012!



Rudy Project

I'd like to thank Rudy Project for the 2012 sponsorship.  Rudy Project manufactures the best TT and road helmets.  In addition, their sunglasses are top notch.  I can't wait to race in the new my Wingspan Helmet and sunnies.  Thanks again Rudy Project, it's going to be a fast 2012!   

Wingspan Helmet






Sterling Helmet

Sunglasses (Ekynox Sx Sport)

Sunglases (Horus)

OFF SEASON TRAVELS

After about 10 days in San Francisco and Los Angeles, I traveled to Australia and New Zealand for a 20 day adventure.  The trip was incredible.  Full of fun; we ran, swam, mountain biked and hiked all over the Noosa Queensland and the South Island of New Zealand. 

Below are few pictures from our travels, as well as some runs and mountain bikes.  The trip was awesome!



Day 2 of the Routeburn Trail.





Moke Lake just outside Queenstown.  Another great place to Mountain Bike.




Wanaka Lake.  Great place to mountain bike and relax.





Christmas Day hike up to Mueller's Hut.  Mt. Cook in the background.




Kayaking in Milfrod Sound.




New Year Day jump into the Milford Sound post Kayak.



Happy New Year and hope your 2012 has started off on the right foot. 

TRAINING PARTNERS

My season has finished and I wanted to thank my training partners and pass along an old article from the NY Times, "To Train Harder, Consider a Crowd".  To the pro-swim group, riding partners, P-Ride cyclists and running friends, thanks for making me faster!  I could not have done it without you. 
    

NY Times Article "To Train Harder, Consider a Crowd"

Group training is an aspect of performance that has never been scientifically studied. Exercise physiologists say it can be impossible to demonstrate its value because usually too many things change simultaneously when people start to run in groups: the coach, the location, the training regimen. To do a proper study, it would be necessary to assign athletes at random to train alone or with a group, assessing their performances after a period of time — something that would be extremely hard, if not impossible.

But despite the lack of solid evidence that group training helps, more and more athletes are starting to think it does. And, they say, there are lessons for amateurs who want to run or swim or cycle faster. The right workout companions, they say, can make all the difference.

“In sports, you need to train at race pace,” said Edward Coyle, an exercise physiologist at the University of Texas at Austin. “To do that, you need a coach and you need teammates to push you.”

Recreational athletes can benefit, too, Dr. Coyle said. Many run by themselves or without a specific program. “They probably underestimate their ability,” he said. Group runs “would help them tremendously.”

The article makes it simple, to go faster, train harder and train with a group. 

See everyone out there.

 

BEACH 2 BATTLESHIP (1st OVERALL)

Beach 2 Battleship was an excellent race to end the year.  Any one looking to finish with a half iron distance or full iron distance race should definitely race B2B.  Set Up Events puts on a top-notch race and the City of Wilmington has a lot to offer.  I'll be back next year!

My goal coming into B2B was to set a course record and go under four hours for the race, but I didn't acheive all of those goals because the wind and weather had different plans. I battled the 20 mph wind, slight rain, and cold weather to set a new course record, 4:08:19, but missed out on going under 4:00.  Next year! 

Swim: 20:42

The B2B swim takes place in a channel connected to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and is timed with an incoming tide providing a nice strong current for the swimmers.  The current is a bit slower for the half iron distance than the full (because the half starts quite a bit later than the full), but the current was still moving.  The gun sounded and I went straight to the front of the pack and off the front.  I had a lead kyaker paddling with me for about 500-600 meters and I thought all was great.  However, suddenly, the lead kyaker splashed me and pointed to the red buoy about 75-100 meters to the left of me and shouted for me to go left. I was shocked! I had not been sighting other than to look for him, and now I'd swum about 100 or so meters off course. (Lesson for the future: don't rely on the kayaks! from here on out, I'll always do my own sighting.) I still made it to the first buoy in first place, however, my lead was only about 25 meters.  I swam well and on course for the rest of the swim and had about a 90 second lead coming out of the water.  Without the little sighting problem, I think I would have exited the water in just about 19 minutes, and with a lead of almost three minutes.  Oh well..it was time to bike, no time worry.    

Bike: 2:18:29 (Fastest Split of the Race)

This was the toughest 56 miles of riding I've done all year.  The first 35-40 miles were almost all into a head/cross wind. I rode nearly as hard as I could but was only going 21-24 mph, making for a long day in the saddle. In addition, the temperature dropped to about 50 degrees, and my super fast, but skimpy Kiwami tri kit wasn't offering too much warmth. About 30 miles into the ride, I was shivering but kept a positive mindset and hammered away.  I kept saying to myself, "ride strong, create a big lead, and maybe I can still get under 4 hours."     

Run: 1:24:16

Coming into T2 I was super cold and shivering, but with a lead of a little more than seven minutes.  I handed off my bike to the T2 volunteer and went to get my running shoes on.  I had a little trouble getting on my shoes, my hands were not cooperating and were shaking too much.  My shivering likely costs me about 30 seconds but once the shoes were on, it was out onto the run to warm up.  

The first few miles of the run were excellent and I maintained a 5:45-6:05 mile pace.  I made it to the run turn around at mile 6.55 in 39:18 and was excited to be on pace for a sub 1:20 run.  At the turn around, I also was able to see where my competition was.  It took nearly three minutes to see the next runner, Kenneth Svendsen, a very strong runner and triathlete.  Kenneth took 9th overall at Augusta 70.3 so I knew there was a fast guy behind me but I had just under a six minute lead.  Miles 7-10 were not as fast as I had wanted, my right hip started to give me some trouble. I knew I was in for tough final few miles.  I also knew Kenneth was running fast.  I came through mile 10 in 1:01 not a blazing fast time, but fast enough to still run under 1:20.  However, the final 5K was a struggle.  The combination of my hip and fatigue slowed me down and I shuffled the final 5K in 23 minutes. I was a little worried Kenneth would catch me, however, I kept my focus and stayed positive.  I came through the finish chute with a new course record and won by a bit over one and half minutes.     

Full Results

Rounding out a great race was all of the support I got during the weekend. I had a wonderful homestay, and want to thank them for the hospitality. Also thanks to my coach Dave Williams, his wife Monette and my better-half for cheering me on. 

B2B was an excellent way to end the season. I've raced twelve times this year, including eight 70.3 distance races, and I have had a great time racing at the elite level again.  I can't wait for next year, but first, some rest and recovery.  



Post race I was wrapped up like a burrito and got a massage. 



BEACH 2 BATTLESHIP

I'm very happy to announce I'll have one more shot at racing a half iron distance triathlon this year.  I'll be racing the Beach 2 Battleship race on October 29.  B2B is one of North Carolina's best races and it will be a great way to end the season.  I'm also looking forward to hanging around and cheering on all the participants in the full iron distance race.  This will be first time at an iron distance race and watching everyone cross the finish line will be something else. 

REV 3 ANDERSON

REV3 Anderson

I was really looking forward to REV 3 Anderson, I felt very fit and ready for a break out performance.  I knew I could swim with the first group, ride with the main group, and if my run came around to where my training indicates, I would have a great race.  However, on Friday morning I woke up to find my lower back/right hip killing me.  I could barley walk, much less do 70.3 distance race.  I spent nearly all of Friday working from the floor.  I drove down to South Carolina on Saturday morning, my back/hip was a bit better, but not 100%.  I could swim and ride, but running really hurt.  I planned to go out Sunday morning and see what would happen.   

Swim: 24:39 (5th out of the water)

I led the swim for the first 300-400 meters. I planned to let Brian Fleischmann pull the rest of the way, but I thought Richie Cunningham took a better line to the second buoy so I hopped on his feet instead.   This wasn't the best choice, we lost a bit of ground to the guys ahead of us, but stayed within 20-30 seconds of Brian.  I came out in 5th and was ready for the bike.     

Checkout the video below, that's me in lead! (I am wearing the silver cap in the left of the screen, however, the announcer thinks I'm Victor.)

I am in the front of the group
photo by Eric Wynn

Bike: 2:18:57

The bike started off fast.  Andrew Starykowicz showed off his superb cycling skills and power and took off right away. In all, about nine or ten athletes came out of the water within a minute or so of each other and two chase groups formed.  I was riding strong and taking a fair amount of pulls.  For the first 40 miles or so, all was going well.   About mile 41, a referee gave me a penalty. I can admit when I make a mistake (I've made a few earlier this season and have always admitted to them) but this was just a bad call by a referee.  As my group approached a hill, all of our speeds slowed and the ref said I was drafting.  During the stand down period, I asked what I had done, and she said I was 8 meters behind the guy in front of me and not the required 10 meters.  I responded by asking her how far back she was and if the distance between me and the other rider stayed constant. She replied that she was 20-30 feet behind us and no, that I was moving back to open the gap further but not enough. I asked how she could distinguish between 8, 9 and 10 meters from a distance of 20 feet and with riders moving 20-25 mph and changing position. I didn't convince her, and the stand down dropped me back to 14th. I hammered the last 16 miles trying to catch up (not a smart move) and lost another minute or so and did a number on my legs.

Check out the video below.  At about 30 miles there were two chase groups, I was in the second group, riding well.  You can see me at :34-36 seconds into the clip.  The two groups would come together about 15 miles later.

Run: 1:25:16

Not too much to report on the run, other than it was a tough day.  My back/hip acted up right away and I struggled through the run finishing with a 1:25 half marathon.  Only part of the run that I can be proud of is that I did not quit, even though I was quite tempted at each mile marker.   However, I really want to finish the race and not end up with a "DNF".   

Total: 4:10 (16th Professional)

I think I have one more race in me, but before that happens, I need to get my lower back/hip taken care of. 

Thanks for reading!

PINEHURST TRIATHLON

Pinehurst Triathlon -- First Overall Course Record

After two races which I did not finish it was time to break the streak and get back on track before Rev 3 South Carolina. 

Going into the race I felt tired and not too fast.  I had put together some tough workouts over the week and also put in about 50 hours of work.  But after a quick talk with my coach we decided it was a good idea to go out, race, and put in a good effort.  We knew I would not be on top of my game but it would be good to get things going before next weekend. 

1500 Meter Swim

The plan for the swim was to go out fast and get away.  I took the first 200 out at a quick pace and then settled down for the rest of the swim.  At the first buoy I realized I had about 100 meter lead on second place and decided to keep pushing the pace to the extend the lead.  I exited the water in 19:32 and had about 3 minutes on the next competitor. 

30 Mile Bike

I decided to push the bike today and see what I had.  The course was hilly and the wind tough, but I kept my focus and rode hard.  I've been trying to ride at a lower cadence and it seemed to help on some of the false flats and downhills.  I powered through the course and extended my lead to a bit over 8 minutes.   

10 Kilometer Run

I had a good lead off the bike and tested the legs on the run.  They were tired but I chugged along.  This course is great, hilly and tough, but beautiful as well.  Other than a couple sections were I slowed up, I kept a decent 5:40 pace up and finished strong. 

I finished in 2:09:04 and a victory by a bit over 11 minutes. 

Rev 3 is looking to be a stacked field and I'm really excited to see what happens. 

Augusta 70.3

Swim -- 19:31

Augusta 70.3 started off great.  Instead of lining up with all the other athletes I opted to stay to the far right and have clean water to start the swim.  I wanted to avoid all the fighting and wrestling that can go on at the start of pro men's race.  The gun sounded and I took off.  I could see the fastest swimmer in the group Kyle Leto to my left and slowly worked my way towards his feet.  By 400 meters into the swim I was on Kyle's feet and we were off the front.  About 600-700 meters we hit a patch of kelp and Kyle accelerated.  Unfortunately I got a bit tangled up with the kelp and Kyle swam away.  I continued to swim well and exited the water about 30 seconds down on Kyle but about 1:00 ahead of the main contenders.

  

Bike -- 2:14:18
Leading up to the race I was worried about the bike.  I was riding a borrowed Cervelo P4.  The P4 is a super fast bike but this P4 was a size 51cm and my P3 is a size 54cm.  After making some adjustments and taking it out for a few training spins I thought I was set to go.  All was well for the first 25 miles or so, I was riding strong and sitting in either second or third place (Kyle Leto had gone off the front).  So far this was my beset performance at a competitive 70.3 field.  I was riding with the some of the best athletes and holding my own.  However, about mile 35 my hip flexers and hamstrings began to cramp.  I tried to work them out by spinning and standing but nothing seemed to work.  At mile 40, the group accelerated and I cramped badly.  As my hamstrings cramped, I could not keep the pace and the group rode away.  Coming into T2 I was still in 8th place and had a decent lead over 9th and 10th.  However, getting off the bike I cramped very badly.  My hamstrings were absolutely done.  After about a minute struggle to put my shoes on, I attempted to start the run.    

Run -- DNF



My legs did not cooperate today.  The different bike and angles were too much for hamstrings and hip flexers.  I simply could not run.  Lesson learned, race my bike and my bike only...

Rev3 South Carolina on October 9 is the next key race.