The Springboard

It was a strange feeling running down the finish chute at Rev3 Wisconsin Dells last week.  For one thing, I was in an all-out sprint finish against nothing but air due to the time trial start format of the race.    Also, I was pretty sure I had just qualified for my elite triathlon license; my long term goal of the past 5 years, but I couldn't really know quite yet.  When I came in off the bike, I counted 5 bikes in transition already.  When I got to my rack, I realized that the one next to mine was the bike of an SBR athlete in the race who started behind me.  She should still be out on the bike course, something must've happened.  Then I passed someone right out of transition, which put me in 4th on to the run.  But I had been watching the runners going out as I came back on the bike... there had only been 2 age groupers out ahead of me that I could tell.  Either that or someone was so far out in front that they were blending in with the pros who started 10min ahead of us.  Unlikely.  The other bike must've likely been a DNS or DNF.  The only time I thought I could've missed someone was going around the transition area where the runners wouldn't be immediately on my left as I came back in.  But once I got out onto the run course, I recognized the person directly in front of me (on the out and back section) as the 2nd guy I saw going out.  So I was either in 3rd or 4th, most likely 3rd; however, with the staggered start it was not quite so certain.

It was raining pretty hard, but once I was off the bike I welcomed it.  As long as my bare feet didn't blister in my wet shoes, it was going to help me by keeping the heat down.  I couldn't back off at any point during the run. I had worked too hard over the years to put myself in this position to lose it now.  I saw a couple guys at the turnaround who were chasing hard, and I couldn't let them back into it.    The hilly course didn't suit my strengths as a runner at all... this is usually the type of course that breaks me, but that wasn't going to happen this time.  I felt strong the whole way, adrenaline fueling me through the second 5k when my legs would've loved to back down.  Once I pulled myself back up to a standing position after crossing the finish line, it was just a matter of waiting for the results to roll in.  I needed third, and as time went on, it became more likely that the stagger wasn't going to change things.  A few guys came in not far behind me, but I knew that they started within seconds of me.  Once the results came in it was official, I had finished 3rd overall and had, therefore, accomplished my goal.  I was eligible to apply for an elite triathlon license.

1.5mi into the run and feeling strong

I tell my athletes sometimes that there is probably not such a thing as a perfect race, just racing perfectly.  What I mean by that is being able to respond the right way when things happen or go differently than what you have planned or are expecting.  I am proud of how I did, not because everything went flawlessly (because it didn't) but because I responded the right way and made the decisions that gave me the best chance of a good finish.  One thing that was nice about the Dells course is that it was as much of a "home course" as I could ask for in a qualifier event.  I'm used to traveling across the country to get to these events, as they are the bigger races and the only other events in Wisconsin that count are long course triathlons.  So I got to practice on the course a few times this year which was very helpful on the bike.  Especially when it started raining because I knew ahead of time that there was only one descent that would be affected by the rain in how I approached the turn at the bottom.  My threshold power on the bike this year has increased, and based on my practice rides, I was ready to go around a 1:02-1:03 on this course which would put me in a great position.  However race day came, and for some reason I couldn't find my legs on the first half of the ride.  I must've either tired them out by kicking too hard throughout the swim or I didn't kick enough at the end to get the blood redirected to them.  I don't really remember now.  I've been swimming very well this year overall, but this was a slightly sub-par swim for me, although compared to previous years it was right on with my better swims.

I came out of the water in 8th or so, so when the power I started off at felt much harder than it should have, a part of me got worried.  A similar thing had happened at Lake Mills earlier in the season.  I got excited in the water because of the bad conditions and overdid it in the swim.  When I got on the bike, it was killing me to push what shouldn't have been so hard.  In my head on that day I was thinking that it's a sprint, there isn't any time to spare, I have to keep hammering.  I never let my heart rate get under control and followed that ride with a disappointing 5k run.  This time, I thought to myself, just back off for now, let your heart rate drop and get back in control.  I rode at what felt like my threshold, even though the power meter was showing 20w below it.  I focused on the other aspects of fast cycling while my body was resetting... staying aerodynamic, hitting my corners, descending well.  And at this race, staying on the parts of the road that weren't underwater.  After the first 10 miles I was starting to feel stronger, and at the same effort, my power started climbing back up.  By 20k, I was reeling in the rider that had been sitting the same distance ahead of me for the entire ride up to that point.  I caught him at mile 18 or so and saw that it was Robbie Greco, one of my own athletes who was having a great day!  That was exciting but not the time to chat, so I pushed ahead.  I felt strong from then on and ended up pushing the second 20k at 10w higher than my initial target for the ride.  I know that had I tried to force the effort in the beginning, I would've fallen off the pace eventually and probably would've ended up with the same bike split or worse than I actually got, but the bigger difference is that I would've already been shot when the run started.... getting off the bike, I was only slightly off my target bike pace, but I felt great and ready to run hard, having moved myself from 8th to 4th on the bike leg.  And even though my final power average was 10w below what I had been targeting, it still ended up slightly higher than my best ride of previous seasons.

Happy to be done!

So that's the race.  It'll always be one I remember well, not just because of the end result but because of the conditions and how it went down.  And also because it has been a long time coming in my mind. There have been many ups and downs along the way over the course of the past 5 years.  When I graduated from college in 2008, I had a decision to make.  Was I going to look at grad schools, apply for a full time job or chase a pro card in triathlon?, which at the time was quite a long shot... I had seen some potential, but I was still quite a ways away from that level.  But at the same time, when I looked back at where I had come from with my athletic background, I had made so much progress that there was no reason to think I couldn't continue to improve if I worked hard and dedicated myself to it.  At the same time, I was honest with myself in acknowledging the fact that I wasn't talented enough to earn a pro card while simultaneously going to grad school or working a full time, stressful job.  It was going to be one or the other, because if both were attempted together, both would suffer.  I'd rather do one well.  I decided that I could always go to grad school later in life and that my only shot at professional triathlon would be now.  So I gave myself 2 years to earn an elite license.

5 years later I did it.  In that period I made big improvements at times, stagnated or regressed at others, but overall when each season ended, I felt like I was still moving in the right direction... and couldn't give up just yet.  I also learned a lot in that time.  My initial thought that I would only succeed if I kept from being overtaxed proved 100% true because there were times when I got myself into more than I really could handle with work while still training at a high level.  I never wanted work to suffer because I was responsible to others... with triathlon I was really only responsible to myself and my coach, but I was paying him, not the other way around... so triathlon suffered at times.  Many times I just ran out of time to train, and once I ran myself into the ground so badly that I developed adrenal fatigue... that was in the fall of 2010. I've kept it pretty close to the chest... I expect many people reading this will be surprised by this admission, but it was noticeable and affected my training significantly for quite a while.  It was brought on due to a combination of working way too much between multiple jobs, stressful conditions and a terrible diet due to commuting a lot.  I was just tired all the time and really struggled to train well for that entire season.  One thing I'm good at is peaking at the right time, so my races were still usually ok, but I couldn't keep that up on a daily basis. I would sometimes only have 1 good workout per week.  Since that time it's been a gradual climb back to optimal health, but I can now say that today, at 27, I feel better than I've felt since high school and have more energy in general than at any time since.

Looking back, I'm glad I made the decision that I did to go for it, even when it seemed like a long shot. I'm also thankful for the journey that it took to achieve it.  If I had just had a fantastic season in 2009, earned the license, and moved into the pro ranks then, I wouldn't have half the knowledge about the sport and about myself as an athlete that I do now.  Having gone through the trials to get here, I am better equipped to actually succeed as an elite triathlete than I would've been had I made the jump without the journey.  But more important than that, I'm more prepared to go about it in a way that isn't just about me.  Professional athletics can easily be a pretty selfish thing, especially in a sport, such as triathlon, where it is up to the individual athlete to market themselves to sponsors, etc.  In his book I'm Here to Win, Macca says something to the effect of .... wanting to win for yourself will take you so far, but eventually it isn't enough.  To get you through the grueling training, day in and day out, year in and year out, you need to be out there for something more....

So now that I've accomplished my goal, I have another important decision to make.  I've qualified to apply for an elite triathlon license, but do I take it right away?  In many ways this decision is similar to the decision I was faced with in 2008.  At my current fitness level, although I qualified, I would finish in the bottom 5% of almost all pro races.  So it's a bit of a long shot if all you're looking at are the numbers.  When I was working with Blake Becker, we talked about the possibility of getting a pro card.  He didn't want me to think of it as the finish line or final goal.  Instead, he wanted me to think of it as an intermediate goal, a benchmark, or a "springboard" which would open doors and push, motivate, or otherwise allow me to move forward in the sport in ways I hadn't before.  So I will be taking the card in 2014.  The lingering question of whether I could make it is gone, I've always worked best with a deadline, but most importantly I've learned exactly how my body responds to training and what causes it to stagnate.  I know what I need to do and how to do it; all that's left is doing it.  I don't expect to be winning races next year, but I do expect to race at a significantly higher level in 2014 than I have in the past.

Last time on the age group podium

You can stop reading now if you don't like sappy stuff.

Before I sign off and start planning next season, there are a few people to thank.  Ok that's a lie, there are tons of people to thank, but unfortunately I'm probably not going to remember them all.  Every coach I've ever had, my family and all of my friends, training partners and coworkers over the years. Even though I risk forgetting someone, I owe it to those who have helped me get to this point to recognize them for all they have done for me:

My parents of course, for their continual support, whether that means picking me up from swim practice every day before I could drive when it was 0 degrees out, flying to Florida to watch me race (may have been other reasons here as well but still cool), or not letting me know that I was making a mistake for chasing a pro card (even if they may have thought it at times).  My sister Cathy and brother John for being awesome... and John for beating my high school swim times to keep me honest.  My Seattle family for cheering from afar and even traveling to a few races!  My good friends from before I knew what a triathlon was... Derek Powell, Michael Young, Joe Birkett, Ian Sullivan, Nick Miller and Natalie Moser.  My good friends I met through swim team Chris McCormick, Adam Jandl, Kevin Ladell, Andy White and Brian Heinz.  Brent Vidulich, one of my best lifelong friends who convinced me to do my first triathlon, but more than that motivated me as a young swimmer and runner to aim high and showed me what a real work ethic looked like.  Even more importantly, he showed me, by example, that you can be a great athlete and at the same time be a kind, humble person.  For four years in high school we were either running, swimming or playing video games together pretty much every day, and if there's one person who had the biggest influence on me as an athlete, it was Brent, and he will always be missed and remembered fondly.  Also thank you to my swim coaches Nate, Brad, Lance and Troy... and for a week last year Gary Hall at the Race Club.  My running coaches Welhoefer, Hagen--the first to teach me that there's a difference between running fast and racing well--, Beuhl and Hoaglin.  (Why do swim coaches always go by first names and running coaches always go by last names?) My triathlon coaches/mentors Tim Gattenby, Eric Bean, Blake Becker and everyone at SBR...Jessica Laufenberg, Kory Seder, Scott McDermott and Kitty Cole.  Thanks also to my training partners, friends and older officers/leaders who I met through the Wisconsin Triathlon team at UW-Madison for pushing me, motivating me and/or teaching me about the sport.  In rough chronological order...Rachel Penczykowski, Nick Rhoads, Alex Viana, Mike McClean, Kelly Korevec, Jen Lachowiec, Ken Laczkowski, Zeb Breuckman, Aaron Kamnetz--who was with me, and basically kept me alive, through the worst race weekend ever, CNats in Reno '06--, Dan Albright, Emma Kultgen, Hannah Sievers, Spencer Tweed, Ben Pierick, Carl Kaiser, Chase Kettler, Danny Craven, Kory Seder, Antonio Faciola, Jack Dudley, Jess Yurchich, Summer Ohlendorf--who deserves more thanks than a name drop here--, Alex Dean, Andrew Bossler, Will Weggel, Kristin Doster, Sarah Castillo, Michael Lee, Cody Williams, Jim Mott, Ansel Hillmer, Robbie Greco and David Mott.  Thanks to everyone at Endurance House for expecting excellence and teaching me a whole lot about running shoes and other triathlon stuff... Jamie and Tara Osborn, Justin Pernitz, Jason Koneczny, Katie Harris, Adam Gibbs, Paul Eicher, Zach Lammers and everyone else.  Dr Waters, Lawrence and Kish for your expertise.  And lastly to my girlfriend Sharon for all of her support and encouragement this year!

And we rejoice in our trials, knowing that trials produce endurance, and endurance produces character -Romans 5:3

Back in Business

Well, it's been awhile since my last post... there's been a lot going on, both in and out of triathlon since last October when my bike seat dropped on me and ruined a perfectly good race.  Uh oh, that sounds like I'm making excuses, which I hate... but it's relevant because...

I got a new bike!

This was one of the many changes I made in the past half a year.  It has been great so far... the Guru dynamic fitting process was fantastic, the bike itself is fast and comfortable, and no mechanical issues after 5 races!  And not that it matters, but I have to say it looks pretty slick too.

My favorite part of the bike.  Thanks Guru for the sweet custom paint job! I'll post more pics in a few weeks

Besides getting a new bike, there's been a lot going on and many changes during the off season.  As a few of you know I took quite a long off season this past year.  For three months (Dec-Feb) I did next to nothing as far as workouts go.  I probably biked for 30 minutes once a week, but other than that I did nothing.  And I got pretty out of shape.   Some of you won't believe me, but seriously.  I felt pretty lousy.  My FTP on the bike dropped by 25% and when I jumped in the pool with the Wisconsin Tri team in early March for my first swim in months I had to stop after 350 yards (we were doing a 500, and not fast either) to let the whole lane lap me.  And if they hadn't been lapping me I still would've stopped because my heart rate was out of control.  I know it's relative but I haven't felt so out of shape in over 6 years.  I always take an off season but this was extreme.

However, I honestly wasn't worried about it.  It was a good thing for me because it gave me time to focus on other things.  The biggest changes that have affected my season in a positive way this year came out of that time and it might surprise some that the most important positive changes weren't to my training plan or equipment or anything else sport specific for that matter.  I'm entering this season with a slightly different perspective and motivation to train and race.  There was actually a period of time this past winter, and very few people knew this until now, that I was debating with myself if I was going to keep doing triathlon (as a competitive athlete... I will always enjoy swim/bike/run for fun).  I wanted to make sure I was doing it for the right reasons.  And the right reasons for me might not be the same as the right reasons for someone else.  Another big difference is that I have made some more significant dietary changes and am eating much better overall.

Quinoa and chicken parmesan that I cooked between races at the Triple T. Quinoa is my newfound favorite carb base (it's the only grain that has complete proteins as well as far as I know)

I started training in early March but for three weeks I couldn't handle more than one light-moderate workout per day.  My first actual hard week where I felt like I was actually starting to get back in shape was the spring break trip with the Wisconsin Triathlon Team in South Carolina.  I'm not sure if it's sad or awesome, but this was the 9th consecutive spring break trip I've taken with my former team.  Although actually it's my team again this year as I was named their Head Coach for the season, which has been a lot of fun and very successful.  That week was great for me to get back into things since I had nothing but training, sleeping and eating to do.  And it was good timing because I only had 4 weeks to train once I got back before my first race of the year, Rev3 Knoxville.

Don't ask why, but this was the highlight of the trip for a couple of the guys... speaking of nutrition.

This is what we actually did all week.  Prepping to enter the 55 degree lake in our backyard that I swam in every day that week.  Actually proved to be helpful for the most recent aquathon (see bottom of post)

I arrived at my first race not sure what to expect.  I had found a new energy in the preceding month.  I had been working the swim and bike very hard and seeing big gains but given the short training block to prepare I had kept the run on the back burner and was only running about 10mi/week max.  I have the most talent of the three sports in running (ok it's the only sport I have any natural talent in) so I figured my limited time was best spent on the other two.  When I left for Knoxville it was raining hard.  When I got there it was still raining hard.  It didn't stop until I got back to Madison.  The Knoxville bike course had small rivers running across it and had some pretty technical descents.  Having only had 2 days outdoors on my tri bike, I played it very conservatively on the downhills and braked a lot.  This killed any chance I had of placing near the top, as I probably lost at least 5 minutes slowing myself down but I'm glad I didn't take the risk.  The season was just starting and I wasn't comfortable yet, not to mention the fact that I was shaking uncontrollably in the cold rain on the bike whenever I stopped pedaling.  However apart from that it was a very promising race as far as the rest of the season is concerned.  My swim was strong, my power was high on the bike and my 37min 10k run split was surprisingly fast for the little time I put into it.

I made some improvements to my swim technique since last season, which is why my swims have all been strong so far this year.  In November, just before I took my 3 months off, I travelled down to Islamorada, FL in the keys to the Race Club to be a swimmer for a week.  My coach was Gary Hall Sr:  Olympic gold medalist, elite swim coach and a pretty laid back guy, too.  But when it came time to swim, it was all business and I learned a lot.  In general and about what I was doing specifically.  One thing that he was really great at was complimenting you while at the same time motivating you to do better... or reminding you that you have a lot to work on.  Kind of like backhanded compliments except with no negative intent.  For example, he has all his swimmers do a pretty intense stretching series every day, and while we were doing this one shoulder stretch he said to me "You have extremely flexible shoulders... I usually see that in 10 year olds, not 27 year olds. You could've been a pretty good swimmer... still could be I guess" or another time it was "That was a good 3 strokes... if we can get you to do that all the time you're going to look like a race club swimmer instead of a wisconsin triathlete"  Anyway I swam ~35,000 yds that week and felt really good in the water by the end of it.  Like I never have before or since.  And then I proceeded to come home and stop training for 3 months.  But I remembered everything we worked on and have been putting it into practice for the last 2 months.  And my swim times are beginning to show the results of the changes so far this season.

Definitely a Wisconsin triathlete...

Here's where we swam... in November

And here's the view from my window

Around the time of Knoxville it dawned on me that the Triple T was in just a couple weeks.  I had been so focused on Knoxville that I had pretty much forgotten about it (it's like forgetting about an Ironman) and certainly hadn't been preparing for it.  I'd been doing high workout frequency, but no single workouts had been over 2 hours and most hadn't been over 90min.  So I did one 4hr ride that next week, called that my endurance training, and drove down to southeastern ohio for a weekend of mental and physical exhaustion.  And fun! 

I wanted to get some speed work in, so I took the super sprint as hard as I could.  I made a few mistakes, like apparently forgetting how to take my wetsuit off quickly, but I ended up beating my time from last year and finished in 10th, the first time I had broken into the top 10 at any of the triple T races (This year was my 3rd, and probably last, time doing this event and my first as a solo).  The second race, the morning olympic distance, started well and I had a surprisingly fast swim and bike considering the relatively low effort I was putting out, but then somehow my body didn't remember how to run.  I couldn't push myself; I was just wiped out.  I was hoping it was dehydration or low salts because then at least I could fix it by the afternoon race.  If I was going to run like that all weekend it was going to be rough... luckily it must've been just that because I came back in the afternoon like I was back from the dead.  I had a great second oly (minus the swim... how are you supposed to swim after a hard bike with cramping calf muscles??) and finished 8th solo senior. I think.. the results page online is kind of screwy and it keeps getting changed.  I had pushed that third race quite hard on the bike (40k watt PR) because it was the least technical course and I wanted to have one great ride that weekend.  I pushed the run hard because I was upset at myself for the morning's performance, so between the two I probably went a little too hard with the half Ironman on the horizon Sunday morning.

The half, or the "race that matters" as coach Kory Seder would say, was next.  On the swim the strategy was simple.  Swim straight and give it whatever's left.  I had a great swim and came out of the water as the lead pros were just getting on the bike.  That's new.  On the bike my legs were feeling tired but seemed to be able to maintain a reasonable effort, so I kept the power up on the climbs and flats but was a little cautious on the fast, twisting, blind-cornered downhills.  It was a two loop course though so I made some mental notes of which hills I could actually bomb safely on lap 2.  I finished lap one in an unexpectedly quick split.  I didn't need to go that fast on the bike so I decided I would let my power drop to save it for the run.  The interesting thing is that even though my lap 2 power dropped by 20w my split time ended up being the same as lap 1 because there were 4 descents I could take more confidently.  It really showed me how much time I was losing by tapping the brakes.  I can sort of ride these technical courses well once I know the course and can practice them.  When I got to the run I was glad I lowered my power on the second lap... my legs were dead enough as it was.  It was a real struggle trying to finish off the 27 mile run weekend when I hadn't done anything close to a 27 mile week all season.  But even though the uphills seemed to never end, I could lean forward and spin my legs down the hills and that gave me enough recovery to get through it half decently.  My overall time in the half was a very surprising 5:03 which is fantastic for me on that course.  That got me 5th or 6th solo senior and 10th overall solo senior (they really make me feel old with their senior division, haha)

Ice baths in the river after each race.  Recovery is the name of the game at Triple T.

From here I'll be racing a lot of the local sprints and olympic triathlons for the next couple months, and hopefully continuing to break new ground.  Everything feels like it's clicking now and each week I feel stronger and smoother.  Even this past Thursday, although it's a small race, I hit a personal milestone by finishing first overall at a Madison aquathon series race (1k swim/5k run) for the first time in the coldest water I've ever competed in (49-54 depending on who you asked).

See you on the race course!

Two steps forward, one step backward

The time since Ironman has been very busy and uncertain but also exciting.  In the midst of preparing for the Miami 70.3 this past weekend, the last couple months have been a gradual process of making some fairly major choices and changes in my life in general, some of which are still ongoing.  The most relevant to triathlon is my job change which was just made official last week.  I'm going to start working for SBR Coaching, a local triathlon coaching company starting next week.  I'm really excited about this opportunity and feel honored for the offer.  On one hand I'm going to miss Endurance House.  I enjoyed my time there and I think they have a great thing going.  However all things considered I believe this move is going to be a good thing for me and create a better situation in many respects.  For one thing, I am excited to be able to take on additional coaching clients in the future and help pass on what I've learned from study and experience to help others reach their sport and fitness goals.

My new job!

It's been a busy time but I have been determined since Rev3 to stay on top of sleep, getting my workouts in and eating well.  My diet continues to improve, and I can feel when I slip up for a few days which helps to stay on track.  A few workouts had to get scrapped in favor of sleep (can't get anything out of your training if you're over tired) but all in all I am happy with my preparation for my most recent race.  The most important thing was that I arrived in Miami on Thursday well rested and ready to go.

Getting on the plane I wasn't sure if we would get all the way to Miami or if we'd have to land early because of Hurricane Sandy which was in the general area.  It turned out to be totally fine, although Friday was a little rough down there.  That was the worst day for the storm, and packet pickup was cancelled that day.  I didn't want to get blown over on my bike or sick outside so apart from a rather large trip to the grocery store, I stayed in my hotel all day doing things like relaxing, eating, relaxing, building my bike, relaxing, reading the bible in the hotel room, relaxing and sleeping.

Big storm, luckily we didn't get hit too badly

Saturday was a little more eventful and I got out for a short test ride on the bike.  Everything was in working order except for my Powertap which was not getting a reading on the joule.  The racing wheel hub most recently worked at Ironman, but I'm wondering if maybe it needed a new battery.  I discovered this pretty late at night so there was no time to fix that, but it's ok.  I've been training with power all year so I have a pretty good feel now for efforts.  Not ideal but something I can roll with.

Race morning came and just a little bit of wind remained from the storm but nothing more than what we regularly experience riding in the Madison area in the fall.  It was going to be a headwind on the way out, tailwind on the way back.  I felt fortunate that the storm had passed just in time.  With weather conditions seemingly worsening on a yearly basis and more triathlons being threatened with swim cancellations all the time, I wanted to make sure that I enjoyed and made the most out of this day.

The swim started and I was out in the top group of 4 in my age group wave.  I felt good sitting in the group and as we approached the first buoy, 200m in we ran into the back end of the previous wave that left 4 minutes earlier.  Our group split up to weave through and wasn't able to come back together so the rest of the way I was on my own.  Now I don't blame any other swimmers and certainly don't feel ill will towards them but I do wish that Ironman would put an elite amateur wave in their 70.3 events.  It would make the event both safer and more competitively enjoyable.  I did an ok job sighting but there was a current in the bay so at times I found myself a little off course.  There was also a time coming back into shore when I saw a gigantic barge being towed into shore, ~300m away from us going parallel with the swimmers.  It was at least 100m long and uncomfortably close to us.  I didn't realize there was a canal going into the city that it was aiming for so I stopped a couple times to make sure that it wasn't going to turn into us and kill us all.  My swim time of 28:15 didn't quite reflect my fitness, but I probably only lost about a minute or so, so not a deal breaker.

After an average swim I hopped on the bike and had the ride of my life, at least at this distance.  Starting in wave 14 there were literally over a thousand people ahead of me on the course.  Combine that with a pancake flat, fairly narrow course and it was a recipe for large packs to form on the bike.  This was a ride where you had to be on alert the whole time.  The way out of the city was pretty turny, and with so many people everywhere it was impossible to really push hard or corner fast.  At one point I had to slow to ~5mph to navigate a small lake that was forming in the road due to an open fire hydrant.  The water fully submerged my 65mm rims.  I just took the race as it came, made sure I didn't hit anyone and got through it the best I could.  Once we got onto the main road, a 20 mile straight shot to the turnaround, things got interesting.  I had picked up a couple cheaters who latched on just inches behind my back wheel.  Another guy had passed me and was sitting about 6-7 bike lengths up and was beginning to pick up tails as well.  I got frustrated and went to pass, but when I did he pulled up behind my group and before I knew it I looked back and I was pulling a train of about 20 riders.  About half were in my age group (we were split into two waves, I was in the second) but there were also plenty of 40+ guys and even a few girls.  Normally I don't see women blatantly cheating like that.  Every time I got ahead, the group would catch and pass me.  I had to basically coast for 30 seconds to allow people to go by until I was on the back end of the train, hanging 4-5 bike lengths back.  I was the only one allowing any space at all.  I could still feel a bit of a draft but I was within the rules.  As it got too easy on the back I'd pass the entire group only to be caught again once I was facing the full headwind and they were trading pulls like an organized paceline in front.  This went on for a very frustrating 10 miles.  I was clearly one of the strongest riders in the group but not strong enough to pull away from all 20 of them on my own.

It's cool if it's the ITU and you signed up for a draft legal race.  Not cool if it isn't.

At that point I decided I had to do something about it.  I didn't want to do anything that would compromise my race, but at the same time if we hit the turnaround with this group intact, there would be no way to split it with the tailwind and I was looking at coming off the bike with 10 other guys in my age group.  Since I was aiming for top 3 overall amateur, this was not an option I could allow.  I started by making my way to the front and accelerating the pace of the group.  Not fast enough to pull off the front, but I wanted to make everyone work a little bit harder so that the strongest riders would naturally end up in the front, or in other words I wanted the 4-5 strongest riders to be the 4-5 guys immediately behind me.  I pulled at this accelerated tempo for 5-10minutes to let things settle out behind me.  Once I thought the group was comfortable at this pace, I started to slow down ever so gradually.  My goal was to frustrate the strong riders right behind me and tempt them to try to drop me.  This worked, and gradually, one by one, someone would ride around me and get about 5-6 bike lengths up the road.  I let the leaders get further and further ahead, very gradually, until there were 4 guys about 10 bike lengths ahead of me working together.  I looked behind and everyone else seemed comfortable sitting in behind me, so it was time to make the move.  I turned on the small amount of fast twitch muscles that I have,  dropped the group and within seconds I was sitting ~4 bike lengths behind the faster riders with a big gap behind me.  The main group tried to bridge up but couldn't and fell apart in their efforts.  Two of the faster guys up by me couldn't maintain the pace for long and I hit the turnaround with one other guy (the original one who passed me at about mile 5).

As I turned around I could see the remains of the large pack, which was now about 3-4 smaller groups which made me happy.  The field had thinned out drastically by then so I could now put my head down and really just ride my race without worrying about everything else going on.  With the tailwind I was flying.  I was likely going about 30mph for 20 straight miles.  Things were going great until mile 50 when we crossed train tracks that were covered with a mat.  I hit a jarring bump and something wasn't right.  I had a moment of deja vu and realized that my saddle nose had dropped, just like the last time I was in Miami.  I rode the last 6 miles sliding off the front of my seat, which was over stretching everything in back and cramping up everything in front of the hips.  With 2 miles to go I went through the water section again, which was now much smaller, however I hit a concealed pothole or something that I couldn't see which dropped the seat more and also this is likely where I flatted my rear tire.  I didn't recognize the flat tire at the time because all I could notice was the seat position which was so messed up.  The last 2 miles were pretty slow and very painful but I came off the bike last April and had a good run, maybe I could do it again.

This is not a fun way to ride, even for short times

My bike split was 2:20, or 24mph average, which is a 56mile PR by a good 2 minutes.  I was aiming for a ~2:18 and think I would've been right there if not for the mechanicals in the last stretch.  I am psyched about my ride, especially considering the circumstances.  There were certainly times when I was riding a little faster than I would've been totally on my own, but there were also times I was going much slower than I would've on an open course so I think things evened out.  I also came off the bike as the 15th overall amateur which I'm happy about considering how many were drafting out on the bike course.  However it turned out that even though I was able to run well enough off a 40k earlier in the year with this seat problem, after the longer ride I just wasn't able to overcome it.  The first couple miles were ok.  They felt slow and tight, but apparently I was running mid 6's.  Then at around mile 4 everything in the hips started to cramp.  I suffered though it for awhile but was running 8s and the pain was getting worse and worse.  I knew that my goal run time of 1:25 and/or pro card was now unattainable but there was still a chance if I could get rid of this that I could at least PR.  When I turned around I seemed to come around and started running in the 6s again.  I was getting excited that I might be able to break 4:20 for the first time but it was not meant to be.  The cramps came back stronger than ever at about mile 7-8.  Once a PR was impossible, I decided to throw in the towel.  I could feel things pulling in weird ways so to avoid injuring myself for nothing I walked the next 15-20 minutes or so.  I jogged the last mile just because I didn't want to walk across the finish line.  Final time was 4:38, with a 1:45 run split.

It was a humbling experience but I'm not upset about it.  I know I did everything I could control and raced smart.  I made a big step forward on the bike, however now that the season is over I will need to address this saddle issue.  I haven't had any problems with it at all since April.  I tightened it down as hard as I could before the race, too.  However because my bike is slightly too long for me I've had to slide the seat very far forward on the rails which puts my weight in front of the pivot point.  It wouldn't be a problem if the seat was further back and my weight was directly over the seatpost.  I either need a different attachment system or a different bike.  But right now I'm most excited about the off season and taking some time to relax, if only for a short time.

Re-ignited

As every triathlete around the area is already well aware, yesterday was Ironman Wisconsin.  This is an unusual post, as this race report isn't one for me, as I was watching the race from the sidelines.  No, this is about 3 other athletes and their journey towards this day.  I am honored to have coached these 3 athletes over the past 3months-3years and even though I personally much prefer racing the Olympic distance over the long stuff, yesterday's full day of spectating and coaching brought just as much of a thrill for me as any down to the wire sprint finish or perfectly executed race I've been in myself.

The three athletes I helped to prepare for this race are Summer Ohlendorf, Zach Lammers and Jami Klagos, listed here in the order I began working with them.  In this post I want to summarize and highlight each of their races, as well as give some insight into what each of them had to go through to get to this point and what different strategies were used for each one of them and why.

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I've worked with Summer for the past 3 years.  This Ironman was her 2nd, as she did one 2 years ago in 2010.  That year was her second year as a triathlete, which meant second year as a cyclist/runner also as she had been a swimmer for a long time before that.  That year she finished in 11:58.  To many that would sound like a great time, but she felt that she underachieved, so she basically has had a chip on her shoulder for the past 2 years.  I agreed that she had the ability to go faster, but that's no guarantee it would happen and this race isn't purely about fitness, it is just as much about race execution.

We figured that with two years of almost year round training, dropping somewhere in the neighborhood of 20-30 min would be pretty doable just with the increased fitness she would have.  But that wasn't good enough, she was determined to cut a full hour off her time.  As a grad student studying for a phD, she just doesn't have the time to train like a pro athlete and drastically increase fitness in relatively short periods.  The fitness would be sure to build gradually but in order to accomplish her goal it was going to take more than that.  When she toed the line yesterday she was not only a fitter athlete, but a smarter, wiser athlete with a better plan.  

That plan was executed to a T on race day.  I don't understand how it happened, but her swim was the exact same as in 2010, a 1:00:55.  We were expecting a 58-59 but some chop and wind on the back stretch and going a bit off course derailed that.  However, this time she was instructed not to look at her time coming out of the water, since the difference between a good and bad swim didn't really matter for her. It was only going to be a 3-4 min swing at the most.  The only thing the swim could do was affect her mentally for the rest of the day, and it was key to put the swim behind her no matter what.  Because the key to the bike ride was pacing and putting out very even power on the hilly course.  This is something that is hard enough to do, but is made even harder if you are worried that you have time to make up after a slow swim.  Training and racing with power and understanding how that effects not only your ride but also your run has been a huge part of Summer's preparation.  Lots of practice keeping the wattage consistent over varying terrain helped her to nail it on race day.  I won't say what her wattage was :) but I will say that her average power was the same for the last 56 miles as it was for the first 56.  When she told me in a surprised way, "I still feel good" at mile 90 of the bike, I knew it was going to be a good day.  2 years ago she could barely acknowledge my presence at that point.

Summer killing it on the bike

The thing about triathlon in general, but especially Ironman is that while having a good plan is important, what really makes the difference is being able to adapt, and to make the right decisions at key points in the day.  Something will inevitably go differently from what you planned, no matter how meticulous you are ahead of time.  How you react is what will determine the outcome of your day.  One of the biggest problems with Summer's Ironman 2010 race was nutritional, which caused her to walk a fair amount of the marathon.  One example of reacting to the situation was that during the run this year, her primary fuel source was Coke for much of the run (easy to digest sugars when blood to the stomach is lowest) and salt tablets for electrolytes.  She was using more salt than expected and ran out with a ~10k to go, so made the decision to make the switch over to sports drink towards the end.  Blindly sticking to the Coke plan would likely have resulted in the last 3-4 miles run at a considerably slower pace.  In the end she hit all her goals.  Although her swim was the same, she had faster transitions, her bike went from 6:10 to 5:49, she felt much better starting the run and dropped her run from 4:37 to a 3:53.  Her final time was one hour and 6 minutes faster for a 10:52.  I'm pretty sure that chip is gone. 

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Zach was the youngest competitor in the race.  So they don't get sued out of their minds, WTC requires everyone who does the Ironman to be at least 18 so they can sign for themselves.  I've worked with Zach (literally, I mean we are employed at the same store, Endurance House) for a few years, and I started working with him as a coach last season.  Since he's been in high school, I'd work with him over the summer, then if he was in cross country or swim season we'd take a triathlon break.  With Zach's training, a theme that seemed to come up again and again was injury management.  Coming off of a cross country season there was a stress fracture, early in this season we had a long running race to train for and after the race there was another stress injury.  As we built the run volume up again he was hit with a knee injury this time.  After the initial stress fracture in cross country we looked at the shoes he was wearing and his running mechanics.  This was around the time he started at Endurance House too, which was nice to have the equipment to look into this.  There were some things to clean up with the mechanics, and he did a great job of making those changes.  His form was better and he was running better without pain, but when you want to run an ultra marathon and you get a late start due to an earlier injury, you have to ramp mileage up faster than would be ideal to get through the race.  We played it as conservatively as we could and he got to the finish line but was back to resting it afterwards.  Not a full stress fracture, but another setback on the run.

Luckily he was very proactive and thinks outside the box.  We brainstormed different ways to approach  figuring out what was going on.  After seeing massage therapists and chiropractors the consensus was that there were some significant muscle imbalances going on.  Work was done to balance it out, and although it didn't become pain free until the end of this July to start running again, it has been better ever since.  Because of all of this the longest run in Zach's Ironman build was only 13 miles.  This is not usual but the primary goal was to get to the starting line injury free and rested.

The nice thing about triathlon is when you have an injury in one sport, you're not reduced to sitting on the couch thinking about how screwed your season is.  There are two other sports to train and while his run was resting we were hammering the swim and bike.  Particularly the bike.  Zach had a good amount of time to train once school got out for the summer and is very motivated.  He'll consistently get up at 5am to get his long workouts in if he has to be at work later.  We made huge fitness gains on the bike, and it showed as his races improved significantly throughout the season.  The gains on the bike translated well to the run.  I wasn't actually too worried about his running ability because that is his primary background.

Race day came and he was calm, ready and had a good plan.  I always try to steer first time Ironman participants away from getting caught up in race times.  Until you've done it, you really have no idea how your body will react and what you are capable of.  I had ideas of course, based on training, but if you're wrong and overestimate your ability you will pay dearly in this race.  Best to play it conservatively.  Zach's strong and steady approach paid off and he blew away all expectations.  I was thinking in my head 10:30 on a good day, 10:50 on an average day, and who knows on a bad day if his knee gave out (although I didn't tell him this).  He told everyone he would be happy with an 11hr time at the banquet when they called him on stage as the youngest competitor.  He ended up going a 10:13.  Even the announcer said something about it at the finish line.  His lack of run volume showed in the second half of the run when his form started falling apart, but his mental toughness and overall high fitness level kept him going.  Most importantly of all, he is feeling no pain after the race, which based on past experience likely means the injury problem is solved.  An Ironman marathon would have surely set it off earlier in the year.

Zach at the finish line

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Jami contacted me at the end of May.  I had never met her before, and she was referred by my friend Jess who works for Jami's dad.  I think Jami's dad was looking for a coach so she would stop asking him what to do, haha.  I met up with Jami to talk about potentially coaching her at the beginning of June.  I knew she was signed up for the Ironman, and it would be her first one and that's about all I knew.  One of my first questions was what kind of experience did she have in the sport.  The answer was a little surprising... "I'm doing my first one this Sunday".  Under most circumstances if someone came to me 3 months before an Ironman and had never even done a triathlon of any distance before I don't think I could take them on.  It's just not enough time to put together a good training plan for a race of this distance and I don't like to do things half-assed if at all possible.  I know that every situation is different though, so I was interested to hear what her background was.  While not a competitive runner, she had trained for and run a marathon last year and had been on a swim team when she was younger but it had been years.  Normally I don't consider running a marathon to be a prerequisite for doing the Ironman but in this case it was a huge plus.  Her swimming experience at least meant that we could start right away with building fitness rather than swimming lessons.  She was an athlete in non endurance sports, so she came in with some good strength.  She had been putting in pretty consistent training, although without a clear direction and no where near enough volume.  But what really swayed me was her clear excitement about the whole thing and willingness to work hard. Well, maybe this could work...

The summer was a crash course in triathlon, both in terms of training and education.  She got her sprint out of the way right away which gave us benchmarks.  An olympic distance race the following week gave a good opportunity to put the lessons learned from race #1 to the test.  Gaining as much race experience as possible was key, so she raced a half Ironman in July and another olympic in August.  Total training volume couldn't get too high at any point in the season as she didn't have the base for it and there was nothing we could do about that.  Instead we focused on weekly key long workouts on the weekend that progressed throughout the summer with very focused, intensity-based training during the week to help improve strength and O2 capacity.  These workouts were for fitness but also for learning what it would feel like during the Ironman.  There were a few rough ones but overall things progressed very well.

Jami with her dad on one of the hills

As such a rookie triathlete we were not focused on race times.  Jami's only goal as far as that was concerned was to not have to worry about making the 17hr cutoff.  At first I was concerned she would have to worry about it, but after her half Ironman in July I knew things were going in a good direction and that wouldn't be a concern unless something very bad happened on race day.  She ended up finishing in 13:09, no where near the cutoff and actually fast enough to finish 5th of 17 in the 18-24 age group.  

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I totally didn't expect all 3 of them to finish in the top 5 of their age groups and get called up at the awards, although I think it's pretty awesome that it played out that way.  This is a testament to each of their individual work ethics and attention to detail.  These are two of the most important qualities I like to see in athletes and it always makes a coach look better when they get to work with those types of athletes.

I started coaching awhile ago and have always enjoyed it.  At first it was easy, I had no other commitments and could put my full attention to it.  I love working with driven athletes, those wanting to work towards a goal and willing to put in the work to do it.  However, motivation and enthusiasm can fade when you start dealing with time strains, other commitments, politics of sport, athletes who don't want to be there and other stresses.  I've continued coaching in smaller capacities over the past year or two so that I could give those I do work with the attention they deserve.  My love of coaching has slowly started to return, and after spending the day darting around the course following my athletes at Ironman, I feel like I have sparked a renewed passion for it.  I got a message after the race that said "That was the best day of my life".  I won't say which one sent it but it's that kind of thing that really makes it all worth it.  What this all means for the future, I'm not sure yet but I know that I want to make coaching a larger part of my life again. 

Rev3

I've heard good things about Rev3 over the past year as they've been growing more and more.  When I heard they were adding a race in the Dells, I jumped at it as there aren't that many bigger races close to home.  Talking to some friends earlier in the year who have done Rev3 races they told me to prepare for a tougher course.  As a Rev3 official mentioned, they don't go out of there way to make the courses hard, but they don't purposely avoid hills either.

Racing close to home allowed me to ride the course a couple times this summer.  That was an advantage, especially with a course like this.  I got to work on the technical sections and prepare for the hills.  When race day came and it was only in the mid-60s, I got to experience a much easier course than the one I remember training on when it was in the mid-90's.

The race started in a time trial format, which is good and bad.  Good because it reduces swim congestion, although generally if there is an elite amateur wave that solves that problem for me.  Bad because when you're on the course you don't necessarily know if you're ahead or behind the people around you.  I started near the back so I could be confident that anyone around me was actually behind me as the day went on.

My swim was just not that good.  It wasn't the worst swim I've ever had; I did swim my lines well but I just didn't have energy in the water.  The barely wetsuit legal temp probably didn't help but I didn't feel quite like myself in the water.  Probably had to do with my recent swim training, or lack thereof, so I'm not surprised.  Luckily this race turned out not to attract many swimmers outside the pro field, so I exited in a good spot.

On the bike I started to feel better.  I was having trouble pairing my powertap computer to the hub in the morning so I wasn't getting a reading on watts, so the bike was all based on feel this weekend.  After all my training and racing with the powertap this year, I actually think I did a good job with pacing and holding back where I need to.  This was verified with my good run off the bike.  The roads were uncharacteristically smooth for this area of Wisconsin, and I felt strong the whole way.  It wasn't easy, and I feel like I wasn't putting out quite the same power that I did at High Cliff earlier in the year, but I rode steady and started the run in a good spot after a killer T2.

Early in the run I was caught by a group of 3 and stuck with them for almost the first 5k.  At that point I wasn't able to keep the pace anymore.  I had to let them go, but hung onto the hope that they would fade.  They didn't, but I ended up having a very good run nonetheless.  Not an easy run; I was suffering the entire way but I was able keep the turnover high which led to a 1:26 on a very hilly course.  The uncharacteristically slow swim times overall were made up for with the disproportionately large number of very fast runners at the race.  I finished as the 9th overall amateur, with 5-10 coming in the span of just a few minutes.  As of writing this on Thursday following the race, I'm finally walking normally without extreme soreness in my legs.  The relentless hills definitely beat me up.

Overall I am very happy with the way I raced, given my preparation.  What I need to do better is my preparation.  I feel, and showed, that my training going into High Cliff/Pleasant Prairie was much better than it has been for the past month.  Things slacked off for a variety of reasons, but I just need to do a better job of staying on the horse no matter what else is going on around me.  Rev3 was the last race I was signed up for this year, so the last few days I've been looking around at races and deciding how I want my season to wrap up.  I've decided to head down to Miami at the end of October for the 70.3 race.  That gives me a little over 2 months to refocus and sharpen back up. I still have my huge base fitness from earlier in the year so this should be doable.  I'm getting to know that area very well by now, and the course should suit me very well.

Unpleasant Prairie

Have you ever had one of those races that goes by without flaw for the first 95%, only to go completely to hell?  That's the kind of day it was at Pleasant Prairie this morning.

Had some great things happen this morning:
-First time leading the race out of the water
-First time with a 25.0+ mph average on the bike in a triathlon
-Personal best "10k" run off the bike

But I'm getting ahead of myself here

My coach Blake and I decided to try something different this year and block races back to back, so a week after the High Cliff Half I was back out there racing an olympic distance.  Back in January he told me if I was really fit by this time I could pull off two great races but the key would be recovering between.  This proved to be spot on.  Truthfully I felt terrible after high cliff.  I hardly did anything until Wednesday of this week training wise, just active recovery for 30min at a time.  That was the plan though, so I wasn't too worried, I just felt so fatigued when I was out there.  I started coming around Thursday but my first jog of the week didn't go well, so I didn't run again until race day.  I was tired constantly and took naps W/R/F when I didn't work and that helped.  I was also constantly hungry all week (more than usual).  I just tried to listen to my body and give it what it was telling me I needed.  This weekend I finally felt pretty good.

This swim course was unique in that there was a turn buoy just 10meters into the race.  Yes, that's right 10 meters into the race meaning you have all the 29 and unders running in from the beach  and they are all aiming for a small space.  Getting out to and around this buoy was going to be critical.  I decided to go for it, started front and center, and at the gun sprinted as hard as I possibly could into the water, dove forward, used my pool swimming background to get a good breakout and took a good 4 strokes without a breath and I was at the buoy at my first sight.  I was first there and as I used my corkscrew turn to get around it quickly I saw that just at my feet were 5 guys already running into each other, some going vertical behind them.  I easily opened up a gap of a couple body lengths coming off that buoy in the glass smooth water, took a few easy strokes to recover from my sprint, then settled into my pace.  I sighted really well and held my lines today, except for some small issues sighting into the sun on the way back in but it wasn't too costly at all.

One guy managed to pull up to my feet in the second half of the swim and coming out of the water he passed me as I took off my wetsuit.  Without a wetsuit on my legs, I quickly overtook him again by the time we got to our bikes and he still had to take his wetsuit off.  I got onto the bike first and started going.  T1 was flawless.

On the bike I had my watt numbers I wanted to stay near for the first lap, and did it very well. I also hit my turns well and held speed through them.  I've been working more on that since triple t exposed that weakness.  Just after the turn around for lap 2 I was passed by Chris Meewes but he didn't get too far ahead of me.  I kept him in sight until the final mile and came off the bike about 1:20 down, but well clear of the rest of the field.  The most important part was that I felt good coming off the bike.  The course was short due to construction on the original course causing a change, but my time of 52min for 21.7mi gave me a 25mph average which would normally put me just under an hour on a true 40k, something I haven't done before.

T2 was great and I was off running.  I felt good, and after about 800m we got onto the long highway stretch and I could see Chris off in the distance.  After about a mile I decided that it looked like I was getting closer.  Once we hit the turn around he saw me and it seemed like he started going faster, or maybe it was just my imagination.  I was making slow progress towards him at this point and it was hard to tell if I was making progress at all, but one thing I know is that no matter how fast I'm running I do it at 90 footstrikes per minute rate (single leg) +/- 2.  So when he passed a cone I'd count how many times my right foot hit the ground until I got to that cone.  First time was 45.  Then 42, 38, etc.. so I was gaining and eventually I had closed the gap to 5 sec.  This was at about mile 3.5.  So I had put almost 1:20 into him in that time.  I don't race with a watch but he was and afterwards told me he was running ~5:55's which means I was going about 5:35's or slightly faster up to that point.  Yes it was hard but didn't feel like I was drilling myself to just run 5k.

Once I pulled up behind him I eased up a little to sit on him while I recovered a little.  I wanted to make the pass decisive so he wouldn't be too tempted to go with me.  We ran at this just sub 6 pace for about a mile then I felt good enough to go so I ramped it back up and made the pass at 4.5mi.  I knew I didn't have it won yet, but I had just moved back into first, was running fast and felt like I could hold it to the end.  Then I started to feel a twinge in my side and within two minutes it felt like both sides were splitting open.  I tried to lose the cramps, but my pace was slowing to somewhere around a 7min/mi and  in the last mile Chris ran by and ended up taking the win 25 seconds before I crossed the finish line.

Some might say I took it out too hard, and maybe I did.  Or maybe it was residual from High Cliff or maybe a little of both.  Regardless I'm glad I went for it.  I'd rather challenge for the win than take a comfortable 2nd.  At the finish line we were 4min clear of 3rd and another 4min ahead of 4th.  While tough to see the race slip away at the end like that, all in all I had a great race and I can hardly say that 2nd with a $250 payday (I've never been paid for racing yet) is terrible.  Frankly I was pretty pleased with the day and happy to have raced well two weekends in a row, basically my best ever half followed up by my best ever oly.

So why did I say it went to hell?  Because when I looked at the posted results it showed that I ran a 32 min 10k.  I felt fast, but not that fast.  Knowing the bike was short, I asked the race directors how long the run actually was.  "10k exactly, we measured it twice".  Not wanting to call them liars, but in my mind thinking they're wrong, we started going over the course.  That's when I realized that I had totally missed a .6mi out and back section between miles 4 and 5.  I cut the course.

To be fair to the race directors, they had a sign there and had volunteers signed up at that turn who were supposed to be there to direct.  To be fair to me and Chris, the volunteers were late so there was no one there when we went through (second week in a row leading a race has had it's issues with late volunteers) and it was an odd intersection as we were supposed to make a hard u-turn around to the bike path while the sprint athletes took a shallow left.  There were sprinters there and I was likely looking over my right shoulder to see where Chris was so I totally missed the sign and followed the sprinters in.  I could've not said anything and they may have missed it, but I couldn't accept an award knowing I had cut the course so I reported my missed turn, hoping they'd be lenient and add time but I was disqualified from the race, along with Chris and 3rd place who had a run time of 26:45 listed (no idea what happened there but that would've won the Track and Field olympic trials this past week).  I understand that it is by the book the thing to do, it's just unfortunate that even with 5 extra minutes which is more than what it would've taken to run that section we still would've had 1-2.  Oh well.  It is the athlete's responsibility to know the course, and I did on paper, but I had a one track mind at that point.  I don't care too much for not being listed in the results or getting the medal (I know how I did) but the mistake cost me $250, it cost Chris $500.  This would've been my first overall podium at a race offering prize money which is the more frustrating part.  At least I'm not in this for the money though, so it's just more fuel for the fire now.  My run pace ended up being 5:50/mi for 5.6miles, which translates out to a 36:30, which would've been my best off the bike 10k.  If I can not cramp like that in the future I should be well into the mid 35's which would be spectacular.

Next up for me is a focused training phase before my next race in August.  I'll try to get some non race report posts up in that time.  Thanks for reading

*Edit- 8/16 title changed, credit goes to Kayla Moses for the idea

High Cliff Half

Last Saturday I travelled not too far north to the High Cliff Half Ironman triathlon.  If you don't count the Triple T, which I don't, this was my first half since last September down in Branson.  While I did well there, finishing 5th amateur, over the last couple years I've mostly been "dabbling" in halfs while maintaining focus on my olympic distance racing which has been my bread and butter for the last 6 years.  It was harder for me to train for halfs in the past, as my longest rides were pretty much the races themselves.  I put up some good finishes, but my strength was still clearly in the short course.  In 2012, with my new schedule that allows increased training volume and recoverability, I felt ready to tackle the distance with more confidence and show that I can be just as competitive in the long course as the short.  This year I'm doing about an equal number of short and long course races.

The swim is held on Lake Winnebago, which is the largest lake in Wisconsin.  It's also a pretty shallow lake apparently which means it can be easy for the wind to kick up waves.  We got a pretty windy day, so despite looking relatively calm from shore, once we got out there the swim was not easy.  I didn't know what to expect for a time as some years the course is as fast as 17min for the top finisher and other years closer to 30.  I felt like I was out there for awhile, and despite a recent good streak of sighting well and holding my lines, I was all over the place out on the course.  I missed the front pack as I wasn't ready for the sprint that occurred out of the gate, and that group slowly but steadily pulled away from me over the course of the swim.  A few times I had to stop and make sure I was still going the right way since I was being pushed off course by the chop.  I also had some uncomfortable wetsuit issues that needed to be addressed mid-swim, but that's all I'll say about that...

Coming out of the water I took a short break from my race mentality as there was a person getting put onto a stretcher on the beach.  I would've stopped to help but there were plenty of medical personnel attending so I just wanted to stay out of their way.  Once I was around, I started running up to transition.  My swim time of 29:57 was 3-4 min slower than I was expecting but it turned out to be a slow day for everyone.  That's why I don't wear a watch when I race, because no two courses are the same.

After a very quick T1 I was out riding in about 6th overall position.  Early in the ride I passed two of the fast swimmers and then was in no man's land for awhile.  The course was flat, fast but the day was windy so that made it more challenging.  I felt great on my new CycleOps race wheels that were making their debut.  I saw two guys in the distance and after a 5-10mile chase finally caught them.  This was the part of the ride when all the action happened, because as I was about to make the pass, I was overtaken by someone (Dana Reiderer) and then a couple minutes later again (Mike Lavery).  Then it was no man's land again for the second half of the ride.  I was happy to have my powertap on so I didn't get complacent riding alone.  My goal was to ride a steady effort that was challenging but low enough that I wouldn't get off the bike feeling shot.  I missed water at the second aid station because I didn't slow down enough, but decided to press on as I still had enough to make it to the third and final aid station.  Unfortunately, when I got the third station no one was staffing it and the water was underneath the table in boxes.  Frustrated, I kept going, now totally out of fluids with 12 miles to go on the bike.  The temp was picking up and it was probably in the mid 80s.  I made the decision to dial back my power by 20 watts for the last 12 miles so as not to completely dehydrate myself.  It probably cost me a minute or two on the bike but it was the right decision, as I pulled into transition in  a state that could still be salvaged without losing major time on the run.  My bike split was 2:22, which is my fastest half bike, despite backing off and the extra .7miles.  But no bike split matters if you can't run afterwards...

I came into T2 and was out soon after.  I ended up having the fastest combined transition time of the day.  I was told I was about 3 minutes behind third place off the bike. Going out on to the run I felt good, but the spring in my step didn't last long as we hit the large hill going up to the trails that we'd be running on for most of the day.  At the top I remarked to the volunteers that it was much easier to ride up a couple hours ago.  After a couple more minutes my legs got back under me and I started clipping along at what felt like a pretty good pace.  There were lots of twists and turns, and some sections of poor footing, but I enjoyed the trail run.  Not as fast as a road, but different and it's nice to mix it up.  The sections in the prairie were uncomfortably hot but I was wearing a hat that I would dump water on and stick ice inside so it kept me on the right side of the ledge.  Getting into the shade again you could feel your pace quickening without meaning to.  I passed Mike Lavery around mile 4 or so and he tried to go with but was having some cramping issues so I moved into third.

The second lap of the run was more crowded as there were many athletes getting started with lap 1.  My first lap was pretty quick, and the further I got into lap 2 the more I started to feel the fatigue.  I think I could've pushed on at my pace if pressed hard, but it was becoming more obvious all the time that no one was going to challenge my current position.  I was also too far behind second place to make a realistic shot at it, so since I was racing again in a week I decided to limit any muscle damage and ease up on the gas (periodically checking back just to make sure).  The last couple miles were not pain free though, as I had some decent blisters forming on my feet.  I was happy no one was around on the descent into the finish line so I could spare my knees a beating similar to the one they got at Door County two years ago in the dive bomb to the finish to hold off my co-worker.

Descending down to the finish

My run split ended up at 1:31 which was one of the better times on the day.  Maybe it was the trails but only 2 guys ran under 1:30.  One was my friend Paul Eicher, who used an incredible ride and strong finishing sprint to hold off a hard charge by Dana Reiderer for the overall win.  I came in third overall, which is my best finish in an elite amateur field.  I'm very happy with my time of 4:25 on a course which slowed things down for people in a lot of ways.  There is hardly such a thing as a perfect race but I feel I raced smart and it paid off with a good finish.  There are things to improve on and I'll have to perform better in future races with more on the line, but this was a good step in the right direction.

The downside of the day came after the race when I heard the news that the participant who was pulled from the water had passed away.  At the time I was hearing drowning, but it has since been discovered that it was a heart attack.  I don't know any more details than that and don't want to presume anything, but I want to send my condolences to the family and friends of Doug Witmer.  It's a terrible thing when something like this happens in this or any sport that is meant to be a fun, positive experience for the participants.  Speaking as both an athlete and race director, please be safe out there everyone.