Granite Bay Triathlon 2010

I raced my last tri of the season one week ago on Sunday at TBF Racing's Granite Bay Triathlon. I had a lot of fun and overall I am pleased with result. My time (1:53:40) was a little over 11 minutes faster than last year, which I attribute to my brother's coaching (Eric Palmer Endurance Coaching).  I finished 10th of 26 in my age group, about 1.25 minutes behind 9th place; and 65th of 244 overall.

Overall results here.

Division results here.

I felt like I did a good job sighting during the swim, and really payed attention to the other people racing.  I cruised and true to form my swim split was very good (0:21:23). I was 2nd in my age group after the swim, and had the 20th fastest swim time. My swim time was 1.25 minutes slower than last year. I attribute it to two things:  Last year I went very hard on the swim, and the swim course was probably a bit short last year due to the low lake levels.  This year the lake level was much higher.

Out of the water and charging the beach

Once we started the bike, we were mixed up with the duathletes and it was very difficult to determine who was in your age group.  I don't feel like I worked very hard on the bike, but I still shaved almost 6 minutes off last year.  I had the 49th fastest bike split (0:41:41), and came off the bike 7th in my age group.

On the bike just out of T1, and putting on my gloves

It felt very hot on the run and yet again I struggled. I was over 7 minutes faster than last year with a run split of 0:50:36, but I still did not run faster than 10 minutes per mile. I was close, but yet again I could not break the 10 minute per mile barrier. My average pace was10 minutes and 7 seconds per mile.  Three more people from my age group passed me and I finished 10th in my age group.  I finished hard and gave it all I had on the day.

Baking in the heat, and trying to hold it together

A fun time, and a good result.  TBF never disappoints.

Xterra Lake Tahoe

Xterra Lake Tahoe

The surprisingly strong winds made for a very interesting swim.  Lake Tahoe looked more like the ocean than a lake.  By my untrained eye, the swells were in the three to four foot range.  You be the judge.

It was fun trying to body surf the swells during warm up.  Water temperature was comfortable, although the wind was a bit chilly.  They decided to cut the long course swim to one lap, I assume due to the hazardous conditions.  My voice was the lone "boo" amongst a chorus of cheers.  The swim was a bit frustrating, but wasn't that hard if you were a smart swimmer. The keys were to judge the wind/current and adjust the 1st and 3rd legs accordingly, sight effectively, and try to time your breaths so you were not breathing at the trough of the swells.  It was not a perfect swim for me, I still ended up breast stroking on two occasions to spit out some water or find the next buoy.  I was 9th overall on the beach, and 15th overall/2nd in age group after the long run to T1.  As has been typical for me this season, the swim was my fastest discipline in the race.

The bike course was both challenging and fun.  Here I am starting the bike course:

After the climb up Tunnel Creek Fire Road, the Flume Trail was a lot of fun. This section felt like a bit like an individual TT. I passed a couple people and got passed by a couple people, but mostly rode on my own as fast as I could.  I was feeling good until we started the climb out of Marlette Lake to the Tahoe Rim Trail.  I forgot that this is a tough climb.  The Tahoe Rim Trail continues to gain elevation until you reach the switchback downhill to Tunnel Creek Fire Road.  I bombed the downhills, especially Tunnel Creek Fire Road.  It felt good to rocket passed several people that had gone around me many miles before.  I entered T2 several seconds behind two others in my age group, and left T2 even with them.  Unfortunately, they ran away from me within the first quarter mile of the run.

The run course is pretty fun.  It is very technical with short rises, bridges, logs, turns, etc.  I ran about as fast as I could without blowing up.  I wasn't feeling too bad after the first lap, so I slowly started to increase my pace.  One positive to take away from my experience on the run is that my second lap was a few minutes faster than my first.

Here's the obligatory finish line photo:

A good result for me.  Swim time 18:50, bike 2:23:54, run 1:02:20, total 3:45:04  9th in my age group, 12 minutes behind 8th place.

Xterra Lake Tahoe Results

The Xterra season is over and I ended up 11th in the Western Region in my age group.

Xterra Standings

Thanks to my father in law for the pictures, and thanks to my brother for the coaching.

Team Interwest

Boulder 70.3

Team Interwest competed in the coed relay division of the Boulder 70.3 Triahtlon last weekend. Gwen swam, Terry cycled the bike leg, and I ran.

We picked up our packet on Saturday and attended the "mandatory" pre-race meeting. Approx 1288 starters! I got in a pre-race run, then we walked around Boulder. Pretty cool town. Lots of open space. Also, lots of people milling around town. Not sure if its' always like that, or if it was because of the race or the college starting soon.

We were up early on Sunday to be at the race venue and setup before transition closed at 6:20 am. Swim wave started at 7:10 am, and I didn't plan on starting the run until 11:00 am. Before the start we met Terry's coach, famous triathlete Simon Lessing. He was very gracious and gave me a run singlet with his coaching business logo to wear during the run. Very cool

Gwen had a good swim. She always makes it look so easy. We were worried about Terry on the bike as he is still recovering from a broken shoulder, and he suspects a torn meniscus in his knee. As it turned out, neither of these ailments bothered him in the ride.

I took a nap in the van while I waited for my turn. With about 15 minutes prior to Terry's anticipated finish, I took a seat in the transition area to wait. During this time, I was fortunate to witness an inspirational display of sportsmanship. As I sat in transition, Julie Dibbens was finishing her race with an 8 minute lead on the second place female pro. It took her an extraordinarily long time to finish the last mile. She finally entered the finishing chute; walking, shaking hands, giving high fives, signing autographs. She even stopped and gave an interview to the race announcer before she crossed the line. This went on for about 3 minutes. Finally, she explained to the crowd that prize money is paid to the first five female pros. According to Ironman rules, if a top 5 finisher time is more than 8% slower than the first place time, then they do not get paid. She was waiting to make sure that everyone that finished in the first 5 got paid. I was honored to witness this unselfish act.

Terry rolled into transition a few minutes later, about 3 hours 15 minutes after he started, and off I went. The run course was 99% on dirt roads. It was hot and there were no trees. I stuck to the plan of running 10 minute miles for the first half, then slowly ramping up the pace to finish as hard as I could. The race went according to my plan until around mile 8. Then my wheels fell off, and it was a real battle to finish. At that point I just couldn't make myself run anymore. For the remaining 4 to 5 miles I alternated walking and running. I wound up finishing in 2 hours 34 minutes. It was great to hear Terry and Gwen cheering loudly for me as I crossed the line!

Photos by the race organizer are available at:
Team Interwest Photos

Terry and his wife were gracious hosts, and I am truly thankful for all that they did for me while I was there. Thanks! It may be a long time before I run 13.1 miles in Boulder again (or not); but it would be fun to go back next year to do a whole triathlon, only shorter.

Team Interwest also had a presence at the TBF Tri for Real #3, where Kate, Gary, and Mark defended the series coed relay title by taking second place in the coed relay division. Way to go!

Xterra Del Valle

I raced in the Xterra Del Valle Off-Road Triathlon on May 8, 2010 organized by Big Blue Adventure. 1300 m swim, 17 mi bike, 6 mi run. Tough bike and run legs. About 3,200 feet of climbing on the bike course, and 600 feet of climbing on the run.

Grazie

A huge thanks to Jeff, Rachel, and their family for letting me sleep on their sofa bed the night before. It saved me a lot of driving on race morning. I didn't get to visit with them as much as I would've liked. I arrived a little late, and got up early to make it to the race. I really appreciated their hospitality.

I also owe a big thank you to TriNow Fitness. I called them at 3:30 on Wednesday, and they shipped out an order of CarboPro to me the same day. I got it the next day and was able to try it out before the race. That's customer service!

My biggest thanks goes to my wife and family for being supportive through my training, and understanding while I went to race on the day before Mother's Day. Thanks, I love you very much.

The Good
Much improved course marking over last year. There was a course marshall marking number plates at the intersection of the first and second laps on the bike course, and there was improved directions at the corners where there was confusion last year. The run course was also marked much better.

Passing a guy on the bike course who says, "Someone else as hairy as me. You're the first hairy guy to pass me." I was speechless at the time, but I laughed to myself as I noticed that everyone around me had shaved legs.

Following someone for most of the bike course, then flying past him in T2.

Dropping that same guy on a huge climb on the run course, and never seeing him again until after I crossed the line.

Some random guy barbecueing with his family squirted water on the racers at the bottom of the big downhill on the run course. He even asked permission first. Sweet!

The Bad
Just after the second feed station there was a mismarked corner. One arrow pointed straight, and another pointed right. I knew from last year that the course probably went straight. I stopped and watched the five people in front of me and the one behind me go straight, so I went straight.

I got passed by a few people on the flat in the last third of the run.

Confusion regarding the results, and delayed preliminary results. Nine days later and results are still not final.

Traffic on run course caused by the adventure race.

No race photographer.

The Awesome
50 min faster than last year (21% improvement).

My brother called my finish time the day before the race. He told me I would break 3:30.

Last year
:25:40 (42) 2:16:33 (76) 1:31:50 (86) 4:14:03

10 of 12 in AG

82 of 99 overall

This year
20:08 (20) 2:01:036 (61) 1:02:11 (75) 3:23:22

8 (or 9) of 16 in AG

67 (or 66) of 127 overall

Probably not impressive numbers to some, but they make me happy.

Xterra Real Mountain Bike Triathlon 2010

Raced in the Xterra Real Mountain Bike Triathlon on March 28 organized by Total Body Fitness. When I signed up, my brother was supposed to race it with me. He did not make it to the race. I understand, but I couldn't help but be a little disappointed

The course and weather were great. I saw a few wild turkeys during the race, had a lot of fun, and felt good the whole time.

Here are some photos from James Pratt's website: Swim , Bike, Run.

I was pleased with my swim. I got a good dolphin start and was able to draft off someone a lot of the way. I got passed by a few on the looong run to T1 and had an OK transition to the bike.

Long bike course this time, and I enjoyed it much more than last time. Spent most of the first bike lap getting passed. Ate one Gu halfway through each lap and drank one bottle of water.

My T2 seemed lightning quick. Felt really good through the run. Not fast, but the run was comfortable. Started easy and built through the run. Took a little water at each aid station. I tried to pick up the pace in the last third. Quads would start to cramp if I went too hard, but I went as hard as I could. I passed a couple people, which made me feel good. Then I got passed by three others in the last 1.5 miles - bummer.

2:20:03 total time
81st out of 169 finishers
12th of 20 in my age group.
11:03 swim split, 23rd swim rank (880 yards)
1:29:12 bike split, 80th bike rank (16 miles)
39:48 run split, 121st run rank (4 miles)

Granite Bay Triathlon

This Sunday, Gary, Gwen, and I participated in the Granite Bay Triathlon. They claim it was my idea, but my recollection is that it was Gary's suggestion. I'll chock it up to mass hysteria, created by our relay series win at Rancho Seco.


I am proud of Gary and Gwen. They posted respectable times, and stuck it out through a TOUGH run course. It's the same 5 mile run course as the Xterra race. It's 90% on dirt, and has a nasty climb about halfway, followed a steep descent. Anyway, they made it through in good spirits, and looked like they had fun.

As predicted, Gwen crushed the swim. She posted the 8th fastest swim time overall, and was the 2nd fastest woman in the swim.

Gary ran a very smart and steady race. He posted a very good swim time, and was consistent through the run and bike.

I did not have much of a strategy. I went just about as hard as I could right from the gun. I knew at some point I would have to pay for the effort. That time came at about 1.5 miles into the 5 mile run. I just couldn't run anymore. I was hot, my hamstrings were sore, and I could not get my legs to turnover anymore. I walked, a lot.

I came out the swim 7th in my age group, came off the bike in 8th in my age group, and fell to 15th by the end of the day. My swim and bike splits were good, but I've obviously got some work to do on the run.

Battle

I ended up racing the long course at Xterra Del Valle on Sunday. For me, it was more of a battle than a race.

The venue was very nice, and I snapped a few pictures with my cell phone during my warmup.

The lake:

Looking back at start/finish from the run course:

Run course:

This was the longest triathlon that I have entered since Crested Butte in 2005. The swim is listed as 0.74 miles (1300 m). We swam two (2) laps with a short beach run in between. I definitely like the longer swim. I was able to find a rhythm and stick with it for long while. My goggles came off when I dove in for the second lap, but I got them back on quickly. No big loss. I enjoyed the swim.

The bike course was tough. Some single track, mostly fire roads with very little shade. It was 16 miles with around 3,000 feet of climbing. I had no power left to climb after the first major set of climbs. I was still rolling pretty good on the flats and rollers, but when the trail pitched up, my pace dropped off significantly. There was a lot of room for improvement in the marking and marshaling of the bike course. In particular, two spots on the bike course were confusing, and quite easy to make a wrong turn and cut the course short. The worst spot was where you turned right on the first lap to do an "inner" second loop. The second time around you were supposed to turn left. The sign was down at this intersection. The course marshal was about 100 yards ahead of the turn. From his position he could not ensure that the riders made the correct turn, and he could not sign that the sign was down. Three people that I exited the water with and battled with the whole bike course, took the wrong turn and cut the bike course short. The rider behind me remarked that half of his team also took the wrong turn.

Another bad spot was near the end of the second lap where the course come down towards the transition area, only to make a sharp left and head back up for a short climb before descending back to transition. It was really disheartening to be within sight of the transition area, but have to turn away with less than 100 yards to go. There was a marshal here, about 20 yards away from the corner yelling at riders to turn left, but he did not catch everyone. The rider in
front of me ignored the marshal and went straight back to transition.



The 5.5 mile run course felt more like an adventure race. About a mile of the course was in a creek, with some spots thigh deep in water. Then it started uphill. The total climbing in the run was over 800 feet, and it was all in one climb. There were no breaks. I did as much hiking as I did running. It was brutal. It was a beautiful run course, but brutal.




Here are the numbers:

10 of 14 finishers in age group
82 of 99 finishers overall
25:40 swim time (42nd fastest)
2:16:33 bike time (76th fastest)
1:31:50 run time (86th fastest)
4:14:03 total

Next up: bike leg on the relay team at TBF Tri for Real.

Gwen and Gary - Are you ready?