Pigman Olympic: Positivity

Many people have mentioned to me the very optimistic personalities that they've experienced whenever they've met triathletes.  They've seemed confused at how a group of athletes can be so happy and grateful when their sport causes them to do such ludicrous events.  I always tell them the same thing: There is so much that can go wrong during the race that you HAVE to be positive to not let the setbacks bring you down. You can get punched in the swim, pop a flat on the bike, have muscle cramps all over on the run that you can't move, and this could be all in one day.  No matter what happens though you have to keep moving forward and a bad attitude isn't going to help the matters.  I've never had the perfect race; something has always gone wrong and I accept the challenge to overcome and keep moving forward.   The Pigman Olympic race this weekend was a reminder of why I love the sport I do.

After my sub-optimal performances on the bike and run last week I spoke with Alex Libin, the fastest triathlete I know personally, about what I can do to fix it. We rearranged my taper week workouts and I went into the weekend almost forgetting I had a race due to how much more I trained than the week leading into Bluff Creek.  My friend, Amanda Jacobsen, allowed me to stay at her house the night before the race which cut my morning drive in half and let me sleep in until 5:00am again.

Early morning caravans are a common thing for my races.

I got a great spot in transition and went out for my warm-up jog.  The legs felt great and my pick-ups really had me moving good.  Coming back in I saw that Peder Skoog, the winner of last weeks race, was set up right next to me in transition.  We talked for a little bit and then I took my bike out for a warm-up as well.  Legs were feeling good and I was able to talk to my teammates Brad, Allison, and Leah before the race but never saw Matt. I found out that I wouldn't have a cheering section at all during the race as I made my way down to the swim start.  It was then that the day started going great; Allison's dad, whom I've never met, cheered for me as I walked out of transition and I realized that there was going to be a lot of people at this race who knew me and the community of spectators was going to be my cheering section.

Making my way down to the swim start I talked with Peder as we plotted out some strategy. We stood in a group of three with a guy that I talked to at my first race I ever did back in 2009.  Back then, I buddied up with him at the swim start because I was race #324 and he was #325 and for some reason I thought that was really cool.  At one point during our talk he looked over at me and said, "You've come a really long ways in five years." This statement rocked my world. I still don't know this guys name, a lot like other racers I usually race, but you remember the faces and apparently mine has become a face to remember at races in years past. I lined up about 10th or so in line at the start and hopped in without too much of a warm-up.

Creeped a picture of the Olympic racer who was racing.  She got 20th at the London 2012 race and beat EVERYBODY on the swim.

The swim went pretty smooth compared to years past.  I passed the guy who started right before me pretty quickly and I was able to sight fairly well as I worked my way directly into the sun.  My pace was solid and it gave me time to reflect on the progress that I made this year on the swim.  Nobody was catching me and I was making up ground on the guys ahead.  As we rounded the first turn one swimmer past me and I planned my draft.  I got a good elbow right to the eye and sat on his quick feet for about 50 yards before I decided to keep my pace and not red line the whole swim.  The rest of the swim I continued my progress of passing swimmers and feeling very comfortable. I finished with the 17th fastest swim with 23:59, over a minute faster on the same course last year.

Coming out of the water I jumped up and started taking off my wetsuit.  I made a good transition with the 7th fastest of anybody in the race and made my jog up to the mount line.  As I exited transition I jumped past Spencer Holten, the current leader of my age group, and made a great flying mount to get going on the bike.

Last week my legs were shot the whole bike.  I gave the best effort I could but it just didn't have the juice I needed.  As I got onto the main part of the park one of the two riders I passed out of transition came right past me.  Not ready to try to chase him, I sat right behind him a few bike lengths and paced off him.  Within the first mile I realized he jumped the gun too soon so I passed him as we made our way up the hill out of the park for the second mile.  As I turned out of the park a mile later he was out of sight.

Getting out into the open I cruised down the hill and started trying to find my pace.  First I was driving at 30 mph so I shifted down a gear.  Next I was hitting it at 27 mph so I had to back off again; then I saw 26 mph so I dropped again until I found myself comfortable right between 24-25 mph.  We had 24.8 miles of it to go so there wasn't any need to try to crush mile 3 of the whole race.  At this point I was sitting in about 11th place in the men's race and there was a gap between myself and the next rider.  For the next three miles I kept a good pace and began reeling in the guys in front just like I always do.

As we turned onto the second main road I got caught in some rough patches.  Soon I had nowhere to go but to try and jump across the tough terrain to smoother road.  As I jumped across my bottle bounced around and then shot out the front of the cage right onto the road!  I had 18 miles to go and all of my nutrition just went crashing to the ground!  I had to slam on my brakes and stop my bike, walk over to the bottle, put it back on my bike, and finally clip back in and go uphill from a standing start.  Luckily, I had made a good gap on the other riders that nobody  was near me while I pulled over but I knew my frustration was going through the roof.  My pace was going great, I was right behind the chase group, and I was going to set a PR on the bike course. 

As I got back going I had to talk myself down from taking the hill hard.  I new my frustration wanted me to just kill it but I knew there needed to be patience right now. When I hit the summit I saw that the riders had gotten a gap again but not too much.  I used the next mile to close the gap and then pass the four riders who had made a group as we turned onto the last main road.

I approached the turn around in 6th place and my legs were feeling great.  As we began working back I felt perfectly fine pumping out some power and I started to see if I could bridge the gap on the leaders and get them within striking distance.  They had a really big gap at the turn so it was going to be an effort.  As my teammates rode by the other way I made sure to cheer for all of them.  I wasn't able to get anybody on the 2nd half of the bike but my pace was still doing great as I approached transition.  My bike spit was a 1:02:40 which STILL was a bike split PR for me after having to stop.  This was the 5th fastest bike of anybody for the day and my time improved by 1:00 from last year.

Coming through transition I had to focus myself.  I wanted to go because I had some time to make up on the run.  My legs felt great through the bike so I was excited to see what happened on the run.  As I got moving I heard somebody on the side yell, "Murphy what kind of a pace is that?! You call that running?" I looked at the guy in confusion and took off running towards the course with the 13th fastest T2.

Run time! My run has been disappointing this year compared to the potential I know I can do.  My legs have felt like tar and just haven't had the kick I knew I needed.  Making my way onto the run there was a great spectator group alongside the road cheering me on.  When I hit the half mile mark a guy came running beside me which I couldn't believe.  I was having a great run and here comes a guy passing me?! I let him go, knowing my limits and keeping my pace.  I hadn't had a good run yet this year so I wanted to see what I could do here.  Remembering the course from last year I shouted ahead to the guy about the hill we were going to face. 

As we passed mile one I saw Dwayne come in on the bike cheering for me which gave me a motor for the next mile out of the park.  There I spotted the next runner who I passed going down the hill, moving back to 6th place.  My legs were feeling great and I knew this was a good day to run.  As I neared the turn around I saw Peder and gave him a shout of encouragement along with a high five to keep him moving.  I got turned around and started thinking about the last two miles; there was going to need to be a push to bridge the gap up into a top 5 spot as the other runners were still holding a good pace.

When I approached the hill at mile four I was feeling good.  I saw 5th place ahead of me working up the hill and I could tell he wasn't enjoying it.  My mantra for the hill was, "The aid station isn't the crest." because in years past I've pushed hard to the aid station and then felt gassed trying to get up the remainder of the hill.  I kept my pace contained and worked up the hill the whole way.  I spotted 5th place looking back and I knew he saw me.  Coming over the top I saw Michael Ritter who cheered for me as I kept a strong pace closing on the runner.

There was a little over a mile left and about 10 seconds separated me from a top 5 spot.  Dwane came out on the run and told me to hammer down.  As we came past the mile 5 marker I moved into 5th place with ease.  One look ahead and I saw 4th place about 300 yards ahead.  My legs have felt all day, can I give a charge for the next spot? I decided to give it a go and took off with a mile left.  My pace dropped and my breathing got heavy.  One last hill and hopefully the runner will fade.  I reached the top right as he was rounding the next corner; he still had a good gap.  Not wanting to back off I kept working hard and really pushed for the last mile.  I saw Steve Davis, the guy who yelled about my pace earlier, who again harassed my pace for being "too slow".  I took the last turn and finished the race in strong fashion.  My run time of 37:39 was the 2nd fastest of the day, even beating the pro who won the race. The time was 30 seconds faster than my time last year and only 15 seconds slower than my run PR on a much flatter course.

Allison and I after the race.  Sadly, I couldn't get my bike, Allison, in the picture with us.

I never caught the 4th place racer on the course.  The race started in a time trial format though so it turns out that he started much earlier than I did and my final kick allowed me to beat him by 10 seconds.  My final push moved me up to a 4th place finish in the race!  My final time of 2:07:04 is a new PR for me along with a 3:00 improvement from my time last year!

My time listed as the 4th fastest male. Mainly, this picture was taken to show off my run being faster than the professional triathlete.

My effort overall was great.  I found my paces and settled into them.  I finally found my kick at the end of the run. The spectators were great and I had a lot of friends who I was able to talk with and enjoy the day with.  There was a positive feeling throughout everybody after the race.  I even felt good enough to eat the food!  Three plates of foot to be exact, mainly because I couldn't leave the race site for a while.

M20-24 awards. Sadly I wasn't awarded a 4th place overall award but given 1st place in my age group instead.

Bluff Creek Round 5

Bluff Creek Triathlon has been a race I've looked forward to for a few years now.  I know the course and it always seems to be a battle of the elements.  Cold weather and windy days are always expected on the course.  This was to be my 2nd year racing the Olympic distance and I was the fastest returning racer.  I was excited to see what I could do on the course with the improvements I've made over the year.
I had some difficulty with registration before the race started.  Apparently, my name wasn't on the start list a few days out even though my check had been cashed.  I had to do some explaining at the packet pick-up and they cleared me up to go.

I was actually surprised at how late I got to sleep in on race day.  I basically woke up at my regular time of 5:00am and got ready to go.  It was a little chilly getting to the park.  My bike pump had a little difficulty pumping up my tire so I had to borrow somebody else's pump.  I got to transition and got one of the best spots in transition.  Warm-ups went smooth on the bike and run so I was excited to see what I could do.  My warm-up for the swim was to swim across to the beach.  I've never done this before but always wanted to so I felt pretty cool when I got to the beach.

77.8 degree water? Very questionable temperature.......

My wave was all the Olympic males.  I lined up next to Peder Skoog, the guy who I knew was going to be in contention for the win. When the gun went off we ran into the water for quite a ways.  Most of the racers weren't expecting to run in so far so somehow, within 25 yards of the race, I was in the lead!  I got excited and dove into a pile of algae.  For a little bit I struggled swimming through it all so I quickly jumped behind Peder as he cleared us a path.  Shortly after this, he was gone.

You can see me leading the race! This lasted only a little bit.

As we made our way on the swim there was about three of us battling for 2nd position swimming side by side.  I had no intentions of keeping the fight up so I instead took a quick break and hopped on the other swimmers feet.  The pace was controllable and I soon realized I was in the lead pack!  I was sitting in 4th place on the swim.  I did an amazing job of drafting for the first half of the swim until we made the turn at the furthest buoy.  When we hit the buoy, another swimmer came by and my pacer hopped on his feet which meant go time.  For the next 300-400 meters I was swimming pretty hard trying to stay on the feet.  As we made the final turn with about 200-300 meters to go I was in a world of hurt.  I wanted out of the water more than anything.  Luckily, I kept it together and came out of the water still on some feet as the 5th guy out of the water.  This is the first time I've ever been so close to the front out of the water!

Best swim position ever!

Running to transition was miserable.  I wanted to sit, I wanted to quit, I wanted everything but to get on the bike.  I knew my plan was to rip the bike and the run but right now I didn't want anything to happen.  I got through transition but dropped my bottle and had to grab it on the way out.  I got on the bike and got my shoes on pretty smooth.

Making my way out of the park I could see two riders up ahead.  I passed one pretty quick but the other guy was on a mission on the bike.  He pushed it hard and I was still recovering from the swim.  I wanted food and my legs were aching.  This turned out to be the story for a lot of the bike.  For some reason the gear I needed wasn't there.  I was struggling with hills and couldn't push the pace I knew I needed.  When we hit Twister Hill (because you know it's a bad hill when it has a name) I was happy to get some momentum.  Heading down I was zipping around cracks to not make the 40+ mph speed any more worrisome.  As I got to the climb I finally saw 3rd place up ahead.  Climbing got difficult as I got to the bottom gear and worked going uphill at 8mph; not as fun as the other way down.

As we approached the halfway point I was demoralized.  My bike effort was struggling.  Not having any riders to chase made the ride seem a lot tougher and slower.  I spotted Peder up in front and then the next two riders were still within striking distance.  I made the turn and the bottle feed station had waters with a screw top bottle.  Luckily my handling is good enough that I could ride hands free and open the bottle.  I quickly caught 3rd place and kept working forward.  On the way back tied my top speed of 48.5mph down Twister Hill and realized I had a good gap on 4th the rest of the way.

Coming into transition I was ready to run.  One of the volunteers called out, "You're eight minutes back!"  This is exactly what I didn't want to hear. How was I going to make up that time on the run? I knew if I just held it together on the run I would easily claim 3rd place.

As I made my way out on the run course I was not feeling hot.  My mom was alongside the road and yelled some encouragement while my dad asked where my visor was.  I haven't worn that for two years dad! T.J. Tollakson was also there and I recognized him right away.  He said, "You're running a lot faster than he is." which was EXACTLY what I needed to hear.  My legs got strong and my attitude changed: it was time to chase them down.

As I made my way out on the course I saw Peder had a huge lead.  Within 1.5 miles I caught sight of 2nd place and sure enough I was gaining.  When we hit the 2.5 mile mark he struggled up the hill and I made the pass.  We came back to the turn for the second loop and I knew I had it all locked in as long as nothing bad happened. 

My bodily expression pretty much sums up how I was feeling during the whole race: not good.

I kept a strong pace until mile 4 where I decided to start emptying the tank.  As I approached mile 5 something bad happened: my body started to get cold.  On a hot day I knew this meant I was bonking, my body was running out of calories and starting to shut down.  I had a mile left and I had to keep it together. My mind was focused on running the course and keep moving because I had enough of a gap I could easily take it no problem.  Doing the run course 4 times before makes it a little easier as well.

Holding everything together for the last few steps.

I came across the line and just fell down.  A volunteer came over me and I asked for water which she pointed out was 50 yards away at the food station.  I refused to get up so they sent somebody to go get it for me. Slowly, I got back on my feet and welcomed the other racers as they came in.

Didn't make it far from the finish line.

Here is a video of me finishing.  Three things to note: My mom correcting them where I'm from, the lyrics "if I just lay here" playing as I lay down, and my reaction when the volunteer points to where I have to go to get the water.

After the race I talked with a few other top finishers and we discussed the race.  Apparently I had come out of the water only two minutes behind Peder who beat me out of the water by five minutes last year.  This was a major accomplishment along with coming out of the water in the top 10.  The run and the bike were a little on the slow side as I just felt my gears were not there.  I have a week to prepare and figure out the problems there as I'll be racing back to back weeks!

Support team who comes to cheer me on no matter where I go!

My Blog!

So I felt this was something I had to do.  A lot of my friends use an online blog to keep updated with their racing so I felt I could give it a go.  There are a lot of people who always are asking how my season is going and I felt this might be helpful to keep people in the loop.

A little background about my sports experience: growing up my brothers and I were really big into basketball.  During middle school we traveled all around the area going to basketball camps and played on various teams.  I lacked the aggressiveness for the sport and didn't want to put in the time to get much better.  Instead, I was more interested in picking the game apart and evaluating situations.  During high school I tried football and basketball but that was it.  I didn't do track because it was assumed I would and I didn't want to be what everyone expected me to be.

Freshman year of college I took a lap swimming class and got a bike to commute between classes.  Basically, things have escalated from there.