Race Report: Escape From Alcatraz 2014

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Mike Vulanich

Nothing like dipping your toe back into racing with one of the most difficult short course races in the world, among one of the most competitive fields. Given my early year update, the epic Escape from Alcatraz seemed like a heck of a way to return. It was going to be tough to follow up last year’s podium effort, but in the end, I was happy to be back at the start line.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Very happy to be racing and healthy.
Bike and run times are as competitive as anyone and are showing improvement
Apparently cold water and the threat of sharks still isn’t enough to make me swim fast, as I swam myself out of a solid result.
Plenty of positives on which to build the year.

PRE-RACE:

2,000+ athletes chilling on a boat, waiting to jump in the bay

Nothing can match the badass feeling of being out on that boat and watching the doors open to the fogged over city and rough waters off Alcatraz.

EFA continues to do an awesome job of organizing and expediting the process of getting 2,000 athletes to the start and off the boat in less than 6 minutes. It was great to race with my man Vince this year, as we chilled on the boat beforehand and discussed our master plan to swim, bike and run together (didn’t happen).

THE SWIM:

Hopping off the boat into the Bay is truly like something out of a war movie. Only ~20 people had jumped before me and still the water was white with foam as the ongoing flow of bodies churned the waves. As soon as I hit the water, I popped up and swam hard to catch some feet and to get out of the way of other jumpers. I was in a pack that I felt comfortable with.

As was the case last year, this didn’t last for long and before I knew it I was on my own. I entered some chop and for what seemed like 5 minutes, I remained in line with Fort Mason. I wasn’t going anywhere. I tried to find someone, anyone to swim with. Eventually I did, and “crossed the river” of the tide, working hard just to get on dry land. Like replay of last year, I got out of the water, looked around, and knew I had work to do.

M2 in-house mechanic, Mike Cole, had the P3 humming!

THE BIKE:

Unlike last year, however, I felt good immediately on the bike. No cramps, all business and I started to hammer away. There was plenty of traffic to pass given how far behind I was, but I managed to keep steady, agressive watts.

After climbing and descending out of The Presidio, Sea Cliff and Land’s End, I hit descended to Golden Gate Park, where I was able to see just how far behind I was as guys I was racing against were already coming back.

The rest of the bike was just truly a hammerfest, aggressive flats and fly up the climbs.

After five months of biking like a mad man as I recovered from the running injury, I was happy to have easily the highest weighted average watts I’ve had in a race.

Great shot by Justin Green with ‘traz in the background! I of course had the blinders on, so I saw neither.

Pace seems to be directly correlated with elevation…

THE RUN:

As I headed out on the run, I had two thoughts: 1.) run as fast as you can and make up as much ground as possible; 2.) it’s your second time running this hard in 9 months. As you’d guess, not only did this play out as a battle of short and long term prospects, but also between excitement and actual fitness level.

It does take some mental convincing to keep the foot on the gas when you realize how far out of the race you are. Never the less, I motored along Crissy Field until the climb to the Golden Gate Bridge. Just like the bike, it’s up, down, up, down. On the first down, I saw M2 standing in the same spot as last year. This was a really great pick-me-up and he let me know Vinny was doing well.

Only 400 steps made out of sand and boards up a cliff. Got this.

After that first down, it’s about a mile cruise on Barker Beach. Last year I felt so confident picking folks off through the sand, but this year it just felt so much…flatter. Not the sand, mind you. I didn’t even seem to find flat sand on the way back. As I ran as closely to the water line as possible, the seconds shrank between me and the beast, the monster, the beeyatch – the sand ladder. And just like the beach, the sand ladder just felt slow. The pop from last year just wasn’t there.

Once you get to the top of the sand ladder, your climb is only half way over. So I took that as an opportunity to reset mentally and just drive the rest of the hill until I could let it fly home. I saw M2 again and as I let it fly through the Golden Gate Bridge common area, he rode his bike to the stair junction and let me know that I was running well and to catch as many people as possible.

So that’s what I did! Chin tucked, shoulders pinched I finished with a 5:27 mile and 5:12 pace for the last 0.6 mile. Not bad for a gimp! The finish at EFA is always great – lined with people and flags, grandstands, a nice long chute. And I knew my mom and Kathy D. (Vince’s mom) cheering us in. After taking a second to catch my breath and come to terms with how much like poo I felt, I gave Vince a big ole hug and high five for his great day. He really killed it on a huge stage.

I’ll take it

SUMMARY AND THANKS:

There were plenty of takeaways for the season in this first race. The swim does need to continue to improve, but with lake or river swims for the rest of the year, I’d have a chance to see where my “non-Alcatraz” fitness was soon. My bike improved immensely since last year, and I attribute that to the Tahoe build and then not being able to run for months. And lastly, the run. I ran a couple hard sessions in 2014 and managed to nab the 6th overall run split. This built volumes of confidence for the year that I likely lost very little run fitness while gaining immense bike fitness. Silver linings, folks!

As always, thanks to M2 and the M2 Revolution gang, including Mike Cole who seriously Pimped My Ride for this one. Eric Gilsenan and the EFA crew for always putting on a world class, safe, well-run event. Amy Schmerl! for trekking across Marina Blvd. at way-to-early of an hour on a Sunday to support, along with everyone else that was out there. And of course, Momma V. for coming out to visit and always being excited to support the races.

Rock and roll!

Race Report: Ironman Tahoe Pt. 1

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Mike Vulanich

Where do I even start? A journey that began 15 months earlier, when I was sure that I wasn’t going to do a full Ironman for another few years because I was really doing well at the half Iron and Olympic distances and eh, didn’t really want to – only to find myself signing up during the Bay Area’s frenzied excitement over California finally getting a full Ironman. Having my first Iron Man “in my back yard,” training there ahead of time, not having to fly or transport my bike, folks getting excited and either racing or supporting on race weekend – it all seemed too good to pass up. So I signed up.

Countless hours of training, a full racing season that would have satisfied any athlete and more scoops of peanut butter than I could ever count and months dwindled down to weeks, melted down to days, counted down to hours and finally race day was upon us.

I can’t ever hope to capture everything I felt that day. The extreme conditions, the primal emotions and the physical exhaustion were all too much for words. So I’ll write over two posts to do it justice. In a lot of ways it still feels like cramming it in.

Getting ready

After a season of high octane 70.3 and Olympic racing, I began to stretch it out in June. It’s one thing to go fast at half the distance, but can you even complete the full distance – and go kinda fast? That was the question on my mind.

M2 and Viva Pink take on Tahoe with Ultra U

Stallion and I get Mt. Rose sexy @ 8900 ft.

In what was the first toe in the water of the Tahoe build, the M2 group partnered with Ultra U for the inaugural IM Tahoe Training camp. Having the support of the Ultra U team was awesome and allowed us to focus on all things training (and eating). It was here that I would first test my chops at altitude over 3 days of swimming, biking and running. The first thing I noticed was that sense of perceived effort remained similar, while the numbers were worse – sometimes by as much as 20%. This was something I was going to have to either be OK with or learn all I could about performing at altitude. It was a great weekend to learn the course and what to expect out of my body.

As I trained for Tahoe, I took it one week at a time. Small victories, that’s how I put it. Each week, I wanted to accomplish something that was better than the week before and that was ultimately affirming of my readiness for Tahoe. A little longer and a little stronger built into a lot longer and sustained strength.

My build was better than I was ever expecting. I was the fittest I had ever been in my life. When I signed up for Ironman and for more than a year, I would even’t let myself think about Kona. I respected the distance and this course in particular. Just do the best I can and whatever happens, happens, knowing full well that a great day for me meant finishing.

Still, the numbers were telling me that if I put together the day I was capable of, Kona was entirely possible. Some key sessions:

And so Kona actually started to become a back of the mind goal.

Mountain Man Time: Acclimatization

My team at Fitbit was gracious enough to let me go up to Tahoe two weeks before the race to work remotely as I acclimated to the altitude. The state of web conferencing tools today is great and this worked out just fine. In fact, I knew that some of my remote working colleagues used treadmill desks, so I thought I’d make my own version:

My version of the treadmill desk. Fitbit, what’s the noise threshold for the office?

Dan's South Lake abode and the trusty Mt. Bike I used to rode around town

Dan’s South Lake abode and the trusty Mt. Bike I used to get around town

My buddy from Nielsen Dan Lee and his friend also from Nielsen Karina we super kind in giving me the friends and family discount to their South Lake abode. I went about my days just like I would in the city – full day of work with some basic training sessions to keep sharp. However just being at altitude during the work day, sleeping in it at night, building up the lungs on runs etc. were all getting me more acclimatized for the race.

A short jog from Dan’s house, the perfect swimming hole

After much reading, discussing, thinking, I came to the conclusions that 2 weeks was a good amount of time (and frankly the most I could swing before the race). Altitude adjustment aside, this was really a great opportunity to spend time to myself slowing down from the crazy pace of long work days and 20 hour training weeks. Someone once told me that often it’s like we’re driving at high speeds with the windows down trying to hear what’s outside. The only way we can reflect and listen is to slow down. This was great for that.

Powerlines trail, I will return

Race week

I drove up to North Lake to our VRBO property <1mi from Kings Beach on Wednesday and Ali arrived by plane on that evening. A huge shout out to her as the only way I could go up early was if I took the car up and she flew into Reno. I’m sure flying over Reno to connect in Vegas wasn’t exactly what she wanted to do, but very grateful for the flexibility that allowed me to be there early!

Cabin livin’

Her mom and my folks arrived the next day and we were one big happy family inside our Tahoe cabin. I could have scratched the race and been perfectly content with the weekend (maybe).

The buzz was in full force around the area, as compression sock wearing, aero helmet touting, chest strap donning athletes strutted around the lake town. I tried to stay away from it as much as I could as I find most of the hub-bub unnecessary. A big help in handling my first Ironman race week came in the form of M2’s race week guidance, specifically his written approach to the ;tune up work outs and the mental exercises.

Finishing up a final shake out run with Dad while Mom takes a stroll

The IM Tahoe run goes along the Truckee River, one of several incredible parts of this venue

The Storm

Most of the two weeks that I was in Tahoe before the race, the weather was agreeable if not spectacular. The few days leading into the race, high winds, winter overnight temps and precipitation were all in the forecast. The elements are out of your control and everyone has to toe the line in the same conditions, but it was tough not to let this affect us mentally. Setting up your bike at T1 in sideways freezing rain is not how you want to be spending your time a little over 12 hours before the race.

Images like this being posted the night before the race really started to move the needle:

Ritch Viola posts this picture from Squaw Valley (t2/finish line) the night before. I weep.

Instead of worrying about things like warm up, race strategy and tactics, the questions became: It’s going to be below 30 degrees at race start, how much clothing can I wear on the bike? Will it be too much or will I be able to leverage the ad hoc clothing drop zone effectively? How much should I eat if I’m burning calories shivering? How much should I drink if I’m not sweating? WHAT IF THE ROADS HAVE ICE – which would make sense… – WILL THEY SHORTEN THE RACE? Will my first Ironman have an asterisk next to it – swim was canceled, bike was shortened?

So unnecessary. Looking back, I remember signing up and thinking – Sep. 22 is totally within reason for it to start snowing in Tahoe. But I have to say I was pretty stunned when it happened.

So for those of you keeping score at home, this would be my first Ironman with:

Starting at 6,500 and reaching as high as 7,500 feet of altitude

~8K elevation gain on the bike, ~1K on the run

Sub freezing temps @ race start

Ladies and gentlemen, Ironman Plus.

Race Report: Ironman 70.3 Boise (First IM AG win!)

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Mike Vulanich

Blue turf and triathlons!!!

If Wildflower was the triathlon Woodstock – 8 dudes in some RVs, racing, drinking and eating a lot of meat – Boise was a business trip:get in, get out. Knowing that I wanted to do one more solid, competitive long course triathlon before Ironman Tahoe in September, this was the closest, most schedule-friendly and financially feasible race there was.

So off I went, solo to Boise Idaho for less than 48 hours to race a half Ironman. The outcome: taking my first age group win at an Ironman 70.3 race and discovering haloumi cheese (ohmafreakingod).

Flying solo

Racing solo presented its unique set of wrinkles to race weekend. I checked into my no-frills motel, similar to the meth hotel from Breaking Bad, a mile from the finish line and took the same taxi from the airport to registration. I realized I was in trouble when I saw the tri-bike transport tent at the expo.Which meant my bike was brought not to the bike start, but to the finish line. Which meant I had to get my bike to the bike start. Which meant that, after making some calls and realizing there was no option for bringing it there, I was going to have to ride it 10 miles uphill to the bike start.

So after riding my bike back to the motel on bike paths to get my helmet, riding it said 10 miles uphill to the bike start, convincing the iron-willed organizer to let my bike in without my (forgotten) stickers, and hitching a ride home with a tattooed guy in a kilt and a neon green drop top Wrangler – I was set!

I stayed positive, viewed the 10 miler as my warm up for the day, got to meet a cool guy named Clint in a kilt who would become my buddy and drive me to the race the next morning. All was good – but it sure took some effort.

Race morning

This edition of race morning is about 6 hours longer than usual. Boise is a unique race in that race start is at noon (my wave at 1:00) as opposed to the usual 7:00ish. Going in, I wasn’t sure how to feel about this. Sure, it’s more civil, but there’s more time idling around, finding shade, wondering if you should be eating or not, sitting or warming up… I think ultimately the later race start was nice, but my wave was last and went off at 1:00pm, way too late, and that 10:00am would have been great.

Race day song

Boise, Brazil, close enough.

The Swim

As the last wave of the day on a single loop course, I knew we were going to have to mow through some traffic. Luckily, the lake was crystal clear so keeping on the right people in sight was easier. The goal was to come out of the water in a competitive position, but, I wanted to be careful not to overexert. The altitude of Boise is not Tahoe-eque, but at ~3K ft., it ain’t nothin’. I paced and managed through traffic to come out in 6th position.

SWIM DETAILS | Division Rank: 6

Split Name	Distance	Split Time	Race Time	Pace	Division Rank	Gender Rank	Overall Rank
Total	1.2 mi	00:33:00	00:33:00	01:42/100m	6	71	88

The Bike

I headed out onto the bike in the company of plenty of guys from my age group. Similar to the swim, a late start meant a lot of traffic to work though. The course started with a long downhill and some flat before a climb and I noticed guys were chippy with this free speed in their wheels.

Holding steady in some bodacious winds

However the head and crosswinds were insane. I had to ride the first couple of miles with a hand on the brake to prevent from getting blown over (seen above).

A big goal for Boise was to establish myself as a presence on the bike, something I knew I was capable of but perhaps didn’t have the confidence to do in other races. But I had to be careful in the wind early. When we turned to make the first climb, I targeted the guys who were making noise early and made it clear that they were going to have to ride well to keep up.

Doing my best Jaws impression into the wind

It was pretty difficult to settle into a groove with such strong winds. Watts jumped all over the board and I didn’t know which numbers were “real,” so a lot of by-feel riding. An out and back at mile 21 provided the biggest test of the day as it was straight into the wind. However the turn around provided the first glimpse at my position against the guys in my age group and it looked pretty good.

About 75% into the bike I noticed a bit of the pep in my step fading. After checking all systems, I arrived at the decision that this was likely because of calories and that perhaps the late start. So I started to take in calories. But by the time I was a couple miles out from the bike, I was really feeling zapped and my stomach was a bit off.

I cruised into T2 trying to reset myself mentally for the run.

BIKE DETAILS | Division Rank: 3

Split Name	Distance	Split Time	Race Time	Pace	Division Rank	Gender Rank	Overall Rank
Total	56 mi	02:28:53	03:04:10	22.57 mph	3	42	44

The Run

Within the first 100ft there was something wrong with my shoe insole and I knew I had to stop, take it off and fix it, which was a buzz kill to that “bat-out-of-hell” thing I had going on. About a half a mile into the run I knew that I had bigger problems than shoe insoles to deal with. It felt like there was a vice around my torso. My stomach was really feeling awful – tight and nauseous

Worse yet I looked down at my watch and it was like I was running backwards. Bad thoughts started to creep into my head and as the miles went on, I began writing my race’s obituary in my mind. As I plodded along at a substandard pace, barely holding back beverages I’d drink at aid stations, I just waited for the first guy of many from my age group to come by me and put me out of my misery.

Except that wasn’t happening.

Either this was a slow day for everyone or they just hadn’t reached me yet. Whatever the case, just before the 5 mile marker I had a major HTFU moment. “Did you fly out to Boise, ID by yourself to get to mile 5 of the run and roll over? Didn’t think so. So let’s get running and stop quitting, you pansy,” is about how it went.

So I started moving with more confidence, hoping this would trick my body into thinking it wasn’t so bad. It kind of worked. And then after awhile, it definitely worked. I saw a guy at the end of loop 1 coming the other way who looked like he was running well and I was able to respond. Another reality check came at mile 10 when I felt like the race should be over, knowing I still had 5K to go.

“Just 5K to go,” I thought. A mile later, “OMG…2 miles to go???” The roller coaster continued.

Until I saw a strong swim/biker from our group that was approaching a turn around. I knew he was doing well in the race and was encouraged to see him. I came up behind him and gathered myself before making a hard pass that would lead into an elongated kick to the finish.

As I was approaching the finish line, it was great to see the support in the city of Boise present in the downtown finish. Music was playing and the crowd was great. I looked behind me and saw I was in the clear and coasted down the chute.

RUN DETAILS | Division Rank: 1

Split Name	Distance	Split Time	Race Time	Pace	Division Rank	Gender Rank	Overall Rank
Total	13.1 mi	01:26:54	04:32:44	06:38/mi	1	29	31

First Ironman event AG Win

I didn’t know that I had won my age group until getting a massage, eating soup to warm up, grabbing my morning clothes bag and checking my phone. Seeing all of the congratulatory texts, tweets and emails was a really cool way to find out. I had a feeling maybe I did, but given the slower pace of the run, wasn’t sure.

This was definitely a milestone in my days as a triathlete. First of all because I hadn’t won my age group and an official Ironman event, where the competition is usually a bit steeper, but that I did it on the bike instead of dropping the fastest run split (I did not this time).

Stare into the sun and show everyone how happy you are to have a trophy!

Takeaways

Swim: I was happy to come out in a position that would set me up to capitalize on my strengths. I averaged 1:42/100m which was decent, but as always, I need to be better.

Bike: I proved that I could ride harder and sacrifice some run performance and still net out OK. I feel good about how I handled the wind, but the energy zap toward the end was concerning.

Nutrition: On that energy zap…I believe I was dehydrated. At 3K feet, wind blowing so false sense of not sweating, late in the day start – all of these likely played a role. My response, however, was to take in more calories. This was a double whammy as I was dehydrated and my blood was going to my stomach to digest calories, and not my legs. So my theory is that I under drank and over ate.

Run: I worked with what I had on the run and executed a total mind over matter game. It played out OK, but I need to be mentally tough the whole race, not during the Haily Mary pass.

Boise: is awesome! It was a great race and I think I can definitely say it was the nicest town of people I’ve ever come across. If it works in my schedule next year, I will be back.

Thank yous

Thank you to my family, friends and of course Ali for the support. Michael and the M2 Revolution gang for helping me race the best I can. Fitbit for being supportive of my racing. GU Energy for the race entry and the buffet of nutrition options – I may have over eaten, but ultimately repped the best I could!

Next up, Ironman Tahoe. At mile 10 of the run when I wanted the race to be over, I wondered how in the heck I was going to do a full Ironman. I’ll let you guys know when I figure it out.

Cheers!

MVTri

Mike Vulanich : Triathlete

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Race Report: Escape From Alcatraz 2014

Race Report: Ironman Tahoe Pt. 1

Race Report: Ironman 70.3 Boise (First IM AG win!)