2014 Is Underway

I have some catching up to do!  It has certainly been awhile.  I've been so busy this spring that I just haven't had time to keep up with the blog.  2 race reports from my most recent races...here we go!

Cooney Duathlon -

This was my first du and first multi sport race of the year...naturally I was nervous.  You never really know where your racing is to start a new season off, which is where most of my nerves were coming from.  I opted out of the traditional Lake Mills route to try something new and to make sure I was somewhat fresh going into my first tri of the year at Elkhart (RR below).

The Cooney Du is a 2 mi run, 20.7 mi bike, 2 mi run.  All pretty flat and fast.  Since I had no idea how to pace a du and knew from word of mouth they really hurt, I kept the first run quite easy.  My goal was keep my breathing in check.  I was amazed at how hard some of these guys went out!  Guys all around already had their efforts spiked, all I focused on was quick turnover and keeping my effort in check.  Run 1 came in at 11:33 and I was about 1 min down from the lead.  A quick T1 had me in good position on the bike.

Finishing up the bike

Since I kept the run easy I found my biking legs immediately and took over the lead around mile 2/3. The leaders seemed to be lolly gagging which I didn't like, so I put out a pretty big effort for a couple of minutes, only to have the lead guy tag along and draft for the entirety of the ride.  I'm not one to complain but this pissed me off!  The course was too flat to drop him, so all I could do was focus on my race.  A couple of times I thought maybe he was further back than I thought, but seeing his shadow next to my bike told me he was being blatant about it.  With a couple miles left he took off, had one of the worst transitions I have ever seen which gave me a 20 sec lead on the 2nd run.  The one thing I'll give him credit for is his run speed...super fast.  But not an honest racer.  Whatever.  I ran a very painful 2nd run at 11:37 to cruise in for 2nd.  I did this race to gauge my fitness and was very happy with everything.  Also, my mom, girlfriend and her parents came to cheer me on, which was awesome.  I also won a cutting board, how cool is that?!

Du 2nd run feeling the hurt!

Yes for sweet prizes!

Elkhart Olympic -

Booyah first tri of 2014!  Always an exciting day.  We headed to Elkhart Fri evening to pick up our race stuff and get to our hotel.  Scott, Jess and I checked out the race venue, drove the (really effing hilly) run course and then got dinner to ensure an early bed time.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  I did have to put together a very janky flat kit set up as I forgot my normal flat kit.  Picture a wad of tube and CO2 with lots of electrical tape...ya.  Whatever works sometimes : )

Race morning was relaxed.  We got set up, test rode the bike, jogged it out and got down to the swim start for more warm up.  Everything felt good so I was looking forward to a solid race.

Out of the swim with PB!

I felt comfortable swimming, I need to start pushing the swim a bit more.  Had some issues sighting on the way in which probably added some time, but that's ok.  It was my best 1.5 k swim to date at 23:35.  Pat Brady and I came out of the water together!...but I still beat you by a milli second Pat!  We can see I'm clearly in front :P  I'll make it clear this was the last time I stayed in front of him, he went on to kill the bike and run course.

Since the bike was longer than the usual 40 k (45 k) I took it out very easy.  I told myself no pushing until at least 10 miles in.  This resulted in getting passed by quite a few guys (and girls) early on but I knew I'd likely reel them in later on...which is exactly what happened.  I moved up to 6th place (I think) with a split of 1:11 and change for 28 miles.  Considering I felt like I was biking at HIM effort I was very happy with this ride.

The run course at Elkhart is a BEAST.  There is one nice hilly, shaded section, but other than that we were met with a hot, hilly, and windy run.  I just didn't have my running legs on.  I felt slow, heavy, and tired, but kept plugging away.  Matt "The Beast" Braaksma was close on my heels.  We always end up very close to one another whenever we race together, but have slightly different strengths.  This usually results in a foot race...and let me tell you he is not a guy you want running you down : )

Luckily I saved just enough in the tank to put in a solid effort for the last 1.5 miles or so.  I knew we had a big climb to get up around mile 4.5...once I crested that I picked up my effort.  Surprisingly I felt better and held on for a 7th OA finish.  I want to give MB a shout out because he kept me in the game on a tough run and I look forward to many more races with this guy!  Total run time was 40:03.   Not my best run but still very happy with everything.  Right on track for the next one in Door County...and ultimately IMWI.

Ya...he's been done and cooled down.  Pat had a very solid day!

The rest of the day was nice and chill.  Scott, Jess and I hung out around the finish with my parents to enjoy some post race food/beer and wait for the awards.  The sun was out and feelin' great.  Definitely a must do race.

2014 Race Schedule

Quick post here.  For the most part my race schedule is pretty much set for 2014!  I might throw in a local sprint here and there, but the only race I really care about is IMWI.  This will be my 2nd go around with some big goals to go along with it.  Now how about some warm weather?!  Pretty please?

Check out the race schedule tab and maybe I'll see ya this season!

2013 Is a Wrap!

Its been awhile since my last post.  For anyone who does read this, its likely we share a similar lifestyle.  So you know how the end of the season is.  Free time is abundant, everything is sore, and motivation is not there.  I wouldn't have it any other way!  Tri season wrapped up nicely with a couple of wins, after which I took a much needed (but short) break before getting ready for my last running race of 2013, Tyranena 13.1.  All I wanted was a PR, and that's exactly what happened.

A couple of weeks before Tyranena, I decided to jump into the UW Running Club 15k.  I did this race last year, so this was a good opportunity to see where my fitness was compared to 1 year ago.  Although my running fitness felt like it wasn't there, I was happy to run 12 seconds faster.  That's not much, but I'm almost certain the course was longer than 2012.  Some construction in Warner park caused the end to be slightly different....and it just felt longer.  Anyway, this run gave me confidence I would hit my goal of a PR in the coming weeks.

Tyranena went as well as I could have hoped.  My weekly run mileage was really lacking...maybe 20 miles per week, which isn't much.  I hit a PR of about 2 minutes at 1:22:30 on a fairly hilly course.  One of these years I'd like to see what I can do with proper run volume.

One last thing.  This past Sunday I helped out the Fleet Feet pacing team at the Madison fall half.  Troy and I co-paced the 1:40 group, which was so much more fun than expected!  Sign me up again!  Now that that's out of the way, I'm looking forward to some much needed R&R before I starting building up again for IMWI next year.

Devil Challenge Recap

Sunday was the last tri of the 2013 season and it ended with a bang!  I came through with back to back wins in the WI Tri series!

My plan going into this race was to lay it out on the bike.  The more I race, one thing becomes very apparent...if you can't ride towards the front you'll most likely not be in the hunt for a podium, regardless of how small/big the field is.  This is more or less true across all distances.  So yeah, after talking with Will, the ride was going to be a calculated hammerfest.

Race morning we were greeted with miserable weather.  I don't know what it is about this race, but every time I race Devil's Lake, it seems to be cold and rainy.  My apologies go out to all racers, volunteers and spectators ; )

I made sure to get a solid warm up prior to race start, this was especially important with the cold conditions.  Everything went off without a hitch and I headed to the beach.  When the horn blew I dolphin dove as far out as I possibly could because of the shallow water.  This is much faster than swimming (at least at my swimming level) but really tore my feet up.  The rocky bottom combined with the run to T1 left the bottoms of my feet battered and bruised.  But when the adrenaline is flowing, that doesn't matter!  With one of the faster swim times and the fastest T1 I was out on the bike with the lead.  As exciting as that was it was short lived.  While trying to get my left shoe strapped, it came completely loose, so I had to spend some time going slow trying to fix that.  However, once I was done with that dumb mistake it was game time.  From that point on my head was down.  I quickly took over the lead and didn't look back.

The bike course was slightly different this year due to construction, but it wasn't much easier.  The last 3.5 miles before the turnaround involve a lot of climbing.  When I hit the half way point I knew my best chance at making up time was on the descent.  The roads were wet, but I'm fairly confident with my descending abilities in the rain.  This was no time to let off the gas.  I think I came into T2 with nearly 2 minutes on 2nd place!

Getting my legs loose was my biggest priority at this point, so when my calves were cramped up at the run start I was slightly worried.  Luckily, I had an awesome cheering section at the end of the parking lot and my legs loosened shortly after.  I was running solid until the turn around, at which point I was able to see how big of a lead I had.  2nd-4th place were a decent ways back so I was able to cruise it in the rest of the way.  Rounding the final corner was a ton of fun!  This was my 4th time racing Devil's Challenge, so to take the win was a really nice surprise.  Its amazing how far consistency and dedication can take you.  Big shout out to everyone who raced, the conditions were far from ideal.  Also a big thanks to everyone who stuck it out and cheered.  It was great seeing some close friends at the finish, and my girlfriend Ali!  She made post race much more bearable, even though I was freezing and my clothes were completely soaked.  A BIG thank you : ) It was also great to see Scott, Bobby, Jay and Jordan rock the relay teams division!

Sugar River RR - First Win!

Its been a busy last couple of weeks, so naturally keeping up with this blog goes out the window.  Its been pretty uneventful from a training aspect.  Since Rev 3 Dells half IM, I've been focusing on getting my right leg healthy.  I'm still not exactly sure what was wrong.  After getting some ART and massage done, and talking to some people, it sounds like some general tightness that's just taking a long time to work out.  I'm still able to bike/run hard without pain, so I'm not concerned about an overuse injury.  The last week has been great, feeling like I'm back in the swing of things!  That's a great feeling : )

This brings me to a more exciting topic, I got my first WIN at the local Sugar River sprint tri!  This was one goal I had going into the 2013 season.  I had been sort of close in the past and knew I had the legs coming into the later part of this year.  Being injured had me slightly concerned, but come race day I pretty much threw everything I had into the bike, which proved to be a wise move.

As I was packing to go race morning, I decided this would be my first non wetsuit race.  To not have that temptation, I didn't even bring my Helix.  After getting a solid warm up in I headed to the swim start, where pretty much everyone else had a wetsuit on...go figure!  Since my goal was to win, I swam as hard as I could and came out around 5th or 6th (I think).  The one plus of not having a wetsuit on is a quick T1, so I came out on the bike in 2nd.  Nick Langer had a very solid swim so he was the guy to chase.  When we got out of Belleville my legs were really feeling like crap, my only focus was to maintain my distance back from the leader until my legs came around.  About 3 miles in we hit the first climb, which was also when the gap started to come back, so I put in an all out attack up the hill.  I was thinking at this point "either he's going to have to work to come with or I'm dropping him now".  I thought I was going to puke on that climb but the move worked!  What followed was a big descent which provided me some time to recover, and more importantly get my HR down.

The rest of the ride I felt alright.  It was a blast having a lead vehicle to follow for the first time!  SO thankful I had the RDE van to look at, because my visor was fogged up to the point I could hardly see (thankfully I didn't crash!).  Lesson learned...

Coming off the bike

I ended up having the fastest bike of the day, but was unsure of my lead to 2nd.  This run hurt.  A lot.  There were a lot of turns so I didn't see anyone until the out and back.  Guys in 2nd and 3rd looked strong...all I could do was keep a high turnover and hold on.  Luckily, my pace was faster than I had thought and I came across the finish about 1 min before the next guy.  Rob the announcer made for a good laugh, calling me the "shirtless wonder" as I finished.  Its a funny thing, feeling like I'm about to spew, being elated to have a solid race and laughing all at the same time.  As always, shout outs to my coach Will Smith, Wattie Ink Team Eilte, Powerbar, K Swiss (for some awesome shoes!), and all of the other great Wattie team sponsors.  2013 would not have been the same without the support!

This weekend is the last tri of the year for me (I think...) at Devil's Lake, which tends to bring a larger field and good talent.  Here's to some good weather on Sunday!

Finish!

Post Race Laziness and Getting My Mojo Back

Ever since Rev3 Dells 70.3 I have been in a bit of a funk.  Granted it was only 2 weeks ago, it was my last big race of the 2013 season.  Training for something is a big part of any triathletes life, so having that lack of motivation can bring on an onslaught of different feelings and emotions.  Where am I going with this?  I'm not quite sure to be honest.

No, I'm not depressed.  No, I'm not actually being lazy.  I just have a lack of structure right now, which feels awesome.  After Rev I tweaked my right leg a bit and its been very slow to come around.  Luckily, I've still been able to swim/bike/run...only, I've been taking it very easy.  There are still a couple of sprint tris left to do, but only if I'm in a position to race hard and not further injure myself.  So I'll most likely be playing those races by ear.  If not, I'm also signed up to race a half mary in November!

For the time being, my only focus is active recovery and utilizing my extra free time.  Its been great to catch up with friends I have spent far too little time with, having been so busy with triathlon the last 2 seasons.  I feel I'm at a point in this sport where I can continue to perform at the level I'd like to while still being able to focus on other areas of my life.  Once you figure this crazy sport out it truly is amazing.  Its all about proper time management and prioritizing what needs to get done.  

I'll eventually get a RR out for Dells 70.3, but the short version is miserable weather and a solid result.  I had my best run yet for the 70.3 distance on a hilly course!  Other than that, I'm really looking forward to IMWI weekend as its fast approaching.  Lots of friends racing, its going to be an awesome day!

Racine 70.3 RR

I had an entire draft written up for this race and absolutely hated it.  Everything sounded so robotic...maybe I just had some weird mental block because I'm focusing on Rev Dells?  I don't know.  Instead of writing up another standard race report I am going to try something slightly new by getting some more pics in here with quick tidbits of race day fun.  I might end up leaving out some stuff but that's ok!

This was my 2nd time doing Racine 70.3.  Last time was in 2011 and was my first half distance and can be summarized with 2 words: HOT and CRAMPS.  That is all.

I was no fan of the rough road conditions last time around, so I was not looking forward to the bike this year.  My goal for this race was sweet, sweet redemption.  I can say with confidence I achieved that goal : )
Since the race was Sunday, I arrived in Racine on Saturday morning.  Paul Eicher and his family were gracious enough to let me throw a tent on their camp site.  We had a blast!

Stuck inside Sunday post race.  Pouring rain for hours is no match for having fun!

On Saturday, Paul and I headed to the race site to get registered and do bike check in...we also got a nice swim in.  After getting my bike checked, I headed back to camp while Paul attended his pro meeting (he's sort of a big deal :P).

Race Highlights

Since I had such a late start I was very relaxed race morning.  After taking care of everything in transition and double checking my set up, I wandered towards the big hill overlooking the finish where I met Wattie Ink teammates Scott, Travis, Andrew Kohl, and Patrick.  I had also seen Cate and Jen earlier.  Since all the guys (including friend Mike T.) had roughly the same swim start we made our way down the beach together to get in a swim warm up.

Travis, Scott and I before warming up

Long walk down the beach

The swim was rough!  The wind was coming right into shore which made for less than ideal conditions.  During the swim I focused on keeping a high turnover, not taking in water and just going from buoy to buoy.  Very happy with how this turned out!  I came out of the water feeling great.  Time was 33:xx and I think 19th in the AG.  That's a big improvement for my weakest of the 3 disciplines.

Very happy to be done running on the beach!

Biking in Racine (as I mentioned before) is not very fun.  The roads are beat up and very congested for the later waves.  My best option was to just bike hard and keep passing people.  I was definitely out of my comfort zone, but felt really good throughout.  The back half of the bike had a lot of headwind, so I was really happy to see my pace didn't slow down as much as others.  Total time riding was 2:25:xx.

Bike start...biggest hill on the entire course

Done biking and eager to get off of those roads!

Heading onto the run was a slightly different story.  I just felt kind of bleh...stomach was in a knot and I could tell I would be dealing with leg cramps at some point.  Within the first few miles my stomach settled and I found my stride.  However, after I hit the first turnaround, I had some sort of leg cramp going on for the remainder of the race.  If it wasn't both quads feeling like they were being stabbed, one of my hamstrings was completely seized up.  Luckily, I am no stranger to this.  Experience has taught me cramps eventually go away so I kept downing liquids, taking salt tabs and just kept running.  I had no idea on my pace, my only focus was moving my legs and keeping a high cadence.  Total run time of 1:32:xx.

Finishing up lap 1

Finishing!  Still feeling pretty good at this point.

It was so much fun seeing teammates and friends out there and having people cheering on the course.  That is what keeps me going when I'm really hurting and ultimately keeps me in the sport.  Whenever my mind goes south I remind myself how fortunate I am to be able to take part in triathlon and any sport for that matter.  So a big thanks to everyone who was out there cheering and racing, whether I knew you or not.  As always, thanks to my coach Will (I love seeing the constant improvement), all of the awesome Wattie Ink team sponsors, and  BIG shout out to Nick G and Andrew Kohl's crew.  You got some great action shots out there!

How do we rock the dub again??

There it is!  haha...