Lake Norman Sprint

S - 13,800 yards
B - 161.8 miles
R - 52.4 miles
Time - 18.3 hours

Not a bad week considering there was a sprint triathlon in the middle of it.  Finally (what feels like it anyway) had a good week of swim volume.  After two weeks off (one week without the chance to swim and one week with excuses) I definitely needed it.  Slogged through a SCY set on Monday, dogged through a LCM set on Tuesday and managed to have a decent LCM swim on Thursday.  A couple of good bike rides and lots of good running (every day this week I think?) led into Lake Norman.

This race didn't look to be nearly as competitive as Latta/Stumpy but with Donny and Sebastien in the field that's enough to make it interesting.  I figured I should beat both but on race day you never know what can happen. Plus, there's always the chance someone random shows up (although at this point I'm not really worried about the randoms).  I also noticed Jeff Murray was racing for the first time in a couple of years and since he's a multiple national champion in 2012 I figured he'd probably set the bar pretty high during the swim.

The one mishap I had was after parking about a mile away from the race site I proceeded to pump up my rear tire successfully, subsequently moving on to my front wheel.  When I pushed the pump head onto the valve stem all the air let out of the tube and it was un-pump-able.  After a brief panic I called Ashley to ask him to bring his front race wheel since I knew he was coming to watch; he agreed and so the mild crisis was averted.  I still would have preferred my lovely Beyond Black Zipp 808, however.  Alas.

Swim 750m in 10:42 (3rd)

As we all lined up at the buoy for the in water start, I knew what my strategy was for this race: balls to the wall to the first buoy.  Pretty simple.  I noticed Donny was lined up behind me and Sebastien to my left and so with 10s to go I quickly moved over to the left in order to get some "clear water." At the sound of the horn, I took off at a very high effort.  I basically swam like I was doing a 500 TT; I was even kicking! (I never kick, really).  Unfortunately this nearly induced a panic attack with such a fast start but I was able to quell my feelings (almost like a sense of claustrophobia? it's weird) and carry on to the first buoy.  After the turn I looked back and saw I had a decent gap on what appeared to be three "chasers." Jeff was still a ways ahead and at the second turn to come back I could just see him in the glare of the sun.  It was tough to sight coming back but I knew just staying parallel to the shore would get the job done.  I settled in at this point to a more manageable pace and carried on to the last buoy, where after turning I looked behind and saw that my gap had grown a bit.  Happily, I exited the water in second and sprinted up the hill towards T1.

T1 in 1:25 (7th)

The run to T1 is pretty long and as I got to my bike Jeff was just running away with his.  I put on my helmet and headed out pretty quickly.

Bike 17.9 miles in 43:46 (2nd)

Heading out on the bike I was curious as to how my legs would feel.  The first hill up out of T1 was a good test and unfortunately, I could not tell how the leggies would do for the next 17 miles.  I caught Jeff pretty quickly through town and then put my head down to try and gain some speed.  I was thinking this course would be like Latta but it was definitely a little "harder'' than Latta.  I didn't see anyone behind me for quite some time although I figured there would be someone there.  After a while (mile 10ish?) I could see someone behind me.  I couldn't tell whether they were catching me or we were just on straighter roads at this point.  After another mile or two, it became clear that yes, whoever it was, was definitely gaining on me.  After a bit more, I could tell it was Donny (luckily no one else came with him).  He passed me on an uphill and I could tell why: because he rides so dang hard.  For the rest of the bike it was Donny absolutely crushing the uphills (400+ watts and I'm losing ground) and me flying by him on the flats/downhills.  We got back into town and were diverted onto some side streets to avoid prime time downtown traffic and this section was a bit annoying but definitely safer than dodging cars.  We made it back into T2 with Donny just ahead.

T2 in :49 (2nd)

Rolled into T2 just behind Donny and we made it to our rack at the same time.  I took off my helmet, shoved on my shoes, grabbed my belt and shades then headed out up the hill onto the run.  Donny had to pump fake as he forgot his number, losing a little time there.

Run 5k in 17:31 (2nd)

I ran up the hill out of T2 at a very high rate of speed and gapped Donny initially, which luckily held to the end.  This course was very twisty and turny and so it was tough to get into a good rhythm.  I still managed to push the pace well though and felt pretty strong through to the finish.  Donny stayed within sight the whole time and I never quite shook him.  It seemed as though he made a brief surge around mile 3 but it may have been me imagining things.  I ran across the finish line for the W.  Woohoo

1st OA in 1:14:10

I was pleased with this race and it was interesting to note that it continued my trend of two good splits and one not so great split.  My watts were real low on the bike but my swim and run were quite strong soooo, can't complain too much.  Brian told me at the beginning of the year that year #2 would have a lot of that, which I found odd at the time but am now beginning to fully appreciate how smart he is.  Or at least, he talks smart.  Both are equally important.

The cool thing about this race was that it meant I am now three for three in Charlotte area sprints.  I don't count Cool Breeze.  Huntersville, Latta, and Lake Norman were all Ws for me, Latta and LKN were both wins overall for ICE Racing (Melissa took the women's overall win!).  Pretty good season for ICE so far and it's not even over!

More importantly..

So I worked out a bit this week.  Not too much, but not too little either.  It was good to get back into the swing of things.  Despite going 2 weeks without swimming, I managed to not embarrass myself swimming for 30 minutes in the lake on Saturday with Scott, Ashley and Kerf.  The post-swim ride, however, showed just how fit the Honey Badger has gotten in the past month.  Wisconsin is going to be awesome!! To watch.

The best part of this week was spending lots of time at the movies.  Not great for my wallet as SOMEHOW every time I HAVE to purchase some sort of concession.  It's ridiculous.  Why do we feel compelled to pay 5 effing dollars for less than 20oz of soda.  It baffles me.  They must put crack in all their stuff.

Monday PM - The Bourne Legacy

Note: not from Bourne, but worth it anyway.

Jeremy Renner is an actor who has been garnering a lot of praise and critical acclaim for his roles in movies lately.  You might venture to say his "star is rising."  Especially considering he was chosen to lead a Bourne movie, the man is kind of a big deal now.  He isn't, however, Matt Damon.  This movie was super hyped and was definitely entertaining but unfortunately not nearly of the same caliber as the original three (and my favorite, the first).

Friday PM - The Campaign

Frank the Tank vs. Alan

With Will Ferrell, Zack Galifawho, and a great trailer how could one NOT want to go see this movie?! Well, I was in that camp.  The humor looked solid and mostly witty, the timing couldn't be better (I'm never interested in politics and if so only for a couple of weeks during the year) and I was in the mood to laugh out loud a little bit.  Unfortunately, the movie failed to deliver in almost all respects.  Really awful.  Don't spend the money on it in theater.

Sunday PM - The Expendables 2

So many steroids, so little time.

Alright, so if you go into a movie like this with the right perspective (awesomely bad) you'll be satisfied.  If you go into it thinking that you're going to get a quality action flick with a decent and somewhat understandable plot line with good character development and good story arc well then you're just an idiot.  Name a big action movie in the past 20 years (or more) and it's likely that the star of that movie was in this one.  This "franchise" is designed purely as a vehicle to blow sh*t up with (former) big name stars in as epic a fashion as possible.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.  Much more so than the Campaign.



Next week I'll talk about training more.  Maybe.

Stumpy Creek and IM NYC

This one is going to absolutely blow your mind.  There will be so much awesome both hinted at and bluntly stated in the next couple of minutes that you may or may not suffer a breakdown.  The first week revolved around Stumpy Creek International.  After a relatively disappointing day at Giant Eagle I was fired up to race well at Stumpy, knowing the competition was going to be fierce.  I was mainly focused on DVW, as he's had my number at each of our encounters this year but I knew that Kenneth, Sebastian and Selle would also be threats.  Kenneth likely would have won the race last year if he hadn't taken a wrong turn on the run after absolutely blowing up the bike course.  Sebastian nearly beat me at Belews on a road bike and Selle is old but crafty and speedy.  Doug, of course, is Doug and would likely have a 3-4+ minute lead on me out of the water....

Swim 1500m in 22:42 (8th); 03:35 back from 1st

The water was advertised as being very warm and upon entry we all found that it was, in fact, steamy.  Gross.  Consequently, after lining up and the sounding of the gun I started off at a fairly relaxed pace.  I wanted to build my effort through the swim and hopefully come out a little less war-torn than at other races.  So after 200m I was not very high up in terms of place but after that I started to move up naturally as other racers came back to me.  Eventually at about 500m I found myself alone, maybe 30-50m behind the front pack (consisting of Jenny, Derek, Mike and Dave, as DVW had long ago separated himself) but a little in front of the rest of the field.

After the first turn at the far end of the course I looked back and saw I had a decent gap on what looked like Kenneth, Sebastian and Melissa (among others) and so felt confident that my swim was going well.  At the next turn I noticed my gap had increased and I seemed to be holding pace with the front group decently well.  So on the long back stretch I focused on staying smooth and picking up the effort a bit, which - at the last turn - further distanced me from those behind me.  Coming into the swim finish I felt happy with my swim and exited the water and crossed the mat.

T1 in 00:43 (11th)

As I ran into T1 I could see the front group leaving and getting on their bikes so I tried to have a quick T1 and mostly succeeded.  I could have shaved a couple of seconds off if I hadn't made a silly mistake, but oh well.

Bike 27 miles in 1:04:41 (1st); 01:28 up from 2nd

Heading out on the bike I tried to take the first mile relatively easily as it involved a couple of technical turns and a long uphill and I wanted to get to the top of the hill and not be gassed.  Once there, however, I put the pedal to the medal.  There are some days when you push hard but don't go fast, there are some days when you can't push hard but go fast, there are some days when you can't push hard and go slow, and this was none of those things.  Today I was putting out manly-style watts and was moving along nicely.  I passed Jenny like she was standing still, moved on next to Derek before catching Dave and Mike before the 20 minute mark.  Mike stayed with me briefly but I upped the pace a little bit to get out of sight and focused on catching DVW.  Unfortunately, this did not happen anytime soon.  One of my most epic moments of triathlon racing came riding through the state park.

There was a sharp downhill and at the bottom was a bridge that had a pretty big bump.  I took this in my aerobars and my water bottle popped out of the front cage and I somehow (well, obviously though my incredible skillz) caught it in between my legs.  Unfortunately there was no one around to see this awesomeness so all I could do was shout out "I'm awesome" to the trees.

Once I got back in the out/back section of the lollipop course it was fun to see the other people going the opposite direction.  At this point, I almost got hit by a car and I caught my first glimpse of DVW.  Unfortunately, he was not coming back to me fast enough.  I made the turn back into the slight downhill into transition and took my shoes off and hopped off the bike with expeditiousness, only a short way behind Doug.

T2 in 00:38 (1st); 00:02 up from 2nd (:07 seconds behind DVW out of T2)

As I put my bike on the race, Doug was (I believe) putting on his run shoes so I was very close.  I had a quick transition but my insole ended up getting slammed in the toebox of my right shoe which would prove uncomfortable after the race with a giant black toenail. I headed out of T2 seconds after Doug, determined to catch him.

Run 10k in 38:33 (7th)

Unfortunately, my run legs did not want me to catch Doug.  For about a mile I stayed relatively close behind him but I never had that "spring" in my step like at Giant Eagle last week.  I was pushing hard but not going fast.  I honestly just didn't have the run fitness that day to keep up with Doug, who ended up having the third fastest run of the day (behind two run specialists).  He's just fast.  Dammit.

To make a somewhat long story short, I continued on but only with the goal of not getting caught by anyone behind me (I was assuming it'd be Kenneth, but I also assumed he'd catch me on the bike; fortunately for all of us Kenneth and his wife have a very, very new baby...) and I continued on with that mentality.  I didn't run fast, I didn't run slow.  I ran just fast enough to call it a not-too-bad run, but certainly not a good one.  I believe on this course I'm capable of at least 3 minutes faster.  But not today.

I cruised across the finish line a ways behind Doug but a ways in front of 3rd place, mostly happy with my race.

The second week of our journey began on Monday, heading to NYC to work for IOS at the expo.  Tuesday was a full day of setup, Wednesday/Thursday/Friday involved lots of selling, Saturday involved lots of race-watching, Sunday involved breakdown and packing, and Monday involved flying home.  Super duper.  Here are some pics of the week

is JKHH in there? if not, bad list.

the site of the expo, pier 92

cool street art

southbound on the GW bike path

the rail is not nearly high enough

jordan rapp and mary beth ellis hamming it up at IOS expo

transition area on the nj side of the river

mile 18 on the run

rappstar coming through mile 17, just off the bridge

it's lonely out there at times

winning his 5th IM

the city certainly can be pretty

northbound on the GW

Giant Eagle 5150 recap

I signed up for Giant Eagle for a couple of reasons:

1) They were the only ones who responded to my emails about an entry (among others like the Philly Tri)
2) I would get to visit Ohio, where I have never been
3) It seemed like a good first pro race; competitive yet also not ridiculously competitive
4) the Behmes live in Ohio
5) A race sponsored by a grocery store chain is never a bad idea

So on Thursday afternoon I packed up the man-van and headed Northwest-ish for the 8hr drive to Troy, Ohio.  The drive was uneventful, despite the van struggling up some of the climbs in West Virginia.  Traffic was bad at times so I arrived at the Behme residence after a bit more than a third of a day.

The next couple of days passed smoothly and on Saturday afternoon we drove to Columbus to pick up our packets and attend the pro meeting.  The main things encountered in the pro meeting were "obey the stagger rule" and "while it isn't a rule, we would encourage you all as professionals to not dolphin dive the swim," (the water was extremely shallow on the inbound portion of the rectangle) both things I figured wouldn't be too difficult to follow...

The swim course

Long story short, we grabbed dinner with friend and MarkyV athlete Ben Meer (who we stayed with that night, thanks Ben!) and headed to bed, psyched (not) for an early morning (race start for me at 6:30).

Race morning downed bright and too-early and we drove up to the race site where John dropped Carrie and I off for the start of our race.  The swim was a two-loop rectangle, the bike was an extremely flat (net downhill?) point to point course into Columbus and the run was an out and back through the city.

I lined up with the other pros (near the back) before the gun went off...

Swim 1500m in ?

I have no idea what my swim time was because they didn't post the splits of us that DNF'd and I don't wear a watch so I have a general idea of what my swim time was based on other athletes but nothing specific and I don't like to guess.

The swim started on the beach and everyone sprinted into the water.  I lagged behind a bit as I didn't want to get caught in the maelstrom that was the main pack.  That being said, I was still sucked along quite nicely by the wash of 20+ dudes swimming as hard as they could.  Once we all turned left after the first buoy it began stringing out a little bit and I gradually lost contact with the main group.  I also experienced a mild anxiety issue so had to "collect myself" for a second or two before continuing on, which further distanced me from those in front.  The next lap and a half were uneventful and went by smoothly before being caught by the main group of women just before the end.  I came out of the water right behind them and ran up the beach into transition.

T1 in ?


I ran to my bike and since I was the only pro who didn't clip in their shoes beforehand I put on my shoes and headed out on my bike.  Relatively smooth, but not as fast as it could have been...

Bike 40k in 55:40 (unofficially, according to my power file)

I passed the pack of women pretty quickly (thank goodness... no offense ladies) and continued through the first 5k of the race at a nice effort level.  The first 1/4 to 1/3 of the bike is pretty rolling and a net uphill away from the lake.  I caught the lead women pretty soon and could see some guys off in the distance and began to gain hope that I may not actually be as crappy as I thought I was.  I put my head down and pushed, passing several guys, a couple of whom stayed with me through the end of the bike.  The course was pretty poorly marked and relatively poorly marshaled, as a car turned in front of me at one point forcing me to grab a pretty good handful of brakes.  The only markings were taped turn signals on the ground which, at 25-35mph, were not easy to see and react to but we all had the same issues so it was no big deal.  In the last 1/2 mile of the course I turned left as a policeman seemed to be waving me in that direction but unfortunately the subsequent yelling "wrong way!!" made me realize that I had, in fact, turned incorrectly.  I quickly got back on course but not before two other guys followed me down the wrong path.  I felt bad, but couldn't do anything about it.  I came into T2 quickly and hopped off the bike with smoothness.

T2 in ?


I had a really quick T2 and headed out well ahead of the two US Pro Tri guys with whom I had come into T2.

Run ? in ?


I headed out on the run at a very high rate of speed, feeling pretty stellar.  My legs felt nice and loose and my pace reflected it. John and Ben took a picture or two and yelled some encouragement as I climbed the only "major" incline on the course.  The run wound its way through downtown briefly before crossing the river and jumping onto a path along the river.  I carried on smoothly before eventually reaching a dead end.  I realized with some sadness that something was wrong.  I turned around and ran backwards before encountering Jim and Ryan of USPT and asked if they had seen a turn, which they had not.  We ran back to the dead end just so they could be sure before turning around and running back where we had come.  We realized we had missed a u-turn (or near u-turn) that would have taken us back up onto the road and across the river again.  We all ended up running back to the finish line and turning in our chips...

DNF

Alas, these things happen.  While it's certainly my responsibility to know the course and the fault was entirely mine, I've never raced an event that was as poorly signed as this one.  Both on the bike and the run, the markings were simply taped arrows on the ground.  I was the only one who had multiple issues so maybe it's just something I need to be more aware of in the future but it is a little frustrating.

I certainly was in no position to come in top 5 (I'm unsure if I would have been top 10, it would have taken a pretty phenomenal run split) so it's not as though I missed out on money but with the way my run legs were feeling I'd like to have had them vindicated by a good split.  I'm happy the DNF was a result of a mistake and had nothing to do with my fitness level.  It also was encouraging to realize that I CAN be competitive at these types of races (olympic, non-draft).  Certainly not with the top guys but I think a top 10 at a 5150 is not out of the question.  It'd have to be a perfect race, but I'm excited about the prospect...

On another note, just because I feel like I have to vent, I witnessed some pretty poor sportsmanship at this race.  It's incredibly coincidental that I am the one that witnessed this, but seeing a fellow competitor (and NC resident) incorrectly run the course and hop over into the finish chute (cutting off some of the last bit of the run) and yet not have a DQ is frustrating.  I believe it was an honest mistake, but to accept any kind of award or slot (to Hy-Vee, as this race was a qualifier) is very poor form.  I did not run the correct course.  If I had wanted an official finish time, I would have ran back to where I went off course and then run the whole course correctly.  I would not have simply adjusted MY run course.

Anyway, maybe there's some explanation of which I am not aware.  All I know is what I saw and see in the results.

Next week is my third year at Stumpy Creek International, which will be a hotly contested race for the top 5 spots so I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes!

Another week, this time a good one

S - 10,200 yards
B - 240.9 miles
R - 44.7 miles
Time - 21.82 hours

At first glance it would appear as though yours truly got in some good training this week! The first glance would be correct as it seems for the first time in quite some time I've managed to have a week of good volume.  It's been a while since I've been over 20 hours, due in no small part to the fact that I've raced a good bit this month.  So far one good (NC TT) and one not so good (Triangle); I'm hoping next Sunday adds one to the "good" side (Giant Eagle). 

The highlight of this week has to be our big ride in the mountains on Saturday, but seeing the ripple effect of my last post on swimmers is a close second.  I'll dive into the latter first.

First of all, please let me say that my last blog was in NO WAY meant to be demeaning, arrogant, or anything else negative.  It was simply an observation.  It was also my own observation.  Many out there who read this (so, like 3 of you) couldn't care less about my opinion on triathlons and/or swimming (and maybe everything else, who knows; it's your prerogative).  It wasn't meant for you.  It WAS meant for those out there that WANT to be better yet do nothing about it.  That's different than wanting to be better but not being capable of fulfilling that desire.  Injuries, time constraints, responsibilities, etc all get in the way of what is essentially a hobby (although I see it more as a part time job that pays nothing and takes everything...) and that is not necessarily a bad thing.  Having those extenuating circumstances, however, removes your right to whine.  There is no whining, no pre-whining, and no excuse-making.  Either do it, or don't do it. 

I was very, very happy last week to see some new faces at SwimMAC Carolina Masters.  I'm hoping more will show up in the upcoming weeks and months.  Those who do will reap the benefits over time.  They will take control of their own athletic destiny as opposed to leaving it to chance and stagnation.  For that, I salute you.

On Saturday a good group vanned up to Morganton, NC to do a loop of awesome in the mountains.  Myself, Scott "the Pro Destroyer" Woodbury, Andrew "Fletch Wound'' Fletcher, Jonathan "Profile Design" Story, Jenny "Butt-lifter" Leiser and Ashley "Honey Badger" Ackerman. 



Fog = chance of epic

The forecast all week had called for the chance of thunderstorms so we were all hoping they'd stay away.  On the drive up it looked like it could be epic with some good fog but once we got to Morganton the skies were blue and partly cloudy.  It was gorgeous. 

The Destroyer uses his muscles for something other than intimidation

MMmmm, Cervelo

The climb up Hwy 181 began in earnest and started the ride with a bang.  The Destroyer and the Honey Badger pressed the pace early with everyone else falling off their torrid effort level.  For a couple of miles the gap opened up slowly but surely before at the beginning of the steep middle section Tall Socks (me) bridged the gap with a hard effort.  The Badger and Destroyer set the pace the rest of the way up to the top of the 13mi, HC climb.  In my opinion the hardest of the day.  The next segment was the long, net uphill trek along the BRP before hopping on 221 and going by Grandfather Mountain.  The result of all that climbing meant that the descent into Linville was, as always, very rewarding, very fast, and very fun (except for the dumb Prius driver that underestimated our speed then gave us the double finger for our expressions of displeasure). 

Grandfather Mountain ahead!

Next up was the first store stop of the day where two good things happened.  Firstly, we were complimented on our riding abilities by a young smoker on our riding abilities with the addition "I couldn't do what y'all do man."  No shi*.  Quit smoking.  The other was the Honey Badger's purchase of an 18" frozen popsicle and the attempt to unfreeze it by sticking it in his bibs.  The resulting facial expression was...priceless.  This store stop is also where the Butt-Lifter received her nickname.

Too soon it was time to head on and Hickory Nut Gap awaited.  At the beginning of the climb the Destroyer took off like a destroyer from hell, while the rest started a little more slowly.  Soon though, the Badger opened up a slight gap on the others in his quest to chase down the cobra.  Before too long, Tall-Socks felt the need to roadie it up and chase down the attackers.  After catching the Badger and both catching the Destroyer, Tall-Socks kicked it into the big chainring in an attempt to see what he was made of but by the top of the climb had still only managed a top 10 on Strava.  Oh well. 

They don't look particularly happy...

The Badger contemplates his next attack



The Badger contemplates the Destroyer off in the distance

 The descent off Hickory Nut was a little gravelly so nobody really pushed the pace (plus the big German wasn't there to flog the downhills...and uphills for that matter).  Shortly after turning left and passing Lees Mcrae the team climbed up 194 and descended shortly thereafter into Valle Crucis.  The skies were looking slightly more ominous than pleasant at this point so when the Badger suffered a cobra puncture wound right before the Shulls Mill Rd climb, the talk turned to things like vulgar stuff.  Nothing at all related to the skies. 

At the beginning of Shulls Mill the Destroyer once again attacked and all everyone saw were his huge calves flexing before he created a gap.  The Badger, fresh off his cobra wound, pushed the pace to catch while everyone fell behind.  Tall-Socks, as is his (my?) M.O. slowly increased the pace before reeling in the Destroyer, who had been passed by the Honey Badger.  After letting a slight gap open up in front of him to Tall-Socks, the Destroyer reached deep into his suitcase of courage, danced on the pedals and tip-toed his way back up to the leading pair.  The Badger set the pace the rest of the way to the top where Tall-Socks unmercifully attacked him just because he set such a fast pace. 

Once everyone re-grouped at the top, rain started on the descent into Blowing Rock, where the rain stopped.  The roads were soaked, however, so everyone had nice wet socks while crunching on their tasty treats.  Before too long, it was time to finish the ride.  The group headed back up the short but annoyingly difficult climb to get onto the BRP.  From Blowing Rock, the Parkway basically climbs all the way to 221.  It is an annoyingly long, hard slog and was made all the more difficult due to the sections of pouring rain.  The Destroyer, Badger and Fletch-Wound set a tough tempo that the other three were unable to match, due in no small part to the Profile-Design's insistence on sipping from his aero-drink.  Not shortly, the group re-grouped and made their way (post 221 intersection) on the mostly downhill stretch back to 181.  On this section, the Heavens quite literally opened.  It was POURING.  It was almost funny, but it was also not.  As they descended, however, the group got warmer.  This was fortunate, as being cold and wet is a bad one-two punch. 

At the intersection of BRP and 181, however, the skies cleared and the humidity oppressed.  Soon, the group climbed back up to the top of 181, with Tall-Socks lagging slightly due to cramps and the HB due to a crack in the armor.  Once at the top, however, the Destroyer and Profile-Design attacked immediately, getting a large gap on Tall-Socks and the Butt-Lifter.  Tall-Socks wanted none of this and subsequently put his chin on his bars and shot downhill at a high rate of speed, leaving the Lifter in his wake.  All too soon, the descent ended and everyone made their way (with time gaps) on the always-surprisingly-long flat section back to the brief climb up to Mt Zion church.  The HB had suffered another puncture, with only Fletch-Wound kind enough to stay back and help him so they were the last to arrive back at the vehicles. 

All in all, a great ride with a great group.  Hopefully many more mountain trips to come this year!!

Going to bat for the swimmers

Alright, it's time to vent.  Lay it all out there.  Put it on record.  Get it off my chest. Go for broke. Tell it like it is.  You get my drift.

I couldn't count using my two hands plus the hands of several of my friends how many times I've heard a triathlete say - not exactly like this but close - "Swimmers have it so easy." Even, "swimmers are so LUCKY."  Or some other form of excusing their own lack of swimmerness.

There is so much wrong with that thought process.  It's SUCH a cop out.

While I don't have personal experience, I'm pretty confident in saying that in terms of sports, swimmers have it the hardest.  I'm not speaking to the "big 3" sports that dominate American athletics (football, baseball, basketball), those are irrelevant in this discussion.  Top level high school and collegiate age swimmers can hit 80,000 yards (or more?) per WEEK of training.  Maybe not every week, maybe not more than once or twice a month during a big build you can bet your boots that many swimmers are hitting double workouts each day and totaling well over 10k a day.  Just think about that for a second.  10k a week is a fairly big number for most triathletes.

Collegiate runners may hit 100 miles a week or more but they get to go out and explore trails, paths, roads, etc and run and converse with their skinny buddies.  I'm not discounting how much work they do, they're just limited by the fact that running is so high impact.  100 miles a week for a good runner is, at most, ~15hrs a week of actual running.  They fake their way through strength training and other such non-running activities but the bulk of their work is probably in the 12-18hr a week range.  100k a week of swimming is probably double that. Then add in dry-land.  Then add in strength.  It's ridiculous how much work swimmers do in their ''careers.''

So to say something like "oh they have it so easy" is preposterous.  They worked HARD for that strength. I do not feel sorry for myself in any way that someone like Doug Van Wie can put 2+ minutes into me in a sprint triathlon.  I admire the work ethic, dedication, and athleticism that put him in that position.  It took him extremely far in his prior sport (to the Trials and a world-record if I'm not mistaken?) and will take him extremely far in triathlon.  It's impossible to begrudge him (or anyone like him) that kind of "advantage." To even call it an "advantage" is frustrating.  Everyone else had the same opportunity to get in the pool at a young age.  Everyone could have started down that path a long time ago, but few chose to do so.  I know I toyed with the idea of joining the swim team in high school but didn't because they had to wake up early.

Think swimmer's "don't know how easy they have it?"  Why don't you go and try to do a workout with a real swimmer.  They don't have it easy.  In a triathlon, they don't have it easy.  It doesn't get "easier," you just go faster.

Too many triathletes putz their way through swimming thinking they'll get better with their pathetic swim workouts.  It's not going to happen.  You don't just "get better." It's a long, patience-driven and sometimes frustrating path of years and yards.

Triathletes seem to understand that to get better at running you have to run more and sometimes harder.  They also understand that to get better on the bike you have to...umm...ride more and more harder.  Yet somehow that knowledge and understanding is lost when it comes to swimming.

Take a look at this list and what stands out:

Kenneth Svendsen
Sebastian Binneman
Scott Woodbury
Ashley Ackerman
Mark Carey
Nick _____
James Haycraft
Donny Forsyth

Every one of these guys (and I'm sure some I'm forgetting, sorry) will be at or near the front at a local race (some even near the front on a bigger scale).  As far as I know, none of them grew up a "swimmer."  All of them put in year after year of hard work in the pool to get where they are.

Speaking from personal experience, 4 years ago I did my first ever open water swim at the Lake Norman YMCA sponsored swims.  It was the longest 1500m of my life and took me a little bit over 30 minutes.  I had started lap swimming (for the first time in my life, I might add) in June of that year.  So four years ago I would have swum 30-32 minutes in an olympic distance triathlon.  Now I would expect to swim under 22 minutes and come up within a minute or two of the fastest swimmer (unless Doug, Matt, or Duff show up to race) at any local race.  Anyone can look at my training logs.  I had never stepped foot (or dipped a toe I should say) into a pool with the intention of becoming a faster swimmer until the summer of 2008.  And now I expect to emerge from the swim and get on the bike in the top 5.  Progress. 

And all these swimmers didn't get better by busting out weak-ass swims of 5x100 pull on [insert low effort interval here].  They did it by hammering over and over and over, day after day, month after month, year after year.  Swimming all out 100s until your arms and legs tingle so much and you start seeing stars.  Gut-wrenching sets of 500+ yards at an effort level similar to a 20 minute power test.  Over, over, and over again.  

Triathletes can (and should) swim hard at almost every swim session they attend.  The standard formula should be: wu of 500-1000, main set of 2.5-3.5k, warm down.  2,000 yards + of hard swimming 3, 4, or 5 times a week.  When I hear or read about triathletes who really feel like they are "putting in the work," my initial thought is to never believe them.  No, your pathetic swim workouts are not enough to make you get to the level that you think you are capable of.  When you swim 15+ minutes in a race and *think* you should be at 13 (or some analogous time difference), there's a big discrepancy.  No, it's not because the course is 2+ minutes long.  It's because you're not as good as you think you are.

So, in short:

1) Stop complaining
2) Work harder to get better
3) Come into T1 closer to the front than the back
4) Problem solved

It's simple.  Just that step 2 takes a while...

Triangle Triathlon

Triangle Triathlon 7/14/12
750m - 17.5mi - 5k

I drove up to Cary, NC to drop off some bikes at Inside Out (unfortunately I had brought the wrong ones with me; further, I would forget to bring one back that I had said I would...alas) and register for the race (since I had forgotten online registration) on Friday afternoon.  Besides me being out of whack, mentally, everything went fine and I headed to Mark Carey's house in Chapel Hill to spend the night.  We made a trip to the ol' Harris Teeter where I made the fateful decision to purchase a pint of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ben and Jerry's (well, I suppose the fateful decision would be eating the entire thing in ~10 minutes, not necessarily purchasing it).  Needless to say, it was delicious.

We woke up early Saturday morning and headed to the race site at 5:30am.  I was a little nervous because I felt as though something...wrong...was happening inside me.  We made it to the race, loaded up and rode that bikes to the transition area where I set up on my rack pretty quickly (I was a high # since I registered at packet pickup, unfortunately not in the same place as the other opens in whose wave I was racing) before realizing that I needed to hit a porto.  I needed to to hit it stat.  Unfortunately, the stop did little to clear away my issues.  Having never dealt with something like this before; I didn't think that much of it.  I figured I could get away with a lot in a sprint.  Any maybe I could have, but not this time.  Oh well.

Swim - 12:27 (7th)

I lined up to the far left next to Mark and Doug and as the gun sounded took off at an extremely ambitious pace.  Almost immediately I felt hands slapping my feet nice and gently and I looked up to see only (who I assumed was) Doug ahead of me.  Only a minute into the swim he already had what appeared to be a 50 yard lead.  Ridiculous.

I made it to the first buoy ahead of everyone but Doug and pressed on until at about halfway Mark, Chris (Tommerdahl) and Greg took a different path.  I thought my line was straight so continued on directly towards the second, and final turn buoy.  I saw them off to my left the whole time and they weren't gaining any ground so I was content to remain where I was.  At the second buoy our paths naturally merged and I found myself on Chris' feet, with Greg off to the left and Mark ahead of her.  A little ways onward Mark let Chris take the lead and got on her feet while I stayed behind him; it was like being in a jacuzzi staring straight at a couple of the water jets. There was a lot of noise in the water, so I was content to sit there and enjoy the draft as my arms and legs tingled from the effort level.  I exited the water close behind Mark and Chris and a little further back from Greg (and we were all 2+ minutes down on Doug).

T1 - 1:37 (27th)

The run up to transition was a long one and I didn't push it for fear of dying.  I got to my rack space (which was close to the swim exit but far from the bike start/finish) and had a not-perfect transition before heading out onto the bike course.

Bike - 41:34 (2nd)

Once out on the bike we had to negotiate some fairly narrow bends marked by cones and I pulled ahead of Chris as she was doing up her shoes and kept pace with Mark.  After the cones were gone I concentrated on not doing anything stupid.  A little ways onward I passed Mark with Greg only a bit up the road.  Once I caught Greg and passed him I looked back to see Greg pacing with me and Mark a little ways back, which surprised me as I expected him to be right there as well.

Regardless, I pressed onwards but without my watts I was unsure of my effort level.  I mean that in the sense that I don't care if I'm OVER my target, I care if I'm UNDER my target.  I'm a slave to the numbers and, for the most part, I think it's a good thing.  I think I should have ridden this course harder, but with Greg being a constant presence it became "easy" to use his pace as opposed to setting my own.  Oh well, tangential word vomit.

Greg and I swapped the pace setting duties a few times as we tried to catch Doug.  As the course continued it became clear that it would take almost the whole bike to do so (hopefully, anyway).  It was exceptionally humid and my visor was fogged over completely so I kept trying to push it up but it didn't want to.  I kept expecting my legs to warm to the effort but unfortunately they never did, and Greg and I continued onwards until we caught a glimpse of Doug a ways up the road.

Unfortunately, we didn't catch him until literally T2.  I hopped off my bike with expeditiousness, hoping to run my way into the lead.

T2 - 00:45 (3rd)

I had a long run with my bike but had a quick transition.  My T2s do not appear to be a problem.  It is T1s that need some work...

Run - 22:21 (69th)

I went out and over the mats only a couple of feet behind Doug, but could tell almost immediately that my stomach was going to have none of this fast running.  I managed to hold him in my sights (that doesn't mean I was close to him sadly) until we turned onto the trails but after that I slowed dramatically.  My stomach felt very knotted and/or riled up and running fast made the sensations extremely unpleasant.  So I basically resigned myself to a nice trail run and tried to cheer (lamely, because I suck at cheering) everyone I saw.  Anyway, I ran slowly (very slowly) to the finish.  A bit disappointed, but happy to still finish 5th OA.

I was not happy with the outcome of the race, but since it was my first bad race of the year and it's July, I can't take too much away from it.  I made a bad pre-race decision and paid the price.  That's the way the cookie (dough ice cream...bang!) crumbles sometimes.

Next up is a good week of training, then a little more training, then Giant Eagle 5150! I'm excited to see how fast I can do a true olympic distance and still get my butt handed to me by some legit professionals.  Hopefully I don't slip up and ask for any autographs!