A "little" racing

Its been about... well a long time since I have raced a sprint triathlon. This weekend Coach gave me the green light to jump into a short reverse sprint tri to get in a little tempo/interval work before Wildflower.

Starting off a race with a run was weird enough. But starting out with a hard 5K made it even worse. I am no 5Ker and it showed. The leader (Collegiate Natl. Champion from Lubbock last weekend) got away pretty quick and it was a race for 2nd from there on out. Pretty pathetic run split to start the day.

I got on the bike and was chasing tandem bike powered by the 2 guys pictured above. Talk about redlining! Chasing down a tandem bike powered by a pro-triathlete and top amateur is tough going.

I wasn't able to reel them in, and it ended up coming down to the 150yd swim which quickly became a water polo style battle. It was a sprint (if you can call what I did "sprinting") to the finish which ended up coming down fractions of a second. I secured 2nd but in no way was "secure" in my performance. Overall, a pretty sub-par day and that showed me how much work I have to do. TONS!!

I know I had no real shot at staying with the winner (dude is fast) and his 47 to my 49:3x is fine. I really had no shot at him at this distance. So by no means do I think I "shoulda / coulda" beat or even really "raced" with him. Plain and simple, my performance was, overall, just a disappointment.

Capitan, we HAVE...

the POWER!

Thanks to the good folks at Quarq, its now time for me to actually start training like a pro. Coach has been chomping at the bit for me to get going on this for a while now. I don't know whether to be excited or scared of that. Right now I guess I am a bit of both.

Really back at it

Many triathletes, especially those from California, know the setting of the above photo. I depart today and head North to log another big weekend and to refresh the mind and body as to what is on the horizon. Kevin and I will be meeting up with some fellow T3ers and it should be a fun smashfest of a weekend.

Cheers

Back to it

I haven't ridden "long" since training for Kona. A few 100mi rides but nothing over 5hrs and all those were flat. This weekend it was back on the long horse, and it wasn't going to be flat. I went down to Carlsbad to join Charisa and Kevin and get back out on some of the roads we all grew to know and love SO very much while training for Kona. Unfortunately, for us and her, Cha Boom Boom came down with something on Saturday after struggling through our morning ride and wisely called it quits for the weekend. Some would be happy to have an excuse to sit on a comfortable couch all weekend and watch a huge TV, but not her.

So after some running on Saturday night, Kevin and I rolled out for a trip to Lake Henshaw. Really we couldn't have asked for a much better day. Coach placed strict orders to "ride it like a tourist" as I had a run to follow, and we had weather like this:

Despite abiding by coach's orders, I think the previous day's efforts had taken their toll and I rode the Bonk roller coaster from about 2hrs in. A bit over 6hrs later and I was in full bonk, sitting on Charisa's floor mowing down some cottage cheese. That run after I mentioned above, clearly that wasn't going to happen. 15mins later, I was standing in Charisa's kitchen making my post shower meal and holding the Brita filter so it didn't fall over during the earthquake. Judging by her reaction to the tremor, I think its safe to say Charisa still has a fair amount of Chicago and East Coast in her.

Car packed, sick girl left in the more than able hands of doting husband, I set off north. Once home I found that the drive had surprisingly left me feeling quite rejuvenated. So the plan was put back into action and I got in that scheduled run before dinner.

All in all, another good weekend. I won't lie, I was a little disappointed in myself with the bonkage on the bike. But I can't really expect to jump back into the long hilly rides and have the body just snap back into it. Work to be done. Work. To. Be. Done.

Riding to Nowhere

In my last post before Oceanside, I got a few questions regarding my "athletic" history. This is not to "toot my own horn" by any means, but some people find it somewhat interesting that I only really started the swimbikerun about 3yrs ago. It is true, this was me (middle) back when 12oz curls was my chosen form of exercise.

I think that the question I am most often asked when people find out I have only been riding as long as I have, is "How did you develop your cycling ability?" I am sure a little of my football strength transfered over, but I am positive that I began to see big gains shortly after I was introduced to this guy:

(yes I found the cheesiest pic I could)

and to this thing

If you don't know, the pic above is Coach Troy Jacobson of Spinervals fame. Again, for those who may not know, Spinervals are DVDs with specific workouts to watch while riding the trainer. I love the trainer. You can absolutely SMASH yourself on it and have nothing else to concentrate on but how hard you are working. Seriously, I think the best bike workouts I have ever had have been on the trainer, without a doubt. From the most aerobic of rides to the most anaerobic, the trainer is KEY. Lucky for me, and in direct contrast to my healthy hatred of the treadmill, I actually enjoy the trainer. Even living in So. Cal., even in the summer, even when its light out, I will hit the trainer for good hard work. In my run up to Kona this year, I rode outside about 2 days a week. The rest was indoors, windows closed, long sleeve T's on, getting ready for the heat. Some of the best work I have ever done.

So if you don't have them, I HIGHLY recommend picking up a trainer and some Spinervals DVDs. You won't be sorry. Click on these links to TriSports and use coupon code IMIKE-S for 10% off. I have probably 10 DVDs I use regularly, some at least once a week. They WILL improve your cycling, FAST. At least it worked for me. Happy spinning.

CA 70.3 Race Report

The morning didn't exactly go as smooth as I would have liked and I was running a little late to get in the water. But I made it, and despite my prediction that I would feel quite nervous swimming out to the line, I was pretty calm.

I took a spot way out on the right side of the lineup and waited for the gun. It fired & off we went

Swim: 25:02

Due to my somewhat conservative start position I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly the start went. Not much contact and soon I found myself in open water and began moving left toward the feet of the pack. Soon I also realized that my start position had left me back of where I wanted to be. So just before the turn, I worked my way through 2 packs of swimmers, and after the turn was able to pick up a few more spots. I came out of the water in just under 25 which was a 2min improvement from last year. Pretty happy with that. I felt super strong on the 2nd half and my new Zoot Zenith was INCREDIBLE! The shoulder flexibility in that thing is INSANE! In the last couple hundred meters I was able to shed some of the guys off my feet and came in with a little gap.

Bike = 2:25:02

As I mentioned I had been a little hurried in setting up transition. Well I had just left both my gel flasks (1 bike - 4 PowerGels, 1 run - 3 PowerGels) on the ground next to my run shoes. I don't take anything off the ground in T1 so of course, about 2min into the ride I realized I had forgotten my flask, and thus, about 80% of my fuel for the ride. Out the window went my fueling plan. I was able to grab a PoweGel at the 1st aid station, and one at the 2nd, but the rest of the ride was gatorade, and that definitely had me running a bit low at times. I forced myself to ration the gels, taking one at mile 26 or so and one before the final big climb. The ride itself went pretty well, I was caught by some guys early on and didn't push to stay with them knowing my fuel situation and the hills that lay ahead. From about mile 25 through the final climbs, I found myself with fellow Blue rider Trevor Wurtelle and a couple other guys. Nicholas Thompson caught us after some of the hills and the dude was hammering. I have never seen someone ride a bike with such aggressive pedal stokes. Dude rides ANGRY. My plan was to ride a little conservative through the climbs, so on all the flats and downhills I would go off the front of our group, then get reeled in on the climbs. I am sure those guys were annoyed with me for that. But after the final climb I had planned to give it what I had left and that is what I did. I hammered pretty hard from the last climb home and the Triad was awesome. I am continually impressed with this bike every time I ride it. The power transfer is incredible. Fortunately my plan worked and I was able to pull away from those guys and give myself a little cushion into T2.

Run = 1:21:36

I had hoped to run under 1:20. That has been my goal since running 1:20:01 at Clearwater. However, I think the wind on the back side of Pendleton took more out of everyone this day and was the reason that the course was about 7-8min slower this year. So when I saw that Michael Realart ran a 1:17:xx I wasn't so upset with my 1:21. But still, the run needs work and you best believe the Dirkinator knows it. I felt relatively good going out and all the way through the first lap.

I was caught by one guy and was able to gather myself, and retake him shortly thereafter. But when Nicholas Thompson came by it was all I could do to hold on for the 2nd half of the first lap then watch him run away. Onto the second lap I knew I had some work to do to stay ahead of some guys.

Just before the turn around Trevor Wurtelle caught me and I couldn't answer. On the boardwalk I traded wind breaking duties with Mike Neil but he was able to put a gap on me up the final little incline. It was almost a good thing though, because since I wasn't battling with him to the line, I was able to stop and give my mom a Birthday hug and kiss and thank her for her support.

I was also able to see the Dirkinator himself just before the line and get a high five and a hug. Greg Welch had to tell me it would be a good idea to get across the line.

Total = 4:15:28 and I was happy with that. It was an 8min improvement over last year, not as big as I wanted, but I will take top 15 in my first pro race against that high profile of a field.

I waited at the finish for Charisa and we celebrated our first pro finishes.

We even got a few "Congrats" from the Coach

All in all it was an incredible weekend. I owe a huge "Thank You" to many who made it possible including Zoot for putting me in the most high performance products on the market, Blue Competition Cycles for letting me ride a bike that will do battle with the best of em, TriSports.com for feeding us on Friday, for some incredible cheering and for being the one stop shop for all I need to get me to and through race day; and PV Bicycle Center for fitting me to my awesome bike and especially to Dave for keeping it running in top shape.

Cheers

The Time is Near

No turning back now!

Saturday morning, I will enter the water with the likes of Matt Reed, Rasmus Henning, Michael Realart, Tim O'Donnell, etc... the list goes on. For a LONG TIME. At the wee bottom of that list is my name. With a # 36 next to it. My first race in the professional ranks will, despite the chili waters be a baptism by fire with some of the biggest names in the sport! But this is what I signed up for right? The chance to challenge myself against the best there is, to race from the sound of the 1st gun, at the front of the race, up with the big boys. I think of all my emotions, excitement reigns supreme.

A few years ago I was a 225lb fat law student, then I found this sport that has brought me the greatest challenges, moments of exhilaration, feelings of accomplishment and friends I could ever imagine. This is the next step, see what the pro game is about and test/push myself further. I am prepared to struggle, I am prepared to SUFFER, and through that I hope to learn more about myself and continue the awesome journey and experience that triathlon has proven to be. A big Thank You to all who have helped me along the way, big or small, it has all been appreciated.

HERE. WE. GO.