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Sunday, August 30, 2015

RW Olympic Recap

Sunday, August 23, 2015
Rhode Warrior Olympic Distance Triathlon
RESULTS..scroll down for the olympic race
2:58:04, 2nd overall


With my well chronicled and often complained about knee issues of the past year, the Rhode Warrior Olympic Triathlon was scheduled to be my BIG race of the race.  When I say BIG, I'm referring to distance.  The thought of completing a half iron or even half marathon does not cross my mind.  As I've transitioned more towards triathlon and this particular race had me excited.  Based off the advertised distances (1 mile swim, 30 mile bike, and 6.5 mile run), I figured this race would match my strengths.  Training has been fun.  To ward off further knee injury and to keep my sanity, I've biked more this summer than ever.  My swim, which isn't fantastic, is competitive.  As for the run, my training is limited but I can tough it over most other triathletes.

Race day
Being a home town race, Shara and I slept in (4:45 am wake-up).  We quickly ate breakfast, did one final gear check, and headed down to Misquamicut for battle.  While setting up in transition, we ran into friend and teammate (what evcr did come of the proposed team competition?), Jeff Walker.  After all of our gear was set, Jeff and I went off for a very, easy warmup jog.  My knee was already talking to me--great!  While walking down to the swim with Shara, Jeff, and Super Fan, Mikey B., we all noticed that the swim distance seemed especially far.  I tried not to say too much about it because I did not want to psych any of us out.

Going into battle
Team WTAC
The SHARK and I..right before go time



Swim, 43:06, distance unknown

Before I knew, it was go time.  All of the men were starting in one wave, which really excited me because I'd know exactly where I'd stand throughout the race.  Shortly into the swim, my goggles filled with water.  This caused me some panic as I wear contacts and wanted to see as well as possible throughout the race.  Since the swim was on the long side, I decided it would be in my best interest to stop and fix those bad boys.  Unfortunately, my goggle issue carried on throughout the swim and I had to fix and re-adjust them at least 3 or 4 times.  Swimming along, it felt like I was going no where. Was I having a really tough, slow day in the water?  The only way I could tell was to gauge myself
off other competitors.  I was passing others rather than being passed, which was good for me mentally.  However, the flow of the current definitely changed.  In my head, I gave thought to what seemed to be a longer distance swim and a changing current.  Rather than dwelling on something I could not control, I swam on.  Focus.  Keep trying to catch people.  Spot buoys.  I kept moving.  As I was approaching the final buoy, I was suddenly passed by another competitor or possibly a fast moving shark.  This person/fish swam by me with authority.  I popped my head out of the water and sure enough...it was Shara (who started her swim a full 5 minutes after me)!  I put my head back in the water and tried to maintain my form.  I wanted to stay with Shara but it was pointless.  She is a far superior swimmer to me and I needed to focus on my own race.  You go, girl!  Before I knew it, I was out of the after and off to T1.
T1

Bike-ask Fast Finishes timing services
As I ran out of transition and mounted on my bike, I was a little bit in panic mode.  My wife had at least a minute or two on me and she started 5 minutes behind me.  In overall contention, I had no idea where I stood.  Heading out on Bradford Road, I caught up to Shara, offered her well wishes (No, really, I did), and let her know that I was in trouble and had a ton of time to make up on her.  After cruising along the bike course, it was time to head out on the dreaded Tomaquag Road.  While this road is almost completely free of traffic, I can't stand the bumps and road surfaces.  Riding on the road is anti-climatic and I just wanted to get off it.  The second half of the ride went by quickly and I felt strong.  I think I was passed by two riders and tried to keep them close enough where I could strike back at them on the run.  Towards the end of the ride coming down Shore Road and trying to cross Winnapaug Road, I had to come to a complete stop due to traffic.  A police officer was assigned to stop traffic but he was not ready for me. {*I later found out that the same officer had Shara and a bunch of other competitors ride down Winnapaug Road instead of following the proposed course.  There probably should have been a race official at that point so the officer could solely focus on traffic}.  Coming off the bike, I dismounted, drank some water, and felt pretty good.

Run, 6.5 miles, 40:35
Starting the run, I wanted to immediately get into a controlled, steady pace.  As I was leaving transition, Marc Burbelo was right in front of me.  I asked myself, "How and when did he get in front of me?"  As I passed Marc, I offered him well wishes and picked off another competitor whom I hadn't seen before in the race.  After passing a few competitors at the start of the run, I really did not see anyone else for quite a while.  While my legs were holding up pretty good, I was parched and could tell dehydration was looming.  I literally stopped at every water stop the rest of the way.  In some places I drank two drinks just to get water back into my system.  With about a 1 1/2 to go I came up on one last competitor.  Since it was a game of survival at this point, I carefully passed him and wished him well.  The final mile I was completely solo.  I crossed the line in 2nd place overall!

Post race
Shara came in shortly after I finished. She was 4th overall and beat the next women by 18 minutes!!  I was very proud of her win and overall performance.  On a side note- I was also happy that I was able to put 3 minutes between her and I.  I won't go down without a fight!  Despite all of the logistical nightmares with the long swim and current, issues on the bike course, and humidity, it was a great day for both of us.  Shara dominated and it was my highest placing in a triathlon ever.  I was also happy that my knee withstood the 6.5 mile run.

Post race.  Happy with results.

Other notes:
-It turns out Marc Burbelo and a group of other competitors were also led off course on the bike.  While coming back into the Misquamicut area they were directed back down Weekapaug Road by a race official.  Unfortunately, Marc was DQd.  I felt bad for him as it wasn't his fault and he self reported to the race director what happened.

-I know the ride was 30 miles and the run was 6.5.  The swim was definitely long.  How long exactly?  We may never never know..plus I don't wear a Garmin for TRIs.

-The race results still aren't perfect.  The only split that matches in my results is my swim.  The overall time was correct as well, but my transitions, bike, and run don't really exist.  It's frustrating because all triathletes want to know how they stacked up against the competition.  We may never know.  I do know that I completed the run in 40:35, which is about 6:15 pace.  I used my Timex to figure it out.

-Congratulations to Gazelle on finishing a grueling half iron and still placing in his age group.  It was a brutal day out there.



Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Block Island

Block Island Triathlon
August 1, 2015
Results


This would be my third "go around" with the Block Island Triathlon.  My history with this race goes back to August 2012 when I was hanging out on The Block with the cousin for his bachelor party and ran into Jeff Walker and Steve Schonning right after they finished the race.  I told myself that day, "Next year, I want to do this thing."  Having never done a triathlon before, I thought it would be a cool event to try.  Fast forward three years, I'm now consistently doing TRIs and love the training for the sport.  Up until a few weeks before the 2015 installment of the race, it didn't look like this race was going to happen for me.  After a final convincing email thread from Jeff and Chris Garwin, I talked Shara into signing up for the thing on our plane ride home from our honeymoon.


Pre-Race
We took the 6 am ferry over with the WTAC crew.  We had plenty of time to set up in transition and check out conditions.  While the weather may have been hot, conditions were nearly perfect for a triathlon.  Warming up for the race with a jog, I needed to determine how I would run the race due to high tide.  Options included running on thick sand or on a pitched drop.  Talked things over with Shara, Jeff, and Matthew and figured I'd base it off conditions during the run portion.


Swim-7:37, 8th
After a disappointing swim last week, it was my hope that I'd have a strong swim today.  As my wave went off, I worked to get a clean jump into the water so I could get good positioning.   A minute or two of the swim passed and I was feeling smooth.  There was only one guy in my wave ahead of me and I tried to stay as close to him as possible.  Before I knew it, I was almost out of the water and still feeling good. 


T1:1:31, 14th not bad for me!


Bike-38:19, 34th
 I was somewhat nervous about the bike portion of this race.  Knowing the course is hilly, I feared a really poor ride that would greatly impact my overall standing in the race.  Shortly after I was out on the bike, the eventual race winner, John Hirsch, went cruising by me.  I didn't make much of him passing me since I knew he was a far superior cyclist.  I continued to ride on and had a feeling in the back of my mind that my friend and teammate, Chris, would be next to blow by me on the bike.  Sure enough, Chris came.  We offered one another quick words of encouragement and he was off.  In the back of mind, it was highly unlikely that I'd see Chris again in the race.  I continued to ride the rolling course and put my best effort forward.  At various parts of the ride, I became frustrated with traffic out on the course.  A series of slow downs and hairy situations came about and I wanted to focus on the race.  Oh well, it's Block Island. 


T2: hadn't taken water or any nutrition at this point and needed to drink some Gatorade.  I was parched.  Threw on my race belt and off to the most dreaded part of this race--a high tide beach run.


Run-25:13-4th
Going into the run, my biggest concern was my knee.  My running volume has been really low and I knew I needed to gauge my expectations.  One of my main goals going into the race was to remain unscathed on a difficult beach run.  It took me a few minutes to get acclimated to running on a slanted surface.  I started to settle into a groove and was passing a few of the guys who ripped past me on the last portion of the bike.  It's always a confidence booster to catch these guys since it really stinks not to be able to respond to them on the bike.  As I worked to get to the half way point of the run, Shara came blazing by and I knew she was the 1st women.  Awesome!  Keeping on, I felt over heated and slow.  On the upside, I knew the only competitors I needed to worry about on the run were my teammates and one of them was already in front of me.  After turning the flag, I worked my way back to the Benson Beach and wanted to finish strong.  I crossed the finish line and couldn't wait to get water.  I immediately drank 3 or 4 cups of water and someone told me they thought I was 3 or 4th.  At that point, I wasn't sure what to make of the finish due to the staggered start.


Post race
I finished 3rd overall, my highest placing in a TRI ever.  Shara won* the women's race, which was really cool.  Chris landed himself a strong 2nd place overall and was only beat by a professional athlete and 7X race winner.  Jeff finished 7th overall and had the #2 run on the day.  Jeff, I dream of landing a 7th place finish in a TRI in my 50s.  Matthew landed a strong 30th place overall and rocked the run.  Polly finished 112th and had a strong finish in her division.  After awards and shower, the WTAC Crew grabbed lunch and enjoyed a few more hours on the island before heading home on the 3:30 fast ferry.


Thoughts
-Pumped for Shara with her overall win in the race. *Initially Shara was not interested in this race due to the beach run.  I'm hopeful her win and the allure of The Block will make her want to come back in future years.
-I was happy with my 3rd place overall finish, which was my highest ever in a TRI.  I'm not sure if I'll ever place higher so I better enjoy it.
-Had one of my best swims in a race to date
-Disappointed in my riding.  I can't blame my bike anymore.  This one is on me.  I need to keep working on the bike to get stronger and more efficient.  Looking for any tips insights to do so.
-Happy to report I did not have increased pain after the run.  Ice and ibuprofen help.  I wasn't especially impressed with my run.  However, with my current volume of running, I'm not sure how much better I could have done.  Running and competing pain free is more important at this point.
-In general, it was just an awesome day competing and hanging out my WTAC friends on the Block (Jeff, Steve, Chris, Katie, Matthew, Polly, Garv's kids, and Shara-she's my friend, right?).



Great people, great day!