RHOTO IRONMAN 70.3: RACE REPORT

“So this is only half an Ironman?” That’s the question I was left with after crossing the finish line at the Rhoto Ironman 70.3 California…

Pre-Race

Being my first 70.3, I tried to set very basic goals for myself.

1.)     Begin with a smooth swim.

3.)     Don’t crash my bike (after to minor bike crashes the month before.)

4.)     Run at a 7 min. pace. After a few great PRs, I wanted to test my limit here.

5.)     FINISH!

The Swim

After the brisk swim over to the in-water start, I started to relax a bit. After-all, this was just another race, right? Then at 7:11am my wave was unleashed into the Oceanside Harbor. After a sub-par swim at the Superseal Olympic Tri, my strategy was to simply swim and not think. However, simply swimming was more difficult than anticipated as I was forced to weave my way through all pods of various colored caps (the waves of swimmers that had been sent before mine.) One day I hope

to overcome my strong dislike for open water swimming (my hatred for wetsuits, my poor sighting ability, my anxiety caused by other swimmers touching me.) Overall a decent swim and a great way to start the race!

Swim Time: 27:54

T1

T = transition, NOT “time-out.” Keeping that in mind I always put a run from the water to the transition zone. Cleats, helmet, glasses, GATORADE! (Unfortunately, my clumsiness leads to wasting time fumbling with things. Plenty of opportunity to improve here!)

T1 Time: 5:35

The Bike

With a new computer, aero helmet and aero bars, I was ready to conquer the course. As everyone had described, it was BACK HEAVY! I felt like I was flying through the first third of the distance, only to be halted by a freakish wind (slowing the course by about 5 minutes compared to previous years.)  Still, the bike went much smoother than I had anticipated. Could it be that I’m starting to warm up to cycling? With about 10 miles to go, Hunter blew by be yelling “Let’s go doggie!” This was the added to push I needed to re-focus and hammer it back to transition. The boost came partially from the encouragement, but more so because I knew I’d have less chance of catching him if he gained too much ground on me. Despite the wind, I still pretty much nailed my goal speed of 21 mph.

Bike Time: 2:51:20

T2

Maybe someday I’ll break down and practice transitioning.

T2 Time: 2:16

The Run

It was time to test my limits with my over-ambitious run goal. I ran the first 2 miles at a 7:00 minute pace, and slowly began to fall apart. Around mile 2 I passed Hunter, so then had to run 11 more miles wondering if he was catching me. I was struggling to keep my form together while covered in salt, sweat, Chocolate Gu and Coke. I had most definitely under-estimated how much the bike was going to drain me. Nonetheless, the cheers at the finish line made it all worth it.

Run Time: 1:37:49

Overall Time: 5:04:54

Division Place (males 18-24): 4^th

Overall this was a great event that I recommend to everyone. However, I'm having trougle imagining how my body is going to react to a race that's twice the distance. Unfortunately there’s no time to revel in success… Ironman Coeur d’Alene is in less than 3 months!

Thanks to everyone who helped me pull off a great first 70.3. A special thanks goes out to my roommates, Hunter and Hersh for serving as my live-in bike techs and training partners.

Here's a reason to visit Providence & Denver...

SAFARI PARK HALF MARATHON: RACE REPORT

A few months ago, it dawned on me that I had only raced two half-marathons in my entire life.  Back in High School when running sparked my interest, my training runs were catered to the Half Marathon distance; however I was only racing 5ks. At the time, I wanted to improve my 5k before I “graduated” up to 10k, 12k, etc.  Still naive and inexperienced, in 2004 I finished my first Half Marathon (Caesar Rodney Half in Wilmington, DE) in 1:45:40.  Then six years later I dropped 8½ minutes at the 2010 OC Half Marathon in Newport Beach, CA, finishing in a time of 1:37:07. 

With my first Half IronMan (IronMan 70.3 California) rapidly approaching, I decided that a solid half-marathon performance in March would be assuring.  After 5 months of running success, I was confident that I could finish a half in under 1:30:00. The question was, “Would I?” A handful of co-workers were registered for the Inaugural Safari Park Half Marathon, so I immediately jumped on the bandwagon!  The race was perfectly timed, 20 days before my half-iron. 

When I woke up on race day, there were two potential inhibitors looming over me.  One, Daylight Savings had gone into affect so I had lost an hour of sleep. Two, the day before I had ridden 70 miles so my legs were pretty torn up. But seeing the glass half-full, Oceanside was my priority, so the fitness gain was my reason for racing.

With an open-mind, I started the race like any other. I was on a mission for a sub 1:30:00 finish time. Knowing that I had a decent amount of ground to cover, I mentally transformed the race into an epic adventure through Africa to help pass the time. As usual, I was running without a watch so my focus was on my stride and posture. I'm a firm believer that your body will tell you more than a watch ever could. Based on what I'd learned during my fall marathon training, I seemed to be running well! 

Mile-by-mile I focused on maintaining a constant effort. I was slightly dissapointed that I didn't see any of the park animals. Wait no, I saw a horse! (After growing up near Pennsylvania, this was everything but exciting.) In actuality, I probably missed all the park animals because I was in the "zone," and focused on the road ahead. I felt great up until mile 9 when a heavy fatigue struck me like a sucker-punch. Struggling to hang-on, I was saved by the Chocolate Outrage Gu around the 10-mile mark. Slightly revived, I was determined not to lose it all in the last 5k of the race. As it turns out, all of those 5k's I've raced paid off, because I stayed strong all the way across the finish line, 1:29:05!!! Needless to say, I was estatic! Oceanside, here I come!

Congrats to all CGIers who raced at Safari Park! In all, we had over a dozen!

(Photo compliments to Ollie Neglerio, http://ollie.neglerio.com)

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

February was a heavy travel month, New Orleans for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Marathon, followed by a trip to Texas for the Livestrong Austin Marathon, and finally a day trip up North to test my spear-throwing skills at the Spartan Race in Temecula.  Don’t get me wrong, I love living like a jetsetter but I also love San Diego!  It’s always a great feeling when I step outside of the airport just to be welcomed home by the smell of the Pacific sea breeze.  This is why I’m stoked to be here in San Diego for the entire month of March!

Staying true to tradition, March came in like a lion!  After a week of heavy training sessions, crazy deadlines and numerous “bumps” in the road, I was ready for a much-needed Saturday here in San Diego.  I woke up, bright and early (just how I like to) for Chelsea’s 5k in Balboa Park.  Over 5,000 runners and walkers came out for the event.  It was refreshing to see so many people rallying to raise awareness and honor the memory of Chelsea King.  The front-end of the course was flat and fast, so fast that my first mile split was a 5:16.  That’s much less impressive once you know that I finished in 19:12.   While it was a good follow-up to the 19:08 that I ran at the Paramount Break-A-Leg 5k in Austin, it still left me hovering over the 19:00 mark.  One of these days I’ll breakdown and either start running with a watch or start doing pace work.  18:59 is so close that I can practically taste it!

The San Diego sunshine showed her face at the finish line festival in Balboa Park, making for an awesome morning!   After re-hydrating and moaning about the killer hill at the end of the course with some co-workers, my roommate Hunter and I headed back to North County for our afternoon ride.  Unfortunately, Ironman 70.3 Oceanside is only 28 days away, and we couldn’t join the rest of the crew for brunch.

The 4-hour ride inland was great!  I’m feeling more and more confident that I’m going to deliver a solid performance at Oceanside in 4 weeks (knock on wood.)  We followed-up the ride with a 1 mile swim-down, then cruised by Seaside Market for some food.  It was a very “San Diego” Saturday, exactly what I needed!  

XTERRA MISSION GORGE RACE REPORT

Ahhh Mission Gorge, so we meet again…

XTERRA Mission Gorge 2010 was my first XTERRA trail run, so for the 2011 race I felt that had an advantage on all of the first-timers.  The course is gnarly, whether you’re a veteran or a newbie.  The 15k starts off with fire roads, a creek, some rolling hills, and a couple ridiculous climbs jutting upward.  Then, the “trail” morphs into mountain goat terrain so your hoofing it uphill and down, just waiting to lose your footing. Trail shoes are a must! The stair climb is next and I’m not speaking figuratively.  There is basically a stairway, so steep that walking is a must, taking you straight up into the sky! The first time I made the trek to the top, I thought, is this the actual “Stairway to Heaven?” Well, the answer is NO! What goes up, must come down.  The descent is even more agonizing than the climb. It brings you down, fast, hard and spits you out onto a streamside where you're forced to navigate rocks and boulders. Fast foot-work is definitely a key skill here, the portion is a wipeout waiting to happen.  Finally, you head out onto paved road to pick your tempo up, then onto gravel and 400m, 200m, 100m, FINISH!

2010 Results

1.32.35; 8^th in Age Group; 83^rd Overall

2011 Results

1.17.40; 2^nd in Age Group; 27^th Overall

A finish time 15 MINUTES faster than last year!  I’d say that’s a major improvement!  

. . .

When I sat down for a Monday morning 9am meeting, the attention focused to me.

“You look exhausted. Long weekend?”

“Yeah, I celebrated my birthday, ran a 15k trail race on Sunday, and I just got done with 6am swim practice.”

“I thought this stuff was supposed to be good for you?”

I just smiled.

Where did January go?

 

Where did January go? I have no idea! I guess I've been so focused that I didn't even realize how quickly time was passing. On the 1st I ran a solid 5k at the New Year's Resolution Run back in Delaware. Then on the 9th I followed up with an Age-Group 2nd place at the XTERRA Boney Mountain Half Marathon. Two weeks later, on the 22nd, it was time for the EnduranceLIVE Consumer Show & Awards Gala at the HardRock in San Diego. The rest of the month was a blur, a jam-packed blur, but a blur nonetheless!

New 2011 Sponsor - Blazin Swimwear

I'm proud to be representing Blazin Swimwear for the 2011 Racing Season!