Tri The Midlands Race Report

The 2009 Tri the Midlands was the 2nd Setup Events Race of the season for me. I really wanted to put together a solid all-around race and hoped to place in the AG. The forecast was very hot and humid and the weather cooperated with the computer models!! Luckily I finished fast enough to miss the super hot temps.

Swim: The swim is 500 m open water. The 34-under men usually go in the 2nd wave, but we went 3rd this time. It was a very large wave for a race this size too. I started far to the right and didn't encounter any arms and legs until the first turn buoy. I went real hard for the first 150 m and then settled into a pace I thought I could maintain. I had to stop after the second turn buoy and rinse the fog out of the goggles so I could see. I came out of the water in 8:56 for a 1:47/100 m pace. This is almost 20s per 100 m slower than I'm doing in the pool. I just can't seem to get the open swims to go as fast as in the pool. This was good enough for 43rd OA and 7th in AG.

T1: Got my helmet on and left the sunglasses because they were fogging up due to high humidity. I put on the race number belt so I wouldn't forget it again! Ran the bike out of the transition area, about 150 m long. I hopped on and got rolling. Time of 1:10.

Bike: For the 14 mi bike course I was wanting to go out at least 22mph for the course. I was riding a set of Zipp 404s that Jay Allen let me borrow. Thanks man!! I could definitely tell they made a difference in the flats. Once I got up to speed, it was much easier to maitain than my old wheelset. I was crusing in several sections at 27-28mph. Well, I was passed by 3 or 4 in the AG and maybe 1 or 2 others. I did do my share of passing, especially in the first half. In the end I was about 21.4mph for the course, but I had to back off a time or two because my hamstrings felt like they wanted to cramp. A little disappointed but still respectable time of 38:20 for 42nd OA and again 7th in AG.

T2: I threw the bike on the rack, dropped the helmet, put on the shoes

Run: This 5k course has 3 very challenging grades to take on. I knew the heat and hills would be a factor, but I wanted to definitely break 20 min on the run. I caught one in my AG in the first 1/4 mi, but was never able to catch any others. I did have a great effort in the last 1/2 mi where I went after two guys who I thought my be in the AG, but were not. The second of the two guys and I had a fun sprint finish and I left him reading the back of my jersey!! My time of 19:51 was good enough for 7th OA and 1st in AG.

I was happy with my OA time of 1:11:58. This put me 17th OA, but only 4th in AG. The AG was well represented in the top 20 finishers with 5 of us in the top 20 male finishers. Once again, I lost the race on the bike...dang it!!! I can't wait until these bike times come down more!

Clemson Sprint Triathlon Race Report

The Clemson Sprint Tri was a bag of mixed feelings this year. I raced it on '08 and was really dissapointed with my results overall. Last year the swim was anaerobic, the bike was abysmal, and the run hurt bad...oh, and T1 got my wetsuit stuck and T2 had the insoles of my shoes all wadded up twice. This year I set out to improve in all disciplines, race much more in control, and I predicted a 1:07:00 finish time. Here's the rundown:

Swim: Started raining 5 minutes before the first wave. No problem, I'm going swimming! 750m in-water, wave start, 2nd wave. The elites went first, so there was no worrying about catching anyone. The horn went off and I went hard for about 100m before settling into a groove. I was sighting about every 12 strokes except when I got to the turn buoys where I was looking up about every 8 strokes. My sighting was good and I swam pretty straight throughout. I felt like I was right on pace until I exited the water and my watch said 13:00. What the crap happened there?!? I should have been around 11:30-12:00. Either I didn't push hard enough or the course was long. Here's a picture of me looking at my watch in disgust. The total swim time included a 0.2 mile up a hill to transition. 14:27, 7th AG, 60th OA.

T1: Got to my spot quickly. I had hung my yellow Fca-e t-shirt on the end of the rack so I could spot it easily. Wetsuit came off ok. I put on shoes and helmet, but left the sunglasses since it was still raining. Got out and on the bike ok, but not in the pedals fast enough. 1:18

Bike: 11 miles. Last year I averaged 18.9 mph on this course, which stunk!! I was looking for a dramatic improvement. I knew I was doing well because I was actually passing people. I was only passed by one or two from my wave and one or two 40-somethings who where hammering (I heard Jeff B's disk wheel roaring up on me from 50m back!). The course pretty much climbs for 9 miles and then descends for the last two. Nothing major just a lot of steady grades. I tried to keep my HR below 170bpm. I averaged 169 and maxed at 181. Once I got to the downhill I tried to get my speed up and coast in a few spots to lower my HR before T2. I also took in a gel in the last mile. Rain also stopped about midway, but never was a real factor. I was happy with my time of 31:21 for 46th OA, 5th in AG and 21.1 mph. But what a crappy place to set up for a photo. Right in a hard, fast turn. Couldn't they have picked a gentle downhill and got me looking super aero!?!? The look on my face said, "You're taking pictures here?"

T2: Racked bike, slid on shoes, dropped helmet, and off. Was I forgetting something? Oh well...0:34.

Run: This 5k course goes down a smooth hill for a mile, then up a rediculous grade for 100m to a flat dike turnaround and back from whence you came. Last year I charged up that hill and nearly died. This year I was more conservative on the way up and it helped a lot. I picked off two guys in my AG by the turn around and saw a pack of about 5-6 about 500m a head of me at the 2 mile mark. I closed the gap to about 100-150m but could not bring them back by the end. Frustruating because one of them ended up in my AG and beat me by 14 sec! Anyways, back to the T2 comment...as I made the last turn towards the finish I reached back to turn my bib number around and it wasn't there!! This is a 2 min penalty, yikes!! Ok, so the race at the end of last year I remembered not having my number in front at the finish, but I came through in a sprint to catch a few guys and blew through the chute so fast that I didn't get a penalty. So that was my plan, the only problem was I was all alone. Well I went in full sprint mode and crossed the line at a 4:45/mi pace and it worked again!! My unpentalized time was 18:53, 17th OA, 1st in AG.

Total time of 1:06:30 for 34/333 OA and 3rd in AG. Beat my prediction and last year's time by 6:09. So I was definitely pleased, but I was hoping for a better swim time and I felt like I left too much on the run. Not bad for a season opener though...

I'm Running Fast Daddy!!

My two year old son's favorite thing is to "run fast Daddy!" Any chance he can get, he takes off in a dead sprint. Since his stride length is about 1.5 feet in length, his sprints usually don't last long, but he loves it.

I can remember having that same love for running. No agendas, time constraints, or even a destination. Just running.... My favorite running as a kid was through the woods behind my house (at least 50 acres) with my golden retriever. I would go at break neck speed from the porch to the first set of gulleys (maybe 400m). It was a good day when I beat the dog to the creek, but only happened when I caught her off-guard napping.

So to the point! The chiropractor asked me today what my goals were with training and racing. Of the cuff I gave some cliche answer about finding my potential, blah, blah, blah. The more I thought about it I realized why I do this. I'm searching to rediscover that feeling of running through the woods; when everything was right and it was effortless. Some days I find it, others not so much, but man when it happens in a race it is beautiful! I guess it comes around just often enough to keep me going some more. The other reason is because I can. Because God gave me the ability physically and mentally to do things "normal" people think are crazy or impossible. I don't take it for granted.

To my knowledge, not a believer, but still a great quote:

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." -Pre

Redneck Engineering for Triathlon

If you know me, I can be pretty frugal (my wife calls it cheap!), but I have a hard time shelling out big money for things I think/know I can get for less or make up myself. You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy. Anyway...I got a great race helmet from Julie that I really like, the Giro Advantage 2. I've done several training rides in it and it definitely makes a difference.

I really had eyes on the Spiuk helmet, but couldn't stomach the price tag. So I modified my Giro to get what I liked about the Spiuk (clean underside that goes along the back). I was inspired by T.J. Tollakson's homemade aero setup at NOLA 70.3. http://jayprasuhn.blogspot.com/2009/04/tj-tollaksons-new-race-setup-revealed.html

Notice the opening at the point on the end for any air that may make its way in there to escape.

Tools of the modifications: Duct tape, elec tape scissors, synthetic sponges

Now to give it some test rides!

Is My Watch Broken?

Here's a crash course on my athletic background...played every team sport native in North America, culminating in 4 years of Div II soccer from '97-2000. That being said, I was/am more naturally a runner than anything else. I have the most background there. I know how hard I can go for how long, etc, etc.

This whole biking and swimming thing is new to me as of two years ago. The biking part I get: 1) Find a good bike that fits (done, see last post) 2) Get your butt on it and ride, often (still working up to that one!).

Swimming, though, I discovered is so incredibly technical. I was a lifeguard through high school and college. I thought could swim because I was awesome at "Shark" in the deep end! Wrong!!!! Once I started doing actual distance with a clock watching me, I realized how far I had to go. The last three months I've been working more on my swim technique and pushing myself to go harder and faster in the water. It must be working because today I had some crazy times compared to January. Either that, or my watch is slow today!

1/12/2009
150 100 50
2:18 1:34 0:41
2:24 1:37 0:41
2:25 1:37 0:42
2:28 1:36 0:44
2:28 1:37 0:44
2:24 1:36 0:42

4/6/2009
150 100 50
2:14 1:27 0:41
2:15 1:30 0:42
2:16 1:30 0:44
2:19 1:30 0:44
2:18 1:30 0:43
2:16 1:29 0:42

8 seconds off of the 150s and 7 seconds off of the 100s. That's crazy progress in a sport where progress is measured in tenths of seconds. I'm definitely excited to see the jump in speed. Now I need to learn to maintain it over 1500m and more. Now to get the bike speed up too!!

New Bike!

Just picked up my new bike build from Go Tri Sports in Greenville today. It is a new-old-stock Guru Trilite frameset that I picked up on eBay. That means it was a frameset that was in a store that never sold, so they let it go for a steal! I took the components off my old frame and let the Go Tri Sports guys put the pieces back together.

On a side note...I drove to Greenville because I was looking for a bike store that treats you like a person and acts like you're the reason their doors are open and not like you are bothering them. I won't go any further by pointing fingers, but I had to drive 30 minutes to get that. Great bike/tri store, so I highly recommend them if you need any gear!

I love the paint scheme and look of the new frame. It is a more aero frame than the older version I was on and the geometry fits me better. Hal helped me get setup with a fitting, but we basically moved the seat up and tilted down slightly and that's it. It fit well from the start. I definitely ready to get on the road with it to see if there's a performance improvement over the old frame. Now I just need a nice set of carbon tubulars to race on and I'll be set!!!!!!!

Little River Bridge 8K Report

Rain, rain, go away...

After rains all day long, the race started about 15 minutes late but the rain cleared soon after and made for good conditions except for a few large puddles that couldn't be avoided on the course.

This is the third year I've run this event and last year was the first race I ever placed in my AG (2nd). I really wanted to go under 32:00 this year. The course is pretty hilly and knowing where the hills are helped me pace and plan very well. The first 1.5mi is basically up a long grade. I held back as best I could and took the first mile in 6:32. By mile 2 the leaders were nearly out of my sight, but I could see two guys that I thought I could bring back. Mile 2 was 6:20. Mile 3 was 6:25 (caught the first guy) and mile 4 was 6:25 (guy two is about 100yds in front). The last mile goes down a long grade and flattens out with the finish by the river. I caught up with the other guy at the start of the flat. I made the mistake of starting my final kick too soon and he ultimately pulled away at the finish. Last mile was 5:58.

I ended up 8th OA and 1st in my AG. I was happy with the speed since I haven't been doing any significant speed work over the winter.