Colonial Beach International: Steady Push Back to the Front

Eagleman was a little demoralizing and made it difficult to get back into the swing of things. The motivation was gone due to my A race being done. To make things better, the next few races were going to be much shorter than what I have been doing all year. This carried over to a simple race to get the mind back to knowing I'm capable of making good race decisions.

Pre-race Selfie. That is all.

Last year I was able to do Colonial Beach and enjoyed the area. It is a pretty cool little town where the main mode of transportation is golf carts. The town is apparently a golf cart community where they have a golf cart rental store as well as another store that sells customized golf carts. This year, Jessie and I both signed up for races and headed down for an extra day to enjoy the area.

My mindset was to use this race as a test of how my later races will go when I do two races back to back. I went and did a speed workout on the bike the day before followed by a run.  My new watch told me after my run that I should allow 36 hours before I workout that hard again......I was racing in less than 24.

If you look right behind my bike you can see the hotel we stayed at. It was extremely close and easy.

Luckily, we got a hotel literally right next to transition. I got to wake up at 5am and head to transition after 5:30. My spot was set up before 6:00 and I did a few warm-ups to get myself ready for a 6:50am start. As I was waiting in the water the race director mentioned the bike was a two lap course which meant I did not know the course as I was assuming it was the same as last year. I did take a look at the sprint course from the day before and also heard some racers discussing it so that helped me out later.

At this point I want to point out the situation I had heading into the swim.  Currently, the East coast has been having a large amount of shark attacks relative to usual. I am not a fan of the idea of swimming with sharks. The year before, they caught a bull shark in the same area that I am swimming at as well. To make things better, one of my teammates from the day before said she definitely saw something in the water during her race. I was SO excited to be swimming in the morning!

When the gun went off I got pretty easily settled in the group.  There wasn't too much contact as we made our way out to the first buoy and turned for the nice long swim out with the current. The water was smooth and I could see very easily.  Suddenly, after about 300 meters, I looked up and it seemed as though everybody had distanced themselves by at least 25 meters. I had no idea how this happened but kept up my pace and stayed calm. When we made the turn to head back in I started to get bored of swimming and wishing the finish would be coming up. The way back lacked the current so it seemed as though I was going no where. I made my way out of the water with a higher swim time than expected but it seems as though most swim times were a little slower than the average.

Pretty sure I was 'wooing' at this point and having a great time.

I got up on my feet and headed to transition and blasted through that pretty quick. While I was swapping stuff I thought to myself, "You are going pretty smooth, maybe you can get the fastest T1 time of the day?" I was able to pull that off since I usually get slowed down by taking off a wetsuit that didn't happen. I quickly got out on the road for a smooth bike mount and out onto the long bike.

The bike was a two loop bike which added up to 27 miles. There wasn't any hills so it should be pretty smooth riding. I got into a pretty smooth pace and figured I should not try to push the first lap and for once keep myself contained. I got settled into a small group on lap one which slowly broke down to myself and another rider in my age group. He seemed determined to not let me have the lead so I let him do all the pace work and happily sat behind him and kept a simple pace. Lap one went by easy and I noticed how good I was feeling as I saw the other rider start slapping his hamstrings due to them cramping as well as grabbing his side due to aches. I was having a great old time and felt no need to really do too much. We added another rider for about the last seven miles and the two of them had an ego fest as they didn't want the other to lead. As we made the final few miles I actually let them push ahead knowing that I could run them down.

Making my way into transition I was feeling pretty good. My heart rate was still calm and I didn't expend too much energy on the bike. Jessie told me I was 13th off the bike (which later turned out to not be true) so I was really excited for the run. I exited transition and saw about six or seven guys all within about a quarter mile.

The run course is flat but it can wear you down as there isn't much shade and the sun beats down on you in the last few miles. I held back my adrenaline that wanted to push sub 6:00 on the first mile. I slowly started picking off the pack and within a mile I was assuming I was in the top 10. I continued to work up the group until the turn around where I figured I was at this point in sixth. When I saw the runners coming back the other way I was actually in 13th place at this point. I got going the other way and worked my way past a few more guys. The wear of the day before started to settle in as my mind wanted to go but my legs just didn't have another gear anymore. The final few miles were more sluggish than the first as I feared I may get caught but turning back I saw there was nobody behind me. I came across the line feeling pretty happy with my day.

Finishing up the run and looking a little wet.

I finished the day in 13th place due to the wave behind me and 3rd in my age group. My swim was a little slow but both the run and bike were solid especially after the day before. It was nice to be able to have a clean race after the aftermath of my previous race.  For now, I am on my way back to Iowa for the wonderful week of RAGBRAI with Team Shark Week!

The sign says, "Run faster or I'll hug you" which he is lucky I didn't see him because I would have been that guy to hug him.

I won a bag this time!

Eagleman 70.3: A Real Triathlon Race

So Eagleman was supposed to be my big race for the year.  The course was flat and expected to be fast. It was a perfect opportunity to set a new PR. Jessie and I were able to go down about a month before with my co-worker, Chuck, to check everything out. Everything seemed in check as the final preparations were heading out.  The temperatures were high the days leading up to the race so staying inside was a priority as to not get extra fatigued.

Gotta do my pre-race selfie. It is just a thing now.

Race morning was very easy going. I tried to keep the stress down and it seemed to be working. I was very relaxed as I made my race morning checks.  My wave would be the last wave so it was important to focus the extra hour I had before the start.  I was able to check on the swim, watch transition of the pros, and slowly warm up.

Kristine always looks so good on race morning.

I got to the swim a few minutes early which was good because they somehow skipped a wave and I was going one wave early.  The swim to the start line was extremely dirty but the start had about a waist deep start.  I got settled a little back as I didn't want to deal with the starting chaos.  The gun went off and it took a few seconds before I could start swimming.  Looking back I probably should have moved further up and taken the risk of getting physical.

The swim was pretty smooth for me.  Right away I got into a good rhythm and started moving past other waves.  It sounded like others had a difficult swim compared to how I felt it went.  The hot water likely paid something to that as the race was not wetsuit legal.  There wasn't much contact as I made my way around the course.

The first of my mistakes started at the end of the swim.  I started seeing a lot of people walking in the water and got confused.  Apparently the finish was quite shallow and people were able to stand.  I figured I would wait for a while to stand as it is more energy to try to run through the water than to swim.  I made it about halfway through the standing area until I stood up. I hoped this would be shallow enough to get my knees and ankles out of the water but it was not.  This was the point that I should have kept swimming but instead I tried to run through the water.  By the time I exited the water my legs were shot and not in the mood for running or biking.

My transition was quick as I was able to move past a lot of people.  A quick jump onto my bike on the edge of the road and I was out for the big determine factor of the day, the bike.

Such a long run to exit for the bike. You can just BARELY see the bike out on the far other end.

My goal for the bike was to take a risk, push it all along.  This was the second mistake of the day.  I started out strong and wanted to try to keep a steady pace all day. Right away I was making moves and passing everybody on the bike with ease.  The wind was down and I was pushing a strong pace.

My mind was on keeping cool. As I drank I also would pour some water on myself to keep the temperature down.  The aid stations were a little confused about moving when I pointed at them.  Luckily, I didn't have any drops this time.  The stations were well placed that I was able to restock each time.

For the first half of the bike I was right on cue. My splits were perfect as I pushed it but kept it easy.  There were a few times that I wished there was a hill so that I could shift up positions or coast the downhills but there was none of that for this course.

By the halfway point I realized my mistakes were going to be costly.  My legs were getting fatigued and my body was beginning to ache from sitting in aero position all day. I backed off a little bit but still continued to pass everybody. I made my turn to the worst part of the course, Egypt Rd., which is a 7 miles stretch of a rough road that really wears on you.  I kept my head and worked through the segment. As I made my way back to town I was ready to be off the bike. There were times I even considered not doing the run (this probably would have been a better idea).

When I got off bike there was a good crowd at the transition that was cheering that made it a lot easier to keep moving.  I made my way back to my spot in transition and noticed that not a single bike was on my rack.  This meant I was in a really good place in my age group and if I could pull off the run I know I can, things would be good. Running shoes were on and I was off to run.

Right away I was making moves on the run.  Passing people was a typical story again as the waves ahead of me started to fade.  I made my move and was feeling okay for the first mile when I saw my split, 6:45. It was okay but I knew the heat was taking its path so I made no moves to try to push harder. Instead I focused on getting a consistent effort going.  Mile two came by and I knew it was going to be a sluggish day (7:00). There was no shade and it was really just going to be an aid station to aid station run for me.  The nice thing was that I could keep moving through the aid stations and didn't have to walk as the next few miles got slower and slower (7:30ish).

By the time I hit the out and back stretch things were going further south.  The heat was worse than they expected and the mistakes I made earlier were catching up. I no longer saw 7:XX but was above 8 minutes per mile.  The only positive thought I had going was that EVERYBODY was suffering as nobody had passed me and I continued to work further up the crowd.  By mile 5 the aid stations were so crowded that I had to walk through them to get all of the stuff I needed.  Each one went something along the lines up: Water-dump on head, Ice-stuff in top, Coke-drink, Water-drink half and dump half again on head. This system worked well in keeping me moving and still passing others.

At least this leads to a fast exit to the run........Closet rack to the exit.

I found Jessie around the turn around and it sounded like she was having a tough day too.  I gave her peace of mind that it was a bad day for everybody as I shuffled forward and made the turn back to home.  I started realizing how far back I was from my goal time of low 1:20s:XX and thought more about not giving up.

This is where I want to point out the reason I love this sport.  For most races I am a pretty quiet guy on the course; I make my passes and focus on working hard. Selfish would be a good word to describe me as I have one goal in mind and that is for me to go as fast as possible. On days when things go wrong I am able to see everything else that goes on around me when I don't take the time to look. Everybody is out encouraging each other.  If the runner next to you starts to walk, you cheer them on to run with you. You see random strangers running side by side having a conversation to help the miles pass. As I made my way to mile 9 there was a girl that started walking to which I told her to stick with me for the last 1/4 mile to the aid station. She was able to get moving again and stayed with me the whole way. Every time that somebody passes another, there is a moment where they congratulate each other on the work that they are putting in. Nobody has it easy on the tough days and it is always great to see the community of racers pull together to get everyone to the finish. They always talk about the "spirit of triathlon" and it is never more evident than on race days.

With two miles left I got to enjoy that spirit. I was closing on a group of three runners and said, "Alright let's stay together and finish this up." to which one of the runners got by my side and we began running together. We joked about how the decision to sign up for this race was a lot better at the time we actually did (her at 2am and me back in January). With a mile left our pace began to quicken as we fed off each others energy. My watch started showing 7:XX again after seeing 9:XX for the past 5 miles. We began counting down the distance and the number of turns to the final finish. As we made our way to the finish chute she encouraged me to pick it up for a strong finish and we pushed each other to the end together.  The feeling at the end was wonderful as volunteers dumped 2 full bottles of water on me to cool off. As I recovered in the shade Laura, finally figured out her name, came over and thanked me as I helped her reach a new PR for the day.

My day was not as bright. I missed my goal by about 30 minutes. I was still able to finish in under 5 hours which on a day like that, was quite an accomplishment. My swim was only a minute behind the pro women even on a long swim course. My bike and run were faulted due to poor decision making, something I've prided myself on NOT doing. Looking at my relative results (place based on number of people) I actually competed as well on a bad day as I did on a good day two years ago in my last 70.3.  There is still some bright things to take from the day but I think the best thing was just being able to finish the race and support everybody else on the course.

The happiest part of the day. Before sh*t hit the fan as Jessie says.

Kinetic Half: This Is More Than A Bike Race

2015 race season has officially begun! This weekend I was able to take my skills down to Lake Anna for my first triathlon of the year and it turned out to be a pretty good weekend given the circumstances.  To understand the full picture we start a week earlier.

The Saturday before the race Jessie and I traveled down to Cambridge, Maryland to test out a course we would be racing later in the year. Thanks to some coordination by my co-worker, Chuck, we were able to get all set up and ride and run directly after. I put in a hard effort on both sports and came away pretty confident that I would do well on the course. The following day, Jessie and I did some hard brick intervals near Hains Point. My run splits off the bike came away faster than ever as I prepared to head into my taper week.

Halfway through tapering and realizing it is going to be a rough week.

Monday came by fine but by the night things started going in the wrong direction. A fever hit and my body started going into survival mode. Fatigue, headaches, nausea, sweats, and feeling cold carried me through the week. My taper week turned from easy workouts to questioning whether it was safe to workout. Wednesday came and I participated in a bike event for work. It was a simple 10 mile crit style of race against other people in my industry. I was able to stay with the front group for about the first two miles and then my sickness overwhelmed me and I had to struggle through the rest of the ride solo.

My race location stay. Such a rough life on the lake.

Heading to the race location on Friday I knew I could not go all out like I had previously wanted. The half-ironman distance is not a distance you can fake; it isn't like a sprint or olympic distance where you can muster your way through the parts even if you aren't prepared. I told myself to play this thing smart or it was going to be a long day. I got in a swim in the lake and a loose run and felt pretty good.

Starting the year off with a wonderful pre-race selfie.

Race morning came and we got to the race site around 5:45 for a 7:00 start.  I got everything put together and then tried to stay calm as best I could.  With about 20 minutes to go I headed down to the swim start and tested out swimming in a wetsuit for the first time this year. The water was a nice temperature and it looked like it would go okay. My overall plan was to keep it casual on the swim and bike and then empty it on the run.

The gun went off and I had a pretty decent start position. I stayed to the inside and stayed with my plan of not doing anything stupid. I got alongside another swimmer for the first 100 yards but decided I didn't want to have this ongoing position battle so I gave a quick surge to get in front. I got myself a nice draft for the first 800 yards out and stayed right on some feet. As we neared the first turn buoy there was three of us that were going to reach the corner at the same time and I was sandwiched in the middle. Had I been healthy and more aggressive I would have pushed and tried to beat them to the corner, but instead of got on their feet and rounded the corner in space. The took the next segment wide as I made a straight line for the next buoy and swam completely clear of everybody else.

As I took the second turn I found another pair of feet to hop on so I got on those. My wetsuit started rubbing on my neck so anytime the beach wanted to show up would be nice. A few of the guys from wave two were coming past us but I made no effort to go with them. I finally made it to the beach feeling completely fresh and looked up to see my swim split of 32:05. I was pleased with the time knowing I was not too far off what I need to be doing at peak time.

I ran past a few athletes to transition and got my wetsuit off. My spot was a pretty smooth location through transition so I swapped my goggles for my sunglasses and was quickly on to the bike with the 7th fastest T1 of the day. The bike was an uphill climb that I didn't think of before the race so having my shoes already on the bike made me nearly fall as I hopped on the bike and up the hill. It took me a little bit to get the shoes on but after about a half mile we were good to go.

The bike had to be easy. There was nothing else to say. If I pushed just a little too much I would feel it in my lungs and legs and my day would be done before I get back off the bike. I wore my watch which I previously had wished not to wear. This turned out to be a great decision. My cadence was fast as I made my way out of the park and onto the road. It took me nearly four miles to realize I was still spinning in my little ring; no wonder why I had such a nice cadence.

The bike course was a full loop around the lake. There wasn't any out and back portion where you could see the riders ahead and behind you. For the first 10 miles I saw a few riders as they took off the front but I let them go remembering I had a run to do. From about mile 10 to mile 30, I saw nobody. I continually questioned whether I was still on the course or how I was doing in the race.

The first bottle feed on the bike came around mile 17 and I was happy to see them.  I pointed to the first volunteer but watched in horror as she held out the bottle and didn't run alongside with me (if the volunteer runs along side it helps the relative speed of the rider to the bottle decrease so it is easier to grab instead of from a complete stop). Sure enough the first bottle smashed into my hand and straight to the ground.  The second volunteer I have a quick shout up to start running and I was able to grab the bottom of the bottle before it fell to the ground. I noticed a little while later my thumb was bleeding from the first bottle which made me so excited for the rest of the bottle feeds ahead.

The second feed went better than the first and around mile 40 a few riders from the wave behind me came past. It was a good sized group that I stayed with for about four miles before I decided not to put that much energy on the bike. I let them go and told myself, "I will see you guys on the run." I got back into my rhythm and started anticipating when I would get off the bike.

When I saw the mile 45 marker on the side of the road I predicted about 30 more minutes until I was off the bike.  This was looking at around 2:36:XX in time for the bike.  It wasn't my fastest time by far but it was a much more difficult course than I've ridden on and I did keep it pretty easy.  By the time I was getting content with that I saw the mile 50 marker on the road......about two miles up from mile 45. At this point my finish time was sub 2:30:XX if I was truly at mile 50. My spirits were lift for the next few miles until I saw the turn back into the park.  I shouted, "I am so happy to see you!" to the volunteers as I was more than happy to be done biking. I made the last two miles back into the park and down towards transition. I finished the bike still feeling pretty good with a time of 2:29:46.

As I jumped off my bike, I forgot to slow down. My bike took a big hop in the air and my toes to a big scratching on the pavement which caused two of my toes to draw some blood. As I made my way over to my spot I had to get ready to put on my socks. Yes, this sounds silly but there is a quick system of how to put on socks if you have them set up correctly, which at about mile 20 of the bike I realized I forgot to do. Fortunately, I was able to get through transition pretty smooth and head towards the run tied with the 7th fastest T2 of the day.

This year I made a fun transition into some new running shoes. I now am running in Newtons which are a dangerous shoe if you have the improper form. My calves have definitely felt the difference and I have really enjoyed running in them and really hope they bring out some faster run splits. I also joined a running club that allows me to do a lot of running races for free throughout the year in hopes that doing more fast running races will translate to faster run splits in the triathlons.

My one goal I kept for the race was the run. I have wanted to break 1:30:00 on the run for the past three half-ironmans so I needed to take this down. I checked my garmin at the start to keep my pace in check which was a good thing being as I was running 6:06 min/mile right out of the gate. I made my way up the first hill which was about a half mile continual climb and cracked a huge smile.  All of my friends from the bike who rode away from me were waiting for me on the hill! I kept a nice pace as I made my way up it and started moving up towards the other runners. My first mile clicked off at about a 6:28 followed by a 6:16 I believe as I was feeling good.

As I came to the second aid station on the run I hollered up ahead for water to just be splashed on me. Apparently telling a bunch of kids to throw water on you is exciting because all of the volunteers grabbed two cups and tossed them on me. It was quite refreshing as I made my way around the quick loop at the back end and up the second hill.

My aid station system was going pretty good. Each station I would ask for something different. Station 1 - water, station 2 - splash, station 3 & 4 - coke. This kept me pretty smooth as I kept seeing 6:XX for each mile split.

Lap two was going just as smooth as lap one so when I got through 2/3 the run I switched my watch to see my overall run time to get an idea of what I needed to maintain my 1:30 goal. I was sitting at about 57:XX which meant I was on pace for my goal! Things were going to plan and the decent performances on the bike/swim before this meant I would still have a pretty darn good overall performance.

Lap three, I took the first steep hill and my momentum just stopped. The steepness hit me and my stride changed. It took a little effort as I started the climb but I got back into my stride. Looking up the hill seemed a tough thing to do but I told myself, "You cannot tell other people to believe in themselves and expect them to do it if you can't get yourself up this hill one more time." It helped with the push as well as actually making a few, "Let's go!" comments out loud to myself to get to the top. As mile 10 approached I had hit the wall. My legs were feeling the drag and my pace was slowing. I couldn't hold my face together which is probably while multiple people told me I looked like hell at this point in the race.

Mile 13. Sums up the last lap of how I was feeling.

Finally, around mile 12 I came to a realization. I had been looking forward to this run all day and I was currently in the pain cave. I told myself to smile and a little life came back into me. As I made it past the 12.5 mile mark I new I nearly home. My pace quickened as I was going all downhill and stormed through the finish to see a final time of 4:32:47. My official run split was a new PR and 7th fastest run of the day at 1:28:03!

Finishing on the podium of M25-29 as the young guy again.

In the finish chute I fell to the ground in exhaustion. It took a minute and a cold water dumped on my head before I could get back up. Sickness really took its toll on me. I slowly got on my feet and after about 30 minutes I was actually able to eat food again!

Lastest addition to my mom's trophy case coming soon!

My time placed me as 17th overall for the day and 3rd in my age group. I did get bumped to the 25-29 age group this year which is going to be a lot more competitive than the 20-24 age group I previously enjoyed. Competition was stiffer this year as the same time last year would have gotten me 7th overall. Looking at everything as a whole I am quite please with how the day turned out. The next one is going to be a lot flatter and a lot faster so I have a month to prepare for some more pain!

Recently joined team Ignite Endurance. All of the team with our winnings for the weekend (we had fastest female and male for the day).