Tri for Sight 2009 Race Report

This past Sunday AM, I raced a last minute sprint tri, as did my wife. We were actually planning on her racing and me supporting, but she decided she’d rather me race as well and I’m not one to argue with that. Although it was a sprint tri while I’m focusing on 70.3’s this season, it fell at a perfect time to be able to fit into the schedule. This race, the Tri-for-Sight, in Lexington, KY is 2 weeks prior to Augusta 70.3 (my next A race). I am doing a 1.5 week taper, so some threshold work (the race itself) along with a long bike the day before this weekend’s race provided a solid last build weekend pre-taper. Oh yeah, and racing is fun.

A little background on the event...The Tri-for-Sight is a sprint tri with an 800m pool swim in Univ. of Kentucky’s natatorium, an 18.6 mile rolling hill bike ride through city and horse farms, and a 4 mile run near the football stadium (including 2 miles in the arboretum). This is probably my favorite sprint tri I’ve done for a variety of reasons. For one, it’s nearby to Louisville and Cincinnati so has always been easy to get to. Second, it’s the first tri I ever did 6 years ago (and this year was the 5th time I’ve been back). Third, other than the swim…the course is top notch as far as scenery and providing some challenging terrain, but well kept roads. Finally, the post race food selection and door prizes are usually awesome and this year was no exception.

With the races continued success, they have grown increasing the field size to near 400 tri competitors (including relay teams) and adding a duathlon. Unfortunately, the logistics of increasing the field in a pool swim race led to some serious congestion this year, but we’ll get to that.

Race Morning: Up at 5, at the course by 6, ready to go by 6:45…all pretty smooth. My wife and I set up our areas, then inspected each others to provide some piece of mind, then went out to talk with my parents before heading to the pool. I also downed my espresso GU about 30 minutes before starting.

Swim: I lined up to swim based on my number (numbers were given based on projected swim time, fastest to slowest)…I was 173, so stepped in line between 172 and…473? Obviously, this 473 fellow was in the wrong place, right…wrong. Apparently 473 was actually supposed to be 173, but since we had similar names I received his registration info. I was actually supposed to be in the 220s, which makes more sense with my lack of swimming skills. Luckily the RD had fixed the mistake already and I just waited and started in the place where I was seeded to. The pool was a war zone! They started swimmers every 10 seconds, instead of 15 as in years past. By the end of the first lane I was stuck in a pack of 4 swimmers and basically was in a similar situation the rest of the swim. In some of the fray of attempted passing, I had my watch ripped off my wrist, but didn’t find out until I exited the pool…I wouldn’t have wanted to see the swim time anyways. 800m in 16:36 (23/30 in AG)…ouch, but 20s faster than last year.

T1: There is a long run from pool to transition…then I stumbled a bit in transition, so not my best…3:47

Bike: I’ve gotten so much stronger on the bike this year and I know this course pretty well…so felt pretty good going into this leg. I just ticked off the miles, pushing pretty hard especially on the hills, and watched the time on my PC. I alternated water and my custom Infinit blend every 7.5-8minutes as was convenient. Only one racer passed me, on a roadie with clip-ons. He was a machine, so I just let him go. Before I knew it, I was in sight of the football stadium and transition, so started spinning and preparing for the run. 18.6miles in 49:44 (22.3mph avg, 5/30 in AG)

T2: Quick and gone…1:19…need to get quicker though

Run: Within the first quarter mile, I was surprised how strong I felt…let’s call it cautious optimism. I pushed the pace harder than I have in years passed, and my legs felt a little heavy, but cardio-wise I wasn’t hurting at all. I carried my nutrition with me (1 amphipod bottle each of Infinit and water) and alternated every few minutes. Without a watch, I really couldn’t tell how fast I was going, but it felt quick. In the last mile, I was pretty certain I had put a good race together. I approached the line, but didn’t feel the need to kick it in, so just coasted across with energy to spare…probably should have pushed it harder earlier. 4miles in 25:55 (6:29/mile, 6/30 in AG)

Total time: 1:37:22 (22/305 OA, 12/30 in AG, 4+min PR)

Can’t do anything about being in a stacked AG for this one, but was very pleased with the performance. More importantly, I was pleased I was able to push hard and still have plenty of energy at the end…good sign for the 70.3.

As for my wife’s race, this was her 2nd year consecutive in this event, so she had a time to race against. She’s been working hard this season on properly biking hills and her running speed…it paid off. Even with less swim training than normal, she managed to drop her times in every leg and PR by nearly 10 minutes. A very solid time and great motivation to see the gains she’s made this year. I was very proud of her.

My taper starts officially mid-week this week…the money is in the bank at this point, so now I’m just anxious to get to Augusta and see what I can do.

Where have I been

Wow! I kind of fell off the face of the earth in regard to my blog, and for no great reason, either. I had topics I wanted to devote posts to, but was either too busy or just lost the motivation to write temporarily. So, instead of full posts of some of what I’ve been up to, I’ll just do a quick recap and maybe (hopefully) post some pictures tonight or tomorrow to further bring this up to speed.

As of my last post, I was getting ready for some R&R post Steelhead…it was wonderful. The wife and I spent our first anniversary at the Garden Grove Bed and Breakfast in Union Pier, MI (part of Harbor Country). We were just a couple miles from beach access, near New Buffalo for restaurants and some shopping, but otherwise away from it all. Highlights included an all afternoon (12-5) winery touring trip on Sunday where we hit 5 local wineries and a specialty chocolate shop, seeing the movie Away We Go and a fun little renovated old dinner theatre, climbing a huge sand dune (and then sprinting down it to run from the rain), and in room massages at the B&B. We came home refreshed and 14 bottles of Michigan wine richer…not bad.

In mid-August, we celebrated the wife’s birthday with a trip to the lake (in NE Indiana) for the weekend, where we had invited some friends we hadn’t seen in a while. The weather was mild and cloudy, but that didn’t hold us back from plenty of skiing, boating, and the like. It was great to see everyone.

The last weekend of August was Ironman Louisville. The family and I all volunteered (3 finish line catchers, 2 finish line t-shirt booth workers) and had a blast. We spent almost 11 hours at the finish line, working the first 5 or so, and then enjoying a dinner before cheering on the late finishers until midnight. It was my first time experiencing an IM finish line atmosphere and it was electric. The next day, my dad, sister and I all took the plunge and registered for IMLou 2010. I finalized my registration a couple days ago, although I don’t think reality has set in that I’m officially doing this yet.

Last weekend was, of course, Labor Day weekend and marked the beginning of college football season. Seeing as how I live in Cincy and am a huge UK fan (Kentucky), I couldn’t miss an opportunity to see the Wildcats play their season opener in the Bengals stadium. After a solid opening victory, it was off to say farewell to the lake for 2009 for the rest of the weekend. It involved lots of reading and catching up on sleep.

So now, here I am, getting ready to start my taper for my 2nd A race of the season (Augusta 70.3) come mid next week. Training has been going well, this week especially, and I have a “for fun” sprint this upcoming weekend with the wife. I’m hoping to see how my swim is coming along as I feel like I’ve made great strides in a short time, but we’ll find out Sunday. I don’t have strict goals for this C race, just have fun and not get injured mostly. I’ll try and follow up the weekend with a race report.

All caught up, the challenge from here will be to not fall behind again…and to post a picture recap to supplement this update.

Steelhead 70.3 Race Report

This past Saturday, August 1, was the 2009 Steelhead 70.3 in Benton Harbor, MI.  It was my first HIM in 2 years and my first attempt at actually racing the distance instead of merely surviving. 

Before the report, a little about the race/venue itself.  Transition is at Jean Klock Park, along the coast of Lake Michigan at the north section of Benton Harbor (BH).  It’s a pretty nice, small beach focused park that is currently expanding to add a golf course.  Hopefully development of the beach front will spur BH to improve itself because currently it could use some work.  The town itself looks pretty run-down and impoverished.  I’d assume most athletes coming in for the race stayed at nearby St. Joseph’s to the south, which seemed to be a vast improvement. 

The course, however, was pretty nice overall.  The swim is a point to point along the coast of the lake, pretty much a straight shot and the water is clear enough to not scare more timid swimmers...unless the wind kicks up, then you’ll have big waves.  The bike is a short out and back leading to a large loop in the countryside north of the city.  Some of the roads could be in better condition, but it’s a nice enough course to not bore you, and can be a bit of a challenge depending on the wind.  The run is a double loop with a couple short, but steep hills.  It offered enough variety, that having to loop the same section 2x didn’t seem to bother me.  It gives you a good idea what to expect on the 2nd loop in terms of terrain and aid station locations, of which there are plenty.  Also, the run offers a pretty good amount of shade. 

Such a long intro, now to the race report…

Swim:  My weakest leg, by far.  I felt as I could hope to be at the start, and had a pretty good position in my wave…not quite in the front row and to the outside of the pack.  However, within 50m I had fallen way back as I had to stop and drain my leaking right goggle three times already.  Finally, after the first couple minutes, which seemed like an eternity, I got them to not leak and away I went.  The rest of the swim was pretty straightforward and I had plenty of space to work with, other than catching back up to the occaisional swimmer in my wave to be welcomed with a kick or two.  Needless to say, I was frustrated with my start, but relieved to see the beach and move on.  Time: 39:22 (Goal: 40:00, –:38 total)

Me (on right) exiting the swim…I sure am angry or concentrated

T1: The transition area was long and narrow, so a pretty long run to the gear, but not too much to report here.  Time: 3:39 (Goal 4:00, –:59 total)

Bike:  This is where I really just wanted to focus on holding back.  I felt if I just settled into a comfortable “feeling” pace then I’d still hold a respectable average AND have legs for the run.  Other than my bike PC, I kept no track of time, so didn’t have an idea of how I was doing overall.  For the bike, though, I tried to pay attention to the timer only to time nutrition (alternating 2x concentrated Infinit and water, 1 large drink every 10 minutes…as well as a nutri-grain bar at the 1hr and 2hr marks).  My legs felt great and I was moving faster than I had expected.  I hit the halfway point with an avg speed of 22.6mph.  Something had to give, right?  It certainly did.  At around mile 35, after you’ve been gradually winding your way north and east, you turn onto the highway which is essentially a big straightaway back to transition.  Unfortunately, it seemed to be aligned almost directly with the wind, so the majority of the 20 miles home were rolling hills into a unrelenting headwind.  I wasn’t so worried about my speed dropping since I was well ahead of my planned speed, but it’s hard to not get frustrated and fight the wind when you’re in it that long.  As I approached T2, I was sure I used too much on the bike and figured I had trashed the run.  But either way, the bike leg still kept me ahead of my goal pace.  Time: 2:38:20 (Goal: 2:40:00, –2:39 total)

Bringing the bike back to T2 and stretching for the upcoming run.  DeSoto Coolwings (kinda the Torbjorn Sindballe strategy), are the sleeves if you’re wondering

T2:  Grabbed my fuel belt with more Infinit and a couple gels, put on my Trifuel hat, and was on my way.  Time: 2:53 (Goal: 2:00, –1:46 total)

Run:  I left T2 at little more than a shuffle, knowing I had to start slow to keep from blowing up, especially after the exertion on the bike.  Even at my shuffle, I was still moving through people on the course, which had me guessing if I was going too hard.  However, soon I get pretty settled and my pace came up a little.  I started looking for my dad, who had almost an hours head start on me.  I finally caught him at just past mile 5…he looked especially strong for his first HIM attempt.  That was motivating since with my dad and sister both racing, it’s hard not to worry a little about how there doing as your out there.  I grabbed water at every aid station, drank maybe a gulp and poured the rest onto my arm coolers or in my hat.  I was staying pretty cool.  By the time I hit the second loop, I had only walked once, at a hill just outside Whirlpool’s campus that I wanted no part of and would walk again on loop 2.  For the second loop, I added sponges to the aid station passes, wearing them sort of like shoulder pads under my sleeves.  My pace also seemed to come up a bit more.  By mile 10, I was pretty sure I had a good time going, but the fatigue was starting to set in.  I didn’t really have any kick for the finish, but I did get a little charge of energy when I rounded the corner for the home stretch and Andy Potts was there cheering us on (he said I was looking strong…it was awesome) and again a few hundred meters ahead when I saw the clock and knew I blew away my goal.  I crossed the line, and I was drained but very pleased.  Time: 1:41:09 (Goal: 1:48:30, –9:07 total)

Finish line within sight.

Total Time: 5:05:23…about a 1 hour 10 minute PR 2 years in the making.

Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a better race.  Everything seemed to come together, and yet I was so close to 5hours and see room to improve, so have another goal ahead.  I hung out at the finish with my wife and mom and waited for my dad and sister to arrive.  My dad came in sub 6:20 for his first half, almost beating my previous PR on his first attempt, and my sister came in in the 6:20’s for a nearly 25 minute improvement from her last half.  It was a great showing by all. 

Oh yeah, and Andy Potts won the race, and my wife got to congratulate him and take close-up post finish pictures…

Andy, just minutes after victory

Right now, I’m relaxing and celebrating the other event of this weekend for one more day before returning to the real world…my wife and my first anniversary.  We are relaxing in Harbor Country and it’s about the best way to spend post-race time I can think of. 

Next race, Augusta 70.3 at the end of September.

Steelhead Fast Approaching--Race Plan

Color me excited! This week has been so busy with my trying to get ahead at work in preparation for the long weekend ahead that I have hardly had time to think about being only a couple days from my first A race of 2009…until now. This afternoon, I’ll be leaving Cincinnati and making my way to Benton Harbor for Steelhead 70.3 on Saturday. Then it’s a mini-vacation with the wife to celebrate a successful first year of marriage (our anniversary is August 2nd).

With working extra hours, as well as packing, getting the new race wheel ready, gear checkout, etc…my taper has been less than ideal. It looks more like a drop off a cliff in activity then a gradual reduction. However, my workouts have been high energy and I don’t feel like my poor taper execution will mean much in the course of the race. I planned to get in a day early so I can do one last short ride Friday morning and hopefully a little swim on the course. Then, it’ll be packet pickup, bike drop off, dinner with the family (arriving Friday afternoon) and getting ready for the race, along with whatever sleep I’m capable of the night prior. For most of Friday, I’ll try and wear my Trifuel hat around so I’m noticeable to any other TFers. If you see the hat, come say hello as I’m still yet to meet another TFer face to face.

As for the race, I created a race plan before even starting my winter training to start the 2009 season when I was heavy in my season planning phase. As I saw more vast improvements that I expected, I adjusted the plan, even tweaking it as recently as Monday. I feel pretty solid with it at this point.

Here’s how things will hopefully go down:
Swim (1.2 mi)— 0:40
Bike (56 mi)— 2:40 (~21mph avg)
Run (13.1 mi)— 1:48:30 (~8:15/mi pace)
Transitions—0:06
TOTAL: 5:14:30

So, basically my overall goal is to break 5:15. Based on my training, this should be doable. However, since I haven’t done a HIM in 2 years and have never successfully completed one w/o blowing up the run, I’ll be happy with anything under 5:30.

My rationale for the 5:15 goal is as follows…
The swim should be about 40 minutes, simple as that. My training and previous race data say so…other than being more crowded in the water, I tend to swim the same pace pretty much all the time.
The bike could be faster, I’m guessing…although the real goal will be to hold back. I’ve completed some 60-70mile rides in training at around 20.5mph with traffic and no race adrenaline…so I think I’ll put a good time in here. I also have the benefit of my new Hed 90 rear to give me a mental edge. My main focus is to sit in a nice aerobically comfortable pace. Unless there’s a short, steep hill (which I’m not aware of) then I should never feel like I’m pushing it.
The run will really depend on the bike and the first 3 miles. My open ½ marathon time from April is ~1:32, so I’m expecting a drop off. However, as long as I don’t push too hard on the bike and don’t blow out of T2 like a maniac (somewhat of an issue in my transition runs) then I should be alright. I’m going to go out at 8:00/mile pace and at around mile 6-7 see how I feel to determine where to go from there.
My nutrition is planned, I have a spreadsheet detailing it in my training plan…it involves banana and gel just pre-race, 2 nutri-grain bars and 2 servings infinit nutrition (280cals/serving) on the bike, and 2 gels + 1 serving infinit on the run...pretty evenly distributed throughout the race.

My wife and mom will hopefully capture some awesome shots of my dad, sister, and myself. I’ll write up a RR as soon as I get around to it. GL to everyone else racing this weekend.

Vacation Recap and some fun facts

Well, unfortunately vacation had to come to an end.  We’re now back in Cincinnati and back into the routine.  The only nice things about returning was seeing our dog and being able to bike again.  I know I gave a basically day to day report of our vacation activities, so this post will focus on some quick thoughts about our destinations and some interesting things we saw or did along the way.

Southern Montana: Big Sky and the surrounding ranches on the highways are definitely the place to go to really get away to the backcountry.  We had no cell reception for most of our time up here, and the general pace of life seemed slow and relaxing.  I’m sure Big Sky buzzes in the winter with activity, though.

Yellowstone: I had heard going in that this would be a disappointment.  However, the only disappointment I had was with Old Faithful, which I kind of expected.  The terrain changes constantly as you travel the roads in the park…mountains, canyons, rivers, forests, lakes…it’s all there, along with the geothermal features.  Don’t go see Old Faithful to base your judgment of Yellowstone on.  Yes, the traffic is slow…but you’re there to sightsee for God’s sake…relax.

Grand Tetons:  Although much smaller than Yellowstone, the Tetons offer more hiking (at least publicized) and is more “user friendly” with better information at the ranger stations and less traffic.  Also, the mountains themselves are spectacular.  Also, the ski resorts on the south end are well developed and give ample opportunity to take it to the mountains (w/o having to hike the whole way).  There are also bike trails throughout much of the park…very nice.

Traffic:  Since the roads get torn up in the winter, they seem to do a good deal of road construction in the summer throughout the region.  This does get old when many highways are cut down to 1 lane (total).  If I lived in NW Wyoming…I’d have to bike commute, everywhere.

Behind the numbers:

Total miles hiked—36.3 miles

Total elevation covered in hikes—10,000+ ft (8,000 on long hike, seen below)

Our day hike summary

Total distinctive wild animal species identified (by us amateurs): 12, bald eagle, osprey, large crow (scientific name), moose, grizzly bear, pica, snake, pronghorn, mule deer, beaver, coyote, and elk.

Distinctive state license plates spotted: 47 + 3 canadian provinces (Alberta, BC, and Ontario)…we only missed West Virginia, New Hampshire, and Delaware

 

That’s about all I got…on more triathlon related subjects (it’s been rare of late, I know), I am just under 2 weeks out from Steelhead 70.3, my first A race of the season.  I start the official taper after tomorrow evening’s med-long run.  I’m sure in my taper boredom I’ll write up my race plan.  Also, I got a used Hed Jet 90 that should arrive tomorrow…my first race wheel.  Now I just need a Jet 60 or a trispoke for up front and a wheelcover…at some point.

Vacation Report, Day 7…Last full day

Per usual, we started our morning with runs, my legs felt better than I expected once I got them going…they certainly were stiff getting out of bed. Then, it was a relaxing breakfast while we worked out the details of renting bikes for the day. We decided to give mountain biking a go since it’s different from what we normally do, and there are plenty of trails available in riding distance from town. So, off to Hoback Sports we went to get our mountain bikes, then away we pedaled to the trails. We were decked out on some full suspension rides, which were so much heavier and more reactive to the roads than what I’m used to riding…it was slow going, particularly up hills.

Leaving the paved surface for the trails

The extra weight combined with the built up fatigue from the week kind of sapped our enthusiasm as we approached some technical single track runs. Before we even really got going, we had already decided it would be a short go of things just to get the experience in. After a little ways up the road, we split off on the Cache Creek Sidewalk path for the return trip.

Me heading onto the single-track trail

The drop off to the left sure looked a lot steeper when on the bike

After returning to the lot, we decided to use our bikes more for exploring than for trail-riding, so we went a little ways into the national elk refuge (but saw no elk) before turning back and heading into town for ice cream.

The ice cream stop at Moo’s Ice Cream in the Jackson town square (located in the rear of a cowboy store, but worth finding) made up for not getting our reward yesterday. The flavors we tried were: Oreo (tasted exactly like the cookies), Espresso bomb, chocolate cabernet, and chocolate almond. All were amazing and some flavors I’ve never seen before.

If you see this sign, follow it to deliciousness

To get our money’s worth, we explored the rest of the unseen areas of Jackson via 2 wheels before turning our rides in and heading to the condo for rest. Yes, you heard that right…we rested for almost 2 whole hours before returning to town to do some shopping and go to dinner.

Dinner was at the Snake River Brewing Company, an award winning micro-brewery. Between the 4 of us that drink beer, we sampled all they had to offer except the malt liquor offering. This included the English ale, German lager, organic ale, American pale ale, stout, hefeweisen, and American lager. All were delicious, my favorite was the English Ale.

Hefeweisen…Hurray, beer!

Now, we’re packing and preparing for an early flight to Denver. The good news is, we’ll be back in Cincy (fingers crossed) by early afternoon, so have time to settle in and see our dog again, but I think I’d still rather be on vacation, especially out here. The scenery is just overwhelming, and seeing it every morning hasn’t taken anything away from the wonder…amazing. Oh well, back to reality.

Vacation, Day 6…The day hike

The morning started off with a quick morning run.  It was chilly per usual, but the makings of a another beautiful day with clear skies.  Then, it was back to the condo to shower and have breakfast before preparing to leave for our most ambitious hike.  The goal was to take the ferry across Jenny Lake (in Teton National Park), then climb 1 mile to Inspiration Point.  From there we would head another 3.5 miles into Cascade Canyon to the fork in the river.  Finally, we’d travel another 5.1 miles to Hurricane Pass before turning around and coming back the same route.  All told, it would be a little over 20 miles hiking.  There were good descriptions of what to expect until we reached the fork, but from there we had no idea what terrain we’d be tackling…

Pronghorn Antelope… Another new animal to add to our collection on the drive to Jenny Lake

Hidden Falls, the first landmark on the hike

A Pica… These little guys have been everywhere.  We finally got a picture of one.

Our view from Inspiration Point… after a mile of climbing

A Beaver crossing our path on our way into the Cascade Canyon

The Cascade Canyon

Getting up close and personal with a (male) moose

Arriving at the Fork… 4.5 miles down

As we left from the fork, chances of covering the full 20 miles was looking slimmer since we were already nearly 2.5 hours in and the path leading out of the fork was pretty much all climbing again for the next mile or so, but on we pushed…

Over a precarious looking bridge, but it’s better than having to ford the river

The family dominating all obstacles in our path

Susan and I from a ledge overlooking the three paths between the mountains

We made it to the snow line!

Giving up on the dream of Hurricane Pass, but a beautiful turn-around point nonetheless… 7.1 miles

On the return trip, no pictures were taken…we were focused on getting back, it was mid afternoon and the animals were not out anymore, and it was an out and back hike, so we’d see most of the scenery already.  By the time we reached the Jenny Lake ferry to return to the car, we were out of water and worn out.  We planned to reward ourselves with ice cream, but the strange Wyoming traffic had other plans, and after sitting in the car for an hour, our ice cream motivation was gone.  All told, we covered ~14.25 miles on the hike in just about 7 hours (including breaks).  I’ll post the elevation profiles once my dad has a chance to upload his Forerunner data when we get home. 

The rest of the evening was dinner, then watching some TV at the condo, then early to bed.  Our last full day of vacation (*sniff) is tomorrow, where we are going to give cycling a go (not sure if mountain or road biking yet), then maybe checkout the town of Jackson an bit closer…it will be a pretty tame day for us.  I’m still holding out hope of catching a glimpse of a bighorn sheep or an elk, so we’ll keep our eyes peeled.

A closer look at Mr. Moose.  So impressive.