Tag Archives: cycling

Race Report: Ironman 70.3 St. George

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St. George bike_2

The Summary:

I’m not usually one for moral victories, but I feel good about this one! A week before the race I started to feel a “tickle” in my throat. But I did my race sim that weekend and did just fine. Fast forward to Tuesday before the race, and I had a mega cold, which mostly passed through by the time I left on Thursday, but I was left with full blown bronchitis. I wasn’t even sure if I would start. But after speaking with my inner circle, I decided to race as hard as I could, for as long as I could, and let my body decide when the race was over. Turns out that was the finish line – in a pretty decent time!

The Swim – 1.2mi: (00:32:22) Considering I’d only been swimming for about a month with two arms (see: January bike wreck) and the whole bronchitis thing, I didn’t know what to expect. I was pretty concerned when I saw that there was no swim warm-up allowed. I ran and got the core temp up as much as I could. The gun went and I immediately began hacking up while trying to pace breaths between labored strokes. After the first 600 or so yards, my arms really became tired and heavy and it was a struggle until about 500 left. I refocused myself on form and smooth effort and came in more comfortably than when I started.

The Bike – 56mi: (02:27:40) With the first pedal strokes, I realized my power meter wasn’t working as my computer displayed zeroes. All of my training and racing has been based on power as my primary performance metric. Usually, this would be very concerning. However, on a day where every other breath was interrupted by piece of lung projectiles, I was immediately calmed by the idea of not sweating coming in low to my expected numbers. I just rode my bike as hard as I could and responded to the race. I was caught by my teammate, Julian Sunn, much earlier than expected and instead of getting down, I used it as motivation and we rode together (legally) for the rest of the bike. Side note: it’s a beautiful thing to ride with guys you are competing with! The pro race is an infinitely different race than amateur wave starts in this regard. I finished through the beautiful red rocks and cruised into transition wondering just how the run would go.

The Run – 13.1mi: (01:22:12) This run course was no joke. It started immediately uphill through the neighborhoods and gained 1,440 ft. of elevation gain through the red rocks. Within the first mile, the guy who’d been with me most of the bike hopped onto my pace and we ran side by side. I came up to Julian who’d put a minute on me at the end of the bike on the last hill as I couldn’t go that deep – he was doubled over cramping. I was so bummed to see this because he was fit and racing very well. After giving him a holler I continued on and powered up the hill. While I didn’t have the top end, I was running steady after climbing up above the town and on top of the red rocks I set a CR on Park Loop. I was humming along, trying to close on my teammate Jake McDonald and I felt the pace slipping away from me a bit. Thank God I hit the point of the last 5km of screaming downhill – especially the last two miles, where I was running as low as 5:10/mi. I can truthfully say that if this 13.1mi race was 13.6 miles, I would have not have finished. I left it all out there to be sure!

Result – 70.3 (04:27:06): Overall – 38th, Division – 3rd

Thanks – A BIG thank you to my cousin Gina who housed Julian Sunn, Bruno Fritsch and me in Vegas before we headed to Utah. She continues to be THE BEST race host!! Mark Graham for being a great teammate and driving the four of us to the race from Vegas and being the local knowledge base. Meredith Kessler who, as the defending St. George champ, helped me prep the entire week prior with training and course tips, AND for hooking me up with an X-Lab Torpedo hydration system and coordinating the drop during a busy race prep day. The Team EMJ guys for being great race weekend-mates and Bruno for not tossing and turning too much in our motel bed 😉 Family and friends for the support, it was really special this time! And of course, to all of our sponsors – see the Mike Like’s page to see the amazing brands/products that I used to get me to, through and recovered from the race!

Here are some closing photos. Thanks for the support and keep on keepin on, all!

Podium!

Podium!

Some of the guys loungin post race at awards

Some of the guys loungin post race at awards

The best race host ever, Gina!

The best race host ever, Gina!

Race Report: Napa HITS Olympic

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Bare chested with gloves on...a champion of athletic style since 1986.

Bare chested with gloves on…a champion of athletic style since 1986.

The Summary:

The first race of 2015! After an early season bike crash, this was the first test to see where my fitness was. My left elbow was busted pretty good and I’d been swimming with one arm for about two months. It was going to be a tough one, but there were almost ten of us from Team Every Man Jack that used this race as a launch pad for 2015 so it was high output from the gun and I finished 8th overall with the fastest run on the day.

The Swim: (00:25:49) Terrible. But in my defense, I’d only swam about 6 times with both arms since January and it was a two loop swim that involved a run along the beach and re-entry. But that’s still a brutal time to see. Good news is it can only get better!

T1 another cold race, another abysmal transition – almost 2x top 7’s average. My circulation really suffers out of the water in cold races and I – yet again – learned plenty.

The Bike: (01:05:28) I spent the first half a mile trying to cram frozen feet into my shoes while pedaling. Even thereafter, my core and my legs were simply not responding in the cold. It wasn’t until almost the turnaround point on this out and back course that I felt normal. I attacked the rolling hills heading back in and averaged a higher power number than the first half as my body warmed up.

The Run (00:33:49) With the fastest run on the day by about two minutes, I tried to recover as much ground as I could from Nemo-ing the swim and freezing during the early part of the race. The run felt good, especially after my feet thawed out two miles in…!

Thanks – All sponsors of Team Every Man Jack, HITS for putting on a great race, all volunteers and supporters! Next up, first Ironman 70.3 of the season at St. George – and a lot more swimming with two arms.

Race Report: Ironman 70.3 Silverman (Las Vegas, NV)

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Dinner with the cousins to celebrate a good race but more importantly, Nova's birthday!!

Dinner with the cousins to celebrate a good race but more importantly, Nova’s birthday!!

The Summary:

This Vegas course was the World Championship for Ironman 70.3 in 2012 when I raced it. It was a brutal triple H: Hot, Hilly, Hard. And that’s exactly why I wanted to come back to do this race as a standard 70.3 once the Championship moved venues to Canada. I seem to do well comparatively in these conditions and it turns out I was right, finishing third overall with the fastest run in the race. Another solid result and milestone against my 2014 goal: race for overall amateur podiums.

The Swim: (00:29:18) Usually I come here and mope about how I could swim better. Hats off to Ironman for putting and AWA (All-World Athlete) wave out front of the amateur divisions, as the fastest amateurs in the race were able to actually race each other. Additionally, it was in the beautiful Lake Mead instead of the questionable, murky resort Lake Las Vegas. This meant clear water and pack swimming and I had a great time in light of my 70.3 history.

The Bike: (02:39:30) More the the bike took place in Lake Mead National Park with the swim venue change, which was awesome. It’s really beautiful to ride your bike in the red rocks and this lead to open roads and grooving rollers. Someone very fast cruised by me half way through, I’d later learn that he was an ex-professional cyclist named the Cuban Missile (link). Overall I rode well and set myself up for a strong run.

T2 It is worth noting that this was a very smooth transition for me. Races can be lost in the Ts, and I beat myself up when I do them poorly, so worth a nod!

The Run: (01:22:57) I ran like I knew I could on this course and put down the fastest run of the day including pros. I know this course really well from racing World’s here because it’s a 3-time loop. There are two things you need to know about it: it’s up, and then it’s down. Over, and over, and over again. It’s also totally exposed in the dessert sun, so hydration and effort management are key. Even though I finished as first amateur, turns out it wasn’t enough to get by the Cuban Missile and one other super biker who started out in the amateur waves.

Thanks – Our cousin Gina who has become my race headquarters in Vegas. My mom who has seen me race in Vegas twice now and has been a great supporter – it was returning to familiar ground for both of us! GU Energy for supporting my entry – happy to represent the GU Crew! M2 Revolution crew for being a great training community. Everyone who supports me in this crazy journey – thank you!