Race Report: Galveston 70.3

As part of my Ironman Texas build, I raced the Galveston 70.3.  I did this race back in 2012 and decided to return this year to see if I could improve on my time, and I thought it would be good prep for IMTX.  With Galveston being so close to IMTX, I wasn't able to do a real taper but I did give myself a few easy days and my legs felt pretty good on race day despite less rest than I'm accustomed to for half ironmans.

Swim - 32:59

I have a habit of dunking my goggles in the water prior to swimming.  I didn't even think about it, but Galveston is a salt water swim.  The water isn't very salty, but it was salty enough to put a thin layer of salt on my goggles.  I didn't realize this until I put my goggles on right before jumping into the water for my wave start and realized I could barely see.  I had a sliver of clear lens near the top and the rest was cloudy.

The gun went off and I did my best to hold a straight line, but it was tough.  Looking up, I could barely see the buoys.  Fortunately, I don't think I went off course too bad.  I know I was out by the paddle boards at one point so I did drift a bit, but I don't think it cost me too much time.  

It was a stupid mistake, and it definitely made the swim a bit of an adventure, but other than that it was a typical swim.  I feel like I'm capable of better, and have concluded that I'm simply not swimming hard enough on race day.  I think I fear wasting too much energy on the swim so I get conservative, but if I'm going to swim the times I want to swim I need to take a few chances and push the pace a bit more....not swim stupid, but push it more than I have been.  Something to work on.

Bike - 2:19:14 (24.1 mph)

There's not a lot to say about the bike.  Despite focusing on my run all winter, my threshold is right up there at an all time high so I felt like I could go a tad conservative on the bike and still manage a competitive bike split so that was the plan.  Other than a few sketchy moments working through traffic due to being one of the last waves, the bike was pretty uneventful.  I held steady at about 230 watts and felt much more comfortable staying in the aerobars the whole time uninterrupted than I did in 2012 (I did a ride on the trainer a few weeks prior of 3 hours straight without getting out of the aerobars once). 

Run - 1:38:05 (7:29 pace)

I really wanted to have a good run, and by good run I mean sub 1:32.  Ideally, sub 1:30.  That's my ultimate goal, one I've been chasing for a few years now, but I didn't feel quite ready to hit that goal in Galveston so I was hoping to come close.

I started out right about a 7 minute pace and felt good.  My legs were a little heavy and tired from the bike, but nothing too bad.  I held this pace pretty steady until about the 4-5 mile mark when I took a gel and a little Red Bull.  Not long after, I got a terrible sideache that forced me to do a little walking almost every mile to get it to ease up.  I didn't really drink or eat much after this, and my pace dropped and I struggled to the finish.  On a positive note, my "struggling" pace has improved, but I'm pretty frustrated with my run.  I've never gotten a sideache like that before so I need to figure out what caused that and how to prevent it.  It happened not long after the Red Bull and gel, and if I had to blame one of those it would be the Red Bull although I don't think this was nutrition related.  

As for the race itself, I liked Galveston in 2012 and wanted to come back and I liked 2/3 of the race this time.  The swim and bike were good, but they changed the run course this year and I thought it was pretty bad.  There was one out and back section that was so crowded the only way to pass was to run right down the middle and run into everyone going in each direction. The weather was perfect and Moody Gardens is a great race venue, but that run course needs work. 

 Despite not having the run I wanted, Galveston was a big step in the right direction.  Last year, I struggled at every race and set some of my slowest times ever.  This was a good time for me and I finished in 7th in my AG and I can finally say that I wasn't affected at all  by my back injury.  


A few lessons learned:

- I don't perform as well as I want/expect at early season half ironmans.  I either need to stop doing them, learn to better prepare for them, or adjust my expections.

- I need to push the pace more on the swim and take a few more risks in the swim.

- I went to a less aggressive position on the bike this year, by quite a bit actually, and my power/speed were in line with other races so I don't think it's costing me time. My power is actually better so I think I can push more watts in the future and still run well.  I'm much more comfortable now and I think that's ultimately going to help my run.

- I finish way too many half and full ironmans in the med tent and I need to figure out how to end that streak.  Once again, after Galveston I was in the med tent with really low blood pressure.  *sigh* 


Just a few more weeks of training before Ironman Texas.  Even though I was hoping for a better run in Galveston, this race was good for confidence.  My running legs were there, but I couldn't execute.  The challenge now is figuring out that piece of the puzzle, but I feel like if I can do that the fitness is there.

Race Report: Janesville Triathlon

Yesterday was the Janesville Triathlon, my first triathlon of the year.  It's a sprint tri with a 1/2 mile swim in a river, 14 mile bike with some rolling hills, and a 3.1 mile run (it was longer but I'm not sure on the exact distance) with a pretty good hill about a mile into the run.  Being a river swim, there's a time trial start so we hop in one at a time rather than the usual wave start sending about 50 triathletes at a time.  

I was really nervous going into this race for a couple of reasons.  It was my first tri of the year, and only my second multisport race of the year so that had me worked up.  But mainly I was nervous because I didn't know how my leg would hold up.  Lately, my knee has been doing really well but my hip flexor has been giving me a lot of problems and that's what I thought would act up.  

Pre-race, I made a mistake.  I gave up caffeine last October, but I still use it occasionally for key workouts.  So I had a Red Bull about an hour before the race.  I've used Red Bull before time trials and tempo rides without problems, but for some reason it gave me big problems yesterday.

The Swim.

The swim takes place in the Rock River.  I wanted to get in line early and get toward the front (top 10 was the goal) but the line formed so fast I ended up about 30 deep.  They sent people every 3 seconds so I didn't have to wait too long after the start.

 

The swim start.

There's not a whole lot to say about the swim.  There's a current so you get a push, but it was nothing like last year so swim times were slower than last year.  I tried to keep pushing myself and swimming hard.  That's easier for me with the wave starts since I have people around me to chase the whole time.  There are people in the river, but I felt alone quite a bit more so it wasn't the same.  Plus I love the feeling of head to head racing you get starting in a mass start.  But it is what it is and it's the same for everyone.  My time was 9:31, which might have been an improvement over last year.  I'm not sure since everyone's time was slower (last year I swam an 8:45).  

 

The Bike:

 

 

Running out of T1.

Normally the bike is my strength.  It's where I make up my time (make up for my swim).  I love it.  But yesterday I struggled, and struggled big.  I ended up 40 watts lower than I should have been, and it was my worst triathlon bike leg ever by more than 25 watts.  I don't know what the deal was exactly, but I'm pretty sure the Red Bull was to blame.  I started easy, about 30 watts below my goal to get warmed up and then I was going to hammer hard figuring my run would be weak so I would need an especially strong bike to finish well overall.  But a few minutes into the ride my heart rate was so high I could barely breathe and my vision was a little blurry.  I tried to push through it and relax, but I couldn't.  I had to take a break and get my heart rate down.  So I sat up and, of course, did that right in front of a friend's house who was out taking pictures....

 

Trying to catch my breath and get my heart rate under control.

After resting, I tried to hammer again and the same thing happened, so I was forced to take a second break.  After that I rode tempo for a while.  My average power was below half ironman power so I was pretty frustrated (I was averaging 234 watts at this point - two weeks ago I did a tempo ride where I averaged 250 watts for 2.5 hours so it was killing me to see a number so low).  I hadn't passed a single person and for the first time in a multisport event I was seriously struggling on the bike.  About 8 miles in I started feeling a little better so I stepped things up a bit.  I began to reel in a few riders.  About the 10 mile mark, I started to feel pretty good so I increased my power a little more.  I caught and passed a couple of riders, including my teammate Robbie.

 

I'm third in line...feeling good here and about to pass these two.

We had a tailwind on the way back in so I was finally feeling good and pushing my power and I was now spinning out and running out of gears.  I was in my 50-11 spinning at more than 100 rpms.  I'm kind of a slower cadence guy (85ish for a race like this) so my legs were burning from spinning so fast.  But it felt good to have my heart rate back in check and to see some decent power numbers on my computer.  In the end, I only managed to average 242 watts (I was mid 270s last year so this was a big disappointment for me).  Coming into T2 I was really surprised to see the leader heading out on the run.  I was in second place, but being a time trial start I figured there were faster guys who started after me and that I was actually well out of the top 5.

My time was 36:35, two minutes slower than last year.

The Run:

This was the unknown for me.  I've been running for two and a half weeks now so my run fitness isn't very high so I anticipated struggling.  I was okay with that.  My only hope was that my hip flexor would hold up so I could push as hard as I could and not have to deal with pain and injury.  Early into the run you run right through the middle of the farmer's market and that's a blast.  Everyone is cheering and it really makes this event fun.  After the farmer's market is a long, tough climb and I was really suffering.  I was surprised no one had passed me at this point, and I began to wonder if I was going to crack the top 15 overall.  My run felt slow and my legs felt heavy.  But my hip flexor didn't hurt and my knee felt rock solid.

I checked back a few times and eventually saw my teammate Robbie closing in.  When Robbie caught me, I told him the leader wasn't that far up the road and that he needs to dig deep and run hard.  I thought Robbie had a real shot at the overall.  Robbie passed me and I decided to try to stay on his heels as long as possible and push him, help him make up some time on the leader by forcing him to dig deep.  I figured he'd eventually pull a big gap on me, but I wasn't going to give it him.  I was going to make him work hard.

The pace was fast and I was immediately uncomfortable.  But I settled in a bit just as Robbie put in a surge to lose me.  I closed the gap and kept telling myself to stay on his heels.  He surged again....then again...and again...I kept hanging on and actually began to feel more comfortable than I was early in the run.  I moved up side by side with him and we ran back past the transition area, past all the spectators, side by side.  Teammates battling head to head.  It was awesome, and will probably remain a favorite triathlon memory of mine for a long time.

 

Me and Robbie, just after I put in a surge toward the finish line.

The crowd was cheering and we had about a quarter of a mile to go.  I had hung with Robbie long enough that there was no way I was going to give this one to him.  I thought he had a lot more in him, and since he's fresh out of high school where he ran cross country I began to wonder what his strategy was.  He was holding the pace steady and I was wondering how hard he can kick at the end.  The run finishes by running around the park so we were on a curve circling around back toward transition.  I took the inside line close to the grass and tried to keep Robbie on my right forcing him to run a longer line. When the finish line was finally in sight I expected Robbie to go.  He didn't....so I did.  I thought it might be too early, but I had to know if he had anything left.  I put in a hard surge, looked back and saw a gap.  So I dug deep and pushed hard all the way through the finish for second overall and first in my age group.

 

Crossing the finish line.

 

 

 

I got interviewed for taking second overall.

My time on the run was 21:12, which surprisingly was one second faster than the winner who outran me by about two minutes last year.  I have no idea what my pace was because they changed the course a bit so it's longer than a 5K and I don't know the exact distance.  I wish I knew so I could compare my pace to last year, but I guess it doesn't matter.

Overall, I had a lot of fun and I'm happy with my performance with one exception:  the bike. I was two minutes slower than last year and my bike fitness is higher this year so had I been able to put in a better effort I may have had a shot at the overall (I finished 39 seconds behind the winner).  It's frustrating.  But I got a race under my belt this year and didn't have any issues with my leg.  I had some low points, but I also had some highs by being able to respond to Robbie's attacks and that was a lot of fun.  That's what racing is all about.  That's why I do these sprint tris.  

 

The top 3 overall.

This gives me some confidence going into my final two weeks of training before the Door County Half.  I survived a 5K, but can I survive 13 miles?  The suspense is killing me.  Only two weeks left to find some fitness.

 

 

 

Race Report: Beloit Biathlon (Duathlon)

Saturday was the annual Beloit Biathlon (Duathlon).  This was my first multisport event in 2007 and I haven’t missed the race since.  It’s a short race (2 mile run, 11 mile bike, 2 mile run) and one of my favorites of the year. In my mind, it’s the beginning of the season. 

In 2009 it was my first (and only) overall multisport win.  Last year I was hoping to be a repeat winner, but I got outrun and finished second.  This year, the plan was to reclaim first place, but my torn tendon put a big wrinkle in my plans.  I had a few weeks of limited running followed by a few weeks of no running before getting the go-ahead from my doc to resume running about two weeks prior to this race.  I considered skipping the race, but I did a few runs in the weeks preceding the race and my knee held up pretty well so I decided to go ahead with the race and “test” out my leg.  My biggest problem was actually hip flexor pain, which my doctor has not done an adequate job diagnosing.  I’m not sure if it’s a strain, pull, tear or what it is.  I don’t even know if it’s a muscle or tendon issue, or if it caused my torn tendon in my knee or if it’s a result of the torn tendon. 

The night before the race wasn’t without drama.  I went over my bike to make sure all was good to go and discovered my crank bolt was broken and my crank arm was ready to fall off.  Unfortunately, I discovered this about 9:30 pm so I was up later than I wanted taking the crank off my road bike and putting that on my time trial bike.  But I got it all sorted out and had my bike ready to roll in time to get a decent amount of sleep.

It seems we always have wind to deal with at this race (with the bike being my strength and the course being pretty flat, I welcome the wind) but it hasn't rained since I started doing the event.  Most years have been really nice, just windy.  The sun was shining when I left the house and the forecast was for a chance of storms.  By the time I got registered and had my bike in transition, the skies were turning dark and it looked like we’d be racing in the rain.  A few minutes before I headed out for my warm up, the skies opened up and a steady rain fell.  I put on my rain coat and started my warm up routine.

Part of my routine is to practice a couple of transitions.  Mainly, I practice getting into and out of my shoes while on the bike to make sure I’m fast and comfortable doing that.  Today I was really struggling getting into my shoes while riding.  I had practiced a little the day before and was rock solid, and typically I’m quick and steady doing this so I was having a hard time figuring out why suddenly I could barely get my foot in my shoe.  I start with my left foot each time, and my right arm was shaky and it felt like I was losing my balance as I reached down to slip my foot in my shoe.  A few more tries and I figured out the problem.  My shoes and socks were wet, and as I reached down to put my left foot in my shoe, my right foot was sliding off my shoe, and thus off the bike making me off balance.  So I decided it wasn’t a good day to leave my shoes clipped into my pedals.  I would put them on in transition, but still planned on getting out of them early on the bike since I wasn’t struggling with that in the rain.

Other than that, my warm up was smooth.  I felt good on the bike – comfortable and my legs felt strong.  I did a short run warm up, not enough to really indicate how well I might run so I didn’t really know what to expect.

Run #1

My plan was to be a tad conservative, hoping I wouldn't have to push too hard to stay with the lead group.  I had no idea how my knee or hip would hold up and wasn’t confident in my fitness.  Unfortunately, there were some runners in the group, and overall the run was faster than it has been in previous years.  With the way my running had been going early in the year, I would have run between a 5:50 and 6:00 pace for this run.  But instead I opted for a 6:20 pace.  I’m not sure what pace the leaders ran, but I couldn’t even see them as I headed into transition, and I felt more mid-pack than I wanted.  I was hoping to be just behind the lead group, and then the plan was to hammer the bike and hopefully come off the bike with a big enough lead that no one would have enough time to run me down.  With the leaders out of sight, my work on the bike was going to be tough.

The Bike

I’ve come into second transition with the lead a few years in a row, and really wanted to keep that streak alive.  My confidence in my ability to win the whole thing was quickly fading, but I felt confident I could make up a lot of time on the bike.  I made up a few positions very early in the bike, and then focused on chasing down the leaders.  I kept my head down and out of the wind as much as possible, and dug deep to keep my watts as close to threshold as possible (I always end up a little short of threshold in multisport events).  Around the halfway point, I worked my way into second and could see the leader.  He still had a sizeable lead, but I could see that I was making up ground.  A little past the ¾ mark in the bike, I took over the lead and put my head down and tried to pull as big of a gap as possible.  The bike finished with a headwind which I figured worked to my advantage.  My legs were burning, but I ignored the pain.  I welcomed the pain.  It felt good, and it was my way of venting my frustrations with how my year has been turning out.  I told myself to keep my head down and out of the wind, and continue to pedal the bike in anger and frustration.  At one point I looked back and didn’t see anyone and thought that maybe I was actually going to pull a big enough gap to win this thing. 

If nothing else, my streak of leading the race into T2 was alive and well.  And I had set a new PR for this course breaking 25 minutes and averaging 25.5 mph.  That felt good.

Run #2

As I headed out of transition I heard someone tell me to “go…he’s coming into transition.”  Really?  I thought I had a bigger gap than that.  I ran hard, but was struggling.  I didn't feel comfortable, and quickly realized this was my first brick of the year.  I checked my watch and was running a 6:35 pace.  There was no way that would hold him off.  So I stepped up the effort and checked my pace about a quarter mile later – 6:35.  I kept pushing, but figured it was only a matter of time before he caught me, and I would end up in second for the second year in a row.  Disappointing, but second isn’t bad.  I managed to hold him off for about a mile, which I was happy with.  I still digging deep but couldn't get my pace under 6:35.  I felt comfortable enough to go faster, but my legs didn't have the strength.  Every time I asked for more, they couldn’t respond.  I figured I had second locked up, but opted to check my lead (expecting it to be pretty big since I passed this guy about the halfway point in the bike) and saw third place was closing quickly.  With ½ to ¾ of a mile to go I thought I might be able to dig deep enough to hold him off and salvage second place, but I couldn’t do it.  He closed the gap quickly, made the pass, and pulled away.  So I finished 3^rd overall, first in my age group (the overall winner was in my age group but got pulled out since he got the overall win).

Yes, I’m disappointed in my results.  I won’t lie.  I didn’t go there to lose.  I really felt I could still win despite my lack of run fitness, and I thought winning would be good for my morale since this injury has me feeling down and out these days.    But even though I’m disappointed, I’m still proud of my performance and I had a lot of fun.  Over the years, I’ve gotten to know the race director a little (he had actually consulted me on a few potential course changes this year) and my parents volunteer at this event so it’s a fun day and it’s an event I really want to support year after year.  It’s one of those low-key, really fun spring races that I hope will stick around for many more years (this was the 22^nd running of this race so it already has quite a history).  And it’s the beginning of my season so how can I not go?

Post race my knee and hip flexor stiffened up pretty bad and I found myself limping around.  They loosened up later in the day, and I don’t think I reinjured anything but I do believe I set my recovery back a few days.  Perhaps it wasn’t the wisest decision to do this race, but I feel like all I’ve done this year is sign up for races and not show up (with the exception of time trials).  So now I’m back to focusing on healing so I can get on with training for Kona.  I spent a lot of time this winter writing out my entire training plan, which I’m rewriting right now to account for missed training.  I’ll write an update on that in the next couple of days. 

Sorry for the lack of pics.  I took my camera but forgot to charge the battery.

MN Shows No Love: The Liberty Half Ironman Race Report

At the beginning of May I raced the Chain of Lakes triathlon in Alexandria, MN and the weather was horrible.  Cold and rainy.  This weekend I returned to MN for a half ironman and the weather was more of the same....just not as cold as it was in early May.  I'm starting to wonder if MN is the land of 10,000 lakes because the whole state is flooded.  Based on my experiences with MN weather, MN shows no love.

The forecast called for a chance of thunderstorms and a high of 68.  At the start of the race, the water was warmer than the air so I was kind of looking forward to getting the race started so I could warm up.  I was also hoping the rain would hold off until I could get off the bike.  I hate riding in the rain and getting my bike dirty, mainly because I hate cleaning my bike.  

The Swim:

My goal for the swim was sub 32 minutes.  I was in the 2nd wave and quickly realized I should have started in the elite wave.  Even though I'm not a very strong swimmer, I passed the majority of my wave and lost the draft.  I swam well - or so I thought - and the swim was pretty uneventful so there's not much to say.  The water was clean and very calm.  They had a ton of buoys so sighting was pretty good, although I had a few problems seeing them from time to time (I think that might be due to the tint of my goggles).  My only complaint would be the pontoon boat they had in the middle of the course.  Two times it came pretty close and I could practically taste the gasoline.  

I didn't wear a watch so I had no idea at the time, but I came out of the water in 34:50, well off my goal.  I have to say, swimming is the most unrewarding sport I've ever taken part in.  It doesn't matter what I do, I can't get faster.  Everyone says you need to work on form and join a masters group to get fast.  I did both and last year at the Rockman I swam a 35 minute swim.  This was disappointing to say the least.

T1


After watching the video of me struggling with my shoes at Lake Mills and reading one of my GearGrinder teammates blogs about transitions - http://ericbeachblog.blogspot.com/ - I went out and did some transition practice during the week.  It paid off.  I had the 3rd fastest T1.

The Bike:

The bike was really good.  I stayed pretty steady and never pushed really hard.  I was going to average 240-245 watts, but went out conservative and was happy with my speed and how I was moving through the field so I kept my average at 235.  The course was decent, but had a ton of turns and lots of rollers so it wasn't the fastest course.  For the most part, the roads were good.  A few of them were rough, but nothing too bad.  The bike finished with an out and back to add some mileage, so I had a chance to count riders and see where I was - 10th overall.  By the time I reached T2, I was in 6th overall.  I only had time goals going into the race, but at this point I was really hoping to hang on to a top 10.  I figured I was now well within the elite wave which started 3 minutes before me so a lot of these guys had to pass me and put 3 minutes on me during the run.  

My bike time was 2:25 (23.1 mph), the 5th fastest bike split.




T2:

2nd fastest T2.  Practicing transitions pays off.

The Run:

The run started rough, got better, and then got rough again.  I admit, I knew nothing about this course so when I came out of transition and the course turned left and then left again up a long climb covered in wood chips I was regretting signing up.  I hate trail running.  Luckily, that was the only unpaved section.  The rest of the run was on a really nice bike path around the lake.  But while climbing that first hill, my right quad started cramping a bit and hurt pretty bad.  After the first mile, it loosened up and didn't bother me anymore but I could tell it was going to be sore later.  

I thought the course was going to be flat for some reason, and I was way off.  It was constant rollers.  There weren't really any flat sections.  You were always climbing or descending.  I felt okay for the first half but my pace was much slower than I felt I was trained to run so I was getting frustrated.  I was running a 7:41 pace and losing positions.  Although I was running slower than planned, I felt decent so I decided to hold that pace until the halfway point and finish up with a fairly hard 10K and make up some time.  At the turn around I stepped it up and my pace started dropping, eventually down to a 7:35 average....

.....and then the hills got the best of me.  At the 10 mile mark my legs decided they were going to do the pace setting and the pace they wanted to run was not the same pace I had in mind.  I faded and eventually finished with a 7:45 average - a 1:42 half marathon.  I felt I was trained to run a sub 1:35 half so I'm very disappointed in my run.  I can't say I hit the wall, screwed up my nutrition or even biked too hard (felt great coming off the bike).  I wasn't prepared for the hills on the run.  It's that simple. 

Total time: 4:44:11  17th overall and 5th in my age group.


It's my fault for not knowing the course well enough and training for it.  As the hills beat me into the ground, I realized I haven't been running hills lately.  That's not intentional.  It just happens that the route I run at lunch is flat and I like to do my long runs on the Military Ridge which is very flat.  


Lesson learned. 

Even though the race didn't go as I'd hoped, I'm proud of my results and glad I did the race.  It showed me where I'm at and what I need to work on for the rest of the year.  Even though the weather wasn't ideal (it rained during the run) the event was really well run and the course was great (even though it was tougher than I expected).  I would definitely recommend this race, and I think I might do it again next year.  The course reminded me a lot of the Rockman, but the organization of the event was much better. 


I'll be adding a lot more hills to my run courses, and I'm going to do some tough trail running even though I hate trail running.  I'm also going to do more bricks.  I haven't done as many bricks this year as I did last year and I think I paid the price a bit.  I'm also going to get out in the open water a lot more and see if I can improve my swim time at the Door County Half in a month.  


This week is an easy week with my focus on recovering from this race.  After that, it's all about the ironman.  Three months of hard, focused training.  I feel like I'm behind where I need to be right now, but I don't feel that Kona is completely out of reach so it's time to get serious and see what I'm capable of. 

Race Report: Lake Mills Triathlon

Sunday was the Lake Mills sprint triathlon.  I raced it two years ago and had a blast so I was anxious to get back and race it again.  Last year I did the Rockman Half Ironman so I missed Lake Mills.  This year with the Rockman off the calendar, that opened up this weekend for Lake Mills and I think it worked out great.  I'm tapering for MN and this gave me a chance to race a sprint tri, have some fun, and get in some speed work.  Plus, with being in a taper, I was pretty well rested for the race so I don't have any regrets about going into the race tired or anything like that.

And I got to meet a few members of my new team, which I have been meaning to blog about but haven't gotten around to yet.  I joined GearGrinders this year, and so far I'm really enjoying being a part of the team (more in a future post).

 http://www.gear-grinder.com/  Check them out.  Their coffee is fantastic.

Race Report:

The swim:  I was signed up for the elite wave, which was the first wave.  The swim went pretty well.  My swim time was good for me, but not great.  I'm making progress so I'm really happy about that, but it seems that I continue to find myself in the middle.  I lost most of the lead group early on and had completely lost that group by the halfway point and I more or less pulled the second group for the last half of the swim.  I'm not a very strong swimmer so I get frustrated when I find myself pulling a group.  I need the draft, but it's going to take a little more speed so I don't lose the draft when I have it, which I constantly do. 


Oh well.  It was still a good swim so I'm happy with it.  Here are videos of the start and finish of the swim.  In the finish, you can see me come out of the water right after the lead group.  I'm in the green cap on the right side of the screen.














The bike was really good.  I've had a few bad bike rides lately so I wasn't sure what to expect, but my legs felt strong.  I passed a lot of people very early into the bike, and was pretty surprised I was able to make up ground so quickly.  I could see the lead vehicle for the first quarter of the bike and eventually worked my way into 3rd.  The lead vehicle eventually disappeared, and I was alone for several miles.  Unfortunately, I got passed by two cyclists on the second half of the bike so I dropped back to 5th.  The first cyclist to pass me pulled alongside me, looked up the road and saw no one, looked at me, looked up the road, and then back at me and asked, 'are you in the lead?'  'Sorry, but I can't even see the leaders.'  I think he was pretty disappointed.


Anyway, I came off the bike in 5th so I was really happy with where I was because I was hoping to crack the top 10 for the day.  Lake Mills draws some tough competition so I wasn't sure I could do it, but I felt pretty good about my odds now that I was starting the run in 5th place.

Here's some video of T2.  Three things stand out to me watching this video.  #1 - I need to learn to put shoes on quicker.  #2 - I need to learn to stop ignoring my name because sometimes when a person yells "Go Mike" it's actually for me.  It registered too late that that was Courtney.  I kind of look like a dick in this video running past my girlfriend without a wave or smile or anything.  I need to pay attention.  #3 - Someone needs to tell that dude in black that this is a timed event. 

Anyway, here's T2....







The run was good, but I would've liked to have run a little faster.  I make up time on the bike and inevitably lose a little of it on the run.  I dropped 3 spots, which isn't bad, but unfortunately the guy that finished 10 seconds ahead of me was 1st in my age group.  

I finished 8th overall and 2nd in my age group so I'm really happy with how the race went.  I really want to get faster and be more competitive, but I can't look back at any part of the race and say that I screwed up so I know that I gave it everything I had and that was all I had yesterday.  That's a good feeling.  Even though I want to run closer to the front, it's that desire to get better that keeps me training and keeps the sport fun so it's a good thing (despite my lack of patience).


I'm planning on talking more about GearGrinders in another post, but I should mention that GearGrinders are fast.  Holy smokes.  John, the manager, sends out a weekly newsletter and includes results and I can't get over how many GearGrinders take home overall and age group awards every week.  And Lake Mills was no exception.  Check it out....

Robbie Greco, 29^th OV, 1^st of 8 AG 15-19, 28^th Male, Time: 1:13:43

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Adrienne Amman, 46^th OV, 2^nd of 33 AG 30-34, 3^rd of 227 Females, Time:  1:16:00

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Elizabeth Hartlieb, 49^th OV, 1^st of 26 AG 35-39, 4^th Female, Time: 1:16:16

Two first place age group awards and Adrienne and Elizabeth were the 3rd and 4th place females overall.  The results GearGrinders post are impressive, and it definitely motivates me to keep training hard, and that's part of the reason I joined the team.  I hope I can keep improving and put together some good races and contribute to the team's success.  That's the goal.

Race Report: Beloit Wellness Biathlon

Saturday I raced the Beloit Wellness Biathlon (really a duathlon - 2 mi run, 11 mi bike, 2 mi run).  As I think I explain every year, it's one of my favorite events of the year.  Partly because it's just flat out fun, mostly because it was my first ever multi-sport event 3 years ago.  So this was my fourth time running the event, and it marks the beginning of my fourth year in multi-sports.  I admit, I also like it because it's also my first - and only - multi-sports overall victory - last year.


The day didn't start out as smooth as I'd hoped.  I have a standard warm-up I do for events like this and after I set up transition I set out on my warm-up and my bike wouldn't shift into the big ring.  The course is pretty flat so that's a big problem. 


My friends, the ones that know how to work on bikes, like to give me a hard time because I probably shouldn't be working on my own bike.  I have a compact crank I've been unable to sell on ebay, so I thought I might give it a shot and possibly use it for Ironman.  My concern with a compact crank isn't the hills; I know I'll like it there.  My concern is running out of gears on the flats so I thought running it for a flat race might be a good test to see what I think of it on a fast, flat course.


When I installed it I forgot a couple of important things.  First, I forgot to lower my front derailleur which is why I couldn't get in the big ring.  That was an easy enough fix, and not a big deal really.  The other thing was that I apparently forgot some spacers.  I think I needed to take a few of the spacers from my old crank and use them on the new one.  So my crank was sliding side to side a little the whole day.  There was nothing I could do about at that point since I didn't have those parts with me.  Not ideal, but I figured it would get me through the 11 miles and then I can swallow my pride and beg one of my mechanically inclined friends to fix my bike for me....again.

Lessons learned: #1 don't make bike changes the night before a race.  #2 if you MUST make bike changes the night before a race go for a short ride to test them out.  I should have known better.


Oh well.  Live and learn.


The race started as all duathlons do: fast.  I ran a 6:30 pace on the first run last year so I wanted to go out at a 6:15 pace this year.  I felt like I could have gone faster, but I was concerned about pushing too hard on the first run and blowing up on the second run.  So I checked my pace a little ways into the race - 5:50 - backed off and watched the large majority of the elite wave pass me.  That's not easy to do, but I really wanted to stick to my plan.  I wasn't too concerned (yes, a little concerned) because it was obvious some of them were going out way too hard.  Others weren't really pulling away much.  But there was one guy, Ian Innabary, who was pulling away and looked smooth.  I was concerned about him.  I had no idea if he was a strong cyclist, but he looked fit and I was wondering how much time I can afford to give him.  But not sticking to my plan now could mean giving him a ton of time later on so stuck with my plan.  I finished the first run with an average pace of 6:17 per mile.  I estimate Ian ran about a 5:55 pace.  So when I say I gave him time, I really mean he took it.


The first transition was fast.  I came into T1 in fourth place, right behind second and third.  I passed them in transition and started the bike in 2nd.  I couldn't see Ian and estimated he may have pulled as much as a 40 second gap on me.  It was time to hammer.  He was clearly a better runner, so if I had any chance at winning it was going to happen on the bike.

 T1.

 Heading out on the bike.

I haven't had a lot of confidence in my bike fitness lately, so this was a good spot to be in.  It was going to be a good test.  I never got out of the big ring, so shifting wasn't an issue.  I could feel my crank sliding back and fourth, but other than that the bike was good.  I rode super hard, stayed as aero as I could and started reeling him in.  I felt like I made up ground quickly early on so I thought I might be able to catch him a little past the halfway point, and then I would work on a gap.  I wanted at least 15 seconds, in which case I would run as hard as I could and hope he couldn't match his first run pace and not close the gap.  But I really wanted more of a gap.


He was a stronger cyclist than I gave him credit for, and he was really hard to catch.  I eventually did catch him, but it was very late in the bike.  Then I pulled a gap... a good, solid 2 second gap.  It was going to be a tough run.  Even though I didn't get the lead I wanted, I led the race into T2 for the third year in a row so that was fun.  And I averaged 285 watts - 10 more than last year - and 24.6 mph.  I felt like it was a solid ride and it gives me confidence that my bike fitness is improving this year like I need it to. 

Me and Ian coming into T2.

 Me heading out on the second run.

The start of the second run.  Ian wasn't far behind.

T2 was fast, and I held on to my lead heading out on the second run.  I could hear Ian's footsteps behind me so I had no time to settle into a running rhythm.  I had to hammer, and with each step I could feel my calves threatening to cramp.  Being a long course triathlete, I don't really train at this intensity so my calves were rebelling a bit, but they never did cramp and they eventually calmed down.  About a quarter mile into the run, Ian made a pass and pulled a little gap.  Based on the first run, I expected him to pull a big gap but the gap stayed at 4 seconds for a good part of the second run. My goal was to keep it at 4 seconds, and hope for a sprint finish.  


About a mile into the run I settled into a running rhythm and picked up the pace a bit....so did Ian and his gap began to open.  I kept pushing and gave it everything I had but I couldn't match his run speed.  I finished 14 seconds behind him and averaged a 6:16 pace on the second run, 45 seconds per mile faster than last year.

 My dad, the volunteer, directing me to the finish line.

 The finish.

Even though I didn't win, which I really wanted to do, this race was more satisfying than last year where I pulled a two minute gap on the bike and cruised through the second run.  Ian pushed me to my limits, and I had to dig deep.  First place is fun, but it's more satisfying coming across the finish line and realizing you exceeded your expectations and ran a better race than you thought you were capable of.  

 Getting some post-race goodies from my mom who also volunteered.

All in all, it was a great day. The weather was fantastic and I had a ton of fun.  I finished second overall and won my age group. It's tough to complain about that.  And later in the day I took advantage of the great weather and got out for a nice 50 mile run to New Glarus and back, one of my favorite loops.  


Even though I've already done some racing this year, Beloit marks the beginning of the race season to me so I'm in full on race mode and loving every minute of it.  Next up is the Aquathon this Thursday.  Then the Lake Mills Triathlon followed by the Liberty Half Ironman, my first 'A' race of the year.


I don't know how this race season is going to go, but if Beloit is any indication it's going to be a very fun season.