Two for One

I've participated in two triathlons since my last post.

The first was the Xterra Lake Tahoe Triathlon on August 26, 2011.

It was a very tough 0.92 mile swim, 22 mile mountain bike ride, and 6 mile run.  The weather was fairly warm and very humid.  Here's my story for the event:

• Enjoy a fun and beautiful swim in Lake Tahoe;
• Grind through a fun, scenic, and hard mountain bike ride on the Flume Trail and Tahoe Rim Trail;
• Suffer through a winding, rolling, and interesting run course;
• Finish in 4:08:36.

Due to a combination of being completely destroyed from the Xterra Lake Tahoe Triathlon, additional pressure at work, and illness I didn't do any training for the next two weeks.  Then back to training for two weeks before participating in the Granite Bay Triathlon.

I feel much better about my results at the Granite Bay Triathlon than Xterra Lake Tahoe.  The weather was perfect, a little over cast and slightly cool; and it was nice to have a slightly later start of 9am. The water level in the lake was fairly high, which made for a short run from the water to T1.  In some years, the water is so low that the run from the water to T1 is at least 1/4 mile.

I tried to pace myself to save some energy for the run, and ended up shaving about 5 minutes off my time from last year for a total time of 1:48:15.  Here's a quick comparison of my splits for the last three years:

I ended up 8 of 14 in my age group and 46 of 202 overall.

Next year means a new age group for me!

Wild West Relay

I participated in the Wild West Relay running event a couple weeks ago. The WWR is a 200 mile relay run from Fort Collins to Steamboat Springs in Colorado. There were 12 people and two drivers on my team, traveling in two Suburbans.  The route is divided into 36 legs with the first Suburban handling Legs 1-6, 13-18, 25-30; and Suburban No. 2 responsible for Legs 7-12, 19-24, 31-36. I had Legs 9, 22, and 33. The organizer designated my legs as hard, easy, and hard; respectively. The first leg was 3.5 miles-almost entirely uphill; climbing from 6300 feet to 7000 feet.  I put in a good effort and finished with an average pace of 9:30 minutes per mile.  After that I took my seat in the Suburban and rested, cheered, and ate while we followed the rest of our runners in our Suburban.

Suburban No. 2 Crew

Scenery

My First Leg

Working Hard

Once the six runners in my Suburban ran their first leg, Suburban No. 1 took up the baton and my Suburban drove to the next exchange point at Woods Landing.  A fifth wheel trailer was there waiting for us to use while we waited about four hours for the runners in Suburban No. 1 to finish their second legs.  We had a nice spaghetti dinner at the cafe/bar, and then tried to get some sleep.  The fifth wheel had enough beds for everyone and should have been a great place to get some good sleep.  Unfortunately, the heat in the trailer and an impromptu screening of Batman, The Dark Knight prevented me from getting quality sleep.  Eventually, I gave up on the trailer and drug my sleeping bag outside to lay down in a grassy area near the creek.  It actually worked out really well and I managed to sleep for 30 minutes or so.  Soon enough, Suburban No. 1 rolled in followed by their last runner; and my Suburban started on its second Legs at around 10:00 pm.  For our second Legs we had to wear a headlamp, reflective vest, and blinking red tail light for visibility.  My second leg started around 1:00 am and was scheduled to be an easy 5.8 miles of mostly downhill, descending from 8401 feet to 7934 feet with a 300 foot climb near the beginning.  The terrain was grasslands and scrub brush.  Near the beginning of my Leg I saw a meteor shoot across the sky, and heard an animal making a haunting bellowing sound that I later learned was a moose.  After a quick climb I cruised the descent, then pushed really hard on the flats and gradual climb to the finish.  I finished with an 8:27 min/mile pace.  Then I was back in the Suburban waiting for the next stop and a chance to sleep.

My Second Leg

The fifth wheel trailer was waiting for us at Walden where we had another 4 hour rest before it was our turn to run again.  I crawled into my bunk and was asleep in no time at all.  We woke up around 7:30 am and after a quick breakfast of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, nuts, and dried cranberries we were driving to the next van exchange. My last leg involved a 500 foot climb near Rabbit Ears Pass, and a 800 foot descent along Highway 40.  It was a difficult run and I had to push myself to keep up a good pace; descending is pretty hard on the legs.  I finished with a 9:06 min/mile pace.  Back into the Suburban one more time.  Once our last runner started we drove to the finish at the middle school in Steamboat Springs.  We waited for our final runner and the whole team crossed the finish line together.  Our overall pace was 9:49 min/mile for nearly 200 miles.

My Third Leg

Finishing My Third Leg

Happy to be Finished Running

Entire Team at the Finish Line

After the finish, we devoured the post race barbecue and collected our finisher medals.  That afternoon, a few of us decided to go tubing on the Yampa River in Steamboat.  The river runs through town and is very popular place to relax and enjoy the outdoors.  Later on we met up for a team dinner before we went our separate ways.

The team aspect of the event made the experience very enjoyable.  The team atmosphere was very supportive and encouraging, much different from triathlons where you have to suffer on your own.  The most challenging aspect of the event is the logisitics of trying to sleep and eat in a van in between your running legs.  It's deifinitely worth doing if you can find someone to help with the logistics of providing vans, food, etc. for your team.

People in Boulder are Fast

On Father’s Day I participated in the Boulder Sprint Triathlon - 0.5 mile swim, 17.2 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run.  I say participated rather than raced, because after a few miles on the bike I really wasn’t racing for a position.  This was a marked contrast to my previous triathlon in Auburn.  I was out of the water in a good time, but I went backwards on the bike and run.  I am satisfied with my splits and overall time, so I can only conclude that people in Boulder are FAST.  My brother also offered a unique perspective, “enjoy your last year in the fastest age group for triathletes.  Remember, old triathletes don’t retire, they move on to Ironman.”

I got into Denver on Friday night and stayed with my employer and the owner of the company, Terry.  On Saturday I rented a bike from Boulder Bikesmith, and then we went to Boulder Reservoir to check in and do a pre race workout.  It is amazing how many bike shops there are in Boulder.  A City of about 100,000 has around 19 bike shops!  Some cities that size in Northern California only have one bike shop.  I rented a Giant Defy.  It was a nice bike, and my only complaint is that it didn’t have aerobars.  After our workout, we took the kids to Subway for lunch and hung out at the community pool all afternoon.  After a late afternoon nap, we had a great dinner with grilled chicken and several types of pasta salads.

We were up early on race morning to be at the venue around 6 am.  The Boulder Reservoir is a nice venue for triathlons with great views of the mountains; easy access to rolling bike and run routes; and lots of room for parking, transition racks, spectating, and vendor tents.  The racks were organized by number, and I selected a position with good visibility near the swim in and run out.  This event was huge, and quite possibly the largest triathlon that I have participated in.  There were 134 finishers in my age group, over 600 males, and about 1,200 finishers total.  They started the event in a wave format with eleven waves, each starting 5 minutes apart.  I was the third wave.  Terry started 30 minutes after me.

As I stood on the beach watching the first wave once again I witnessed a large group of swimmers going off course.  The course was a rectangle, and they started out cutting the corner and turned the course into a triangle.  Eventually they figured out their mistake and had to go back to the buoy they skipped. There is an interesting article and quotes in the Boulder paper.  I guess they didn’t pay attention to my last post.

My swim was good.  I repeatedly bumped into people that were swimming towards the wrong buoys.  The most interesting part came on the inbound leg, when the pack I was in suddenly encountered several swimmers from the first wave who were bobbing along.  We were swerving all over the place trying to avoid them.  I came out of the water feeling fresh for the run to T1 in 14th place in my age group.  My swim split was 12:09 with an average pace of 1:22/100 yards.

I easily found my spot in T1 and I was off on the bike.  The bike course was rolling through the countryside east of Boulder.  I really missed not having aerobars on this course.  I got passed by a lot of people in my age group on the bike.  I had the 59th fastest bike split in my age group with at time of 51:14 and an average speed of 20.1 mph.

I flew through T2 and started the run.  The run was an out and back on the dirt road that runs along the reservoir levee.  I tried to gradually increase my pace during the run and basically sprinted the last quarter mile.  I finished the event feeling like I might vomit which reminds me of an article I read in Triathlete Magazine.  Several people in my age group passed me on the run, but not as many as on the bike.  My run split was 26:05 and my pace was 8:24 min/mile.

I ended up with a time of 1:33:33; 74 of 134 in my age group; 263 of 632 males.  Results are here.  Analyzing the results, I can see that my brother is correct – the 35-39 age group is fast.  In the 30-34 age group my time would be good for 37 of 84, and in the 40-44 age group my time would be good for 50 of 115.

Pictures are here by Action Sports International.

After I finished, I went to the Left Hand Brewing Company beer tent and slowly enjoyed a nice ale while I waited for Terry to finish.  His wave started 30 minutes after mine, so I had some time to relax and contemplate one of the many benefits of being a triathlete - beer at 9 am.


After Terry finished, we collected our gear, returned my bike, and went back to his house. We all ate a late breakfast together, spent some time relaxing, then left for the airport.  It was a very nice weekend.

Auburn Sprint Triathlon - May 22, 2011

Last Sunday was the Auburn Triathlon.  I wasn't sure if I was going to race until Wednesday. I am sure glad that I did, because the event was a lot of fun. The event was produced by former pro triathlete Brad Kearn; and his team did an amazing job.  The volunteers were excellent. They ran traffic control on the streets during the bike leg and did a great job keeping the riders safe.  This was a two transition area event, which can be problematic; but the organizers did a super job with the logisitics involved with two transitions. T2 was nicely setup and my run gear was safe overnight. Likewise, after the event my swim gear arrived from T1 safe and sound. I was also impressed with the post race food - Chipotle taco and mini Jamba Juice for athletes. Very cool!

I did the sprint distance event, 1k swim, 30k bike, and 7k run. They also had a half-iron distance, a mini tri, and a duathlon at the same time.  It was great having an event like this close to home.  Since T1 and T2 were at separate locations, I rode my bike up to T2 and setup my run gear on Saturday evening.  On race morning I parked my car at T2/finish, packed my swim gear into a small bag and rode my bike 7 miles to the start/T1.  It was mostly downhill, but actually was a very nice warmup.  Unfortunately, I did manage to lose my sunglasses between my car and T1.


The swim venue was very scenic and felt very remote even though it was close to town. It was tucked away in a finger of Folsom Lake at Rattlesnake Bar with large canyon walls looming above us. I can't say much about the swim that I haven't said before.  Once again, I continue to see swimmers swimming well off course.  I can't overemphasize the importance of proper sighting and a picking a good line. A good line and proper sighting can save you MINUTES and LOTS of energy. I am absolutely amazed by how many people I see swimming 50 to 100 yards off course. We work so hard on getting faster in the pool, but its wasted if we are not taking the shortest distance between the buoys. If I had three swim tips that I would give to triathletes they would be all related to staying on course:


1. Wear goggles that allow you to see. This one is tough for me because of my inner swim snob. I have to confess that I used to wear "socket rocket" goggles and looked down on swimmers that wore goggles that looked more like masks. In open water swimming you have to be able to see where you are headed and what's around you.  If that means that you have to wear a bigger goggle that is more "masklike," then so be it. Also, think about the tint on your goggles. There are all different colors of lenses so make sure you pick one that allows you to see the most. I used to utilize smoke lenses for really sunny events and clear for more overcast days or early mornings. Now I find myself exclusively using clear. The smoke ones cut the glare but they didn't allow me to see more because they were so dark.  Experiment to see what works for you, but I recommend a lighter tint.


2. Know the course.  There are usually two types of buoys - line buoys and turning buoys. Make sure you know which are which and if you are supposed to keep the buoys on your left or right side. Your goal here is to swim in a straight line between the turning buoys - DO NOT rely on the line buoys. Walk the shore and locate all the buoys. Get in the water and check the sight lines starting and finishing.  Swim out a ways and identify objects on the far shore that can aid in sighting from the start to the first corner buoy.  Similarly, swim backwards on the course for a few hundred yards and check the sight line as you head towards the swim finish. Using this information plan the quickest route around the buoys and think about how sharp you need to turn at each buoy. 45 degrees? 90 degrees? Keep in mind that the shortest route may require you to start all the way to one side of the starting chute


3. Sight regularly. Do NOT follow the kyaks or support craft and do NOT rely solely on other swimmers. If you prepared as I described in tip 2 above, then trust yourself. Support craft are there to help distressed swimmers, not guide you. It is true that they often position themselves to keep people from swimming off course, but they are usually well off the optimum line. Also, do not blindly follow a pack of swimmers. I'm sure everyone has heard the saying about the blind leading the blind; the same goes for open water swimming. I've seen an entire pack of swimmers head off for a line buoy, not realizing that it wasn't in a straight line with the turning buoy. While they were heading way off course, myself and a few others took the shorter line and gained an easy 25 to 50 yard advantage.  The essence is to sight enough to make sure you are always heading in the shortest direction. Its hard to explain how to sight. You really need to practice in the open water or in a pool with no lane lines. My technique is to take a quick peek as my head comes out or back in when I breathe. There are other ways. My point is to practice whatever method you choose and remember to do it in the race. When its really hard to see the buoys because of glare, splashing, and/or other swimmers don't be afraid of doing breaststroke for a few strokes until you are sure that you've accurately sighted the next buoy and plotted your course.  Be careful not to make a habit of it, but once or twice during the swim probably won't hurt you too much. Bottom line is that you need to be able to see the buoy to know that you are headed in the right direction.

Getting back to my race report, my swim felt pretty good. I got a good position at the start, I drafted when I could, and I didn't work that hard.  I came out of the water feeling fresh for the run to T1 and in 2nd place in my age group and 9th overall.

No problems in T1 and I was off on the bike. The first third of the bike was a big climb from the lake up to Auburn with a couple really steep switchbacks (800 feet of climbing in 6 miles). I didn't go easy but I didn't go all out.  I tried to save some energy so I could really go hard after the course flattened a bit.  Consequently, I did get passed by two people in my age group on the first third of the course. I remember the second guy going past and I tried to stay with him. I must've forgotten my climbing legs because I could not hang on to him. I feel like I really crushed the last two thirds of the bike course.  I was bombing down hills and made a few passes.  I had the 4th fastest bike split in my age group and 38th overall.

I flew through T2 and was off on the run.  The run was on the same roads and trails that I usually use for my weekend run. The course knowledge really helped me to pace.  The course was very scenic and had a nice view of the American River Canyon. It was a nice mix of trails, gravel road, and paved roads - all closed to traffic. I felt really good and only got passed by a couple of people who weren't in my age group. My run split was 4th in my age group and 46th overall.  I was pleasantly surprised by my 8:17 min/mile pace for the 7k.


After the event I went home, ate lunch, and changed clothes - one of the benefits of attending an event so close to home.  I also checked the results from last year and realized that my time would have put me in third in my age group last year.  Feeling a bit excited at that prospect, the boys and I headed back to the finish to check results and pick up my swim gear that they trucked up from T1.  I was a little disappointed when I found that finished 4th in my age group, just 1:30 out of a podium spot.  It's tough to keep in perspective that this is still a great result for me.  Total time of 2:04:07, 4th in age group, 26th overall.  Results are here.  Some pictures at Facchino Photography.