The Rookie

This is the end of The Rookie blog.  I’ve graduated to my second year of racing as a pro, and blogging.  I’m planning to write more often in my new blog: ItsOnlySuffering.blogspot.com.  Join me there!

I have printed up some running hats and visors with anti-doping slogans.  Inside-Out Sports has agreed to help me by selling them on their website:

Link to hats:  http://store.insideoutsports.com/browse.cfm/4,1419.htm
Link to visors:  http://store.insideoutsports.com/browse.cfm/4,1420.htm

The hats and visors are made by Wick Id.  I wore one of the visors at Ironman Florida and found it comfortable and light.  The three different slogans are: Nope 2 Dope, Drug Free, and I’m Clean.

Please support clean, ethical participation in sport, me, and one of my sponsors by buying the hats.  You get a great piece of training/racing equipment and tell the world that you stand for honesty - everyone wins!

Here is a photo of one of the visors in action:

In the February edition of Triathlete Magazine on page 103, there is a full page ad from Inside-Out Sports.  They included a picture of me from Ironman Florida.  I usually don’t like to brag, but I’m really excited about this.

This is an open invitation to everyone that I know to join me in Tucson, AZ from March 8th through March 16th for 9 days of great weather, lots of training, and good comraderie.  If you are interested, send me an email or comment on this post including your email address.  There are already a few committed.  Currently, there are folks training for short and long course, with different plans for volume and pace than me. 

I’m hoping to have enough folks to where we can rent a big house and a couple of vans. 

I’d love to have some company.  Let me know if you would like to join.

 

Splits:

Swim - 1:00:55
Bike - 4:44:05
Run - 3:14:57
Total - 9:04:22

Highlights from the race:

Set new personal record for swim, bike, run, and total time.

Stung by jellyfish twice during swim.

Stung by yellow jacket once during bike.

I solo’d the entire ride.  The only time I was near another rider, it was a solid pass for them or me.  This makes me very proud of that bike split.
 
Beat all of the women.  That’s a huge boost to my big male ego!

Nina Craft (an admitted doper/cheater who has just returned to racing from her two year ban) passed me at mile 21.  My disdain for cheating gave me the extra mental strength to pick up the pace, repass her, and finish ahead of her.  Thanks Nina!

What I learned from the race:

My electrolyte research paid off.  I consumed ~800 mg of sodium per hour on the bike to about 30 oz. (0.9 L) of water for the same duration.  I was shooting for 1 gram per liter per Goldberger’s recommendation (see note) and a few other published studies. 

I only consumed gel on the bike and first 20 miles of the run.  I used only cola and gatorade over the last ~5 miles.

My HR monitor didn’t work on race day.  I paced my effort on the bike by my stomach.  If my stomach was emptying, I was riding easy enough.  If my stomach was not, then I backed off the pace.  This led to me riding pretty conservatively and coming off the bike fresher than I’ve ever felt.

I’ve had stomach absorption/emptying issues on the run in all of the previous Ironman races.  In this race, I didn’t force anything down.  In fact, I didn’t consume anything at a couple of aid stations to allow my stomach to empty. 

The combination of high sodium to water ratio, conservative pacing on the bike, and paying VERY close attention to the signals my stomach (and body) were telling me led to what I consider perfect race nutrition, and a great race.

Although my cycling computer/HR monitor was not working, every time I looked at it out of habit I could see the reflection of the cross printed on my race-suit.  This seemingly simple situation conveyed a potent message to me.  I, like the HR monitor, do not live up to the standard of my owner (God).  The only real purpose I can have is to reflect the extreme love that is represented by Christ’s work on the cross.  If I’m able to show even the tiniest bit of love shown to me by God, then I have served my purpose.  That being said, I’m still in the market for a new cycling computer.  I hope God isn’t looking for a replacement, as well!

I’m really proud of all of the folks that I know that raced in Florida: Rob Moscato, Nick Frank, Mary Dorsey, Brooke and Nicolai Tvermoes, Duran Greene, Cid Cardoso, Jr., Dan McGowan, Paul Sullivan, Dave Lubitz, Daren Marceau, Ed Burgess, and Ted Aas who all either put together good races or didn’t but stuck it out anyways.  It is much easier to finish when things are going your way.  If I missed your name, I love you just the same.  Congrats to all!

Thanks to everyone else who helped me along the way this year.  This is two successful seasons back-to-back!

note: Goldberger E:”A Primer of Water, Electrolyte and Acid-Base Syndromes.” Philadelphia: Lea and Febinger,1986 .

 

It is so hard to write a race report without talking about everything leading up to the race.  The race is only really a small part of the big picture.  I’ll spare all of the details but do want thank everyone who helped me along the way.  Specifically, I thank God; my wife; the rest of my supportive family, especially my Dad, who has been a big financial supporter as well; Inside-Out Sports; Premiere Sports Travel; 2XU; Synaptis; Winskins Printing and, of course, all of my friends who have helped along the way and have been sending emails and calling.  THANKS!

 

The swim was in the Ohio River .  The pro field started at 6:50 heading upstream in an area that was out of the main current.  My dad and I had done some testing to determine where the current was the slowest.  So, I started way off to the right as the rest of the field swam through the main current.  Since they didn’t allow us to warm up, I took the opportunity to take it nice and easy while still staying abreast of the rear of the field.  Once out of the protected section, I jumped in with the rear of the field (a group of about 6) and found the pace very comfortable to sit in.  I’d been struggling with my swim this year, but put in a big push with a month to go. I managed to not embarrass myself too much at this race as I have done all season. Time: 1:01:29

 

The first transition was smooth.  There was quite a bit of running to make it from the swim course, to the bike, and all the way to the street.

 

I have to say that I loved the bike course.  I plan to come back next year because of it.  It was 10 flat miles to warm up.  Then, the course climbed up to a bunch of hills.  The best part of the course is from about mile 81 to the finish.  It is pretty much all down hill and this year there was a tailwind.  I spent a most of the last 30 miles with my HR in the high 130s – it felt great.  My prep leading into the race told me that I was riding well and it showed on race day.  The only problem I had on the course was when I didn’t slow down enough (ok really not at all) through the first aid station.  One of the volunteers had a good grip on the Gatorade bottle that I latched on to.  In a flash, I was sliding on the pavement.  I take complete responsibility for my fall.  I should have slowed down.  My whole left side was oozing red and my hip was knocked hard.  After walking around a bit to make sure everything was whole, I checked the bike over only to find the brakes rubbing.  I spent a couple of minutes riding easy to assess how my hip and knee were doing.  I decided that I was hurt but not injured and carried on with my race plan.  I didn’t have time to feel sorry for myself; I let my wife do that once I was done.  I probably lost ~3 minutes.  Subtract that from my 4:54:24 and I would have been right on pace to ride 4:50 which was my plan.

 

The second transition was uneventful and smooth.  I love how the volunteers grab your bike once you are done with the course at Ironman.

 

I remember watching an interview of Luke Bell after Ironman Australia .  He said that he was really happy with his race because he ran further during the marathon than in any previous races.  In Louisville , I felt like I was actually running for the first couple of miles.  This is a change from the first two Ironman races where I was only surviving right from the start of the run.  The combination of my injured hip altering my gate and dehydration caused me to slowly slow all the way to the end of the race.  I had the fitness to run probably 15 or 20 minutes faster.  However, I’m happy with my run given my goof at 10 miles into the bike.  Time: 3:36:59

 

Overall, I was 17^th.  That is being beaten by 13 male pros, 2 male amateurs, and (ahem) one female pro.  My overall time was 9:40:23 – not my fastest time, but my best placing in my opinion.

 

I don’t know what’s next, but Ironman Florida sounds nice while I lay here on the couch covered in Neosporin and Band Aids.

 

Thanks for reading.

The next race on my schedule was the Tri101 race in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Sept. 2nd.  The race organization had some admin problems and had to cancel the race.  I did some searching of race calendars and emailing of race directors.  I’m now racing the Spirit of Racine Half in Racine, WI on July 22nd and Ironman Louisville on August 26th. 

This past Sunday was Triangle Triathlon in Morrisville, NC - about a 15 min drive from my house.  It was great to be able to sleep in my own bed and then head off to a race.  I went into this race last year really well rested and came out with a win.  This year, I’m in the middle of some tough weeks, so not so fresh legs.  I held back a little all day and ended up 7th - about 1 minute slower than last year (more like 30″ since the swim times were around 30″ slower this year).  I’m happy with my fitness and actually ran ~30″ faster this year than last.  All of the running has paid off. 

I felt completely recovered about 5 seconds after crossing the line and felt as if I could have done it all over again.  I really had a lot of fun.  These short races usually hurt me really bad, but I enjoyed this one.

This race brings out almost all of the triathletes from the area.  It was nice to talk with all of the folks that I’ve met during the last 6 years of racing.  Thanks to everyone for the conversation!  Great job to John Worden who finished on the podium in his age group.

 

I was finally able to put together a proper race.  I haven’t raced smart this year until this weekend.  My confidence has been shaken since Kona last year. 

Going into the Clearlake 101, I only had a few goals in this order:

-Finish without walking, like the Bradenton 101

-Place not as the last pro

-Place above the first amateur

Two days before I flew out to CA, my home-stay fell through.  I was flying 3000 miles with no where to sleep.  The day  before I left, I was blessed to be set up with the most incredible family - a set of retired grandparents and 4 granddaughters.  They are God-fearing folks who went way out of their way to take care of me.  By the end of the week, I was “Mister Sister” the older brother to the girls.  I’m only now flying home and already miss my new family.

I recon’d the course in the days before the race and was really intimidated by how tough the run course was - steep up and down for almost the entire course.  My race plan was to ride very conservatively, hope that a few athletes were underestimating the run course, and then use fresh legs to make progress on the run. 

I put in a good block of swim training since the Bradenton race (had an embarrassingly slow swim) and was expecting to come out of the water a little closer to the leaders.  Much to my chagrin, I actually came out of the water even further down despite having swum at a higher effort.  My bike was the last off of the male pro rack - yeesh.

The bike course wasn’t particularly hard, but a little wind, a few hills, and some really bad pavement kept everyone’s pace quite a bit slower.  The pavement was so rough that I hit one bad patch that left me with a broken armrest with about half of the course to ride.   With a little craning of the shoulder and arm, I was able to still ride pretty relaxed.

I came off of the bike in 9^th and was hoping that my plan would work and I would run past maybe two athletes and into a paying place a.k.a. “in the money.”  One athlete did end up dropping due to a breathing problem, but no one cracked as I had planned.  These guys are just really experienced.  I hit my nutrition just right through the bike and was able to eat and drink all that I could want through the run.  It didn’t hurt that the weather was perfect. 

My average speed on the bike and run were pretty slow.  But, looking at the difficulty of the course, I’m happy.  In fact, I only finished 20-25 minutes faster than my disaster race in Bradenton and consider this race a success.

I met all three of my goals listed above.  I really needed to validate my choice to race as a professional this year - for my own confidence and to show my wife that I may just stand a chance at making it.  She sacrifices a lot so that I can train and race.

I love having the opportunity to thank God, Melanie, my family (old and new), and my great sponsors: Premiere Sports Travel - the name says it all (sportstravel.com), 2XU - performance clothing and wetsuits (2XU.com), Synaptis - customized learning solutions (synaptis.com), and Inside-Out Sports - the greatest tri store (insideoutsports.com).

 

Thanks to Tractor for the sweet helmet!

I’m done with my preparation for the next race in the Tri 101 series.  I’m flying off to California on Tuesday so that I can start getting used to the time change, climate, and take a look at the course.  I’m a little nervous because I still don’t have a homestay lined up with less than a week to go.   My wife and her family are flying out on Saturday before the race and I will stay with them once they get there.  It is the preceding 4 nights that I am currently homeless.  I’m sure that God will take care of things and I shouldn’t worry. 

I feel much better about my prep for this race than the last.  I was able to get out for some long workouts in the heat.  Namely, I did a 16 mile negative split run at the beach mid day.  I needed more calories and fluid, but my body handled the heat really well.  I tweaked my nutrition plan to match the distance and conditions: more salt intake.  Overall, the last three weeks’ volume wasn’t very high, but I cranked up the intensity.  My body responded very well and I am now a few days into a two week taper.  Resting always makes me feel nervous becuase I feel like I should be training hard. 

I’m really happy for my friend John.  I have been coaching him since the start of this year.  Since the end of last season, he hasn’t had a good race.  Well, at the White Lake Half he set a personal record by ~25 minutes, was 12th overall, and qualified for the ITU Long Course World Championships in France.  Unfortunately, it is too soon after Ironman CDA and he will have to pass on the race.  I’m proud of his hard work that has made huge improvements in his fitness.  Good luck at the Ironman, John!

 

Here is my race report from the 101 race in Bradenton, FL on May 6th 2007:

 

Just over two weeks ago I got sick and was feeling the effects up until a few days before this race.  I was worried that it was going to affect my performance at this race as it did collegiate nationals two weeks ago.  My form started to come around on Tuesday and I started to become confident that I would race well in Florida .  I got down to the race on Friday with a full day to check out the course, thanks to Scott at Premiere Sports travel.

I’ll cut to the chase.  Race morning came later than usual because we were staying at the race hotel which served as the staging area for the whole race.  This is the first time that I have had this convenience and really liked it.  After getting all of my gear settled and my CSPC sticker checked in my helmet – the first time this has happened as this is my first pro race – I warmed up for about 10 minutes in the Manatee River.  Everyone had to get out of the water and then reenter after a picture was taken.  The start was fairly calm because of the varying swimming abilities of the few athletes present.  The course was three triangular loops of 1000m.  The race directors did a good job of setting up the course so that at no point were we swimming directly into the sun.  I settled into a group that was swimming a little slower than I would have liked because there was a large gap ahead of this group.  I didn’t get out of the water very quickly, but I also didn’t really expend any energy either.  This was the first race that I used the 2XU super elite suit.  I almost felt like I was swimming in a wetsuit.  It doesn’t have the buoyancy but I felt like I was gliding through the water with decreased drag.

The transitions were set up like the Ironman with all of your gear staged in bags.  I don’t particularly care for this type of transition because your gear is unorganized and you don’t really have your own space. 

The bike course was changed up until the day before the race due to constraints placed by the city and the fact that this was a first time race.  The course ended up being six 13+ mile loops.  I had ridden the course a few days before and therefore new the course well on race day.  As usual, my heart rate was a little high for the first few miles after transition.  I settled into a good rhythm, stayed relaxed, and focused on my form.  My HR came down as I expected.  The only complaint that I can bring against the race organization is that in the race literature provided to the athletes and on the website we were told that there was to be an aid station at the start of each out-and-back loop and at the far turnaround.  With no announcement from the race organization, there was no aid station at the turnaround.  I had planned to carry only one bottle which would have been plenty for 6 miles.  Luckily, my wife talked me into carrying my rear mounted cage and spare tire carrier.  That second cage definitely came in handy!  As the wind and heat picked up, my HR started to rise to maintain the same effort and speed.  Instead of cutting back a little, I decided to take a risk and continue to ride hard in an effort to remain competitive in the race.  I wasn’t at the front of the race, but I wasn’t losing too much time to the leaders. 

I worked a lot on my run over the winter and expected to run well off of the bike.  I came into transition after passing a couple other pros on the last lap.  I was excited that I wasn’t the last place pro in my first race.  The first mile went by really well – 6:45 nice and comfortable.  Mile two was still smooth and comfortable at just under 7:00 pace.  During mile three the wheels fell off.  I think I ran over 8:00.  I just reminded myself that there are always low points in a race and I will come out of it and feel well shortly.  Ice and water weren’t keeping me cool and I wasn’t able to hold down any fluids or calories.  I think that I should have taken in some more salt on the bike to keep things flowing through my stomach.  The rest of the first of three loops was at a very uncomfortable jog.  Salt tabs didn’t help my stomach absorb as they normally do when I get the stomach slosh in a long race.  My pace kept deteriorating through the second lap.  Just after starting the third lap, I was forced to walk.  I couldn’t get my leg muscles to run.  I walked, jogged, and stretched the third lap which included a little time of standing and talking with my family.  They were very supportive but I was very disappointed.  Luckily, I had a very long third lap to think the race through.  During this lap, I met Mark from Brandon, FL.   We ran together for a while and swapped stories to pass the time.  By the end, I was glad to have finished my first pro race.  I didn’t want to DNF even though that would have been the smartest thing to do physically because I have another race of this distance in 5 weeks.  I have been told that once you quit a race, it becomes much easier to drop out of following races.  I don’t want it to ever be an easy decision to drop out of a race.  

My goal was to finish around 6:15 and I had been on pace through mile two of the run.  I am happy with where my fitness is despite the bad result at this race.  I ended up finishing just under an hour behind my goal time.  Although I didn’t have the race that I wanted, I was still able to positively impact others.  Mark’s wife wrote about our contact in her blog: http://clydesdalestriharder.blogspot.com/2007/05/stud-muffin-101.html

I’ve now got some time to rest, a few weeks to hit the training really hard, and then taper down for the 101 race in Clearlake, CA .  This is a tough distance to race.  I wasn’t sure if it would feel more like a half or full iron distance race – the two distances that in which I have experience.  It feels right in the middle just as one would expect.  I didn’t think that there was much room in terms of feeling, effort, and intensity between the two, but the 101 fits nicely for me.

Despite a few hitches, I was pleased with the race.  The race was safe and fairly well organized.  Had this been a bad experience or an unsafe day, I would not be planning to race the next race in the series.  The aid stations were well stocked.  The volunteers were great.  The race organization was really interested in making the race a good experience and a fair competition. 

Thanks to my family for their continuing support, 2XU and Inside-Out Sports for providing me with the best equipment, and Premiere Sports travel for arranging my travel schedule.  I can’t continue to improve without your support.

I raced a time trial on the Orange County Speedway last night - May 16th.  I’ve never done an event this short so I wasn’t sure how to pace it.  It was only 7.9 miles long.  I got in a good warm up with some short high effort intervals to get my legs ready.  Local cycling star, Derek Powers, started just a head of me.  Since the track is only .375 miles long, I was worried about getting lapped by him.  I started maybe a little too fast (to prevent Derek flying by) and faded a touch over the last couple of laps.  I did get lapped twice by Derek, but ended up third overall.  At 26 years old, out of the top 7 I was the youngest by 16 years. 

 

I had a really great time because of the people at the event.  Everyone was friendly and talkative.  I met some folks that I hope to see again at races again.  Jason Biggs and his crew did a great job with the event.  If the other races that Finish Strong puts on fit into my schedule, I’ll race in them.  I get the feeling that everyone at their events is treated like a star.

I’d also like to commend Stacey Richardson, who accidentally finished one lap early.  She told the race organization and had her result removed.  Now, that’s class!