Friday January 11th finally came and after months of quality work with Coach Kameel from Coach4Tris.com I was ready. I left around 10 am for the four hour car ride with the family and was absolutely terrified of my bike on the back of the car. It was the farthest race I've ever gone for a race and my first 70.3 (half ironman) distance event. I probably checked the rear view mirror every 10 seconds the whole way to make sure my bike was stable and the wheels hadn't fallen off. We arrived and I went to the bike check in and athlete meeting and I learned that Dirk Bockel would be racing the half as well, (10th in kona this year and a 2008 Olympian). Standard 4 hours of sleep and 4 hours of trying to sleep then it was race morning. 15 minute drive to the race and I spent some time in transition ,got everything set to go, and went to the beach.
The calm before the storm, I knew that I really wanted to show off what I had done the last few months and I knew this was the day to it as Dirk casually toed the start line on the beach right next to me. The swim course made for heavy dolphin diving the first 200 meters and then more after a few strokes of swimming. And I found myself right next to the leaders til this point, with
around 3-4 other guys til the first turn. At this point I tried to get into a groove and be aware of how long the race was, unfortunately the groove was not as fast as I was hoping for. Overall it was a fairly calm swim, I was happy with the time just not the placing came out of the water in just over 33 minutes. A fairly long run to transition and wetsuit off, I passed by the wetsuit strippers but had alot of trouble getting mine over my timing chip. Helmet on and I was out on the bike. My heart rate was sky high as soon as I got my feet strapped in and I knew I needed to fix it. I soft pedaled for a few minutes and it was still sky high so I gave up and just started riding. Ten minutes later it finally went to the green zone as I made up alot of time. After maybe 20minutes of passing people someone on a cervelo surged by me. I'm not sure if I had just passed him or what but he was hammering. I decided to ride with him and see where it went. We rotated taking the lead for maybe 20 minutes before we picked up two more fellas and really started doing some damage. At mile 22 an aid station bottle was received and I slowed down a bit to much pouring it into my shiv and lost the pack. I was on my own the rest of the ride. At the turn around I placed myself in 28th spot and had avg like 21.5 or so. On the way back the wind was appreciated. Averaged almost 27 on the way back and had no major issues took in all the calories as planned the whole ride. 260 p/h race weight 136. Thanks to Hammer Nutrition for helping me out with all things nutrition related by the way.
I came of the bike and was astounded, my reach goal for the bike was to ride a 2:25 and I had rode a 2:19 (24.1MPH). I Came off the bike in 24th and passed a handful of people with a 0:36 T2 (no one else went under one minute all day) and went out on the run. I felt myself paying for the 2:19 right away. I was shooting for a 1:25 run split but with 85 degrees and what was basically no shade on the run I knew imminently that wasn't going to happen. 6:33 through the first mile and I was already digging deep so I backed off. 6:50, 7:01, 7:07 I saw the trend each mile slower and harder then the last as everything in my legs fought back. Then at mile 5 ish it got bad . There was basically an aid station every 1.5mi but there was one at 4.5, 6.5 for the turn and then 8.5 and for what it's worth mentally I wasn't prepared. The heat really got to me at that point and I saw my pace climb to 7:50s and I think one split was over 8 at one point which is not what I wanted. I basically ignored the last 1.5 miles when thinking about how long was left and when I finally got to that last aid station I slowed down for a few seconds really cooled off and then brought it home at like 7:15 pace from that point on. I ran a 1:38 and I had passed alot of people on the run. And it was nice seeing the 3 people who went sub 4 (well two guys at 4:00:xx) fly by me looking so strong. I came across the line in 12th overall 2nd for the 20-24 age group in a time of 4:34. I'd like to thank Blueseventy for provided me with what turned out to be a beautiful custom trisuit. In my mind I traded 6 minutes on the bike for 13 minutes on the run who knows what could've happen, but I'm very happy with my performance and can't wait for the rest of the season! I have a few smaller races in the next few months and then I will be bringing my best to St. Anthony's in April.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Triple Race Week #2
We'll go backwards for this one because the first race was the better of the three. This Thursday I raced the 2nd Lake Louisa Sprint Training Triathlon of the year. There was a more competitve field then the last race where I came in 5th place and I was experimenting with a new pacing method. I went much harder on the swim than I normally do and ended up coming out of the water around fourth. I got quick into my shoes and started making up time on the bike. This course is silly hilly, even though its short its not stop up and downs with some nice winds. The front four people were riding in a pack which made them hard to gain time on, I was riding with the sixth place person until he made a wrong turn and I was back on my own. Another fast riding came by midway through the bike and I was unable to stay with him. I came back into T2 and couldn't find my running shoes! My backpack is normally my landmark but I had moved it into my car because it was raining before the race. So I added about 15 seconds and finally got out on the run. I felt great on the run until right before the halfway point, I had almost moved up to sixth place and was shoulder to shoulder until I cramped for just long enough to get dropped. My time was almost 2 minutes quicker than my time on the course a month ago, so between the new pacing and improved fitness something worked, but due to the people who came out the results weren't as great.
This past Sunday I raced at the Baldwin Park Orlando Triathlon. It was a nice size field (about 300-350 people) and I was feeling good. My bike was ready in transition, my mom came out to watch and I headed to the water. I found out they had an open wave and it was too late for me to get a new number and swim cap. The other wave two guys and I stood in the water as the open wave swimmers came out of the water and ran to T1 then it was time for my swim. The water had THICK weeds for the first 100M it seemed worse than it really was. I felt good swimming and was around enough people that I was not concerned. When I came back around to the end and the weeds it was much worse. When I lifted to my head to sight and my legs fell a bit the weeds got all wrapped around my legs. Out of the water and on to my real race. With the open wave started about 10 mintues ahead of us and the bike course being 4 laps I was able to immediantly ride with people as fast as me, which lead to a much easier time holding a fast pace. The third lap I was without fast encouragement and the pace let off a little bit but lap four I really put down the hammer. I entered T2 a little sloppily, had to run carrying my bike a bit to get over some steps, a quick T2 and I was out on the run. I passed a few guys right away and then... nothing. I saw no one ahead of me and I started to lose pace a bit. I recalled a video I saw from cyclist Jens Voigt about self motiviation. He just says "shut up legs" whenever his legs hurt during a race. I was running hard, and I mean real hard it hurt. I finally saw another person ahead of me, which made it alot easier to run fast. When I started getting to the point of seeing the finish line I still had enough in the tank for a sprint and I crossed the finish line with one of the fastest runs and bikes of the day. I won my age group and upheld my 3rd place ranking in the year long series.
Saturday was the big success of this past week. I raced the Madeira Beach Triathlon and won. The swim involved walking down the beach to the start so that the swim was just one straight shot. I swam at a nice pace but not too much I really wanted to kill the rest of the race. I came out of the water somewhere between tenth and fifteenth but I was the second person out of T1. I held pace with the leader on the bike for the first bit until I got into my shoes and then I took him with a clean pass. I found a really nice groove on the bike, I was really cooking along so much so that I caught the pace moto a bunch of times. He was riding to the side, so there wasn't a draft. I hit T2 and hit the wrong timing mat and had to go back, added 5-10 seconds. But I was the first one so I was fine. I hit the run course on the sand and was running around 5 minute miles. I hit the turn around and saw the second place person about 500M back. This is always a debate in triathlon, pushing your win or just securing it. I knew I had a race the next day so taking it easy and still winning seemed like a smart idea but it doesn't neccissarily look good to see the winner coming across the line not pushing it. Well I came across the line in first place! I also set the course record, and the race has been going on for over twenty years. Time for a two week session and then back to more racing!
This past Sunday I raced at the Baldwin Park Orlando Triathlon. It was a nice size field (about 300-350 people) and I was feeling good. My bike was ready in transition, my mom came out to watch and I headed to the water. I found out they had an open wave and it was too late for me to get a new number and swim cap. The other wave two guys and I stood in the water as the open wave swimmers came out of the water and ran to T1 then it was time for my swim. The water had THICK weeds for the first 100M it seemed worse than it really was. I felt good swimming and was around enough people that I was not concerned. When I came back around to the end and the weeds it was much worse. When I lifted to my head to sight and my legs fell a bit the weeds got all wrapped around my legs. Out of the water and on to my real race. With the open wave started about 10 mintues ahead of us and the bike course being 4 laps I was able to immediantly ride with people as fast as me, which lead to a much easier time holding a fast pace. The third lap I was without fast encouragement and the pace let off a little bit but lap four I really put down the hammer. I entered T2 a little sloppily, had to run carrying my bike a bit to get over some steps, a quick T2 and I was out on the run. I passed a few guys right away and then... nothing. I saw no one ahead of me and I started to lose pace a bit. I recalled a video I saw from cyclist Jens Voigt about self motiviation. He just says "shut up legs" whenever his legs hurt during a race. I was running hard, and I mean real hard it hurt. I finally saw another person ahead of me, which made it alot easier to run fast. When I started getting to the point of seeing the finish line I still had enough in the tank for a sprint and I crossed the finish line with one of the fastest runs and bikes of the day. I won my age group and upheld my 3rd place ranking in the year long series.
Saturday was the big success of this past week. I raced the Madeira Beach Triathlon and won. The swim involved walking down the beach to the start so that the swim was just one straight shot. I swam at a nice pace but not too much I really wanted to kill the rest of the race. I came out of the water somewhere between tenth and fifteenth but I was the second person out of T1. I held pace with the leader on the bike for the first bit until I got into my shoes and then I took him with a clean pass. I found a really nice groove on the bike, I was really cooking along so much so that I caught the pace moto a bunch of times. He was riding to the side, so there wasn't a draft. I hit T2 and hit the wrong timing mat and had to go back, added 5-10 seconds. But I was the first one so I was fine. I hit the run course on the sand and was running around 5 minute miles. I hit the turn around and saw the second place person about 500M back. This is always a debate in triathlon, pushing your win or just securing it. I knew I had a race the next day so taking it easy and still winning seemed like a smart idea but it doesn't neccissarily look good to see the winner coming across the line not pushing it. Well I came across the line in first place! I also set the course record, and the race has been going on for over twenty years. Time for a two week session and then back to more racing!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Florida International Triathlon
Florida International Triathlon
Sarasota, FL
So this was a big one for me, my first International/Olympic distance triathlon and my first ocean (well Gulf) swim. Was up at 3:00 AM, before many people were probably asleep after a Friday night. I ate some breakfast, finalized all my stuff, and hopped in the car en route to Sarasota. This was a big race, the most competitors of any triathlon I've been to thus far and I was ready to show them what I could do.After transition and everything was set up I got a little warm up jog in and headed down to the water. There was a fair bit of chop, more then everyone was expecting when I was warming up. But I figured I could handle it, I had done swim workouts in the ocean before, just never a race. Male 39 and under was the first wave and it was a beach start so we had to run into the water and dolphin dive until it was deep enough to swim. Only minutes in, like a bad dream, I got kicked HARD square in the face. It broke my goggles and made me lose my nose plug. I continued on and within 2-3 minutes I was seriously questioning continuing the race. Salt water was burning my eyes and throat and I was barely to the first turn. A two hour drive (each way), a high entry fee, along with my grandfather and sister coming to see me race gave me that answer and I pushed on. A few more minutes in and we turned around and it got bad. The waves were coming right at my face now, so more swallowed water, more sighting difficulties, and more survival breastroke. Normally when I'm racing I can make it through any kind of discomfort knowing that it will go away, that's how I am able to run through any kind of cramp or unexpected soreness but this lasted the entire swim. What I expected to be a 26-28 minute swim leg, for 1500 meters, took 43 minutes! But when I stood up on the sand, my race was just beginning.
I hit T1 ready to make up for what just happen, which could hardly be called a swim, I clocked the 2nd fastest T1 of the day and was out on the bike course; two 13 mile laps of flat streets. I was holding 25 pretty comfortably and it seemed as though I would have a nice bike split coming around mile 5-6. I began to try and take it some nutrition and fluids and was having a real hard time stomaching any fluids. I now know that it is due to swallowing so much water during the swim, its still water. Not being able to take in nutrition I eased off the pace a bit, for seeing a bonk if I kept up. Then my competitive nature kicked in. This race had an international distance race, which I was in, along with a sprint race of half the distances that started 40 minutes (or so) later. So not everyone out on the bike course was doing 2 laps and running a 10k afterwards, so not everyone had to pace themselves as much. Someone came and passed me, which doesn't happen too often, so I took notice. I stuck with him, legal distance of course, until he pulled off for the end of his single loop. Then the wind picked up.
There is something strange about doing something twice in a short span of time, and it being completely different from one time to the next. A street that I had just cruised down at 25 mph with no problems now would not let my bike computer hit 20 thanks to a lovely headwind. I got low and pushed through it as best I could til mile 20 or so when I turned around to have it at my back and rode it in nice and fast to T2. Final bike split 1:06:xx. T2 was slower then it should've been because someones bike had fallen on my rack leaving very little space for the other 6 bikes that had to fit and no one wants to add time to there race picking it up. Out onto the run course I was feeling good, real good.... too good. My first mile was around 6:20 then I saw my garmin reading like 6:50 for mile 2, I tried to pick it up but 6:50 was where it wanted to stay. Mile 2 finished, then mile 3 and I was taking in as much water as I could at the aid stations to counter the insane Florida heat. It was just a bit after mile 3 that the run left the sidewalk and went onto the sand. Soft sand is difficult to run on because your fit sink in after each step. So I got as close to the water as I could and stayed on the hard sand, but its just nothing compared to running on cement in terms of speed. As I hit mile 5 I really picked up and tried to put it all out there. This was not the race I came here to make happen, but it was the best I could make of a bad situation. A little bit of soft sand before the finishing shoot and that was that, final time 2:39:xx winning time 2:11:xx. It was a great race put on by the storm tri club down in Sarasota and I look forward to bringing my A game next time around.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Triple Race Week!
Triple Race Week!
This past week was a heavy race week that included three training races. On Tuesday I participated in a cycling training crit at Lake Louisa State Park. This was my first true cycling race and I really enjoyed it. There was a four person breakaway in the cat 4/5 race that I couldn't grab on to quick enough but I came first out of the main pack for a 5th place overall.
Then on Thursday at the same venue (Lake Louisa) was a sprint triathlon put on by the National Training Center in Clermont. This was the first of a six race series that they are hosting through this spring and summer. Due to a lack of rain recently the water level was pretty low and the swim and involved a combination of running and dolphin diving for the bulk of it. As always my place out of the water wasn't ideal but I covered a lot of ground in T1 and on the bike. After a nice ride with some rolling hills around the park it was into T2 in 5th place. After some course confusion I had dropped to sixth but was able to regain it out on the run course. Overall a very well organized race, its always nice to get something like this in the middle of the week.
On Saturday I took a trip down to Temple Terrace for a reverse triathlon that proved to be a lot of fun. It was interesting to try and figure out the best method for transitions when going in reverse. Socks end up being okay in a race like this since it only take a second to take them off, I actually ended up taking them off on the bike before dismount. The race started with a two-loop run around some fields, I ran shoulder to shoulder with another person for basically the entire run and we had a bit of a sprint finish to the timing mats into T1 for the best run split of the day. I entered T1 first by only a second and was first onto the bike. There was a nice wind which made the two-loop course real slow one way and then pretty fast coming back. I held my lead on the bike and saw a decent amount of people on the second loop but had no real idea the kind of lead I had. Then came the interesting transition, shoes and socks off on the bike, into T2, goggles on and into the water. I was about halfway through the swim (and feeling like a sack of potatoes after that ride/run) before the pack started arriving. I finished in first place overall. It was a great race held by the local girl scout troup and it was fun to mix things up and go backwards for once. I wouldn't want to make a habit of feeling like that for the swim, but thats not to say I'd never do one again. Next race will be May 12th when I'll be in Sarasota racing the FIT International Triathlon.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Spring Fling Sprint Triathlon
Yesterday was the 2nd race in the Epic Sports Marketing 2012 Sprint Triathlon Series at Moss Park in Orlando. There was an added level of comfort showing up and knowing that I had raced the course before. I woke up around 5 AM to get ready and make sure I had everything and arrived at the course to set up my transition. The first time I was here it was pouring the whole race so anything less would be considered good weather, but it was nice out. I rode by bike around to check everything one last time, did a bit of a warm-up jog, and put on my wetsuit.
The swim course was a bit longer then last time by about 100M or so I would guess I was in the middle pack getting out of the swim after a fairly good swim. A bit of congestion at the turns but thats usual. I have really increased my swim volume lately and definatly saw a difference in how I felt entering T1. Once on the bike course I started making up lost time averaging around 24.0. I took in a gel and a bottle of gatoraid. At about mile marker 8 I passed someone who didn't give up and rode my wheel til the end of the bike course, so much for no drafting, but otherwise it was a good ride and I felt good. I had the 3rd fastest bike split of the day, 30:17 for a 20km (17 seconds faster then last time).
I came off the bike and was told there were ten people ahead of me entering T2. I passed one or two people in T2 and saw a pack of two turning the first corner on the run course. I set my sights on catching the first two people knowing it'd put me in seventh. Once I did I made a firm pass I started running my own race following my garmin for pace. I always have the same spot of pain to pull through after the first ten minutes of running but once I make it through that I tend to be fine, this was the same today. At this point I really picked up the pace for a few minutes and then I saw another person up ahead finally. We ran shoulder to shoulder for a bit and then I made a solid pass and created a gap coming up to the last quarter mile. I entered the shoot more then enough of a gap to secure my placement and no sight of anyone infront of me. I found out after that one of the people in front of me had been in the duathlon so I had finished 5th place overall in the race. I feel good about it just gotta work on my swim a little more in the upcoming weeks.
Now its time to take a little break from racing and come back even faster in a few weeks.
The swim course was a bit longer then last time by about 100M or so I would guess I was in the middle pack getting out of the swim after a fairly good swim. A bit of congestion at the turns but thats usual. I have really increased my swim volume lately and definatly saw a difference in how I felt entering T1. Once on the bike course I started making up lost time averaging around 24.0. I took in a gel and a bottle of gatoraid. At about mile marker 8 I passed someone who didn't give up and rode my wheel til the end of the bike course, so much for no drafting, but otherwise it was a good ride and I felt good. I had the 3rd fastest bike split of the day, 30:17 for a 20km (17 seconds faster then last time).
I came off the bike and was told there were ten people ahead of me entering T2. I passed one or two people in T2 and saw a pack of two turning the first corner on the run course. I set my sights on catching the first two people knowing it'd put me in seventh. Once I did I made a firm pass I started running my own race following my garmin for pace. I always have the same spot of pain to pull through after the first ten minutes of running but once I make it through that I tend to be fine, this was the same today. At this point I really picked up the pace for a few minutes and then I saw another person up ahead finally. We ran shoulder to shoulder for a bit and then I made a solid pass and created a gap coming up to the last quarter mile. I entered the shoot more then enough of a gap to secure my placement and no sight of anyone infront of me. I found out after that one of the people in front of me had been in the duathlon so I had finished 5th place overall in the race. I feel good about it just gotta work on my swim a little more in the upcoming weeks.
Now its time to take a little break from racing and come back even faster in a few weeks.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
HITS Triathlon Series Ocala Open
HITS Triathlon Series Ocala Open
First Place Overall! I was 3rd out of the water and I passed both the other guys thanks to a 1:20 T1 (the fastest T1 of the day) However I had problems with my shoes being on the bike and it fell off right passed the bike out. I got passed and was back in 2nd place. After I got my shoes on and caught the guy I got off the bike with about a 30 second lead. I clocked an eleven second T2, fastest of the day. Took off on the run at about 5:30 pace unfortunatly I was a bit too fast for the course because the volunteer to be positioned at the run turn around was not yet in place. He didn't catch me until a little over 1/4 a mile past the turn around... I lost 2minutes overall my run time was 8:35 and I averaged about a 6minute pace.. this error put me back in 3rd and I was able to (somehow) make up those 2minutes lost and still win. 27.7mph bike average for the fastest bike split of the day as well. Overall a great race!
-Jaelin
First Place Overall! I was 3rd out of the water and I passed both the other guys thanks to a 1:20 T1 (the fastest T1 of the day) However I had problems with my shoes being on the bike and it fell off right passed the bike out. I got passed and was back in 2nd place. After I got my shoes on and caught the guy I got off the bike with about a 30 second lead. I clocked an eleven second T2, fastest of the day. Took off on the run at about 5:30 pace unfortunatly I was a bit too fast for the course because the volunteer to be positioned at the run turn around was not yet in place. He didn't catch me until a little over 1/4 a mile past the turn around... I lost 2minutes overall my run time was 8:35 and I averaged about a 6minute pace.. this error put me back in 3rd and I was able to (somehow) make up those 2minutes lost and still win. 27.7mph bike average for the fastest bike split of the day as well. Overall a great race!
-Jaelin
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